A Week in Devon (Part Two)

Posted by Lipglossiping On April - 3 - 2012

Ok, I promise – enough with the holiday photos after this and back to the regular beauty stuff.  I’ve got to pull myself out of my post-holiday hangover anyway and get back into my usual routine, why is it always so hard to get going again?

Some of the other highlights of our week included a visit to a working glass & games factory called The House of Marbles, comparing the two distinctly different coastlines of North and South Devon, eating fish and chips on the quayside in Brixham, and climbing up Haytor for a magnificent view over Dartmoor!

“Have you taken it yet? I’m getting some strange looks up here!”

Brixham’s replica of The Golden Hind

A very ropey-looking sandcastle!

It could almost be Santorini right?

Yeah, I know you’re cute.
Torquay Harbour

fishing stuffs

life preserver at Babbacombe

next time, I’d like some tea in my tea please?

who else loves paperweights? just me then…

all cafes/restaurants should provide colouring books and crayons, amen.

heart-shaped cream tea!

doing her ‘work’

banister baubles!

glassworks

funny mirrors, I’m gonna have nightmares about that arm

house of marbles!

Haytor

view from the top (love this one)

yeah, I know… sad.  I COULDN’T STOP MYSELF!

pretty sand at Croyde Bay

Just wanna say a big thanks again for the tips and suggestions you gave me on places to visit, you’ve probably recognised most of them from the photos – talk about a holiday leech!  If you’re ever planning on visiting Winchester/Portsmouth/Southampton/New Forest – I’m your girl to reciprocate the favour!

Are you going anywhere for Easter Weekend?


A week in Devon (Part One)

Posted by Lipglossiping On April - 2 - 2012

I took the most ridiculous amount of photos.  Before we left, Mr. L challenged me to put down my iPhone and pick up my camera… and as much as I love the convenience and instant gratification of instagram – there’s nothing quite like the control that a proper camera allows you to have over a photograph.  With over 30gb of images recorded, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve fallen back in love a bit.  I’ve only edited a couple for facebook so far but here’s what the first half of our holiday in Devon looked like…

mint choc chip – is there any better flavour?

lots and lots of seaweed! (or salad as Leila called it)

the sweet spot

red sand!

beautiful tiles in Goodrington

Greedy gulls

A place to call our own (wish!)

A quiet church and beautiful light in Cockington

The first ever sandcastle at Paignton!

Lush textures in Cockington

Cute beach huts in Paignton

A hazy morning in Torquay

Torquay Harbour

My (far-too-grown-up) girl thinking she owns the world

We were so lucky with the weather, every morning we opened the curtains expecting to see an overcast day… not daring to push our luck, but we were greeted with blue skies and gentle breezes from the day we arrived right through to the day we packed up to head home.  Thank you so much for your suggestions on places to visit, I think we probably did most of them!

I want to write a little more about our first proper holiday in what seems like forever, and show you some of the other cool places we visited, but it’s very late and this will do for now!

If you go down to the woods today…

Posted by Lipglossiping On January - 15 - 2012

We’re slowly getting over a rash of rotten colds and chest infections here and after a full week trapped indoors, we were feeling cabin fever to the extreme. Spotting a break in the clouds, we jumped in the car and headed to the New Forest for the afternoon. It was freezing! (all images are clickable)

leila in the new forest mossy trees skeleton leaves history tree made in 1980

We parked up alongside Rhinefield Ornamental Drive which features some of the most impressive trees in the UK — including the tallest Redwood and the heaviest Sequoia! — Leila wasn’t hugely impressed but it doesn’t take much to get me and Paul nodding appreciatively. L hugged a couple of trees, I took a bunch of texture photos and P put up with our moaning about being cold/tired/ill (delete as appropriate).

robin red breast a lone leaf welly boots lots o' leaves douglas fir fronds

On the way there, we stopped off for a cream tea in Brockenhurst courtesy of a Groupon deal — no photos, I was too busy shovelling treacle tart down my face. I also managed to lose a button off my (button-through) dress when I was pulling Leila’s leggings up in the loo, it shot off like a rocket and ricocheted off three walls – someone’s been eating too many mince pies over the festive period.

Ultimately not the most exciting photos in the world but I’m such a sucker for fallen leaves and texture.

bokeh beautiful a breather hitching a shoulder ride robin red breast close up fallen

Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend? Tell me what you’ve been getting up to!

