If We Took a Holiday...

...it would be SO NICE! I must say, I agree with Madonna's logic on this one. Well, hello! I am back from my two-week holiday in sunny Florida and apart from a bit of jet-lag, I am feeling relaxed,  rested, refreshed and any other similar words beginning with 'R'. I thought I would post a quick round up of my holiday...

This year was our fifth trip to Florida and it was the best yet! The Boy and I spent a very happy fortnight exploring, shopping, eating and (of course) visiting Disney World. The weather was beautiful and the hotel (the Marriott Village in Lake Buena Vista) was wonderful.

We were based three-quarters of a mile from Downtown Disney which made "going to see The Mouse" (as the locals call it) as many times as we liked a skoosh. The parks themselves were quite quiet so there were no crazy long lines to get on the rides and we even got to meet a few of the characters since they weren't being bombarded with children all the time. Photo op! Disney World is still my favourite place on earth and it was amazing to be back.

Aside from the parks, we sampled lots of yummy things to eat - some highlights included lobster mac & cheese at House of Blues, Doritos Locos Tacos (a taco with the shell made from Doritos, so wrong and yet so right), being reunited with childhood favourites at Dunkin' Donuts and breakfasts so big I surprised myself. Unsurprisingly, in a lot of my holiday snaps I am never far away from the next plate of food...

And of course, there was the shopping! With HUGE malls, chain stores and designer outlets to choose from, Florida is full of excellent shopping destinations. I picked up a few cute dresses, two pairs of shoes, some goodies from Betsey Johnson and Tarina Tarantino (two of my very favourite designers) and a lot of make-up from both high(ish)-end retailer Sephora and drugstores like Walgreens and Wal-mart. I will post separately about my make-up product hauls so I can dissect them in detail for my fellow beauty junkies!  Like at home, I am a total bargain-hunter when I am on holiday and managed to get some really great discounts on everything from dresses to dinners! A lot of the outlet shops offered deals like buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-one-50%-0ff so with vouchers and in-store deals I was able to get a lot of bang for my buck.

With temperatures in the high-80s and sometimes early-90s it was important to stay protected in such a strong, direct sun. As well as my usual SPF110 by Banana Boat for all over coverage I also used Neutrogena's Clear Face facial sunscreen in SPF55 which has an anti-breakout formula. This was the first time I'd used this product and I was very impressed. Normally due to applying a greasy sunblock to my face (even ones designed for facial protection, such as Boots' No7 facial sunscreen product) I am prone to a strong breakout on holiday, but this matte-drying formula from Neautrogena left my skin feeling nice and able to breathe. I didn't get a single zit on holiday and it did a great job of protecting my face too! It has earned a permanent spot (ho ho) in  my holiday kit.

It feels like it was over in a heartbeat now, but I can always enjoy the memories from this holiday - and start planning the next one! Now it's all about getting organised and back to Glasgow life (and temperatures - brr!) in my wee West End flat. I'm still catching up with what has been going on over here, in 'real life' and the bloggersphere. If there is anything you think I might enjoy reading up on please leave me a comment below! The West End Festival starts in a mere few days so there is a lot of excitement surrounding that. I will be out of Glasgow for the parade day (London calling...) but I will be posting a feature shortly on some of my top festival picks. Plus, it's officially summer now - hurrah!

Are you going on holiday this year? Are you excited about Summer? Do you like to bargain-hunt too?

Thanks for reading, it's good to be back!