My mum and I do this little thing every
year around our birthdays, half-jokingly, half deadly serious, where instead of
just celebrating our birthdays in one day, we have a ‘birthday month’.
Obviously not every day is a huge party, but we do like to treat ourselves
throughout the month, mostly just little things, like trips to the cinema,
shopping sprees and trips to Blackpool or Buxton. As my mum’s birthday is at
the end of the month, I thought I’d start celebrating early and give her first
surprise.
On Tuesday I was a bit bored and hungry and
so started scouring the internet for cute places to have afternoon tea. I’m not
a fan of tea or coffee, however I am a huge fan of cakes and scones! I work in
a hotel and we do afternoon teas (which are delightful) and so I was curious to
see how other hotels and cafes/restaurants do afternoon teas and I thought it
would be cute to take my mum for a day out and have afternoon tea. I found a
lot of places, thanks to afternoontea.co.uk, but ultimately settled on going
somewhere in Manchester as it is easy to get to and we can also go shopping
before/after eating. Trying to find a place to go was a bit like the X-Factor
and America’s Next Top Model deliberation process as everywhere looked so good,
but I finally decided on a place just off Deansgate as I knew how to get there,
and getting lost in Manchester on a Thursday afternoon is not my idea of fun.
Although I will admit we did get a little lost afterwards, and it wasn’t that
bad as we managed to stumble upon one of the many Waterstones in Manchester
city centre.
The place I finally decided on was Great
John Street Hotel, just of Quay Street, and opposite the old Coronation Street
Studios. Such a beautiful hotel, with incredible décor, it had a very Arabian
kind of feel to it, and it was quite glamorous.
The food was incredible, and the service
was immaculate, we had just sat down when our food came out, and it was
delicious! Afternoon teas usually consist of finger sandwiches with various
fillings, scones, and cake (or other desserts). This was no different, and yet
incredibly impressive.
The various sandwich fillings consisted of:
roast beef, ham and cheese, salmon, cucumber, and egg mayo. As weird as this
may sound, the bread was the softest bread I’ve ever had, and I’m not really a
bread person but it was so lovely and soft. I honestly could have used it as a
pillow.
Sandwiches and mini desserts
Instead of cakes, this afternoon tea
included mini desserts, which were adorable. These included: lime cheesecake,
strawberry shortcake, orange macarons, and a mini trifle. All of it was
delightful and very aesthetically pleasing. I love presentation and attention
to detail and these were all perfect. I don’t know why but mini desserts are
even more exciting than normal puddings!
And of course, there’s the scones, which
were also delightful!
The whole day was so lovely, and I
absolutely loved surprising my mum. I do have to admit though, it was pretty
pricey, so it’s definitely just a one-time thing, but I think if you do get the
chance to have afternoon tea in Manchester, Great John Street Hotel is the
perfect place to go.
Last night (Wednesday 1st
October) I had the pleasure of attending a charity event organised by a family
friend. My dad had bought the tickets and all I knew was that he was picking me
up outside work at 6pm and that the food served would be amazing. All day I was
so excited, and yet anxious, has the dress I’ve brought with me too casual or
too smart, is it an event for heels or will my black work shoes do? There’s
also that worrying thought, am I going to get food down my dress? With me, it’s
a strong possibility.
I finished work, did a quick change of
clothes and reapplied some eye make-up and lipstick in a two minute time limit,
got picked up and taken to my dad’s house where I got to see him dance to
Beyonce’s Single Ladies, a new and very weird experience for me I have to say.
Then my dad drove his girlfriend and I to a secret location and told us that
the charity do is being held on a boat. My initial thought was “oh no, please
do not be like the boat party in Magaluf” where I had to drink with only my
left hand in order to save certain orifices from being entered… The less said
about that the better. My dad then informed me that the food being served is
Spanish tapas, which is my favourite, so I was very happy about that, and there
definitely won’t be any drinking games, which made me equally as happy.
Although I wouldn’t be too sure with my dad’s friends.
The entire evening was absolutely amazing,
the food was delicious, the atmosphere was lovely, and it was so relaxing
cruising down the canal with family and friends, just chatting and eating. It
was such a different experience as well. As exciting as restaurants are, I’ve
eaten at so many different ones that they all just seem the same and nothing
excites me much anymore, especially now that I work in a restaurant as well. However,
this night was incredibly exciting. There’s something about eating on a boat in
the middle of the canal whilst the sun is setting that makes it seems so
magical. Those who are sea sick (or travel sick) may disagree with me on that
one.
