autumn in spring

I didn't really notice as I was wandering around the forest that the fallen leaves resembled autumn more than spring, yet the fact I was bared legged seemed to contradict it all, the weather doesn't seem to have a clue at the moment does it? I've been a real escapist lately, I cant seem to face day to day life and don't really want to either. I keep having these moments where I want to just pack up and disappear and every time I go to the bank and see the balance of our visa account I get tempted, but then thinking about it this time next year we'll be about to do just that, escape (if you're not in the loop, we're moving to Peel in Australia, yay!). I grew up in the New Forest, where children could make mudpies, make treehouses, play in the forest alone and safely walk home at dusk, without parents worrying about what might happen, and I'll be quite sad to leave the forest and it's eternal beauty. We spent this day just walking around and exploring the Ornamental Drive and the surrounding woodlands, it was such a perfect day, there was no rush of being in town, there was no phone signal for calls in to work and there was no need for anything but each other.

Chewton Glen twilight spa package

One of my favourite birthday presents I recieved this year was a trip to the Chewton Glen spa. The Chewton Glen is a gorgeous, luxury 5 star hotel in New Milton & has been graced by the presence of royalty and celebrities alike ( One Direction stayed here whilst they performed in Bournemouth). The spa is multi award winning and was voted one of the top 10 UK spas by Conde Nast Traveller readers. We decided to spend the day lazing around the pools with a stack of magazines, I thoroughly enjoyed reliving my Brasil trip in Traveller. When the time came we both opted for full body massages as our chosen spa treatment and it got every crack, click and knot out of my body and left me feeling on another planet. After the massages ,and a stop in the relaxation room, it was back to floating in the pool and enjoying the hydrotherapy pools, then as the sun begun to set and the families all headed back to their rooms, we moved out to the hot tub until our skin was thoroughly pruned. There's a huge array of spa days and treatments available and I would happily try every single one of them time& time again. 

We finally forced ourselves out of the spa and back to the dressing rooms as darkness set, but not before admiring the glistening lights that illuminated the hydrotherapy pools. Then back in the changing rooms it was time for the sauna and steam room before a perfectly hard power shower. That night we fell in to bed, box of celebratory chocolates in hand, and slept like babies. 

xo

#ldnbbmeet

Mika from Illamasqua giving me a fab red lip   | Brogan, Laura, me , Millie

Sophie, Kelsey, me and Millie  photo from She said beauty

Make Believe, Hd Brows, Millie mackintosh lashes, Illamasqua precision eyeliner all c/o SSB event.

&otherstories body mist and MAC lipstick were purchased with my own money.

A few weeks ago I was invited by Sophia to the London beauty bloggers meet up, I love a good bloggers meet up so jumped at the chance & despite not really blogging about beauty I am a massive beauty addict. I jumped on a train with Brogan and headed straight for Oxford Street for a look around the shops (FYI non beauty bloggers '' &otherstories'' is not a new awesome book shop it's a strange posh H&M and is totally not woh the hype) before heading for lunch with one of my all time favourite blogging babes / sista from anotha mista Lauren, we ended up at the Diner in Soho where we stocked up on burgers and milkshakes before waving goodbye to our temporary friend. It was then on to Selfridges to meet up with the rest of the meet up ladies, we spent an hour in Selfridges and after a quick stop in the beauty hall I quickly detoured to the book section and bought a suitably inappropriate book for my mother. We then rushed back upstairs and headed to She said beauty HQ. We were greeted with alcohol and snacks, a winning combo in my eyes, and after a quick speech from SSB it was on to an evening of girly chats and pampering from the likes of Illamasqua, HD brows, Millie Mackintosh lashes and Filthy gorgeous London.

After being fully pampered, and pausing lots in between to top up my glass of bubbles, there was time to meet lots of lovely new bloggers and have a giggle with some oldies too, I also took a totally Hannah detour to chat to the Aussie boys who I'd found at the bar (honestly not stereotyping). As the evening slowly drew to an end we decided to head to Nandos to keep the chatter flowing and then it was sadly back to the train for the long journey home.

It was such a lovely day and thankyou so much to everyone who organised the event!

Have you ever been to a bloggers event?

Would you be interested in a peek in to my make up bag type post?

xoxox 

The last day, Vidigal.

I felt almost back at home returning to the pousada in Rio from Ilha Grande. Being able to crash on a sofa with wifi and watch Dexter of an evening was heavenly in it's own way but also quite sad knowing it was home time. Penialla and I were invited to on a walk to the top of Vidigal to see the amazing view and visit the favela by one of the workers at the pousada, we couldn't say no.  We were told the walk would take 'a minute or two' and that our beloved havianas were more than appropriate, as with almost everything in Brasil the estimate for timing was wrong. It took forever but the views were more than worth it. Once we got to the top of the mountain we wandered in to the favela and were welcomed by everyone we met, one of the locals even leant out of his window and poured us all drinks. We then wandered on down to the local bar were the men were all playing dominoes, more drinks were poured and everyone enjoyed my pathetic attempt at speaking portugese, fluent Penialla didnt fair much better as in the favelas they speak slang which is a long shot from the language taught in school. Before we got too tipsy to walk back to the pousada we thanked everyone for their hospitality and left. The evening was spent in a por kilo restauarant where we stuffed our faces with Brasilian food and puddings before heading back to sadly pack our suitcases to head back to the UK the next morning.

Ciao Brasil, it's been a blast.

xo

Ilha Grande, Brasil

Ilha Grande is just off the coast of Rio de Janeiro and is often called Rio's other wonder ( the others being Christ the Redeemer and the habour). It is almost untouched by the modern world, it has one large town (which is barely more than 2 roads and a few roads connecting those roads) and electricity and internet rivalling the internet we had in the UK in the 90s. There's no cars, no banks and most definitely not a starbucks or ATM in sight. It's home to some amazing species of animal, including the maned sloth and howler monkeys. The seas are filled with beautiful fish and turtles (which I dived in with and swam along side on every possible occasion).

The island was originally homed to a high security prison homed to Brasil's most notorious criminals, think of it as the Alcatraz of Brasil, but this was shut down in 1994 and the island quickly became a hotspot for travellers flocking to the island for a little peace of unspoilt rainforest.

If you know me at all you'll know I'm most happy when I'm at sea so island life suits me down to the sand at the bottom of the clear green seas. Island life consists of sunbathing on golden beaches, floating in the sea, snorkelling and reading books in between naps and stops at floating restaurants. My favourite day we spent on a speedboat zooming around the island stopping on whichever beach looked nicest, although some are protected by law so we couldn't stop on them. Island life is lived in a bikini, sarong and havianas and island life is just perfect.

We've spent 4 days in total on the island, one being very very wet and rainy (see last post) but the rest were beautifully sunny and I've developed some stunning white tan lines on my back. 

I really dont want to come home.

xox