Our Trip To London

Hello lovelies!

On 24th September, the girls & I travelled to London to visit our friend Char, who had arranged a day out for our birthdays. I was the only one that knew the itinerary for the day, the other 3 girlies had no idea where we were heading too! Char had made clues that we could all open just before we headed to our next location. 

Our first stop was a picnic in Hyde Park. Now I know it's a big park, but nobody warned me how many dogs would be there! I managed to spot 5 sausage dogs within 2 hours. I was in heaven. And on to the actual picnic, Char made us all a packed lunch, which was so sweet. We each had a juice box, with a chicken wrap & salad.

The girls were then given their next clue, which resulted in us heading to Choccywoccydoodah! I didn't actually realize you could sit & eat in one of these shops, as I've been into the one in Brighton before & never realised they had an upstairs seating area. We'd just had lunch in the park, but their menu was too good to resist! I had a pink lemonade, with salted caramel brownies & ice cream, which was incredible! It amazed us all how filling everything was, which resulted in quite a few of us getting doggy bags for the jounrey home.

We then got given our tickets for The Sky Garden, which Char had booked up months ago! If you haven't heard of the Sky Garden, it's basically exactly what it sounds like, a garden, in the sky. The views over London are incredible, we could see for miles.

It's actually a free attraction, where you can purchase drinks & food if you wish from the bars when your up there. Such a beautiful location to visit, I'd highly reccomend going.

Char's photo

& finally we headed to see a show in Piccadilly Circus called The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. The show is written by the Mischief Theatre Company, who did The Play That Goes Wrong, which has been on my list of shows to see for ages! It was absolutely hilarious, I can't reccomend it enough. We had seats in the first circle, that were 'restricted view', however it was extremely quiet in the circle, so we just moved a few seats along & only had small pillars on one side of the stage, so for £10 per ticket you couldn't really complain!

We then said goodbye to Char & headed home, with a cheeky stop at McDonalds on the way! 

Just want to say again Char how amazing the day was, you are an incredible human. This post is in honour of your birthday! Hope you're having the most wonderful day & we all look forward to spoiling you in a few weeks time!

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Life Lately #135

Hello lovelies,

I mentioned in my last update post that I was staying at my parent's house looking after the animals. Just look how adorable Honey looks snuggled up in bed. I thought she would be getting me up at the crack of dawn, but I actually had to wake her up! The chickens were so cute as well, they all lined up in the morning for their food & went to bed obediently at night.

Charlotte organised a late birthday celebration for the 4 of us in London at the end of September. I'm going to write a full blog post on our day, so won't talk to much about it now, but we had such an amazing day. I was the only one (bar Char obv!) who knew what we were doing & it was so much fun giving the girls clues through-out the day! We visited The Shard, Choccywoccydoodah & saw The Comedy About A Bank Robbery in the evening!

Last week, we had a launch night at work for the Year Of Culture that's coming in 2019. It was so beautiful, we got out the red purple carpet & had lanturns all around the foyer. People came from all over the District to watch the launch & it truly made the building feel magical.

I met up with my girly Ricka for brunch at Bills last weekend for a catch up. We hadn't properly seen each other since the middle of May, so we had so much to talk about. 

The girls & I went to see Home Again last week & I haven't enjoyed / cringed at a film for so long! Reece Witherspoon is fantastic as always & the 'young boys' were brilliant as well. Highly reccomend it for a girls night out.

Saturday night I spent with my Grandparents. We had a family meal at their house to celebrate my parent's wedding anniversary in September (they were away at the time) so we had a long over-due catch up, was so lovely.

& finally Char came back for the weekend, so we arranged to meet up with our other friend Shez for a roast. There is nothing better than a roast dinner on a Sunday. Since moving out, James & I haven't yet cooked a roast, but that's made it seem like more of a treat when we do have it, either round parent's houses or out & about.

How has October been for you lovelies? 

Getting excited for Halloween? I've already planned my outfit!

