Out and About - Cosmo FashFest

Last week I tagged along with Kat and Lisa to a night with Cosmopolitan Magazine for their annual fashion awards. Hosted at Battersea Evolution, a beautiful venue packed with beautiful, shiny people, on arrival we were given the VIP treatment and handed glasses of fizz and cocktails (Cosmopolitans, of course) before spending probably a little bit too long trying to figure out who was who on the red carpet.

Party Headband in Woohoo - £20

Liberace Heart Belt in Black - £50

Medium Glitter Bow in Fuchsia - £6

After Kat snapped a photo with Alexandra Burke Lisa stalked friend-of-a-friend Leah McFall, and I marvelled at just how glossy Stephanie Pratt was in real life we soaked up some alcohol with scrumptious crispy onion topped mac-n-cheese (how very un-fashion, amazing!) and checked out the bewildering array of beauty treatments on offer; mad props to the girls getting full sets of extensions and spray tans!

Officially, we were there to check out the catwalk show - hosted by the gorgeous Laura Whitmore, it was a look into the high street for the coming season. Here are some of my favourite pieces from the show (click the pictures to buy!)





Catwalk images courtesy Cosmopolitan magazine

Beauty Bites - Hand Luggage Beauty

I'm popping over to Amsterdam this weekend with The Blogcademy and I'm a little ashamed to say that one of the first things I thought of was "how on earth will I be able to pack my beauty bag into hand luggage requirements?!" Yes, I am *that* girl that carts around a whole load of lotions and potions in her handbag on a daily basis, fills a jumbo-sized cosmetics carrier for a night away from home and is always buying into the latest beauty trend. Usually whenever I travel I opt for hold luggage so I don't even have to think about pairing down my daily stash but as it's just for 3 nights I thought I'd give myself the challenge to pair things down a bit...and crikey this still seems like an awful lot of junk!



First up, I got myself the largest clear travel cosmetics case that I could find within the 20cm square allowance. Just £6 for a set of 3 from M&S, it's much easier to see what you actually have packed than stuffing it into one of those crappy plastic sandwich bags that are available at the airport. To comply with hand-luggage regulations, the clear bag must close easily and not be tied at the top.



Next, I stocked up on all my favourite products in miniatures - Boots and Superdrug have dedicated travel sections during the summer months and often deals and money off when you buy multiples. Yes, you could decant into clear plastic bottles and tubs but quite frankly, who's got the time to be trying to decipher if you've got a bottle of conditioner or face wash when you've got a new city to explore?! All vessels must be under 100ml - you can't take bigger bottles that are half full, for example - but aside from shampoo/conditioner/showergel I was quite surprised at how many of my essentials already come in under this size.



When you're short on space, look for products that double up - for example my Piz Buin sun cream is great for face and body and Elizabeth Arden's 8 Hour Cream is a must have for all sorts of skin ailments you might encounter. I chose a moisturising body wash to eliminate the need to moisturise (which realistically, I barely do anyway) My hair isn't in good enough condition to be able to go for a 2 in 1 type shampoo, but it's definitely time to leave the treatments and non-essential products out - I can indulge in a deep protein masque when I get home. One thing I won't scrimp on though is skincare - I've been paying more attention to my face this year than ever before so just relying on facewipes won't cut it anymore. It's all about the compromise!



I always pack a spare pair of contact lenses just in case and it's worth noting that travel size multipurpose solution is available, but you'll find it with the other contact lens care stuff as opposed to travel products - this is just not a product you can decant. I love LUSH gorilla perfume sticks on a day to day basis as they're the perfect size to pop in your handbag, but if you can't part from your jumbo sized bottle of Flowerbomb never fear; travel sized atomisers are readily available and so easy to fill and go.

Truthfully, I could probably *actually* lose about half of this - I mean, are my impending crows feet really going to suffer from not having 3 nights of eye-cream?! - but I find a lot of comfort and enjoyment from my morning and nightly routines. What can I say, I've never had the desire to pack all my worldly belongings into a backpack and rough it around the globe!

Crown and Glory Travels - I love AirBnB

This treetop cabin in Italy is just £88 a night

One of my least favourite parts of planning a trip has always been trying to find somewhere to stay. Gareth and I are not ones for package deals for breaks away, and often our, er, 'creative' budgets have resulted in us staying in some absolute stinkers of places. There was the time in London, where a £95 a night room in a hotel ended up being the converted house down the road, in the front room no less .... We had to leave the TV on in a hope it would discourage burglars! Then there was the hostel in Amsterdam.... The trip advisor reviews I read when booking were OK (people only write on these things when they have something bad to say, right!?) but 2 days before we were due to fly we stumbled across more recent reviews that indicated we'd probably need several rounds of vaccinations if we stayed there. Granted, we've also had some absolute gems in our time as well... the 5* hotel we got the entire stay including flights for the same price as a regular nights' stay (thanks lastminute.com!) and the Bristol trip where a Hilton stay was cheaper than a Travelodge spring to mind. But more often than not, finding good hotels is a costly experience - in both time and money.

