Life on Instagram #1

Oh, how I love thee Instagram. For some people the first thing they do when they wake up (sadly) is check the socials. Not. Me.

Firstly, I curse the alarm for going off. Then, I check the socials. I just can't help myself. What's been going on in the world of the Gram, overnight? I need to know. Most people tune into Facebook as they open their eyes, however, I'm an Instagram girl all the way.

I've done a few of these posts in the past, but now I'm turning into it into somewhat of a more regular thang. A brief overview of life in pictures. So, here, for your viewing pleasure is what's been going down over at AMB in the past month or so.

1. Only a digital conference would have a hashtag cake / 2. Awesome braiding at the French Connection #canthelpmyselfie event, organised by the lovely Lauren / 3. Getting fancy for a wedding - obsessed with the River Island dress I wore. Pineapples til I die. / 4. Russian treats brought back from Moscow. Fact: Russian Vogue is 100% better when it's actually been bought there / 5. In love with anything nut-butter related at the moment - these goodies are available at Protein Pick & Mix / 6. All over the IQS way of eating? Check out these tasty raw cacao nib cookies I made. Taste a dream and good for you too / 7. Susie and Rob celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June. I always love seeing their wedding photos / 8. Well done, The Drum. So, when is Downton back on? / 9. The collectable tin to end all collectable tins. Spiceworld the move on lime green VHS, in a limited edition Baby Spice tin. The holy grail.

1. Coffee from Newcastle's finest, Ouseburn Coffee Company / 2. Lobster-print napkins from Ikea / 3. It was our 10th birthday at work last month. These canny cards were sent out with birthday cakes to our clients / 4. My word. How comfy are Nike Free 5.0s? SLIPPERS / 5. Hitting up Whitby's amusements after a night in North Yorkshire / 6. Seafood treats down at Riley's Fish Shack / 7. Getting my run on in my new Asics. Less than 8 weeks until the Great North Run. In. Sane. / 8. Beautiful light on Seaton Sluice beach / 9. Food of the gods, Cal's Own pizza.

1. Super-green smoothie from Newcastle's latest culinary offering, The Naked Deli / 2. A weekend in the Lakes with Joe - what a view at The Drunken Duck / 3. To celebrate being 10,  DC did ten pin bowling at Lane 7 / 4. One too many Buddy's beers later / 5. York Races on a HOT Saturday / 6. Building my mug collection with this typographical gem from Repeat Repeat / 6. Another IQS-shaped recipe by yours truly - Banana Bread. Give it a whirl, it tastes mighty fine / 7. Surprise flowers / 8. Getting my caffeine fix at OPR's #Ocademy Brands and Bloggers breakfast - so lovely to meet so many local bloggers and finally put some faces to names.

What a busy few weeks!

Got a favourite Instagram account? Hit me up with links to your favourites.

Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Slacker

Like the title of this post, that's what I've been lately.

Life has been a blur of work, running, holiday planning...the last 2 months have literally flown by.

Here's a sneak peak into AMB's world over the past few weeks.

1. Getting my fill of all things cultural with Monocle / 2. Naughty purchases from Space NK (well, not naughty, but some very vital Institut Esthederm for my upcoming holiday to California / 3. RUNNING. I'm training for the Great North Run (4 weeks today!), so training has been taking up most of my free time. / 4. Getting my foody fill at The Grazer's Ouseburn Festival Feast. / 5. The gorgeous airstream caravan down at The Cycle Hub / 6. The Miller's Daughter's yummy sweet treats; she does a mean bake. / 7. New pooch addition to J's family, Poppy / 8. Brightening up some neutral postcard prints with acid green Washi tape / 9. Big Bro.

1. Street art in Heaton / 2. Riley's Fish Shack goodies down at King Eddie's Bay / 3. Going green for Newcastle Racecourse's Ladies Day / 4. Studying the race card / 5. Smarty pants / 6. Recovery food at Lola's (MUCH needed after one too many Pimm's / 7. Taking Somerby for a ride; in love with my new basket / 8. Joe's vintage Mini, perfect for coastal drives on sunny days / 9. Pretty flowers on the bar in Barca

1. Posh beers on a recent Friday night / 2. Sa'll about the hipster / 3. Beautiful sunset after a heavy thunderstorm in the Toon / 4. Flat White at Sugarloaf  / 5. Anchor nails for Kate's hen do / 6. Vibrant flags down at Tynemouth Sailing Club for Riley's Fish Shack pop-up curry night / 7. Our hen donning some fancy dress finery / 8. The classiest club in Penrith / 9. Finally, GNR pack game. Hoping to smash 1.55 this year! I'm raising vital funds for Help For Heroes.

To Build A Home

Above: Our gorgeous tiled hallway

Blogging has slipped by the wayside recently due to buying a flat and starting a new job. But I'm back! I had a lot of requests from Instagram and Twitter followers to blog some photos of our gorgeous Tyneside flat, so I though I'd start with something small as the flat is no where near done yet and I want to show it off properly when we have it pristine.

I always knew I wanted beautiful and unique prints up around the flat, and started buying some of my favourites before we even got the keys. Coincidentally, all of the prints below are by North-East based design studios - we have so many talented designers here and I love supporting them.

Here's a quick look at some of the prints we have up around the flat - I've got a lot which are waiting to be framed, so will snap them when they're ready to go up.

My absolute favourite print, Always in England, sits above the fireplace in the master bedroom and is by the brilliant Prefab 77. I'm still longing for one of their amazing Let It Reign prints - the ultimate way to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee. In LOVE.

Ben Holland who goes under the alias of Low Moon Over High Town, creates amazing ink drawings which celebrate less revered architectural gems located in the North-East. The above print is of the Crown Posada, one of Newcastle's oldest pubs and one of mine and Joe's favourite places to have a drink in the Toon. The Crown Posada have the best record player and a cosy snug, the perfect place for a quiet drink on date night. Next on my list is Ben's Vampire Rabbit print.

Above (L-R) are prints by WonderStuff Studio and C-Front, both North East based design studios. I love the hidden message in WSS's eye chart print (If You Know Where To Look, You Will Find Happiness) and C-Front's Impossible Love print is a brilliant piece of design. I heart it.

Bicycle Ride

Since getting my very own shiny, retro-style bicycle recently, I have gone cycling mad. Having recently moved into a flat with J, who's a very keen cyclist, I've been cycling round the pretty little streets of Tynemouth and bringing back treasures from Tynemouth Market (still haven't got my basket yet, this needs to be sorted!)

So, when I heard about Urban Outfitters' new collection of bikes, I was instantly interested.

Urban Outfitters Europe have teamed up with Create, creating a collection of 14 fixie bikes in 7 colourways, all of which are designed to be unisex.

Personally, I think delving into the bicycle market is a smart move for UO, and I'd definitely consider one of these fixies when I'm in the market for a road bike.

The bikes are available in 2 frame sizes [54cm and 59cm] are available exclusively online at Urban Outfitters. 

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