Christmas Day

I worked on Christmas Eve until 1.45, then took the long and boring drive from Sheffield to home. I had Radio 1 to keep me company which lots of good Christmas tunes.

I came home and cooked the family delicious Shepherds Pie Jackets which went down a treat.

We then did our usual Christmas tradition of watching a Christmas film with lots of delicious snacks. We watched Four Christmasses for the first time which was hilarious! We also set the table for Christmas Day.

On Christmas morning we awoke at 8.30 (much later than when we were kids!) and opened our stockings.  I got lots of makeup and baking things and also Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food recipe book. 
My favourite was my onesie from Marks and Spencer. As I am short its from the kids section! I am getting Ugg Boots when I finally get my discount from work. 

Stole my brothers glasses

 For Christmas dinner we had fish for starter, I had a salmon terrine and smoked salmon, another Christmas tradition!

Then we had the main course, the full roast works and it was yummy, turkey, gammon, potatoes, pigs in blankets, red cabbage, parsnips and carrots :) I was so stuffed!

Without gravy

With gravy

We then took some cute family photos, my brother has been in Vietnam for a year so it was nice to have us all back together. 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS ALL!! xoxo

Brothers Birthday

It was my brothers birthday last weekend and his favourite restaurant is Ask, so that was where we went!

We go to the one in Northwood which is a nice one, and the one McFly regularly visit!

For starter I had the Antipasto Classico Board, which came with salami, ham, olive tapenade, bread and salad.

For main I had Pollo Piccante con Pancetta Primi Pizza. This pizza is stone baked, and has a thinner crispier base. It was very tasty and I enjoyed it. I asked for mine with no mushrooms and less chillis!

However I will often have the chicken and mushroom risotto which is delicious, my brother had it this time!

We then all came home to homemade birthday cake which I made.

This was made with 3 eggs, the hummingbird bakery butter icing filling, then cocoa powder and icing sugar with water for the top, drizzled with melted white chocolate - yum! xoxo

Christmas lights in London

I love Christmas and I love London, therefore I was super excited to get into the festive spirit and go and see the Christmas lights.

We got the train into Baker Street and then walked down Marylebone HighStreet looking in awe at all the posh shops and restaurants (wishing we could afford to visit!!). The lights here were simple, and cute. However we did get to visit the Conran Shop, which is one of my favourites stores on this high street simply because it sells such random things! We went straight upstairs to the Christmas Market which was a selection of cute huts with Christmassy bits and bobs inside and also real Christmas trees. The highlight was the snowman sitting at the Christmas dinner table!

Marylebone High Street ends up at the top of St Christophers Place, which is the cutest little street with lots of unique restaurants and shops, ending with a nice square with restaurants such as Carluccio's on it and Apostrophe.

After going down a narrow alleyway you end up on busy Oxford Street. Its hard to get a good picture as its so busy, but we headed towards Selfridges where we went to the Christmas Emporium on the top floor which was amazing!

Next we wandered down to New Bond Street and saw their lights which was super cute and like feathers, then ending up on Regents Street. The lights this year are sponsored by the new Night At The Museum film.

Just of Regents Street is Carnaby Street which had some cool headphone lights this year. Just off Carnaby Street is a little square called Kingly Court which has some unique, boutique stores and restaurants.

We then walked back to Baker Street stopping off at Langham Place church and the BBC Headquarters. These have been recently renovated and looked amazing. I would love to go for a tour of the BBC one day.

How amazing is London at Christmas. Next I need to visit South Bank and all the lights along the Thames! 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! 

Things I'm Loving - November

This is my first Things I'm Loving post since May! Wow, how time flies, as if its December now! In June I went to America so didn't use this blog and I have been back settling into University life, and only just getting back into my blog. Now I am back and the traditional monthly posts are hopefully back too!

I moved to Uni in September for my final year and it seems to have flown by already! Time really needs to slow down. However there are a number of things I have been loving this November, and we can start to get excited for Christmas!

1) Home made soup

As seen by my recent post, I made sweet potato soup. As the clocks have changed, nights are getting darker and its colder outside, soup makes a big come back. There is nothing better than sitting on the sofa with a warming bowl of soup. Homemade soup is the best, and miles cheaper as well. My recent batch of soup used a whole bag of sweet potato that cost me 65p and made 6 large portions of soup.

I have found some other recipes to try:

Beer and cheddar soup - this sounds absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to try it. I reckon it will go down a treat with the lads!

Chicken and chorizo soup - I love chickpeas and I love chorizo, so what better than to combine this in a soup!

Chilli con carne soup - chilli con carne is such a warming winter dish, turn it into a soup and its even better! Will definitely be trying this one soon.

Roast chicken soup - now thats a good idea, turning left over roast dinner into a soup. Talk about money saving tips!

Spiced parsnip soup - I have only recently come to like parsnips, so I feel I could quite enjoy this soup. The chilli pesto sounds scrummy!

3) Alpro products

For years now I have been feeling/getting really ill after eating. It was suggested recently I cut out dairy to see if it made difference. Now I love cheese and I love chocolate, so I never thought this would happen. So far though, I have been doing alright. Alpro soya milk is surprisingly delicious on porridge. Alpro yogurt is good too, especially with a squirt of honey. I am very grateful for these products as I can still enjoy my favorite meals!

4) Winter hats

I love my bobble hat that I got a couple of years ago from H and M and wear it all the time, it kept me nice and warm at the fireworks we went to at Don Valley in Sheffield, which were amazing by the way! They synced the fireworks to music and they lasted 25 minutes, which is excellent for a local display!

I have asked for a Pomskii hat for Christmas as I love them and the big bobble on the top. They are only £25 each so an excellent Christmas present for someone and there are so many cute colours to choose from! 

5) Taylor Swift

I loved Taylor's song Shake It Up and now I am addicted to Blank Space. I have asked for her album 1989 for Christmas. It's weird because when I was 17 I went to one of her first ever concerts (it was actually this time 5 years ago!!), where she sang songs like Love Story and Fifteen. Justin Bieber was her support and we watched the concert where he broke his foot on stage! Oh how times have changed! 

6) I'm A Celebrity

I absolutely love this show, its such a guilty pleasure and I am so happy it started in November! I love all the trials they take part in, and I think the celebrities are really fun this year! I would like Foggy, Jake, Mel or Edwina to win - how about you?

7) The Apprentice

If I am going to mention one TV show then I have to mention this one too! The Apprentice is just too good to miss. The bitchy drama and cat fights make for excellent television and an enjoyable Wednesday night. Last weeks was the best episode by far and I am glad that James has gone, because lets be honest he was too cocky for my liking! I have no idea who will win although I do think Mark Wright is an underdog, cannot wait to watch it tonight!

Now to eat number 3 in my advent calendar and get ready for work! Happy Advent! xoxo 

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