Fancy staying in a castle in Ireland? £88 a night

So when I stumbled across AirBnB, well I got excited! AirBnB allows you to rent a bed, a room or a whole apartment from individuals - previous visitors will leave detailed feedback, and AirBnB act as a middleman between the visitor and host with regards to payment and security deposit, and if there are any issues other party needs to arise them itching 48 hours of arriving at their destination and AirBnB have the final say in all disputes. What's more, finding somewhere to stay via AirBnB is up to 45% cheaper than hotel rates! (this statistic is based across the US, but in my experience applies worldwide.)

What about a room in a Spanish Earth House? Just £22 a night!

That's another thing - AirBnB is worldwide, so there are seriously amazing places up for grabs. Cabin in the woods, anyone? Slick New York apartment? A cave house in Spain for under £30 a night?! Sounds too good to be true! Well AirBnB will even send in their own photographers so you know that what you're seeing in the pictures is for real legit.I actually can't see us staying in a hotel for a short break or holidays away again. In both places we have stayed, in London and Prague, the attention to detail from the hosts has been impeccable; iPhone docks and a binder full of recommendations for takeaways, taxis and local restaurants, complimentary bubbly and chocolates and arranging our airport transfers.

 

So, where will your wanderlust take you? Have you stayed in an AirBnB property before?

 

 

Midweek Musings - Springtime Fun

 

This weekend we took some time off to spend with some of Gareth's family in a holiday park in Torquay. Spending quality time off together is rare, but when the sun is shining and we've got the English Riveria almost on our doorstep, it seems criminal to not make the most of it.

We leisurely walked around Torquay, Paignton and Brixham harbours, finding gluten free cream teas and whale sized fish and chips to scoff out of paper on e pier. In the evenings, we played slightly tipsy games of crazy golf and Gareth taught me a couple of card games. The long and the short of it is, especially as I'm recovering from wisdom teeth removable, we did sweet FA and it felt amazing.

 

Often we take what's on our doorstep for granted, instead preferring to fly out of the country to discover wild adventures and must see sites. Sometimes I get scared that if I don't fill my days with challenging, meaningful tasks I'll wake up and wonder if I've wasted my life. But lying on the grass on Saturday afternoon, with the sun on my face and a cold bottle of Brothers cider in my hand, we really could've been anywhere, but wouldn't choose another place in the world. Taking time to enjoy the mundanities of life is a rare but real treat.

Have you embarked on a recent staycation?

 

Crown and Glory Travels - Popping to Prague!

In five weeks' time, myself and Gareth are packing up our handluggage for a well deserved mid-week break in the Czechoslovakian city of Prague.
Truth told, we're not very good travelers. While almost each weekend we're off around the country either for work or to see friends and family, when it comes to hopping on a plane/train/boat and actually taking a break for ourselves, well we haven't had one since a trip to Amsterdam last January. We both love the idea of traveling more and have made it one of our 2013 resolutions. Prague is a city I've always wanted to visit, so when one slightly tipsy night I saw that one of the only dates in the European Paramore tour were still for sale in Prague, we thought, why the hell not?!


We're looking forward to soaking up the predominantly Gothic architecture of Prague Castle, and standing in awe in front of St Vitus's Cathedral. I love to photograph buildings, and Gareth always wanted to be an architect. We'll be paying respect at the old Jewish Cemetery, and I'll ensure a trip to Prague House of Photography is on the cards.


As well as the gig (paying 1300 of something over the internet was a strange phenomenon, I have to tell you!) of course for nighttime activities we're looking forward to sampling the local liquor; me, absinthe icecream and Gareth, the local beer. Though not so sold on cold pickled mackerel to soak it all up though, thanks Time Out.


We've booked our apartment with Air BnB - if you haven't heard of this amazing website yet, oh my god go forth and EXPLORE, my friend! Basically, you're renting either a bed, room or whole dwelling by the night. The site is based on user ratings and Air BnB even send in their own photographers so you know that what you're seeing is totes legit. I used the site to find cheap digs in London in January and our host was amazing, the attention to detail with gadgets and extras was exemplary, the apartment was perfect for our short city break and all for under £70 a night. Here's hoping our Czech apartment is the same!

So, have you got any tips for things we should do when we go on pseudo goth adventures in the Bohemian city? Any tips on places to eat would be gratefully accepted - whilst I'm pretty adventurous with food, the thought of cold mackerel and raw beef on toast makes me feel quite ill.

Images by John & Tina Reid via Flickr