Parisian Babymoon

It's been over a month since my Valentine's babymoon in Paris so I thought I would share some snaps we took while away.  

Although we arrived in Paris on Valentine's Day, I can't say I found the city to be as romantic as everyone tells me it is.  In fact, I failed to see where much of the city lived up to the hype but in saying that I still loved it and would definitely visit again.  We stayed in Le Marais district where we had a playing ground of cool shops, bars and restaurants.  I would definitely recommend this area to anyone visiting. 

The weekend became a bit of a tick box exercise at times as we had so little time to spend there but wanted to see and do so much.  Of course, I had time for a french pharmacy haul but I may need to divulge the contents of that haul in another post. 

For now, I will leave you with some of our photos, which for the record have been massively pared down as we took so many.  It was just fantastic to fit in one last city break before the baby gets here, especially to a city we hadn't seen together. 

When in Rome ...

I should probably have a tumblr ...!

Roman Holiday ... what's in my suitcase?

At last I am on holiday ...!

After the busiest few weeks ever in work, it's now time to unwind.  Of course, my holidays had to start with me getting a stinking cold, oh joy!  However, I still have time to try and recover in time for my trip to Rome tomorrow.

The only downside to this Roman holiday is that we point blank refused to pay the budget airline any extra for checking in luggage.  I mean, come on ... £50 to check in 15kg? You are having a laugh.

My scrooge-like wisdom has left me with the problem of squeezing in all I need for 4 days and nights into a neat and compact 10kg bag.

Rome at this time of year is still fairly warm with the nights a little cooler.  The plan was to pack a few pairs of shorts and tops for daytime but again, me and my silly ideas .... after a ruthless wardrobe detox, I have managed to throw out all my 'city appropriate' shorts! TUT!  Aah I could kick myself.  That's what happens when summer decides to not show up in Scotland!

I have tried to create a capsule wardrobe, sticking with a colour scheme of mainly blue and black that can be mixed and matched as I see fit.  Some grainy pics below will give you an idea of what I am going for ...

L-R: Blue H&M blouse; H&M vest; cream Primark blouse; Black Zara shoulder pad top

L-R: Warehouse floral trousers; H&M graphic trousers; Warehouse Maxi skirt; Reiss pleated dress

L-R: Marc by Marc Jacobs flip flops; Reiss wedge boots;Topshop wedge sneakers

Accessories:  Raybans, pashmina, sunhat, mango clutch, necklace, cuffs, glasses

L-R: Mango blazer; Esprit leather jacket

All this and I am still under 10kg ... JUST.  It is do-able after all!  Even my make up bag is severely pared down with some foundation samples, eyeliner, bronzer, blush and red lippie. 

All that is left now is to do a little reading on what is sure to be a wonderful city and make sure to pack my camera.  

Next time you hear from me, I will have eaten my weight in pizza and will be cultured out of my nut with any luck ;) 

Take a spraycation with St Tropez

According to research conducted by St. Tropez, nearly half of the UK plans to stay at home this summer rather than fly abroad for their holiday.  I think I may end up becoming part of that statistic as a new home, new job and so many exciting things happening in the UK this year as well as an extreme lack of funds means a sunny beach holiday may be off the cards.

St.Tropez ambassador Millie Mackintosh of Made in Chelsea fame

Statistics also tells us that over half of Brits feel better and more confident with a tan so thanks to St. Tropez, we can have a 'Spraycation' instead of a vacation!  St. Tropez is going on tour across the UK, tanning the nation and bringing a beach themed pop-up to a city near you, giving luxurious skin finishing treatments regardless how deep or honey a tan you desire.  The tour kicked off last week in London at Westfield but is heading north this week at the following venues:

Bullring Birmingham 22-23 June
Trafford Centre, Manchester 28-29 June
Glasgow Braehead 6-7 July
Dublin Pavillions 13-14 July

There is also an online competition running in tandem with the tour, asking you bronzed lovelies to send a 'virtual postcard' of where your ideal spraycation in the UK would be and why.  You can find out more about the competition at the St. Tropez facebook page www.facebook.com/sttropeztanuk

Will you be taking a spraycation?

x

Sun Therapy

Having just bought our first proper house together, the Mister and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that we may have to forego a holiday this year, something we pretty much live for.  However, enough is enough and we have already started looking around for some cheap holiday deals.

Last week we had glorious weather that stunned us all (especially up here in Glasgow), the sun was beating down most days and there were sunburn marks all round, ouch! This week however, we have had rain, hail, sleet and snow and it has just reaffirmed to me how much I need a holiday.

