A TRIP TO FUERTEVENTURA

It's absolutely freezing outside, so if you are dreaming of some winter sunshine, I have just the place for you. Boasting an average temperature of 20°C in December, beautiful coasts, easy direct flights from the UK, and a whole heap of quirky and interesting places to stay, Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, is lightyears away from the Brits-abroad island I thought it was.

We went in January this year, hopping on cheap-as-chips Ryanair flights for a week of much-needed sunshine and it was glorious.

WHERE WE STAYED

We were there with a big group of pals for a birthday trip, which meant we were able to splash out and book this amazing Airbnb villa (which was still a bit of a bargain, given the size it was). It had a huge garden filled with loungers and hammocks, a beautiful pool (that admittedly, was a bit too cold in January, but we did go in it!), a massive kitchen and lovely rooms.

The villa was in the small surfing town of Lajares, which had lots of little bakeries, interesting shops, a market, restaurants and bars. I am not a fan of places that are too touristy, so it was nice to find this little town that was super welcoming with lots of local charm.

I found loads of lovely Airbnbs in Fuerteventura, when we were looking for this villa. How nice is this super quirky guesthouse? Ugh, take me back! (If you haven't tried airbnb yet, use this link to sign up and get money off!).

WHAT WE DID

We hired a car (pretty much a must in Fuerteventura), so we had lots of opportunities to explore the island. The whole place is beautiful - it's volcanic and rocky, which makes from some incredible scenery, with huge gorgeous beaches.

Hands down my favourite thing, was discovering that the island was inhabited by tiny adorable ground squirrels, who would eat from your hand! We climbed up a volcanic crater near Lajares armed with some monkey nuts, and were instantly covered in very brave squirrels, who knew exactly what they wanted and had zero fear in getting it. As a lover of small animals, this was my dream come true, but maaaay be something to watch out for if you don't want tiny animals descending on you.

We explored a lot of the island. We went to Morro Jable, visited the turtle sanctuary and saw wild stingrays looking for scraps from fishermen in the harbour. We went to massive beaches, which were beautiful, but a bit windy to sit out on (instead we found nice beach bars, and hung out there instead). We stood under the giant statues at Morro Velosa, and learned the reason that most of the island's towns are inland is because the coast used to be threatened by pirates. We climbed rocks and followed adventurous trails, and it was so much fun.

WHAT WE ATE

As there was a big group of us, we cooked a lot at our airbnb, hanging out there in the evenings to play games and catch up. The house had a massive barbecue, so it was perfect for big cookouts with loads of food from the local shops.

Lajares was peppered with bakeries, so it was a total delight to try every one of them. My favourite moment was going into one and buying everyone of their 'fuerte' goat-shaped biscuits (delicious, would eat again). We found lots of excuses to stop for jamón and goats cheese (when in Spain!), and ate loads of amazing fish in tiny restaurants by the sea.

The hardest place to pick food was in Corralejo, the island's largest resort town. Everything seemed a bit bland and touristy, but we came across Single Fin, a really cute burger place that was tiny but packed full of personality and flavour.

All in all, it was an excellent and pretty affordable escape from winter.

LIFE LATELY

If there's anything that years of blogging has taught me, it's that I am completely incapable of juggling fun hobby deadlines (i.e. weekly blogs) with actual serious work deadlines. I had felt like I had done a pretty good job of resurrecting this blog, but then film fest life took over, I had loads of deadlines, then we had to deliver the actual thing, then I went on holiday, crashed, holidayed again, and here I am!

I reckon I just need to get comfortable with the fact that this is how I handle my work-life balance. I'm always going to be a sporadic blogger when real-life amps up, and I think that's okay. So rather than make a big fuss about returning to blogging (again), I thought I'd catch you up on my summer!

Here's what I got up to:

We ran a film festival!

It was my third Edinburgh International Film Festival, which took place in June this year, with over 500 screenings, absolutely loads of filmmakers in town, 20 venues across Edinburgh, and 1 slightly disruptive heatwave. I'm the Festival's Head of Development, which means my team & I bring in and look after all of our funders, sponsors, partners, donors, and anyone else kind enough to want to donate to us, or cool enough to want to be part of the action (and why wouldn't you? Support your local festival!).

The most common question you get working in festivals is 'so what do you do the rest of the year?', as if the whole thing pops up overnight, and then is packed away. We were working on EIFF 2021 (ahh!) before we delivered this year's EIFF, so it is a bit of a never-ending task, but it's fair to say that it properly ramps up a few months before it takes place, and completely takes over your life.

Despite the stress/lack of weekends/general dehydration, I love festival life. I'm so lucky to have wonderful festival pals, and this year I got to see loads of amazing films, meet really interesting people, attend fascinating events (how Pixar design costumes! So cool), and the very best part of my job - reading the nice comments from our audiences each year (always guaranteed to make me a bit teary). I am quite glad there's a while before the next one though.


