Padstow Perfection

I'm currently sat trying to narrow down my top 5 favourite places in the world. Can you tell its revision season? Anyway, its a bloomin tough choice, but the nominations would definitely include: My house (not that its a particularly exciting house, but its home), Wengen in Switzerland, the Isle of Wight, London (sometimes, depending on my mood) and Cornwall.

 

I know, I'm not exactly being ambitious with this list; 4 out of 5 are here in England. But in all honestly, I love it here. That's not to say there aren't lots of totally amazing places abroad. If I was to make the list a top 10, things might be very different, but I just love England.

 

I'm gonna cheat a bit here. I think I could probably name about 6 different places in Cornwall that would single-handedly make the cut of my top 5. So for now, i'll just pick one - Padstow. I've mentioned it before in my Cornish Delights post, so i'll not drag on about it. Instead, here are some photos from when I went with my family in January. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My recommendations of places to visit would be: 

• Rojano's Italian. My favourite Italian restaurant ever to exist. I'm actually pretty basic with my order here - plain spaghetti with parmesan cheese, but my goodness, its the best spaghetti and cheese you will ever experience. (Story: I had this dish the first time we ate here a few years back because I had an upset stomach so wanted something plain. Its kind of tradition. Plain, but tradition. And so, SO good.)
• Pucelli's Italian. Stunning panoramic views over the harbour and across the estuary to Rock. Delicious food, relaxed atmosphere, lovely!
• Rick Stein's various foody places. Its almost impossible to come to Padstow without stumbling across a Stein find. For perfect, classic fish and chips, head down to Stein's Fish and Chips on Riverside. There's also The Seafood if you want a nice sit down meal (see my Cornish Delights post), or to his shop Stein's on Middle Street if its gifts you're after.
• The Beach. Sometimes a visit here is forced upon you if the tide is low, and the ferry back to rock departs from the sandy shores of the estuary rather than the Harbour's slipway. But if you come prepared, it can be nice to spend a couple of hours here, just sat. Its not usually too busy either.
• Stroll round the shops. In the Summer months the shops can be unbearably crowded, but if you get there early enough, there are plenty of gems to be found.
• Get a Pasty! Even if you don't like them. Just buy one and have a bite. There are so many pasty shops around the harbour, all offering fresh, traditional pasties. You can go Cornish, Veggie or even banana and Nutella. So. Many. Options.

 

Its so perfectly twee without being sickly sweet, bustling without being claustrophobic, and exciting whilst still being chilled. I ♥ it.

Where's your favourite place in the world?

 

(I'm now thinking of lots more places I wish i'd included in my top 5. Ow man.)

View Post

Christmas, New Year and Back to Blogging

Hi! Long time no see! I'll admit I've majorly slacked in the blogging department over the last few weeks. I blame Christmas, exams, holidays and just general drama. BUT, after a little break I am fully ready to get back into the swing of it.

 

 

Here's a few little things:

1. For 2015, I'm aiming to post once a week, but if particularly exciting things happen then off-schedule posts will no doubt make an appearance. Follow me on BlogLovin to keep updated :)
2. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Is it still acceptable to say that nineteen days into January? Whilst the snow led to a rather dramatic night on Boxing Day (went to see a pantomime, it snowed, couldn't get home, stayed in a hotel etc etc) the festive period was a pretty good one. Food, family, Cornwall, food.
3. Exams are happening. No-one likes them. Me included. January revision is always more of a struggle. Not only do you have the usual post-Christmas blues to deal with, but its dark, cold and the inability to reach your desk over your festive belly. (Just me?) Summer exams all the way. Kind of.
4. Here are some pictures I took over Christmas and down in Cornwall. Next week I'm going to do a separate post on one particular day there, but for now...

 

 

 

I promise to try and make the next post more interesting! How was your Christmas?

 

View Post

Baby Guinea Pigs!

So when one of our old guinea pigs died in August, we thought it would only be fair to give Fat Ruth a new friend to spend her twilight years with. The general thought was that if we rescued an adult, they would be calmer and more suited to Ruth's food-is-all-I-care-about attitude. So off to the RSPCA we went.

