New Year, New Perspective, Better Me.

Do not get me wrong on the one hand I have had some truly fantastic moments throughout this year which I am amazingly grateful for. 

However on the other hand it has unequivocally been the worst year of my life thus far. 

A tad dramatic? I wish.

It has been a whirlwind of emotions this year and my feelings have been knocked, broken and bruised. I have lost some of the most important people in my life this year and have had to spend the first Christmas of my 24 years without my Nan and Grandad. To say it was difficult would be an understatement.  

Jenko's Mongolian Barbecue Restaurant

Last week as part of an early Christmas celebration me and a few friends visited Jenko's Mongolian Barbecue Restuarant in Ketley.

Having never visited before I had no idea how it worked other than it would be an all you can eat buffet of meats and vegetables.

Koffee Pot Cafe Manchester

I am all about the food posts at the moment and while in Manchester the other week I ate so much good food that I felt I should share the places we visited.

My first post was on Brasserie ABode and this current post will be on the Koffee Pot Cafe.

The Koffee Pot was suggested by my friend as a breakfast stop as he had heard many good reviews. So on the Saturday morning we took a wander over in the rain to find this place.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This week has been an odd one the snow around the Shropshire area caused everything to come to a standstill. 

This meant plans needing to be rearranged and a fair few snow days from work. While this prevented me from visiting the Shrewsbury Christmas Market and actually leaving the house it gave some much needed relaxation.

Lifestyle: Dairy Free Ready Meals From Tesco

I'm attempting to have more of a dairy free lifestyle again after months of indulging in chocolate and cheese.

My main boost to do this was when I noticed that Tesco had started doing dairy free ready meals. Yes they are now a thing and I could not be happier. Mainly because if your lactose intolerant it is very hard to get ready made food that doesn't contain milk.

Brasserie Abode Manchester

I spent the past weekend up in Manchester for a quick mini break before Christmas while up there we dined at the Brasserie Abode part of the Abode hotel chains.

I hadn't heard of this hotel chain or restaurants before but as my friend had booked it I was happy to go with the flow.

A Weekend in Edinburgh

Back at the beginning of October I had a quick trip up to Edinburgh for a couple of days to visit a good friend. This would be the furthest inland I had been to Scotland and I planned to make the most of the trip.

The plan was to catch up and have cocktails. It was the Edinburgh Cocktail Festival the weekend I was up, meaning that if you had a wristband you could get a different discount cocktail at each bar.

A New Hobby

I have been posting less and less on the blog front of late and here is the reason why.

I have started a new writing hobby in the form of poetry. While I have always been a fan of writing and expression poetry had not really been on my radar until this year.

I had read a copy of Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey and fell in love with the art form. The fact that you can express so much meaning in so few words and have people that relate is amazing.

Halloween Cake Baking

Great British Bake off eat your heart out!

Last Tuesday me and a friend decided to go a bit baking crazy and in the spirit of the season these cakes had to be Halloween themed.

We started off with the basic cake recipe

6 oz Sugar

6 oz Butter

3 Eggs

6 oz Flour

Then we decided to have some fun with the cake mix and make them that bit unusual. We had previously been to Hobbycraft aka baking heaven and bought loads of colourful icing and most intriguingly some of the Sugarflair colour pastes. 

Simple Mermaid Halloween Look

I am a massive Halloween fan I always love to get into the spirit be that by baking, dressing up or watching an insane amount of horror films.

As we were actually going out to celebrate Halloween this year by visiting the local prison for a scream park I figured dressing up was a must!

I wanted to try something a bit different this year, in the last few years I went for the creepy broken doll look this time around I have attempted a simple mermaid look.

You Are a Butterfly You Just Can't See Your Wings

Does the butterfly know its beauty or is it unable to see its own wings? Forced to wander around looking at the bright and colourful wings of other butterflies feeling insignificant in comparison?

Aren't we all similar in this aspect quick to see the beauty and positives in others but unable to see these qualities in ourselves. Looking at qualities we admire and wishing we had more -more confidence, more beauty, more brains.

