#BlogClub at Trunki Towers

Blog Club is back! After a summer hiatus the much-loved and world-renowned (probably) Bristol bloggers collective returned for a special meet up at the HQ of colourful children’s luggage brand Trunki, with the promise of some excellent guest speakers, lots of cake, and a turn on the office slide (yes, Trunki have a slide in their office!)

Bristol #BlogClub September 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
Bristol #BlogClub September 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
Bristol #BlogClub September 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
Bristol #BlogClub September 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog

I travelled down with Emily, and was amazed when we walked through the door to see so many faces, and a few new ones as well! I love meeting new bloggers, especially from Bristol and the surrounding area. Naturally we all share a love for the city in which we live, and each interpret it in a brand new way in the content we create for our blogs. I’ve updated my blog roll page with everyone who attended this month’s blog club, go take a peek!

As well as Emily from Mermaid Gossip, I was pleased to see SJ, Lyzi, Megan, Jo, and of course Sophie and Hayley, the wizards behind the fabulous concept of Blog Club itself. After binging on treats, and eating my own bodyweight in Skittles, it was the turn of our first guest speaker, Charlotte from Black Heart Creatives.

The emphasis this time around was on successfully running your own business, and it was really fascinating hearing Charlotte’s story, and the success she has had with BHC in little over a year. She runs her business from her home office, and makes the most unique personalised laser cut jewellery, including my personal favourite, a dancing emoji lady necklace. She’s also nominated for an award, which she totally deserves to win! Vote for her here (Best Accessories Range).

After Charlotte spoke it was time for Fritha of Tigerlilly Quinn, a hugely successful parenting and personal style blog, which I didn’t know was based in Bristol! I’ve been following Fritha for a while now, her outfit and weekend snapshot posts are beautiful, plus her little’un Wilf is adorable! She spoke about running a shop alongside the blog, how to balance the time between the two and make an income out of both, all very interesting, and fantastically helpful.

Next it was Mel from Trunki, who gave us bloggers some really valuable advice about how to be approachable and appealing for brands to collaborate with you. She spoke of how the layout and content of your blog are both really important for making a first impression, and if you have some epic photography skills then this is going to be appealing from a brand perspective. They want their product to look good, after all! Best of all, the said, was to be creative with the product you are working with; brands thrive off being given feedback, and if you have a great idea and want to execute it, don’t be afraid to get in contact and pitch it to them.

All that remains is to say thank you to Hayley and Sophie for organising, Charlotte, Fritha and Mel for speaking and offering some really useful advice, and Trunki for the use of their amazing space and letting us have a go on their slide!

Until next time, Blog Club.

Posted in life / Tagged #blogclub, bloggers, , Bristol bloggers, trunki, trunki towers, uk bloggers / 3 Comments

Autumn Wishlist

A/W Wishlist | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog

1 // Dr Martens ‘Spirit of 69′ Leroy Loafers

2 // Casio Rose Gold Bracelet Watch

3 // Brit-Stitch Half Pint in Caramel

4 // Coco Fennell ‘Silence of the Lambs’ Bee Collar Dress

5 // Sterling Silver Antler Ring

The nights are drawing in, the mornings are getting chillier, and autumn is finally here! I am beyond excited about Autumn this year, I have a mental list of things which I am aiming to tick off, of which I have already done a few – drink a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (check!), make cinnamon rolls, go to Westonbirt and look at all the leaves, and fill my wardrobe with brown and black and orange clothes ready for the new season.

With this in mind, I’ve compiled an autumnal wishlist, with items off my shiny new . I’ve been reading a lot into minimising and streamlining your wardrobe, and one of the top tips that most articles give is to keep a wishlist, and keep it updated. Try to avoid on-a-whim purchases by pinning the item straight to your board and keeping it there for a week. If you still want it, and have a genuine need for it, then go for it. By resisting the urge to splurge your money at once you’ll feel less guilty, plus having items next to one another makes you realise which ones are of the most importance to you. This article is particularly useful for some more info on the subject.

