CATCHING UP WITH TRAVEL FRIENDS IN LONDON

Morning everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the gorgeous weather this weekend like I did! Is anyone else ridiculously tired?
I swear busy weekends completely ruin me!

Despite feeling pretty exhausted, I had a really lovely weekend catching up with friends from my hostel in Australia. My German friend Sophie got in contact saying she was going to be in London for a few days before her flight to Bangkok, so obviously I jumped at the chance to go and see her (although it’s only been 3 months since I last saw her in Oz!) I suggested we go to Camden as I hadn’t been there for a few years and I knew she’d enjoy it – being the quirky hipster she is!

Our first stop was Cereal Killer Cafe and it seriously did not disappoint! I’d wanted to go there for years so seeing as it was a nice day, we sat outside on plastic crates (oh so hipster) and ate our sugary, e-number induced cereal. I went full on American and ordered half Lucky Charms, half Fruit Loops with normal milk and Rolo’s on top. There are so many insane combinations that you physically couldn’t try all of them even if you wanted to!

After brunch we went for a stroll around the markets and came across a beautiful street full of colourful terrace houses (which was a lovely surprise as I’d only ever seen them on Insta). It was so nice just wandering around at our own pace and stopping for chats by the lock in the gorgeous sunshine. When I usually visit London, I spend most of my time rushing around trying to squeeze as much in as possible and I find the whole experience quite stressful. So it was nice to not put pressure on myself for once and just have a day without any plans so we could soak up the atmosphere and relax. I think that was probably the main reason I chose Camden, because there’s so much to see and enjoy without running around searching for particular tourist attractions.

DENIM SHIRT - RIVER ISLAND

LEGGINGS - FILA @ TOPSHOP

TRAINERS - PRIMARK

I completely forgot that our friend Cas was also home from Australia and lived nearby, so I messaged him asking if he was free to meet up with us. Luckily he was so an hour later we met him outside Camden Station and it was honestly so good to see him! He’s a pretty unique guy and I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love him (we used to throw Beer over each other and have chicken nugget fights when we were drunk – that’s the kind of guy he is lols!), so Facebook deffo went a tad mental when we uploaded a photo of us all together! He took us to his old local ‘The Hawley Arms’, where Amy Winehouse used to play, and smashed a few beers whilst reminiscing about the good old times. Sophie was fascinated at how ‘nice’ and ‘friendly’ English people are compared to German’s – it was honestly so hilarious watching how happy she was when someone spoke to her or said sorry! She had her first pint of English ale on her first visit to a traditional English pub whilst watching her first ever Grand National (we didn’t win *crys*) – trust me to make it as touristy as possible for her haha!

Despite my coach being delayed and not getting home until midnight, I’m so glad I made the effort to go down even though London normally stresses me! The sun definitely made the world of difference and luckily the underground was pretty empty too.

(I promise I'm not small, they're just really tall ha!)

On Sunday I drove back in to Nottingham to meet my friend Laura for some retail therapy and a picnic by the canal. It was lovely to catch up as she’s currently training to be a teacher so it’s very rare that she has the time to meet up. I love finding out how my friends are getting on with their lives as we've all taken different paths so I find it really fascinating!

DRESS - TOPSHOP
KIMONO - H&M
SANDALS - PRIMARK

Did you do anything nice this weekend?

xxx

ICE BAR / WINTER WONDERLAND VLOG

Afternoon!

Look at me being up on my blogging game recently!

Just thought I'd share some snaps with you of my recent trip to London to visit Winter Wonderland! Me and my friend Mhairi went on 27th December and we had such a lovely time (apart from getting stuck in traffic on the way down and then having our train from Kent delayed by half an hour!) We pre-booked our slot at the Ice Bar beforehand as I've always wanted to go to one, so I was excited to cross another thing off my bucket list! It was certainly an experience, although probably not one I'd repeat because of how uncomfortably cold it was (I know right, who'd have thought?)

I thought now might be an appropriate time to introduce you all to my Youtube channel! I've been trying my hand at travel vlogging throughout 2015, although I'm not quite at that stage of talking to the camera in public yet (I mean seriously how are people brave enough to do that?) Even so, I've really been enjoying making videos and get excited each time I upload a new one as I can gradually see my video making skills getting better and better each time! I'd love you all so much if you'd be kind enough to subscribe to my channel, as we all know how hard it is for people just starting out!
Trust me, there are going to be A LOT of videos in 2016 - watch this space :)

I WAS AN EXTRA ON MADE IN CHELSEA!

