I've been to the Botanical Gardens in Brum numerous times before. I've spent hours walking around the grounds admiring the exotic plants and so when I was given the chance to explore the place as I'd never seen it before I jumped at it. Through Birmingham Bloggers I was invited to spend an evening wandering through a special Christmas trail. Here are some photos from the night..
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening, as did Sean. We helped ourselves to some delicious hot dogs, and toasted some handmade marshmallows over an open fire which we were both very grateful for after an hour or so of walking in the cold. Although we both had a fantastic time I can't help but feel the entrance fee is quite expensive as you have to pay for more when you get inside. That being said it really was a magical evening watching the different light shows and taking advantage of multiple photo opportunities!
I have a vlog of the night coming soon too so keep a look out for that!
Thanks for reading!
x
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So for years now I've been reading blogs and watching with envy and admiration as hundreds of dedicated bloggers take part in Blogmas. The sheer amount of work that goes into creating 25 blog posts to publish one after the other is unreal and not something I ever saw myself doing. That was until a few weeks back.
I've been blogging for ages now and I thought it was about time I at least tried to give Blogmas a go! For those wondering what Blogmas actually is, well its just a fancy name for posting everyday in the lead up to Christmas, from the 1st right up until the big day. I might not be able to handle the workload but who knows, maybe I will!
So as of tomorrow I will be posting on my little blog every single day until Christmas! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading!
x
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So initially I wanted to do this as a video but considering I haven't updated my little blog for a while I thought I would do it on here! I've been to Disneyland Paris quite a few times now (eight times to be precise), and during those trips I've accumulated several favourites that I wanted to share with you all.
Top 2 Rides in Disneyland Park - It would be way too hard to just pick one so I've got two! My first is Big Thunder Mountain; it's a bit of a thrill ride with a fantastic theme. My second favourite is Peter Pan's Flight. This couldn't be more different from most of my other favourites but it's just so magical!
Top 2 Rides in Walt Disney Studios - Again, I could never pick just one! I've loved Tower of Terror ever since my first ride on it back in 2013, and it's been a firm favourite ever since. The other ride I would pick has to be Crush's Coaster! I hadn't had chance to go on it until recently but I'm so glad I ignored the long queue time and gave it a go!
Top 3 Restaurants - Lets be honest, the food in Disney is pretty pricey and most of it isn't exactly the best either, but there are still several places I have to eat in while on holiday! My all time top restaurant is Hakuna Matata, the theme in that place is amazing plus the food is delicious! Another favourite has to be Casey's on Main Street, you can't go wrong with hot dogs and chips really. The last restaurant to make the list has to be Plaza Gardens. The character breakfast there really is a treat.
Favourite Thing To Eat - If I could only eat one thing in Disneyland it would have to be Hakuna fries from Hakuna Matata. They are crinkle cut chips with a yummy flavouring unlike anything I've ever had before! Pair that up with the Kebab meal deal and you have one happy Gracie.
Top 3 Meet And Greets - One of the best meet and greets I had was with Chip and Dale. They are just so fun and you end up with several hilarious photographs after just a few moments with them. Another great meet and greet was Moana (Vianna in France). She was really chatty and looked incredible - my photos with her are easily some of my most treasured. But my very favourite meet and greet has to be with Micky Mouse himself! He doesn't talk, but more than makes up for it by playing around!
Best Show - This is really hard as there are just so many amazing shows in the park that change from time to time, but I would have to say Mickey and the Magician. I almost cried the first time I saw it and even though I've watched it a few times since, the magic hasn't worn off!
Favourite Shop - Again this is super hard as there are so many to chose from but I'm going to go with World of Disney as I think its the biggest and you can pretty much get anything from there!
Favourite Hotel - This is a bit of a cheat as I've only ever stayed in two but out of the Santa Fe and The Cheyenne, the Cheyenne is definitely the best! The cowboy/ Toy Story theme is great and the newly renovated rooms are so much nicer, plus the rooms are a lot easier to find than in the Santa Fe I think.