 

Here we saw a guinea pig called Claudia who was the most perfect little thing but had been neglected by her previous owner. So we brought her home, gradually introduced her to her new pal Fat Ruth and all seemed fine and dandy.

 

Then she started to get fat. And not just putting on chub because she was previously really skinny, I mean 3 little fat lumps that kicked, wriggled and hiccupped. It became clear very quickly what the situation was...

 

So a couple of weeks later, I came down early in the morning and saw three perfect little beans chilling in the cage like they'd lived for weeks. They were so perfectly formed, and were already clumsily running round the cage eating hay. Maybe the whole stork dropping parcels of babies thing is true...

 

I'm SO pleased they were all healthy as with Claud's background being a bit rubbish, we didn't have particularly high hopes.

 

So now poor old Ruth isn't exactly enjoying a lot of peace and quite, but she's taken on a bit of a Grandma role and seems perfectly content. Here are some pictures of the little bundles of joy, taken over the past 3 weeks.

 

 

 



This is the Mumma!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View Post

Meeting Sprinkle of Glitter and MIRANDA SINGS!

Ok, i'll say this now. Prepare for some serious verbal diarrhoea. Yesterday we went to a Miranda Sings show when in London and I was freaking incredible. This all happened yesterday so i'm still on a complete high from it haha. Enjoy!     

Once we'd arrived in Chelsea, there was still three hours until the show started so we had a stroll up and down the Kings Road and grabbed some lunch at Pret. That managed to kill like an hour but to be honest I was too distracted by the idea of the show that afternoon. So we resorted to people watching, and if you're ever going to people watch, Chelsea is the place to do it. The little benches in the Duke of York square provide a prime position for sitting in awe of 99% of the people who walk past. Amazing.

Once it was a less-embarrassingly early time to turn up at the theatre (Cadogan Hall, just off Sloane Street) we made our way there. There was a queue outside which we joined. We didn't know what it was for but you know, it seemed a sensible thing to do you know, join a random queue. Thankfully it was the right one, given away by the fact the queue was scattered with people in waist-high red trousers, buttoned up shirts and crazy lipstick. At first there was a slight sense in the air that people were hesitant to show how truly obsessed they really were (I think being in central Chelsea didn't help haha), but its safe to say any reservations went out the window as soon as we were all inside the building.

T-Shirt bought, VIP wristband collected and everyone's excitement levels through the roof, we were allowed into the auditorium. Our seats were fantastic, second row back and pretty central. It was so funny to see a stool in the middle of the stage with THE red trousers and shirt piled on top, ready for action.

 

So the lights dimmed and everyone screamed of course, classic concert happenings. Then a video started playing on the huge screen introducing Miranda and explaining how she was a singer, dancer, actor, model, magician etc, followed by a slightly disturbing montage of her saying 'Hey Guys'. Then when the man who was announcing over the speakers tried to welcome Miranda to the stage, but when she claimed to be 'too busy' as she 'had to tinkle', instead came on Colleen Ballinger (who, if you don't know, is actually Miranda Sings).
 

 

I am obsessed with Colleen. She is literally the most hilarious person and so so talented, and has worked so hard for her success, which I admire a lot. She came on and sung a couple of songs; I'm not kidding when I say she has the voice of a Disney Princess. I'd love her to do a show as herself one day :)

 

Her final song she sung  as Colleen was Defying Gravity, one of my all time favourites. I'd watched a couple of videos of the show before so I kind of new the drill of what was going to happen half way through. Just search her performance on YouTube and I can guarantee you will shriek with happiness.

 

The whole Miranda Sings character seems to completely match my sense of humour. Physically, her legendary dances and facial expressions make me cry with laughter, but she's also hilarious with her innuendos, strange ways of talking and undeniable love for herself. I don't think describing it with words will do justice to how hilarious the show actually was. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there though, so have a gander!
 