I went camping!

I'm a total camping convert these days, and for the last few years have ventured up north to the Highlands for a week of wild camping. This year we went the furthest we have ever gone, and drove up to Loch Assynt, a beautiful loch with a ruined castle on its banks and the legend of a mermaid in its waters, about 5-6 hours drive from Edinburgh.

There's a wee road that goes around the loch, but we squirrelled ourselves out of sight by its banks, and it was the most perfect week. I read loads of books (including the perfect book to read while camping), we ate amazing campfire food and drank wine out of boxes, we paddled to the loch's tiny islands in seek of firewood, and spent days just soaking in the quiet air and beautiful views. It's trips like this that make me want to up sticks and move somewhere very quiet and a bit tucked away from the world, I didn't want it to end.


It was the Edinburgh Festivals!

A bit of a change of pace, but as always, August in Edinburgh means Festival time! I think this was possibly my least enthusiastic year - I was still feeling a bit zoned out after film fest when tickets went on sale, which meant I missed out on a few things, and I didn't quite have the energy to try and navigate the 1000s of events that were on (although I was happy to sample the 1000s of festival bars that popped up).

Edinburgh International Festival stole the show with their opening event, Five Telegrams - a super cool and very beautiful event inspired by telegrams sent during the first world war - with digital artwork projected onto Edinburgh's Usher Hall, live choirs, and a moving orchestral score. They keep setting the bar higher for their opening events each year - I can't wait to see what they do next.

I went to Croatia!

And finally, I'm just back from a trip to Croatia... which will be the third time I've gone on holiday to a Croatian island, as I just love it there so much!

This time we went to Brač and stayed in this amazing, quirky cottage which was also a total bargain (thanks Airbnb!). The weather was beautiful, even hotter than I had expected for this time of year, so we spent a week exploring the island, reading books (in that hammock!), eating seafood, and just switching off from the nonsense of the everyday world. Can I go back?

COASTAL CARRIAGE

Earlier this month, Josh and I went on a trip up North. We had both just worked the Edinburgh Science Festival (which was 18 days of non-stop festival work, and months and months of prep beforehand), so we were in need of sleep and peace and quiet.

We had been swithering over where to go - originally the plan was to go camping (open fires! Gorgeous views! Nature!), then I went on a bit of an enthusiastic tangent and starting planning a walk of the West Highland Way (lol), before we realised that we were both too knackered and the weather was too unreliable to do anything but find somewhere snug and cosy in a quiet location.

After a fairly stressful bit of last-minute searching, we came across Coastal Carriage - a reclaimed railway carriage on the Banffshire Coast. Owned by the same people who run High Seas Hobbit, it ticked all of our boxes: relatively cheap (£70 per night, plus a discount as we were staying for 4 nights); a quiet, scenic location; a wood-burning stove; we didn't need a car to get there; and it looked pretty quirky (we've stayed in a gypsy caravan and a treehouse, so a railway carriage was the obvious next step!).

We'd been keen to avoid hiring a car (to save £££s), so travelled up from Edinburgh using public transport. This meant getting a train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (2.5 hours), a bus from Aberdeen to Rosehearty (2 hours), then a lift from Rosehearty to the Carriage (the owner very kindly picked us up on the way there, and we ordered a taxi back to town for our way home).

The Carriage is situated on a quiet, family-run farm in Aberdeenshire - in farming country near Fraserburgh and Banff. It looks out over the Moray Firth (you can see dolphins if you are lucky!), and  there's loads of beaches, cliff walks, castles, and other interesting historic things nearby.

We were pretty lazy for most of the trip, but went on a big walk to New Aberdour beach - a beautiful big pebble beach, with loads of rock pools and caves to explore. There was also a cute doocot near by, and an interesting old graveyard, with a memorial to a chieftain who fell at Culloden.

The Carriage itself was pretty simple, but cosy enough to just curl up and chill in. At one end there's a really comfy bed (I spent about 80% of my time here), and at the other there's a wood-burning stove, a small table, and some chairs. The Carriage has french doors that look out over the sea, so it's a pretty beautiful place to nestle down in - although it would benefit from an armchair and a rug to make the space a bit nicer to nestle in!

The wood-burning stove took a while to get going, but was very toasty in the end - even when the weather went bonkers, and alternated between sun, sleet and snow in one day. I'm lucky that Josh is such a good cook, so we ate amazing food all week - slow roasted lamb stew, spatchcock poussin, steak and chips, and baked avocado, eggs and bacon. YUM.

There's no electricity (so you really are forced to switch off), but there's solar powered lights and lanterns, so you aren't sitting in the pitch black every night. There's also a bush shower in the Carriage, and a toilet in a hut nearby.

We spent the week reading, playing yahtzee and cribbage, and listening to a totally ancient Jurassic Park audiobook (which I loved!). It was bliss!

