Blog Loving #BEDM

Spreading some blog loving today with some posts about my favourite bloggers. 

I started following Alicia when I first started blogging, and it's been wonderful seeing her family and crafts evolve. Her blog shows her life living in beautiful Portland, Oregon. 

I met Kat at my first blogger meetup in Carlisle, her blog is full of great inspiration and tips. As I'm trying to lead a healthier lifestyle, it's great to see someone else make such good progress.

I met Lucy at Blogtacular, she was filled with such positivity about everything and that shows in her blog too, I love her floral photographs and she really does have a way of making the ordinary look extraordinary. 

That's my blog loves for today, I hope you choose to look through their sites and find inspiration in them.

Bank Holiday Blues #BEDM

Today being a Bank Holiday and the start of the half term, and with the idea in mind that the kids would find it great fun(they did last year) we headed to Carlisle New Music City a free music event held in the city.

Their reaction though to being brought into the great outdoors was that of, Is this it? What now? I'm bored. Grr, there's no accounting for taste because I thought the bands we saw were fantastic. The Alleys, My Little Brother and The Fiona Clayton Band all blew the clouds away in our city centre

Lucas did enjoy a good dance to the tunes but I made the mistake of giving them Skittles as a band breaktime snack. It was too many additives I think and seemed to turn them both into powerhouses of silliness and shulks, oh well we live and learn.

 Yep silly times indeed.

As for Maisie she's currently going through an anti photo stage and this was the only one I managed to take, I think this was the only time she sat still and then it was to complain that the music was too loud and she wanted a cup of tea. I think she's 8 going on 80.

I hope you've had a relaxing time with your family this Bank Holiday and got to go somewhere nice,  whether they liked it or not. 

Review of Generator Hostel-London. #BEDM

On my recent stay in London I had the pleasure of staying at the Generator Hostel, as money was a little tight for my visit I thought it would be a sensible option especially when I wouldn't actually be spending much time in the room as I'd be at Blogtacular. 

Now the truth is I'm a hostel virgin, I never backpacked around Europe and normally want the hotel experience for my Husband and I. I've shared hotel rooms before with strangers when helping out with stores openings across the country and managed fine, I'm quite easy going like that; not everyone would be.
Although it's a strange feeling that you maybe sharing a bedroom with a complete stranger, to be honest I was too knackered to care. You can also book single, twin, quad or 10 bedroom dorms.
Prices start at £26.50, although they quote often have special deals on.

On arrival I was struck by the haphazard, but obviously well thought out design elements and well structured communal areas. These left enough room for small groups to be together but not encroach onto others.

I had gallery wall envy here, all the decor looked homely, clean and comforting which if you were spending quite some time from home would probably be a great space to come back to. The whole hostel also came with free wi-fi, which as I was at a blogging conference was a bonus to keep up to date afterwards.

The only disappointing thing (for me anyway) was the uninspiring breakfast, it seemed to lack much imagination but would certainly sustain you till lunch. Maybe a better option would be to wait till 10.30am for the option of a full English instead in their bar area, sadly this wasn't something I could try out, or try some of the wonderful cafes nearby that had more options. I would have really liked the chance to sample their menu but timings for the conference and then the train was against me, it looks like really nice food.

The Russell Street tube is only 5 minutes from here making it a great venue for travelling around London and sightseeing, I'd definitely consider staying here with my children when we come to visit London. I saw other children staying that were enjoying the Eurovision show and colouring at this huge table on the Saturday. I think this would be a hugely exciting adventure for them, and give them the opportunity to communicate with strangers in a positive atmosphere. 

 The whole building had quirky artwork at every turn, this mural was in the stairwell to the ground floor.

This is my bunk, although I actually swapped with Emily Beale so she could relive her childhood of sleeping on the top bunk. The room had 3 sets of bunks, sink, mirror, and underbed storage for your valuables. I was shocked at how comfortable these bunks were, the mattress is probably better than the one on my own bed, and sleep came pretty easy to me both nights. 

A few tips for staying here: 1. Bring photo ID (as it says on the booking form) they will smirk when the only ID you have is your local museum card with a stupid photo on it. 2. Bring a small padlock to lock the underbed storage and protect your stuff, or you can either buy one in the hostel travel shop for £4 or trust people to leave it alone which they probably would but you never know. 3. Do not forget you're in a hostel and barge into the hotel room at 11pm like a herd of rino, there maybe people who checked in after you that have already gone to bed in your room, sorry lady. Also a small torch, or app on your phone maybe useful so you don't have to switch main lights on and disturb folk. 4. Do not lose your room keycard, Generator London is sited down a back alley which I thought may have been scary at night, however we were pleasantly surprised to find door staff waiting to check people in when we came back that night, they did want to see your keycard to get in though.  5. Use the common rooms to party, meet friends, watch movies on your tablet etc... thats what they're for as well as making new friends, although I wasn't there long enough for that. It did make me wish Stu and I had travelled and stayed this way while young, it could have been a great adventure instead we'll hopefully pass that opportunity to our children. 
Until next time Generator, and I'm sure there will be.