Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I had been looking forward to the weekend for the last few weeks as I had booked up to go to London with my mum, Cameron and boyfriend. All of last week my boyfriend and I were unwell and were getting gradually worse. On Friday afternoon I was told I had a chest infection by my doctor and put on antibiotics. Feeling awful, but determined to still go, we got the coach to London at 7am on Saturday morning and arrived with only one minor mishap on the journey (Cameron threw up the Ribena we had just given him). We headed straight to Hyde Park and into Winter Wonderland where we went to meet Santa!

After waiting in line for 45 minutes (and we got there 15 minutes after it opened!!) it was finally our turn to meet the big guy. I was pretty disappointed with the gift Cameron got (though as it was free to meet Santa I guess it was to be expected) as it was a tiny notepad. Cameron clearly isn't even old enough to write..... I decided to purchase two of the photos taken of me and Cameron with Santa as they were so nice, and would be nice to look back on in a few years time. We were hungry by this point as it was lunchtime, so after pushing through the crowds and crowds of people we reached the yummy smelling food stalls. A lot of the food was German, which I wasn't too keen on, but I ended up getting a meat feast pizza made fresh in front of me, which was yummy. We met up briefly with my aunt and youngest cousin who had come to go on some of the rides, before we headed off to find Harrods.

Harrods is massive and we got pretty lost going around it. It is bizarre as it feels more like a mueseum than an expensive shop as there are so many tourists there. I was so tempted by the huge amounts of perfume and makeup on display but I was really good and didn't buy anything! We headed up to the fourth floor to look at all the toys. Cameron was getting a bit fed up with the shop by now so my boyfriend bought him a couple of bears for Christmas and let him play with them going round the rest of the shop.

We finally made our way out of the maze of floors and departments and decided, after a short walk, to just get a taxi and head to the hotel in Waterloo as we were all knackered from the early start and busy day. After checking in we went for a lie down for a couple of hours before getting changed and heading out for dinner. My mum looked after Cameron so that me and my boyfriend could have some time alone and we went to a cool converted firestation for a drink before heading to an Indian restaurant and having a lovely, albeit hot, meal.

The Firestation Bar

The Indian Restaurant we went to in Waterloo

We got back to the hotel quite early so watched Taken, which I had never seen before, in bed. It was a lovely chilled out evening and just what I needed after a pretty stressful day.

The next morning we had a lie in and then checked out before walking towards The Thames to sightsee. We stopped off for lunch at The Slug and Lettuce and I had smothered chicken, which I hadn't had before. It was really nice!

After lunch we ended up going to the London Aquarium, which is now owned by the Sealife Center. It was amazing and definitely worth doing when in London. Cameron has always loved fishes and so he had a really good time exploring. He did end up loving the doors all around the center just as much as the sealife though!

We took some photos of the London Eye and Big Ben before it started chucking it down with rain, prompting me to have to buy an umbrella as Cameron's pushchair cover wasn't sufficient. We started heading towards Victoria, where we would be getting the coach back from, and saw some more sights on the way such as Westminster Abbey.

We came across a House of Fraser and went in to have a look at all the beauty stands. I am in love with Urban Decay now! I also lusted over the Benefit stand as I always do and smelt J'adore Dior, which I fell in love with.

After looking round some more shops and getting some food for the coach we headed to the station. This is where the nightmare started. The coach was really hot and stuffy and getting out of London took an hour in the traffic meaning Cameron was really fed up and crying. I stripped him down to his vest but he was still sweaty and very upset. Nothing would calm him down and it was incredibly stressful all the way home. By the time we got back I was totally fed up and decided to make the tough choice to not go and see my brother and his girlfriend in Newcastle for Christmas. It would mean two 8 hour coach journys and a couple of two hour car journeys in total and it would be too much for Cameron. It means that I will be spending a few days away from all my family just after Christmas, but I couldn't face three times the length of that journey back!

I had a great weekend despite still not feeling 100% and the stressful parts and am really pleased we got to go and see Santa!

Feeding a Cold....

