Travel A-Z!

I remembered seeing this post over on Niina's blog quite a while back and loving it. With all the rain we've been having I started to feel really nostalgic for my travelling days, so thought I would do this post! Thankfully, the sun has come out today, so I'm writing this in my conservatory in the sunshine with my feet hanging out of the door! I have a duff laptop that complains if you unplug it from the charger, so that puts paid to outside blogging!

So here we go!

A - Age you went on your first international trip.

I was three years old when I went to Greece. I don't really remember much of the holiday, but the things I do remember are pretty strange! These things must have really made an impression on me; sleeping with a lilo beside my bed incase I fell out in the night; another little girl offering me Opal Fruits at the airport; discussing the pronunciation of spaghetti on the beach (I used to say 'pasghetti'); finding a starfish, and being given a free Looney Tunes lolly everyday by the lady in the shop near our villa! Ah, the three year old mind!

B - Best foreign beer you've had and where.

I drank a LOT of Godfather beer when I was in India, in the Himalayas. It was pretty much all you could get that wasn't going to potentially kill you. I loved that the volume of alcohol was 5-8%. They didn't even know?!

C - Cuisine, favourite.

I loved the food in Thailand the best. Once I got over my food fears and stopped worrying if it was going to make me ill, it was amazing. 25baht Pad Thai on the street is one of my most memorable meals! 

Krabi, Thailand

D - Destinations. Favourite, least favourite, and why.

Out of the places I have visited, my favourite destination is definitely Australia. I just love it, the people are so friendly, the weather is amazing and the scenery is beautiful. I can't put my finger on it, I just love it. My least favourite is probably France. I know it's only just over the pond, but I always feel uncomfortable in France, like the French really don't want me there! I've not had wonderful experiences there. Maybe now I'm older and wiser I'll try again!

E - Event you experience abroad that made you say 'wow'.

This is a really difficult question because there are so many of these and there's probably a ton I don't even remember. Something that I really remember loving is one tiny little island I stayed on in Fiji. The locals would dance for us every night and they even took us to their tiny little church on Sunday morning. It was possibly the sweatiest I've ever been, but I've never felt more welcome anywhere than there.

F - Favourite mode of transport.

This is weird because I love travelling and going to new places, but I hate flying, and I know that's the obvious answer! I have an absolutely irrational fear of it. It's got worse recently and the sad thing is I can't imagine ever taking a long haul flight again. I know I will, because I want to so badly, but I don't know how I'll get over it. Answering the actual question now, my favourite way to travel is by car, because you get to see all the lovely scenery and I think it helps you get a real feel for a place and feel more at home there!

G - Greatest feeling while travelling.

Feeling really comfortable somewhere, like you belong there and should have been there all along! It's the feeling you get after a few days of exploring, when you're not the new girl anymore. Basically just finding a place that suits you and you really click with.

 H - Hottest place you've travelled to.

The more time that passes since being in these places, the less I remember the intensity of the heat. I remember having a genuinely gross sweaty upper lip in Fiji, wanting to cry because I was so hot in Thailand, and saying that leaving the hotel in Las Vegas was walking into an oven. I really can't decide which was hotter. I think maybe Thailand.

I - Incredible service you've experienced and where.

I'll never forget this, because it was so unexpected. We went to a small family run fish and chip restaurant in Mission Beach, Australia for dinner one night, and after sitting in the outdoor seating area all night, the owners gave us the keys and told us to lock up when we were done and put the keys through the letterbox! I couldn't believe how lovely and trusting they were. It made me love Mission Beach so much. 

J - Journey that took the longest.

Leh to New Delhi, hands down. We flew from Delhi to Leh, but on the way back we drove. For THREE days. The first day was the worst ever, it was 18 solid hours in Jeeps on the worst road in the world. Genuinely, it is actually the worst road in the world. I couldn't even enjoy the scenery.

K - Keepsake from your travels.

I never keep a diary at home, but everytime I travel I without fail keep a travel journal. Then I fill it with all things I gather on that trip, like leaflets, receipts for special things, everything! Really random things too.

