Travel Review: A Katie & Jane Adventure to the South of France!

We've just been on a whirlwind trip to the South of France, spending 3 nights and 4 days in Cannes & Aix-en-Provence, so it’s only right we write a little travel review for anyone tempted by the beautiful South of France…

We flew into Nice with Monarch Airlines, made our way to the car rental part of the airport, and before we knew it we were driving on our way to Cannes in the new automatic Renault Clio enjoying some Va Va Voom – well when in France!

We wanted to visit an island while in France so we researched beforehand and booked into lunch at La Tonnelle; the only restaurant positioned on the small island of Saint Honorat off the coast of Cannes. We parked the Clio, hopped onto a boat and enjoyed a breezy, sunny 30 minute boat ride across the sea to the island, taking in the amazing yachts and helicopters as we went.

Lunch at La Tonnelle was perfect, we sat at a table overlooking the rustic rocks and calm sea and, as we wondered about a life lived on little (or large!) yachts that surrounded this picturesque island, we enjoyed delicious seafood and soy baked tuna, before stretching our legs as we walked the whole way around the interesting island which is inhabited only by Monks.

After a short boat trip back, while I had a power nap – we then began our drive to Aix-en-Provence which we imagined would be beautiful and breath-taking with the wind in our hair... but there was a huge storm, which meant for an hour of our journey we joined the French in driving very slow with our hazards on because of very poor visibility! It did make us feel better about not going for the soft-top car though!

The rain did not dampen our spirits as we arrived at our perfectly French hotel Le Mas d’Entremont. We were greeted by such friendly and helpful staff and shown to our garden room at the back of the hotel which despite the huge array of very tall trees, looked out onto Aix-en-Provence.

We didn’t arrive until about 9pm so we decided to eat & drink at the hotel restaurant, and the food was amazing! This was the first time we could practice our French too, and we joined others in the restaurant by having a long, drawn out meal with delicious fish, cheese, wine and lots of laughs!

We decided to get up early on Saturday so as not to miss the early markets in Aix. Jane has been going to Aix-en-Provence since she was a little girl and it was so great to be shown around by someone who has so many wonderful memories there.

Everywhere we go in the world we like to pick up a 'Katie & Jane keepsake', and we found a lovely little independent home-made jewellery stall where both our eyes went to a simple necklace with just a solid cloud in the centre – something about the ‘the sky’s the limit’ sprung to mind!

We then made our way through the cobbled streets looking at all the amazing shops – even a shop dedicated to just jam looked so inviting we couldn’t help ourselves but peer in for inspiration! The outstanding things about Aix are the smells, either from the amazing chic French women, to the freshly baked bread, every corner you turn powered up the senses!

We sat in one of Jane’s favourite spots; Les Deux Garcons for a refreshing drink and a bit of people watching while we listened to a Jazz trio outside, they even played a song I used to do a tap dance to when I was little, so we decided we had to buy the CD to remind us of the moment at home. We picked up a freshly baked baguette and some brie for lunch and made our way back to enjoy an afternoon soaking up the sun by the pool.

Saturday night is party night in Aix and we kicked it off with a light bite to eat at the fashionable Restaurant La Rotonde, before being welcomed by locals into Le Champ’s bar and partying with them in Le Mistral till the early hours! We also bumped into the owner too and asked very nicely if he could swap the regular deep house tracks for some Beyonce tunes for just 15 minutes…and he did, if you don’t ask you don’t get!

Sunday was another party night to celebrate Jane's Auntie Lynda's 60th so the day was spent enjoying a lovely breakfast at the hotel with Jane's newly arrived parents – the highlight here are definitely the homemade yogurts and fig bread, before another relax by the pool. The night was spent at Lynda’s surprise party in pretty Puyricard, just a 10 minute car journey from Aix. We spoke to lots of lovely people, practicing our French and learning that to describe a really decent, great person, you call them a ‘pêche’ – Peach!

Despite being tired (in a great way!) we made ourselves get up early on Monday for a game of tennis in the hotel's very picturesque court before packing and saying goodbye to Aix before embarking on our last French road-trip to Marseilles airport to fly home. Although it was a short stay, it felt like we'd been there a while and saw lots of the area, of course, we're planning our next trip with the aim to learn French very soon!

Highlights...

