Exploring York!

I have just returned from a lovely few days in York with my mum! York is a city which I had only been to a couple times before and that was when I was very young so it was great to go back and take in the sights. It is a beautiful historic city and we found that everything was within about a ten minute walk away which made it easy to fit in everything we wanted to do!

We stayed at the stunning Middleton's Hotel, which despite having a country charm, is just minutes from the city centre making it a unique hotel and perfect to get away from the bustling city as it feels so peaceful and homely.

 

 

 

 

 

Our room was a lovely family size room with three single beds, one of the main benefits about our room was how spacious it was compared to many of the other family rooms I have been in. The beds were really comfortable and we both got a good nights sleep on both nights that we was there. There was a separate dressing room within our room where we could hang all our clothes which was very useful and added to the spacious feel. The room was equipped with a fridge and we thought it was such a lovely touch that it was stocked with a few bottles of water for us. It was lovely to have a drink when we came into our room to refresh us from the journey and it was a very nice thought that not many hotels would think of.

 

 

 

 

After checking into the hotel we decided to have a short walk to explore the local area, we ended up going on a boat trip which showed us some of the sights of York and told us about the history of the area, luckily the weather was on our side and we chose a sunny afternoon to go on the trip!

The following day we started with breakfast at Middleton's which was delicious, I had the salmon and scrambled egg whilst my mum went with the full English. This was something that I wouldn't normally go for so it was great to have the opportunity to try new foods! Before we left on the Friday I even tucked into an Eggs Benedict which isn't something I've ever had before but tasted delicious! The breakfast was a great way to start the day off and the staff were so friendly and helpful throughout our time at the hotel.

We then visited the Castle Museum which was a great morning out, I actually took so many photos there that I'll be writing a separate blog post soon all about it! I really enjoyed the Shaping the Body exhibition which showed how aspects of our body has changed through the years focusing on fashion, food and life and the York prison was a great addition and something I really enjoyed visiting within the museum.

After that we took a short walk up to see the York Minster. This is something we was recommended to do and it is definitely worth seeing! It's an amazing building and one of the key aspects of York's history, definitely not to be missed if you're heading to York anytime soon.

 

 After our day out in York we headed back to the hotel for a much needed rest and to pack some of our stuff so we wasn't rushing to get ready on the Friday. On the way back home and after a final walk around York to take some last minute photos, we stopped off at York Designer Outlet for some retail therapy, the perfect finish to a lovely break away!

J x

We can strongly recommend staying at Middleton's if you're visiting the York area. Visit their website or follow them via Twitter or Facebook for more details.

*We worked with Middleton's for the purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own. 

If travel is the answer, what is the question?

For so long I have had a passion for travel, a passion that comes in waves. I have always known that one day I wanted to travel the world but when I am going through difficult times this passion becomes so strong that I begin to feel that it is not so much a passion anymore but a need to get away.

What I need to get away from I am not really sure. I have always felt so free when I have been travelling before, like the world is just such a big place with the opportunity to explore anywhere the heart wants to take you. I think it is just the stresses of life that makes me keep persisting with wanting a life of travel, always feeling held back by something and becoming so stressed and caught up within the life I am currently leading that I feel I will never be able to jet off somewhere for a break, thus making me more stressed.

I have never been lucky enough to find someone that would be willing to travel the world with me, someone that shares the same passion for travel that I do which is sad but at the same time provides a lot of new opportunities if I can be brave enough to take them.

The question is, can the girl that could barely put her hand up in class, now have the confidence to travel the world solo? There's so much that I want to see and I feel like if I just keep waiting my life will fade away before me, that's probably my worst fear actually, the fear of not living.
I've thought about couchsurfing and staying in hostels as a way of meeting new people along the way and sharing experiences with them, I hope that soon I will be brave enough to take the plunge and just go for it.

Life is too short for settling.
J x

Winter bucket list

Is it too soon to start thinking about Winter? The clocks have changed, the nights are getting darker and it's definitely getting colder. Despite all this Winter still remains one of my favourite seasons, there is a few things I want to achieve this Winter to get the most out of the season!

