A Classic Shirt Dress & Riviera Wishing

Summertime and my news feed is full of exotic holiday pictures in countries where the sand is white and the sea is crystal clear blue. It makes me jealous. I have never experienced such tropical holidays but to be honest, until now I have never really wanted to. I have always been so happy with France and the culture over there has sufficed my need for exotic travel. I mean I remember as a kid going down to the Dordogne and the heat was just something I will never forget. Then in more recent years paddling in The Alps in natural lakes up there and just I suppose always getting my holiday fill. This year however the richness of a holiday destination has been something I have really been drawn to. I have always wanted to travel the whole south coast of france, Nice, Manaco, Cannes the whole area of the Cote D'Azur or the French Riviera. This absolute want to travel down there however was also confirmed recently after getting a little bit hooked on Julie Styles' new series for Sky, 'Riviera'. With a huge amount of suspense and with a thriller story line, not only did the wardrobe of Julia make me green with envy but the setting of the series was just so gorgeous. That whole area just makes me want to take 3 weeks out and drive along it all. Maybe next year, maybe in a few but I so want to go there and enjoy the warmth and to be honest the luxury.

As I mentioned it wasn't just the series of 'Riviera' that got me all excited but the production wardrobe was just awesome and right up my street. Cool dresses, floaty, wide leg trousers, lots of white; it just oozed class {and wealth} and I in turn have tried to recreate some simple styles for my summer wardrobe. Luckily as all the outfits were unbranded and used lots of floaty ciffon and silk style blouses, I had a few copycat pieces which I have been able to use, but some of the shirt dresses that were worn just seemed to look so simple and easy to wear that I found myself looking at one in MARKS & SPENCER and thinking, ''That's what Julia Styles would wear in Riviera!'' Yep, I was hooked and it is the perfect season to be watching it getting excited for summer fashion.

Effortlessly cool, lightweight, gorgeous colour. What's not to love? Also did I mention long sleeves and pockets? Yep, thought that would really make you want it. A beautiful piece to enjoy looking out over sunny Lincoln in and wishing that maybe the blue sea was looking back. 

DRESS / SHOES / BASKET / EARINGS {H&M}

Christmas In July; The Start Of My Mark Warner Journey

{Photo Credit to Caro @ The Twinkles Diaries}

My head is all over the place at the minute. The lead up to the summer holidays was busy with making sure Raph had the right things at the right time for school; sports equipment, plastic bags, teachers' gifts, the last week just ended up as a blur and in the midst of all that happening one of our biggest events this year all got confirmed and booked. If you have been following this blog for a while you will know that at the beginning of the year I won an application to become one of six Mark Warner Mums. A competition to possibly become an ambassador for the year to the wonderful brand that is MARK WARNER. It was an absolutely amazing time, finding out and then having the opportunity to meet all the other blogger mums was really just amazing. All of us were really hyped on the experiences we were going to have and were thoroughly looking forward to the opportunity we have been given. With the summer holidays starting, a few of the team have been and had their holidays in beautiful hot countries; Dear Little Daisy went to Sardinia, Rainbeaubelle has been in Levante, Not Another Mummy Blog has also been to Lakitira. Wonderful bloggers showcasing what MARK WARNER has to offer.

{Photo credit to Caro @ The Twinkle Diaries}

Our plan however is a little different. I did not opt for sun, sea and sand, but instead we are going away up the mountains in December this year to catch the early ski season at Tinges, France. When the email dropped into my inbox I think  my jaw hit the floor. Not only is this experience a truly wonderful thing to have been offered but it was almost the confirmation I needed that it was actually going to happen. Here I am in the height of British summertime watching fellow Mark Warner Mums set off into the sun and I have just had my snowy winter adventure confirmed. 

{Photo credit to Caro @ The Twinkle Diaries}

I can't explain my excitement but I can tell you that this is going to be something our children will never forget. December; snow! What more is needed! Is there a better way to get ready for Christmas than cruizing in the snow? 

I then started to panic slightly, actually how good at skiing are we? Can I even cope with kids on a plane, how do I pack???

With all these thoughts running through my head I took a moment to round up some of the past Mark Warner Mums and see who else had been off skiing as their chosen break. 