• The beautiful smells of Aix, whether chic French perfume or freshly baked bread
• The fish soup at Le Mas d’Entremont

Must Dos...

• A boat trip to the gorgeous ‘secret island’ of Saint Honorat
• Wondering around the morning markets in Aix

Katie x

The Best Things in Life in July

We've been inspired by Red Magazine's Contributors column for twelve months now and looking back to this time last year Katie's best things in life were spinning, trying new food and A Beautiful Mess app and her holiday essentials; Red magazine (of course!), Women's Health and Zest. I shared my love for Jimmy's Iced Coffee, Happier app, Color Run training and P20 sun protector!

Here's to another happy year...

Katie

The best things in life...

Seeing Countdown Keeper users post their happy events on social media, it’s the best! We have just passed the 20,000 download mark and we’re currently working on a new update which will be available soon too. You can view it in the App Store 

I spent most of the last 3 months rehearsing for Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer at Highbury Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, it was the first time I had set eyes on this beautiful and historical theatre, and I can’t wait to be back to see the new season of performances! 

Since I was 18 I’ve been going to summer festivals with friends every year, but in all that time I never thought I’d be taking a vegetarian food truck on tour by 2014! I’m excited to be going back to Lovebox this year, and looking forward to all the fun at Boardmasters, Wakestock and Festival No 6 for the very first time!

The song that reminds me of summer is... 

Lucky Man by The Verve -  it reminds me of winding down at Glastonbury as the sun set on a beautiful Sunday evening in 2008, and now I end every run with that song as my cool down, it instantly makes me feel happy, grateful and at peace

From July 2013: The social media question I get asked the most is... 

Do we need a specialist to run our Facebook advertising? This usually happens when companies have been approached, and they don’t quite understand what they are being offered. We have seen Facebook advertising run seamlessly in-house, with a small budget and the use of the simple insights that Facebook provide as to what is working and what might need a tweak. The ads should run alongside and compliment content that’s already going out to the audience every day.  We’ve put together some top tips to help over on our blog

Jane

The best things in life...

Floor picnics! I'm slightly addicted to floor picnics at the moment! They have to be on the floor indoors due to the lovely, wet British weather but I still enjoy them all the same. A blanket filled with crisps and dips, Quorn sausage rolls and scotch eggs is my idea of food heaven!

Red Magazine - I've been a Red reader for years now and despite it being initially published for the older lady even in my late teens I loved it. Red has meaningful articles alongside beautiful imagery; I feel I learn so much every time I read an issue. It doesn't contain news stories on Z-list celebrities but features inspirational women on every cover. I make it a rule not to read the issue until the first of the month so this month I cannot wait to read all about Liv Tyler and her boho life, sunshine living and Red's top 10 beach reads!

Not Dogs - Slightly biased here but I'm already having so much fun sharing our new business Not Dogs with the world! We've already done one mini event and got such great feedback that I cannot wait to be on the road for the summer spreading the veggie sausage love! 

The song that reminds me of summer is...

Friendly Fires - Jump in the Pool - some may say obvious but I don't care! It's an uplifting, catchy song that certainly makes me feel like a refreshing jump in turquoise waters! Love it!

From July 2013: The social media question I get asked the most is...

What's the next big platform? I think many brands are noticing that users are getting tired of Facebook and in a way Twitter and understand that they should be looking to the future platforms to include in their strategy. I completely agree on the Facebook front but we also advise clients to think about where their customers are... Instagram is growing and growing but it's younger people who are the most active, if your customers don't fit Instagram's current demographic there's no need to panic about being an early-adopter as a brand quite yet.

Introducing a new Katie & Jane creation; the vegetarian food truck… Not Dogs!

We’re very excited to tell you that, for the past six months, we have been working quietly in the background on a very exciting new project, backed & supported by the vegetarian food brand Quorn.

Not Dogs was created by us; one meat-eater and one vegetarian, both with a love of quick, scrumptious & simple food. While at festivals, gigs and outdoor events we struggled to find mouth-watering veggie food and trustworthy meaty meals that satisfied that 'fast food' need after a long day so we decided to create our own festival food truck Not Dogs!

Our hot dogs pack a mighty punch exclusively made with the UK’s first meat free Bratwurst crammed with tasty, fresh and original toppings. We like to call them meaty dogs without the meat!

