The Harry Potter Studio Tour

One of those day's I forgot to post back when it had just happened (organisation fail) For my 20th birthday present this year, Ben got tickets for the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Being an avid fan of both the movies and books I had already visited the "Harry Potter World" at Universal Studio's in Orlando but was busting to go the tour here in London. Unfortunately Ben had caught conjunctivitis for my birthday and I had managed to avoid it...until the day of Harry Potter Studio's so I apologise for the weird red eye and generally my face looking pretty damn awful. All in all I had a magical (excuse the pun) birthday experience so thank you Ben for my present! 

Here are some of my photographs from the day, are you a fan of Harry Potter and have you ever visited the studio or park?

A Walk in the Countryside

Normally I only visit my dad's house twice a year (even though it is only a half an hour car ride away) as he lives I'm my old hometown where I spent the majority (16 years) of my life growing up. However since my boyfriend had two days off work I thought it would be a brilliant opportunity for him to "get to know" my dad a little better.

We arrived on Friday evening where we were treated to some food at the local pub. I opted for a vegetarian lasagne whilst the boy's went for the Scampi and  Chips deal. It was a lovely evening to just have a chat and a catchup, dad and Ben even had a mutual friend in common...weird!

The next day we woke up bright and early for once (9AM) and munched on our peanut butter and Nutella covered crumpets in front of The Amazing Spiderman.

Here was my outfit for the day:

Jacket - Topshop || Top - Forever21 || Jeans - Forever21 || Pandora Bracelet || Brown Ankle Boots

After breakfast we headed out a walk to a nearby reservoir (popping into the corner shop for some sweeties on the way). We then walked to the nearby park, taking time to stroll past my old house where I spent the first 16 years of my life!

We then walked down to the near-by park where we spent a good few hours playing on the swings, the monkey bars and all-sorts! Seeing that the toddler park was deserted we took over and made good use of the seahorses. However I made the bad decision of boasting that I was small enough to fit in a children's swing; I successfully managed to fit in one but then got stuck, so poor Ben had the struggle of pulling me out (much to my embarrassment).

The big dome swing was my favourite though, as we both laid in the dome enjoying the sunshine and a small breeze; it was like paradise! We stayed in that position for a good hour or so...

We then took ANOTHER walk (see a theme forming here?) to the beach/deserted sand mines where my shoes got ruined by the mud! Although I found a cute two-part seashell and i'm planning to create a necklace from it (blog post coming soon!) 

To end the weekend we drove down to the nearest town with the roof back to make the most of the sunshine, and all three of us (Dad, Ben and I) had an ice cream with a flake. Although we made a quick get away when the swans started chasing us!

Overall It was a beautiful, relaxing and fun weekend that I think ill never forget. Hopefully we'll go back there soon when its hot and go to a proper beach!

How have you been enjoying the April Sunshine?

Trip to NYC: Day 2 - Pancake Day!

Used to UK time, Alice and I (my roommate) woke up at about 3 am in the morning and were unable to get back to sleep. Instead of lazing around in our rooms for a couple of hours we decided to make the most of our trip and head out into a -10 degrees central park.

It was really refreshing to take a small walk in the cold as it woke both of us up and made us much more eager to go to our first art museum of the week.

The Guggenheim was a long walk away from our hotel and some of us were desperate for food when we got there (ie. myself) but despite that you couldn't dismiss the stunning design of the building. The gallery itself was filled to the brim with beautiful paintings and artists including the famous Kandinsky, however I didn't feel like I really connected with any paintings and left the gallery yearning for something a bit more "3-D".

After leaving the gallery we were hoping to find somewhere to eat and headed off in a random direction, unfortunately we managed to walk over 30 blocks the wrong way. A spot of lunch and a long sit down later, we finally arrived at Times Square!

We were all rather tired when we arrived and only managed to visit the Disney store, but we made sure whilst we were there to take lots of pictures of the iconic landmark and visit the famous "Red Steps"!  For dinner that evening we managed to find a local restaurant called "Il Violino" which I highly recommend. It was a cosy italian/french style restaurant which served amazing food and excellent customer service. Of course we didn't forget it was pancake day and made a quick stop to grab a classic nutella (chocolate) crepe on the way back to the Hostel.

#Bbloggerssecretsanta

So recently I took part in a #bbloggerssecretsanta and sent mine off just before christmas to Sarah from Blinkered Barbie. Unfortunately the Post Office must of been very busy as my package didn't arrive until New Years! Even though it arrived late I was still very excited to open my present!

The lovely Nic sent me a little card as-well which I still have sitting on my shelf as we head towards the end of January. I finally unwrapped my mystery box to find an Accessorize Fragrance Set, I had never heard of this set so I was very excited to try it out! Especially as It came from one of my favourite brands.

Inside the box I found two fragrances and a fuchsia coloured pouch to keep them safe. The scents were called "Joy" and "Spirit", you can either wear these fragrances separately or combine them to create a new smell called "Boho". I found that "Joy" was very fruity and fun whereas "Spirit" was a bit more musky and floral, but both were absolutely gorgeous especially when worn as "Boho". Most friends know that I despise long and complicated names for perfume, but I feel these were named perfectly!

A massive thank you goes out to Nic for my gorgeous present. I love it! You can see my #Bbloggerssecretsanta receiver's post here.

Did you take part in a Secret Santa this year? and what gift did you receive?

Leave me a comment down or below or find me on Twitter!

A Trip to the Zoo

Hi guys! This last Monday my boyfriend and I decided to take a trip to down memory lane and head over to Colchester Zoo for the day. We got to the zoo super early to make sure we didnt miss any of the animals and to beat the queue's , however when we got there it was pratically deserted (thankyou winter weather!)

This is us (forgive my lack of makup and dazed look, it was too early in the morning for me!) in the underwater Sea Lion enclosure. Luck was on our side and we had glorius sun all day (even if it was windy aswell). We stayed until about 2.30pm So spent most of the day strolling round the park.

Colchester Zoo recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and is well known for being one of the biggest and best zoo's in the UK. Both me and my boyfriend Ben agreed that a day around the zoo beats lagging around town anyday!

For 4 hours we felt like small children again, bouncing round the park and enjoying the mini-train ride. There was so many different species of animal to see, my favorite (despite myself being a cat lady in training) being the Red Panda, and Ben's being the Monkey's and Fish, specifically the beautiful Orangutang. Unfortunately we kept missing the talk's and feed's by minutes but normally they are a mjust for me as they are so fun to take part in!

I couldn't leave out a picture of the cute small Squirrel Monkey's we found! Myself and Ben fell in love with these gorgeous creatures due to their playfulness and their ability to entertain for hours on end!

So that pretty much sums up our day at Colchester Zoo, Just to let people know, I prepared a picnic for the zoo as I think it was a bit more appropriate, and as I'm a student, money doesnt come easy!

I hope you guy's enjoyed this type of post, as it was fun for me to write!

Click on "Colchester Zoo" to head over to their to their site.

When was the last time you visited the Zoo?

Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!

New Years Resolutions

As a child my new years resolution was always to "Eat Pie". Sad to say I'm 18 now and have still not gone within an inch of any kind of pie, so I decided to start anew and think up some new years resolutions for 2014!

DO MORE BLOGGING

I've hardly been looking to my blog for a while recently (due to some big life changes- which I will talk about later) and it's gotten me really depressed that something I'm really passionate about, has taken a back seat in my priorities list. So starting the 1st of January 2014 I will be blogging everyday. Yes, everyday. I want to put all I have into this blog to make it the best It can be. 12 blog posts are waiting in the wings already so I hope you enjoy reading them when they are published!

GET A JOB

One of the reasons I've been away for so long Is that I found a part-time job at Wilkinsons Retail. However it was only a temporary contract over the Christmas period, so I am now jobless (and without money to buy my weekly beauty treats). So, being a motivated girl I am already handing out CV's to everywhere and anywhere, and hopefully this persistence will pay off.

30 MINUTES OF EXERCISE DAILY

I have finally found the motivation to do some exercise and get fit again after a 3 year break from dance lessons. Now I'm not one of those induviduals who find it easy to go to the gym weekly or get up at 5am each morning to run, so instead I have decided to give "Zumba" a try! I will be posting weekly results on this blog to document my journey, motivate myself and maybe along the way encourage others to get up and shake their bum to get fit!

These are a only a few of my resolutions for the upcoming year, but I'm sure even more will crop up during the year.

What are your resolutions for the new year?
Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter

Talk to you later,
AnnieMAC 
xxx