So the snow's pretty much stopped us getting out and about the past few weekends but here's hoping 2010 is a fun packed year of adventures. And I really hope this is the year I crack the surfing malarky, but only when that water gets a little warmer! x

Hats on Top...

Just in case anyone was wondering about the fabulous hat shop I mentioned in my earlier post, I thought I'd put a quick blog together about it.

Hats on Top is situated opposite the train station in Harrogate and it was recommended to us when we were shopping for Mum's Mother of the Bride outfit (for our wedding - surprisingly). It's a small shop, but as we're all aware now, size certainly isn't everything and it is packed floor to ceiling with posh hats, fascinators and not-so-posh hats. What we went for with Mum, and what my visit was for on Thursday, was for their custom made fascinator service.

Mum was a little daunted by the shop's request to leave part of her dress and a shoe so that they could colour match the feathers etc but as it turned out all was A-OK. The fascinator they created for Mum was out of this world and definitely what she'd been looking for. The colours were spot on and the milliner we dealt with (Kristy I think her name was) obviously knew what she was doing and we felt comfortable from in leaving the overall vision to her.



Just so you know, this was Mum pre-wedding outfit (she's actually just got her dressing gown on and will probably kill me if she sees this!

My lovely bridesmaid Felicity also had her fascinator made at Hats on Top and she's been back with her Mum for even more fascinators making - well, there's nothing like repeat custom for great feedback is there!

As you'd expect, they cater for a range of budgets. My Mum's was about £40-£50, Felicity's bridesmaid one was about £15 and the one I'm having is going to be £25 (I've dealt with Claire on this visit and she seems just as helpful and talented - will put some pics up when I get mine back).

Until next time, K x

Things to do when you actually turn 26...

So it was actually my (me as in Kimberley) 26th birthday last Thursday... Can't say I was particularly thrilled at the prospect of being the wrong side of 25 and (as Lee will verify) there were definitely tears before bedtime on Wednesday.

(These tears, however, I now think were more likely down to hormones rather than the emergence of any (additional – eeeks!) wrinkles, as by Thursday morning I was awake at silly o’clock, desperate to start my birthday celebrations as normal. Phew! Wrinkles I can handle a bout of depression I can’t).

In our household, a birthday pretty much equates to a national holiday and therefore work is a dirty word and time off is ALWAYS taken. So hurrah! I had Lee Bot all to myself for the day but what to do when you’re 26… on a Thursday… in the rain.

One thing we had loved whilst on Honeymoon in America was brunch and having being married over a year now this was something we had only truly experienced in the UK a handful of times. It wasn’t that we thought the prospect of sitting in decadent surroundings eating something that wasn’t quite brekkie and certainly not lunch was going to be hard to do this side of the pond; it was just a case of wrong postcode. We needed to travel. In this instance we opted for Harrogate due to my connection to the town through my mum (as well as my need to visit a certain hat shop) but more importantly (and more accurately) we needed to travel to Betty’s Tea Rooms to quench the thirst for brunch.

Having been to Betty’s before I was aware of the queue (as infamous as the Harrogate weather – “It’s always an overcoat colder over here” my great-grandad used to say as he got off the train from Batley), luckily enough and more than possibly due to the new extension we were able to avoid this and were quickly offered a lovely table for two next to the window overlooking the Montpellier Gardens – bliss! Note to those who plan to visit and don’t already know, the top café does offer a slightly different menu to the main Tea Rooms, so that queue will more than likely appear at very busy times, I’m not saying it’s gone for good – that just wouldn’t be Betty’s now would it!

Service, as always, was impeccable although the old school politeness and stiff upper lip vibe could be portrayed as aloofness, I think it just adds to the old world charm that both Betty’s and Harrogate have. We shared a pot of coffee and where I had the Special Croissant with Bacon and Gruyere cheese, Lee had Eggs Benedict. I had no complaints at all with my brunch and if there had been a pattern on the plate, I’m sure I’d have polished that off too. Unfortunately, and it’s not a criticism on the quality of the dish (although the poached eggs were slightly over cooked), the proportions of Lee’s dish were wrong – more muffin than egg obviously results in a dry muffin to finish. But otherwise we had a lovely, very relaxed and, of course, very civilised start to my birthday.

K x

Spa days – in Huddersfield?

As a pre-birthday treat, and to perhaps help calm and de-stress me after the realisation of being the wrong side of 25 hit home, Mum took me to the Titanic Spa in Huddersfield. Huddersfield, yes I know, not exactly sounding like the height of cosmo-sophistication especially when this is within walking distance of your own front doorstep. However, be prepared to rethink what it is you think of Huddersfield and spa days for that matter.

Titanic Spa, as you’ll see from their website, is set in an old textile mill in the suburban countryside sprawling from Huddersfield to Oldham and it is literally up the road from me – Lee and I have cycled passed it doing our canal tow path route from Milnsbridge to Standedge Tunnel. So, anyway, it’s quite an impressive building from the outside, although it’s still strange to see a converted mill (majority of which are – surprise surprise – apartments) outside of a city or town centre.

Inside, it’s the usual look and feel of a spa really. Tastefully decorated, minimal in terms of colour yet tactile with heavy woven carpets, leather chairs and exposed brick work. The only thing which seemed an issue was in the changing rooms. They were definitely finished to a high standard, were lovely and warm and kept clean however there was lack of individual cubicles to change in – in fact, other than a disabled changing cubicle, there weren’t any others. From the other women I saw in there throughout the day I don’t think that this was just an issue for me and my mum. I’m quite comfortable in my skin and my body – I’m just not that thrilled about the prospect of showing it all off to a group of women in changing room and this, for me, tarnished the pampering vibe before we’d got started. I’d have much rather my robe and slippers be sat waiting for me in a cubicle rather than a locker. But this really was my only criticism of the whole day.

The staff couldn’t have been friendlier and everyone made you feel at ease – must be that Yorkshire charm. We didn’t book any individual treatments as the spa offers it’s own heat experience which is a series of rooms, showers and plunge pools of different temperatures designed to improve skin tone and circulation – it was heaven! And really it was a good job we didn’t book any treatments as lunch was also included in the package and by the time we’d swam a bit and visited the heat experience we’d have been pushed for time. ‘Pushed’ is obviously being used very loosely here as we were there from 10am to 5:30pm!

Lunch was a buffet affair which consisted of not just rabbit food but also lots of carbs which were definitely needed after all that sweating in the sauna!

Mum and I had a great time and we’re looking forward to booking our next spa day session at Titanic Spa soon we just hope the weather’s as nice so we can sit out on the terrace again (yes, we had to question if we were still in Huddersfield Toto), although the robes were that warm and fluffy we you could probably sit out in December – just exchange the glass of Pimms for a hot chocolate.

K x

The first blog is the deepest

Or maybe not. I just needed to break the white space fear that took over me whilst looking at the blank blog and deciding where to start.

So our blog. Our blog was thought up over a rather fabulous (not to say impromptu) weekend in Edinburgh, which I hope to provide a post on sooner rather than later. We had called off at rather unassuming pub for a spot of lunch on our journey from Huddersfield and were bowled over by the service, atmosphere and quality of food. "We need to tell EVERYONE about this" we said. Eventually we'd said that phrase enough over the weekend for me to say, "I'm going to start a blog, so that we can really tell everyone (well those who find us and are interested!) about where we've been".

Our aim is to hopefully provide some inspiration to others through documenting and reviewing the things we do in our spare time. I'm sure it'll also help to settle any future arguments we'll have as one of us fondly remembers a weekend away, we'll have it in black and white that, really, the food was awful and the B&B had a strange obsession with clowns...

Until then, K x