Three Beautiful Beach Towns to Visit - Amy Rowley Lifestyle

During the last month I have had the pleasure of visiting some lovely little seaside towns in Essex and Suffolk. Each one has a beautiful picturesque town, gorgeous beach and they are all just lovely little towns that I would easily recommend for a day out. In fact they make a perfect Sunday trip out if I do say so myself. So grab your other half, best friend or family member and take them for a drive. 

Frinton - I have been visiting Frinton for years with family and friends. It's very near to where I live so perfect for an afternoon adventure. I always pick Frinton above the likes of Walton or Clacton, simply because it's so pretty. The green above the beach is the perfect location for a picnic, without the annoyance of getting sand in your sandwiches and you can even walk to Walton if you would like as they really are so close. 

They have some lovely little cafes and a yummy sweet shop too if you get a bit peckish. 

Aldeburgh - Now Aldeburgh has a lot of history for me. My grandma lived very nearby when I was younger so I am lucky to have some lovely childhood memories there. It is a gorgeous little town full of pretty shops and boutiques. They also have the best fish and chip shop too!

We decided to visit Aldeburgh for Mother's Day with my mum her partner and my brother. A proper little family day. 

The beach is all stones so although it may not be ideal for making a sandcastle, it makes for a lovely walk and great pictures. Oh and if like some your are good at skimming stones on the sea, your afternoon is sorted.

We wandered through the streets of Aldeburgh, taking in all the gorgeous little places and just enjoying the view. I took an abundance of pictures and managed to spend some quality time with my family, this doesn't happen very often so it was lovely to catch up. 

On the drive back we took a little pit stop at the gorgeous Snape Maltings shopping village and tea room. It has a beautiful selection of gift and home shops perfect for a little nosey and some interior inspiration if you need some. 

Southwold - A long bank holiday meant I had to visit somewhere new and I am so glad I did. Southwold is beautiful! A gorgeous little town, a stunning beach with the best beach huts and to top it off I have never seen so many gorgeous dogs and puppies wandering around. 

We went to a cute cafe called No.Fifty one for lunch which was super yummy and took a wander around the lovely shops. I made sure to buy some Adnams beer for my boyfriend as Southwold is famous for it and it's his favourite. 

If you don't mind going that little bit further, I couldn't recommend Southwold enough. I will definitely be returning in the summer and taking my boyfriend as he will love it too. 

My three current favourite seaside towns that you should take a trip to! Especially as the weather is getting warmer. I hope you enjoyed this little post and let me know if you take a trip to any of them, or even if you know of another lovely beach town. After all i'm always on the hunt for somewhere new to visit. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Life update and being a busy bee - Amy Rowley Lifestyle

Over the last couple of weeks, life has just managed to get in the way every time I have wanted to pick up the laptop. It's been full of a whirlwind of events and I feel like my head is only just coming round to all these changes as we speak. So of course, this has meant a lack of posts, inspiration and just generally time to get together good or 'worth posting' content, for my blog and all social networking channels. 

With this is in mind, I thought I would write a little life update blog post, to catch every one up to speed but also to take certain things off my mind and maybe use it as a bit of a release. 

First things first I turned 23 at the beginning of the weekend, which is crazy as I only look around the age of 17 but also crazy because where are the years going!?! I swear it only seemed yesterday that I turned 21 or even 18. 

For those that wished me happy birthday, thank you! I had a beautiful weekend with my boyfriend in Cambridge, exploring, shopping and even going on a punt which was great fun! I was then spoiled to a cream tea on the Monday by my beautiful best friend and a week later I was treated to a day out in London with my mum. We went to see Dreamgirls at the west end and it was incredible! I definitely recommend. It's safe to say I was spoilt rotten and truly am a very lucky girl!! 

* The beautiful city of Cambridge *

* One of the best musical I have ever seen...Dream girls *

Just Before my birthday I managed to conker one of my biggest fears and I passed my driving test. A huge milestone for me and something I am still very much terrified of, haha. For those that know me, learning to drive was not an easy task for me due to my anxiety. For those that think this may seem silly, for me it is one of the biggest achievements of my lifetime so far. 

