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'm sure you know by now just how crazy I am about flowers. I love growing them, buying them, and having them in my home. But what I was really lacking were the skills for arranging them or knowing the best vases to display them around the house or having the confidence to create my own arrangements. So imagine my delight when last week I got an email from Philippa Craddock {one of my favourite London florists and of course the florist for this year's wedding of the year, Harry & Meghan! Remember that arch?!} inviting me along to one of her flower workshops taking place this summer in London. I jumped at the chance, a real treat of a day to spend in Shoreditch learning all things flowers. 

I feel like all I do this summer is talk about, what feels like, a never ending heatwave. But honestly, how amazing has it been? It's meant though that I've worn so many of my summer clothes to death, and often lots of pieces that I normally only wear on holiday! I was itching for the sales to get over and done with and for some new pieces to come in, ready for that transition into the end of summer {surely it will start raining/get cooler at some point?!} and I really love thinking ahead into early Autumn, getting excited for a new upcoming season and one day, wearing knitwear again. Joules, one of my longterm favourite brands, got in touch to ask if I'd like to share some of my favourite picks for the new season and there were so many gorgeous pieces to choose from! You can get an idea for the new season below;

Part two of our trip to one of our favourite places in the world, the Ile de Re in France. You can find all the details of our trip in part one here.

A couple of weeks ago we returned to the Ile de Re for a 5 day trip. We don't often go back to places, in the past we've always thought that the world is so huge and there are so many new places to explore. But actually, the Ile de Re was different for us. Since our first trip there two years back {see these two posts on that trip here and here}, we knew that we had to return! It's risky play, when you've had such an incredible holiday with perfect weather the time before, would it ever live up to those expectations? Luckily it was even better this time. And quite frankly, when you're on an island as pretty as Re, with hollyhocks on every street, miles of cycle paths on bikes to explore and insanely delicious food and patisseries around every corner, how could it ever not be a complete dream?!