Insta-life #2

My latest adventures from the last few weeks documented through instagram.

Top Row: 1) A lovely day trip to Bath with my family on the way back from Devon. I love it there so much.

2) My signature dish- smoked salmon and spinach quiche- if you would like to see the recipe in a post let me know!

3) My friend Victoria and I in Laduree in Covent Garden. I didn't even know there were Laduree's over in England so when Victoria suggested it I didn't object. Such a nice setting and really impressively decorated. We didn't want to leave!

Middle Row: 1) My cheeky cake in Laduree with a rose petal on top.

2) After waiting months for it to come out, Reiss and I went and saw Ryan Gosling's latest film. We had really mixed feelings about it after, it was good BUT they could have made it a lot better.

3) Spent a lovely few days at Reiss' relaxing and exploring a lovely village near him with an amazing tea room (noticing the pattern of everything I have done recently revolving around food yet?!).

Bottom Row: 1) and 2) The latest outfit post on my blog and making the most of the sunshine.

3) Last night was spent with my sleepy cat Ted on my lap and watching the last episode of Broadchurch.

xxx

Insta-life #1

February was a very busy but equally good month! Just compiled some of my instagram snaps to document the last month.

1) I managed to get back home last weekend and we celebrated my Grandma's birthday. My sister had made this cake for her, complete with Parrots as she loves birds.

2) Tried to get a photo of my dog Mallon and me, he wasn't too keen on sitting still though! He's such a cutie with the nicest personality, we've had him for about 6 years and got him from the RSPCA.

3) Posy self-shot in my new Zara top.

4) I finally branched into the ombre trend and did my hair with the L'oreal wild ombre kit, I took this the day after I had done it but it has faded so quickly in just over a week- bit disappointing!

5) Spring is definitely on its way and I couldn't resist these daffodils in Marks and Spencer the other week- they brightened up my desk and my mood whilst I was essay writing.

6) Reiss and Me on Valentine's Day before our yummy night in with Waitrose food.

7) Trevi Fountain in Rome, we were determined to not leave Rome without seeing the fountain. Such a gorgeous monument.

8) Annaliese, Georgia and Victoria- the gorgeous girls I went to Rome with and me before our last evening out for dinner.

9) The Sistine Chapel, so pleased to have finally seen the paintings. Interestingly two days after we left Rome the Pope resigned... coincidence?!

Let me know if you've done an instagram post recently and feel free to follow me on instagram- racheleprior

xxx

"If this is love, then love is easy"

Jumper: Woolovers

Scarf: Vintage

Jeans: Miss Selfridge

Pumps: Primark

Incessant rain forced this photo of my outfit of the day to be taken indoors- lack of sunshine and lots of rain makes it look a bit gloomy! Now we are in late November I thought it would be the perfect time to share with you all my staple winter jumper- this cream cable knit woolly jumper I got last Christmas. I saw it when I was browsing through my Gran's mail order catalogue from the company 'Woolovers' (crazy word pun fun: wool-lovers or wool-overs?! You decide!) and decided this was far too cosy looking to ignore. So thats the back-story to this jumper. I teamed it with my burgundy jeans, my vintage scarf and pumps.

Spent this morning cosied up in Starbucks avoiding the rain and other soggy shoppers. The Canterbury Starbucks is right next to the cathedral and hosts some cosy corners. Reiss and I nabbed one of the best tables which looks out to the Cathedral. So happy to see the return of the red cups in there marking the beginning of the festive season. We actually get to graduate in the cathedral next summer so thats pretty exciting- it is stunning inside!

 Canterbury Cathedral looking a bit ominous

How have you spent your Saturday? Do you have a go-to winter jumper for rainy days like this?

Lush- Bubblegum Lip Scrub and London

Lush is one of those shops that you can wander round and round picking up various soaps and bath bombs sniffing away. I really admire the philosophy of Lush- they are so passionate about fighting animal testing and have such lovely handmade products.

After hearing they had a few new products that had been launched recently I went into one of their stores in London and picked up their 'Bubblegum Lip Scrub' which is designed to get rid of those pesky dry bits of skin that can make wearing lip-sticks a nightmare! 

