Life Lately

I only arrived home from our holiday at the beginning of the week and on Friday I left London for Sydney to work for the next 2 weeks!!!

The night before I departed the boyfriend and I headed to Honest Burger Notting Hill for a goodbye dinner of burger and the most mouth wateringly good rosemary chips.

Holding hands in Notting Hill

Even though I'm vegetarian I LOVE a good veggie burger. Honest Burgers didn't disappoint 

Followed by gelato eaten outside among the pretty pastel houses of Portabello.

Yummy Ice Cream to match the pretty houses in Notting Hill

Then it was good bye London, hello lots of hours sitting on a plane.

A gift from the travel company for when I arrived in Sydney. Chocolate cake = Happiness

I arrived in Sydney very early on Sunday morning to crisp blue skies. I'm staying in the Sheraton Park which has the most comfortable bed and pillows, which is where I spent a few hours to try and catch up on sleep.

Such a comfy bed!

Sunday afternoon was spent wandering around Sydney taking in a few sights including Hyde Park, Oxford Street and the shops around Paddington.

Sunshine in Sydney's Hyde Park

There are some seriously cute houses in Sydney, the ornate metal work and Farrow & Ball colours are so beautfiul

Sydney's Town Hall 

Before heading to the gym to try and knacker myself out so I can sleep tonight (Sydney is 10 hours ahead so my body clock is upside down!)

Have a great week!

Sx

PS...If anyone has any must do things to do while I'm in Sydney please share them!

Triathlon

Today I was supposed to be taking part in the London Triathlon as part of the Push PR and Simply Swim UK team. Instead I am sitting on a plane on my way to Australia to work (how lucky am I?!?)

The start of the London Triathlon

Many people would have been quite happy and relieved not to have to do a triathlon, but I am not one of those people. Instead I was very sad not to be part of the triathlon team that have trained together for months. 

The first practice session before I knew how to swim

A triathlon consists of a swim, cycle and run. The last two stages didn't pose too much of a problem as I used to run marathons before knee surgery, but I was looking forward to combating my fear of swimming. Indeed when I started training for this I couldn't even swim properly and now I splash along and occasionally overtake people! That's a colossal improvement and I am forever grateful for Push PR and Simply Swim for teaching me this.

That's a very tiny me swimming properly in the sea! I'm terrified of the sea but now I can swim in it!

Not wanting all the training I'd done to go to waste, and to continue to feel motivated to exercise, I have decided to sign up for another triathlon and so on 7th September I will be taking part in the Redricks Lake Triathlon.

The Redricks Lake Triathlon start

My weekly training generally consists of 2-3 45 minute swims at London Fields Lido. The pool is 50m long and there are lots of very good swimmers wearing wetsuits in the pool so I don't look out of place even though I'm yet to get into the fast lane!

The beautiful London Fields Lido

Then I try to run twice a week as I don't want to aggravate my bad knee too much. One of those runs is at Mile End Park Run, a 5km race each Saturday morning, which is great for racing practice.

Running shadow, swishy hair

Then I cycle my bike 2-3 times a week for 45 minutes around London or on a turbo. Having a turbo at home is extremely convenient as I can cycle and watch Sex & The City simultaneously!

Doing some outdoor training at the Olympic Park

Simply Swim UK very kindly provided my kit for the London Triathlon so I will be putting it to good use in September. I will be starting the race in my Speedo wetsuit which I hope will keep me buoyant and warm.

Wetsuit by Speedo

Then for the cycle and run part of the race I will be wearing this Tri suit by Orca.

Tri Suit by Orca

My ride is my beautiful Bianchi and hopefully by September I will have mastered using clip in shoes properly and not fall off.

My beautiful Bianchi

Good luck to the Simply Swim Triathlon team today. I hope you all have a great race and I will be thinking of you and wishing you luck (& I'm very jealous I'm not there with you!)

Sx

Follow me on instagram and twitter for training updates.

PS...A special thank you goes to Timed Fitness for the personal training which made my arms ache like they never have before and for introducing me to the joys of rubber band running.

