Monday, May 30, 2016

Holiday Diaries: Murano Island, Venice

Venice.. where do I even start, the last 4 days seems likes a dream! 
Venice has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember and if you follow me on Instagram you'll of been inundated with beautiful photos but for those of you who have visited Venice you'll know just how beautiful it is and understand when I say I still how so many more to share which is I thought I'd do a mini holiday diaries series!


 I'm going to split the posts into days but as we fit a lot into our first day this ones going to be a biggy - maybe grab yourself a cuppa first!

Throughout our holiday we stayed on the Island of Murano, which is a short water taxi ride away from both Marco Polo airport and mainland Venice. 


We stayed in the LaGare Hotel on the island of Murano both for its luxury boutique feel on a budget and the location a short ride from both the airport and mainland Venice.



Murano is famous for its glass blowing and the hotel showcased pieces from the islands rich heritage everywhere you looked. 



The hotel perfectly blended a dark palette of modern boutique chic with classic Venetian style. 


The staff were amazing and couldn't do enough for you, from offering advice on the best restaurants to directions to must see attractions. When we checked in we were told we had been upgraded as we were celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary.


We weren't however expecting the sight that met us, luxury living set across two floors! 


Safe to say there was an excited squeal and jump on the bed moment when we first walked in!



When we were initially booking the hotel we found out they offered free speedboat transfers to and from the airport and Venice each day. We pictured ourselves stepping off the plane onto a speed boat that would make a James Bond villain jealous and it didn't disappoint.


Theres nothing quite like feeling the wind in your hair and sun on your face as you speed past some of the most beautiful architecture in history.


Got the wind in my hair bit down to a T!

Once we'd got over the excitement of the ride in and then stopped jumping up and down in the room we wanted to make the most of our short time and we set out to explore the island.






Everywhere you looked there were shops brimming with intricate and unusual glassware made on the island and huge sculptures, this one lit up on a night like a huge beacon.


We then hopped onto a water bus to another island Burano - but thats a story for another day.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Thursday Thoughtful #7


Ok, so bare with me with this one. Happiness to you might not be chips & guacamole like it is to me, but happiness is the little things. Sunshine in the car ride home after work, a great dessert, your personal best at the gym, catching up with a best friend. You get my drift, if you only measure life by the big things your highlights reel is going to be a short one but if you measure it by the times you belly laughed or just smiled to yourself it looks a whole lot better.

My Thursday has been spent with a glass of wine and catching up with an old friend which in my eyes is the perfect evening. Hope you had a good one too! 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Let the Adventures Begin

Its been a while since I posted a party planning / event post but don't think its been quiet on that front. I've always got some event on the go. The most recent being a surprise retirement party for my mum. My mum is the most thoughtful and caring person I know and after a lifetime of providing for the family I felt she deserved a party marking her decent into multiple holidays, regular lie ins and not knowing what day of the week it was.

As she's taken to the multiple holiday thing pretty well (she has 5 booked this year) I felt an adventure theme was fitting.



I invited close family & friends to a champagne afternoon tea at The Great Victoria Hotel  where I decorated the room with vintage suitcases, globes, atlas's, maps, flowers and candles to make the theme come alive.



I loved trawling charity shops, eBay and prop sales to pull together the look and spent many nights making the 2 banners that hung above the fire place and luggage labels that doubled at place settings.
However keeping the secret from my mum and making sure other guests didn't slip up kept me on edge the whole planning process, especially when she would drop by my house whileI was making decorations. Que running round like an idiot hiding everything!


I also had these beautiful cake pops made as favours for guests from Popalicious Cake Pops which went down a treat! 



