bloomzy /

Giveaway: Tickets to Azealia Banks UK Tour

The wonderful people at ASOS contacted me recently about hosting a very special, last minute giveaway.
They have given me 2 pairs of tickets to give away to 2 lucky winners to see Azealia Banks live at The Waterfront, Norwich. This is her first UK tour and you definitely don’t want to miss it as she has already made it big in music & fashion. The gig itself is on October 7th at 7pm (a week tomorrow) – I’ll also be there, so give me a wave if you spot me!
What can you win?
A pair of tickets (one for you, one for a friend) to Azealia Banks UEA, Norwich gig!

How to enter:
+ Be a follower of ‘Bloomzy’ via GFC/Bloglovin
+ Follow ‘Bloomzy‘ & ‘ASOS‘ on Twitter.
+ Earn extra entries by tweeting about the giveaway.
– The giveaway is open to everyone, however you will need to find your own transport to The Waterfront, Norwich.
– The winners will be chosen on Thursday 4th and their names will be passed on to be placed on the guestlist.
The giveaway has closed!
Congratulations Faye & Tiffany – I hope to see you on Sunday!
Your names will be sent to ASOS to be placed on the guestlist.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to check out the ASOS sale – up to 70% off!
bloomzy /

Event: The Magic Mirror

Trying out the ‘Magic Mirror’ in Chapelfield Shopping Centre, Norwich
A few days ago I was invited to attend a special press preview at Chapelfield, Norwich.
The preview was for a new amazing technology that we may be seeing in stores near us all, very soon.
The ‘Magic Mirror‘ is a TV screen ‘mirror’ which uses augmented reality and movement sensors to allow customers to try out various outfits with a simple swipe of the hand. As you flick through the items of clothing, sizes can be altered as well as the position of the item on your body. 
The experience was of course slightly surreal as I’d never come across this before.
However after the lovely people explained to me how it worked I started to have a bit of fun.
The idea behind the Magic Mirror is wonderful. Imagine being able to try on all the latest items without even picking anything off the shelves, or taking your clothes off. To a lazy person like me, that is very appealing.
I also noticed that it changed my opinion about items I would never have chosen myself.
The people behind the Magic Mirror are hoping to bring this to more shopping centres across the country.
You may even be seeing it in your favourite store soon – so keep an eye out.

Would you use it?
You can try it out for yourself at Chapelfield Norwich between 27-30 Sept.
bloomzy /

Where to Eat in London 3

a little bit of what you fancy | Dinner | Dalston | Website

– reservations available –
The Tea Rooms | Tea Room | Stoke Newington | Website
– reservations not available –

Las Iguanas | Bar/Dinner | Stratford Westfield | Website
–  reservations may be available  –

Busaba Eathai | Lunch/Dinner | Stratford Westfield | Website
– reservations available –

I’m a pretty big foodie, if you hadn’t already guessed, so I wanted to post a bit about food in London.
There are some amazing places to eat and pick up food, and these are just a few of the places I visited on my last trip.
Kind of like a Where to Eat in London – I have included the name, type of restaurant/cafe/store, the location of the place I visited, and a link to their website, as the bigger places have more than one location.

I had to split this series into what is now 3 posts (you can find the series here) as my love for food and discovering new bars, restaurants etc. continues to blossom. This time round all of the restaurants, apart from Busaba (I’ve now been to two of their locations – both wonderful) are all one offs – meaning they can’t be found in multiple locations in London. If you’re curious about what I ate feel free to ask but I didn’t write it as I think it’s self explanatory from most of the photos.

I wouldn’t have included these places if I didn’t love and recommend them.
So if you have the chance you should definitely check them out!

bloomzy /

Introducing: Shopcade

A preview of my Shopcade page
Shopcade is a new way to keep track of the things you love and the items you want to buy.
As you all know I am a wishlist addict. I love compiling them and sharing them with everyone else.
So it’s only natural for me that Shopcade is a site that is not only fun but essential for me when I’m online.
Shopcade is a social shopping application that allows you to share the items you’re buying or just want to buy.
You have your own personal page where you can add products and lists of items to show off to your friends and the Shopcade community. If you have ever seen a photo of an item online and wondered where it’s from and how you can buy it – Shopcade is your saviour! You can click through the product and be taken directly to the brands page where you can buy the item and earn points (& cash!) on Shopcade. You can also just earn points by adding products to your page. Once you have a certain amount you can use your points to get free gifts or vouchers. I used my points to get myself some new business cards and I’m currently saving the rest for a big prize!
I personally was drawn to Shopcade through the product sharing/list creating, and by the idea that you can then buy the item you just re-blogged/pinned. Earning points and cash whilst doing this is just an extra perk for me really. 
I also don’t feel any pressure to buy items – I can just enjoy sharing products and making my page pretty.
Add me on Shopcade here, and check out my Shopcade feature here.
Please ignore the name, it’s old and is in the process of being changed.
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: A Catch Up

Click image to enlarge
I know that most people aren’t fans of Instagram posts so I do apologise.
I’ve been so busy the past week that I haven’t had any time to sit down and write, even though I have a ton of ideas and posts that I want to get up and show you all. Alas, for now they shall remain in my head.
I went to London this week and whilst I was only there for a couple of days I had a nice time.
I shared some photos whilst I was there and I included a couple above, as well as some from the last few weeks.
I guess really that I just wanted to keep you all updated (as much as I could) and let you know that I haven’t forgotten about the blog. As you can see I’ve not changed much, nor has my obsession with food and pretty things.
My unofficial hiatus won’t last too long though – I promise to be back asap!

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Holiday in Provence 1

 
Photos around Provence, South of France

Here is the first of my photo diaries from my recent holiday in Provence, in the South of France.
I love France and Provence is somewhere I have visited a couple of times for it’s weather, scenery and good food.
So I wanted to show a little bit of Provence in the few photos I included this time.
We have; cakes, animals, coffee, architecture and…a pink bike, of course.
The cakes just looked so inviting, and I’m a big fan of French decaffeinated espressos because I can’t have caffeine and they’re still rich with flavour, compared to British decafe coffee anyway. The cute kitty was the ‘village cat’ that wandered around – I took that photo when we were sat having dinner. As for the dog, I don’t know who it belonged to as it was in a different town but he was really friendly – I was taking an outfit photo when he came over and photobombed me. It’s safe to say I forgave him. Hmm…I think the rest is self explanatory, except for the pink bicycle, which was just a prop to advertise for a nearby Pizzeria.
I haven’t done a photo diary for a little while, so I hope you still enjoy them!
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea at Penmaenuchaf Hall – Dolgellau, Wales
A few weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of having afternoon tea at Penmaenuchaf Hall.
As some of you may know I am a big foodie, and I adore tea so you can probably guess how much I enjoyed it there.
If the grounds and hotel weren’t stunning enough, the food was even better! We were served a large selection of sandwiches, cakes and scones – with cream and jam, of course. I definitely ate my fill, which was accompanied by a ton of Earl Grey…I’d like to say literally but I don’t think that’s possible, even for me.
It’s funny because when I was living in Tokyo one of the main questions I was asked by the Japanese people I met was “When do you have afternoon tea?”. It always made me laugh and I would tell them that ‘afternoon tea’ wasn’t really practised now as often as it was in the past, nor was there a specific time for it. Yet after having this I felt a little sad that ‘afternoon tea’ was now kind of in the background of British culture. However I have noticed a variety of tea rooms opening recently in lots of cities (Norwich has plenty), all which seem to offer ‘afternoon tea’. 
I hope the practise won’t die out just yet, because it’s so much fun, and incredibly tasty.
…not to mention, very British!