I have been feeling awful for the last four days with a bad head cold, cough, sore throat, shivers and a temperature- the works! My boyfriend has had the same thing too, which sucks. We are crossing our fingers we feel better for tomorrow when we go to London for the weekend, and I have been trying every remedy and old wives tale going to try and get myself back to full health including drinking Cameron's orange juice cartons and last night cooking myself some yummy Fajitas to 'feed my cold'....

I don't think they helped, but they certainly were yummy!

My Long Weekend... London, baby!

Sorry I haven't blogged over the weekend, I had quite a hectic one for a change!

On Friday I had my hair cut and coloured and had a chill out in front of the TV night but bright and early Saturday morning I was up and playing taxi for a variety of people. I took my mum to a wedding in town and decided to go Christmas shopping. Big mistake! I did get quite a bit done, but it was so hectic because it was a Saturday. I am definitely going to be finishing Christmas shopping by mid November, I hate crowds!

 After I had picked my mum back up we went to the bowling alley to meet up with my cousin, whose birthday it was. I was exhausted by this point as Cameron had barely slept the night before. Me and my mum went to her friends' wedding reception for a couple of hours and stayed to see their first dance, which was lovely, and for them cutting the cake. The bride's dress was gorgeous!

We went straight from there to meet everyone else for the birthday meal at TGI Fridays, where my cousin works. We shared a couple of bottles of wine so I ended up feeling quite tipsy. After our meal I treated my cousin to a champagne cocktail, and I had a Bellini, which I had never tasted before but was yummy.

My dinner- yum!

The next morning, bright and early (and not getting my extra hour in bed as a result!) we left for London and met up with my dad and sister at my nan's house in Charlton. We got a bus into central london which was an awful experience as it went through a really horrible area of London, the bus was majorly crowded, and we stood the whole hour and twenty minutes journey! When we got there I was happy just to be off the bus, so I didn't mind the walking, which we did a lot of over the day.

being a tourist walking around London!

We ended up in Regent Street and found a pub to have some lunch and drinks. My brother and his girlfriend came and met up with us. I hadn't seen them for a long time, so it was lovely to catch up. After lunch we went for a walk to Covent Garden, but never quite made it there and ended up walking in a massive circle (much to everyone's annoyance) when I went to meet the guy I have been going out with as he was also in London with his friends.

Walking Through Chinatown

After having a quick drink with him, we all went our seperate ways and me, my mum, Cameron, my dad and sister all walked back to get the horrible bus back to Charloton. By this point it was really dark, even though it was only about 6pm. Luckily we got seats on the way back, but it was still really crowded and I was glad to be off it. We still had a 45 minute journey back to my dad's in Essex. The X Factor results were on whilst we were driving back, so I was watching my Twitter and Facebook timelines to keep up with what was happening.

When we got back my sister wanted to watch the show anyway, so we watched it on plus one and my dad made us bacon baguettes, yum! We watched a bit more tv before bed, I was actually knackered!

The next day we were up early as my sister was going to school. We had some breakfast and had a chilled out morning watching old horror films (which were not horror at all but just really funny in how badly made they were!). We watched half of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankentein. We watched Pretty Woman and my dad made us some lunch, which was really yummy. We drove back mid afternoon and last night I had a relaxed night, away from Trick or Treaters, watching TV with the guy I have been seeing.

Was a very busy, but good weekend! What did you all get up to this weekend? I hope you had a good time whatever you did!

Weekend Plans: It's London, Baby!

This weekend is going to be a good one! Tomorrow is my cousin's 20th birthday and we are all going out for a big family meal in the evening and for drinks afterwards.

Then on the Sunday bright and early, we are travelling to London to my nan's house in Charlton where we will be meeting up with my dad and little sister and travelling into central London to meet up for lunch with my brother and his girlfriend who are staying in London for the weekend.

Sunday night we are staying at my dad's in Essex before travelling back home on Monday afternoon.

I haven't seen my brother or his girlfriend for a couple of months as they live in Newcastle, and haven't seen my dad and sister for even longer, so I am excited to be seeing everyone. It should be a fun weekend, even though I am missing the X-Factor, nooooo!!

What have you got planned this weekend?