L - Let down sight. Where and why?

In India I saw the Taj Mahal. At the time I thought it was a huge let down, but in retrospect maybe not so much? It took us five hours to drive there, and when we got there it was tiiiiny. Really small. I thought it was the Indian equivalent of a castle that you could go in and look around. That's just because 16 year old me didn't actually know the story of the Taj Mahal. We got there, looked at it, then drove back.

M - Moment you fell in love with travel.

In Greece for the second time. Looking out of the window of my room at all the little streets I hadn't walked up yet, and thinking, I'm a grown up now and can go out right now and explore by myself! That's when I realise I could explore ANYWHERE by myself. It was the most exciting feeling.

N - Nicest hotel you've stayed in.

I stayed in an amazing hotel in Australia, in my own suite! But that doesn't count because my flight was cancelled and Qantas was paying for it. Still, amazing. I loved Octopus resort in Fiji. We definitely couldn't afford it, but after the roach infested dormitories we'd been sleeping in, we really needed a treat. And a shower! On the day we arrived there were a couple getting married at the resort so we knew we'd hit gold. We were basically part of the wedding party because the place was so small!

Octopus Resort, Fiji. This place was actual, genuine real tropical paradise. Take me baaaaaack!

O - Obsession. What are you obsessed with taking pictures of when travelling?

Food. I always take pictures of my food! I have no idea why. Different foods is one of my favourite parts of travelling. This is totally weird, but I get so excited about the different crisps I'll be able to get in other countries!

P - Passport stamps. How many and from where?

Current passport - none, it's new. Old passport, LOADS. I have an Indian visa, and two stamps from every single country I went to in my gap year. And some from family holidays. I miss my old passport!

Q - Quirkiest attraction you've visited and where?

Without a doubt the giant mango in Australia. It was on the East coast somewhere, I don't really know where. We'd been driving for about 6 or 7 hours and saw a sign for Giant Mango, so we turned off. It was literally just a huge fake mango at the side of the road! 

 

R - Random experience. (Made this one up myself because R was GONE! Gasp!)

Walking down Hollywood Boulevard and being told, "If you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much room!" by a man who was polishing the stars on the walk of fame. If that's not living on the edge, I don't know what is.

S - Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while travelling.

This sounds really pretentious, but experiences. I have no problem paying a whack of money to go and do something really cool that I can't do in my own country. Black Water Rafting in New Zealand = amazing!

T - Touristy thing you've done.

Walked the entire length of the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Both sides of the road baby! I think that was pretty touristy.

U - Unforgettable travel memory.

All the amazing and interesting people I met from all over the world. 

 

V - Visas. How many and for where?

One in my passport for India and one in cyberspace somewhere for Australia!

W - Wine. Best glass and where?

At a vineyard in New Zealand. 

X - eXcellent view and from where?

I would imagine from the sky when I did my sky dive. If only I'd remembered to open my eyes. Damn. Aside from that, flying out of Sydney over the harbour.

Y - Years spent travelling?

Collectively, probably just over a year. More please!

Z - Zealous sports fans and where?

Can't say I've really come across any!? My friends in Australia were very defensive of Aussie rules football though.

Well that was fun! I love a good old reminisce! Looking back at all this has definitely inspired me to travel more. I will get on a plane again! Think I might start short-haul and try to see a bit more of Europe first.

If you haven't looked at Niina's blog yet, go, do it now!

Happy travels!

Weekly Snaps #4

Without further ado.. last week! This is a fairly grey post because, let's face it, its been a fairly grey week. Come on sunshine, do your thing.

1. Dave and I took Rocky for a walk just as the heaven's opened, but I didn't mind one bit because we saw this gorgeous double rainbow! That my friends, is what dreams are made of. My camera doesn't quite do it justice.

2. I know this is just a tea bag, but it has ACTUAL flowers in it. It's an Earl Grey Teapig, possibly the most luxurious (and expensive) tea I have ever tasted. There are little blue cornflowers in there because "they just look so pretty". I swear this tea has my name written all over it.

