Vuelio Top 10 LGBT Blogs Announced!

In celebration of Pride Vuelio announced their Top 10 LGBT blog list for 2019 and we were lucky enough to be featured, again, and be invited to do a Spotlight Interview!

Our spotlight is here! We were asked questions about our blog, our experience as an LGBT couple and our experience as bloggers.

To see the full 2019 list click here.

We were first announced on the list as number 6 in 2017 - details are here. Featured at number 6 again in 2018, our spotlight from back then is here that included our Proud To Love YouTube video!

We are so grateful that our blog is seen as a useful resource and proud to be representing our wonderful LGBT community!

Pride - Questions Answered!

Have you heard of 30 days of Pride? 

In case you missed that June is Pride month you will have seen plenty of rainbows appearing all over the place to remind you. From brands avatars going rainbow to shops putting out 'Pride' ranges, companies decorating their windows with Pride decor to employees sporting rainbow lanyards you should have spotted a rainbow or two.

Well everyday is Pride in our house and we do what we can to to show how proud we are to be part of LGBT community as often as we can. It's a big part of why we share our lives online, we want to show our lives are normal. That love is possible whoever you are. That families are not exclusively for heterosexual couples. That we exist every month not just in Pride month. 

However for Pride month we decided to record a quick video answering the questions being shared on Instagram over this month. 

Check the video out here. 

Guest Post: Why Is Dating Harder For LGBT People Today?

With our 5th wedding anniversary coming up and June being Pride month, what better time to spread some love! When we a received an email from Jenny at LezBeGay with a solution for single LGBT people we thought it was an amazing idea and that now would be a great time to share it with you.

Why Is Dating Harder For LGBT People Today?

A 2011 report by the Williams Institute states that gay people make up 1.7 percent of the population. Separate those 1.7 percent down to gender preference, attraction and similar mindsets and what’s left for us gay folk? The pickings are slim as the numbers are not in our favour, with gay people outside of cities having the most challenging time meeting someone. Whilst we don’t have control over percentages of our existence, there are a few things that complicate things even further….

 Go to any gay bar or social function and you’ll either see people standing alone sipping their drinks hoping for someone to come up to them or packs protectively surrounding themselves with their group of friends. What’s the result? You become invisible from contact with people outside your friendship circle.

I’ve discussed this with my own friends and the majority state that they take a passive approach when it comes to flirting in public and wait to be approached by someone else. Shyness and fear of rejection are the number one reason behind my female friends lack of initiative at introducing themselves to someone they find attractive and interesting. In my experience, this doesn’t appear to be as big an issue in heterosexual circles as straight men are more likely to take the initiative.

10 years ago this kind of behaviour would have been a problem but not anymore! Today we have texting and other online platforms that allow for hiding behind a screen instead of having in-person communication. We’re okay with our shyness and fear of rejection, we don’t try to get past it anymore because technology allows us to hide; our social skills and flirting abilities have weakened.

Gone are the days of meeting the love of your life by chance at Starbucks. Nah, today we’re all about Tinder. Good thing we’ve got Tinder you say? Nope. This problem can be applied to all millennials, whether you’re gay or straight.

Technology has made are lives so much easier, whether it comes down to looking up a new recipe or texting our flatmates to bring back a pack of beer from work. I’m typing this from my smartphone, ironic or what?

BUT my experience with Tinder and other dating apps shows that millennials have lost the ability to appreciate what’s in front of them because we have so much choice, literally seconds away.

Everyone who we swipe through is supposed to look like a model, be super successful, like everything we like, and fit the molds we’ve created that no one can ever actually live up to.

We all expect to have perfect tens for partners even if we aren’t a ten, which no one is, and the quest for this mythical creature ruins our ability to see how amazing the person in front of our screen truly is; we don’t give them the chance to show their quirks in person. This, in my experience, is when a person’s personality shines through, when you let go of prejudices that you may have been fed from a picture and a few lines; you simply let go and interact with the person face-to-face.

