Frances Cassandra Arcala Coyne

Frances Cassandra Arcala Coyne

13th June 1992

to

28th June 2015

The Greatest Daughter Any Parent Could Wish For.

We have so many people to thank for all the support and love that has been given to us during this terrible time.

It is an impossible task to name and thank each of you personally, so many came together to offer assistance and friendship, especially to Frances' mother, Amy.

To the Filipino community, your love and warmth was overwhelming. We live our separate lives, we see each other often just passing in the street but when one of the community needs a friend, the selfless nature of the Filipinos' floods forward to help and protect their fellow people. These selfless actions are a tribute to the loving kind nature and strong bonds that Filipinos' possess, you are all remarkable people.

To all Frances' friends, thank you for all the kind messages sent via social media, over 1000 via twitter alone. To those friends that personally came to offer your condolences, to hear your words about your friend Frances truly made us proud that our daughter had such beautiful kind people in her life, again thank you, please keep in touch.

Many of the organisations, companies, and agencies that gave such kind recognition of the work that Frances had done for you, we would like to thank you for all your kind words. Frances was such a talented young woman and loved all the opportunities offered by you, thank you.

To Annabel Viar, the tribute slide show that you made was so beautiful, it chronicled the life of Frances wonderfully. You took the songs of Frances singing and her beautiful photos and produced the most fitting tribute one could ask for, thank you.

To Shane Murray, you were the greatest of friends of Frances throughout all her life. I am so grateful that you and Frances had done the musical video of your fabulous composition, “Do you Believe”, that showed Frances just how we all like to remember her, smiling and happy. Your special tribute song that you wrote for her was fabulous, you are the most talented musicial

To Patrick, Frederick, Shane, Kristian and Simon. I need to thank you for helping me to carry our daughter on the final yards of her journey, you all were very brave and during those final steps, Frances was surrounded by those who loved her so much – Tony

Whilst Amy had the lovely support of the Filipino community, I would like to thank those that helped me, personally, so much.

Ian Hampton, you are such a wonderful man. Your kindness and support, you shared my grief, we laughed, we cried, you were there for me unconditionally, thank you . Theresa Hampton, you are a superstar at all times, words can never describe the comfort and help that you have given.

Bob May, your wit, humour and strength of character helped greatly to at least divert my attention briefly from the tragedy before me, I thank you Bob, you are a good friend. - Suzzane May, you are always a whirlwind of positive spirit, thank you.

Rick “Joe” Jackson, thank you, your presence is always a pleasure for me, we have had our moments of difference but you have always been there for me in time of need, thank you - Tony

Peter Gurney, thank you for your time to come and see me. I wish we had longer but I truly appreciate your friendship. - Tony

My cousin, Mike Taylor and my dear friend Neil Webb. Let's keep in touch more, you have been a part of my life for many many years, I thank you for all your love and support. - Tony

 

Travel: My Travel Bucket List. #TransunLights

Singapore 2014.

Boarding my first plane at four years old for my first fourteen-hour trip of many to the Philippines, the travel bug bit me at a very young age (or I suppose you could call it the travel gene; I hope to take after my Dad, who constantly boasts a full passport of stamps, although the thought of having over 700 flights under my belt makes me feel a little queasy- I'm that person who squeezes the hand of the person next to me so hard during take off that it might break and panics at any signs of turbulence). As I grew older and started attending school trips to Rome and New York, and finally making journeys without a familiar face (or hand to squeeze) by my side to Calvi, France and most recently Singapore, I was captivated by the beauty and culture of places unfamiliar to me and have since craved more adventures. There is an endless list of places that I would like to visit during my life time, from quaint and quirky European cities such as Paris and Amsterdam, to Walt Disney World to relive the part of my childhood I never got chance to experience, and of course, to see the Northern Lights (but that need not be mentioned, after all, this blog post is an entry to Transun's amazing competition to win a trip to see the fascinating Auroras). However, here is a list of some of the top destinations on my travel bucket list:

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Rickshaw Run, India.

Whilst the sun, sand and surf of typical holiday destinations is usually enough to keep me happy, sometimes the bolder side of me craves something a little more adventurous and down-right ridiculous, and what says that better than travelling 3,500km across India in your own pimped up tuktuk- or what The Adventurists describe as a "7 horsepower glorified lawnmower". Since watching the JacksGap series on their Indian adventure, the Rickshaw Run has been right at the top of my bucket list, not only for the feeling of accomplishment as we cross the finish line, the sheer stupidity of it and the laughs (and probably tears) that would be shared with my friends, but to stop and enjoy views such as the Taj Mahal and have a authentic Indian curry or five along the way.


