The Peak District

On the top of Mam Tor

The beautiful streets of Castleton

Football by the barn

The camping barn

Amy and I

I made the most of the recent bank holiday weekend and spent all three days in the Peak District with seven of my friends! We stayed in a camping barn near Edale, which was great because the countryside was beautiful and rolling yet civilisation was not too far away. We slept on the floor and cooked on a fire, so it was pretty much like camping, except we avoided the hassle of having to put up and take down tents. Asides from the cold, I think this is the perfect level of camping for me! We spent a lot of time exploring the local town of Castelton. We visited the two most popular caves – “Devils Arse” which is huge, and Speedwell which is an old (and very narrow!) lead mine. We also climbed Mam Tor and did a lot of eating out! If you plan on visiting the area, I highly recommend the Old Nags Head in Edale, it was large and cosy and the food was delicious.

Barbecuing veggie sausages!

Pretty shops in Castleton

James enjoying the view at the top of Mam Tor

The view from Mam Tor

Frisbee by the barn

The first night that we stayed at the barn we had a long lazy barbecue with lots of Henry Westons cider (which I felt in the morning.) Since graduating from uni and moving back home I miss my friends most when it’s a sunny afternoon and we would normally head to the nearest pub garden or park with a picnic blanket. I thoroughly enjoyed lots of long overdue picnic blanket times with my friends at the barn. On the last day, we swam in the heated outdoor lido in Hathersage. The view wasn’t quite as stunning as the Ilkely lido, but whoever thought of heating outdoor pools is a genius! We had sunshine (well, a lack of rain at least) for the whole three days which is pretty unheard of for Derbyshire – thank you camping gods!

Thanks for letting me share with you 🙂 I can’t wait for next year’s annual staycation, I’m putting in a vote for the Isle of Skye!

My Birthday Outfit!

This is what I wore out to dinner for my birthday last week! I’m wearing paisley again, which might be a bit samey but at least I know what I like! I bought this blazer probably a year and a half ago from the vintage section in Urban Outfitters. I don’t wear it that often cause it’s not really a daytime jacket (although perhaps it should be!) When I was in Birmingham last month I found this skirt in Cow which almost matches my jacket, so I had to buy it. It’s a gold overload, and I love how over the top they look together! I’ve actually been wearing this skirt a lot  with black t-shirts day-to-day and I really love the length.

Outfit details: Jacket, Vintage (Urban Outfitters / Skirt, Vintage (Cow, Birmingham) / Top, ASOS / Shoes, Ebay / Necklaces, a gift

These necklaces were a birthday present from a couple of my friends. They’re so pretty and dainty, and I love the designs! It was a lot of fun wearing red on my lips and eyeliner on my upper lids – I feel like I haven’t done my makeup like that in forever! Also, do you like the pom poms I glued to my shoes? They’re not really involved enough to be a “DIY” so I’m not posting about them separately, but I think it makes my shoes a lot more fun!

April In Review

Mum and I have been gardening this month. We’ve planted hanging baskets (with the assistance of my very knowledgable Nana) and some pretty colourful potted plants (on a bench in the garden so that Archie can’t eat them!) I’ve also planted a bed of bee-friendly wildflowers, and some tomatoes, strawberries and scotch bonnets. I’ve not been very good at gardening in the past, so fingers crossed I’m more succesful this time!

James has visited a lot this month (yay!) This is him helping me make cupcakes. We’ve also been on a day out to Birmingham, gone on a lot of walks and watched a lot of Buffy (only one more season to go! Season 6 was my favourite so far.)

Asides from my birthday, blossoms must be the best thing about April. I’m lucky that my street is filled with blossom trees!

This is me looking groovy in my daytime birthday outfit 🙂

April has been a really fun blogging month! I’ve worn these funky Lavish Alice dungarees, some printed trousers from People Tree, and a vintage jumpsuit in Sorrento. I’ve shared my travel photos from Italy, an interview with Oh Dear Drea (one of my all time favourite bloggers!) and this tasty cupcake recipe. Archie made an appearance as the Easter Bunny, I did my first ever wishlist post, shared some photos my friend Joe took of me and last but not least announced that I will be opening an etsy shop! Phew.

If you hadn’t already gathered, yesterday was my birthday. I love birthdays, and I had a lovely relaxed day staying in my pyjamas until noon, eating blueberry waffles, drinking sangria and eating out with James and my family in the evening. I’m really looking forward to travelling to the Peak District with my friends this weekend. We will be staying in a camping barn again, just like we did for my last birthday!

