My Christmas Tree

I don't know about anyone else but I'm feeling very festive already this year! I'm eating Christmas Tree shaped crumpets and Stollen bites with my Christmas Spice candle lit. I couldn't resist getting myself a Christmas tree and putting it up. It's actually pretty exciting because It's my first proper Christmas tree in my own flat. I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite finds.

I got the tree and lights from B&Q after much deliberation,

I also got these two 'origami' decorations which I thought were a little bit different. This little santa and snowman are from B&Q too.

Another two of my favourites are these two from Sainsbury's.

Finally, these three are from the range. I like the matte white ceramic of the tree and the snowflake and just thought the heart was adorable.

As you can see I went with a white theme, it wasn't intended but it just happened to be that all the decorations that stood out to me that were a little bit different happened to be white. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I will of course add to it over the next few years.

Alton Towers Scarefest

 

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Me and 3 friends went to Alton Towers on Thursday and stayed in the Splash Landings Hotel for the night meaning that we had two full days in the park.

On Thursday we arrived and after a delay getting into the car park we got on the monorail and took a relaxed attitude, we had a look around at the Halloween pictures and did some picture posing and grabbed some food.

This relaxed start didn't pay off too well on a busy day in half term and we only made it on about 4 rides. We then went to check into the hotel which had a lovely pumpkin display at the entrance. The theme of the hotel and the room was water and the beach, Our room had a beach carpet with sand and sea and my favourite touches were the pineapple lamp and the shaped shower gels. We had a room for four which contained a double bed and then bunk beds which I had kids activity packs on (none of us are children but it was a nice touch).

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After freshening up we headed back into the pack for our pre-booked slot in the Scarefest mazes at 7.45. Unfortunately, the time slot didn't seem to make a difference as we were waiting to get into the first maze 'The Sanctuary' until about half 8. However, Once we were in there it was a scary experience! The theme of the maze was based on the ride 'The Smiler', an institute to correct you and make you permanently happy, it seemed the procedure had its side effects as when we were walking around (with our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us), we were jumped out at by demented patients who liked to chase us, breathe on us and generally terrify us all. We then moved to the next maze 'Terror of the Towers' but unfortunately were asked to leave a couple of minutes in due to technical difficulties. There didn't seem to be as many actors in this one and we were asked to leave again before the end. We had hoped to get on a ride in the dark before the park closed at 9 but due to delays that wasn't possible and we headed back to the hotel.
The hotel had entertainment available but we chose to retrat to the room and we enjoyed playing with the smart TV.

Friday was an overall much more successful day, we started with the hotel breakfast which had lots of choice and was good. We then checked out and upgraded our park tickets from the previous day for only £6 each, we also recieved a hotel fasttrack ticket for all the popular rides (except smiler).
Keen and earlier than the previous day we got started with our fasttrack which worked out brilliantly, we got on 10 rides before even stopping for lunch. We chose then to queue the 2 hours for the newest and most anticipated 'The Smiler'. I'm so glad to say that I've ridden it as well as all the other big rides but it was so terrifying with it's 14 loops and the two unbelievably high elevations that I have to say I didn't enjoy it as I was just too scared. When it was dark we went on a few more rides and our final and 13th ride was Oblivion in the dark which was much scarier than in daylight, it was nice to see a proposal at the top too!

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Of all the rides I think my favourite was Thirteen which we went on twice, I had also not been on Nemesis- Sub Terra which was very surprising and I got suitably scared at the end when someone jumped out at me. The fasttrack and the success of the friday along with a pleasant night in the hotel made it all a very good experience.

West Midlands Vegan Fest 2014

This weekend my Mum and I took a trip to Wolverhampton for the Vegan Festival 2014.

The first thing I was taken by was that it was a bargain at only £1 to get in, there was two whole floors of stalls, there was also talks and cookery demonstrations but we chose not to go to any. The stalls sold snacks, cold food, clothing and other goods. There was also a seating area with live music and hot food available.

Our plan was to browse all stalls before deciding on what to have for lunch, we then planned to go back for the things that we wanted to buy. This worked well until all this beautiful cake that we saw had sold out, there was lots of other alternatives thankfully!

For lunch we decided on a veggie burger, I had mine with 'cheese'.

We then went to one of the stalls and shared a giant chocolate twist!

