Harry Potter Studios

So I know it's been absolutely months since I did a blog post,  I just always had a reason why I was too busy! However,  I am now on my summer holidays and it's the perfect opportunity to get back into blogging - especially as I have lots of exciting things coming up!

This blog post is EXTREMELY overdue, as I visited Harry Potter Studios in December (showing how much I procrastinate!). But it was  such a magical place I just had to write about it at some point, even if it is 6 months late (oops!).

I surprised my boyfriend Liam with tickets for his birthday as we had been planning to go for ages (even more procrastinating).

We are both fans of the movies and Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year, so it was the perfect time to go as the place was covered in Christmas decorations! They really went all out with the Christmas decorations especially in the Grand Hall, which just made it feel so more impressive and special.

Still going with the festive theme, they even had a snow machine outside! It was such a bizarre but great experience standing outside Number 4 Privet Drive with a cup of butter beer (which is actually very delicious) in the snow!

We ended up spending around 4-5 hours there as we literally read EVERYTHING! It was all so interesting and I love finding out about all of the extra facts and details of how things were done, especially the animatronics and the miniature scale model of Hogwarts. It really does make you appreciate just how much effort was put into the films.

There are sooo many of the sets, costumes, props and technology from the films, so there is so much to see!  We also really enjoyed getting to dress up in Hogwarts gowns and virtually fly broomsticks. Be prepared for very expensive photos and souvenirs though! I would really recommend everyone to go as it was such a lovely day out!

Product Review: No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour in Milan

I have owned this nail polish for quite a long time but had totally forgotten about it. The other day when I had some time and decided to paint my nails I rediscovered this gem! As soon as I begun to paint my nails I was reminded of how much I love it!

This nail polish is in the shade Milan and is an opaque shimmery pink. It does not have a grainy glitter texture that a lot of glitter nail polishes do, but is quite smooth. One of the reasons I love it so much is that it is so easy to apply! I have so little patience for applying nail polish and then waiting for it to dry. I always get so bored of waiting and go and do something else, which of course leads to my nail polish which I so carefully (not) applied being completely smudged and crinkled.

This nail polish dries so quickly and is a lovely opaque colour after just one coat. They colour is gorgeous! But I am a very girly girl who loves pink and glitter, so how could I not love this!

The pink is slightly darker than the picture. It is slightly duochrome, as it can look slightly silver in certain lights.

This nail polish is great for people who have little time/ patience for painting nails or for those who love pink glitter like me!

http://www.boots.com/en/No7-Stay-Perfect-Nail-Colour_1273349/

Voyage à France

Last weekend, me and my housemates decided to very spontaneously go on a weekend trip to France! It is quite unlike me to do something so random with not much planning, but I kind of had the attitude "why not?!". It is good to do something spontaneous once in a while. So the evening before we booked the eurotunnel and hotel (both of which were very cheap) and off we went on saturday morning!

When we arrived in Calais, we spend the rest of the day shopping! We went to a giant shopping centre called Cité Europe and a giant supermarket called Carrefour. I picked up a lovely grey jumper and a cute makeup bag. I also picked up lots of french goodies from the supermarket. It is quite an experience going to a french supermarket! I couldn't get my head around how massive it was! They also give out lots of free samples including Nutella crepes, lemon pastries and apple slices, why can't we have that in England!

Once we arrived at our hotel in Calais we decided to have a wander round the area and find somewhere to have dinner. The surrounding area was lovely! There were ornate grand buildings, a fun fair,  a lovely square full of bars and restaurants with light up fountains!

 We opted for a lovely french pizzeria, where the stone baked pizzas were delicious and the waitress helped us practice our french. We weren't actually as bad as we thought at ordering food in french ;) .

The following day we bought fresh french pastries for breakfast, and went on a lovely drive through the french countryside along the coast to Boulogne. We explored the city and visited the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Boulogne which was lovely!

 

 On our return jouney to Calais, we stopped off at a little french town where we had a stroll along a (very windy) beach and stopped at a little cafe for hot chocolate.

It was a lovely weekend and I would definitely do it again! I think it will inspire me to be more spontaneous, YOLO after all ;)