Lifestyle; girls trip to Manchester 🍸🍰

Before I get in to this post I would like to thank Alice for making me laugh & constantly smile for two days straight!! Also… For putting up with all my moods 😂 especially when I was hangry! 

We had a fab few days away for a little girly break! We went to Manchester as we wanted to go to friendsfest. If you have never been you really should it was so much fun! We started the break the right way with a few drinks on the train… I’m such a lightweight I was yawning away after a couple 😂 honestly though I needed it.

The hotel was fabulous for the price! We paid £68 each for two nights. To me that’s a bargain. It was in the centre & just look at how funky it was!! The bed was comfy (actually had the best night sleep I’ve had in ages) & we even had breakfast included. We were literally in a croissant coma… Oops! 


I don’t want to go to into what happened at friendsfest as I’ll do that in another post. But we had the best day ever! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. If you’re a friends fan I would highly recommend it. Could we be any happier?! 

We ate out that evening & had a few drinks too 🍸 we went to the slug & lettuce, drank a few pornstar martinis between the two of us… 🙄 & had some food too obviously! Ha! When we got back to the hotel we put on Celebs go dating & had like a big girly sleepover with another couple of drinks & lots of nibbles while we were tucked up in our beds 😂 we’re either big kids or old ladies! 

On our last day it was bucketing it down, but we walked so much our feet hurt 🙈 did a little bit of shopping in the city & then made our way to have afternoon tea. The venue was stunning, we went to cloud 23 which had incredible views. The afternoon tea itself was delicious too! 

Literally we did soooo much in a small amount of time, but we had such a good girly getaway!! 

Travel; Rhodes June 2019 🌴☀️

OH MY GOD ITS BEEN MONTHS BUT I AM BAAAACK!!! 

We booked this holiday way back in May 2018 as we weren’t going away in 2018 & I wanted something to look forward to. 

We booked to go back to the same place in Rhodes that we went to in 2017. We loved it so much & there was a beautiful restaurant nearby that I was itching to visit again! We stayed in a hotel called Rhodos Horizon Resort. The staff are super friendly & the hotel itself is really clean & in a beautiful location with stunning views.

I found that this time I wasn’t as good at sitting & doing nothing so we did do a bit more exploring this time around. One day we walked all around Rhodes town, which is where we stayed. Another day we walked into the next little town, Ialysos & played some mini golf. I don’t know about you, but I just love mini golf 😂 I’m terrible at it though. It’s safe to say that Sam won! 

I did get to go back to the beautiful restaurant there too, Cavo Italiano, which is so good. It’s beautiful, the food tastes amazing & it’s such good value for money too! We stayed & had some drinks in the cocktail bar too, Cavo Tango. We did also have some shisha haha….. We’re not smokers at all but thought we’d have some fun before we get old 😂

This time we ate in the a la carte restaurant twice. We even tipped the waiter one night 😂 Sam was a little drunk I might add 🙈 it’s just nice to be served your dinner & take your time, rather than the buffet every night. I did also find some cats too, so they obviously shared my dinner 🙄  but I would highly recommend it if you stay at this hotel, it’s lovely. 

We also spent more time at the beach this year, rather than by the pool. The beach bar was super cute & we added to the cutest little rock display.

Have you ever been to Rhodes? I adore Greece but I’d love your suggestions of where we should go next. Are you going away this year?

Blogging; Meet Pau 💞

Paulina is another girl I chat to daily so I’m so pleased you’ll all get to know her better too. She’s a Mexican beauty living in Scotland, so her Instagram feed is goals
What made you decide to start blogging? 

So I decided to create my own blog because after years and years of reading other people’s blogs I just really wanted to have my own little creative space in the internet. I also wanted to share my opinions, reviews and ideas about all the things that I love! 
Do you having a blogging niche? Or do you just write about whatever you enjoy? 

I don’t think I have a niche as theres a lot of things I love to talk about! I usually blog about fashion, makeup, skincare products and lifestyle things like travel and I want to start writing fitness posts as well as this is a massive part of my life. And of course I have been writing so much wedding content as I’m getting married in December this year 
Who would you say are your blogging inspirations? 

