Weekly Wishes: Autumn/Winter

Today (full of rain, clouds, and even a liiiittle bit of lightning) seems a perfect day to post a loosely autumn/winter themed wishlist. Not that I'm seriously planning that far ahead, but all the shops seem to be gearing towards autumn already - I swear this is even earlier than usual, or is it just that I'm paying more attention this year?!

I finally got around to buying new work clothes this weekend! I've been meaning to for ages as most of what I was wearing for work was just the more formal end of my everyday clothes and I wanted a bit more delineation, and to look a bit more professional. I picked up this cute M&S pencil skirt and I think it would go really well with a mustard top for autumn; I'm eyeing up this long-sleeved number from Next or this more budget buy from H&M.

Next up, I really like this lovely minimalist jewellery box from Anthropologie. As well as being pretty, it would be great to be able to see all my jewellery at a glance - then I wouldn't forget what I have! Their bits & baubles tray would also be a really useful and cute way to store my jewellery when I'm way too tired/lazy to put it away properly (which happens a lot!).

Lastly, these candles (also Anthropologie...) are not only beautiful to look at, but smell absolutely gorgeous. The 'biscuits and berries' and 'double latte' are my favourite Tea & Sympathy candles (top right) and this Boulangerie sweet vanilla cinnamon one smells exactly like Christmas - I may be thinking way ahead here but I'll definitely be buying it come December!

Hope everyone out there is having a great week! :)

Plymouth: Day 1

Just over a week ago Michael and I went to Plymouth to celebrate his twin sister's graduation from medical school. She's just moved to Dundee to start work soon so it was great to see her one last time before she moved hundreds of miles away. It was a lovely sunny few days, but thankfully not as humid as it was in Guildford so it was a great time to get away.

The lovely train man (conductor? guard?) offered to find us seats when he saw we were sitting on the floor half-way through the journey and when he couldn't find any in standard (we had looked!), he said we could just sit in first, so that was fun - I did feel a bit like an imposter though!

It was so sunny and pretty when we arrived I had to immediately get out my camera and start snapping pictures, even though I was also carrying a giant bag (note to self: take a wheeled suitcase on the next trip...). My boyfriend is so patient!

We stayed in the lovely Grosvenor Hotel, which was comfortable and very well-presented (just look at the décor above!). It even had breakfast included in the price of the room. There wasn't a huge selection of cereal and the toast wasn't great, but the cooked breakfast was lovely and made fresh to order.

After we checked in and sorted out our stuff we headed down to the Hoe to meet up with Michael's family. It's such a beautiful area! I went to Plymouth once before for an underwater hockey tournament but I don't think we saw any of the nice bits. Also it was February so I don't think that helped...

The island above is named Drake's Island because Francis Drake (whose lovely likeness you can see further up) sailed from there for his trip around the world in 1577; it was also used as a barracks in the 1500s when it was needed for defence against the French and Spanish. Y'know, when we were at war with everyone...

After lying around for a little bit we headed along the seashore for some quick dinner before going to see the NT production of Skylight at one of the local cinemas (which was a really good play, go see it if you can!).

This post on our first day in Plymouth was brought to you by me whilst watching season 2 of Orange Is The New Black. Cannot. Get. Enough.

More on Plymouth soon!

Weekly Wishes: Kitchen Essentials

Hey, look, third blog post in a week! I'm on a roll. Now let's see if we can keep this up...Good thing I took lots of lovely photos of Plymouth this weekend.

A week or so ago I wanted to make a recipe from delicious magazine, but then realised it required poached eggs; not being brave enough to try poaching them for the first time in just a pan of water, I soft boiled them instead (just as tasty), but it got me thinking about what bits of kitchen equipment I'd like to acquire to be able to cook/serve food more effectively (and prettily) - they may not all actually be 'essentials', but here are some of my favourites:

John Lewis 'The Pan' Egg Poacher, M&S Acacia Salad Servers, Jamie Oliver Apron @ Debenhams, M&S Olive Wood Paddle Board

Cole & Mason Pepper and Salt Mills @ Debenhams, House by John Lewis Utensils, Falcon 6-Piece Enamel Prep Set @ Liberty

I'm especially loving M&S's gorgeous wooden serveware right now. It would all be perfect for summer entertaining, which we'll hopefully do some of once we move and have our own little garden! They've got a bit of a sale on at the moment too, so very tempting...

After consistently dropping food on myself while baking/cooking over the last few months, I recently had the brainwave that I could actually buy an apron (apparently a degree doesn't actually equal common sense - who'd have thought it, right?). I'm torn between the Jamie Oliver apron and these two lovely little numbers from Anthropologie though...Someone help me decide!! 

A Day On The River

A couple of weeks ago my friend Beth invited us for a day out on her parents' canal boat - unfortunately it wasn't the most beautiful day ever to be boating, but thankfully it only rained once for about 15 minutes (and at a convenient time to stop for a spot of lunch, at that).

We travelled from Reading to Shiplake and back, went through Sonning lock and I even got to have a go at steering! It was easier than I thought it would be and pretty fun. It probably helped that the boat has a top speed of 4mph...

We ran into some cute ducklings when we moored up for lunch; even when there was no food around this little one above was squawking and trying to bite his poor siblings. Guess we know who's boss!

It was a lovely day indeed for my first canal boat experience - I'm only sad I didn't take more photos of people. Tomorrow me and the boy are heading to Plymouth for a mini-holiday and his sister's graduation, and I will certainly be taking lots of photos of everything!

Weekly Wishes: Sherbet Crush

In order to (try to...!) ensure more regular posting I've decided to do a weekly wishlist post on a Monday - shopping is one of the best ways to chase away the Monday blues, even if it is just dream shopping...

Tesco Basic Chevron Print Duvet, Prices Grapefruit and Peppermint Candle, Tesco Pink Vase, Tesco White Glass Lantern, Tesco Colour Dipped Wood Salad Bowl

Tesco Dip Dye Earthenware Mugs, Tesco Smoke Taper Vase, Tesco Wood Stripe Tray

Sadly credit for the title has to go to Tesco; everything above is part of their spring/summer pastel-themed homeware range, 'Sherbet Crush'. I totally adore pastels, so I want pretty much everything but above are some of my absolute favourites (I may have already bought the duvet cover...shhh ;) ). I used to be a bit dubious of the quality of supermarket fashion/homeware, but I think in the last few years they've really upped their game and this collection has solidly made me a fan. What should I buy next?! (Bearing in mind that I'm pretty sure the boy will kill me if I buy more mugs just because they're pretty...)