❤️🌊🎶👰 Charlotte's Hen Do 👰🎶🌊❤️

 

Steam and Rye | Review of Kelly Brook's Joint

Oh well yes it's ladies night and the feeling's right...ohhhh what a night.

Wednesday night is Doll's night down at Steam and Rye and I couldn't have had more fun. The business baby of Nick House and the fabulous Kelly Brook, Steam and Rye, has it all going on. From plentiful and fanciful cocktails to american 1920's diner decor and vibes - there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be on a Wednesday night. Really...No, I don't want to be in a pokey club in the west end somewhere mid week. I want to be in the city after work, where the atmosphere is buzzing and the people are flowing.

I stumbled across the restaurant-come-bar by accident whilst stalking an old school friend (don't pretend like you all haven't be there. It's okay to admit it. We're all in a safe place here) and it looked amazing. From one photo I could already tell this place was right up my street. Upon further research I found the deal I used with my friend. Doll's night at the Rye basically means that on a Wednesday if you're a gal, you can head on down and become a member - a "sorority sister". This entitles you to half priced cocktails all night, not just in happy hour (everyday 5-7pm).

I mean, I don't quite know where to start. Their cocktails are hands down, EASILY, some of the best cocktails I've ever sampled in my life and I drink cocktails on the frequent! The quirkiness and insatiable ideas behind the funky cocktails had me like...

Ya feel? 

We started with a 'Mississippi Lullaby' and my friend had a 'Freedom Martini'. Both equally as tasty, the Martini was so fruity that it was knocked back in seconds. The marshmallow that topped it didn't distract us for long. My Lullaby was pure bliss, it lifted me up out of my seat in central london and to my happy place. It came with a half a flambé passion fruit, sat pride of place on top of the ice. Within minutes this was gone too, oops. Good thing being a sorority sister on Doll's night also entitles you to a whole lobster and a glass of Moet for just £20. We ordered that as soon as we arrived. Ain't nobody got time for games. Gal doesn't mess about. It's an incredible price, as the lobster on the menu is usually £24 on it's own, and a glass of Moet is £12.50. The lobster can be whole or you can opt for the lobster in a brioche roll. We didn't, though.

 It arrived with a side of fries and a side salad. It was divine. All of it. I'm not a huge chip fan but these were so good and the lobster was how you'd imagine it - sweet and succulent. 

We polished off our mains and moved back to business...more cocktails. For dessert we picked the ultimate cocktail on the menu. The all mighty, all singing, all dancing 'FIVE DOLLAR SHAKE'. It didn't disappoint. In fact, it came and it couldn't have impressed more than it did. It was totally and utterly in-cred-durr-ble. Think a gorgeously sweet cocktail, topped with so much whipped cream, it probably contained your daily allowance of calories. It was almost too much. Almost. Chilling in thetantalising whipped cream is a full sized milk chocolate magnum, a marshmallow and a Oreo cookie to boot. I don't need to go anywhere else, I've already found heaven and it's on Leadenhall Street, EC3V.

Every Doll's night has live music 7-9pm and we had a great duo of musicians playing current hits in a more rustic and acoustic-type-way. The duo recreated hits on just a guitar and drum kit, with the two swapping roles half way through their set. I really enjoyed myself and hopefully all my friends on on my social media did too. Safe to say there wasn't too many videos of them on my Snapchat story from that night, er...

Finally, we finished our night with one last cocktail. Again, it was as equally amazing as the previous two.  We both settled on a 'Maize Balls'. I found it very aptly named. Just as extravagant as before, this one came in a plastic popcorn carton. There was lashings of cocktail and it was topped with popcorn. 

One final thing to add. I used the website www.designmynight.com/london to book my table at the Steam and Rye and I'm so glad I did. In using it to book things and leave reviews afterwards etc you can earn points, which in turn convert into money for you. I've racked up £5.00 worth of points which I can now use as money off. It's not just a London thing either, the site does all the major cities in the UK as well as places like Essex. Who doesn't love a bit'a Essex?! 

I loved the website so much I've started using it regularly to research and plan new and exciting nights out. It provides inspiration for everything from magic shows in London to 'best for first dates'. 

