Royal Ascot Ladies Day

Our family love a good old day out to the races whether its the more casual race days where we wear jeans and the focus is less on fashion and primarily on the bets/booze orrr the glamour race days giving us an excuse to get old dolled up!

We have both visited Ascot Racescourse three times: Once to the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup & Concert and twice to Royal Ascot Ladies Day. Due to our recent visit (Thursday 22nd June) we thought we'd give you all a little peak at our day and why we adore the races so much.

Fashion

When it comes to Royal Ascot you dress to impress. Simple as. This year we threw together a few pieces we already owned and somehow managed to already own matching accessories and fascinators from previous years! - Bargain!

Drinks

Yes they are pricey - a jug of pimms is £36 but hey ho it's all part and parcel plus your luck may be in on the bets so you won't mind buying the round in!

Having said this each group are allowed 1 bottle (sparkling wine or champagne) for every adult in your picnic basket. There were 6 of us, so although we looked like right alchis (especially when we popped the first bottle at 10.45am) it helped save a little at the bar.

Order of events

Gates open 10am

Everyone picks a table/ sets down their picnic benches

Lunch

2pm - The Queen and her Royal Procession rides past

3pm - First Race!

5.30pm - Final Race

6pm - Entertainment

7pm/8pm Finished*

Betting/Races

Now if you have never been to the races before let us educate you on the lingo ;)

Two types of bets when talking to the bookies:

1. To win

2. Each Way

1. The horse you picked will win (if it loses you lose)

2. You get money back if your horse places (1nd, 2nd or 3rd)

Now although option 2 sounds more attractive, option 1 will offer waay more money back if the horse comes first than if it came first and you had betted 'each way'. No risk no gain boo

Festival Guide: Reading Festival

We always thought Reading Festival was heavily rock focused and stayed well clear HOWEVER last summer the line-up was that varied that both of us decided to attend for the first time!

We both went with our separate friends but did manage to meet up like twice due to our obsession with similar acts but overall we had different experiences and our debrief once we'd both packed up our tents and retreated home was HILARIOUS we learnt so much which we definitely want to share for anyone considering Reading fest this year...

Arriving

We all piled in Lorraine's car with all our mahoosive traveller backpacks, wellies, sleepbags piled high taking up the boot and some. Baring in mind Lorraine had only passed a month before and still required full use of her rear-view mirror it was quite an eventful journey to Reading; down loads of country roads in her lil corsa Kory!! 20 minutes later we were safely parked up in one of the festival parking zones and began our loooong walk to the campsite.

Now there are two choices we faced when travelling from the carpark to camp:

1. Wait 40minutes in the boiling sun for a boat to take us down the river

2. Walk along the river till we reached Green Camp

Being the inpatient fools we are we decided to walk. Now although it hurt like hell (we're talking back, legs, shoulders, feet even hair) it was the most hilarious walk everrrr literally Amy had toilet roll trailing behind her for the majority, we had about 20 pit stops and we hurled abuse at all the smug faces sat on boats going by (the boats we were too impatient to wait for).

When we FINALLY reached Green Camp we had to pass through the ticket exchange. We had both separated at this stage and passed through this checkpoint at different times but funnily got served by the same guy. We know this because we both fancied him lol but the first thing he said to Lorraine was "wow you guys walked" which is yes rude af but truly shows what hot messes we were by the time we got to camp!

Other ways are available:

Train to Reading Station - Taxis from station to festival are £5-6 orrr there's festival shuttles which run between both

Camping

Literally one of the biggest camping sites we've ever seen festival wise and Lorraine's camped in V Fest (Weston Park) and Benicassim! There are 6 different colours camping zones which are differentiated by coloured bunting - Lorraine stayed in Brown and Amy in Yellow.

Pros of brown - near white which is where there are showers, close to toilets 

Cons - trekkkkk and the people here were older like not as hyped and boozy

Pros of yellow - close to festival gates, didn't have large crowds passing through middle of campsite (unlike purple!)

Cons - close to toilets, didn't have a silent disco (go for red if thats a must for you)

Tips for camping

Pack toilet paper and take to loo, go toilet in camp as early as possible not midday because as gross as this sounds the sunlight heats the metal trays and literally you'll be gagging if not vommit on yourself lol

Bin bags - don't be a pig this will be your home for the next few days

Baby wipes - yes there are showers but we're not divas, always worked fine plus deodorant obvs - we're all in the same boat and no-one cares!!! promise x

What to do if you've lost your pal...

Please for the love of god set a designated spot to meet at both campsite and venue itself, learn their no. off by heart or worst case scenario enjoy your night and you'll both end up by the tent at some point in the morning

Music Angel Mobile Chargers - lifesavers! We 100% recommend using this service. It is £25 on site but a little cheaper if you pre-order before the festival. We went for the unlimited battery and this includes:

Piccolinos Virginia Water Review

Due to the sudden but short-lived heatwave we decided to drive up to the beautiful location of Virginia Water and have a spot of lunch on Friday.

