Inspiring interiors

So for those who read the blog often will know that we are in between houses and actively on the lookout for our new home. We have seen a few, some have been great, others not so much, so are where falling down around us or just over our budget, others our heart have fallen for and then just missed out at the last minute. If anyone has gone through the buying and selling process you will know it's a very stressful one, but also a positive experience, as you cannot help but indulge in some interior design. I start dressing houses up in my mind, what would the perfect kitchen look like, how would my (in my dreams) Smeg fridge go or how would I make my bedroom unique. I believe in less is more and quality over quantity and would love a mix of homemade, locally made, fair-trade and designer pieces to full my space. Interesting and eye catching whilst also remaining practical, I like nothing more than products that are well designed and fulfil their purpose whilst also being......

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Amsterdam Adventure - Part 1

I feel so lucky that I have had the opportunity to live in some amazing cities, one being Amsterdam. It's really hard to fully describe the place until you have been there yourself, it's very fast paced but at the same time the locals are very laid back and relaxed. It has an amazing mix of Museums, boutique and independent stores, wonderful parks which lie in paralle to the craziness of the nightlife, red light district and stags do's. I was lucky enough to secure a job before I arrived in the city, working in a well known backpackers, where I not only worked but also lived for a few months. I made a tone of friends, some of which will always be in my life. I eventually moved out into my own flat for a while before going off to explore more of europe, although I did return to the city later on, for an extended 6 week holiday. The city has a real soft spot in my soul, in the madness I will always feel comfortable, memories of riding my banged up little bike through ......

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Summer casual

As the days are slowly starting to get shorter and I can feel the change in the air, I am trying to squeeze every moment of sunshine out of this summer, so as long as it's warm enough I am in shorts. When we go on family walks like we did this day, I like to keep it casual. I have paired up a wide neck top from White Stuff with Ralph Lauren supply and denim shorts and my vans, plus my super handy Kanken for carrying all our things we need for a good adventure. John and I also share glasses so technically I am wearing his H&M conscious collection shades. Laura wears - White Stuff shirt, Ralph Lauren shorts, Van shoes, Asos belt, Guess watch H&M conscious collection glasses, Kanken bag This week both John and Mr A have been showing off there style on instagram and Mr A already has a  cute little strut down. John wearing Ralph Lauren shirt, Edwin jeans, YMC loafers, Albam tote Mr A rocking his stuff I have joined in with Funday Monday linky...

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Easy French style with Promod

If you have not heard of a french company called Promod , you should really check it out. They recently came to Debenhams in Cardiff and I was lucky enough to be invited to a preview of the collection, which is very stylish and surprisingly reasonable and personally I was very impressed. I genuinely found pieces I would wear, perfect festival fashion, as well as cute jackets with interesting prints and every piece had some small detail I loved. I found the collection had the french chic and would suit many occasions but was also unique and on trend. Here are a few of my favourite jackets and tops.. Officers Jacket £44.95 Embroidered Denim dress £39.95 Jacquard casual jacket £69.95 Bib front top £17.95 Short Jacquard jacket £69.95 Also if your local to Cardiff, St Davids is doing the last mmmondays on the 27th August - 20 different restaurants are offering discounts with up to 30% off meals ad various other deals from coffee to shopping at Gap, it's......

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Exploring somewhere new....

So we love exploring new places, park's, beaches, forest walks, big or small, as long as it provides some wonderful family time outdoors we are in. I have been mentioning Margam Country Park to John for a longtime and for some reason we have never made it over there until now. It was a very impromptu affair as we were actually on the way to somewhere else, with Johns parents, when we saw a sign for Margam and thought why not. The Orangery Margam Park is famous for it's 18th century Orangery, which is very impressive and is one of the first things you see when entering the park, alongside some old ruins and various sculptures that pull you into the landscape. 850 acres means a lot of space to explore and have fun. We heeded up to the visitors centre and Margam Castle, which is a beautiful building with wonderful details, right opposite the castle is wide open fields, perfect for Mr A's favourite pastime at the moment which is flying (as seen below) Flying high ......

