Oct 28, 2014

Under Canvas

Posted in Travel.

A couple of weekends ago, I made my escape from the city.

Along with my friends Clare and Laura, I headed out of town towards a secluded part of Yorkshire. Nestled among the trees – where 4G isn’t a thing and no one cares about Instagram likes – is Jollydays.

I’d actually looked into Jollydays as a wedding venue in the very early days, so it’s been on my list of ‘top local attractions’ for quite a while. You see, while I love the Great Outdoors and everything nature has to offer (fresh air, sunlight, leaves – that kinda thing), I’m also quite fond of my home comforts. I like electricity. Showers are amazing. And there’s something to be said for artificial light at 9pm when your fancy lighter is out of gas and the matches keep breaking.

Jollydays is ‘luxury camping’, or ‘glamping’ – you’re at one with the world, surrounded by Mother Nature, but you can still charge your phone and blow dry your hair. I was invited along for a complimentary stay and as I trundled my Calvin Klein suitcase across the muddy, leaf-strewn paths I had to firmly remind myself this was not a 5* hotel, and packing my eyelash curlers was probably a bit excessive. Especially considering I had not brought a torch (that’s what iPhones are for, right?).

We stayed in a Deluxe Tent – there are no permanent structures at Jollydays, so it definitely still feels like camping. But camping on another level – as well as a four poster bed, a wardrobe, a corner sofa and a dining table, our Tent had a roll-top bath, shower, full kitchen with gas hob and fridge and wooden flooring. A million miles away from airbeds and folding chairs.

It was so nice inside, I almost didn’t want to venture out…

But there’s so much to see around the campsite, exploring is necessary. Jollydays works on an honesty system – there’s a tea tent with freshly baked goodies as well as essential supplies and power points for your phone. You jot down your name and what you’ve taken, be mindful of the limited electricty supply and settle up before you leave. It means the staff are free to do other things, like chop fire wood, stoke the communal campfire or help you cook a pizza in the clay oven. Told you this place was good.

After a delicious dinner of homemade chilli and plenty of wine on Friday night, we awoke bright and early and headed out for lunch. Jollydays is nestled right in the centre of some amazing places – York is just around the corner, there’s the Wolds and the North York Moors, and Scarborough’s not far either. We went east towards Beverley to visit a Michelin-starred pub, The Pipe and Glass.

After a truly delicious 3-course meal in beautiful surroundings (I absolutely adored the interior design of The Pipe and Glass), we drove back towards York and stopped at Piglets Adventure Farm Park. It’s clearly for children but with super cute animals, a corn maze and adult-sized go-carts, it was good enough for us.

Saturday night was spent around the picnic bench, cooking burgers on the BBQ and playing Scrabble by gas light. Armed with a bottle of Prosecco and a bag of marshmallows, we ventured down to the communal campfire and spent an enjoyable few hours making S’mores and chatting to lovely staff and friendly guests. There were all sorts of people staying over – hen parties, birthday groups, families and outdoor types, all willing to take part and get into the spirit.

We kicked off Sunday with a spot of pampering (forest lighting is the absolute BEST for makeup application) and then cooked up the Breakfast Basket left for us the previous evening. Jollydays can provide morning and evening meals at your request – after reading Lucy’s post about the dinners she had during her stay, I wish we’d gone for a Supper Basket too! But breakfast was delicious – fresh bread, locally-sourced meat and tasty eggs, the perfect way to start the day.

After a wander around the rest of the site (the forest is huge and there’s loads to explore), we reluctantly packed up and left our glamorous outdoor lives behind. But not without one last reminder that, despite the posh bath and full length mirror, we were still close to nature – a little mouse, who’d made herself comfy in my Calvin Klein suitcase. Seems I’m not the only one with a penchant for luxury!

Jollydays closes for the season at the end of October and reopens in the spring. I thoroughly recommend a visit, particularly when it’s a bit blustery and you can get all snuggled up in front of that fire. An amazing way to spend the weekend – can we go back next year, please?

The Weekend

Posted in Daily Outfits.

For me, the weekend is always about jumpers and jeans.

Raincoat, Petit Bateau | Sweater, Petit Bateau | Jeans, Gap | Flats, Boden | Necklace, Cos

I love throwing on something simple and heading out for a blustery walk or long lunch or… trip to Homebase. All these things were achieved this weekend.