The decor made the whole thing seem magical, and Christmassy as well!
Now the food. Wow! That’s all I can say.
I’ve had a LOT of tapas before, but this has to be one of the best tapas meals
I’ve ever had. There was a set menu and none of the guests could see it before
getting onto the boat (unless someone had a specific dietary requirement, which
the staff were very adhering to), so no one knew exactly what they were having
until it came out onto the table. I’m a big fan of trying new things and eating
foods that I wouldn’t necessarily eat on a day-to-day basis, but I have to
admit I do get stuck in my ways a lot, and when I go to certain restaurants I
always end up ordering the same thing so the element of surprise was really
nice and I ended up trying a few dishes I’d never had before. There wasn’t a
huge selection but considering it was being cooked in a tiny kitchen on a canal
barge I wasn’t surprised, and it filled me up so I wasn’t left disappointed or
still hungry.
All in all 6 tapas dishes were served including:
Camembert cheese tart, Spanish meatballs with chorizo and garlic, barbecue
ribs, vegetable paella, bean salad and patatas bravas. My favourite dish had to
be the Spanish meatballs, they were so delicious and definitely the best
meatballs I've had in a tapas restaurant.
Camembert cheese tart - vegetable paella - Spanish meatballs
The service was excellent, and the people
who run the boat restaurant service are a family of four, with two cooking and
two sisters waitressing, which I think is lovely.
It was also something different, and I
think it’s nice to do something different every once in a while. Usually on
Wednesdays, if I’m not working a night shift, I’ll come home from work, have
tea and a bath and watch The Great British Bakeoff, and as lovely as those
evenings are, it was really nice to get out of the house, catch up with my
family, eat delicious food and enjoy the sunset and the scenery.
I would highly recommend these sorts of
nights, they’re so relaxing! It was also lovely raising some money for The
Royal British Legion, and seeing one of my dad’s close friends organising a
successful night and having a jolly good time whilst doing so!
Sidenote: Although the title of this blog
post is ‘boats, booze & bravas’, simply because I like alliteration, I did
not actually drink as I signed up to ‘Go Sober for October’- wish me luck! My
dad, however, did have a drink and as he is a very big fan of real ale he was
overjoyed when he was told the selection of real ales, which was also another
great thing about the boat restaurant.
Canal Boat Cruises of Riley Green
Riley Green Marina, Bolton Road, Houghton,
Preston, PR5 0SP
So after having an amazing summer, probably the best summer ever, it was back to all work and no play in September when I started university. So far, I've absolutely hated almost every minute of university and I'm currently looking at dropping out and going to a different university and doing a different course altogether. University has been completely different to what I imagined, and I'm pretty disappointed, every one I know seems to be having an amazing time, which I'm really happy about and I'm glad all my friends have settled in so well, but I've had a really crappy time so far.
September, October, November and December have definitely not been the best months of my life and I'm so glad it's a new year and I can leave those months in the past. However, I did manage to make a few amazing memories!
September
The first half of September was fantastic, I started work, chilled with my friends as it was the last chance to see each other before going off to our respective universities, and partied pretty hard!
September was pretty much filled with nights out, and everyone was having parties to celebrate everyone going to uni or starting work or apprenticeships and the first 2 weeks were so lovely and I managed to see all my friends before we all went away. I also saw my friend's band La Bam perform and I met Phill Jupitus, he is such a lovely, and hilarious fella!
However the last half of September was pretty terrible, I hated uni from the get go and just wanted to go back to college and Student Finance kept messing me about so it took a while for me to get my loan, so I pretty much spent the last half of September wallowing in self pity!
October
I pretty much spent October watching Halloween movies and counting down the days til I could dress up and get free sweeties! I love Halloween! I didn't go out trick or treating, and I didn't go to a party either, which was a shame because the Halloween parties I went to in the previous years were so much fun, however, I did dress up and drew a spider on my face with liquid eyeliner, yay!
October was also filled with quite a few great nights out, although many of them ended with me drunkenly crying myself to sleep, oh dear!
More pictures from nights out! I also saw La Bam again, this time in a casino, which was so much fun!
November
November was probably the worst month I've ever had, which is no exaggeration, I definitely would not want to relive that month and I'm so glad to leave it in the past and just forget about it. However, I did enjoy going ice skating, Manchester Christmas markets and Blackpool with my friends from uni. I also saw Panic! At The Disco for the second time, they were absolutely incredible, however, the crowd was full of idiots.
