A wonderful Welsh wedding - and a quick life update!

Once upon a time, a girl moved to London and met a boy. They fell in love...and this weekend they got married! With family from all over the world in town, it was a proper celebration and the wonderful Welsh weather was very obliging, putting on quite a show for once!

Huge congratulations to the happy couple! Thank you for letting us all share your big day with you.

In other news, things might get a little quiet over here for the next week or so. I'm sure I'll have lots of adventures to update you on very soon though - we're off to hit the beloved road, woohoo!

Happy Birthday Mr. O!

One of my favourite ever photos of Mr. O - 'looking after the bags' in Sydney last year

My gorgeous man, Mr. O, hits the big 3-0 today! Happy birthday beautiful boy...I'm so grateful I'm the one that gets to celebrate with you!

Yum! A colourful, summery lunch

I had to share a photo of my colourful lunch today. I'm trying to be a bit careful as the bikini countdown is ON nearly over (and I have a knack for eating steak and chips...). So, plenty of protein, fresh tomatoes and (my favourite) cous cous and feta salad from Sainsbury's (which is probably really bad for me, but is so yummy I'm willing to roll with it).

Super colourful, super fresh - come on summer, catch up!

A family reunion at Grape & Olive, Swansea

April is turning out to be a pretty hectic month for us! This week, the remainder of my Australian family arrived from Sydney, just in time for my cousin's wedding this weekend. In between last minute suit fittings, haircuts and visits to the florist, we managed to arrange a family reunion of sorts - it was the first time we'd all been in the same room for nearly five years! I chose to mark the occasion by letting my new jacket make its first public appearance! 

We booked a table at Grape & Olive, in Swansea's Meridian Tower. Honestly, although the setting is incredible (panoramic views of the bay? yes please!), it wouldn't normally be my first choice for an important meal. The restaurant was plagued with problems a few years ago when it first opened, in haste and probably before it was really ready (think cold food, felt tip pen signs on torn paper and Barbie pink toilets...) and even though it's now operated by Brains, I've always experienced fairly mediocre food there - usually fine, but never anything particularly creative or special. It's very much pub food, not quite befitting of its setting. 

This time though, we had a brilliant evening, arriving in the daylight and enjoying the views through sunset and into the night. And, knowing what to expect, the food was pretty good! Mr. O and I both played it relatively safe and went for different variations of steak and chips - my fillet was perfectly cooked (I'm a rare kinda gal) and the rib eye Mr. O ordered put a big smile on his face too. We shared some steak chips and a tomato, rocket and pine nut salad, as well as a pot of peppercorn sauce. The chips were tasty, sauce was plentiful and the salad was just beautifully fresh tasting. Overall, a really flavoursome, gastropub meal. 

The rest of the family were also impressed with fish dishes, pizzas and risottos; in fact, the only problem we had was with the pork belly ordered by the groom-to-be. The original serving was tiny and, unfortunately, mostly fat, not meat. He mentioned it to our waiter, who apologised profusely, took the offending plate away and returned later with a much nicer slice. It was just a shame for him that, in the middle of a stressful week and with the prospect of a midnight drive back to London ahead of him, he couldn't eat at the same time as the rest of us. But, the issue was dealt with as well as it could have been by Grape & Olive's team. 

And, for me, other than the view, it's this team that is the major selling point for the restaurant. They really couldn't have been more friendly - attentive and keen to join in with jokes (without being intrusive), they made it seem as though looking after such a large party was easy. Not to mention the fact that they were happy for me to bring a cake (something I always worry about at restaurants and always check in advance) - they were very accommodating from the start and even lit the candles for me to make sure it was a real surprise! 

Aside from the venue and the food, it was just so lovely to be with all our family members for the evening. There was lots of laughter and an awful lot of photo taking! We finished the evening with the said surprise cake - even though Mr. O's birthday is still a couple of days away, it was too good an opportunity to miss! This bright blue, sweetie covered thing of beauty had one layer of vanilla sponge with jam and one of chocolate sponge with Nutella. Can you guess which flavour I went for!? And which one I'm still stealing sneaky pieces of two days later!?! Oh I do love family reunions and birthdays! I have a feeling there will be plenty more opportunities for cake in the next few days! 

Grape & Olive, Meridian Tower, Trawler Road, Swansea SA1 1JW

A cakey sneak peak

Ok, so there's a proper write up to come, but, before we head to bed, I couldn't resist sharing a sneaky photo of the surprise birthday cake we had for Mr. O tonight. I just love all the bright colours -and that we captured what looks like a real 'do'h!' moment for the green jelly baby...!

Holiday shopping

Mr. O and I went for a little shopping trip recently, ahead of our upcoming trip Stateside. I genuinely went just to look for a couple of holiday bits and bobs...but I failed and came back with this 'leather' jacket from Zara. I love it! I've wanted a leather jacket for ages, but haven't found one I liked that wasn't hundreds of pounds. This might not be the real deal, but it's a pretty good leather effect and a it's definitely a much safer investment for me for now.

As well as the jacket, I picked up a couple of things that actually will be useful for our holiday. Zara helped me out again with two lightweight scarves (I love a scarf in the summer - the perfect cover up for when the sun gets too hot and for later, when it starts to set and the temperature dips) and a pink and black skirt and I also picked up a kaftan in H&M that I'm already wishing I'd bought two of. Bring on the sunshine!

Review: Lonely Planet Traveller magazine

One of my most unexpected - yet favourite - presents this Christmas was a subscription to Lonely Planet Traveller magazine. Does this mean I'm getting old!? I hope not, but I do think subscriptions might be my new thing - they're the gifts that keep on giving!