Iceland.
I've got to hand it over to the lovely Amy over at The Little Magpie for the mini-series she has recently written documenting her trip to Iceland for the fact that I am now completely obsessed with the idea of visiting this slightly cooler holiday destination. Iceland was never a country that had crossed my mind as somewhere that I needed to see, but where else can I bathe in mineral-rich 37 degree hot springs with a face mask on and a cocktail in hand whilst enjoying the view of snow-covered mountain tops?
The Golden Circle Tour sounds amazing also; unsurprisingly one of Iceland's most popular tours amongst travelers, watching the Strokkur Geyser intermittently erupt in to a turbulent blast of hot water and steam, witnessing the powerful flow of the Gullfoss waterfall and strolling around villages of quaint little brightly-coloured houses isn't something that you get to do at home (or many other places, for that matter).

The Philippines (well, more of it).

As mentioned before, I have visited the Philippines a lot throughout my life- nine times to be exact- and whilst I know the streets of the capital city, Manila and my mother's home province, Zambales like the back of my hand, having half of my family and a little house at our convenience has meant that I haven't really had the chance to explore much of the country that holds half of my heritage (did you know that the Republic of the Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands in total? That's a lot of islands to explore!). One of the saddest things about Zambales is that the devastating eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 left the surrounding beaches covered in a layer of volcanic ash, so whilst they are still lovely to visit with their own beauty and stories to tell, I would love to travel over to the island of Boracay, one of the Philippines' more popular tourist destinations which luckily still boasts beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise waters. The island of Bohol is home to one of my favourite animals, the Philippine tarsier, and it has been on my bucket list for many years to see one of these boggle-eyed, pint-sized primates in the flesh.
As well as these, it would be amazing to see some of the Philippines' very own wonders in real life, including the Chocolate Hills, the incredible 2,000-year-old Baneue Rice Terraces and the (almost) perfectly conicle Mayon Volcano.


What are your dream travel destinations?

Frances x

*DISCLOSURE: This blog post is an entry in to Transun's #TransunLights blogger competition.

Lifestyle: Let Your Shoes Do The Talking.

Firstly, I just wanted to apologise for the lack of blog posts over the last week or so- You know when you work a day job that you no longer enjoy and it diminishes any motivation you had to do the things you actually love? Yeah, that.

 

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was able to take a short break from work and was treated to a romantic (albeit partially sponsored by Jacamo) night in by Simon, which involved dinner, a bubble bath and a chick flick with a glass of wine and a box of chocolates. Not a bad one, is he?

 

Now, I wish I could say that this was all for no reason, but this bout of romance came with a bit of a twist. Jacamo have recently launched a new campaign called, "Let Your Shoes Do The Talking", which has not only been created to try and prove that romance in relationships is, in fact, not dead, but also give a little advice to the men out there who need a little help getting off on the right foot (teehee) when it comes to dating. If you've been wondering where it keeps going wrong, guys, it could all be down to what you are wearing on your feet.

 

You see, Jacamo carried out a survey which showed that a man's shoes are often what us ladies notice first, and 51% of women use a man's shoes to try and figure out his personality (I suppose it's kind of true!). Now, before you throw out those battered old Nike Blazers that have probably been turning off the ladies, don't despair- Jacamo have made a dedicated Shoe-Duction page full of shoe success stories and advice on picking the right pair from some top British male fashion bloggers. You can also find out what type of shoe is the most popular amongst the female population in your region of the UK and then shop from Jacamo's collections (which are available in a huge range of sizes and are pretty spot on, if I may say so myself) right from their website. 

 

So guys, treat yourselves to a new pair of trainers or brogues and try your luck- You may find that it wasn't that cheesy chat up line that turned her away. And if shoes just aren't your thing, there's still hope; there's still another 49% of ladies who are attracted to other articles of clothing- I'm pretty sure I complimented Simon on his jacket on our first date!

 

Ladies, do you think that a man's shoes do all the talking?

 

Frances x

 

*DISCLOSURE: Jacamo kindly provided us with a date night hamper as part of their campaign.

Review: Breakout Liverpool.

[Image credit: Breakout Liverpool]

Remember those online escape games that you used to sneakily play (along with The Impossible Quiz and all of Miniclip's procrastination-perfect offerings) instead of learning how to use Excel during I.T. lessons in high school? They've recently been popping up in the form of real-life escape rooms that you and your friends can pay to get locked in, in the hopes that you can break free in just an hour.

