Adventures in Athens.

Hello, long time, no write.

So, Moon and I are actually currently on the third-to-last night of our two-week holiday in Hong Kong and we've been sharing a whole bunch of new adventures, alongside a bit of me playing (clueless) tour guide. We've visited temples, seen pandas and (of course) we've shopped, and there's still quite a bit more left to squeeze into our last two days.

I figured that before I bombard you with Hong Kong tales and photos, I ought to share a few from last month's trip to Athens. I was there with work and it might have been one of the most exciting things I've done in my career so far, not only because it was a chance to travel but also because I got the see the fruits of eight months worth of labour hanging all over the conference venue and I could say that it was me who designed it!

After 3 days of conferencing and hyping and tweeting, I was lucky enough to fit in a bit of sightseeing with some of my colleagues before flying home. It was pretty great to see the image I'd been using on banners up close in real life and it was such a beautiful day, perfect for exploring.




Aside from the ancient ruins, I wouldn't necessarily say that Athens is my kind of city but I really enjoyed walking around and seeing somewhere completely new.





You really do get an incredible 360˚ view from the top of the Acropolis and on a day like the day we visited, you could even see the sea! ♥




The amount of times I photoshopped pictures of the parthenon in the last few months...



We did try and be up to get out early and beat the tourists after hearing tales of two hour queues. Our worries ended up being unfounded as it was just a Wednesday morning so it was fine. Naturally as with any tourist attraction though, something I have been reiterating almost every day here in Hong Kong, it would definitely be better without tourists.










Forever cat-bothering.



Plant goals.


So that rounds up the first of my two trips to Greece this year - in September it will be a visit to the islands for some R+R.

I don't know what Moon and I are going to do with our days once we get home and aren't running around from one side of Hong Kong to another but there's painting to be done and furniture to be bought and built (in between, you know, our jobs) so I'm sure we'll still manage to keep ourselves busy.

We only lived in our new home for just four days before jetting off so more than anything I'm really looking forward to making it really feel like home when we get back.

If you can't wait for the influx of holiday spam in the weeks to come, you can follow me on Instagram, where I'm posting daily ♥.

Make it Cosy.

With last weekend probably marking the last one before the madness of Christmas takes over, following on one of the busiest work-weeks of my life, I took the opportunity to make the most of my down-time and really relax.

From a couple of long lie-ins to a roast dinner and a short, leisurely stroll around the town, everything about last weekend was about being in the slow lane - and I think that's really necessary sometimes.

Now Monday is here and it's back to being in full-swing of designing the digital brochure that's been my main project for the last few weeks. It's so nice to be busy again, thinking about the last 18 months and comparing it to the last month or so and I can see how bored and unmotivated I was. It's amazing how far a little bit of praise and finally allowing myself to ease in can go, it's pretty good to back.

Three Weeks in Oxford.

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I started working in Oxford!


I feel like I'm completely used to the walk - it only took me 20 minutes the other day(!) - and have finally got a hang of my bearings. As someone whose internal compass is wrong almost all of the time, that second part is a pretty nice feeling.

As I mentioned before, we've now changed our route, which means we're less panicked and actually, the walk is much more enjoyable too so everything is just much less stressful than I foresaw it being when I first started coming here.



I'm not sure how strange it is that as well as driving in and then walking to Oxford City Centre, Moon and I are also having lunch together - there's part of me that knows it is a lot of time to spend together, particularly as we live together as well - but it's quite nice to have a lunch-buddy and we haven't run out of things to talk about yet. It will probably all change when winter comes and it's too cold to sit out but it's nice to not do those kind of things alone, despite knowing it's probably something we'll probably get judged for.

As I quite like my own space and time alone, I've been making a bit of an effort to do things apart where we can, which seems like a strange idea but absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.



As a city, I quite like Oxford, I mean it showed its true colours a couple of weeks ago when I witnessed a busker get both bitten on the face and essentially mugged, but overall it's changed a few of my ideas about where we'll be thinking of buying a house in the next year or so.