The latest issue popped through my letterbox this week and, thanks to its island theme, it's just making me want to escape the cold NOW. There's a feature on planning the perfect trip to the Seychelles, food cultures in Sardinia (my mouth is watering and I'm mentally packing my baggiest clothes...) as well as a focus on a few islands slightly closer to home - Jersey, Alderney, Sark and Guernsey. Like most magazines, Traveller seems to follow a similar formula each month, but articles are always well thought through and beautifully illustrated. There's usually a focus on the best places to visit in a given month (this edition, it's 10 easy trips to take in May - mostly European locations, plus a fair few within the UK) and the brilliant mini guides. These are one of the cleverest ideas - each one is just a single page of the magazine (the perfect size to tear out and stash in your pocket) containing useful tips on what to do and see in a destination on one side (this month includes the Lake District, Budapest and the Amalfi Coast) and a map and help with logistics - transport and accommodation - as well as a few top tips, relevant to the location on the other (for Budapest, for example, they share important spa etiquette).

Every month I pour over the beautiful photography, traveller tips and intelligent articles, whet my appetite even more and add to my already ridiculously long list of places to visit. Oh well, a girl can dream, I suppose. And cut out mini guides...and price hotels...and start packing suitcases...!

Review: Elemental Herbology Cell Food

On our trip to London back in February, I picked up a couple of items that had been on my skincare wish list in the Space NK on Westbourne Grove. One of the products I got my hands on was Elemental Herbology's Cell Food.

According to the box, Cell Food is a radiance and vitality serum which contains a 'power house of proteins, vitamins and anti-oxidants' to counter the skin damaging effects of ageing, lifestyle and the environment. It is designed to awaken dull and under-nourished skin and is said to be perfect for use on long haul flights, when the skin needs an extra boost of hydration.

Although my skin is naturally oily and very blemish-prone, I've recently noticed that it's tending to be quite dehydrated too. I'm hoping it's just a phase, caused by the extreme cold weather, and not just because my skin is starting to give up! Anyway, having read some positive reviews about this serum, I wanted to give it a try.

The product itself comes in a small glass bottle with a dropper dispenser. Though this is quite fun to use, I imagine it could get quite messy if accidentally knocked over and would make it less easy to travel with, despite it's pro-travelling claims (at 30ml though, it is at least hand luggage-friendly). I also have concerns about how hygenic the dropper is, especially as the serum has quite a thick consistency. 

This consistancy feels lovely on the skin and sinks in quite quickly. Cell Food has quite a distinct smell though, and this definitely lingers. I don't dislike it, but it almost smells medicinal, verging on spicy - not the Rose smell I'd been hoping for!

And it might be the ingredients creating this smell that have caused me to have issues with the product. I started using it religiously, twice a day before moisturiser, but within a couple of days of use my skin started to turn quite red and blotchy. The red patches didn't necessarily hurt, but they became a little flaky and so I can only presume that I was reacting to something within the product - I stopped using Cell Food and my skin cleared up. I've found it quite strange as my skin is normally very robust; I've not experienced an allergic reaction to a new product before.

I'm now using Cell Food more infrequently, only in the evenings perhaps once or twice a week. This is allowing me to use up the bottle (at £42, I can't afford not to use it, red patches or no red patches) and I am now enjoying its moisturising effects, without the redness. I have to be honest though and say that, although it leaves my skin feeling soft and nourished, it hasn't helped solve my dehydration issues, though this may of course be because I can't use it as frequently as directed.

Overall, I'm glad I've been able to try Cell Food, but it probably isn't something I'd purchase again. I'm really disappointed that this hasn't worked wonders for me as I love what Elemental Herbology stands for (their products are all made in the UK and are free from synthetic fragrance, artificial colour, mineral oil, sulphates and paraben preservatives). My experience certainly hasn't put me off trying other products in their range, though I may try and get samples first, just to be sure my skin doesn't react in the future.

Enjoying a lovely Easter weekend

Happy Easter! I love this special celebration, a whole weekend to spend time with the people we love, without the pressure that can sometimes come at Christmas time. Such love is, of course, always helped along when there are copious amounts of chocolate involved.

Mr. O and I both did exceptionally well this year, collecting enough chocolate to keep us going for a little while at least. We had a brilliant realisation this year - we could get one big Easter egg each for £8 or just get four smaller eggs each, resulting in a loooot more chocolate. Winner!

I was also once again reminded of the fact that I am my mother's daughter yesterday when, having arranged our Easter stash into a suitably photogenic display, I went to her house and saw that she - sorry, the Easter Bunny! - had done exactly the same with theirs. Argh! I'm learning to embrace it though...and thank goodness I don't have a smartphone, otherwise we'd all be in serious photographic trouble!

We had a really lovely Easter Sunday afternoon, spending time with a whole host of my family at Mum and Dad's house. We have some very special visitors at the moment - my Auntie and two cousins live in Brisbane with my uncle, but have just arrived in the UK for a whole month! Having them with us made a great Easter lunch even more special, as we made plans for the next few weeks around a packed dining table, despite their lingering jetlag.

Mum spoilt us, feeding us delicious roast lamb, followed by freshly baked hot cross buns and Simnel cake (thank you Sunday Bake Club!), until we all gave up and curled up on the sofa, bellies full. The evening finished with a round of the Logo Game (during which Mr. O and I exposed my family to our unique brand of competitiveness - quite a feat when there are Aussies in the room!) and the demolition of a fair few Easter eggs.

Today, Mr. O and I are making the most of a slightly lazy day, getting a couple of jobs done around the house and hoping that the weather holds so we can get outside for a little later. Don't you just love long weekends? I'm also proud and excited to say that my remaining Easter eggs are tucked away neatly in the corner, unharmed...which may or may not have anything to do with the holiday that we've just booked...!! Woohoo!