Brighton Up Buttercup!

Hello!

I've found a new (old) love that gives me heart eyes, and it comes in the form of pebbled beaches, quaint streets and typical British, fudge-selling, souvenir shops! (there was some serious restraint here not to buy endless crap I didn't need just because it was cute, lol)

Welcoming in the spring with a one-day trip to Brighton, was enough to make me fall head over heels in love with it, all over again!

Just me lookin' all happy. This was actually a real candid, can you believe it?! (the rest are well fake, lol)

Since i've dropped out of university, I've been taking some time to myself. Just a couple of weeks off to clear my head and refresh a little bit, before going back to being a supermarket-working/shoe-selling gal. (I'm so excited to work again, i'll be 'making it rain' in Zara & Topshop with my first pay check, trust. Well, after my student debt is payed off, ha). 

Having not been in the best of places recently, my best friend being the cutie she is, booked us tickets to Brighton for the day to cheer me up, as its one of my favourite places to go. We caught the train from London, bright and early (almost missed it because we were late, as per) and headed straight towards the North Laine, in search of a cute (Insta worthy, of course) cafe, that would feed us smoked salmon, because what is brunch without salmon?

We found a gem called Kooks, which is a restaurant in the North Laine that I really recommend going to if you're brunchin' in Brighton, It's delicious! Their smoked salmon and eggs, made for two very happy, stuffed gals x 

After brunchin' and eating too much, too quickly (we were hungry ok) we strolled down to the beach for a little ponder, and a cheeky lie down on the pebbles (we had that Christmas feeling, ya know, when you eat wayy to much dinner and chocolate in one go, you know the one). Luckily the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we stayed on the beach for the majority of the day, walking down to the beach huts, past the West Pier, and back, to find a good spot to sit in where we could kinda dodge the seagulls (Turns out, impossible. You can't hide from these lil dickheads).

 Honestly one of the best breakfasts I've had! And yep, that's me in the corner, snapping the shit out of it.

By the beach, British Airways have recently opened Brighton's new attraction, the i360 which you really can't miss when you're there, it's huge. It's a futuristic viewing pod that takes you 450 feet high, with beautiful 360 degree views of the beach, pier and city.  We got our tickets, and similar to the London Eye, they treat the experience like a 'flight' so you get a 'boarding time'. Before you go on, there's a bar and some deck chairs to sit in while you wait which are really sweet (lol couldn't get out of my deck chair, short people probs) as well as another bar when you go inside the pod. Being (ex) poor students, we ordered apple juice and just watched everyone else sip on their £10 glass of champagne which I wish was in my hand. (wish the bottle was in my hand actually). The experience does go fairly quickly, I think it lasts around 25 minutes, 10 of which you stay at the top, but overall I would recommend getting yourself a ticket if you're in Brighton the views really are beaut!

After this, we walked to The Lanes where we came across Choccy-woccy-doo-dah, which if you haven't heard of, it's a chocolate shop that sells everything made of chocolate. By everything, I mean you can literally buy a unicorn, carved out of chocolate. They have a cafe upstairs, which is for a sweet tooth (obvs) selling pretty much chocolate anything. We ordered a fondue that was so yummy, it's making my mouth water thinking about it. And if that wasn't enough, we found another shop down The Lanes called Dum Dums Donutterie,  which I'm sure is in Shoreditch too, but i've never been in before. I now regret this because it's the nicest thing i've ever tasted. They had an 'eton mess' 'cronut', which i'm guessing is a croissant/donut? Filled with some magical cream. (i'm going to get diabetes) I want to eat one of these gorgeous concoctions everyday.

I promise I was wearing my sunnies here because it was actually really sunny, i'm not just being a dick x 

SUNGLASSES - Quay Australia / JACKET (of dreams) - Zara / TOP - Primark / BOOTS - old River Island

 

We came back to the beach to sit and watch the sunset (I know, aren't we cute). This is one of my favourite ever views and i'm seriously thinking about moving to Brighton one day. I forgot how happy it makes me, and I'd love to have this feeling everyday.

Taking the time to sit, whether you're on your own, or with company, on a beach or somewhere else that makes you happy is so important. It's not only a fun thing to do, it also does wonders for your mental health!

What also makes me happy, is buying clothes. I have a slight addiction I reckon, but theres nothing like a lil bit of retail therapy, amiright? Brighton has an amazing Topshop in the shopping centre, so I couldn't help myself. After a lil' shop and some more food, we headed back to the train station.

I've decided to make it a goal of mine to go to Brighton whenever possible, especially when the sun is out because it does bring a genuine smile to my face, and why not when it's so close. 

You'll probably catch me on the beach dodging the seagulls all the time in summer! (or in the shopping centre, or eating a cronut, lol)

Lots of love,

Kate x