In Colourful Company at Dreamland

Instagram has given me some amazing people in my life. I am so thankful for that. A while ago I went to my first In Colourful Company walk in London. It was lots of fun and got to meet some amazing people. A couple of weekends ago I went to the In Colourful Company event at Dreamland in Margate. 

I was excited to visit Dreamland this summer after its little re-vamp since last year. It did not disappoint. You could see how much effort they had put into the re-opening. Lots more places to sit, food trucks, more rides and a giant bouncy castle! The whole park just had an amazing vibe about it.

The park is so colourful and a perfect place to hold one of Toni's events. Toni is the founder of In Colourful Company, and I am so lucky to know her and be able to call her a friend of mine. She is simply wonderful. When we first got to Dreamland our joint host for this event was Leona of Lucky Dip Club. We started the day off by taking group photos by the 1000 smiles per hour sign.

After that we all went on rides and wandered around the park taking photos. I finally got to go on the main ride at the park, the railway. It was so fun, and a little scary on those wooden tracks. I eat yummy food and sweet treats. There was lots of awesome food trucks for us to choose what ever we wanted to eat or drink. I had this awesome pizza plus of course I had to grab some candy floss. Probably the best candy floss I have ever had!!!! We had a perfect private hut for us all to use, which was amazing! The whole day was filled with so much colour, everyone snapping photos and meeting new people.

Seriously though I had the best day with an awesome gang of ladies, who all met through instagram. I am already looking forward to heading up to Manchester for the next In Colourful Company event. Too excited already! Roll on Manchester!

Wall hunting in Brooklyn

One of my favourite parts of exploring any city is hunting out wonderful-colourful-fun filled walls to stand in front of. Of course if you know me, you know that hunting out colourful walls is one of my favourite past times. Wandering the streets on that warm day was fun. Wearing my sunnies on such a perfect day. Being a person that always take photos of everything, it's only been recently that I feel more conformable being in front of the camera. Now you can't stop me from getting my photo taken. Hopefully that doesn't sound vain, it's just finally I feel happy about myself. 

While I was in New York one of my favourites days was the day we wandered around Brooklyn. It had such a cool vibe about it. The sun was really warm, and I had my shades on. Life was good. There were so many amazing walls and street art. Wandering around looking to see what was around each corner was so fun. Always wondering what you were going to stumble across. Cute shops, places to grab a bite to each, friendly faces, and live music filled the streets.

After a bit of wall searching we went for something to eat. We visited By Chloe. It was all vegan and simply amazing. My mouth still waters when I think about their amazing mac and cheese, and their fries were pretty darn awesome too.

We visited more shops and wandering in and out of vintage shops. I will be talking about some of the stores we visited soon, as of course they need a whole blog post to themselves. Brooklyn had and has such a cool vibe about it. I was really glad we spent an amazing day there. It fed my appetite for fancy walls, and will remember it as such a perfect day.

Cha Cha Matcha

I recently went to New York in July to meet up with some of my amazing blogger friends. I have lots to get round to blogging about, however I have really wanted to do this post for ages and thought it was time. So lots more on my trip soon! But now to talk about a magical place I have wanted to go for ages after seeing fab photos on instagram. This place is Cha Cha Matcha.

On my trip to Manchester in April I finally got to try a matcha latte, and it was delicious! And of course I fell completely in love with it. I found this amazing place online which happened to be in New York, and I added it to my list of things to do while I was there. I was only in New York for such a short time, and am already planning my return, but on my last day in the city I managed to go visit with Lina. 

It was pretty magical, and very instagram/blog worthy, as you can see from my photos. I ended up ordering a warm matcha latte, and it was wonderful. They had all different types of drinks you could order, including some fabulous looking cold ones. They will be a must the next time I visit. 

The decor was so fun, and I just wanted to take photos of everything. Friendly staff working really hard as they measure all the servings out to perfection. Pastel pink and bright green tables, with grass on the wall, and their signature cha cha neon font adorned the walls. It really was perfection. I mean even the lightening in the toilet was pink! It was the perfect place to relax in such a busy city before I headed home. While I was visiting they opened up a new location which will be on my list to visit next time I am in New York. You can find out move about Cha Cha Matcha on their website or take a peek at their instagram.

