48 Hours in Ibiza with Swimwear 365

Swimwear 365 stock a huge range of swimwear, clothing and accessories - so it's the ideal site for stocking up on Summer goodies if you're going away somewhere hot! Sadly, i have nothing booked, so am entering their insane competition where you can win a 48 hour trip to Ibiza, how exciting! I've never been to Ibiza, and would love to go over for some serious sunbathing, chilling and of course partying.

My 48 hour Ibiza itinerary is as follows; Jump off the plane with my number one girl, my sister, and head to the hotel where we can throw our bags down and get changed into some sassy bikinis and kimonos from Swimwear 365, spray some sun tan lotion on and head out for some sightseeing. We'd start by checking out the traditional town and some of the harbours and marinas, and then have a yummy fresh seafood lunch, finished with some ice cream and sorbet to cool off! After this we'd head to the beach for some swimming, tanning and snorkelling, before getting ready to party the night away drinking cocktails and dancing until sunrise. Day 2 we'd start with a huge breakfast, and lots of fresh water! Then we'd wake up by taking a beach yoga class, and having a fruit smoothie, before travelling to one of the small islands by boat to hopefully see some dolphins and wildlife! We'd also love to go pony trekking, go karting, and would finish off the trip with a few more cocktails and maybe a pool party before it's time to jet back.

I've selected below a few items that would be in my Ibiza suitcase, including a flattering wrap style bikini from 365 Swimwear that would look mega cute with sandals and sunglasses! For nights out i'd wear a simple, bodycon co-ord, and fringed party heels from Jeffrey Campbell. Sun cream, bright nail varnish and lip balm are my beauty essentials for a sunny trip to Ibiza, and the glow stick bracelets are too fun not to take!

Full details about how to enter the competition are here :).
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Milan May 2014

I mentioned previously that G and I took a little vacay to Milan last weekend for four days, so here is the post where i can share with you some of the snaps from the trip! We kind of fell in love with the whole city really, it's so beautiful and the buildings are stunning, plus it's really well laid out with loads of transport links so it's easy to get around by hopping on and off the underground and trams. When we first arrived we strolled around, explored the area near our hotel and ventured into the main square - the weather was hot and sunny, which always makes me happy, but also meant we didn't have to rush and stuff which was nice!

We were so excited to go to the Duomo, a huge gothic cathedral in the centre of Milan, which was SO insane - we walked up the tiny, narrow staircase to get to the top where you have views of the whole city which was amazing, but did make me feel a little sick as it's so high up! There's an old shopping centre next to the Duomo so of course we had a look around there too - the shops were mega posh, and were mostly designer (Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Chanel etc.) but there were also some high street shops like Zara which had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a sweeping staircase where everything was spotless and beautifully laid out. The people of Milan were friendly too, and oh so well dressed, so it was good to just wander about people watching and relaxing.

One of my favourite places was the park, where there's castles, ponds with wildlife, and lots of people chilling out eating gelato - which we ate lots of, one evening we stopped off at a traditional gelato shop and bumped into some local firemen and nuns who were also getting gelato, so cool, i opted for the pistachio because it's the best! I'm always a little worried eating abroad as i'm coeliac, but thankfully the Italians are really clued up on it so there was gluten free pizza, pasta, bread and everything in between - i ate loads, obviously, and it was super tasty! The break was fab, and Milan is so chic and chilled out, i 100% recommend it to everyone of all ages if you're looking to book a little trip away!

I hope you enjoy the pictures :).
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Dublin April 2014

