California: LA, San Francisco & Big Sur

LOS ANGELES

Getting out of my airport shuttle and seeing my friend from home, Caitlin, waiting for me and running towards each other to hug, visiting the Elliott Smith wall and Charles Bukowski's bungalow, speculoos cookie butter and pumpkin toaster pastries from Trader Joe's, Amoeba Records, all you can eat Tacos for $5, appreciating the many beards in baseball, Caitlin's first trip to Disneyland (and my third Disneyland of my holiday), the Halloween themed Haunted House and Space Mountain rides and all the Halloween decorations around the park, staying to watch the 7pm parade because Caitlin had always wanted to see it, pick & mix lollies from Dylan's candy bar, Santa Monica pier, hiring bikes and riding around Venice Beach, pancakes and a chai milkshake for dinner with the lovely miss Valerie at the 101 Coffee Shop!

SAN FRANCISCO

Boston & Orlando

This might be a bit confusing but I've combined two places into one post because either I didn't have a lot to say about them (Orlando) or I didn't have a lot of photos (Boston/Lowell.) And sorry for posting out of order but in case you were wondering I flew to Boston from Reykjavik because I wanted to visit my favourite writer Jack Kerouac's hometown of Lowell which is about an hour North. So I had a couple of days in Boston and then I caught the train to New York and stayed for a month there, and then I went to Orlando exclusively for the theme parks & the Kennedy Space Centre, and then on to LA.

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO

New York

Well this post has been a long time coming. It's literally been a year since I was in New York and I'm only just getting around to posting about it (oops.) In case you weren't a reader of my blog a year ago I took 5 months off life and went around the world. If you're interested in seeing any photos from my time in Iceland, Europe or Egypt you can check out my travel tag. I spent an incredible two and a half months in the US so there'll be a couple more posts coming after this one - and no, it shouldn't take me another year to get to them!

International Beauty: Best of British

For the final part of my International Beauty series we're heading to the UK. Most brands that are available in the UK are also around in Australia these days, but annoyingly there are a handful that manage to elude us unless we take the long trip across the pond (not just for concealer and dry shampoo, mind you.) If you're lucky enough to find yourself in the motherland, here are some brands and products that are worth keeping an eye out for.

International Beauty: Best of the USA

Continuing on with my International Beauty series (check out my French Skincare post if you missed it) next stop is the States. With Sephora opening in Sydney at the end of last year and Mecca going from strength to strength, there are very few brands and products that we still can't get our hands on over here, but they do exist and when you can't have something you want we all know it only makes you want it more. I have mentioned some brands/products in this post that we can now get at Sephora, but since most of the country can't get their hands on them and there are lots of brands that are still unavailable in the UK/EU I thought I'd include them anyway. So if you're into beauty and you're planning a trip to the States, here are some things you can't miss!

International Beauty: Best of French

Having recently travelled around the world trying makeup and skincare products far and wide I thought I'd start a little series on my blog about products to check out when you're overseas, especially because some of them can be near-impossible to get your hands on back home. First up is of course France, my favourite country which is famous for their excellent yet affordable skincare. A lot of it is available either in Priceline or online these days, but it's definitely cheaper in France and there's a much wider range from every brand. Most of these products won't come as any surprise to those of you who are already fans of affordable French skincare, but it doesn't hurt to cover the basics. The best place to go in Paris for these brands is definitely City Pharma, located around the corner from Les Deux Magots and Cafe de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain, I made a point of stopping by several times. It's the most ridiculously busy pharmacy (or pharmacie) I've ever been in but it's super well stocked, has the best range and surprisingly has the best prices too. If only I lived a few metro stops away and could visit any time I wanted.

Beauty To Go

Having travelled a fair bit in my time I thought I'd share some of my favourite travel-friendly beauty products and the reasons I chose them. Whether you're going away for a weekend or several months, you're going to have to cart everything around with you and it gets very heavy and tiring after a while, so here are some tips that might make life a little easier.

Iceland Pt. 2

okay, so i'm now back home but of course i haven't managed to get through all my travel photos yet. hell, i spent two & a half months in the US after iceland, which was at the start of august. i'll aim to get it all edited and posted by the end of the year but we'll see how it goes. in the meantime, i've redesigned my blog layout because i was so sick of looking at the old one. this is a lot cleaner and more fresh, hopefully you'll agree. :)

Iceland Pt. 1

Versailles & London

wandering through the beautiful grounds of the chateau de versailles including l’orangerie, le petit and grand trianons and le domaine de marie antoinette, laying in the grass under a tree reading steinbeck and the smell of lavender all through the grand trianon, the queen’s chamber and the galerie des glaces (hall of mirrors) in the palace, dessert from angelina before heading home.

Paris Pt. 2

Paris Pt. 1

well hello blog world! thank you for sticking with me through this absence and a big hello to any new readers! i’m currently sitting in a french cafe in brooklyn posting about my time in paris. in the interest of getting on with it i’ve skipped posting about milan and geneva and my fantastic CERN visit since most people probably don’t come to my blog for my enthusiasm about particle physics, so here is part one of paris, a city i’ve only fallen more deeply in love with since my three weeks there in july.

Croatia

arriving in dubrovnik on a cruise ship. staying in a cute little apartment in the old town that reminded me of my nanna’s house. the picture above my bed with swans in it. our lovely airBNB host who brought my mum lavender from hvar for her birthday. having a drink at the amazing sunset bar. our waiter at dinner who, when asked why the robotic man in the belltower didn’t ring the bell on the hour replied with, “he’s a croat – he don’t work every day”. getting the cable car to the top of srđ mountain for the view over the old town and the adriatic sea. eating lunch wrapped in blankets provided by the restaurant at the top of the mountain. getting the bus to lapad to escape the tourists for a bit. walking the city wall in dubrovnik and the beautiful views of the whole old town and the sea.

Italy

the basilica di santa maria del fiore, or florence cathedral

after istanbul i spent about 10 days driving through italy with my parents. we flew to rome and drove straight to a little town called impruneta outside of florence and from there we spent time in lucca, modena, lake garda, verona and venice as well as several places along the way. here are my photos and memories.

Istanbul

sultanahmet camii (the blue mosque)