I couldn't recommend it enough, I really couldn't!

| Review of Appleyard Flowers |

When searching for a birthday bouquet for my mum's birthday not so long ago, I found a real gem hidden in the depths of the internet. The flower Gods shone down on me and after some googgling I found Appleyard Flowers. Flowers I say were sent by God. I say this, because in my opinion, flowers that look this good have to be work of God (or his little helpers at least - yeah a bit like Father Christmas, you could say). I was giddy with glee rubbing my hands together. I'd done it, I'd really out done myself this year. Big Mumma, as my mum is fondly known by so many, was going to be treated to a bouquet she thoroughly deserves and rarely gets. My mum treats me to pretty flowers a lot too as she knows how much I love them.

Now I'm no budding Brooklyn Beckham (aka hunkiest trainee photographer there is atm) but don't these photos just speak VOLUMES for themselves. Even if I do say so myself...

I went for 'Simply Pink Rose and Lily' in the standard size option, so I didn't pay the £5 extra for a larger bouquet, but you can do that if you wish. I picked this particular one out of all the endless beautiful arrangements, purely because mum and I are huge fans of pale coloured roses and I personally love how they encompas a colour pop splash of green in it, too.

These were just £23 for the generously sized bouquet. Yeah that's right, you read right! (You can pick your jaw up off the floor now). There are quite a few beautiful variations at this price including a lilac, red and fuscia version. Realistically, people should be tripping over themselves to treat a loved one to a bouquet for that price. I found a voucher code online but I easily could have used the 10% off that they send to all their first time customers. They offer free delivery on a large selection of bouquets too, yay! If I had my way, and the flowers were for me, those who know me well would know I'd always go for the white roses. A thousand times over. There's something so serene and pure about white roses. I spent a total of £20.70 on this. Quick someone pinch me, I'm dreaming.
I found the site really easy to use and it had that touch of elegance that you get from using a non chain florist. There's something so much more chic about getting a delivery of Appleyard Flowers than some M&S ones. I don't know about you but I'm quite fussy and hard to please. I find, bar M&S, supermarket flower arrangements a bit tacky and not necessarily any I'd go for personally.

I'm a huge minimalist and monochrome fan which is in keeping with this website design values. Basically it's my dream design for a website, complete with sharp colourful images. Can whoever designed their website please do my blog for me? It's website design goals, right there. In fact, can Appleyard Flowers do my wedding flowers as well, if I ever get married?

NOTE: Photos taken a few days after arrival

February | the month of positivity

New year, new me? Uh right...except for the fact that it's flipping February. Yeah, sorry about that one. The vapid expression that most of us preach in the new year is pretty apt for me, this year. I can sense the eye rolls from behind the computer screens already, and for that I'm sorry. I'm also sorry to have to be one of "those" people this year, but you kind of have to accept things for what they are in life. It just so happens that this is one of them for me at the moment, because as I type away I am a completely different person than I was starting off the year, back in January 2015 and completely different compared to the one who started off this January. Well, physically anyway. I started off 2015 at 13 stone 10, nearly 14 stone, thanks to my ever spiralling thyroid condition. 2015 was the year that all of that change for me and the old, happier and healthier Kate come back.

January was a write off. Move on, start afresh and go with a new direction if you choose. You have the chance to rewrite your year already. Don't waste it. Come the end of the year no one remembers January anyway, or the wobble you may have had about the upcoming year. For me it was a typical start to the year, rifling through my inner thoughts and desires to see what I could elect as my new years resolutions. Making sure that this year they'd be worth having. A beneficial one, for oneself. It took me a couple of weeks, but I finally reached a decision. It was to be more positive. No long background stories attached, no ulterior motives. Just to be more positive in every situation possible I can. Fine, I might not have lost a substantial amount of weight recently, in fact I seem to have plateaued at about 11 stone (give or take a couple of pounds) for the last 6 months. But what I have done, what I have achieved, is to keep nearly 3 stone off. And there's no taking that away from me. People echo it regularly to me, but it actually takes something to take it in and to start letting people's praises/advice resonate with your outlook on things. I still eat healthily these days in comparison to my university/relationship/pre-condition days but I don't stop myself having a treat. I don't ever deny myself something if I want it. Whichever way you look at it, I went on a big personal journey throughout 2015 to find myself again amongst all the appointments, prescriptions, gruelling gym sessions and copious amounts of avocados.

There are so many reason's why February is the month for positivity and not January. January tends to be negative what with the onset of Christmas blues, weather turning worse than the months leading up to Christmas, and as always the no excitement of snow. I mean come on, we wouldn't mind putting up with all this dreary weather if something good came off it - like a two-day-long snow day right? If you haven't had the start to 2016 that you would of hoped for, adopt the Chinese tradition of their New Year. This year, Monday 8 February marked the start of the Chinese lunar new year. Even though you're not from a Chinese heritage who's to stop you using it as an excuse to turn a corner in your life and make things more positive from now on.

