Feeling Christmassy yet punk?

The Bee family had a delightful Christmas trip to London on Wednesday.

We mainly went to see the Wildlife photographer of the year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. A trip we went on last year and LOVED so we went again for this year's. Super good.

We then headed on over to Harrods where me and sister Bee went to pretend like we could afford anything in there and try on Louboutins like we're Tamara and Petra Ecclestone. And try and find some sexy rich Sheik to marry of course. Although not convinced any sexy single Sheiks exist. Bummer.

I had wanted to see someone famous during the day too, my wish was soon about to come true . . . . . at an embarrassing price.

So we leave Harrods and head off to Winter Wonderland. A land of Winter wonder in Hyde Park.
Firstly we bump into some Sky sports football presenter who father Bee laps right up. Opening line 'Ahhhh, so how's Sky sports these days'. Original. Have a little chat, football blah, football blah blah blah.
Off we go. Approximately 30 seconds later father Bee spies another. Oh no.

Harry sagging grump face Redknap. On the phone. Walking briskly so as to avoid irritating jokers loitering on the street.
So what happens? The irritating joker that is father Bee, high on his last celeb interaction tries his hand again. And what does he say to the manager or Spurs and father of Jamie Hotness Redknap?
'Ahhhh SPURS!'
Possibly the most obvious thing you could possibly say? . . . . .as he jabs his finger towards the sad sagging mess of face.
''thbjsdbfpsibnfvpicnbdpivnavi'', my embarrassment hits levels unknown! It brings tears to my eyes.
Harry wasn't too impressed either. He dished out a bit of the side eye.

(Somewhat accurate depiction of what happened)

Right. let us leave the vicinity and not harass the Z listers anymore please. Just as professional joker (that's what they're called these days) Jack Whitehall makes a 'head down, eyes to the ground, no one will see me' hasty escape.

Winter wonderland was super magical though. Funfair, beer, food, crappy gift stalls. Festive greatness.

Now home to eat our world's most expensive cupcakes from Harrods. High rollers.

Now let's all scamper off and wait for some fat old man to break into our house at the dead of night. Prepare yourself for his arrival here Tracking Santa

Design Queen of the World

Great great news. I have signed myself up to a part time Interior Design course and i am super doops excited. I will be making homes look totally rad in no time!

Now get saving so you can all hire me as your designer. Seriously.

We'll start with the bedroom. . . . .

Brick wall. Yes.

High ceiling, wood, giant cosy bed, chandeliers.

Colours and textures.

Boat bed. HELLS YEAH!

Ultimate reclaimed headboard and chandelier.

And yes. I do have a chandelier in my own bedroom.
Awesome?
Yes, Thank you.

Take me away.

Now we all know that I am a really great person.
And that I just LOVE to travel. So this evening I thought I would share with you all a few dreamy places that I am really lusting after.

And because you think I am amazing you should therefore spend your money to take me to these places. My bags are packed and passport is awaiting. When do we go?

Some lavendar fields in The Netherlands.
Look how purple and fun it is!

Neuschwanstein in Germany. Look how awesome and Disney/Christmas that is!

This is just too great. Hang out with all the fish for the day, be able to see exactly where Jaws is before he attacks etc

This is too rad. Yes I said rad. Kjerabolten in Norway. Get that adrenaline pumping.



And this is just so dreamy. A picnic, some music and a lie down floating in the middle of a lake. Yes please.

 So. Which trip will you be buying for me?
Remember. An awesome trip abroad to treat Philly is for life, not just for Christmas.
Peace.

What a boar

So I just had a great weekend with the girls.
How annoying is that? It's like someone saying how cute their baby is and that it threw its bowl of pukey food all over the kitchen and then threw up all over their new silk blouse but it doesn't matter because they just have the cutest baby alive and expecting you to care kind of annoying.
Or when a friend tells you how amazing their boyfriend is and that he bought them a luxury holiday to the Caribbean for their birthday and that they're so in love, especially when you've been single for ages and every man is a jerk to you and you've never even been to the Caribbean and especially now since the weather in England is freezing your face off cold you would totally love to go somewhere warm. But maybe not have to get in a bikini because you just ate your whole advent calendar in one go . . . . .hmmm alright. Maybe that's a rant for another day. Whatevs.

BTW if you don't want to hear all about my great weekend then move along friend cos this sure ain't the place for you right now. Cos it was great.

