Coming up… My travels in Picturesque Northern France

Hello lovely people! How are you doing today?

It’s December! Time to get all festive and ready for Christmas. The countdown begins!

All of this rushing around for Christmas presents and food shopping made me think about booking some time off work and escaping away on holiday again…. so I thought it might be a good time to mention my trip to northern France earlier this summer.  The vacation lasted a week in total and gave me a chance to relax and attend my best friend’s wedding in a rural area of France known as Mortain.

It was a truly beautiful location and allowed us to drive to St Malo, Rennes, Caen amongst many other places…

This is just a small taster into my next few posts… so keep an eye out if you’re interested in finding out more about my travels!

See you all again soon!

~Rose~

 

Inspirational Quote by Albert Einstein!

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has been before.”

-Albert Einstein

 

~Rose

Without worry there would be less time wasted…

Why worry? The endless thoughts that something terrible has happened or could happen…. what’s the point?

I have had this debate so many times before. A presentation in front of classmates, a first date, a job interview – so much time wasted worrying about the way you might appear or express yourself to others. Worried that you might say something offensive or uncool on a first date, or stumble over your words during a meeting at work. Pointless isn’t it?

When life is undeniably short as it is, surely those precious minutes could be used to plan a future career or trip of a lifetime instead. Less time worrying, more time spent talking with loved ones. Less time stressing out about others’ opinions of you, more time being optimistic about the choices you have made. Time to stop doubting yourself and just enjoy the present.

After all, what’s the point in worrying if the worry itself won’t change the outcome of events? Stop overthinking and enjoy the moment.

Just a thought.

~Rose~

 

Liebster Award #2 – Part 2

Hello lovely people! I really hope you’re all well?

The last week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me because I broke up with someone that I was dating, had a lovely bonfire night out, bought a new car and then was kissed by a guy at work this weekend! Sounds like a lot right? Exactly… I’m still trying to get to grips with it all myself! So sorry if my posts seem to dwindle a little bit!

Right! Let’s crack on with this post! I was nominated by the lovely lifewithlilred, and you can check out my answers and rules to the award in the first half of my post here 🙂

Q and A continued:

6. New shoes or a new purse?

Well to be honest I’m not really a materialistic person, so I would prefer a day out/ activity or a holiday. But if I have to choose then definitely new shoes! A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes…or so I’m told.

7. What colour of nail polish do you have on?

Actually none at the moment. I wore a bright red polish at the weekend for a 70’s work night out, but I’ve taken it off now. I had a very colourful weekend so I’m just recovering from it haha!

8. What’s your favourite snack food?

Anything chocolate! But I feel like saying this sounds a tad boring, so I’ll say pita bread with lots of dips 🙂  I usually have lots of toasted pita for supper with either a sour cream and chive dip, or hummus, or guacamole etc. It’s such a nice change to have different dips all the time.

9. How do you treat yourself?

This completely depends on my mood and how tired I am feeling. If I feel in an energetic mood then I will throw on some tunes, get dressed in a nice outfit and go out for a drink with some of my friends. However, If I’m quite tired, I might lay in some pyjamas in bed and play a classic movie whilst being surrounded by plenty of snacks 🙂

10. What’s your favourite genre for books and movies?

For books I love a good crime/thriller, purely because I really enjoy trying to figure out the murderer by reading between the lines. I do however find that this is normally spoilt in films so I prefer action/adventure films. But again, it depends on the mood I’m in – I’ll happily watch a wide variety of genres.

11. What qualities do you look for in a friend?

Someone who will always have my back no matter what instead of just looking out for themselves. Being able to have a laugh is also super important to me; life is too short to be taken seriously!

Questions to my nominees:

1. What did you dream about last night?
2. Which family member are you closest to?
3. What do you do when no one else is around?
4. What’s the one thing most people don’t know about you?
5. Which celeb would you want as your BFF and why?
6. What’s your biggest fear?
7. What would be your perfect day? Plan it out from breakfast to bedtime.
8. On the first day of ruling the world, what would you do?
9. Who was your first crush?
10. Who are your top three lady heroes?
11. If you got a (new) tattoo, what would it be of?

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

1. Crystal from One Millennial Girl
2. Laura from Laurabon
3. Raj from Savvyraj

Thank you so much for reading! How do you like to treat yourself? Or what is the most important character of a friend to you? 

Catch you later!

~Rose~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liebster Award #2 – Part 1

Hello lovely people! Happy Monday to you all!

