Style: Recent Zara Favourites

I can’t even tell you how obsessed I am with Zara at the moment. Friends have always sung its praises, but it wasn’t until very recently that I started to get onboard. I have a suspicion that this is probably something to do with the fact that I’ve recently dropped a few pounds; their sizes aren’t exactly inclusive. A Zara large comes out as a 14, which is the size of the average UK woman nowadays. Their size guide says that an XL is then a 16, and an XXL an 18, but I can quite honestly say I’ve never found any item in an XXL in their store, and often the only options (even online) are S, M, or L. 

Anyway, I’ve managed to shed a few recently, and my newfound ability to fit into - and even look nice in(!) - Zara’s inventory is giving me some of the willpower to continue my healthy eating regime. A vast amount of my recent purchases have been brought from there, and most of the stuff I’ve put back on the rack are now on my “barcode scan history” portion of the app. I wanted to show you guys what I’ve been loving but am not quite confident - and/or advanced - enough to be posing for outfit photos. So I’ve put together a little collage above, and thought I’d do a quick run-through of what I’ve got (or want) and why. 

Black shirt dress (item code: 2183/243)

This is probably my ultimate favourite of recent purchases, which is hilarious because I very nearly didn’t try it on. I’ve been obsessed with shirts recently - I’m loving how easy they are to wear, and how I can smarten them up for work or wear one more casually for an off-duty, but still sophisticated, look. This is long enough to wear with tights, but leggings and/or jeans also work. The long sleeves are great for this in-between weather, as I can wear it alone and then put a cardigan on top if I get too cold. It’s slightly pricey at £29.99, but I’ve already reached for it enough times to make me sure it’s worth it. Also, it’s super-soft and not so sheer that I have to wear anything (bar a black bra!) underneath. 

Oversized hooded sweatshirt (item code: 4873/274)

I picked this up on a bit of a whim as it was near the changing rooms, which is a scenario that normally ends up with me either returning the item or regretting it. However, I’ve worn this a few times since I got it and while I think I probably got caught up in how much I loved everything I was putting on, it will still serve me well for the colder months. The selling point was definitely the Vetements-vibes I was getting from it; I’m hoping to channel off-duty Kendall Jenner in it! I just wish I looked a little thinner underneath, as the bagginess is a bit overwhelming at times. 

Printed velvet dress (item code: 8119/131)

I absolutely loved this, and would have taken it home if it hadn’t been just under £50! Considering there were coats in store for only a tenner more, it seemed excessive and unreasonable to spend that on a dress. I’ve included a photo of myself in it (right) to contrast my bigger chest to that of Zara's model; I think it looks great on both of us! 

Knit cardigan with zip (item code: 2162/102)

I own a lot of black cardigans, because I’m always looking for the perfect one, and I was drawn to the zip on this one, which makes it different (and slightly edgier) to the rest of my collection! I’ve had it a few weeks now, and worn it probably almost every day. It’s so cosy and comfy; baggy enough to be flattering but not so much that I look like I’m wearing a sack. I’m seriously considering buying another one for when this one wears out, as the price (£19.99) is also pretty reasonable! 

Lace midi dress (item code: 5149/231)

I was pleasantly surprised with with how nice this looked, as I’ve tried these two-layered dresses before to find that the inner slip is far too clingy. In that case, even the looser top part can’t save my figure! But this was quite flattering, and not too fancy for me to consider wearing it to work. I haven’t bought it yet, as I’m hoping it’ll be reduced at some point soon; my priority at the moment is more basics pieces. 

Poplin shirt (item code: 1971/152)

The only reason I didn’t snap this beauty up was purely because of the sheer amount of white shirts I’ve bought recently! I’m absolutely obsessed with them, but I couldn’t justify spending another £25 on adding this one to my stack. I’m finding shirts in general so wearable, and because I wear a lot of black, white gives a nice contrast within an outfit. Again, I may have to wait and see if this one makes its way into the sale anytime soon! 