I got sick of swiping so decided to go old school. I wanted lots of dates all in one night, I didn’t want to get ghosted nor did I fancy sticking around if I didn’t like the person. How do you manage that you ask? Speed dating. Speed dating is something that has never really held much appeal in the past. Maybe it’s down to a preconception of it being a grown-up mix of musical chairs and snap. So the trick is to make a good impression, make a connection and make an assessment on the reality of what is in front of you, not a preconceived idea. Despite wanting to speed date, when I did a Google search I noticed that there weren’t any websites dedicated to gay people. This is why I decided to start a website for the LGBT community. If the points above perhaps apply to you, then you can check the site out at www.lezbegay.co.uk. We are currently holding events in London but hope to  eventually roll out through the rest of the UK.

I’m still trying to find the woman of my dreams but when I find her at the next speed dating event, I'll be sure to let you know.

Jenny

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So there you have it! If you're LGBT, single and London based (currently!) check out Jenny's dating site, www.lezbegay.co.uk - get dating!

Review: LGBT Wedding Gift Ideas!

With summer approaching and wedding season almost upon us we thought we would do a quick wrap up of some of the favourite gifts we have spotted for LGBT weddings.

Our first stop has recently become Prezzy Box.

We were recently gifted this personalised print to celebrate 10 years together but we would have loved to have received it as a wedding gift. You simply pick the 'people' from a number of designs and then add a quote. And it's only £22 - you can find it here.

We also love this scrabble board - we've seen a few friends with these!

And these cute tins of tea that you personalise, who doesn't love fancy tea right now?!

Or if you want to go with a curve ball for your cheese lover friends/family then Selfridges are now offering Dziugas cheese. We tried the 48 and 60 month versions and as cheese lovers WOW - just WOW! The taste is so strong, powerful and delicious. The cheese is lactose free and you can tell the quality in every piece. It is rich, with bite that's a bit spicy. We enjoyed it on our cheeseboard, it would definitely work with berries on a summer days! This is not any regular cheese! It's a cheese lovers must try.

Not On The High Street have also improved their offering of LGBT friendly gifts, or perfect gifts for any couple.

We spotted this gift where you can get a personalised print of the wedding venue - if the venue itself was memorable. We went to Laura's cousins recently in a stunning country house that this worked perfectly for!

Or they do a cute cut our poster you can find here.

They also do some really cute cards:

We also love Zazzle for unique ideas for gifts and for wedding favours / invites / save the dates etc

And finally Etsy....we have got lost down plenty of Etsy holes and learnt a few lessons about checking how soon delivery will be. We aren't exactly the most organised couple so 4 weeks delivery is never going to work for us. But for those of with time this is the Etsy filter we usually start with: https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/lesbian_wedding_gift

So cute

Have you got any gift shops that are a must to check out?

Disclaimer: We were gifted the personalised print and tea from PrezzyBox and the cheese from Dziugas in return from inclusion in this post. All opinions are our own!

Travel: 8 Reasons To Visit Bergen, Norway!

When we visited Oslo in 2017 we had an amazing trip. You can read all about it here. From the scenery to the people, from the food to the history Norway has plenty to offer. Having explored the biggest city last time we wanted to try something different this time and headed to the gateway of the fjords - Bergen!

WE LOVED BERGEN!

Honestly our trip had so many highlights that we highly recommend visiting Bergen. We arrived on Friday evening having flown Birmingham to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Bergen on KLM (highly recommend this airline unlike Brussels Air). Each flight was just over an hour. We had 3 days exploring the city and flew back Tuesday afternoon. It was a perfect amount of time and even though the weather was changeable we had plenty of time to see everything we wanted.

Bergen is a UNESCO world heritage city and European city of culture - check out Visit Bergen here.

 1) Everything is beautiful. The surrounding scenery is spectacular, the houses nestled into the mountains by the port are adorable and the area is so clean and well laid out. When you arrive (depending on the time of year) at the lake in the centre you are greeted with beautiful blossom trees and the largest tulips in every colour. It's like a painting of spring.