My last piece of news is that Archie did not enjoy his bunny date, so we didn’t bring a new bunny home. The stress of travelling to the RSPCA actually made him quite ill (maybe he thought we were going to leave him there?) But you’ll be pleased to know he’s feeling better now. Although I feel bad for making him worry, it’s good to know that he’s happy being a bachelor bunny, and that his human family is company enough!

Here’s to a succesful May! What have you been up to this month? 🙂

Birthday Wishlist

I have never done a wish list on this blog, but since my birthday’s coming up and I seem to have spent a lot of time window shopping online recently, I thought it was about time! Do you ever think about what you would do if you won a million pounds? I do, and I think I would spend a lot of money on a shopping spree. Although, I’m trying to buy less and wear more, so I would probably buy a few expensive but very funky items of clothing.

 These ASOS Platforms are amazing! The pom poms are so cute, and I love the idea of embroidered shoes. I actually tried to DIY these last week, but it was not successful… I’m so glad I discovered Discount Universe. I mean, I can’t afford to buy anything from them but the crazy, colourful, over the top clothes remind me of how much fun getting dressed can be. If I had this rainbow two piece, you can bet I would wear it all summer! My love for bell bottoms is still going strong! These Miracle Eye Bells are definitely party trousers and choosing my favourite pair of Novella Royale Bells is seriously hard. How about a pair for every day of the week?

Since blogging, I’ve become more interested in makeup (although I still don’t wear very much) and I’ve been drawn to darker shades recently (although they’re not very summery!) I wouldn’t mind everything from the Lime Crime Clueless Witch collection and this halloweeny Serpentina shade. Every time I go into Lush I try on this Fantasy Gold liquid makeup – I would definitely wear it as lipstick! My hair is very problematic, and I swore by the Aussie hair care range until they were no longer cruelty free. The best cruelty free hair care I’ve tried so far is the Lush Fairtrade Honey shampooand American Cream conditioner, but they’re expensive! I loved watching the second series of the Great British Sewing Bee, and I would love to make some clothes from the Great British Sewing Bee book! I’m really into sewing at the moment, so I’d also love the DIY Couture book – I want to know hot to sew without a pattern! I follow the Everyday Sexism project on twitter and the Everyday Sexism book should be a really interesting (if slightly depressing) read.

What I Wore: The British Museum

For my mum’s birthday, my brother and I spent the day with her in London visiting the British Museum and eating yummy food. I love visiting London, but there’s never enough time to do all the things I want to do and see all the people I want to see! For sightseeing, I wore this maxi dress for the first time. I love how 90s the straps are, and although I wasn’t too keen on the shape to start off with, now I love it, it’s so summery.

At the British Museum, we saw the Pompeii exhibition. It was good, but also very morbid and sad learning about the volcanic eruption. The building of the museum is beautiful, both inside and out, I could stare at the ceiling for ages.

This floppy hat is one I’ve had for a while, but it’s been serving me well! It’s nice and heavy so it doesn’t lose it’s shape when it gets shoved in my bag when I go inside – I’m not that old-fashioned but it feels so weird to wear a hat indoors! Whilst in London we went for a delicious lunch at a Turkish restaurant, and look at how gorgeous the ceiling was!

Outfit details: Dress, Ark Vintage / Hat, New Look / Sandals, Tesco

Have a fantastic day, I hope you have that Friday feeling!

Wild Ennerdale

This time a week and a day ago it was my 21st birthday! To celebrate, me and my friends spent the weekend in a camping barn next to Lake Ennerdale in the Lake District. It was so much fun, and Ennerdale is such an unspoilt, beautiful part of the country. It took half an hour (or at least it felt like it) just to drive down the lane to our barn. On Saturday, the weather was glorious! The sky was blue, the sun was out, and it wasn’t too windy. We spent the day swimming in a nearby lake (which was cold!) and in the evening we cooked our dinner around the fire pit. I took lots of pictures whilst we were away, and here are a few.

Here’s the gang (minus me!)

Look at how clear the water is! You could see right through to the bottom, it was beautiful.

On Sunday the weather was not as nice. It was raining almost all day! We braved the harsh conditions nevertheless and walked around Lake Ennerdale. It took us 4 hours, including a soggy sandwich stop! It’s crazy how different my pictures look form one day to the next. Even though rain is nasty, it makes the scenery look so atmospheric.  Here are some pictures from Sunday.

I couldn’t have hoped for a nicer birthday weekend! I would definitely reccomend a holiday in the lake district to anyone who has the chance to go.