Back to Hogwarts - a day at the Harry Potter studio tour London

At precisely 11am each year on 1st September, the Hogwarts Express begins its journey for the start of the school year. So, it only seemed right to talk about the Harry Potter studio tour on this day. This was a Christmas present that I used on the weekend before my birthday (to squeeze that birthday week out for as long as possible), and was just incredible.

5 days in Amsterdam: 11 things to do, see and eat

Amsterdam really seems to be the place everyone's got their sights set on at the moment, and heading there was one of the best things I've done in a LONG time. The city's infamous for its canals, coffee shops and red light district, but there's a whole lot more going on underneath the surface. We spent 3 full days here, with an extra afternoon/evening on the first day and a morning on day 5. 

5 year travel bucket list

This heatwave has me dreaming of poolside vacations with a cocktail (including a tiny umbrella) in hand, slathered in sun cream because my pasty Irish heritage makes me a little bit of a lobster. But, after moving, taking two driving tests and getting insured over the last couple of months, a summer holiday just isn't on the cards this year. Instead, I'm going to grab a cold cider and write this, pretending that it means I'm *basically* on holiday.

7 Unmissable things to do on a holiday in Orlando, Florida

This is one of the last Florida-related posts I'm doing, I PROMISE guys. It was just such an incredible holiday filled with so many amazing adventures that I can't stop banging on about it. Anyhow, now that I've spoken about things in a little more detail in various posts, I think it's time I made a summary of the things that I think are unmissable if you travel to Orlando.
1.) The Disney parks. Duh. Orlando is Disney central, and if you avoid anything Disney, then you're doing it wrong IMO. Head to all four parks, eat all the over-priced Disney snacks (I'm a firm believer in paying that bit extra if it looks cool), spot all the hidden Mickeys around the parks, but most of all, bathe in the experience. It genuinely feels like a magical place. 
2.) Visit the Florida mall. It has a Sephora, a Taco Bell and an M & Ms world in it. Need I say more?
3.) Go on a swamp air boat tour and spy some gators. This was such a terrifying and exhilarating day. The tour was fast, fun and the sights over lake Kissimmee were incredible.
4.) Universal Studios. Ever competing with Disney (but not quite managing to equal them), Universal Studios is a little more 'adult'. It's less kitsch, has bigger rides, and lets you explore your inner sci-fi enthusiast. It's also the home of Harry Potter world, which is a reason to go in itself. 
5.) Go to Mannys. This was recommended to me time and time again because it's where all the locals go to eat. The decor is incredible, and it's the one place that I was determined to have a meal at.
6.) Have a day trip to Ellenton mall and St Pete's beach. As the Ellenton mall is a bit further out from tourist-filled Orlando, there are some real bargains on offer. I'm talking a Kate Spade outlet with deals so good I could weep. It's also on the way to St Pete's beach, which was sandy, peaceful and a great place to relax after a long day of shopping.
7.) Visit a gun range. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea: it wasn't something that I wanted to do because I thought it'd be fun. It's something I wanted to do to experience what it was like. It was terrifying and horrifying and something I'll remember for the rest of my life. 
Have you been to Orlando, or live there? What would you recommend?
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5 must-see attractions at Universal Studios, Orlando

Universal Studios was more epic than I could have ever imagined (or remembered from when I visited as a kid). So, today I'm sharing my 5 favourite attractions from the park that I would 100% not miss out on seeing/doing if I ever returned. It can be really difficult to prioritise your time there, so hopefully this little guide might help.
1.) Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This was my favourite ride of the entire park. It was fun, scary, the special effects were incredible and the level of detail they put into the areas that you queued in made it feel quite magical. All of the Harry Potter themed parts of the park were just perfect for any Potterhead, and I've written a whole post on them here.
2.) Jurassic Park River Adventure. This was basically a log flume. But you got to see a whole lot of dinos on the way round, and it was the first log flume I've been on in YEARS. The photo they took as we sped down it was hilarious (who knew my mouth could be so large?! I joke, me and my family all knew it, although my scream was deafening). 
3.) Revenge of the Mummy. This is a must for people who love bigger rides, i.e. rollercoasters. It was by no means the biggest or scariest in the park, but it was the largest that I went on. I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of massive rides, so I can't talk from experience about most of the others. The Mummy ride takes you forwards, backwards, down some drops and even alongside fire. I screamed the entire way, and even yelled 'I DON'T LIKE THIS I WANT TO GET OFF' to my (chuckling) boyfriend, but the adrenaline rush from it was amazing.  
4.) Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts was a smaller ride again, but only slightly. We went on a journey with the infamous trio through Gringotts, being chased by dragons and (just about) escaped scot-free.
5.) The Simpsons Ride. This is last, but definitely not least. I LOVE The Simpsons, and the special effects on this ride were incredible. If you're a little faint-hearted, then this may be one for you, as you don't actually move anywhere. You tilt and twist, and the park uses visual effects to make it feel like you're moving, but you're not. Plus, y'know, the Simpsons is fab, and the whole of Springfield in the park had me agape with joy. 
Have you ever been? What would you recommend?
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The detail in Walt Disney World and how it inspires me