But back to me and my amazing life though, it was one of those where you just LOL all weekend long.
Apart from Saturday morning when I woke up with one hell of a hangover from a crazy bday bash the night before and not much recollection of it. I woke up to be told of the mass embarrassment I caused when I told everyone I passed on the street that I was 'too nice for you'. Why? I hear you ask, would you say that?
Because I'm too nice obviously. Fool.
But I didn't stop there. I also shouted at all the street signs we passed too. And all of this was before I also went on to spew a little. Yikes. Has anyone called The Priory for me yet?

But aside from that it was all fi . . . . . ohhhh wait and I called my Doctor's surgery. Let's hope that the worst I left on their voicemail was that I am 'too nice for you'.
Ok so that was the extent of the damage......... ahhhhh. Except that I also dialled my local taxi service (currently about 80miles away from where I was this weekend) and must have asked for a taxi to pick me up... and take me where? I couldn't say. All I know is that I got a missed call from said taxi driver telling me he was in my drive waiting to pick me up.
Umm.... I actually don't have a drive so I have NO idea where I sent him. Lucky guy.

So minus all of my mishaps, I did actually LOL greatly at the taxi incident, I think I was still drunk though as I was quite hysterical about it, almost turning things from LOL to ROFL, the night was fab!

However my problems really began when trying to get 5 other hungover gals to get sorted so we can escape to get some hangover food. None were proving very co-operative and things turned quite hostile.

So about 4 hours later we finally left in search of something greasy, carbalicious and filling to sort ourselves out. My gag reflex wasn't happy with me and was clearly trying to re-enact moments of last night but I fought it.

Off to the pubby restaurant we went. Bounding in with major excitement at the prospect of food, well, obviously there was no literal bounding that adjective was just to add a little funk to proceedings. So anyway, we sit down and positively WOLF down the bread basket and swig it back with a shot of water.

Here is where things started to go wrong. Our water glasses were shot glasses. Who shots water? Do they not know we are a group of 6 hungover gals craving junk and water? Clearly the greasy hair, no makeup, slightly bleary eyes and mismatched clothes should have given us away upon arrival?

Anyway. Moving past the water shot issue I set my sights on the menu. A big burger and chips would sort me right out. Let's have a little look at said menu together shall we. . . . . .

Nothing you would eat on there either? Yeah I didn't think so.

A hangover menu full of boar, venison. rabbit, sardines and apple and hazelnut salad. Stupid pretentious English menu being all stupid and pretentious. Jerk.

And if any of you are thinking, well maybe that pappardelle pasta and huntsman sauce sounds palateable you would be totes wrong. Huntsman sauce I thought would be a kind of ham and cheese sauciness. Nope. It's a hare ragu. Hare. Like HARE.

Like a hare.

So what about that maiale tonnato and chips we ask the waitress.
So she was all... well that's pork with a tuna crust of course.
Huh?
Pork with a tuna crust she says again with her confident smile.

HOLD UP! You mean pork with a tu . . . . I'm not even gonna repeat it. My gag reflex is already weak.

Well, let's play it safe I tell myself. I'll have the ham and pea soup. Surley that will be all soupy and warm and comforting.
Totes wrong yet again. Along comes a chunky sinewy ham with hard school type peas in a watery tasteless broth. If you google ham and pea broth you will see something that is in no way similar to what I consumed. You will be lucky to see such quality slop served up by google compared to the shite I endured.

Washed down with a whole shot of water. Badass.

Well, the day did pick up from there you will be glad to hear. Apart from the whole having to tidy up the house from the night before and putting my finger into the plate which served the sausages and had some morning after hardened sausage fat topped with cigarettes which got lodged under my nails, things went well.

A few of  the girls suffered a bit of hangover hostility so the atmosphere was on rocky ground for a little while and a major clean up was almost needed in aisle 7 of Tescos.
But once the indian and pizzas were served and the X factor final was witnessed, a mass Michael Buble singalong was sung, a faceplant into the left over curry was almost received when the receivee got a little wayward with the dancing we were all getting along fantastically and many a LOL was had by all.

We even LOLed when one member, to be left un-named to spare from real public embarrassment, this blog does have 12 followers don't you know, had cried whilst watching Peter Andre being interviewed by Piers Morgan. This caused a real stir amongst us and resulted in the rewinding of said interview not just once but a further 3 times which caused the cryee to cry 4 times. Awkward! For her obviously, it was pretty F-ing funny for the rest of us.

And for those of you worried, both her and Peter Andre are doing well. And out of rehab.
Peter I mean, not her.