What I seem to understand is that not only is everybody simply gushing about the wonderful experiences they have had but every one is so happy, and with Ski abilities totally ranging it seems MW have everything on hand to make sure you get the best opportunities once you are out there. 

Fancy taking a look yourself? Why not check out:

AMY TREASURE

CAPTURE BY LUCY

THE TWINKLE DIARIES

MINI TRAVELLERS

Just looking through their amazing pictures gets me all excited. What amazing memories have been made and it makes me so excited to know what is coming for us. 

For me, my mind is now filling up with planning, not only our actual Christmas celebrations and the madness that will go on throughout December anyway but also a Ski trip that is going to be happening right at the center of this wonderful time. Bring it on!

* Thank you to fellow bloggers for allowing me to use their links.

Children's Books, Local Theatre & becoming the one who cries.

I used to always laugh when my mum cried at things, not serious things, like films and stuff. It's always the parents who cry isn't it? And I used to wonder why, why did everything seem to affect them more than me. Now, now I get it. Honestly. Since having kids it's like I just cry at everything. Seriously, everything. And it is so strange, I know there are obvious emotional changes that take place; your loving capacity grows tenfold and then anything to do with kids, your own or others you become 100% more emotional about. Let's not even talk about Children in need or Red Nose Day {rob included in this}, just don't bother talking to us, we are a total mess. But this emotion which I know has only really come with having children and getting older appears at the most bizarre times. Even super cute things of our kids doesn't always make me cry but recently, there was one poignant moment which really caught me off guard and by surprise. 

We started going to the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre on a regular basis to see touring companies perform a range of things and this is something I have written about in recent months, but I have to be honest and say that when I went and did a group booking of tickets for different up and coming events this was the one that I was most excited for. The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr has become a firm favourite in our home. A real family favourite which we have never bored of and never will. Are you familiar with it? If not, you need to be. It is a wonderful children's book; a story of a family who have an unexpected visit from a Tiger who then eats all the food in the house. It is actually one of the most simple stories for a child to understand. In fact, some of the lines the children know and it is so nicely written that it picks up its own natural rhythm when you read it. I love that, when children learn parts that they join in at. Anyway, as well as being a firm favourite we have actually also blogged about this book a few times before. It seems to come up in conversation a lot and it just is a book that when the kids are older I know we will still talk about. 

The performance itself was fantastic. In fact if you have the opportunity to see where it is touring {HERE}, go see it because it is brilliant. A fantastic adaptation of a book which only takes 10 minutes to read. But throughout the play the use of exact wording from the book is so common and it was this that started to pull at my emotions. Not only was the acting brilliant and it had me hooked as much as the kids but, my goodness, at the end when they said the same finishing line as the book I just felt my emotions well up and I even looked to Rob and said "I am gonna cry at this". It was just the most perfect retelling of something I loved and to this day {3 weeks later} we are still singing the songs and talking about it because we so enjoyed it. 

I know for a fact the tears are coming as things start to change. The children are growing up and the lovely experiences we are having are just filling our lives with such amazing feelings. Theatre is great anyway and I have written before about how much I love going as a family but this experience was really something and I am so glad to have been able to see this story come to life in front of me and give me that moment to become so wrapped up in the emotion of the story. Seriously, if you don't, start taking your kids to the theatre; it opens up so much opportunity.

New Season Now With Laura Ashley

I can't help it. It happens the same way every year. Summer hits and my eyes are already on thinking about autumn dressing; it's my favourite season. It always has been and that's because it is always perfect. I mean in nature, it it truly beautiful; the colour change of the season is it's most dramatic I think and usually the weather is great. Cooling off but still plenty of sunny days. I love those bright, cold days, they are quite my favourite, and as my favourite clothing item has always been coats and boots, it gives me a chance to layer up after a summer of camis and sandals. 

I think as I have my birthday in August I learned in my teens to ask for clothes for winter time. I didn't get the chance to wear nice new summer clothes for long enough as I would wait until then and inevitably have a very wet august. Nowadays my birthday is the time to ask for a new coat and some boots, I mean, they are already in the shops and you can begin to see autumn trends filtering through. Some people struggle with that but I love it. I love it more being able to buy now knowing that actually this is going to see me out of the summer and well into winter. 