 

I was recently invited along to the Northwest's newest escape centre, Breakout Liverpool*, with my team consisting of my boyfriend, his brother and his brother's girlfriend, to try our luck at breaking out of their 'Classified' room. The second hardest of their three rooms and the prequel to their most difficult escape game, 'Sabotage', Classified saw us sitting our final exam to become a secret agent, in which we had to examine the various objects in the room for hidden clues, unlock a series of padlocks and find a sequence of cards in order escape from the room and pass the test.

 

Sixty minutes trapped in a room no bigger than your living room where every single object inside is relevant to your mission. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Whilst a GCSE in math isn't compulsory in becoming a top secret agent (a calculator is provided for any mathematic equations you may need to work out, who knew?), these escape rooms require a fair amount of logical thinking, common sense and a knowledge of how to actually open different kinds of padlocks after you have unlocked them (heh...). By the time we hit the thirty minute mark, the suspenseful music was getting to us, our patience with one another was wearing thin and nervous sweats were forming at the sound of the yelling coming from the escapees trying to break free from the room next to us. We had only managed to find three of the eight cards needed to work out the final combination and we had been stood staring at the same pictures on the wall for the past ten minutes- we were doomed, surely.

However, the Breakout team are on standby in the control room, watching your every move on the CCTV cameras and flashing up cryptic clues on the wall-mounted monitor whenever they felt you needed a little extra help (and probably laughing every time you walk past something obvious... suckers). These clues aren't easy, however- they are puzzles in themselves, there to jog your mind in to thinking outside the box and they often left us kicking ourselves for not noticing clues that were right in front of us.

With twenty minutes left to spare, the thought of continuing with our day jobs got too much for us and we picked up the pace, working out the last few combinations and discovering vital clues which led us to the remaining cards. With just over six minutes to spare before our dreams of becoming the next Jason Bourne would be crushed, we tapped the mathematical equation on the series of cards in to the calculator to reveal the four-digit padlock combination which broke away the chains on the final box containing our key to freedom. The name is Bond. Frances Bond.

If you are in to puzzle-solving, team-building or simply yelling at the contestants on Fort Boyard/ The Crystal Maze on your TV, Breakout Liverpool is for you. Allowing teams of between two and five players, the more people you bring along with you, the cheaper it is for you to play. However, it is never going to cost you more than £20 a head, so Breakout Liverpool is a fun and affordable way to try something new with your friends, whether it be a birthday, a staff night out or just a much-needed break from essay-writing. Read more about the missions they offer and book in for a game here. Or, if you're not local to Liverpool, Breakout also have a centre in Manchester.

Have you visited Breakout Liverpool/Manchester yet? Did you escape?

Frances x

*DISCLOSURE: We were kindly invited along by the Breakout team to escape from a room for free in return for an honest review.

Outfit: Festival Bunting

Top: C/O Sugarhill Boutique* (buy) | Skirt: C/O Poppy Lux * (buy) | Shoes: Matalan (old) | Hair pins: Miss Selfridge (old)

 

It has been a little while since I had my last Sugarhill Boutique fix and I'll admit that I had almost forgotten how much I love the brand until their SS15 lookbook found it's way in to my inbox. In less than five clicks they had won me over yet again- I mean, it's hard to pass up a dress covered in Dalmatians and Corgis, isn't it? Feeling inspired by a couple of the looks that their gorgeous model was sporting in their lookbook, I opted for a midi skirt and t-shirt combo, and please, can we just take a minute to appreciate this elephant print that was hand-drawn by a complete design genius in the Sugarhill Boutique studio? I predict a new best seller coming on- I have my eye on the dreamy smock dress version, too.

 

Teamed with this classic PU panel midi skirt by Sugarhill's sister brand, Poppy Lux, which they now aptly describe as "a complimentary brand of wearable basics with trend-led shapes and finishes", I think I have found one of my favourite pairings for the Spring. And just when I thought I couldn't be more smitten, I tried it on to find that it has pockets. The little things, guys...


Have you taken a look at Sugarhill/Poppy Lux's Spring/Summer range?


Frances x

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Food: Jamie's Italian, Liverpool.

