Tag: popthechampagne

48 Hours in P A R I S

May 23, 2022

Paris; A beautiful city full of charm, elegance, history, art, architecture, fashion, food, nightlife and of course, LOVE. This weekend me and my boyfriend spent two days exploring this magnificent European city for ourselves. With only 48 hours in town, we didn’t waste a minute and managed to cover most of the most famous hotspots whilst sampling the best of French cuisine and soaking up the glorious early summer sunshine.

Taking the Eurostar from St Pancras on Friday evening, we found ourselves in the centre of Paris within a matter of a few hours. Having booked through the Eurostar with hotel combo deal, we checked into our lovely 4* boutique Hotel Mademoiselle, only a 5 minute walk from Gare du Norde train station.

Waking up fresh from a good nights sleep following our journey, Saturday morning we strolled the streets of the local area and grabbed a quick breakfast at a cute corner cafe.

We then headed straight for the Eiffel Tower where we found this famous side street Rue de l’Universite for that picture perfect photo.

A quick whip around the supermarche and we had ourselves a throw together French style picnic by the river overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

From there, we walked to the Champs-Elysees for an afternoon browsing the shops before we reached the Arc de Triomphe.

Following the madness of the tourist spots on a Saturday afternoon, we stopped by Cafe De Paris for an early evening drink in the sunshine and much needed rest from our feet.

A quick stop back at the hotel to freshen up and we were ready for a night out in Paris. Destination Moulin Rouge, an iconic landmark I had to visit during our stay and only a 10 minute Uber from our hotel.

This area was buzzing on a Saturday night, so we found a local brasserie where we could sit out on the street with our dinner and soak up the those Parisian nightlife vibes. Our night continued into the early hours with cocktails and a traditional Nutella crepe for desert at 2am!

Sunday late morning, we made our way over to Le Recrutement Cafe for brunch with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

We then decided to spend the afternoon on a hop-on and hop-off bus tour around the city, a super easy way to navigate all of the tourist spots in one day.

The Louvre was a highlight with its stunning modern architecture juxtapose to the grandeur of the surrounding historic buildings.

Back at our hotel that evening, we enjoyed sundown drinks with an exquisite charcuterie board amongst the gorgeous French aesthetic of their courtyard at Hotel Mademoiselle.

We had to see the Eiffel Tower by night, so for dinner we went back to the river for a delicious Italian at Firmine.

The light show is on the hour every hour until midnight, so we had cocktails at the nearby Frame Brasserie from where we had views of the Eiffel Tower.

For the final light display at midnight, we had front row seats in the park for undisrupted views of this incredible spectacle. It felt like a dream seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle by night, showering the city in golden hues; simply divine and tres romantique.

Before we new it, Monday morning rolled around and it was time to hop back on the Eurostar to London. This was a whistle stop tour but we certainly made the most of our time here and emersed ourselves within the Parisian culture. I have fallen in love with the vibe of this exciting city with its chic style and vibrant charm; we will be seeing you again soon Paris, merci beaucoup ❤

Bank Holiyay Vibes

May 30, 2021

Happy May Day bank holiday babes! Currently relaxing out in the garden on this gorgeous Sunday summer’s evening as the UK finally enjoys its first post-lockdown holiday, and it sure does feel good 😀

This time of the year is always so exciting as we look forward to the summer months ahead of soaking up the sun and enjoying those long warm evenings. Of course it also means that its time to dig out my summer wardrobe once again and get playful with cute outfits without having to wrap up in coats and boots all day long!

With it being my sister’s birthday this weekend, it was an excuse to celebrate on Saturday and enjoy socialising properly again. After a boozy lunch with her best friends, I organised for us to meet at a local pub garden for another round of celebrations and plenty more bubbles too…

Now I’m enjoying my Sunday lounging in the garden on our new stunning furniture set from Next, purchased on sale reduced from £1,300 to just £325, absolute bargain!

Iced coffee, glorious sunshine and my favourite poetry books, blissful vibes ❤

26.01.21; Chapter 25 Over and Out

January 28, 2021

As a January baby born in the midst of winter here in England, I’ve always resented the date on which my birthday falls. Being a sun worshipping beach bum, my last few birthdays down under in Oz during the height of their summer and falling on their famous ‘Australia Day’ holiday, were far more my kinda vibe for a celebration. With plans to escape to Dubai for my birthday this year postponed due to lockdown, I had to settle with the reality of my 26th birthday back at the place I call home nestled in the quaint Hampshire countryside.

We were treated to a dusting of snow last weekend, turning our little village into a winter wonderland. A welcome change to the grey dreary days we’ve had most of this year so far and an excuse to get out amongst it and capture some snaps.

A few days later, January 26th came around and it was time to bid farewell to chapter 25 and officially enter my mid/late twenties. I was overwhelmed with so many kind messages and love sent my way wishing me a Happy Birthday. I spent the morning pampering, taking a long hot bubble bath and getting glammed up in my birthday suit of course.

It may have been yet another day at home in lockdown, but I can never resist any excuse to dress up and show my favourite clothes some love. So I wore my new split front flared pants from Topshop, white Zara square neck top and plenty of gold jewels, including these awesome statement rings from Cali Tiger and Cinco.

Hair loosely styled into a low bun and nails painted for the occasion, I was ready to pop the prosecco and dig into a cheese board! Treated to wonderful gifts from my family, friends and boyfriend, I feel very blessed to have been able to have such a special day despite circumstances.