But enough about me. How was your weekend? Full of LOLs and ROFLs too?

Word to your mutha. Peace out

Sparkle!

I am having shopping withdrawl symptoms. I haven't bought anything except a new pair of running trainers and a pair of tights since travelling in the summer. Can you think of anything mroe boring than those two?!
Now it's almost Christmas. That is about 3 and a 1/2 months of nothing!! Yes VERY impressive I know.

But I am getting cravings now especially for sparkles! I want something glittery, gold, pretty, amazing!

Here are a few of my faves from amongst the internet, sadly most I don't know where are from, however that doesn't stop me from wishing and wishing BIG!

 Give me the skirt. Or even just those legs!

These clutches I cannot even express the words!


Alexander Mcqueen



Betsey Johnson

Girls. You know what I'm sayin! x

Edit help

If anyone is a super blog whizz I would love a little advice on how to centralise my title photo! Having a little trouble!!
Thanks

Life in a day

Did anyone see the film Life in a day on BBC 2 last week?
It was amazing!

On July 24th 2010 people from all around the world filmed their lives for a documentary film. Over 4500 hours of footage from 80,000 submissions from people in 192 countries were sent in and edited to become part of the film.
It shows life, death, happiness, sadness. It's funny and sad and is really fascinating. As a major travel addict I found it really interesting to see what life is like all over the world, for people living in the most run down areas and what they go through day to day. Some of the film has some really amazing imagery and shows the beauty of the world.

If you get the time to watch it then I really recommend it. There is a youtube channel for it here where you can watch the whole film (if your computer is better than mine!)

Now on the Saturday the 12th November 2011, Britain has the chance to do the same thing for 'Britain in a day' and I really want to do something for it! If you watch the youtube channel then you might get some inspiration to do something for it aswell. They just want you to film something personal. Something about your average day. It could be something funny or sad or weird or you partying or you sleeping! It doesn't need to be very long, but if your filming gets put in then you could be a part of history! I think it could be really fun!

If you're thinking of taking part let me know!!

Arts and crafts and another apology!

PLEASE!

I beg of you do not desert me yet!
I know I know I have been short on the blog front AGAIN and I truly apologise. I do feel confident though that you will enjoy the fact that I have been endlessly crafting, covered in paint and glue most days and making my house a complete mess!!

I will be posting all of my crafty fun for you to see very soon which is all in aid of 2 art fairs that I am going to in the next few weeks.

And do not fear I will also be coming back with episode 2 of my travels, I realise I have left you all in wild suspense and desperate to relive my travels through Italy. Plus I have some really super dooper fabulous photos to show you. If you have any sense of anything that is beautiful then you will love these. YIPEE.

Busabout, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Gruneau, Munich.

We (me and Sister Bee) did our Europe adventure on a Busabout tour. The big blue and orange buses for 8 weeks. We loved it!

The tour guides were really good (mostly) I have a biased opinion since I haven't done Inter rail but I would say Busabout is a much better way to go. They take you straight to the hostels, tell you info on the cities as you drive in and organise tours for you. And it means no hanging out at dirty train stations being chatted up tramps!
Not that we didn't get a few of those experiences anyway.

Bruges is a really pretty city. Its quite old school with its cobbled streets, which I love, and old buildings.

 

You can pretty much walk around and explore the whole city in 2 days, take a little boat ride around the canals and most importantly and culturally. . . . . eat chocolate.

Don't tell me you don't want to hear about the truffles we ate. No?

Well I'll tell you anyway.
We got a selection (it took us a good 15mins to decide. Standard) We got one of each to share, pure chocolate freshly made truffles with a great variety of fillings, we had: coconut, peach, vanilla, caramel, rum, banana, amaretto and Baileys. Oh boy, they were good! Plus the Belgian waffles. . . . . not too bad either!

We also 'settled' into hostel life. I forgot some of the horrors of hostel living. The shared bathroom, the dodgy bedsheets, the other 'roomies' walking in at all hours and then getting up at 7am to rustle endless plastic bags FOR NO REASON! Is this some kind of new thing like planking? I get planking, Ive done planking. I don't get the plastic bag rustling at 7am thing though.

Ah whatever. I'm totally over it.

Amsterdam was really good fun. Although our hostel was the worst of the worst. Pure prison cell atmosphere it was pretty dire.
The weather also sucked a lot when we were there, but let me tell you, rain does not matter when your drunk on a pub crawl!