We chose to dine in a restaurant chain called Piccolinos. Amy had recently been to the Mayfair restaurant and raved about it so we thought we tried our nearest which was located in VW!

VENUE

Really impressive decor and layout. We were seated in the terrace/conservatory which was g o r g e o u s. The roof was retractable and the ceiling was open with the sun streaming in whilst we were seated. It literally felt like we were on holiday *dramatic sigh*

HOWEVER the sun was a little bit much after about an hour (once the whole 'omg I'm getting a tan how fabulous' phase had worn off) and the lady on the adjacent table requested the shutters be closed; luckily because we were way too polite to ask and would have burnt to a crisp in silence lol

There were round tables as well as sofa/bench type seats in blue leather. We loved sitting here as once we'd polished off our puddings we could lean back, get comfy and sip on our cocktails however it is a job to peel yourself off and get up.

To top it all off there was even a cute DJ playing on a raised balcony which definitely added to the atmosphere and obvious eye candy for the afternoon. We imagine the music will add even more to the vibe of the restaurant/bar during the evening, especially weekend.

SERVICE

All the waiters were lovely and had a sense of humour which made ordering our drinks and different courses a pleasure as well as leaving us laughing. All the gents that served us were also Italian which was quite cute and along with the heat and sunshine it actually felt like we were in Italy!

Having dined in various high priced (equally pompous) restaurants in London we've often found the hostess at the entrance to be quite rude or short however the lady that greeted us here and took us to our table was nothing but welcoming and lovely. Refreshing change.

Our waiter also kindly gave each of us ladies loyalty cards, upon paying for the bill. Each £1 spent equates to 1 point and purely registering the card allows £20 of your next meal - bonus that if we use all 3 of our cards during our next meal that'll be £60 off the bill hollaaaaa

Our only criticism would be the waiting staff were quite slow at clearing our plates.

FOOD

The menu consisted of classic italian dishes ranging from delicious typical antipastis such as carpaccio all the way to luxurious lobster.

Portion sizes were perfect for lunch:

ARAGOSTA £24.00/37.00 Half or whole lobster, garlic & parsley butter, house cut chips

INSALATA DI GRANCHIO £14.75 Hand-picked crab, avocado, gem lettuce & brown crab mayonnaise

ANATRA ALL’ARANCIO £17.00 Crispy duck, spinach, Grand Marnier & orange

CALAMARI FRITTI £8.00 Fried calamari, roast garlic mayonnaise & lemon

We apologize but we didn't manage to take any photos of our main meals as we got a little over excited and began to tuck in.

Now to the best part... dessert:

TORTA DI PASSIONE | Passion fruit cheesecake (v) £6.75

TORTA CAPRESE | Dark chocolate & almond tart, vanilla ice cream (v) (n) £6.75

TORTINO AL CIOCCOLATO | Warm chocolate fondant & caramel ice cream (v) £6.75

Crepes and Cocktails

Evening Chicas!

In an effort to save a little money and truly go crazy at HIDEOUT (34 days and counting!) we have decided to go out less in London and start trying restaurants, cafes and more importantly bars local to us.

Crepes

If you live in Hampshire you'll most likely have heard of Odiham. If you subside in a different county; Odiham is a little village in the countryside within the county Hampshire. Odiham has a massive military base hence why those mahoosive chinooks fly over our house every hour (we live quite close by). Having said this it's such a cute, quiet village and the high street is so quaint, proper old school english village with thatched roofs and family run businesses. No massive co-operations in sight which is refreshing.

On this very high street there is a little cafe dedicated to Crepes; La Creperie which is where we spent the whole of Saturday morning. It was so charming and the staff were very welcoming and served us with a smile. 

The cafe offers a selection of coffees, teas, baked treats and of course sweet and savoury pancakes!

Fun fact: The sweet are called Crêpes & the savoury Galettes.

Originally the thought of a savoury pancake frightened us - throwback to pancake day about 6 years ago when our mum tried to make some messed up dinner including pancakes and chicken stew. As you can imagine it did not go well and there was a full blown riot until the strawberry jam and cream was brought out thereby returning all order. Anyway I digress! Basically this lovely cafe COMPLETELY changed our opinion on the savoury option! 

The time we met Craig David...

Stoooorytime!!!

Okay so this is a story about the time we went up a lift to find Craig David performing for us and about 10 BBC cameramen videoing our reaction...

Yes, Craig David people. Omg he is such a sweetheart and smells amazing. Okay so let's start at the beginning:

Unfortunate camera angle but we love this photo neverthless!

Lorraine going in for the kill

Basically Lorraine is obsessed with Radio 1 and we are both very, VERY into music so when we saw a tweet from Radio 1 saying that they were doing a music focus group and wanted people to volunteer we signed up pronto. Basically we sent an email with our contact details and 5 artists we are loving atm and you'd hear back if you had been chosen.

About a week went by and I (Lorraine) got a phonecall from a guy at Radio 1 called Daniel who asked me my availability and chatted about the music I'm into, festivals, etc. We agreed a date that I'd come into London to listen to some new music and give feedback and it got better.. I was allowed to bring a friend - so obviously Amy was my first choice!

