The Smuggler's Cove at Albert Dock, Liverpool

My little sister is now 15 (they grow up so fast!) and she recently messaged me on Instagram to ask if I'd go shopping with her to buy her first high-end make up products. As she lives near Liverpool, I don't get to see her too often but I had already made plans to visit my brother in Manchester so figured I could nip across the M62 while I was up that way. In the end, our brother and dad came too so we had a nice little Bedbug Family day out! 

Almost Famous, Manchester

When I visited my brother in Manchester, which feels like ages ago now, I was completely overwhelmed by how many interesting bars and restaurants there were. I pretty much wanted to go to all of them which wasn't entirely possible since I only stayed one night. However, Jamie was very keen for me to visit Almost Famous, which he assured me sells the best burgers.

Walking the Cobbles // Coronation Street Tour

When I was growing up, our TV was always on ITV at 7:30pm. Although I never would have called myself a Coronation Street fan per se (apart from 1999 when I was in love with Adam Rickett and was most disappointed to be on my residential school trip when Nick married Leanne, complete with a bare-chested bed scene), it was a big part of my childhood and I was super eager to visit the Coronation Street Tour in Manchester. Finally, this week, my brother Jamie- who lives a mile down the road from the tour- and I got the chance to walk the cobbles ourselves. 

The Language of Love

As Brits, many of us tend to keep our true feelings under wraps, but French fashion label La Redoute has created a beautiful campaign in which they ask viewers to really think about the language of love, encouraging us to be a little more French and speak from the heart. Although I probably tell Rich I love him a little too much, I find it a lot more difficult to be open with my family. With a little prompting from La Redoute, I've decided to open up and share how I really feel.

Grandma

Dear Grandma, Thank you for inspiring me in every aspect of my life: Career, relationships and, of course, style. Thank you for trusting in me and believing in everything I've done. Thank you for supporting me and taking me in when I was in times of need, even if you didn't fully understand my reasons. Thank you for giving me a model of life and family to aspire to. Thank you for instilling your passions in me from a young age- It's because of you that I read, learn and teach. Thank you for providing us with a stable home growing up. Thank you for always being there and always thinking of me. I love you with all my heart. 

Mummy

Dear Mummy, (Yes, I'm 26 years old and I call my mum "Mummy"!) Thank you for doing everything in your power for me & Jamie growing up. Thank you for putting up with me even when I was an angsty teen. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made for us and I'm sorry I didn't appreciate them at the time. Thank you for never judging me and for letting me live my own life and make my own mistakes. Thank you for always making me laugh with the silly things you get up to. And thank you for passing on your genes to me- I hope I look as young as you do in the future! 

Jamie & Myles

Dear Jamie, Thank you for always being there for me growing up (apart from the 15 months before you were born, of course!). Thank you for putting up with me getting bored and hanging up on you all the time. Thank you for telling me questionable, inappropriate jokes and telling me whenever something macabre is in the papers. Thank you for understanding my love for Alan Rickman and for buying me Snape's wand that time. 
Dear Myles, Thank you for making me laugh more than anybody else can. Thank you for going to see girly films with me even when you really don't want to. Thank you for still saying sweet things even though you're a too-cool-for-school teenager now. Thank you for being the little brother I always wanted (I'm joking, Jamie!). 

I truly love all of you, even if I don't say it enough. Thank you for being my family. 

iPod photo binge

I'm one of those people who takes photos of everything, all the time. It drives people absolutely nuts but I can't help it. If I see something, and I like it, I have to snap a photo. The upside of this is that I have loads of great, fun images but, of course, nobody ever sees them. It seems a shame to keep them stored up on my devices for only my eyes, so I'm starting a new monthly series where I will share my favourite photos from the past month that haven't had a place elsewhere.

Since this is the first one, my photos are from the past 6 months or so, and I'm starting with my iPod. 

This sums up our daily life pretty well// I wish I'd bought this Primark visor. I kind of dig it.
Eating healthily with Marie and Leona// Roar! I'm a lion! 

