Bluestone Wales Review

  Bluestone National Park Resort

One of my new year’s resolutions this year was to read more books, more exercise and do more activities are involve relaxing and taking this easy!  So when I was invited to Bluestone holiday resort in Wales it really was the best time to head off to set off for a well deserved short break and escape from the hustle and bustle of London town. So as well as a warm set of clothes like my Uggs, super thick wolley leggings and several jumpers packed in my suitcase, I also made sure to take a set of walking boots, my running trainers and several books including Gone Girl that I’m currently reading.

 Located in the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in west Wales, Bluestone is a holiday resort set within a cutesy village which has its own bakery, shop, spa and several restaurants too.

 Bluestone Village

 The village shops are closeby

The cottages are cosy lovenests popular for romantic getaways

Bluestone is a family friendly resort and we spotted many children and parents. But it is also a perfect short break destination for a romantic holiday getaway for couples too. The one bedroom cottages are cosy lovenests located right in the centre of the village and perfect for romantic getaways but we wanted something a bit bigger and stayed in one of the detached Ramsey lodges. 

The accommodation is described as luxury and it certainly was very good. We stayed in a two bed lodge which was provided bed linen, towels, and it was self-catered so we had a choice of either cooking or dining out at one of the five restaurants in the village.

 Master bedroom with an ensuite

 Ensuite for master bedroom

The second bedroom had two singles

With a wetroom and heated floor

It was a unique upside down living arrangement, with two ensuite bedrooms on the ground floor including a walk in shower with heated floor and a lounge and kitchen upstairs. This was great as we got to see the stunning views of the village from the kitchen.

 Living room area

Kitchen

Studio living arrangement

On our second day we most of the day in the luxury Well Spa Retreat and treated ourselves to a therapeutic treatments. At the spa there is a sauna, herbal steam room and a plunge pool too. 

 The Well Spa retreat

 The well spa is a Good Spa Guide 2014 award winner

I had aromatherapy massage a perfect way to unwind and release tension in my neck and back muscles and hubby went for the Gentleman’s Tonic – a treatment soothing aching muscles and targeting the back neck legs and feet and soothing aching muscles. 

Although we had a self catered apartment and had the option of cooking for ourselves, I was keen to eat out and there is plenty of choice for dining at Bluestone's five restaurants within the village. 

 Burgers at the Farmhouse Grill!

On our second night we ate at the FarmHouse Grill, a Harvester type restaurant within the village.  On our last night we ate at Carreg Las, my favourite of the five restaurants and definitely Bluestone’s finest restaurant that uses fresh, locally sourced ingredients and meat from local farmers.

The main course was tasty - braised chicken thighs, red cabbage, potato fondant and roast parsnip - yum!

 The carrot cake with cream cheese frosting was delicious!

With over 500 acres of Welsh countryside to explore, there is never a boring moment at Bluestone. On our third day we decided to do some more exploring outside Bluestone and drove to nearby Tenby a seaside town with a lovely village to do some sight-seeing. 

But first we travelled to Barafundle Bay and went for a romantic walk along the beach. It was freezing but we had such beautiful views of the sea – just look at those waves!  

 Beautiful beach!

The beach is hidden away between cliffs and fields, it was like our own little private beach so romantic! Some have named this Britain’s best beach, but ours for the day…

 Cold...but totally worth visiting Barafundle Bay!

Bluestone has 500 acre site and we made sure to explore as much of the area as possible and went for walking trails. There are cycling trails too with the option to book bikes or golf buggys which were popular with a lot of the guests staying in the village. 

 

 Relaxing walks around Bluestone

If romantic walks and spa treatments are too relaxing for you then you could try the Blue Lagoon water park, the indoor adventure centre, the rock climbing, assault courses or laser combat. There really are enough activities for everyone so you won’t ever be left feeling bored here! To see more information on all the activities available see here.

 Book, bath and bubbles - enough to keep me happy!

On our final day spent we spent the day reading and relaxing. The atmosphere at Bluestone is lovely, beautiful surroundings, the luxury accommodation made me feel at ease and the helpful and friendly staff really make you feel welcome. It really was a lovely place to escape from it all and relax and unwind and the accomodation and well spa was fantastic for a romantic get away. I loved the village feel and I left feeling revived and refreshed. 

If you're looking for a couples break and somewhere to unwind and let loose with your other half then Bluestone is the perfect place for you!

A 3 night weekend break in a 1 bed cottage start from £269 for more details see here. 

There is still time to book a Valentine's break - see here for more information!

Bluestone Resorts, Canaston Wood, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, SA67 8DE

Telephone - 01834 862400

*Disclaimer: My stay at Bluestone was complimentary but all words and opinions are my own*

My feature in Style at Home Magazine

Style at Home Magazine

What better way to start 2015 by sharing my home decor tips on a style panel? 