So after work we do this mad dash to Central London and arrive at the chosen meet point (a random Pret in SOHO), a lovely lady from Radio 1 got us to sign a disclaimer and also a random questionnaire on our music preference. There were some other pairs there and every few minutes some of the group was walked over to the next location.

When it was our turn we arrive at this big car park and Daniel tells us to get in the lift and when we're in the focus group just have fun and dance if you enjoy it...

As the lift is going up we hear this Craig David banger playing which is starting to get louder and louder.. I literally turned to Amy (this is on tape haha) and say "OMG is this a recording?!" by this I meant is this live, omg this sounds live.

Within seconds, literally seconds the lift doors open and there he is, the beautiful godlike beaut of a man himself.

Now it's easier if you watch our reaction rather than us describe it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p041w3p0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMndiXRhC0g

Festival Guide: WILDLIFE

Wildlife festival is based in Brighton City airport and was created by Disclosure and Rudimental in 2015.

We have been both in 2015 and 2016 so thought we'd give you a low down all the fun to be had and our experiences before this years festival takes place!!

Travel/Accommodation

BOOK YOUR HOTEL/AIRBNB EARLY
There are tons of Travel Lodges local to the festival and we recommend using one of the 4. We stayed in the Travel Lodge in Worthing - we snapped it up in January - cost us about £180 for the weekend for a double room. It was a large room, overlooked the sea (BARGAIN) and was 10mins walk to a supermarket.

We apologize for the awful quality but here's a snapchat we did of the Brighton coast. Beaut isn't it?!

We totally recommend Worthing as a good place to stay not just Brighton. Worthing is actually closer to the airport and there's a shuttle stop from Worthing Central Train Station which is what we used. The main bonus if you do stay in Brighton is that there are a few after-parties run by some local clubs here.

Our friends used an Airbnb also in Worthing but it was quite a walk to the shuttle so we recommend looking at the shuttle stops and figuring out where you'd like to stay based on that.

Ticket types: Weekend, Day, VIP of both and shuttle bus options for all
Shuttle bus - TOTALLY RECOMMEND! In 2015 we tried to call a taxi and they were completely booked (waiting time 2hrs we were told!) so if you do decide to just take a taxi please book it in advance.

For all my lastminute people, you can buy shuttle bus tickets just before you board the bus but its a little pricier than getting the wristband in advance.

Our favourite stages

Big Top - In 2015 we saw MNEK, Snakehips and Tourist at this stage and their sets were a m a z i n g so we HAD to return in 2016! We were not dissapointed. Big Top showcased Mura Masa, Flume, SG Lewis and Julio Bashmore last year (just to name a few!) so as you can imagine this was always the first tent we hit up.

I love the atmosphere in here it's always such a nice crowd who just want to dance and no-one is pretentious or shoves to get a better space. The speakers are also such good quality, like you get the same amount of bass at the back of the tent but it also doesn't make you're ears bleed when at the front. Yes sometimes we full on fan girl and push to the front *sighs*

MAC Studio Fix Fluid vs Pro Longwear Foundation

Sooo my lovelies I don't think we have let you in on the fact we are mahoosive make-up fiends. It's even worse than you're average beauty blogger because we've combined forces (share absolutely all of our products) and Lorraine's bedroom and vanity mirror is basically our make/dressing room now; much to her disdain!

We are M.A.C girls through and through and have been using their products for years. Our go to is Studio Fix Fluid Foundation however recently we've given the Pro Longwear Foundation a try and thought we'd compare and rate them!

Shades

Studio Fix is a much larger range and comes in 46 shades whereas Pro Longwear only offers 22.  I recommend with Studio Fix you really take your time into figuring out what your shade is, as I (Lorraine) have gone through about 3 different shades; 42, 43.5, 44 whilst Amy has always stuck to her solid 45!

This foundation does get darker as it settles into the skin so I would always go with a shade lighter than your first initial judgement - you can always bronze up my honeys if needs be! Having said this there are so many different shades with Studio Fix so if your purse allows it you could always buy two and combine to create your perfect shade.

Pump

Pro Longwear comes with a pump - another bonus of this is that if you twist it it locks which is a god send when it comes to travelling especially during flights because we no longer have the stress of the foundation spilling all over our hand luggage mid flight *raising hand emoji*

Studio Fix pump must be purchased separately.

Coverage

Pro Longwear is much thinner in consistency which leads me onto the fact it has a very light - medium coverage. You will most definitely need concealer if you aren't a porcelain doll with not a single imperfection. If you want high coverage and not a blemish in sight Studio Fix is your gal. Studio Fix is so much thicker in consistency hence why the coverage is so brill - we personally love the caked look so apply a few layers but if you're a classy bird a little goes a long way so you won't need loads of product during one application.

We'd also like to add that if you have super oily skin you're skin will work better with Pro Longwear as opposed to Studio Fix. My T - Zone doesn't need anywhere near as much attention aka blot or powder throughout the day when I have applied Pro Longwear.