3. The island of Portland taken from our dog walk. I like to admire it from a distance. 

4. Dave and I had breakfast at Time for Tea; they probably do the best breakfast I have tasted. And compared to London prices it is SO reasonable. We love us a good breakfast.

5. The cutest His and Hers gingerbread people. I feel like the girl definitely gets the better deal here, there's way more chocolate on the girl one! We of course indulged.

6. This is weird and makes me feel a bit sick, but last weekend I discovered my friend's thumb could do this. I think I'm right in thinking that not a lot of thumbs can do that. In other news, I hadn't seen said friend for about four years, so it was lovely to spend time together.

7. Your favourite German Shepherd, Rocky!

8. The most hilarious sentence from the back of the Teapigs box; "Most Earl Greys use poor quality China base tea, which is like palming yourself off as landed gentry when all you own is a Barbour jacket." I feel like that really resonates!

So next week I plan to do a lot more crafting, and I will endeavour to send off some MA application forms. So expect some slightly more exciting photographs. Less dogs, less tea.

Happy Monday!

Book Challenge #3 - Domiknitrix

It may have seemed that I had forgotten about the book challenge that I rather optimistically set myself. This is absolutely not the case, I have just been monumentally lazy with posting about it! So here is a post that we'll backdate to Valentine's Day. 

I absolutely love giving my boyfriend handmade presents. (See previous million posts.) I'm not sure if he loves it so much, but he's really good at pretending if he doesn't. It all started two Easters ago, when I decided to make him a giant Easter themed iced cake. I won't lie, it was no oil painting, but it did taste amazing. I like to think since then that the gifts have only got better. To be fair, they couldn't really have got worse. 

For Valentine's Day this year I wanted to get Dave something super. It was the first present giving occasion that for our whole relationship that I had really been in a position to spend a bit more money. I knew that he loved my Kindle and would seriously make use of one of his own, so it was decided. A Kindle it was. But I was a tiny bit aware that it wasn't a particularly personal gift. It was very thoughtful, because I knew he would be so happy, but it didn't take much to click the order button on Amazon. So I decided to make something I'd had my eye on for a while.

I borrowed this book from a friend at uni and, I'm ashamed to say, never got round to giving it back. Keisha, if you're reading this, I have your book! And sorry. So! Every now and again I would open the book at this page and think, "Oh, I really must make that soon", close it up and put it back on the shelf. And I finally did it!

I'm so glad I decided to make it in the end; it was a fairly easy pattern and I think it turned out quite well! I hadn't done any knitting for so long, so it was almost like going back to the beginning. I really need to get a stitch counter or use some form of writing implement, because I got so confused on the second pattern piece that they are quite drastically different sizes. It didn't show up when I sewed it all together though, fortunately. The embroidery on the front isn't quite as neat and uniformed as in the book, but I think this adds to its authenticity and charm!
 

Dave absolutely loved it, and even though he is a MAN, it is still propped up lovingly on his bedside table. Probably because I would instigate the Spanish Inquisition if it ever moved.
 

Now that I've made something from this book I feel rather accomplished in the art of gothic knitting and feel rather inspired to take up another project! There are some things in the book that I won't touch with a barge pole, but other things - when done in the right colours - could be very tasteful!

Domiknitrix, check!

Nailed.

My quest for the perfect fingernail has taken me down many avenues. I feel like I'm only just discovering how to look after my nails. For example, I have a lot of excess dry skin around my fingernails which someone informed me is called a cuticle. Who knew? Mental. I've started using Lush's Lemony Flutter cuticle butter, which is just amazing. It makes my nails look so much healthier and neater, I absolutely love it. It's not too greasy, which is good, as I really can't abide having a greasy, filmy layer on my hands. So I'm glad that this soaks in quickly. 

