The perfect hangover cure

If like me you've woken up this morning feeling a bit groggy (two bottles of prosecco, finished with a bottle of red, whooops) I have the perfect hangover remedy.

Forget Mc Donalds, or the obligatory hangover bacon sandwich, this will sort you right out.

Instead of a normal caffeine hit, espresso, cuppa tea, whatever, start with a simple but very effective 

spicy juice shot.

All you need is an apple and some ginger

Ingredients:

 1 apple

3 cm ginger root

Cut the apple in half, cut a slice of ginger and add both to your juicer.

Pour into a shot glass and down in one. 

Basic but with a bite. 

The ginger gives a sharp snap to the juice.

Apple and ginger shot

Next is the Booze Buster juice. 

This juice has all the vitamins, nutrients and minerals to stamp all 

over any hangover and give you an energy boost.

OK, it's not a Sausage & Egg McMuffin but believe me, it's the perfect hangover cure.

 

Ingredients:

1/4 pineapple (cut off all the rough skin)

15 sugar snap peas

1/2 lime (not peeled)

1/4 cucumber

1/2 courgette

1cm fennel

Simply add all the ingredients, one-by-one into your juicer. 

No need to mess around taking the skin off, apart from the pineapple.

Add ice for an extra crisp boost.

Booze Buster juice

The perfect start to the day
 

A cracking way to beat the hangover blues. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

 Trust me.

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The final review... juice cleanse, done and dusted.

DAY FOUR

MORNING:
FEELING: I felt the best I have all week this morning. Totally revived. I seem to have loads more energy, actually feel high on life. Not hungry this morning, or craving anything. Feeling bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
MOOD: Euphoric

I'm genuinely disappointed that today's the day I go back to a normal, every day eating routine.
Purifyne sent me an email this morning with a post-cleanse diet and guidelines, including a list of what I can and can't eat over the next four days (in a nutshell, I can't eat processed foods, deep fried food, dairy, foods high in sugar or yeast, eggs, fizzy drinks, coffee, alcohol and red meat/ processed meat for 2 weeks)
After reading it, I've decided to go to Marks & Spencers and get a fridge full of new food (I don't normally shop there, but thought I deserved the treat).
I am now fully stocked up on a week's worth of berries and other organic fruit, quinoa, couscous, water cress/ spinach/ rocket leaves, hummus, feta cheese, beetroot, tender stem broccoli and loads of avocados.

Who am I? What is happening to me?

Here's what I had for breakfast following the plan they gave me:

A juiced apple, nectarine, beetroot and ginger.

For lunch, again following the plan they gave me, I made a Quinoa and Edamame bean salad, with soy and ginger dressing. I also added some chopped up, mashed avocado on top.

And here's what I am currently having for dinner:

Vegetable broth - made with carrots, leeks, parsley, celery, barley, peas, red lentils and vegetable stock.

EVENING:
FEELING: Slightly perplexed about who I've become. Who is this health freak??
MOOD: Content and happy.

FINAL REVIEW: I would definitely do this juice cleanse again and would absolutely recommend to my friends.
Having the juices all ready to drink in the fridge, made it so easy. It didn’t interrupt my day and I still managed to get all work/ meetings done as usual.
The Purifyne team were brilliant throughout, constantly emailing and tweeting me encouragement and health tips of the day. Also ideas to stay healthy after the cleanse.
I enjoyed the taste of most of the juices, even the ones with ingredients I don’t usually like.
The whole programme is really well put together and very easy and enjoyable to follow. Everything has a simple, clear outline and is printed out and laminated for you to follow.
I lost 6 pounds by the end and have definitely adopted a more intelligent attitude towards healthy eating.
The day after I actually craved fruit for breakfast and a salad for lunch. I never expected to say that.
It has definitely kick started my enthusiasm to be more healthy. When you feel so energised, you’d be crazy not to carry on.
I really liked all the little touches that came with the 3 day cleanse - the purifying clay face mask, Epsom bath salts, beauty pills and body brush. They even give you coloured straws to drink though.
All in all a very positive and enjoying experience.
Looking forward to doing it again.

