I Heart London

Hi! I'm Sophie from The Littlest Things and I am so excited to be posting on Simone's lovely blog. She has been my little London life line while living in the UK and has made living so far away from home, so much easier! I love that I have such a passion for her home city :)
This is my London...

I don't know how it happened, but somehow, London has become my true home (temporarily anyway). After meeting a real Londoner over 5 years ago, I followed him over to the other side of the world and lived in the city for the whole year of 2009.
I fell head.over.heels.in.love with the place! It's kind of hard not to.
The city is full of so much awesomeness.

Since then, we have been living in the U.K, just not in London (and it's nearly been killing me; being so close yet still so far).
So, when I'm back there I feel instantaneously happy and so inspired.
These are some of the reasons why I love the city so much;

The British spirit

The London Eye

Hyde Park and rowing on the Serpentine

Sloane Square

Watching the changing of the guard

Leadenhall Market

The beautiful hotels

Fashion amazingness like watching the arrivals to the Burberry show

Westminster; Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

The charming little houses

Borough market and it's cafes

Shopping at Westfield and Topshop in Christmas time

London at dusk.

I'm currently waiting for my new visa to get back there and am counting down the seconds until I step off the plane at Heathrow to the crisp London winter air.
The city is just magical.
There's no other way to describe it :)

Sophie writes the blog The Littlest Things....
a blog about life, style, fashion, food, travel & London life.
It's a gorgeous blog....a huge dose of energy and happiness.
It's everything that Sophie is....

Guest Post : My London

Ever since I was a little girl, London has always been a dream destination of mine.  It took many years to get there, but two years ago Alex and I made our first trip over.  For the past two summers for one week in August, we have called London our home. We stay in a lovely hotel in the Bloomsbury section of London, very near the West End, Covent Garden and right down the street from the British Museum.  What I like to do when I am visiting any new city, is to get up early and explore on my own, while Alex is sleeping.  I like to pretend that I am living there, so I can get the lay of the land before we go out together.  Spending mornings in a small cafe in Russell Square watching the world go by and gazing at the lovely water fountain in the square made for a peaceful morning and to this day the memory puts a smile on my face.

Our days were spent wandering with truly no plans.  We like to see where our feet and the Tube would take us.  Sometimes we would just hop on the Tube and decide at the last minute what stop we would take to explore new areas. One day we ended up at Wimbledon and on another occasion with were walking along the Thames River in Fulham on the path to Craven Cottage to watch a soccer match. Both areas were an absolute delight!  My favorite thing to do in a big city is to get lost - those are the best adventures.  We’d stop in at a few pubs along the way throughout the day, to quench our thirst and always would meet such lovely people. The first summer we were in London, we met a really nice young man from France that was going to school in London and bartending.  We were excitedly talking to him about our day trip to Paris on the Eurostar.  We never saw him again, but he and Alex had exchanged emails, so a few weeks later we received an email from him asking how we liked France and what we did in Paris, and an email relationship began for Alex.

I remember the first morning I was wandering around looking at the buildings, I felt like I was on a movie set, it seemed like I was walking thru a dream.  The gorgeous architecture, the colorful doors, double decker buses, cute cabs and the fabulous flowers that decorated the pubs were a feast for my eyes.  

Of all the beautiful places in London, my favorite places are the parks - Hyde Park, St. James Park, Regents Park, Kensington Gardens and all the small squares like Russell Square.  I have to say the best part of our trips are being able to spend quality time together - wandering, talking, laughing along the way.  The people that we meet from all walks of life are the icing on a very wonderful cake!

I’d like to thank Simone for giving me this opportunity to share my love of London (we haven’t even scratched the surface of it yet - we will be back!) and wish her a lovely time on her holiday in the South of France.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

Cathi lives in California and writes the blog 

Everyday Adventures of a Curious Gal

Summer Beauty Guest Blog : Me & My Summer....

Summer.

Summer to me means utter simplicity

Eating fresh and healthy. (It's so much easier to do in summer)

Dressing super casually - in denim shorts or a dress and thongs.

Hardly ever taking my bikini off. 

Rarely wearing any make-up or styling my hair. 

Instead, just letting it form into loose beach curls

Getting outside every single day.

Fruit smoothies for breakfast, salads for lunch and BBQs on our back deck for dinner.

Waking up for the sunrise.

Falling asleep with sand in the bed

The sound of the waves.

The salty air.

The smell of sun cream.

Staring out to the horizon.

Jumping into the ocean

Drives and walks along the coast.

Insane amounts of fresh seafood.

Playing backyard cricket.

Camping with family friends

Late afternoon beers with friends.

Reading by the pool.

Falling asleep in the sun...

It's the season where I most feel like myself. 

The best version of myself. I get up earlier. 

Get outside as much as possible. Feel the most inspired.

And the happiest.

I love summer

Sophie writes the blog 

The Littlest Things 

She's a gorgeous and very happy Australian 

(altho to be honest I'm not sure if there are any other kinds of Aussies based on the many that I've met...they're all like that!!),

 currently living in Wales....she's a girl full of energy, life and positivity.

She's also a fabulous photographer....she's recently started up her own Etsy shop selling her own beautiful photos and, if you love France, you should take a look at her posts about her recent trip travelling from Paris through France.