 

After the show we got to meet Colleen (dressed as Miranda) and her sister Rachel. This was amazing as I've loved them both for ages. They were both so genuinely nice.

 

So that happened. AND THEN, we had literally just left the building and guess who was just stood there talking to a few other girls? Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter! So that was cool. I love her. This completely made sense as when we were waiting to go into the meet and greet, I heard a couple of girls screaming and running up the road, but I just assumed they had seen friends or something. Nope. It was Louise.

 

 

So that was my day. Sorry if this is a complete ramble! I know i'll probably read this back in a week or so and be like, oh dear, but for now, i'm happy.

 

 

View Post

Pottering About in Manchester

Last week my Dad had to do an interview at the BBC in Media City UK, so I grabbed the opportunity to hit the Mancunian shops. Oh yeeah.

 

My Dad, (despite growing up over 200 miles from the city) is an avid Manchester United fan, so made sure a trip to Old Trafford was on the cards. The thing I got most excited about was a signed shirt of David Beckham's...

 

 

 

 

Then we wandered over to Media City. My dad went to do his thang and I basically sat in Costa Coffee people watching for a couple of hours. I must say though, its a pretty fun place to do so. I felt kinda left out as I literally felt like the only person without a lanyard, earpiece and clip-board but, you know, I had cake, iced tea and a tram ticket instead.

 

 

I had a wander round, and found a new addition to the site which I'd not seen before; the Coronation Street set. You can't see anything, apart from the odd actor leaving the gates. I recognised a few faces but to be honest my Corrie knowledge is limited to viewings on odd evenings at my Grandma's house. I also saw some of Blue Peter being filmed, but the fact I didn't recognise any of the presenters made me realise how ancient I am...

 

 

 

Afterwards, we trammed it back to the city centre and had some food at Jamie's Italian. I had only ever been in the one at Westfields Stratford, and this one couldn't be more different. Whereas the London one is very modern, the Manchester restaurant is set in an old bank with so much character. I felt like I was in the bank from Mary Poppins! I should really start taking photos of what I eat in these places, but I get embarrassed as I just know people in there are gonna judge haha. But anyway, I ate Arancini Margherita for starters, and Honeycomb Canelloni Trio for mains. Tragically I was too full for desert. Cry :(

 

 

The afternoon was then spent pottering around shops and desperately trying not to spend money. I'll be back in Manchester for the Christmas Markets in December, which I LOVE and it just screams, i'm gonna say the word, CHRISTMAS.

 

 

 

 

View Post

Back to Brighton

I love Brighton. The quirky little shops, endless promenade and the delicious smell of freshly made donuts as you enjoy the quintessentially British pier. A day trip here is always inevitable when visiting family in Surrey.

 

 

On arrival we went straight for breakfast at Bill's (surprise surprise). I had the buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and blueberries an it was deeeelicious. It's always a hard decision between that and the Full English, but that day the pancakes had the edge.

The morning was then spent exploring the North Laines, which have some of the most amazing shops I've ever been in. I'm considering going down in December purely to do my Christmas shopping. Some of my favourites included Snooper's Paradise, Vintage Magazine Co., Oliver Bonas and This is not a Butcher's, but there were so many more.

 

 

Then we wandered down to the sea front, to enjoy donuts and impressive views on the pier. Our walk took us via the Pavilion, which is such an amazing building but unfortunately lighting was not on my side so the picture is a bit...naff.

 

 

 

 

To ensure the most was made out of the sunny day, we thought a walk down the promenade would be a good idea. Although we did get a bit carried away, and ended up all the way down at the beach huts by Hove Lawns. But I do love them, so it was totally worth it.

 



The one on the left was my favourite!

 

 

Hunger then struck, and I was adamant that the only way to solve this would be a Bagelman... And I can confirm this worked a treat.

 

We still felt as though we had some leg power left in us, so we then had a good nosey round the Lanes nearer the sea. Jo Malone, Mac, Space NK, Jack Wills...man I was in heaven.
 

A lovely day was had by all. I can't wait to go back in the winter and see the place in all its Christmassy glory!

 

 

View Post