Knot blouse (item code: 7915/201)

Having just re-found this item online, I’m a bit bummed to see it’s now been reduced to £12.99! I bought it at around £25, but haven’t yet worn it because it does draw attention down to the belly - which, at the moment, is a problem area for me! I suppose that’s just life, and it makes me more hopeful that other items I’ve left behind will be cheaper in the future. However, it’s sure to become a staple because of how casual and wearable it is, whilst also being a little different and special due to the twist front. Most other tops with a tie-front style have stuck out so much that they've made me look quite chunky, so the streamlined look of this drew me in. It’s also worth noting that I had to size down to a medium, as the style bagged-out a bit in the large. 

Travel: Harry Potter Studio Tour

OOTD: Samsoe & Samsoe shirt,
Topshop leggings and socks,
H&M boots

One of the reasonably few loves my other half and I have in common is a love of Harry Potter and Disney. So, with my birthday approaching - and both Harry Potter and Disney World firmly unattainable due to budget - we booked a visit to the Warner Brother's "Making of Harry Potter" studio tour in glamour-ridden Watford! Having spent a rather hefty seventy pounds on the tickets, I must admit that my default negativity was kicking in; would this really be worth not just the ticket price, but also the added expense of the hotel we'd booked, and the cost of travel? I am therefore very happy to report that the trip so far exceeded my expectations that I just had to write a post to encourage anyone else sitting on the fence about it to go!

Siegfried and I booked the tour tickets for my actual birthday (around two months in advance, but they were already only selling start-times post 3pm!) and then decided to get a room in a nearby pub (on booking.com, via stayinapub.co.uk) for the night before. We'd already searched for hotels, with little success considering our limited finances and dislike of chain, super-budget places - but then my mum suggested finding a pub with rooms, which we hadn't thought of! It was a great idea because we ended up getting a room and breakfast for a little over thirty pounds each; bargain! The pub/inn was called The Two Brewers in Kings Langley, and although it was in the middle of nowhere and fairly nondescript, it suited us down to the ground. The room was clean and comfortable; we were perfectly situated to kill the morning shopping in Watford town centre; and the breakfast was superb. If you'd like more info, you can read my TripAdvisor review here, and book a room here. 

After spending some time in Watford shopping (I think Zara are absolutely killing it at the moment; I bought three things and could’ve gotten about thirty more!), we headed to the Studio Tour. We got parked quickly and easily, and picking up the tickets was also speedy. They have a lot of staff there so everything runs really smoothly (take note, almost every other business in the world at the moment!). As we had a half an hour or so before our entry time, we hit the H U G E shop in the lobby. They sell basically everything you can think of that you’ve seen in the films, and it was so much fun just walking around and looking at all of that! Especially because nothing was obviously Harry Potter-branded; whenever they bring out themed merchandise I think how unrealistic and inauthentic they make it. Did Harry Potter sit on the train to Hogwarts unwrapping a chocolate frog with “Harry Potter™” emblazoned across it? I don’t think so! 

I was also pleasantly surprised with how accessible everything was. For example, the wands - which were stacked up in a sort of mock-Ollivander’s - had a large display where each box was opened, in order to let you see and touch as many of the wands as you'd like to before buying. And everything that was too expensive to do this with was shown in a display case, so you could see exactly what you'd get. I think that's important to do when dealing with such potentially large and extravagant purchases. For another thing, the prices weren’t actually that ridiculous! Like, yeah, there were £500 wizard chess sets and £90 Deathly Hallows necklaces - but then there were always cheaper alternatives; standard silver-plated jewellery, or a £50 plastic wizard chess set. We actually ended up buying most of the stuff we wanted from the Platform 9 and ¾ shop halfway through the tour, which we were quite pleased with ourselves for thinking of, as it meant we skipped the long queues in the main shop. We got a postcard, a fridge magnet for my parents, a replica Hogwarts Express ticket (a bargain at around £5, because I’d been thinking about spending £50 on a print of the exact same item from the “Graphic Art of the Harry Potter Films” exhibition on that we’d seen in London a few months ago!), a chocolate frog, and a Deathly Hallows necklace. Oh, and on our way back through the main shop (the tour exits right into it) we picked up a hilarious replica of the Knight Bus’ shrunken head - it even has recordings of his catchphrases and is now proudly hanging from my rearview mirror. 

