fly high

I am trying very hard to make sure I post often and consistently as I have abandoned my blog for too long.

a few days ago I ventured into our music room and discovered a beautiful butterfly. I ran to get my camera and luckily when I got back the gorgeous creature was still there. to say I had a wonderful time is an understatement! it kept flying onto my hand and of course I couldn't miss the opportunity of capturing those moments.

I'm certainly fascinated by insects and especially butterflies. how could you not be?

esther xo

birthday celebrations

this is rather late seeing as my birthday was at the beginning of august, but better late than never.

I have such fond memories of my birthday this year, I'd say it was definitely the best one yet! somehow I ended up celebrating my birthday over a week, which I really can't complain about.

the celebrations started on saturday the 3rd of august, with a trip to covent garden (my favourite place) and then onto dinner at the most incredible restaurant. 

when I was younger, I spent a sunday every month with my dad where we'd go to covent garden. there's a real charm about the place, the gorgeously arty and creative markets always draw me in. every time we'd go (and even now), I'd collect something from one of the stalls and myself and my dad would sit on the pavement eating a jacket potato. I know it sounds silly, but it's one of my favourite memories and almost a tradition :-)

we spent the afternoon in covent garden, wondering the shops and finding a patisserie which we definitely indulged in. we had dinner booked for 10pm as I wanted it to be dark and everything lit up, so we wondered for quite a while which was lovely.

I literally spent hours finding a restaurant to go to for my birthday. I stumbled across the duck & waffle after googling "restaurants in london with a view" (don't judge me). I instantly fell in the love with the unique and delicious looking menu, and then I found the photo gallery. oh my goodness, what a view! I certainly found what I was looking for. The duck and waffle is in one of the tallest buildings in london, located on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower. you shoot up to the 40th floor in a glass lift which makes you feel like you're in charlie and the chocolate factory (I was so excited at this point). you enter the restaurant and you're almost instantly mesmerised by the breathtaking view, and a beautifully lit london town. we were seated in the bar area before dinner, which was amazing by itself. I indulged in a speciality cocktail that was recommended by the waiter, which in fact tasted absolutely awful (gutted). we sat down to dinner with huge grins on our faces, knowing exactly what we were having as we'd all studied to menu months before (how sad). as expected the meal was just incredible and their signature duck and waffle dish was to die for! once we had ordered our deserts, our waiter brought over a gorgeous array of mini delights with the words 'happy birthday' piped next to them. It was such a wonderful evening!

I then spent the tuesday shopping with my best friend, buying the most unnecessary items, but justified nonetheless. Wednesday (my actual birthday) came around and myself, my family and best friend went out to lunch to TGI's. then in the evening I got well and truly merry at the pub where I spent the evening with two of my sister's, best friend and some other friends.

on the saturday I then had a BBQ where I saw most of my huge family, some close friends and family friends. I adore spending time with my family and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday (even though it wasn't my birthday anymore).

here are some photos from my trip to london. sorry about the essay!

esther xo

Bonjour!

I can only apologise for being MIA for 2 months. Life has thrown far too much at me recently and unfortunately blogging wasn't on the agenda. But while I was gone I passed my driving test!! Booyah :-)

I am currently in France on a family holiday so I thought I'd take up the opportunity to blog about it. I am staying in a beautiful gîte just outside of Cluny which is far from new to me, as my family and I used to stay here a few times a year, for about 10 years. This is a huge part of my childhood and being able to relive it is just wonderful! The gîte is situated in the beautiful french countryside, out of the way and hidden from the outside world. We arrived on the 6th of July and we're departing on the 20th (two weeks is the perfect amount of time to chill out and spend time with the family).

We haven't really ventured far yet. We visited my all time favourite french zoo, Touroparc. It was just as wonderful as I had remembered! I absolutely love animals/zoos, so as well as reminiscing I also got to take photos of beautiful animals, what more could I ask for?

The weather has been lovely, it hasn't dropped below 25'C and most of this week it has been around 30'C/31'C. If you are from England you will understand how exciting this is, although I hear it's been just as lovely back home so cheers all round.

Today my mother and I went on a little adventure round a gorgeous town called Cluny. We had lunch at a cute bistro, bought some beautiful pastries/desserts and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Unfortunately being the plonker I am, I forgot my camera so hopefully we shall go back tomorrow so I can take some photos! It's so beautiful.

mumma

dad

the beautiful views

this goat was so hilarious

so majestic

mr racoon having a snooze

giraffe love

this made my heart melt

the new addition to the giraffe family - so cute

I was quite upset about the fact the hippos at this zoo have the smallest enclosure. Very unfair to say the least. 

I wanted to take it home

chilled out chimp

this incredible creature named "balloo" has been in the zoo for over 15 years. he was my absolute favourite animal in the zoo. Seeing him after 7 years brought back lovely memories and a huge smile!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these gorgeous animals as much as I did. I will hopefully post again once I'm back in the UK!

esther xo

a beautiful spring wedding

on the 5th of May 2013, my cousin Natasha and her fiancé Ryan became husband and wife. I was fortunate enough to witness the marriage of the wonderful couple, and the day was just fantastic. I have a humungous family (mum's side) and we're all very close. the wedding was filled with happiness, laughter, wonderful food and drunken dance moves in the evening. the whole day was spent in a breath-takingly beautiful location in Kent. the afternoon brought sunshine and the setting looked even more beautiful. blooming flowers, tea-lights, ribbons and all sorts covered the gardens, very romantic indeed.

the ceremony itself was lovely, and I can assure you most guests were teary-eyed. the wedding breakfast was delicious, and the table setting made it even more enjoyable. personalised m&m's, gems and gorgeous flowers added to the beautiful room we were seated in. once the food was eaten and the speeches were finished, we were moved back into the garden while the room was transformed for the evening antics. a fantastic live band performed throughout the evening, as well as a DJ playing a mix of classic and new songs. a photo booth was placed in the corner of the room which myself and other guests thoroughly enjoyed playing around with. a delicious evening buffet was served, and a spectacular performance was given by my cousin's close friend who is a professional gymnast/acrobat/dancer.

the whole day was just wonderful and I had a fantastic day with my family/family friends.

I thought I'd post some of the photos from throughout the day, bare with me - there are A LOT of photos!

my uncle clive being cute

classic cutting the cake shot

first dance

the wedding rings

first kiss as husband and wife

sorry about the huge amount of photographs. I took over 300 throughout the day and narrowing it down to this amount was such a struggle for me.

tell me what you think of the photos?

esther xo