Laziness is one of my biggest flaws, and one that I'm definitely trying to work on. I used to be that blogger that wouldn't even bother proofreading her posts before they went up, because cba, but in the last five months I've turned that around. However, in terms of most other things, laziness still wins. I enjoy wearing comfy no-effort clothes, I clean when I have to, and thinking that I can get away with the bare minimum for everything is kind of my own personal agenda.
Visiting Walt Disney World completely changed my perspective on all of this. I've always thought that it's the big things that matter: furniture is what decorates a house, plain flatlays are the way forward and so on. I could never quite put my finger on what wasn't right. Until I saw the level of effort that designers and architects had gone into at Disney World. The whole place was a thousand times more magical because of the little things. 
I literally gasped as I strolled around the parks at the tiniest of things. The bird houses in Animal Kingdom (the top photo) were practically palaces; a sight to behold on their own, even without the magnificent birds surrounding them. At night time they switched on lanterns just like the ones in Tangled in a little courtyard and I was mesmerised. Hell, even the wooden boards blocking off a new construction were painted beautifully. 
As each day at the parks went by, I began to notice how every single tiny little detail in Disney World had been considered, carefully planned, and created to culminate in a one of a kind experience. When I got home, I realised how bare our house is. Now, I don't mean that it's missing that bit of Disney pizazz, but that I've overlooked all the details in our home, whilst focusing on the big things. Despite having lived here for six months now, we've only got one thing hanging up on a wall in the house. All of the 'temporary' moving storage is still in place. We've even still got a couple of unpacked boxes. But I'd convinced myself that it doesn't matter, and that our house is a home without these things. Now I'm starting to see differently.
Since coming back, we've re-installed a canvas painting we bought last summer onto our dining room wall. I've created a collage wall in my office space. I've even got back into the habit of buying flowers for my desk and lighting candles whilst I'm working. It feels amazing. I've convinced my boyfriend to unpack a couple of the boxes he's been ignoring for months. All these little details are starting to make this house carry more of our personalities. I'm so, so much happier with how it looks now in comparison to how it looks a month ago. 
My photography is (hopefully) starting to improve a little bit because of it as well now. I've finally begun to really look at other people's flatlays and realise just how much more effort they put into them in comparison to the effort I put in. I've started to notice how much white space is left in my images, and research different ways to build texture and create interesting flatlays without them looking cluttered. I've by no means become some kind of photography expert overnight, but I can feel a difference in my style, and I hope you'll all be able to see it in upcoming posts too.
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Top 4 snacks to try at Walt Disney World, Orlando

Food is love, food is life. For real though, whenever I go on holiday, food is a major factor in terms of my spending, and in terms of what I'm most looking forward to. Holidays give you the chance to try new cuisines, and I'm ten times more likely to give new food a try if I'm away from home. Walt Disney World in Orlando offered up a zillion different food options, but we were on a fairly tight budget. Rather than spending a lot of money on a main meal at the parks, we often went for a light lunch and a snack during the day. Here are my favourites:
Mickey Mouse ice cream from Animal Kingdom. How cute does this look? I'm not a big ice cream fan, and the weather makes it melt pretty darn fast, so one scoop was perfect. The little mickey sprinkles and the chocolate chip 'ears' made it something that I just couldn't miss out on.
Giant pink doughnuts from Epcot. I mean, I'm pretty sure this is a rip-off of the Homer Simpson style ones they do in Universal Studios, but I got it here first. This is the biggest doughnut I've ever seen in my LIFE and that earns it a place on the list, even without how pretty it is factoring in.
Strawberry cider from Epcot. I know I left the UK and wanted to try new food & drink, but I could hardly miss out on the opportunity to try cider made in America in 'England' in Epcot. The strawberry taste was subtle, but still there, and it was such a refreshing drink to have in the heat of midday. 
Mickey Mouse pretzels from Hollywood Studios. I couldn't leave the States without getting a pretzel, could I?! We just don't have them on this scale here in the UK. The fact that it's shaped like Mickey Mouse just kind of boggles my mind (how do they do that?!) and makes it quite frankly epic.
Have you been to Walt Disney World? What were your favourite snacks?
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10 things I wasn't expecting when I visited Florida

I loved my time in Florida last month, but there were definitely some things that cropped up which I wasn't expecting at all. Obviously this post isn't made with the intent to cause offence; it's just a little list of all the things that shocked me.