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A perfect pamper day at St Pierre Marriott, Chepstow

The beautiful Marriott Hotel - St Pierre in Chepstow So it's been pretty much work work work lately with a stop of illness to throw everything out of the window so it was lovely to get the chance to have a date day just John and I and have a relaxing " experience day " pamper session at the beautiful St Pierre Marriott in Chepstow. It feels like an age since we have spent any quality time with just the two of us and as soon as we got on the road and headed to this beautiful part of South Wales, I felt relaxed. The hotel was exquisite, a 14th century manor surrounded by countryside of the Wye Valley and we were instantly blown away with beauty of the place. Laura wears - Boden tee, Next shorts, Guess watch, Carlos bag, New Look sandals, SXCU glasses We both dressed quite casually as we wanted this day to be about comfort. Since the sun was out and I am aiming to make the most of the dwindling warmer days, I went for shorts and a Bodens tee, John went for......

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App Happy - The Pandora App

* In collaboration with Pandora Sometimes in between sending emails, taking work calls, and the occasional social media check, there are moments in the day when our phones can do yet another thing for us, for example, shop. Whilst the lunch break shop run is sometimes necessary, it’s not exactly appealing, especially if you’re looking for jewellery. Jewellery shopping is an art, by which the latest Pandora App is a masterpiece. So when you’re browsing for new charms for those beautiful bracelets for women , who says you need to miss lunch to do so? Firstly, the whole catalogue is available to browse, plenty of gorgeous options, although slightly dangerous for our purses. It’s easy to use and ranges from all the classic Sterling Silver bracelets with the mix and match charms to retired jewellery with some great  Murano beads . The shuffle option is fantastic to show a random selection of the Pandora catalogue for when “Jewellery” is your category.  ......

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Most Amazing Giveaway!

We are co-hosting an amazing giveaway with Postcards from Rachel and some other fantastic bloggers with incredible prizes and advertising space, so if your looking for a boost to your blog than enter, it's super easy via rafflecopter Postcards from Rachel : 1 month "Postage Stamp" ad space Lost in Travels : $10 Starbucks gift card Treasure Tromp : Ad space Simply by Serendipity : $25 design credit & ad space Living in Another Language : Ad space Northern Belle Diaries : $20 design credit & ad space Side Street Style : Ad space Rainstorms & Love Notes : 2 months ad space Stamp in my Passport : $10 Amazon gift card La Petite Lulu : Ad space Girlfriend Jill : $10 Starbucks gift card Life of A Sports Wife : 3 face scrubbies from Pearls N Stitches At Home with the Hinkleys : Ad space & $10 Amazon gift card Something Charming : $25 Etsy gift card a Rafflecopter giveaway ...

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Travel Throwback - Snowboarding Silence

So a couple of years ago before I tore my ACL, I went with a couple of friends from Falmouth University on a snowboarding trip to Val d'isere in France. It was an amazing 10 days of pure snowboarding fun and a few nights of partying to boot. Over the duration of the trip, of course I took loads of photos but back then technology was not as reliable as it is today and I remember everyones camera's not working in the -16 degrees temperatures out on the pistes, which is why I love the two images below, they were taken on my old 1970's Pentax Asahi film camera and they capture a sort of silence and beauty about boarding off piste with friends. I am still in the process of re-scanning these negatives and will share more with you soon, also joining up with the lovely Travel Tuesday linky over on The Compass Rose ...

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Doc Marten Cardiff - Highlight

So I really want to highlight some local stores on the blog, as Cardiff is a really great city with a lot of new developments and going's on. I was really happy when Doc Marten finally came to town, it's a brand with such heritage and cultural relevance. Being a bit of a skater punk back in the day, Doc's were always the go to shoe to wear to any gig and I still love the brand today. The Cardiff store, which is situated opposite St Davids 2, in the City Centre, has an amazing selection, friendly and knowledge staff with occasionally guest artists decorating the walls. The did a collaboration with Frontier Tattoo studio a while ago - the same tattoo studio that did both of John's leg tattoos. Whats even better is that have a great kids range and I cannot wait to get Mr A a pair sometime soon, I just think the miniature versions for both girls and boys from cribs right up to teenagers are super cute and on trend for children with a unique and strong personality......

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