The Inspiration Post #10

Happy Halloween!

This month I have a spook-tacular inspiration post, I LOVE Halloween, it's one of my favourite times of year and I love seeing the effort everyone puts into costumes, parties and pumpkins!  I've pulled together some of my favourite things about Halloween to hopefully give you some inspiration for today...

Simply yet effective Halloween decorating!

I mean...the BEST fashion crew there is!! Love this! 

Amazing pop art cartoon make up, I can't wait to try this one year. 

Heidi Klum always goes all out for Halloween...

...an inside out body..!

Impressive skull make up skills and I love the wig.  

Very creepy nail art! 

Lovely idea for trick or treaters to visit. 

I'd love to do this if I had a fire place, great Halloween decoration!!

Halloween treats - googly, gooey eyes. 

Some Disney inspiration, with added pixie dust. 

And finally, the cutest little costume everrrr. 

I hope you found some inspiration from these images, have a very happy (and spooky) Halloween! 

♥︎

Happy 1st Birthday to Me! Enter my Giveaway to Celebrate!

Happy Sunday lovelies!

Sunday isn't usually my upload day (my blog name gives it away a bit..!) however it's a very special day which required a very special blog post...today is my 1 year blog anniversary! 

Photo credit from Pinterest

I can't believe I've been blogging for one year already, and that a little idea I had just over a year ago is happening and I still absolutely love it!  I've mostly blogged about fashion, beauty and a bit of lifestyle in there too which I hope you've all enjoyed.  Over the next year I'd love to expand my blog, getting more involved in chatting with you all much more regularly.  

I really wanted to write this post to say THANK YOU to those of you that read my blog!

I appreciate every follow, comment and view I get and love that the community are so open and approving of newbies like me entering the crazy blogging arena.  

To say a big, big thanks I am running a giveaway, giving you the chance to win some H&M beauty products.  There is a nude eyeshadow and eyebrow palette, blusher, lipstick in Darling Pink and a brush and sponge set (the sponge looks amazing!).

The giveaway will run from 12am Sunday 25th October 2015 until 12am Sunday 1st November 2015, to be in with a chance to win this prize all you have to do is complete one or all of the options in rafflecopter below.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone! 

♥︎

My Guide to Las Vegas

The final stop on our travels was Las Vegas!  It is such a great place to visit and totally out of this world.

One of the best shows we saw there is the Cirque du Soleil show 'O', an amazing aquatic performance which left me in awe from start to finish, it really is unbelievable some of the things they can do!

A great way to spend your time in Vegas is going from hotel to hotel, they are HUGE and look spectacular inside and out (so big that in one hotel alone I came across 3 Starbucks!).  New York New York looked amazing and I loved the roller coaster, the Coyote Ugly bar in the hotel is really fun too.
Another great hotel is The Venetian, Italian themed with a Gondola ride going through the hotel with blue skies (indoors!) was one of the craziest things I've seen.

The Grand Canyon is absolutely incredible, it is a trip of a lifetime and I feel so lucky to have been able to see it.  We flew with Sundance Helicopters who I'd highly recommend, our pilot was amazing! We got to fly over the Las Vegas strip and over the Grand Canyon before stopping off at the side and going on the Skywalk - a glass floored walkway over the Canyon, it was incredible!  We then got a few photos from the cliff side, the vastness of the Gran Canyon is unbelievable and totally breathtaking.

Of course you can't go to Las Vegas without a bit of gambling, there is no shortage of opportunities to do this - even sitting at a bar..! Between this and the Britney Spears slot machines I was amazed by Las Vegas!

We had a great night at the Stratosphere near the end of our trip, the bar at the top gives you amazing views of the strip and surrounding area, you also get free entry to the viewing deck from here so it was incredible to go outside and see the views and the crazy rides at the top of the Stratosphere (I didn't have the guts to try them out this time!).  It was a lovely way to spend time reflecting on the holiday with a few cocktails.

Another must see in Vegas is the Bellagio Fountains.  We saw the fountains on the first and last night of our holiday so it brings back great memories of the trip, the dance of the fountains is always different so there is always a great display on.  With the backdrop of the gorgeous Bellagio hotel it really is amazing.

Have you been to Las Vegas before?  What did you think?

I hope you've enjoyed the posts on my recent travels - back to fashion and beauty next week!

♥︎

My Guide to San Francisco

One of the nicest cities I have ever visited, San Francisco has so much to offer yet has such a relaxed atmosphere.  My boyfriend and I spent 4 nights in this beautiful city and made some amazing memories - the sights, experiences and weather was great which made the perfect setting for time in the city.

