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Day Out: Cheltenham Spa

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Hi everyone,

Last week me and my best friend had an afternoon off work and were at a loss as to what to do so we headed to the nearby town of Cheltenham Spa for a lovely afternoon of shopping and lunching! Cheltenham is around an hour’s drive from Oxford and London and is a pretty Cotswolds town full of high street and designer shops, bars, cafes and restaurants so there really is something on offer for everyone! Upon arrival we headed to cafe for some lunch before hitting the shops. HMV, New Look, River Island and more are at the top of the high street and you can then work your way down towards the likes of Topshop, Boots, Monsoon and Accessorize before ending up at the large flagship Primark store.

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Regents Arcade and are two of the indoor shopping centres which arent to be missed as they are home to a number of independent boutique shops as well as large well known chains such as Debenhams and TK Maxx. Don’t forget to be inside Regents Arcade on the hour to watch the famous bubble clock chime! This brought back many childhood memories for me and my friend as we’ve been going there since we were little!

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Down on The Promenade is where you’ll find the designer and higher end stores such as Jack Wills, FCUK and LK Bennett. The Prom is situated on a long street leading back up to the town centre and is really beautiful especially in the summer sunshine! I’d recommend heading to Cheltenham Spa for an alternative day out to the busier cities of Oxford and London- you’ll thoroughly enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle but there will be plenty of things to keep you and the whole family entertained!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this post – I’ve got a special birthday announcement coming soon as my blog turns one in a couple of weeks time!

Love Jess x

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Clothes show live: Birmingham NEC Arena

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Hey everyone,

On Friday 5th December I attended the annual Clothes Show Live at Birmingham’s NEC Arena for the first time. I’ve wanted to go to the clothes show for as long as I can remember, so when my friend sent me a link to some cut price tickets on Groupon I just couldn’t say no!

We had tickets to the event for the afternoon slot between 1pm and 6pm which worked perfectly for us as it gave us time to travel up in the morning . Parking at the NEC is great; it costs £10 for the day and there are complimentary shuttle buses to and from the arena.

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On arrival we headed straight to the main event and checked out all the boutique stores in the hair and beauty section. There were so many stalls offering big brand products  including Rimmel, Barry M and Carmex at discounted prices with lots of demo’s being carried out for free if you fancied a mini makeover. I bought lots of the products that were tried out on me but that was purely because I liked them and not because I felt pressured into buying.

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Next up we headed to the clothes stalls where we found loads of bargains including Lipsy dresses for £10 and Topshop heels for the same price! I didn’t realise how discounted the items were and I ended up spending more than I thought I would but I did get my money’s worth! There were also a host of boutique stalls from celebrity owners such as Millie Mckintosh, Amy Childs and the Kardashian sisters.

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Throughout the arena there were celebs from The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea posing for photos and autographs as well as various calendar signings. Peter Andre was there and I had the pleasure of meeting the cutie pie that is Joey Essex and I have to say he was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met! He’s so funny and down to earth and was really lovely, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and my little sister loved her signed calendar.. Thanks Joey!

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Our tickets allowed entry to the Alcatel Catwalk Show which featured a professional show with models and dancers along with special guests and was presented by famous fashion designer Henry Holland. Girl band Neon Jungle opened the show and Henry was joined on stage by Joey Essex before the catwalk began . There was nine different scene changes with dances to well known soundtracks and the models showcased the latest fashion products from big name designers.

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We had a brilliant day at Clothes Show Live and I can’t wait to return next year, I’m booking my tickets as soon as possible!

My next post is a local hotel review so that will be coming up shortly, and I still have my interview with the lovely Char from Taylor Hearts Travel to publish so it’s going to be a busy few days for me! Watch this space!

Love Jess x

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Birmingham weekend: Shopping and Disney on Ice!

Hey everyone!

So I’ve not long returned from a brilliant weekend away in the popular city of Birmingham for a shopping and theatre trip with one of my closest friends. We headed to the Copthorne Hotel in central Birmingham which was excellent value for money at just £54 for the night! The hotel was positioned perfectly for exploring everything that the city has to offer, and we loved being able to walk everywhere rather than having to get a taxi!

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On arrival we left the car in the hotel parking lot (£12 for 24 hours) and checked straight in. We were a bit early and unfortunately our room wasn’t quite ready so we left our bags with the reception staff who were super friendly and nothing felt like too much trouble.

We headed for a day of shopping at the well known Bull Ring centre which was home to hundreds of big store names including Debenhams, John Lewis, New Look, Forever 21, The Disney Store, Hollister and many more. We took a particular liking to The Disney Store (obviously!) and were also pleasantly surprised to see a large cuddly Olaf from Frozen waiting to greet customers outside Build a Bear!

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The Bull Ring was great and I’d love to return to do some serious Christmas shopping as you can buy pretty much anything from the diverse range of shops on offer. If however you prefer strolling up and down the traditional high street rather than staying in one mall then Birmingham City centre can give you that too. There are plenty of well known stores from Primark and H&M to Armani & Lipsy so there’s definitely something for everyone. Both offer lots of restaurants and eateries so you can easily stop to recharge your batteries and take some time out from your shopping!

After a good few hours of exploring we headed back to our hotel (5 min walk away) and got changed and ready for the main event, and the reason for our trip, which was the wonderful Disney on Ice show at the NIA arena. We’d had the show booked since the summer and couldn’t wait to get there and watch it; being immersed in the world of Disney sounded like heaven to us! Anyone that knows me will know that I’m a complete Disney fanatic which is why I was so excited about this trip!

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We had bought some Minnie ears outside the arena for just a fiver from market stall sellers as we knew the official merchandise inside the arena would be super expensive! We did however buy a programme (£9) and there was lots of choice for Disney fans inside we just couldn’t afford to buy anything else!

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The show was incredible with the story telling, famous music and the lighting all making it truly stunning and we thoroughly enjoyed the hour and a half long performance. There was something for everyone; from a Disney Princess showcase to scenes from Aladdin, Pinnocchio, The Incredibles  and of course The Lion King with repeat appearances by Mickey and Minnie throughout.

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There was also an amazing finale with all the characters coming back out to a final performance of The Circle of Life and parading round the rink posing for photos- we were so jealous of people with the rink side seats! It was so magical we didn’t want it to end! Starting at 6.30pm, with a 15 min interval, the show finished around 8.30pm and everyone slowly filtered out of the arena and back to reality – shame!

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We wanted to eat out somewhere for dinner and found lots of lovely restaurants dotted around the pretty canal and bridges near the arena. We did however decide to eat at a brilliant Chinese restaurant at the hotel which was amazing, but if I were to return I’d eat near the canal and go for drinks afterwards on the main strip which was just round the corner.

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Overall we had a fantastic weekend in Birmingham and are already planning our next trip back up there in the Spring time when there’s another Disney show on!

This week I’ll be busy packing for my upcoming holiday to Reykjavik which I am so excited about! I’ll be posting details about this trip when I am home on 7th November, but for now I’ll concentrate on getting everything ready and making sure I don’t go over my allocated baggage limit.. wish me luck!

Love Jess x

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