We all have low moments, moments of self-doubt, of comparison, of wishing for more and of questioning.

Of late I have had far too many of these thoughts, life has thrown many hurdles my way and I got tired of jumping them. I found myself becoming someone I didn't recognise someone full of doubts, low self confidence and who constantly compares their life to others.

Thinking Ahead

I know we all hate to hear it but Christmas is looming, there are only 13 weekends left until the big day. Madness I know! I hate to be the bearer of this news but around now is the time I start thinking of gifts and presents.

I know I'm a planner, I over-organise, and I'm always looking for new places to buy gifts from- I strive to find the perfect presents.

The Soundtrack to my Summer: Paramore - After Laughter

This year has been a fantastic year for music every band or artist seems to be dropping new singles or albums and my playlist is full of fantastic new music.

I am definitely late to the part in writing this post as this album has been out since may but

the one album that has really made my year is Paramore's After Laughter. I have always been a die-hard Paramore fan since age 13 onwards and have followed the changes in their musical style between each album.

Payday Treats!

I think we are all guilty of having the after pay-day splurge.

That moment after just being paid where we decide we can now treat ourselves to anything and everything that we have been lusting over for the past few weeks.

I had a mini-splurge the other week on some new skincare essentials from L'Oreal's new range.

How I De-stress.

I think we all have those days where we get stressed even over the smallest of things! Over the last couple of weeks for me this has been a constant feeling and I have had to find ways to take my mind off of things even for just an hour.

I thought I would share with you some of the things that help me relax when I'm stressed.

Travel: Prague Petrin Tower (Rozhledna)

The Petrin Tower located in Petrin Hill Park is Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower allowing a panoramic view from the top.

Easy to walk to over the Charles Bridge into Mala Strana and up to Petrin where there is a funicular railway up to the top of the hill. (Handy tip if you have a days travel pass this is included on that ticket.)

My Happy Place

This weekend just gone on the sunniest day of the year so far I visited my happy place which is Barmouth.

I have so many memories relating to holidays in Barmouth with family and trips there with friends. It is by far one of my favourite places with nostalgia everywhere I look.

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite traditions and things about Barmouth.

A Week in Dublin

Back at the beginning of April I visited Dublin for a week with a friend, this was the first time either of us had ever been to Ireland and we planned to make the most of it.

We booked a sweet little Airbnb room just up from St Stephens park giving us a short walk into the centre every morning through the park. St Stephens park had beautiful arrangements of flowers and I can imagine sitting in there while it's sunny with a good book is a fantasic way to relax.

Prague: The Charles Bridge

While in Prague one of the sights that you have to go see if the Charles Bridge, it is a stunning piece of architecture. While pretty much all of the architecture in Prague is stunning this bridge can not be beat in terms of beauty and history! The bridge crosses the Vlatava river in between the new town and the old town.

April Favourites 2017

April Favourites
It's slightly late but I wanted to share with you all the things that I have been loving this April.

There have been a few different things but the majority of these have been beauty products - guilty as charged.

Weekly Update - Watching/Listening/Reading

This week has definitely been a mad and busy one, work has been nonstop and I've had an essay that I've been trying to motivate myself to finish all week! Therefore this week's weekly update is a limited list.

Hoo Farm Animal Experience

Last Sunday I had a fantastic day at Hoo Farm. I'd bought my step mom an animal experience off of wowcher and we had finally got around to using it. 

We got to meet Duma the Serval, Specsavers the owl, the two red foxes and a boa constrictor.

It was a wonderful day the guide was very knowledgeable and good with the animals and it was amazing how close we got to these wonderful creatures.

Travel: Prague Astronomical Clock

 Back in February I visited the beautiful city of Prague! As everyone has said time and time before it truly is a fairytale city!

There are beautiful buildings and architecture everywhere that you look, no two buildings are the same.

There are so many different sights to see and behold and the one that I was most looking forward to was the Astronomical Clock.

