Friday 22 August 2014

Camden Bargain Buys




 



 



Ahh Camden. My home away from home. 

I'm forever discovering new and interesting places in London that fulfill my needs for the weird, wonderful and bizarre, but every time I go to London, I'll always at one point or the other find myself returning to Camden. 

Not only did it play a huge part of my childhood (yes I was an Emo/Scene Kid) but it is an amalgation of all the things I love: music, fashion, food and BARGAINS!

During the months of June/July, I got to visit Camden twice. Once with the lovely Fi Shemmans before the Cosmopolitan Superblogger Masterclass, and then with my best friend George Puddephatt for a nostalgic catch-up . 

Camden has changed a lot since I was 15/16, especially when it comes to shopping. It has definitely become more commercial. I'm not complaining, it just means you have to hunt a bit harder for those unique items. 

The t-shirt pictured above I bought from the market on the right hand side of the river, with the Vespa seating area. Because of all the food stalls there I always forget that there are shops behind them, but on this occassion Fi reminded me, and we spent a good hour or two there. The t-shirt came from a stall selling tonnes of garish yet eye-catching graphic print tees. Falling back into my monochrome habits, I fell in love with this particular one. It's got a sports luxe meet grunge vibe about it, and I could instantly picture in my head how I wanted to style it. For only £12 I thought it was an absolute bargain. 

The sunglasses were an emergency buy. Whilst waiting for George to meet me in Camden, I'd realised I'd forgotten my sunglasses, and the sun was blinding. Upon walking towards the main stables I  found a mini market on the left side of the street, with one vendor selling hundreds of on-trend sunglasses for £5. From flip-up sunglasses to oil slick, this guy had everything. I must have spent a good 20 minutes trying them on before deciding on this gold-rimmed oil slick pair. They are a proper statement and for £5 I won't be to heartbroken when I loose them (and believe me I will). 

Lastly but certainly not least are the bohemian bracelets and bindis. These came from a Middle Eastern shop just a few minutes Camden station. You can smell the incense a mile off, and the gorgeous colour scheme of oranges, reds, yellows and pinks draws you in. This shop has a pic 'n' mix system, where you grab a bowl and sift through piles of bracelets, rings, anklets and incense all priced between 20p and £1. It's hard not to go overboard, but when you see how much jewellery like this is going for in high street brands you'd be well and truly justified to do so. 

So if you're ever in London and looking for a bargain, take a little trip to Camden. Even if you don't buy anything, I guarantee it's a visit you won't forget.  

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Wednesday 6 August 2014

The Great Blogger Bake Off: Week 1 - Cakes



Evening all. 

This post is very different to what I usually write about, but this is something I couldn't resist doing. 
Now if you're an avid baker you're probably more than aware that the Great British Bake Off starts tonight. 
So in homage to this mouth-wateringly addictive show, the lovely Lawra over at I Love Crafty has organised a Great Blogger Bake Off, where once a week, alongside the show, bloggers bake something inline with the theme of that week's show. 

Now I love any excuse to bake, however I only found out about the whole thing this morning. I didn't want to miss out on the first post though. Now in true Come Dine With Me style, I'm going to come clean and say I didn't bake this today. However, this was a very recent bake of mine that was dedicated to the using up of my homegrown harvest of redcurrents, tayberries and blackcurrents. 

I'd never worked with these berries before and had no idea what to do with them, but was determined to make a cake. After a bit of research, I found this Good Food recipe. Alas, still no use of my berries, so I had to adapt it a little. 

First off, I didn't have a loaf tin so used a normal, round spring-form tin. Apart from that the majority of the recipe is pretty much the same. I had to add a bit more sugar than the recipe states when reducing the berries with the lemon juice, simply because my selection of berries were a lot more sour tasting compared to those in the recipe.  

I can only apologise for this very lackluster first post to what I would love to have been an icing fueled, bowl licking extravaganza. 

I do solemnly swear that my next post will contain more dedication. 

Enjoy the first show of this Great British Bake Off season!!

(Would still recommend this cake though, a great use of a homegrown harvest, and can really be applied to any berries you have lying around.) 




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Thursday 31 July 2014

Birthday Diary: Zoo Lates at ZSL London














Hello all, 

Yet again I am guilty of not having blogged much recently, but I promise I have a very good excuse.

 As of last Friday, I've had some MAJOR BIRTHDAY ANTICS going on. My birthday was actually on the 28th, but not being happy about having a Monday birthday, me and my boyfriend (whose birthday is on the 31st ) have decided to turn the last week and a bit into a joint birthday extravaganza. 

