Saturday, 28 February 2015

Wedding Ring Shopping in the London Jewellery Quarter

With the wedding approaching in the summer, we decided to take a visit to the famous London jewellery quarter at Hatton Garden.


Located near Covent Garden, the closest tube or rail stops are Farringdon or Chancery Lane. It took us a while to find our bearings when looking for the street, however, it should be a 5-10 minute walk from the station.


As we approached the road, we began to stumble across many of the famous names associated with Hatton Gardens. 


Browsing through the shop windows, there seems to be an engagement or wedding ring to suit any style. From white gold to plaitinum to white diamonds and sapphires, without a doubt this place has a wide selection of jewellery to choose from. 

Sales assistants and jewellers alike sometimes come out to great you and ask if you need some help, while others sit patiently just waiting for the business to come to them and quite rightly so. We visited on a Saturday afternoon - considered the busy time - and we found that most of the windows and shops had people in or looking through them. 


When it comes to pricing, I have to be honest...it's not that cheap when compared to other jewellers and/or independent stores. This may be down to its famous name and so most shops are able to charge more of a premium. But take this for an example...

We saw an identical men's wedding ring in jewellers window that was in the exact same metal of one that we had seen Goldsmiths. The Hatton Garden store wanted an extra £500 and that was with a 25% discount. 

So you see, it really does depend on what you are after and looking for. Yes, you have the advantage of having something custom made here too - which if you've got the money (+£10,000s) is great. 
>Hatton Garden does have some stunning jewellery, but I feel that in these topsy  turvy economic times, that you could get much better value for money and the same quality elsewhere. 

Saturday, 21 February 2015

5 films that inspired me to travel

Ask any traveller and I'm sure they will tell you what inspires them to travel. A photo, a book or maybe a film? 

Take UP for example, even though it's a Disney movie, it still makes me feel like you should never give up on your dreams of finding a new place. 


Personally, I watch a lot of films, at home or in the cinema, and so I have gathered a (tiny) handful of films that have influenced my travel over the years. 

Eat Pray Love: 


At a time when I didn't know what or where I wanted to be in my life, I watched the film and read the book of Elizabath Gilbets story. It inspired me so much that from here I continued to travel more of Europe - Italy included - and start my blog to share with you guys. 


Lord of the Rings: 



"Legolas, what do your elf eyes see?" Yes people, welcome to one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting - New Zealand. After seeing how versatile the land of New Zealand was from (sadly) watching the 1 hour behind the scenes special at the age of 15 - I knew that one day I would have to visit this beautiful place and I did, back in 2009. Would I go back? Absolutely! 


The Beach: 



As a 90s kid my world was Leonardo DiCaprio! Watching The Beach, gave me my first real insight into the ways of travelling - although not entirely accurate, as you become your own traveller. But Thailand (Bangkok especially) seemed like a world of excitement and mystery that I had to explore. Here I am at the Grand Palace back in 09.


Sex and the City: 



Wellllll this is more the TV series than the film and I'm sure that there a million more New York films that have inspired me along the way. But, when first saw Carrie Bradshaw and her 3 best friends run around Manhattan, exploring galleries, restaurants and Central Park - I knew that this was one cosmopolitan city I had to visit.


Priscilla Queen of the Dessert:



This is probably a little bit inappropriate, but when I was a kid (aged 11) me and and mum would watch Priscilla Queen of the Dessert and giggle along. We loved the camp humour and epic sing-a-longs. 

But, I also remember being intrigued at the idea of a place with vibrant cities (when they all set off in Sydney), combined with vast empty and lonely stretches if road (that moment when the bus breaks down in the middle of the outback). Still a great film and a place I loved visiting. 


I'd also love to hear yours - if you want to tweet me or comment below! 

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Home Ramblings: Chilli Nights with Rekorderlig

It's been so cold here in the UK (yes, I know it's winter), that the idea of anything other than winter comfort food seems out of the question.

Image via We Heart It

So when I leave work to dark nights and commute home - all I want to do when walking through the door is have my food on the table and a tasty drink in hand. 

