So, To Sum It All Up - Summer-y Summary.

Hi!!!

Well, September is upon us, as I'm sure you'll have noticed and I've been planning lots of posts for this Autumn season which made me think of doing a summary of the Summer for you all. Partly because I haven't done a summary in about a million years and also so that I can reflect on all the cool things I have done and feel ready for the new season.

Anyway, time to stop babbling - I hope you enjoy!!!

So, what happened this summer?

 



Birthday's!

 

I had a fantastic birthday this year and got to spend lots of time with my family and friends and enjoy lots of very nice birthday cake!

I was very lucky to get lots of lovely cards and wonderful gifts, too, and I am so grateful to everyone for making my birthday this year such a special one filled with the most wonderful things.

As well as my birthday, there was Elf Girl's birthday which was spent playing really old video games, eating Chinese food and watching some favourite films.
There was also my friend Lauren's birthday and  some family birthdays throughout July and August, too - you know who you are.
I hope everyone else had amazing birthdays, too.

 

To see a post I wrote about my birthday, click (ME).

For my post about Elf Girl's birthday, click (THIS) and to view her blog, click (THIS).

Special Occasions!

My blog turned two in June which I commemorated with reflections on how much things have changed and also with cupcakes, obviously.

I would just like to take another opportunity to say the biggest thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and this blog. I truly hope that you'll be sticking around to see what is in store for the future.

If you're interested, my post about my blog's first birthday is (HERE).

Travelling...

I did some staycation travelling throughout the summer to some places I hadn't been to before and I had a lovely time.

As a little post birthday birthday celebration, we went to stay with my cousin P in Cambridge. I'd never been to Cambridge before and I got to do a bit of exploring while I was there as well as go and see two open air productions of Shakespeare plays - on our first night we went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor and on the second night we went to see Romeo and Juliet.
I had a great time - thanks for having us P.

I also had a holiday in Brighton with my lovely Auntie S and my Mom. I'd also never been to Brighton before. It was an awesome holiday, it was really sunny and we did such a variety of things like exploring castles, paddling and reading on the beach, walking along the seafront and going shopping and I have fallen in love with Brighton.

Posts to come soon on both of these things.

Getting Cultural...

I did lots of "Arts and Culture" type things as well over the summer.

I went to the Tiffany and Co "Fifth and 57th" installation at the Old Selfridges Hotel in London in July which was so, completely amazing and spent other parts of that day exploring the Summer Streets Event on Regent Street. That was a great day and we did so many cool things.

Later on in July, I went to see the RSC production of Othello, which was an incredible show that I was so impressed by. The cast were amazing and so was the set design, staging and everything else in between. It was extremely powerful.

Still theatrical but in a different genre was The Importance of Being Earnest which I went to see in June. It was hilarious and the cast was fantastic. It was a great evening and I cry-laughed lots. Oscar Wilde is one of my faves and I was very impressed.

Earlier this month, I went to the National Portrait Gallery's "Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon" exhibition was really interesting. I have always admired Audrey Hepburn and it was lovely to spend some time looking at her life in pictures.

To see my post about the "Fifth and 57th" installation, click (ME)

To check out my review of The Importance of Being Earnest, click (THIS)

Historical Things...

Many historical commemorative events and anniversaries took place over the summer, such as the 70th Anniversary of V.J Day.

As always, I hope you spent time reflecting and remembering all of the brave people involved in these things and/or the things they did.

Little Moments.

 

There were lots of lovely little moments over the summer that are so good to look back on.

 

Dancing with friends, barbecues with some of my favourite people, eating ice creams, walking in the park, going for picnics, paddling in the sea, exploring markets, discovering new songs and artists, watching movies in pyjamas, trying to steer rowing boats (unsuccessfully) with friends, waving to people on river boats, reading, going out for lovely meals and spending time with my family have all added up - amongst other things - to make a fantastic summer to look back on.

I always say that the little things add up and, looking back, I can honestly say that they do - thanks to everyone who was a part of it all. 

Songs of the Summer!

I enjoyed lots of songs over the summer, some of which I mentioned (HERE).

I can do a dedicated post for some of my other favourite songs of the summer, if you guys are interested. Be sure to let me know.

I think that's everything - apologies if I missed something out. I had such an amazing couple of months that I am very thankful for and I am excited to now see what Autumn will bring.

What did you get up to this summer? What do you think of what I did? Would you like a post on some of my other favourite songs from the past couple of months? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Be sure to let me know in the comments.
That's your lot for today then, folks! Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again soon.

 

Have an exceptional day!

GingerSnaps xxx

 

Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - A New York Minute, Dancing in the Street, Free Fallin' Buskers and Milkshakes.

Hi!!!

So, the other weekend I headed down to my beloved London with my wonderful mother for a day full of all of the best things and I had an amazing time. I thought that I'd tell you all about it today and I hope you'll enjoy this post.