Favourite Time of Year - I've been to Disney throughout different season's and my favourite time to go is in the early Summer. It's nice and warm, unlikely to rain, and the kids haven't broke up from school so it's not too busy. I haven't been during the Christmas season however so I imagine that would be pretty magical!
So those are my Disneyland Paris favourites! Although I'm not going to call this a 'tag post' as such, I would love my fellow Disneyland fans to fill this in on their own blogs or even just in the comments below! What are your Disneyland faves?!
Top 2 Rides in Disneyland Park - It would be way too hard to just pick one so I've got two! My first is Big Thunder Mountain; it's a bit of a thrill ride with a fantastic theme. My second favourite is Peter Pan's Flight. This couldn't be more different from most of my other favourites but it's just so magical!
Top 2 Rides in Walt Disney Studios - Again, I could never pick just one! I've loved Tower of Terror ever since my first ride on it back in 2013, and it's been a firm favourite ever since. The other ride I would pick has to be Crush's Coaster! I hadn't had chance to go on it until recently but I'm so glad I ignored the long queue time and gave it a go!
Top 3 Restaurants - Lets be honest, the food in Disney is pretty pricey and most of it isn't exactly the best either, but there are still several places I have to eat in while on holiday! My all time top restaurant is Hakuna Matata, the theme in that place is amazing plus the food is delicious! Another favourite has to be Casey's on Main Street, you can't go wrong with hot dogs and chips really. The last restaurant to make the list has to be Plaza Gardens. The character breakfast there really is a treat.
Favourite Thing To Eat - If I could only eat one thing in Disneyland it would have to be Hakuna fries from Hakuna Matata. They are crinkle cut chips with a yummy flavouring unlike anything I've ever had before! Pair that up with the Kebab meal deal and you have one happy Gracie.
Best Show - This is really hard as there are just so many amazing shows in the park that change from time to time, but I would have to say Mickey and the Magician. I almost cried the first time I saw it and even though I've watched it a few times since, the magic hasn't worn off!
Favourite Shop - Again this is super hard as there are so many to chose from but I'm going to go with World of Disney as I think its the biggest and you can pretty much get anything from there!
Favourite Hotel - This is a bit of a cheat as I've only ever stayed in two but out of the Santa Fe and The Cheyenne, the Cheyenne is definitely the best! The cowboy/ Toy Story theme is great and the newly renovated rooms are so much nicer, plus the rooms are a lot easier to find than in the Santa Fe I think.
Favourite Time of Year - I've been to Disney throughout different season's and my favourite time to go is in the early Summer. It's nice and warm, unlikely to rain, and the kids haven't broke up from school so it's not too busy. I haven't been during the Christmas season however so I imagine that would be pretty magical!
So those are my Disneyland Paris favourites! Although I'm not going to call this a 'tag post' as such, I would love my fellow Disneyland fans to fill this in on their own blogs or even just in the comments below! What are your Disneyland faves?!
Thanks for reading!
x
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As well as blogging and vlogging our adventure, Sean and I decided fairly soon into our September trip that we wanted to create a scrapbook of our travels. We had just taken so many beautiful photographs that it only seemed right to print them off and keep hard copies safe in our home. A scrapbook seemed like a fun way to do this and so when Printiki offered to print some of my treasured snaps for me I jumped at the offer.*
The prints were pretty easy to order, I simply created an account and started selecting my images straight away. I had the choice of regular prints or adding a retro border which would give my images a Polariod style look. As I wanted to pop my images into a scrapbook I thought it might be handy to have extra room to write on and so I picked the retro border on some of my images.
I wanted to use the photos I had already edited and uploaded to Instagram so I just connected to my account and selected the images I wanted to print. My photos arrived within just a few days even though I selected the economy shipping! If I needed to rush my order, next day delivery was also available.
I wanted to use the photos I had already edited and uploaded to Instagram so I just connected to my account and selected the images I wanted to print. My photos arrived within just a few days even though I selected the economy shipping! If I needed to rush my order, next day delivery was also available.
