Farmers Market exploring - The Ordinary Moments

There's something about finding new local things to do that just makes me really happy. Filling our weekends with new experiences and visiting different places is one of my favourite things to do, and more so with Henry. I just want him to experience as much as possible, and integrating it with our normal life is so important to me.

So when I saw a new Farmer's Market for Southampton, I decided it was the perfect excuse for a Saturday morning trip out.

I love a good Farmer's Market anyway, I think it's because it remind me of home and little town life. Plus there's something very satisfying about supporting small local businesses and finding really great food and products.

So a couple of Saturday's ago we went along to the Oxford Street Farmer's Market for a bit of a look around and a little shop.

Father's Day on the Watercress Line - Ordinary Moments

Review Post*

Nothing beats an adventure on a special occasion. I think it makes that occasion just that little bit more memorable. In fact, trips and travels by far beat physical gifts in my opinion, unless it's something really sentimental. 

Just before Father's Day we were invited along to visit the War on the Line event held by the Watercress Line*, so we went along on the big day to explore steam trains and look around life during the Second World War.

A home away from home - Room2 Hometel

Review Post*

I think travel is so important for families and can be such a great experience for everyone involved.
But it can also be a very stressful experience, especially for parents.

One of the key factors of any part of travel is where you stay. Where are you going to rest your head at right, and wake up in the mornings. Your base location. For families, it's vital to have a safe, secure and homely environment, to help create a stress-free trip or break.

And let's be honest. The traditional hotel just doesn't cut it 90% of the time. You see parents hiding in the bathroom whilst their kids settle down for the night. Or limited space because the cot or trundle bed have taken over half the room. And to be frank, most of them really don't look amazing. They're pretty generic with rules on what you can and can't have in the rooms, and limited additional facilities.

So when Room2 got in touch with their brand new concept, and invited me to their launch event*, I knew I had to go and get the down-low, because this has family travel sorted.

Why it's OK to "do it for the gram"

"Doing it for the gram" is usually said with a mixture of laughter and self-consciousness, and I think most people with Instagram, and most definitely Bloggers, have done something purely to get that perfect Instagram photo to share on our grid.

I've certainly done my fair share of things purely to get a shot for my layout. Whether that's buying flowers that I really don't need, making a tea I had zero intention of drinking, or searching out the perfect background for a "from behind candid" shot.
And I know plenty of bloggers that have visited places purely "for the gram". In fact there are entire businesses that are so successful, just because they are "Instagram goals".
And then there's buying props, purely for Instagram photos (and blog photos too in a lot of cases.) I for one, bought a Letterboard just because it would work nicely within my Instagram feed, alongside my 'leg shots' which I take only for my Instagram.

And do you know what, that's all OK.

It's OK to do things, or buy things, and go to places, just because you want to put a photo of it on your Instagram grid.

Why we need to support local businesses over a Lakaz Maman breakfast

Review post*

I find that some of the best conversations happen over food, particularly brunch where chatting over coffee and yummy food on a weekend morning feels both productive and relaxing.

One of my favourite pastimes is to find new and exciting places to have brunch, and especially more local business locations, so when I was invited by the Sotonbloggers to attend a brunch at Lakaz Maman* in Southampton's Bedford Place, I jumped at the opportunity.

With brunch, comes chatter, and that morning, as we were joined by the owner Shelina, I was reminded way it is so important to support local business.
Over baked eggs in a spicy sauce (which by the way were incredible and totally different to any dish I've had before), the most delicious sweet cinnamon toast (I've literally had dreams about the stuff and have every intention of recreating them with the amazing salted caramel sauce), and the most unique 'torpedo' breakfast stack (muffin, turkey bacon,chicken sausages and an egg, served with a spicy dip), we learnt a little about Shelina's life and how she built her restaurant after winning Masterchef in 2012 - We also learnt a little bit about the realities of Masterchef, which I am currently obsessed with!

