What I Wore in Paris – Disneyland Paris Edition

What I Wore in Paris – Disneyland Paris Edition

Wednesday, 6 June 2018

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My lovely partner celebrated his 25^thbirthday last week so naturally, I took it as an excuse to spoil him rotten (and book an exciting trip at the same time). I am very fortunate having Rich in my life and he does so much to make me happy so a lovely, romantic break away was the perfect way to return the favour. After umm-ing and ahh-ing over the location, my need to return to France took over and I booked a two night stay in central Paris with the hope that I could later convince Richard that Disneyland was the perfect day-trip to take. I didn’t have high hopes on that one but it’s funny how luck works in your way – a friend of mine had some spare tickets to the Disneyland parks that were due to expire this week so offered them to us to use! How could we say no to that stroke of luck? 

Getting to Disneyland from central Paris is pretty simple to do and can be done very cheaply as well. As we went to Paris for the weekend, we benefitted from buying the tickets jeune week-end metro passes, for people under the age of 26, which cost just under €9 each for unlimited day travel on the metro and RER trains. The train from central Paris to Disneyland is an RER train so was inclusive within the ticket- otherwise a single ticket costs €6,50! We hopped on the RER A Line from Châtelet-Les Halles to Marne-la-Vallée, the station that’s just a stone throw away from the Disneyland Parks. 

Dressing for the occasion was a must- I made sure to pack a Disney themed headband- and as the forecasts had predicted incredibly hot weather I had an important decision to make regarding my outfit for the day. I wanted something lightweight to keep me cool but also classy enough that I was covered up for the family-friendly theme park. I’m really loving wrap dresses at the moment so ordered a couple of beautiful ones on ASOS. The one I eventually went for was this classic striped wrap dress from Warehouse – very similar in style to my other Warehouse wrap dress, just much more vibrant in colour and completely the opposite of my normal style. It really has been a ‘new year, new me’ in terms of fashion choices! I paired the dress with a pair of slip on pumps, perfect for the inevitable miles of walking that we were bound to do. 

The outfit went down an absolute treat in the park and has had such a positive response from everyone that’s seen it so far! It covered up enough of my body that I didn’t feel self-conscious or awkward walking around without my jacket on but was loose enough that I didn’t melt in the 28 degree heat. It was the perfect rollercoaster riding outfit, without a doubt. 

It’s fair to say that we had an absolute ball at Disneyland – the rides were fantastic and the entire experience was magical beyond belief. The atmosphere at the place was remarkable – I imagine that Disneyland is the only place where grown adults can completely lose their inhibitions and let loose in such a child-like way. Walking around the parks was fantastic and there really was something for everyone. We rode ride after ride, had a little river ride through a fairytale wonderland and ate Bavarian hotdogs in Geppetto’s workshop.  I couldn’t imagine spending a better day with my other half – the first day in a magical Parisian adventure. 

What are your favourite things about Disneyland? Let me know in the comments! 

Life: Making myself feel like 'Me' again

Life: Making myself feel like 'Me' again

Tuesday, 3 April 2018

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Over the last few months, I’ve not really felt myself. I’ve been feeling a little bit down in the dumps, I look tired and there’s been a serious strain on my social life. A lot of this – primarily the tiredness – is linked to the fact that I work A LOT and my job is incredibly demanding, both physically and emotionally – but I have really started to feel like enough is enough and I’ve put a number of things in place to ensure that I start feeling less like my current self and more like the happy, energetic, old me.

SELF LOVE:

Showing myself love has always been something I’ve found a little bit difficult. I find it hard to see the good things about my appearance and treating myself has always been a bit of a no-go because there’s always been something we’re saving up for, whether that be for the house, a holiday or just bills that need paying. As a consequence, my confident has dropped even more than usual and the ability to feel good about myself is proving impossible at the moment. I’ve made a sort of mid-year resolution to look after myself a little bit more and show myself the self-love that my body needs – whether that be with a relaxing bath at the end of the week, whacking on a little bit of fake tan to perk myself up or else just applying makeup for the hell of it, rather than because there’s a specific event going on. I’m going to start treating myself to massages when I’m feeling worse for wear and getting my brows and lashes done to perk myself up when I’ve had a particularly long week. Showing yourself self-love is never a bad thing; who’s going to love you if you don’t even love yourself, after all?

