Glastonbury 2015

I may have dropped the ball slightly on this post - a month after the event is very bad even for me, who can be a lazy blogger at the best of times. But I am on holiday so I really have no excuse!

As most of you will know I am a huge Glastonbury lover, and after two years away it felt like a lifetime. This year, for me, had a brilliant line-up, I went with some very good friends and really I was just ready to immerse myself in the whole experience again.

Of course it didn't disappoint because how could it. Even the hour queue to get in (a first for me!), and the sweaty walk with what felt like my body weight resting on my back couldn't dampen any spirits. Even getting absolutely and completely drenched on Friday whilst dancing to Mary J. Blige didn't bring me down that much, although later realising that I could wring water out of my bra wasn't fantastic.

Bands I loved played, and a certain artist I had always wanted to see headlined. Once again I made it through Glastonbury without going to the Rabbit Hole but I was having so much fun doing other things that it didn't really matter. I sort of wish for a year with a crap line-up though just so I can go and do all the fun things that there are. This was my fifth year at Glastonbury and still I haven't seen everything there is on offer. Sometimes you just end up walking in to completely random things without realising, like the Dalai Lama giving a speech on love or a band at West Holts who had just stepped in to cover and were brilliant with the crowd.

My highlights this year were getting the a section of the crowd around us to start singing Golddigger before it came on at Kanye West started by my friend and I, the crowd cheering at Years & Years because gay marriage is now legal across the whole of the US, raving out to Chemical Brothers covered in glow-sticks, the heavy bass vibrating my voice at Jamie XX, getting dirty feet and not really giving a damn, 100,000 people chanting 'Lionel, Lionel, Lionel!' and of course getting engaged.

It is always so hard to leave that place, it becomes home for five days and there isn't anything better than waking up in the morning, crawling out of your tent and seeing the Pyramid stage, along with thousands of other tents, every single one of them having such a different Glastonbury experience. I say this every single time I go but if you haven't been at least try it once. Try it and maybe you will see what I mean when I say that Glastonbury is the greatest place on earth.

C x

I'M ENGAGED!!!

Not such a subtle title but one that I am very excited about writing!

On Wednesday 24th June 2015, exactly five years after Leigh and I met he only went and proposed!

As you can imagine this post will be filled with lots of exclamation marks....

We arrived at Glastonbury (I will be doing a proper run down post soon) and that evening we all went up towards the flag field, where you have a brilliant view over the whole of Glastonbury.

After we had sat for a bit we moved right up to the very top of the field, where he turned to me, told me how much he loved me and asked me to stand before getting down on one knee and asking me to be his wife. Of course my reaction was elegant and smooth.......

I basically screamed, cried, shook and then proceeded to shout from the very top of the hill 'I'm engaged!' to which several people looked round and clapped and cheered. One man even came over and said how happy he was to be a witness to it all and would be off to tell his friends about it.

Not only do I love Leigh very much but he's got a smart head on him too, thinking to propose with a fake ring that looked just like my real one so if it got lost at Glastonbury it really wouldn't matter. As such I didn't get the real sparkler until Monday which required a whole five days of waiting in which time I actually got quite attached to the fake one!

Fake Ring

Real Ring

I am so very happy at the thought of marrying him and I may have already started a major planning mission, which I'm sure I will document on here as well.

Without this becoming a completely soppy post I just wanted to say that I really do love you, and I can't wait to be your wife for the rest of our lives ...

C x

Glastonbury Packing List

I've gone a bit Glastonbury mad on the blog this month, but it's hard not to be excited when I know what to expect and that's a whole heap of fun!

I've put together this guide in case this is your first time and just a handy checklist if you are an old timer and want to make sure you have everything before next week!

Backpack

A selection of your favourite festival clothes, you can see mine here.


