A Day in St Martin's Courtyard

If you've been following me for a while you will know that Covent Garden is my favourite place in London. I have so many memories from the area and there is just so much to do in such a small area. More than I even thought was possible. I worked in Covent Garden for six years, so I thought I knew the area pretty well. But little did I know.

Myself and my friend Elena from Eat Wear Travel decided to spend the day is St Martin's Courtyard. which is situated a minute walk from Covent Garden Station. 

Food

We started the day with lunch at Dishoom. If you've never been to Dishoom, I HIGHLY recommend it. I went for the first time this year and have been back three times already. The menu consists of delicious Indian food from Bombay. And when I say delicious, I mean DELICIOUS. 

There is large amount of different foods you can order, but my favourites (here's a long list) is the lamb chops, lamb samosas (even if you're not a fan of lamb you will LOVE this) and the chicken ruby, oh yes, and the cheese naan bread. I am salivating just thinking of this. Dishoom is a great place to go and get tapas style, lots of different dishes to share, but I've also noticed a lot of people sitting alone and having a yummy lunch.

I highly recommend booking in advance as the first time I went (three of us) we waiting 2 hours to sit down for our meal (so worth it though). You can book lunch and for evenings you must be a table of 6 or more to book. I'm yet to try their breakfast which I've heard is also super good.

Massage

Ok enough about food. We then headed to Relax and received at 30 minute chair massage. |I'm someone who suffers from shoulder pain, from years of carrying heavy bags my right shoulder really aches. 

My masseuse asked me of any problem areas and what strength I wanted my massage to be. I explained my bad shoulder and that I like the pressure to be quite hard and boy did she deliver. If you ever find yourself near St Martins Court Yard, I highly recommend stopping by for a quick massage. They provide massages per minutes which is great if you're in a rush, but you can also book full body massages, which I will definitely be booking myself in for. 

Blow Dry

After a relaxing 30 minutes, a stone throw around the corner we went to blowLTD for a wash a blow dry. There's something so nice about having a pamper day with your friends. It just makes you feel so relaxed and energised. 

blowLTD has such an awesome concept. You can either pop in store (or they have mobile services come to your home) and can get completely pampered and glamed up from your hair, nails and make up. There you can choose from eight different hairstyles varying from hair up to blow dries, choose from four different make up looks and then finally get your nails either french manicured or a coloured manicure. The possibilities are endless. With a huge range of Laura Mercier make up, you're bound to walk out feeling a million dollars. 

Myself and Elena both went for number two, a beachy blow dry which is my ultimate favourite. It's great to see how the same style looks so different on both different hair lengths and colours.

Shopping

Around St Martins Court Yard and Covent Garden, there are so many shops, ranging from clothing to accessories. The majority of the shops are high end high street such as Russell & Bromley,  Reiss and Pandora. We visited the below three stores to show you what is currently in stock.

L.K. Bennett

As you all know, I am taking back my style and wearing more sophisticated pieces, so heading to L.K. Bennett was a dream. The pieces were all so elegant, sophisticated and make you look so polished. We got the chance to walk around the store and find all the incredible new season items. I fell in love with all the dresses as they are structured yet still have this light and airy feel to them all.

The White Company

Another of my favourite stores is The White Company. For anything white, baby and home it's my go to store. I love their summer fragrance and I think their baby section is so adorable. But did you know that they have recently launched a spa collection... Neither did I. The spa collection is a range of bath and body products to make you feel like your bathroom has been transferred into a spa.

Eleein Fischer

Now Eileen Fischer was the only shop I've never been to before but I'm so glad I have now been introduced to it. Their pieces are all made with organic and sustainable fibers as well as being fair trade. The brands ethos is to embrace simplicity, sustainability and their pieces to still have a great design.

If you ever find yourself in London, please make sure to head to at least one of these destinations, you won't regret it. And chances are, i'll probably be in one of them as this part of London always has and will be my favourite.

Have you ever visited any of these locations? Have you ever been to St Martin's Courtyard? 

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How To Start A Capsule Wardrobe

One thing I've mentioned time and time again on this blog is that when it comes to keeping a timeless wardrobe there are a few essential things you must remember.

Firstly, monochrome is the perfect starting point. It's a great start to creating a capsule wardrobe. For me, I prefer going dark on the bottom and light on the top. With a pair of classic black trousers, may they be jeans, culottes or a skirt, teaming it with a white top elevates and creates such an elegant look.

Secondly, finding classic shapes, skinny trousers, a peplum shirt is something that is timeless and can be worn over and over again. 

For me, I find this outfit something that I can wear all year round. By simply adding a blazer on top and switching my sandals to boots, I've got a smart classic look that will stay classic season after season. 

What's your go to classic look? Do you also find that monochrome is a perfect start?

SHOP MY LOOK

Jeans: Karen Millen

Shirt: Karen Millen

Shoes: Gucci

Bag: Prada

Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

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How To Stay Safe Online

A few weeks back I was out having a coffee and catch up with blogger Shannon Jennings when we started talking about being safe on the internet. And it really got me thinking. A lot of people don't realise how much they are sharing and who is really seeing it all.

