Tulum Eats; Every Night’s A Party!

The foodie options in Tulum are abundant with plenty of variety, from fine dining restaurants offering lots of alternative cuisines, to health food cafes and of course traditional Mexican street food. However for me when dining out on holiday, it’s more than just the food I’m looking to impress me, but the atmosphere and ambience needs to be on point too.

Now I’m not usually one to necessarily need entertainment with dinner, although we discovered that’s exactly what they like to offer in Tulum at some of the top rated restaurants.

Starting with one of my favourite restaurants for Greek food in Tulum, we visited Ilios twice during our trip and each time had a brilliant experience.

Every night at 9pm there is a fire show and acrobats to entertain guests around the restaurant floor as they enjoy their meal.

It’s quite the spectacle and lasts about half an hour, so you’re getting a great show for free alongside your dinner.

The evening we went for my birthday celebrations we even smashed plates Greek style and had sparklers to dance with, it was such a laugh!

Moving on to Tora where they serve delicious Japanese cuisine, later in the evening we were handed sparklers for a boogy as the DJ played the drums live during his set.

The waiters all get involved too making for a super fun and lively atmosphere amongst diners even after the sparklers are over.

We had a delightful spread of Japanese dishes including the smoked and poached salmon sushi roll which was divine.

Another top restaurant I want to mention for its aesthetic interiors and delectable food is Chambao.

As a traditional steak and grill, the menu is classic dishes done to perfection.

The bread basket with an assortment of three different butters to start was outstanding, and I’m not even usually a big bread basket lover.

I opted for the pear, goat cheese, walnut salad which was beautifully presented and packed with flavour and goodness.

Whilst my boyfriend had an epic steak burger with all the extras, we couldn’t fault a thing.

Although there is no entertainment at this place, the aesthetic interiors and indoor-outdoor style of dining make for a wonderfully romantic setting for a date night dinner.

The only other place I will mention, but save the details as it deserves its own separate post, is Gitano Jungle.

We went here on our final night and were treated to an awesome show complete with disco balls hanging from the jungle canopy.

So that’s a roundup of my top restaurants in Tulum if you’re looking for an elevated dining experience beyond just the food; because every night’s a party in Tulum ❤

Wedding Guest Dress; A Butter Yellow Moment

A springtime wedding in the UK can be risky on the weather front, but thankfully this weekend we were treated to gorgeous sunshine in time for our friend’s wedding on Saturday.

Being hosted on the bride’s family’s land and therefore outside and in a marquee all day, finding the right outfit was a little challenging. I almost wore a short dress which I already had in my wardrobe, however after I saw this Oh Polly dress on ASOS I thought this was the perfect solution.

With it’s simple yet flattering cut and eye-catching butter yellow colour, this dress ticked all the boxes for me.

Shoe choice had to be carefully considered too given we were in a field, so I also ordered from ASOS this pair of gold strappy mules with a low block heel so I didn’t sink in the grass!

To compliment the dress I wore my ASOS oversized flower earrings with pearl detail, my Abbott Lyon gold bangle, Abbott Lyon anklet and my usual mix of vintage gold rings.

I opted for this cute yellow handbag which I bought in Bali and of course my MiuMiu sunnies to complete the look in the sunshine.

I was really happy with my fit for the day as I felt elegant and classy but still comfortable which is key for a long wedding day. Butter yellow is the colour of the season and I think it was the perfect statement for a sunny springtime wedding ❤

Chapter 29; Twenty Nine & Feeling Fine

Friday 26th January 2024, my 29th Birthday and entering the final year of my twenties!

Waking up on Friday morning, it was a gloriously sunny day with clear blue skies and a crisp winters chill in the air as I took my morning walk.

I was working from home for the day, so I decided to move to the sofa for the afternoon and put ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ on as I enjoyed my coffee and answered emails.

Once 5pm rolled around and work was wrapped up for the week, I got myself glammed up and ready for an evening of celebrations.