In the washbag:
Antibacterial gel
Baby wipes
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shampoo
Deodrant
Razor
Tweezers
Minimal make-up - eyeshadow, eye liner, mascara

For the hair:
Dry shampoo
Hairbrush
Hairties/Hair grips

Randoms:
Torch
Toilet roll
Water bottle
Berroca
Sunglasses
Pen/Paper
Paracetamol
Suncream
Glowsticks
Camera
Phone

Food:
Nutri-grain bars
Multi-pack crisps

To attach:
Sleeping bag
Pillow

If you are going I hope you have such a lovely time and I'll see you on the other side!

C x

Glastonbury O.O.T.F

I am back again this year for my O.O.T.F (Outfit of the Festival). This happens to be one of my most popular posts and also one of my favourites to do as I LOVE shopping and I love sharing my finds with you guys even more!

After a year away from Glastonbury I cannot help but get overly excited about the festival that means so much to me and with only a couple of weeks to go I need to think about packing my bag soon (and then repacking with less items in it!).

SO without further ado here are the outfit choices for Glasto 2015!

Wednesday

As always Wednesday is travel day and I don't know about you but I only ever want to be comfortable when I'm travelling. For this purpose I picked up some on trend print trousers, which I will wear with a black t-shirt. I know from experience that any top you wear normally becomes a little bit sweaty after carrying a heavy backpack so I want something to hide that!

Trousers and T-Shirt

Thursday

The 'getting to explore and drink' day. Every one is starting to gear up for the weekend and people are still arriving and settling in. I'm going for a dress (because I'm hoping for sun!) to lounge around in and hopefully start topping up my tan in!

Floral Dress

Friday

There is going to be a whole lot of jumping around when I see the Foo Fighters on Friday night which only means a dress might not be ideal so I'm braving it once again, the only time I wear them, shorts. These ones are gorgeously crocheted and I will be wearing them with a baggy white T during the day to keep it slightly more casual before changing into something a little more glam for the evening.

White Top and Shorts and Black Top

Saturday

Second day of music and I am planning on going full glam with this gorgeous little dress. I have suddenly remembered that I am a BIG fan of off the shoulder, reminiscent of my younger days when I used to wear little gypsy tops. I'll be spending the day watching George Ezra, Years & Years, Pharrell and Kanye so will be in the party spirit!

Bardot Dress

Sunday

I'm not normally a denim girl but I saw a dress when I was in Primark that I loved! Unfortunately it is not this dress as I cannot find it online but it is similar to the one below with a crotchet neckline and will scale up the festival chic when paired with a white crocheted jacket. What better thing to wear but 70's denim when singing to Lionel Richie on a Sunday afternoon.

 Dress and Jacket

Accessories 

Sunglasses / Hairbands  / Daisy Topknot band

I am trying terribly hard not to over pack this year so will be sticking to what you see here, plus leggings and a big jumper for the evening. As usual I am overcome with excitement and counting down the days! Hurrah!

C x

Glastonbury 2015

If you have come to my blog via Facebook then you will probably know that I was one of the lucky 15,000 to snag myself some tickets to next year's Glastonbury Festival on Wednesday when the Coach + Ticket went on sale! (The main sale will be on Sunday at 9am where 120,000 more tickets will be available).

Having missed out on a chance to go last year after failing to secure a ticket I thought "Oh it doesn't matter!" Which was fine....until the run up to Glastonbury and my Facebook was filled with other people going and it was everywhere and I suddenly realised I did bloody care.

Imagine my horror when I found out I had a work event on Wednesday and I wouldn't be able to get online to buy some! I enlisted the help of a few friends and set the seetickets page open from 3.45pm just in case I could get back to my desk. Luckily my boss is amazing and she let me slope off to try my hand at getting some tickets. I sat hunched over my desk with a glass of wine and a slice (two slices) of pizza and I patiently waited for 7pm to roll round.