1.) Automatic toilets everywhere. It took pretty much the entire two weeks I was there to work out how to not set off the automatic toilet flush every time I went for a wee. 

2.) Fries, not chips. Sometimes nothing hits the spot quite like a good chip shop chip, am I right?! I had no idea that chunky chips were just not really a 'thing' in Florida

3.) There are gun ranges everywhere. And people totally go as some kind of family bonding activity?? I've written a whole post on my experiences with this here.

4.) Water is more expensive than coke. Why is this a thing? You honestly have to decide between having a drink that's actually refreshing and saving a little bit of money.

5.) There aren't alligators everywhere. After the tragic incident in which a young boy got attacked by an alligator at Walt Disney World, the media made it seem as though they were running loose everywhere. We didn't see any however, until we actually went looking for them at Boggy Creek's Gatorland. 

6.) Finding a recycling bin is practically impossible. I really struggled with not being able to recycle hardly anything whilst I was away. Despite owning his own house in a residential estate, my uncle is barred from getting a recycle bin for himself or renters because he's not a US resident. How strange is that?! 

7.) No one uses change. I felt so self-conscious using anything smaller than a dollar to pay for something. People just avoided taking/giving change. I was short-changed by a couple of pennies a few times, and all I could consider was how angry the little old ladies who frequent the restaurant I work in would be if I did the same to them!

8.) Food shopping is so darn expensive. If you head to any supermarket in the UK, there's always more expensive brands and cheaper brands. You can opt between things like Sainsbury's basics, Tesco's finest, or a variety of brands that deal in their own specific foods. Any supermarket we went to in Florida was ridiculously expensive, no matter what the quality of the food was like. I can see why people eat out so often!

9.) No one walks anywhere. Every road has sidewalks, but I saw at most ten people using them over our entire holiday. Everything is so far apart that it's hard for people to walk anywhere, and I just felt as though they were eerily empty. 

10.) Everyone was so so friendly. I think nice weather just brings out the best in people (or maybe Floridians are generally friendlier to be around than us Brits??!). Everyone we spoke to was more than willing to help us out with anything we needed, and we never received one cold brush off from someone at work.

Have you been to Florida? Did you find anything that shocked you there?

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Swamp rides and gatorville: visiting Boggy Creek, Florida

Whenever I travel somewhere new, I always like to do something involving animals. Florida is home to a whole load of swamps, and in them a whole load of gators. After all the media hype surrounding the alligator incident at Disney World I was half expecting to see them crawling around everywhere, kind of like foxes in the UK. But, it's okay guys, we actually had to go searching in their natural habitat to find some.

Top 5 attractions in each Walt Disney World park (Orlando)

Walt Disney World is a truly magical place, and I feel so lucky to have has the opportunity to visit it last month. Each park (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot) has a massive number of attractions, and it's near impossible to get them all crammed into one day. So, here's my little summary of the top five must-see/do attractions at each park.

Welcome to Springfield!

The Simpsons is hands down one of the best TV shows ever IMO. It appeals to exactly my sense of humour: a lot of silliness, with a lot of satire thrown in. If you haven't watched it since you were a kid, honestly go back and rewatch some episodes because there are moments of pure gold that totally flew over your head when you were younger.

Visiting a gun range in Florida

This is probably the most controversial post I've ever written. BUT, before I start I'd like to say that I am completely against the idea that it's legal to carry a gun in the US. 

Visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Our generation is the generation of Potterheads let's face it. Who remembers the queues outside Waterstones (or even Ottakers, RIP) to pick up the latest installation in the series? Or sending your mum into Smiths the next day to grab a copy? And then came the joy of the films. And Pottermore. And finally the franchise extended into real life places. Yaaas.