This month I feature in Style at Home magazine as one of the six hand picked "Stylists", sharing my home hints and tips on interior and home decorating.

 I'm one of the 6 stylists at home

Every month, Style at Home features real homes, house  transformations, step by step projects plus lots of affordable style ideas.  It's a home interiors magazine if you're looking for inspiration and ideas to revamp your home. I'm so pleased to be part of this month's issue and share my style tips with readers!

Sharing my handy tips!

To read more of my style tips, you can download February's issue of Style at Home on itunes app store or android here.

Happy New Year!

 

 Dress - Topshop

Shoes - New Look

Bag - H&M

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas spent with family and look forward to celebrating the new year too and welcoming in 2015. 

This year, I wore this snake skin patterned jacquard dress with a flattering A-line style and teamed with black tights and black ankle strap heels. I finished the look with MAC's ruby woo for festive red lips. 

Christmas day at the Noah's is always a fancy affair with everyone wearing their best dressed outfits, ready for a scrumptious dinner. We all contribute to cooking delicious Cameroonian dishes. This year, it was my turn to prepare the plaintains.  

 Plaintains look similar to a very ripe banana but slightly bigger

Fried plantains are a traditional treat in many parts of the world, not just Cameroon, and always go down well as an accompaniment, or side dish to other meals.

Here is my quick and simple recipe to preparing plaintains:

You'll need:

• 2-3 ripe plaintains (for four people appx)
• Vegetable oil (or coconut oil as a healthier alternative)
• Frying pan

Fry the plaintains in shallow oil on a hot stove

• Peel the plantains and cut them in half. Slice the halves lengthwise into thin pieces
• Preheat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat
• Fry the pieces until browned and tender
• Drain excess oil on paper towels 

  Yum! Plaintains ready to eat 

 

Merry Christmas and happy new year to all my readers, thank you for continuing to support me and follow my blog and here's to many more fab fashion and lifestyle related blog posts for 2015.

Christmas Table Decor 2014

Christmas Table Decor

This year was our first time hosting a family Christmas meal so I really wanted to take the time and make our home feel festive so I thought I would make a special effort with the Christmas table decorations.

When it comes to getting inspiration for Christmas decor, Instagram and Pinterest are great online tools and I follow so many people with great home decor style. Yet at times,  it's often hard to find similar items you see from images on Pinterest or Instagram in shops or online. 

After doing some researching, it was Marks and Spencers stylish range of Christmas decorations that caught my eye. They have lots of festive decorations in many different styles plus there are enough items to choose from that won't break the bank too. I found this lovely M&S Christmas table decoration set that included a table runner, folded napkins, after dinner mini crackers, table confetti and name places.

M&S Christmas Table Decoration Pack

I decided my theme this year would be a "woodland Christmas" and decorated the table with faux glitter pine cones and white painted cinammon sticks, also from M&S. These items were originally designed to hang on Christmas trees but I added them as table decor instead which I thought worked quite well.

Cinnamon sticks and pine cones decorated the table

For each table, I added two vases of flowers (vases from Dunelm) and picked up the fresh flowers from Lidl sticking to white, pink and dark pink roses. I used plain white tablecloths to protect our wooden tables and smarten the look of the tables. 

 Table ready for a Christmas feast

I was really pleased with the end result and everyone loved the table decorations. Now Christmas is over, I'm already thinking about the theme for next year's Christmas dinner! Share your inspiration and ideas with me on Instagram and Pinterest!

Outfit of the Day - Reiss

Blouse - H&M

Skirt - Reiss

Bracelet - Reiss

Shoes - Long Tall Sally

A few weeks ago I took part in Rakuten Marketing's live Q&A on Twitter about blogging. It was a really useful tweetchat with topics on how to effectively promote your blog with fashion brands and what brands look for when working with bloggers. I definately picked up some great tips which I hope you've spotted lately in my blog posts :-)

As part of the tweetchat, there was the opportunity to win a Reiss gift voucher and I was lucky enough to bag the prize! 

Every woman needs a black A-line skirt so I picked this one the Hayden skirt. I love how it flares out at the waist, this style is super flattering for me. I chose the Frith Bone, a leather weave bracelet with the coin charm, it's simple enough for everyday wear and with the gold t-bar fastening super stylish too.

 

Here are a few more favourites i've selected from Reiss:

Left - right: Kamila laser cut top, elliot animal print leather across body bag, Winnie Juliet floral dress, Onyx leather leggings, Poppy satin t-bar court shoes, Cece crossover front sandals.

Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shop Review

 Retro Sweet Shop

Bored of modern day sweets and longing for retro sweets like humbugs and black jacks that used to be sold in large glass jars? If you've got a sweet tooth like me, then the answer is probably yes!

This afternoon I came across a new shop full of sweet treats, Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shop, based in Eltham, South East London. 