To see all the different cleanse plans Purifyne do check out their website www.purifynecleanse.co.uk
Or to book a cleanse call 0207-720-2131

Juice Cleanse. Day Three...the final hurdle

DAY THREE

MORNING:
FEELING: Woke up feeling better than I have in ages, alert, full of energy. Even looking forward to the day ahead drinking juices.
MOOD: Happy and positive

Getting out of bed this morning was easy, all the doom and gloom from last night had lifted. I genuinely feel great and slept brilliantly. I feel a tiny bit dehydrated, but very alert. My tummy is bubbling slightly and I feel a bit achy, like I've been to the gym.
Starting to believe a detoxing juice diet really does make a big difference. My stomach is getting flatter every day.
Also I got on the scales this morning and I've lost weight. Will do a proper weigh in tomorrow morning at the end. Shouldn't really have weighed myself today, but couldn't resist.


The final Morning Liver Bliss
I actually quite like it now!

So far I've not been feeling very hungry, but looking forward to seeing how today's juices go.
For breakfast today I had Morning Liver Bliss (carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger).
I've noticed already my skin is definitely clearer and my hair seems to be shinier (that could just be wishful thinking). However, my stomach is definitely flatter. No idea if that will last, but it would be perfect if you had a big night planned or needed to tone up for a particular dress or occasion (ie. for a wedding!).

Thrive juice, only two more left!

For lunch I had Thrive juice - carrot, apple and ginger.
Today I haven't got so much too do, I need to write up some ideas for a magazine, send a stack of emails, pop into Muswell Hill (my local village) to get a birthday present and go to an event this evening in Soho around 7pm.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed I won't be worn out and done in like I was last night.

PS. I'm still going to the toilet quite a lot more than usual, just in case you were wondering. Sorry if you're eating while reading this!

Protein Buster, only one more left!

I'm feeling good today, I've had loads of energy all morning and afternoon. I've noticed that my legs feel thinner, especially in between my thighs. I feel like I'm on a bit of a juice high. Alert and very active.
For my third juice I had Protein Buster - carrot, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon and spirulina, I still don't feel hungry and I'm not craving anything. I thought I would really want a cup of tea, or a slice of bread. But no cravings today at all. Which is great.

As yesterday, I feel more tired as the day goes on. It's 7pm now and I'm pretty exhausted. I've cancelled my plans to go this evening, which is frustrating as it was the launch party for my friend's new PR company. Hate letting people down. But I literally can't face getting on a tube and going to a party where there'll be champagne and canapes everywhere.
Also tomorrow morning I have an important meeting and at the moment I feel like I want to cancel that too.

Bright Green - my final juice. Whoop!

For my final juice (I can't believe I've made it without cheating, not even a crumb of bread, or a nibble of cheese) I had Bright Green - apple, celery, spring green, spinach, lemon and ginger. I genuinely haven't struggled with any hunger, which was one of my main concerns at the start.
I didn't even finish my final juice as I was full. Or maybe just bored of juices, who knows?

One thing's for sure, I have a new found respect for celebrities who do these hardcore juice cleanses all the time. The cleanse is pretty tough. Mainly just in the evening. I noticed my mood/ tiredness change between 8-10pm the most. After 10pm I then perked up again and start to feel all the benefit all over again.

EVENING:
FEELING: Feel happy to have completed the detox. Feel slimmer, healthier, and definitely more switched on. Also as it was a challenge feeling a bit proud of myself.
MOOD: Smug.

Juice Cleanse. Day Two

DAY TWO

MORNING:
FEELING: Woke up feeling great, really energised, happy and had a good night sleep. I’m full of beans.
MOOD: Happy. Optimistic about the day ahead.
 
 

morning hot water and lemon

I started the day with hot water and lemon as instructed. Surprised I'm not craving my usual morning cup of tea, or caffeine. But I'm not, luckily.
Got a busy day ahead of me today. Need to write a 1000 word travel feature and reply to a load of emails I ignored yesterday. I also have an PR meeting this afternoon at 3.30pm, which I'm driving into the centre of London for. Driving in London is pretty horrendous, on the best of days, so hopefully I'll have the energy.

I had a really good sleep last night, totally zonked out and I woke up feeling really good and positive.

First juice of the day was... Morning Liver Bliss again.
Despite not liking it yesterday, and thinking the combination of carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger wasn't very nice, I liked it this morning.
Strange. But I'm going with it.
Also had all the pills, powders and shots I was suppose to.

