#29 of the 30 Day Snap | Birthday Cake!

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 29. 

In the evening, we had a little birthday dinner for my Dad and I with all the family (except my sister since she's away) and my auntie had got us this lovely cake (with bunting - yes!) 
My cousin was given creative license on how to do the candles on the cake so he chose to add together my age and my dad's age which is 73 and put that many candles on the cake, plus a 0 for a joke! 

It was such a great evening sitting out in the garden (because it is now warm enough!) chatting, eating wax covered cake (we had to pay a price for that many candles) and playing the board game version of 'Would I lie to you' which caused much hysteria! 

<3

#28 of the 30 Day Snap | Book Door.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 28.

Since it was my dad's birthday on the 28th, we headed to a country pub to celebrate and the doors were bookcases, which was so cool!

<3

#27 of the 30 Day Snap | Birthday time!

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 27.

The 27th was actually my 19th birthday! (Which feels weird writing that - I liked 18) 

The picture above is of my best friend of 8 years and I in hysterics about something or other, we were beside ourselves, the best kind of laughter where no matter how hard you try, you just can't stop! Note the union jack bunting behind us (she brought it and managed to tie it between two deckchairs cause she knows how much I love my country) and how windy it was! We could have flown away! 

The evening was spent kayaking on a lake with the guides (I'm a leader) and I love outdoorsy things so this was brilliant! Even though it rained, we still managed to have a great time and everyone sang to me while miming 'heads, shoulders, knees and toes' and standing up in their kayaks! It was definitely the most unique way that 'Happy Birthday' has ever been sung to me! I only fell in once by capsize and we ended the evening with a rope swing into the lake which was great fun! Loved it! In this picture, I'm the one who is 2nd in at the top left lying on the front of the red kayak! (It was for a game, we were meant to kiss the noses of our kayaks like the Eskimos who invented them!)

How do you celebrate birthdays? 

<3 

#26 of the 30 Day Snap | the little things.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 26.

This made me smile, a cute card from a best friend! 

<3

#25 of the 30 Day Snap | Summer Evening.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 25.

This evening, my mama and I went to a local park for taking lots of jumping photo session, climbing hills, looking out at the London Skyline and watching the sunset. Beautiful night :) 

What do you like to do on a warm summer evening? Any traditions or ideas? Feel free to share! 

<3

#24 of the 30 Day Snap | Easy like Sunday Morning.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 24. 

H & H coffee mornings. 

<3 

#23 of the 30 Day Snap | Biking by the Lake.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 23

Saturday afternoons are for bike rides through the woods and by the lake with dad before he whizzed off to Spain (for work) on Monday.

<3

#22 of the 30 Day Snap

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 22. 

It's been a week of tea drinking and writing.

<3

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#21 of the 30 Day Snap | Bumblebee

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 21.

Was just playing around with some settings on my camera and managed to get the bokeh balance right, and was pretty happy with this bumblebee picture.
Loving the simple life over here! 

<3

#20 of the 30 Day Snap | Neighborhood Antics.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 20. 

so this is what happens in our neighborhood, note the bird behind me! 

<3

#19 of the 30 Day Snap | Cat naps.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 19. 

Found this photo today and couldn't not share it. Don't you love those lazy days where you set up a blanket in the garden and nap with your cat? I love the colours in this picture and how cute my sister and Middie look. 

<3

#18 of the 30 Day Snap | Countryside Sunset.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 18. 

Today, I had to show 2 photos since I couldn't pick. We went to this pub to celebrate our Canadian friend being in town and this was the view over all the valley, and oh it was so gorgeous, views over the lakes and a beautiful sunset over the hills. The food and drink were delicious and the staff were great fun. All in all, a great night and we were very sad to say goodbye/reluctant to drive home until the sun had completely set. 

Also, can you believe that this is in London? Well a few miles outside, but still within the county! 

Do you have a favourite pub with a view? any places you like to escape the city to? 

<3

#17 of the 30 Day Snap | Best sandwich.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 17.

I dread to think how many of these 30 day snap photos have been of food, but sometimes, I just forget to take a photo (I'm more a video person than photo) and then I look back and all I took a photo of was my lunch.... 

But it will be useful when I'm stuck for ideas when I head to Uni in September, right? 