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September & October Favourites

The Sidemen Book
Ok, this book makes me seriously happy. James & I are massive fans of The Sidemen, so when we heard there was a book coming out, I went straight onto Amazon to pre-order it. It arrived on 18th October & we haven't put it down since! Yeah, we are hard-core fans.. ; D

Elizavecca - Milky Piggy - Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask
I'm not going to write too much about this mask, as I've already written a full post reviewing it, but you can probably guess as it's in my favourites how much I love it. It's just such good fun to use & leaves my face feeling so soft & revitalised. Like I say, make sure you check out my full post about it (even if it's just to laugh at my moon face..)

Maybelline - Matte Maker
I needed a new powder to set my foundation & thought I would try this 'Matte Maker' from Maybelline. I wasn't expecting too much from it if I'm honest but I was seriously impressed. It's only £3.99 (from Superdrug) & lasts all day.

Lush
Ah Lush. Not just Lush, but Lush at this time of year! I'm loving everything in store at the moment. From the Autumn bath bombs, to the new sparkly Christmas bath melts, to the products they stock all year, everything is just so perfect. I recently picked up & reviewed the Pumpkin Bath Bomb & the Autumn Leaf Bath Bomb. Reviews of some of the new Christmas bath bombs will be coming soon!

Lists / Meal Planner
Who else loves a good list? I've been obsessed with this meal planner from The Works this month. James & I aren't the best when it comes to healthy eating & planning meals (mostly because of working shifts that stretch into the evening) so we find it hard to have a balanced diet & tend to just grab what ever we find in the cupboard. This planner allows us to sit down & actually discuss what we are eating & what food we need to get in for that week. It's been a life saver!

Essie - Ruffles & Feathers
This polish is one that I keep coming back too & I love using it as a base for nail art. It features in my recent nail art post, which will be coming soon!

Everyday Luxe - Pumpkin Spice
I'm so sorry I couldn't find the link to this candle. (more gutted that I can't seem to find where to buy a replacement for when I burn this one!) I bought it from TK Maxx last year & re-discovered it this Autumn & I can't get enough of the scent. It's so delicious. I keep popping into TK Maxx to see if they have had another one this year, but so far no luck.

Events

Right at the end of August, Mum & I had afternoon tea at The Hickstead Hotel. It was lovely to spend the afternoon catching up with her, alongside endless supplies of tea, coffee & cake. I've written a full post about our day, which will be up very soon!

At the end of September, I decided to have my hair balayaged & cut. I've had it done before, but this time I went for less blonde tones & more brown, warmer tones. I couldn't be more happy with it.

Earlier this month, James took me to meet his giraffes at Chessington. I only posted about our trip to Longleat a few week ago, where I got to feed the giraffes there, but this was a special VIP experience, where we were taken to the giraffes house to feed them & have pictures for half an hour. It was so much fun & they are all so beautiful.

On 19th October, James & I travelled to Gloucester for his graduation. I seriously couldn't have been more proud!

Oh & finally, it was Mum's birthday on 22nd October & we had the most lovely weekend together. We had a family meal in the evening with my grandparents which was so nice, lots of wine was consumed!

Music

The Chain Smokers - Closer

Bruno Mars - 24k Magic

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Life Lately #102

Hello lovelies!

Hope you had the most wonderful Easter! James travelled back from Gloucester on Easter Friday so we got to spend a few days off together over the long weekend. My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary (still can't get over how amazing that is!) on 24th March, so we had a family meal on the Sunday. It's so nice to actually have the day off work to spend with them all & eat ALL of the chocolate!

Lily turned 3 months at the end of March! Can you believe that!? She's growing up so fast & getting cuter by the day!

I met up with the girls after a meeting at work on the Tuesday for a cup of tea & breakfast at our local pancake house. Just look at that meal! Pancakes complete with bacon & eggs, it's the most amazing thing ever!

On Wednesday, myself & the girls went to Ikea. It was Lily's first trip & she loved it! & she even managed to get a few cute toys from her aunties. We also stopped for lunch at the café & sampled the meatballs, which are soooo good. I've never had them before, but everyone raves about them, so thought I'd give them a go. I went to work that evening & my stomach swelled up! It was so painful, I've never had a pain like it. It actually felt like a balloon was inside me.. now I honestly don't know if it was the meatballs or not, but has anyone else ever had this?

Last Thursday I met up with Lorna before work & we had a catch up at one of our favourite cafes. We even got to sit outside for the first time this year! Myself & the girls are travelling down to see Lorna in her home town in a couple of weeks & I'm going to try to vlog our day out, so keep an eye out for that!

