February Instagram Challenge Results: Part 1

Seriously where did February go? Did it actually happen? It’s gone by so quickly. I didn’t even notice that it marked 6 months for me in the UK. Its nutso. Where did the time go I don’t even know what happened this month which is exactly why my challenge for February was an Instagram Daily Challenge. The first few days were quite easy to come up with photo ideas but as the month went on it became more difficult. I ended up missing a few days in the last couple of weeks and then catching up a few days later but I think I missed a few days in there somewhere. Anyway here are the pictures from the first half of the month

DAY ONE: Giant Coffee to get me through 10 hour shift

 

DAY TWO: Sunday Morning Breakfast

DAY THREE: Flu Survival Kit the day before my Les Miserables audition. Somehow I still got a recall. Don’t ask me how that happened

DAY FOUR: My last book and my new book. The Night Circus which was beautifully descriptive and Stephanie Plum: Explosive Eighteen. I started read this series when I was 13. Ten years ago, crazy

DAY FIVE: Quote of the Day

DAY SIX: Gold Glitter Manicure

DAY SEVEN: Rainy Saturday on Brick Lane

DAY EIGHT: Famous Brick Lane Biegels. Delicious

DAY NINE: Sunday Morning Brunch. French Toast with Greek Yogurt, Raspberries & Honey

DAY TEN: Chubby new squirrel friend. “What you looking at fool” 

DAY ELEVEN: Favorite Store in London. I love little snogs

DAY TWELVE: Worked so hard in Body Conditioning we steamed up the studio mirrors

DAY THIRTEEN: I’m a baking goddess

DAY FOURTEEN: Single on Valentines Day and I’m ok with it. 

Tomorrow I’ll share my photos from the second half of the month a long with my challenge for March or should I say challenges since there are TWO! But I leave you with this photo since it pretty much sums up my life and I’ve been catching up on 2 Broke Girls this week 

Em xoxo

February Challenge 2014: InstaDaily Challenge

So as I said at the beginning of January I am choosing a new challenge each month this year. January’s challenge was to be Paleo for a month. It kind of failed miserably. Even though all my meals & most snacks were Paleo, I have a severe chocolate addiction which I’m trying very hard to kick but wasn’t so successful over January. I’ll keep trying till I’m successful.

Anyway this month I have chosen to do an InstaDaily challenge. Just piece of this month to help me remember the year that is 2014. I’ll share the pictures on Instagram each day via @emilytravelingdiva with #febinstachallenge & #instadaily and on here weekly. If anyone wants to join in just add the #’s to the photos you want to share

Here’s day one. My first Vanilla Spice Latte

xoxo

High Tea @ Claridges

Two weeks ago I was treated to High Tea at one of Londons oldest hotels, Claridges. Just before New Years my Uncle informed me they were coming to the UK for a few weeks and they would like to catch up while they were here. I don’t get to see them very often and when they suggested High Tea I jumped at the opportunity

 

As soon as you walk into the lobby of Claridges you feel like you have travelled back in time to the 1920’s. The hotel is so art deco its fabulous. From the style of the rooms to the attitude of the staff, Claridges really pays homage to a more decadent time, I mean look at it

 

So as soon as you are seated in the tea room you are presented with a menu full of teas for you to choose from. After much discussion I went for the tea named L’Opera with honey on the side. I mean with a name like that how could I not choose it.

 

Once your tea is poured your waiter will explain the menu and let you choose if you want all your nibbles at the same time or the sandwiches first and desserts later. We went for the latter. By the time we were half way through the cakes section I was stuffed. Cake drunk as Clare & Arties friend Maureen calls it. She is one sassy older woman. I hope I’m that fabulous when I’m her age

 

It was a lovely afternoon filled with cups & cups of tea, delicious sandwiches, fabulous cakes and excellent company.

 

Hopefully next time they come into town we will find another afternoon tea to try out

 Until next time

Em xoxo

New Year’s Resolutions 2014

Happy New Year To All!

Last year I started this blog to keep track of what was happening here in the UK but was not very good with keeping up with it so one of my goals from 2014 is to post regularly. One of my resolutions is to give myself a challenge each month and to post regularly about how well I am doing with each one. 

Now since I moved to the UK I have gained weight, my skin has gone crazy and I have gotten sick more regularly so my first challenge is one to help my health. I am going on the Paleo diet for the month of January. I first heard about Paleo through my sister and her husband who have been living by it for nearly a year now and they swear by it. When becoming Paleo you cut out sugars, gluten, dairy and processed foods. My main goal is to cut out sugar or more importantly chocolate since the amount I’ve been eating since arriving in the UK has tripled and I’m almost certain is the reason for my weight gain. I intend to change that in 2014 

You can read more details here about Paleo here: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/

This month I am going to be posting about interesting recipes I have found as well as the challenges that come on being Paleo plus anything else I feel like informing the world about. First post will be this coming Monday

My other resolutions include Become More Disciplined, To Eat Healthier and Participate in a Charity Event, preferably some type of fun run or marathon (this one may not happen but it’s a nice idea)

Until next time….Em xoxo

 

Tossing Leaves in Hyde Park

Last Saturday me and my lovely house mates Cornelia and Perle braved the cold and went exploring in Hyde Park.  We chased squirrels, tossed leaves and acted like tiny children for a good two hours. 