 



 

1. Visit a Christmas Market

 

My hometown has a Christmas Market every year and I really do enjoy the experience to get into the Christmas spirit, it's a great place to pick up some little handmade items that make very unique and special gifts for loved ones

 

2. Build a snowman

 

As a kid two of my favourite things about Winter was sledging and building snowmen, I'd love to be able to get back into that feeling of being a kid again and just messing around building a snowman (maybe not the sledging as I do feel I am slightly too old for that now, plus have no idea where my sledge actually is at this point)

 

3. Have a hot chocolate with Marshmallows in

 

I am now a regular at the Saturday football matches where I watch my boyfriend play most weekends, one of the best ways to warm up after being stood outside in the cold (or rain in one particular case I remember very well) is with a nice warm mug of hot chocolate, as a special Christmas treat though I'd love to try one with marshmallows on the top and maybe some squirty cream too

 

4. Watch the Christmas lights switch on

 

Again this is something I went to last year which I found a great experience I really enjoyed watching the lights switch on as it felt like to start of Christmas, this is something I would love to do again this year.

 

5. Bake Christmas cookies

 

Not only Christmas cookies but I'd also like to have a go at making a gingerbread house, there's no way anything I bake will come out like the photos I've seen circulating social media but I feel it is worth a shot at anyway!

 

 

Finally, the isn't something I think I am going to be able to do this year but one year I would love to go to Winter Wonderland in London, I've heard so many great things about it and it's an experience I'd love to try!

J x

 



Whirlwinds and Wanderlust

So these last few days have been amazing as I have been celebrating my 19th Birthday! The adventures started on Friday when me and my family and boyfriend went to see Shappi Khorsandi. This is a comedian who I had enjoyed watching on Live at the Apollo and would like to see live. I could definitely recommend seeing Shappi live if you are a fan. The show was predominantly about culture but with a very meaningful message of patriarchy behind the humour. Shappi also had a support act who I can say was practically as equally funny as Shappi herself and I would recommend looking at Tom Lucy's work if you haven't before.

Me and Alan at the LPAC waiting for Shappi

On the Sunday we had been searching all day for anybody selling tickets to Russell Howard at our local venue as we had wanted to go since the tickets were released but the tour had sold out within minutes. Last minute somebody messaged us asking if we were still looking for tickets as they couldn't make it, amazingly they were willing to give the tickets away for free despite us offering them money for them so we both felt extremely lucky to be able to have that experience.

Me and Alan outside The Engine Shed to see Russell Howard

 

 

On Tuesday I finished work at lunchtime as we was going to a Jaime Lawson concert in the evening after my parents got me tickets for my birthday. Alan had booked the whole day off working and came to surprise me by picking me up from work at lunchtime with a McDonald's and surprising me with a cinema trip to see The Girl On The Train. This is a film that I had wanted to see prior to it's release as I had enjoyed the book so much! I felt the film was definitely worth a watch although it could get a bit weird in places.

 

 

 

 

 

Then came the actual day of my birthday! I had booked the day of work as who wants to be working on their own birthday? I hadn't had anything planned and was thinking of having a lazy day with Alan but was surprised to find that he had organised a bowling trip for us and my parents and that night I also went to Damon's for a meal where I had a lovely cheeseburger! I really enjoyed the two games of bowling we had and the Mississippi Melt burger from Damon's, I also tried one of the Damon's Special's cocktails which was really nice and made a change as I am not usually a fan of alcoholic drinks!



 

Overall I had a really lovely day and I can't thank my boyfriend and family enough for making it so special for me!!

 

J x

10 ways to combat January blues

It probably won't surprise many of you to know (if you didn't already) that this Monday was referred to as 'blue monday'. The foggy days, freezing temperatures, pressures of work and general gloom of January makes it tempting to jump on the next plane to somewhere warmer. I've come up with a few ways to try and help combat these January blues. 

1. Get into a good book

There's so many good books on the market at the moment, I've been meaning to read The girl on the train for a while now but just haven't got round to it yet. 

2. Meet up with friends 

Nothing makes me feel better like seeing the people I'm close to. Whether that's meeting for a meal, going to the cinema or organising a shopping trip getting out of the house for a few hours is almost guaranteed to make you feel better. 

3. Have a warm bath with your favourite products 

One of my favourite things to do on those cold winter nights is to have a long warm soak in the bath with my favourite bath bomb. It makes you feel relaxed, calm and ultimately refreshed. 

4. Plan your Summer

This is however a method which will give you serious wanderlust and will make you crave those Summer days again, however, I don't believe it's ever too early to start planning;)

5. Have a clear out

It's a method that won't work for everyone. I regularly go through my wardrobe and find things I don't wear anymore that could be better used on Depop and there's a ton of stuff in the garage that could definitely do with going on gumtree. This might seem a tedious task but something which could earn you a little bit of extra money at the same time. 

What are you doing to feel better during January? 

X~Jess~X