There's a good pit-stop halfway through,
where you can grab a Butterbeer

The tour itself starts with a briefing from a staff member, and then a short introductory movie (starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson of course!). Without wanting to give too much away, you then get to hit the Great Hall - they even let me push the doors open because it was my birthday! (I legitimately started low-key crying. Shhhhh.) That’s the last section that you could call “guided”; you’re gently moved on to the area/s that you can go through at your own pace. Quick note here: our ticket time was for 3:30pm, and we didn’t get out until it closed at 8pm. A staff member at the beginning said their longest tour was twelve hours, and their shortest only about forty-five minutes. We really wished we’d been able to get earlier tickets, so if you’re pretty huge fans I’d say go no later than around 3pm (Also, the opening times change so check online before getting tickets and/or planning your visit!). 

Again, I don’t want to give anything away, but the rest of the experience was awesome. I’d been pretty skeptical about the steep entrance fee, but I’d say you most definitely get your money’s worth. There’s so much to see, and tons of interesting information to take in. There’s short movies to watch, and lots of behind-the-scenes displays in addition to the complete sets that they’ve reconstructed right there for you. Also, I was really impressed by how many interactive activities there were. Some of the displays had buttons you could press to make things happen, and there were things like “wand workshops” where staff members gave you wands and taught you different spell-casting techniques/routines. You could climb onto the Hogwarts Express, walk through the Dursley’s house and down the Hogwarts bridge. Everyone gets into the spirit of things so you don’t feel silly or self-conscious, which is great because I can be quite shy. And - obviously - people are just constantly taking photos and videos and messing around pretending to be in the movies or indulging the child they once were, who played pretend Harry Potter games for hours on end; I know I definitely was! We tried to limit the amount of time we spent on our various phones and cameras, but when there’s so many good photo opportunities it is really difficult! 

One of the many photo opportunities we
took advantage of!

One of the parts that I think people get the most excited about is the green screen experience, where you can do things like fly a broom whilst they superimpose you onto a background to make it seem like you’re flying over Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts Express, the castle, etc. The staff give you instructions like “lean to the left, and now the right, watch out behind you for dementors” etc. It’s really fun and the others in your party can watch it happening live on a screen, but at the end they offer it for sale, which actually ruined it for me because the prices were just so stupidly inflated (£20 for a USB of a thirty second clip - really?!) that my cynicism returned fully-fledged. Also, the staff member that we were unfortunately paired with during that section was possibly the least enthusiastic person I’ve ever met. I know she’d probably repeated that exact same speech about a hundred times that day alone, but others were still making a concerted effort, even if it was just for the behalf of the small children. Our narrator just spewed it all out in a monotone whilst looking like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world. A big shame, because everyone else had been so great, so she stuck out like a sore thumb and is remembered for all of the wrong reasons!

Like I said, we didn’t get out until right when the place closed at 8pm, and even then it was only because we had to leave; we could’ve spent a lot more time just wandering around absorbing everything. The last room was especially impressive, so we took a little time to just sit and reflect/enjoy ourselves there. I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting a fun, interesting, and unusual day out - and if you’re a Harry Potter fan I’d say it’s a must-see. I’m already considering another trip sometime in the future!

Have any of you guys been? I’d love to hear what you thought or what your favourite part was. Feel free to leave me a comment!  

Travel: The New Forest...in a tent

If you’d asked 15 year-old me, “what’s your idea of hell on earth?”, one of the answers very near the top of my list (I was an angsty teenager) would have been “camping”. When I was younger, and we camped in the south of France almost every summer, I loved it - but camping and female adolescence do not mix, in my opinion, and my enjoyment had plummeted. School trips in the midst of my earliest menstruation, Guide camps in ancient, leaking canvas tents, and the prospect of festivals meaning no indoor plumbing for four days sort of killed my buzz about it. 