Then it was time to go back and buy! Here is our haul:

My favourite stall of all was the Harper's Bizzarre candle stall, there was so much choice but we decided the yummiest was Bakewell Tart, Praline Ice Cream and my Mum bought Jaffa Cake for me, it's amazing! We also bought some recycled glass christmas tree decorations which I loved but they're all wrapped up until decorating time.

yaoh had 'buy one get one free' on everything so my Mum picked up some lip balms and bubble bath, we also both got a free sample of Mimi's Miracle foot scrub.

After tasting a sample we got some chocolate coconut milk from KoKo and we bought two tombola tickets and got some wine and some pickled onions!

We bought some Chicken Soup and Cheese and Onion Ten Acre crisps and then actually picked up some free BBQ and Sweet Chilli ones.

There was a few raw chocolate sellers there but our favourite was Sweet Revolution and we picked up these two bars.

Lastly, something really interesting to taste was the Egg Mayonnaise sandwich filler which was made from pasta and chickpeas, it was pretty good.

Whilst in the mood and in Wolverhampton we popped to Holland and Barratt to pick up a sos roll and some frozen bits.

I'd not tried the Country Pies before and they were really lovely and indulgent on a cold evening. I also really wanted to try the Booja-Booja ice cream as it's only made from water, cashews, agave syrup and cocoa. It was really lovely, I'd say as good as Ben&Jerry's!

The Autumn Tag

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As I'm loving Autumn this year I thought I'd give the Autumn Tag a go.

1) Favourite seasonal drink from a coffee shop?
As I don't drink coffee I go for the seasonal hot chocolates, I like the Costa Black Forest hot chocolate and any Hazelnut hot chocolate. This year I'm looking forward to trying the Salted Caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks.

2) Accessories- Scarves, Boots or Gloves?
I never pull the gloves out intil it's snowing really but I love wearing boots all Autumn and Winter. I also love wrapping up in a scarf so I couldn't choose really.

3) Favourite music in Autumn?
My music choices don't really change by season but Bastille is great for those cosy nights in and nearer Christmas I love Kelly Clarkson's christmas album and Micheal Buble's.

4) Favourite scent of Autumn?
Well again, I stick to my Benefit Carmella perfume all year but the scents I do use more moisturisers/ shower products in the colder months so I tend to smell like Lush Snow Fairy or Cocoa Butter moisturiser.

5)Candles- Favourite scents?
My favourite is always vanilla but I also love christmas spice candles. My current favourite is a Homesense Grapefruit and Champagne jar candle, doesn't sound Autumny but it's great on a cosy evening.

6) What do you love most about Autumn? 
If you hadn't guessed already, Cosy nights in with a blanket, pyjamas, the heating on and candles and lamps lit. It feels even better to be in watching TV when it's raining outside.

7) Favourite Make Up look?
Not much changes for me apart from going for a darker lip and the occasional smokey eye.

8) What are you most looking forward to about Autumn?
Going out and about and putting on my boots, a coat and scarf and picking up one of those seasonal hot chocolates. I love being out in the cold and coming into the warmth for hot drinks and a warm meal.

Feeling Autumnal

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For some reason this year I am so much more excited for Christmas and Autumn than ever and here are some of the things that I love about Autumn-

Pumpkins

Wrapping up in scarves

Wearing my rabbit onesie

New Bambi pyjamas

Soup

Candles

Wrapping up in a blanket

Hot chocolate

Roast dinners

New mug

New coat

Cushions

Wearing boots

Lush baths

Staying in a warm bed in the mornings

Christmas decorations in shops

Lush Christmas

Yesterday was the launch of, for me, one of the most exciting things about Christmas- the Lush Christmas collection 2014 was launched!

Before we get on to that, there is also a Halloween collection which is pretty exciting too. We were talked through the two new oblong bath bombs- The Sparkler and Northern Lights, The Wizard bubble bar and the gorgeous Sparkly Pumpkin and the amazingly shaped Fairy Ring Soap.

Then I took a look at my favourites- the bubble bars. There are lots of gorgeous glittery additions like the christmas pudding and the snow angel which is half bath melt and half fizzer. The cute penguin and candy mountain are back! There is also a cute new hedgehog and the beautiful Star Light Star Bright bath melt (not pictured).

