Flexible Working...

One of the things I like most about blogging is that it's an escape from my everyday life; it gets me out the house exploring new things. Working full time and writing my blog as a hobby means that I fit taking photos and writing around my busy schedule. When PowWowNow got in touch asking if I wanted to contribute to their Flexible Working Guide, it got me thinking about the best bits of being free to blog from wherever I want to...

The best part about having flexibility and being free to choose where I blog from has to be getting to eat my way round local cake/coffee shops! Besides from being able to keep my sweet tooth satisfied, working from independent coffee shops means I get to explore London whilst getting work done. As long as I have my laptop, wifi and cake, I'm sorted!

Interested in flexible working tips and locations? PowWowNow has a handy guide here (you may even spot yours truly somewhere towards the back..!). 

A Weekend in Amsterdam...

For the last May bank holiday, Ben and I made a last minute decision to jump on the Eurostar and spent a fab weekend in Amsterdam! We got some tips from work colleagues, packed our bags and spent an incredible 4 days in the amazing city. We got really lucky with the weather so spent most of the time exploring the city on bikes. My favourite day was definitely the Saturday, biking round Vondelpark and lazing in the sunshine.

A Weekend In Warwickshire...

This weekend Ben and I spent a wonderful weekend in Warwickshire. I thought we were heading to Brighton for a day trip on Saturday but Ben has secretly planned a little getaway to Stratford-Upon-Avon! We stayed in beautiful Farmhouse Cottage he found on Airbnb, if the accommodation wasn't beautiful enough, it even had a hot tub overlooking the incredible Costwolds landscape! Naturally I had my camera in hand and to plenty of pictures so here's a our weekend in Warwickshire photo diary! 

London Coffee Festival...

Last weekend, Ben and I headed to London Coffee Festival with a couple of our friends. We went two years ago and really enjoyed it so thought we'd go again! Like last time, London Coffee Festival is kind of part trade show, part festival/market. 

Backyard Cinema...

I love a love story. So when I saw that Backyard Cinema was going to be showing Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, I knew I had to get tickets. Ever since my Year 9 English teacher showed us sections of the film to help us understand Shakespeare's text, I've been slightly obsessed. It felt like we had to wait ages for 2nd April to come around, but yesterday was finally the day to see Leo on the big screen!

Easter Weekend...

This Easter Weekend has been full of indulgence, proved by the fact that the only photos I took were of food! Starting with a trip to Greenwich Market and ending with an almighty feast yesterday I think I've eaten enough to last me until next Easter! 

For our Easter Sunday extravaganza, Mum made an incredible choux bun ring filled with whipped cream/strawberries and topped with dark chocolate and mini Easter eggs - it was insanely tasty! It's now definitely time to get back to healthy eating...

Where In The World...

Back in January, I was contacted about being involved with Rental Car's Where In The World Quiz and I was lucky enough to have one of my photos selected to feature in it (mine's the Penshurst image, let me know if you spot it!). The campaign got me looking back at all the places I've visited in the last few years. It was great fun looking through photos I'd forgotten I'd taken on my travels so I thought I'd post them on here as a reminder to myself of some of my favourite parts of the UK and beyond!

As part of its campaign, Rental Cars did some research on the most underrated and overrated places to visit in the world - looks like I definitely need to book that trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights! Have you got any underrated holiday destinations that you'd recommend? Let me know!

Making a House a Home...

Technically a flat and not a house but, after just nearly two months in our new place, it is finally starting to feel like a home. We've put our own stamp on the place by going a bit photo crazy and investing in a few pieces that we can take away with us.

One of my favourite things we've purchased is the Ikea Hjälmaren wall shelf. I've been obsessed with these types of shelf for so long and as soon as we knew we were moving into our own place it was the first thing on my list to buy! I've finally got it looking how I want it to and couldn't resist taking a #shelfie. We're still slowly adding to our collection of homeware and I officially feel like an adult! 

Are there any great brands/shops that you've bought some great bits for your home from?

Mother's Day...

Since moving out of home at the beginning of the year I see my Mum (and the rest of my family) a lot less than I used to. Being someone who's a massive homebody it's been quite weird not sitting down at the family table every evening for dinner. Now that I'm a 'proper' adult, I'm even more aware of the things my Mum (and Dad) have done for me over the years. I'm truly thankful for the opportunities they have given me and for always making me feel like I could achieve anything as long as I put hard work in. I know I don't say thank you enough so this is me shouting out to the world a massive thank you to the most incredible woman in my life. 

Happy Mother's Day Mum x

#InghamsWinterClosingParty...

If you've followed my blog for a while, or if you saw last week's post, you'll know that I love skiing. When I got an email inviting me to #InghamsWinterClosingParty at The Montague on the Gardens Hotel on Friday night, I knew it'd be right up my street! 