10 things you need to do before holidaying in Florida

Before I get cracking on this one, can we talk about how dreamy these shoes are? They're nude, suede and come in at under a tenner from Primark. I'm in love, and they're now my staple shoes for my upcoming trip to Florida, eeek!
If you haven't heard me banging on enough about it recently, then let me tell you: I'm heading to Florida in under a fortnight. Despite having known about it for ages, it feels like it's totally crept up on me, and all of a sudden I'm needing to make the final arrangements. So, naturally I thought I'd procrastinate with a post on all the little things you need to do before setting off on holiday to Florida if you're from the UK.
1.) Arrange travel insurance. This was a bitch, hurt my bank account and it took about 3 years to read through all the contracts. BUT the idea of having to pay for healthcare in the US, and not have the trusty ol' NHS keeping me safe is a little terrifying. Plus, it means that if you need to cancel the trip for any reason (health, close family death etc), you're likely to get a good part of your money back. There's even little things that I'd never thought of included, like insurance against the plane company going into liquidation. It's best to do this as early as possible, as it covers you from when you take out the policy.
2.) Apply for an ESTA. This is basically a visa for your holiday. It asks for about a zillion pieces of information about yourself, so pop the kettle on and get cosy with this. It also comes with a little fee - I believe we paid about $14. We did this three months before leaving.
3.) Make plans for your home whilst you're away. I don't know about you, but the idea of leaving my home empty for two weeks makes my anxiety go sky high. See if you can find a house sitter, or ask someone to pop in every few days to make sure everything is okay.
4.) Make sure your passport is in date! This is such an easy thing to look over. My passport ran out a few years ago and I had no driving license for ID. Safe to say, six weeks of trying to get into clubs with no real ID in the first few months of uni was not ideal.
5.) If you have pets, make arrangements for them early on. We've got a hamster (sadly we lost our second one a couple of weeks ago) and a bunny. I didn't want to have to fork out lots of money, or be frantically trying to find somewhere for them to stay at the last minute, so I sorted out their holiday arrangements two months before ago. In case you're stuck with what to do with small pets, there are places that board them like cats or dogs.
6.) Read up on the current rules and regulations about hand luggage/actual luggage before going. I'm yet to do this, but there's nothing worse than having your stuff binned because you've not read all about what you can and can't have. Security is extra tight in the US in comparison to heading to other places in Europe, and I so don't want to be caught out.
7.) Save, save, save. Let's face it, I'm a Disney fanatic. I'll want everything at the parks. I set myself three months to save everything I could. This has meant no cheeky trips to Maccies, no new makeup and skimping on every necessary payout I can. But it'll be worth it once I get there. Set yourself a budget and a reasonable time to save it in to make sure you have the best time. 
8.) Decide how you want to access your money. Do you want it all in cash? On a cash passport card? A credit card? I think we're taking a little in cash and getting a cash passport at the weekend to put the rest on.
9.) Prepare yourself for a long flight. I'm not a nervous flyer, which is fab, but a buttload of hours in a confined space can make you hella bored. I'm packing a blanket (gotta get those plane naps in, right?), a pack of cards, my kindle and some headphones as my 'starter kit' for keeping occupied, and I imagine I'll add in a few bits closer to the flight.
10.) Go on a massive shopping haul. There's about ten thousand things I need but don't have yet. Sunnies? Nope. Suncream? Nope. I've kick-started things by picking up some staple clothing pieces, like my bikini, these dreamy pumps and a pair of comfy shorts, but there's still a lil list of things I haven't yet got to.
And there we have it: 10 things to sort out before holidaying in Florida. Have you been there before? What are your recommendations of things to do?
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How to save for a big holiday, the easy way

I have some big news: in six weeks I'm heading to Davenport, Florida for a fortnight. And yes, this means I'm totally heading to Disneyworld. I've alluded to this in a few blog posts in the past month or so, so some of you may already know this. What you won't know is that I'm able to go because my mum has offered to take me and my partner as well as my sister, and a couple of our family members are coming along too. My parents divorced just under a year ago, and with that break up came a house sale, so mum decided to do something positive with what came out of all that negativity. 