Mr Doodle comes to town

The simply amazing Mr Doodle came to Ashford recently for the Create festival. He grabbed his signature pens and hoped over to Park Mall in Ashford. He took over the empty shop right next door to Made in Ashford. Everyday when I walked through town or nipped into Made in Ashford, I would hope that I would get to see this genius at work. Sadly I seemed to keep missing this magical Doodle Man.

Then one day I was walking past and I saw that the doors were open! I could pop in and see his amazing walls filled with his creations! I walked in and looked to my right, and there he was, up a ladder drawing! It was wonderful to have a chat with the man himself about this project and the Create festival.

Who is Mr Doodle you may ask?! Well Mr Doodle is a very talented fella called Sam Cox who loves to draw with his amazing black felt tip pens. He creates such fun and wacky creatures and drawings. He loves to fill spaces with his work, and creates such great wall art. You can find out more about Mr Doodle on his website here.

Ashford has really changed over the last few years, and I am so happy to live in such a fun and creative place.

Hello, it's me!

Hello, its me, Nicola. I am a huge fan of taking photos and writing every little detail down in a moleskine. Life is so much easier to snap a photo and then upload it to instagram. We have it so easy. I think there is something really darn amazing about taking time to sit and write about your day, a movie you saw, an adventure you had, or just everyday life. So I’m going to try that again. It might not work, but thats ok. Life isn’t life is you don’t at least try.

I feel like it's a good time to re-introduce myself. So I currently live in Kent in the UK. I’m an artist and retail worker. If you know me personally you know I am a fancy wall hunter, and will always be on the look out for a colourful wall to stand in front of. I am also a toy collector, and will forever be a toy collector. I love Autumn, giant jumpers and a good mug of tea. Plus I am a giant fan of instagram, you can find me over there too! Make sure you say hello!

Hello

Hello! I have not been around recently. So many things have happened since I last blogged. I got older, visited places I hadn’t seen before, went back to places I loved, met lots of new people and spent time with old friends. I went to Bristol and spent Easter there and had a wonderful time with good friends. I got to visit Manchester with David, and we had a blast. I got to meet three amazing friends from Instagram in Manchester too, and have an amazing toy adventure. I spent an awesome few days in London with far away friends. Plus more recently spent another 5 days in London, the city I love so much.

So much has been happening in the UK at the moment, and its really hard to stay so positive and happy when such awful things have happened. You question why anyone would even do these things, but I guess we will never fully understand. All we can do in these situations is be strong, come together and move forward. We are so strong, and can get through this.

Adventure ahead

I had a super awesome weekend with my uni gal pals recently. It was one of my oldest friends 30th birthday. Her boyfriend organised a surprise party, even though she knew it was happening. If you know Mandy you would know why! It was a great chance to see my uni friends. Since we all live in different parts of the country it's an amazing thing when we all get together. 

I got the train early on the Saturday and headed to London. I really do love a good train journey. It always gives me a chance to relax and take time for myself. Katy Perry had just released a new track so that song was on repeat on my long journey. I got to London, and as i had a little time to kill I jumped on a tube and headed to forbidden planet. I'm pretty sure you all know that its my favourite shop, and I could honestly spend all day wandering up and down the aisles looking at everything. I love looking at everything I can't afford also. I picked up the new Batwoman comic book, a beauty and the beast Funko blind book and Lady Thor in pop form.

Once I got to Brighton I hopped off the train and wandered down the lanes. Brighton really is a magical place. I was walking down one street and spotted lots of street art straight away. I love when walls are always changing and art pops up everywhere you go. I couldn't wait to catch up with everyone and celebrate Mandy's birthday!

More stories and photos on this adventure coming soon!

Life is good

Let's hope spring really is on it's way. I'm getting fed up of the colder weather. I am excited for fresh spring days. I am feeling really happy on the inside at the moment. Life is good and we should all remember that. Even in dark times, there is always a positive. You just have to make sure you search for that to keep you going. 