I absolutely love Victoria from inthefrow she’s just wow incredible and such an inspiration as she has managed to grow her brand into a massive thing! Also love Lydia elise millen 
How long have you been blogging? 

Not too long, started in 2017 and I’m not going to lie I haven’t been blogging as much recently as life just gets in the way but I absolutely love it! 
What is your favourite social media platform for sharing your blog?

I use Twitter lots and just share it with my other blogger friends as well!

Any tips for new bloggers? 

Just write about whatever you want and don’t compare yourself with anyone else! It’s all about having fun and being creative ❤

Great tips Pau ☺️ I didn’t realise you hadn’t been blogging for long! I definitely think you should do some fitness posts too

Blogging; Meet Meg 👋🏽

Let’s all say hey to meg! *hey meg* 🙊 Meg is a lifestyle blogger & a food enthusiast (likewise Meg, love food) she is also a surfer & a soon to be author! How exciting!! 

What made you decide to start blogging?
It’s actually quite a long story. Basically… I was about one sleep away from dying to put it simply. I have always been very health focused, I’ve been a surfer since I was 5/6 so being healthy has always been such an important part of my life. My lung collapsed but no one picked it up as I was “too healthy” for it to happen. The night it was picked up was the night I was rushed to hospital with a suspected blood clot on my lung, but it turned out to be a fully collapsed lung which had been down for such a long time that it had fused to my diaphragm and part of it basically died, which meant I had been living off one lung for about a month. I had to have emergency major surgery which was involved having half of my lung removed. I then had to go through very traumatic things after with blood drains etc etc so my anxiety got set off and went through the roof! 
Anyway, fast forward a few months and I started to feel more myself but I wanted to share my story as apparently it was extremely rare (1 case in every 6/7 years!) and it was a great way of helping me cope with and process what I had been through – hence the name “Respirare” means “Breathe” in Italian (it sounded nicer than the British one!) 

Do you have a blogging niche or do you just write about whatever you enjoy?
I never really had a particular thing in mind to blog about, and I never dreamt that it would have become what it is now 12 months later and I’ll always be grateful for the support the community gives me. I’d say it’s mostly lifestyle and travel – I enjoy sharing stories from my trips to other countries and new experiences, I also enjoy reading and I’m trying to do a few more book reviews. 
I’d like to think that there is something on my blog for everyone to enjoy. 

Who would you say are your blogging inspirations?
Wow! This is a really hard one. Within the blogging world (twitter) I’d say @MaudMpp and @HelloBexa – but with YouTube I LOVE Sarah’s Day as she seems to be my better looking double who lives in Australia – we have the same health “issues” and choices etc, so it’s great to watch what she does to keep herself as healthy as possible.
How long have you been blogging? 

It’s coming up to one year in April! I cant believe how fast it’s gone. 

What is your favourite social media platform for sharing your blog? 
Definitely Twitter! I tend to keep Instagram slightly more private, and I feel like Twitter is a better place to reach more people and really interact with them and their content. I do have a Facebook page but always forget to keep it updated! I have a bloglovin’ profile, and I’m going to start a Pinterest! 

Any tips for new bloggers?

•  Take your time
•  Always be true to yourself and never forget why you started
•  Only share what YOU want to share
•  Give support and you will receive it

I feel like I know so much more about Meg now! Thankyou so much for sharing. I am sorry to hear about your health complications. What a truly strong girl you are! You’ve only been blogging a few months & you’re doing fabulously. I wish you every success in the future with your blog too. 

