Penny Pincher Fashion

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Hello London

I’m so excited to have Abbey taking over the blog today to share about her recent trip to London.  For those of you who are new to PPF, Abbey joined the team 2 years ago as my editorial assistant – she helps out with creating content for the site (we have her to thank for the popular Weekly Top Finds series) & she’s also joined me for a few outfits posts (here & here).  I asked her to share a recap from her travels for those of you who may be planning a visit abroad.



In October of last year, my boyfriend & I decided that we wanted to take a big trip after I graduated from college. Because it was our first time heading overseas together, we wanted to go somewhere that was easy to get around, relatively affordable and English speaking. At that time, we booked our hotel and flight to leave on June 1st – booking so far in advance through Travelocity helped us get the best rate possible (I also highly recommend purchasing the additional travel insurance, just in case something comes up).


As the year went on, we sporadically bought other things for our trip as we could afford them, such as show tickets and making reservations at popular destinations to eat. This allowed us to spread out our big costs so that the expense didn’t feel so overwhelming all at once.

For our first full day, we headed out from our our hotel & hit up the famous Portobello Road Market. We had so much fun walking through the antique shops, sampling food from local vendors & watching street performers along the way. The backdrop is absolutely beautiful with all the pastel colored buildings and we were fortunate enough to have sunny warm weather all afternoon. That evening, we went to see The Play That Goes Wrong, which was hilarious (highly recommend!).









Similar Top (here or here) // Similar Skirt (here or here) // Earrings
For our second full day, we decided to get all the tourist things out of the way.  So, we visited Parliament & Big Ben, Westminster Abbey & Buckingham Palace.  In the afternoon, we stopped for tea at Fortnum & Mason, which quickly became one of my favorite spots on our trip.  They have a gorgeous tea room on the top floor and three other floors where you can find everything from fine china to menswear to loads of custom tea varieties & wine.  I purchased the same teapot and matching cups/saucers that they served our tea in (my favorite flavors were the smoky earl grey and the apricot, honey & lavender).  





Peplum Top // Similar Skirt (here, here or here)

Before our trip, we debated for months whether or not to take a day long tour out to Stonehenge and the Roman Baths. We were apprehensive to commit a whole day to being on a tour bus and it was also extremely difficult to find information online on which tour would be the best. But, at the last minute the night before, we decided to take a chance and book the trip. This tour allowed us not only to see Stonehenge, but we also got to walk inside the ropes among the stones as well – needless to say, it was an incredible moment that we will never forget!








The next day, we saw the British Museum which holds the Rosetta Stone, greek sculptures, and many mummies (including Cleopatra). We also visited the Tower Of London and Trafalgar Square. I wore this polka dot dress that I picked up earlier in the week from & Other Stories (a new-to-me brand that I fell in love with).




Polka Dot Dress // Black Loafers


As a gift for both my birthday & graduation, my boyfriend made reservations for a special dinner at The Ritz London. He took me shopping for a dress on Oxford & Bond streets and, even though I tried on tons of options, I ended up going back to buy the very first one I saw at House of Fraser. The meal & atmosphere was incredible at The Ritz and I loved that he gave me the gift of a once-in-a-lifetime experience rather than handing me a present to open.





The rest of the trip was a bit more laid back – we explored the city at our leisure & revisited a few sights that we wanted to see again from the beginning of the week. We attended an Alice in Wonderland themed tea in the late afternoon, which was just as whimsical as you’d expect. And for our last night, we got tickets to see Phantom of the Opera. This has always been one of my favorite shows, but it was my first time seeing it live and it was absolutely magical. Before we left to head home, we decided to go back to Fortnum & Mason one more time for afternoon tea – afterwards, we snuck in a little last-minute shopping (I picked up these beauties) and took a stroll through Hyde Park before bidding farewell to London.

Similar Top (here or here) // Striped Skirt (also in red) // Loafers

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