I booked my flights to New York last week. OMG. I am so excited to go back. If I am being really honest the last time I went it was horrid. This feels like a really hard thing to write about, since I don't think I have ever told anyone. The people I went with made me feel very isolated and alone. It's something I have blocked out for such a long time, but it was awful. I remember coming home and my parents were asking me if I had a good time, and I remember lying to them. I love visiting America, and while I was there that time I made myself go out and enjoy my time there, even though those people were clearly not my friends or even understood me. I guess one of the reasons I love America and love visiting is because I had a real hard time there, and it made me stronger. However life is so different now. I was a kid. A kid that did not know that later in life people would be wanting to be my friend, wanting to spend time with me, enjoying every moment of being friends with me. It wouldn't be just me feeling those things. It wouldn't be one sided. I wouldn't have to fight for people to be friends with me, people would want to be. I don't feel alone anymore. 

All I can say is that those people hurt me, and damaged me inside. I honestly think those people didn't care for me back then, they probably don't even realise how they made me feel. But I am strong and have come out fighting. So this trip to New York is that trip I should have got when I was 16. In July 30 year old me is will having the time of her life with people who will be excited to see me get off that plane, and will be sad to say goodbye.

Coffee date on a cold morning

Everyone loves a good cup of a hot drink hanging out in a cosy place. The other morning myself and David went into Canterbury and visited my favourite little coffee house, Burgate Coffee. It always has the best vibe, the perfect place to go and chill for a while. 

It was a cold winter morning and we were wrapped up with warm coats, hats and scarves. When we walked through the door and it felt warm and inviting. I could not wait to relax with a warm drink. David treated me to a yummy hot chocolate which was very pretty looking too. We talked about movies, books we wanted to read and new comic books that were coming out. Even though we have been together for over 3 years, sometimes I forget how amazing David is and how much we actually have in common. Life is pretty magical.

If you are ever in Canterbury, make sure to check out Burgate Coffee! 

Best friends forever

This post is one of those posts you end up writing when you know you have something good in your life. Someone really special, someone who you can't believe how lucky you are to know them, for you to be your friend. Yes, thats right, your friend. Many years of my life I was not a person with lots of good friends in her life. It took me to grow up and learn the special people will find you later on in life. This friend I seem to be rambling on about is my good pal Tom. 

I was lucky enough to meet him many years ago through instagram. We followed each other for a while, I have no idea how he found me on instagram back then, but he did. We ended up being in the same place at the same time without even knowing it till we had both left. Of course we found this out via instagram. We both had a super interest in cards and other fun things. At the time Tom was even more mysterious because I did not know his actual name, just his Instagram name; foxesandcats. Friends would always call him via that even when I eventually found out his name, that was how he would be known.

So one crazy rainy-storm-madness day we met in Brighton. I remember walking up to the clock tower and seeing his crazy giant hair (he used to have his insane hair, huge) coming towards me. My mum always thought he looked like he could have been a Doctor from Doctor Who. I just remember spending the most amazing day hanging out with him. And we have been friends ever since. It was started with a hashtag; nicolaandthefoxescardventure. You can go back on Instagram and check the photos out. Oh the filters we used. Eek.

I hopped on a train on a tuesday afternoon, straight from work to Margate. Tom and his amazing girlfriend Marta were visiting for Tom's birthday. I went and spent the most wonderful afternoon with them both. Marta is unbelievable perfect for Tom. She is beautiful, creative, oodles of fun, with a pinch of crazy. The good crazy. Because Tom has always been a little bit out there, I mean all you have to do is ask my mum about his head in the tumbler dryer incident, these two are just meant to be. It makes me so happy to see him happy.

I am very lucky to have found a friend in Tom. He has always been so supportive of my art work, and has always pushing be to be better just like David has. Having both of them is something so special. I still think its so amazing that platforms like Instagram, twitter, blogger and just the internet in general has given me my favourite people, and I will always be grateful for that. Forever.