Lifestyle; girls night 🍹

We had a fabulous girly evening this weekend just gone. A lady that I work with owns a little beach shack in snettisham, which is about a 15 minute drive from where we live so it’s super close. I asked if we could stay for a night (I stayed on my birthday 2 years ago as well) & she kindly let us 💁🏽🏡 

When I say a shack, it’s like a cute little home. I could happily live here 😍 

There were 4 of us girls & it has 2 double bedrooms so it was perfect. We got some alcohol, some food & brought our comfiest clothes 🙊 we played some funny games, one where you can’t say fuck? Have you heard of it?! It was brilliant 😂 & drinking games too of course. We blasted the old ‘tunes’ that we used to love when we were teenagers & probably annoyed the neighbours… 🙄 

It’s so pretty here, this is what we woke up to!! 😍 I mean, really, can it get any better?! Everyone around us were out on their canoes in the lake.

What did you get up to this weekend? 

Blogging; A few tips for beginners 👌🏽📝

So by no means am I the best blogger, or the most successful but I do have a few tips for some beginners. I wish I had known a few of these when I first started myself.

First tip; Make friends 👭

I honestly wish I had chatted to people earlier on & been a little more confident with getting my blog out there. I have made some of the best friends because of my blog. I set up a whatsapp group a few months back full of some lovely blogger girls & just girls who love to chat with us all. They love being supportive & reading my blog, as I do theirs too.

Second tip; be confident 💁🏽

I think I had my blog hidden from people I knew for the first 6 months, which to me seems silly now. This meant I didn’t really put it on any social media! You need to be confident & love what you are writing. Trust me the blogging community is huge so there will always be someone who loves your blog. Also sharing it on social media has done me the world of good! These are my stats, you can see the growth 😍😍 I started blogging November 2016 & we are now August 2018. I am almost at the same amount of views for what I had the whole of 2017.

Third tip; drafts 📝

I swear by making a draft every time a good idea pops into my head! I literally just write a sentence or a few words that will help remind me what it was that I was wanting to write about. This has helped me sooo much, it means I will always have a blog post in mind & don’t need to worry too much about writers block. At the minute I have 29 drafts 😂 

Fourth tip; do what you love 💞

There are a lot of different things that happen in the blogging community. Just know that if you don’t want to join in you don’t have to. Join in on the things you love! By this I mean, there tends to be a lot of posts about ‘blogger awards’ which are just like tags, so you answer the questions etc. If you love the idea it can help you grow, but if you don’t love it then just find what you do love? If that makes sense 🙈 I personally love getting involved in Blogmas! 

Fifth tip; photos 📸

I find a lot of my blog posts do really well if the photos are enticing. If they don’t grab someone’s attention, then sometimes the post doesn’t do so well. I absolutely love getting the photos for my posts, it’s my favourite part! But honestly my photos used to be pretty terrible, it takes time to get the hang of it all, I mean look at the difference in these…

I hope this was helpful for people ☺️ 

Dublin; April 2018 🍻🍀

I booked flights to Dublin way back in July for Sam as a present. He does a lot for me so I thought it was my turn to treat him 💁🏽 the flights were with British airways which was a treat as we normally have a budget airline! The hotel we booked on booking.com but the reviews seemed good & it was in the city centre. It was comfy & did the job! If you’re wanting a place to stay we stayed at Academy Plaza & it was £235 for 3 nights 👌🏽

Monday; when we arrived we decided to unpack & have a drink at the hotel to just chill as travelling is quite tiring. I had a couple of mixers & of course Sam had Guinness. When in Dublin & everything hey 😂

We then got ourselves cleaned up & went exploring. We stopped for food at a place called Mexico to Rome. We really rushed this & it really wasn’t anything special! I had fish & chips & Sam demolished his fajitas! 

We walked across the road to the temple bar after this, a place I am sure everyone has heard of. The drinks were stupidly overpriced but the atmosphere was brilliant. It’s a place you really have to go to though as it shows how the Irish live 💁🏽🍻

Tuesday; this was an early start & jam packed day! We had booked to go to Kilmainham Gaol & it didn’t disappoint. I find this kind of stuff really interesting. We had breakfast nearby at a little cafe called lime tree cafe & it was so yum… Plus look how healthy it was. 

When we came out of the gaol it was bucketing it down so we got an uber back to the centre! 

