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.

California Dreamin'

Last month, Joe and I headed off to California for a magical 10 days. We crammed an absolute load into our time there and took waaay too many photos (I'm still trying to edit them!).

LA and San Francisco are two of the most incredible cities I've been lucky enough to visit and we'll definitely be going back.

Here's a look at Cali through the medium of Instagram.

Straight from the airport to Santa Monica beach and a well deserved Coronarita / SMP / lovely typography a step away from our hotel / end of Route 66 / sunset / beautiful tiled floor in Blue Plate Taco / pastel prettiness / The Bean / Venice

Amazing fresh juices in Local 1205 on Abbot Kinney, Venice / cycling from Santa Monica to Venice / gorgeous milk glass, wish I could've brought some home - so cheap! / far too much money was spent in this brilliant store, Urbanic Paper / skaters at Venice Beach / the amazing menu in my most favourite restaurant EVER, Gjelina / homemade Chorizo pizza, broccolini, and chickpea and black kale stew / LA > SF / SF cable car - best way to commute around the city.

Super smiley on the tram / Defeating the meat at In-N-Out Burger / Fisherman's Wharf / cable car selfie / yummy cocktails at Local Edition / Traz / AMB <3 JM / GGB / lush seafood at La Mar

Had the most amazing ice cream from Polar Bear ice cream in Santa Cruz / just part of a huge graffiti in SC / surf shop / Santa Cruz / Santa Barbara Stearn's Wharf / amazing fish tacos in the sunshine / Paradise Cove beers with J / heaven.

An amazing welcome at the fabulous Avalon Hotel in Beverley Hills / BH / brilliant sign outside Avalon / poolside cocktails / Central Perk at WB Studios / living the dream / Universal Studios / J / jut a teeny tiny selection of my Whole Foods haul

The best burger I've ever had at Short Order, Farmer's Market / haulin' at Amoeba Music / Deus Ex Machina / Paris in LA at Bouchon Bakery / second visit to the truly wonderful Gjelina / mecca / kicking Joe's bum at table tennis in The Standard Downtown / last night cocktails at the rooftop pool / LAPL.

Music Slash Art, Newcastle upon Tyne

There's a new cool kid in Toon.

MSA (Music Slash Art) is the UK's first truly art integrated music venue, curated by the guys over at Unit 44 (over in culture hub, Hoults Yard), and at the end of last month it opened it's doors.

With specially curated installations providing backdrops for live performances, this is the ideal amalgamation to showcase the ever-thriving music, arts and culture scene in Newcastle.

The interior has also been decked out by contemporary design masters, Deadgood - if you haven't already checked out their range, get to it. 

Now, I haven't had chance to get down there for a nose around yet, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what this venue has in store.

All images courtesy of MSA / Full Fat 

Run, run, run

For those of you who follow me on Twitter and Instagram, you'll have probably seen various tweets/photos about my running antics and training for some long distance events.

I took up running a couple of years ago and entered the Great North Run for the first time in 2011, but unfortunately, injury kept rearing it's ugly head - I've always had incredibly weak ankles and at one point pulled my Achilles tendon. The actual worst.

So, after deferring 2011's run, I got back into the training.

Last year, I ran the GNR for the first time in 2 hours 12 mins - a time I'm pretty damn pleased with considering I don't think of my myself as a super fast runner.

The past year has seen me completely up the training, change diet and lifestyle, and as well as running, I've been focussing on strength training and overall stamina. This has been massively helpful in improving my running times and hopefully will help me get the holy grail of a sub-2 hour half marathon this year.

So, next month, I'll be lacing up my Asics Gel 3030s to run the GNR for the brilliant charity Help for Heroes - check out my Just Giving site here.

And the day after the run? I jet off to LA - can you think of a better recovery than In-N-Out Burgers, Coronaritas and sunbathing on Venice Beach?!

Are you doing the Great North Run this year? I love a running nerd - share your tips.

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.