I have also discovered Models Own. This is where all the cool nail varnish has been hiding, clearly. I recently purchased three of the new Hedkandi collaboration and I just can't get enough of them. It was 3 for 2, so it would have been foolish not to take advantage. I availed myself of Beach Party, Ibiza Mix and Disco Heaven. Now I haven't used Disco Heaven yet, but the other two are just so far up my street.   

Beach Party is the brightest, most beautiful orange colour I have ever seen. To begin with it did look a bit like I had coloured in my nails with a highlighter pen, but that look does grow on you. And Ibiza Mix speaks for itself; I love me a glitter nail varnish. I think it would probably look better layered over a more subtle colour, because the orange slightly overpowers it and you can't see the colours quite as well. 

I only painted these bad boys yesterday and I annoyingly have to take it off today, because I have work tomorrow and bright orange nails will probably not go down so well...

I really think Beach Party is the perfect orange colour for the summer; allow yourselves to imagine it against a tan. I know, right! All we need now is a bit of sunshine and warmth and we might be halfway there..

Weekly Snaps #3

I hope everyone has had  a lovely week and made the most of their extra long weekend! Here are a few photos from last week. There are less this week; I was back at work and apparently just had a less interesting time...

1. My Easter egg from my parents! This was such a nice little surprise; I can't remember the last time my parents got me and my sisters eggs?! It made it extra special because it was so unexpected.

2. I went to see 21 Jump Street with David. I feel like I haven't seen a funny film in ages, and if it is funny it usually makes me cry too - that sort of laugh-and-cry-at-the-same-time type film. But this was just pure hilarity. I've never seen Channing Tatum in anything other than girly chick flicks, where he tends to play a dancer (typecast much?!), but this role suits him down to the ground. And I just love the relationship between his and Jonah Hill's character, they really gel well. I can't recommend it enough!

3. Some gorgeous handmade coasters my mum brought back for me from Cornwall. I always seems to have a little collection of glasses on my bedside table and they have been known to leave the odd watermark here and there. But no longer! And these motivate me to take any surplus glasses downstairs to the dishwasher!

4. The Easter egg I made for David of which I am ridiculously proud. Words cannot describe. It's filled with all of his favourite chocolates. And he loved it. Success!

5. A lovely lunch my Mum and I shared last week. I love meals like this; I tend to get a bit bored if I have to trawl through a whole plate of the exact same thing. All washed down with a nice glass of elderflower presse.

6. I badly need to do something with all my Vogue magazines. I've had a subscription for about four years now and I find it so difficult to throw them away! I have about five times what you see in the picture. At the moment, I'm thinking of giving them to the textiles department of my old school so students can use them for inspiration for projects. Can anyone think of anything really cool I could do with them? I'm totally at a loss.

7. Picked up this handbag in the Warehouse sale. I think they always have really good sales, but that might be because I think everything is so overpriced in the first place! I love this though and it goes with EVERYTHING.

8. I can't get enough of this lip scrub. I seem to be constantly on the lookout for something to soften up my lips. It tastes amazing! I use my Elizabeth Arden lip balm afterwards and I actually think it might be working! 

I have vowed to blog more this week, but we'll see...

Happy Thursday!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Sunday everyone! I've just got back from a super long walk along the beach with my family, which involved a lovely cold can of Coca Cola, as Lent is over today! A happy day for all, I'm sure you'll agree. I hope everyone else has had equally lovely days.

I always get super excited for Easter Sunday; my boyfriend always gets me the coolest most original egg. He is simply marvellous at sourcing gifts. We've given each other an Easter egg every year since we met, I have no idea why - it's just something we started and then never stopped. And it would be weird if we stopped now. This year I wanted to do something extra different. I'd been doing a little casual egg browsing and was wholly unimpressed by this years offerings! The only thing I could potentially have gone for was a Hotel Chocolat treat, but at a minimum of £25 each, I thought they were a little steep. 

In a stroke of genius when I was at work one night, I decided to papier mache a giant egg and fill it with all of David's favourite chocolates. I knew he would love it and it was super thoughtful. And so my adventure began in the confectionary aisle of the supermarket...

