My wonderful trip to Mexico! Part two.

We had one week left, after doing many amazing things like a beer guzzling boat trip, snorkeling with turtles and going to the greatest club there ever was, it was time to get a little cultured. A few of us decided to visit Playa Del Carmen again, which is the local town. It reminded me of Brighton, it has a sloping hill that led to the beach, sadly no arcades though only glorious heat! We walked around looking at the tourist shops, we took a stroll onto the beach to see these huge sand sculptures sat in the middle. Near the entrance of the beach were these cast iron archways made to look like two mermaids guarding the sea, was incredible! I noticed a lot of artistic sculptures and installations around Mexico. Just down the road from the beach there was a huge oak tree that had loads of different colored umbrellas perched in the wood. We soon got hungry and found a place to eat, after that we stumbled across a Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop, was an absolute god-send in that heat! It was a lovely day walking around and seeing the locals doing their shopping and relaxing by the beach.

The day of mine and Joe's Mayan ruin & Cenote trip came around, we were both so excited to get our little adventure going, we got picked up from our hotel at 9am and it took 2 hours to get to the Cenote. Now for anyone who doesn't know what a Cenote is, its a large naturally formed cave far underground that tends to have freshwater in the bottom that is deep enough to swim in. Truly beautiful looking. Once we arrived, we were greeted by Mayan people. They led us through a thick jungle and stood us all in a small clearing, we were then blessed by the head shaman. After that we had to go shower in our swimwear as to get rid of any cosmetics on our skin before swimming in the freshwater. We started hiking up the mountain to get to the entrance of the Cenote, there was two ways down. The stairs or to repel backwards on a rope about 50 feet down. We obviously chose to repel down.  I was petrified but when we hit the water it was one of the best and exhilarating experiences. We had a personal photographer that shot us when we were coming down the rope and when we were zip lining in the water. Joe loves to dive and he's pretty good at it, so the photographer loved shooting him diving off every edge he could find. It was such a mind blowing day just swimming round in freezing cold water with catfish swimming round too. Once everyone was finished in the Cenote it was time to go enjoy some Mayan food. We scoffed pretty much everything at the buffet then headed back to the van to go see the ruins. Once we got to the ruins the heavens opened so we sheltered in the little forest bit near by. It was just ridiculous how high the ruins were, we climbed to the top and the view was something out of a book. I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to architecture and art, so this was the best of both words. Loads of stone carvings and stories behind each one. We got an hour to walk around then it was back on the bus home.

The hotel that we went to was voted one of the best Spa hotel's in Latin America so obviously we had to go see it for ourselves. We booked in for a hydro therapy session and it really didn't cost much. We got there and one of the workers showed us around, telling us the order of the pools we had to go in. Each pool was different, they had jet streams that massaged each body part and different temperatures. We went through the different stages and when we got to the hot tub part there was also a ice cold pool next to the tubs. We were meant to go in the ice pool for 5 seconds then get out and jump in the hot tub, well i just dipped my feet in and decided i weren't even gonna try 5 seconds. Joe however sat in there for 9 minutes. I think he was trying to break some manly record with himself. After getting out of the pool area we were led to saunas. Going into a sauna in a hot country wasn't really for me but they were all fragranced differently and had different humidity's. We walked over warm stones to soothe our feet and laid on these curved stone hot beds that rocked. We also got given drinks and soft robes. I think i have slightly fallen in love with spa treatments. So relaxing and worth the money.

For the rest of the week we relaxed at the beach, played with raccoon's that stole our food and sunbathed til the sun went down. Me and Joe went to dinner at the Japanese restaurant and we were all seated in a square with a chef in the middle cooking on a huge hot plate, he chopped and diced, then threw his knives around for our entertainment. Every time our plates were empty they would fill them back up. The Japanese was definitely the best restaurant there. I was so sad to see the holiday come to an end, we drank, we laughed, we sunbathed - a lot. It was just amazing to wake up every morning and see the ocean. I definitely want to move by the coast, even if it is English sea.

There's probably a lot more i can say about this holiday but i think I've rambled enough. I'd love to hear about your holiday's and summer trips. Link me in the comment box below :)

Thanks for reading!