I haven't finished my scrapbook yet but I'm already chuffed to bits with it and I'm so glad I decided to create a special place to keep my travel memories safe!
If you fancy making a scrapbook of your own, or if you just want to have hard copies of your favourite photos, you can use code G5CCKZSS for free shipping from Printiki!
Thanks for reading!
x
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- Shop The Look -
I'm not going to lie, I find dressing for autumn/ winter super hard. Unlike pretty much every other blogger out there, I'm a big fan of Summer. Nothing makes me happier than being able to walk around in minimal clothing and still be nice and toasty. But now it's getting cooler and that's just not possible anymore.
I'm not a massive fan of coats, but I like to be warm without wearing 100 layers. I find most jumpers to be big and bulky on me, and I definitely can't pull off the cute wooly hat look, so what do I wear? Well there's not much choice really. For the next couple of weeks I'll try and get away with autumnal shirts and blouses but after that I'll be rocking the frumpy jumper look until about May!
What sort of things do you wear in the cooler months?
With winter fast approaching it's about time we all updated our wardrobes. If we are honest though, it's that time of year where we are all saving for the most expensive holiday; Christmas. To keep costs down I've devised a list of just 5 things I think you need to tide you over until spring!
-- Thick Knit Jumper --
-- Black Boots --
-- Cosy Parka --
-- Snuggly Pyjamas --
-- Versatile Party dress --
If I'm honest I could have added 100 more things to this list but I think these are the necessities you could get away with buying. Is there anything you guys run out to buy every winter?
Thanks for reading!
x
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Last weekend Sean and I took a fairly spontaneous trip up to Lichfield. It's roughly an hour from my house by train and as we'd just invested in a rail card we thought why not? Earlier that week I'd also really been craving an afternoon tea so after doing a bit of research I convinced Sean to take me to McKensies, a lovely little restaurant in the heart of Lichfield City.
We arrived without a booking which we thought might have been an issue on a busy Saturday afternoon however they were able to fit us in and we were soon seated. After placing our order we were told there might be a small wait on food however this wasn't the case and our delicious afternoon meal arrived promptly.
The top tier of our afternoon tea stand consisted of; Homemade Scotch Egg sprinkled with Cheese, which tasted to me like a posh Sausage and Egg McMuffin, and two slices of Pork Pie - straight from the Butchers. I've had quite a few Afternoon Tea's and this was the first one to provide savoury treats instead of small cakes and macaroons. Although this is not what I'm used to I can honestly say it made a nice change and I will look out for this again in other Afternoon Tea menus.
The second tier held two fresh scones with plenty of cream and Jam - something I can be really fussy about, two slices of lemon cake, and the most beautiful buttery shortbread biscuit I've had in a long time. The biscuit was also branded with the McKensie's logo witch I thought added a really nice touch.
On the bottom tier were our finger sandwiches. The fillings we had on the day were; Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Ham & Cheddar, and Tuna. The menu does state that the Afternoon Tea comes with Salmon & Cream Cheese however I assume ours were substituted for tuna this time. I don't eat fish so that didn't bother me at all however if you really have your heart set on Salmon it might be worth calling ahead to double check the fillings for that day.
Service wise I couldn't complain at all really. All of the staff were very helpful and friendly. We spoke to several members of staff during our visit and none of them gave off the vibe that they were too busy to chat. That being said they were quick to clear our table when we were done and even wrapped up a slice of our leftover cake to take home.
The overall decor and atmosphere of the place was also lovely. There was a fairly high end feel to the whole building which had a strong Stag theme throughout. Its not very often that I take notice of a restaurants playlist however the background music that played during our sitting was a mixture of cover songs changed up so that they had a smooth jazz feel to them which only added to the ambience.
So would I eat here again? Definitely. The location was good, the food was tasty and the staff were friendly, what more could you want when dining out?
Thanks for reading!
x
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