I took my laptop outside into the garden to get some fresh air and do some work there. It was quite sunny, despite what the picture (below) shows.
Change of scenery, and all that.

For my second juice I had Very Berry - carrot (again), apple, celery, blueberry, blackberry and mint.
I really liked this one.
So far, I'm finding in the juice cleanse OK. I haven't been craving food and I'm feeling full most of the time. Also finding it pretty easy to concentrate on work and getting everything done I need to.


Cool Mint juice

I decided to take my third juice with me to the business meeting in town. That way I wouldn't be tempted to have coffee, or tea. Or any other snacks they had lying around. Media offices always seem to be full of cakes, sweets, doughnuts. My third juice was Cool Mint - pineapple, cucumber, mint and fennel. I also really enjoyed the taste of this one. (maybe just thankful for no more carrot!)

I did feel a bit daft pulling out a detox juice drink in front of a PR director I'd never met before. It was a good job I took it though, as there were trays of sandwiches and cakes just metres away from where we were sitting. It was a talking point if nothing else.
The meeting went really well, I had no problem concentrating or driving in the rush hour home (bloody insane London traffic).
I still don't feel hungry, so pretty pleased with how it's all going.

Dinner: Sweet Green juice

For my dinner juice I chose Sweet Green - pear, celery, broccoli and ginger. I liked the taste of this one too.

I should point out, I was now going to the toilet a lot more, watch out for that if you're a work! You'll need a toilet near by. I won't go into any more detail, it was fine, just a bit of a surprise at first. Not sure if the Colosan powder causes that or just a juice diet naturally?


I had my first negative experience around 8.30pm. I felt really tired, and a bit daunted that I had another whole day of literally, not eating anything. I was starting to dread the carrot juices!
My enthusiasm for the cleanse dropped. I wasn't hungry, but I was craving cheese on toast. And freshly, baked bread. In fact any bread. Just bread.

Luckily, my husband was working away all week, so I didn't have to cope with him cooking and eating nice looking food. But I was started to feel a bit defeated and lethargic - I needed some inspiration to keep going.
Luckily, a PR friend was doing a juice cleanse too, coincidentally, at the same time, which I found out over Twitter. We sent each other a few Tweets (well loads actually, sorry to anyone who read them and got completely bored with endless detox and juice chit-chat) to encouraged each other to keep going for the final day. It really helped.



A new drink, thank God.
Spicy Lemonade

I think doing a juice cleanse with someone else would really spur you on in those times of doom. Lauren told me she watched a motivation video on the internet, so that could be a good idea if you're flagging?
I decided to read some online posts about juice cleanses, and listened to some Ibiza chill out tunes on Spotify, both cheered me up and gave me some motivation to keep going tomorrow.
Also I had my first Spicy Lemonade (filtered water, lemon, agave, nectar) - which I'd totally forgotten about. It was nice to have something completely different, and it tasted good too.

If none of the above works, there's always the bath and face mask to look forward to before bed. Every cloud.



EVENING:
FEELING:  Today felt like a bit of a struggle incomparison to how easy yesterday was. Feeling slighted daunted that tomorrow will be worse, but trying to stay positive.
MOOD: Good (despite the above), my skin looks better and I feel slimmer.

Arrival of the goods – Day One: Juice cleanse is on...

Day One


Food for the next three days, eeeek.

My juice kit arrived at 9.30am. The delivery man gave me two bags, one full of juices, the other full of an intriguing selection of instructions, powders, pills and beauty bits.
I laid the first bag out on my kitchen table. 12 bottles of differently blended fruit/ veg juice, 3 bottles of Spicy Lemonade and 2 smaller bottles of Aloe Vera juice and Acai Berry juice.

I then emptied out the contents of the next bag. Five little plastic bags containing Colosan powder (uh oh), green superfood mix, beauty oil capsules, Epson sea bath salts and a purifying clay face mask.

instructions, powders and fun stuff

There was also a detoxing/ exfoliating glove, step-by-step instructions on what to do over the next three days and guideline tips. I was particularly pleased with the bath salts, beauty pills and face mask, as you can imagine. While left feeling a bit apprehensive about the rest.
Colosan powder?!? Hmmm. Interesting. 

The basic plans is really easy to understand and follow. All the juices are already squeezed and prepared so all you have to do it stick them in the fridge, until you are ready to drink them.