I haven’t done an outfit photo in quite a while, mostly because I’ve been very busy and my very busy uniform of black jeans, a black polo neck and black boots is seriously uninspiring. This Petit Bateau raincoat felt like a little ray of sunshine when it arrived earlier in the week, so it was more than worthy of some hastily-snapped shots.

What do you wear at the weekend?

Visiting The Scottish Highlands

Posted in Travel.

Way back in May, Rob and I went on a big family holiday to Spain. We stayed in a beautiful villa called Casa Verde, tucked away in a tiny Spanish village. It was peaceful, relaxing and highly enjoyable, and we had a great time. I was so enamoured with Casa Verde that I wrote a post about it.

A few weeks later, I got an email from Val – the owner of Casa Verde. My mum had booked Casa Verde after we stayed in another of Val’s properties in Norfolk, and I wrote about that, too – sensing a theme here? I absolutely love Val’s interior style and talent for creating beautiful holiday homes around the world, so when she asked if I’d like to stay at her country cottage in the Scottish Highlands I couldn’t said ‘omg-yes-please’ fast enough.

We arranged to visit the weekend after our anniversary and asked our pals, Matt and Lil along too. If you’ve been reading for a while you might remember that Matt and Lil got married on exactly the same day as we did last year – a complete coincidence and a shame at the time as we couldn’t celebrate together, but pretty fun now as we can do joint anniversary stuff!

Val’s cottage is called Kathleen’s Croft and it’s nestled right up in the Scottish Highlands. We decided to drive up from Leeds – an easy 8-hour trek! We left with a car-full at 9.30am, stopped in Glasgow for lunch at Ox and Finch (thanks to Kate’s recommendation – it was delicious) and after picking up our shopping at Tesco in Inverness, we finally arrived at the cottage in pitch black around 9.30pm.

Despite the complete blackness, howling wind and total absence of other people, Kathleen’s Croft was warm and toasty and there was a bottle of red waiting for us. I didn’t expect anything less from Val – after staying at two of her other properties I know how great she is at welcomes.

After a late dinner of tasty steaks and much, much wine, we headed to bed and woke up to some serious views. I mean, look at this place! Kathleen’s Croft overlooks Loch Torridon and the Torridon hills and on Saturday morning we walked along the Loch into the main part of Torridon, stopped for a coffee at the General Store then headed down to the beach.

I absolutely love trips like this. Blustery walks, loads of food, roaring fires and good company equals a perfect weekend in my book. After our beach japes we headed back to the cottage and ate all the cheese.

On Saturday night, Matt cooked the most amazing meal – duck, potatoes, pickled radishes… all the good stuff. We ate, we played board games, I read The Little Friend feverishly and it was just so great.

Sunday was spent exploring the other side of the Loch and the Torridon Hotel. Look at those piggles! Stomping about by the Loch was a good way to work up an appetite for dinner later on – we returned to the Torridon Hotel’s restaurant for their 5-course tasting menu and it was AMAZING. Such a nice way to round off a perfect weekend.

We had THE BEST time in the Highlands. I can’t recommend Kathleen’s Croft enough, and the surroundings are just stunning. The long journey is totally worth it (particularly after your first glass of wine) and the feeling of content will carry you through the drive home. Go! Go now!

On Becoming More Confident

Posted in Beauty, Writing.

Generally speaking, I’m quite a confident person. As soon as I finished university and realised confidence doesn’t have to be tied up with academic success, I found my voice and started using it. At 28, I feel quite self-assured – I’m happy with who I am, how I look and where I am in my life. That’s not to say I have it all figured out or every day is a joyous chorus of twittering birds, but I’m pretty content with my lot.

Despite being a confident person, though, I’ve always been unhappy with my teeth. I was offered braces at 14 but by then I was tall and lanky, with massive boobs and a pair of NHS-prescribed glasses. Adding braces would’ve been the straw that broke the camel’s back, so I refused them. I’ve cursed my 14-year-old self many times since for that decision and wished I’d been told I HAD to have braces, like my younger siblings were.

My teeth were only slightly crooked – not enough for others to notice but enough that I noticed, in every photo and every mirror. So after 12 years of smiling with my mouth closed, I decided to do something about it. Last year, I had a lingual brace fitted.