DOWN-TIME:

As a teacher, my evenings are usually spent prepping for the next day’s lessons, printing off worksheets and marking the day’s books for the next day. I usually leave school around 6pm having marked the vast majority of the books and then spend the next few hours going over lesson plans for the next day, planning for the next week and marking any books I didn’t get around to at school. With 58 English books, plus afternoon books to mark each day, my evenings are pretty packed and having down time usually comes at a cost. My new rule will be no work after 9pm and between 9pm and 10pm I’ll get stuck into a good book and try and stay away from technology as far as I can. Having this time to myself can only be beneficial to my happiness so I’m excited to see how I feel in a few weeks time.

DATES:

Having the time to go out and have a date night is something that Richard and I are struggling to do at the moment, with both of us working on different schedules and having different days off. We do have the benefit of having a home together, which means we can have time together whenever we’re both in, but we’ve decided that sticking to a routine and making plans to go out is something that we’re going to start doing more of. We have a few trips booked over the coming weeks and months, including a little break down south this week, so we’re definitely starting as we mean to go on.

TRAVEL:

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t book spontaneous trips here there and everywhere. I’ve booked a surprise trip for Richard’s birthday in May (the surprise being that he doesn’t know where we’re going) and we’ve booked to go to Amsterdam in August and are going back to Nuremberg in November to see friends (said friends are coming to us at the end of April.) I want to get back into a habit of being more spontaneous and just deciding to book a flight somewhere bizarre, with time to deal with the finer details further along the line. I’ve missed travelling and this is definitely one of the things that make me feel like myself.

What do you do when you’re feeling a bit down and out of character? Let me know in the comments!

Goodreads: September to read!

Goodreads: September to read!

Saturday, 3 September 2016

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September is upon us and once again, I have a pile of books to work my way through. I’m sticking (with the exception of one book which I naughtily purchased for myself despite being on a book ban…) to my rule of only reading ARCs and review copies of books as I’ve still got an absolutely ridiculous pile on my TBR. Last month was quite successful and I mostly stuck to the books I was supposed to, but this month I’m determined to be good and finish at least 5 books.

My naughty purchase was one that I should have made a long time ago. I remember taking this book out of the library when I was much too young to fully appreciate it. I can’t have actually finished it as I have no idea where the story’s heading and I’m usually pretty good at remembering plot lines. I was in town, early for a train and nipped into Waterstones. There I found THE most BEAUTIFUL copy of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I wasn’t able to resist it and now it’s sitting pride of place on my bookshelf next to my equally gorgeous copy of His Dark Materials. I started reading it at the end of August so with a bit of luck I’ll have it finished pretty soon.

Back on my psychological thriller vibe, I’ve got Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak published by St Martin’s Press to sink my teeth into. I believe that it’s the first book in a new series by Novak so I’m quite glad of that as I won’t have to get to know existing characters or be confused by references to other plots. I absolutely LOVE the cover of this one so if the books anywhere near as good as the cover then I know I’m in for a treat.

The next book on my list is incredibly intriguing. The Secret is by Kathryn Hughes and was published by Headline Books. It’s written by the best selling author of The Letter, which I haven’t read myself but have heard absolutely amazing things about. The book sounds mysterious and intriguing but is also said to be incredibly heartbreaking so I’m very interested in getting through this one as soon as I can.

The final two books in my little to read list are books I’ve had for a few months now but haven’t gotten around to reading. The first is The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies, a book which concentrates itself on the Sino-American identity. I don’t know an awful lot about the book but the cover is gorgeous to look at so hopefully it reads as well. It has a lot of positive reviews and great feedback so my expectations are fully raised. My final book for the month of September is Harmony by Carolyn Pankhurst. The book follows a family who have a child who is diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. I’m just about starting a PGCE with a specialism in SEN (Special Educational Needs) so learning a little more about autism is very appealing to me. I’m excited to see where the book heads with its tale.

What are you reading this month? It’s an ambitious one for me, but I think I can do it! Leave me comments with some recommendations for next month!

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