Graduation weekend

I have finally graduated, and I had the best weekend in Sheffield graduating with my besets ever friends and spending quality time with my family, not to mention eating lots of delicious food!

I arrived on Wednesday evening and headed straight to Meadowhall for a Five Guys which is something I had been craving for a while - you cannot beat a Five Guys burger and of course the cool mix your own drinks machine!

The next day was our graduation, we got up early to head to the hair salon to have my hair curled and then back to the hotel for the final preparations.

We headed to city hall to pick up our gowns and then stood in front of city hall and took lots of pictures! The ceremony started at 3pm and we sat and clapped all our fellow friends walk on the stage and shake hands with Lord Robert Winston, 3 seconds of fame for a 4 year degree!

Dress from ASOS - Crop Top Lace Midi Navy

Lord Winston gave a short speech and then the ceremony closed at around 5pm.

We had dinner reservations at Rubarb & Mustard on Eccy Road for 6.30, so headed to Graze Inn on Eccy Road for a pre dinner cocktail - I had a delicious frozen strawberry daiquiri :) Dinner was with my two best mates and their parents. All our parents had never met before so I was a bit nervous, however the whole evening was a great success!

Rhubarb & Mustard had a set menu for 20 pounds, I had the terrine for started followed by Pork belly then white chocolate panna cotta. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures as it didn't seem polite.

The next morning me and my best mate met her parents at Marmedukes for some food, we missed the breakfast menu by 9 minutes so had a tasty ciabatta with pesto, rocket and mozzarella instead with a lovely hot chocolate.

That evening we headed to our absolute favourite place ever - Smoke Barbecue for an amazing dinner. I had the pulled pork, hot link sausage, mac n cheese and chips, it was simply amazing!

The next day I headed into the Peak District to meet my parents in the cute little cottage they had rented. It was so lovely to be out in the countryside again, we went for a walk from the cottage in Baslow to Chatsworth House, they happened to have a christmas market going on so we wandered around it but it was raining which wasn't very nice so we walked to a tea room in Edensor to warm up with a hot drink and a rocky road!

We then headed back home to spend the afternoon by the fire, perfect! We had dinner reservations at the local pub, where I had a delicious medium rare steak.

The next day following an amazing cooked breakfast at Charlies in Baslow we drove back home in the pouring rain!

I had such a lovely weekend and really do miss living in Sheffield and so close to the peaks and not to mention the lovely people up north. Sheffield will always have a special place in my heart!

Smoke Barbecue

I have finally finished University forever. I have absolutely loved being in Sheffield and calling the amazing city my second home. Before leaving Sheffield there were a number of places I wanted to visit and one was the famous Smoke Barbecue home of the massive meat platter. Myself and a friend finally visited on the bank holiday weekend.

Smoke is renowned for selling meat, and lots of it. Typically the menu is very limited You can choose from ribs, burgers, or chili, standard plates, or the smoke plate.

We shared the smoke plate, which comes with pulled pork, turkey leg, chicken and sausage, twice cooked chips and another choice of side - we went for the mac n cheese.

We were warned the platter was big, but did not anticipate for it to be so huge! We really struggled to eat everything, but tried our best! The twice cooked chips were simply delicious, but the mac n cheese, was something else. When in America we had the best mac n cheese in Vegas, and this one at Smoke, could quite easily match it! My favourite part of the meat was the sausage - it was yummy!

If you are ever visiting Sheffield I would recommend a visit here, the men of the family/party would thoroughly enjoy it and may be interested in the Man vs Food challenge, with the opportunity to win £100 and appear of the Smoke Facebook Page......?!!!!

D.I.Y Hot Chocolate @ The Forum

On Saturday myself and a friend visited The Forum on Devonshire Street in Sheffield for the first time for a drink.

We didn't know what to expect but fancied going somewhere other than a coffee chain, The Forum looked cute and is regularly busy so seemed a good idea.

The Forum is a restaurant and bar, but also has a coffee bar on the side of it. We decided to sit on the high stools by the bar and looked at the menu. There was so much to choose from, a large array of smoothies and too many hot chocolate flavours including chocolate orange and rocky road. However the DIY one stood out to me as it seemed fun and different.

For it, you got to choose the chocolate type, either white, milk or dark, I went for dark chocolate as it is my favourite! You then go to choose a filling; flavoured syrup, marshmallows, blackberries, cherries or fresh strawberries. I went for caramel syrup seeing as I love the stuff.

The hot chocolate came on a lovely wooden board, with a mug of frothy milk, then your pot of chosen chocolate drops, a pot of whipped cream and mine came with a jug of caramel syrup.

I poured the chocolate drops into the wamred milk and stirred, I then added a little of the syrup and topped with cream.

It was such fun to make it yourself and I think a great idea that other cafes should do too!!

Thanks The Forum for a brilliant afternoon in your lovely coffee bar. xoxo

A trip to an Alpaca Farm

On Thursday myself and then girls wanted to take a break from the library and enjoy a day out. We had no idea where to go so turned to Groupon for ideas. We are students so a spa day is WAYYYY to expensive and nothing else took our fancy!

Then we found a voucher for a trip for 4 to an alpaca farm on the edge of Sheffield for £10 for 4. It seemed like a bargain! I then found a voucher for 15% off local Groupon deals so it came to £8.50, £2.25 each for a day out for students is perfect.

We drove out of Sheffield to the farm which was on the edge of the Peak District. When we first arrived we were confused and not sure what we were doing or where to go. However we went into the visitors centre and gave the lady our voucher who gave us a token each. The token allowed us to go through the gate and into the farm.