Tea with Bea…

Posted by Lipglossiping On December - 28 - 2011

Afternoon Tea at Beas of Bloomsbury was a real Christmas highlight.  I’m not in the habit of paying £60 for an afternoon of tea-table frivolity but as a special treat for my Mum, Dad and Leila, it turned out to be money well spent.  We rolled up at two in the afternoon to be told that they were booked solid at their St. Paul’s branch, so I did what any mother would do and prodded Leila in the ribs with a biro until a few fat tears rolled down her Dickensian flushed cheeks.  The lady behind the counter took pity on us Leila and ushered us upstairs to the empty mezzanine which as time would tell, filled with hustle and bustle very quickly indeed.

Ham, brie and tomato, sauteed mushrooms and wild rocket, cupcakes-a-plenty, Bailey’s marshmallows, scones, pistachio meringues and brownies (both dark and white chocolate) filled the tea stand to bursting.  I supped on Chinese Gunpowder while my mother opted for Lemon Verbena.

Leila got her own Gingerbread lady…

What a throughly lovely way to spend a chilly afternoon in central London!  What’s your favourite location for afternoon tea?

* I didn’t really poke Leila with a biro… except for that one time when she slouched.

Well, that went better than expected…

Posted by Lipglossiping On December - 27 - 2011

Hello!  Are you all NOTD’ed out?  Sorry about that – I was hugely up against it, but in fairness – weren’t those w7 polishes something else?  Anyway, seeing as I was too full of turkey to log on and wish you all a Merry Christmas on the 25th, I’ll give you a little overview of this year’s festivities and wish you a Happy New Year instead!

I don’t think I’ve been satisfied with Christmas since I was about 11 – there’s been a heavy feeling of ‘is this it?’ invading most Christmases (except for the one I got engaged) but 2011 has surely outdone itself. Maybe having a 2 year old makes all the difference. Infact, I know it does. You work so hard to ensure that it’s as down-right magical as possible, that it can’t help but rub off.

From dancing to steelband carols in the middle of Oxford St to visiting Father Christmas in his giant Christmas Tree off Queensway, this last week has been a memorable and festive one.  Leila charmed the pants off a particularly wonderful employee in House of Fraser and toddled out of there with a bag literally crammed with fragrance samples.  A smile so big you never did see, and she still won’t let me dip in to it!

We cream tea’ed at Beas of Bloomsbury, Bagel’ed at Beigel Bake (*cough* more than once), and buffet’ed ’til we needed anti-MSG shots in Chinatown.  I even got my eyebrows threaded in public!  If that can happen, then Father Christmas and a few reindeer is a doddle.

I’m off to Manchester on the 30th for a few nights, don’t laugh – I love the city, it’s where I honeymooned (romantic no?) and if it weren’t for the rain, being a soft Southerner and the fact that Cosmetic Candy lives there, I’d totally move North.

I hope you’ve all had magnificent/awe-inspiring/magical/passable Christmases (delete as appropriate), make the most of the remaining days in 2011, before you know it – we’ll be submerged into the abject misery that is January.

I know, it’s horribly sacrilegious to mark such an occasion with a trip to the axis of capitalism but it had to be done, the thought of the new Christmas drinks had been robbing me of sleep!  We finished off our Bonfire Night celebrations with a trip up the road to Winchester which holds an annual torchlit procession through its ancient streets, followed by the biggest bonfire I’d ever seen!

Here’s some photos from Saturday night.

Incase you’re wondering… the new Praline Mocha drink is yumm-o, Leila’s stuck on the babyccinos like an old lush and Mr. L thinks that Toffee Nut Lattes are over-rated (insert gasps here).  Oh, and the cakes in the first photo?  Figment of your imagination 😉

Hope your Bonfire Nights went off with a bang!!

* what a difference a year makes!

 

Happy Halloween!

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 31 - 2011

We celebrated All Hallows Eve a few days early this year and in our house, it went a little something like this…

Happy Halloween beauty lovers!!  Have a wonderful evening!! xxx

 

A little catch up (and an excuse to talk about my holiday)

Posted by Lipglossiping On September - 5 - 2011

I’ve been away!  Did you miss me?  Of course not, because you were kept in extremely good company thanks to my brilliant guest bloggers last week.  In-case you missed their posts you can catch up by clicking through to: Amrita, Robyn, Lily and Liloo.

Anyway, I’m back!  Although, it’s not with the vengeance I would have liked.  Leila has been hit with a mega-cold on-top of a poorly chest so we’ve been sleeping upright at night which as it turns out, doesn’t actually involve much sleeping at all.