If you're as obsessed with Made in Chelsea as I am, then you'll understand how BLOODY EXCITED I was when I got an email through saying I had been picked to be an extra on the show. A few months back I saw an advertisement on E4's Twitter account asking people to email in if they wanted to be an extra for a gig scene on MIC. I happened to be off work that week so obviously my first instinct was ERM YEAH (despite the fact that I had no one to go with because it was a Wednesday and all of my friends work!) It was first come first served but I emailed them instantly so I knew I had a good chance of being picked. Annoyingly, they didn't let us know we had been chosen until the day before so my coach to London was way overpriced - but it was a once in a lifetime thing so I decided it was worth it!

I had to be in Farringdon for 9am so it was a ridiculously early start (pretty sure I left the house at around 3am to catch my 4am coach from Nottingham > London Victoria) Coaches take SO long (plus it was late so it made the journey like 4 hours long!) but last minute trains to London are so expensive so I had no choice really. When I got to Victoria, it was rush hour so the 30 min tube journey ended up taking around an hour. Luck was seriously not on my side that day!

In the end it all worked out okay and I ended up meeting a lovely group of girls who took me under their wing for the day. One of the girl's boyfriend was in the band that the gig scene was focused around, so they had been invited down for that reason. There also seemed to be a lot of paid extras there too, which seemed a bit pointless seeing as loads of us were there for free. We made sure that we were at the front of the crowd cause we were really hoping that you'd get to see a glimpse of us on the show (I mean who wouldn't want to appear on MIC?) I was literally stood right behind Steph (I was that close I could see what she was texting her friend!) which was pretty crazy considering I used to watch her on The Hills when I was like 14.

FYI - the girls are even prettier in real life (if that's even possible?), JP and James are perf, Ollie was the only one who acknowledged us so he really is that nice in real life, Jamie was as loud and bubbly as you'd expect him to be and the girls are a lot shorter and look so much younger in real life!

I'll link the scene I'm in here if you're interested! Some insider gossip for you... the scene was filmed at 10am, not in the evening like they make you think! We were drinking fake alcohol, we had to listen to the same songs over and over again, were told to look like we were having a good time... oh, and all of the sly looks to the side they give each other are completely set up. Basically most of it is set up (which everyone knows already) but still, I CAN'T HELP BUT LOVE IT.

THE OUTFIT POST / A RAINY DAY IN LONDON

OUTFIT:

JUMPER, JEANS & BIRKS - PRIMARK

BAG - H&M

My mum and I went to London last weekend to (hopefully) buy some last minute tickets to see The Lion King. I've wanted to see it for ages but tickets are absolutely extortionate so we decided to take our chances and get some cheap tickets from the ticket booths in Leicester Square. Luckily we managed to get some for the very top tier for (a still overpriced) £52pp - but for The Lion King you're really not going to get much cheaper than that! It was bizarre being so high up as I normally ALWAYS pay for stalls seats because you have a much better experience. The show was really good but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we weren't so high up so we could actually see the detailed costumes and face paintings. I think the costumes and make up are what make the show so special, so it was a shame that we couldn't really see them that well. I love going to see new shows but Les Mis will always be my favourite!

We walked from Covent Garden to Leicester Square where we had dinner before going for a wander and ending up in Trafalgar Square. I absolutely love my new jumper from Primark and can't wait to wear it more now the weather's getting colder! So many of my friends asked me where I got it from so they could buy it too - they're always so shocked when they find out a lot of my clothes are from cheaper shops like New Look and Primark! They always go on about me having some form of magical power because I always find hidden gems in the most unlikely of shops! They do the jumper in light grey too if anyone is interested!

xxx

#LFW & MEETING LILY MELROSE

 DUSTER COAT | NEW LOOK

TURTLE NECK | TOPSHOP

RIPPED JEANS | PRIMARK (DIY)

SANDALS | ASOS

BACKPACK | PRIMARK

WATCH | CASIO

I had the weekend off work (which NEVER happens) so thought I'd treat myself by buying some last minute tickets to see Les Miserables in the West End. I've been working pretty much every day since I started my new job at New Look two months ago so thought it was about time I had a weekend off to enjoy myself. Me and my mum were so lucky to get last minute tickets as Les Mis books up months in advance but oh boy did we have to pay for it... was totally worth it though! We were six rows from the front and centre stage so the view couldn't have been better! It just so happened that London Fashion Week fell on the exact same weekend so I made it my mission to pop along to Somerset House to soak up the atmosphere.