With nervousness creeping in I screamed when I managed to get through at 7.04 (The tickets sold out at 7.14!), my hands shaking as I frantically typed in the registration codes for four of us. Clicking through with the speed of light I managed, in all the excitement, to book us on the 6am coach leaving from London - which is all well and good as we will get to Glastonbury relatively early - however the Underground doesn't start running until 5.30am....which means we will miss the coach. It appears we will have to get a taxi!

But as I sat back shaking with all the adrenaline I realised that none of that especially matters because I AM GOING TO GLASTONBURY! This will be my 5th time and its also quite special because Leigh and I met there in 2010 so it will be our 5th anniversary or meet-aversary as I like to call it. I am chuffed that we will be able to spend it in the fields that bought us together.

If you are going to try to get a ticket  on Sunday then Good Luck! If you aren't going to try - well you just really should because you need to experience Glastonbury at least once!

C x

Thoughtful Thursday

Reading ~ Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Loving ~ that I have a day off tomorrow. Long Weekend!

Wearing ~ A midi pink skirt and black top

Anticipating ~ Playing Sims all day tomorrow

Eating ~ Golden Grahams

Drinking ~ Tea

Wishing for ~ 5pm so I can get home

Craving ~ Toast and honey

Listening to ~ Sing - Ed Sheeran

Wondering ~ what it would be like to be a lady of leisure

Watching ~ the clock tick

Learning ~ that nothing beats sitting down

Searching ~ for more holiday clothes

Planning ~ what to do with my long weekend

Trying ~ not to think about the fact I'm not at Glastonbury

C xxx

Pay Day Mad - Shopping Haul

So as usual pay day has come and I have gone a little bit shopping mad and spent all my money. OOPS :/

I was trying to make myself feel better as it's Glastonbury tomorrow and I am not going for the first time in years and it's making me cry a little bit inside.

It also gives me an excuse to show you all my purchases!

I don't know if I've mentioned but I AM GOING ON HOLIDAY IN 3 WEEKS! It coincides very nicely with Sale season which means I can buy even more things!

Dorothy Perkins

As usual DP manages to drain my bank account...

 Tropical Bird Dress - £12 in the sale - I thought this would be quite nice to throw on over a bikini

 

Port Cami Maxi Dress - £10 in the sale - I love the colour of this dress and you can never have enough maxi dresses

 

Tropical Printed Skirt - £10 in the sale - Nothing screams HOLIDAY like a tropical print

 

 

Rose Palazzo Trousers - £20 in the sale - These are the most beautiful trousers in the whole entire world. I'm doing to wear them with a light blue cami top.

 

Hawaian Joggers - £24 - Are these a bit loud? I couldn't decide if they were fantastic or a bit much!

 

 

George - Asda

 

I have never shopped in George before but when I was reading the Metro this morning they were advertising a lovely fringed white lace kimono which is just what I've been after. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same idea as by the time I went to buy it they had sold out of my size HOWEVER I found some other gorgeous things.

 

Floral Full Midi Skirt - £14 - I love floral and I love midi length so this is perfect!

Swimsuit - £6 - Perhaps not the most exciting but you can't beat a plain black swimsuit sometimes



 



Moda Floral Maxi Skirt - £14 - Another floral skirt, I sense a theme.... 

 

 

Swimsuit - £12 - This is a lot of fun and very colourful. George had quite a few nice swimwear bits in 

 

New Look

 

With over 100 kimonos available at the moment New Look is where you want to be for all your kimono needs. I finally found a white fringed one here after the disappointment of George.

 

Cream Lace Tassal Kimono - £16.99 - I just love kimonos, they are perfect for throwing over a swimsuit at the pool

White Gladiator Sandals - £17.99 - A summer essential!

 

That's it for now but I need to have a quick look in Primark at the weekend to get some 'essential' bits ie. cheap cami tops.

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I bought, and try not to judge me too harshly for spending all this money - I am in a whole heap of sadness due to my absense from Glasto 2014. I know what will cheer me up......I still haven't been to ASOS, H&M or Zara!

 

C xxx



Holidays to come...

It is that exciting time of year when our annual leave gets topped up and we can start thinking about where we can take our holidays.

