We took these photos on a recent trip to Normandy, France.  At the time I had no intention in using them for a blog post but I just loved seeing Mickey's smiley face I couldn't resist sharing them!  Please do ignore my moody face though, I actually wasn't feeling very well!

This beach at Barneville-Carteret has featured on my blog a few times (check out these posts for past outfits captured here).  This time we visited at the end of September, on the whole the weather was still lovely and sunny, but a hint of Autumn was starting to come through in the chilly coastal breeze.  Jeans, this light weight Mickey Mouse jumper from Primark and my trusty Zara coat from a few seasons ago were all I needed to keep warm!  I love how light -hearted this jumper is, I think I like wearing it so much as it's the only 'novalty' item of clothing I have in my wardrobe!

Buying Christmas  goodies in October (the beginning of October no less!) must be an absolute first for me!  Really, it's only been the last two years or so that I've genuinely been excited for Christmas - I think it may be a combination of having my lovely little niece visit at that time of year and a new house that I'm really excited to decorate!  We all love having a rummage around TK Maxx right?  Well I did a bit of that in the Christmas section at the weekend.  Yep, totally bypassing the Halloween section I picked up a fair few bits - impromptu Christmas Haul!

I picked up the Bahoma set of two Noel Noel scented Candles (£9.99) first of all, I love Christmas scents!  Label anything as 'Christmas spiced' and I'm sold.  The Noel Noel candles are tangerine, nutmeg, berry, fir needle and cinnamon scented.  I'm waiting until it gets that bit closer to Christmas before burning them, but these still smell amazing!  Actually I blame these candles for getting me in the Christmas spirit!!

I spotted the set of 4 'Cherish The Season' tree decorations (£3.99) thinking the cute little ceramic acorns and pinecones would fit in perfectly with the simple white theme (with a hint of red) I went for last year, which I loved and had already planned to continue with in 2014.  The white ceramic Reindeer head (£4.99) has the same chalky feel as the tree decorations.  It's the subtlety of this as a Christmas decoration that I really like!  Stag heads and antlers have been popular in home decorating for quite a while now, so what better to have around at Christmas times?  This may end up on my mantlepiece a bit earlier than what's socially acceptable for Christmas decorations!

Finally I picked up what must be everyone's (right?!) must have purchase for around the Christmas period (well, towards the end of the year anyway).  A new diary!  I've only ever seen the 'In Tempo Firenze' diaries in TK Maxx, but I've picked up a few notebooks and journals from this brand in TK Maxx before and have found the quality to be really great for the price - this rather large, real leather diary was only £5.99.  Predominantly in Italian (hey ho, I'm an italophile and can understand the basics!)  this page a day 2015 diary has all the sections you could want, I can't wait to start filling it with notes and appointments!!

Let me know if I'm crazy to have started picking up Christmas bits and bobs already!!

For me, visiting Malta always just takes place as part of a day trip.  When I visit the islands I stay on the smaller sister Island of Gozo, my first love of the Mediterranean islands.  I still love Malta and always come away thinking I should spend more than just one day a year there!

This summer we decided to give our favourite locations of Sliema, St Julian's and Mdina a miss for the chance to visit some new places (for us) on the main island of Malta.  After getting off the ferry at Cirkewwa we drove to the 5,500 year old temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, taking just a quick detour to the stunning Dingli Cliffs to catch a glimpse of the uninhabited island of Filfla.  My beloved Gozo is actually home to some of the most intact of Malta's Megalthic Temples, which are all older the Pyramids in Egypt and Britains Stonehenge, however the stunning coastal location and visitor centre attached to the temples in Malta makes these well worth a visit!

Ready for lunch we left the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples desperate to get out of the hot sun.  We have always photographed the three cities of Vittoriosa (Birgu), Senglea and Cospicua from the Valletta side of the Grand Harbour (at the beautiful Upper Barrakka Gardens - a must to visit).  There has been a lot of regeneration in these ancient Maritime cities, so instead of our usual pitstop at the Valletta Waterfront we decided to give the Birgu Waterfront a go for lunch.  I'd really recommend the waterfront's Tate restaurant.  Putting the wonderful yacht views aside, it has a large and varied menu, the food was great with generous portions - but the surprise for me was that the whole menu was vegetarian!  Malta does cater well for vegetarians in general, but  it's quite rare to stumble across a purely vegetarian restaurant!  Yep, I was beyond pleased with this find.

Before leaving Birgu we made a quick stop off at the Inquisitor's Palace, one of the few worldwide to survive both the passing of time and revolts against the Catholic church in the centuries past.  The history on Malta is incredible and with everything from decorative original features, a prison complex and torture chamber, the Inquisitor's Palace certainly has plenty of the history the island is renowned for!

You can't spend time on Malta without visiting the famous and beautiful fortified capital city of Valletta.  We called inside the city walls for a spot of shopping, for a wonder wound to catch up on all the restorations that have taken place in the last year or so, but also just to grab a coffee or two!  I love that Valletta is compact enough to walk round leisurely in an afternoon - if that's all the time you have.  I'm simply happy aimlessly wondering the grid system of streets, enjoying the amazing architecture of the palazzos, churches, palaces, and even the backstreets are quite wonderful - filled with a myriad of my favourite colourful balconies.  However if you happen to be visiting for the first time, be sure to visit the St John's Cathedral and it's Caravaggio paintings, the Grand Master's Palace, Upper Barrakka Gardens and the bustling Waterfront.

If you've ever visited Malta, let me know your favourite things to do and visit.  If you have any questions about the islands of Malta and Gozo please do get in touch!!

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