A TRIP TO VALLDEMOSSA, MALLORCA

A few weeks ago Joshua & I escaped the grey Scottish skies for somewhere a little brighter. We headed off to Mallorca for his (super belated) birthday trip and it was AMAZING.

I always kind of thought of Mallorca as being super-Brits-abroad territory but last summer Josh & I really got into Frederic Chopin (by playing a surreal Japanese video game about him all summer - is that weird? It sounds really weird when I try to describe it. ANYWAY, we like Chopin, now, okay?). The game tells the story of Chopin's life, and one of the places that kept coming up was Valldemossa - a small Spanish village where Chopin lived and wrote some of his most famous works.

We had joked about going on a video game/Chopin pilgrimage, but then when I was looking for holiday inspiration, Valldemossa kept ticking all of the boxes. Beautiful location, cheap and quick flights, ace Airbnbs, lovely weather - check check check!


WHERE WE STAYED

I was so impressed at how easy it was to get to Valldemossa from Edinburgh. We flew to Palma from Edinburgh with Jet2, which only took about two hours and was a total bargain. Then we got the airport bus to Palma bus station, and it took another 30 minutes to drive from Palma to Valldemossa.

I booked this beautiful apartment on Airbnb, mainly because I was quite obsessed with the bathroom - check out that bath! It was really perfect for what we needed, with a gorgeous balcony that looked out over old rooftops and mountains, loads of space, and a great location in the middle of town, just round the corner from a bakery. The hosts were really good too - picking us up from the bus stop and driving us to get firewood and wine (the essentials) before they gave us keys and left us alone.

I can't imagine travelling and not using Airbnb these days - you get so much more for your money, and you get your own wee house! If you're thinking about using it, do it (and use this link if you'd like money off!).


WHAT WE DID

Valldemossa is a beautiful old quiet town, and had the perfect amount of places for us to explore over a long weekend. We OF COURSE went straight to the Monastery where Chopin lived with his lover, and it was really moving - they had his actual piano, books and sheet music, and you could explore his rooms and stand in his very peaceful garden, looking out over the hills to Palma.

The whole monastery is really fascinating, and you can explore old rooms, including the monks' library which is filled with ancient books and maps, and the old pharmacy which has shelves stacked high with old bottles, vials, and mysterious looking potions.

We spent a fair bit of time reading our books and drinking wine in the sunshine, but also went on a proper adventure - exploring the Archduke's Way, which was a 4 hour hike up a mountain... a bit exhausting, but totally worth it for the amazing views we got over the island.


WHAT WE ATE

Spain is the home of cheese, meat and wine, so we consumed all three with gusto. The best place we went was a tiny restaurant called QuitaPenas, which was just around the corner from our apartment and served the most amazing tapas, made entirely from local ingredients.

Valldemossa's speciality is the coca de patata, a sweet cake made from boiled potatoes, which sounds odd but was delicious. We had these for breakfast every day for the local bakery, which was also packed full of tasty-looking pies, cakes, and meringues (I broke my sugar ban to eat the world's biggest meringue, because of course I did!).

As we were in Valldemossa in the off-season, it was surprisingly difficult to find a restaurant that was open in the evening, but every night we managed to find somewhere to go (even if we did have to explore every tiny street before we chanced upon a lit up door).

Oh, I want to go back already. SO lovely.

A TRIP TO GLASGOW

Sometimes it feels a bit exhausting trying to keep up blogging (on a fairly regular basis) alongside a full-time job. And other times, you get to do such fun things that it reminds you one of the reasons it's all worthwhile!

Last week I was invited, by the lovely hotel group citizenM, to visit Glasgow for an evening of 'art, nice drinks and bites'. I like all of those things! Despite only being 50 minutes away by train, I rarely venture West unless it's for work, so I was excited to try a bit of touristin' in Glasgow...

WHERE I STAYED

Photos by me / Joni Israeli

I was very kindly gifted an overnight stay in citizenM Glasgow (thanks guys!). I'd heard the hotel was pretty cool, but I'd never been in before, and I was seriously impressed. The rooms are pretty petite, but perfectly sized, with absolutely MASSIVE beds, a huge window (with an ace city view and blackout blinds), a rain shower (I am obsessed with these), plus free wifi, loads of free movies, and MAGICAL COLOUR-CHANGING ROOMS. 

I realise this makes me sound seriously easily-pleased, but this was so cool! You control the whole room from a mini ipad next to your bed, and you can set a pre-programmed mood, or change the colour by scrolling a (super satisfying) colour wheel. It also makes the room instantly amazing for selfies.

The whole hotel is lovely, with quirky features, chill-out areas, and just a nice vibe throughout. It's also surprisingly affordable - rooms start at £69. 

