Category Archives: Travel Diaries

Travel Diary
Keep up to date with my travels. Get inspiration from my holiday bookings, what to do, what to take and of course tips on how to get a bargain holiday and make your money for further on holiday.

Travel diaries -Wide leg trousers.

I have always been a fan of wide leg / Palazzo trousers. I tend to travel with at least one pair on each of my holidays.  

This cut of trousers are very flattering for us hippy, voluptuous, curvy, plus size women. Don’t ask me why but it’s something to do with the proportions and the visual illusion created with the trouser leg going straight down from the waist to the hem. 

Anyway, I really wanted to share my secret find. Buying good fitting clothing is no easy feat. When Friends and family members tell me that a shop has long length trousers, I usually do not listen. Whats long for an average height woman, may not cut it for a tall sister. 

I vaguely remember someone saying that Zara trousers are long in length.  They were on sale and had my size so I added three pairs of trousers to my basket and checked out. 

Pleasantly suprised with the fit and length would b an understatement. One pair was actyally sweeping the floor. A luxury tall ladies rarely have.

So if your ever shopping for wide leg or palazzo trousers, I would say give Zara a try. 

Do let me know what your experiences are with Zara trousers. 
Thanks for stopping by and see you soon. 
✌&❤

@ijaykheavens …..let’s be friends 
Kimono – Zara

White vest – Zara

Red wide leg trousers -Zara

Flat pointed Ghille shoes – Zara.

#Zaraeverything 

How to get a hotel upgrade!

If you have been following my blog you will know that I recently got back from a very lovely holiday.  I really did my best to take everyone with me on this trip by uploading lots of pictures and keeping you all updated on my movements.  Sharing is caring and you can thank me later.😋😋😋

If you missed this you can still catch up by looking through my travel diaries category.

So, we all know that I love a bargain ( better yet, some freeness).I am always on the look out for ways to get the most out of my money.  We had booked to stay at what I thought was an already beautiful hotel.  According to booking.com a 5* hotel. On arrival it was great but we randomly got offered an upgrade to a newer, more luxury resort hotel which belonged to the same hotel chain.

Interestingly, we had considered this luxury resort hotel while booking but did not want to pay the price🙈.  With the offer of a free shuttle to the new hotel, we accepted !

On arrival to out new hotel, I was gobsmacked at the views and still could not believe the free upgrade.  We were offer champers on arrival at the reception… the life.  I do not want to go off track so a Full reviews of this luxury hotel is to follow. Please stay tuned.

After a few nights of trying to understand why the free upgrade, IT HIT ME.  I literally had a secret escapes moment.  ” Even the most luxurious hotels out there don’t like having empty rooms…”  I noticed that the hotel was probably not as full as it could have been.

We booked the holiday for the first week in June.  This is probably not the busiest time of the year for hotels.  It’s not quite summer holidays and schools are still in session.

So I  guess that is how to  get a hotel upgrade.

  1. Book your stay at off peak times when it is not busy.  You stand a better chance in getting a room upgrade if the hotel is not busy and the rooms are vacant anyway.
  2. If you do not ask, you may not get.  In this instance we did not need to ask and it was simply offered because we had great smiles( lol).  But the Asking principle has worked wonders for me in the past.  Especially with airlines.
  3. This is most likely to work with hotels with chains. The idea is that they upgrade you to a hotel within their chain with better rooms, a better location or just more luxury… yes we like luxury .  Alternatively, you can also try this with room upgrades.
  4. Finally, having a great time on holiday is best upgrade anyone can ask for.  Make sure you enjoy your vacations.  Whether you get a hotel upgrade or not.

The idea of luxury hotel not wanting to have empty rooms is one which Secret excape uses to get you and I luxury hotels for a cheaper price. Therefore this was not a fluke or luck. IT WORKS.

Disclaimer -results with the above can’t be guaranteed as each hotel has its own policies.   These are only my suggestions 

    Ps- Do not forget to come back and let me know how you get on.  Or if you have any other tricks up your sleeves on how to get hotel upgrades please share.

    ( Comments below)

     Sharing is caring.

    Before you leave, lets connect- Follow for more travel and holiday tips.

    Lets also be friends on instagram

    @ijaykheavens

    https://www.instagram.com/ijaykheavens/

    Airport outfit return home – Holiday blues

    All good things have to come to an end. Fashion is very much a way of expressing ones self.What do I wear home? Something that caputures my mode well.  I love wearing the classic denim on denim trend.  It’s a trend that never dies or gets old.

    I find that the Topshop Joni jeans are great to travel in because they have lots of stretch. The high waisted cut means that I do not have to worry about my jeans riding down.

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    You could definitely see that I have the holidays blues with this colour combinations.
    I can not complain, I am well rested and ready to face my reality.

    Hope you have enjoyed my travel diaries.
    I shot some great looks while on holiday.  Can’t wait to share them with you.
    I am also considering where to go next. All suggestions will be welcomed.
    See you soon.
    ✌ & ❤

    Connect with me on instagram @ijaykheavens

    Travel Diaries – Striped Culotte jumpsuit

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    Culottes are here to stay. I am absolutely loving this jumpsuit piece. I was always worried about what to wear my culottes with. We all know that Culottes are an awkward breed of skirt /long shirts. Do I team it with a blouse or t-shirt 😒?. As a jumpsuit it’s super easy to wear.