Love Madison
  ♥  

Ps, Viva La Mexico!

Pre-holiday jitters.

I can't believe its nearly been a whole month since I've posted! Ahhh crikey. Well a lot has happened in these last few weeks, and i mean A LOT! Sadly our house got broken in to a couple weeks ago and it's shook us up but we are on the mend. The landlord has been nothing but lovely and helping out loads by up-ping the security of the house. Another thing is that my job as entropy's supervisor is coming to a bittersweet end. They are finally shutting up shop for good on the 19th of this month. I was devastated when i found out because it's been my second home for the past two years and safe to say my last Friday night shift behind the bar will be a teary one. So many good things are happening this year (and beyond) Going to university to study Fashion Buying is definitely one of them. Moving in with my boyfriend will be another but before all of that i will be going to Mexico for two weeks in just 7 days! It's just gonna be good!

 Which brings me to this post. I am having a slight mare with this as I've been on holiday once in my life and looking back on the photographs i wish i wore better stuff. So I've been tactically buying things to mix and match when I'm holiday so that i don't need to buy or pack a ridiculous amount of clothes. So i thought id share with all you lovely people to get your thoughts on my holiday clobber!

Mint green lace crop - Topshop
Lavender lace cami - H&M
Floral midi skirt - River Island

Floral dungaree dress - Primark
White cork wedges - H&M

Cut out embroidered dress - Charity shop (ASOS)

Lip print bralette dress - Ebay (Topshop)
Spotty print bralette dress - Motel

Pink spotty crop - Topshop
Pink lace leotard - Topshop

White lace maxi - Falmer Heritage (Matalan)

Selection of bikini's - ASOS, La Senza, George, BHS, New Look!

Well that's a snippet of what i'll be taking on my travel's with me, do you guys think it's practical enough? What are your essentials that you take away with you? 

Thanks for reading!

Love Madison
♥

'Coming up roses' A review from the heart.

Where do i even start with this? For a very long time i have been one of the masses that is absolutely, madly addicted to all things Cath Kidston. From it's adorable pastel washed colours to it's remarkable kitsch patterns, it's every girls dream to have an entire house decked out in it's finest creations. Now don't get me wrong, I'm 21, so i haven't been with it from the beginning although i really wish i had. But i started to fall in love with C.K when i went from the ridiculous change of severe moody goth to flamboyant floral chic. I think there was always a small part of me that admired all the twee products. 

So you may be wondering what has brought on all this Cath like love? I have just read her new book 'Coming up roses' in one sitting. I sat down with my breakfast coffee and read it cover to cover. I was so inspired by her vulnerable nature whilst working in the business world. It's like she woke up one day and wanted to capture her's and many other British children's childhood's in her patterns. As she says in the book:

'I was always influenced by the prints and fresh colours of my childhood - my bedroom with its pale blue walls and striped rosebud curtains, the magnolia chintz in our playroom, my favourite Ribena coloured dress. Smell may bring back memories for some, but for me it's more likely to be a colour or a pattern.'

I think most girls can look back to when they were younger and remember an item of clothing they wore. Obviously most of my generation it was about spice girl leggings and scrunchies, but there are specific items of clothing in my past that i remember being put in for special occasions. I look fondly back on this cream puffy chiffon dress with a peach waist band that tied at the back. I remember wearing delicate scallop trimmed white blouses with patterned pinafores over the top. It's the clothing memories like that, that draws me towards Cath Kidston products. 
It's not just a pretty product. It's a little bit of every girls past. 


The book goes into so much detail about each step she took with all the products, without giving too much away, i was shocked to discover that a lot of her home-ware products were a complete and utter accident due an over order of some beautiful gingham fabric! Through out the book, it tells you the highs and lows of opening up a shop near Notting Hill, and her decision to expand with some companies and not others. The only small disappointment about the book is that i wanted to know about her life, and more about her mischievous dog Stanley, in saying that though, the front of the book does say:

'The story of growing a business.'

So i couldn't really expect it to be a tell all book about herself but maybe that's a good thing, she's just an ordinary woman who has done something extraordinary with her life and creativity. That's why its so inspiring because she started with an idea at the age of 25, and it's gone from there. With a lot of help from her friends and family it's became what it is today. As cliche as this is going to sound, if she can do it then maybe one day i can too.