Here's the rough outline on the cleanse:


Morning:
Glass of warm warm with lemon
Dry brushing (using the bath glove) circular movement towards your heart
A flat tablespoon of Colosan powder mixed with some juice
2 capsules of Beauty Oil
A flat teaspoon of Green Superfood powered mixed with some juice
The first juice of the day has to contain carrots, apples, beetroot, ginger or red cabbage.

Morning Liver Bliss juice

I decided to start with the Morning Liver Bliss - carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger. I really didn't like the taste of it. I'd never normally order carrot juice in a cafe or any drink with beetroot in. But it filled me up, so all good.

Lunch:

A shot of Aloe Vera juice

A shot of Acai Berry juice

Second juice drink, can pick any flavour

Can also drink herbal tea, coconut water, still water or a broth

I had Sweet Digestion - carrot, pineapple, ginger and cinnamon.

Sweet Digestion juice

Doing the shots

Afternoon:

Third juice - again can pick any flavour

Need to vary what you drink in between juices, can also drink herbal teas

I chose Liver Booster - carrot, apple, blueberry and sweet potato.

This was my favourite juice so far.

I kind of convinced myself the sweet potato was like eating carbs really, it made me feel fuller. Mind

over matter and all that nonsense.

Liver Booster juice

Evening:
Fourth juice - has to be one containing celery
Stop drinking juices 2-3 hours before bed
Have a hot bath using the Epsom Sea Salt
Use the purifying facial clay mask (best to use out of the bath).
Can drink brazil/ almond/ cashew milk before bed


Bright Green juice

I chose Bright Green - apple, celery, spring green, lemon, ginger.
I liked the taste and it filled me up.
I felt a bit weary, so lay on the sofa for half an hour.  (My cat came to give some moral support, they always seem to know when you're in need of attention).


There was no chance I was going to skip the last part of the day, it seems like the best bit.
Half an hour soak in the bath, with the salts, watching Orange Is The New Black on my tablet and then a face pack.
Pretty good day all in all, considering I ate nothing.

Relaxing with the purifying clay mask

FEELING: Surprisingly not hungry. The juices are really filling and I’m not caving treats like chocolate or other sugar. But am craving bread.
MOOD: Really good. Everyone says the first day is the hardest and it’s gone really well, so that's given me a boost. Energised and optimistic.

Juice cleanse. Jumping on the bandwagon…

Loads of female celebrities maintain their superstar hot bods following a kick-ass juice cleanse. This includes Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole and supermodel Rosie Huntingdon Whiteley.


Rosie looking picture perfect at the event

I chatted to Rosie at the GQ Men Of The Year awards earlier this month and it’s fair to say, she was definitely the most glamorous girl in the room. It was impossible not to notice her glossy hair and perfectly, radiant skin. Pretty much every man at the event was ogling her banging body. After chatting to her about juice cleanses, it inspired me to give one a try.

For anyone not in the know, a juice cleanse is pretty gruelling. It’s basically a food fast, meaning no food or alcohol can be consumed for three days (some celebs do five days), just blended fruit and vegetables.

I spoke over Twitter to organic juice cleanse company Purifyne and decided to give their three day plan a try. Just so you know, I’m a complete novice when it comes to the words “cleanse” and “detox”. My premise of a healthy lifestyle rarely gets past an occasional salad or justifying a walk to the tube as daily exercise.

However, like most girls, I'd love to have a shiner look and fit back into my skinniest jeans. And if it's at all possible, learn to be less of a booze and cake hound.

So, I agreed to start a strict three day juice cleanse and blog about. Starting tomorrow. Eeeek.
I’m planning to document it with pictures and also my feelings/ mood through the cleanse. (Unless I’m hating it so much I can't get out of bed.)

So here goes...

FEELING: Worried I’m going to be really hungry, non-stop for three days. Also concerned about being tired through lack of food, I have a lot on work-wise and need to be able to concentrate.
MOOD: Excited about starting a new challenge.

Goodbye celebrity parties... hello real world

It’s amazing how quickly five years can fly past when you don’t have time to get bored. Which, I know is a peculiar thing to say.
But after working for five years as a professional party girl (my official title was Showbiz Editor but the former seems more fitting) I found myself longing to sit at home and let boredom find me.