What to do on a day trip to Camden

It's no secret that I've got a good ol' case of wanderlust at the moment. If you have a browse through my Pinterest you'll be more than a little bombarded with dreamy repins of destinations all over the world. But alas, adult responsibilities and finances mean that (for the moment at least) these are still dreams. So, I've decided to discover a lot more of the UK this year. I'm hoping to head to Bristol, Brighton and Liverpool, but hit me up with anymore suggestions!
Having said that, Camden isn't actually a new place for me, but rather one of my favourite places in London that I try to make an annual trip to. The last time I visited was (I believe) for my sister's 18th birthday two years ago, so when she turned the big 2-0 a fortnight ago I decided a trip back was totally overdue. 
After travelling down to Slough with the other half, we headed into London with my sister, her boyfriend and best friend. Naturally the journey wasn't without disasters: the tube station at Camden road was closed, which meant we had to go on a really long-ass route that involved overground trains and all sorts. Cross that over with the fact that we were on a train going towards Wembley on the day of the Charity Shield (basically a massive football match), and you've got a packed, sweaty train on a boiling hot day. Brill. 
But, when we finally got there we were truly excited. We hit up Camden's Cereal Killer Cafe, which I've written a whole post on here. In my opinion this is a must-do if you're heading to this little part of London. They stock well over 100 cereals and although we did book a table, there was absolutely no need to as they had tonnes of free seating inside. Having said that, we did book for 3pm, so it may have been a lot busier during 'the lunch time rush'.
Next up on the must-see list is obviously a quick meander around their outdoor market. This is one of my favourite places, and I always get totally drawn in by vendors, pretty colours and semi-unique gifts. Prewarn: don't buy anything in the first half hour - a lot of merchandise is repeated on these stalls, so that gives you time to see exactly what there is to offer. 
The Stables market is also something that I would definitely recommend going to if you have a few hours to spare to wander around. I've lost count of the number of times I've got lost in here, and I really think it makes for an incredible experience. You're surrounded by people of a whole variety of cultures, with goodies to suit any kind of style or desire. For example, we wandered past a stall dedicated to light reflective mosaic lamps, to one filled with stuffed llamas of varying colours and sizes, to one that sold homemade soy candles. There's so much to do and see and I always come home feeling as if my senses are a little worn out.
It wouldn't really be a post about Camden if I didn't mention the street food would it? This is probably one of my favourite, if not the favourite part of visiting Camden. You can pretty much get anything you want if you wander around enough, and despite being tempted by crepes, deep fried chocolate bars, pizza slices the size of my head and cupcakes that are made of my dreams, I eventually settled for some bang bang chicken and noodles. Seriously though, if you're as much of a food obsessive as I am, then you'll understand how painful it was to walk past so many beautiful food stalls and decide on just one. 
Oh, and did I mention that they've got a MAC store and a Dr Marten one *heart eye-emoji*?
I vlogged my day in Camden, so please give it a watch if you want to see first hand (ish) what it's like!

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Visiting Camden's Cereal Killer Cafe

I've been wanting to head to this little cafe in the heart of Camden ever since it hit the news a couple of years ago. Naturally it faced a lot of bad press because y'know over £3 for a bowl of cereal is obscene, according to news reports. But when you really think about it - is a fiver for a meal and a drink plus service and a fab atmosphere in Central London really a bad price? Er, no. 
The basic premise of the cafe is that is sells cereal. Only cereal. Over 120 cereals. From all over the globe. Got your attention yet? Then you have over 30 varieties of milk. And then you have over 20 toppings. Basically it's cereal lovers' heaven. They even have totally vegan options. And y'know, actually more than one - total madness. 
I'm such a ditherer that I had to look up the menu of course. Here I found a zone of glory: the cereal cocktail section. Sadly this was alcohol free, BUT this is where the creators of The Cereal Cafe get let their passion run wild. The cocktail menu is a mixture of complementary cereals, milks and toppings. I went for unicorn poop (all the sugar), which was made up of ricicles, mini marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, broken-up party rings and hundreds & thousands. Like is that heaven or what?! All of us chose a different cereal cocktail, which comes in clear plastic bowls with the cutest little milk bottles so that you can choose how much to add. 
Once you got over the whole cereal-ness of the place, you're then hit with the unique decor. All 120 cereal boxes line the shelves around the front counter, and they look INCREDIBLE. Then, as you move into the back of the cafe where the seating is, you pass a spice girls wallpapered selfie wall, more cereal memorabilia and general '90s funk. Our table had a VHS case as the reserved sign, a nightlight lamp in the centre of the table, and we sat on kids beds with '90s duvet covers on. There were Super Mario, Bart Simpson and Powerpuff Girls covers to name just a few. 100 points for '90s nostalgia here.
Seriously though, I had the best time at the Cereal Killer Cafe, and I would totally recommend going there if you head to Camden. It's hidden near the lower entrance to the Stables Market and is definitely one of the town's hidden gems.
Have you ever been?
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