Fast forward to 2016, and I’m in a long-term relationship with a boy who possibly loves the outdoors more than yours truly. Eeeeeeeek. So, last weekend, I finally bit the bullet and agreed to go for a one-night camping excursion in the New Forest - conveniently, only about an hour from my own bed. I approached the “adventure” (the boyf’s words, not mine) with increasing trepidation, and imagined long, painful walks in the pouring rain, damp, sleepless nights breathing in mouldy air, and an abysmal diet of custard and Mars bar pieces (okay, so that one was definitely a hangover from my Guide camp days).

So, imagine my absolute shock when…I actually had a good time! If I ever needed the reminder that getting out of your comfort zone is a pretty invaluable thing, it was now. Sure, we weren't wild explorers sleeping under the stars and trekking from campsite to campsite, but I was still pretty proud that I not only survived but also enjoyed myself. Of course, a lot of that was to do with Siegfried, who was more than aware of my reservations and went above and beyond to ensure I was comfortable and happy.

We took the car, which gave us the means to have all of the essentials with us, as well as a space to secure them in. We booked in at Ocknell campsite, which was just over £20 for the night, and had toilet blocks (although no showers; I’d decided that as we were only away for one night, I could forgo that luxury!). We headed there first to scope the place out and nab a good pitch. Despite a small issue with my booking, they were very helpful and accommodated us whilst that was being sorted. Heading away from the hard-pitches that resembled caravan car parks, we found a nice spot where we could park the car as near to the tent as we liked, and which was surrounded on three sides by bushes. Siegfried had supplied the tent - a simple 2-man REI set-up that blew all of my recollections of struggling with poles and pegs out of the water - and within minutes we were headed out again, off to a walk that I’d found online. 

Forever petting random dogs that cross my path

That didn’t take us as long as we thought it might, but truth be told we were about ready for a drink and some food by the time we came full circle. My parents had told us a hilarious story about their trips to the New Forest, which consisted of getting “completely rat-arsed” (my mother’s actual words!) at local pub The Sir Walter Tyrrell and walking the mile back to their campsite pretending to be aeroplanes… So we thought it only fitting that we stop by for a drink in their honour. It didn’t seem to have changed much, and was a nice pitstop before we got ourselves back to the tent and set up our extremely sophisticated camping stove, inherited from my parents. Instead of finding a local restaurant or pub, we had decided it would be much more authentic to cook for ourselves - and we managed a pretty decent feast: steak, onions and mushrooms, corn on the cob, half a baguette, and a good bit of cheap white wine to wash it down with. 

Upon finishing dinner, I was surprised to realise just how exhausted I had been by the day’s activities. Proving that I am definitely not yet ready to graduate Camping 101, we drove to the toilet blocks for a last wee and teeth-brush, and clambered into the tent and our sleeping bags. Inside, with the minimal 3G that had haunted me all day, and with nothing to do but actually talk to each other, I was pleased to discover just how nice that is: just talking to Siegfried, with no distractions or alternative activities. It sounds extremely sad, but I’d forgotten just how much fun we can have when chatting complete shit to each other! 

Camping: always a great time to
catch up on some reading

With the help of a sleeping pill, and Siegfried’s ever-willingness to get up and cook breakfast whilst I sleep longer, I slept somewhat soundly through the night, and woke up feeling refreshed, happy, and more at peace than I had in a long time. As a compromise for me going hiking and camping, we spent that day in nearby Lymington - a cute little seaside town with a picturesque harbour and plenty of pubs and coffee shops to keep me ticking over. Because is it really a trip away if you don’t have cake?! 

In that vein, Siegfried wrote in more depth on his blog, about his tips to get your reluctant girlfriend (aka me) to go camping with you. We may be chalk and cheese sometimes, but this trip confirmed that that really works sometimes, and there’s no one I’d rather leave my comfort zone with (or, as my mother put it, Siegfried is my comfort zone).  