Two days later was Ash Wednesday, marking the start of lent. You don't have to be religious to use these forty days leading up to Easter. You can choose to use this time to reinvent yourself a little. Give up a naughty vice, one that's not beneficial to your life and makes it more positive on a daily basis by not having it. You don't even have to give up that vice of yours for the full forty days, if you're reading this a week on from now, nothings wrong with giving up something for 30 days or 25 days. That's still an accomplishment. A personal achievement of yours, own it!

Valentine's Day is in a couple of days. Another perfect excuse to give yourself that good, well needed kick up the backside. If you haven't got anyone of the opposite, or same sex, that's particularly special to you, use this time to do something nice for yourself. Look after number one! Pamper yourself. Treat yourself. Whatever the heck you fancy, as long as it makes you happy. Happiness does equal positivity. Valentine's Day doesn't have to be anything if you don't want it to be, but it's also what you make it. So if you feel it's a day based on commercial gain, don't succumb to that, wait a little for prices to go back down and then treat yourself to yourself to some flowers or that new blender you needed but shouldn't really buy. Indulge yourself a little.

'Change your thoughts and change your world' - Norman Vincent Peale

Please note: I'm so sorry I had a technical glitch delaying the posting of this blog substantially.

Why adopting a cat was the best thing I've ever done

I lost my cat, Ruffles, about two months ago now and as stupid as it seems (to some non-animal lovers) there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him or miss his loving cuddles. Ruffles was a rescue cat, meaning we adopted him. He came from our local vet in Maida Vale, West London. Originally named Raphael, my little bundle of joy had jumped out of a 5th floor mansion block window and broken all four of his little legs and his jaw. The owners didn't want to pay the vet bills so had told the vet to put him down - it would be cheaper apparently. Luckily for us, the vet refused. Ruffles was only 11 months old at the time and such a beautiful souled cat at that. A lady vet, I actually forget her name it was so long ago, did all the work for free and started to look for a new home for him. Somehow, my neighbour had managed to persuade my mum to get a cat out of nowhere so off I went after school one day to meet him. He was perfect. It was love at first sight. It honestly was and that's probably why to this day, I believe in love at first sight. Because of him, because of that cat.

He had all four of his legs and under his chin shaved too they had wired up his jaw to set, but I was mesmerised. He was too cute and soon he was to be all mine. He was so friendly coming up to everyone and having a little cuddle. Thanks to a kind and caring vet, Ruffles was given another chance at life and he went on to live a happy and long life with us. Devastatingly it wasn't as long as would have hoped and we lost him at the end of September. We don't quite know what he died of, sadly. Like lots of cats, he went away to die and broke our hearts. He was 12, relatively young for a cat and had always loved life. We still have a photo up of him on our mantlepiece and speak of him/to the picture of him every day.

We had a little Mr. Ruffles (nickname for him amongst our friends) shaped hole in our lives, so a week ago we adopted a new cat, through Cats Protection. A little girl cat called Pippa. This is the second time we have adopted, and we wouldn't do it any other way, ever. The work these charities do, like the RSPCA and Cats Protection alike, are incredible. As adorable as they are why would you get a little puppy/kitten etc from a breeder compared to a poor animal that was unloved or neglected? You can change an animals life that hasn't necessarily had the chance to experience how great life can be, yet. And you'd be mistaken in thinking you can't get that perfect puppy you really wanted to complete your family through adoption. There were a few kittens at our local Cats Protection centre and quite a lot at our local RSPCA centre, too. When we were picking up Pippa I had the pleasure to meet all the other beautiful kitties wanting someone to love them. I left with half a heart. They had stolen the other half. I have never felt so guilty as I did then, walking away with Pippa when they were all perfect and I would happily taken them all. Animals should have an equal chance of a good life, like us. So if you are thinking about getting a little addition to the family, please please research your local animal welfare charities, and facilities and HEAD DOWN. I can almost guarantee you'll find one that you won't want to leave behind.

You'll find everything you need to rehome an animal with the RSPCA here http://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet/rehomeapet

The same here for adopting a cat through Cats Protection
http://www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat

Favourite beauty product November | Sleek Highlighter

If I could wake up and look flawless every morning without make up, like some, I would embrace it and probably not wear any as it can be a hassle ometimes, can't it? Until then though, I would very much like my own personal make up artist to do their thang on me.

