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Photo Diary: New Years Eve Celebrations 2013

This New Year’s Eve I went back to a familiar and much loved spot.
I wasn’t in London again this NYE, but I was in Wales with the fiancé’s family. 
We went back to The Checkers, somewhere we have visited several times before.
It’s an amazing restaurant, and is 1 of only 3 Michelin Star restaurants in Wales.
The menu this year was slightly different to last New Year’s Eve:
Of course it wasn’t any less delicious, and every mouthful was full of flavour.
I’m such a foodie that this was the perfect way for me to spend my NYE with friends & family.
Not only that but I think good food and wine really helps to bring people together.
There was plenty of bubbly, fun & giggles, and a good night was had by all.
How did you spend your New Year’s Eve?
bloomzy /

My Visit To The Cheeky Parlour

Just before Christmas I treated my friend Anna to a trip to the Cheeky parlour. I had heard of the mini beauty salon in Shoreditch and was dying to visit with a friend. Located on Redchurch St, above Aubin & Wills, the salon fits into Shoreditch perfectly. The idea behind the parlour is brilliant, offering walk-in manicures, blow outs and food. You’re handed a small paper card when you enter, and this is filled in throughout your visit. Whether you have a manicure & coffee, or a hair style & cake, it is jotted down onto your card. Now this may seem dangerous to a beauty addict, but with such great prices it’s not scary at all.

We had a manicure (only £10!), with nail art (£1.50 per nail). Now the amazing thing is, every manicure comes with a free polish! Yep, you get a 10ml pot of nail polish, in the shade you choose for your manicure. If that isn’t a bargain then I don’t know what is. So my whole manicure, with nail art, cost only £13. We ordered a couple of coffees and they were brought to us as we chatted and relaxed at the nail bar. Afterwards we retired to a comfy sofa and waited for our nails to dry, whilst we browsed the menu. I was pretty impressed with the food on offer, all of it sounded delicious and reasonably priced. We had mini red velvet cakes and chilled out, whilst drinking in our surroundings. Finally we checked out all the Cheeky products on offer, before paying.

The concept behind the Cheeky Parlour is any beauty lovers fantasy. Prices are reasonable, and the treatments offered are perfectly executed. The parlour is perfectly Shoreditch, on-trend and great for visiting with friends. All-in-all I will definitely be going again, and taking friends & family with me. I may even go for a hairstyle next time, if I have the occasion to.

You can find Cheeky Parlour on Redchurch St, Shoreditch.

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: It’s Christmas Time…

I know I’ve been a bit quiet the last
few weeks, and I do apologise.
The few weeks leading up to Christmas
were pretty hectic for me.
I spent most of my time working, whilst
trying to hold onto a social life.
Still it was Christmas, and everything
feels better at that time of the year.
I went home and spent the holiday with
my family, and managed to see some friends.
So it was spent mainly relaxing, eating
a lot and generally just having a good time.
I’ve now made the trip across to Wales
and will be relaxing until the New Year arrives.
That means I should have more time to
blog thankfully, so you should see more posts soon.
You can follow me on Instagram: @bloomzy

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Hot Dogs, Street Art, W♥C & Polaroids

Looking at these photos makes me so happy. I’ve been having so much fun lately, and I’m so glad to share it on here. I went home to Norwich for a couple of days to sort some stuff out and see family. Whilst I was there I really started to feel like it really was going to be Christmas soon. I brought out my Nuxe travel set and fell in love with practically every item inside of it. I also brought out an old polish that felt slightly seasonal and got tons of compliments. I’ve been experimenting with layering shirts & sweaters at work, thanks to the recently chilling weather. I also popped along to the launch of the Drop Dead Winter Collection in their Soho store. That meant I got to bring a plus-one so Laura and I finally got to meet up – love her! My friend in Japan sent me some of the new W♥C items that have just come out. It really took me back to my time living in Tokyo and made me miss everyone so much. This weekend I also took a walk around Shoreditch and caught up with Anna over cake and coffee. I’ve really sucked at keeping in touch with friends lately (due to work), so I’m trying to remedy it. Also food. There was lots of food. Always with the food.

