We are on a house hunt

Do you fancy another adventure? A new challenge? Come on then...

That's right everyone we are looking for our next home. 

We are craving our own space, especially as we have had so much freedom whilst travelling to suddenly be back under someone else's roof. Massive shock to our systems.

We are obviously extremely grateful for all the support we have had since being back, but it's now time to spread our wings in a different way and find our own little place we can call home. 

Using the extremely straight forward apps 'Zoopla' and 'Right Move' we have already seen a few that have taken our fancy. 

The only down side is we are desperate to get our little fluff ball Fig back, and we are finding a lot of tenancies don't allow pets. 

        

Being an old boy we don't want to miss out on his final few months/years hopefully (honestly he is the toughest cat you'll meet when it comes to living). We have had him for 15years and he is still going strong. Plus we want to find somewhere we can also develop as a couple and maybe add a few more furry friends to our little family. 

And no don't jump to any conclusions we aren't planning on having some hairy children any time soon. For now we just want our little family reunited. 

                                         

Eventually we want to head to our favourite place in the UK, you guessed it...London! We are being the sensible grown ups we are....sorry couldn't say that with a straight face. Well we are trying to be sensible and get some cash behind us so we can move to big wonderful city that is L-Town. So that is our goal.. One day. For now our weekend trips will have to do.

But for now, let's see where this new adventure takes us. Once we find somewhere to call Suze and the Beard HQ, we will be helping you guys out with the best places to find the coolest stuff to fill your homes/rooms at the best prices. We already have some cool pieces in storage we are excited to bust out and set up in our future home.

Wish us luck with landing a place. 

UK - The Free Things in Life NHM

Now I'm sure many of you have been here over the years whether it's a family day out, a school trip or even pretty recently just for some free entertainment.

That's right the entrance fee is free, which is always a winner.

     

The Natural History Museum has a special place in our hearts as we took a trip here for one of our first dates. So any new relationshippers out there this is always a great shout as it's fun and you can have a right giggle on the interactive equipment. 

   

Again this is an easy one to get to if your new with using the underground, so not to panic, we shall give you some tips in regards to getting there and even apps we use when we can't get our head around train locations.

     

As you walk out of South Kensington station, following the signs to the museum in the tube , you will ascend a short staircase and there it is, right in front of you.

The natural history museum is an incredible architectural building, which makes for some incredible photos. As you pay closer attention to the building you can see the carvings of various animals, try and spot the dodo.

There are various places out of the front of the museum in which you can sit with friends or family and chill or even have a picnic if you've come prepared.

     

Upon entry to the museum you will be standing within the Hintze hall. Here stands a diplodocus "dippy the dinosaur" who has been a resident here since 1905.

There are corridors on either side of the museum leading off to different aspects of our history and even more to explore up a grand staircase to the other floors.

     

Our personal highlight of the museum here is obviously the dinosaur rooms which are found within the blue zone.

    

We are dinosaur lovers, it's as simple as that. These rooms, like the rest in the museum, provide information on a variety of dinosaurs and throughout their time on earth.

    

Check out the animatronic dinosaurs, I don't think you can miss them but there pretty incredible and a little terrifying to any children visiting here. 

    

This place is pretty easy to navigate around however if you do find yourself struggling as there is so much to see and want to make sure that your not going to miss any features there are maps available in the halls. These also contain information on the temporary exhibitions and what's on on the day of your visit. So all very handy. Please remember to donate £1 for these as that small contribution goes towards maintaining this incredible building! Don't be stingy! 

    

There is always something going on at the NHM, obviously the permanent exhibitions are free as we mentioned, however temporary exhibitions are shown here over the year which, yes you have to pay for, but with experience of being to a couple of these, they are truly once in a lifetime experiences to view some outstanding work.

    

To keep up to date with these movements we would suggest checking out the NHM's website which we shall link below.

    

We hope you have a great day out here whether you just enjoy the free things in life or pay to see one of the exhibitions.

    

Top Tips

▪️The app we use to navigate the tubes is called 'TubeMaps' it's very handy and works even when you are on the underground so no need to panic or get off at the wrong stop. 

▪️ The Natural History Museum website www.nhm.ac.uk

▪️During School holidays this place is rammed so if you want a more 'peaceful' time try and avoid busy periods, or get there at opening time 10am - 5.50pm 

Don't Even Ask

We have had a right mare of a weekend and we want to say a HUGE SORRY for not popping up a post on Friday. 

At 8pm on Friday when our blog normally goes up we were stranded in a car park due to a broken down car. 

Things just went from bad to worse for us, but we won't bore you with the details. 

                         

However we are back on track and our Monday post is all ready to go up at 8PM tonight. 

Thank you again for understanding and if you could send us some positive vibes we would be extremely grateful. 

