Whitley Bay:

I'm 20! Woohoo! I feel like and adult now, it's so different saying twenty and not teen anymore. I had a lovely birthday just hanging out with G, we had lunch and I used my birthday money to invest in a new DSLR camera.

I chose the Nikon D3200 after plenty of research and a couple of test runs in the shops I committed and went for it. So far it works like a dream and I'm in love with the crisp clear images I get in comparison to my iPhone.

The day after my birthday we decided to take a picnic in my new basket (my amazing parents present to me!) and catch the metro to Whitley Bay as G used to go all the time as a kid and wanted to show me the sights.

The sun was shining and it was such a lovely day, I even got my sunglasses out! 

The sky was so blue and it was just lovely to be beside the sea. We were trying to walk to the lighthouse you can see in the distance, St Mary's, where G visited as a little boy. It looks a lot further than it is, we only walked about three quarters of the way there before the wind just got too cold and we headed back. 

This picnic basket was a birthday present from my parents, it's all decked out with green and blue cutlery and plates/cups. It's an antique and it's so perfect I don't know how my Mum thought up something so incredible! We packed up some homemade sausage rolls and popcorn, some carrot sticks and leftover cookies and cream birthday cake (Courtesy of G!). It was delicious but freezing! 

I spent forever testing my camera and getting tons of shots of the waves crashing against the walls. I always love watching this and I'm a little obsessed with the sea, I've loved it ever since I was a kid. Blame several holidays to Cornwall where I'd often wade out into the sea up to my neck and bodyboard all the time.

I loved spending the day soaking up the Vitamin D and enjoying G's week off work.

G and I are going down to Cornwall for our holidays in September and I can't wait, I actually want to learn to surf this year! If anyone has any good places to visit I'd love suggestions? I'm looking for the places that aren't on the guides, the kind of places only the locals know about? 

Katy

Sunday Adventures: Corbridge

I visited Corbridge last year with my mum as it's between my hometown, Carlisle and Newcastle where I live now. Mum had read about a little shop which sold vintage and repurposed things, I wasn't sure what to expect sometimes these shops can be not as good as the hype.
Well let me tell you RE in Corbridge tucked neatly away between The Angel pub and a garage was better than I would have ever guessed!

I've been waiting to go back for a while now to show G and have lunch at The Angel, so this Sunday we hopped on the train (well we ran) and took the short ride to Corbridge.

Corbridge is such a pretty little town, the train station is only a five minute walk to the town centre, which is good because the wind was crazy!
The town has several pubs a wonderful trait of small northern towns, tiny independent shops and numerous quaint cafes for tea, cake and more tea again.

We started the day with RE! I was excited to get back here and shop, it's full to brimming with so many things that I could have got but I restricted myself to just a few little things. 

The shop opened in 2003 and their mail order catalogue was created in 2004, the have everything stuffed into their space and I'll challenge you to not walk out with something you love.

G's excited! I'm more excited though, he got my Valentines present there! You'll see a peak of it later.

G found the biggest tea mug he's ever seen so I got him that to add to his V-day present, he knows so I'm not giving anything away don't worry. 

I spotted these striped strings and grabbed one in green and one in navy I think I'll be able to use these for everything, scrapbooking and cards, pretty much anything crafty. 

These are actually vintage printing press letter blocks,  I think, and I decided to use them as stamps. This is printed in my soon to be Valentines 2014 page of my scrapbook. I'll use them to make cards too!

These rustic tin letters caught my eye, I saw something like these last year but for a much higher price, whereas these were just £2.50 a pop! They also had bigger sizes all the way up to really quite big ones I like once we have a house of our own.

Last purchase wasn't actually mine but G's present to me for Valentines. I am more than a little excited about this, I've been coveting this gorgeous milk glass cake stand since I first visited RE. I'm such a crazy lucky girl to have found such a perfect guy.
I'm looking forward to Friday when I can whip up a cake to stick on top.

Then we headed next door for Sunday lunch, we were both starving so we really couldn't wait.
It's decorated in that quaint but not too quirky way with duck egg blue wood panelled walls and solid wood tables.
The Angel is such a lovely pub and the menu was to die for, every kind of roast dinner you could ever want for but being the traditionalists we are we chose chicken.

Lunch was Amazing, yes with a capital A. I could eat this roast every Sunday for the rest of my life and I think I might try to replicate it very soon!

Last but most definitely not least on our Sunday adventure was Grants bakery, we grabbed a chocolatey sponge and a huge strawberry meringue! I'm dying to eat the meringue and I've decided I need to make some soon!

Corbridge is definitely worth a trip, even just for a browse in RE if your passing through but if you have a spare day a roast dinner is extremely worth it and so is following it up with a cake or two!
If you've visited I would love to know what else you love in Corbridge for our next trip?

Katy

Tynemouth Adventures

Tynemouth is one of our favourite North East places to visit. Apart from it's obvious beaches and seaside looks it plays host to some of the best shops and cafes I've come across while living in the area.

 

Thanks to the wonderful Metro system we have here it's easy peasy for us to get to Tynemouth in just 15-20 minutes and for just a few pounds. On a Sunday come rain or shine the Metro station at Tynemouth hosts a market, packed full with everything from cd's and vinyls to chocolate waffles and craft stalls.

If you haven't been to the market before and you live in the area I'd recommend it! There's something for everyone especially for the crafty ones of us. Today I picked up some wonderful things to add to my craft corner, several fabric remnants that I cannot wait to turn into handkerchiefs and scarfs. And some wooden buttons covered with floral prints (Especially the Hello Kitty ones I'll be making into something for my Kitty obsessed cousin.) 

By far my favourite place in Tynemouth has to be the Green Ginger shopping arcade which is build within an old church not only is it a beautiful building but it's full to brimming with interesting and friendly shops. 

G has been in dire need of a haircut for months now but never quite seems to find the time, but when we wandered in to the arcade we spotted the Artful Barber (On Instagram as @artful_barber) which was bursting with charm and right within pretty much everyones price range! 

The lovely lady who runs Artful Barber worked amazing magic on G unruly mop of curly hair and tamed it perfectly. Her shop however was the quaintest place, the walls were covered with art most of which was for sale and the whole place filled with almost unbeatable charm.

Look at this place, what man wouldn't want to get his haircut here?! And G looks much more neat and tidy now.

Final stop on our adventure was Dil and the Bear a coffee shop we couldn't help popping into.
I'm definitely not the kind of person who can resist the lure of a good looking cake and Dil and the Bear is amazing at cake.

We tried the Chocolate Mint cake above and together we barely made it through the most rich delicious slice of cake. There was so much more I wanted to try but just didn't think I'd make it home if I ate anymore. But believe me this place is worth a look in and if you can the lunch dishes looked irresistible.

This visit didn't include the beach unfortunately, my mantra for the seaside is if I'm near the sea I must dip my feet but today was just too cold, I'm afraid I would have lost my toes and I value them a little too much.

Tynemouth is the perfect place for a North East day trip, come rain or shine the little town has everything you need for a fun filled day.

Katy


Check out my Instagram for more pictures of Tynemouth and for previews of posts to come! 
And watch out for my next post 'What to do with Washi tape'...