The family started the farm when a family member was ill and it gave something to take her mind off things, the farm has grown and grown since. There were so many alpacas it was crazy! We had bought some feed so fed them and ran away when they spat at us!!!

At the farm there were also some cool wallabies and Shetland ponies and a horse. 

It was a fun day especially as we had a selfie stick to play with so took loads of photos and tried to take selfies with the alpacas too!!

Afterwards we headed back into Sheffield and had tea and cupcakes at Fancie. I had a tasty salted caramel cupcakes and iced caramel latte.

Next we want to go and enjoy afternoon tea at Fancie, it looks excellent value!

Thanks Groupon! xoxo

Castleton - Mam Tor

My family came up to Sheffield with me so I wasn't alone in my flat on my own whilst working.

I worked Monday and Wednesday, so on the Tuesday we took the shop drive from Sheffield to the Peak District. It snowed a lot on Boxing Day in Sheffield and the snow was still present, which made driving a bit tricky!

Castleton was still covered in a thick blanket of snow and looked stunning.

We walked up Winnats Pass and headed up the hill to the top of Mam Tor which gave stunning views of the Peak District. We then headed back down the hill. It was a long walk and very hard walking in snow, my leg muscles ached the next day!

The walk was simply beautiful and the lighting was gorgeous, I took a tad too many pics!

In the evening we went to our fsvourite restaurant in Sheffield - Graze Inn.

We were sat in a cosy booth at the back of the restaurant. I had a delicious raspberry mojito for only £5 as it was happy hour. I also enjoyed some ribs served with winter-slaw, fries and peas and carrots. The portion was huge and I couldn't manage it all, excellent value for money!

I'll miss this place once I gradate from University! xoxo

Sunny Saturday Brunch in Sheffield

Yesterday morning was beautiful and sunny, so me and my housemate decided to go for a long walk and trample in the woods. We walked around Endcliff Park and Botanical Gardens and it was lovely.

We wrapped up in winter warmers and had a lovely stroll in the winter sunshine. There was not a cloud in the sky!

We then went to Couch, which is a fairly new cafe on Eccelsall Road. After living on the Eccy road for nearly 4 months, we regularly look inside Couch but have not yet ventured in!

We went for Brunch and sat on a nice table right by the counter.

For drink I had an iced mocha. I have never had an iced mocha and would normally go for an iced caramel latte however this was not on the menu! I enjoyed the mocha, but iced caramel lattes are still my all time favourite!

I then had the american style pancakes with maple syrup and boy were they good! There were 3 large pancakes and a generous bowl of maple syrup. Simply delicious!

We even got 10% student discount which was fab!

I very much enjoyed my brunch and will most definitely be returning! xoxo

Lacrosse Christmas meal

Last night was our Lacrosse Christmas meal held at Vodka Revs in Sheffield.

We got ready super early as had to arrive between 7 and 7.30. We got ready and went to our friends to take some cute pictures before getting a taxi to Revs.

On arrival we were greeted with a glass of very sweet prosecco and we all mingled before being seated. We listened to the awards and then the food finally came. I had chosen turkey as my main, however I am pretty sure it was chicken that I was served. It also came with a very small pig in blanket, a teeny amount of stuffing and some potatoes. Then a bowl of brussel sprouts and parsnips and carrots was brought to the table for everyone to share. Unfortunately there was not enough to go around which was a shame. The whole meal to be honest wasn't that tasty, but that's what you get at a Christmas meal for 82 people!

I then had the brownie for pudding, which was served slightly warm with squirty cream and a bit of chocolate sauce. I thought it would be quite dry but it was alright! 

Although the food wasn't great it was lovely to spend the evening with all my lacrosse pals, sitting, chatting and drinking wine! 

We then moved onto a club called Viper Room's and had our own VIP area and danced the night away!

I love Christmas period and all the parities and loved my dress. I bought it off bay, but it was a Topshop number but only cost me £6! 

Pizza Express

On Saturday me and my housemate fancied a dinner date out but couldn't decide where to go. 

My housemate really fancied a pasta carbonara so we focused on Italian. I went onto the typical voucher websites/apps, vouchercodes, vouchercloud and also O2 priority and specific restaurants own website as there is no point in eating out these days without a voucher. 

We found a voucher on Pizza Expresses website for 3 courses for £13.95 so decided to go to the one which was a two minute walk away - perfect!

The starter options were, doughballs, garlic bread or garlic bread with mozerella. Of course I went for the doughballs as they are my all time favourite thing EVER!!

For mains you could have any classic pizza, pasta or salad. However we both chose to upgrade to the Romana pizza for £1.50. The Romana pizza has a much thinner base and is bigger than the normal pizza. I chose the Etna pizza which was 'spicy hot soft 'nduja sausage, fiery roquito peppers, pancetta, mozerella, tomato and Gran Moravia cheese' and it was delicious. It was quite spicy, and more spicy than anticipated but I just stopped eating the fiery peppers and I was fine! My friend had the new Carbonara pizza and she said it was amazing. Instead of tomato sauce it had a bechemel base and had an egg cracked on top.

For pudding you could either have chocolate fudge  cake or two scoops of ice cream. Of course we both went for the fudge cake! Our waiter was so friendly and put lots of chocolate sauce on top for us!

I love Pizza Express, I think the service is exceptional and the waiters are always so friendly and welcoming. You know when you got to Pizza Express you will always enjoy a tasty satisfying meal!

I think next time I will try their Christmas menu as those cinnamon vanilla dough balls really tickle my taste buds!

xoxo