Of course, one of the most amazing sights when visiting San Francisco is the Golden Gate Bridge.  There is something about the bridge in this gorgeous setting that makes it breathtaking.  We were lucky enough to experience the bridge twice, once on a gorgeous warm day and another on a foggy morning - when we first approached the bridge that day we couldn't even see it because of the mist!

Another great, unique part of the city is Lombard Street, it's known as the 'crooked street' with 8 hairpin turns and gorgeous flowerbeds and houses.  It was so exciting to take the classic Powell & Hyde cable car up to the top of the hill and walk your way down, getting to take great photographs from both angles.

While in San Francisco we were lucky enough to see a an NFL Kickoff concert in a square in the city, it was a gorgeous day and a relatively intimate concert with Train and Ellie Goulding!  It was such a lovely chilled out day after having a busy few days in the city - Train and Ellie Goulding always remind me of San Francisco now!  If you get the chance to experience any events in the squares in the city, enjoy and make the most of it.

A must see when you visit San Francisco is Alcatraz Island.  A prison housing inmates causing trouble in other prisons, one of the quotes I remember from my visit is, 'break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz', which pretty much sums it up! As much as the island is now a tourist attraction, it still feels so authentic and the audio tour is great, I'd highly recommend booking a night tour in advanced - really eerie and haunting!

One night of our trip I got kitted out in a Giants t-shirt and foam finger to enjoy a baseball game at AT&T Park, seeing a game here is a great experience and it's crazy seeing the stadium is right on the water!

Finally on our last day in San Francisco we decided to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge and see the small waterfront city of Sausalito which is pretty beautiful!  The cycle along San Francisco and across the bridge was a great experience and really lets you see more of the city in the time you have.  Once we crossed the bridge and were taking some photos of the view back across to San Francisco, my boyfriend surprised me by asking me to marry him! It was such a special day and was lovely celebrating together in Sausalito on a waterfront balcony - with a Champagne or two of course!
It's a beautiful city with gorgeous buildings and houses so I'd recommending visiting if you get the chance.

I hope you found my guide useful if you're planning a trip to San Francisco, let me know if you'd like to know more or have any tips for when I return!   

♥︎

My Guide to New York

Recently I spent a couple of weeks travelling around 3 cities in America, it was honestly one of the best experiences I've had!  Our first stop was New York so I thought I'd share some of the great places we visited and the highlights of our trip - writing this post makes me want to go back so badly.

We got to see so much of the city while we were there and we stayed literally around the corner from Times Square, so it was great getting to see it every morning and night.  This is definitely a must see when visiting New York.

While in the area I'd recommend stopping off at The View bar within the New York Marriott Marquis (right on Times Square), it is the cities only revolving rooftop bar which boasts stunning views.  We planned to stay for only a cocktail or two but stayed for most of the night and got to catch a beautiful sunset!  

One of my highlights was going to Rockefeller Centre, again, the views from here were absolutely stunning!  We had experienced evening views so it was lovely to see the city in the morning, especially the Empire State Building and Central Park.  

Central Park was another of my favourite places to visit, it really is beautiful and gives you a sense of space in such a huge, busy city.  There is so much to see in the park, I covered less than a third of it and got to see so many features such as the Friends fountain, Alice in Wonderland, Strawberry Fields and the Bow Bridge - not to mention all the people there showing off their talents singing, playing instruments and telling jokes..!  At the corner of the park you also get to see The Plaza and Tiffany & Co on 5th Avenue *lots of heart eyed emojis*.  

I could have spent a full day there, make sure you experience Central Park when visiting New York.  

It wouldn't be a trip to New York without a trip to Shake Shack, this was my first visit and OH MY...it did not disappoint.  Shack burger and cheese fries with a strawberry milkshake = heaven.

I was looking for rooftop bars in New York and we found a great one near the Flat Iron building called 230 Fifth.  It was a beautiful day and sitting on the rooftop with a cocktail, palm trees and the Empire State building as my view felt like the perfect afternoon, we loved sitting here talking about our time in NYC.  

For all the foodies out there we visited another great place for a bite to eat - Katz's Deli in the East Village.  This is a famous delicatessen with the best pastrami on rye sandwich!  It has an old school deli feel with photos of celebrities on the wall from their visits over the years, it's such a great place to visit.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my highlights of New York, let me know if you have plans to visit soon or if you have any other recommendations of where I should visit when I return.  

♥︎