It is essentially everything that it says in the name- it scrubs your lips and has a gorgeous bubblegum scent and taste which you simply lick off (trust me it's delicious!) and have buffed lips as a result.

I'm not a big fan of sticky lip balms that say they are solving dry lips but really aren't, this gets rid of the dry skin instantly. Ok you might look a bit odd with sugar all over your lips like this-

but you lick it off in seconds!!

I think this is a real bargain for £5.25, think of it almost as a primer for lips- getting them in prime condition ready to wear your best lipstick!

Have any of you tried the Lush lip scrub? Or have any similar lip solutions?

Also as a bit of a sidenote, thought I would share with you a really cool (and free) attraction in London at the moment at the Southbank. It's called aMAZEme and is a maze made out of books stacked up that have been donated by Oxfam. Reiss and I gave it a visit when we were in London this week and it was pretty fun. Here is a pic of him enjoying himself and to give you an idea of what it looks like!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week and good luck to those collecting A/As Level results today!

A day trip to......Cambridge

Despite only living only an hour or so away from Cambridge it had been a very long time since I had last paid it a visit. (Why is it when we have such lovely places almost on our doorstep we don't appreciate them?!) Anyway Reiss came up for the weekend and we decided to spend one of the days there enjoying the sights.

Cambridge is such a gorgeous city and once you get used to being amongst a throng of tourists it is a joy to walk around and explore. We started by walking along by Kings College and gradually down the road to the Fitzwilliam Muesum (one of the best museums EVER and it's free......oh and the cafe serves gorgeous food, I had an open sandwich with spinach, huge Portobello mushrooms and goats cheese).

Despite showers of rain coming and going throughout the day it didn't matter too much, although I did wish that I should have maybe taken a rain coat!

I wore one of my current favourite outfits-

 Denim shirt: H+M.......Polka-dot skirt: Pull&Bear......Brogues: Primarks......Bag: Urban Outfitters

In true Cambridge tradition we enjoyed a punt along the river Cam which runs along behind the majority of the colleges. It was so lovely just gliding along the river taking in the scenery. 

 On our punt ride

 Kings College

It was a lovely day out and such a beautiful place I could visit it again and again! Have any of you been to Cambridge? 

*I've also decided that I'm going to endeavour to start replying to every comment you lovely people make on my posts, I read every single one and am really grateful for you to take the time to leave me one, so do check back if you do leave one*

"Do you want to go to the seaside?" My holiday in Devon

Here is part two of my holiday last week:
After seeing the sights of Bath me and my boyfriend began the rest of our time away. We caught the train from Bath Spa station (changing at Bristol) down to Exeter, then getting a connecting one taking us out to the coast. Got to admit with it raining most of the journey and with a rubbish forecast we hadn't got our hopes up much about the weather!

Despite the changeable weather we kept ourselves really busy with numerous cream teas (Reiss is still a newbie, having never had them before last year :o ) lots of trips down to the sea in the evenings which was about a five minute walk, a trip to Exeter shopping, bike ride along the river and visiting other nearby towns.

Our last day was particularly special as we went quite a distance to get there (about an hour and a half on tiny twisty Devon roads) but the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We went to Salcombe.. A gorgeous seaside town, with a harbour one side and beaches the other and a cute highstreet and also where the first Jack Wills shop was. Definitely a place where the rich and famous can feel at home with a two bedroom apartment setting you back about £1,500,000!!!

 Salcombe North Sands Beach

 Me on the rocks  The Vaccines T-shirt  H+M shorts  ASOS watch  Jack Wills sunglasses

 Reiss exploring on the rocks on the beach

 Beachy snap

Us sitting on the rocks over the sea= paradise

Looking back at the beach from the cliff road

As you can see I got quite snap happy in Salcombe but it really was a gorgeous place! Has anyone else been to Salcombe or Devon recently? xxx

My Birthday in Bath

Hi everyone! I'm finally back after my week away, looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs and seeing what you have all been up to and posting about.