Travelodge mirror shot// Queuing at Alton Towers
Marie aka Moreen// With my brother and sister

Myles' attempt at using chopsticks// Fish face train selfie
Look at all the arcade tickets Myles and I won!// Playing with wigs at 2000 Trees

England Wedding

On the morning of our English wedding, my beautiful bridesmaids (Marie, Leona and Laura) came to get ready with me, along with Chelsea and Marie's mum Grace, who had very sweetly made a whole load of cupcakes for the reception. 

As always, time seemed to be slipping away from me but, somehow, we managed to get ready perfectly on time and meet our guests at the pub where we had our meal. The food- a calamari starter followed by chicken roast dinner- went down really well and, after we'd all eaten, we headed down Winchester High Street to the Guildhall.

While I was getting ready, Rich and Matt had decorated the venue completely by themselves and they did such a good job. They'd hung bunting flags between the arches, sprinkled confetti on the tables and created adorable centrepieces. I could not have been prouder of them! Unfortunately, in all the hubbub, I didn't get a photo of the room before everybody came along, but this phone photo gives you a little idea of what it looked like. I had a minor meltdown over the chairs, which were supposed to be white, but once everyone was sitting down, we didn't even notice. 

While everyone arrived, Rich, Matt and Laura disappeared into a side room with my brother Jamie, who has a food and catering background, to make up our mini pavlova wedding cake. It was delicious! 

After a little while, we headed to the cathedral to take some more formal photos. 

This is one of my favourite photos because of the photobombers behind us. 

After taking the photos, we headed back to the venue for our first dance to The Beatles' When I'm Sixty Four.

Most people stayed sitting down and chatting. My family are pretty spread out so they don't often see each other and I think they appreciated the opportunity to catch up, rather than burning up the dance floor. It was ok though- My girls more than filled the floor with their funky moves!

It was really difficult talking to everybody. I have a huge, complicated family so I was whizzing around trying to speak to everyone, which I didn't quite manage.

There was a very posh, snooty wedding reception taking place in the huge hall upstairs. For a while I'd been wondering whether I would one day regret not having a full-on, traditional wedding. With the guests from upstairs walking past our room and looking down their noses while we blared Baby Got Back, I was hit with the realisation that our wedding was absolutely perfect. It may be tacky to talk about money, but our wedding reception cost under £2000, including room hire, catering for 40 and decorations. When we were packing up, I realised that, had I spent £30,000, the day would have been the same length of time and I would still end up going back home with my husband the next day. I can't imagine how anti-climactic it would have felt the next day if I had spent my entire life savings. 

Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. At least, they were too polite to tell us if they didn't! Afterwards, Laura and Matt stayed behind to help us clear up and we headed to our hotels. We met up the next morning, as well as Jamie and his girlfriend Lauren, to hang out in Winchester before heading home in the evening. It was so amazing to celebrate our wedding with all our family and friends in one place.

A visit from my family

This weekend has been insanely busy. In between jetting off (well, railwaying off) to London, Bath and Bristol, I managed to squeeze in a time for a visit from my dad, brother and sisters who were down from Liverpool.

Here's my sisters! Millie, on the left, is 13 and Eleanor is 11. 

They're both very athletic girls, especially Millie. She has been a gymnast for a quite a few years now, so she's very supple!

I don't quite have the same gymnastic skill!





Eleanor's outfit is "all Primark and Peacocks". 


I love her polkadot Primark satchel.





We decided it would be nice to take some proper family portraits. Jamie and I couldn't resist messing around at the back!

Eleanor suggested we all imitate our dad with big, cheesy, Wallace and Gromit-style grins.

I love this photo of the three generations of my family. My grandma is such a stylish lady. Look at her gorgeous outfit! 

As we left, it transpired that Eleanor had hidden from us. I wonder where she could have been...

By the way, if you enjoy reading my blog and would like to see me up for a Cosmopolitan Blog Award, you can nominate me for Best Lifestyle Blog here. I'll send virtual cake to everyone who nominates!