We then went to the Jameson factory… As you do when neither of you really like whiskey 😂 but I did try them all & sort of enjoyed my drink at the end 🙈 this was then followed by a trip to the Guinness factory… Not my kind of drink but Sam loves it 💁🏽 so he had 1 & 1/2 pints 🍻 

My legs honestly ached so much after all of this but we got back to the hotel, got changed & went out for our dinner! We ate at a place called bagots Hutton – look at that handsome man I got to stare at 😍😍 I had bruschetta, followed by a mushroom pasta 😋

Wednesday; we got up & gymmed first before going out for a wander. We stopped for a quick snacky breakfast at the shopping centre first though… Our lives revolve around food I swear. We literally just walked for hours, browsing in some shops & just sightseeing before having some lunch at a place called Alfie’s. If you know me you’ll know why I wanted to visit here… Nothing to do with the dog, nooo 🙄  but the food & cocktails were yum & very well priced.

We then popped to tesco nearby & got a bottle of wine & drank that whilst getting ready for dinner that evening. We ate at Bar Italia this time & I think this was the best place we ate at. I did have bruschetta again, but it is my fav! We had some good drinks & sat & chatted for hours! I love having a bit of time just me & Sam. 

Thursday; we went & got supplies from tesco before coming back to have a quick gym session before getting ready to come home 😔 

I have to say the transport was brilliant we got a bus from outside the hotel to & from the airport for 12€ what a bargain! I loved getting away & doing some exploring. But I am ready to chill now 😂 

Has anybody else ever been to dublin? 

Caitlin xo 

Holidays; Places I’d love to visit ✈️🌍

As most of you know (if you really know me then you won’t be surprised at this post) I looove to go on holiday! So I thought I’d share with you some places that I’d really like to visit! 

Dublin ☘️

I’ve always wanted to visit here! That may surprise some of you as it’s not at least 3 hours away & guranteed sunshine 😂 There is so much to do & I think since I have seen so many people visiting recently it’s made me want to go even more. The Guinness tour being top priority 🙄🍻 haha! I’m not even keen on it. Basically I want to be a proper tourist 😂 open top buses & that 💁🏽 any ideas on where to visit in Dublin would be fab please lovely people! I have booked this for this year.. I can say this now as I have told my other half that we’re going finally! 

Santorini ☀️

I absolutely looove Greece so this would make me so happy if I got to go. I know it’s super expensive compared to the rest of Greece but who cares? It’s so bloody pretty. I literally love white, it’s so fresh looking. Mix that with the sunshine & you can’t go wrong! It just seems like such a beautiful place. Maybe for a honeymoon… 🙄😂 

Iceland 🇮🇸 

Now this, this is top! It’s a completely one off experience to do! The whole package has to be done if you go! I keep looking on secret escapes at this as they always do a good deal. You have to really visit at the right time of year too. This is going to have to be done in 2018/2019! 

Dubai & Mauritius 🌴

I feel like this is going to be one of he most expensive trips of my life, but I have to do it. Luckily sam really wants to go to Dubai so it hasn’t taken much persuading. We are saving for this at the moment, so far I think we’re up to £300! That’s a good chunk. But this is like paradise & I am dying to just lay on a hammock, sipping cocktails, it looks pure bliss! 🐠 

I basically want to go everywhere on holiday… I just love to travel & I love to go to all sorts of places. Where do you really want to visit?! 

Caitlin xo ✈️

Our winter sun holiday; Tenerife 2017 🌴👙

I know it was a little while ago now but I thought I’d tell you all about our holiday to Tenerife! We went on 28th November 2017 for a week & stayed at a hotel called Olé Tropical, playa de las Americas.