Despite all our money being invested in the house, it's renovations and now the hard slog of decorating ... I hope I can find a cheap holiday deal that will have me jetting off for a bit of sun, relaxation and snoozy, lazy days.

My first thought is of Spain.  My husband used to live there and we absolutely love the laid back, colourful culture.  For a chilled out week away I would love to go back to Barcelona.  Eating delicious tapas and drinking a refreshing cerveza, watching the world go by ... bliss!

Ultimately I think I would quite like  return to Ibiza this year.  Perfect for the party girl (and party boy) in me and my husband but likewise caters to our need for some serious chillaxing!  Ideal for me to dance about in the sun with neon nails and feathers in my hair :)

Sitting wrapped up on the couch just now, I am taking comfort in the hope of finding myself a cheap deal so I can look forward to a cheeky wee sunny holiday :)

Do you have holidays booked? Where are you off to this year? Go on, make me jel! ;)

x

Morocco Styling

As per my last post, I mentioned I would offer up some advice on what to wear in Morocco.  This is mainly for us gals but there is a wee bit for the boys too.   This will also feature some unflattering photos of me all glowing (read: sweaty) on holiday too! Be warned.

Before going to Morocco I found that different websites and even twitter friends had very contradicting opinions on what was acceptable to wear and what was not in Morocco.   My advice is more based on what you are going to feel more comfortable in rather than strictly what is acceptable.

Morocco is an Islamic (mainly) nation but despite this is known for being more liberal than other Islamic countries.  However there is still an element of respect that needs to be shown for the culture and faith despite the somewhat relaxed attitudes.    I have been to Egypt which again frowns upon too much flesh being shown but on a beach resort like Sharm-El-Sheikh you can get away with anything so this was the first time I really had to think about what was going in my suitcase.

Playsuit with cover up tied round my waist

black maxi with cover up and flip flops

In the old town of Marrakech it is more traditional, you see both Moroccan men and women in traditional dress but equally many are dressed a little more western but covered up (especially females) or what could maybe be described as casual.  If you wear hot pants, mini skirts, bikini tops, string vests etc in the old town, people will look at you.  Some in disgust, others in disbelief, never in a good way, even other tourists.  If you are comfortable with the stares then go ahead, knock yourself out.

In the new town, it's more of a free for all.  Especially at night time, short skirts, hot pants, boob tubes ... anything goes.  It was never a problem and no one stared other than other Moroccan women who are probably interested to see international fashions.  The new town is where people party so it's very open minded.

There is a whole list of things that are apparently shunned upon clothes wise.  Showing too much leg, showing too much foot, showing too much shoulder or showing too much collar bone.  The list is endless and it's not realistic to stick fully to the 'rules'.

So smart things to pack to keep you right...  It's very hot in Morocco so try to keep covered up or have the option to cover up without passing out with heat stroke.  I packed maxi dresses and jumpsuits in light materials with flip flops, sandals and cover ups in the form of scarves and sheer tops.  Heels are hard to wear in Morocco unless it's night time, even then, cobbled and uneven ground made it too much of a hassle for me.

Jumpsuit covering shoulders as well as legs

By wearing a normal summer maxi dress with a pashmina or scarf, it meant I could have my shoulders out when I wanted but had that option to cover up if I was in a built up area where it was frowned upon.  T-shirts, long shorts, knee length skirts and playsuits would all be fine to wear.  Even at night in the old town a strapless top would be okay as long a you could cover up if you felt uncomfortable at any point.

strapless dress suitable for the beach in Essaouira

But i could cover up at night 

For men, longer shorts with t-shirts seem to be more acceptable for daytime.  So no Joey Essex hot pants and vest for your boyfriends/husbands/dads!!   Night time is easy for boys there is nothing that would be frowned upon.

Going back, I would pack a couple of glitzier things for night time in the new town but sticking to a similar wardrobe to what I packed for the old town.  My trip also took in the beach resort of Essaouira where I wouldn't recommend showing too much skin apart from on the beach.  In fact wearing the exact outfit below (without cover up) I was spat on by a group of men.  Clearly too much shoulder/arm on display was offensive.

Despite being spat on in Essaouira it was also an amazing place to visit and may even deserve its own blogpost.  But lets stop here before this turns into a very amateur attempt at a travel blog!

Hope this has been helpful for anyone packing for a trip to Morocco.

x