I was over the moon with my new C’est Normal overshirt from the boyfriend and I’m obsessed with this pair of charcoal-blue square toe mules I got as a gift too. Ultra unique and stylish, I just can’t wait to wear these killer heels on a night out as soon as we are free again!

Soon enough it was time to get cracking on the cocktails and with a brand new kit from my sister, I was excited to see what magic I could create. First up on the menu it had to be Espresso Martinis, a speciality of mine when bartending back in the day, so we were in for a treat!

Following a few practice runs I would say I pretty much nailed my martinis. The perfect amount of sweetness combined with coffee liquor and decrotively finished with that thick creme – delish!

The family certainly enjoyed theirs too and later on we shook up some mojitos also. I was treated to Wagamama takeaway for dinner, so I ordered my favourite Kare Burosu Ramen – udon noodles with silken tofu and veggies in a curried broth.

A truly unique and much quieter than usual birthday for me this year, but no less enjoyable and fun regardless. I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learnt in my 25th year is to not take the little things in life for granted and enjoy the moments of each day…

Time is now and that is all we really have, so go get it ❤

NYE 2020; We Will Rise

January 4, 2021

We may have waved farewell to the challenging year that was 2020, but we still have a way to go before the world can find balance once again. That said, the past year has taught us a number of valuable lessons, the most signifiant for me being not to take the little things in life for granted. Whether its simply taking a trip to the shops and grabbing a coffee with a girlfriend, or getting together with family and friends to share all the wonderful festivities of Christmas, I will cherish these times that bit more now that we’ve experienced a life without those moments of joy.

Like most of the rest of the UK, we celebrated our New Years Eve at home and the Nieuwenhuys family know how to party, so we were in for an evening of fun with plenty of booze at the ready! I love any excuse to dress up too, so I spent the day pampering myself and getting glammed up for the night. I wore this cute seventies inspired outfit: ASOS flared jeans, Topshop lace bralet, Stradivarius check blazer, ASOS maroon lace-up heels and my favourite accessory pieces, including a new ring from Cali Tiger.

I know it’s been a tough year for many which makes me even more thankful for my secure family home, supportive friends, amazing boyfriend and of course my job. I may not have been able to progress to where I’d of hoped to in my career by this point, but maintaining my role as Events Assistant at the Four Seasons Hotel with the hope that business will return, is something I’m proud of during such unstable economical times. It’s important we celebrate the little wins like this and focus on the positive knowing that things could always be worse.

Crystal coupes lined up on the gold mirror tray and champagne chilled and ready to pop, I couldn’t wait to get the evening started! We ordered takeout from our favourite local Italian Mama Mia and following our pizza and pasta feast, we got Jools Holland’s Hootenanny show on the TV to get us fully in the party spirit.

The night went in a flash and before we knew it the countdown to 2021 was on. My Dad and boyfriend had an absolute blast setting off the fireworks, it was practically our own private show with all the boxes they had purchased – we certainly saw in 2021 with a bang!

So before we say hello to 2021, let’s take a moment to reflect on the year that’s been and not forget the lessons we have learnt from the most unique and challenging year for the entire world… from this I’m hopeful, we will rise. HNY ❤

Festive Fuzzy Feels

December 29, 2020

Merry Christmas babes! It’s certainly been an unusual one this year as we’ve all had to sacrifice celebrating with loved ones in order to stay safe during such uncertain times. Whilst plans have had to change and our usual festive traditions around this time of year have been scuppered, I decided it was all the more reason to embrace those jolly festive vibes and soak up the magic of Christmas.

Since early December I’ve been making my way through all the Christmas movies in an attempt to escape the reality of this mad world right now! On Christmas day itself I always like to watch The Snowman and Father Christmas to get me fully in the festive spirit and feeling like a kid again before the fun and games begin. Thankfully I am very lucky to be back home this year and blessed with the company of my closest family and boyfriend, who spoilt me rotten.

One of the more unusual traditions in our household at Christmas is my Dad’s pride and joy of barbecuing the turkey. I know, it sounds a little nuts on a cold winters day in England to be firing up the BBQ, but this is a super quick method of cooking the bird and produces the most succulent meat too.

To accompany our turkey dinner we did crispy roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots and parsnips, sweet red cabbage with apple, brussel sprouts sautéed with chestnuts, stuffing balls, lashings of gravy and my favourite for this time of year, bread sauce. It was quite the feast, so I could only manage some chocolates for pudding and of course a few glasses of Baileys later in the evening 😉

We had a wonderful day sharing our prezzies, listening to Christmas music, enjoying our drinks and indulging in all that yummy, naughty food. And I always like to dress up for the occasion, so this year it was a sixties style Topshop mini dress with long socks and my favourite Windsor Smith chelsea boots. Champagne coupe in hand, I was ready for a party at home!

Following a healthy helping of turkey and all the trimmings, soon enough I found myself changing back into PJs for the evening and excited to try on my new Victoria’s Secret set from Santa. Then when it comes to Boxing Day it’s all about stylish comfort, so I wore my new Stradivarius long split cotton skirt with a vest and my super cosy Zara polo knit arm warmer.

So whilst we haven’t been able to celebrate quite in the same way as we’re used to, it has most definitely made me more grateful than ever for my amazing family and friends. We may not be able to see our pals down the pub for a drink this Christmas, but I haven’t let that dampen my spirits and I’m optimistic that we’ll be back smiling in each other’s company before we know it.