Brighton

(Hat - ASOS, T-Shirt/Dress - Rat and Boa, Bag - Urban Outfitters, Sunglasses - Peacocks....and yes, I am wearing a bikini underneath but nonetheless - hello buttocks, ha)

Apologies for the lack of posts in the past two weeks; I've been relatively busy in work and planned to catch up with my blogging during my week off in Brighton, however a lousy internet connection in our hotel soon put an end to that plan. Anyway, I'm back in rainy old Wales now, sporting a fetching stereotypical British sunglasses tan and laden with cheap souvenirs and a backlog of blogposts.

So....Brighton. First things first - I will admit that I struggled with the concept of not having a holiday abroad this year and acted like a true princess, resigning myself to a summer of fake tan and bitterness; but when I finally got a grip on reality and stopped being so negative, I thought to myself "why not have a good, old-fashioned, British holiday?" And thus - Brighton was booked on a complete and utter whim. And, do you know what? I can honestly say that it was potentially one of the best little holidays that I've had. I think we get so bogged down with the idea of seeing the world, adding all the exotic holiday destinations to the top of our bucket lists and ticking off all the biggies such as Thailand, Australia etc, that we sometimes forget about the sense of wanderlust that can be experienced so close to home. The UK has some truly remarkable, and beautiful places nestled within itself which we forget about due to an obsession with chasing tropical temperatures; some of the greatest places in the world are right on our doorsteps more often that not. Before I go off on a tangent here, I should probably add that I'm not trying to portray Brighton as a cultural, life-changing vacation on which I truly "found myself" or anything even remotely like that. My point is simply that the UK has a lot to offer in terms of sightseeing. So, here are a couple of my personal highlights of Brighton, and the things that defined my time there.

The Royal Pavilion. 

The Royal Pavilion is literally one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever clapped eyes on....it's like a mini Taj Mahal in the middle of a seaside village. It blew my mind that something so architecturally wondrous could be found tucked away next to a bustling town centre.

(Sunglasses - Peacocks, Shorts - River Island, Crop Top - Topshop, Shirt - Vintage, Bag - Urban Outfitters, Sandals - Primark)

The Lanes.

I have an innate fear of getting lost anywhere - the very thought of not knowing where I am makes me want to curl into the foetal position and cry until somebody finds me. Yet, even I enjoyed getting lost in the narrow, winding lanes of Brighton. The Lanes are basically a labyrinth of vintage boutiques, quaint pubs, incredible street art and antique jewellers. I'm unsure how the high street will ever compare to this charming array of vintage shops and jewellers. The Lanes have well and truly stolen my heart....a sentence which sounds more seedy than I would like it to. Oh, and the reward for finding your way through The Lanes? Choccywoccydoodah. Honestly, I cannot even begin to tell you just how good it is....it's essentially a cafe which serves nothing but chocolate. Literally thought I'd died and gone to heaven. You know that scene in Ice Age where Scrat dies and goes to a heaven full of acorns? Yep. That's basically how I felt.

The Pier

Brighton Pier somehow manages to find the perfect balance of being both shamelessly tacky and absolutely mesmerising. There's something quintessentially British and therefore heart-warming about the sound of the tireless arcade combined with the scent of fresh doughnuts on a sunny day. I felt so nostalgic walking around the pier and looking at all of the retro funfair rides, making my boyfriend waste money in an attempt to win a cheap stuffed toy which could be bought for half the price of what it costs to eventually win at one of those stalls...whilst I stood idly by - stuffing my face with a bag of doughnuts which were "to share" (totally worth the calories).

So, that's all I'm going to bore you with for tonight, I could honestly drone on about how awesome it was for hours, but I have decided to break my Brighton ramblings into a couple of smaller posts so that it's not too bulky because I've got some outfit photos which will probably become the focus of each individual post from here on out. So, you know what that means? Yep, you guessed it.... you have a whole host of these posts to look forward to - you lucky thing, you.