The stage was set all we needed was the lady herself and safe to say I think she was surprised!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Out of Office




The work out of office is on and now so is the blog one! It’s been a whole year since I married my best friend, I can't believe how fast its gone! We've decided to mark the occasion with a trip to Venice. I can't wait to see all the sights, sip Bellini's and take a gondola ride. Normal posts will resume when we are back at the end of the month but till then here’s a little peek at our wedding video (I still tear up at certain bits - all the feels!)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday #6

Watercolor quote iphone wallpaper {lifestyleandliving.se}

 Todays Thoughtful Thursday really resonated with me, the year seems to be flying by so fast! I mean we're in May already! Given how quickly time pasts us by it seems silly to spend each day worrying over what has already passed.

I quite often can find myself thinking about past situations and beating myself up over what I should/shouldn't of said and other than making myself feel miserable no good comes of these day dreams. That time has been and gone. Whats done is done and its time to focus on the here and now and its pretty damn good!


Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Venice Calling

Todays post is a mini haul, we decided for our first anniversary to mark it with a special trip, somewhere thats been on our bucket list for a while... VENICE! This obviously meant an ASOS haul was needed, but as we are only going for 4 days it was on the mini side, more money for gelato and bellinis when we get there!


The first item that caught my eye was this New Look striped dress, I figured it would be perfect for sight seeing during the day with white converse pumps and a denim jacket or dressed up on an evening with wedges and a clutch bag a versatile number for under £30!


Then this little number "fell" into my basket its made of the softest fabric and will be perfect for travelling in, with a leather jacket and pumps and this belt to nip it in at the waist.



I then fell in love with this top - so classic! Perfect paired with jeans and flats for day or cropped trousers and heels for night, I love the button detailing on the back!



I then added a few pairs of jeans and this multi pack of t-shirts - you can never have too many basics!
My favourite purchase has to be these Quay Australia sunglasses, with mirrored lenses and marbled rims.

I'm still on the hunt for a few more additions to my capsule wardrobe for Venice but I'm pretty pleased with the start of it!








Monday, May 16, 2016

Room Tour: Spare Room

The spare room without a doubt is the room I'm proudest of and the room that needed the most work, as the previous owners ran an at home beauty salon from it.

Before


When I first said I wanted to paint the room deep blue with rose gold accents the husband and family weren't convinced, but I'm so glad I stuck to my guns as its turned out better than I could of hoped.


The room used to be the master before our loft extension so I knew it was big enough to take a dark colour and as the rest of the house is a soft neutral palette I wanted to play around with a richer colour in this room.


I have been in rose gold for-EVER now and wanted to incorporate it into the room, but with rose gold beds going for £500 my budget didn't really stretch to that so instead I got a little creative and decided to up cycle some old furniture.  I spray painted my old childhood bed using this spray paint, and then started piecing together other rose gold accessories from the high street.


Side table - Matalan (a bargain at only £8!)
Lamp - Home Sense
Photo Frame - Paperchase



Ceiling light - Made.com


Wire baskets - Matalan (similar here

Now that our guests have the perfect place to stay my next project is our room!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday #5


This week has been one of those weeks where everything has fallen into place. Don't get me wrong it was far from plain sailing it involved hard work, determination and a fair amount of tears! It involved  late night, early mornings and exhaustion. It involved carrying on when all I wanted to do was give up - thank god for that husband of mine and his pep talks! 

But the quote is true, never give up. Whether your armour is a red lip, a sassy outfit or just a mindset put it on and go get it.

Good things come to those who hustle after all!



Saturday, May 07, 2016

Foreo Luna Review


I've been wanting to try the Luna cleansing brush for a while now but the price tag meant with the house it moved further and further down my to buy list. When I spotted the lovely Zoe from Zoe's 101 hosting a giveaway on her Instagram I had to enter and I won! So I thought I'd review them for you.




Foreo say:


"The revolutionary designed LUNA 2 is an enhanced T-Sonic™ face brush and anti-aging system that gives you a completely personalized cleansing. The LUNA 2 is now available with four specialized brush types for a tailor-made skin care experience."



I received the Luna 2 in mint which is for oily skin, I find it works best when I take my make up off with Micellar water first and then use my Liz Earle cleanser with the Luna to really clean deep into my pores. The brand says you can see results from using it just 2 minutes a day. 1 minute to cleanse using the bristles on the front (it pulses every 15 seconds to tell you to move to another area) and 1 minute on the reverse to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.