All the photos I had seen of this prior to going were stunning and when in person it looked even more fairytale-esque.

Weekly Update - Watching/Listening/Reading

It's a tad late but here is my weekly update from last week detailing all things I have been watching, reading, listening to and loving.

Watching

The Edge of Seventeen - this film stars Hailee Steinfeld as an awkward teen struggling to cope with the fact that her best friend has started dating her brother. This film was recommended to me by a friend and I loved it! It was entertaining to watch and had so many relatable moments!

To Be Read April 2017

As it was my birthday the other week I decided to have a small book haul! Its been a while since I have bought new fiction, the majority of the time now I just borrow books to read from my workplace. However they don't always have all the titles that I want.

Therefore it was time for a haul of sorts!

These are the books that are currently on my to be read list:

Travel: Prague: An Overview

 Back at the end of February I visited Prague, I had heard so many people rave about the beauty of the city, its buildings and how cheap it was to visit.

Me and my friend booked to go happy with our destination, we stayed just outside Prague in Andel and we were unfortunately booked into the wrong hotel (that's a story for another day.) Despite this our holiday was not ruined and we saw some breathtaking sights!

An Evening in Liverpool

I'm not one for being spontaneous, if I make plans it's usually weeks in advance of the event with every detail mapped out carefully.

The other week I broke this trend me and my friend decided to go and see Against the Current live in Liverpool the week before the event. We spontaneously booked the tickets and I agreed to drive even though I have never driven to Liverpool before in my life.

Travel: Nice

I visited Nice in October and I have delayed making a full post about my trip because to begin with the experience was down right awful.

This was not due to the city itself or any of the sights, rather the hotel that we were staying at to begin with. On the day we arrived the first evening we went out for food someone went into our room and stole from my friend. (I thankfully had all of my valuables on me).

More Tescos Dairy Free Finds

I'm trying to attempt a dairy free lifestyle again. Now whenever I go shopping I'm always looking for tasty new dairy free finds to spice up my food.

While shopping this week I came across two items that happen to be both dairy free and vegan.

The Best Foundation/Concealer Combination for Me

I'm one of those people that has very temperamental skin. It goes from the extremes of being too sensitive and dry to being oily and causing outbreaks.

Due to this It is incredibly hard for me to find a good foundation/concealer combination that stays!

I put my makeup on at half 7 in a morning and buy 10 its like my skin has absorbed it!

L'Oréal Pure Clay Glow Mask Review

I was lucky enough for Christmas to get my hands one of the L'Oreal Pure Clay Masks. I opted for the glow mask for two reasons one I want to have nice bright non-tired skin and two out of the three this one smelled the nicest!

Glamglow Mini Haul

This is a very belated post but on Black Friday (yes that long ago) I had a small haul on the Glamglow UK website. I did not know they had a UK website so I jumped at a chance to give these a try.

For those of you that don't know GlamGlow have a load of different face masks on sale to suit your skins needs.

Lush: Shoot for the Stars Bathbomb

I'm back again with another Lush bathbomb review. I know what your thinking are all your posts for January going to be Lush related and the answer is.....maybe.

I was very fortunate to be bought for Christmas the Northern Lights gift box and included in this was the Shoot for the Stars bathbomb.

Lush: The Comforter Bubble Bar

Another day and another Lush post this time on The Comforter Bubble Bar.

While in Birmingham shopping over Christmas me and my friend went and had a look and a sniff around Lush.

I came across the Comforter and it has the most wonderful scent of blackcurrant.

This is one of Lush's bubble bars which is not the same as their bath bombs. Something I did not realise till dropping it in the bath and realising it was not doing much of anything. (I'm a bubble bar newbie ok).

Hello 2017

Today is the first day of the new year (where did 2016 go seriously!?) I thought I would share with you all my goals for the coming year.

1. Travel more - I've already got two holidays in the works one being Prague and the other being Iceland. I'm super excited to see more sights and explore new places.