My July Days

It feels like July arrived and left in the blink of an eye, which is pretty much how I feel about Summer in general right now. Is it just me or is time moving extra fast at the moment? It's been another very busy month for us and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Simon blocks chunks of our diary out for "chill time", poor man just wants a day at home with his Xbox!

Here's what didn't make the blog in July:

A Taste of the Durham Heritage Coast

I found myself exploring a part of the North East I have never seen before this month. I parked my car at Noses Point in Seaham and had a very short amble along the Durham Heritage Coast. When I say short I really do mean it, I only got a few steps from my car but really couldn't believe what I saw. I have never heard anyone talk about this stretch of the North East coast before and it's so incredibly beautiful I'm baffled as to why! As you can imagine I'm now desperate to do a proper walk along the cliff to discover more of the coastline just as soon as I can find a spare slot in my diary. If anyone has done any walks along this stretch please do let me know.

Cinnamon Breakfast Dreams at Chaia

Is it just me that always has to head out for food if they have a cheeky day off work during the week? The temptation of available tables and no queues is always too much for me to resist. My latest discovery is Chaia, the teeniest (and definitely cutest) tea bar in Gosforth.  Lose leaf tea specialists, Chaia offers a great choice of teas or if that doesn't tickle your fancy their cake counter is a thing of beauty. As I was there first thing I decided to order some Cinnamon Toast for breakfast followed by some cake to takeaway (just try leaving Chaia without cake in your hand, I tell you it's impossible!)

Katie's Last Sail Before the Veil

Being friends with someone as fabulous as Katie means that when you get invited on her hen weekend you're going to really do it in style. Ten lasses from the North East were let loose on the sun soaked streets of Puerto Banus for a sailor themed celebration to remember. It was my first ever visit to Marbella so I spent a lot of the time enjoying the most incredible people watching. It was hard not to get swept away with the whole place (I just about managed to resist the urge to buy myself a ridiculously expensive car and strut about in a bikini and heels!)

Nunnington Hall

Our National Trust adventures in Yorkshire continued this month with a visit to Nunnington Hall. Just over an hour and a half drive from Newcastle, it's close to the beautiful little town of Helmsley and just south of the North Yorkshire Moors, so a great spot for a day trip. We loved exploring the organic walled garden, the collection of miniature rooms inside the Hall and the tea room has to be the fanciest National Trust restaurant we've ever been to - it's sit down table service and the food is delicious! I think our favourite part of Nunnington however had to the peacocks that roamed around the grounds, I was desperately hoping they'd give us a full feather display and although they left us disappointed it's definitely given us a reason to go back.

Canal View Dining at Rendezvous Skipton

I love a spot of people watching while I'm enjoying my dinner and the canal views at The Renezvous Hotel in Skipton have to be some of the best. We spent ages watching a couple try and turn their narrowboat round and when they finally did it the entire restaurant cheered them! I have to say this has to be one of the prettiest dining rooms I've ever seen in a hotel and Im so glad we discovered this lovely spot thanks to a cheeky little break to Yorkshire with the myhotelbreak "Hotel Break for Two" deal - £99.00 for a bottle of wine, dinner, bed and breakfast!

KJO got Wed!

Writing this blog has been the most incredible experience but hands down the most wonderful part has been the friends that I have made along the way. When I first met "Katie Jane Online" at a blogging event four years ago I never could have predicted what great friends Katie and I would become or that all these years later I'd be a guest at her special day. It was one of the best weddings I have ever been to full of so much love and laughter - highlights included the incredible North East Singing Waiters who had everyone up on their chairs dancing, the amazing Zen dazzling us with their 80s tunes, incredible food from Ramside Hall, a Cheese Tower cake from Northumberland Cheese Company and my husband's one man mission to try and pinch a bottle of red wine from all of the other tables. I wish all Saturday nights were like this!

For more adventures from New Girl in Toon make sure you follow me on Instagram, I post a new photo every day and you'll find videos from my favourite North East adventures on my highlights.