With the rise of social media, a new form of expression has come. The increase of people on social media has created a world for bloggers, celebrities and influencers to create a platform where they can express themselves. All is well and good when you're posting about the latest meal you've had at the fanciest restaurant or where you're off to on holiday, but who really sees all of this? 

You don't know who is really watching and what their intentions are. As a blogger who lives in London, I feel really conscious about my online presence. As my social influence grows, the amount of things I share online diminishes all in the hope of keeping my audience entertained, while protecting myself offline. 

I have over 100 thousands followers on Instagram. To me, that is just a number, I could never comprehend the amount of people that follow me. In my eyes, I still feel like the only people seeing my posts are my closest friends and family, but the reality is, that there are over 100,000 people and more (as my page is not private, so many more people) that can find me and see what I'm up to.

So I have come up with five different rules to follow whether you are a blogger, influencer, or you just enjoy using social media to connect with friends and family.

Rule number One

Post where you are after you have left. 

Unless you have an arranged meet and greet, always try to post where you are after you have left. I see so many people tag into a restaurant/bar/hotel while they are still staying there. I always post an image hours if not days after on Instagram. And when it comes to Instastories, as it's not as private as Snapchat, anyone scrolling can come across your content and their intentions may not always be pure.

Rule Number Two

Don't be too flashy online

As we all saw last year what happened to Kim Kardashian. Don't flash your cash, designer items all over for the world to see. And if you've not followed rule number one, they will know where you are and could find you. 

Rule Number Three

Don't state where you live

On my social media it states that I am from London. But London is large. There are so many different areas so I feel safe enough to say that. However if you start giving postcodes, or a more specific area the chances of finding you is a lot more. 

Rule Number Four

Don't state where you work or study

If blogging, Instagram is something you do on the side, you may sill be going to school or work. Don't post about those things online. You can mention what you're studying, what your job is, but at the end of the day, you don't want anyone waiting outside for you.

Rule Number Five

Don't meet just anybody in real life

As a blogger I constantly get a lot of people ask to meet me. Whether it be for business, or smaller bloggers wanting to pick my brain. I don't meet all of them. When I do decided to meet a person from Instagram, I make sure that the person has a public profile with a lot of images of themselves and are also in the same industry as I am in. I wouldn't meet up with a random guy who has two pictures and they're quotes. Generally, I meet up with other fashion bloggers that I have seen around at events. And even then, it will be in a public place like a coffee shop and somewhere far from where I live. 

This may seem pretty obvious to a lot of you, but there are so many young people using social media, and from what I've spoken to a lot of them about is that they don't really understand the severity of keeping yourself protected online. The minute you post something online, it is available to everyone to see, and it crosses from being online to offline. You wouldn't walk up to a stranger and say "Hey, I'm going to *said venue* tonight and I will be alone/ with friends* so why would you put that online. 

You find yourself in a really nice bar so you decided to take a picture and post it online then and there. Someone can se your picture and come look for you. I know this is a bit of a serious blog post, but it's super important the KEEP SAFE. 

SHOP MY LOOK

Dress: Zara

Belt: Topshop

Shoes: Gucci

Bag: Prada

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Aintree Grand National Ladies Day

Last week I attended my first ever races day. I headed to The Grand National Ladies Day at Aintree Racecourse and as it was my first time I decided to go all out. I'm not much of a gambler, however I loved watching the excitement of those around me cheering on their horses. And of course Ladies Day is all about the fashion.

Although I get the opportunity to dress up quite often, I've never had the chance to wear such fancy hats or fascinators, and I've always wanted to! Although there is a dress code, Grand National is not as restrictive as other events. 

I was kindly invited by Aintree and The Blogger Programme to work on the Fabulous Friday campaign. And that's exactly what it was. I headed down with my friend Elena the blogger behind Eat Wear Travel and a few others to enjoy a day at the races. 

First things first, we decided to grab a glass of bubbly to really get into the spirit. After watching a few of the races we couldn't help but notice how beautiful the the guests looked. They went all out with their dresses matching their outfits to their headpieces. I was surprised with the amount of colour around. A lot of the females were wearing bright colours, but a deep blue was running throughout the females and the men.

Although Friday is for the ladies, it was clear that a lot of the men didn't want to be outdone by the ladies; they were all looking very dapper. I don't think we saw anyone who did not take pride in their outfit that day.

The atmosphere as a whole was truly something I've never experienced before. It was so wonderful seeing everyone cheer on the horses and the whole of Aintree had a massive buzz around. It's also fascinating to note that as soon as the race ends, a lot of people disappear, either to get their winnings, place a bet on the next race or more commonly, to get another drink.

As someone who thought the races was not her scene, I can assure you have I changed my mind, I loved the whole experience from picking my outfit to the atmosphere. It's truly a great day out.

Have you ever been the The Grand National before? 

SHOP MY LOOK

Dress: Topshop

Fascinator: Jaques Vert

Shoes: Gucci

Bag: Dior

This is a sponsored post (*)

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