Last weekend was an extra special one... we packed a couple of bags and slept somewhere other than our own bed for the first time in months! We had booked a night away at High Road House - a Soho House property in Chiswick for my Birthday at the start of the year and then Covid hit and lockdown happened. The hotel couldn't refund us but we could move our stay so once we heard that things were allowed to open up again, we emailed to get booked in. We then realised that it would be the first time we'd stayed in a hotel since we'd had Freya - our other trips had all been Airbnb's, and whilst I was SO excited to escape our house, and cooking/cleaning up for a night ha, I suddenly wondered if it would actually be very relaxing taking a one year old with us. But it was so much fun and it really was our best weekend in so long. Summer came back and the change of scene for just one night felt more like we'd had a week away somewhere, that lockdown realllly does make you appreciate everything so much more these days. Some notes below on a few things we did to make our stay with a 1 year old a bit easier, and photos from that dreamy weekend if you'd like to see.

We took our first little minibreak as a family of 3 last week... 

this post is sponsored by Lansinoh.

A HUGE photo catch up from the last few weeks if you'd like to see {the beginning of May until now}, I've been rubbish with blogging recently - whilst I've had some spare time waiting for this baby to arrive, I just haven't really felt like opening up my laptop. So anyway, a huge photo dump of happy memories for me to look back upon - alas they're not really in any order but I've kind of given up minding right now. You've probably seen most of these on Instagram/stories but I wanted to have them on here too. And er, sorry not sorry for the amount of bump photos it includes, she's just getting so big that I want to capture it at every stage! Also, can we talk about this crazy amount of rain we've been having? Looking back on these photos makes me seriously miss the rare sunny, warm days that we have had so far. And I feel like most of these photos could be captioned 'before it started pouring down'. Please come back soon summer! 

On Easter Monday, we kind of gatecrashed my parent's week away and all drove up to Norfolk with the pup. We just went for a night but managed to fit all of our favourite spots into just two days. I'm sure long time readers of this blog will know just how much we adore this part of the country, and have visited a few times over the past few years. It's so laid back, has so much to do in a small-ish area, isn't too far from where we live compared to Devon/Cornwall and has the best mix of beaches, countryside and gorgeous towns along with really great local produce. It's also remarkably quiet even on a sunny hot Easter Monday compared to say, the beaches on the South Coast. It's still our absolute dream to buy a cottage to renovate in Norfolk one day, but until then we'll enjoy going back each year I hope. You can find my past guides on Norfolk online here and this full feature on Little Norfolk Cottage where we stayed for the first time last August online here. It's so perfectly located for all the best spots of North Norfolk, and is really beautifully done up {my Husband loves the old fashioned sweets it comes with too ha}. My Parents had booked it after seeing our stay last year, and Zara very kindly offered us a discounted stay for returning.  - There's 10% off stays at the cottage between the 3rd June-29th September 2019 with the code BEACHHUT.

We spent last weekend in Oxford and the Cotswolds after we'd been invited to stay at a new cottage for the weekend. The week before that had been really busy and I chucked some clothes into a bag at the last minute on Saturday morning as we were about to leave, not really having much time to think about going away. But as a result, I think the whole weekend was even nicer than I could have pictured it and although it was February, and a little grey, it was all just so lovely. I think partly now too as my husband and I count down these last few weekends together as just us two. We hadn't been to Oxford in a long time and it made the perfect stop before we got to the cottage {which turned out to be even more gorgeous than the photos had shown} and then enjoyed being close to Soho Farmhouse to visit a couple of times over the long weekend. I think I shared most of this on Instagram but wanted these photos on the blog, if you'd like to see... 

