A whole lof of Capri and a little deep thinking....

During our trip to Italy, Luke and I managed to fit in a trip to Capri: a gorgeous little island that's a favourite destination of many celebrities. The island is truly beautiful, but incredibly expensive, as I'm sure you'd expect!

The Royal Wedding!

I've never really been much of a Monarchist if I'm completely honest... I'm not exactly against the Royal Family, I've just never really given it much of a thought. Living in the North of England, the monarchy doesn't really have much of an impact... or effect, on everyday life. Their aristocratic lives couldn't be further removed from Northern English life and they so rarely venture our way. That said, even I couldn't help but be moved and intrigued by the events of today: The Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton: or, as they have now been entitled: The Duke an Duchess of Cambridge

I would say there are two main reasons why I was so enthralled by the wedding (though I must confess to having slept through most of it, watched it later recorded and pressed "fast foreword" through some of the "boring bits"... Sorry Wills!). The first reason has got be the way in which William and Harry portray themselves in public. They are young and refreshing and seem to understand the modern British world in a way their predecessors cannot. Their was a very relaxed attitude to their demeanour today and they seemed truly awed by the spectacle of wellwishers that greeted them! There was also the way in which William and Kate looked at each other at the alter: innocent, honest and in love. This was no show, it seemed to the millions watching like a real life fairytale had come true. Believe me, I never expected to feel this way about it!!

The second reason I was glued to my TV was because I, like so many others, waited with excitement to see the best kept secret in modern media: what and who Kate would be wearing! I have to say I was overjoyed to see that she had chosen Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen: it was by far the favourite choice for most of us! The ivory and lace gown was absolutely stunning and suited the demure, classically elegant Kate to a tee.

Buona Pasqua!

Luke and I arrived back from Italy on Friday and I have to say, I have fallen in love with Sorrento and the Bay of Naples. So beautiful. We were only there for the week and managed to cram in trips to Pompei, Herculaneum and Vesuvius, as well as popping across to Capri on the Hydrofoil. Pompei and Herculaneum are probably the most incredible places I've ever been - The photos I've taken don't even do the place justice. The whole site is a lot LOT bigger than I expected and when you're there you're just captivated by the whole feel of it. I'm going to talk much more about it and the rest of my Italy trip in the posts to come in the next week or so - I have so much to share! For now, though, I will say that it was truly one of the best holidays I've ever had and I would highly recommend a trip to Italy and the Bay of Naples in particular - Sorrento is just beautiful.

On the second day there we took an exploratory trip up along the cliff and down the other side, eventually finding ourselves at a very quiet and beautiful bay, tucked in behind some rocks on which some old roman ruins can be found! An amazing find, and an incredibly picturesque setting. I couldn't resist a little outfit post, given on how my Rotherham backdrops are nowhere near this pretty!

Midi Dress, Belt, Shoes - Primark. Box Bag, Headscarf - Vintage. Retro Camera Necklace - Little Rachael. Ring - Italy.

I've deliberately done no photo editing whatsoever on these photos, they're exactly as they were taken so you can see the natural beauty of my surroundings. Such an amazing place, I wish I was still there!

More to come soon, I hope you've all enjoyed Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday - back to work tomorrow for me :-(

~ Little Rachael xxx

Happy Birthday Blog :-) - Little Rachael Anniversary

Today is my blog's first birthday :-) It's one whole year since I published my very first post on Little Rachael. In some ways, I can't believe it's only been a year - blogging is so much a part of my life now that I can't really remember what I did before it! In other ways, I look back on those first few posts and I remember the excitement and nervousness I felt trying to get the blog off the ground - and it seems like it was only yesterday.

I feel like I've come a long way in the past year. Originally the blog was just for me - I didn't think anyone else would actually read it! The fact that I now have a healthy group of followers and regular readers and comments makes me feel amazing and it only spurs me on to keep going - thank you so so much to everyone who has supported me over the past year and to those of you who keep coming back to comment - I know exactly who you are and it warms my heart every time that I see you've returned - I do this for all of you. :-)

Enough of the gushing ;-) - Here's a look back at Little Rachael over the year:

April - May 2010

June - August 2010

 

September - December 2010

January-April 2011

 

I feel quite nostalgic looking back at all these photos - and it's interesting to see how my style has changed over the year, no doubt as a result of the influence and inspiration of blogging and being involved in the fashion blogs of others. It makes me happy :-)

Today has been a LONG day - Luke and I went to The Gadget Show Live in Birmingham. We were up at 6am and it took us 2 hours to get there: we didn't return home until 8.30pm! It's been an amazing day and seeing Jason Bradbury (not to mention Otis!) in the flesh was quite a thrill! haha. I'm exhausted though - an early night for me, I think. I have a lot to sort out tomorrow as we fly to Sorrento on Friday. As I probably wont have time to blog tomorrow, I'll say a sweet goodbye now - See you in a week my dears! Don't forget me in my absence - I'll be back on the 22nd :-)

Until then, Happy Blogging.

Little Rachael X

Need Supply...

For those of you with money.... (Though I'm certainly not one of you, I can but lust...)

Sue Bee - Jeffrey Campbell

Ooooh La La La

 

I started to feel better yesterday (finally!) and so went out for a couple of drinks with my beautiful friend Tanya. Apologies for the shocking quality of the photos - in my post-drink haze, I set the camera up wrong. Woops.

Tree Print Dress, Lace Up Boots, Dorothy Perkins. Denim Jacket, Belt, George@Asda. Bag, Primark. Tights, Asos

Little Rachael Recommends...

I've wanted to do an outfit post over the last couple of days, but I've been off work poorly sick and lets be honest, nobody wants to see that! ;-)

With that in mind here's a little bit of inspiration and some blog recommendations, followed by some very good news :-)

She Wore WHAT?!, Into the fold , Kenzie Faith, L'armadio del delitto, A Fashion Love Affair, The Fall.

I hope you like these bloggers as much as I do! I love reading new blogs so please feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments below and I will check it out :-)

On to the good news... I sold my first necklace of The Little Rachael Collection on Thursday!! :-) (By sell, I mean on Etsy and to someone who wasn't a friend, family member or acquaintance!) I'm super excited about it as I've been trying to get this little venture off the ground for a while, lets hope its the start of a new phase for Little Rachael! The lady who purchased this beautiful design is from the US (I'm from the UK - very reasonable shipping charges I might add!) and she chose the Angel in Paris necklace, which I have to admit is one of my favourites :-)

There's now only one of this design left, so buy it now if you like it! ;-) You can find this and my other designs at www.etsy.com/shop/LittleRachael. Keep an eye on the shop - I'll be adding brand new items very soon!

My other good news is that Luke and I have just booked a holiday - to Sorrento! I'm really excited as I've never been to Italy before and it's one of those places I've always always wanted to go to. Hopefully we'll get to visit Capri and Pompeii too, how exciting!! We leave on Friday, so watch this space for some Italian flavour!

I need 30 more followers until the giveaway! Spread the word ;-) .....

Leave me a comment and tell me your news - I've been housebound for too long now! ;-)

Love,

Little Rachael.