Tenerife Holiday blog - Part 3

Hey Guys 

Welcome to an exciting part of the Tenerife travel blogs. Despite the weather yesterday we had an incredible afternoon out on the Maxicat boats watching the Dolphins and whales.

We were picked up from the resort and taken down to the harbour where we boarded our boat for the afternoon. We’d chosen the 3 hour trip but there is also a 5 hour trip available as well. 

After Sailing for a while we were very lucky to get our first look at I’d say a good 12 dolphins swimming very close to the boat. 

Very soon after we came across a small pod of whales. It was so incredible to be able to see them so close up and see so many of them. You always hope you’ll see these incredible animals up close on the boats and this was totally worth a day trip to do. 

Even though it was chilly yesterday I have to give credit to all those who swam from the boat when we stopped later in the trip. It didn’t look warm at all.

I would completely recommend booking on the MaxiCat all the staff were lovely and the food provided during the trip were also very good. 

There are many places to buy tickets around the resorts and out and about. 

They do take official pictures when you board the boat which can be purchased as well. 

This was a lot of fun and will definitely book again when I come back over.

Thanks for reading 

Love Holly 

Xx 

Tenerife Holiday blog part 2 - Summer Scents

Hey Everyone 

Welcome to the next part of my holiday blogs series from Tenerife - this time focusing on some new Perfumes that are our for the Summer.

I usually wait if I can to get my perfumes when I’m back in Tenerife. They have a massive selection not only at incredible prices but also a great variation to what you find in the UK. 

They have a selection of travel/bag size bottles and also deodorant and body wash versions to go with most of the main brands.

Now I usually tend to stock up brands I often wear but this trip have picked up two new perfumes. I looked at bigger sizes of these perfumes in duty free on the way here but got both the ones I wanted for €48 and also for sizes I can carry round in my bag which is what I was looking for.

Both the Abercrombie and Hollister perfumes have a lovely summer smell to them. They both smell really nice and fresh for the summer. Neither of them are over powering and so far after testing them still have a strong smell a few hours later that haven’t faded away. 

What summer perfumes have you chosen this year - leave me a comment below it’s great to see what everyone is choosing for the summer months 

Thanks for reading 

Love Holly 

X

Tenerife Holiday blog part 1

Hey Everyone 

So the blogs this week are coming from Tenerife. It’s so good to be back on the island, I didn’t manage to get out for a visit last year but have a great week planned so far. 

On our first day yesterday we went for a long walk down the beach and spent part of the afternoon chilling at Papagayo Beach club. It’s one of the nicest places I’ve found to spend the afternoon I mean how can you argue with a view like this.

So far we’ve done a small bit of shopping, I love shopping for perfumes here as the price difference between here and home and also the variation of bottle sizes is great. 

We’ve definetly eaten well on this trip so far but I’m leaving the food blog to Ali which will follow to show you how amazing the food is here. 

The island really is beautiful never fails to amaze me even with the flowers how lovely it is. 

Later in the week we are off to Siam Park and also out on the Maxi Cat boat to see the Dolphins so look out for these trips to follow.

Have a great week guys and we will check in soon

Love Holly n Ali 

X

Throwback Thursday - Moon Walk 2013

Hey Everyone 

So for todays blog I thought I'd do a bit of a throwback to the Moon Walk 2013 in London.

With the Moon Walk happening this weekend in London I firstly have to wish every single person taking part a massive good luck. I also send my support to everyone working behind the scenes as the network of helpers at the start/finish of the route and also out along the route is something beyond incredible.
I will never forget making it to the finish line but seeing all the helpers waiting with medals, applause and the biggest hugs was just amazing. 

This is the time before the walk where mental preparation was needed. We had a team get together the night before and then after a very quiet day before the walk got together to head to the start. We were not ready for the massive down pour as we were signing but it didn't stop the fun.

After the warm ups it was time for our team and group to set off. Seeing everyone sticking together and looking after each other made such a lovely atmosphere and it was great to be a part of.