Last weekend, we took off for a couple of, pre-Christmas, nights away in The Cotswolds and it felt so festive! I feel like ever since I've watched The Holiday, there's nowhere else I'd rather visit in December in England for that perfect mix of beautiful chocolate box villages and cottages all dressed for the season along with fresh, country air perfect for long walks and then cosying up. We split our stay across Barnsley House, near Cirencester and then a night at Babington House in Somerset. Made all the more special this year knowing that it's our first 'babymoon'. With some time at the spa at each hotel, it made for such a relaxing escape before the Christmas Chaos begins!

Last weekend, we took a trip to Norfolk. I'm sure you know by now how much we love that area of the country, but we'd never been in November before. We lucked out weather wise and had a couple of beautiful, crisp, completely cloudless days which made for such a gorgeous weekend by the coast. This trip was extra special as well as we were staying at the newly renovated, ridiculously beautiful Eden Hall. You can see more of our stay below {and alll the interiors inspiration} if you'd like.. 

Do you remember back in July when we visited Belmond's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire {which just got named The Sunday Times Best Hotel in the World {!!}} for a day at gardening school? We'd always wanted to come and eat dinner, and stay, at the two michelin starred restaurant {a restaurant high on our bucket lists!} but that day back in the summer confirmed it even more for us. Seeing that connection between the two acre kitchen gardens, the passion of the head gardeners who work so closely with the chefs, and of course it's all overseen with such fervor by Raymond Blanc. The way that everything is organically grown and for pure flavour and taste, the way that the menus are designed around what will be ready & at it's very best that day, let alone week. So on Sunday, it really was such a special treat to be able to go and stay at Le Manoir for the night with luxury & service like no other and have an unforgettable dinner in the restaurant which will be very hard to beat from now on. I'd love to share some snaps from our stay below, if you'd like to see.

It was Ben's Birthday last week and I'd booked to take him to Babington House, somewhere I've always wanted to visit. It's part of the Soho House group, which we're now members of, but I think there are times that non members can book in for a night throughout the year too {I nearly did once before but it was then fully hired for a wedding on the date we wanted to go!}. We're huge lovers of the Soho House brand, and having spent a lot of time at Farmhouse, we were so curious and excited to see what Babington would be like {which was the group's first Country outpost} and a slightly more grown up version of Farmhouse? My husband's Birthday fell over the Bank Holiday weekend this year so I booked it a few days earlier to make it cheaper, but also we're big fans of extending celebrations for as long as possible! Why have a Birthday when you can have a whole week, right?!

Part Two of our magical summery weekend in Norfolk, a list of all of our favourite places below. {you can see part one with where we stayed here}

Last weekend, we packed our bags for a long weekend in North Norfolk. Probably the first English trip we haven't had to take wellies and raincoats on for a while, the forecast set to be hot and sunny! We really love that area of Norfolk and have enjoyed visiting a few times over the years so we were looking forward to going back. It's really lovely to return somewhere where you have such happy memories from past trips and to revisit some favourite places, but equally know that you're about to start a new trip and memories too. We were excited to stay at Little Norfolk Cottage {after our visit to the sister Little Cotswold Cottage last summer - both owned & lovingly renovated by the gorgeous Zara and her husband}. Some more photos of the cottage below if you'd like to see, and I'm working on a post with the rest of our trip and all of our favourite Norfolk spots...

Last week I took Ben for a bit of a different date at Belmond's Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire. It's somewhere that's been on our bucket list for a long time with our love of both food and gardening. Famed for Raymond Blanc of course, the two michelin starred restaurant and expansive kitchen gardens which were way ahead of their time before the trend for growing your own produce came about. As well as the restaurant and it's famous Raymond Blanc cookery school, there's also the Gardening School which we were there for to learn more about growing our own vegetables and make the most of our allotment plot.

Last week, it was SO hot that we were desperate to escape to the beach. We'd planned to get up early on Sunday, but then realised it would probably be really busy and my parents were going out that way the next day to look at a greenhouse that they wanted our help deciding on. So we made it a cute little family day out on Monday instead. Unfortunately my brother had to work but it was a nice treat for the rest of us to spend time and go for a day out on a Monday {although I did manage to get some work done in the two hours it took us to reach the coast!}. It was scorching. 