I’m super excited as I have just bought a brand new car yesterday! Eee! It’s my first ever car, as I have been away at university for some time, so I can’t wait to drive it! Thankfully we spotted it on the first day of searching too, so I feel incredibly lucky right now.

Anyway, I feel so incredibly honoured to have been nominated for this award by the incredible lifewithlilred. She is an amazing blogger who covers anything from travelling, to health and lifestyle, to cute gift ideas – you must go and take a look at her blog if you haven’t already! Honestly, I seriously LOVE this girl’s work!

Right, let’s get to it…

The Rules:

• Thank the blogger that nominated you!
• Answer 11 questions from the blogger that nominated you
• Nominate 11 blogs
• Ask the bloggers 11 questions

Q and A:

1. What is your favourite restaurant to eat at?

Hmm… out of all of the ones I’ve visited in England I would have to say either ‘The Biscuit Factory’ or ‘Piccolino’s’ in Newcastle. They may be slightly more expensive, but it’s definitely worth it if you’re out celebrating a special event! In terms of the rest of the UK, my favourite of all time is this little restaurant in Belfast. The food and atmosphere was absolutely stunning… I visited on valentine’s day and all of the waiters dressed up in red with candles and roses everywhere! I’m making it my life-long mission to find the name of the place to go back at some future point!

2. What is your favourite thing to do when you’re hanging out with your friends?

Absolutely anything! In my opinion sometimes the best days/nights out are the ones that aren’t planned. I absolutely love doing anything from days on the beach, to driving up the coast, to ice skating etc. The more crazy the better!

3. Least favourite flavor?

Something like chorizo I guess. I’m probably going to get a lot of hate for saying that… but haters gonna hate!

4. Something that drives you crazy?

Two-faced people who talk about other’s behind their back, but are nice to their face. Either that or people who don’t use manners.

5. Something that you’re proud of?

Easy – completing my Duke of Edinburgh Award or my degree. They both required so much dedication and hard work, but I definitely wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my friends and family around to provide me with support!

That’s all I have time for tonight I’m afraid, as I have to get ready for work again tomorrow. I will be back very shortly with the rest of this award and my nominations though, so stay tuned!

~Rose~

 

 

Quirky Last-Minute Halloween Outfits!

Hey guys! How’re you doing this weekend?

I’ve just had a really lovely time up in Newcastle this weekend for a Halloween party/leaving do. One of my friends is moving to New Zealand to do some studying there, so we had a wild night out and an emotional hangover brunch this morning too. It made me realise how much I miss the days we were at university together – it’s so strange that we all have jobs and responsibilities now! Argh!

My Halloween Outfit

So, I thought I would very quickly tell you about my Halloween costume in case any of you wanted to try something a little bit more quirky or different this year! It’s also very helpful if you wanted try and save some money and not spend hours on the internet looking for a costume! The outfit itself is based on the meme ‘idiot sandwich’, which if any of you have not seen before, originates from the Gordon Ramsay TV skit ‘Hell’s cafeteria’. It is here that Gordon holds two slices of bread either side of Julie Chen’s head whilst proceeding to ask her “What are you?”, to which she responds “An idiot sandwich”.

Anyway now I’ve got all that out of the way…its time to get down to the outfit. It’s a super simple look; you can find any old white t shirt and permanent marker to do this. Firstly, I started out by writing the word ‘idiot’ in capital letters across my t-shirt, making sure they were written the correct way as other people would view the top (otherwise making myself look like a true idiot!). The next step consisted of finding a rigid headband, sellotape, two slices of white bread, and proceeding to wrap the tape around the bread whilst attaching to the headband. It’s even so simple you can pretty much pair the top with anything in your wardrobe, but I matched it with a distressed denim skirt:

*Please note: The heart shaped icon is not part of my outfit, it is purely there for privacy reasons only.

There are also plenty of other simple costumes you can make free of charge by just putting a little thought into your outfit and utilising the brilliance that is cardboard! You could create a couple’s cards against humanity set of boards, or even fashion a giant Pacman using a pair of scissors and some paint… the possibilities are endless!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for Halloween! (If you celebrate it as much as me that is!). Now time to carve the pumpkin!

~Rose~

Inspirational Quote by Rob Siltanen!

“People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

– Rob Siltanen

 

~Rose

P.s. I hope all of my lovely followers have had an amazing weekend the last few days! I’ve been super busy as per usual with the new job, but I’m actually really enjoying it. My colleagues are super friendly and if you can’t have fun whilst at work/fulfilling your passion then when can you have fun, right? Let me know how you like to have fun at work in the comments below!

