I have a manic few weeks coming up but have scheduled in today a fun day out in Brighton.

I am sad to say I think I have only ever been to Brighton once before- how silly is that? It takes only an hour on the train, one of my best friends lives there and the town is full of delights. What aren't I there more often? I will be trying my best to remedy that situation in the future.

I'm in Brighton to spend the day catching up with my lovely friends, Julie and Natalie. Not only are they gorgeous and great fun, they are also talented jewellery makers and I worked with them on my first book.

After an early start out from London, Julie and I were pleased to be beside the sea and looking forward to meeting up with Natalie and perusing some local shops.

First up was the Big Bead Boutique which was a lovely shop selling beads, jewellery and other accessories. I ignored the beads (I own far too many of those already) and instead tried on all the fascinators they had. I ended up buying a pink net and fake bird concoction which Julie and Natalie assured me looked good. After deciding that I am a 'fascinator person' I have been wanting to buy one and with my sister's wedding coming up I had the perfect excuse. Now I just need to summon up the courage to actually wear it on the day.

Then it was onto the North Laine area to visit as many shops as we could in a short space of time.

It was a real treat having a day to browse gorgeous shops with like-minded friends and we all took the opportunity to try on a ridiculous amount of clothes, browse lots of jewellery and discuss handbags and stationery. I have no idea how many shops we looked in but they were all fun. It was really nice to find so many individually shops rather than big same-brand stores. Also to see so many hand-made and unique items rather than mass-produced was a joy.

Some highlights were: buying lovely dresses at Jaba Yard, browsing homewares in Pussy Home Boutique, trying on crazy clothes and shoes at Irregular Choice  and looking at the amazing hand-knitted and crochet jewellery by Rina Tairo. This is unlike any other crocheted or knitted jewellery you have seen before. It's much more elegant, detailed and well-finished.

There are lots of galleries in Brighton and two I enjoyed were Appendage (where I found this great print by John Dilnot. It's hard to see in the photo but he has made a map of the British Mainland using appropriately named colours from current paint catalogues) and Bellis gallery which had lovely jewellery as well as artwork.

After my recent post on colour and its effects I was really pleased to spot the Aloka shop where I could see from the outside this great display of aura-soma products. It was great to be able to see them in person but we didn't have much time so I'll have to pay a repeat visit to properly browse. The fact the shop also have a fabulous smelling vegan and raw food restaurant is just an added bonus. On the way out I picked up a leaflet about their introduction to colour classes so I may just have to book in for one of those or maybe one of their aura-soma consultations.

The weather was bad but we managed to fit in a quick visit to the sea, past the Pavillion, to look at the pier and feel the strong wind.

Before we knew it the day was over and it was time for us all to head home all spent out, physically and financially!