Afternoon tea at The Landmark and The View from The Shard

Don't you always find that when you can't have something, you want it even more? At the moment, I'm on a serious budget so spending any money on the non-essentials is out. This, of course, means that I'm craving clothes shopping, holidays and treats. Treats a-plenty!

And this is why blogging can be amazing. As much as it can be hard work sometimes, it's often SO worth it. Just as I was feeling really down about having no budget for fun times, the nice people at The Laughing Cow got in touch to ask if they could help fulfil a craving and I admitted the source of my grumpiness. So, they treated Matt and I to a day of fun in London on Saturday - an epic afternoon tea at The Landmark Hotel (Champagne! Unlimited sandwiches! Two types of scones! ALL THE CAKES!) and a performance of Book of Mormon in the evening (which was INCREDIBLE. Go, go now. It's hilarious, the songs are ridiculously catchy and it's so well produced. Hello!). As I mentioned last week, this was part of their Mini Cravings campaign (although my craving for cheese is rarely mini - more all-consuming).

The day was topped off - the soon to be apparent pun is intended - by a trip up The Shard, thanks to Avios. Avios is a reward points scheme where you can earn points for your everyday spends on things like food and petrol (and wine!), which you can then spend on holidays and experience vouchers. A trip up The Shard is £25 each, which I think is quite pricey (even if it is the best views in London), so it's a great to know you can earn points towards the cost. Lots of other London experience days are included, too.

It was pretty amazing - the views are out of this world, and we were lucky enough to go up on a super clear day (they do offer a free return trip if you go on a day with terrible visibility, though) and couldn't resist having a celebratory glass of fizz, too (we also did this at the top of the Eiffel Tower - I've decided this should be our new tradition to accompany great views. It's a good tradition, right?).

If this post reads a little like a blogger showing off, that wasn't my intention. I'm genuinely so thankful for the experiences that blogging has given me, and this came at the perfect time. So I just want to get a little mushy and say thank you - to you, reading this now. To the people who've come back again and again over the past six or so years. To the brands who want to work with me. I blog because I love it, but you guys do so much to make it feel worth it. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Laughing Cow for treating us to afternoon tea and theatre tickets, and thanks to Avios for paying for our trip up The Shard.