Bill's & Brunch in London

I was just flicking through my camera roll on my iPhone, looking back at all the photos I took during my time in London when I suddenly got the urge to type up a blog post! I've been revisiting some of my old posts recently, mostly the more lifestyle kinda ones & feeling really glad that I took the time to document parts of my life. I love that feeling of nostalgia when you see photos of a particular event & reading back over some of my previous posts brought back so many memories that I had completely forgotten about. It's spurred me on to continue publishing more personal posts actually, sometimes I worry about sharing loads of stuff on the Internet, I dunno why really tho.

When I arranged to stay with my Sister in London we didn't make any official plans, in fact we never do really & find it much more enjoyable that way. There's no stressing over whether we will make it to certain places on time, we go with the flow & see where we end up! The day I arrived I mooched around Oxford St as I wanted to get a new outfit for the Oliver Bonas Christmas Preview, so I browsed in Topshop, H&M, all of the usual places (obviously had to snap the floral arrangements outside of Liberty!) and then I headed over to the LUSH Oxford St Store which I've been dying to visit. It was crazy busy but I purchased some of the items that are exclusives so I'll be popping up a post in the next couple of days! After that I hopped on the tube & went over to my Sisters flat to drop my bags off & decide where to go out for dinner. We ended up going to Bill's because neither of us had actually ever been, we shared a bowl of Pea & Mint soup and then we each had a burger. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty disappointed with my meal, the burger was really burnt (I asked for medium rare!) I don't understand the hype at all! I did however enjoy a Peach Bellini & I loved the way the restaurant was decorated. After our food we went for Cocktails, we ended up getting a Detox one made up of Kale & Spinach, just to try something different really & it was pretty tasty actually! We stayed out for a couple more hours, I don't see my Sister often so it was nice to sit & chat about life & things & properly catch up. 

My second day in London was spent having a late Breakfast at the Cafe Hannah works at before getting in a car & going over to the OB event held at their Marylebone store. After the event I took a trip over to the made.com showroom as we have ordered a sofa so I went to check it out before heading over to Shoreditch to have a little explore. We went in & out of loads of different shops, mostly little independent ones selling cute stationery & homewares, then Hannah noticed a T2 Tea store so we went in & ended up whiling away a fair chunk of time. We were busy testing out different teas & tisanes & actually won one of the Pumping Pomegranate Tisanes! The Iced Teas they had out to sample were so refreshing after walking round London all day, the Apple Crumble one was tastyy. I saw a teeny tiny miniature dachshund too, so of course I squealed & couldn't stop smiling. I always have a little goal whenever I go to Shoreditch to see how many cute dogs I can spot, Shoreditch is the best for dog spotting haha & I saw a Frenchie too! Little side note... When I lived in London, before I had Tilly Pug I'd go Pug stalking & I'd be guaranteed to meet one hanging around the Brick Lane area!  After our little tea stop I realised we were close to the Beigel shop, I used to love getting a cream cheese beigel after a night out in Shoreditch so I had to stop & get one, for old times sake! Then we grabbed a Monmouth Coffee & hopped back on the Tube so I could pick up my bags from the flat before setting off on my mammoth bus journey (because of the Tube strike) over to Euston to catch my train back home to Liverpool. Whenever I visit London I always have the best time & it makes me feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to live down there for two years, plus I still have the opportunity to visit whenever I feel like it thanks to my lil sis!
Do you enjoy these kind of posts?
L x

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5 Places To Travel To

(Image Source: weheartit)
I've stolen this idea from Luce, so all credit goes to her for this post idea but after saying I wanted 2015 to be the year I travelled more I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to "plan" out where I want to go!
Paris - I've actually been to Paris twice when I was younger but I'd really like to go again. I feel like I'd appreciate this beautiful city so much more now & as soppy as this is, I really want to go & put a padlock on lovers bridge with Dom! We had actually aimed to go at the end of April but because of the house buying situation we needed to stay in the country. Praying I can visit soon though!
New York - The City that never sleeps, there is so many things I want to do if I ever get the chance to go to the big Apple. Ice skating at the Rockefeller Centre, taking a selfie with the Statue of Liberty, shopping, shopping & more shopping, a walk through Central Park, the list could go on & on...
Berlin - I studied the German language at GCSE, (which feels like a lifetime ago now) & I've been meaning to brush up on my skills ever since. Visiting Germany would provide me with the perfect opportunity (obvs) to have a go at speaking again & the relaxed vibe of Berlin really appeals to me! Plus I've heard Mauer Park Flea Market is amazing for vintage finds such as homeware & clothing.
Japan -  Dom & I have always said we would love to visit Japan. We used to watch a lot of Anime & it would be such a dream to go to the Ghibli Musuem! 
Grand Canyon - Ideally I'd love to do a road trip across the USA, y'know take a few weeks away from everything & drive until we can no longer drive. Visiting the Grand Canyon is on my bucket list though, I imagine it to be such a surreal sightseeing experience & I know my mind isn't going to stop pondering until I see it in real life!
Where would you like to travel?
L x
Myself & Stephanie are planning to blog 'Everyday in May', we've set ourselves a little challenge & I'm really looking forward to it! I've got loads & loads of ideas, lots of planned posts & photographs taken, it feels good to be organised so hopefully I won't let myself down. I love blogging a ridiculous amount, every time I write a post it makes me feel happy & I want to focus on being positive so I've decided to put my all into loulabeth once & for all! I think it's important to make time for what you love & I haven't done this enough recently therefore I've given myself chance to just sit down & blog blog blog.
Look at the cute little graphic Steph has made for Blog Everyday in May!

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in flight beauty essentials

I decided I would take a few treats for my skin in my hand luggage after reading various blog posts & watching YouTube videos on travel beauty essentials.

Having a bottle of Soap & Glory Hand Maid Cleansing Gel in my handbag is always a necessity for me & it's especially important to make sure your hands are germ free when it comes to removing makeup. I used Johnson's Pampering Wipes to take off my makeup, as Caroline Hirons says wipes are acceptable to use on flights! These wipes are really nice, enriched with moonflower which helps to calm your senses, perfect for a flight if you're feeling nervous like I was! After all traces of my makeup had disappeared I spritzed my skin with Liz Earle Skin Tonic & let it soak in. My flight was particularly stuffy so I was reaching for this stuff every 20 minutes to cool my skin down! I then patted a blob of Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream under my eyes to smooth away my awful dark shadows - a result of having 1 hour sleep before making my way to the airport! The saviour of my flight was Origins Drink Up Intensive mask, I have so much love for this product. I get patches of dry flakey skin all over my face but that problem is solved with a layer of this Apricot scented product. Finally I popped in Burt's Bees Mango Butter Lip Balm to nourish my lips & Soap & Glory Hand Food so my hands weren't left out of the in flight beauty routine!

Although my flight wasn't long haul it was nice to have skin that felt refreshed when I stepped of the plane!

L x

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