Another cheeky snap from another night out- that was a pretty crappy night but at least the picture is funny!
December
Spent most of this month counting down the days until Christmas, watching cheesy Christmas romantic comedies on Christmas24 (best movie channel ever!) and singing Step Into Christmas at the top of my voice! It was brilliant, and I finished uni on the 6th so I had a full month off to do absolutely nothing, which I loved! However, the first week of December was incredibly stressful and emotional and I'm so glad I had festive fever to get me through that week! December has been such a lovely month as all my friends came back from uni which meant everyone has been having parties and nights out in order to celebrate Christmas and finished the first semester at uni. It was so lovely catching up with all my friends and luckily there's still time to see my friends again before going back to uni.
December was actually incredible! I hope you enjoy all the lovely drunken pictures there and I hope my friends don't mind me including them in this post!
2013 has definitely not been the best but it's had it's moments and on the whole it's not been all bad. I'm so excited for 2014 and I'm looking forward to what it's going to bring. I'm so lucky and blessed to have amazing friends and family and I hope 2014 sees me spending lots of time with them.
I would love to hear about your 2013 and what you're looking forward to in 2014!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a lovely night and welcomed in the new year with their loved ones (Netflix does count as a loved one!). I had such a lovely night, a couple of friends and I stayed in and drank lots of rose wine and lambrini, we even took a bit of time out from partying to go on Omegle and talk to some very drunken (and creepy) pre-teen boys, oh dear!
2013 has been such
an eventful year, it definitely hasn’t been the best year of my life and it’s
been full of ups and downs, it’s been a rollercoaster ride that’s left me
feeling quite queasy, however, there have been some amazing memories and this
year has been full of parties, jokes and quotes that will make me smile for a
good 20 years! So, I’d thought I’d share some of my favourite things from 2013.
January
I have to say
January was an incredibly bad and hard month for me, and those January exams
were some of the hardest exams I’ve ever done. I was so glad when exam period
was over, it seems like only yesterday when I was stressing out for a law exam
and now it seems I’m at it all over again, honestly, students never get a
break! I really can’t remember doing much at all in January apart from exams,
however, I did spend New Year’s Day in the pub with some of my favourite
people, which was lovely after having an awful panic attack at 2am on New
Year’s Eve.
Lovely drunken pic in the pub toilets- classy!
February
February was a
little better, and although I didn’t have a Valentine on Valentine’s Day I
still managed to make some amazing memories. My most vivid memory from February
is when I broke my toe on Pancake Day when I fell up the stairs, which was
quite stupid of me, and it still hurts!
I saw Train at
Manchester Apollo, and I managed to see one of my all time favourite songs,
Drops Of Jupiter, played live, which was absolutely awesome. Train are such a
lovely band, with songs that never fail to make me smile, and they’re so
interactive with their audience at their shows, which you can see in the
picture above, which I think is lovely and shows that they’re a really down to
earth band. It was such a lovely gig, there were no people pushing and shoving
and I didn’t have to do too much jumping up and down, which was great because I
had a broken toe.
Train!
I went to my first
18th of the year, which was a very eventful and emotional night, but
it was also one of the best parties I’ve ever been to, and I love the dress
that I wore! I loved getting down to Thong Song and Get Low!
My gorgeous friends!
March
March was a pretty
weird month, especially as it started snowing in the middle of the month! It
was full of downs, including my grandma going to hospital (she’s okay now,
thank goodness!) and lots and lots of awful panic attacks, but I also loved it,
and it made me realise how much I love my friends and family!
Went for a lovely walk with my family, even though it was freezing!
Another 18th party, 2013 was filled with them! This was such an eventful night, I am never drinking Jack Daniel's ever again. I loved it though because it was James Bond themed so everyone got to dress in pretty dresses and suits! The thing I remember most from this night is deciding to walk home from the party and sitting in McDonalds until 5am, oh dear!
My gorgeous best friend and I. This night was so lovely until I decided to have a panic attack and cried most of the night, oh dear.
Silly pictures are the best kind of pictures.
This was before my aunty's 50th party, which was fancy dress. I went as a girl from the 60s (it was extremely last minute) and my cousin went as a St Trinian's girl. After that night I realised vodka is possibly the worst drink in the world, after tequila!
