My birthday was a long while ago, but I had these photos sitting around in my hard drive and I wanted to share them with you. It’s funny having a blog because you are intentionally or unintentionally curating a space which presents only aspects of your life. No one could share their whole life on a blog or perfectly convey every facet of their personality. I am aware that I have accidentally created an image of myself on here that is more twee and more wholesome than my real-life personality. I think it’s partly because my Grandparents read my blog (hi Nana – I love you!) and partly because I like to write about the positive, often frivolous moments in my life like days out and dresses. My birthday (unusually for me) ended up being very much in keeping with my wholesome online persona – I spent the day with James, driving around historic and rural parts of Scotland. I didn’t even drink once!
We began the day with a hearty full Scottish breakfast at BBL in Edinburgh – they hand-make their own vegan sausages! It was delicious, although it’s a takeaway place really and there’s only one sit-down table, so I wouldn’t visit with a larger group. The morning was spent in the Royal Burgh of Culross. Just north of the Firth of Forth, it’s an ancient town that flourished in the 17th century from salt and coal trade and hasn’t physically changed much since. We visited the Town House – where witches were tried and jailed – and Culross Palace, which has been preserved with 17th century decor intact. The garden of the palace was a favourite for me, with layers of vegetable gardens and rose bushes separated by old stone walls. I could have stayed all day! It’s a beautiful village and we eerily had the whole place to ourselves to explore.
In the afternoon, we drove across to Luss, on the West side of Loch Lomond. It always surprises me going north of Edinburgh to Stirling or the Trossachs when the snow covered mountains appear on the horizon. It feels so much more wild and Scottish when you can see snow. After some warming chips in the pub we had a wander along the lake – there’s not a lot else to do there – and watched storm clouds gather above the mountains. For dinner, we sped back down the motorway to Usha’s, a vegan friendly Indian restaurant in Glasgow. Glasgow has a bit of an unfair reputation – among English people at least – for being rough and rowdy. Whilst it certainly has less-nice areas, I think the reputation’s unfair. There’s an amazing music scene in Glasgow, gorgeous art galleries, and most surprisingly the most vegan restaurants per capita of anywhere in the UK. There’s vegan food everywhere and so I grab every chance I get to visit Glasgow and try something new.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Thank you Anne-Marie <3
Happy Birthday! These pictures are absolutely breathtaking!
xo
Siffat
http://icingandglitter.com
Thank you so much! xx
These photos are absolutely stunning!!! It sounds like you had a lovely birthday
Lee – leethrifts.com
Thank you, it was a beautiful day!
That sounds like a lovely birthday! Happy belated wishes to you.
My grandmother also reads my blog. She likes to comment on the FB posts on my page and say, “Alexandra, I read your blog, loved it.” hehe she’s so funny and cute! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
Thank you! That’s so sweet, I love parents and grandparents on facebook. I find it funny how there are these implicit rules that people of our generation abide by but parents are oblivious too, like starting a conversation with someone on their facebook photos haha xx
Lovely photos, and Happy Birthday Belatedly! Nice to read that about Glasgow, as I’ve read the same from other people who know it. It was also a City of Culture sometime fairly recently, wasn’t it? Snow on a Scottish mountain a special favourite. Thank you for these glimpses! del
Thnk you Del
Yeah, I think everyone who visits Glasgow is surprised by how lovely it is. So glad you enjoyed the photos! xx
Stunning photographs Jess! I know you’re not as wholesome as you appear (and not at all twee). This post has made me look forward to our rural Scottish winter getaway even more.
Thank you Amy <3 <3 I cannot WAIT!
sounds like such a lovely birthday! and the photos are beautiful (hard not to be though, since scotland is so beautiful!). happy belated birthday, hehe! xx
Thank you Laura! Yes, it’s a beautiful place to live. I’m just trying to make the most of the extra light in summer – it’s impossible to take photos in winter with the short days xx
Looks so peaceful! Thanks for sharing darling.
❤︎
Dakota D.
http://fannypacksandvisors.com
Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter: @missdsquared413
It was peaceful – a really relaxing place to spend an afternoon. Thanks for your sweet comment! x
What a BEAUTIFUL bay <3
Thank you for sharing, these photo made me smile
It’s gorgeous isn’t it! Like something from a fairy tale. So glad you enjoyed the photos
Beautiful photos! I still haven’t been to Scotland, I really need to cross this off my bucket list very soon. The savoury breakfast looks divine.
Bad Taste Toast – A Blog from Düsseldorf
Thank you! You should definitely come to Scotland, I love it here. The Scottish breakfast was delicious and amazingly all vegan, even the sausages and bacon!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!!!!! I hope you had such a good day even though it was a while back now!. These photos are amazing – there’s just something so Scottish about them! I am so jealous you got the chance to go eat in Glasgow and sample their amazing vegan food, you lucky lucky things. I so love that picture of James overlooking the garden (?) area – it’s so good. James, if you read this, that ought to be your official photo for everything from now on because it’s such a great shot!! xx
Thank you! Yeah it was really fun, and I’m glad I did something different to the usual routine of spending the evening in the pub. You should come and visit me in Scotland soon and we can go to Glasgow and eat until we can’t walk
I’ll give James your advice, I think he’s pretty lucky to have his own personal photographer following him around! 
xx
Hope you had a wonderful birthday!! Such gorgeous pictures! xxxxxxx
It was perfect, and so peaceful! Thank you Gemma xxxxxxx