First up on my wishlist are a pair of shoes I have fallen head over heels for (no pun intended). Me and Tom practically live in Dr Martens. I have three pairs already, so you could argue that I have enough, and this would only be adding to my problem. However, I like to think of it as ‘all bases covered’ – 16 eyelet black boots, short practical brown chelsea boots, classic black shoes, and now these tasselled loafer beauties, in a beautiful oxblood vintage leather finish. These are absolutely perfect for the change in weather, and I can just picture them on my hooves kicking through golden leaves. I’m going to have to do some saving up, though, and these might be on my wishlist for a while!

I’ve never been much of a watch person. I’ve often noticed beautiful timepieces adorning the wrists of the most fashionable and wondered what it is which is so appealing about them – to me, they were just another unnessecary piece of jewellery. However, I recently took the plunge and bought a rather stunning watch from Shore Projects (post to follow) and have now got used to wearing it so much my wrist feels naked without it. Since I’ve gone over to the dark side I’ve been eyeing up watches left right and centre, and this rose gold Casio beauty from ASOS is pretty special, plus its classic style isn’t likely to fall out of fashion in a hurry.

I have a bit of a confession to make with this next one. I broke the rules I laid out in the beginning of this post by splurging and purchasing this one as soon as I saw it. In my defence, it was half price (HALF PRICE!) in a one-day LFW special that Brit Stitch were having last week, and my spur-of-the-moment decision was egged on by the fact that the website told me that there were only 4 left in stock! I panicked. Since its arrival I haven’t taken it on an outing yet, merely staring at it sat in its box and cooing at its beauty. The colour is absolutely gorgeous – a little less vibrant than the above picture, but a beautiful warm orange colour which sums up the essence of autumn.

This next one is a dress which I have seen doing the rounds on Pinterest for a while, but sadly I had no idea where it was from. Imagine my delight when I discovered that this beautiful little bee embroidered dress is from eccentric London designer Coco Fennell, whose shop is stuffed with other delightful whimsical treasures. This Silence of the Lambs inspired dress features embroidered bees on the lapels of the oversized collars, which I absolutely adore; bees are probably my favourite animal, ever since I got a book about beekeeping a few years back… (such a nerd). Do you reckon I could get away with wearing this to a winter wedding?

ALast but by no means least is this sterling silver antler shaped ring which I found on the Lost Lanes, made by Aether Design. Taking inspiration from the natural world, designer and jeweller Amber Tenzin-Dolma creates beautiful pieces using precious metals and stones. I have been looking for an animal-inspired piece of jewellery for a while and instantly fell in love with this one, plus I think the modest price tag means it won’t be on my list for long.

What’s been taking your fancy this autumn?

Posted in fashion / Tagged a/w 2014, antler, asos, autumn, casio, coco fennell, doc martens, dr martens, , watch, wishlist / 7 Comments

Urban Foraging for Nakd Bars

Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball

I’ve talked previously about the importance of healthy snacking, and in particular my struggle with it. Too often I forgo the fruit and snacky vegetables in favour of biscuits, crisps and Fanta (my beverage of choice), despite my best efforts to eat more healthily. My favourite tea time treat, to fill the awkward 3pm-gap between lunch and dinner has to be, hands down, Nakd bars. These little nuggets of joy are my favourites for a grab-and-go lunchbox filler – they come in about a million different delicious flavours, and all guaranteed to be 100% natural, gluten, wheat and dairy free, so you know you’re doing your tummy good. Some of these tasty flavours I haven’t tested out yet, but I was lucky enough to be sent a box to sample their best-sellers (*).

Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball
Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball

My current favourites are the Pecan Pie, Cashew Cookie and Gingerbread, of which I got samples of the last two, yay! These are the three go-to flavours when I’m stocking up my Asda basket, and to be honest I wasn’t brave enough to branch out and sample any others. I’d not previously been a fan of the Cocoa Delight bar, but luckily enough Tom loves anything which remotely resembles chocolate, so he snaffled these up in no time. Included in my sample box were a few variations on the cocoa theme – Cocoa Mint, Cocoa Orange and Caffe Mocha. I absolutely adored all three of these, despite my aversion to the chocolate. The stand out flavour for me though has to be Rhubarb and Custard. I did a small squeal of joy when I saw the bright pink peeping out of the box, and the flavour did not let it down at all. It was almost like a creamy custard-tasting cashew cookie, but with a sharp tangy rhubarb aftertaste, which was absolutely delicious. I will definitely be purchasing more of these!

Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball
Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball
Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball

Whilst foraging in the lavender for my Nakd bars, there were a few cheeky bees taking an interest in my cornflowers. I feel a little bit better for having a hideously overgrown garden now that I’m safe in the knowledge that I’m going the wildlife some good! She didn’t pay much attention to my Nakd bars though, I got to keep those all for myself.

Nakd bars healthy snacking | Lily Doughball

If you haven’t tried Nakd bars yet, and are in to eating clean (or are just a repenting serial snacker like myself) then I really urge you to give them a go. This is just a small taste of the flavours they have on offer, and for the amount of delicious ingredients inside, they really are good value for money. These are my afternoon treat, and cereal bars in general manage to keep me a lot fuller and feeling a bit more nourished than if I were to have a rich tea biscuit!

Are there any flavours which I haven’t mentioned which I need to try? Let me know!

[this product was a gift, but opinion is my own]

Posted in food / Tagged eat clean, nakd, nakd bars, nutrition, sponsored, vegan / 2 Comments

Neal’s Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening

Beauty products, skincare and make up are a funny old thing. It is something which I and probably most other ladies (and gentlemen) couldn’t do without, but until recently I hadn’t paid much care or attention as to what I was scrubbing, smoothing or slathering onto my skin. I’ve tried to live by a ‘quality vs quantity’ approach to most things nowadays, including skincare, and only buy products which I have heard good things about or tested myself, rather than just waltzing into Asda and picking up the cheapest moisturiser they had on offer, which usually resulted in al least four unused pots languishing in my cupboard for months.

Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog

Organic beauty is something which I confess I had never really seriously considered, up until I was invited along to a pamper evening in the rather swanky Finzel’s Reach just down the road, which was being hosted by organic beauty giants Neal’s Yard. I had used NYR products before and thought them just another high end brand which was out of my price bracket, but as I found out on the evening, I had a lot to learn.

The evening began with a strange turn of events whereby I ‘bumped’ into SJ whilst finishing my dinner in good old Bristol institution, Bagel Boy. I say bumped into, it was more of a chance glance and an awkward half-mouthed conversation through the window – “are you going to the event?” “Yeah! Are you? How are you?” – and soon she was sitting next to me and we were having a lovely catch up. We walked the short distance to the event, and marvelled at the impressive looking Finzel’s Reach, before being warmly greeted by the lovely Jessica, who took us up to a flat on the first floor.

Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog

We could smell the products even before we were properly out of the lift. It was absolutely amazing, a heady mix of herbs and floral smells which drifted down the corridor. We discovered when we got inside the flat that the various smells were coming from a beautiful line of their distinctive blue glass bottles down the hallway, plus vaporisers stationed at strategic points around the room. After meeting fellow bloggers, our lovely hosts, and some friendly ladies from the Soil Association, I made a beeline for the balcony to catch a rare view of the other side of Castle Park. I almost wanted to live in this flat, were it not for the noisy rowers every 10 minutes!

The whole evening went by far too quickly. I have learned so much about organic beauty, I cannot even begin to describe. We were first given some neat organic essential oils to smell, and we had to guess which oils they were, and describe how they made us feel. Apparently this sense of smell and the effect that the scent has on your mood is incredibly important – your body will naturally be drawn towards the essential oils it needs most. For example, if you have dry skin, then you may find yourself naturally drawn towards the beautiful orange flower range of their products.

Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog

I was lucky enough to sample their gorgeous Frankincense range, and I was given a luxurious facial. You can see me above demonstrating my excited face, my “I’m learning all the things” face, and finally my super-duper relaxed I’m-having-a-facial-face. Thanks to SJ for taking these lovely photos of me! I sampled what felt like every single product in the Frankincense range, my favourite being the facial oil. I have to admit I have always steered clear of oils and oil-based products, believing myself to have the oilest skin known to man. Apparently though, this one is more of a ‘dry’ oil (I know, weird right) which sinks into the skin, and has exceptionally nourishing properties. I then had my make-up did, and felt very pampered indeed!

Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog
Neal's Yard Organic Beauty Pamper Evening | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle and Beauty Blog

I’m incredibly grateful for being invited to such a fantastic event, I learnt so much on the evening. On our way out we were given a pot of their best-selling product, Wild Rose Beauty Balm, which I’ve since been using every evening to cleanse my face and get rid of all my grubby impurities from the day. It really is the most wonderful product, simply melt it into your face and remove with warm water and the muslin cloth provided. It leaves your skin bright, smooth, squeaky clean and beautifully soft. People have even commented on how good my skin looks, which is a first for me!

Thanks so much to Neal’s Yard for inviting me, and also to the Soil Association, who taught us a great deal about organic beauty on the evening.

Posted in beauty / Tagged Beauty, Neal's Yard, neal's yard remedies, organic beauty, organic beauty week, soil association, sponsored / 4 Comments

Snapshots from End of the Road

What seems like 2 seconds ago (but was actually the weekend before last – eek!), we packed up our bags and travelled into deepest darkest Dorset, to attend End of the Road festival at beautiful Larmer Tree Gardens. I feel well and truly spoilt by this summer, it really has been a good ‘un; we didn’t attend any festivals last year, and this year we got to go to two! After Glastonbury and my trip to Padstow I feel like I am really getting used to this camping malarkey, and couldn’t wait to crack the tent out again and set up home at EOTR.

As soon as we arrived and started exploring End of the Road we began drawing comparisons to Glastonbury, and soon decided that it was just all the nicest bits, condensed. EOTR is a relatively young festival – it celebrates its 10th year next year – and as such has retained the charm and energy of creating something awesome and new, and in a much more relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The whole site is really small as well, meaning you can get from one side to the other in about 10 or 15 minutes, and I’ve heard the organisers purposely keep ticket numbers low, which means you never feel crowded.

Don’t get me wrong – Glasto is an experience, but its like the wise old (slightly eccentric) uncle of festivals now, with its sprawling fields and mechanical spiders and ribbon towers and rabbit holes, and its nice to give the support to the smaller guys. End of the Road is like Glastonbury’s cool, bearded, bespectacled nephew, who has cherry picked the best eateries, drinks fantastic local ales, likes hanging out in Victorian gardens, and has exceptional taste in music.

One of the reasons we chose End of the Road was because the lineup was absolutely outstanding – John Grant, Tune-Yards, Richard Thompson, Ezra Furman, Sweet Baboo to name but a few. It was as if someone had given me a pen and asked me to write down my favourite artists of the moment, then curated a festival around that (I wish!). Of course, I worship at the altar which is 6 Music, as all good people should, and was amazed at how many other acts I knew simply from humming along to their tunes on the radio.

The whole site, it seemed, was filled with the 6 Music demographic – the collective age of EOTR seemed to be slightly older than other festivals I have visited (I’m thinking of Reading here, when I say older I mean my age and upwards), and I was pleasantly surprised at how many young families with small children there were. This only added to the lovely atmosphere, and coupled with the amazing setting, the incredible food on offer, and the very reasonable price of ale at the bar, created a home-from-home feel to the proceedings.

I didn’t dare take my SLR for fear of dropping it in a toilet or it getting trampled or something, so I took a chance on my Lomo Smena, which I hadn’t used for a few years! I’m amazed that these photos actually turned out, but I took a few on my phone just in case…

End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog Richard Thompson at End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog

I cannot tell you how good the food was. One of the nicest things about modern festivals is that you don’t have to eat cheap crap sausages or burgers or those giant yorkshire puddings which set you back about £8, there is an amazing selection of proper decent grub on offer, and EOTR was no exception. The above pancake bar did the best coffee I have ever tasted (and had the queue to prove it at 9am!) and the rotisserie next door could do you half a roasted chicken plus a mountain of little roast potatoes for £7. The ice cream was awesome too – I had peanut butter ice cream with hot fudge, and had to give up half way through which I was quite upset about. Props also go to the Rac Shack, who did exceptional croque monsieurs and a fancy bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich which sorted me right out on Saturday morning.