I really enjoy turning my birthday into a reunion event for me and all my friends. There's a lot of them that I don't get to see very often, and it's just so lovely to have one day a year where they can all meet each other and we can just have a really good night out. 

I researched for months beforehand for some ideas without much luck. I'd found out about the Zoo Lates events last year, and it popped into my head in one of those rare but magical light-bulb moments. It just seemed perfect for the kind of night I wanted. Firstly, who doesn't love the zoo? Secondly, on top of all the normal zoo attractions, there were comedians, animal demonstrations, face painting, wine tasting, acoustic bands, a food festival and a silent disco. However what really sold it to me was the fact that it finished at 10.30. I know that probably sounds weird, but considering I had friends travelling from far and wide, I wanted an event that didn't mean them leaving early and missing out to catch a train. 

I was very lucky to get tickets. The event is only open every Friday in June and July, and tickets for each date usually sell out a good 2-3 weeks before. Unfortunately the events for this year are all done and dusted, but it's certainly something to bear in mind for next year, as it's definitely worth it. 

One bit of advice that I would give anyone thinking of going is that even though the event starts at 6 and gates don't close until 8, get there as early as you possibly can. We didn't get there till 8 and at that point a lot of the animal enclosures were empty (which is to be expected). The earlier you get there, the more chance you have of experiencing everything the event has to offer. 

Despite this, I had such a fun time. The vintage car pimped out as a photo booth was such a laugh, and the pictures you get from it are a lasting memory of hilarity. Loads of people attended in fancy dress, and I saw some amazing face paint. Even if you don't get to see and do everything, the atmosphere is so feel-good that you and your friends are guaranteed to have a good time. I'm definitely doing it again next year. 


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Tuesday 15 July 2014

My Rural Italian Holiday


   







 

Hello all 

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but the reason why is actually what this blog post is all about. I was on a much needed relaxing holiday in Southern Italy with my boyfriend Kurtis for most of last week and the week before. This is the second time I've been to this particular area of Italy, and I love it there so much that I thought I'd share a bit about it with you. 

We stayed in an apartment in a very small town in the Region of Calabria called Caulonia Marina. What I love most about this place is that it's untouched by commercialism and tourism. You really feel like you're getting an authentic taste of Italy when you're here. The areas main industry is agriculture, so it's incredibly green and packed full of olive groves and orange farms. 

Now when I said relaxing holiday, I really meant it. Unless you hire a car or are brave enough to tackle the public transport, you're in for a very chilled holiday. Sunbathing / reading a book on the beach, swimming, and eating copious amounts of ice cream, pasta and pizza is what's in store for you. For me and my boyfriend, this was perfect. The beach was a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and most days we had it all to ourselves. No screaming kids, no struggle to find a place to put your towel, just you and the sound of the waves. Bliss. 

The sea is stunning, the people are lovely and friendly, and the sun was at a constant 35°, but my favourite thing about this place is the food. Oh my lord the food. Every morning we'd head over to the local supermarket to get our breakfast and some stuff for lunch. The only bread they have is fresh bread made that very morning, in a variety of shapes and sizes, and it's the best bread I've ever had. We'd also buy a selection of cold meats e.g mortadella and some mozarella to make sandwiches for us to take to the beach. Italians siesta from 1-4.30pm, so the chance of being able to get something to eat around that time is pretty thin, and also this was a really good way of saving our money so we could go all out at dinner time, and boy did we. 

The food in the restaurants out there puts the food Italian restaurants serve over here to shame. One thing this region of Italy specialises in is seafood, caught fresh daily and cooked to perfection. The recipes are simple but packed with flavour. The second from last picture above is an octopus pasta I had one night, with a sauce so rich but so moreish I never wanted it to end. Another night, Kurtis had a mixed seafood grill that consisted of a huge chunk of swordfish, a whole seabass, two huge langoustines, calamari and two whole squids on a skewer. All of this came to 13 Euros. Everything is so ridiculously cheap out there. A huge ice-cream cone (don't even get me started on the ice-cream) with two flavours was 1.50, and you'll never pay more than 7 Euros for a pizza, with most costing 4/5. I must say it was a carb filled holiday, but it's not very often I'm going to get to eat food like that. 

A holiday like this is such a contrast from my every day life, but one thing I love about travelling is really getting to know a country and it's culture. In all honestly, I don't think you can get more authentic Italian than this. 


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Wednesday 25 June 2014

My day at the Cosmopolitan Superblogger Masterclass 2014

Helloooo all. 

I hope you're all enjoying this glorious weather!