The aim of Not Dogs is to provide food lovers, both carnivores and veggies, with a delicious, fun and quality menu to excite and amaze the taste buds. Choose from Plain Jane, Kickin' Katie Nacho Dog (see what we did there!), The Original Frank, Hello Houmous and newcomer Top o' the Mornin' Dog.

We’ll be kicking off  with a mini-launch this weekend, at Middleton Food & Craft Market, before we embark on a summer tour of (hopefully sunny!) UK festivals including Godiva Festival in Coventry, Lovebox in London, Wakestock in Wales, Boardmasters in Newquay and Festival No 6 in the beautiful setting of Portmeirion in Wales.

To find out more about Not Dogs head to www.notdogs.co.uk and join us for festival fun over on Twitter and Instagram.

We hope to see you in a sunny or muddy field soon!

Katie x

The Best Things in Life in June

June is finally here... the start of the summer with the promise of balmy nights and sunny days. Although we've not seen much evidence of hot weather our 'best things in life' inspired by Red Magazine always cheers us up!

Katie

The best things in life...

Park runs… After being recommended the Alexandra Heminsley's book ‘Running Like A Girl’ and being inspired by my friend Rowena’s running regimes I have totally got back into my stride. I love to run around my local park, especially on a Saturday morning, followed by a trip to The Juice House for my favourite juice – Ginger Beer (without the beer!)

I recently visited the Ikon Art Gallery in Birmingham, and it was really inspiring, plus I loved the cute little shop on the ground floor that sold unique books, stationery and art. I will definitely be vising again sometime soon!

Hampstead is so gorgeous in the summer and I recently went to visit my friends as they have moved into a new area near Golders Green. We had a lovely weekend walking through the parks, shopping on Hampstead High Street and we rounded it all off with a visit to Villa Bianca for some delicious Italian food.

If I could only take one book on the beach it'd be... 

Anything by Philippa Gregory! I love stories weaved around history, especially the Tudor times. I get totally caught up in the characters and their stories set against the backdrop of historical happenings. I loved the TV adaptation of the Philippa Gregory's The White Queen last year too.

What are your social media habits? What's the last...

Instagram picture you posted? A quote I love from Maya Angelou – “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

Pin you pinned? ‘Hell Yeah’ I loved the design, but the words just stood out for me and made me excited for our trip to the South of France this Summer!

Tweet you wrote? In aid of Volunteers Week I wanted to mention my local homeless shelter who run a 24 hour place of safety and warmth every year during Christmas.

Jane

The best things in life...

Summer festivals - Although I'm not a camping-lover I am really excited to be on the road at some fantastic festivals this summer with our veggie hot dog truck Not Dogs. We're still adding to the calendar but I'm really looking forward to seeing Tom Odell at Wakestock, MIA and A$AP Rocky at Lovebox and Bastille at Boardmasters.

ASOS - Having five weddings to attend this summer I needed some pretty dresses that could be adapted to use again with different accessories and additions and after spending hours physically shopping finding nothing ASOS came to the rescue! The website is great; the best feature being the in-depth filtering which means after seeking inspiration on Pinterest I could find the outfits I wanted.

Gino D'Acampo's Italian Escape cookbook - I love to cook mainly sticking to my favourite cook Nigella Lawson's delicious recipes as they never seem to fail to be perfect but my dad bought be Gino D'Acampo's Italian cookbook and I'm in love! Not only are the recipes full of flavour, the photography in the book is beautiful, especially the shots of the Amalfi Coast. I recently made a six-course dinner for my friends - sounds like a lot of effort but it was actually very easy and a resounding success!

If I could only take one book on the beach it'd be...

The Island by Victoria Hislop - it's my ultimate favourite book; I've read it twice and listened to the audiobook read by Emilia Fox countless times. This summer I'm re-reading it again as I am heading off to Crete where the book is set and fulfilling one of my 101 dreams by visiting Spinalonga a little island off the coast which plays an integral part in this amazing novel.

What are your social media habits? What's the last...

Instagram picture you posted? Very cliché but a picture of my labrador Beau! I captured his beautiful long eyelashes and couldn't resist edited it with Instagram!

Pin you pinned? I have a board named 'My Vision Board' on Pinterest where I pin any random image I feel drawn to and my most recent pin was to this board; a large open window looking out onto a sunny garden with a white squashy chair in the foreground... lovely!

Tweet you wrote? A tweet about starting the month of June with how to better plan social media activity.