2) It's SO family friendly. There was so many families everywhere we went and with Norway encouraging Dads to take parental leave you were just as likely to see a group of Dads with buggies as you were Mums. We were always acknowledged as Mum's wherever we went and even found an entire LGBT artwork store!

At the airport there were free buggies to use to move around, there were children's play areas that were free to use (although we are noticing more and more airports doing this now) and when we boarded our bus to the centre there were child seats available. All of these things were amazing as we only travelled with our baby carrier.

3) Bryggen - the old wharf area of Bergen stands on the port side and is a reminder of the trade significance of the area back as far as the 14th century. The wooden buildings have created passageways in a higgley-piggelty way making it interesting to wander around. Most of the buildings are now shops, cafes or art galleries and worth checking out. We spent over an hour seeing what was on offer before enjoying a snack in a cafe.

4) The Floibanen Funicular - this railway takes you to the top of Mount Floyen in 6 minutes and is 125 NOK (£12.50) per person for a return. The views all the way up are magnificent and when you reach the top it is breathtaking. From the station there are a number of hikes based on how far you want to go. We walked to a lake that took half an hour for the round trip. We also explored the troll garden, met some goats and checked out the play area. There were also free, and very clean, facilities to use - always a plus when you have been getting in the steps!

5) Try the food, it's delicious! Norway does love it's meat and fish so it made sense to try what was on offer. With the fish market on the port you can smell and taste the fish as soon as you arrive. The stalls are generous with samples and after tasting a variety including whale and the freshest salmon we'd ever had we had to make choices to take back to our Airbnb.

At dinner we tried reindeer sausage that was delicious - very meaty! Fish cakes that looked like hockey pucks but were delicious and meatballs the size of our hands. Everything we got was so fresh, everywhere we went.

We also did the Norwegian thing of having a daily hotdog and ate way too many bollen (bread products) of different types - with cinnamon, with icing, with coconut, with icing and cinnamon, with custard, with custard and cinnamon - okay you get the idea. They were so good we couldn't resist!

6) Take a fjord tour. We did a day tour on Hardangerfjord to Rosendal. It involved taking a 2 hour cruise through majestic mountains, past fjord-side villages and arriving at the picturesque Rosendal town, where we spent 3 and 1/2 hours. From the time you dock until the time you leave it's like stepping into a fairy-tale. Going in May the lambs were springing around, the flowers were blooming and the river gushed from the snow topped mountains. We followed one of those rivers to an amazing waterfall and loved every step.

7) The streets. There aren't many cities where it's fun to get lost, but Bergen is somewhere getting lost means finding new things. The back streets run up the mountain and you pop up overlooking roofs the higher you go. There is no right or wrong way to turn as every street has a different bar, restaurant, cafe or art gallery to check out.

8) The art work. It's everywhere. If you like sculptures you wouldn't be disappointed, they appear everywhere. If you like graffiti there is plenty to check out. If you like paintings you could spend all day enjoying local artists work and never get bored and if you like trolls - well they are everywhere!

We will definitely be heading back to Norway!

Family Travel: New York Must Do List!

Our New York Must Do List!

Our first trip to New York was just over 7 years ago and while we loved the visit we left thinking it was just another big city. This time we were meeting family and taking Annabelle who was almost 8 months. We knew the trip would be different but we didn't expect to come away LOVING New York as much as we did.

Our past trip roundup can be found here.

We arrived on a Saturday evening and left on a Saturday evening so had 6 full days to maximise our trip and we did just that. By the end we had walked over 60 miles, seen most of Trip Advisors Top 10 things to do and discovered new places we never knew existed! Oh and most of it was with bright blue skies until our last two days when we got snow, Annabelle's first experience of it. It was an amazing trip packed with memories of a lifetime.

Can you spot the Statue of Liberty!