I hope you are having a wonderful week so far! As i mentioned in the previous post G and I took a trip to Dublin last week for a chilled out few days. We stayed in a beachside hotel in Portmarnock just outside Dublin as we wanted a little bit of peace and quiet at the end of each day - Portmarnock is so pretty and peaceful, the hotel was awesome and only a short trip on the bus into the city centre so ideal for us!
I wasn't too sure what to expect as i hadn't been to Dublin before, it's a great city but was mega busy at all times of the day. Obviously lots of people go there to drink and be merry, but we wanted to visit some museums, eat lots of food and generally bumble around - the layout was slightly odd though as it's all kind of thrown in together, bars next to shops next to houses next to historical places, so it was quite interesting walking around as you don't really know what's around the corner!
One of the highlights from the trip was the National Museum of Ireland which was insanely good and so interesting, the archaeology section was so impressive and a real feast for the eyes so if you're into History i definitely recommend it! Temple Bar was quite dingy and not really our scene, but we still had a nosey around which was good, but be prepared for ridiculous prices if you go for a drink. We also enjoyed some Irish music at the hotel one night which was fab and lots of fun!
I've added some pictures below so you can see what else we got up to, i wanted the cheeky Samoyed dog to come home with me but sadly he wouldn't fit in my suitcase.
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Barcelona February 2014

Last week we took a little three night trip to Barcelona to celebrate our six year anniversary and Valentine's Day, i'd been before but only for a flying visit, so was looking forward to relaxing in a  hotel and exploring the city! After arriving at the hotel early evening we were a little groggy from the flight so popped to a little shop next door to stock up on Spanish crisps and sweeties - i was apprehensive about food labelling due to being coeliac, but everything was clearly marked and there was lots of choice for gluten free folk like myself, hooray! We bought a T10 card for the public transport as it's the cheapest, easiest way to travel around the city, so we hopped on the metro into town to find a restaurant for dinner. We stumbled across a little roadside cafe type place and settled there for the evening where we ate lots of meat and salad - yum!

Our hotel was a short 15 minute walk from Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, so on our first full day we strolled over to take a look - it was a bit nuts as one minute your walking down a normal street then this huge, quirky cathedral appears out of nowhere, it's set in a tiny little area, with a small park adjacent to it. We absolutely love this style of architecture so it was a real pleasure being able to have a good look at it, it was super quiet too with mainly locals around so it was nice to be able to have a sit down and take it all in. After this we headed towards the posh shopping district of Barcelona, stopping on the way at aQistoi cafe where we had cofee, fresh apple juice and delicious sarnies! There were more Gaudi buildings here too so we saw Casa Batllo which was very Hansel and Gretel esque, the shapes and colours of the buildings are definitely different, we loved it. As you can imagine the shops were insanely awesome, i had to be restrained in Zara, especially because everything was cheaper than the UK - there was a massive selection of high end shops like Tiffany's, Chanel, Sandro etc. so it's definitely worth a visit if you're feeling flush.

We then caught a metro to Park Guell, it's on a really steep hill but they have escalators for short legged lazy people like me, when you get to the top there's more steep hills and walking but the views are worth it! The multi coloured mosaic tiles look so pretty, and the gardens are full of wildlife. There were entertainers too, singing, playing guitars and a man making huge bubbles! That evening we ate out at a Spanish bar, where more meat was consumed. There was a traditional bakery next to the hotel so we ate there the following morning, before a trip to the Ramblas. Lots of people had warned us of pick pocketers but there were few dodgy characters around and it was fairly quiet so we were free to walk around and explore. We went to the indoor food market which was full of fresh and cooked food where we ate the biggest, juciest strawberries, the chocolate selection was pretty darn good too. The Gothic Quarter is just off the Ramblas and was one of my favourite places, i loved the tiny streets and traditional feel to it - we had some more lovely food at Bootleg Cafe where i ate the freshest guacamole ever, G opted for steak skewers with potato, it was yummy and so cheap at only 11 euro for everything! We walked our food off with a walk down the Ramblas to the harbour where we had a mooch around the expensive boats and grabbed a coffee too.

The final evening was spent at a restaurant opposite the Sagrada Familia, i had parmesan, mushroom and saffron risotto, again it was fab - i like to eat as much as i can whilst on holiday... The Sagrada looked even better lit up at night, it was pretty spooky though! The flight back was turbulent and jumpy, not the best but we made it!

My boyfriend took some amazing photos (i'm absolutely not to be trusted with a proper camera), so i've included some snaps of the trip below - i had to include the last snap of the little bird with the mohican, so cute! I hope you enjoy them :).
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