Riley's Fish Shack

This post is overdue. Like about 3 years overdue. So, when Travelodge* got in touch to set me the challenge of writing about what I think are the best kept secrets in and around, Newcastle, I knew this was the time to write about one of my favourite food haunts (especially now that it's had some major developments), that you all need to get yourselves down to and discover.

Being LUSH

I vividly remember my first jaunts to LUSH as a teen - I was like a kid in a sweet shop, only instead of sweets, the counters were piled high with brightly coloured bath bombs. Nothing much has changed since then, and I still feel that kid whenever I step foot in-store. It's all quite Willy Wonka-meets-cosmetics when you think about it - solid shampoo bars, shower jellies and playdough substances which can be used as a shampoo, soap and everything in between.

I have to say, its probably one of my favourites retailers on the high street - all products is freshly handmade, always ethical and the brand is completely against animal testing to boot. That's the kind of brand I can get on board with.

My local LUSH has recently had a bit on an overhaul, and the lovely team kindly invited me down to check out the new fixtures and fittings. First thing I noticed? Lots of driftwood - a nod to LUSH's coastal home in Poole.

The staff, as ever, were terrifically knowledgable about all products and the brand and it's heritage, and their enthusiasm, something I've always loved, was at an only appropriate 110%.

One of the main things I was interested to learn about was their fragrance collection, Gorilla Perfume. There is such a story behind each scent, and I particularly loved the tale of Breath of God, inspired by Buddhist monks and the inhale and exhale patterns they use in prayer; the 'inhale' and 'exhale' notes of the perfume are both slightly different, making it masculine and feminine both at the same time. Deep.

Some of the guys who hand-produce fresh items were on hand to show us how to make Angels with Bare Skin, a fresh cleanser based on a medieval recipe, crammed full of good things for your skin - almonds, lavender and rose. A LUSH lady then demonstrated how when emulsified in water, the clay-like cleanser breaks down, making it much easier to apply to your skin.

As always, I loved just browsing around the shop and feeling like a kid again - who wouldn't want the psychedelic bath bomb, Granny Takes A Dip, livening up their soak in the tub? Go on, head to LUSH and treat yo'self.

LUSH Newcastle, Unit 1B/Chevy Chase, Eldon Square, Newcastle upon Tyne.

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Step Into Christmas

We're well and truly in the midst of the festive season now. Houses are twinkling with lights and everyone is buzzing with excitement for the big man in red to make an appearance. As soon as 1st December hit, we put up our Christmas tree - after all, it only comes once a year so you may as well enjoy having the house glowing with lights for as long as possible.

We've gone for a fairly minimal theme of white and silver on the tree this year, with a few other Christmas treasures around the house for goos measure. I'm absolutely loving our Beatles bauble we bought in Liverpool a few weeks ago - it's taken pride of place this year.

Food and drink are obviously high on the agenda this month and something keeping me warm at the moment is teapigs gorgeous and very Christmassy, Spiced Winter Red Tea - think Chai but with a festive orange, clove and cinnamon twist. The smell is unreal! I'm also a bit obsessed with the idea of making my own mulled ginger beer - thinking about throwing one of these spiced tea bags in for a different twist.

I've got quite a bit of time off over Christmas and New Year, and absolutely can't wait to gorge on cheese and seasonal fayre. And, as for New Year? Well, Joe is working over Christmas so our Christmas Day is on New Year's Eve so we both get to enjoy a double celebration and bit of time off together in the New Year.

What are your plans this Christmas?

Empire Drive - Gosforth, Newcastle

I'm a bit of a home and interiors buff. In a previous job, I looked at home and lifestyle trends for home interior clients, and this confirmed my love for all things beautiful for the home.

This is something for which my love has seriously developed , and when we bought our flat last year, I was determined to make the interior styling was a good mixture of my favourite interior styles - Scandinavian, mid-century modern and salvaged.

I've recently been looking for a few new pieces for the flat, and luckily, I heard from James, owner of mid century modern/antique furniture store, Empire Drive in Gosforth, Newcastle - a handy 20 minute drive from where I live.

