Train Travel | OOTD

Spending a couple of hours on a train to get from A to B is no-one's idea of fun, particularly pre- or post-holiday. Anyone who has ever travelled anywhere with me will know I don't exactly pack light, and I have a bad habit of wearing something inapropriate - when I came home for my brother's birthday I stupidly spent 6 hours travelling in 3 inch heels, including traversing the tube. What a mistake.

When I travel to and from home to visit family and friends I want to be the perfect combination of comfort and fashion - I want to look good without the blisters. I think I might have cracked it. 

 The joggers and slipper shoes from Dorothy Perkins are the perfect travel combination - not only are they as comfy as they look the tie-waisted joggers help slim your silhouette. The light fabric is great for summer travel too.

My River Island chambray shirt worked perfectly as a cover-up too: light enough to keep me cool without exposing too much skin. To accessorize I went with one of my favourite bags from New Look, picked up in the sale - it's large enough to fit both my camera bag, so I'm not carrying excess stuff, and all the bits I'd need like my purse and a bottle of water - and one of my favourite New Look necklaces this summer: the blue accents matched my shirt perfectly.

 If it's a bit cooler, or I'm going for a few days, I like to travel with one of my favourite Dorothy Perkins coats - a lovely trench coat in stone (similar), which is one of my staple summer pieces this year thanks to its lightweight fabric and ability to go with literally anything I wear, and a backpack like this one from New Look, because they're practically hands-free and if you know what you're doing you can fit an awful lot of things in one backpack.

 

Grazin' | May 2015

As someone who has a bad habit of snacking, the idea of Graze has always intrigued me. As the kind of person who invariably forgets to pack a snack on a long journey or on a day trip, and then resorts to spending money on unhealthy snacks in railway stations or newsagents, I'm always on the lookout for easy, healthier alternatives. And really, nothing's easier than having food delivered to your doorstep.

If you haven't heard of Graze before, they specialize in sending letterbox-sized boxes full of healthy, tasty snacks. You control how often they send it, what kind of box they send (you can choose from 20 different specialized boxes, including a sharing box for large families, a personalized kids box or even special chocolate treat boxes), and even what kind of food you get in each box. You don't like olives? Simply 'bin' them on their online snack selection and they won't send you olives. Got a particular snack that you love? You can rate it and request that it's sent sooner! It's a great little system.

This is my first time signing up to Graze, and I've purchased a bi-monthly subscription to the 'Light' box - all of my snacks are under 150 calories, and I've tailored my box to remove all of the non-vegetarian and nut options. My first box arrived last week, and you can bet I was excited.

First off, how cute are these boxes? They're 100% biodegradable and recyclable, and I'm pretty sure I've seen people on Pinterest re-purpose them into planters too. You get four snacks, and this month I got two sweet (Tutti Fruitti fruit snacks and Lemon and Poppy Slice) and two savoury snacks (Hot Pepper Jam and BBQ Pistachios nuts).

The Hot Pepper Jam really intrigued me, as I'm a big fan of sweet chilli but anything hotter than that leaves me desperate for water. These were just perfect - the jam was more sweet than hot and the rice crackers were so tasty. Normally 'rice crackers' gives me awful flashbacks to ones I had as a child, but I shouldn't have worried because the combination was just delicious.

I really liked the concept of the Lemon and Poppy Seed Slice - it comes with a little teabag, which makes it perfect for afternoon tea. I do love afternoon tea but after a few mini sandwiches, a slice of cake and scones with clotted cream (I don't do afternoon tea by halves) I've consumed enough calories for an entire day, so this little pot is perfect to keep yourself from overindulging without missing out on all the fun.

This little pack was possibly my favourite of the three I had - dried pineapple? Yum. Blueberry infused cranberries? Awesome. Cherry flavoured raisins? Literally my favourite thing ever. I love the Nakd Cherry Infused Raisins so I was expecting big things, and these were just as good. This little pack came to work with me and it genuinely put a great big smile on my face knowing I had a pack of dried fruit waiting for me on my break (yes, I do get that excited over dried fruit.)

Unfortunately I am allergic to some nuts so I decided not to risk the BBQ Pistachio's, but my boyfriend was very happy when I gifted them to him and he'll be enjoying them as a train snack. Other than that I was thoroughly impressed with my first Graze box - my next one is due in a couple of weeks and I cannot wait!