Bank Holiday Bliss

Hello readers! I know it's only wednesday but I'm exhausted! I'm currently in my second week of placement at NME magazine in London, and as amazing a time as I'm having (you can read my first article here!), the commuting is really taking it out of me. Luckily I had a Bank Holiday weekend to recharge.

Which my 21st birthday coming up on the 11th, I was well and truly spoilt over the three-day weekend. Firstly on the saturday, I finally got to visit the Cath Kidston factory shop! Anybody who knows me knows I love a floral and a bargain, so where better to visit that the discount store of the absolute godmother of prints. It's not too far from us in St Neots so we had a sneaky peek, and I was sold. Ignore the rubbish phone picture: I wasn't too sure whether taking my SLR was a bit cheeky in a shop so these ones were my best pap efforts.

I was in absolute awe, there were so many goodies on offer! Nothing was really crazy cheap, but if you had your eye on something from last season it was well worth a look: my mum bought a beautiful day bag for £22, reduced from £50. I decided to be good and snap up a few cheaper buys: a pretty pink travelcard holder for £3, and a passport holder for just £1, because it had a bit of a stain on the front. Lots of the more reduced things had slight faults, like bags with broken zips or chipped crockery, but most damage was fairly superficial. I could have gone mad in that homeware section....

In the end, with my birthday coming, my brother decided I might as well have something I really wanted, and bought me this lovely backpack from last season. At first I wasn't too sure if the colour was a bit too rowdy, but having had it in my room for a couple of days I'm ready and raring to pack it with my summer essentials and hit the beach.

My brother's treats didn't stop there - what a spoilt sister I am! On Monday he took me to Jamie's Italian in St Albans for a three course dinner which was seriously impressive. I rarely eat three courses so was stuffed by the end, but it was so worth it!

My Tuscan Bean and Mozzarella on Sourdoughbread toast - poshest beans on toast ever!

Look at the size of Taylors burger!

Prawn and Fennel linguine... I'm now seriously considering adding fennel to every meal I ever have.

Topped off with lemon meringue pie with pistachio crumb - serious food baby.

Every single mouthful was incredible, and the service speedy and polite. Even the apple juice I had with my meal was freshly squeezed and delicious. Would thoroughly recommend.

What did you get up to on your Bank Holiday?