Other than that, I have been dodging the piles of emails that amass whenever I turn my back for a second, trying to get unpacked and look after other work (you know, the proper stuff that pays the bills).  What I’m trying to say, in a really convoluted way is this…

Here, please have a look at my holiday photos instead of a proper beauty post.  I’ll get things back on an even keel before the week is through!

Clockwise from Top Left:

1 Kemble Street (a.k.a Space House) – I love the architecture when walking around London.  From impressive Victorian terraces to stately granite-clad frontages.  Futuristic glass walled skyscrapers to concrete, Brutalist obelisks.  The landscape is rich and varied!

Flatbread at Patogh Edgware Road – Just off Edgware Road is a tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Persian place called Patogh.  It has about 7 tables in total and if you wanna get in, you better get in early.  If you do, you’ll be treated to heavenly sesame-seed dusted flatbreads and minced lamb kebabs to make your mouth water.  We paid £16 all in and walked out with full bellies.

Tate Modern Chimney – I’d like to pretend that I’m all cultured and stuff but I’m really not.  I walk around the Tate Modern as a child might, devouring the cool stuff and not bothering to ‘understand’ anything.  Still, I love the building.

Leila and Me in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern – We were contemplating where we could go for cake/ice cream/chocolate – or all of the above.

Clockwise from Top Left:

Leila and the Mega Towers – At Canary Wharf, they’re kinda piddly towers compared to other cities across the globe but they’re still pretty impressive to look up at from street level.  I like Canary Wharf, I like to sit and watch everyone doing busy stuff while I have nothing in the world to do but watch.

Bargainista Afternoon Tea – We didn’t plan to stop for a proper Afternoon Tea and many would be horrified that I even dare call this an Afternoon Tea but tough.  The John Lewis Bistro on the 3rd Floor of the store in Oxford St does a fine spread for less than £10 each.  Attentive service, relaxed surroundings and you barely need to leave the beauty hall.  Good stuff.

Back when Barbie was Cool – At the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, I discovered a super-cool Barbie.  Still impossibly well-endowed, she can work those cat eyes sunnies better than most.

Mudchute Farm – Bang in the middle of the Isle of Dogs, overshadowed by the towers of Canary Wharf is an Urban Farm project.  They have giant pigs that made me rethink my love for bacon, sheep that looked just a tiny bit mutated (perhaps from all those inner city fumes) and a petting corner that included ferrets!  A wonderful green lung in the middle of the city.

Clockwise from Top Left:

The Elgin in Ladbroke Grove – If you are/have ever been a Clash fan, this establishment will mean something to you – if not, it’s just a pub in West London that used to play frequent host to the greatest front-man ever.

Ghost-rider at South Bank Skate Park – I can never walk past this place without slowing down to see if anyone falls off their bike or skate board.  I was treated to a spectacular tumble on Saturday which had the gathered crowds “ooooohing” before a big cheer when the rider jumped up with a wave!

Turbine Hall at Tate Modern – Despite the hustle and bustle, this is such a peaceful place… a huge expanse that plays host to frequent exhibitions.  I remember a few years back, they installed a giant slide… too. much. fun.  Sadly, it was a little sparse when we visited.

Millennium Bridge/St. Pauls – The juxtaposition of the old and the new is around every corner.  Don’t they sit comfortably together?  I love this view.

.

Well, now I’ve given myself the post-holiday blues! Sigh. I’ve got a couple of days away to Brighton coming later in the month so I’ll just focus on that instead.  I hope you all had lovely weekends – down with Monday mornings!

Something a little bit different…

Posted by Lipglossiping On August - 8 - 2011

No posts for TWO whole days.  I can see a few beads of sweat developing and is that a nervous twitch I can feel tickling the corner of my eye?

Where have I been?  Well, I’ve spent a couple of days in Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of Mr. William Shakespeare… I’d like to say that I took the opportunity to have a nosy around the town and check out some of the beautiful surroundings but I didn’t get so much as a chance to pop my head in Space NK.

We travelled there for Mr. L’s nephew’s wedding, the weather forecast was a bit grim but as you’ll see, the sun always shines on the righteous regardless of what the Met office has to say.  I’m massively fond of Mr. L’s nephew A, when I first met him he was only 14 years old (I was 19) and I was very nervous meeting Mr. L’s HUGE family.  I still get a bit nervous 11 years later but A relaxed me with good humour and gentleness.  We would play Silent Hill late into the night together… me, Mr. L and A, raiding my MIL’s biscuit tin and consuming endless cups of tea until dawn broke.  Good times.

