10 Inspiring Ladies

(...That is, ladies who inspire me, rather than me attempting to inspire other ladies. I'm sure that was clear anyway, but the English language is a funny thing.)

Meg from Hercules

Seriously, that level of sass is quite inhuman. Which probably makes sense because she's a cartoon character. Still.

Catherine Tate

Most British comedy sketch shows are made up of a pair, and usually a pair of gents - Matt Lucas & David Walliams, David Mitchell & Robert Webb, Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse, to name just a few.

Not only is Catherine Tate a lady, but she's a lady on her own, and what's more is she is hilarious. Particularly when dressed as 'Nan', who is scarily accurate to my own grandmother.

You go Cathy T!

JK Rowling

I don't like thinking about JK Rowling much, because when I do I get distressed that Harry Potter isn't real and have to sit down with a cup of tea.

But, the fact that the land of Hogsmeade and Hegwig was magic-ed up in her brain? UNREAL. The very fact that I desperately want her world to be real says it all really. 

She deserves every last ounce of credit for making reading cool.

Jessica Ennis

Because any girl who is that amazing at that many athletic events deserves my complete and utter awe.

Plus, you could grate cheese on those abs. She must never eat cake, which astounds me nearly as much as her skill.

Tracy (The Mother) from 'How I Met Your Mother'

I was obsessed with this show, and I was obsessed with Tracy (when we finally met her). 

How can a human being be that wonderful and perfect?! One of my worst days of 2014 was the series finale because.. well if you don't know I won't tell you. BUT IT'S SAD.

Seriously, she's gorgeous, kind, funny, an eternal do-gooder...

Can I find a way to be her, please? Or, failing that, marry her myself and make her the mother of MY children.

Marie Curie

The first woman to ever win a Nobel prize is definitely something I find very, very, VERY impressive.

This lady devoted her life to doing ground-breaking research on the curative elements of radioactivity in cancer, and I barely know what an atom is. Go figure.

Carrie Bradshaw

Anyone who can pull off some of the outfits in Sex and the City that she did is something special.

Also, I find her just charming, and I sometimes wish my life was that glamorous and magazine column-y.

Carol Vorderman

Proving that women DO get more attractive as they get older since 1960.

Rita Ora

For no other reason, really, apart from the fact I think she's astoundingly gorgeous, and should be congratulated on winning her genetic lottery.

Hazel Grace Lancaster

Hazel is a fictional character from John Green's book 'The Fault in Our Stars' which is one of the best books I've read to date.

If I could be as brave and retain that good sense of humour as she if that was my life, I would consider myself an inspiration too.

So there you have it! My list of 10 inspirational ladies, for various different reasons. :)

Who inspires YOU?

My Happy Place

So I made a garden centre visit t'other day - the same one, in fact, where I got all my last goodies.. just in case anyone has read my last blog post and thinks I make daily pilgrimages ;)

Out at the front was a display of garden furniture, and in among them was a rather sweet little park bench!

It was only £29.99, and since it's summer & I'm out in the garden as much as possible at the moment, I couldn't resist buying it.

Initially, I was heartbroken to find out that it came in a flat pack :(

My assembling skills were relatively virgin, but luckily I did at least know one end of a hammer from the other.

So, with a little (lot) of help from my Ma & Pa, the assembling of the park bench could commence!

And let us not forget the help of my dog. He oversaw the project like a true boss, except a really pesky one who thrusts a tuggy toy at you when you're trying to hold a screw in place.

An hour later... TA DA!

I'm incredibly lucky that my parents work so hard to make my garden as nice as it is, so my new favourite thing to do is take a book & a cushion outside and settle myself on the bench for the afternoon :)

If I'm feeling especially jazzy, I lay down and hold my book up to read so I can see the sky behind the pages (which sounds fabulously romantic and lovely.. for the 10 minutes until my arms start to ache)

I think this will do me quite nicely for the rest of the summer!

It's also pretty beastly when you take out a home made ice lolly.. except it does mean you make some insect friends.

