Pots of Arts and Waffle House - St Albans

My sister went to Fiji on Sunday to teach for 8 months so before she left I wanted to organise a girly day out for us both. I went onto Groupon for some ideas. I wanted to do something a bit different and didn't fancy a trip up to London.

After searching I saw a deal for painting pottery, so that gave me the idea to go and paint pottery. I looked to see where one was that was local to home and the one in St Albans called Pots of Art seemed good.

We arrived at midday and there were a couple of people in there but it wasn't busy. It was advised to book at busy times but I figured a weekday would be quiet especially as most people have gone back to school and work.

The best thing about this place is that you don't get charged a 'studio fee', you pay for the item you paint and that's it. It was fantastic as many places charge you up to £5 on top of the item you have chosen to paint.

Trying to decide what to do was the hardest part, there was so much to choose from! Did I want to make a money box, or paint an animal, or a plate or a mug?! In the end I went for a simple square plaque.

I decided to put Little Miss Tiny on it, as I am known for being short! I am not the most natural person when it comes to drawing, however I tried my best!

We were there for a couple of hours and then drove to the Waffle House which is the other side of St Albans.

I love the Waffle House and their sweet waffles and was excited to take my sister there as she had never been before!

We were originally going to get a waffle with chocolate sauce and choose extras such as butterscotch sauce and whipped cream. However I noticed a special which had everything we wanted on it plus more.

It was called Knickerbocker Waffle and was amazing! It had chocolate sauce, toffee sauce, vanilla fudge pieces, chocolate shavings and whipped cream and ice cream. It also came with berry coulis but we asked for it on the side. It was such good value and tasted divine. I could eat another one right now!

What a lovely day we had! xoxo

Trying kale for the first time and a healthy dinner

Yesterday I tried kale for first time, I had no idea what to expect and no idea how to cook it so I turned to Google.

I decided to try it in a salad, so I made a kale, lettuce, cucumber, feta cheese, olive and hummous salad dressed with balsamic vinegar. It was delicious. After doing some research I discovered that kale is very tough and chewy so it was advised to 'massage' the kale in a teeny bit of olive oil then leave in the fridge for 10 mins. This is exactly what I did and it slightly softened the kale and made it easier to chew.

I took the advice of how to dress the salad from one of the pages of Lucy's book:

For dinner I had the most delicious curry, Mum gave me some leftover to take to uni and one of these was a red thai curry. I don't have the recipe for it but its made completely from scratch using a number of herbs on spices, you make a paste. I think the recipe is from the Hairy Bikers Asian cookbook. In it included cauliflower, butternut squash and then I added green beans. I served it on a bed of brown rice. It was advised to eat brown rice instead of white, so I did. I have never tried brown rice before and it was yummy! 

I think its all these little changes to the diet that will most definietly help. Its not wise to jump straight into the whole eating too healthy as it will be a shock to the system and easier to give up!

I have booked a personal training session at the gym for next Monday, where the instructor is going to make me an exercise plan which will be fab! I never know what to do at the gym and am always too scared to go on the big weights but this programme will teach me which weights to use and how and when. 

Be Body Beautiful: My guide to a healthy, happy new you

This year I have no exciting holiday plans to look forward to, unlike last year. Therefore I wanted something to focus on. I have always been active and go to the gym 3-4 times a week and enjoy a variety of gym classes, I also enjoying running 10km. However I eat absolute rubbish, I snack on sweets, chocolate and have such a sweet tooth that I have dessert after almost every dinner.

However, this is all going to change, I want to become fitter and I want to tone up. I often feel bloated and sick after meals, however this is all going to change. My new years resolution this year is to become a fit, happy and healthy Rachel. This all starts with reading Lucy Mecklenburgh's book Be Be Body Beautiful: My guide to a healthy, happy new you. I started reading it last night and cannot put it down.

The book starts with a story as to why Lucy has decided to write this book, and with a little history behind her Result's With Lucy programme.
Then there are meal plans and exercise plans too. The meal plans look fantastic and I cannot wait to start making the healthy juices, eating healthy and nutritious meals and doing the workouts.

I will document my progress on this blog. It's funny this blog started out as a food, travel and lifestyle blog. However I feel that this year it will be focussed on a healthy diet and exercise.  Then next January my adventure to somewhere in the world will begin!

I feel very motivated and cannot wait to have something to focus on and aim towards.

Here's to a happy and healthy new me! 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

2014

I know this sounds cheesy, but 2014 has literally been the best year ever! I have loved every minute and am sad its over. I find it sad when people put status' like 'cant wait for 2014 to be over', because I have loved 2014! I did a similar post last year but here are my highlights from 2014.

March

March the highlight was the Captain America premiere which was held at Westfield White City. I got to walk the red carpet and even took a photo with Philip Schofield! Just one of the many perks of working for Disney! 

April

Over the Easter holidays I went to the Ile de Re with my family, which has to be my favourite ever family holiday. I had such a great week cycling the Ile de Re and wrote a couple of posts about it too!

The end of April was also my birthday, turning 22. I went to Jamie's Italian for the first time and loved it!

The harbour at St Martin

Beach Day

May

In May myself and my family enjoyed a fun time at 'Go Ape!' a place where you become a monkey for the day! We had the place to ourselves as the weather wasn't great and it was so much fun, I would go back any day to swing among the trees and jump off towers! 

