Visiting Brighton In The Rain

 

 

It's not often I visit somewhere soggy and grey with the wind howling up my skirt and don't feel like running to the nearest café and bolting the door, but Brighton is different it has this strange effect, of making you feel like you are on the set of some magic show, which leaves you feeling curiouser and curiouser . Everywhere I looked smiling visitors and locals, coated in thin plastic macs were skidding around the shiny boards of Brighton Pier. Dodging in and out of amusement arcades and sitting on the shingle beach eating pale fat chips doused in vinegar,

 

 waiting to be blasted by the sound of another wave crashing onto the beach. After the frustration of trying to capture a giant one-eyed furry yellow minion with a useless/rigged metal claw, it felt like the right time for a game of mega air hockey, my winning streak back,
 Christmas shopping was next on my list. I found some leopard print soaps in Heals, a whoopee cushion in a sweet brown vintage box (there are little people in my life) pop art, cartoon ceramic cups, with phrases like Zap and Pow in pink and purple and some Choccywoccydoodah activity books.

 

 

 

 

 

 I wanted a giant felt robin and a stripy Christmas mitten, but decided to calm my Christmas shopping fever by experiencing the Zen of Brighton's eastern inspired pavilion. You're not allowed to take photographs inside, but I managed to snap it's fairy tale peaks peeping out of some trees. Whatever you do, if you ever go to Brighton, visit Brighton Royal 

Pavilion!

 

 

 

 Some people get goose bumps listening to music. I get goose bumps about unusual buildings and clothing and this place gave me a lot! It was a real Charlie and the Chocolate factory moment when I stepped into the entrance, the first things I noticed were giant chandeliers suspended by huge carved dragons, blindingly bright emerald green and yellow walls. Bamboo everywhere, including the banisters that ran up the side of the grand staircase, nodding Chinese figures and ornate hand knotted pink and gold silk rugs, but what I love most about it, none of this was taken from a real idea of the East. The Palace was never intended to last, it was created for the Prince Regent to inspire playfulness, based on the designer's brief to recreate the east and fun loving Brighton sprung up around it. If your lucky and it's not too busy you can have high tea upstairs, check out the tea pot! If you fancy freezing your bum off and sampling the delights of the Pav you can find out more here.

 

 

Avoid Dodgy Socks - Last Minute Gift Guide For Men

  I'm a bit of a sucker for gadgets and wizardry when it comes to Christmas gifts, so I would fit the mould for a gift buyer for men perfectly, but there is a but, I don't like gifts that have extra functionality unless they also offer quality, despite what we sometimes think at this time of year, men don't want a pair of funny socks unless they are made from a superior blend of fibres that will allow their feet to breathe. So first up on my last minute Christmas gift guide for men has to be a pair of Adidas Originals Superstar.The number of men that I know that are always up for a bit of Adidas Originals is well, a lot, so when I came across this slick very wearable pair in grey with the high shine of patent grey stripes running across them amongst JD Sports  range of trainers I thought they had it all, on closer inspection there was still more to come, the trainers come in four other colours and also, believe it or not, with 4 sets of inter-changeable stripes and two pairs of laces - yes you heard me right men can customize these trainers as and when the mood takes them at £65.00 I think that makes this pair of Adidas Originals Superstar a pretty solid gift choice.

 Bath time would not be bath time without a little ducky, but how about a rubber ducky that acts like a floating speaker whilst the egg shaped transmitter works its magic, I thought you might like that one - and the speaker does work it's been tested by a source close to me, ooh have you heard me, put me in a mile radius of gadgets and I think I'm Moneypenny at HQ! You can get hold of the Audio Duck for £14.99 from WHSmiths.

 For men that like to cook, in my opinion cooking doesn't get much more macho or fun than blowing things up or using dry ice, chemistry boff and chef Heston shows you how, oh and how to make the perfect cheese toastie and his famous triple cooked chips,his book Heston Blumenthal At Home from Waterstones is priced at £22.50. Follow that up swiftly with the perfect way to make an expresso with the De'Longhi Icona Espresso Coffee Machine in manly aubergine at £169.95 from John Lewis if your feeling generous.

 So finally we come to what I believe are the ultimate in Christmas socks made from lisle yarn in black and white with a tiny white skull motif, they are pretty sharp, priced £16.00 from The Kooples.

 *This is a sponsored post*