This week I bought my first car, a little Renault Clio which I have name Ruby *laughs* it is such a cute little ride, it's now just getting used to using it. I am working myself up in small little routes and outings, but it's safe to say i'm not going to be doing a road-trip anytime soon haha. 

As well as all the madness, I managed to receive a promotion at my current workplace. I haven't been there long and without a doubt it came as the biggest shock, but i'm so happy and I finally feel like I am on the road to doing what i'm meant to be doing. If you asked me a couple of months ago I was still so confused and lost but I am now very happy and looking forward to the next leap. Even though I won't lie its still a little scary and I have a long way to go. 

So, as you can imagine life has just managed to go a bit crazy and of course i'm now run down and suffering from a cold that just means I am living my days with constantly trapped sneezes!! *rolls eyes* I hope you all stick around, as I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully give me a week or two and the content will be back to the normal standard and consistent too.

I hope you're having a lovely weekend, im trying to conquer this cold and work on my driving skills....fun fun fun! 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

A Short and Sweet Guide to Amsterdam - Amy Rowley Travel

Now this may be a little late, but I still wanted to write about this beautiful city and some of my must see and dos should you ever visit. About three weeks ago I visited Amsterdam with a group of friends for a fantastic weekend of food, exploring and way too much drinking. Nevertheless I came away from the weekend with smiles all round and another of my must see cities ticked off my list.

 So I thought I would do a similar post to my Bruges blog post (read it here) where I talk through some of my favourite parts of the trip and what I would recommend to you, if like me you are eager to see Amsterdam in all its glory. So here are my 4 must sees and dos for the city of dam!

1. First things first walk out of the train station and head to the first cafe you see that serves, crepes, churros, waffles or simply anything sweet. Choose whatever takes your fancy and indulge...start Amsterdam with pure yumminess and satisfaction, ready for exploring and walking as I can tell you now there will be a lot of it. I couldn't have just one option whilst on my trip, so after trying churros, I went back for more with a crepe. Both topped with nutella and strawberries of course and they didn't disappoint. 

While on the subject off food, make sure you have a portion of chips with chip sauce, I missed out on this and its still bugs me to this day, but my friend assures me they are fantastic. 

2. Visit the Red Light District and take it all in. It may seem like a silly recommendation, but its probably one of the most weird yet fascinating things i've seen in my entire life. Its such a normal day to day occurence for so many people living in Amsterdam, that what in my head should seem wrong, was actually rather interesting. Obviously its best to go at night for the full experience. 

One bar recommendation has to be Cafe Remember, I had one of the best nights in this Coyte Ugly inspired bar, dancing and drinking like crazy nutters with friends. If you fancy a fun casual night out, then give it a whirl and let your hair down. 

3. Take an afternoon, to wonder round the back streets and the cute and fancy boutiques. We spent a good few hours on the Sunday exploring these little boutiques and doing a spot of shopping and it was the best way to end the trip. This area of the city was in my opinion the prettiest, of what I saw anyway and not something to be missed. 

There are a variety of shops too, plenty of affordable high street prices and then the more high end and designer items. One of my favourite boutiques was called Wind, I purchased a gorgeous rose gold watch for 19 euros and it was full of cute little gifts, jewellery and clothing items. 

4. We visited many museums whilst in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh museum, the Sex museum, but my favourite had to be the Prostitution museum. You may find this a bit odd but it was just so interesting to learn about the life that so many women choose to live. The reasons behind it, how the system is controlled out there and how that for many choosing to visit a prostitute its simply for companionship.

I definitely think its worth a visit, for me travelling with a group of girls we all found the information interesting to say the least. 

So here are my 4 favourite places to see and things to eat that I did whilst in Amsterdam for a weekend of fun. I hope you enjoyed my little insight and a few of my pretty snaps from this beautiful yet intriguing city and I also hope this gives you a little bit of inspo should you be thinking of booking a trip or even already have one booked. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Amy Rowley Style - City Break Exploring

So last weekend I was on one of the best trips I have had in a long long time. My work colleagues and I decided to spend a long weekend in Amsterdam and what a weekend it was. When we first booked the trip of course one of the first things I started to think about was my outfits and what I was going to wear. After a super last minute trip into H&M I came out with a bag of goodies...oops. It is safe to say H&M are killing it right now so I would suggest you pop in and have a look. 