13 thoughts about brunching with the girls at Vospers

This is a collaborative review post*

Is there anything better on a Saturday then a whole load of food and drinks with lots of girly chat?
I don't think much beats it to be honest.

Brunch has to be one of my absolute favourite meals, because the combination of bacon, sausage, pancakes, muffins, eggs with tea, coffee and juice, with the occasional cocktail (or currently for me, mocktails) thrown in for good measure, is just perfect.

And any self-respecting blogger is likely to agree (of course no judgement if you're not a fan, but how?!?!?) so get a bunch of bloggers together and offer them brunch and you've got a very happy bunch of camera toting foodies.

I thought I'd share just some thoughts whilst brunching at Vospers*.

Families that brunch together - & 5 places to brunch in Southampton

I've always had this thing about brunch.
You see I'm not really a huge breakfast fan as I'm really more into getting as much sleep as possible, over making a lengthy breakfast. Lunch can be a bit hit or miss for me too. Work and home lunches tend to be a bit samey, so unless I've gone out for lunch, it's not that treat a meal to me.
But then came brunch. I used to dream (ok maybe not actual dream, but definitely daydream) about brunch with my gal pals ala Sex in the City, and thought you know you've kinda made it when you can brunch on the regular.

Luckily for me, I do brunch, though it is almost exclusively at the weekends.
I mean who doesn't love the idea of poached eggs, toast, pancakes and coffee being at the table on a Saturday at 11am, with your loved ones. In fact, brunch with my boys is definitely one of my favourite weekend pastimes.

So a few weekends ago when we went for an impromptu brunch, I grabbed the camera too.

Pizza, Pasta and Wine at Supermarine, Woolston

Italian food always brings up so many happy memories. 

From our time back-packing around Italy, taking in all the top cities, from Florence and Venice, down to Rome, Pompei and Sorrento. 

And one of the best things about Italy is it's food. Yes the architecture and history is what draws you in, but I truly fell in love over the food. 

So finding authentic Italian cuisine is always a huge hit with me. 

We're lucky in Southampton that we have a few pretty great Italian restaurants, but I think I've found a new favourite, that really feels like Italy, right on my doorstop... Supermarine* in Woolston, Southampton. 

The best burgers in Southampton and shaking our own cocktails

One of the things I love about being a blogger, especially in Southampton, is that I get to see a lot of the new restaurant launches pretty early on, and learn about all the great new businesses in the area.
I'm also a really big fan of supporting local businesses and independent companies, particularly if they are local!

One of our absolute favourite Southampton businesses is Mettricks. I've talked previously about their coffee houses (now numbering five!!) and their great coffee masterclasses, and now is the turn of a little something new from the Mettricks gang!

Welcome to Vospers*, a rather gentlemanly and cosy burger restaurant, steeped in Sotonian history. Unlike your normal burger place, it's no diner, but rather one of a kind wooden tables and deep leather chairs with a mish mash of old wooden chairs and antique furniture. Think an upscale Mettricks with burgers, and more alcohol!

Date nights for parents

Being a parent means foregoing quite a few things in favour of your little ones. Hot meals. Hot cups of tea (I miss them the most I think). Using the bathroom in piece. Having clean clothes for an entire day. Eating alone. Going out alone. And going out as a couple alone... well we've gone 8.5 months without going out alone.
It's a sacrifice we were of course willing to make, but man do I miss a good old date night.

We're now at a stage where we feel Henry is in a good enough place with his night time routine that we can leave him with someone else (hoorah!) so that's what we did. Henry's Godparents kindly took over the ropes for the night and allowed us to go out for our very first date night as parents.

Dance the night away | Billy Elliot The Musical

You know when you watch something and it just lifts your spirits and leaves you wishing you could bottle this feeling because you just feel like nothing is bad?!
Well that's how I felt on Wednesday night.
It's amazing how something so very simple can entirely lift your spirits because it is just simply beautiful.

I went along with the Sotonbloggers to the press night of Billy Elliot The Musical* at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, and I basically now want to spend every single night there watching the show because it was very simply brilliant.

