A Brighton State of Mind

A few weekends ago I spent an amazing day in Brighton with my friends! It's been 4 years since I was last there for mine and By's 1st anniversary! so my visit was looong overdue! Growing up we used to go to Brighton loads because it was a straight direct train from Harpenden to Brighton which was the end of the line and it has a special place in my heart so I was mega excited about our visit!

There's no denying it, aside from London - Brighton has to be the coolest city in England.



and we started our day as we planned to go on - by eating some amazing food! Laur and Caz had spotted this very cool eatery called Bill's.  I loved everything about it, from the fun little jars of chutneys and jams that lined every wall...



to the bunches of coloured raffia and tissue paper that hung in every corner...



They were used to wrap up any purchase that was made but I just thought they were a pretty awesome way to decorate a place in general!

Even the pots that held the cutlery were cool!

You were able to browse as you please whilst you waited for your food to come, and then you could tick a card on your table with what you wanted to buy and at the end of your meal your purchases would get added on to your bill and arrive at your table all beautifully wrapped up - genius!

Of course it wasn't just the decor that was first class, we got these rather delicious smoothies - pineapple pieces and all!

and the food was AMAZ-ing, check out my french toast! What a way to start the day!

The girls got scrambled eggs on toast and eggs benedict, the menu reminded me quite alot of Granger & Co, but this place was slightly cooler in my opinion and the service was a million times better!

It was so good that when we met up with Jo and Nats later on we may or may not have gone back for round 2 and I got this amazing lamington! 

We were seriously lucky with the weather, and so we couldn't pass up the chance to head to the beach!

We sat for a spot of sunbathing...

and Caz and Jo went down to the water to check out the temp, pretty chilly indeed!

Of course you can't go to Brighton without taking the obligatory tourist pics on the pier!

They even had some Jubilee and Olympic themed ones this time around too!

and we took a little rest after our busy morning on these jolly deck chairs!

After some shopping in The Lanes, we hunted out Boho Gelato, as I had read it was one of the top 10 things to do in Brighton!  With flavours like choc pretzel, white chocolate coconut crispy, carrot cake, birthday cake and even dairy free flavours we were glad we paid it a visit! 

Being the milkshake fans we are, we turned our ice creams into milkshakes! 

and in my opinion nothing pairs better with a milkshake than a cupcake! So we headed to Angel Food Bakery, one of my favourite ever UK cupcakeries, to complete our treat filled day!

I'll let those pictures do the talking! Let me just say you won't find better tasting cupcakes this side of the Atlantic that's for sure! How I loved having a cupcake fest accompanied by some of my best friends (we missed the others who couldn't make it!)

We said goodbye to Jo and Nats and headed back to the beach...

There were so many people packed into every little beach cafe and bar so we decided to pick up some take away slush puppies and sit ourselves right at the water's edge!

and of course just when you think a day can't get more perfect...

You hunt down a Mexican! Believe it or not Dos Sombreros seemed to be the only Mexican in Brighton, lucky for us!

and you know you're off to a good start when free tortillas and salsa are involved!

Caz had a fajita fest...

and Laur went down the Tex Mex route with spicy chicken and sweet potato fries!

I was absolutely loving  my chicken Taco's complete with mango salsa and super creamy refried beans!  As most of you know I've been to more than my fair share of Mexican's in my time and this one more than impressed!

In my opinion there is no better day then one spent with amazing friends and amazing food!