The hotel;

So as we arrived we were offered a sparkling wine & chocolates which were obviously welcomed warmly 🙄💁🏽 who wouldn’t be happy? We were checked in & went to find our room, which was pretty easy ☺️ & we were very happy.. it was spacious & clean! Usually we have rooms that are quite small, but this had a separate seating area. Woohoo!! We arrived about 5.30pm so we were starving! We went to get some food & I couldn’t really find much to eat, I ended up with just paella & broccoli 🤔 the waitress kept pushing me to fill in a review form, which I explained a few times I had only arrived an hour ago. Moving on…. we went to get a drink & watch the evening entertainment. I ordered a cocktail & no exaggeration it arrived within 10 seconds… it tasted absolutely vile! I asked Sam to try it & he agreed. The lady asked if it wasn’t any good, so I said no, completely not drinkable. I then decided it would be clever to do shots as they don’t taste nice anyway 🙈😂 yeah… I passed out by 9pm. The food didn’t get any better & neither did the drinks 😭 *FYI I promise I’m not that picky, it really was that bad*

Sams birthday; 

I’ll make this bit quick as I have already done a post about this. I took sooo much stuff to decorate the room for Sam & I think he loved it 😂 balloons everywhere 🎈 & cake. But we went to play mini golf too & drink ourselves into a coma with happy hour cocktails 🍹

 

Eating out;

We pretty much had to eat out 😂 so we did go out quite a few times. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe twice which was sooo good. So much food, we literally couldn’t move 😷 our starter was probably meant for 3/4 people, but we’re proper foodies so we demolished it 😂🍔 we ate at a cute little Spanish restaurant called Friends which was very non commercial, which made it have a nice feel to it. On the walk back from this restaurant we came across a place called monkeys… OH MY GOD. The cocktails are to die for!!!! They were soooo good. They also had an Italian, Asian, Grill & a little bakery!!! We enjoyed it so much we went back 3 times for drinks, but we also ate at the Italian for Sam’s birthday!

Days out;

For Sam’s birthday present I bought us tickets to Loro parque & Siam park. Bit of a pants present but he was grateful he didn’t have to buy them in the end 💁🏽 I know these aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved them & so did Sam. Loro parque was more for me & Siam for him, but anywho… The sea lions are my favourite & the Penguins.. Aww so cute! It was quite a long day though, plus I spent all of my day taking photos & videos 🙈 ! Siam was a quicker day, it was in walking distance… You know what was really nice, having no phone for the whole day, not knowing the time & not caring. Just enjoying the water park, lazing about on the lazy river, going on lots of water slides. Having proper thrill seeking fun. 

We’re not having a ‘hot holiday’ this year… Stay tuned to my blog lovelies & you will find out why! 😘  are you going anywhere this year? 

Caitlin xo 🌴 

Blogmas; day 9 🎉🎁

Sorry lovelies! Today isn’t Christmas related… Just want to share with you how we spent my other halves birthday 🎁🎉 (which was December 1st) we can’t have Christmas until after his birthday….

I ordered loads of balloons etc for him & decorations. Nobody wants a naff birthday after all. We were in Tenerife & I thought I needed to do something to show him how happy he makes me! So while he was at the gym that morning I literally went over the top with decorating our room ☺️

I ordered a cake too before we went so that I could still sing to him, terribly 😂😂 he loves  my singing really…. I’ll tell you all about the cake in another post by the way, so yum.

We went out to play a bit of mini golf & have a few… too many cocktails… Haha we went at happy hour & I promised I’d treat him to some drinks so we had to have more than one. They even put a sparkler in his drink 😍🍹

We then went out for dinner in the evening & had some lovely food at a place called monkeys & few more drinks of course 🙄 they literally had the best cocktails ever. If you know me you know I love cocktails so that is a bold statement…

Sam says: ‘I’m not a big one for celebrating my birthday but Caitlin made this such a special one I couldn’t not enjoy it. From the effort of taking cakes and balloons (sacrificing her luggage allowance for makeup & products) to making sure we did something she knew I’d enjoy and she probably wouldn’t. Had a great week away in Tenerife but it wouldn’t matter where in the world I was or what we were doing I know it would have been extra special with Caitlin 💕’ 

He really wasn’t looking forward to his birthday, not that he’s old.. Even though he thinks he is 🙈  so I tried my hardest to make it fun ⛳️ 

Caitlin xo