With that in mind, may I introduce the amazing slow cooker. A moving in gift from my parents and something I would never think to buy.



Simply prepare your food in the morning, throw it into the slow cooker and voila - you arrive home to an amazing smelling cooked meal. There are endless recipes to make in a slow cooker, all of which you can find here

But today I have decided to make a mouthwatering chilli in mine - with a mango and raspberry Rekorderlig in hand, here's what you need to do.

Step One: Ingredients 

Lots of people I am sure with have their own twist on chilli. From dark chocolate to mango chutney, you will need the basics of 2 cartons of chopped tomatoes, mixed or baked beans (I personally use baked beans as it sweetens the chilli a little), lean beef mince and onions. 



In addition to these basics, I also top up on vegetables like carrots and sweet corn. Even though it's not a traditional recipe, I like to add a twist. 

Once you have chopped all your ingredients, throw up all your vegetables, meat, beans and sauce into the slow cooker.

Step Two: Cooking

The great thing about a slow cooker is that you can is that you can leave it for hours - even overnight - to slow cook your meat to perfection.

Each slow cooker may vary - but mine has three settings; low (up 12 hours), medium (up to 6 hours) and high (up to 3 hours). I set my chilli to cook on a medium setting, so that it would be perfection when I arrived home from work. 


Step Three: Eat and Drink 

After 6 wonderful hours of cooking, our beef mince became soft and tender whilst being enriched with spices and tomato flavours. 

All I had left to do was to boil some rice - which I can only use boil in the bag as normal rice NEVER works for me - and poor myself a drink. 


All in all, the perfect way to spend a winter night at home. 

Friday, 13 February 2015

Love from around the world

Planning a wedding certainly makes you feel and experience overwhelming senses of emotion a lot of the time. From seeing a beautiful flower arrangement to seeing a stunning setting on someone's big day - these day's I'm happy to have an emergency packet of Kleenex in my bag.

Recently, I was looking around for wedding photographers and came across this wonderful article in June Bug Weddings. Titled Love around the world - this was a photography competition where brides and grooms from around the world shared pictures from their magical day and so I had to share them.

Sonoma wedding chrisman studios
Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California
 Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Lake Louise destination wedding
Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Brussels destination wedding
Brussels, Belgium (in front of Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula)

Bali destination wedding
Tamblingan Lake, Bali, Indonesia
Bora Bora destination wedding
 Four Seasons Bora Bora, Tahiti, French Polynesia

So there you have it, a little bit of love from around the world. Last but not least, Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Friday, 6 February 2015

Wanderlust Fashion: My Fitness Favourites

I know this may come across as a bit of a cliche, the whole new year new me - but this year I decided to make more of an effort to keep myself fit and healthy.


Why am I doing this? Well in all honesty, my clothes began to feel pretty tight, I became out of breath walking up stairs and I have my wedding this year. So I made the decision after Christmas that I wanted to not only look, but feel and be healthy within myself. 

My first step? 

I joined The Gym. At £13.99 a month, I couldn't ask for more. Modern equipment, clean showers and it's open 24 hours a day. I used Pinterest to find some work out plans that suited my aims and body type and I currently go 2-3 times a week.


I've now been doing this for over a month and I'm starting to feel the difference in my appearance and mood - plus walking upstairs is getting that little bit easy.

Not to mention, there's some pretty amazing fitness clothing out there on the market at the moment. I have to say, I'm really impressed but the quality and price of the Primark range.


My second step... I joined Weight Watchers. They currently have a deal of an online pass for a month for £10 rather than £30 - this includes tracking your food on the app, but most importantly going to the meetings.


Over the past four weeks, with the support of my amazing leader Sharon, I have managed to loose 10lbs and 5% of my total body weight. My secret to this is weighing everything - if you're trying to cut back I'd highly recommend investing in a pair of WW kitchen scales.

So there you have it, my fitness favourites and I couldn't recommend all of the items featured more!
© Eat Travel Love | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template Designed by pipdig