Over the few years I have collected only a few items from C.K but they are all precious and wonderful. Most of them are gifts from my family and friends. My boyfriend bought me a beautiful dainty floral sewing box with separate compartments and twine wrapped handles. To live in my sewing box, i was bought a metal cased tape measure and a felt squishy cupcake pin cushion. They were both gifts from a fellow Cath obsessed lady who also lent me the book! My mom bought me both the 'Sew' and 'Make' books, maybe in aid to spur me on to a creative path, she also bought me my little floral green purse which i will use til it literally falls apart. My friend Sarah bought me the rose printed half apron, she knows my secret desire to be an amazing baker but knows i'm really no good in the kitchen. The only C.K item i have bought myself (unintentionally the only item, it's just everyone knows to buy me C.K things as there is nothing i don't like!) was a oil coated shopper bag with a beautiful bird print. I bought it on my 20th birthday when i was in Brighton, the C.K store there was insane. I could of spent hours and A LOT of money in there.

I CANNOT stress how great this book is, it will inspire to get out there and pursue your creative dreams and even if your not into kitsch living it just has a good feel to it. Like there are great rewards for great ambition.

What are your favourite Cath Kidston products and have you read this book? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!

Love Madison

A never recovering 'Cathaholic'. 
♥

It may be grey outside but it's sunny in my wardrobe.

So it was my first day off in a while and i felt the need to dress up a bit seeing as our uniform policy at work is black, white or grey and formal casual. Alas not strict but seeing as majority of my wardrobe is floral's or pastel's, this means i have to dull it down ever so much. On my days off i like to take advantage of the freedom i have, even if the weather was ridiculously overcast, warm but grey. Is that even a type of weather? So i opted for my handmade pastel blue cotton skirt, a sleeveless floral blouse, white frilly socks, brown t-bar shoes and my tweed blazer. To top it all off i wore a chunky gold chain, some cute badges on my jacket and a mint green headscarf.

Jacket - Jane Norman (bought from a charity shop!)
Shirt - Charity shop
Gold necklace - ASOS
Skirt - Handmade by myself
White socks - Topshop
Brown t-bar shoes - Vintage

Sorry i can't put any useful links on this outfit post apart from the socks & the necklace, majority of it is charity shops!

Thanks for reading!

Love Madison♥



 

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Okay so there are a few white lies in this quote. I am certainly not or ever been to Kansas and i sadly don't have a lovely cute dog like Toto for a pet. But i love the symbolism behind this. I moved to Leicester three years ago and had never quite settled, i have moved five times since being here and have always been on edge. I was lucky to have found such a beautiful home with my best friend Stephanie. We have been here for nearly a year now and it's usually around this time that we need to be packing up and moving on to a new place. Luckily this time round, we don't have to! It's finally becoming home to me. After moving the third time i really did detest trying to make my room personal and cosy because i saw no point. Alas i have now started putting my mark on the house, slowly but surely its getting there. 

My room is fairly small but i like it that way, my things adorn the walls, i have a bookcase full of jewelry pots, patterned boxes and my Cath Kidston sewing box, which is my pride and joy. I have floral and heart shaped bunting that lines two of the walls, I'm not usually a poster type of person, i am very particular about posters as they have a tendency to become tattered. The posters i do have are simple and quaint. Two of which are actually sheets of wrapping paper from the V&A (shhh). The one above my headboard is my favorite, it's of the art-deco Absinthe girl.The other is one of those cliche 'Keep calm' Pastel pink and has the phrase '...and eat a cupcake.' PERFECT for my mentality at times! My bed was from a second hand shop, a swirled black metal frame with fairy lights wrapped around the posts.

My room is very girly and cluttered, i really wouldn't have it any other way. Still working on making my garden lovely for summer so hopefully it'll be nice enough to do a post about.

 Sorry I've been so neglectful recently, been mad busy with my uni application and work at the bar. Looking forward to my blog meet up with Tori, Paige and Chloe in Birmingham! Hopefully the sun will be shining and the trains will be on time! 

Thanks for reading, 
love Madison

♥