Opinion: So-Called "Clean" Eating

I was on the sofa the other night, scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I came across a link a girl I used to go to college with had shared. Entitled “Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets”, the screen cap showed a young girl unknown to me (who, it turns out, is Grace Victory: “the internet’s big sister” and UK lifestyle and advice blogger with 106,000 Instagram followers and 209,600 YouTube subscribers…oops) holding a green smoothie and a plate of that hipster go-to of the moment - avocado on toast. The original Facebook post was by a girl I don’t know, who’d written a rather long paragraph about how “dangerous and unhealthy” she feels the clean eating regime has become, from personal experience with it. I was a bit skeptical at first - the clue is in the name, how bad can clean eating really be? - but the original poster claimed to have come to this conclusion from studying nutrition, and my curiosity was really quite piqued, so I clicked on the link. I figured I would watch the first five minutes or so and see whether it would be worth a watch. I ended up stuck to my iPhone screen, watching the whole thing right through to the end. It’s a really fascinating and somewhat unnerving look into a fad that seems innocent on the surface but actually harbours some disturbing information that definitely isn’t advertised under #cleaneating. I’m always a bit wary when writing these opinion posts, because I don’t want to pretend I’m some huge expert and expect some people will be offended by what I say, but I think this is an important issue that needs more coverage. 

Travel: Brighton Micro-Trip

My boyfriend and I have been trying to spend some time travelling England recently; he’s here for the whole summer and we don’t have the funds to travel further afield at the moment, so we’re taking advantage of places close to home. I had a couple of days off from work this last week and we headed to Brighton! I completed my degree at the nearby University of Sussex, and lived in the city for three years - it’s one of my favourite places in the world. We visited most of my BTN must-dos, and I wanted to mention them here. 

Travel: Ultimate Washington D.C. Guide!

I’ve been wanting to write a post about Washington DC for a long time now. In fact, I think I said I would last time I returned from there, but...didn't (oops!). You may or may not know that I studied abroad in DC for the 2013/14 academic year, and that's where/how I met my (American) boyfriend. Since then, I've returned to visit around four or five times, so I consider myself pretty well informed on the city. 

DC is a strange place. Specifically designed as the capital of a then-new United States, it still sort of feels like a faux-city. It's split into four, somewhat diverse sections: North East, South East, South West, and North West - like on a compass. Some of these areas are extremely affluent, clean, and business-oriented, whilst others are strikingly under-developed and lacking in resources on many levels. That being said, I haven't seen nearly all of what it has to offer, but what I have, I love. 

I've broken the post down into several components: things to do; places to eat and drink; places to shop; how to get around. I intend for it to be a pretty comprehensive guide to what I consider to be the best of DC. I'd love to hear your comments or additions, whether you've been to DC or not! 

Product review: Kylie Jenner Lip Kit

Let me start off by apologising about how long it's been since I've posted! My few weeks in America really threw me off, and since I've been back there's been lots to do to prepare for my boyfriend coming over here in the next week. I'm in the middle of writing a bumper D.C. guide/post, so hopefully that should be up soon too. 

I finally caved into the hype and ordered a Kylie Jenner “Lip Kit” (i.e. matte liquid lipstick + matching liner) when I realised it was going to be my last time visiting the States for a while, as my boyfriend is spending the summer here. I’d tried so hard to resist, for a number of reason, not least the pretty hefty price tag: $29 + U.S. sales tax + $8 shipping = $37.95 (or around £27). And additionally, it’s Kylie Jenner. Does she really need the money/publicity/business? The kits have been on sale - sporadically - since the beginning of the year, and I think the general consensus is probably not. I’ve heard a multitude of horror stories about all parts of the process, from people being completely unable to get one to others buying multiple units without their knowledge or consent. I for one find it pretty unbelievable that a company with Kylie Jenner behind it (and therefore the ability to employ a multitude of people who know exactly what they’re doing) can continually mess things up as much as they do. When do you ever hear, for example, of NARS selling out of a product? Or MAC sending you an empty box instead of the lipstick you’ve ordered and paid for? Added to which, I knew even getting one would be stressful, as the restocks come randomly and normally at strange/different times. Hilariously, info about restocks are posted on Kylie’s app, which will cost you an additional £2.29 per month… Thank god for the kindness of strangers/bloggers, who repost the info for free and even write whole guides on how to get your hands on one.