Wind in the Willows at the Mayflower Theatre

I really love going to the Theatre. But isn't it always the way that we can't always indulge in the things we really love.
In all honesty I've never really done shows. I've been in the theatre loads, especially since moving to Southampton, but usually for comedy performances, but I think things are about to change.

As part of the Sotonbloggers, I was invited, along with a group of other bloggers to see the Wind in the Willows Musical at the Mayflower Theatre,* and boys and girls, I'm afraid I've turned into a theatre lover through and through.

I've always loved anything involving a little dance, and if there's some really good singing, well I'm as happy as a pig in... well I'm sure you can guess the rest!
Now to let you in on a secret... I was a bad blogger, and did literally no research before the show. But actually it was kind of nice. I didn't have any expectations going in, I had no idea what it was going to be like. I also couldn't quite remember the story of the Wind in the Willows, having read the book a VERY long time ago.

The thing is, it was beautiful. It was so much more than I could have imagined, so I'm glad I went in with no idea what I was going to see.

Oxygen Free Jumping

Last weekend, I kind of did some exercise!!
I know, don't freak out, but it wasn't the traditional kind of exercise, and you guys are going to love it.

A little while back, Oxygen Freejumping came to Southampton, and ever since I've really wanted to go. And last weekend thanks to the Sotonbloggers I got to go!!

Oxygen Freejumping is basically a huge trampoline park! And it is the most amount of fun!
The park is filled with trampolines across the floor and walls, with sections for little ones and dodgeball, as well as the professional area including wall-walking. There is also a foam filled obstacle course, and giant airbag to throw/bounce your way into.

Westquay's Your 5

What girl doesn't love to shop? And with us heading straight into Autumn and Winter right now, the fashions are a'changing and that means a wardrobe update is required.

And what shopping trip is complete without a little personal shopping.

Last weekend, Westquay's team of personal shoppers and stylists were helping out us ladies of Southampton with our five key wardrobe items for AW16 - Your 5. 

Exploring the Emerald Princess

I love travelling. It is one of the biggest loves of my life. Discovering and exploring new places. And I'm quite happy to travel in lots of different ways. 

I've travelled by plane, train and boat. In fact my boat trip was my most recent one back in November of last year when we went on a cruise to Amsterdam (read about the trip here, and the onboard the ship here). I absolutely adored the trip, despite being nine weeks pregnant and suffering from morning and motion sickness, so I was so excited to be invited on board the Emerald Princess by Princess Cruises to have a little explore before it went on its next trip to the canary islands. 

Brunch with Thomas Sabo AW16

Thomas Sabo have been on my radar for a number of years, back to my university days when I spent hours trawling fashion magazines and googling the advertisements.

Dann bought me one of their charm bracelets for a birthday one year because I simply fell in love with them and the amazing selection of charms available. But I have to admit, since then, I've kind of put my love of jewellery to one side, and almost forgotten about them as a brand.

Recently Thomas Sabo has had a little refocus I guess is the best word, and with the launch of their new Autumn and Winter collections, they asked the Sotonbloggers to join them for brunch at their Westquay store.

Freakshakes all around

Southampton has some pretty cool places to visit, and a pretty great food and drink scene. The city is undergoing some huge development at the moment and is fast becoming a great competitor for cool city in the South. 

One example of the new cool is the introduction of the brand new Freakshakes to Orange Rooms in the Bedford Place area of the city centre.

Orange Rooms is a bar/nightclub by night, but is a little hidden gem of a daytime location if I'm honest. 

Not only is it the perfect backdrop for chatting - each room is decorated differently and it's pretty amazing - they also serve great food and drinks. 

As part of the Sotonbloggers, I was asked along with the girls to try out their Freakshakes,which honestly I was really excited about. 

Freakshakes, for those not in the know, and basically super sized,extra naughty milkshakes.They're a huge trend this year and aren't showing any signs of going anywhere - you've probably seen them on Instagram!