Wonky Lauren

Last month we took a trip to San Francisco.  My cousin moved there last December so we'd talked about visiting later this year depending on whether we could afford it and still had enough annual leave after Mexico. We booked the flights about 3 months in advance and paid around £300 each with Virgin.  We thought this was a pretty good deal and it was, the only catch being we still had to add luggage on (£45 per bag each way) and could only select our seats 24 hours in advance of each flight.  This is the economy light option they now offer and if you don't mind taking the risk it's a pretty good option especially if you only plan to take one suitcase between you like we did. The accommodation, however, was a bit more expensive for what we got and worked out around £900 for a week in a 3 star hotel in the centre.  It was basic but a really convenient location so I would happily recommend it on that basis.  It was called the Herbert Hotel on Powell Street.

If you read my Mexico blog ( here ) or follow me on Instagram ( here ) you will know I got engaged earlier this year and am slooooowllllly planning my wedding.  So I just wanted to point out a few little things I've noticed in the last 6 months of being engaged. People Will Want All the Details Not just the details of the engagement although I have told that story so many times now (and it's not a complaint) but all the details of the wedding too.  I'm not a super secretive person and am happy to share my plans if people ask but I do also want there to be an element of surprise for my guests.  I think nearer the time when the details are more finalised I will tell people they just have to wait and see! Be Organised We got engaged 6 months ago and I'm not planning to get married for another 2 and a half years.  I want to be super organised, take my time over things and really just enjoy being engaged.  One of my friends actually pointed out to me that

Don't you hate it when you come back from a really fun trip and just feel depressed? This time last month I was in sunny San Francisco having the time of my life trekking through Yosemite and exploring Alcatraz.  Fast forward to now and I'm sat at my desk in freezing cold London!  So this got me thinking, how can we continue that holiday feeling when we get home? Re-live the memories Thank God for smart phones because now we can re-live all our memories just by scrolling through our phones.  Looking at photos and uploading them to Instagram, re-watching Insta-stories and reliving the magic.  Even printing them off and putting them in an album if that isn't too old fashioned for you! Re-create the holiday Why not try to do some of the things you did whilst you were away but in your own city?  When we were in San Francisco we went for brunch every morning at a different place, visited a comedy club one evening and took walks in the park.  These are thi

Have you ever wondered why it is always our formal celebrations like births, marriages and religious ceremonies that are a bigger affair than celebrating our academic achievements or job promotions? I have found this over the years anyway.  I was thinking about this a few weeks ago and thought I would reflect on it here so this may just be a load of ramble.. For me, I have always been quite late to the party when it comes to achievements so I thought maybe that was why they were never celebrated as much?  I also did a bit of research around the subject (I may be going off topic here but bear with me) so see how I compared with when we are 'supposed' to reach these major life milestones. Yes I know comparison is the theft of joy but I'm not really bothered with comparison, this is just for fun! MILESTONE                           AVERAGE    ME First kiss                                      15              15 First full time job                        19   

For anyone who needs this.. This letter is to you, The you that’s had a rough week.   The you that seems to be under constant storm clouds.   The you that feels invisible.   The you that doesn’t know how much longer you can hold on.   The you that has lost faith.   The you that always blames yourself for everything that goes wrong.   Stop being so self-critical.   You are enough.   Instead look around you at all that you have already achieved, all the friends and family that love you dearly and the people that accept you for who you are. You are incredible.   You make this world a little bit more wonderful.   You have so much potential and so many things left to do.   You have time.   Better things are coming your way, so hang in there.   You can do it. Love, Your Future Self. Just trying to do my bit for mental health.   We all suffer from time to time so I hope this helps you. Lauren xx

After five amazing days in Mexico City, as much as I was sad to leave, I was excited for our next stop on the trip.. Cancun. Cancun Cancun was very different to Mexico City.  Very glam and luxurious with big hotels and even bigger shopping centres.  It actually reminded me a little of Dubai. The hotel we stayed in was called The Grand Oasis and it literally had everything you needed, you really didn't need to leave.  It was huge, with multiple pools and restaurants and even it's own beach.  Best of all was the all inclusive drinks and swim up bars! We did, however, go out to a couple of restaurants near our hotel and there were some lovely Italian places.  We had a really good pizza one night but some of the other restaurants were not that vegetarian friendly. We didn't do much exploring here and stayed at our hotel most days as there was so much to do and we wanted some down time after being so active in Mexico City.  I'm not sure if I woul

I don't know about you but whenever I'm getting ready in the morning I always seem to be short on time!  Don't get me wrong, I love spending time on my makeup but if I'm in a rush I need to get in done quickly so with these time-saving products I've managed to get my morning makeup routine down to 5 minutes! Milani 2-in-1 Foundation and Concealer Any sort of 2 in 1 product is going to save you time so look out for those first of all.  This one is my favourite.  It's quite full coverage but you can thin it out by using a beauty sponge or mixing it with your moisturiser. Bare Minerals Powder Compact This is great because you can also use it for on the go.  The pressed powder comes with a mirror and sponge. Laura Geller Mocha Blush The colour of the blush is a near bronze colour so you can get away with not having to use a bronzer as well, saving more time! NYX Tinted Eyebrow Gel I love tinted eyebrow gels because you can fill

So I went to Mexico in May this year and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write a post about it but time has just flown!   Mexico is a country I’ve wanted to visit for ages but there’s so much to see, I wanted to do it properly and take a bit of time to travel around. Flights My boyfriend (kind of) surprised me with plane tickets to Mexico City for Christmas and we straight away got planning to where else we wanted to go.   We decided to fly to Mexico City for 5 days, then fly across to Cancun for 5 days and then get a bus to Tulum for the last 4 days before heading back to Mexico City and then home.   I will write about Cancun in a separate blog post (hopefully that won’t take me another 3 months!). We flew direct with British Airways from London Heathrow and our flights were around £600 each.   This included luggage and seat selection.   I can’t fault BA at all, even with the delays, because it was such a comfortable flight. After the long 11.5 ho