A lingual brace is exactly like a regular, ‘train-track’ style brace, but it sits behind your teeth. It’s totally invisible, there are no trays to remove and apart from a bit of lisping when it’s first fitted and an inability to eat apples, it doesn’t affect your daily routine at all. I’d been to see a dentist about Invisalign before but it wasn’t suitable for me, and I didn’t want to wear a traditional brace as I do quite a bit of public speaking for my job. I’d never heard of lingual braces until I read an article about Kate Middleton’s wedding preparations (I was in the bridal zone, alright) – apparently she had a lingual brace in the run up to her big day. SOLD.

I wore my brace from November 2013 to July 2014. It was fitted to my 6 top front teeth and tightened every few weeks until I was happy with the results. Now I wear a permanent wire behind my teeth – it’s covered with a plastic mould and means I never have to wear a retainer, and my teeth will never move back. The total treatment including whitening cost £2,000, paid in instalments.

Honestly, it’s the best investment I’ve ever made.

I didn’t really realise what a negative effect my teeth had on my confidence. I remember going to America in 2012 and feeling so supremely self-conscious, because everyone around me had the most beautifully straight, white teeth. I went to New York in May this year – right at the end of my treatment – and didn’t even think about my teeth, despite being surrounded by perfect American smiles.

Before having a brace fitted, I felt ridiculous for even wanting one. I was a perfectly happy, content and confident person – my teeth were just a niggle, something I’d frown about for 10 minutes while applying my makeup or taking a selfie. But a lack of confidence doesn’t always come from one huge problem. It doesn’t always show up as shyness or a reluctance to try new things. I could stand up in front of a packed lecture theatre and deliver a presentation without a second thought, but I couldn’t smile properly in a photo.

When I look at the photos in this post, I wonder why the hell I waited so long.

Childhood Memories in Scarborough

Posted in Daily Outfits, Travel.

Apart from York, I don’t think there’s anywhere that represents my childhood quite like Scarborough.

For the uninitiated, Scarborough is a seaside town in North Yorkshire. For anyone growing up in North Yorkshire during the early-mid 90s, Scarborough was the place to go on your holidays. Unless, of course, you were really rich and went abroad on your holidays – which no one was, because the pits were closed, the jobs were gone and everyone was on the dole. But I digress.

I went to Scarborough almost every summer with my family. We always stayed in a caravan – one of those Haven holiday parks with a middle-aged man dressed as a tiger, trying to get everyone to do Agadoo – and we loved it. We went to some ‘nicer’ places too, like Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby, but Scarborough was always my favourite. In Scarborough, you could get sticks of rock that simultaneously smashed your teeth and glued them together. You could ride a donkey from one end of the beach to another (I feel terrible about this now, but it was the 90s and we just didn’t know). Your dad could catch crabs from the sea and you could pick apart their legs and eat them. You could collect a bucketful of shells and leave them outside the caravan in baking heat until the stench was simply awful.

Seriously, who needed Disney World?

I think it’s been about 15 years since I last went to Scarborough. Despite living pretty close, as an adult the dodgy seafood, almost-constant drizzle and unethical commercialisation of animals just hasn’t appealed to me in the same way. But when Rob and I were at Ox Pasture Hall Hotel for our anniversary celebrations, Scarborough was within sniffing distance (that sea air, those fish and chips) and we couldn’t resist.

Jacket, c/o Barbour | Sweater, Whistles | Jeans, Topshop | Bag, Longchamp | Sneakers, Converse c/o Sarenza

We had THE BEST time in Scarborough. It was so lovely to stroll along the beach, despite the drizzle I knew would be present. We explored the colourful beach huts, watched dogs chasing waves and bought fudge, because that’s what you do when you’re in Scarborough.

I was actually secretly pleased it wasn’t boiling hot and sunny – firstly because that’s just not how summer holidays in Yorkshire turn out (it always rains. Always) and secondly because I got the chance to wear my snazzy new Barbour jacket, kindly sent to me by the people themselves. It’s lovely and quilt-y and perfect for this inbetweeny time of year.

If you’re in Yorkshire and fancy a nostalgic day out – even if you’ve never been before, the candyfloss and arcade grabbers will surely remind you of simpler times – head over to Scarborough and breathe in all that fresh sea air. It’s slightly tinged with the smell of greasy cheeseburgers and faded glory, but enjoyable all the same.