    Dress it up for a day to night look. 😙

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    I have consumed wayyy to much food on this holiday (pls don’t judge me ). Luckily these straight line straighten out all my lumps and bumps while the waist band gives the illusion of a nipped in waist.

                       Fashion magic !

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    How do you wear your Culottes? Is’nt this jumpsuit form a great idea?.

    Shop this tall stripped Culotte jumpsuit here👉

    http://m.newlook.com/shop/womens/tall/tall-black-stripe-culotte-jumpsuit_379905109

    White body suit – New look

    White sandal’s – Primark

    Stay connected with me @ijaykheavens
    See you soon
    ✌ &❤

    Travel Diaries- Modern day Buba

    All I ever want is to be free. After a long day I want to be comfortable in whatever I wear in the evening.
    Buba as it’s referred to in Nigerian culture is my outfit of choice.

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    The modern day Buba can be made from finer fabric such as Silk. It drapes well and it’s very cooling.
    With multiple fabrics and colours to chose from, Buba’s have become wearable for most occasions.

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    Motif’s and brooches are a prefect way of adding a little ‘ooumph’ to your outfit. 

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    I wore my hair in this up bun but took it down by the end of the evening.

    Buba- Custom Made
    Sandals – Next
    Clutch bag – Zara

    Travel diaries- Sleeveless high neck with ripped jeans

    This is my go to look for when am getting ready in a rush. Whether with a skirt or with jeans high neck tops neve let me down.

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    I could have completed this look with a pair of heels and it would have been a totally different ball game.

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    Navy high neck top -Newlook
    High waist Jeans – Topshop
    Orange Sandals – Dorothy Perkins
    Clutch bag – Topshop

    Follow more of my travel diaries right here. 
    See you soon.
    ✌ &❤

    Stay connect @ijaykheavens

    Travel diaries -Cold shoulders meets Wide leg trousers

    This is probably summer 2016’s hottest trend . I could not get enough of it this holiday.

    I pair my cold shoulder top with my printed palazzo wide leg trousers.
    I was absolutely over dressed for the trek today but I sure looked good while doing it.

    It was a victorious moment when I made it to the top of the acropolis.
    The views made it all worth while.

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    I swept my hair to the side to show off my statement earrings. I hope to write a blog post statement earring so keep an eye out for it.

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    Read more on the different want ways I styled this cold shoulder top here http://wp.me/p64TYL-gA

    Cold shoulder blouse – Marks and Spencer
    Palazzo trousers – Dorothy Perkins

    Mini City bag – Zara
    http://m.zara.com/uk/en/woman/bags/mini-bags/mini-city-bag-c712008p3711682.html

    Sandals – Hobb

    Travel diaries – Pleated Maxi skirt

    The night was airy with a very cool breeze. We dined at a sea food restaurant over looking the sea….. (sigh)…bliss

    I must say… the dessert was to die for.
    This maxi skirt has a sown in underskirt that keeps riding up. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the feeling of flying as skirt blew in  the wind.
    I am totally in la la land.

    On a side note.. my feet at are still very swollen.  Really struggling to wear most of my footwear. Any suggestions to reduce the swelling.

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    Vest top – Asos
    pleated maxi skirt – Marks and Spencer
    Slider mules -Dorothy Perkins
    Clutch bag – Topshop.
    See you soon

    ✌ & ❤

    Travel diaries – Pink Skater dress

    I figured that I should share what I wore to the beach since I did not leave the hotel in my swimsuit.

    I find that skater dresses make pretty good cover ups.
    They are great as add ons to beach wear yet very wearable when not at the beach too.

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    I am always pleasantly suprised at how flattering and cute this dress is.
    This time I teamed it with pink flatforms and my flower headband.
    Apparently I looked like a real Greek Goddess.
    If your thinking Athena the goddess of wisdom then I will take it as a compliment.

    😘
    Flower head band- Asos
    http://m.asos.com/mt/www.asos.com/asos/asos-pretty-blush-flower-headband/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=6113160&clr=Pink&SearchQuery=Flower+he&pgesize=250&pge=4&totalstyles=386&gridsize=2&gridrow=103&gridcolumn=1&un_jtt_application_platform=newPlp&un_jtt_redirect

    Pink skater skirt- Dorothy perkins

    Pink flatform sandals -Marks and Spencer

    Handbag – Zara

    Check out my beach video on my instagram @ijaykheavens
    ✌& ❤

    Travel diaries – Paisley print swimsuit

    I have really missed going for swims. I am a huge fan of Evans swimwear. Maybe I am partly biased because all the swimwear is fitted on me. Regardless… I just don’t think Evans get the credit they deserve at times .
    I wore the paisley print swimsuit from Evans clothing.   The halterneck on this style is very flattering . More than anything else I like the fact that this one piece swim suit looks like a two peice . 😋tricked ya😋.

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    http://m.evans.co.uk/h5/product?productId=22944641

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    Bee sure to go watch my beach video on my instagram @ ijaykheavens

    See you soon.
    ✌ &❤