 

Then I papier mached a giant balloon! In hindsight, it is slightly too big and doesn't have enough layers to be quite strong enough.. I am a HUGE perfectionist. And I tell you, it's a curse. When I painted it, it went all floppy again, so I declared a state of emergency and put it in the oven to dry out. Which would have worked a treat, had it not warped the shape of one of the halves so they didn't fit together anymore. Fear not, copious amounts of sellotape later, the egg is whole. And full of lots of yummy goodies that will probably last Dave the whole year. 

I can't even explain how excited I am to give this to Dave, I think it's the best thing I've ever made for him. Here is the finished article...

So proud!

I'm going to have to tell him that once it's opened, it sure isn't going back together again. So maybe take it home and show it off before he cracks it open. Because it's fairly unimpressive without the ribbon, plus some sellotape and in two halves!

Hope everyone has had a lovely extra long weekend, roast dinners all round. :-)

Weekly Snaps #2

Ok, so fortnightly snaps this time. I've just finished two weeks holiday from work and had the most delightful time. In the first week I did lots of blogging, but one of my sisters was home from uni for the second week so I ended up not even turning my laptop on. Here are a few snaps of the most delightfully sunny two weeks!

Click the photo to make it bigger so you can actually see what all these things are..

1. At the end of my first weeks holiday, I went to London to pick my sister up and help her carry her ridiculously heavy luggage home. In my three whole years of living in London, I never actually stopped to watch the street performers in Covent Garden. But these guys were seriously amazing. I have never seen anyone look quite so at home on a unicycle. But then I have seen relatively few people on unicycles. Look how high that thing is!

2. This cute little florist in Covent Garden is new to me; its in a new development that wasn't finished when I left. I believe it's called St Martin's Courtyard, and its just like a little village. We sat there for about half an hour and I almost completely forgot I was in the middle of the city.

3. I cashed in my Glossybox offer of a complimentary hand and arm massage with Molton Brown at Harrods, and received this cute little gift bag full of tons of samples from their new skincare range. The eye cream is AMAZING.

4. The courtyard in the V&A is one of my favourite places in London, strangely enough. My sister lives in South Kensington, a stone's throw from the V&A, she can practically see this from her window yet she'd never been! We sat and had lunch there in the sunshine! 

5. Again, a first for me! I went on my first Thames river cruise. It wasn't one of the actual tours, we just hopped on one for the clippers for a more scenic journey to Greenwich Market. I snapped this photo when we directly under the London Eye. 

6. Took this in the reflection of my sister's sunglasses. This is probably the most arty photo I've ever taken and I'm ridiculously proud!

7. I had a birthday!

8. We ate at The Stable (again) for my birthday, and this was the view from our table. 

9. Garlic bread! The weirdest, most buttery garlic bread I've ever eaten. This garlic bread + lilac jeans = disaster.

10. Dave and I went to town with the sole purpose of buying a Rossi's ice cream. If you haven't tasted it you won't understand, but its the best. It's practically famous.

11. Said ice cream.

12. The Hunger Games! I won't go into this now, but I wasn't massively impressed with the film. If you've seen it but haven't read the books, I would LOVE to know what you thought of it. 

13. Sat here for a few hours on my birthday, waiting for everyone to finish work so we could do birthday type things. I was really enjoying myself until I looked down and saw a dead pigeon floating in the harbour. Directly beneath where I was sitting.

14. Dave and I went on a super long walk with...

15. Rocky the dog! Only the best dog ever. Dog owners, feel free to contest this.

16. It was a seriously long walk, so a Lush bath bomb on return was a prerequisite. I didn't realise this had glitter in it until it was far too late. Needless to say, I am still finding glitter now.

Wowza. Terribly sorry if this is awfully boring, it wasn't supposed to be this long... Also, it may appear that I have forgotten about my book challenge. Well this is just not so. I have an incredibly overdue post on something I knitted in February that looks suspiciously like a heart. When I've taken some photos it's going straight on here. I'm also planning to knit a German Shepherd before April is out, but don't hold me to that. 

Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine! :-)