Last weekend Sean and I took a fairly spontaneous trip up to Lichfield. It's roughly an hour from my house by train and as we'd just invested in a rail card we thought why not? Earlier that week I'd also really been craving an afternoon tea so after doing a bit of research I convinced Sean to take me to McKensies, a lovely little restaurant in the heart of Lichfield City.
We arrived without a booking which we thought might have been an issue on a busy Saturday afternoon however they were able to fit us in and we were soon seated. After placing our order we were told there might be a small wait on food however this wasn't the case and our delicious afternoon meal arrived promptly.
The top tier of our afternoon tea stand consisted of; Homemade Scotch Egg sprinkled with Cheese, which tasted to me like a posh Sausage and Egg McMuffin, and two slices of Pork Pie - straight from the Butchers. I've had quite a few Afternoon Tea's and this was the first one to provide savoury treats instead of small cakes and macaroons. Although this is not what I'm used to I can honestly say it made a nice change and I will look out for this again in other Afternoon Tea menus.
The second tier held two fresh scones with plenty of cream and Jam - something I can be really fussy about, two slices of lemon cake, and the most beautiful buttery shortbread biscuit I've had in a long time. The biscuit was also branded with the McKensie's logo witch I thought added a really nice touch.
On the bottom tier were our finger sandwiches. The fillings we had on the day were; Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Ham & Cheddar, and Tuna. The menu does state that the Afternoon Tea comes with Salmon & Cream Cheese however I assume ours were substituted for tuna this time. I don't eat fish so that didn't bother me at all however if you really have your heart set on Salmon it might be worth calling ahead to double check the fillings for that day.
Service wise I couldn't complain at all really. All of the staff were very helpful and friendly. We spoke to several members of staff during our visit and none of them gave off the vibe that they were too busy to chat. That being said they were quick to clear our table when we were done and even wrapped up a slice of our leftover cake to take home.
The overall decor and atmosphere of the place was also lovely. There was a fairly high end feel to the whole building which had a strong Stag theme throughout. Its not very often that I take notice of a restaurants playlist however the background music that played during our sitting was a mixture of cover songs changed up so that they had a smooth jazz feel to them which only added to the ambience.
So would I eat here again? Definitely. The location was good, the food was tasty and the staff were friendly, what more could you want when dining out?
Thanks for reading!
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So let's be honest; when payday rolls around its all too easy to add a few unnecessary beauty bits to your basket. I'm super guilty of this which means I often end up with products that I haven't researched all too well and just aren't compatible with me or my skin. Well I've decided I would round them all up today and tell you why I thought they were a pile of shite!
Benefit Air Patrol Eyelid Primer - So you may remember I posted a full review of this pricey little primer quite a while back. If you fancy reading that you can find it here, if not I'll give you a run down of why this was a waste of time and money. Okay so firstly, the mechanics of the packaging is a nightmare. You have to twist the product which pushes it down the tube and out of the applicator, in theory. In practise this didn't always work. Secondly, when it did work the product often just got stuck inside the tube or sometimes came out on its own. I also didn't think it did much to really prime my eyelids, it just felt a bit like I was putting think concealer on them which definitely didn't help to keep my eyeshadow in place.
Kat Von D Studded Lipstick in Shade Gothica - Now I'm suuuuuper disappointed in this lippy. I was really excited to finally buy it, you may even remember it featuring in my Birthday Treat Collective Haul back in August. Well I've had chance to really put it to the test since then and basically I just think it's a bit crap. When I apply the product I feel like it just smudges around my lips instead of actually staying in place and after 20 minutes of wearing the lippy it's basically none existant on the centre of my lips. If anyone has any tips or tricks on how to keep glittery lipstick in place I am all ears!
Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Shade Birthday Suit - I kind of feel like I was mis-sold this eyeshadow if I'm honest. I always knew it was a cream eyeshadow, but in the store I bought it from the display products were quite dried out which meant they were basically completely different to the products you can buy. Because the display eyeshadows were fairly dry, they applied a lot easier and the colours were super vivid when I tried them out on the back of my hand. I didn't know they were dried out at the time, I just assumed that wass how the products came, so when I applied the real thing to my eyelids a few days later I was very disappointed that it just slid around my eyelids without much colour really showing. It's also not creaseless at all. Lies.
MAC Frost Lipstick in shade All I Want - Maybe frosted/ glittery lipsticks just aren't for me, that certainly seems to be the case. I was really happy when I picked this beauty of a shade up in Bicester Village for just £11 a few years back. Little did I know I would make me look pale as shit. I also didn't know just how much the product would slide around my lips and be gone within half an hour.
Benefit They're Real Mascara - Oh look, another Benefit product. I usually get on with Benefit; Roller Lash was my go to mascara for ages. I loved the brush and the solution itself was great too, so I thought I would try out Benefit's other best seller. Well They're Real could not be further away from the quality of Roller Lash. The solution is so thick and clumpy I end up looking like I have about 3 really chunky eyelashes on each side. Its not a great look and however I try to use the brush I get the same result. Save your money, and your energy, just buy false lashes.
So those were the products I wish I'd left on the shelf. The annoying thing is that they were all high end and in total I spent £84 on just the 5 of them. Almost makes me sick to think about!
Do you have any products you really regret buying? I'd love to hear about them so I don't make the same mistake again!
Thanks for reading!
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Shop The Look
So I am finally back with another outfit post! It feels like forever since I posted an OOTD which is a shame really because I really love dressing up and prancing around in front of the camera. I still find it super awkward to pose in public though, not going to lie.
I've actually used my new camera for these photos which is why the quality isn't as good as usual but if I'm honest I was out for the day and I just couldn't be bothered to lug my big DSLR around with me. I know the photographs will never be as good using this new little camera but my old lady back just can't handle the weight of my other camera anymore. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I will try my best to create them more often!
Thanks for reading!
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So Halloween is coming up, and while every other blogger is publishing really amazing makeup tutorials I thought I would keep it simple. As Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year, most people won't actually be able recreate these wild makeup looks on the day as they will be hard at work. If you are one of those people, don't worry, I got you covered! Today I thought I'd show you a fairly easy Halloween inspired makeup look that you can get away with wherever you work!
This look is quite straightforward, it's a simple smokey eye consisting of two colours with a fairly thick eyeliner flick. In theory you only need to buy 3 products to recreate my face here; an orange eyeshadow, a deep purple eyeshadow, and an orange lipstick. Like me you might be lucky enough to have some of the eyeshadow shades in palettes you already own so check those out before you run off to buy new makeup! The orange shade I used here is actually from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette which I know a lot of people in the blogging community ran out to get when it came out a couple of years ago! If you do have that Urban Decay palette you have the ideal colour selection for halloween as it's filled with bright vibrant colours which are perfect for spooky season.
If you don't fancy the colours I've chosen for this look you could easily change it up for other Halloween themed shades. My look was meant to be quite autumnal and pumpkin inspired however you could go for more witchy vibes using dark greens or even black.
So what products have I actually used on my face?
My everyday products are:
- Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
- Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
- Collection Cover Up Stick in shade 01 Light Translucent
- Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1 Fair
- Natural Collection Pressed Powder in shade Warm
- MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Highlighter in shade Lightscapade
- Collection Bronze Glow in shade 2 Radiant
- Collection Primed & Ready Illuminating Primer
- Collection Primed & Ready Illuminating & Reviving Eye Primer
I'm clearly a big fan of Collection products; they are just so cheap and I find the quality to be really good for the price if I'm honest. I think they are definitely one of the better budget cosmetics brands out there. I always purchase high end mascaras and eyeshadows, but for the majority of my other makeup products I turn to Collection almost every time.