Amdam definitely has as many 'coffee shops' as you would expect, the smell of doobies is everywhere and the red light district is just as fascinating as you could imagine! Just stay away from the blue lights, or you may just get an extra surprise!

Red light district

Of course there is also the cultural side to Amdam, Anne Frank's house, the canals, bikes, Wok to Walk!!
Apart from the bad weather for half of our time there we did get an amazing day which we spent in Vondel park. It is officially my favourite park in the whole world! So pretty, so much people watching to do, so much bike admiring to do, loads of little ponds and fountains and grass for sunbathing! I'm a sucker for a good park on a sunny day.

In Berlin we did an AMAZING 4 hour walking tour. Sounds long but it was so good. All about the history of Berlin, the World wars, Hitler, Checkpoint Charlie. It was really fascinating. I really enjoy learning new things and especially small bits of info like; the Jewish memorial which was created not long ago in the City, is covered in anti-graffiti paint. However the paint is supplied by the same company who produced the cyanide for the concentration camps. . . . . . . because all these companies had to do what they were told during Hitler's regime.

Jewish memorial


We also saw where Hitler's bunker used to be. It is now obviously covered in, there is nothing there so it cannot become a shrine to him. But now where it was are large apartment blocks and a patch of grass where the residents take their dogs to shit!

Where Hitler's bunker stood

I definitely recommend anyone going to Berlin to do a walking tour.

We also went to see the East side gallery. . . . . . The Berlin Wall with all the paintings on by artists all over the World.

 

Also went to a museum which weirdly has the gates of Babylon in! Was pretty interesting.


Prague next. I thought it was a little over-rated?! The castle was nice, the city was quite pretty. . . . . . that's all I have to say really which says it all! Although we did spend a night at a 5 floored club which was fun, drinking wine by the half pint in plastic cups and jammin with hundreds of 15year old kids!
Plus the weather sucked!!

But feel free to prove me wrong!

Prague city

Window from the castle cathedral

Vienna was really pretty. We arrived in the early evening to a beautiful sunny day. The whole bus went on a 'walk and fork' tour! Our guide brought along schnapps and snacks while we went on a tour of the city then ended at a restaurant to have salad, schnitzel and strudel!
Who doesn't love a night of 70% schnapps, snacks, salad, schnitzel and strudel?!
The Austrians sure know how to make a mean schnitzel. . . . . . bigger than our heads! Ummm Yum.

Found a great patisserie in the city which has a pretty secret 'museum' downstairs where they keep all the old window displays all made from marzipan, cake and chocolate. I LOVE to find the hidden gems in cities where no one really knows to go.

Gruneau in the Austrian mountains was SO beautiful. We stayed at a home stay there, this guy, his dogs, home cooked food and a really cosy log fire with board games and bottles of coke!

We spent our first afternoon going on a walk up to the mountains with amazing views whilst wearing his rather fetching ski jackets. (If you have ever seen Twilight, and don't lie now, the scenery really reminded me of the mountains in the film)

We went horse riding for the first time in 10years in the morning along the river with mountain views. In the afternoon we went on a 12k cycle into town to get food and have a picnic, indulging in some cheap traveller wine that we all love, with 4 Aussies.

The 4 of us girls then went on another 12k cycle over to a lake called Almsee, up some steep hills which my bike did not care much for. It wasn't me it was the bike I swear!!
The lake was really beautiful, clear turquoise water from the mountains which was really still so the reflection of the mountains was pretty awesome.
It was a really pretty evening with the sunshine coming through the trees so I was ok cycling at the back of the group all the way home, I told you it was the bike's fault.

 

Back to the home to a log fire, beer, food and a lot of games of uno.

Off to Munich next. Where we celebrated our first night by having a nice greasy chicken and chips on the steps on a building and getting applauded by an old couple driving past. Possibly because we were getting really stuck in, or because they were laughing at how disgusting we looked?!

Went to the Hofbrauhouse which is the biggest beer hall in the city. It is massive! The inside seems endless with all the long wooden tables crammed with people drinking and chowing down on major portions of pork! The waiters and waitresses wearing Lederhosen and Dirndls. Awesome!!

But sitting in the beer garden over a litre of beer and getting given a 16yr old's number on a napkin is one great way to spend an evening!

From Munich we also went to the Dachau concentration camp, the first camp opened in Germany. It had a large crematorium area next to the gas chamber which was never used here but was so eery to walk through. It was really fascinating. Quite a surreal place to be really to know that such horrible things happened there but all these places are such a big part of history that it is a good thing to see and learn about.