Even my feet will argue towards the end we were convinced the mile marker between 25 and 26 was longer but I was so determined to make it to the finish line.
The memory of seeing someone so tired she sat by mile 26 wanting to give up but seeing the helpers come down to help her along the last stretch was so overwhelming.

There is a huge sense of teamwork when doing this walk and I have so much respect for anyone who takes part you are all incredible.
If you have friends or family taking part don't forget to check in with them along the route as trust me even just a text or a quick call will spur people on so much.

Love Holly 
x

Shoe Shopping online with Schuh

Hey Everyone, 

Welcome to a shoe shopping themed blog featuring Schuh. 

If you know me well you know out of all things shopping related I hate shoe shopping. It's got better as time has gone but finding size 8 shoes in female designs drives me nuts. Also baffles me why if they don't have it in female sizes the alternate in mens is more money for the same shoe.

This is where I actually love Schuh
Not only do they have a bigger variety of female sizes both online and in store but they've sourced my size online for me and sent it to my nearest store for pick up a few hours later.

I've been on the hunt for a plain white pair of Adidas trainers for a while. I normally wear Superstars but have had my eye on these Tubular trainers since they first came out.
Whilst out at the weekend I wanted to try the shoes in store but couldn't find any so after looking online and finding them in the sale it was a no brainer not to order them. 

I have to give Schuh online complete credit for how easy it was to order, I really find it a lot easier when shops give you the Paypal option pay with online if you are ordering off your phone and don't want to get your bank card out if you are out and about.

The delivery system was also flawless. I ordered late evening on the Sunday which was dealt with on Monday, dispatched on the Tuesday which was then delivered this afternoon on the Wednesday. Plus points for Parcel force also for the delivery and how easy it was to let them know to deliver to a neighbour if no one was in. 

The shoes are so comfy and I can't wait to take them on holiday in a couple of weeks.
Schuh completely win with sending me a voucher straight after to spend on more shoes which I will be happy to do so. 

If you want a really easy online shopping experience I can't recommend Schuh enough to try. 

Love Holly 
x

This is How We Bingham - An Interview with Branden Bingham

Hey Everyone

Welcome to a very special blog.

If you are a regular viewer of You Tube you may have come across the channel
This is How We Bingham 
(click on the link to check out their channel and subscribe for their daily Vlogs)

I came across these guys through their famous and beautiful cat Lazzy who is also a You Tube star, this video has been picked up by many social media platforms but to see how he earned his nickname The Frozen Kitten check this video out here

Now I am completely honoured to have both Mindy and Branden onboard for this interview which will give you a look into one of You Tubes biggest Vlogger family's

Starting off with part one of the interview is Branden

Q1 - What made you guys start vlogging? 

B -Wow, this is a big one. We've been asked this so many times and the best thing I can come up with is that it was a gradual process and not so much a singular decision. i've always loved creating family videos. I got really into it with the purchase of my first GoPro. We'd document trips to the water park or family vacations and I'd make a sick "highlight" video of our activities. People would ask for longer videos or more "talking" in the videos. We tried vlogging and I think over the course of a full year we posted five vlogs. LOLOLOL, we sucked at it and I hated it. It felt so weird to talk to a camera in my face, especially in public. We didn't know what to shoot or how to shoot a daily vlog. I didn't know how to edit it, what to leave in and what to take out. Editing took days sometimes and the idea of a daily vlog seemed impossible with the amount of effort that went into each one. From there, I think we just never stopped loving sharing our lives and documenting our journey. Over time we got better at the mechanics of it all and improved our process, but since our passion for documenting life was so strong we were able to power through the awkward and difficult start into vlogging and eventually get to where it is today. And we still LOVE it!! 

Q2 - When you guys moved into daily vlogging how long did it take for it to become natural, I've done a few vlogs now and getting used to talking to a camera takes a lot of practise but you guys look so natural doing it.