My "Halloween Products"
- Orange Eyeshadow - Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette shade Paradox
- Deep Purple Eyeshadow - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Single in shade Ether
- Orange Lipstick - MAC Frost Lipstick in shade Meltdown
So that was my easy peasy Halloween makeup that you can wear to work! I'd love to see some of the more out there makeup tutorials that you guys have been making/ loving! Send them over to me on Twitter!
Thanks for reading!
x
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So I've been AWOL for quite some time again. I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted but here I am, once more explaining my absence. Sean and I went travelling. Not for very long, and probably not the usual way either but honestly it was fantastic.
We saved up for a while, and when I say saved, I mean we took the money out of our moving out fund to pay for our extravagant obsession. So we saved and planned, and planned, and planned. And then planned a hell of a lot more and off we flew to central Europe. Now I'll probably talk about all of that at some point but right now I want to talk about how it honestly changed the way I see my life and helped my mental health.
So before I start, I just want to put out a little disclaimer. I know travelling is a privilege that not everyone has access to. Although I slave away stocking shelves to pay for my travels I still understand how lucky I am to take these trips. I also just want to say that as amazing as they are, trips around the world cannot cure metal health problems, although I do believe they can give you a short break from having to deal with them.
So lets get to it; why was this trip so life changing? And why was it different from any of the other trips I've taken in the past? Well to start with it was the longest I've ever been away from home. We were gone for 18 days. This might not seem much to veteran travellers but to someone who suffers with anxiety, this is a long time believe me. I worried a lot about having enough money, catching the right trains at the right time, and, you know, silly things like getting mugged or losing my passport. Well we did have enough money, we made it on time to all of our trains, and we got to where we needed to be, even if things didn't always go right. Although I couldn't stop myself from worrying every now and then, I got though it, and I handled any problems we came across pretty well too. Although travelling is my passion and I love every second of it, by going on an experience like this I came home feeling like there's nothing I now couldn't do. For someone who is constantly drowning under self doubt and worry, thats a pretty nice feeling.
Like I said we had everything planned down to the tiniest detail which did make me feel a lot better, but there's no way we could plan for everything, that's just not how life works. We were bound to come across problems at some point and we did, but we managed them well and continued on our journey. I didn't have any major freak outs while we were away and that has given me a boost in confidence.
As well as helping me to overcome my anxiety by forcing me to confront situations head on, travelling for such a long period of time allowed me to take a nice break from everything that worries me at home. For 18 whole days I didn't have to worry about finding a new job, saving to move out, my parents' business closing down, and all the things that keep me up at night. The only thing I needed to think about was what I planned to do the next day. I know that isn't reality but to have such a long period of time without my everyday concerns was so refreshing. Although I came back home to my worries they weren't as built up in my head as they were before I left. I think I needed that break to reset my mind, give it a good cleanse, and come back to things when I could think more clearly.
By the end of our trip I came home with a new outlook on life. I realised there was more to it than working a shitey job to pay for a little relief every few months. I don't want to be another person living just for the weekends, especially when I have to work them. I want a good job, a well paying job, a job I like, a job that can allow me to afford these sorts of trips more often. I want to wake up everyday feeling like I did the morning after I got home, knowing that we overcame any problems that stood in our way. I want to be able to face situations that terrify me - like being in crowds, learning to drive, and going places on my own. I want to live a care free life like the one I had just a few weeks ago. This trip has given me the drive to push myself to be the best I can be. It made me confront situations that I would completely avoid here at home and it has given me the inspiration to try new things which is something I will always be grateful for.
Thanks for reading!
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So a few weeks back Sean and I went to see Dinosaurs in the Wild at the NEC. I've been fascinated by dinosaurs since I was tiny so when I heard there was a dino related experience coming to Birmingham I knew I had to get tickets.
I decided not to do too much research into the experience as I really didn't want to ruin anything for myself. As I'd never seen anything like this before I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise so I really didn't have any idea what I was paying for.