I was very lucky last year with trips to New York and Menorca, with a week break at Glastonbury thrown in. This year I want to try and do lots of smaller trips so odd weekends here and there. The original plan was to go to Australia in September however we are now planning to do that around March 2015.

Of course if you are a Miss Mint reader you will know that I have a travel column so really it's all just an excuse to go on holiday.

This year we are considering the following:

Amsterdam ~

I’ve already been to Amsterdam, I went a few years ago but Leigh has never been and I also have a friend who lives out there which I think makes all the difference when you are looking for nice places to eat and go out for a few drinks. I feel like when I was there before I didn’t really appreciate it so I am excited to go back. We are looking to do this around April/May perhaps on one of the bank holidays.

Croatia ~

Because we haven’t been able to get tickets to Glastonbury for the first time in 4 years (it’s a bit of a sore point) we are looking at gathering a group of friends and going to inmusic festival in Croatia. The tickets/flights/accomadation are all about the same price as a Glastonbury ticket, plus it is sure to be sunny. It will be nice to go somewhere new and try and new festival as well. This would be at the end of June so a nice early summer break for a week.

Edinburgh ~

It’s hard to believe that I have been to Thailand but have never been to Scotland. This trip is something that I have been trying to plan for a few years now but it just seems so expensive to go that I keep putting it off. But enough is enough! I have friends and family in Edinburgh so I decided if I was ever going to get to the other end of the country I should probably go here. I think we will go in the summer maybe just for a long weekend. We just need to look at the best cheapest way to get there...

Iceland ~

I admit this might seem a bit random but I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights and unlike most people I prefer winter to summer to Iceland seems perfect! We are also looking at perhaps Finland instead of Iceland, depending on the price of things but I think this will be a lovely, exciting, different kind of trip. We would perhaps look at going in October, but this all depends on whether we can get a good deal as I know from looking that it can be quite pricey for not a very long trip (around 4-5 days).

Of course this might all change or I might think of other places I want to see but for the minute this is how it’s looking for the year. I might like to try out lastminute.com and just book a holiday with a week to spare and go, that would be exciting. I am very excited to start booking and planning! The world is a big old place. 

xxx

A Year in Review 2013

It is that time of year again where I do my yearly review. These can get a little bit cheesy so I'm going to try and keep it short.

To be honest that shouldn't be too hard because my year has been brilliant. There haven't been any lows at all, only highs and I am so lucky that once again I have had a year filled with fun, laughs, good holidays, Leigh and friends.

Here is a round up of my year in a series of pictures:

January started off very snowy with promises of things to come for 2013

In February we found a new house and set about decorating it and making it in to our own little home. Unfortunately will still only live in rental but at least we upgraded the rental

March bought about the move and the start of spring

April was a very busy month, not only was it my 25th birthday but at the end of the month we also went to New York for a week.

In May I had the lovely trip to The Savoy for afternoon tea and we also went to Field Day -a one day festival in Victoria Park London. Unfortunately that day Pumpkin got hit by a car and hurt her paw which was awful but luckily 6 months later she was as good as new

In June of course there was Glastonbury, which was my 4th year and brilliant as always

July was filled with sunny days and lots of ice-creams

We went to Leigh's uncles wedding in August which was lovely as who doesn't love the romance of it all and I caught the bouquet!

In September we jetted off to Menorca with Leigh's family and it was so nice to have 2 weeks in the sun not doing a thing

October passed in a blur of colder weather, a spa day and Halloween

And November saw the night's draw in, fireworks everywhere and I was asked to write 2 columns for a new website which was very exciting and will be going live in a few days

And lastly December with the twinkly lights, Christmas fun and parties it has rounded off my year perfectly.

I hope you have enjoyed my little yearly round up. Like I said, everything this year was just lovely and I can only hope that 2014 will be just as delightful. A very Happy New Year to you all. I wish you all the best :) 

xxx