I was doing some browsing around the interwebs a few weeks ago and I found out about the (free to visit) "Fifth and 57th" installation at the Old Selfridges Hotel in London to celebrate the opening of the new Tiffany and Co store in Selfridges on Oxford Street. I have always loved Tiffany and could sit at my computer or stand at the counters admiring all of their exquisite pieces of jewellery all day long so this just seemed like a must for me. I was telling my lovely Mom about it one day and she suggested that we go together on a weekend. We ended up going on the last day it was running - the 12th of this month - and we had a great time in London.

I hadn't been to London in a while as I'd been fairly busy and so I was really looking forward to taking a trip down - it is one of my most favourite places ever. We drove down on the Sunday morning, caught the train from Watford and walked from Euston Station to Covent Garden because we love spending time there. We looked around the markets and smelled and spritzed numerous perfumes in the high end shops before continuing on to Oxford Street. I love walking around London and on our way up to Selfridges we passed many a school trip in Leicester Square which is where we passed a pretty good busker with a guitar who played "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty and made me smile and sing along until we couldn't hear him any more. We were just about to walk up Regent Street and we noticed that the bottom of the road was closed off and we stopped to figure out if we could still walk that way.

It turned out that we could indeed walk that way, and I am very pleased we did. Every Sunday in July, Regent Street has been completely closed to traffic so that "Summer Streets" can take place. It features performances and workshops from dance acts and musicians, benches and deck chairs in the middle of the road, games (such as Penalty Shoot-Outs) and pretty flowers everywhere and nearly everything is free (except, I think, for things like food or certain games which have small fees). One thing I really liked about it was that I had the ability to see people's faces and to see people enjoy themselves. I love London, but it is true that on the busier streets like Regent Street and Oxford Street, you see less of people's faces and more of the backs of people's heads. I really relished being able to see people smiling and being able to stop and take photos without being in someone's way. That and being able to dance around in the middle of the road to "Uptown Funk" and not get run over because that is pretty hard to beat.

We managed to drag ourselves away and continue on to Oxford Street where we had a quick look around Selfridges before heading next door to the installation which was at the Old Selfridges Hotel. I hadn't ever been into the hotel but it is a great space which I really believe should be used more often. We were given our free guide brochures by the girls at the entrance and walked up the stairs to the installation itself. As we turned into the space, I instantly felt that my expectations had become a reality. Bright lights and the sounds of busy streets filled the room and we walked through the doors of a subway car to be greeted by a lovely Tiffany and Co employee and a slice of New York itself. There was a little corner inspired by Central Park which featured a beautiful backdrop, a crisp white bench and a "blossom tree" - we took photos and admired how pretty it was. We moved further along and found ourselves living the New York life, with "Walk | Don't Walk" signs flashing at us and projections of a subway station on the 1837 plain white Tiffany boxes that surrounded us - 1837 were used as Tiffany and Co was established in the year 1837. We watched a short film about the "New York Minute" and the influence Tiffany and Co and its founder, Charles Tiffeany, have had over it - for example Tiffany and Co had one of the first public timepieces on display in New York City by which everyone set their watches. We moved from there to the recreated Tiffany and Co storefront which looked identical to the one that sits on the corner of 5th and 57th Street in the Big Apple itself and watched a master engraver at work which was incredibly interesting. We then grabbed a complimentary bagel from a street cart and headed over to Charlie's Bar - a speakeasy inspired bar named after Mr Tiffany - to see the gorgeous décor and check out the scene. Finally, we caught the stunning "Manhattanhenge" Sunset which, as if it were not special and beautiful enough alone, transformed as it set, to become a gorgeous Tiffany Diamond, the boxes surrounding us turning blue and sporting white ribbon. It was a fantastic end to a brilliant exhibition. I had such an amazing time and was incredibly pleased that we went.

The rest of the day featured lunch at Selfridges, window-shopping on Oxford Street, more dancing and actual shopping on Regent Street, walking on walls in the rain in Leicester Square, dinner at Bella Italia and milkshakes on the motorway to keep us going until we got home.

 

I had the most brilliant day - a big, huge thank you to my fabulous mother for joining me.

 

Browse the Tiffany and Co at Selfridges website (HERE)

Browse the Selfridges website (HERE)

Find "Summer Streets" (HERE)

Find Bella Italia (HERE)

And listen to "Free Fallin'" (HERE)

I hope that you have enjoyed this post, it was lovely to sit and think about all the cool things we did while I was putting this together. It's my birthday on Friday so the next time I see you I'll be another year older (and ready to write more posts!).
Have you been to London recently? What do you think about the idea for Summer Streets? Did you get to go to the exhibition? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Please do let me know in the comments below.
I'll speak with you guys soon.

 

I hope your day is full of joy!

GingerSnaps xxx