You can follow me on Instagram: @bloomzy

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Access All ASOS, junk food, Muji & more

As you can see I’ve keeping myself busy with pretty things…and yummy things.
I finally succumbed to Muji storage and bought some for my Tatty Devine collection.
I have to say I love it and I kind of want to cover my entire apartment in it and be super organised.
I was invited to apply for Access All ASOS recently and was accepted – hooray, and thank you ASOS!
It’s a pretty cool concept and I can’t wait to share more with you on here and on Twitter, Instagram etc.
I’ve been uploading my outfit looks more often too, including my personalised t-shirt from tshirtprinting.
I treated myself to a new accessory – some classy gold (amazing sound quality) headphones.
Not only have I been decorating my body (…with clothes) but I’ve been decorating my bed too!!
I couldn’t resist it when I saw that Primark had their pug duvet set back in stock, it’s too adorable.
Apart from that I’ve just been stuffing my face with giant pizzas and Halloween Krispy Kreme.
You can follow me on Instagram to stay up to date: @bloomzy
bloomzy /

Where to Eat in Chamonix, France: Mat’cha Tearoom

Salon de Thé Mat’cha | Japanese Tearoom | Hotel Cretes Blanches, 16 Impasse du Génépy, Chamonix

Never would I have expected to find a Japanese tearoom in Chamonix. However I was pleasantly surprised to find one on my recent holiday to France. I happened to pass a sign and saw the Japanese kanji for tea – 茶 – which peaked my interest. So we went back the following day and were greeted by a wonderfully serene setting by a hotel.

The hostess is a very sweet Japanese lady who speaks French, English and Japanese. We were both in such awe, especially as it gave us a chance to practice all of our languages. We were shown the wide range of teas, which she brought to us in beautiful red lacquer boxes. After carefully explaining the origins and tastes etc of the teas, we were left to make our decision. After choosing our tea sets we chatted with the lovely hostess in Japanese about our travels. I have to say she really made the experience worthwhile, and showed such kindness to us. You all know I’m a big fan of matcha and Japanese tea and this only fed my love for it. My set came with candied sweet potato too, which was absolutely delicious.

Mat’cha offers traditional Japanese tea sets, as well as regular tea and coffee. They also offer a small lunch menu consisting of one item, which is served Tuesday – Friday. The menu changes day by day, and includes popular Japanese dishes such as curry, sushi or bento. Also on offer are well known Japanese sweet treats, such as chiffon & matcha cake, taiyaki and more. We didn’t opt for a lunch as we had actually just eaten and weren’t aware that they did lunches. However we agreed that we would certainly go back again to try out the lunch menu.

Mat’cha is a part of and connected to Hôtel les Crêtes-Blanches.

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Glaciers, Hot Chocolate & Balconies

When you read this I’ll already be packing to head back to London.
It’s been an amazingly relaxing and wonderful holiday and I’m sad to leave.
That said, I know lots of friends, family and adventures are awaiting me in England.
We spent our week going for long walks, inside massive glaciers, and sipping on hot chocolate.
Something as simple as ‘stopping for a coffee’ seems so much better surrounded by pretty things.
(I should make note here that coffee shops and restaurants in London know how to do this very well).
We wanted to relax this holiday, hence coming to Chamonix, but that doesn’t mean you can’t explore.
We headed to Montenvers to see the ‘Mer de Glace’  – a glacier on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif.
Lucky for us it’s the longest glacier in France, because who would settle for anything else, ey?
It was lit with various coloured lights, and scattered around were gorgeous ice sculptures.
It was truly beautiful and I hope my photos do it justice.
It’s been a lovely holiday and I hope you’ve enjoyed my photo diaries.