meet the sponsor // side street style

Hello!
We are a creative couple who are also parents to an awesome little man. We love to travel, eat good food, enjoy the outdoors and indulge in our passion for fashion and interiors while attempting to be great modern parents. John is a traditional barber and Laura is a snap happy kind of girl. At the moment we are renovating our house and looking forward to a summer filed with music, festivals, adventures and camping.

What drew you to blogging and what is your favourite part about it?
A couple of years ago I was paging through a magazine and there was an article about blogging and street style and I wanted to know more and the idea grew and went from there.

 Is there any particular topic you like to write about most?
The great thing about having a lifestyle blog is you can cover a lot of different topics but our favourites are Interiors, travel, fashion and natural parenting.

What is the weirdest thing you do or enjoy (habit, item, activity, etc)?
We love spending time outdoors exploring new places, as well as baking, looking through thrift shops and crafting.

Our life ethos:
Life is an adventure and if you don't try you will never know.

What is the most recent recipe you've discovered and drooled over?
Making natural energy fruit and nut balls for healthy treats. Also loving anything with Kale at the moment.

If you could only wear one type of clothing/outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Probably the classic white tee with rolled up skinny jeans and Sperry top-siders and Ray Ban wayfarers.


What is your favourite and least favourite part about motherhood so far?
Motherhood is by far the most rewarding and fulfilling thing there is, the love you feel for you child is like no other in the world and when they learn something new it makes your soul smile. The hardest thing is trying to deal with a tired toddler, the tantrums, food fights and general disorganisation that comes with parenting.

So far, where is your favourite place you've traveled to and explain why?
A few years ago I took a cargo ship from Cape Town in South Africa to the UK, it took 28 days and for 5 nights it stopped over at St Helena, an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that you can only get to by boat, it's more than 2000miles from the nearest land mass and is considered to be one of the most remote places in the world. It was a real privilege to have the opportunity to say there and explore it's fascinating landscape.

Most importantly, what is your favourite ice cream flavour? 
Oooh either Mint Choc Chip or Coconut.

You can read all about Laura and her family's adventures on her blog, or follow them here:
Twitter // Instagram // Bloglovin' // Pinterest

GUEST POST // SPONSOR FEATURE

Hey I'm Z! I run Sometimes Z Takes Pictures - a blog all about the random life of a college student. Born and raised in the Midwest, I came to Boston for school and have been racing around ever since. Expect lots of music, travel, fashion, and photos of me in my cow suit. 

1. Describe your blog, what's it all about?

It's a weird mix of things, just like me. I'm a college student going to school for writing, but I'm planning on going into management. I love music, I love everyday fashion, and I love travel. But mostly, I love rambling. Sometimes Z Takes Pictures is my chance to blather to the internet about whatever strikes my fancy that day, and, miraculously, people seem to like it.

2. What drew you to start blogging and what is your favourite part about it?

I first started a (terrible awful no good) fashion blog in early 2012. It was mostly me styling and posing in my dorm room and didn't feel like the right fit. Then, that summer, I lived on my own and had no creative outlet. That's when Sometimes Z Takes Pictures started as just a platform for me to write. In fall, I went abroad and used it as a way to document my experience (and also keep me sane). Now it's still chugging along! My favorite part would definitely be the writing and connecting with other bloggers. I've been a writer for almost forever and love the "style" of blog-writing. It gets me thinking about words, phrasing, and topics every day - which, being a writing major, is a huge success story.

3. Is there any particular topic you like to write about most?

I actually have a lot of favorite topics and they shift around during the year. Right now, I'm obsessed with travel writing and travel blogs (I studied abroad last semester and wish it was possible to do again during college). During the spring I did a lot of fashion posts, and music writing seeps in no matter what. 

4. I love reading other blogs in the morning. What's your blog reading routine and what are some of your favourites?

I recently got an iPad and am obsessed with the Bloglovin' app for it. I usually kick back during low points of the day and read a few, then bookmark them so I remember to comment later. Gosh, it's so hard to pick favorites! I just opened my blog up to sponsors and getting to know a bunch of startup bloggers is incredible. Along with all my sidebar lovelies, I'd have to say my "daily reads" are Nat the Fat Rat, LoveTaza and Ohdeardrea. They all happen to be "family blogs/mom blogs" but their incredible photos, hilarious stories, and general attitude are what drew me to them.

5. What are your top five, desert island, favourite bands?

Hah, now I'm just imagining a bunch of band members trapped on a desert island with me...THE ULTIMATE DREAM! All jokes aside, my top five are probably: Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Major League, Panic! at the Disco, and All Time Low. They all can write a variety of things - fast songs, happy songs, sad songs, slow songs - and I like them all! 

6. What were the first and last concerts you attended?

My first concert ever was the Believers Never Die Part Deux Tour in May of 2009. All of the best bands ever (and probably still my dream lineup). I cried, like, six times. The last concert I went to was Warped Tour. It was my sixth time going and I got to see a bunch of my favorites (and see a bunch of new ones). I'll always be a little Warped kid at heart!

7. Where is your favourite place to travel? 

There's so many! The way my study abroad program worked was that I had weekends free to go off with friends...meaning I went places EVERY weekend. I got a taste of ten-odd countries and would love to go back and FULLY explore any of them. I've even been considering living abroad right after college. My "top three" favorite places were probably Amsterdam, Dublin, and London. There was SO much to explore in each city and I feel as though I could live there for years and still only scratch the surface. 

8. What has been your best experience about college?

It's definitely been the amount of choice I get. And I mean more than the standard I-can-have-ice-cream-for-dinner choices. In high school, you have to choose a school in your town, choose your friends based on that small school, and hardly get to choose your classes. In college, you pick where you want to go, what you want to study, and have so many different clubs, internships, etc to expand the standard "school" experience. It isn't a "taste" of real life - it IS real life. Once you get over how terrifying that is, it's pretty awesome. :]

9. Guilty pleasures?

Definitely Say Yes to the Dress. Hopelessly addicted. I say it's just background noise...it's not. It gets even worse when I pair it with a bag of BBQ chips and a glass of chocolate milk. You know I've had a LONG day when all of those come together. 

10. Most importantly, what is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Agh...probably cheesecake or chocolate pretzel. I swear, I can go at those pints with a spoon and never look back!

You can also find Z on Bloglovin' and Facebook. If you'd like to be featured on the Whale & Wasp, please take a look at my Advertising page for further details!