A day out in Clifton, Bristol

You may or may not know that I've been without a sofa for the last month. I recently moved y'see and I've been saving up for a new one. (But things like car tax and insurance popped up and all the pennies were suddenly gone. Damn.)

While waiting for a new sofa,  I've mostly been having picnics on my lounge floor and really appreciating that sitting on the floor isn't actually as comfy or as 'cool' as I thought it might be.  And it's kind of hard after a while.

So I went to see a second hand sofa in Bristol and while I was there I decided to pop along to Clifton.  Clifton is a really cool village in Bristol that's just bursting with a cool creative urban vibe ...and a few Banksy originals dotted in between.

My Twitter followers were fast to recommend lots of their favourite eateries, so I set about finding one of them, the Primrose Cafe.  And I was far from disappointed!  I LOVED this place.  Walking down this little 'laneway' street reminded me of Melbourne so much - and the coffee was perfect.  I was one happy Clifton coffee'd up bunny.

a)  Thank you Primrose Cafe for this perfect coffee!  Do you send by courier? ;)

b) Beautiful colourful, fresh fruit and veg from 'Reg the Veg' shop in the same laneway.  I wish I'd bought my shopping bags!

c) A cool tea-towel in a shop window!  Clifton is full of artsy shops and galleries with cool unique finds from independent traders.  I liked them all!

d) The cool laneway - outdoor seating!  This looked even more beautiful in the sunshine (but it sadly went in behind the clouds when I took this photo!)

e) A really sweet little flower shop.

f) Crumbs magazine - I'd followed these guys for a while on Twitter so I was excited when I found a copy in a cafe here which I leafed through while sipping on a cup of tea.  I discovered so many other Bristol eateries that I am already planning my next excuse to go!

Thank you to all the Twitter'ers that recommended their favourite cafes!  I'll be back soon.  Love you all x

Midweek Muse

Need a bit of a mid-week pick-me-up?  Then feast your eyes on these gorgeous bowls that I found in Cath Kidson.

I recently moved into a new apartment and I have to admit I've been here 2 weeks and still haven't unpacked properly.  I just can't decide where to put everything!  But it is very exciting having such a 'blank canvas' of space and just letting your imagination go wild as to what it will look like.  I can really see lots of pastels in this new place, I want it to be as colourful as possible to remind me of the colours I desperately miss in Australia.

I have found a lovely new tea room not too far from me though which does an amazingly good coffee and has an art gallery up stairs. It's the Lavender Bakehouse in Chalford. I popped in recently and this pretty china tea cup caught me eye!

If you like pretty pastels then check back tomorrow where I'll have something else I'm certain you will love ♥

Lazy days in Lake Atitlan

My brilliant mate Emma is travelling the world at the moment, currently in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala (how coool is that?!) and although I'm very jealous (very! Just look at all the colours and sunshine!) the photos she's taken are just making me drool... ! She's an amazing photographer and here she shares a few tasty ones exclusively for you and me in this very special foodie postcard from Gautemala... over to you Emma!

The food here focuses on combining healthy with yummy! The fruit and veg, fresh from the nearby farmers markets, are full of colour and flavour. My favourite time of the day has to be breakfast - for me it's such a treat to eat out for breakfast!

My favourite cafe here, Cafe La Peurta, bakes a 3 seed wholewheat bread, which toasted is to die for, and you can tell the jam is homemade. It's served with a pot of their house blended breakfast tea or freshly squeezed watermelon and pineapple juice. I just love the colours! I think I could eat here forever :)

We stumbled across a little veggie cafe the other day, and although my boyfriend doesn't really believe a meal is a meal without meat, I managed to persuade him to give it a try! I ordered the rainbow salad with homemade bread and thickly spread homemade hummus. The hummus was amazing! He went for goats cheese salad, all multi-coloured and organic. Food here is not just delicious though, it's almost a decorative art form!

There's this amazing little juice stand in the village, run by a family of beautiful Guatemalan girls. The girls wear the traditional Mayan dress, made from local fabrics. Traditionally the vibrant colours and patterns denoted the village they come from. I think it's so wonderful how they've held on to their traditions in this way. The juices are so delicious, and they are cheap too! It's a win-win!

So let me share with you my current favourite juice recipe, courtesy of the lovely Mayan girls. It's super scrummy! (and if you make yourself one, you gotta let me know what you think!):

2 beetroots
2 carrots
2.5 oranges
fresh ginger

Juice. Blend. Enjoy.

I love it here! I do, I really do! Guatemala has surprised me in so many ways! Its natural beauty, its vibrant colours, its love of good food, and its warm, gentle approach to life. I've been staying at Lake Atitlan in the Highlands for the last week, and it's the kind of place that's hard to leave. Ringed by numerous immense volcanoes, the lake is famed not only for its S-P-E-C-T-A-C-U-L-A-R beauty but also for its prominent Mayan culture and traditions.

Emma Jackson is a portrait and lifestyle photographer, usually based in the Cotwolds in England, but travelling around the world in 2013. www.paperlotusphotography.com