Scrapbooking Secrets

In an era in which we're taking more and more photos yet printed photo albums are becoming extinct, I've found a way of displaying and remembering moments in a non-digital way which, for me, is very important... scrapbooks.

I've been creating scrapbooks since 2004 as a way of collecting all the lovely photos I'd taken with the additions of ticket stubs, printed programmes, gift tags and a whole host of other things. I store all of my photos digitally but there's something therapeutic and natural about collecting, cutting and sticking memories into a big book, which I now have four of.

My very first entry... 

For each major event in my life there is a scrapbook page, or a few! Birthdays, holidays, concerts but also special outings, business creations and puppy love! I love to sit every now and again and look back on all the amazing things I've done and it's just not the same doing that in front of a computer. I enjoy opening little cards that I've stuck in, pulling out festival wristbands and touching dried petals. I hope they become part of my family’s history one day!

My latest entry...

Tips on creating your own...

• Decide whether you want to go big or small (I go for A3) and buy your scrapbook. Over the years I've used black and coloured paper, both of which look great but I'd definitely say bigger is better
• Starting with your first entry go through your digital photos and print out those which mean something to you, capture the moment or make you smile. I try not to pick the typical 'posed' photos but more the ones that remind you of that moment in time perfectly
• Don't forget to start collecting additional souvenirs at events like business cards from restaurants you’ve loved, postcards and wrapping paper to add to your book too
• Once collected, get everything together; scissors, glue-stick and colourful pens to write titles and you're ready...
• I start by laying everything out in front of me with the items I'm not going to cut in one pile and those ready for the chop in another
• Take the 'non-cutting' photos and collections and position them in each corner of your page, leaving room for the title should you wish to have one
• I always position the important items in first then have a few 'back-ups' ready to fit in and fill the space if needs be
• Next I take the items ready for cutting and find spaces to fit them in, only cutting them once I see how they're going to fit on the page - I'm not a fan of gaps!
• Once you're happy with your layout (this may take a few attempts until you become a pro) carefully move the collection to one side, keeping the layout intact and start to stick them down. Pay attention to the bits you want to sit under others sticking those first
• Now that everything is looking lovely and is stuck down you can add a title - I like to add the event, date and sometimes who was there. Also, as I'm a tiny bit OCD if there are any gaps I do little drawings to fill them

Scrapbooking has been an important part of my life for over ten years now and I aim to continue it for a long, long time. Although it can be a little time consuming at first, stick with it as the rewards are great!

My favourite entries...

Jane x

Can Apps Help Us All to be Happier? Reblogged from She Owns It

“It’s the little moments that make life big”

This week Stylist magazine claimed there were 10 scientifically proved things that actually make us unhappy, the first one? Facebook. A study by University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross last year found a direct correlation between time spent on the social media site and feelings of dissatisfaction, loneliness and isolation. The average time spent on Facebook per user every day is around 30 minutes, with some spending up to eight hours a day at the call of the addictive Facebook newsfeed… that’s a lot of unhappiness right there.

The idea of consciously striving to make social media a positive, meaningful and mobile experience is something we find very exciting. We have excitedly watched the Happier Inc. app grow in 2013 to hundreds of thousands of users sharing happy moments every day with each other. The app encourages users to record happy moments or things they are grateful for each day with an emphasis on being happier in the moment.

  

Even the most tiny things can bring happiness, from the sun shining through your bedroom window, to having five minutes to yourself after a busy week and these can be recorded in the Happier app and added to collections for you to look back on. The science behind the app is solid and straightforward; expressing gratitude has been shown to do more than improve your mood. People who write down a few positive things about their day are healthier, more energetic, less stressed, less anxious and sleep better. We have actively used Happier for more than a year now and we can honestly say it really does makes us happier! We are absolutely rooting for the future of the platform and the team behind it, especially co-founder Nataly Cogan who we interviewed on our blog recently.

We aim to add to the happiness movement with the launch of our new lifestyle app; Countdown Keeper – Collect Moments, Not Things. Studies have shown that anticipating future events is an important source of happiness and so we wanted to create an app that highlights those happy moments every day in a meaningful and useful way. 

Having something to look forward to, enjoying the moment, sharing the pleasure with others to heighten the experience and then reflecting on moments make even the smallest of experiences even better. Countdown Keeper allows you to get excited about upcoming events in one place, record memories through images and notes and then share the experience again with friends.