End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle BlogEnd of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle BlogSecret Post Office End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle BlogSecret Post Office End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog

One of the best things about End of the Road, as well as the countless tasty snacks, the excellent music line up, and the beautiful gardens it was situated in, were all the whimsical touches dotted around the festival. The trees along the woodland path were filled with fairy lights, balloons and little creatures, there were sculptures made out of hay, messages cut into leaves and a giant Walkman named after one of Hollywood’s finest. My favourite festival nuance had to be the Secret Post Office – chaps and chapettes in blue shirts, red bow ties and braces who could deliver your hand-crafted, hand-written, hand-glittered note to anyone on the festival site, provided you provide an accurate description of the recipient. We sent one to the guy in the massive orange tent camped next to us who played soothing music on his guitar in the morning, and were very excited when we spotted him walking around the festival with it poking out of his top pocket!

End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
Fjallraven Kanken Mini Forest Green at End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog
End of the Road Festival 2014 | Lily Doughball UK Lifestyle Blog

Another highlight of the weekend was after watching John Grant on the Saturday evening, when we ventured into the deepest part of the woods towards the Comedy stage, to watch the 80s children’s TV show-inspired spectacle that is Knightmare Live. It was one of the most surreal things I have ever experienced – standing on a steep slope in the woods at 1am watching drunken audience members don a helmet and shuffle around the stage directed by a man in a pretty impressive cape and full face paint. Halfway through the giddy drunken enjoyment things got slightly serious, and one of the performers had the terrible duty of informing us that we were simply having too much fun, and one of the neighbours had complained that we were making too much noise. Obviously this was met with cheers from the audience, to which we were told to proceed with 100% enthusiasm, but 78% volume. It was brilliant. Their stage show looks pretty hilarious, too!

All in all, we had such an amazing weekend, and were incredibly sad when we had to pack up our tent in the rain and head back home. We are definitely buying tickets for next year, especially if its packed full with all the secret post, woodland creatures and adventurers as it was this year. I’m probably going to do another festival as well, if you’ve got any suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Posted in adventure, photography / Tagged dorset, end of the road, end of the road festival, eotr, festival, larmer tree gardens, lomo, lomography, smena, summer / 4 Comments

August Favourites

Well this one’s a wee bit late! I’ve been a bit busy, in my defence. Last weekend we went away to a festival, which I will tell you all about in due course, and this evening I was being spoilt rotten at an organic beauty event, pics to follow!

Here are the things which made the last month of summer pretty darn magical:

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Taco Tuesdays (not actually on Tuesday), whereby we utilised our brand new slow cooker // went to visit my family in Cheltenham and popped over to the beautiful Pump Rooms for a dog show! // channelled my inner Molly Ringwald (kinda) // prepared for the imminent zombie apocalypse

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BALLOONS!!

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Best meat pun ever // Best leggings ever, featuring best Adventure Time character ever // took a stroll in the beautiful park right on my front doorstep // stopped for a cheeky pint in a pub with a view

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Went for dinner with the lovely Emily and met Puggy! // beer in the sunshine // had an awesome lock-in at Lush Cribbs // ate some beans we grew in our garden!

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Made some excellent food choices, including black pudding for a bar ‘snack’ // midnight cheese on toast // a massive Bank Holiday Sunday feast // best breakfast ever

I still can’t quite believe that we are somehow in September already, although I sure am glad of the change in weather, and can’t wait for autumn to start properly. The days seem to be running away with me at the moment so in between all of the unpacking and sorting out our new place I’m going to have to make some time to enjoy all the things I love about this time of the year :).

Posted in life / Tagged august favourites, Favourites, late summer / Leave a comment