& finally myself & James made these amazing crème egg brownies last week. Neither of us are master chefs in the kitchen, but we found a simple recipe on Pinterest that both of us thought we could accomplish & they actually turned out amazingly well! I took them to work for people to sample & we got such a good response so we're definitely going to try more brownies in the future, maybe Maltesers & Mini Egg ones!

Hope you've having a good week lovelies : )

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Cadbury World

Hello lovelies!

 

At the end of June, myself & James travelled up to Birmingham to visit Cadbury World. I received two tickets from my parents last Christmas. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go since I was little, so you can imagine my excitement when I got two tickets!

 

We live about 4 hours drive from Birmingham, in the south of England, so we decided to use James' flat in Gloucester as a pit stop to stay over night. We travelled up on the Thursday night & left Gloucester early Friday morning.

 

I'd planned for us to go out for breakfast that morning at a gorgeous pub called The Plough Harborne. I've done a full post on our breakfast that you can read here if you like, but to sum it up, we found a real hidden gem. I wish we lived closer to one!

 

 

Our tour was booked for 1pm, so after a late breakfast, we drove to Cadbury World. As well as going round the tour of the factory, you can also experience the 4D cinema. That was actually amazing! I've never been in one before, but found it so strange. The movie showed you going on a journey through Cadbury World, on a roller coaster at one point! It felt so realistic.

 

 

The tour starts with the history of Cadbury World & explains how chocolate was first made.

 

 

You have a small talk at the beginning, but after that you're free to follow the trail on your own. We went on a "bean ride" which was a small car going through the chocolate bean's villages. You saw them fishing, skiing & there was even a Christmas scene. So cute.

 

 

We also got to walk around the factory, where we saw employees creating chocolate master pieces.

 

 

& finally we got to sample some melted chocolate with a topping of our choice! I had popping candy & James had crunchy.

 

We visited the gift shop & museum after the tour but still had a few hours to kill before our dinner reservation at Frankie & Bennys. There were lots of tourist flyers & leaflets at Cadbury World & we found one advertising miniature golf about 10 minutes away in a local park. So that's where we went!

 

 

I'm usually rubbish at golf, but I lost one game & drew with James on the other! Not bad if you ask me.. : ' )

 

We then headed to Frankie & Bennys. James' auntie lives in Birmingham, so we arranged to meet up with her for dinner, which was lovely. Despite the restaurant always being loud, the food is always delicious. I had the chicken & chorizo burger & James had spag bol.

 

 

We then headed home after a long day back to Gloucester.

 

I'm so happy I finally got to go to Cadbury World, I felt like a child again!

 

Have you ever been to Cadbury World? Or the Plough Harborne? : )

 

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Life At The Moment #72

 

Hello lovelies,

 

Last week was so busy! Last Friday was my beautiful Nan's birthday. You can see her opening her pressies with the help of Harvey, who was convinced that bottle of wine was made of chocolate.. it was also my Dad's birthday the following day, but being a very reserved person & us working complete opposite shifts that day, I was unable to take a picture!

 

Don't you just love it when surprise packages turn up in the post for you? I got this gorgeous pug cushion case sent to me from James & it arrived at work on Saturday morning! He knows me so well.

 

I mentioned in a previous update post that Gemma was getting married this year & I received my invite on Friday! How exciting!

 

I also received some belated birthday pressies! So excited to try my MAC lipstick & the unicorn horn from Lush's Valentines range.

 

I mentioned that myself & James went to Ikea a few weeks back & I've finally managed to put up my mirror! When I say 'I', I mean my dad. I'm hopeless at stuff like that!

 

I've been getting back into walking recently. I started the year by saying I'm going to do regular work outs, blah blah & I've mostly failed at that, but I have been getting back into going on long walks, much to my two doggies excitement. The first image of the corn fields is right outside my house & the following image is from today, when myself & mum took a trip to Walton-On-Thames with Harv & Honey. The sun was beautiful but so so so cold.

 

& finally, our first little chicks were born yesterday! I don't have any pictures yet as they're still in the incubator, but as soon as they're strong enough to come out, I'll have my camera ready! Oh & nearly a month till Easter! How quick is this year going?! Crazy.