It's a great place to have a camera, with every other corner having a picture-perfect scene all laid out for you, and a lot of that's just the architecture!

I was feeling a little overwhelmed towards the middle of my second week, I think because September seemed to rush by and so much has happened in the last few months. It might be a little while before I start to feel completely settled but, as I've said before, it's quite nice to see things piece together and just be able to take things in, even if that part of things is taking a bit of time.

Rain and Sun in Rye.

This morning feels like it was yesterday and I'm so sleepy. I essentially worked 6 days last week, so I'm a little sleepy after being back at work again today after just one day off. Saying that, it was a super-productive weekend, and I'm glad I'm done and dusted with my second 'gig' as a wedding photographer. I must admit that it completely throws me out of my comfort zone but once again I'm really pleased with the results and I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with the images when I get down to editing them.

I'm not sure if I've really mentioned it before but my friend Abbie and I were photographers at a wedding on Saturday. Wedding photography is something Abbie did quite a bit of in the summer and has done a fair amount of before, but not something I majorly seek out. Abbie is from my University course and we went to Paris Photo and Disney Land together in our final year. The wedding was that of a man who interview me for a job (I didn't get) earlier in the year. I wasn't suited to the role but he liked my website and remember him saying so in the interview. He got engaged and got in touch with me but wanted a second photographer and that's where Abbie came in.

I'll get around to showing you more of a collection of images from the wedding over the next week or so, but for now here are some quick snaps from the weekend, as is apparently now standard practice on a Monday evening.


Being up before the sun on a Saturday should be banned, saying that the journey went really quickly even if it was just under 3 hours.


How great is this teddy hole punch?



The 'less than promising' wedding weather started showing itself fairly early on.

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...but it soon brightened up and even if it came and went, all of Camber Sands looked beautiful.




You might recognise these as the blue version of the red ones from a couple of posts ago, I'm still totally in love with these boots, they're so comfy! These ones are kind of filled with sand now but held up really well considering their £8 price tag.



I'm a big fan of little details but unfortunately these are the kind of images that the bride and groom weren't really bothered about, even if it was these accents that helped pull the event together.




All those pom-poms were handmade from tissue paper!









The cake was so adorable ♥



Candy bars seem to be a pretty popular thing to have at weddings nowadays, I've seen them all over the place. Nick and Cats was quite small but full of yummy treats and the guests went crazy for it.

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Mine and Abbie's room at The Aviemore, a great place to flop down and watch the second half of X Factor on ITV+1 once we got back.



I love how flat this area is, it meant you could see for miles and miles.


Supernice is just one of the shops I wish we'd had a chance to look in, I'm so happy they sell so much stuff online.


Interesting artwork facing out onto the street.


Laura Oakes


Enjoying 'Ribena Bricks' at the beginning of our long journey home.



My tired, makeupless face after my lovely travelling companion left me.


My favourite manicure in forever, love the neutral shades and so happy with the length of my nails at the moment.
Base/Top: Rimmel Lycra Pro in 421: Clearly Clear
Colours: Models Own in Grace Green, Concrete Mixer and Vintage Pink / La Femme Beauty in Grey Creme
Spots: Nubar in Black Polka Dot / Topshop Nail Art Pen in Nightrider


The journey took way less than I thought it would and I was back before 2pm, I had a little sleep and enjoyed Dominos and X Factor in the evening, a well deserved rest.
It was a stressful and long day but not without great results and some good experience. The weather was incredibly hit and miss but the sun shone when we really needed it to. Despite having to go by train, our timings were perfect too which definitely took some of the stress out of it. The wedding was held in The Gallivant in Camber, which is a beautiful venue with an amazing, laid back beach theme, as it should really due to it's setting.

We were put up in a lovely B&B in Rye and managed to have a quick look around on Sunday morning before we left, it was just such a shame that none of the neat shops were open. It's definitely somewhere I'd like to explore again, as it's part of the country that I've ever really been to before.

You can check out some of Abbie's photography over at her Facebook page, be sure to 'like' it. ♥