June

June according to my iPhone

My last few weeks in Leeds

Goodbye drinks and welcome drinks

Enjoying a few days off

Sunshine (at last!)

Moving into a new flat

Exploring London

I'm moving!

As I'm sat here surrounded by boxes and suitcases, I can’t quite believe I'm moving again, for the fifth time in as many years. I'm super excited and of course, a little bit nervous. If you follow me on twitter, you may have already seen that I'm moving to the place where dreams are made, the big smoke, the hustle and bustle filled capital city.

May

May according to my iPhone

Sunshine!

Beautiful sunsets on evening runs

Food vans and cocktails

Catching up with friends

The Garden Party 

Two bank holiday weekends

A lovely spa morning

My first hen do

Cabana Brasilian Barbecue | Trinity Leeds

If you're a regular visitor to Trinity Leeds, you may have already visited Cabana Brasilian Barbecue. On the top floor situated across from Trinity Kitchen, it's a great venue for both food and cocktails. Last week saw the launch of its new lunch menu so I headed over to try some of the dishes, and of course try a cocktail or two.

The Alchemist Trinity Leeds | Summer Menu

One of my favourite places in Leeds to enjoy the sunshine with a cocktail in hand is The Alchemist in Trinity. In fact, it’s also one of my top picks for dinner too. I did a post a few months back all about the restaurant, which you can read here. When I received an invite to a blogger event on the roof terrace to launch a new menu of summer drinks, I think I RSVP’d in approximately three seconds flat.

Elemis Biotec Range

A few weeks ago I was contacted about the new Elemis Biotec Skincare range. I'd already seen a few things about it online and have heard many people rave about Elemis over the past few years so I was keen to try it for myself.

The range consists of the Biotec Skin Energising Cleanser, Biotec Skin Energising Day Cream and Biotec Skin Energising Night Cream, all of which are available to purchase on the Beauty Expert website. You can check out the Elemis products here, there's often great deals on the Beauty Expert site and what's even better is that standard delivery is free worldwide.

Colour Pop ft. Zara and H&M

I'm back, with a late night post because who actually sticks to a blogging schedule? I appear to have a backlog of outfit posts from another shoot with the lovely Matt. I thought I should probably share them with you because soon enough the items won't be recent enough to buy any more.

The weather has been a weird one this week, hasn't it? Blazing sun over the weekend that turned to humid rain and cloud then back to sunshine. Although I'm not complaining, it was 26 degrees in Leeds on Saturday and if that's the hottest day we'll see this year at least it was an impressive temperature. Plus, it was bare legs and flip flops weather and there's no better feeling than digging out the flip flops at the start of summer.

April

April according to my iPhone

Three trips to lovely London
Blossom and blue skies
Impromptu trip to the seaside
An infamous Franco Manco pizza

Bubbledogs (best hot dog ever)
Drinks on the Benefit ship
My first guest post (on the Oliver Bonas blog)

Fun Hygiene with Carex + Giveaway

Last week I received a little pack of goodies in the post from the team at Carex who are getting involved in a campaign created by the World Health Organisation. On Thursday 5th May the World Health Organisation are hosting Clean Your Hands Day to promote the importance of hand hygiene and infection prevention. As Carex are constantly expanding their range it seemed like the perfect occasion to try out some of their newer products.

Style Diary | Zara Spring Fashion

As you'll know by now, I'm not very good at sticking to my own no-spend rules. So, when I went for a wander around town after work last week and spotted some bits in Zara, I couldn't help but try them on - and we all know there's no going back after that. I picked up some staple spring/summer items that I wanted to share them with you. Plus, I met up with a new photographer, Matt, and it was the perfect opportunity to shoot a little outfit post.

Cheeky | Holborn

Last week I was lucky enough to spend the day at Cheeky in Holborn as part of an event we were holding at work. I took my camera along, originally to take some pictures for our website, but as they came out really well and I had a great experience there, I'm sharing them with you.

Epernay Champagne Bar | Leeds

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to Épernay Champagne Bar in the centre of Leeds, along with a few other bloggers, to try out the new summer cocktail menu. I'm a huge cocktail fan and am always on the hunt for new places to try, so I was really excited when I received an invite to a bar I hadn't visited before. 

March

March according to my iPhone

Attending more blogger events

Exploring the Yorkshire countryside 

KAWS at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Witnessing a pug meet-up (amazing)

A trip to the seaside 

One chilled bank holiday weekend

Celebrating lots of birthdays

The start of brighter and longer evenings

Ladies Day at the Races

I'm a huge fan of going to the races whether it's taking a picnic for a day out with my family or, in more recent years, dressing up and spending time with friends. When I was contacted by Natasha at Branded3, to see if I wanted to take part in the Ladbrokes Grand National Ladies Day competition I decided it was worth a shot. I love the excitement of getting ready and being able to wear something you'd never otherwise get a chance to wear. Plus, it's an added bonus to be in with the chance of winning two hospitality package tickets to the Grand National.

Easter on the East Coast

On Good Friday me and the girls decided to make the most of the one day of sunshine forecast for the Easter weekend and take a trip to the seaside. After a long and winding three hours and twenty minutes (still absolutely no idea why it took us so long to get there - the traffic wasn't even bad!) we arrived at Scarborough seafront. By this point we were all starving and had one, understandably, restless little baby on our hands so we headed straight for fish and chips. 

Roxy Ball Room | Leeds

Roxy Ball Room in the heart of Leeds is one of the most popular places for us young things to hang nowadays (or so I hear) but until a couple of weeks ago I'd never actually been. With the option to play pool, ping pong, beer pong and mini golf it really is the first place of its kind to pop up in Leeds. It's a great place to go straight from work if you work in the centre, or even on a date to cancel out the possibility of any awkward silent atmospheres.

The Body Shop British Rose Collection | Leeds Briggate

Last Thursday I went along to an event at The Body Shop in Leeds to celebrate the launch of their new British Rose Collection. I'm a big fan of The Body Shop and have been for years, so I was really excited when I received an invite to go along and check out some of their new stuff. Over the years I've tried products from all of the ranges; skincare, body care and make-up, and I swear by The Body Shop body butters for saving any dry skin disasters.

Thomas's | Burberry, Regent Street

As I mentioned in my February post, when I was in London for my mum's birthday we visited Thomas's in the flagship Burberry store on Regent Street for an amazing Sunday brunch. From the second we stepped in the door till the moment we left, the service was impeccable and made for a really enjoyable experience. I opted for smashed avocado and poached egg (like a real blogger) and the rest of my family had the English breakfast, all of which were delicious. I thought I'd share a little photo diary of my trip incase anyone was thinking of visiting - I'll definitely be returning with my friends on my next trip to London.

Smoke BBQ | Leeds

Last week I was invited to "get dirty" with Smoke Barbecue and try out their new menu in the Leeds restaurant. Having been to a taster event before I wasn't expecting to be shown to my own table and have a full size meat platter for me and a friend - it was a great evening and of course, very generous. Meat and Beer on a Thursday night, what could be better?

Being a feminist isn't a bad thing

Today is International Women's Day and I wanted to share a post highlighting the importance of celebrating and being proud of who you are. It doesn't mean we should be raging feminists and hate all men, but being a feminist to a certain degree and fighting for equality for women is something we should all strive towards.

February

February according to my iPhone

Pancake Day!

Gal-entine's Day with one of my main gals

Too much eating and drinking in London

My mum's 50th birthday

Seeing Wicked on the West End 

Battle of the Burger in Leeds

My first trip to The Shard

Lots of lovely sunsets 

Boss Burgers | Chapel Allerton

I've been living in Chapel Allerton for over six months now and tried my fair share of the local eateries, but I can firmly confirm that Boss Burgers is one of my favourite food finds. I would call myself a burger connoisseur (not something to be proud of I know, but unavoidable when you've worked at McDonald's and one of Newcastle's best burger joints). So, I think I can provide a pretty knowledgeable opinion on what makes a great burger.

The Blogger's Hangout | LFW

Last weekend I visited my favourite city to try and catch some of the London Fashion Week excitement and catch up with a few friends. I saw that the Bloggers Hangout were holding an event on Monday and stayed an extra day to go and check it out. There were loads of brands and bloggers involved so it was a great place to network and meet new people but it was super busy so I didn't stay for as long as I would of liked. 

Nourish Spring Menu | Leeds

Last week I was very kindly invited to sample the new spring menu at the Nourish restaurant in Leeds and I jumped at the chance as I'm all for supporting healthy and affordable food options. I've only eaten at Nourish once before so I was definitely up for trying out some more of the dishes.

The best of NYFW

New York Fashion Week has drawn to a close so I thought I'd do a quick post featuring some of my favourite AW16/17 collections shown in New York. I didn't catch any of the shows online but I've been keeping up to date through instagram, snapchat and the Vogue website (obvs).

3.0 Phillip Lim

Let's go against the rules and start with the best first (obviously this is my opinion and personal preference on the best - it may not be yours). I absolutely loved the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection, the pieces were all so wearable and the combination of colour, texture and the fit of the clothes created the perfect balance between edgy and feminine.
See the full collection here: http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2016/ready-to-wear/3-1-phillip-lim

3 Ways To Wear : A Statement Jacket

Gluten Free Banana Pancakes

A very belated happy Pancake Day to you all! I hope you ate far too much and sat on the sofa feeling sick afterwards, because that's what Pancake Day is all about (minus the religious reasons of course). It's become tradition for me and my sister to go to my grandma's house every year for pancakes but now my sister is all grown up and working evenings we had to postpone for a day to make sure she could participate in the pancake eating. 

January

January according to my iPhone

Lots of lovely sunsets

Catching up with my London pals

Buying my first print for the flat

Eating out way too often

Losing all of the pictures on my phone (sad times)

Enjoying some quiet nights after Christmas

16 Goals for 2016

I never wrote down any real new year's resolutions this year because, without beating around the bush, I don't stick to them. I'm not a fan of routine, I like being spontaneous and just doing stuff when I feel like it. Generally speaking, it means my ideas and plans change frequently and with that, my aims and what I want to achieve change alongside them *the struggles of a creative mind* (that was sarcasm - hard to convey on the internet).

The Alchemist | Trinity Leeds

I visited the Alchemist in Trinity Leeds on Monday for the fifth time and thought, you know what I'm going to blog about this place. I just love it. There's something about it that means I will happily return time and time again, and there's nothing better than sharing the love. 

January Sales Style Edit

When I told myself I wouldn't go shopping with my Christmas money I knew I was lying to myself, I mean who wants to put a present towards their student overdraft - not me. I've managed to pick up some pretty impressive bargains over the last few weeks so my desire to shop has been satisfied for a short while.

Lust List: Sportswear

Firstly, an apology for my lack of posts this month. I started the year raring to go and seem to have only uploaded one post which I admit is a poor effort. One of my favourite posts to write each month is "according to my iPhone" but sadly (and equally happily) I got a new phone last week and it didn't restore my back up, resulting in no pictures from December to upload in a post.

What I got for Christmas 2015

I'm aware that these kind of posts are controversial. Some people love them, some people hate them but I, for one, love having a nosey at what other people have been buying or received as a gift. I'm also aware that Christmas has now been and gone but better late than never, right?