I've mentioned time and time again how much we love The Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire for special dinners and forever ogle over their landscaped gardens. Just down the road from us, it's a place we've been visiting for years and there's always a lot of hype when the England football team or NFL stay there, one time Obama was in town and we watched him tee off! It's a really stunning luxury hotel which has become known as London's Country Escape and is constantly topping UK hotel lists. We adore the Glasshouse restaurant there but I was especially excited when I saw on their Instagram that they were opening up their walled garden {normally just for hotel residents or members} and creating a pop-up restaurant for the summer in their Potting Shed. I actually looked at this space when we were planning our wedding, it's a greenhouse surrounded by vegetable plots. I booked in a few weeks back for dinner with Ben this summer as it looked our kind of style {we adore The Pig Hotel's restaurants set in greenhouses and this seemed a similar, local food kind of kitchen garden vibe}. But then, a couple of weeks ago, I got an email from their PR team - not aware that I'd already booked - asking if I'd like to attend the launch of the restaurant and stay overnight. You can imagine my joy.  YES PLEASE I replied! I think they were slightly concerned by my over enthusiastic reply. But it's the greatest treat to stay at The Grove and it turned out to be the most beautiful hot summers day to enjoy their outdoor pool during our stay - something I've always dreamed of doing. The new restaurant was even better than I imagined, and ridiculously instagram friendly full of botanicals where all the food is cooked over flames outside or in a wood fired oven. I've shared some more photos below if you'd like to see...

A few photos from that ridiculously sunny day where we played hooky before our anniversary a couple of weeks back and spent the day reading by the lake and revisiting Daylesford {two of our favourite ever places}. You know me and sharing photos by now to know that I couldn't resist posting these that I couldn't fit into our anniversary post yesterday....

Part Two of our dreamy quick little trip to Cornwall a couple of weeks back. We were lucky with the weather, bright blue skies but imagine being down there this week with this heatwave! {you can find Part One with our stay in St Ives here}

We took a quick trip down to Cornwall last week for a press trip and were so lucky with the weather. We've been to Cornwall a few times now {previous posts here} but we've never been in mid summer before and it was such a treat to see it all in the height of the season, and the sea so sparkly & blue. It was summer solstice so we got up at 4am with the light and travelled down early, driving past Stonehenge and the solstice celebrations on the longest day of the year. I'm reviewing the hotels from a honeymoon perspective over on So You're Getting Married here but all the photos from the first part of our trip are below if you'd like to see...

I'm in the middle of writing up the travelogue from our couple of nights in Cornwall last week so in the meantime, here's some photos of when we stopped off in Bristol on the way home - well Clifton in particular. In which I fell in love! It helped that it was such a glorious day, England at her finest. Bright blue skies, a sunny Saturday, the trees all green and leafy, everyone sitting outside brunching, young beautiful cool couples wandering hand in hand, people buying BBQ gear, picnicking, enjoying the summer. If only we lived closer or in Bristol! When you think about it, it's just 2 hours from Cornwall, 2 from London give or take, near to the Cotswolds, on the coast, near Bath, such a perfect location. But I think I'm getting carried away. We won't leave our beloved Hertfordshire or house for a long time but Bristol just seems SO cool. It was the perfect half way stop off on our journey home and the perfect way to extend our trip a little. We were also here for Wahaca after seeing their new menu launch on Instagram earlier in the week. A dreamy Saturday all round! 

Last bank holiday, we'd planned to be mainly at home other than going out for a couple of BBQ's we'd been invited to. Yet Saturday came around and was far hotter than we expected so we decided to be spontaneous and jumped in the car for a trip to Mersea Island {remember this post?}. 

A long-overdue photo catch up from the past few weeks! Picnics, Royal Weddings, Summer Dinners and all...