January Girl

January has been jam-packed so far. From a night in Hotel du Vin, to trying out some of Newcastle's new food joints to my birthday, it's been a brilliant beginning to 2014. Here's some of the best bits so far.

1. Cotton Post calendar to keep 2014 in check / 2. Chanel Le Vernis Rouge Rubis - a gorgeous Christmas present / 3. Joe representin' at the match / 4. We lost the battle / 5. Obsessed with all things black, white and yellow at the moment / 6. Seeing my pals in action in Vice Canada's Guides to Newcastle / 7 & 8. A night in the unreal Hotel du Vin in Newcastle. Look at that room! Brilliant food, exceptional cocktails and a little bit of a sore head the following day. All signs of a brilliant Friday night. / 9. Favourite blend from OCC / 10. Going button-up in Celia Birtwell for Uniqlo / 11. Hangin' with my two of my favourites; Oliver and Bella / 12.  Happy birthday to me! Treats from Dover Street Market (underneath the wrapping was an unreal CDG wallet which has been on my wishlist for some time / 13. Gifts from my gorgeous team at work - my favourite espresso martini and a delicate gold necklace / 14. New kicks. / 15. Checking out Coop in Newcastle - just one of the many new food joints which seem to have popped up over night / 16. Perfect patisserie from the Pet Lamb girls / 17. An unreal birthday present; personalised hip-flask *inserts heart-eyed emoji* / 18. Unreal bait at North Shields Fish Quay's latest establishment, The Staith House (on the plate is slow cooked pork belly with langoustines, spinach and cauliflower puree). 

The New.

The start of the year for me is the time to reboot and refresh.

I tried to stick to some of my 2014 goals before Christmas to ease me in gently and so that when 1st January hit, everything didn't feel like a real uphill struggle.

For the most part though, I relaxed my exercise and healthy eating over the holiday and indulged in more than my fair share of all of the cheeses and more red wine than I care to remember (it tasted damn good at the time though).

I've made a list of not so much resolutions, but just goals for this year which I can work towards over X amounts of weeks or months depending on what they are.

I think some people fall at the first hurdle with 'resolutions' because they go full pelt in January and then their enthusiasm wanes and motivation goes out the window.  For some of my goals, I'm keeping these to six-weekly targets - this keeps things a little bit more achievable.

Here are some of my targets/goals/stuff I want to do in 2014:

- Money detox
I think this is usually the top of everyone's lists but this month particularly, I'm having a total budget overhaul. I already keep a monthly budgeting spreadsheet (sad I know, but canny interesting to see what all of your dollar goes on - £20 here and there in Space NK all adds up...) and need to try ad keep on track with this.

For January at least, I'm curbing unnecessary spending and focussing on planning my budget and how I can make this work in my favour in 2014.

Another thing is credit cards. If you overindulged a bit in 2013 (for me, our big American bonanza holiday really broke the bank, and I wouldn't change it for a second, but still have a bit of debt to pay off on in!) then January is the ideal time to take advantage of balance transfer offers.

The best thing I ever did was to consolidate all of my spendings on a 0% interest balance transfer credit card, which I'm paying off monthly. I'm also making a cull on credit card purchases in general unless I pay it off straight away. Difficult, but definitely needed to help me feel in control of my money again.


- Buy less, buy smarter
A girl I follow on Instagram put this lovely little resolution on from her resolutions last year, as this really resonated, I want to adopt this gem of a resolution this year.

For me it's buying less of things I don't need and buying things I know will last a long time, even if they are a bit more expensive immediately but will benefit me in the long run. For example, really great skincare (I'm obsessed with all things Origins at the moment), a new designer handbag - things with longevity.


- Keep active and healthy
I'm pretty good at doing the above in any case, what with healthy eating, running and personal training, but this year is all about improving my running (stamina and pace), continuing to eat clean and concentrating on strength and toning. I never really let these up in 2013, but I did have a bit more of a relaxed December (which was MUCH needed) so now's the time to get back on track.


What are your plans for 2014?

*beautiful diary above by Marjolein Delhaas (image from byaprilandmay) / Flip clock image by AMB

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.

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.