Having said the bubble baths are my favourites it wasn't actually those that took my eye the most this time. As a all time Snow Fairy fan I actually fell in love with the new Hot Toddy shower gel which has a rich spicy scent not unlike mulled wine. Santa's Lip Scrub also caught my eye as it has a more balmy texture than the other lip scrubs, great for the winter months. It also has a great cola taste.

Something else that caught my attention this year that normally wouldn't is the soaps. I rarely used bars of soap but on smelling Yog Nog I was in heaven, the creamy, spicy scent is so beautiful. Snowcake also caught my attention as it looks so beautiful.

On to the bath bombs and fizzers- again, these wouldn't normally catch my attention as I love bubbles and always think they'd be drying. However, Lush fizzers leave the skin feeling so soft that I had to give them a go! Again there are lots of fun christmas additions, many with glitter! The Butterbear was a winner with me as I love the butterball, I also think the Christmas Pud is so intruiging! The Shoot for the Stars bath bomb caught me with it's incredible scent of honey (not pictured).

Lush were great hosts- look at those tasty looking cake pops!

Lush very kindly let us make a Christmas Wish List of 3 products to take away with us. I chose Hot Toddy Shower Gel, Shoot for the Stars Bath Bomb and Santa's Lip Scrub. I also purchased a Butterbear and some Yog Nog Soap.

What do you fancy from the new collection?

A weekend in Shropshire

This weekend it was time for another trip to see my parents in Shropshire.

On Saturday my Mum wanted to take me to 'Optimum Joy' a vegan restaurant that has not long since opened. We decided to share two mains- Spinach and Lentil Dahl and Butternut Squash and Courghette Bahjis with Rainbow Slaw. Both were really yummy and we ordered some bread too to go with the Dahl.

Then came the very best part- we shared an amazing chocolate fudge cake, yum!

Then with full tummies and after some mooching in the shops we headed to the Old Market Hall to see a screening of 'The 100 foot journey' with Helen Mirren. It was a really enjoyable afternoon movie and nice to watch it in an interesting independent cinema. The room had lovely wooden beams and grey suede seats with loads of leg room, there was even two seater sofas at the back.

On Sunday we had an explore around some country villages and came across a pub in the Joules chain and had a yummy sunday roast. We topped it off with Mum's homemade bakewell tart and custard when we got home. Perfect.

Summer Lovin' #6

Some highlights of the last week and a half-ish of my holiday.

-some nice reading and TV days, I got a little obsessed with Catfish:the TV show

-I've loved having a friend who's moved in on my road and also lives alone so it's been nice to have people to watch TV with and cook with sometimes.

- a night out with the girls, reliving those student nights.

- I've been enjoying tea and cake with friends, it's especially tasty when it's free from John Lewis!

- a trip home to my parents with comfort food (sausage and mash and apple crumble and custard) and a walk through the fields and a rural church.

-a trip to Ikea to imagine my perfect kitchen and bathroom of the future.

- feeling very lucky to have a great friend who sent me a supportive message and gift.

I have to say I've really enjoyed making the most of this summer, and blogging it! 

Summer Lovin' #5

Here is what I've been up to this week-

Monday- I spent the day making a cake for my mums birthday. I wanted to make a vegan chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, unfortunately this took two attempts because I burnt the first one!

Tuesday- It was my mums birthday and her and my dad came to visit me. She was very excited to see the cake and the flowers I bought her. We then went into town to Las Iguanas for lunch. After some shopping we stopped at a veggie cafe to share a vegan chocolate torte and rum and raisin sponge cake. It was a lovely day and I think my mum had a good day.

Wednesday- I spent the day doing jobs but I did buy a new nail polish.

Thursday- I went to Lincoln to visit a friend. I saw her two new kittens and went to a tea house for the hugest and tastiest afternoon tea. 

Friday- I picked my friend up from the airport and then we headed to our holiday cottage for the bank holiday weekend in Winster, Derbyshire. We arrived to see the amazing garden and view of the countryside. In the evening we ate at the pub in the village which was lovely, we then played card games and Disney trivial pursuit!

Saturday- We drove to Bakewell for lunch  and I tried the traditional Bakewell pudding and custard- it was nice but very different to Bakewell tart! We then went to Matlock Bath which is just like a seaside town that isn't by the sea! We played on the 2p machines and went to the aquarium. After a food shop we had pizzas and curly fries at the cottage and played more games. 