I’ve been so lucky with my job and have travelled the world working – to LA for the Oscars, France for the Cannes Film Festival, Ibiza for music interviews and to various far-flung destinations on press trips.
However, after a trip to LA last year, I felt a prang of jealousy when I arrived home, worn out and jet lagged, to see my husband Jimmy sprawled over the sofa laughing at the telly. He told me he’d spend the entire week lying around on the couch, nailing our LoveFilm membership, ordering takeaways (apparently cooking for one is a thankless task, he’s the chef in our house), hanging out with friends and chilling with the cat.

I suddenly didn’t want to tell him about my week trying to track down film stars, chasing after celebrities and jumping into cabs to get an exclusive story. It just seemed so silly.

Working on a showbiz column is great fun. But it’s also full on, seven days a week. Even when you’re not at work, you’re definitely thinking about work, planning stories, finding stories, worrying about stories.
There’s no rest for the wicked and in the eyes of most celebrities, showbiz journalists are the wicked.
My job was to fill my column, six days a week, with celebrity news. I was constantly on the look out, or ear out, for scandalous, juicy but more often than not, funny stories.
I’m not going to exaggerate and stay I’d wake up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, worrying about what tomorrow expects.
But, it was constantly on my mind, even in the pub with friends, relaxing in the bath, shopping in Tesco, wherever.

The reality is, the showbiz scene has completely changed. It’s nowhere near as fun, raucous or edgy as it once was. The iPhone and Twitter generation put a stop to that. Everybody is a mobile phone paparazzi these days. Celebs don’t stand a chance with endless, random spectators all flashing away on their phones, video blogging, Tweeting etc.
I miss the old days where Sarah Harding would get legless and start mouthing off in a north London boozer, or where Lily Allen and James Corden would be at it all night.

I spent months umming and ahhing. Shall I leave the Goss column? Shall I stay? There were so many plus points for staying, but deep-down I knew I needed a change. Having a hangover every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then all weekend was starting to get boring. It didn’t seem as much fun anymore.

So after a week at my parent’s holiday home in Devon, I woke up on the last day, sat on the balcony, listening to the waves in the morning sun and thought, “Right that’s it, I’m off.”
I decided in that moment to have one last summer of fun, to go to all the showbiz events I love, my favourite festivals and one final press trip.
I planned to leave the Daily Star on the last day in August. And I did.


After dinner shmoozing

First I was invited by the lovely PR’s at EE to the BAFTAS, which is inevitably always fun and glamorous. The film awards attract proper superstars, none of the TOWIE lot or fading pop star types you see at London parties these days.
After watching the ceremony, I sat down for dinner with the likes of George Clooney, Ben Affleck (so handsome in the flesh), Dame Helen Miran, Samuel L Jackson (beyond cool, he wore a velvet suit jacket, enough said), Anne Hathaway and Quentin Tarantino. It was a brilliant night. And EE put me up in a room at my favourite hotel in London - The Savoy.
God, I love that hotel. The cocktails and the breakfasts are well worth spending the extra dollar on.

A photo I had taken for an Oscars beauty feature

Next was a trip to LA to cover the OSCARS. I was so lucky and stayed in a suite at the plush Montage Hotel in Beverley Hills. I was staying in a room with Dame Shirley Bassey, who was performing at the ceremony. Even writing that now sounds so absurd, and why I was sharing a room with the Welsh superstar is another story all together. I’ll save that for a book, if I ever write one. Daniel Radcliffe was also staying at the same hotel, watching him push his eggs around his plate at breakfast seemed surreal.
I absolutely love Los Angeles, everything about the place is fascinating - the over-friendly shop assistants, brilliantly tacky breakfast joints, huge food portions, cheap but amazing sushi, their excitement for Christmas and Halloween, endless sunshine, walking up Runyon Canyon and seeing the Hollywood sign glistening in the morning sun, strolling along Venice Beach and of course their general admiration for everything dog related. I hope to visit again soon, in a non-work capacity.


