Amsterdam

After spending a year in America, (I swear I will stop going on about it one day...) and doing a lot of travelling, going back to the realities of English university didn't exactly fill me with excitement. Therefore, my English study abroad friends and I decided to book a reunion getaway as soon as we broke up for the Christmas holidays. Our choice was the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Although it may have a reputation for being wild and sleazy, Amsterdam is actually a very pretty and peaceful place. I had already been once before with family but that didn't mean I was any less excited to go.

Day One

After a very short flight we arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to our fantastic apartment. It was located in the Canal Belt area of Centrum near an area called Rembrandtplein, basically a very central location with a great view of Amsterdam's famous canals. The apartment was huge with a beautiful living room and kitchen area upstairs and two spacious bedrooms downstairs. I could have lived there forever. After settling in we made our way to a cute little Italian restaurant. I ordered a four cheese pizza that was so delicious. Then we made our way to a cute little bar with an old style juke box and just one local sat peacefully for some beer and wine.

 Our Apartment

Quattro Formaggio Pizza from Pizzeria La Traviata

Day Two

The next day we made a quick stop for coffee then made our way to Museumplein, a square with Amsterdam's famous museums like the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. This is also home to the IAMSTERDAM sign. After a few photos and a watch of the ice skaters we headed to Bagels and Beans for lunch. I ordered an everything bagel with pesto and sun-dried tomato cream cheese and proscuitto, parmesan and rocket. Then we went to the Vondelpark, or bike park, where we hired bikes and rode around like true Dutch people, though we avoided the real roads at all costs. We then made our way to an area called Leidseplein, then went home for a nap. At night we went to an Indian restaurant, Memories of India, which was so delicious.

Museumplein and the IAMSTERDAM sign

Bagel and Cream Cheese from Bagel and Beans

Views in the Vondelpark

Christmas Decorations in Leidseplein

Day Three

Our first stop on day three was the Anne Frank Huis. We had been told that queues were usually ridiculously long, but we only waited around half an hour to get in. Unfortunately, many people had selfie sticks, taking pictures of themselves outside, which I found quite disrespectful. The same people then spoke very loudly throughout the museum, not really taking in any of the museum. However, the experience was still very moving and seeing actual handwritten pages from Anne's real diary was really good to see. We then headed for toasties in a really cute lunch place called Toastable, where I had a Dutch meatball toastie. Afterwards we went to a cheese shop and passed the Royal Palace, and then later on we went for a quick apple tart and coffee stop at Winkels 43. Once darkness arrived we headed to the Red Light District, which was a very bizarre place. After our busy day we went back to the area our apartment was in and tried some famous dutch chips in a cone and picked up a waffle from a Christmas stall for dessert.

The Royal Palace

The Meatball Toastie from Toastable

Dutch Apple Tart from Winkels 43

Day Four

Our fourth day was our most relaxed day. After a late wake up and a long trip to Starbucks we wandered around the Bloemenmarkt, or flower market, and had a look in another cheese shop. We then went to a chain lunch spot in Amsterdam called La Place where they have a wide variety of cuisines all under one roof, which are then made in front of you with fresh ingredients. We went for soup and a sandwich with some lemonade. In the evening we went to a burger place called Burger Fabriek before going to the Amsterdam Ice Bar. We got a cocktail and two ice drinks included in our ticket which was pretty decent. It was a lot colder than I expected so we didn't spend too long in there. Afterwards, I had a raspberry beer at a craft beer bar with a large selection of beers from all over the world before going home.

Inside the Amsterdam Ice Bar

Lights over the Canals

Day Five

On our final day we did some souvenir and cheese shopping and then stopped for lunch at a cute café where I had a warm mozzarella and pesto baguette. We then went on a canal cruise all around Amsterdam where we got to see the city's sights from water level for around an hour. We then went to a bar and browsed a few shops before going to the airport to go home.

View from the Canal Cruise

The bikes that have been retrieved from canals

I'll miss you Amsterdam!