Much Love 

Suze and the Beard 

Xxx

Travelling is a Game Changer

We have been together for over a year now, which some people might think, blimey you don't hang about! 

You live together

You blog together

And you are travelling together...isn't that a bit soon? 

Now in most cases, Yes, it probably would be, but (and trust us when we say we are trying to do this in the least cheesiest way possible) when you know you've found the one, you just know. 

       

Even having been together for over a year and lived together for 8 of those months we thought we knew each other's little habits, some cute, some gross. 

However even more came to a head when travelling began!  

Here are a few little warnings and tips to help you guys out whilst travelling as a couple.

Natural beauty will shine

Smart clothes, hair products, straighteners and make up all go out the window when you're travelling. 

More so for the girls, it's that awkward phase of letting that stuff go. 

Embrace it girlies! Let the hair go wild and let your natural beauty come out. 

Honestly more often than not you will be looking like a mess. All these well put together travellers is a lie...or we just haven't mastered it yet.

You will honestly see each other looking natural and lovely but also gross and sweaty.

Instead of perfect hair and well presented make up Beardy now looks at hair piled up in a messy bun, no make, a vest top and shorts. But it doesn't matter. Learn to love being natural! 

Suze however doesn't mind that beardy went a little castaway on the situation, using it as an excuse not to keep up appearances and just let his hair do its own thing.

      

Rules 

▪️Your skin and hair will welcome the break!! Our skin and hair has been in the best condition ever. Think about it! 

Lots of water

A little bit of sun (whilst being protected)

Natural hair products

It has all helped in clearing up our skin and making our hair grow. 

▪️Ladies, yes it's great being natural but make sure you don't go all 'wookie' on the situation. You know what I mean. Grab a razor and sort those pins out. 

▪️You will get sweaty, or rained on! Face it you are in a tropical country. So be prepared! Deodorant, wet wipes, sun lotion and in case of the random down pour a rain mac! Preparation is key! You're both in the same boat so embrace it. 

▪️To be perfectly honest seeing each other at our best but now also at our worst has made us even stronger, lovey dovey again we know, but seeing each other scruffy and dishevelled just shows us what we have is more than just based on appearances. 

SPACE

It's bound to happen, you will bicker! Little things will start to annoy you and spending pretty much 24 hours a day together is never healthy! 

      

Rules

▪️Know when to back off! This is vital, if you feel it's getting heated leave it. Give each other space and time to cool off. 

▪️Arrange time for yourself. Even if it's just an hour! It will give you that space to do the things you loved doing back at home. Read a chapter of your book, go and have a coffee, call home. Nine times out of ten you start to wonder what the other is up to and end up meeting up anyway. It's just nice to know you have that 'me' time. 

       

                                                  This is Suze's awesome Dad by the way 

▪️Don't hold grudges. Don't let a silly tiff ruin your trip. Say sorry, have a cuddle and make up. I mean look where you are!! Enjoy it whilst you can! 

Toilet Activity 

Right lets get this out there, it's not pleasant, it's not lady like, but hey everyone does it...poop! 

When you're back at home it's the classic situation of either waiting for them to go out or doing the 'shower trick' so they can't hear you. It's creating that illusion that you're all lovely and perfect. 

But trust us that illusion is well and truly smashed when your away seeing the world.

We guarantee at some point on your travels one of you, if not both, will have a toilet issue, aka icky tummy. 

This will involve frequent rushes to the loo, normally resulting in some seriously odd noises and lots of 'Oh No's' coming from the bathroom. 

        

Rules

▪️LAUGH ABOUT IT! It's funny! This maybe TMI but we have both had situations where we have had to rush off, and in small accommodation where your bed is inches away from the bathroom you are bound to hear it. We instantly laugh it off. Or tell the other 'Turn the telly up'! 

▪️Be understanding! Don't make the other feel more embarrassed than they already do. Be as sympathetic as you'd want them to be if you were in that situation. 

▪️At the end of the day, everybody poops! Get over it and have a giggle

We hope these help, and just remember...Be safe, have fun and don't forget to enjoy it whilst you can. 

UK - Exciting News!

We were invited to our first ever Event in relevance to our blog!! How exciting is that?! 

The event was organised by The House of Luxury. A fantastic global public relations, events management and marketing agency specialising in the luxury lifestyle industry. 

       

They arranged the event to be held at The Royal Opera Arcade Gallery. The gallery is located near Trafalgar Square on Pall Mall in the heart of Central London. 

       

So on arrival we had both dressed up more so than usual, yet we still felt very under dressed for the exhibition. However it was very cool to have our names on a private guest list. Swanky right? 

We were here to view the incredible work of Zhuang Hong Yi and his display of colourful Flowerbeds. 

      

Zhuang Hong Yi's work represents sophistication, beauty, and a level of such perfection that shows a clear presence of Chinese influences.