Does anyone else have a happy place for summer? :)

Summer dresses on a budget

Since doing a huuuuge clear out of my clothes and getting rid of dresses I haven't worn since my 15th birthday party, I felt now was high time to inject a bit of new life into my newly spacious wardrobe ;)

However, since I live in England (where we get sun for about 20 days of the whole year) I can never really justify spending lots on summer clothes that I know I will rarely get a chance to wear. I also happen to be a big fan of scouring charity shops for hidden gems.

Put 'em together and what have you got? Bippity bappity BARGAINS!

From left to right: £4.50, £3, £7.99, £6.50, £2.50

I find charity shops a brilliant way to get some unique outfits for next to nothing... and you can smile knowing your money has gone to a good cause!

 As you can see, my most expensive dress still left me with decent change from a tenner, with my cheapest being not much more than a book of stamps. ;)

I love this dress because it has quite a vintage feel to it, but has a tie at the waist so is still very flattering :) 

I also thought it could look quite good in winter with a pair of tights, a retro cardi and some chunky boots!

I wasn't sure about this dress when it was off the hanger as I thought it looked a bit like it should be on a 10 year old haha, but luckily I tried it on and it fitted so well! It's quite a thick material so the skirt flares out when it's on, and leaves you looking teeny tiny at the waist :) 

The only thing that did make me sad with this dress was that it clearly is supposed to come with a belt and the belt wasn't there :( so I will never know what the desired effect was! It still looks good on its own though and I'm sure picking up an alternative to fit the bill would be easy enough.

Again, this picture doesn't do the dress justice! It's very cute and vintage. It was a little too big for me round the waist which was a shame because I think it's designed to be quite fitted :( but it looks fab with a belt to draw it in :)

This is quite possibly my favourite dress I found! It definitely won't be to everyone's taste as it's quite unusual at the hem, but I thought it was really unique and would definitely stand out at a party :)

Only problem is, it IS pretty short... maybe I'll do some squats before I brave this one in public ;)

Finally, I found this little baby!

I can see from the label it's actually a Topshop dress, so I was pretty chuffed that I had found it at probably more than a tenth of what its original price would have been.

It's not something I maybe would have picked up in a shop, but when I put it on it fitted SO nicely! Plus it's nice to step out of the old comfort zone at times :)

It's definitely more an evening dress than daytime as its pretty tight, but it feels like swimsuit material so its very light & would be perfect for a summer night out.

So there we have it, 5 dresses for under £25!

If there's one thing I love more than dress shopping, it's finding bargains when I'm dress shopping ;)

A Trip to Norwich

I was born and bred in Norwich, so yesterday it seemed truly odd going into the city I pop into most days for tedious tasks, this time with a big fat camera around my neck. However, since the boyfriend was still down I wanted to show him my fair city in all its glory, which meant turning into a bit of a tourist myself!

When we first got there I wasn't entirely sure where to begin. I don't know if this is just me, but when it comes to showing non-hometown friends around where I live I always go blank and forget anywhere and everywhere that might appeal to an outsider. When I'm on my own I tend to dash round the shops in the city centre as quickly as possible and head off home! However, I was surprised how pretty the city centre is when you stop for a minute. The castle is right by the shops, and looks pretty spectacular on the hilltop. The royal arcade (in the pictures below) is also crammed full of amazing shops, mostly independent and deliciously quirky. A top pick of mine is "Macarons & More" - I'm not even a huge fan of macarons, and I have a lot of time for that shop.

We then walked along my favourite part of the city, which is Elm Hill. It's very quintessentially British, with cobbled roads and mismatched buildings. It's definitely the sort of place where you have no idea what little shops could be lurking there. It's still city centre, but a bit off the beaten track so usually pretty quiet :)

Perfect for a Saturday stroll in the afternoon sun. 

The last place I insist that people HAVE to see is the Cathedral. The Cathedral itself is obviously mightily impressive, but for me it's the grounds that make it so special. Norwich does pretty well for its greenery - there's lovely gardens at Chapelfield and the Castle, to name just a couple of big'uns. But there's something very peaceful about the Cathedral close, especially if you walk all the way down & sit by the river. I have lots of fantastic memories of picnics & sunbathing sessions there with friends over the years, and I decided to add to my memory bank this time by forcing the boy to take selfies with me ;)

(Yes, I must confess that afternoon we became those people, but don't worry there weren't any kissing ones!)