April
For some reason,
April is always one of my favourite months, the weather starts to get warmer, I
always look forward to the Easter holidays so I can sit in my pj’s for 2 whole
weeks, and everything just seems to get a little better in April. April 2013
did not disappoint, such a great month!
My friends and I went to a music festival in the Lake District, which was an awesome experience, and the first road trip of the year! However, I did not enjoy the rain and hail, or the drunken guy that kept staring at me! I absolutely love this picture.
I wish I could remember the names of the bands from the festival. This band in particular were fantastic!
April was filled with live music, which I love. I love
going to open mic nights and seeing someone having an amazing time on stage and
just really getting into it, it’s a great way to discover new talent, and it’s
also a great way of realising how talented the people in my hometown actually
are!
Looking ever so classy with a pint in my hand at another 18th party. I also love how long my hair is here, funny how having only a few inches cut off makes you feel bald! This is my friend from law, and I honestly would not have been able to get through the two years of law at college without her, I miss our I'm A Celebrity chats!
May
May was another
incredible month, I turned 18 and finished college! I was so happy to finish
college and be able to start a new chapter in my life with university and I was
so happy to have 3 whole months off to sit in my pjs and do nothing, however, I
was sad to be leaving college and not being able to see my friends every day. I
enjoyed the free wine that college gave out on the last day!
Before my friends 18th birthday meal- such a lovely night!
I slept at my friend's house that night and then went to the stables and rode a horse for the first time in 8 years which was incredible! I did not realise how hard it was getting on and off a horse.
Leaving college was surprisingly emotional. I made so many amazing friends in those two short years, and I really miss the takeaways and hash browns!
First night out after turning 18!
We had a surprise party for my friend’s 18th
and the look on her face was priceless, it was fantastic being able to surprise
my friend like that and seeing how happy she was!
I did a post at the end of summer all about June, July, August and some of August which you can see here. I shall continue with September, October, November and December in part 2 sometime later this week, although these past couple of months have been rather boring. Sorry this has been such a long post.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Also- song of the day (which is something I'm thinking of featuring in every blog post):
Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all had an amazing day, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, I still hope you had an amazing day! I had such a lovely day yesterday. For the fourth year in a row I didn't get a camera, however I did get a LOT of chocolate, so I'm very happy! Christmas is my favourite time of year, I love it so much, and not just the presents but everything about it. I'm not very religious myself, but I love Christmas because it's a time I get to spend with my family and everyone seems so happy, albeit stressed! Everything looks so pretty as well, I love Christmas decorations and I love seeing families go all out with their decorations and having lights up all over the house!
My Christmas tree! I went for a red and gold theme this year.
So far my Christmas break has been lovely, and I've managed to see most of my friends and I've missed them so much, it was so nice having everyone back from university. Hopefully, the rest of my holiday will be just as lovely although I'll have to start revising for my exams soon. I hate January exams, Christmas should be a time for chilling and eating, not revising!
Reunited with some of my friends!
Christmas day was lovely. I woke up early, despite having a bottle of wine and going to bed late the night before. I opened my stocking and then me and my mum opened a present each, something we do every year, and then my dad came round to see me open the rest of my presents, also something we do every year. I loved seeing my dad, although I didn't enjoy him criticising my choice in TV shows. I was watching My Parents Are Aliens, a show I've loved since I was a little kid, and I don't think my dad enjoyed it as much as I did, haha!
Christmas dinner was also lovely, my mum did a brilliant job this year and we watched Tangled whilst eating dinner. I ate so much but loved it, I wish I could have a Christmas roast every day!
Today has also been lovely. My mum and I went to a local factory that's been converted into a shopping complex and had a nice look round, and a free hot chocolate, yay! The place is called Botany Bay if anyone is interested, it's a lovely little place with 5 floors of shopping stalls and it has a play centre for little kids which is possibly the most amazing place in England and I wish it was socially acceptable for 18 year olds to run around play centres.
I love where I live because it's so close to big cities and there's a town centre with shops and clubs, but there's also a lot of rural countryside around which is lovely. To get to Botany Bay I have to walk along the canal, and it's so lovely and it wasn't actually that cold today.
I love Botany Bay because they sell a lot of vintage memorabilia, and there's also a lot around the place brightening the place up a bit! I love places like this because as well as being a place to shop it's a bit like a museum and I love museums!
There were still Christmas decorations around and it's got me feeling all festive and excited for next Christmas. Only 364 days to go!!
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it) and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I'm incredibly sorry for the lack of posts recently but things have not been going to plan at all recently but hopefully I'll be posting more in a week or two, a big hello to all my new followers as well!