He uses bright, vibrant, oil/acrylic paints and materials that really capture your imagination. His art is inspired from his life in the Netherlands but uses traditional Chinese materials to create these masterpieces.

      

The mesmerising work we saw at the event was actually made up of thousands of plain pieces of rice paper that had been transformed into these beautiful, colourful floral petals. As you guys can imagine this is a very time consuming process, however having seen these incredible pieces for our own eyes the results are just breathtaking. Time well spent!

      

We have never seen art quite like this before. 

In all honesty it left us slightly shocked by the sheer creativity of the pieces, as some even changed colour. That's right, changed colour! 

      

As you walk past some of the bigger pieces the tones completely change due to the fantastic artist technique Zhuang uses.

      

We already stood out as we weren't all suited and booted, so walking backwards and forwards past these pieces, as it was just mind blowing, didn't help us blend in...but we didn't care as we just loved this talented guys work. 

     

We would like to say a massive thank you for our invite from The House of Luxury, The Royal Opera Arcade Gallery and to the fantastic Artist Zhuang Hong Yi. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing these spectacular pieces of modern art in such beautiful surroundings. 

Top Tips

▪️The House of Luxury www.thehouseofluxury.com 

▪️Royal Opera Arcade Gallery website www.roa-galleria.com

▪️Zhuang Hong Yi website www.zhuanghongyi.nl

▪️Don't forget to follow our Instagrams for more pictures from the event @beardyandsuze & @suzeandthebeard 

UK - Transforming with Texture Road

Everyone knows that feeling, that feeling of 'my god my hair looks awesome' or 'holy mother of pearl I look fab'...am I right? Well that's the feeling I get every time I've been to Texture Road! This cute little salon is located in Leighton Buzzard on Wing Road just before the high street.

       

I've been throwing new challenges at these guys for the past 4 years and they have never let me down. 

They have taken me from black (yes black, this was due a mix up at a different salon) to blonde, from pink (results of a festival) back to blonde, from blonde to silver and from short to long using trusty extensions! 

       

As you guys know if you follow my Instagram (@suzeandthebeard) that my hair has been driving me mad since being back in the UK. 

Not only had my roots grown out massively, but also my blonde had gone that awful brassy yellow colour, which is never a good look. 

     

So I called the dream team that is Trevor and Steph to sort me out.  

Trevor is the man behind Texture Road. He is one of the most talented hairdressers I have ever met, not to mention the most wonderful down to earth guy around these parts. He not only runs his own salon, has cutting and colouring skills that are out of this world, but he is also part of the Sebastian Professional Cult Team. That's right people this guys is just incredible. 

Using all Wella Professional products Steph, the amazing colour expert at Texture Road, transformed my scarecrow like locks into a luscious mane of natural ashy/silvery tones. 

     

Using darker tones in foil and brushing through a creamier blonde then topping off with an ash toner really kicked that brassy hair to the curb. This lady sure knows her colour wheel. 

      

As I'm loving the length of my hair, and trying to keep it in the best condition possible by using our Myth products and coconut oil hair treatments, we only went for a teeny tiny trim, but my goodness has it made a difference. 

My hair instantly feels healthier and thicker which is just wonderful after months of looking like a right scruff. Let's just say I'm a very happy bunny. 

               

                                             

Texture Road offer all the essentials to make you feel fantastic: 

Cut and Finish 

Creative Colours 

Hair Extensions

Bridal Hair 

Colour Corrections 

Treatments

Not to mention a whole range of luxury yet affordable products for you to take home to continue the pampering.

      

Prices obviously vary from stylist to stylist. I personally use Trevor and Steph to sort out my barnet, however everyone here is so well trained and skilled that I would happily go to anyone and know they'd do an amazing job. Win win in my book. 

      

      

The Atmosphere in this place is just incredible. Everyone is always so happy and chatty. We always have a right laugh so much so I normally spill my tea...sorry guys.

If you go in after a rubbish day or you are just wanting a full overhaul, I can guarantee you will leave feeling and looking fabulous. 

      

Opening Times 

MONDAY: CLOSED
TUESDAY: 9:00AM - 6:00PM
WEDNESDAY: 9:00AM - 9:00PM
THURSDAY: 9:00AM - 6:00PM
FRIDAY: 9:00AM - 7:00PM
SATURDAY: 8:30AM - 4:30PM
SUNDAY: CLOSED

I can't recommend these guys enough and I can't wait to pop in again. 

Top Tips

▪️ Here is the website www.textureroad.co.uk on here you can check out the Gallery that shows off Trevor's amazing talent and skill.  

▪️tel: 01525373196 Trust me when I say these guys book up FAST! So if you want to pop in it's worth booking in advance.

▪️Give them a follow on Instagram @TextureRoad and on Facebook for all the up to date offers and latest galleries of happy customers