A couple of weeks ago, Simon and I were invited down for dinner at Jamie's Italian in Liverpool*. We arrived at the dimly lit, rustically decorated restaurant and were greeted by our waiter, James, who was great and a huge help throughout the entire evening- after he had sat us down at our candlelit table, he handed us our menus and talked us through the specials that were written on the chalkboards on the wall beside us. When ordering, we also asked him about portion sizes and whether it was worth ordering side dishes with our main meals and he was totally honest and never pushed us in to ordering unnecessary extras.
We decided to start the evening with a cocktail each whilst we perused the menu- I tend to try new things whenever I eat out for the sake of my blog posts, so I went for the Grey Goose Le Fizz whilst Simon played it safe with Jamie's Mojito, which I think was the better choice in the end (can never go wrong with a good mojito, although the Grey Goose was still nice and refreshing).

To start, Simon and I opted to mix and match few items from the Antipasti menu; Pork Scratchings, Crispy Squid (the winner of this round) and the Music Bread, which partially won us over with its cool name even though we had no idea what it was. It turned out to be a thin and crispy flatbread (similar to Indian poppadoms) topped with generous slices of pecorino Sardo cheese and a dot of chilli jam. As expected along with Jamie's infamous rustic style, our food was served to us on wooden boards, copper chalices and terracotta tapas dishes.

We both ordered pasta dishes for our mains, Simon choosing Jamie's Famous Prawn Linguine and myself the rather scary-looking Squid & Mussel Spaghetti Nero, which featured black squid ink pasta with whole, flash-fried squid, mussels and slices of tender octopus. Both were delicious, although I am partial to dishes containing large amounts of seafood. However, staying true to tradition on our food-related escapades, we carried out a smooth and swift swapping of plates half way through the meal to avoid any food envy (I don't think anyone saw).

Of course, there's always room for desserts and we both decided to satisfy our sweet tooth with chocolate in the form of a warm and rich "Epic" Brownie with vanilla ice cream and caramelised popcorn for Simon, and a Chocolate & Hazelnut Arctic Roll for me, which featured an espresso semifreddo amongst the mound of chocolate sponge, chocolate ice cream and chocolate shavings (is the word chocolate starting to look weird to you...?), which took the edge off its richness.

Overall, we had a very pleasant experience at Jamie's Italian Liverpool; each course was brought to us promptly and the staff were friendly and accommodating. Thank you to the team for inviting us along! :)

Have you ever eaten at Jamie's Italian?

Frances x

*DISCLOSURE: Jamie's Italian kindly provided partial payment for our meal in return for an honest review.

Luxury Gift Guide for Her.

Going from being a full-time student to having a close-to-minimum-wage paid job means that luxury items and high-end brands rarely appear in my wardrobe or on my dressing table, except around birthdays and Christmas time when one or two extravagancies sneak their way on to my wishlist, or on the odd occasion that I receive especially good payslip. I believe that everybody deserves a little bit of luxury in their lives, whether it be emptying the penny jar to buy that Michael Kors purse you've had your eye on or treating someone special to a bottle of their favourite eau de parfum, so I decided to put together a little gift guide including some of the luxury items that I have been lucky enough to add to my collection.

 

 

My favourite thing to accessorize an outfit with is a statement watch, and the first designer piece I ever received was my beloved tortoiseshell Michael Kors watch (£185) from my dad one Christmas around the time when MK was all the rage. Both my Michael Kors watch and my rose gold Tommy Hilfiger* (£140) number have gotten so much wear over the past couple of years, a special wrist piece is definitely the perfect gift for any punctual fashionista.

 

 

I'm not a huge beauty fanatic so drugstore brands usually see fit for my daily winged eyeliner needs and the occasional red lip, however I do have a couple of high-end palettes tucked away in my makeup drawer for special occasions. The NARS Virtual Domination Cheek palette (£45.00) and the infamous Naked 3 palette by Urban Decay (£38.00) have been two very welcome pieces in my collection recently as they allow me to experiment with different looks without splashing too much cash, plus they last for ages. My two Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks were extremely generous gifts from my grandparents last Christmas, and at £23 a pop they only get used on very special occasions as I'm terrified of ruining the bullet (this is exactly why I don't buy high-end makeup...)! They do look beautiful sat on my dresser in all their rose-gold glory though, right? (Shades Glastonberry and Bond Girl respectively, incase you wondered).

 

 

Buying luxury gifts doesn't necessarily mean forking out hundreds of pounds. This Ted Baker brogue notebook* (£11.04) and outdoors wood pen* (£16.99) set looks high-end with its intricate detailing and gold hardwear (the notebook features gold-edged pages and beautiful parrot-print endpapers also) but doesn't boast the designer price tag, and Flamingo Gifts stock them in plenty of colours and styles suitable for both men and women (plus lots of other fun, nice and quirky gifts- their website has fast become one of my favourite online stores for scoping out unique and affordable presents).