My Summer Through Snapshots

Long time no speak! It's been a while, in fact it has been a long while; 397 days to be precise since I last wrote and published a post. Sophie explained the slight hiatus (ok, gargantuan hiatus) in this post linked here. But now I'm back and a little less busy, I'm here to stay for the foreseeable future.

I have so many post ideas but I wasn't sure what to 'make a comeback' with, I didn't really want to write a beauty or fashion piece as my first so I settled on making a post with a few of my favourite pictures from the last couple of months. After I finished work in July, this is what I was up to instead of sitting behind my computer writing...

June
June wasn't that eventful to be honest as I was still busy working, but we had the best weather of the year and found an excuse to celebrate it with Pimms and a BBQ. 

July

July began with a last bit of hard graft at work before I said my emotionally goodbyes and left, the rest of July was spent celebrating mine and Sophie's 21st birthday, spending the day at RHS Flower Show, having a few days in London visiting my sister and then ending the month with a fabulous trip to NYC. 

August

August was mostly spent on the beautiful island of Koh Samui, Thailand. After an horrendously long flight we were welcomed with gorgeous white beaches and stunning blue skies, I spent a lot of time lying on my sunbed toasting myself to a lovely shade of brown as well as having experiences I'll never forget. 

Now I've done my first post, its time I got brainstorming, planning and writing some exciting content for over the next couple of months.

My American Bucket List!

As I've mentioned before on our blog, I recently went on a year abroad to the University at Albany in New York State. I was so excited to go on such an amazing adventure when I'd just entered my 20s. It had always been a dream of mine to live in America/New York and even though I didn't live in the city, I was only a 2 hour drive away which was good enough for me. Before I left in August I made a bucket list of things I wanted to do while I was there. I didn't cross everything off but I made a pretty good go of it! I've included my bucket list below and put all the things I completed in bold. 

1. Shop at Sephora
2. Try a Twinkie
3. Go to a typical America College/Frat party
4. Drink from a red cup
5. Eat Breakfast at Tiffany's
6. Go to Jamba Juice
7. Go to Taco Bell
8. Go to Olive Garden
9. Go to the Cheesecake Factory
10. Watch a live episode of Saturday Night Live.
11. Go to 'The Movies'
12. Visit Hollywood/Los Angeles
13. Eat a Traditional Thanksgiving Meal
14. Do Halloween American Style
15. Go on Spring Break
16. Go to Vegas
17. Go to Boston
18. Go to Chicago
19. Go to the Grand Canyon
20. Go to Miami
21. Go to Washington DC
22. Go to New Orleans
23. Go to San Francisco
24. Go to Philadelphia
25. Go to Tennessee
26. Visit Mount Rushmore
27. See Route 66
28. Eat yogurt on the Met Steps
29. See a basketball game
30. See an American football game
31. See a baseball game
32. Eat in an American Diner
33. Shop in Walmart
34. Go to the Mall
35. Try Dunkin' Donuts
36. Eat New York Pizza
37. Eat Bagels
38. Try new food
39. Go to New York at Christmas
40. Visit New York as many times as possible!

I think I did a pretty good job of getting through it even though I didn't manage to do everything. I almost crossed off 36 but I never actually ate Breakfast at Tiffany's even though I've visited so many times. Also I kind of cheated on 28 because I didn't eat yogurt on the Met Steps but drank coffee instead (I hope Blair and Serena would still be proud). I will do an individual blog post on some of the things I ticked off the list but some are pretty self explanatory. Look out for the blog posts in the upcoming weeks.

What would you include on your American Bucket List? 

What's In My Makeup Bag: Plane Edition

Finally the time has come for me to fly to New York to start my year abroad! I can't believe it's finally here and after must planning, preparation and packing and last minute panic purchases I'm ready to go. I thought I would do a post on what I'm packing in my makeup bag in my hand luggage as it's a bit different from what I would usually pack in my day to day makeup bag due to liquid restrictions and limited space (which is a huge dilemma for me as I always feel I need at least 3 lipsticks on hand just in case I have some sort of disastrous lipstick emergency). I'm flying from Manchester to Heathrow and then Heathrow to JFK with a 3 hour layover at Heathrow so it's definitely necessary to take some kind of makeup with me for the 12 hour journey. So here is what I have packed in my hand luggage makeup bag.

