As requested by a couple of you, and keen to have an excuse to use my shiny new camera, here's a post on some of my favourite beauty buys. From cleansers to lipsticks, bubble bath, perfumes and mascara these are my tried and tested brands and my honest routines. 

{And please feel free to tell me your favourites or best beauty tips}

A few weeks ago, before I knew that I'd be travelling to California, we were feeling the January blues and realised it would be a while before our next trip away. So we planned a mini Valentine's getaway to The Cotswolds. I'd wanted to visit The Wild Rabbit for a while now after hearing about last summer and it's since been awarded Britain's poshest pub and Michelin pub of the year. We had such a lovely couple of days there last week... {also all of these photos are from my shiny camera, so snap happy with it I'm in love. Post coming about photography sometime soon}

Last January, we got a call from our local allotment to say that a plot had come up for rent if we were still interested. Ben had put our names down at the end of 2013 as his Mum has an allotment there and it was just a two minute walk away from our house. I wasn't too bothered either way, sure it would be lovely to grow some fresh produce as we love eating healthy, I love to cook and we both love being outside but most allotments have a waiting list of up to five years and we had loads going on last year with a wedding to finish planning and I didn't know if we'd have enough time. So I kind of thought we would never have a chance of getting one and didn't give it much thought. But Ben was super excited when a large plot was available and he promised he'd do most of the work, so we took it for the grand total of £15 rent a year! Bargain. 23A was now ours. It was a big plot but mostly covered in grass and generally looked unloved when we took it over, the previous owner was old and had been ill for a while. It had an old shed that was falling down and had so much vine weed and cooch grass to dig up. But within a couple of months we had transformed it and had more produce than we knew what to do with by the end of the summer! Ben is well and truly hooked, it's not always my first choice on where to spend a weekend, and without gloves your manicure is ruined but I've really really loved our first year of allotmenting. 

it's shrove tuesday, if you missed yesterday's post go have a look for some pancake talk.. 

Do you want to hear about the time I stupidly agreed to go to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain? It was awful. But it wasn't all bad, we got to go on safari whilst we were there, something that I'll remember and treasure forever. 

Yay back to a Makeover Monday, feels like I haven't done one of these in a while? Probably the thing that gets commented on most when I post photos of our kitchen are these scaffold board shelves and apologies to those of you who have been waiting for this post for a while! When planning our kitchen we hadn't really thought of what to do on the walls, we figured we'd get the kitchen in and sort that out later. We knew that we didn't want wall cupboards as it would make it feel dark and block the skylights above. We didn't have an alcove to start with until Ben built the extractor chimney, so once everything was in we realised that shelves were the answer. Decorative, functional and they are a feature without being too overpowering above the kitchen. 

Happy Valentine's Weekend! How lovely that it falls on a Saturday this year. What have you got planned? A cosy dinner in for two? And how was your week? We've been dog sitting this week while my parents are away which I always love as I'm his favourite person in the world when they're away, too too much love for that little pup. Monday actually felt like Spring, it was so sunny and warm. The rest of the week has been pretty cold and grey but at least it gave us some hope. And I've been working at my parents house which is always so much warmer than our old Victorian terrace and means I can take lots of dog walk work breaks. I'm excited for this weekend...

I've seen these brownies, from The Londoner, making the rounds on the internet for a few years now but never got round to trying them. It's a layer of cookie dough topped with Oreos and then gooey fudge brownie on top of that. Pure heaven. I needed an occasion where they'd get eaten quickly by lots of people rather than Ben and I being left alone with them and probably waking up ten stone heavier the next day. My god, they're good. And ridiculously easy. You have to try them. Obviously I'm all for Deliciously Ella recipes and the like, people call me a health freak but sometimes you just need desserts like this in your life. So, what are you waiting for? 

Have you been to Suffolk before? It's on the coast just below Norfolk and really not very far from us. We've been a couple of times now, the last was in June 2012. We were living in London, both feeling a bit bored of the city and felt like a spur of the moment getaway somewhere nice, a change of scenery! It was a Thursday night and we called a few hotels asking about last minute late availability for the following night, I'm never spontaneous like that always preferring to book stuff months in advance! But it paid off and we got a last minute room rate at The Crown in Southwold for a night and had a lovely couple of days at the seaside.

Do you love Valentine's Day or are you one of those cynics who say it's commercialised?! Personally I love love love it, hearts, flowers, chocolates and good old fashioned romance. What's not to love? It doesn't have to be a big thing but it's nice to give a small gesture at least or just exchanging a handwritten note to your love. Ever since I was little, my Mum and Grandma would send my brother and I little heart cards from 'Guess who???' {but we would always recognise their writing!} and give us a big chocolate heart lollipop. When I actually got a real Valentine's card from boys in primary school I was ecstatic and have loved it ever since. Ben and I have always made an active occasion of it, for the last couple of years we've planned a trip to Columbia Road Flower Market the week before, as we did yesterday, for me to buy some pretty spring blooms, in reds and pink colours, and then go out for a nice lunch or cook something yummy at home on the 14th Feb. {This year we've even booked a night away, but that was because I just needed something to look forward to in this grey cold depressing winter so we basically used Valentine's as an excuse.} Oh well, all hail Valentine's as just that, an excuse to be spoilt and to spoil the one you love. And hell, if you don't love anyone other than your cat, then spoil yourself!

Happy Weekend everyone, next week will be Valentine's Day yay! How was your week? Mine was basically spent keeping warm with my laptop each day before a fun evening each night this week. We were out for dinner with friends, hosting friends for dinner and then had an evening in London with Ben last night. It's flown by and now it's Friday again. Will this cold weather please disappear already?? More snow again for two morning's this week, it was pretty and the dog loves it but I'm kind of bored of always having to wear layers upon layers of knitwear now... 

Weekend stuff after the jump;

The first part of the trip was really lovely but this, Part Two, is my ultimate favourite and the part that's really getting me excited for going back in a couple of weeks. We'll be in San Diego and La Jolla this time, an area I haven't been to before but keen to explore. Ok, so Huntington Beach and LA...

An exciting opportunity to go to California for So You're Getting Married in just a couple of weeks has made me think back to previous trips there. One particularly amazing one was back in 2012 with my family and Ben. We went on a road trip for two weeks, visiting San Francisco, Yosemite, Santa Barbara, Orange County and LA. I just love America so much and particularly the West Coast with the sunshine, food and lifestyle. Today is Part One with a focus on San Fran, Yosemite and Santa Barbara with Huntington Beach and LA up later this week. 

My Birthday's not until March but I don't feel very inspired to write about much in January. The garden is bare and most of the time we stay snuggled indoors watching box sets or just planning things to do for when summer is finally here. Let's talk bunting and cake instead. I love afternoon tea and with my Birthday being at the end of March, the weather is usually starting to get nice. There's nothing I love more than arranging flowers, hanging the bunting and decorating cakes. It's become a tradition over the past few years to have an afternoon tea party to celebrate my Birthday but last year's was extra special as I turned 21.