June

I finished my amazing placement year at The Walt Disney Company on Monday 9th June, with a lovely send off from my whole team On 10th June I flew to Florida to work at Walt Disney World Resort. I worked at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Downtown Disney for 2 months as a Fairy Godmother in Training. It was very different to work in America and I found it quite hard at times, however looking back I had such a wonderful time at the boutique and made some amazing friends that made the working days 100 times better! Apart from working we also visited the parks on our days, mornings or evenings off! I loved it, and even started to give away shifts so I could go to the parks!  

July

At the end of my time working in the boutique I started picking up shifts at the Boutique in Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. This was the most magical role ever and I absolutely loved it. I feel that if I was placed at Magic Kingdom for my whole program I may have enjoyed it a lot more and felt a lot happier! I wrote a separate blog about my America experience and my post about working in the castle can be read here. 

August

I finished at Disney on 15th August. Leaving was really sad and I had to say goodbye to my lovely FGiT family at the boutique. I also had to say goodbye to my amazing flat mates who I had shared a flat with for 2 months and also my amazing roomie who I had shared a room with for 2 months. We had a lovely farewell meal at Animal Kingdom and then watched Wishes at Magic Kingdom.

Then myself and a couple of the other Disney girls got the Megabus to Miami and stayed there for a couple of days relaxing on the beach everyday. We didn't really do much here except sunbathe and shop! 

I then flew to Vegas where I met my best friend who I was to be travelling with for a month. I loved Vegas, it was mad but amazing! We also went on a day trip to the Grand Canyon which was fantastic and spectacular! 

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Pool Party @ Encore

We then got the Greyhound bus (which broke down!) to LA. Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive was so cool. We also walked the Hall of Fame, visited Madame Tussauds, saw the Hollywood Sign and went to Venice Beach.

Beverly Hills 90210

From here we had a very eventful journey to Yosemite, which was suffering from a severe drought, we did not love it here so left early and headed to beautiful San Francisco. 

Yosemite National Park

September

We were in San Fran in September and it, from dinner at the top of Macy's looking over Union Square, Lombard Street and also a visit Alcatraz.

Cheesecake Factory, Macys - Union Sqaure

Golden Gate Brideg

San Fran skyline from Alcatraz

We then flew to New York for the last part of our trip. We did lots of shopping, saw the Statue of Liberty and watched Enrique and Pitbull in concert which was amazing! On 14th September I was back home to reality in England. I then went back to University for my final year. 

New York Skyline from Staten Island

Brooklyn Bridge

October

October was Halloween and we had a reunion with all the girls and boys from Disney Placement year. The theme was pirates and we all met in Nottingham and had a night out to Forum. I had such a fun night being reunited with all my pals! I spent the weekend in Notts and visited the famous castle too!

November

In November I had a reunion with the Disney America girls and they all came to stay with me in Sheffield. We all got so close over the two months in America and it was fab to all get together again. We had a fun night out and then a good day at Bakewell in the Peak District.

December

December my brother surprised us and came home from Vietnam for Christmas. I hadn't seen him since January and we did not know he was coming back so it was lovely to see him! We have had a great family Christmas despite me being ill for most of it!

What a great year it has been, bring on 2015 and lots more fun and adventures hopefully! Happy New Year! xoxo

Things I'm Loving - December

Christmas and December are coming to a close, so now my December loving post needs to be written!

Linkee

At Christmas we always play many family games, this year our favourtie has been Linkee! This is such a great game, you can play it in teams or individually. The question master reads out 4 questions and the teams write down the answers on a piece of paper. The teams then have to come up with the link between the four answers. We have had such fun playing this game and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to play games with their family! Even Jamie Laing has tweeted about it!

Onesies

I have never managed to get a onesie that fits me, due to being short! I got a cute one for Christmas from Marks and Spencer kids section, which I wore on Christmas Day, but it isn't available online sadly! Here is my pick of my fave onesies, I think the fluffier the better!

Urban Outfitters - £50

Boohoo - £18

Very - Was £30 NOW £21

New Films Out

I have not seen any of these, but there are so many films out this month and in the New Year that I would like to see, I think a few trips to the cinema is in order, particularly as Orange Wednesday is ending soon!

• Paddington
• Annie
• Penguins of Madagascar
• Into The Woods

IPhone 6

I treated myself to the new IPhone 6 in the middle of December as an early Christmas present to myself, I know I am a bit behind on this but my IPhone 4 no longer worked so I felt it was time for an upgrade! I love it, I love that it recognises my finger print to unlock the phone, and wow the camera is so much better, and 4G is super fast! Why did I not upgrade sooner?!

Wonder what January will bring!? xoxo

Malteeser Biscuits

I have made Malteeser biscuits for as long as I can remember. I first discovered these after a trip to Northern Ireland. We went to a cute cafe and had Malteeser Tiffin and afterwards it was my mission to recreate them. I baked them in my flat at uni and brought them home for the family to enjoy! It was my way of cheering myself up when all I wanted was to be home for Christmas!

I combined a couple of recipes and created the perfect biscuit.

Biscuit:
200g milk chocolate
100g dark chocolate
250g (roughly) digestive biscuits
150g malteesers
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g butter

Topping:
300g milk chocolate or (150g dark and 150g milk)

Melt the chocolate, butter and syrup together. Then crush the digestive biscuits and add to the metled mixture, add more or less as desired. Lightly crush the malteesers and add to the mixture also. Place in a lined tray and leave to cool slightly. Melt the chocolate for the topping and pour on top.

Leave to cool if you're not tempted to eat them! I find they taste better a couple of days later also!

Malteeser loving xoxo