My Birthday fit was a pair of flared tailored black trousers from Zara, a dusty pink bandeau also from Zara, my silk Le Scarf neckerchief, a cropped nude cardigan with gold buttons, my ASOS lace up maroon heels, plenty of gold jewellery to accessorise, a vintage Jaegar green oversized blazer to keep me warm and my Sandro velvet green handbag to complete the look.

At 6pm I went to our local pub for a drink with my Dad, where they gave me a glass of bubbles on the house and even brought out a Happy Birthday brownie.

We then had 8:30pm reservations at The Ivy Asia in Guildford, so my boyfriend kindly drove me and my parents there after we finished catching up with friends at the pub.

I always love visiting The Ivy Asia with its opulent interiors and buzzing atmosphere, especially on a Friday night.

We started with duck pancakes for the table before ordering a number of their smaller sharer plates.

We had all sorts of dishes from spicy tuna sushi rolls and king prawn skewers, to Korean fried chicken bites and claypot chickpea pepper curry. Every mouthful was so delicously flavoursome and my parents even said it was the best Asian meal they’d ever had!

Saturday morning we got out early to go to Bicester Village designer outlet in Oxford.

The shopping day cute and cosy look was a pair of Stradivarius blue flared jeans, an off shoulder brown jumper, my platform Ugg boots, an earthy tone wool scarf which I got for my Birthday, my Coach signature print cross body bag, a faux fur black Ugg coat and my favourite khaki baker boy hat from Mango.

Being a weekend, the shops were quite busy and unlike my previous visit to Bicester, there wasn’t much that was particularly jumping out at me.

We couldn’t leave empty handed though and I needed a Birthday gift from my boyfriend, so I was thrilled to find a the perfect gold ring from Monica Vinader to add to my jewellery collection.

Later that evening we were invited over to my parents house with my brother, his wife and my adorable niece Layla who I had lots of cuddles with, I just love being an Auntie!

My mum cooked her famous Spaghetti Bolognese and I did what I do best making a big salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes, avocado, parmesan shavings and balsamic vinegar. Good company, home cooked food and divine red wine, this made me a very happy girly.

Before I knew it, Sunday was here and I spent the afternoon with more family including my other darling niece and my wonderful Grandma. This card from my sister was brilliant, it’ll be a right laugh trying those poses next time I’m having a cocktail.

So that concludes my 29th Birthday celebrations and I couldn’t be more grateful of where I am at this time in my life. I want to embrace this final year of my twenties and look forward to another 12 months of growth, learning and achievements; cheers to chapter 29 ❤

Hen Do Party Antics!

It’s been a long time coming, but finally one of my best friends will be getting married in 3 weeks time – eeeek! With all the lockdown restrictions over the past year and a half, this will be the third time they’ve had to move their big day, so fingers crossed it will be third time lucky.

For the original Hen last year we had a big weekend in Bath lined up, but with so much uncertainty over the past year or so, we decided a girls night get together at home was the safest and least stressful option… and it certainly didn’t mean we had any less of a good time!

We had the perfect setup in the bride-to-be’s gorgeous family home garden complete with cute hen themed decor of course. A generous spread of crips, crackers and dips to accompany our cocktails and pink prosecco, we were set for the evening ahead.

A few drinks deep and we got the hen party games going. The maid of honour did a brilliant job of preparing the games including a fun quiz, a ‘guess who’ game and later on ‘swing the ball-sack’, hilarious!

What a laugh that was; simple but very fitting and extremely funny game to get us on our feet. The bride-to-be was the overall winner too 🙂

With their outdoor pizza oven, we were even treated to our very own personalised pizzas each. I chose to top mine with olives, sweetcorn, basil and rocket – delish way to soak up the alcohol!

Overall an absolutely fabulous night with the girls laughing, giggling and just being silly, the way a Hen Do should be!

Girls just wanna have fun… am I right? ❤