maniere de voir - mdv active

i've recently started the gains4girls training guide and i am feeling fully back into the swing of training now. i've set myself a target of october, ahead of me heading back to cape town again, to hopefully have begun making progress in my fitness journey.
one thing you 1000000% need when you start any new guide, is a complete gym wardrobe overhaul. maniere de voir reached out to me to review their active collection, and when i saw the range online i fell in LOVE.  
the pieces are all super easy to layer up with your existing kit favourites, or style together for complete looks. the gym leggings (from reviews i've read) are 100% squat proof, which is super important for me. all of the pieces are really affordable and i love the cut out details with mesh. the collection consists of gym leggings, jumpers, joggers and crop tops - with the current collection colour palette being a gorgeous mix of soft beige, black and khaki.
for someone who travels a lot the jogger and sweatshirts are great for throwing on ready to board a plane, or for when you are running around before training. the highwaisted cut of the joggers looks perfect and i love the crop jumpers.
 i've selected my favourite pieces below, click through to shop and check out the brands instagram here 

olympus om 10 35mm - my first film camera

last week I became the proud owner of my first film camera, an olympus OM 10. I had been uuuming and ahhhhing over purchasing a film camera to use alongside my olympus OM-D E-M10 for a few months, particularly so I could get some shots whilst in cape town this summer.

I purchased the camera from a seller on gumtree for £50; the price included the camera, batteries, original flash and instructions, also an olympus strap and original leather case. having not used a film camera for years, I wanted one that was able to run on automatic and manual, that was easy to use!

as soon as my camera arrived, after reading through the instructions and a quick clean-up of the camera itself, I loaded some old film into it and decided to use my kitties as my test subject. I decided to get the film developed with asda, with the negatives being scanned directly onto a CD rather than printed – which did save an unnecessary cost.

a lot if the images were out of focus, and over exposed – I think I really did overcompensate for shooting indoors, thinking it was much darker than it actually was – a lesson learnt for next time! also, after looking through the instructions again I picked up how I help to recognise when blur was likely to occur.

below are 3 of my favourite shots and to be honest the only ones that really worked! these were shot in the living room window, in natural daylight, and I love the wishy washy colour effect that has been created by them being slightly overexposed – and the film being a good 3 years out of date!

I can’t wait to take this camera with me to cape town, to get some photographs of my trip. I’ve ordered 4 different films, from different brands, to see which I prefer and which works best for me, I feel the photographs will have a really special look to them. 

southfield cottage, braunston - staycation

early december myself, coco, lexie and ozzy (yes, they really do come everywhere with me!) packed our bags and went for a long weekend away to southfield cottage, braunston.

2016 had been a very much up and down year, so i really wanted to just spend some time away, having some peace and quiet and an explore.  i started browsing on the usual sites for a cottage (must have a log burner) in the coventry area, and stumbled across southfield.

the cottage had been beautifully renovated, with a toasty log burner and under floor heating, lovely countryside views from the bedroom and a bathroom that had me green with envy! it is a 1 bed cottage, which would be big enough for 2 people for a weekend away, plus they allow dogs (and cats!).

there were some lovely personalised touches in the cottage; sprigs of holly, candles and a little book containing historical photographs of the cottage and southfield house before it was renovated. i loved reading about wendy the pony who used to live in the cottage, when it was a barn in the 1950s – there is a photograph of wendy on the dining table with a little boy called phil, who still lives across the road from the cottage. 

kim and neil the owners had taken such care in sharing and showcasing the history of both southfield cottage and the house, and it really made it feel like such a special place. upon arrival i was greeted with such a warm welcome from kim and neil and their dog, who came and met the cubs and let me know they were available should i need anything - it made me instantly feel at home after the long 2 hour drive.

i travel a lot with the cubs to various shows, and back home to my parents, i'm really glad that i have always taken them in the car here, there and everywhere and that they settle really well in new places, soon making themselves at home! for my 3 night stay the cottage was £190, neil and kim gave me a really great price by going direct instead of booking through a third party provider, they also provided a bottle of beer and wine in the fridge, which were much welcomed after a busy saturday. i would 100% recommend a staycation here, for a yourself or a couple, with or without pets.

www.southfieldcottage.co.uk

www.facebook.com/southfieldcottagebraunston