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Our 2016 Pumpkin Carving Party

14 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by lotales in Make, Things I do

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friends, Halloween, pumpkin carving party, pumpkins

I meant to share this last year but never got round to it, and in a phone clear out session I saw all the pics and felt sad I’d never share them so (although it’s technically December 2016) I thought I’d be all super prepared and share them in advance for 2017… 

This is how you have yourself a pumpkin carving party….

1, buy pumpkins

2, collect together all your pumpkins carving tools (scrapers/spoons/knives/stabby things etc) 

3, gather friends

4, give friends hot rum & cider punch

5, put on a Halloween play list

6, encourage pumpkin carving rivalry and healthy competition

7, finish and bask in glory of skills

8, take awesome pumpkins outside, fill with candle light and take a million photos

9, return inside and line up pumpkins in fireplace

10, put on cheesy Halloween film and feed friends warming food! 

So there you have it! Follow these simple steps and you’ll have yourself a ball!!! 🎃

Here’s some pics….





Blurry Drunken Thursdays and London Adventures

22 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by lotales in Places I go, Things I do

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best friends, Blogger, Blurry photos, Culture, drunken nights out, friends, fun times, London, Redemption, Uk Blogger, Undressed, V&A, Vegan food

It’s not often that I go out and have a drink (or in this case like 18 drinks…) on a school night anymore. Rewind 5 years and school night drinking was a weekly occurrence. But these days… not really (blame my lightweight fiancé or my old age if you will but either way it hardly ever happens)

Which is why this night was so very fun and I had to share. These pics have been hiding in the back of ‘My Pictures’ file for a few months now but better late then never hey!?!

So I was up in London for a conference for work, but stayed on a few days to see some friends and check out the Undressed exhibition at the V&A. Let’s get the sensible grown up stuff out the ways first shall we!?

Drunken shenanigans don’t seem so bad if you’ve also enjoyed a vegan lunch date and a bit of culture! 😉

The first treat of my little break was a lunch date with the beautiful Lacey! She took me to the most amazing little vegan restaurant in Shoreditch called Redemption and we had the most delicious meal!

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I also took myself to the V&A to see the awesome Undressed exhibition. Any one who knows me knows I’ve got a thing for lingerie so this exhibition was amazing. Unfortunately you couldn’t take photos so you’ll have to make do with my sketches and a sneaky peek!

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Obviously whilst at the V&A on a sunny day you have to have lunch in the courtyard and take the obligatory blown glass chandelier photo….

dscf3670 dscf3676 dscf3678But it’s what happened on my Thursday evening in London that I really wanted to share…. I met up with my beautiful best friend Kel and her now fiancé in a bar in Clapham and we had ourselves a, well quiet a few bottles of Prosecco…

The photos need no explanation, just good friends, even better times, befriending strangers, dancing on tables, silly posing and a whole load of drunken blurry photos! Here’s to you two babes… I felt awful the next day but looks like we had a super fun evening!! xx

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A weekend with my bestie

18 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by lotales in Things I do

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blog, Bridesmaid, food, friends, fun times, lifestyle blogger, London, Oyster Shed, Uk Blogger, weekend away

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Last month I got to spend a weekend with one of my most favouritist people. Miss Rebecca Higgins, former roommate and ultimate babe is my wedding twin (weddings a month apart and got engaged within a week of one another) and I also have the huge privilege of being B’s bridesmaid, something which fills me with such warm gooey feelings you wouldn’t believe it!

The main reason for the visit was to make a start on her amazing favours which I have offered to help B with, these are top secret (but so frigging cool) I’ll share some pics after her wedding so not to ruin the surprise! But we also managed to squeeze in some fun (obviously)

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On the first night we went out for a super lovely dinner at the beautiful Oyster Shed on the Thames and B also treated me to a morning of hot yoga and a swim at her super swanky gym (seriously if my gym was like that I’d never leave haha)

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We also browsed Selfridges dress department with bridesmaid dresses in mind and had some lunch!

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For two brides to be we’re very cool with relaxing the diet and putting good food first! haha!!

Here’s to you B, Bestest friend and beautiful bride to be…. roll on the next 10 months of planning and gossip and goodtimes xxx (ps, how beautiful is london at night?)

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A day at the seaside

15 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by lotales in Southsea

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Tags

bandstand, Day at the Beach, days out, family, friends, goddaughter, icevream, mini golf, southsea

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I love living where I do. I know most people in Southsea feel the same way too. When friends come to visit for the day, a simple walk to the end of the road is all the entertainment that we require. No entertainment, toys or gadgets required… just a stretch of beach and a bit of mini golf!

A couple of weekends ago I was joined by a few special people for a traditional Southsea Saturday… We rode a giant swan, bounced around for a while, drew photos in the sand, enjoyed some ice-cream, danced at the bandstand, ate a cone of chips, paddled in the sea and had the worlds longest game of mini golf.