B - Oh, I answered a lot of this in my first response. But I'd say it took a good few months or more for it to become "natural" and I think even still we continue to improve and streamline and just get better at the storytelling and sharing. Just when we get the routine down we like to shake it up and try new things to keep improving the content and experience for our YouTube family around the world! I'd say to this day Mindy is still much better at addressing the camera in public than I am. I do great in the house but I still look around for a quiet moment in public before I start shouting and waving my hand. Not Mindy though, she just turns the camera on and goes for it! Any situation, any time, any place. She's kind of awesome like that ;)

Q3 - I know from running two blogs a lot goes in to work behind the scenes with promotion can you give an idea what works goes in behind the scenes with getting the vlog up every day.

B - Yikes, this could be a whole series of blog posts on its own! This is definitely the part most people don't see or consider. Even as an avid YouTube consumer and content creator, I never realized all that went into it until I actually tried doing it on my own. There's the obvious filming that goes on throughout the day. Take for example my ridiculous attempt at changing a tire. But I can't just change the tire, I need to set up multiple angles of the tire being changed. Think through a POV shot, then a wider angle, then maybe a medium distance shot. Create some dialogue that will help the viewer understand what's going on and takes them through the process of what I'm feeling, how it's going, how I'm reacting to the situation. For the most part you are just living your life as normal, but when you're planning on sharing it with hundreds of thousands of people you have to think through how you are going to present that to them in the most engaging way. Oh man, I just realized I've only talked about the filming so far! And that's usually the easiest part. So then of course there's the editing and that begins once the kids go to bed and can last up to about five hours depending on the amount of content shot that day. It's difficult at times because since I am the one editing but Mindy does the bulk of the filming while i'm at work, I'm usually seeing the footage for the first time when I sit down to edit it. So it's reviewing and editing all in one sitting. I usually go to bed around 2 or 3am but in the last couple months have gotten much more efficient with my time and with the help of Mindy getting the kids into bed I am able to start earlier and am often done editing by midnight or 1am. As I've gotten better at the editing part, instead of getting to bed sooner I've found other areas to improve on. I'll spend more time on the thumbnail or do additional research for keyword tags and applicable titles. There's of course the daily question of what are we going to film and show the world today. Some days there's just not anything "epic" going on. But we've learned over time that our audience is ok with that and they just like to be a part of our day, even when that means sitting around the house doing nothing. And we love them for that! We try to keep up on our other social channels as well so we'll do Insta stories throughout the day and make daily posts to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to let people know when our latest vlog has posted. I guess other than that it's just something that is always on your mind. You never stop thinking about creating and sharing moments in life. Something big happens and your first thought is where's the camera! It becomes second nature and takes much less thought over time. And if you love it, it never seems to get in the way.

Q4 - Can you both name your top 3 vlogs and why?

B - I tend to like the "epic" ones. High energy, fast cut edits, thumping music, and some kind of outdoor activity that involves screaming. Hahaha, with more than 400 videos posted to our channel, I can't say these are for sure my top 3 but I love our 100K celebration series. It was something we were looking forward to for so long and we wanted to so bad to do something big and something that would be fun for our YouTube family to enjoy and I really think it was an amazing week of fun and epic vlogs. Gosh, it's really hard to think of specific vlogs! I LOVE our annual recap videos. The Best of Bingham. They are the biggest pain to make (just time consuming) but when you put all the epicness from an entire year into one video it's just amazing to look back and go woah, what a year!  Another one, even though I don't love that it happened, is Krew's broken collar bone vlog. We had no idea it would be the third most watched video on our channel when it was happening but what I love is that it shows throughout just how much our family loves each other. It's filled with tenderness and kindness and thoughtfulness. It's got some playful humor, tough spirits, and great attitudes. I'm glad it's one so many people got to see.

Q5 - What's been your funniest moments?