I'm not too sure about the anti ageing promises but as a cleanser its amazing. My skin has never felt so clean or soft after using it for only a week. Its now a firm staple in my skin care routine, the fact its rechargeable and 100% water proof means it will be for some time! Plus they both also look great on my bathroom shelf!

The Luna Plays compact design means my skincare routine doesn't have to change when I'm on the move either. It isn't rechargeable but lasts for 100 uses!

Whats your skincare routine?



Thursday, May 05, 2016

Thoughtful Thursday #4

// 


This could not be more apt for the day I've had today!

I am a BIG believer in this quote, I generally try to live by the motto treat others how you'd like to be treated, though there’s many people who I've had the displeasure of crossing paths with who don't live by this and will happily give no regards to your feelings, until they need you or need you to do a favour. This bit is key because they always eventually need you for something!

I quite often try to diffuse a situation (particularly if it’s a work one where I can't say exactly what’s on my mind without being fired!) by killing someone with kindness, if they choose to act a certain way don't lower yourself to their level and be defined by their poor choice words. I find most often than not if you react in a dignified way, it only highlights further how poorly that individual has behaved and they will be too embarrassed to continue.

Hope you have a better day than me!



Monday, May 02, 2016

New House: Room Tour Lounge

So I have a new obsession... interiors! Also the reason why this little space on the internet has been a little quiet.. we bought a house!!

I'm officially a grown up a married lady and own a house. I truly understand why people say that both these events are the most stressful thing you'll ever do! But were finally in and its all ours after years of renting. We lived with my father in law prior to buying for 2 months as the rent was up on our old place and it gave us time to save. As tough as it was to give up having our own space it meant we had the time and budget to put together each room which was a lot of fun and meant each weekend was spent shopping!

We were lucky in the fact the house needed very little work other than putting our own stamp on it and it was so exciting to see the vision in my head/ on my Pinterest board come to life. I thought today I show you the before and after of our lounge as it was first room to be completed and I'm so pleased with how it came together.

before 



after






Heres my tips for creating your dream space:

1. Pinterest is your best friend
I spent so much time on Pinterest getting inspiration for each room, from colour ways to finishing touches Pinterest is a hive of information and is great for coming up with new idea. You can follow my home board here

2. Small budget doesn't equal small results
We had a tight budget that once we'd bought our bed & sofa (the two areas we agreed to spend the most on) didn't leave much room for extravagant purchases. We got clever in getting the most out of stores, shopping in the sale, signing up to newsletters that meant money off your first purchase, cash back from Quidco and sold our old items on Ebay or a car boot to maximise the most of our budget. The main thing that helped a make the budget go further was when we decided on an item we wanted we shopped around and didn't buy it the first place we found it. This meant we saved a lot! Although its time consuming its totally worth it when you stumble across the perfect item for less! Theres also a lot to be said for Ebay, Gumtree and the likes of Home Sense they are bargain heaven!

3. Don't always buy new up-cycle!
Furniture is so expensive! Even Ikea's prices are slowly creeping up, so I decided to get creative and buy pieces from Ebay & Gumtree that with a bit of love and a lick of paint would be perfect for a fraction of the price and probably a lot better quality. Our dining table, chairs, console table in the hall and spare bed have all garnered compliments from visitors and were all old pieces that were up cycled! More on that on future posts.

4. Don't be afraid to play with textures & colour
I'm not a fan of match matchy you know the room sets in Next where the rug matches the cushions which match the curtains - you get the idea! Don't get me wrong they look lovely and I'm a huge fan of Next but I prefer to play around with a colour palette more. I'd always wanted a grey lounge and decided rather than choose another accent colour I used different shades of grey and textures to create an interesting look that could easily be updated by adding in another colour at a later date or on a daily basis by using decorative pieces such as flowers.