Images: Pinterest, Timed Fitness, Londontriathlon.co.uk

Holiday Outfits

I kept my wardrobe for my recent holiday to Olu Deniz simple, with loose, cool dresses for daytime and unfussy evening outfits. When on holiday I want to be comfortable but I also like to dress up in the evening so I always take a clutch bag and some statement flat sandals (remember I like to be comfortable so no heels for me). Here are some of the outfits I wore.

Dress by Accessorize, Sandals by Topshop, Sunglasses by YSL



I featured this little dress on the blog here but this was the first opportunity I have had to wear it. It's a great beach cover up and the neon embroidery adds a fun element. I paired mine with flat tan sandals and soggy sea hair!

Dress and sandals by Zara, Bag by Marc by Marc Jacobs


The last time I wore this dress was when we visited the Maldives. I wore it with bare feet then but this time I paired it with crystal embellished flat metallic sandals. I would normally never wear yellow, infact I think this is the only items of yellow clothing I own, but the colour works perfectly with a tan and the split cape-effect sleeves add drama to the simple shape of the dress.

Shirt by Mango, Shorts by Zara, Sandals by Prada, Bag by Marc by Marc Jacobs

I snapped this shirt up in the Mango sale days before I came on holiday knowing it would be the perfect accompaniment to these old printed Zara shorts. 

Dress by Mango, Sandals by Prada, Bag by & Other Stories

Another Mango buy, this beautiful dress is simple but the sharp neckline and tiny peep hole triangle make it a real statement piece. I teamed it with metallic sandals and a red lip.

Happy Days in Olu Deniz

We've just returned from a last minute holiday in Olu Deniz Turkey. We adore Turkey; the landscape, food, beaches and blue skies, but had never visited Olu Deniz before. We spent our days soaking up the sun by the beautiful Blue Lagoon, doing a little sight seeing and shopping and enjoying time together.

To See & Do

The market at Fethiye on a Tuesday morning is packed full of locals stocking up on the most delicious looking fruit and veggies. Catch a dolmas early then avoid all the stalls selling tacky fake rubbish and instead look for embroidered tunics, traditional towels (as recommended by Gwyneth Paltrow on Goop) and cute silver trinkets.

Mixing with the locals and salivating over all the fresh produce.
Dress by Gap, Sandals by Topshop, Bag by Miu Miu

Paragliding. The scenery around Olu Deniz is simply stunning; high mountains, a turquoise sea and emerald green forests. While we didn't actually do the paragliding (the boyfriend is training for an Ironman and I'm self employed so neither of us could risk a broken bone) it was quite relaxing to sit on the beach, look up at the sky and watch people drift up in the air.

The Blue Lagoon is a national nature reserve and a must visit. The waters are crystal clear, calm and incredibly peaceful. The beaches around the lagoon are mainly private frequented by a mix of locals and tourists and we spent most of our days by the lagoon soaking up the sun and hand feeding the local ducks who would waddle around!

Away from the lagoon is a vast stretch of grey stone beach with aquamarine waters. We would go here every evening to play in the waves and watch the sun set.

As both the boyfriend and I are doing triathlons soon we needed to keep our training up, so each morning or evening we would run up the steep switch back roads past scary looking goats and even came across a tortoise! Running along dirt tracks and up the mountains rewarded us with stunning views of Olu Deniz and was completely worth the sweaty effort.

To Buy

Must buys include bright ceramics such as little dishes (perfect for holding jewellery on your bedside table), brightly printed coasters and stained glass candle holders. 

The blue glass 'evil eye' talismans are a good buy, especially on items of delicate jewellery. 

Olive oil soaps make a great gift and these tins will come in handy for trinkets even after the soap is all used up. 

I love a rummage in a local pharmacy and discovered this delicious almond oil face cream by Bebak. It's super rich (so perfect for my sun scorced skin!), smells divine and at less than £3 is a bargain. The boyfriend unearthed this shaving cream with the best retro packaging.

We also stocked up on these stripey cotton towels that all the locals were using at the beach. You could use them as sarongs or scarves too.

Thank you for a great holiday Olu Deniz, we'll be back soon.