I snapped some snaps as I normally do so here’s a few…

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Adventures in Brixton

15 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by lotales in Places I go

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Airbnb, British Museum, Brixton, Brixton Pop, Brixton Village, French & Grace, friends, Gails Bakery, Getaway, London

So one of my best buds (the lovely Simon Taggart) now resides in San Francisco with his lovely lady CJ. What with him being there and me being here, catch ups are few and far between. So when he messaged to say there were stopping over in London for a few days as part of a month long European adventure, I immediately booked some time off work, and him in the diary!

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Si had booked a cute little crash pad in Brixton on Airbnb and once we’d dumped the bags we headed out in the glorious sunshine to Camden where we drank gin in the sunshine and ate arepas from an amazing little stall… we then browsed the famous Camden market stalls.

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That evening we headed to the Windmill Pub in Clapham for dinner whilst the boys watched the footy then moseyed ‘home’.

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The next day,we started our day with a rather scrumptious breakfast at Gail’s bakery…

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With full bellies we headed to The British Museum for a bit of culture.

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Then it was time for a bit of a leisurely stroll through soho and St James Park and a cute little house in the middle of the park!

DSCF3794 DSCF3796 That evening we had ourselves a little mexican feast in Brixton…

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The following morning once we’d packed up the house, had some breakfast and said farewell to our lovely friends we headed to Brixton Village.

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I’d never been before and absolutely loved it. So much colour and vibrancy and things I wanted to buy!

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We had a beer and some goyza in Pop Brixton and then went off exploring…

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We ended our Brixton adventure back in the village for an amazing late lunch in French & Grace. F&G are an integral part of the Brixton Village food community. Their teeny tiny little restaurant – a unique, homely and intimate nook in the beating heart of the Brixton Village neighbourhood serving up a mash up of British and Middle Eastern cuisine in the most scrumptious wraps imaginable!

Serious yum! I’ll definitely be returning again soon!

 

Birthday BBQ for my Bestie

13 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by lotales in Southsea, Things I do

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Tags

BBQ, friends, Gardens, southsea, summer

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Last month it was one of my beautiful besties birthday. We took advantage of the beautiful British sunshine and enjoyed a BBQ in her recently done up garden!

Anna is my most colourful friend and her garden is no exception… Little pops of colour everywhere, miss matched patterns and prints, oh and kitties, some pretty special kitties.

I snapped some pics of food, friends and garden I thought I’d share with you. (ps the food was v.good… apologies friends, there’s a lot of mid eating pics!)

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10 year Re-Uni-On

09 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by lotales in Things I do

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BBQ's Blogging, friends, Lifestyle blog, Old friends, re-uni-ons, summer, Uni Friends, University reunions

Scary fact but I graduated 10 years ago… 10…TEN!!! I’m not exactly sure how that happened but I’m sure glad it did! Whilst at Uni I met a collection of the best girls you could wish for.

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Whilst some have stayed close to uni, others have returned home or moved away to somewhere new altogether and over the years with various jobs, homes, husbands and children vying for our attention reuniting as a full set has become more and more difficult.

We had hoped, as a way of celebrating 10 years of post graduation life, that we might get a full set together, but alas, this didn’t quite happen and we were missing our dear Fili.

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The rest however all made their way back to Portsmouth (where we all studied) with husbands and children in tow and enjoyed a sun filled weekend of good friends, good food and seriously cute kids!

Our day started at the Southsea Food Festival, then we headed to the Common for some true Southsea hangs, Lounging on the grass, eating spoils from the food stalls and watching the girls play!

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After that it was back to Chlo’s where fellow fashion girl Emma and her crew joined us for a glorious BBQ & plentiful Pimms! Don’t you just love the summer!?

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The weekend was also pretty special as it was our first time meeting the newest of the Fashion Girls Miss Amelia! Utter beauty and captivator of everyones heart!

It was so cute seeing all the girls together. Whilst they need to work on their posing skills, the new generation of fashion girls are a pretty swell bunch and you just know they’re gonna be proper little friends!!!

DSCF4163Till next time girls xxx

A Weekend in Winchester

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by lotales in Things I do

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blogging, friends, fun times, garden, summer, Tortoises, Uk Blogger, Winchester

A few weeks back my In-Laws to be went away for a weekend on a little thank you trip which we’d brought for them as a thank you for sending us all to Orlando.

We offered to house/cat/tortoise sit for them over the weekend.

It happened to be that really hot weekend in May when it was like summers from when you were a kid… beautiful hot sunny days, balmy nights and icecream!

I took a particular shine to Thomas the Tortoise (Billie I don’t think is so keen on me – haha) Thomas isn’t very well so we had to take extra time to hand feed him dandelion flowers which I really enjoyed.

Our Zissou besties also joined us and we enjoyed a somewhat disastrous yet amusing night out followed by some prime car booty fun and a pub lunch…

We left feeling like we’d had a proper little holiday and it made me long for a garden of our own!