 

Perfumes have always been one of my favourites to give and receive as they are so personal to the recipient. I fell in love with my all-time favourite Freak by Illamasqua eau de parfum when I received the smaller 30ml bottle (£34.00) for Christmas two years ago. After using it sparingly over the next year, I finally bit the bullet and snapped up the 75ml bottle (£59.00) in Illamasqua's crazy end-of-season sale last month for an amazing 60% off, so it's worth keeping an eye out for super deals before you splurge.

 

One thing you can't go wrong with when buying for even the fussiest lady is jewellery. I recently discovered JewelStreet, a huge online marketplace stocking men and women's jewellery from over 250 designers, including Sari Jules, from whom I picked up these gorgeous 14 carat gold-filled statement earrings* (£59). They also stock designs by a few award winning online boutiques, including Sara Gunn and one of my most favourite jewellery designers, Jana Reindhart, who makes luxury gold and silver pieces in cute designs inspired by wildlife and her childhood, like this Hummingbird ring (£89) which I also have in my collection.

I think it's every girl's dream to one day have the likes of Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo sitting in her shoe closet, and I was lucky enough to receive my very first pair of designer footwear from Harvey Nichols in the form of these butterfly print espadrilles by Valentino* (£285) last week. Just look at that packaging! Valentino also have a whole collection of pieces in the same butterfly print, including this clutch bag which I have somewhat fallen for, and you can find all of them plus lots of studded designer goodness by searching for Valentino over at Harvey Nichols.

 

 

What is your favourite luxury purchase/ what's on your wishlist?

 

 

Frances x

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.



Food: Homemade Japanese/ Sushi Night.

 

Something that Simon and I found we share is a mutual love for cooking and trying new foods (and just eating food in general- I'm pretty sure most of our early dates involved dinner), so with this discovery we thought it would be fun to set ourselves a little challenge and embark on a hypothetical trip around the world, having themed cooking nights at home and turning them in to a blog series.

 

Both lovers of sushi, we agreed that Japanese cuisine would be a good place to start, and after a week of intensive research Simon had dubbed himself a theoretical sushi master. He also discovered Kazari, a fantastic website which sells the sushi-grade fish (super-frozen throughout at -65 degrees to make it suitable for raw consumption) needed to make safe, legit sushi (none of that smoked stuff from Tesco, although we used that too...). As it can get quite expensive to buy specialty fish (Kazari also charge £5.99 for 24 hour delivery within the UK to ensure that it gets to you as fast as possible), we decided to start off small and cheap for our first attempt at sushi making and opted for a piece of Sake (Atlantic salmon top loin, £8.99) and four steamed and prepared shrimp (£3.29). We also picked up the essentials needed to make sushi, including sushi rice, yakinori seaweed sheets and a bamboo rolling mat, plus a few extras such as wasabi paste, pickled ginger and sushi vinegar, which brought our whole order to around £40.

 

Following his new-found expertise, I let Simon be in charge of making the norimaki- cylindrical rolls of rice with fillings inside, wrapped in a sheet of nori- plus the "inside out" version with rice on the outside- uramaki. I have attempted to make these types of sushi in the past and mine didn't come out looking so photogenic (probably due to my lack of rolling mat and an extra sharp knife- you need these to make pretty-looking sushi!), so I assigned myself the slightly easier temaki hand rolls and nigiri- a thin sliver of salmon, crabstick or a shrimp placed on top of a mound of hand-pressed rice (I make it sound impressive though, huh?). The ingredients that we bought made enough sushi to feed around four people, and since it didn't  not every piece fell apart upon contact with chopsticks and nobody fell ill afterwards, I'd vouch to say that our first sushi night was a success!

 

Setting ourselves a three-course challenge, we also decided to try our hand at making our own version of the popular Wagamama classic, Chicken Katsu Curry. Mainly containing ingredients that could be found in the kitchen cupboard we followed this recipe and I don't think we did a bad job, although the sauce could have been a little thicker.