The Makeup Bag I've decided to take is my Marc by Marc Jacobs Leopard Print Bag that I got in a sale at Harvey Nichols at Christmas. I've not used it that much yet so thought this was the perfect time to break out a relatively new makeup bag. It's a great size for a plane because it's not too small so I can't fit anything in it but it's also not too big, therefore tempting me to pack way more than I need and going over the liquid restrictions.

The Products that I've put in the makeup bag are: MAC eyeshadow quad with shades - Naked Lunch, Charcoal Brown, Twinks and Honesty, Nars Orgasm Blush, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Deauville, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard, Benefit The Porefessional Primer, Charlotte Tilbury 5 Star Mascara, Maybelline The Falsies Macara, Rimmel Liquid Eyeliner, Lord and Berry Kohl Eyeliner, Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick in Bitch Perfect, Chanel Coco Rouge in Rebelle, Chanel Coco Rouge in Espirit, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow and REN moisturiser.

The Brushes that I'm taking are: Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, Real Techniques Powder Brush (both new), Charlotte Tilbury Powder and Sculpt Brush, MAC 217, MAC 224, MAC 168, Sephora Angled Brush.

This seems like a lot of beauty products for 12 hours but at least I'll be prepared for any kind of beauty emergency. What do you usually pack in your hand luggage makeup bag?

What's In My Holiday Make-Up Bag?

As this post goes live I will be 30000 feet up in the air on my way to Valencia, Spain. I am taking a little 5 day mini break to the city with my sister after a stressful few weeks of exams where we can explore the city, relax on the beach, get some sunshine and of course drink plenty of sangria and eat far too much tapas.

My sister and I only have a suitcase between us which means I need to pack light (FYI, I am really not very good at packing light) and everything that goes into the suitcase is probably going to have a vigorous screening process by my sister followed by a few 'you don't need that', 'you won't use this' and 'we're not taking them'. I think there is going to have to be a little bit of sneaking things in the suitcase when her back his turned as think she will not understand why I need 2 mascaras, 3 concealers and 6 lipsticks for 5 days...

Firstly the make-up bags I am taking is this beautiful deep purple Saffiano leather DKNY bag which will hold all my make-up essentials, I am then taking this New York print white canvas bag also DKNY as my overflow make-up bag which holds my brushes, my Naked palette, perfume, nail varnish and other bits and bobs.

Starting with the purple bag I am taking: my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in Porcelain and also a sample sized of the shade darker (Nude) to mix in if I tan, Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in Fair, MaxFactor Colour Correct stick for under eye circles, Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat, MAC blush in Taupe Shape (which I use as bronzer), Nars Deep Throat blusher, Rimmel Stay Matte powder, Laura Mercier Long Lash mascara, Chanel Le Volume De Chanel mascara, Maybelline Gel Liner in black, Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bronze on Bronze, MAC eyeshadow duo of Omega and Concrete which I use for my brows and Natural Collection clear mascara which I also use for my brows.

And finally I am taking the following lipsticks: MAC Patisserie, Topshop Brighton Rock, Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in 05, Rimmel Apocalips in Across the Universe and L'Oreal Liquid Lipstick in 500 Molto Mauve. 

The white bag will hold my brushes and tools which get too squished in the purple bag, the original Naked palette, my Jo Malone perfume in English Pear and Freesia, the nail varnish on my toes which is Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in 416 Papaya, a few bits of jewelery and some hair accessories. 

For brushes I am taking: Real Techniques Stippling, Expert Face, Deluxe Crease and Base Shadow brushes, MAC 239, 217, 263 and 129, Topshop Large Shadow and Angled Brow brush, Bare Minerals Soft Sweep Cheek brush, Bobbi Brown Foundation Brush, an ELF Spoolie and Charlotte Tilbury Eyelash Curlers. 

That ended up being a long post! Reading back through this post maybe this is a bit excessive for 5 days, I'll let you know when I get back if my bossy sister made me leave anything behind...