Now I'm gonna talk about how good this sandwich was, for something we just threw together: 

-a slice of crusty french bread, lightly toasted

-a few pieces of Halloumi cheese, slightly grilled or fried

-some chunks of ripe avocado

-a slice of tomato (or two, or three or four?) 

-a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

then throw it all together and enjoy. 

So good! 

since we are on the topic on sandwiches, what's your favourite? 

<3

#16 of the 30 Day Snap | Tea Time.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 16.

On Sunday, our family friend from Canada arrived from Sweden, bringing us the most delicious fruit tea that tasted a little bit like my favourite Italian tea: Blueberry Cherry which I have not been able to find since getting back home. It reminded me of those afternoons when it was rainy outside and we would sit in the only cafe in the town that had comfy sofas and chat up a storm while sipping our tea. (If you are ever in Cremona, Italy - I highly recommend 'Lord's Cafe' - close to the main square - the staff are friendly, they have nice comfy seats and there are 42 types of tea -what more could you want in a cafe!) 

How do you like your tea? What's your favourite kind?

<3

#15 of the 30 Day Snap | A sea of pink.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 15. 

Last night, I along with my mum and my sister, volunteered for a local hospice event - the 'ladies in the night' and it was so amazing to see all these excited women ready to do something great for charity. I was filming the video for them and it was so great to talk to everyone and hear why they were walking. I really admire them all walking 5 or 9 miles through the night and agree that the work the hospice does is absolutely brilliant. 

This was technically yesterday but it went on until 3am so I think it counts, right? 

<3

#14 of the 30 Day Snap | London Skyline and best friends.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 14.

Yesterday was so wonderful, we spent the afternoon in Greenwich, climbing up the hill to the top of the park to see the view of the London Skyline, it's amazing how far you can see, notable sights being: the Olympic stadium, the cable cars, the shard, St Paul's Cathedral and Canary wharf. It was so sunny and warm, we nibbled on strawberries and old fashioned sweets and chatted up a storm. I love these girls, it's so nice that we can just pick up where we left off even if we are apart for ages.  

What is your favourite way to spend a sunny afternoon with friends?

<3

A little adventure to the Cotswolds.

As mentioned in this post, on tuesday, we took a little day trip to the Cotswolds. I wanted to share a few more photos because it is such a picturesque place to be. And it somehow seems to fulfill all those English village stereotypes, but in the best way possible.
                                      

this is so true for our family....definitely not normal.

On one of the walks we went on, we found a footpath surrounded by fields and then came across this little river. Isn't it beautiful?

Sheep. Always a sign you are out of the city!

Mum's victory pose after finding our way through the maze. 

I haven't ever really explored the Cotswolds so it was fun to just drive around to different villages finding interesting things to do in each place. 

We found this view through the trees by chance, as we were driving, we saw some ladies taking pictures through the hedge, so I got out to see what all the fuss was about. Worth it. 

Giggling away.

Have you ever been to the Cotswolds? Do you have a favourite place for day trips?

<3

#13 of the 30 Day Snap | Sunset

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 13.

yesterday's sunset was so beautiful. I love it when the sky is so pretty, a mix of burnt orange, pinks and yellow. 

<3

#12 of the 30 Day Snap |

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 12.

A bit late with this one, but I found this cool street art in London while walking to the station. 


Hope you like! 

<3

#11 of the 30 Day Snap | The Cotswolds.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 11. 

Today was a day that my Mama and I set aside for ourselves to spend some quality time together (since we both had the day off work), we had originally planned to get the train down to Brighton but when the weather forecast predicted 'rain, rain, rain', we decided to pick a place where it was supposedly going to be warm and sunny. 

We considered Norfolk (a firm family favourite but too far for the day), Dorset (recommended by a neighbor but also a bit of a trek) and a arty day visiting some of the galleries in London (have done that a lot) but in the end, we decided on the Cotswolds, for a day of country walks, tea rooms and frolicking in fields, why not? 