As you can still go to see Dinosuars in the Wild I'm going to avoid spoiling it for anyone by talking about it in too much detail in this post, I will however give you a little run down of what I thought. I know I've shared a few photographs here but there are several little surprises that I just could not adequately capture on camera.
The tickets were around £30 each (or £25 with a little discount super savvy me found online) which I thought was pretty pricey if I'm honest. The whole 'show' lasted just 90 minutes and although I enjoyed every second of it, I don't think it was the most affordable thing to do. That being said, it really was one of the most unique things I've experienced and I would happily pay the same price for something similar in the future.
So what did I think of the show itself? Honestly I loved it. Without giving too much away, each section of the tour had a lot of thought go into it and the attention to detail was pretty incredible too. I also thought our guides were pretty good although one of ours had a very strong accent that could be hard to understand occasionally. The technology side of things was also quite exciting and I really hope more shows like this pop up in the future.
Although I thought the experience was amazing for adults, I can't even begin to imagine what the children thought of it. Not only was it pretty educational, but a lot of it was incredibly realistic and I have no doubt that many of the kids on our tour genuinely believed they were surrounded by living breathing dinosaurs.
Would I go again? Although I've seen it now, so nothing would be a surprise for me, I would go back for the tour again. I did however receive a voucher for a half price return ticket so I do think that would influence my decision to return. It's probably not a show for everyone but I would highly recommend it if you were looking for something unusual to experience and as I said previously I wouldn't hesitate to purchase tickets for something similar in the future!
Have you been to see Dinosaurs in the Wild? What did you think?
Thanks for reading!
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A few weeks back I decided to book myself in for a personal shopper appointment at the Birmingham Bullring Topshop store. I really wanted some new pieces for my birthday and I loved the idea of having a stylist pick out things just for me!
I booked in with Charlotte who is the bubbliest friendliest girl you could ever hope to be styled by. We exchanged a few emails the week before the appointment in which I told her my dress size, what kind of things I wanted to try, and who my style inspiration was. Sometimes there is space for you to drop in for an appointment on the day but I think I much prefer talking to the stylist beforehand as is allows them to get a feel for the kind of clothes you like. It also means when you arrive for your appointment there is a rack full of clothes, shoes and accessories already waiting for you to try on!
When I arrived Charlotte firstly talked me through the pieces, many of which had arrived new in that morning. She showed me how she would style them with other pieces on the rack and suggested how I could style them with pieces I already owned.
I then began to try things on. There were quite a few things on the rack that I would never ever pick out myself. I've become quite stuck in my ways and tend not to veer too far away from what I'm comfortable in, however I absolutely fell in love with some of the pieces and next time I go shopping I will definitely try on things I wouldn't usually.
After trying on a few bits, swapping up sizes, and trying on some other pieces Charlotte suggested we take a walk around the shop together. I picked anything and everything that took my fancy and Charlotte also picked up some things she thought I might like. One thing I will mention at this point was that as I'm a bit larger (I range from a size 14 - 18 in Topshop sizes) there wasn't really much on the racks that fit me. I could order things online but that unfortunatly meant I couldn't try them on for the appointment. I really hope Topshop looks into stocking bigger sizes in the future as us chunky girlies want to look fab too!
Once I had finished trying things on, an hour and a half had passed and I was ready to pay for my purchases. As I said in the video, I didn't feel pressured at all to buy anything which is something a lot of people have asked me. I did end up spending more than I normally would on a shopping trip but I set myself a budget for the day and I didn't even get close to that.
So would I book in for another appointment in the future? 100% yes! The whole experience made me feel like a VIP and did I mention it was free?! I'm not sure where else you would get to spend a few hours with a stylist and pay absolutely nothing! I came away with some gorgeous new pieces for my wardrobe and a new perspective on what suits my body type.
Have you had a personal shopper appointment at Topshop before?
Thanks for reading!
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