Family Time!

Hiii!
Last week I was lucky enough to have a visit from my Dad, little Brother and Step-mum!

They came over to visit me, so I just thought I'd let you all know what we got up to and share some pics!

Especially good if you're coming to visit Surrey/Sussex & want to know what kind of things there are to do!

Wednesday 30th July

Everyone arrived at the gloriously early time of 8.30am, I was off work and actually had to get up a lot sooner than I would have had to if I was working! We went into London basically as soon as they arrived, had some breakfast at EAT (my first time, I know it's a chain but it was actually really good!) First we did a little bit of sightseeing and then traveled out to the Imperial War Museum!

Below L-R: The Shard (Photobombed by my Brother!), Big Ben, and a Horse Guard.

View of the Thames taken from London Bridge!

  IWM was SO busy, like there was hardly room to move, and for someone with a little bit of claustrophobia it was freaking me out! It's recently just reopened with a new exhibition so I think that's why it was so busy! 

I'm pretty uncultured, I can't deny it, and usually museums don't interest me that much but the First World War exhibition which has newly opened was so interesting, I actually really enjoyed it! 

A little bit of the Berlin Wall. 

Huge-ass rocket and plane. 

Might make this my new saying?

The first pair of Uggs?!?!

A picture taken in Northern Ireland during the height of the Troubles.

We then chilled at Westminster for a while, had some lunch, went for a walk down the Embankment (and discovered some cute deckchairs along the way (see below) and then headed back towards Gatwick because we were all bloody pooped.

Thursday 31st July

Thursday was my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday again Dad) and we went off to Brighton for the day. 

Hopped on the train and in less than 30 minutes, we were there! None of us had ever been to Brighton so it was very exciting!

It's literally the nicest place, so happy, the weather was gorgeous, had fish and chips on the beach, had shandys in the cutest pub, we all got sunburnt, we went on some amusements and we went in the sea.. It's basically the perfect holiday isn't it?? Mind you, the stones on the beach look easy to walk on, they hurt!!

Typical Tourists...

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Family shot! Me, Dad, Irene and Ryan!

Dipping my feet!

Friday 1st August

 We kind of wanted a more chilled day because we'd exhausted ourselves the first two days so we headed off to Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. This place is hugeeeeee. It's similar to the Trafford Centre with the shops it has, it's one you could go to with a lot of money and blow it in quite a short period of time!! 

We dandered round and bought what we wanted (I'll do a separate post even though I didn't buy much!) and then played Crazy Golf. These things are kind of family traditions, Dad and I will always go on a water ride if we see if, and as a family we'll always play crazy golf or go bowling if there's the opportunity! We're all really competitive so it's so much fun! I actually even managed 2 holes in one! I was so proud of myself!! Dad was the overall champion, but obviously we let him win coz it was the day after his birthday ;-)

We ate a lotttt that day! Started the day off with a Toby Carvery all you can eat breakfast - naughty but very nice! We all had drinks at Comptoir Libanais, a Lebanese restaurant we'd never heard of! I had a Mira Frozen Blended Lemonade which was mint, lemon, lime and orange blossom lemonade - so refreshing! We all had Krispy Kreme and then finished it off with a trip to Byron Burger. So much food but SO good.

Saturday 2nd August

This was my last day with everyone so I can't lie I was a moody little bitch, I didn't want them to go :( We went to Windsor to see the Changing of the Guard, because we've all missed it everytime we've ever been in London! Windsor is the cutest little town, check out the crooked house in the smallest street in the UK!

 

As I've said I'm not really into history, and unlike IWM which is free in, it was £16.75 for a student to go into Windsor castle, I felt guilty so I decided to sit it out, relax, shop and drink coffee while my family looked around! My brother did send me a snapchat of what it looks like inside the gates though!

My brother and me!

After that I drove them to Stanstead and they flew home (after quite a few delays I must add!!) and I drove back to Gatwick! I had the best few days and I was so glad to see them! I've booked flights home for September now so at least I know when I'm going to see everyone again which has cheered me up no end!

I know this was a long post (sorry!) but I hope it maybe gave you a few ideas of places to go if you're ever coming to visit! If you have any questions or want any more details of prices etc leave me a comment or tweet me @RachelVennard and I will do my best to help!

Thanks for reading, and can I just say thank you to all my new followers!! At the start of June I had 2 followers (1 of which was myself!!) and I now have 28 Bloglovin followers! I'm astounded, thank you so much!! I will do a giveaway when I reach 100 followers (even if that is 3 years away) so please recommend my blog to anyone you think might like to read it!

lots of love xxx

Busy weekendzz!

Hellllllooo guys!

I have had the most JAM-PACKED weekend of my life in a long time! It's now Sunday and I'm in come down mode and feel so zonked out! (Apologies if zonked isn't even a real word!)

On Friday my best friend and I went to Tennents Vital, a 3 day festival that takes place in Belfast at Boucher Road playing fields! The line up was Tommy Trash, Naughty Boy, Rudimental, Tinie Tempah and the headliner was Avicii!

It was a great night and all the acts were AMAZING! But Tinie Tempah was definitely my highlight, the man is beautiful! 

I didn't get a full photo of my outfit, but I wore a baseball top from h&m, high waisted shorts from Primark, suspender tights by Henry Holland (which laddered before I left the house TYPICAL!) and black and purple nike hightops.. Which are now brown from the mud.. Lovely ;-)

Here's a few snaps from Friday!  

On Saturday my mum and I were at a wedding of one of her colleagues! The wedding took place in St Macarten's Cathedral in Monaghan, and it was a beautiful setting for the wedding! The sun was shining and the bride looked GORGEOUS! 

I did my makeup myself, and I'm wearing MAC's Magenta Liner on my lips and Eylure's 400 lashes! I love over the top lashes! I have tiny eyelids so it's the only thing that adds definition to myself! I got my hair done by my hairdresser, she used GHD's and lots of hairspray to get the waves into my hair! And if anyone's noticed, I'm going blonde! I got loads of blonde in on Friday morning, and will be continuing to go this direction.. blondes DO have more fun! ;-)

My mums dress was from Debut in Debenhams and I think she looks gorgeous! She's my best friend and I love to see her looking gorgeous.. She even wore false eyelashes for the first time! Proud!!

My dress is from the Billie and Blossom range in Dorothy Perkins! I love the bright orange colour! The belt is from Dorothy Perkins, the shoes from Topshop, handbag from New Look and my necklace is from a discount jewellery store in Belfast called Muse! 

It was a lovely day and it was so good to be part of the wedding! The bride and groom looked so happy and in love!! Weddings always make me emotional, I cried at the bride walking up the aisle! 

I've had a busy weekend and have never been so glad to spend a whole day in bed today! It's my friends 21st birthday on Monday so more partying is to come!! 

Hope you enjoyed this more personal post!! 

Talk soon darlings! 

xxx