We visited the parts of the Cotswolds that are in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire (mainly because that is where we happened to end up) stopping at: Moreton-on-the-Marsh (to browse the market and pick up some sweeties for the road), Stow-on-the-wold (for lunch in a cute little tea room and a browse through the shops), Lower Slaughter (for a walk to a mill and a wander to see some sheep), Upper Slaughter (to take silly photos in a field of rapeseed), Bourton-on-the-water (for a dragonfly maze where we got very lost) and finally Burford (for a quick cup of tea before we headed home) 

I highly recommend any of this places if you are looking for a typical English village, they were all very pretty and we felt like we had stepped back in time. It turned out it wasn't too sunny (though we saw the occasional bit of blue sky peeping out from behind the clouds) but we had a great time anyway, my mum is great fun to be around and we had a lot of laughs while 'making memories' (our cheesy family slogan we use to make each other laugh when we get lost or end up in a less than ideal situation e.g. stuck behind a van of pigs for 10 miles while driving in a foreign country - this actually happened.) and also felt very quintessentially British the whole day. 

The photo I chose for today was this, it is me at one of the 'top 10 lunch spots in the UK' for 2013, but I didn't have any food on me to pose with so pretended to eat my camera instead. It made us giggle at how ridiculous I look, but it kind of sums up the day's silliness, so I like it. But RIP to my camera (pictured in the above photo) - the lens is now pretty much broken, it still kinda works but I have a feeling that in the next few days it will stop. So, have bought a very reasonable one on ebay as a replacement, excited for that to arrive this week! 

And I love a good road trip, don't you? We had Ben Howard and Bruce Springsteen blasting all the way there. Love it! 

Hope you are enjoying the 30 Day Snap, I'm enjoying following along with other blogs too :) 

                 What did you do today? Do you like road trips? Have any fun traditions on them? 

  <3

#10 of the 30 Day Snap | Matchstick House.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 10.

Today was a wonderful day, I spent the morning with my dear grandma, we explored charity shops, chatted each other's ears off and drank copious amounts of tea/coffee.

Then, I got the tube to my friend's town (just outside of London) for an afternoon with her, which involved our usual formula of fajitas for lunch, a twelve mile cycle ride, life affirming chats about anything and a stop in a cute cafe. I love how we can chat about anything be it serious or silly. On our adventures through the woods and countryside, we  came across this house that appears to be made out of matchsticks, looks like something out of a fairy tale, don't you think? I love the way the roses climb up the walls, it looks so mysterious, we were half expecting one of the 7 dwarfs to pop out and say hi.

Tell me if you have been taking part in the 30 Day snap. Thanks for leaving your links so far, I've been loving it!

<3

#9 of the 30 Day Snap | Old Journals and Books.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 9. 

I was filming for a video yesterday and it involved a stop motion of putting these books (on the left) and all my old journals (on the right) which was fun to read back through journals dating back to 2003 when I was 8. It's funny to see what I used think was important enough to write about. I also love penguin books :)


Did you/ do you write journals? Tell me if you have been taking part in the 30 Day snap. Thanks for leaving your links so far, I've been loving it!

<3

#8 of the 30 Day Snap | Climbing trees.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 8.

Today was a day of family time, bike rides, climbing trees, floral shoes and a BBQ.

I liked this random snap of our shoes up in the tree,  K and I sat up there for 20 minutes or so, having a chat as the sun shone. Who need a chair when you have a tree? (Still a small child in my heart)

Are you participating in the 30 Day Snap? Let me know! And thanks for the comments so far - much appreciated!

<3

#7 of the 30 Day Snap | Sunset Bike Ride.

Read more about the series here and here.

Day 7.

This evening, I went on a sunset bike ride (so good for the soul), then sat in the park and watched the sun go down while chatting to one of my best friends on the phone and making plans for the next week. Also, want to say a HUGE congratulations to my wonderful big sisstuh ( http://frauleinlouise.tumblr.com/ )  who finished her degree yesterday! (Love you!) 

Tell me if you are doing the 30 Day Snap in the comments? 

<3

The start of summer.

Has anyone else been loving the sunny weather this week? 

I feel like it's the start of summer. This week has been full of bike rides through the woods, walks beside the water, sitting outside with friends, reading in the sunshine, baking, making homemade guacamole for picnics, playing football with my cousin, exploring Cardiff for the first time, running through endless green fields at sunset, wearing summer shoes, stopping off at cafes for cloudy lemonade (my favourite), lying on the grass looking up at blue skies and watching the cats enjoy the sunshine. 

I'm excited for so many more weeks like this in the summer. Especially when some of my friends get back from uni and are around a bit more. Most excited for: picnics, bbqs, outdoor swimming, day trips to the seaside, the possibility of visits from friends from abroad (Ash, I'm looking at you sistahh), road trips, family time and exploring different parts of London. 

<3