Naturally, all that posing made us pretty thirsty so there was only one place to go - The Belgian Monk.

The Belgian Monk is definitely my favourite pub in Norwich, its brilliance means it is usually packed but since it was quite early we were able to get a table rather than awkwardly holding our drinks in the corner (I am not one of those people that looks cool leaning against bars). 

The beer selection in there is AMAZING. I'm not a huge fan of regular beer but their fruit beer selection seriously cannot be rivalled. I opted for my poison of choice aka cherry beer. Which is almost better than attending a party with Beyonce. Almost.

I would have loved to stay in Norwich sightseeing longer but after all that I was completely pooped. I'm hoping another friend will come to stay soon so I can take them around and find places that I've missed!

Have you been to Norwich, or any of the places I've mentioned? I'd love to hear where you like to go most!

:)

Once upon a time in Cambridge

Since I have a visitor in the form of my gentleman friend down in the magical land of East Anglia, I decided I should show him all the delights that the south of England has to offer! I have a LOT of time for Cambridge, so I thought I would take him there. It's about an hour long drive from where I live (or an hour and a half if you're like me and get hopelessly lost.. twice) so Cambridge is the perfect place to go for a day trip treat!

The weather wasn't exactly on our side, but luckily Cambridge is so pretty that having a wander round the town would be fun even if it was pouring :) although you do have to watch your step very carefully to avoid being mown down by a bicycle!

The town itself isn't what I'd call huge, but it does have a select bunch of really nice shops :) we had a potter round the John Lewis, where I fell in love with a rangemaster oven... sadly I don't have £2000, or (perhaps more importantly!) my own house yet, so for the time being at least I had to say my farewells. Cambridge also has a really cool marketplace which I love having a nose around. I am a big fan of the contrast of the super chic and the retro that there is in the town!

Since I had the new camera round my neck like a true tourist, I felt it just wouldn't be right if I didn't put it to use and reinforce the stereotype ;). Fortunately you don't have to look far for good photo opportunities, as several of the colleges are bang in the centre and they are invariably BEAUTIFUL. I only wish my brain had been jazzy enough to allow me to study at one. :(

Then it was time for the obligatory wander down to the river. We umm-ed and ahh-ed about punting, but since the sky was looking a bit threatening we decided to keep to the land. However, that is not to say that the weather put us off getting ice cream ;).

And that concluded our visit to Cambridge for the day! :(

I will definitely go back again as soon as I can, I do love it so. <3

If anyone has any recommendations of good places to visit when I'm next there (especially food places as I must say we were lazy and opted for a quick Subway!) then I'd absolutely love to hear them :)

Camp America & travelling the USA

So this blog post is about 10 months too late, but since I didn't have a blog back then.. this post will have all the benefits of hindsight ;).

Last summer on the 21st of June I packed my bags and headed off to the sunny US of A for 3 months. I had applied to do Camp America and was lucky enough to have been quickly offered a place at a camp for children with Special Needs in New Jersey, about an hour on the bus from the bright lights of New York City! 

First off, for anyone thinking about doing Camp America my advice would definitely be DO IT! I will be honest and say it isn't all fun and games - by the end of the 10 weeks I was practically collapsing with tiredness, the close-knit environment is sadly prone to being a bit gossipy and bitchy, and I basically didn't feel clean for 2 months. But the pro's so, so outweigh the cons. You get to spend every day in the sun, make some amazing memories with some amazing kids, and gain a bunch of best friends you get to hang out with every day (I even met my boyfriend there and it'll be our first anniversary on Sunday, n'aww). 