We arrived in London at 11 so had plenty of time to visit LFW before heading over to Leicester Square for the theatre at 2:30. I thought there was a small possibility that I might see some celebs/fashion bloggers from afar at Somerset House but I could honestly not believe my luck when one of the biggest fashion bloggers/vloggers in the UK, Lily Melrose, strolled right in front of where me and my mum were standing. I went over to her straight away and asked for a photo (coolness went out of the window, mega fan took over) and she was so lovely and down to earth she didn't seem to mind at all. She said something about us taking a selfie so I rolled with it but I was that much in awe of her I couldn't really focus, not to mention I was shaking like a leaf! Such a ridiculous reaction considering I'm 21 but I was so shocked to see her that I just went all weird and nervous. I was only watching her youtube vids the night before so it was a pretty surreal experience. I also spotted the girls from Two Shoes One Pair and Zoe from London Lipgloss who Lily went over to greet as we were leaving.

LFW really is as crazy as it looks on photos. Although we were only outside Somerset House in the courtyard, the amount of people there with cameras (including me) who would run over to people walking in the entrance wearing the craziest, most extravagant outfits was insane. It's most definitely a case of 'the one wearing the wackiest outfit will get the most attention' and you could tell everyone there was trying to out-do each other to get noticed. Nevertheless the sun was shining, the style stakes were high and it was a very enjoyable day!

Before Les Mis we shared a quick burger at Jamie Oliver's Diner on Shaftesbury Avenue before heading to the theatre for a good old cry. The singing was phenomenal and the production was so extravagant I couldn't help but get massively choked up, especially before the interval and at the very end. Obligatory standing ovation followed. I found out on Instagram that Phoebe from That's So Phoebe was also at the same performance as me which was pretty cool. We headed back to King's Cross that evening for a Nando's before boarding the jam packed train back to Notts.

For those of you who haven't seen Les Mis before, I would seriously recommend it! xx

Ticking off my summer to do list

At the beginning of the summer holidays, I wrote a summer 'to do' list and posted it on my blog so I could cross them off as I completed them. I'm going to do a full recap in September but for now I thought I'd share with you all a few things I've been up to this summer that were on my list.

TRIP TO BERLIN

One of the main things I wanted to do this summer was to go to Germany. I've always been fascinated with the place and my third year dissertation at uni is based on Germany during WWII, so I thought it only made sense to visit the place that I was going to study in such depth come September. My aim was to visit as many museums as I could, whilst experiencing German culture and obviously to do a bit of sight seeing. Me and my mum went for 3 nights and managed to fit in quite a lot whilst we were there, including a 4 hour history tour around Berlin (in 30 degree heat may I add!). I can't even begin to tell you how hot it was so please ignore the lack of imaginative outfits! Stupidly, the majority of clothing I brought with me were made of silk (don't quite know how I managed that) but yeah, very bad idea! So I'm literally wearing the most basic cotton dresses, one of which is actually my mum's top that I wore as a dress! I visited most of the museums that I had planned to visit and saw all of Berlin's famous monuments :) I hope you enjoy looking through some of the photos I took!

 How beautiful is Berlin?

 The Holocaust memorial 

 The Reichstag

 The Brandenburg Gate

Pretend soldiers making me pose - cheeky! 

The Berlin Wall

 Karl Marx and Einstein went to uni here!

In heaven at Dunkin' Donuts!

The famous hotel where the MJ/baby on the balcony incident happened! 

The famous tv tower!

Neptune's fountains! 

 Checkpoint Charlie!

Currywurst

 Famous German beer!

As you can see, the city is enriched with history and beautiful architecture. It has a real laid back vibe to it - the fact we were allowed to sit with our feet in the fountain was just crazy! Definitely would not be allowed to do that in London's Trafalgar Square! The city is so green and there's barely any traffic, there are more cyclists on the road than cars! It certainly doesn't have that hustle and bustle buzz that London has, but maybe I just didn't visit those parts. I'm sure there's a busy nightlife area somewhere, but everywhere we went seemed to be really quiet and relaxed. If you love history, I would definitely recommend going to Berlin! There are so many different tours you can go on which tell you the history of the city right from the beginning (something I didn't think I would find that interesting but absolutely loved!). Most Germans speak perfect English too, so the language barrier wasn't an issue at all. I had a lovely time and would definitely visit Berlin again! 

HARRY POTTER STUDIOS

Yep, I finally forced my boyfriend to go to the Harry Potter Studios with me! Well, I say forced, he was actually pretty up for it! We drank butterbeer and bought Bertie Bott's every flavour jelly beans.. y'know, typical touristy stuff! I'm so glad I went, I love Harry Potter even more now!!

Hope you're all having a great summer too!

xxx