So without further ado here is our list:
Top of the Rock
Last time we visited we were gutted that we didn't do this attraction and we were right to be gutted. You have to visit! Honestly Top of the Rock was a highlight of our trip. We timed our visit to head up at 4pm, enough time to see the view in the day but to also catch sunset. It's well worth doing it that way. If you time your ticket so you go up in the last daylight time slot you don't have to pay the extra sunset fee but you will be waiting a while at the top (it's worth it in our opinion).

From the moment you enter your senses are greeted with lights, sounds and pictures. From a film explaining the building of the 'Rock' and explaining how the Rockefeller Christmas tree gets put up to the light-show in the lift as you ascend you are entertained. By the time you step out to see the view you already feel like you know New York better.

We spent our time at the top spotted all the other sights and admiring the stunning skyline as the sunset. For us though the lights starting to twinkle as the buildings lit up was breathtaking (or maybe it was the wind :)) but seriously it was unbelievably beautiful.

Annabelle was mesmerised. From all the lights to the people wanting to talk to her to looking out at the view, she was squealing with happiness and laughing a lot. While waiting for sunset she even managed a nap in the Ergobaby as we were walking around admiring the view.

Brooklyn Bridge / DUMBO
If you haven't walked Brooklyn Bridge you need to do it at least once. On our last trip half the bridge was under construction and we had really missed out. This time with a bright day and no scaffolding and the view was amazing. The further we walked across towards Brooklyn the better the view of New York got. Taking in the financial district featuring the one world trade centre all the way up towards the Empire State building and beyond this walk gives you a great perspective of the city.

The walk itself took about an hour, Annabelle started off asleep and woke up to join us as we crossed under the impressive arches.

The reward at the end was a visit to the Brooklyn area under the bridge where you can find Julianna's pizza which tends to be queued around the corner or wander a little further for a Greek cafe where we enjoyed gyro's for a reasonable price. From there we headed to the carousel which is a must if you have young kids. For $2 per person you get to ride the carousel overlooking New York. Annabelle loved it and so did we.

Next stop was DUMBO (Downtown Under Manhattan Brooklyn Underpass) to see 'that' view and then check out the quirky stores and find Jacques Torres (have you seen 'Nailed It?!) chocolate shop for some of the most delicious cookies we've ever had!

The High Line 
Last time we visited New York this wasn't even a thing and to be honest we weren't sure it was a good idea with the freezing weather and the fact that it is meant to be a garden type of area. We were surprised though, it is worth checking out whatever the weather! We actually did the walk as dusk started and it was great. The High Line itself had a lot of dead shrubs BUT at the that time of day the views are worth the walk alone. Winding through buildings and warehouses you get a unique view of the bustling city without the crowds.

There is also plenty of artwork to see both on the High Line and on the surrounding buildings and you can 'drop down' off the High Line in different parts of the city. Although a point to note is some exits only have stairs so aren't buggy/stroller friendly!

Stardust Diner / Times Square
After a day exploring Central Park we headed towards the Times Square area and found Stardust a diner where the waiters and waitresses sing while serving you. Not like in your face but on the stage in the middle of the restaurant and we loved it. We all loved it especially Annabelle. And the food was amazing too!

After the diner Annabelle was so exhausted she slept while we wandered around Times Square taking in the sights and lights. It's amazing how we spent our new years eve sat on the floor in freezing temperatures there (our experience post is here). It has barely changed at all.

Also make sure and check out:

• Mood Fabrics if you have ever seen Project Runway and/or love fashion and fabrics
• The Flatiron building and 5th Avenue - there's a great Lego store there too
• Starbucks Reserve opposite Google offices - amazing new concept store and interesting for us even though we don't like/drink coffee
• Magnolia Bakery for Banana pudding (featured in Sex in the City)
• Crif Hotdogs for Please Don't Tell Speakeasy (not child friendly)
• World Trade Centre Station for amazing architecture and shopping if you don't want to go outside
• Song de Napoli for great pizza
• Chelsea Market for cool food places
• The Nugget Spot for captain crunch covered nuggets
• East Village for great street art
• Katz Deli for Reuben sandwiches

And finally we felt that we should stop by Gay Street.....

As we had done 7 years ago: