A day trip to Oxford

Image from Pixabay

Last weekend was full on; cinema trips, shopping, eating out, celebrations, road-tripping and cake making! On Sunday, we decided to head to Oxford. We visited the University city in 2015 and you can see my post here but this time, we had a different agenda.

First we headed to the Ashmolean Museum, where we discovered arts of the Renaissance, incredible Greek sculptures and a marble staircase of dreams. I love exploring museums and learning more about different countries and cultures, especially when those countries are places that I dream of visiting. I think it's good to immerse yourself in the culture of countries you're interested in, it can really make you appreciate another place.

After exploring the Ashmolean, we headed to Jamie's Italian for a pasta fuelled lunch, complete with a gorgeous praline bomb and a few cocktails. Shopping in Oxford is really good but I only came away with a couple of items; I think online shopping is so much easier, stress free and actually allows you to look at the items you're buying.

We spent our last hour visiting the University colleges, parks and buildings. They're absolutely breath-taking; you really don't feel like you're in a city with the culture and architecture that surrounds you. Oxford is one of my favourite cities and heading there just for the day made my bank holiday weekend so much more exciting. 

If you love Oxford, are thinking of travelling there this year or have some great recommendations for the city, feel free to leave me a comment or tweet me @amie_journalist 

For now, here's just some of the pictures I took on my trip:

Who run the world? GIRLS.

I love reading other blogs and finding my favourites when it comes to travel, beauty, lifestyle and fashion. I typically follow UK bloggers as I prefer their style of writing and can relate myself to the places they visit, restaurants they eat at and the brands they wear! Reading other blogger's posts and watching their vlogs definitely motivates my style of writing and gives me ideas for posts myself, however, I do really just enjoy looking at their work and finding out how they got where they are now.

Here's my 5 favourite female bloggers:

1. Carrie at wishwishwish.net

Carrie's blog is full of wedding ideas at the moment; calligraphy, honeymooning, decor and dresses. But hunt through her posts and you'll find fun travel features, from Disneyland to European city breaks, with serious style throughout.

2. Victoria at inthefrow.com

You'll find everything from holiday styles, destinations and top tips to reflection posts about bullying and anxiety on Victoria's blog. She writes something for everyone and her latest trip to LA is already giving me serious holiday envy!

3. Lydia at lydiaelisemillen.com

Lydia's style is impeccable and her clothing haul vlogs are brilliant to watch. From fitness tips to holiday's, her engagement video to London shopping trips... she's definitely one to add on snapchat too for a great insight into what she does.

4. Suzie at hello-october.com

City breaks, high-street fashion and beautiful interiors own Suzie's blog and Instagram. Her eye for design is obviously something that she entwines through all of her work... even the clothes she wears! Her nude and black wardrobe is seriously amazing.

5. Claire at chouquette.co.uk

As well as her incredible Chanel bag collection, Claire's blog is full of beautiful clothing, shoes, makeup and lifestyle tips. Her wardrobe tour vlog is enough to make anyone jealous, but there's no doubt she's a down-to-earth girl who works hard for her style!

Loving London

I love visiting London. Compared to the small town I live in, everything is exaggerated! The people, atmosphere, shopping, attractions and things to do leave you wanting more and more; it's never a boring trip.

Before I went on holiday, I went to London for the day with Ollie and his family. We headed off really early so I slept most of the way down but we decided to park at Westfields and walk into town. I'd never been to Westfields shopping centre and didn't know what to expect but it's great; probably the same size as the bullring with loads of variety of shops and tens of restaurants to choose from.

Walking into town was fun. It was such a warm day which was lovely as we strolled through Kensington and Hyde Park - ending up at Harrods. I could really spend all day in Harrods, I love everything and if I had enough money, would absolutely love to walk in and buy a couple of really nice items. There's just so much choice and everything is amazing!