Anyway, now he’s all grown up and like his uncle, moved away from the North East a few years ago.  His wife C is one of those rare people who can truly light up a room, as a newcomer to the family I remember envying her ability to take everything in her stride with a casual smile.  I’d still be sat there (8 years down the line) with a halo of awkwardness surrounding me praying that nobody was mistaking my lack of confidence for sullenness.

Anyway, enough of that… here’s a few photos from the day.  I wasn’t official ‘tog so tried to stay out of the way, there’s nothing worse than someone trying to get in the way and be all David Bailey when you’ve got a job to do right?!

I love a good wedding.  Especially when there are no punch-ups.

Is your wedding season over or have you gotta dust off your heels for one more outing before Summer’s out?

The last person in the world to discover…

Posted by Lipglossiping On July - 29 - 2011

…Instagram.

See, I thought it was just like Hipstamatic which I don’t use because it’s kinda slow and kinda clunky and not very social.  On the internet, I’m all about the social.  In real life, I’m all about the social… leprosy.

Combine this with my slowwww iPhone 3G and the fact that I was always too lazy to hook my iPhone up to the computer to download pictures, I just didn’t use it for photos, at all.  I mean… I have my camera anyway right?  Well since Mr. L bought me an iPhone4 for my birthday and I always feel a bit of a tit walking around London with my camera slung across my body, I thought I’d have a go at using it with my photographer (read: girl with a camera) head on when I was in London a few days ago.

It’s clearly all about tilt-shifting the shit out of your images and cross-processing them until they cry out for mercy.  Style over content baby.  But nonetheless, I’m no ‘tog snob and it brought a huge revival of love for snapping what I see and trying to think inside a square frame (easier said than done!)

One thing I am GUTTED about though is that I didn’t realise you had to ‘process’ the photos there and then.  I was taking snaps, then clicking ‘back’ thinking I’d fanny about with the filters later on.  In reality, this meant that I was taking a photo, deleting it, taking another photo, deleting it 4 seconds later.  You can imagine my face when I got on the bus home and realised that I’d ‘apparently’ only taken 8 photos that day.  I spent 2 freaking hours on the Southbank with this thing!  Oh well, lesson learned *sniff*

If you’re one of the last remaining people on earth who owns an iPhone4 without Instagram lurking in one of the folders, you should really consider giving it a go.  A ridiculously satisfying way to take, play with and share your photos!

Do you use Instagram?  Leave your link below if you want!

This weekend I will mostly be…

Posted by Lipglossiping On July - 15 - 2011

drinking practically illegal amounts of tea

marvelling at how much joy this one brings

doing a bit o’ cooking and baking…

…but resorting to cheese on toast when the going gets tough

reliving my past…

…enjoying the present…

…and welcoming the future as I hit the big 3-0 on Sunday.

Please tell me it’s not gonna smart too much?  I’m a little apprehensive!  Posting may be sporadic over the next few days and if it isn’t… I really do love blogging a bit too much.

Have a great weekend people, I’ll see you on the other side!

Christmas? In July?!

Posted by Lipglossiping On July - 7 - 2011

Yes.  Christmas.  In July.

The Christmas press events (don’t know what they are? read BBB’s post here) are rolling in and I attended my first couple of the year yesterday.  They’re my favourites and I wish I could get in to London to attend more because the PR crowd (kinda like the IT crowd but with nicer hair and shoes) always work very, very hard to make the venues look super special and it really does bring a sense of Yuletide festivity to even the warmest of London days!

I know it’s all about the commercialism but you have to be a hardened cookie not to crack a smile when you enter the fairylands on display.

The Christmas events are always pretty packed too which gives me an opportunity to sneak around indulging my inner (wide-eyed) child and taking photos of all the beautiful things without getting (too many) strange looks.  I always feel like someone’s gonna wanna know why a beauty blogger is taking numerous photos of port & stilton.  I still haven’t come up with an answer but I think I should just pat my belly and lick my lips by way of a response.

Can you stomach a bit of Christmas in July?  Don’t worry… I’m not showing you the beauty offerings yet, unless it’s something super-duper hold-the-front-page exciting, they can wait until I’ve heard A Fairy Tale in New York for the first time on the radio.  So probably mid-August then…

But I can’t resist sharing some of the other pretty…. the pretty pretty.  Go on, whistle me a little Winter Wonderland.

OK, I promise not to talk about Christmas again until September.  Maybe.

Much love, me (and the elves) x

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