Diving Into Style - Essential Picks for Spring 2024

When it comes to new trends, firstly I try to make my existing wardrobe work and if not any new purchases need to be practical and long-wearing while still having some seasonal flair. With the Spring 2024 collections unwrapping, it's clear that designers are blurring the lines between classic elegance and bold, contemporary aesthetics. This season, it's all about embracing versatility, with swimwear, suits and sandals stealing the spotlight.  Spring 2024 Fashion Essentials Black and Bold Swimwear  As the mercury rises, the call of the beach becomes undeniable. This season's swimwear is a nod to both the bold and the beautiful, with designs that promise to make waves. Think high-cut one-pieces and bikinis adorned with unexpected details like ruffles and ties. These pieces aren't just for a dip in the ocean—they're crafted to double as statement tops under sheer blouses or open knitwear. For those seeking inspiration, look no further than the vibrant selections from ......

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Hotel Indigo Manchester - Best Location in Town

*This post is in collaboration with Hotel Indigo  If you follow me on Instagram you will know that I have recently collaborated with Hotel Indigo and headed up to Manchester, one of the most colourful and creative northern cities for a much needed child-free break. The last time I visited Manchester was over a decade ago and that was only for a couple of hours en route to Scotland so I was really looking forward to exploring everything this fashion forward city has to offer and I will be sharing my weekend guide with you very soon but for now I want to concentrate on Hotel Indigo Manchester and why it's the perfect spot for a vibrant weekend away. Now as you may already know I am very passionate about staycations as the UK has so much to offer and many people seem to overlook that. With such excellent public transport networks in the UK you don't even need a car to get to most places and the train from South Wales to Manchester was much quicker than anticipated being......

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Amsterdam - the perfect child-free weekend destination

When you’ve got young kids, nothing beats a family holiday . Getting away together is a fantastic way to spend quality time, keep the youngsters engaged, and even teach them a thing or two. One thing’s sure getting them used to flying and new cultures when they’re young is always a bonus. What’s more, there are plenty of family-friendly vacation spots to make the most of when travelling together and some Kid-focused hotels even host fun clubs should you want to mix culture and travel with also the odd break for an hour or two. However, a short child-free break can be a really positive experience. I recently went to Durham for two nights, it was the first time I had ever left our kids for more than a night, that's over 7yrs of not one proper child-free weekend away and you know what it went really well. Then kids loved having fun with their grandparents and we had a fantastic time exploring the historical northern town of Durham we all felt renewed and refreshed from our week......

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Breakfast at Jamie's, Cardiff

While our youngest is still small date nights have become extremely rare and somewhat on hold, which means that we have to get a little bit more creative with finding time for John and I to have some quality adult time to chat and catch up, away from the home and in stylish surroundings.With breakfast being my favourite meal of the day and finding it much easier to arrange childcare in the morning than the evening it was really nice to be invited by Jamies in Cardiff to come and try out their new breakfast menu and have a a quiet start to the day before John has to head over to work. I started off with a Flat white and a fresh orange juice and John went for a cappuccino while we perused the breakfast menu, which is simple and straight to the point but has fantastic choices for both meat eaters and vegetarians. John went for a classic full monty which is Jamie's version of a full English fry up except with free range sausages and eggs, black pudding, brown cap......

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A New York Bucket list

I love nothing more than planning trips, what we are going to see and do, working out the best way to navigate local transport systems and staring at maps for hours while imagining what is going to be like actually walking the streets of that destination. I still cannot believe that even though I have been to 25+ countries, including the US and even far flung islands like St Helena, I have never been to New York City. John however has been three times and I know it would be fantastic to go with him which and the plan is to celebrate his 40th at Toms Diner which is in just over 2yrs time. As we do a fair amount of travel there is a good likelihood we may visit this amazing city before than but either way its time to start planning what I would love to see and do. We plan to have around a week in the city and while both John and I have similar interests he is a huge fan of The Warriors movie as well as shows like Seinfeld and have been to Coney Island, Greenwich Village, downt......

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A tour of New York’s artiest highlights

Someday soon hopefully we will travel to the Big Apple as a family ( image ) John has been lucky enough to visit New York three times and even though I have been to America I have never been to this amazing city and one day we hope to go together, as a family with the little man in tow of course. Even though John spent a lot of time going to various markets, exploring Brooklyn, visiting record stores and taking in all the street art he did miss out a lot of historically important Artistic highlights and places that would be on my list of must do. We have put together a list of places we would like to go together to be creatively inspired and hopefully it won't be too long of a wait before we can make this list a reality. Beautiful loft apartment ( image ) First of all to start off our cultural and artistic trip I would love to stay in a warehouse conversation or large windowed Manhattan loft, I mean why not, you only get to do these things every now and the......

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Menswear Essentials - Soft Coats

It's that time of the year when we it's not quite warm enough to go out without a jacket on hand but equally to warm for thicker coats, so now is the perfect time for the men to bring out the soft sartorial coats, like Johns Post Overalls jacket above. Soft jacket and coats are a great way to bridge the gap between more formal attire and the casual jumper and not only help with a little bit extra warmth before the summer evenings hit but also help bring and outfit together and can be worn during the day  spent in the city of on a family adventure or on a night out, by simply dressing it up with a tie for a more sophisticated evening look.  It's also great for light layering as the weather becomes warmer and creates a casual but softly tailored style and can really help bring an outfit together. Popular fabrics are cotton and linen and  John has a few soft style coats and jackets all of which become useful during this time of the year. Make sure you go ......

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His and Her outfit post

So last weekend we had a wonderful night away in beautiful bath (post to follow) and the rain pretty much held off for most of the time which meant we got to have a lovely walk around the city, through all the pretty streets, do a little window shopping and soak in the atmosphere. It was chilly but walking around keeps you warm and I wrapped up with some lovely cosy accessories such as my Etre gloves and knitted snood. John also stayed warm in his Barbour wax jacket paired with his Red Wings and Edwin salvage denim jeans - perfect for winter. I opted to wear my thick Fred Perry Pinafore dress with a Nine West tee underneath, Topshop boots, Fred Mello jacket and Paul Costello bag....

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Muddy Adventures

Despite all the rain we have had a few moments of not only dry but also glimpses of the sun, if one for a few minutes. We have tried to make the most of every day and have had some lovely adventures this week to the Common and Roath Park, as well playing in our garden and making plans for planting our vegetables - the time is fast approaching to get everything ready. With all the rain comes a lot of mud - and what child does not like squelching and jumping in mud! I know I love to. We have also started to see a few first signs of spring with some daffodils starting to shoot up slowly and we even came across a few daisy's yesterday. Of course winter is still prevalent and discovered some amazing Holly bushes on our walk up a local common space. John also joined up on one of our adventures this week - we had a lovely light lunch at our favourite veggie organic and local indie deli that is Milgi Bar before dodging the rain at Roath park, lucky after a downpour the s......

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