B - Well it's always fun to make fun of me. My lack of handiness around the house. My excessive use of the hand. The words and phrases I'm too old to be using. I kinda love it. Some of the things the kids will say and do can be hilarious too. Especially when they've been watching us vlog for so long they pick up on things and somehow coming out of their mouths it's ten times cuter and more hilarious. 

Q6 - I found you guys from Lazzy's original frozen kitten video - Does it feel surreal when you know your videos are watched world wide?

B - I don't think we've ever really wrapped our head around the number of people watching world wide. Sometimes we'll be at a concert or sporting event and look around the sold out arena and go, wow there are four times this many people subscribed to our YouTube channel. Or woah, more people watched today's video than are at this Justin TImberlake concert. That kind of stuff just makes you go wow, but we quickly move on and don't give it too much thought. I still like to feel like we're just making fun family movies to share with family and friends.

Q7 - Hitting 100k was an epic achievement - that aside what has been your favourite memory since you started this journey? 

B - One of my greatest memories has to be the letters we receive from our subscribers around the world. People who say they didn't use to spend much time together as a family but now they gather every night for some "Bingham Time". Or people who share stories of severe depression who are only able to get out of bed if they start the day watching one of our vlogs. There was one individual who had suffered from and wrestled with extreme depression so hard and for so long that they had decided to stop fighting. They made arrangements to end their life and decided to scan their social feeds one last time before saying farewell. They came across our vlog and found themselves watching one after the other after other until eventually the sun came up and the next day began. I don't think I'll ever get over that one. That one keeps me going at night when I'm tired or the daily grind gets too hard or I'm not sure if this is what we should be doing or if it's worth all the effort or if it even matters at all. Stories like that remind me this is much bigger than us. It's bigger than the Binghams. It's bigger than fun videos uploaded to YouTube. 

None of this is possible without each and every one of our loyal YouTube family members. We are overwhelmed daily with the love and support and sincere interest in our lives and the lives of our kids. We say it all the time but we truly believe we have been blessed with the best YouTube family out there!

I have to say a huge thank you to both Braden and Mindy for agreeing to take part with this interview, don't forget to go and check out their daily vlogs on You Tube. Part 2 of the interview with Mindy will follow very soon don't forget to pop back and check it out. 

Thanks for checking out the blog, don't forget to leave comments below and check back for Mindy's interview which will be on the way soon

Love Holly 

x

It’s the Tetley vs Twinings Fruit Tea Challenge

Hey Everyone 

So today’s blog has a Fruit Tea theme 

Both Tetley and Twinings have both released some great new flavours and ranges of tea which coming into Spring and Summer make a great alternate for drinks during the day.

Starting off with Tetley

Now this range has a great range of flavours and can be found online as well as most Supermarkets. So far for Supermarkets Morrison’s has won for the amount of the range it stocks and prices for buying it. 

Online you can buy all the flavours but have to purchase them in a case of 4 packets which if you can’t buy them in the shop and want to try the flavours I think would work better if you could pick one box at a time. Price wise though of you have found flavours you like then the price for 4 at £8.17 is good but this is just for one flavour.

My top 3 recommendations from this selection are the Apple and Pear, Cranberry and Elderflower and Blueberry and Raspberry Flavours. 

On to the Twinings selection

This range I’ve found a challenge to find all of in the shops. I’ve found Waitrose and Tesco the best stockists so far for the new range. 

Ordering from the website was very easy and my delivery was with me within 4 days of ordering which was very impressive.

My favourite so far has been the Strawberry and Cucumber green tea with the Citrus and Ginger following a close second. 

The website has a great range of tea so make sure you check it out.

I am also trying the new water bottle selection which I think is a great idea for the Summer. I really recommend the whole selection. I haven’t seen these in the shops yet but did order them from the website. So far my favourite of the 3 is the Watermelon, Strawberry and Mint which will definitely be back in the basket on my next tea order.

Let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of these teas and what your thoughts were and favourite flavours as well.

Thanks for checking out this blog there’s lots to come in the next few weeks 

Love Holly 

X