Earlier this week, while shopping for a birthday gift for my husband, I passed by Daniel Footwear in Eldon Garden and couldn't help but pop in.  Not too long ago I put my classic white Converse in the washing machine and they shrank! This was the only option following a walk in a field that homed cows... you get the picture!  I have been looking for a replacement ever since.  I have always loved Liberty prints and the rich heritage that accompanies them, so I was thrilled to find these Superga x Liberty shoes.

Superga have paired their classic 2750 shoe with this blue and white floral fabric from Liberty.  You can see three more fabrics on the Superga website.  I love skinny jeans, and wear them far too much, so these will be a perfect match, and I think they would look great with a sundress when the summer finally arrives!

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of attending a cocktail masterclass hosted by Currys at Revolution Newcastle with a host of fellow bloggers to celebrate UK Coffee Week.  The theme for the night was coffee, in the form of the cocktails and the two fantastic prizes... a Nespresso machine with built in milk frother and a Tassimo, both with a generous supply of pods.  The best tweet and photo tweet of the night secured a prize!  Cue: happy snappy tweeting bloggers!  We arrived to an introduction from the lovely team from Joe Blogs and these delicious cocktails, the name of which I did't quite catch, but as Fay from Food Fables said they tasted just like Tiramisu and I had to agree.

After chatting with Sam (xoxo-sam.com) and Natalie (nataliediver.com) we moved to the bar area to start the masterclass and met the two mixologists from Revolution who would guide us through the cocktail making process.  They did comment that they weren't used to having quite so many cameras pointed at them during a masterclass!

The mixologists had planned some coffee cocktails especially for us and we took turns in small groups to make a variety of concoctions.  We made a Honey Fee (recipe to follow) and as we had gone first, we had the pleasure of sipping our cocktails whilst we watched the others! 

We watched some brave bloggers, including Carley from beauty sauce.com, attempting a three-martini-at-once pour and then a shot train featuring some of Revolutions own flavoured vodkas, before retiring to the Stoli lounge for some pizza, mezze and mini pokes of chips.  The winners of the competition were announced (well done Rachael and Lucy) and Sam and I enjoyed a few cheeky wines before calling it a night.  

It was a relaxed, fun evening chatting with #nebloggers and I can't thank Currys enough for the experience.  You can read more about Coffee with Currys here or by exploring the #CoffeewithCurrys hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.

The chic surroundings, mixologists and yummy food were thanks to Revolution Bars Newcastle.

The event was brought together by Joe Blogs, and you can read more about their blogging network here.

A few weekends ago we visited the lake district for a long weekend of family adventure before the return to school.  We were really lucky with the weather so tried to do quite a lot of exploring and sitting in the sun, but we also spent a lot of time at Brockhole, Windermere which describes itself as the Lake District Visitor centre.  We really enjoyed everything they had to offer and could definitely recommend a visit.  Firstly they have a great adventure play area, for little ones and older children, which was free to use, and being on lake Windermere there was plenty of opportunity for exploring the lake.  They have boats to hire and lake cruises but we had hired a motorboat on Derwent Water the day before, so didn't take to the lake.  They also offered pony trekking (I had an unfortunate experience once with a stubborn horse, so I've been put off for life, but I guess some people would like it!)

The thing we were really excited about was the Treetop Nets.  We had never seen anything like it before and we were all able to go on, as it is suitable from 3 years old.  We didn't book in case the little ones took a wobbly and refused to go on but I think it does get busy during holidays and weekends.  Basically, it is a collection of interconnected trampolines in the sky, with tunnels and slides, all made out of net.  Stepping on to the net my stomach did drop and it took a while to get used to but before long we were running and jumping through the trees and enjoying the surreal experience.

Three of us also completed the full Treetop Trek the next day, which was really exhilarating, if a bit scary.  It consisted of a treetop obstacle course, finishing with a huge zip line back to earth.  After a safety brief we were let loose to complete the challenge in our own time, wearing a harness that was (thankfully!) constantly attached above your head.  There were all sorts of people, young and old, little and large completing the course, and it really was reassuringly safe so I would definitely recommend giving it a go.  Despite years of climbing, I really don't like heights but this was manageable!  We did the full trek, taking around two hours and suitable for over sevens, but there is also the one hour long mini trek for the over fives. 

The only downside, however, was that the activities were pretty expensive, especially for a family of six.  The Treetop Nets for six cost over £70 and the trek for three was £74.  We budgeted for it ahead of our trip and once there decided that it was worth it for us so we went for it, and weren't disappointed.  We ate in the cafe which was nice and there was a charge for parking so all in all, it was an expensive experience but fun and not something we'll get a chance to do again anytime soon!

Has anyone else taken to the treetops for a bit of adventure?  

I spend literally weeks of my life trawling the internet for holiday ideas and places to stay, but probably only actually book 0.5% of the time!  We nearly bought a gorgeous little holiday cottage in Northumberland a couple of years back (the sale fell through on the last day, I still miss it even though I never had it!) and we said we would definitely book lots of weekends away to make up for it.  The main thing that always puts me off booking, however, is the fact that so many rentals sites require you to contact the owner to check availability and pricing can be unclear.  

Recently, when searching for accommodation for a last minute easter break I came across Cottages 4 You.  I couldn't believe I hadn't come across it before but I loved it instantly.  It has loads of accommodation in the UK, France and Italy and is a really easy site to navigate.  The best thing I found was that you could see clearly what was available, where, when, for how long and how much it would cost.  We made a last minute booking and were even able to choose our exact nights rather than conform to weekend/midweek/week long breaks.

Best points:
          - Clear booking system
          - No need to contact owners to check availability
          - Wide range of properties and budgets
          - 'Collections' of properties meeting individual requirements e.g. boutique cottages
          - A comprehensive 'feature filter' e.g. dishwasher, hot tub, four post bed!

To get an idea of what's on offer a quick search just in our local Northumberland revealed these beauties:

Which leaves only one question... where to next?!