Me & my friend on a Camp trip :)

A few of my best friends from Camp at our staff party (I'm the one 2nd from right)

After Camp finished, a group of us decided to go travelling round the States for a couple of weeks! I say that like we were really cool and just pitched up in different cities on a whim - we actually planned it with military precision about a month before, but shhhhhhh ;)

Boston

First off we hopped aboard a bus from NYC to Massachusetts for a few days. I LOVED me some Boston, it was so beautiful and really reminded me of being in England, especially with names like Cambridge! We went to Harvard which was amazing, it was early September when we were there so all the Freshman were being welcomed, I was so jealous. Literally everyone seemed to be arriving in glossy black 4x4s with tinted windows. We also checked out all the touristy stuff like a huuuuge aquarium, and of course Fenway Park where the Red Sox play. I know ZIP about baseball, but I absolutely loved the tour anyway so I'd definitely recommend it to anyone! We also went on a mad rampage for a Cheesecake Factory and got a taxi to the outskirts of Boston to satisfy our love for the red velvet ;). In fact, the only downside of the Boston experience was when we rang up 3 Dunkin' Donuts to see if they had any birthday cake donuts left, and NONE of them did... shame on you Boston (I STILL haven't had one!)

Obligatory selfie ;) (I'm the one in the middle)

New York

When we left Boston (sob) we headed back to New York and spent a few days in the Big Apple :) because Manhattan is seriously draining on the purse we stayed out in Brooklyn. It was about half an hour on the subway into the city, but we shared an iPod and had Lana Del Rey on repeat so that was fine ;). The area we stayed wasn't the most glam, but our hostel was awesome and we met some lovely people there. Aside from being big Sex and the City ladies and shopping on 5th Avenue ;) we made sure we did the touristy things too! Ground zero was really moving, and the ferry to Staten Island was cracking. But my favourite experiences were quite ordinary, getting slices of pizza in Times Square. I'd wanted to go to NYC ever since I first saw Friends, and it definitely didn't disappoint!

                                     

Coney Island, this place is SERIOUSLY cool, any city that has a beach gets a thumbs up from me - especally one with a wonder wheel ;)

                                       

                                       

Phantom of the Opera on Broadway!!! It was INCREDIBLE

 

Brooklyn Bridge is beautiful :)

Houston, Texas

After New York we met up with some more friends at the airport and headed on down to Texas! It was so so hot, my fair English skin didn't know what to think. We stayed in a really cute little area, and it was definitely our favourite hostel experience. We did LOADS in just a few days: the main priority was naturally NASA (the geek in me thought this was the main priority anyway) which was unbelievable and I'm so glad I've seen it. We went to a zoo and took selfies with meercats, went to a baseball game (not the Yankees admittedly, but there WAS an onscreen proposal so that was unbeatable) and went to the famous Sundance cinema. Everyone was so friendly in Texas, and it was actually my favourite place we went by far. My only criticism would be that we ended up having to spend a small fortune in taxis, as Houston isn't really built for the pedestrian visitor and public transport wasn't fantastic - but luckily our hostel was so cheap that it didn't matter quite so much.

NASA

New Orleans

Our last stop was New Orleans! I was only able to stay a couple of nights and only really got one full day here, as sadly I had to jet home to start Uni :( but we definitely made the most of our day! In the morning we headed out to see some alligators. My favourite was called Brokejaw Betty because she likes to get into lots of scrapes, I figured she had some character ;) the bus we got out to the swamps was good because the driver almost acted as a tour guide, pointing out the site where there was a voodoo graveyard. Apparently if you go there you can curse people, naughty naughty. He also recommended the best places for bread and butter pudding in town, if only I liked the stuff :(.

In the evening we headed out to Bourbon street where all the jazz music was. The bars were all amazing, and the music was so good! I didn't even think I LIKED jazz until I went there. If only I could have stayed for longer!

SO, that concludes my brief reminisce of my travels last year :).

I would recommend going round the States to ANYONE, it was so much fun and I had the best 2 weeks I think I have ever had. I think if I'm ever lucky enough to go back I'd love to go round the west coast, and see San Francisco and LA, and of course the grand canyon :).

Has anyone else been travelling round the USA to the same places, or got any tips for travelling the West Coast? I'd love to hear them!