*Outfit Details*

Jacket - ZARA

Top - H&M (can't find online)

Skirt - H&M (can;t find online)

We spent the weekend exploring the sights, eating lots of yummy food, consuming way too much alcohol and a spot of shopping. I will talk about this in my next blog post so look out for that. 

Me and a friend snuck out of the hotel while the others were taking vital nap time for the evening ahead, to take some artsy pictures for this blog post. That is blog commitment right there.

For my outfits I wanted to be comfortable but still trendy, which is exactly why I love this outfit. Of course both the T-shirt and skirt are from H&M, and my trusty Zara suede biker which was worn constantly throughout the trip. 

I paired the embroidered slogan tee with a pink denim skirt, which I absolutely love. I think it looks great in this more casual outfit but I also think it would look lovely with a white shirt and some heels for a more smart casual style. The same applies to the t-shirt which would also look great with black high waisted jeans and a coloured blazer over the top to add that little bit of tailoring. 

Both items could be worn in so many different ways, which is what I look for in the products I buy. I'm trying to buy items that will fit into my wardrobe and work all year round. Staple items that I can wear year after year and keep on-trend by adding one fashion statement item to the outfit. 

On this day in Amsterdam, we explored the Van Gogh museum, the sex museum and even devoured nutella  and strawberry covered churros (and yes they were incredible.) 

So there you have my first little insight to Amsterdam, my next blog will be some top tips and places to visit should you want to try a weekend in Amsterdam, which I would definitely recommend. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

Amy Rowley Style - With Perfect Glasses

If you know me then you will know that since I was little I have had to wear glasses. Growing up it was never something I enjoyed or liked about myself and once I got to college I decided to try contact lenses. After a battle with those and a period of time that involved very sore eyes, I ended up going back to wearing glasses full time. However this time I decided to embrace it and use them as a fashion statement. Since then I am always on the hunt for fashionable frames at a reasonable price. 

One thing that still gets to me is that I can't just simply walk into topshop and buy a pair of sunglasses of the stand, because believe me when I say...i'm pretty blind *chuckles*. So when Perfect Glasses got in touch and told me about their  prescription glasses and sunglasses range I thought I would have a little look. Not expecting much I ended up finding a gorgeous pair, at at extremely affordable price.

 This design caught my eye as it's very similar to a Rayban style called Erika. However instead of being £150, these little beauty's were £39! Now if you wear glasses you will know that finding reasonable but fashionable frames can be hard. If you still wish to have the designer brand Perfect Glasses have a great selection of designer frames in all shapes and sizes, but I wanted to show you that you don't have to spend a fortune to receive a great frame! 

The website has a great tool where you can upload a picture of you and it will show you how the glasses will fit. I found this useful, just so I could see how big the frame was compared to my face. 

To get the correct prescription you can either enter it manually or upload your prescription document, it really is that simple. Once ordered, my glasses arrived within a couple of days and I cannot believe how happy I am with them. I now just need the weather to stay sunny so I can get the wear out of them they deserve. 

If you like these frames but don't need prescription lenses, don't panic. You can buy the frames without prescription lenses in, no fuss. The website currently has an offer on where if you enter the code 'PAYHALF' at the checkout you can get half price discount across the entire website. So if you like the look of these or just fancy a look, then I would recommend heading over there quick. 

*Outfit*

Glasses - Perfect glasses

Dress - Zara

Bag - Vivienne Westwood (out of stock)

Boots - Office

I hope you enjoyed this little blog post from me, I really enjoyed working on this one and am so happy with my glasses. It's not very often i find a pair of reasonably priced prescription sunglasses that I love. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

*This post was in collaboration with https://www.perfectglasses.co.uk/, however all opinions are my own.*

Amy Rowley Style - The Trench Edit

Spring has sprung and I don't know about you but this makes me a very happy bunny. Today was the first day in a while I have been on my way back from work smiling because the sun is out and the breeze is just perfect! Anyway cheesiness over and done with, its important to remember that living in the UK it just so happens that these days are few and far between. With that in mind I thought what better focus for this week's blog then the classic trench coat!

