Review: Dressed by Angels exhibition, London

One of my favourite things about London is that there's always something new going on. Be it a pop-up restaurant, a temporary sculpture or an interesting exhibition like this. Dressed By Angels got in touch to see if I wanted to pop along to their new costume exhibition. As a film and TV buff I said yes please!

Running until January 3, the exhibition is celebrating a staggering 175 years of the costume retailers Angels with over 100 different costumes. That's seven generations of one family. I actually used frequent the fancy dress show in Shafteburys Avenue for my old job finding bits and bobs for photoshoots. But I had no idea the costumer provided some of the most iconic costumes seen in television and film.

The highlight of the exhibition for me was coming face to face with Sharpe's jacket. Oh how I loved Sharpe as a kid. I watched it religiously and have such a soft spot for the hunky Sean Bean and his Sheffield accent. I've been trying to persuade my boyfriend to buy me the boxset for years... The Only Fools and Horses Batman and Robin outfits were a hoot too.

I spent the whole time wandering around exclaiming to my friend 'LOOK AT THAT ONE'! It amazed me just how many of the costumes were in such high profile films and shows. They featured in multiple Oscar and BAFTA award winning films as well as numerous Oliver and Tony award winning shows.

All made in London too. Incredible. It's well worth popping along to for a lazy afternoon marvelling at the insane detailing of the costumes. Tickets cost from £10.80. Try and spot your favourite show!

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Mulled Wine Festival, Covent Garden, London

Are we all in the Christmas spirit yet? No? Drag yourself along to London's first ever Mulled Wine festival on Covent Garden's Piazza. You know it makes sense!

Even if you don't like mulled wine, there's 11 different stalls offering various concoctions. From mulled cider to mulled jelly shots. It's a £10 entry charity donation to Connection at St-Martin-In-The-Field or you just have to check into Yelp app on your phone for free. I'm personally looking forward to sampling the mince pies from MeatMarket. It's running from 12th November to 14th November.

I'll be going on Friday night so might see one or two of you there!

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Exploring the UK: Tain, Ross and Cromarty, The Highlands, Scotland

On our final day in Scotland, we decided to stay a bit closer to where we were staying and explore the town of Tain and the surrounding areas.

You can't visit Scotland without a trip to a whisky distillery can you? Luckily Glenmorangie was a five minute drive - if that! - from where we were staying in Tain so we had one on our doorstep. I'd been on a tour around a distillery before in Illinois so I had an idea of the process. But it was interesting to find out what separates Scottish whiskey apart from the rest. There's a reason why it's so sought after! Generations upon generations have worked at the distillery and it's such a fine art to make sure it's perfect. I always find the process of making alcohol fascinating - something you never really think about when you're ordering your voddy and diet coke in a nightclub.

After a couple of samples of whisky, we headed back to the town of Tain to find out about the history. We met a very enthusiastic lady who had moved up from Devon 30 years ago at the museum - she was a fountain of knowledge! Tain is pretty famous all over the world for it's production of silver. Who knew?! We marvelled at some pretty expensive artefacts before heading out to the St Duthac Collegiate Church to learn the story of medieval pilgrimage. King James IV of Scotland actually made 18 pilgrimages to this shrine.  As someone who doesn't particularly believe in God, I have a soft spot for religious buildings and often seek them out. St Duthac has the most amazing stained glass windows and is said to be one of the finest preserved medieval churches in the Highlands.

After exhausting ourselves with history, we got ready for dinner and headed to Tarbat Ness Lighthouse to watch the sun go down. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip. There's something therapeutic about climbing the rocks, breathing in the sea air and watching the sun set. I'd been promised there were seals in this part of the world so imagine my excitement when we caught them bobbing along in the water! In the summer they clamber on the rocks above so guess that means I'll have to plan a trip back.

Time flew and it was time to make our way over to Portmahomack for our dinner reservation at The Oyster Catcher. A seafood restaurant in what I can only really describe as someone's living room. The menu changes as they use local, seasonal, fresh ingredients with lots of emphasis on seafood. It was honestly one of the best dining experiences of my life. We had endless courses, good wine and quirky yet excellent service. I'm still dreaming about my lobster confit now.

It won't be too long until I'm back in The Highlands!

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