 

 

We managed to walk from Hyde Park Corner Station to Oxford Circus where we found coffee, cookies and ice cream. A completely delicious way to end a Saturday afternoon

Aussie Girls, Red Velvet & Hot Chocolate

Last Friday I had a coffee date with fellow Australian AMTA girl Mez. This is the amazing chick who let me crash on her couch for two night during the first few weeks of my stay in London because I had no where else to go and I’d only officially met her twice. That’s a sign of someone you want to be good friends with. Though from the first time she came to visit Melbourne we were fast friends

Since we are in different classes we don’t get to see each other very often so we spent our Friday afternoon chatting about our first term at AMTA, eating red velvet cake and drink deliciously strong Hot Chocolates at the independent coffee house Shoreditch Grind.

 They have a very strong focus on the quality of their coffee during the day and turn into a funky cocktail bar at night. Next time I go there I’m going for cocktails and cake instead. Two of my favorite things on a Friday night after a intense day at uni.

 

Now if you choose to sit inside for your choice of menu item you will be surrounded by fun staff, fabulous coffee aromas and funky tunes. One of their walls is signed by all the famous musicians that have visited them. If you sit outside you are protected by a beautiful old tree that hangs over the picnic tables

 

 

I recommend everyone goes to visit them. I mean their mantra pretty much explains it all

 

So does their welcome board

 

Em xoxo

High Tea at the Berkeley

Two weeks ago my oldest friend Jaz was in London to visit her boyfriend which meant that we got to explore some of London together. It was very exciting since we had never been overseas together. Until now

We decided we’d go to Berkeley’s Fashionista Afternoon Tea. Each dessert is in inspired by designer pieces such as Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen & Prada.  

It was a beautiful atmosphere with delicious food and tea which is unlimited. Once you finish one tea you can refill the one you have or pick another one off the delicious list. 

You start of with a plate of sandwiches each and choosing your first tea

Then move on to the delicious set of desserts. We decided we’d split each thing equally so we could both try everything but of course once we’d finished each plate they then refilled each plate so we got double of everything anyway. Lets just say we didn’t walk out of the Berkeley Caramel room, we rolled

Here is Jazzy taking some more professional looking photos than mine

I recommend it to anyone heading to London. The tea with yummy, the food was delicious and the service was wonderful. The waitresses definitely know their stuff. 

If you want some more information just follow this link http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/fashion-afternoon-tea/

Do you remember your first SNOG?

One of my favorite treats in London. SNOG! No only does it have a great name that they do some awesome puns with but what they sell is yummy that I can’t walk past without getting some

It’s a frozen yogurt store that has no fat or sugar instead its sweetened with Agave Nectar. You have the choice of 4 yogurt flavors Natural, Cherry, Chocolate & Passion-fruit. Also today to my delight today they had changed the passion-fruit flavor to MANGO yum!

Once you’ve chosen your flavor you then choose your toppings which aren’t quite as healthy as the yogurt it’s self. You can choose up to 3 toppings. Normally I’ll go for one or two fruits and one bad topping like choc chips or Oreo cookies. Today I had strawberries and dark chocolate chips. So delicious. 

Also in winter they do hot toppings. The Apple Crumble one looks so yummy. Can’t wait for December so I can try it. 

Also look how pretty the roof is

So that’s my London recommendation for the day. If your in London find a snog and get some. If I could I’d snog everyday…

 

Scotland: We’re going on a bear hunt…

 

We’re going on a bear hunt
Gonna catch a big one
We’re not scared
It’s a beautiful day

Oh look, grass! Swishy-wishy grass.
We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it.
Ohhh NO!
We gotta go through it.

Swish swish, swish swish,
Swish swish, swish swish

Oh look, a river! A cold dark river.
We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it.
Ohhh NO!
We gotta go through it.

Splish splash, splish splash.
Splish splash, splish splash.

Oh look, mud! Icky-gicky mud.
We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it.
Ohhh NO!
We gotta go through it.

Ploo ploo, ploo ploo
ploo ploo, ploo ploo.

Oh look, a forest! A tall, tall forest.
We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it.
Ohhh NO!
We gotta go through it.

Stumble trip, stumble trip.
Stumble trip, stumble trip.

To sum up.  In Scotland my cousin Gemma took me for a walk around the area, which is mostly paddocks and fields. It’s beautiful. On this walk we went through grass, mud, met some cows and got me stuck down a hole. I managed to climb out eventually but it gave us a good giggle at the time.

I’ve got a couple of things lined up to tell you about in the next few days. So watch this space

Em xoxo

The V&A Museum

 

Last Saturday I headed up to The Victoria & Albert museum with a new friend. She is also from Australia but has been here a bit longer than me.

We met up at South Kensington Station and walked over to the museum. We started off by wandering through the Medieval area seeing some beautiful old architecture and art.

 These are some beautiful old plates that represent each month of the year. I took a close up of my month of course

                                                                                       

A beautiful hand painted book

Medieval Tapestry

 

We also went through the Jewellery Section but I got told off for taking pictures so I don’t have any. It is quite an impressive collection really, ranging all the way from Ancient Egyptian to pieces from 2008.

Once we came out of all the sparkly jewelry section we found my favorite area…Theater & Performance. It seemed very fitting to explore it. So we took our time to look at it all

 

An original score from Jesus Christ Superstar:

An original promotion package from Chicago:

 

A Poster from a Cinderella production staring the 7^th Doctor Who!

Ticket box sign from the Theatre Royal Drury Lane:

A box from the Palace Theatre of Varieties in 1904:

 

An amazing painted including over 200 stars of the Edwardian Music Hall in 1902-1903

                                                  

 

Exhausted after all our exploring it was time to have a quick lunch in the cafe and part ways. We only got through a very small amount of the Museum so I’ll have to head back another day and get some more exploring done.

Em xoxo