It's fantastic that James' business in thriving in the North East, where we have such a hotbed of great independent home product designer-makers, restorers, retailers and interior enthusiasts.

James' dad, who'd been involved in the antiques trade for over 30 years and has a significant knowledge of all things antiques, which he's passed down to him, offered James a space to work out of in Sunderland when he was looking to expand into the furniture business and sell on lovingly restored pieces.

Now with his business based in Gosforth, James has a fantastic array of mid-century modern and antique furniture for sale. He also has a selection of furniture available online - I've got my eyes the Ercol drop leaf table.

Empire Drive is open to the public 3 days a week; Thursday-Saturday 10am-5pm 

All images courtesy of James Newrick.

What's been going down.

1. A brilliant new event in Newcastle, which takes place on the first Friday and Saturday of the month. Amazing local food, drinks and music...I give you The Boiler Shop Steamer / 2. Sea salt soap at RE:found Objects in Corbridge / 3. Gifts from America / 4. One of my best evening's I've had in a long while...The Grazer's Supperclub at the Ouse Street Arts Club. Can't wait for the next one! / 5. Espresso martinis from Ouseburn Coffee Company / 6. Retriever doing their thing at The Cluny / 7. Dirty Beaches! / 8. New beauty treats / 9. Cocktails at Toon favourite, Alvinos.

1. Food with Mama and Papa Barnes at Lola Jeans in Tynemouth / 2. A favourite shop of mine in Tynemouth, Boys Like Dolls - a fantastic selection of vintage fashion and homeware pieces / 3. Celebrating my Mama Barnes' 60th birthday in Newcastle / 4. Food heaven courtesy of The Broad Chare / 5, 6, 7. Celebrating the wedding of Beth and Hal at Shortflatt Tower in Belsay. Hands down the best wedding I've been to - filled with so much love, happiness and great memories. Check out their utterly brilliant first dance. / 8. Homemade burger and chips / 9. Nadine Shah being rad.

1. Green goodness to help me get over a horrible cold / 2. Mum's 60th birthday party with the whole family. This amazing cake was made by Becky - check her out if you need some sweet treats for any occassion / 3. Checking out new Tynemouth cafe, Dil & The Bear - I can highly recommend their chorizo homemade baked beans and array of smoothies / 4. Have you seen this bird? / 5. Payday treats from ASOS - the perfect lightweight summertime jacket / 6. Sydney Hale Company candles - a treat for the nose / 7. A summertime essential. Coconut ice cream from Di Meo's, Whitley Bay / 8. Mojito time! / 9. Beautiful King Edward's Bay in Tynemouth. So lucky that this is 10 minute stroll from my flat.

Jan/Feb 2013: Some snaps

Tim Walker poster from his brilliant Story Teller exhibition at Somerset House, finally in situ above the bed; Big Sis and me ready for a day out in London town; Heaven in a can; Aesop goodies from Beauty Expert; the best coffee from Ouseburn Coffee Company at Tynemouth Market; old shipping lights in ORA Tynemouth;  Rob Ryan mugs from Joe for our 5 year anniversary <3; the snowy seafront near our flat; gorgeous new wooden blinds in the bedroom; visiting Redhouse in Newcastle for a birthday pie; citizenM Bankside; the fabulous pop-up Chanel beauty store in Covent Garden; lights in citizenM reception area; cocktails and martinis in DUKES London; Sophie Hulme for Globetrotter - want, need, love. 

Fresh and Clean.

Our Christmas decorations are down, and now the house is looking a bit lacklustre, like it needs an injection of excitement, and maybe some colour to boot.

I can't wait to make some additions to the house in early 2013 - here are some of the things I'm coveting for the home.

Bright neon pink accents
We've decorated our home in a fairly neutral way and I'm ready to brighten it up for Spring. A few neon pink accents are such a modern way of introducing colour to our palette of black, white and grey.

Light Fantastic 
I love an interesting light fitting - planning on including a couple of stand out pieces to our home this year.