Our app is a customisable and shareable iPhone app which has been thoughtfully designed to include a number of features. Users can add images to further personalise count downs from the built-in image library, Camera, Camera Roll or Facebook. Once events have been created users can share count downs through a number of services such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and add them to the iPhone calendar too. After the count down event arrives, the app automatically switches to counting the time since that event allowing users to collect, and look back on, memories.

Download the free app for iOS today from the App Store here http://bit.ly/1iCxa4c or search ‘Countdown Keeper’

Since its release there have been thousands of downloads and a raft of five star reviews, from users who particularly love the simple interface and design. UK singer Lily Allen enjoyed Countdown Keeper’s count down to her new album release ‘Sheezus’ retweeting it to her 4.6 million Twitter followers!

You can visit the App Store to download Countdown Keeper for free today, and if you like the app, we’d be so grateful if you could leave a review to help others find it too, and join us onTwitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest by using the hashtag #collectmoments

Instead of heading towards the Facebook app when you have some downtime today, why not try one of these popular apps and see if your mood improves… have a happy day!

See this original blog post on She Owns It where we are featured contributors - A popular blog in the US to celebrate, support and connect women entrepreneurs!

Katie x

The Best Things in Life in May

May has already been very, very busy for both of us at Katie & Jane... our iPhone app Countdown Keeper has been released, our vegetarian food truck Not Dogs is in crucial planning stages and we're training a new client on social media strategy throughout May and June! But, of course, we couldn't miss talking about our 'best things in life'!

Katie

The Best Things in Life...

Finally #JackIsBack in 24: Live Another Day – the wait is over! We enjoyed creating a count down to the simultaneous viewing in the UK and US in the early hours of this morning with Countdown Keeper!

My nearest high street is gradually getting a lovely makeover and one of the newest additions is The Juice House, a lovely little shop offering a delicious menu of Juices from ‘Clear Skin’ created with spinach and pineapple, to ‘Blood ‘e’ Gorgeous’ made with orange, beetroot and ginger!

I recently paid a visit to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham – which is quite a guilty pleasure of mine. The new Penguin Ice Adventure part was amazing, but my highlight was the giant turtle swimming right over my head as I walked through the Ocean Tunnel!

The One Thing I Can't Throw Away Is...

Cards! Birthday cards, Christmas cards and especially Congratulation cards – I just love them! I have to be quite selective though as I couldn’t keep them all, but I keep the special ones I hope I can look back on in years to come with fond memories.

The Key Element of a Successful Social Media Strategy Is...

Dedication – this underpins the social media strategy. The company and staff need to make a commitment and not lose confidence in the strategy simply because one Facebook post didn’t achieve enough ‘likes’. The team must always keep in mind the over-arching strategy and purpose for why the brand or company is using social media as a marketing tool and keep evaluating and moving forward – Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Jane

The Best Things in Life...

A stack of magazines to plough through! There's nothing better for me than to see my un-read magazines, piled in date order (!) ready for a free afternoon of reading. I then have to make time to organise all the cuttings I've kept from each of them... I simply love it!

Quorn veggie food. I'm currently attempting to tone up in preparation for my holiday to the gorgeous island of Crete and, along with the Tracy Anderson Method (of course!), I'm eating clean and lean foods only. I find, as a vegetarian, Quorn provides the best protein for me and it's delicious too!

Primark! After a long day at the Bullring in Birmingham hunting for an outfit for one of the hundreds of weddings I'm going to this summer I felt very deflated when I couldn't find anything but... I walked into Selfridges and had a browse through Primark and although I didn't find anything wedding related I got a pair of £6 jelly sandals for my holiday. It's the most excited I've been about a purchase in a long time!

The One Thing I Can't Throw Away Is...

My mum's duck-egg cashmere jumper. It's a lovely jumper, not my style but she's had it since she was a young girl and kept it in pristine condition. When I was younger if I was off school sick, I'd put it on and snuggle up in it!

The Key Element of a Successful Social Media Strategy Is...

Following the strategy! Yes, of course, there will be adhoc content to push through social channels but a well thought-out, structured strategy means you're more likely to succeed on social media and fans and followers will see the content you want them to see. It may not see results straightaway but by sticking to the strategy, you'll get there in the end!