Fireworks, royal palace, ballet and brunch

Summer's here! Hurrah! And I've even had the time to make the most of  the weather :)

Last Saturday we rigged a firework show at Hampton Court Palace. We drove through the gardens and set up behind a beautiful fountain, unfortunately ruining many tourists' photos of the gardens. One of the most picturesque locations I've fired.

No pictures of the actual fireworks I'm afraid because I was on fire/crowd watch.

Then on Thursday I was treated to a night at the ballet! English National Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall. I loved every second! We were sat very close to the action (about 5 rows back), and because of the venue (and very large stage) the performance was "in the round" and the cast was huge. Wonderful.

And today has been perfectly lazy - brunch at my favourite cafe with a new friend, a spot of shopping (new earrings! Yay!) and sunshine :)

What's your favourite way of enjoying the nice weather?

Little happy thoughts

I've finally started taking more photos on my phone to blog about. Unfortunately, this hasn't exactly translated in me remembering to write blog posts so I've got all these photos sat doing nothing!

I thought I'd share with you some of the best things that I've done recently...

A cheeky glass of champagne.

A tasty and healthy mid-afternoon snack. Much better than biscuits.

The sea always makes me happier. I didn't even paddle this time.

Dawlish beach, Devon. Beautiful.

Sushi plates arranged into a rainbow. I love sushi and rainbows :)

Another rainbow :)

What's been making you smile recently?

A spot of sunshine

Holidays, no matter how brief, have an amazing ability to relax you. It's as if the world resets for a while and all the stresses and worries dissipate. Last weekend we disappeared off to the southern coast of Spain for a few days, and it turned out to be just what I needed.

Here's a flavour of what I did:

I managed to pack a reasonable amount! For once my "write a list, ponder for a couple of days on it, pack in the shortest amount of time you can" method really worked for me. Hand luggage only, including several pairs of shoes, all under 10kg :)

I spoke Spanish lots. We went to an area that isn't very touristy (especially not for foreign visitors) and managed to get by with almost no English being spoken. I usually get very nervous about speaking French or Spanish, but I seem to be growing in confidence and actually remembering key language (sometimes even at the point were I needed it!)

I walked on the beach, paddled in the sea and swam in an outside pool.

There were lots of churches and parades (it was Holy Week after all), a couple of castles and a lighthouse.

Procession of the paso through the streets. This one was on Palm Sunday so it depicted Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem.

The amazing gardens at Real Alcázar in Sevilla. I have so many pictures of this beautiful place that you may get treated to another post all about it!

Breakfast was tostados con tomate; lunch and dinner were tapas. What else does a girl need?

I arrived home with a slight tan and a smile on my face, even though our flight was delayed. Six days later and the smile hasn't gone yet!