 

I hate to be the one to judge a book by its cover, but when the Japanese-style cheesecake we made for dessert came out of the oven, photographs of its convex shape and sunken edges were the last thing I wanted to take for this blog post. With beaten egg whites serving as a key ingredient in Japanese cheesecake, it is a very light and delicate cake that is difficult to perfect without getting a cracked top at the very least. Simon was proud of our attempt, however, and I wish I had had a little more faith in our sad-looking little cake, as served with cream and a spoonful of apricot jam as recommended, it actually tasted really good.

 

So, now that we are practically professional Japanese sushi chefs, we are already planning the theme for our next night in- Anyone for Spanish tapas?

 

Are you a fan of sushi? Ever tried making your own?

 

Frances x

 



Travel/Food: Ibis Styles Liverpool Dale Street (part two) #CaptureIbisStyles.

Before we released our competitive streaks at Ibis Styles Liverpool Dale Street last week, the Ibis and Gray Matter team thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know each other over dinner before the long day of games. With drinks on tap all evening it was certainly an ice breaker, and it wasn't long before the eleven of us were sat down at a long table in the centre of the hotel's open-plan dining area, taking photos and chatting away.

We were lucky enough to be trying the taster menu that evening, which meant sampling pretty much every dish that they had to offer, which looked like more of a challenge than it originally sounded when six different starters were brought out and placed on boards in front of us. Even though the menu is simple and quite basic, the quality and presentation of the food for a budget hotel was quite impressive. The Prawn Twisters and the Posh Squid (Ibis Styles' genius name for calamari) were to die for, as was the Hearty Leek & Potato Soup with a toasted Croque Salmon on the side. Along with Rustic Charcuterie Boar (AKA, cured meats with ciabatta) and Falafel-stuffed Pittas, there was so much food on offer that we could have called it quits after starters, but we resisted finishing off the battered prawns to save a little room for the mains.

The only main dish I was disappointed with was the Mini Chicken Caesar, which I found to be all lettuce and not much of anything else. But who is going to go for a salad when there is Spanish-style Surf and Turf on the menu? This Valencian paella dish containing mixed seafood, chicken and chorizo was so moreish it was at danger being placed next to me on the table. I did force myself away from it to sample the other dishes, however, and the Salmon Supreme (salmon with a white wine sauce and roasted vegetables) and the fancy fish finger sarnies Mini Cod Goujon Sandwiches both got points from me (can you tell I like seafood?). For people who aren't big on fish, they also had some restaurant classics including Aberdeen Angus Mini Beef Burgers plus Steaks Frites, which were cooked perfectly.

 

As intimidating as dessert sounded after the abundant amount of food we had just consumed, there were only two to face and the mini portions were perfect to take the edge off my sweet tooth. In fact, after I had tried one of the Mini Chocolate Puddings I'm sure I could have had another couple. The Apple Crumble was lovely too, and was finished off nicely with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

The #CaptureIbisStyles Campaign

 

Full, and with a cup of green tea in hand (because we all know the green tea cancels out at least 75% of calories consumed, right?), we were briefed on our tasks for the following day plus the worldwide campaign, which- as promised in my last post (read here)- I am going to tell you more about today. As previously mentioned, Ibis Styles are launching a campaign on Friday, March 13, 2015, offering Instagram users residing in six countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil and the UK) the chance to win from a possibility of fifty-seven pieces of designer furniture that are showcased throughout the fifteen participating Ibis Styles hotels.

 

If you are local to one of the hotels (Liverpool and Edinburgh if you are in the UK), all you have to do is pop in with your smart phone and take a photograph of whichever of the four pieces of designer furniture on offer take your fancy (they will be in the lobby area with an Ibis Styles label attached to make them easy to spot) and then upload it to Instagram with the designated hashtags. It is then up to you to use the power of social media to collect as many 'likes' as you can on your Instagram post. The amount of 'likes' required to be in with a chance of winning your chosen item will be stated on the attached Ibis Styles label, and once you reach this target you will be entered into a draw to pick the lucky winner of the piece of furniture. Exciting, no? If you don't live close to one of the participating hotels, don't worry- there will be a digital version too, so head over to the #CaptureIbisStyles webpage for more information on the competition and to see the pieces of furniture that are up for grabs (very jealous of the folks over at the Lille Centre Grande Place hotel in France who can win this adorable elephant stool!). The competition will run for two months from March 13 to May 13, so there's plenty of time to gather up those likes!

 

Will you be entering the #CaptureIbisStyle competition?

 

Frances x

 

*DISCLOSURE: I was kindly invited to stay at Ibis Styles Liverpool free of charge to take part in their #CaptureIbisStyles campaign. All opinions stated are 100% honest and my own.