Once we'd finished browsing, we walked from Harrods to Piccadilly Circus and from there to Trafalgar Square. We wish we'd have had a look around Carnaby Street now but at the time, it was nice to just walk around, taking it all in. Neither of us bought anything but we go shopping so much that being somewhere different, it really didn't make a difference to us! Ollie's family had gone to look at the Audrey Hepburn exhibition which sounded fascinating so we met up with everyone else just before our restaurant reservation, so we could talk about it all there.

Finishing off the day with a huge meal at Planet Hollywood, we were too tired (and full!) for the walk back, so grabbed a taxi back to the car and headed home! It was a brilliant day and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time - making sure we don't forget that bit of extra shopping time!!

Festival fever

If there's anything I enjoy more than music, it's a music festival!

Last year, I went to V Festival where I saw Ed Sheeran, Bastille, George Ezra and Example take to the stage, along with headliner, Justin Timberlake.

In 2013, I attended Reading Festival where Chase and Status, Biffy Clyro, Disclosure and Eminem were just a few names on the line-up.

I'd always wanted to go to a festival so, for both occasions, I looked at all of the line-up's for the majority of music festivals and decided on my favourite. The idea of live music, staying up late, camping with your friends and a whole new festival wardrobe really appealed to me.

This year, I'm going to Wireless Festival in July, just for one day. The line-up is great; Avicii, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Gorgon City, just to name a few. I can't wait.

But, for those of you who haven't seen the line-up's, or are deciding on which UK festival you want to attend, here's my list of top 5 UK music festival's for 2015:

1. Boardmasters

http://www.boardmasters.co.uk

Boardmasters has definitely landed this year. The Cornwall based festival, held on the beach, has two of the biggest headliners; Bastille and Rudimental, as well as loads of other huge names. Dancing until the sunset next to the crashing waves seems like the perfect way to celebrate summer, and the organisation of the festival is brilliant. 

Skate, BMX and surfing competitions mean there's something for everyone, and gives you a chance to do something a bit different when you wait for the music to begin. One to check out this year - you won't be disappointed!

2. Lovebox

http://loveboxfestival.com

Lovebox is one of the biggest up-and-coming dance festivals, with huge names being announced this year; including headliners Rudimental and Snoop Dogg. Held at Victoria Park in London, this event will take place on the 17 and 18 July. 

For dance lovers, this is the place to be. Two days of non-stop partying will leave you wanting more and trust me - this festival certainly has more to come.

3. Wireless

http://www.wirelessfestival.co.uk

This year, Wireless is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary - and it's doing it in style. With the 3 day festival being held on the 3/4/5 July, it's already starting to sell out quickly. Drake, Avicii, Kendrick Lamar, David Guetta and Nicki Minaj will be the headlining acts, with many other huge names also taking to the stage.

To make the tenth year one to remember, Wireless have set up a one-off day festival on 28 June. This event is also being held in Finsbury Park, and sees performances from Friday's headliner Drake, Rita Ora, Kid Ink as well as many other international names.

4. Creamfields

https://www.creamfields.com

Creamfields is probably the UK's biggest dance festival and this year, have only got better. Oliver Heldens, Tiesto, Rebel Sound, Kygo and Sub Focus are just a few of the international dance names to be included on this year's line-up. 

Creamfields for me definitely has the best line-up out of all of the UK festivals this year; I just wish I could go. This festival will one hundred percent finish your summer with a bang, and leave your August bank holiday weekend being the best one yet!

5. V Festival

http://www.vfestival.com

V Festival is hosting it's 19th event during the penultimate weekend of August. V has welcomed some of the biggest names in the business over the years and still continues to go above and beyond expectation, including this year, announcing Kasabian, Calvin Harris, Sam Smith and Stereophonics as just some of the artists to perform. V festival has included over 50 artists to perform this year - from every genre of music.

If you already have plans for this year, don't worry, I'm sure the 20th V Festival next year will be one for the diary!