Enjoying the Field of Avalon at Glasto

Next was my favourite music festival, Glastonbury. This year I got to take my fella too, which is always a bonus. We slept in a wooden Podpad. Getting a press ticket to Glasto was my No 1 perk as a columnist. I always thanked by lucky stars for that.
Anyway, as always it was a magical week. I’ve banged on loads over the past few months about how incredible the Rolling Stones were on (Twitter/ Facebook), so I’ll refrain from doing it again. But they absolutely nailed it. Mick Jagger and co put all other performers in the shade with their stamina and swagger.
The Arctic Monkeys were awesome too, despite Alex Turner’s new freaky American, Elvis-esque accent.


in the DJ box at Amnesia

I then flew to Ibiza, definitely one of my top three favourite places on the planet, to have dinner and
 interview Boy George. This, as you can imagine was very eventful. I was nervous before meeting him, thinking he’d be an acid-tongued, drama Queen. But he was so down-to-earth and genuinely hilarious. After dinner, I went to Amnesia with him for his DJ set.

I also managed to sneak in a travel feature while on the White Isle at new, luxury hotel Ushuaia Tower. This place really needs to be seen to be believed, it’s so lavish and decadent.
We (me and my best friend Sam) were given a poolside suite to stay in. It was like a footballer’s paradise. Our room had a hot tub on the balcony overlooking the pool and beach, a fully stocked cocktail bar, walk-in rain forest shower, a 50inch flat screen TV, a circular white, leather sofa and a bed big enough for a premiership orgy. Spectacular.
 

Ushauia Tower Hotel

 Aweek later me and Sam flew back from Ibiza on Friday night and headed straight to V festival. Our poor livers.
This was my 7th summer working at V Festival. The backstage VIP area is wall-to-wall journalists and media luvvies. I’m pretty sure the entire journo circuit in London de-camps to Essex for the weekend. So I was able to say goodbye to all my showbiz reporter pals, who I’ve spent years pickling my liver with and getting into boozy mischief.

And that was it, my final summer as a gossip girl.

Being a showbiz columnist felt like the best job in the world, I’m pretty sure at times it was. I interviewed my showbiz idols, went to all the best showbiz parties, premieres and award ceremonies, ate food cooked by the world’s top chefs, flirted with sexy male stars, received numerous goodie bags and drank endless champagne.

But at the end of the day you can’t be a half-hearted showbiz journalist, it just doesn’t work. I decided to do something about it before I became one of those people who moans about their life, despite having loads of privileges. And before my liver packed in once and for all.

So I chose to leave the column and work on making my vital organs healthy again.

Firstly, by starting a intense detox, in the shape of a juice diet.

It's been a while...

It dawned on me recently that I used to blog all the time. And, to be honest, I found it really therapeutic.
But for some reason I haven't written on my blog for nearly two years. This radio silence happened by complete accident.
I can't even lie and pretend the past 18 months have been a whirlwind.

Weeks after my last post in Nov 2011, I got engaged. Which, OK, was a pretty big deal. Not long after that I was asked by Wedding Ideas Magazine to start a weekly blog on their website documenting my plans, anxieties and the general build up to our wedding. Some of the articles are below, if you're interested.
Part one , Part two, Part three, Part four, Part five



wedding day


Me and my now husband Jimmy got married the following summer. I planned our wedding in six months and we got married in my parent's garden in July 2012. Well, in a church in my childhood village, but the reception/ dinner was held at my parent's house. I put my heart into organising our wedding, we didn't have a wedding planner, a restaurant manager, kitchen staff, waiters - all the usual people you have to help and advise you when you get married at venue. Instead we had to plan it all ourselves. We wanted a festival style wedding, so had giant tipi's, an open fire and a garden full of flower pots an gazebos.

Trying to organise a wedding on your own, in six months, while holding down a job as a tabloid newspaper showbiz editor was tough. When I wasn't at my desk writing my column, or out at night at a showbiz party searching for a story, I was beavering away on my laptop contacting flower suppliers, caterers, porta-loo services, looking at generators, choosing cake stands, trying to find a dress, organising the music and lighting, making table plans, creating invites, choosing favours. The list seemed endless at the time.

However, the wedding was a success. Everyone got drunk and danced all night. Both sets of parents had an amazing time, and I came away with a gorgeous husband.

Our wedding was covered in the real-life section of Wedding Ideas magazine and I've been writing health, beauty and celebrity features for the mag ever since.

Since then we were fluky enough to have two honeymoons. A week in Lake Como (a surprise wedding gift from my brother) and two weeks lazing around the Cook Islands before a week driving a camper van around New Zealand. All completely amazing, never to forget trips. 
 


Our private honeymoon beach in Aitutaki, Cook Islands

  

our campervan in New Zealand