Everyone's got their favourite retro sweet, from hum bugs, black jacks, and Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shop has them all!

 

The Victorian style decor shop was full of excited children and adults admiring the sweets on show, clearly I'm not the only one who feels nostalgic when it comes to sweet treats! 

The shelves are filled with rows of jars crammed with multicoloured goodies like jelly beans, sugar coated cola bottles, foam bananas and lots more.

  

One gentlemen who served me was so polite and helpful, despite how busy it was at the counter. I was looking for a small packet of sweets as Christmas presents for my niece and nephew but couldn't find any on the shelves. They suggested their smallest jar and I selected what sweets to add to each one, making sure they were both equal, with just the right amounts of foam bananas, smarties, cola bottles and jelly beans.

 These small jars make great gifts for any occasions

I honestly felt like I had been transported back to my childhood, back to a time when a sweetshop was exactly that, wall to wall of sweet treats. It's enough to awaken your inner Charlie Bucket :-)

Some of the selection of penny sweets to choose from

Visit Mrs Simms website and South East London stores here:

 

Eltham - 81 Eltham High Street, SE9 1TQ

Beckenham - 138 High Street, BR3 1EA 

Christmas Tree Decor - Light up parcels

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house!

After visiting Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas market it has got me into the festive spirit and on my return to London, we picked up a Christmas tree. Every year I’ve bought tree decorations but the this year I’ve decided to reuse last year’s decorations rather than buy new ones.

  We bought our needle last 6ft tree from Homebase this year

  

 We decided to add these light up parcels too!

Instead I decided to brighten up my home with these light up parcel decorations. I first spotted them on display in a pop up gift shop in Blackheath. The owner explained to me the parcels were not for sell but had been really popular with customers and I had been the 10^th person that day asking about them! Michael, (the owner) kindly promised to call me if managed to get hold of any more parcels but thankfully my husband spotted Christmas parcels similar in Homebase.

  Christmas light up parcel decorations

They come in a box of 3, large, medium and small and give off a lovely bright silhouette and look great under our Christmas tree.

Homebase is currently selling them with a 1/3 off the original price so snap them up now before they sell out!

Hotel du Vin Birmingham, Review

Hotel du Vin, Birmingham reception

This weekend, I stayed at Hotel du Vin in the heart of Birmingham’s old city and a few minutes from Birmingham New Street station.

The red brick building was formerly Birmingham Eye Hospital and is a perfect example of beautiful Victorian architecture. It has been transformed into stylish 4* hotel and all 66 bedrooms have a wine theme (I was in the Courvoisier room), with high ceilings and windows, huge beds and luxurious bathrooms. I loved how the hotel has incorporated all the original features including the hardwood floor boards you can find in the restaurant and the sweeping staircase and granite pillars in the main reception.

The hotel has two bars, various private dining rooms, a spa, and a gym. It also has a Pub du Vin serving traditional pub food and ale. But I was most keen to see the hotel room. I stayed in the Courvoiser room and I was very impressed! It was generous sized with a huge bed, high ceilings and an enormous bathroom with a stunning iconic roll-top bath.

 

 

My room was fab, with a great views of Birmingham from the high windows

For dinner, I dined in restaurant, The Bistro, which had a lovely relaxed setting and a great food selection including a delicious Christmas themed menu. I had salmon to start then chose the turkey with all the trimmings for main course. Both were delicious and service was lovely too. There was a large choice of wines on the menu and the helpful waitress recommended a French rose from Provence which was refreshing and went very well with the dinner. For desert, I had the chocolate log with cream, so tasty and the perfect finish to a lovely meal. 

 

Christmas cured smoked salmon, pumpernickel and dill pickles

Feeling festive, I went for the Turkey

Served with all the traditional trimmings

Christmas chocolate yule log with redcurrants and creme chantilly

For breakfast, guests have a choice of cooked breakfast or continental with fresh fruit, juices, yogurt and cereal to help yourself to.

  I had the brioche French toast, served with smoked bacon and maple syrup with fresh orange juice, it was a great start to the day.

 Breakfast in the Bistro 

It was a pity I didn’t have time to visit the spa facilities, next time I would definitely choose to book a calming treatment like a massage.

I really enjoyed my stay at Birmingham Hotel Du Vin. With all the Christmas decorations in the hotel lobby, it really puts you in a wonderful festive spirit. It is a beautiful luxury hotel with fantastic service to match and is perfect choice for a special weekend break.

 

 By the Christmas tree in the main hotel lobby

To book a room visit Hotel du Vin & Bistro Birmingham website 

Hotel du Vin & Bistro Birmingham, Church Street, Birmingham B3 2NR
Telephone: +44 (0)121 200 0600 

*Disclaimer: My stay at the Hotel du Vin was complimentary but all words and opinions are my own*