Textiles
Even though we're coming out of Winter, I still want to fill our home with gorgeous cosy cushions and curtains. After 6 months of searching, I've finally found some curtains I love - hoping they make our living room feel a bit less chilly!

China
We bought a set of basic crockery when we moved in, but now I'm in the market for some special pieces. I'm absolutely in love with Giles' collection for Matches, Marimekko and Ferm Living china - can't wait for them to grace our flat.

To see more Home Inspiration, pop over to my Home Style board on Pinterest.

'Tis the Season

The last couple of weeks have been filled with festive cheer in the form of decorating our flat, ready for the Big Man coming to town; visiting Christmas markets, baking, deciding on Christmas wrapping schemes and heading to London to see the bright lights of Oxford and Regent Street (along with a bit of shopping in Liberty, of course).

It's our first Christmas in the flat so decorating and making plans for the holidays has felt extra special.

What have you been doing to prepare for the festive season?

Cath Kidston Newcastle Store & Giveaway winners.

At the end of last week, I ventured into Newcastle to check out the new stand alone Cath Kidston store. Set over 2 floors on the beautiful Grainger Street, the store has a great mix of fashion, homeware, childrenswear and Christmas merchandise, along with some lovely, considered displays for the store including a wall full of framed Newcastle paraphernalia.

I spoke to CK Newcastle's store manager, Alex, to find out a bit more about the store:

Welcome to Newcastle! I’m so pleased Newcastle finally has it’s own stand-alone store, following on from the success of CK’s concession in Fenwick. How does it feel to have a base in the North East? Thank you. We are all really excited about the new store and being able to offer Newcastle a chance to see the whole product range. From just being open a couple of days, we can already see that everyone is really as excited as we are here. The reception has been fantastic.

What can CK’s Newcastle fans expect from the store? 
I’m really excited by the faces of our customers as they walk through the doors of the new store. They will be taken aback by so much colour and brightness. It’s such an expressive brand, so uplifting.

CK is all about print – which prints do you think will be most popular with Newcastle’s CK fans?
Print is so important to Cath Kidston, all of our prints are unique and inspired by Vintage. The products are colourful and fun and bring a smile to your face. Our spot prints are really popular and spray flower in our china is a best seller, both these prints are very classic Cath Kidston and never go out of style or date.

As the festive season is upon us, does the store have anything special lined up for it’s Newcastle customers this Christmas? 
We have opening promotions going on over our launch day and the weekend. We also have a shopping spree competition for the customer to win £250 shopping spree with Cath Kidston.

And now to reveal the winners of the Cath Kidston giveaway.

After randomly selecting names out of a hat (well, a decorative bowl in this case), the winners are...

Cath Kidston Laptop Case - Sophie-Anne from Decisions, Decisions
Cath Kidston Tote Bag - Katie Coward

Well done ladies. If you could please drop me an email with your address details in, that would be marvellous.

The Big Move

After 5 long months of finalising everything for our first flat together, we finally get the keys to our very first property on Friday! So, apologies if my posting is somewhat sporadic over the next few weeks whilst we get ourselves sorted.

Our beautiful Tyneside flat is on a very pretty street on Tynemouth fringe, a short walk from the coast and beautiful park. I'll be documenting the move as we get everything sorted and will post some photos once we are in and, for the most part, sorted. Tomorrow, we're off to raid Ikea...I can't wait!

To see what kind of style we're going for in our new flat, see my Home Style board over on Pinterest.


* Above prints L-R: Alison Hardcastle / SparklePower

Lifestyle: A new home for AMB.

I'll soon be moving out of my parents house to take on the scary world of mortgages, bills and co-habiting with my boyfriend - and I absolutely cannot wait!

I've been curating my Home Style board over on Pinterest for some time now, so head over there to see which pieces of furniture and colour palettes I'm coveting for my first home.

Of course I'll be sharing more inspiration, my home buys and before & after photos of the flat so keep your eyes peeled for some interior goodies!