Sunday- we had a lazy start then went to the local pub for a Sunday roast. We then went on a walk, we took the public footpath and ended up in the woods and had walked four miles in the end! We then played a lyric board game and cranium. 

Monday- Once we had left our cottage we headed back to Bakewell to the market. We then went to Chatsworth house, it was raining but we walked around the gardens a little. We looked around the house and I had an amazing cheesecake. 

That's it for this week, only one week left!

Nottingham Food and Drink Festival

On sunday me and a friend went to 'Nottingham Food and Drink festival'. It was a really good day. We stumbled across a glass blowing demonstration first and watched the guy make a glass swan and then a wine goblet with a coloured glass twisted stem. It was really interesting to see it made in different stages using the different tools. 

After looking around some of the stalls we came across a cooking workshop and I learnt a lot about microwaves! I didn't know I could cook ratatouille in a microwave and I learnt an easy strawberry mousse recipe with only fruit, marshmallows and yoghurt, it was tasty too! 

We also came across a wine tasting session, as a non wine drinker I actually still found it pretty interesting to know how it's made and where the different tastes come from. 

 At the end of out visit we headed to the biggest demonstration tent to see Levi Roots cooking. He was really funny, we of course had a 'reggae reggae sauce' sing a long and he cooked jerk chicjen and carribbean slaw. 

We enjoyed looking around all the stalls and tasting some bits and bobs. At lunch we checked out all the options but I opted for a carribbean chicken wrap which came with rice and peas and slaw and ginger beer which was yummy. My friend went for a bison burger. Later we had delicious ice creams, I had ameretto and black cherry and chocolate flavours.

Summer Lovin' #4

Although I've had busy days this week I've had lots of time to relax. I have been getting bored but I shouldn't complain.

Sunday- on Sunday me and friend went to Rugby to visit my old housemate and his very pregnant girlfriend. We took a gift and I could resist a cute little pink dress. Then we left them to it and got a yummy roast in a little pub.

Monday- I had a lazy day but went out for a walk to see the flooded river. I then went round to a friends for a movie night, we watched 'white house down'.

Tuesday- I went into town and got myself a new pair of jeans and some hair dye. I also had an iced mocha as I'm trying to get into coffee. Then I drove back to my parents to surprise my Dad for his birthday. I think he liked it, we had presents and cake after tea.

Wednesday- I got the train to West Bromwich to visit a friend, she showed me her place and where she works. Then we went to Merry Hill and did some shopping and stopped for a Krispy Kreme. We went to a pub for tea before I got the train home.

Thursday- I drove home from my parents while they were at work. When I got back I dyed my hair. I used casting creme gloss in the shade 'chilli chocolate'. I wanted to go red again but my hair to also be darker. It was less messy than when I've previously dyed my hair and I'm really pleased with the result. I also cooked a courgette tart. 

Before and After!

Friday- another lazy day but I got washing done and cleaned all my make up brushes. I made a yummy homemade coleslaw to go with the courgette tart from yesterday and took a walk to Asda.

Saturday- chilled all day but walked to the library. Then went round to a friends who had just moved in on my road (yay!) and we had a takeaway and watched a film.

Summer Lovin' #3

Another busy week this week, this is turning out to be a great summer!

Sunday- After last week's London trip I was exhausted but I enjoyed spending time with my parents and my Mum made a great banana bread.

Monday- I drove up from my parents house to my visit my Grandma in Lancashire, we went out for lunch did some homeware shopping then enjoyed the sunshine in the garden with an ice cream before a yummy chinese takeaway.

Tuesday- I took my Grandma to the beach today which was really lovely, we had another ice cream (naughty!) but this one was amazing! Then I made the long drive back to my flat.

Wednesday- I met up with a friend in town for bagels, I then did some successful present buying and we both went for an impromptu pedicure. It was my first one and I loved it, especially since I got to sit on a massage chair.

Thursday- Me and another friend went to Wollaton Hall, we enjoyed looking around the hall which is now a history museum. We had a picnic and then got up and close with some deer!

Friday- Today I spent the morning sorting and I had a make up clean out. Then I went to town and did some more present shopping. After present wrapping I treated myself to some DVDs and a book.

Saturday- I had a lovely lazy morning then met a friend for tea and cake and dress shopping.