WHAT I DID

Clockwise: Turner Prize | Nicole Wermers | Queuing (by myself) in head to toe H&M | Bloggers unite!

citizenM's an art-loving hotel, so keeping in with this ethos, I was whisked away with a group of lovely Scottish bloggers to attend the preview of the Turner Prize, Europe's most prestigious visual art award, which is in Scotland for the very first time.

I often find it hard to comment on large-scale pieces of art - I'm worried I won't get it, or I'll find it a bit boring and then feel guilty for finding it boring. But I really loved Nicole Wermers' piece - a series of fur coats stitched onto chairs, and DOUG, a musical composition, was moving to listen to (although I reckon it would make more of an impact with a less-party crowd around).

It was ace to get the chance to explore Tramway (a venue I've always meant to visit) and finally chat properly to Scottish bloggers that I feel like I've known for ages, even though we hadn't talked before (hi Wardrobe Conversations!).

WHAT I ATE

I ate well. First of all we were served beautiful citizenM sushi, then after the exhibition we were whisked off to Stravaigin - a Scottish restaurant in Glasgow's West End that specialises in local food and wild ingredients.

It was fairly impossible to choose from their menu, but I managed -  Shetland salmon, followed by pork belly, then a Dulce de leche parfait with hazelnut brittle and brownie pieces. Oh boy. I was thoroughly defeated, but it was all delicious - it's worth a trip across the country just for that dinner!

It was all just lovely. Thanks to everyone who spoiled me so!

A TRIP TO CROATIA

Earlier this year, Joshua & I were planning our summer holiday. We wanted somewhere in Europe that was definitely going to be sunny, but not too touristry, wasn't too pricey, but had nice places to eat and stay, and that had places to explore and adventure, but also offered the chance to laze and relax.

I thought it might be a bit of an impossible ask... and felt a bit stuck before I even started looking. But good old twitter came to the rescue, and after a cry for help, loads of people recommended Croatia.

Split, Croatia

It's the sunniest place in Europe, it's easy to fly to from Edinburgh, it has old Roman cities and tiny beaches, and the food was apparently incredible. We were sold! So, at the end of June, just before the tourist season began, we packed our (hand-luggage only) bags and jumped on a plane...

WHERE WE STAYED

We wanted a mix of sunshine-lazing and city-exploring, so we split our holiday over two locations: Hvar, one of Croatia's many islands; and Split, an amazing city on the coast that is built around an amazing 4th century Roman fortress (which is also one of the main filming locations for Game of Thrones!).

We stayed in airbnb apartments in both places, which were ace. I can't imagine booking a normal hotel anymore, I think airbnb is always so much better (and cheaper!).

Our Hvar apartment was lovely! It was nestled in a private bay, in a small block of about eight flats. The apartment itself was a bit basic inside, but very clean, and we had the most amazing view from our little balcony. The bay was absolutely beautiful, with clear water, boats bobbing about, and a few loungers dotted about for days when you just wanted to read your book and soak up some sun.

The owners were lovely too - even if we couldn't quite understand them! Every night they'd have fresh fish, and if you met them in the morning, you could put a request in for your dinner that night. They also would drive you into town if you didn't have transport - the apartment was a 10 minute drive from Hvar town, or a one hour walk (which was quite pleasant, once you got up the massive hill!).

The studio apartment in Split wasn't quite as picturesque, but we were only there for two nights (and it was only £15 per night!). I was under the impression that it had a balcony, so was a bit put out when we discovered it was on the ground floor - my fault for not looking at the listing properly! It was really central though, which made it a good budget option, but if I was to go back I would definitely find a balcony flat!

WHAT WE DID

Our main mission on Hvar was to eat good food, drink lovely wine, and read as many books as possible, so it wasn't the most action-packed holiday. Hvar island is quite small, but very hilly, so after swithering over electric bicycles (which sound magic!), we hired a moped for a few days, which was so much fun! Joshua had driven one once, but we managed to enthusiastically convince the rental place that he was a pro at driving them, and we didn't get into any moped drama!

There's loads of little towns dotted around the island that are worth visiting, with little cobbled streets, beautiful marinas, and old architecture. The island is covered in olive groves, lavender fields, old vineyards and interesting historic features like the Spanish fortress in Hvar Town - it's all pretty picture perfect.

There are millions of little beaches and bays around the coastline, and you can get a water taxi to even tinier islands nearby too, so we never ran out of places to swim and laze by the sea.

Split is such a beautiful and interesting old city, and you can easily spend hours exploring its old streets and underground passages. The city is built around Diocletian's Palace and it's absolutely fascinating, I've never seen anything quite like it! It's full of twisty little streets and old clocktowers and hidden underground wells and old cobbled courtyards.

We did a lot of walking in Split, climbing a massive hill that overlooks the city to visit the world's weirdest tiny zoo (featuring one wolf and an army of guinea pigs), and going on a mission to find a beach, and coming across the brilliant Archaeological Museum - we were the only people there, and they just had corridor after corridor filled with mosiacs and statues and ancient stonework.

WHAT WE ATE

Croatian food was brilliant, and so cheap! There were amazing cheeses and salamis, fresh pasta, and incredible seafood. My favourite morning was when we got up at 6am, walked into Hvar Town and bought fresh fish that had just been caught - we had fresh sashimi for lunch and barbecued fish for dinner. So perfect!

Split is packed full of restaurants, cafes and bars, so it was always easy to find something interesting and great to eat. Hvar is a wonderful place to eat, if you avoid the more pricey, touristy places in Hvar Town. We managed to get a table at Dalmatino and it completely lived up to the hype, and stumbled across Konoba Kokot - an amazing traditional restaurant, tucked down a tiny path in a little village. I want to go back just for that meal!

USEFUL TIPS

Croatia is beautiful, but it is rocky! If you are planning to go in the water, you'll need something for your feet - I just bought cheap surf shoes from Amazon that did an ace job. This will also protect you from the little stinging sea anemones that line the coast - you do not want to step on those with bare feet (or, ahem, sit on one by accident).

Also, if you're European, remember your EU medical card! I didn't. Then I was bitten by a spider, had a massive reaction, had to go to a Croatian doctor and get loads of drugs and a massive bandage. It wasn't too expensive or traumatic (apart from when Josh told me the spider probably laid eggs in my arm, aaaaah), but it would have been less stressful if I'd been more organised before travelling!

There's so much more to see in Croatia, and I'd love to explore the other islands - take me back!

HAPPY THOUGHTS

It's time for a happy thoughts update! Here are the things that are making me smile...

1. Summer meadow flowers

I was sent this absolutely beautiful bunch from the very kind people at Blossoming Gifts online flowers, and I love it! It's their summer meadow bouquet which contains blue veronica, lilac eustoma, avalanche roses and daisy-like tanacetum single vegmo... I'm not great with flower names, but I know these ones were just gorgeous.

I feel like I'm always banging on about how much I love fresh flowers, but it's so true - they just make such a difference to your home, and as vices go, I reckon a flower addiction ain't too bad. I particularly like the look of the under £20 cheap flowers range - how cute is this cinder rose bouquet?

If you fancy getting yourself a flower delivery, then you can also get 33% off at Blossoming Gifts, with the discount code BGIFT33.

2. I ran my first 10k!

I DID IT! I can't quite believe that I did it, but I completed my Race for Life and it didn't kill me. In fact, I actually even had quite a nice time - what has happened to me?!

I ran for the first time just over three months ago, and it was exhausting trying to keep going for just one minute. Since then I've tried to run three times a week (although realistically, at points it was only once a week), and somehow, bit by bit, I've turned into a runner who can do a 10k race in 67 minutes - slow by most runner standards, but an achievement I'm so chuffed with.

When I crossed the starting line and was immediately confronted by a massive hill, I was filled with FEAR (because running up hills is the worst), and it took me a while to settle into my pace. But when I did, it suddenly felt quite easy, and running the last two k was really fun - my parents and Joshua had come out to support me, everyone was cheering, and I got loads of high fives.

Now I'm looking for another 10k to sign up for later in the year, as I really want to keep up running, but I know I need a race to give me the fear to actually go out and do it!

3. I'm going on holiday

Photo: Fairytale photos of Croatia

I'm so excited! This weekend I fly off to adventure on Croatia, and I can't wait. We're staying on the island of Hvar in an apartment with steps down to the sea (amazing!), then going to Split for a couple of days, to explore Diocletian's Palace, and channel my inner Daenerys Targaryen at Game of Thrones locations.

I've never been to Croatia before, and I am in desperate need of a sunny adventure, so bring it on!

A TRIP TO YORK

A couple of months ago, Josh and I went on a fairly impromptu trip to York. I've not actually seen much of England outside London, so it was nice to play tourist for a couple of days. It only takes a couple of hours on the train from Edinburgh, so after a fairly stressful week at work (we went just before the Festival started!) I packed my bags and headed off on a sunny day.

Here's what we got up to...

WHERE WE STAYED...

I'd been invited to stay with a well-known hotel chain (hence the impromptu trip), so I confirmed everything, booked my (non-refundable!) train tickets and time off work. Then it turned out just a few days before we went (!) that we couldn't actually get booked into a York hotel. And everywhere in York was booked. And expensive. Like the non-refundable train tickets I had booked. Thanks PR!

So, after a fairly stressful day of trying to work out what to do, we decided to reclaim our holiday from being just a blogging trip, and booked a room at the very beautiful Hotel du Vin. This hotel was gorgeous - it's tucked away just down from the walls of the city, in a Grade II-listed mansion house.

My favourite bit was the absolutely massive bath - I even took some lush bathbombs for the occasion (I don't have a bath in my flat, so this was a total treat). It was expensive (particularly as I had not budgeted for a holiday, aaaargh), but it was an absolutely lovely place to stay and I'd definitely recommend it if you are feeling flush!

WHAT WE DID...

York is a beautiful city, so it was nice just to wander around its cobbled streets. We made a beeline straight for The Shamble, Europe's best preserved Medieval street, which is lined with 15th century buildings that lean over and almost touch in the middle. We also explored around the walls of the city (which has such nice views!) and took a look at York Castle and York Minster (although were too cheap to actually pay to enter them!

We did pay to go to the Jorvik Viking Centre, which is built on the site of the Viking-age city, Jorvik, and packed full of cool archaeology things (and a fairly hilarious/terrifying animatronic ride through a Viking village), and to visit the Treasurer's House, a house very close to York Minster with a 2,000 year history. The owner (a rich bachelor with an eye for pretty things) packed it with the most amazing antique furniture, ceramics and art, then gave it up to the National Trust, who have looked after it ever since. He has a mirror that is held up by a GIANT GOLD EAGLE. Definitely worth a visit!

Finally, we went to the (free!) National Railway Museum to look at giant trains. I wouldn't say I was the most enthusiastic person about rail transport, but it was actually really fascinating, and we got to have drinks in a fancy 19th century railway carriage, and watch a massive train spin round.

WHAT WE ATE...

If I'm honest, the majority of our trip revolved around food and drink. My favourite place was the House of Trembling Madness, an incredibly atmospheric medieval bar with stuffed animal heads lining the walls. It's in the Shambles and could easily be missed - you enter through a shop that is packed with different types of beer, wine and spirits, and go up a tiny set of stairs. We ordered Shambles sausages and mash and a platter board, and it was cheap and tasty.

York is full of amazing-looking restaurants, but they were all booked in advance! If you're planning a trip, it's definitely worth getting yourself a reservation early... I reckon we had to phone about six places before we booked in for dinner at the Walmgate Ale House, which was nice traditional food, but nothing particularly special. We lucked out with an amazing brunch at a traditional cafe near York Minster (I'm pretty sure it was Betty's Tea Rooms), and found loads of nice little pubs to stop at for a sunny beer garden pint or a Sunday roast.

And that was York! The accommodation was pricey (but so good), and there were more loud students than I expected, but it's a beautiful place and well worth a weekend visit. Now I think Brighton's next on my list... I want to see the Pier!

ROULOTTE RETREAT

Just before Christmas, Joshua & I decided to go on a trip for my birthday. I knew I wanted to find somewhere a bit quirky that wasn't too far from Edinburgh, so I was delighted when I came across Roulotte Retreat - six French roulottes nestled in a wildflower meadow in the Scottish Borders.

The roulottes are spaced out around a tiny loch, surrounded by fields and trees and farmland. The six roulottes are all decorated in different styles - there's Indian, Celtic, Spanish and Himalayan themed caravans so you can pick whatever best fits your mood.

Each roulotte has a woodburning stove (so you'll be super toasty, even in the depths of winter), a mini kitchen with a Baby Belling oven, living space, fancy shower and bathroom, and an original-style roulotte bed.

We booked two nights in Karlotta - a Celtic and Moroccan-influenced caravan, decorated in rich purples, reds and golds, with sari curtains and velvet touches.

Each night the rain poured down, and it was just so nice to feel completely switched off from the real world, reading books, playing cribbage and drinking wine by a toasty fire. During the day there's loads to explore nearby (we were lucky and the sun came out while we went for a wander along the river).

It's only £95 per night to rent a roulotte, and I'd highly, highly recommend it - I had such a relaxing time, and I'd love to go back in the spring when the wildflower meadow isn't quite so wintery and soggy.

GO #BOLDINTHECOLD & WIN A HOLIDAY!

I love winter holidays (like Portugal! It was ace!). You get all the fun of summer at home (and manage to avoid holidaying with millions of families), and then as soon as the weather turns dark and miserable, it's holiday time!

So I'm also a fan of Virgin Holidays' new competition, 'Bold in the Cold'...

#BoldintheCold challenges you to do something summery this winter (the bolder the better), and share it with them for a chance to win a holiday for four to Dubai.

All you've got to do is take a photo or a short (vine-style) video of yourself having fun and flaunting in the freezing winter weather, and share your entry on twitter, instagram or vine using the hashtag #BoldintheCold, or upload your video to the Virgin Holidays website.

Virgin Holidays invited a few bloggers to kick-start the competition, and as I am basically always open to doing slightly idiotic things, OF COURSE I said yes.

You can't really tell, but it was SO BLOODY COLD on the day I filmed this (and it turns out you get loads of weird looks if you wear a box on your head in a public park!). 

I had really wanted to do a rainy day video (where water poured into a cocktail or I paddled in puddles), but it didn't rain at all the week I was planning to film, so if you fancy entering and are a bit stuck for ideas, feel free to use mine! Good luck!

A TRIP TO PORTUGAL

Oh, I bloody love holidays! Last week I flew off to Portugal for a week in the sunshine (because going on holiday just before winter kicks in is the very, very best!).

Joshua & I decided our main mission was to find good food, good weather, and a chilled out spot for plenty of lazing and book reading, and Lagos, in the South of Portugal, seemed to fit the bill.

Lagos is one of the Algarve's most popular tourist destinations, but is also still a big fishing town. We visited in the off-season too, which means it was still warm, but was fairly chilled out - it was super easy to avoid the (small) number of tourist traps, and find lovely authentic people and places.

We booked an apartment through airbnb which was brilliant! I had heard loads about it, but was a bit nervous that it all sounded too good to be true - but it was ACE (and cheap). We found a flat that was on the edge of the historic town, with balconies that looked out over the old castle walls and out to the sea.

I really wanted somewhere that had quite a lot of personality, and the flat was just that - the owner is an artist, so the flat was full of paintings and books and quirky bits and pieces.

The holiday mainly revolved around eating fish, drinking sangria, and lazily exploring Lagos and its surrounding towns. We cycled along cliff tops, befriended local cats (that we smuggled sardine paste out of restaurants for!), wandered around sleepy mountain towns, high-fived after a Portuguese wine merchant said we had good taste, ate in tiny restaurants with giant portions, swam in the sea (a big deal for me - I am a wimp!), adventured through caves, cooked a feast of fish and massive prawns, and read books on a secluded beach.

It was just so lovely, and so nice to switch off from the real world, get some sunshine, breath new air, and hang out with my (very beardy) partner-in-crime. I've only been back a week and a bit, but it already feels like such a long time since we were there!

If you're keen to see more holiday photos, last week I blogged a few outfit photos from Portugal, aaand, if you're feeling inspired to go yourself - we stayed in this Lagos apartment (and you can get airbnb credit if you sign up with this link!).

Now to plan the next adventure!

OUTFITS: I ♥ HOLIDAYS

I'm just back from the loveliest week in Portugal (which I will blog about in a wee bit more detail soon!), and I just wanted to do a bit of show and tell of what I wore on holiday. I won't pretend to be a fashionable dresser, but I feel like I've finally found my own style - it's a bit scruffy, but it makes me happy, and that's what counts!

Dress - H&M
Vest - F&F
Sneakers - H&M (kids department!)

It was a blustery day, so we went on an adventure to Sagres and walked along the most amazing cliffs. I borrowed this vest from Steph and I really love it - I don't think I would have worn a vest before, but I loved having tassels!

Top - Primark
Skirt - H&M
Tights - ASOS
Vest -
Headscarf - Charity shop

We caught the train to Monchique, a beautiful market town up in the hills, full of winding little streets and gorgeous old buildings. I dressed like the scruffiest scruff there was. I was on holiday! You're allowed to be ripped and scruffy on holiday!

Top - H&M
Pinafore - H&M
Blazer - Urban Outfitters
Satchel - Leather Satchel Co
Shoes - Primark

You know when you get a new outfit that you obsess over, and you find it hard to wear anything else? That's exactly how I feel about this pinafore. I bought it months ago, and I still find it hard to wear anything else. I also seem to find it hard to smile in photos (one day I will learn how to take nice outfit photos!).

Dress - Primark
Satchel - Leather Satchel Co
Sneakers - H&M kids

& my other very favourite outfit! How good is this dress? (Only £15 too! Aargh, Primark, how you delight/horrify me). I used to shy away from wearing high necks as I thought they made me look massive, but I've got over my fear and I'm so excited to be wearing something with a collar. It means my dreams of collar clips can finally come true!

HAPPY THOUGHTS

It's been ages since I've done a happy thoughts post, so here's a wee update on the things that are making me smile.

1. Holidays!

Holidaying in Scotland earlier this year - we found the best ice creams on Mull!

By the time you read this I'll be in London, hanging out with my very best girl. I try to pop down and visit her as often as I can, but this is the first time in ages that we've had almost a week to hang out (and I've not had to work!). I'm planning to visit WAH nails, maybe go to the Harry Potter Studio tour (if it hasn't totally sold out), force Steph to listen to loads of Taylor Swift, and just catch up with my pal!

THEN I fly out to Portugal to meet my favourite Australian boy for a week of sunshine, staying in the most beautiful Airbnb apartment, eating loads of fish, drinking loads of wine, wandering along beaches and lazying about. Perfect!

2. Hallowe'en

Glittery pumpkins from Pinterest

Happy Hallowe'en everyone! I'm typing this on Tuesday so I'm not exactly sure what my plans are, but I know it'll involve dressing up, dancing, and feeling suitably spooky!