First of all, I apologise for the lack of posts this month, but I've been ill and feeling a bit under the weather, and I'm still not enjoying university, which doesn't help, but I thought I'd do this tag!
I absolutely love Halloween, I just adore Fall/Autumn, and it's definitely my second favourite time of year (after Christmas of course). I got these questions from a video on YouTube posted by AnnieFilth, and she picked questions from various tags she'd come across. I know Halloween is still a couple of days away but I'm just so excited, even though I'm not sure if I'm actually doing something on Halloween itself. I also thought I'd do a last minute costume post tomorrow.
So, the I Love Halloween Tag! What is your favourite Halloween movie? There are so many I love, I'm such a big movie buff and I think there are so many awesome Halloween movies so that's probably why it's one of my favourite times of the year. I'd have to say some of my favourites are Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Donnie Darko. I also used to love The Haunted Mansion and The Black Cauldron and I'd watch them all the time growing up, The Black Cauldron creeps me out now though!
Hocus Pocus
What is your favourite Halloween memory? I went to a Halloween party at an indoor kid's play centre when I was younger and that was so much fun until my friend's little brother decided to ruin it and be a brat. I remember me and my friends going trick or treating when we were 14 so we had to get a family friend's little kid to come round with us so we wouldn't look weird. I also remember my friend having a Halloween party when we were 13 and sneaking out past midnight. I think the past 2 years have been the best though because my friend would have a huge party and they were always so much fun and there were bonfires, fireworks and they'd put on a little show and we'd get chased by someone with a chainsaw, absolutely awesome!
Me and my friend last year with a guy that was on Take Me Out
What is your favourite Halloween decoration? I don't decorate my house because my mum won't let me and no one actually comes to my house as I live on a main road and most kids go to the estates or they just don't go out at all, which makes me sad, why wouldn't you want free candy?! I love seeing people go all out and decorate their house as if it's Christmas, I'm not a big fan of fake cobwebs though as they always seem to get stuck in my hair.
What is your favourite Halloween candy? I will eat anything I get in my trick-or-treat bag, apart from Bountys, haha. I really like treacle toffee, which is more a bonfire night candy but it starts appearing in shops in October so I like that. I just love chocolate so I love getting free chocolate. I'm not a fan of the oranges that my grandma always gives me! Vampires, zombies or werewolves? Vampires, definitely! I know Twilight ruined their reputation but I still think vampires are sexy, especially Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Being a werewolf looks painful, just look at David's transformation in An American Werewolf in London! Being a zombie does sound like fun though, but I do like vampires. I think there are so many different vampire films out there too, and they all have their own twist, zombie and werewolf films can get a little boring.
Bela Lugosi as Dracula, 1931
Do you believe in ghosts? I'm not sure, I think I may have had a paranormal experience, and a lot of creepy and peculiar things have happened but I'm not too sure as of yet. I'm very wary after I found out Derek Acorah from Most Haunted was a fake! What is your biggest fear? Being a failure and my parents being disappointed in me. Wow that got deep. I'm also scared of wasps and bees. What is your favourite Halloween costume? I'm always last minute so I always end up going as a witch or a vampire because they're the only good costumes left in shops. Last year I went as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I was so excited when I ordered my costume but I was actually really disappointed when it came. This year I'm determined to put more effort in.
My costume in 2011, I went as a vampire as it was the only costume left in the store that was for adults
What is the worst costume you've ever had? I'm pretty sure my mum made a dress out of a bin bag for me one year when I was young, so that, although it might have looked effective and it is cheap. I'd also say the Columbia costume from last year as it looks cheap and tacky and not worth the money I paid. What is your Halloween costume this year? I'm not too sure what to go as yet, and well, I'm not too sure what I'm actually doing, but I have got a few ideas that are great last minute costumes, so I'll do a post on that tomorrow. Name a tradition that you do every Halloween? It used to be going trick or treating, but I'm apparently too old to do that now. I watch the same films every year so I guess that's my tradition now. What fictional creature/monster would you be most scared of if they were real? Well, I'm scared of dogs so probably werewolves. I also think they Horned King from The Black Cauldron would be terrifying. It's an animated film aimed at kids and yet that film still gives me nightmares. I can watch horror films by myself and not be affected in the slightest, but if I watch The Black Cauldron I'm up all night.
I'll leave you with this horrifying image- HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (I also think everyone who loves Halloween should do this tag)