Laura Ashley have just started to drop their Autumn lookbook and as soon as I saw it I got excited. They feature some of my favourite colours and combinations that I know are just going to look perfect with tights and boots and a good coat.

For me, dresses are the key. I used to wear dresses every single day, before kids; loved them. But now jeans take up most of my wardrobe. That didn't stop me however when I saw what was new on the website. I mean, dresses, tights and boots are the dream really and I can see me wearing more of these as I become a bit more child free come September. Jeans are practical, dresses bring a bit more of something special. 

As I said, I was looking at what was new now in preparation for autumn really and stumbled across a couple of dresses that will see you through the warm days of summer and layer beautifully when Autumn hits. 

The first thing to point out is the colour. The mixture of shades of green and teal are a great colour for now. Against tanned skin they really pop and are vibrant enough to have as a summer print, but come September when you might want a pair of tights on, their dark base colour means that they will match perfectly, and I can really imagine these looking perfect with tan boots. These dresses are made to team with tan boots aren't they? They just have that look about them. 

I love the v neckline and the wrap dress particularly carries such a nice feature. It's almost vintage in style and the length is perfect for day wear or for a more dressy occasion.

 I must say, usually I hate jersey dresses like this beautiful long sleeved one, I always think they look wrong on me but the print and colour are so rich that with simple brown heels and my straw shopping basket it looks so effortlessly easy, but that's because it is, just pull it on and go.

These two new dresses are perfect for now and are going to be even better in the autumn. What kinds of things do you like to buy now knowing that you are going to cross over the seasons with it?

*Post in collaboration with Laura Ashley

Copenhagen #FOUR {Architecture}

I don't think I have ever appreciated the art of architecture. I mean, I can be a mean critic of building design and I do find real interest in it, but maybe I never saw what the idea was behind some styles or maybe I just choose to ignore that and judge a building on whether it looked good or bad. 

We took a metro ride out of town and into an area called Orestad. It is almost like a new suburb that is being built and the overground took you through a few stops meaning you could see construction alongside the new buildings. We got off one before the last stop but you could have got off at the end and experienced the same thing. This metro was in a straight line. It left the city turned a corner once on its way out from underground and proceeded to show the building of a new world in a perfectly straight line. It was the most unreal view and being on the train you could see straight out the front and see this side of town just start to appear in the form of amazing buildings one after the other perfectly in line with the trainline

It was really interesting and we had read that it was worth visiting just to see how it is being built as construction is going on now. It wasn't busy but there were people at the train stops and it just looked awesomely consistent like every building was designed by the same person as it was just so perfect looking. That was the most modern architecture and was all in one place. In the city there was the fantastic diversity of old and new, converted and updated or just left how they were and it was really wonderful to see. I really love old buildings with intricate brick detail and I love how the tops of so many Danish builds have a lovely shape. I hadn't appreciated how much they like colour though and Nyhavn especially was a beautiful area, along the canal where you had coloured flat fronted buildings against a contrast of red brick buildings opposite. 

One of the best things we did which I will talk about more in another post was take a boat tour. It was a brilliant way to view some buildings along the water front especially, but it took us to one of the most expensive areas to live in CPH and it was amazing. By the water is the place to be but this infact was an incredible area that was built on top of an old naval base. It was great to see that the area was still in use and had been turned into something quite incredible. What really got me was an old torpedo hanger that was now flats. It was industrial chic at its finest and just looked fantastic. The original structure was still there as its shell but also as a homage in art for to its original function. 

From the water we were also privileged enough to see the opera house which sits directly opposite the very modern look MAERSK cotainer HQ {they actually donated the opera house to CPH which is incredible}. We also saw the Black Diamond which is an incredible building cover in reflective black glass which sparkles when the sun hits it at the right angle and then saw more historical buildings which were just as amazing against these modern structures.

Another great thing we did to get a great view of the city was climbed the tallest church and to the highest point in the city. Our Saviour's Church in Christenshaven gave you a 360 degree look over the city and it was incredible. The views allowed you to see so much and just gave you another dimension to the streets you were walking down.

The architecture is something you could look at for hours and hours and if you love that it is worth visiting this city just to enjoy the beauty in all the differences. 

I just thought I would share more views that just caught my eye and buildings that I just loved. 

Another reason why CPH is a beautiful place where you can just enjoy the views.