Last Tuesday was my 20th birthday and I went away with my boyfriend to Bath for a night before we went on to Devon for the main part of our holiday (post about Devon to be following this!). I had the most amazing day, we hadn't visited Bath before so it was great to be exploring somewhere new. Our hotel was situated right in the heart of the city which was a real bonus. The architecture was stunning and I couldn't resist taking loads of photos-

 Me with Pulteney Bridge in the distance //  Jacket: Topshop  Hoodie: American Apparel  Blouse and Hair clip: H+M

 Our hotel

 Pulteney Bridge again

 The Royal Crescent

 Hot air balloon taking off

Reiss and I outside the Roman Baths

Outfit of the second day- Dress: H+M  Bag: Urban Outfitters  Belt and Shoes: Primark

There was so much to see but our highlights were the Royal Crescent which looked gorgeous in the sunshine, the Roman Baths (guess I'm biased as a Classics student!!), Victoria Park and the gorgeous streets lined with shops. It really was an amzing place! We had dinner at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant and had the most delicious prawn linguine.

If any of you have been to Bath I'd love to know where your favourite places there are!

I would definitely visit Bath again and what with it only being 80 minutes by train from London it's pretty easy and quick to get there! Also I thought I would share with you some of my presents I got for my birthday-

Jack Wills sunglasses, Topshop glitter nail varnish, bath bomb, chocolates, Mark Hill hair care, itunes voucher, Biba purse, Clinique foundation, Urban Outfitters handbag (would anyone like to see me do a vlog about some of these?) xxx

Birthday time....

Today was spent beginning my birthday celebrations for my 20th which is on Tuesday (more on that in a sec!) I went out for a little lunch with my family on the Pier at Southwold a seaside town about 30 minutes from where I live. Followed by afternoon tea at my grandparents' house.

Now if you look really closely you can see that beneath the 'Happy Birthday' (iced on rather badly by yours truly) it says Diamond Jubilee - because this is actually meant to be a Jubilee cake! We bought it from Sainsbury's to be my birthday cake as the crown and bunting were just too cute to resist. Plus my birthday is only a day after the Queens! Adding on a little icing made it slightly more personal. 

Below- Mummy P, Me and Granny

         - The Southwold Pier sign

         - Cake and me 

Anyway the reason for starting the birthday celebrations early is because on the actual day on Tuesday I'm off to Bath with my boyfriend Reiss and then on down to Devon so it made sense to celebrate with the family at the weekend. So excited for our little holiday although it does mean there will be a little break from blogging but I'll be sure to take lots of outfit pictures/touristy snaps and do lots of posts when I'm back to make up for it (fingers crossed everyone please for the weather to cheer up a bit!).

How do all of you normally celebrate your birthdays?

Now I'm off to pack, any tips on how to cater for all weathers without taking my whole wardrobe?! xxx

Stone to stone they take me on, I'm walking 'til the break of dawn

Me outside the V+A: Hoodie: American Apparel//Top: H+M//Shorts: New Look

Reiss outside the V+A

I absolutely love London, probably because it makes such a refreshing change from the endless fields I am surrounded by back home! This weekend I went down to see my boyfriend Reiss who lives just outside of London. We met up in the city centre and had an amazing day exploring Harrods, enjoying a cuppa in the Knightsbridge Starbucks, wandering around the fabulous V + A museum topped off by some retail therapy in Oxford Street in the afternoon not to mention being treated to lots of yummy food!

Despite the odd shower of rain here and there and a lot of walking we had a lovely day and both bought a pair of 'Toms' shoes ready for the summer. I bought the navy blue pair that have stripes down the sides whilst Reiss just went for plain navy blue (after trying on every style and size in the shop!). I decided to leave them at Reiss' house for now as it's doubtful the weather is going to improve in the next week I am home! I also bought a Kohl eyeliner in black from the Topshop make-up range as I had read such good reviews. Where are everyone's favourite places in London?

(Toms shoes picture: Toms website)

The Oxford Street Topshop was very very busy as always, I found a nice pair of coral trousers in the sale but the queue to try them on was ridiculously long so I ended up leaving them. I also saw a beautiful dress by another brand that they stock but now I can't find it on the internet- typical!!

I've had a little look at the Topshop sale online- far less stressful than scouring through the rails and these are my top picks! Have any of you found any bargains in the mid-season sales?

Also I am very excited to have reached 50 followers!! Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, I love writing it but I also enjoy just as much reading everyone elses! My second year uni exams are getting closer and closer so my posting may become a little less frequent but I do have some great posts lined up so do keep reading! xxx