To celebrate the end of the season, Inghams got a group of bloggers together for an evening of food, games and a final winter send-off including a snow machine! Nestled in the Montague Cabin Lodge, the night included a game of 'Play Your Resorts Right' and a photo competition featuring some amazing retro ski gear! Despite having been to several places in the higher or lower game, I did pretty shockingly - I really should pay more attention to how high up I am on the mountains rather than taking chairlift selfies! The evening finished with the announcement of who'd won the games and I couldn't believe it when they announced I had won the photo competition! 

Thanks so much to Inghams for a great evening and for my lovely prize! Having been back from skiing for a week, it was the perfect cure for my alpine withdrawal symptoms! 

Val-d'Isère: Skiing Photo Diary...

If you follow my Instagram you'll know that I've spent this last week in the beautiful Val-d'Isère skiing. I took my camera and GoPro along so thought I'd put together a skiing photo diary! We got incredibly lucky with the weather, it was only a white out on the first and last days, the rest were full of glorious sunshine! 

I've been back less than 24 hours and I'm already missing the mountains #majorholidayblues! Have any of you been to any great ski resorts? Let me know as I'm always on the lookout for more beautiful places to head to! 

Sofar Sounds...

Ben and I have quite different musical tastes but love to get out and listen to live music. At the end of last year, Ben introduced me to Sofar Sounds - gigs that take place in intimate settings all over the world. We've been to three so far (it would have been four had we got our dates right in New York!). The latest one we attended took place on Monday at We Work in Aldgate so I thought I'd take my camera along! 

The thing I love most about Sofar is that you get to hear some incredible acts you'd never normally get exposed to. Whilst most of the evenings are predominantly music, this week's event included poetry/spoken word. Normally this would not be my thing at all but getting to hear Laurie Bolger give the back story to where the poems came from opened up a more interesting side to poetry for me. Also playing were Jordan Mackampa and Passport to Stockholm who are now firm favourites on my playlist! 

If you're looking for a great night out that doesn't break the bank I'd definitely recommend checking the Sofar website to see if they happen in your city! Have you been to anything similar to Sofar? I'd love to find more things happening like this in London! 

Breakfast in Clapham...

Now that Ben and I are settled into our new flat, we decided it was time to get exploring and have breakfast in Clapham Old Town. As we were pretty peckish we opted for one of the first places we walked past, The Jam Tree. 

The Jam Tree doesn't have the largest menu but it was definitely difficult to choose what to have (I could have eaten pretty much all of the options!). In the end, I went with the Central American Breakfast; spicy scrambled egg, sour cream, avocado, refried beans and fresh curd cheese. Ben went for the meatiest option - the Cowboy Breakfast - consisting of  baby back ribs, pulled pork, potato hash, maple glazed bacon and eggs. It was a great (and tasty) way to start a Sunday morning. Also, a place that gives you sweets with the bill is always going to be a winner with me! Do you have any recommendations for places we should try in Clapham? Let me know! 

#BloggersBelowZero | ICEBAR LONDON...

On Monday rather than having the normal the-weekend-is-over blues, I was wishing the work day away so that I could head to @LDNmeet's latest event, #BloggersBelowZero at ICEBAR LONDON. If you've not heard of it, ICEBAR LONDON is located just off of Regent Street and at a nippy -5c° it is the only permanent bar made of ice in the UK. 

The evening started downstairs in the warmth of the cellar bar where we were greeted by delicious cocktails and canapés. I bumped into Kirsty who I met at #WimbledonSummerParty and met some lovely new bloggers Chanel, Nicola and Nevena. 

Before being let loose in the ICEBAR, Marketing Manager Tom explained why he was so keen to work with bloggers and how as a group we are hugely passionate about what we write. He then introduced Molly the digital editor from Phoenix Magazine, who introduced the bi-annual publication and the launch of their new monthly online publication which launches tomorrow! 

Each year the venue changes its theme and the current one is 'ICEBAR London Rocks.' Gigantic skulls and an incredible tattoo covered woman carved into the wall filled the ice room. The theme even goes as far as the cocktails with 'Rock' drinks on offer; I went for a We Will Rock You! The ice itself is actually harvested from Sweden and then carved by a specialist team of designers and sculptors. For the night we were split into groups and had 40 minute sessions in the room. For someone who really feels the cold, this was the perfect length of time as we left just as my fingers started to get numb from all the photograph taking and not wearing gloves! If you're looking for an unconventional night out with some fabulous drinks and staff, ICEBAR is the perfect option! 

There was also a photographer from RDA Images who took some amazing pictures, below are a couple they snapped of me!

A huge thank you to Lauren and LDNmeet for organising such a fab event and to ICEBAR London for making us bloggers feel truly appreciated! Find more photos and other posts on #BloggersBelowZero!