Anyway, for anyone out there who might be feeling a little down recently, I hope this quote helps you realise that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Everybody has bad days, makes mistakes and hates themselves a little bit, but you got this! No dream is too big once you’ve set your mind to it!

 

 

 

Traveller’s Award Part 2!

Hello lovely people! How are you?

It feels like it’s becoming very autumnal at the minute, I can’t wait to crack out the scarves and watch the leaves fall from the trees! Then it will be Halloween and bonfire night soon, I just love gathering around a huge fire and drinking hot chocolate 🙂 Who else is with me on this?

Anyway, today I’m continuing on with part 2 of the Traveller’s Award! In case some of you didn’t read my earlier post, I have been nominated by the lovely award-maker Logan from Cross Country life blog. Please follow his blog if you haven’t already! You can also check out my previous answers here.

My answers continued:

8. What is the most disappointing holiday you have been on?

That’s so difficult because I don’t think any of my holidays have been disappointing at all! But if I have to choose I would pick the one to Lake Garda, Italy about a year and a few months ago. The location was very nice but it was overshadowed by the news on at the time. Brexit had been voted for by the rest of the UK and as a result the breakfast buffet that morning felt a tad uncomfortable. As we were the only English in the hotel, people kept throwing us funny looks, automatically assuming we voted to leave. Even the service of local restaurants felt slightly cold following the news.

9. What is the longest period of time you have been in the car for?

I’m actually a very impatient person, so I usually fly everywhere instead of driving. But maybe about 10 hours whilst travelling down to Northern France via the ferry.

10. If you could take two people with you on vacation who would you take?

My mum and either my best friend or the guy I am currently dating 🙂

11. What is the best hotel you have stayed in?

I actually frequently stay at other people’s houses when I travel abroad, but there was this one fantastic place in Italy I have visited.  The hotel is called Atlantic Palace and is situated on the west coast of Italy in a town called Sorrento. They have everything all included, and yes that’s all the food and drink you can have in one sitting! The only thing not included in the price is lunch, but by that time most people are out exploring the local towns.

I loved this place so much when I visited; they even brought me cake and champagne to my bedroom on my birthday! And on top of that the had a super nice pool and set of jacuzzi’s too! It must sound like I’m trying to sell it to you, but it really was a lot of fun. Definitely visit if you ever fly to Italy.

12. Have you visited every country on your continent?

Nope, but they are all items on my bucket list that’s for sure! 🙂

13. (Last but Not Least) What would your dream vacation include?

For me it’s more about the company than the location. As long as I am with a good friend or family member who makes me laugh, I am more than happy.

My nominees (remember travel blogs only):

Bel

Stephanie

The Blog of Travel

Untravelled Routes

My questions to you:

Bearing in mind the fact that this is a travel award and I can’t use the same questions as before, I am fairly limited in terms of topics, hence why I am only asking 5 questions.

1. Tell me a funny anecdote about when you were last on holiday.
2. What is the hottest country you have visited whilst on holiday?
3. What is the coldest country you have visited whilst on holiday?
4. How many countries have you visited?
5. Where in the world is your ‘paradise’?

That’s all for the time being! and if you haven’t already, please make sure you check out my nominees blogs, they are all super talented!

Bye for now!

~Rose~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traveller’s Award!

Hello lovely people! How are you doing?

I’ve had such a lovely weekend in York with my friends walking around the city and trying out some street food. I also admired the birds of prey display in the Museum gardens and tried out a new cocktail bar on the river called Missoula – a definite must try if you visit this beautiful city! The pornstar martini’s are delicious and you get a shot of prosecco in with the 2-for-1 price 🙂 The birds are also super friendly and a good way of entertaining children for a short while (and adults too!), if you’re looking for that break away from everything.

The Award
Today I’m rewinding back to August when I received a new award created by the incredible Logan! As many of you my know, the majority of blogs post awards following a long line of people without ever knowing the creator of the award. Logan therefore created his own purely for travellers and its something I am super exited to receive! He has some amazing posts about his travels across America and has just reached the amazing achievement of 500 followers too – so congratulations Logan and thanks again for the nomination!