Now if you follow me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, you'll know that on Monday I attended the Cosmopolitan Superblogger Masterclass with Next. This was a last minute, spontaneous thing, as I only found out about the event last week through the amazing UK Bloggers Facebook group.  I'm learning more and more that to become a successful blogger, you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone, go meet new people and basically say 'Hey! Look at me!'You never know who you'll end up talking to and what opportunities may come off the back of it. 

So I booked the ticket instantly, only to then panic that I'd be going to what I imagined would be a rather intimidating event alone. However, this is where groups like UK Bloggers really come in handy. Not only is the community friendly, supportive and helpful, but it's a great way of meeting like-minded bloggers. It just so happened another girl - lovely Fiona Shemmans - was also going to the event, so we got chatting, and arranged to spend the day together in Camden, getting to know each other and talk blog stuff. How cute is that! 

Camden
Me and Fi met early in the day and headed straight over to Camden for some culture, food, shopping and photography practice. Camden has had a very special place in my heart ever since my 'emo' days all those years ago. It's changed a lot, but it's one of those places where every visit is different and exciting. After spending an hour or two getting lost in the maze that is The Stables, we went to get some grub from my favorite part of Camden; the Global Kitchen in the West Yard. This area is separate to the food vendors inside The Stables and is tucked away on the left side of the Gilgamesh restaurant. In my opinion, the food here is better, fresher and more inspiring! With so many award winning cuisines to choose from, we spent a good 20 minutes deciding what to eat. In the end we decided on Food in the Middle's Roti House : Pakistani street food consisting of naans filled with the companies own recipes. Me and Fi bought one tandoori and one masala wrap so that we got a chance to try both. Oh lordy were they good! We were enjoying ourselves so much that before we knew it, it was time to head over to the Millbank Media Centre for the event! 


 









Superblogger Masterclass
When Fi and myself arrived, there was a lovely outdoor set up with wicker sofas and brightly colored cushions, however we were the only people there (we did arrive a good 40 minutes early). Soon enough though, a trickle of people started to arrive. We got talking to a few, discussing what our blogs were about and how long we'd been doing it for. Surprisingly, a lot of the people we spoke to were new to blogging just like me, so it was a relief to know that we were all in the same boat

Another girl named Alison came and sat with us and told us about her food blog (http://alisoninwonder-land.blogspot.co.uk/), and as we got talking, it came up in conversation that just like me, she is also Greek. However, the coincidences didn't stop there, as it turned out she is at the same university I went to (Uni of Kent) and we actually know the same people. So obviously we hit it off straight away, and when everyone was called in to get their complimentary glass of champagne, Alison, Fi and myself all went in together. 

After a good 20/30 minutes of sipping champagne, getting to know each other a little bit more, having our pictures taken and trying to stop the bubbles from going to our head (yes I did sneak in a cheeky second glass) it was time to go into another room for the talks. 

The panel consisted of Fleur from Fleur de Force blog, Kat Williams from Rock 'n' Roll Bride blog, Next Social Media Manager - Vicki Fogwill, Founder of Zen Optimise - Joe Williams, Head of Content at Zen Optimise - Ali Luke and Cosmo's Digital Lead - Kate Lucey. 

The talks started with each member of the panel introducing themselves and talking about what they do, what they're going to be talking about and how they got into their chosen careers. Kate Lucey then went on to interview the panel on a variety of topics ranging from how to stand out from the crowd, how to monetize your blog, and social media benefits. The talk then went over to the audience, who over the space of half an hour had a chance to ask the panel any pressing questions they may have. 

The event for me really wasn't what I was expecting. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed, which I was quite happy about, and there wasn't so much of a stiff networking atmosphere, just a chance to share with others your excitement in being involved in the world of blogging. For me the talks were a mixture of priceless advice and stating the obvious, but it all depends on what research you've done and how long you've been watching/reading other bloggers. There were some absolute gems of technical advice which I know I'll make use of, but other than that, I found the talks to be more of a motivational tool than do's don'ts and how-tos. Leaving the event, the best thing I came away with was knowing that if you're polite, friendly, enthusiastic, determined, have some great ideas/content, and can write in a way that is attractive and engaging, then brands/PR will be interested in working with you. Oh and don't forget the whole stepping outside of your comfort zone thing. That's important too. 

I do not regret going at all, in fact I feel the complete opposite about the event, but it is an event that you only really need to go to once just to pick up those few gems of advice, maybe ask a few vital questions to your fave blogger, but most importantly, get comfortable meeting new bloggers, making friends and experiencing something new! 






Stay tuned for my next post, which will contain all the advice and tips I made notes of during the talks, for those of you who weren't able to attend the event : D

Steph x x x 





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