But let me lighten the mood. This is the end of chapter 1 of my Europe adventures. I know you're excited.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2. . . . . Italia!

I am home!

I am home!
I have finally returned from my latest adventure travelling around Europe for 2 months. I had the BEST time... although everytime I travel I have the best time.

The one thing that I just love most about travelling is the escape. Being able to leave behind 'real life' and go and have a crazy adventure, doing new and exciting things everyday, meeting awesome people from around the world, eating some great food, and drinking beer by the litre!

The only things I ever worry about are if my flip flop is going to break as I'm hiking through a forest, or if my bungee rope will snap or if the sharks I'm snorkelling with are going to turn on me. (I survived all of the above don't worry)

So I thought for my first few blogs now I'm back would be to tell you all about my favourite places, some good stories and add in a few of my favourite photos, just to make you all jealous!

Better After

I scored my first ever feature!!

I am (as most of you know) still away travelling for the next 7 weeks so it was SO good to log onto a computer and see that I had been featured on an amazing blog that I love and have new followers and friends!

If like me you are obssesed with 'Before and Afters' of furniture/interiors redos then this is the place for you!

My turqouise frame was featured there last week, along with a seriously creepy looking kitten in a frame which DOES NOT belong to me! That thing is disgusting!!

But have a look here 'BETTER AFTER' at my feature and all the rest of the amazing redos. They all get my juices going to want to get home and start doing more, plus the lady Lindsey who writes the blog is really funny so it's a nice one to read.

And thank you to all the lovely people who have stopped over from BA to read my blog and join as a follower or to comment it means a lot!

Help me with my dilemma!

As most of you know I am off to travel around Europe for 2 months as of Sunday 10th July. I am so excited to visit so many amazing cities and see some great sights such as in Rome, Venice, Prague, Amsterdam etc.

However. I have a problem.

Do I or do I not take my big canon 1000D SLR camera? I have a bog standard small digital which I will take but I can't decide whether to take my big'un along as well.

Here are the 2 sides to my dilemma;

Cons

1. The insurance will cost me £25. This will cover any damage to the camera, but NOT if it is stolen or lost
2. If it gets stolen or lost I then have to pay an additional £105 to even start to claim the money back to get a new one (that is a lot!!)
3. It might get quite annoying and heavy to carry around all day every day
4. Or if I'm not taking it out for the day with me I have to leave it in a dorm (locked in my bag of course, but still a little risky)

Pros

1. Simply, I will get some AMAZING photos from it that I can keep for the rest of my life and frame or canvas or even sell

Do I take my BIG canon camera travelling with me?

Thanks!

Europe tips!

I am off on a new adventure. I am off to EUROPE for 2 months in a matter of days now! 10 and counting.

People keep asking me 'Are you excited?'. Well of course I am! I get to saunter around some beautiful cities throughout Europe for 2 months (hopefully in some balmy weather) without a care in the world except for which flavour gellato I want and if I want it in a cone or a pot with a spoon. Well, at least I hope that will be the major extent of my worries.

As much as I have loved the south of France over many family holidays over the years, a brief visit to Marbs in Spain, a week in Florence and a few trips to Paris . . . . including my 21st weekend . . . .

. . . . . . I am yet to experience a LOT more of Europe and what it has to offer.

This is where YOU come in! Yes, you! I know a lot of people secretly read this blog (my viewer stats are endlessly fascinating. Bulgaria! Iran! Thanks for joining me) and I want to get as much info as I possibly can to make my trip even better, and for the sake of some good blog reading for you! So I want you all to send me your tips.

So what I am getting at is that I want you to tell me where is;

• Somewhere great to go or not so great to go
• Things I MUST see
• A secret place/shop/restaurant/cafe I must go to
• Food I must try!
• A sight worth seeing or not worth seeing
• An experience worth doing

I love to see the hidden gems of places that aren't in the guide books and trying some crazy local culture that tourists don't normally see or do. So fill me in on all of your delicious European knowledge.

Now I am going to spout off a list of cities but if you know anything great about any of them HOLLA! Message me here, email me philippa21@hotmail.co.uk or facebook me friends

Bruges
Amsterdam
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Grunau
Munich
Venice
Rome
Florence
La Spezia (Cinque Terre)
Nice
Milan
Lauterbrunnen
Barcelona
Valencia
Madrid

Thank you all!
(And if any of them are truly great I will publish them here for all to see)