 

How has your week been? : )

 

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Valentine's Day Preparation

Hello lovelies, how are you all?

 

Now I know some of you will hate Valentines Day. I personally love it. You're probably thinking "Yes Cat, because you're in a relationship". And yes. I admit, Valentines Day is a lot better when you're with someone, but that doesn't mean you can't celebrate it.

 

Every year I try to make all my girls feel special, this year is no exception..

 

I'm in the process of wrapping their gifts & they'll be delivered this week. It's only something small, but I think everybody should know they're loved on Valentines.

 

If you're like me, you will have probably;

 

- planned your outfit (for day time & evening)

- planned day & evening activities 

- painted your nails with a valentines theme

- & finally bought & wrapped your valentines presents.

 

Am I a little obsessed? Maybe..

 

However, this year is slightly different for me (& more exciting!) I'm going to be chief bridesmaid at my Uncle's wedding this Saturday, so Valentine's Day will be spent at the rehearsal at the church, followed by blowing up 150 balloons for the reception. However, myself & James have managed to squeeze in a romantic dinner at Pizza Express before hand!

 

How are you all celebrating?

 

Lots of love

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Chocolate Mousse

Lately Matt has been treating me to alot of lovely dinners. (He seems to love cooking, I'm not complaining..!) so I thought I'd make my 'signature' pudding for him last week, chocolate mousse. I do know the recipe, but I always have this book on hand if I forget any details or what technique I'm supposed to use. It's a lovely chocolate recipe book by Kate Shirazi. 

 

What you'll need:

 

225g plain chocolate

4 large eggs

25g caster sugar

150ml whipping cream

 

 

Step 1: Melt your chocolate (I do this using a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water) & leave it to cool slightly. I also used two bowls to speed up the melting!

 

 

Step 2: Separate your egg yolks from your egg whites & beat the egg yolks.

 

 

Step 3: You'll then need to whisk in the chocolate a little bit at a time until it is combined with the egg yolk.

 

 

Step 4: Grab another bowl (or saucepan in my case!) & whisk the egg whites with the sugar until they form soft peaks.

 

 

Step 5: Whisk a third of the mixture into the chocolate mixture & then fold in the rest.

 

 

Step 6: Pour the cream into another bowl & whisk it until it forms soft peaks, then pour it into the chocolate mixture.

 

 

Step 7: Once everything has been mixed in, pour your mousse into your pots & put them into the fridge to set for at least an hour.

 

 

Step 8: Take them out about an hour before your going to serve them, this makes them taste even yummier!

 

*Extra tip! If you want to add a chocolate heart or any other shape on top of the mousse like I have, use the remaining melted chocolate (there's always some left at the bottom of the bowl) & draw your shape onto the mousse before popping it in the fridge*

 

 

& that's it! So simple to do lovelies! Let me know if you try this recipe! : )

Valentines Day Feat. Chocolate Hearts

Hey y'all, how is everyone? I'm back from Leicester now, had a fab time with the boy. : )

Another Valentines post for you today, all about making these, chocolate hearts.

Now I know not all of you are in a relationship, but apart from making these for the boy at Valentines, I'm making these for all my friends too.

They are so cute & easy to do. Perfect present idea.

What you will need:

- 2 bars of chocolate (one milk & one white)

- A mould of some sort. (Obviously it does really need to be heart shaped to keep with the Valentines theme. I got mine from The Works for 99p) You could alternatively use a ice cube tray.

- A saucepan

- A bowl (heatproof)

- A spoon

Extras:

- Sprinkles

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Step one: Place your chocolate into a heat proof bowl & melt it over a saucepan of boiling water. Remember to stir the chocolate so it doesn't burn & stick to the bottom of the pan.

Step two: Once the chocolate has completely melted, start pouring it into your mould. Remember to put some sprinkles into the bottom of the moulds if you want the chocolate decorated on the top when they have set.

Once completed, your tray should look like this:

Step three: Pop them into the fridge to set.

Step four: Very important, don't forget to lick the bowl..

Step five: Make sure the chocolate has completely set & take them out the fridge. Place into a box or jar, add a ribbon & you're all set for Valentines!

Happy cooking!