Now if I had my way the Burberry trench would be the absolute epitome of perfection, however it's safe to say that is no where near my budget. So I thought I would talk to to you about the PINK trench and yes I am still far from being over my current pink obsession.

I picked this little beauty up from Topshop last year and I wore it to death through the spring months. I'm glad to see that the trend has been bought back this season and there are still plenty of choices available on the market. ( Links will be below) Not only does it give the edge to the classic of the trench but it just injects a little bit of colour to an outfit. Colour in my opinion is never worn enough, so many people get comfortable wearing the grey tones and monochrome outfits, which don't get me wrong I love, but you should never be afraid to wear a little bit of colour. You should learn to be playful with it and instead of wearing a complete outfit of bright colours, use one pop to make your outfit scream fun. You don't have to wear super bright shades either, muted tones and pastels are in fact my favourite.

This outfit was a simple one thrown on for the weekend but i felt comfortable yet a little bit sassy. With International Women's Day just gone it reminds me how important it is to feel great about what we are wearing and embrace it!

Pink Trench Coat

-No1-

-No2-

-No3-

So what do you think? Fancy a little pink trench? I know i will be wearing mine in the upcoming months and continue to embrace the pink shade that a lot of people seem to be going crazy over. I hope your all having a fabulous Friday and just like me looking forward to the weekend. I don't know about you but i'm hoping for a sunny one.

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

Amy Rowley Style - The Biker Jacket & My LFWF Experience

So after scrolling through the Zara app on my phone (a daily occurrence) this gorgeous suedette biker jacket caught my eye. The dilemma of what colour I should pick was the first hurdle after seeing it came in a baby pink shade too. It might surprise you if you saw my last blog post (here) that I chose this beautiful baby blue/grey colour to add to my wardrobe and after receiving the jacket it only seemed right that I shared it with you too. 

* Outfit * 

Jacket - Zara (pink version)

Jumper - H&M 

Jeans - Topshop

Boots- Office 

Bag - Zara (Sold out)

The classic biker jacket, is the perfect staple for any wardrobe. They return to the high street and designer market every season, with a different colour, new details or a interesting material. This particular biker jacket is part of the suede biker collection that has been around for the last couple of seasons and something I've totally been loving. I think its nice to step out of your comfort zone and choose something other then black or grey which is why I chose to go with this baby blue shade. It isn't too far away from the grey tones which means it's still easy to style and will work with most of your wardrobe. 

I wore this outfit last weekend when I went to London for the day with one of my good friends. It kept me warm in the still very breezy weather we are experiencing but I still felt stylish at the same time. As for my jumper underneath, I found this cute little number on one of my recent visits to H&M. It is very similar to a Club Monaco jumper that a few well known bloggers had been styling throughout fashion week (Lydia E Millen & Josie Fashion Mumblr) so I knew I had to pick it up once I saw it. All other items in my outfit will be linked above if you fancy having a look. 

Moving on from the outfit I wanted to quickly touch on a subject that I wasn't sure whether to bring up or not. As I mentioned earlier I went to London last weekend with a friend and we specifically went for London Fashion Week Festival. We had been excited to go for what seemed like ages and watching all the media shown throughout London Fashion Week, we had become even more eager to experience just a small part of that world. 

I think its important to talk about how things may not always seem as they are and that in fact certain hyped events might not always make you feel as you had thought. But that is okay. 

After experiencing only half an hour of the hustle and bustle of LFWF we decided that we would rather spend the day enjoying ourselves, exploring london further and being typical tourists instead of pretending to enjoy something that just wasn't our cup of tea. I wanted to enjoy the experience and could see so many others doing so but sometimes you have to accept if something isn't right. 

The overall busy nature of the event and way it made us feel, left us leaving uncomfortable and almost eager to breathe again. 

Anxiety isn't something I have really touched on before and its not something i'm overly ready to talk about now but for anyone else out there who may feel the same in these situations I just wanted to make a point of saying..ITS OKAY. Don't force yourself through something, instead remove yourself and be comfortable in your surroundings. Everyone is different and you may have the same passions but you might not like experiencing them in that shared way. 

That's enough rambling for one post, don't you think!? I hope you enjoyed my little update and outfit post, who else is seriously in love with this jacket?

Thanks for reading my lovelies x