The Rules:

1. Leave a link to your nominator’s home page
2. Answer all of the following questions to receive the award
3. Use the official blog emblem as your cover photo
4. Only nominate travel blogs
5. Create 13 new questions for your nominees

My Answers:

1. Where is the most amazing place you have ever been?

Still definitely St Pete’s beach, Florida. I had just finished my first year of university and went on this amazing holiday to an apartment on the beach. We got to watch the 4th of July fireworks from the balcony and I felt so relaxed considering I had just finished all of my exams.

2. How many continents have you been to?

Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania – the latter of which is technically not a continent, but I’ll include it for the sake of this question 🙂

3. Have you ever lived in a country other than your current one?

Unfortunately not no, but this is definitely something I am hoping for in the future. At the moment I don’t have enough money or a job abroad so it would be very difficult. Plus I think one of the hardest things for me would be being separated from my friends and family. The thought of being thousands of miles away would make me feel very lonely and isn’t something I want to experience anytime soon.

4. What is the worst native food that you have ever tasted on vacation?

On my last trip to France I had this absolutely awful bowl of seafood pasta at a restaurant near Mont Saint Michel. As the menu didn’t specify the seafood, I thought I would try it and surprise myself with what came out…. little did I know. The mussels were incredibly salty and to top that off the pasta and fish had been flavoured with additional salt, so it felt like I had poured a tub of salt down my throat! I had about 5 bites and couldn’t take it anymore! I couldn’t stop drinking water for the rest of the day then!

5. What is the best native food that you have ever tasted on vacation?

Okay, so considering I live in England, a trip to Northern Ireland may not seem like a such a big deal to anyone reading, but I had the best food I’ve ever tasted in my life there. It was this beautiful little restaurant on Valentine’s Day in the centre of Belfast and all of the waiters were dressed in red with romantic candles placed around the room. It was a stunning three-course meal with chocolate shards and pudding for desert – just amazing! To this day I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but I’m making it my life-long mission to find out!

6. Where is the last place you vacationed?

Holland and Amsterdam just a few weeks ago. It was such a nice break away to see one of my friends and I loved every minute I spent there, even the 2 am trips to the beach 🙂

7. What is the longest vacation you have ever been on?

I went on a 4 and a half week vacation to New Zealand when I was 14 years old. Some of the scenery and experiences I had were breathtaking and it was one of the last holidays I had with my granddad before he passed. I will never forget it ❤

Sadly this is all I have time for at the moment as I have to get ready for work tomorrow now. I hope you all had a brilliant weekend and I will be posting the rest of this award soon so stay tuned for more!

What is your dream vacation? Who would you take with you?

Much love

~Rose~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 30 Movies to See Before You Die!

Hello friends! How are you doing today?

I recently returned from a short trip to Amsterdam a few weeks ago and started my new job too, so I’ve been in a really good mood recently! Unfortunately it has meant I’ve had less time to dedicate to this blog, but I’m still trying my best to post as and when I find the time! I will definitely be blogging about my trip at some point, but for the time being I wanted to mention some of my all time favourite films you MUST see!

This topic of conversation actually came about last week when one of my colleagues asked me what my favourite film was to watch. I felt a little bit stumped and found it hard to pinpoint one movie I enjoyed more than the rest – hence why I came up with a list everyone has to see before they die! Unfortunately I haven’t watched all of the films out there, but hopefully this list will cover a vast majority of them! Enjoy!

The Top 30 List:

1. Shawshank Redemption

2. James Bond Films, e.g. Tomorrow Never Dies

3. Ocean’s Eleven & Twelve

4. Interstellar

5. Sliding Doors

6. The Day After Tomorrow

7. Fight Club

8. Bourne Series, e.g. Bourne Identity

9. Forrest Gump

10. Indiana Jones series, e.g. Raiders of the Lost Ark

11. Pulp Fiction

12. Shutter Island

13. Die Hard

14. Schindler’s List

15. Bridget Jones’s Diary

16. The Silence of the Lambs

17. The Italian Job

18. Mr and Mrs Smith

19. Love Actually

20. Mrs Doubtfire

21. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

22. Anchorman: The legend of Ron Burgundy

23. Lord of The Rings

24. Groundhog Day

25. Inception

26. Amelie

27. WALL-E

28. The Godfather

29. Sixth Sense

30. Martian

P.s. This list isn’t in order of my favourite to least favourite films, it is simply a random selection! I also tried to include a variety of genres for everyone incase you prefer watching one type of movie over another 🙂

Hope you enjoy watching! What is your favourite film to watch? Or how many of these films have you seen?

~Rose~