Here’s a couple of snaps of our weekend… i didnt take many as I was too chilled doing…well… not a lot! 🙂

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Lisa & Henry

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by lotales in Family, Things I do

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blog, celebration, friends, friends wedding, London Wedding, wedding, Wedding Blog, Wedding Day

Whilst we’re on the wedding train…. Here’s another beautiful day I had the pleasure of attending last…. well almost a year ago (don’t judge me)…

Very different from The DeBohan’s colourful country day, Lisa and Henry got married in January in a stylish laid back family oriented day in Richmond/Barnes.

I have known Lisa for years and this beauty wowed in her unexpected classic big dress, the ceremony took place in the stunning Orleans House Gallery, the reception in the couples favourite local eatery the laid-back Sonny’s Kitchen in Barnes.

Another amazing day with The Southsea Alternative Choir adding some musical flair, the most delicious food, way too much dancing and two superheroes keeping everything in check! What a blooming lovely day & what’s not to love!

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Stella & Dot

30 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by lotales in Fashion, Shopping

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cocktails, fashion jewellery, friends, jewellery, Jewellery party, jewellery shopping, online shopping, party, shopping, silver jewellery, Stella & Dot, Stella & Dot Trunk Show, The Magpie Mother, Trunk Show

11891078_1686365211582538_7512339360326123857_nOn Thursday I had the honour of hosting my first Stella & Dot party.

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For those not in the know Stella and Dot is an American based jewellery company and the brain child of San Francisco based Jessica Herrin. Jessica, a mother of two, had a vision to create a new kind of company that would offer career alternatives and flexible entrepreneurial opportunities for women.

Jessica’s vision called for an entirely new concept that could guarantee women flexibility, reward, style, profit and fun. With an irresistible product and exceedingly personal service, a proven formula for passionate earning and personal success was born.

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Stella & Dot’s boutique-style jewellery and accessories are available exclusively through in-home Trunk Shows lead by independent stylists like my dear friend Chloe over at The Magpie Mother.

Their collections are designed by celebrated New York designers and featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia and Elle as well as on the wrists and necklines of today’s hottest celebrities. The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent and The Telegraph have praised Stella & Dot for our innovative social shopping concept which brings together the best of ecommerce, social media, personal service and passionate earning to create the ultimate home based business for today’s modern woman.

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So there you go…. there’s the business bit, now lets talk about the jewels……

As many of you know, I’m a jewellery girl, I have bangles on my wrists that haven’t come off in 5 years, I collect rings from around the world and the back of my door is basically a jewellery store! So you could say I was a little excited when Chloe mentioned to me about hosting a party.

She came up with the genius idea of a ‘gin and jewels’ themed evening…. I was sold!

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The fact the evening would also mean I could bust out my new/old globes drinks cabinet may have been the icing on the cake…

I sent invitations to all the jewel loving ladies I knew, and after a few last minute cancelations and no-shows I still had a living room full of beautiful ladies so I was happy!

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Chloe beautifully delivered her intro…. talking about the company and it’s ethos. Then we all played a little party game, think pass the parcel for adults (with alcoholic prizes don’t ya know!)

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After that Chloe showed off some of her favourite pieces and the catalogues were passed round so people could browse whilst I played host and make cocktails for all!

The evening also presented me the opportunity of using the cocktail cards I had made for a friends hen do, in the end they never got used so it was lovely to be able to use them, and apparently, all concoctions tasked pretty good!! double hoo-rah!

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Now I must admit I was happily surprised at the jewellery, at a first glance I considered it all a bit blingy for my tastes, but I was proved wrong. Having items there in the flesh to try on and handle was really good, the pieces were stunning, obviously some were still a little diamonté for me, but lots of it wasn’t, and there was a lot that was added to my ‘wish list’ Here are a couple of my most lusted over items: one, two, three.

Another thing I was really impressed about was how versatile the jewellery is, necklaces you can wear 5 ways, earrings that can be swapped around and worn back to front, it’s all very clever with compromising the look of the pieces! oh and the packaging is beautiful too!

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I had a mix of all ages in the room, from 20’s through to 60’s and everyone found something they wanted, so that’s a testament right there to the likability of the collections.

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Now the clever thing is that my ‘trunk show’ is still live online. Meaning that if you were unable to attend, or came but now regret not getting something you still can purchase something from Stella & dot and as your host I still get some benefits if you stop via my link! Yay!! So here’s the link. Please feel free to share with others… My trunk show remains ‘live’ until the 17 September, so plenty of time to have a browse and treat yourself, or a friend for that matter!!

And there you go! A thoroughly enjoyable evening with good friends, gin and jewels…. what’s not to love!

I will definitely host another one later in the year!! till then….11953058_1686365641582495_1005354491142490462_n

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Ami Lowman is a maker, blogger & owner of the creative brand Mia Mai who lives with her fiancé in the seaside town of Southsea, Uk.

Ami is currently planning the wedding of their dreams, loves all things vintage, takes too many photos and has a thing for the old, weird and forgotten.

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