I have had loads of fun doing Halloween tutorials this year - if you are still stuck for a costume or makeup idea, then take a look at my how to page for inspiration. I had planned to do a witchy look, but then got sick with the world's worst cold (booo!), but at least I've got ideas for next year already!

Whatever you're doing, have fun, and I'll speak to you when I'm back!

A Sri Lankan adventure!

So you may know (mainly because I've been going on about it a LOT), that for the best part of the last month I've been off exploring the beautiful Sri Lanka (with a wee bit of the Maldives for good measure!).

It's hard to sum up just how good it was. 2013 was a weird year for me - there were quite a few low points (but luckily a good number of highs too), but at the end of the year I was definitely ready for a break from the real world, and a chance to explore, refresh my head, and get a bit of a new perspective on things.

In three and a bit weeks, my lovely pal Raewyn and I visited beautiful beaches, jungles and temples, pushed our way through busy, busy city streets, and walked down empty sandy paths in the quietest of towns. We also hula hooped EVERYWHERE (turns out travelling with a hula hoop is a great idea - everyone loves it, and we got upgraded to business class because the flight crew liked it so much!).

As well as taking about a million photos, I also filled bits and pieces of what we got up to, and have put together this... a wee video blog of our adventure.

Sri Lanka! 

So if you are interested in seeing the beautiful places we visited (filmed with a bit of a shaky hand, sorry!), the day we got obsessed with elephants, orrr the time we drank Arrack (a local drink, and pretty potent), then I hope you enjoy!

I'm home!

So after flying to the other side of the world on December 12th, I am now home. A bit tired, covered in freckles, and already dreaming of being back in a hammock on my favourite beach.

I've got a couple of days left to catch up with friends and family before I'm back to work, and I'm going to try and sort through hundreds of photos, make an epic video (that will probably only be of interest to my folks, but I will share it anyway), and try to get my head back into the real world.

I'm going to post my 2013 round up/2014 resolutions over the next few days (even though I'm super late to the party, shhh), and I will try to be a much better blogger in 2014!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year x

Summer music

I think I got the travel bug from my dad. When I was a teenager my parents took me on epic road trips across America, travelling around the country for weeks. One year we drove across Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado - I galloped a horse through Monument Valley, and sat on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Another year we flew into Tennessee, explored Elvis' house, then drove down the east coast, through North and South Carolina, Georgia and into Florida.

So when I became a bit of a grown up I guess it wasn't a surprise that I wasn't that fussed about beach holidays and just sunning myself. I wanted to explore. So for years most of my spending money has gone towards adventure. And there's nothing quite like a road trip to do just that.

Driving around the beautiful Waiheke island a few years ago

Money Supermarket have been asking bloggers to put together a driving playlist that makes them think of summer, so here's mine. It's a bit of an eclectic mix tape, but reminds me of holidays, long roads, and foreign soil.

Seriously, if you are ever driving somewhere that is breath-takingly beautiful - put on the last track (Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros), stop talking, and just take it in. Even years later, listening to it reminds me of driving along Big Sur with my best friends and the most beautiful ocean views.

Disclaimer: This post is part of Money Supermarket's 'Ultimate Summer Driving Playlist' blogger competition. I was given £20 to purchase music (thanks guys!).

Camping in Glen Etive

Back in June (which feels like a strangely long time ago), I went on a totally impromptu camping trip. I'd booked a week off work without much reason (I wasn't planning to go anywhere, it was just such a novelty to get time off in the summer in my new job), and apart from a few nights out, I had no plans.

Step in my pal Joshua, who had a camper van, a map of Scotland, and quite fancied a spot of adventure.

So we drove North West - about three hours from Edinburgh, up to the edge of the Highlands. Pals had recommended Loch Etive, which sits close to Glencoe, and is reached through a long, rambling glen, surrounded by mountains. 

We drove down a long, narrow road passing deer, the occasional tent, and the even more occasional farmhouse. 

I grew up on the edge of a wee Scottish town, near fields and farms and a country park, so I've been lucky enough to live near pretty beautiful scenery my whole life. But it's something else to be standing in a glen that's so, so quiet. All you could hear was the gentle sound of the river that ran down to the loch, and the crackle of our campfire. 

We had to battle off about a million midgies when we first set up camp (for future campers: Avon Skin So Soft is apparently a necessity if you're camping in West Scotland!), but luckily the weather was on our side... it was just drizzley enough to keep the wee terrors away, but still warm and not too soggy to sit outside.

It had been years since I last went camping, and I don't know why I don't do it more often! Scotland is a ridiculous, rugged beaut of a country, and it's so easy and quick to travel from a busy city bypass to a land that feels a little forgotten, and ready to be discovered.

AND I saw a red squirrel. 

Well done, camping trip. You were fun.