I've never been that great with make up. I massively struggle with a smokey eye or any sort of fancy looking eyeshadow looks for that matter and wish I could be just as slick with it as my best friend Jade is. If I've improved with my daily make up routine in the last few years it's all because I've taken on board tips from her.

A lot of products I also use, come recommended to me by my beauty guru and on-call expert Jade too. This particular brand of make up I've been using since last year when she bought me my first palette of theirs for Christmas. I had fallen in love with hers and the simplicity of it when she came to stay one night. As I'm not a natural talent with a make up brush this little creation was perfect for someone like me. The face form palette by Sleek Make up, in colour fair had me cooing like a new mother. It was my baby and it was beautiful. I loved the pale pink tone of the highlighter and how gorgeously it glistened on my cheek bones, not just in the light. It made contouring so simple for me. It almost seemed like I knew what I was doing. I love powder form highlighters and even invested in a gorgeous Shisheido trio palette too from feelunique, which can be found here.

Then I discovered another little helper from Sleek back in the summer and haven't felt the need to get any other product than this one. I didn't think it was possible but I love this palette more than the previous one. I purchased the Precious Metals Highlighting palette by Sleek after spying it in my local Superdrug and just thinking that all the colours in it looked oh, so pretty. Both palette's at just £10 are such a ridiculous steal. I love everything about this one including the packaging. It looks super stylish in a metallic grey box. Three of the colours colours are creams and blend so perfectly together. They compliment each other when used together. The iridescent sheen and shimmer to them give you a radiant glow that the Kardashian's glam team would be jealous of. It also comes with a gorgeous bronzed goddess powder to perfect the look adding to finish the contour. Ideal for use all over, you can add to the sides of your nose, top of lips, chin and corners of your head as well as your brow bone to define those eyes and brows. I've been using it daily for some months now and still looks close to as good as new, its lasted me ages I'm so so impressed. This just adds to the great value of money it is, when somethings this good and last this long you would happily pay more for it. So well done to the creators of Sleek Make up for bring such a fabulous and reasonably priced line to us all.

I get all of mine from Superdrug but you can get them from their website too. You can check out all their other amazing products too whilst you're there. I have loads of their lipsticks which are so good and reasonably priced also. Sleek highlighter palette

The battle of plastics for our beauty

I've been meaning to do this post for a while now and sadly never got round to sitting down and dedicating the time it so rightly deserves. Some of you may remember a post I did in the Summer, where I touched on micro plastics and the devastating affects on our planet.

You can read that blog again here: How to: smooth summer legs

Plastics are all around us. Most shockingly, they are in the beauty products we apply to our face and skin, daily. Alarmingly too, a huge proportion of the population aren't aware of this and so the destruction of our beautiful planet continues to worsen. The implementation of the 5p charge for plastic bags in Britain this month, brought the issue to the forefront of my mind again.

Microplastics, or you may have heard it referred to as micro beads, are added to the every day products we use. They are too fine for us to notice half the time. They're in things you would never dream of, such as toothpaste, shampoo/shower gel and even deodorant. I have been aware of the issue for a few years and although I backed the cause, I didn't make a conscious effort to adhere to it all the time. After being reminded of the importance of it, I've tried to the last couple of years. I've tried to make sure I only use beauty products that don't contain unnecessary plastics. I've always liked St. Ives skincare, a UK brand which uses natural ingredients. According to St. Ives "we make every effort to source our ingredients sustainably, cut waste, and use eco-friendly packaging." Keep up the good work guys.

In 2011, a Dutch non-government organisation, the North Sea Foundation made the first steps to abolish plastics use in cosmetics. They started writing to companies asking them to stop using microbeads as soon as they could. Not long after, in 2012, the Beat the Microbead campaign was launched by the North Sea Foundation and the Plastic soup foundation. After a revolutionary twitter campaign, Unilever, pharmaceutical giant agreed to phase out the use of microbeads across all their products. Global companies like Johnson and Johnson, L'oreal, Procter and Gamble and Colgate have also followed suit since then but haven't given a fix date as to when they will have phased out use by.

This is why the campaign needs backing. Change is happening, change is coming but it's not coming soon enough. More needs to be done in order to combat this.

Selfridges backed a similar campaign this summer, called Project Ocean. It had the same premise behind it - to make our ocean's better, with less plastic in it, for our wildlife. Microbeads from our products go to one place only, our oceans. They are washed away down our plug holes and affect the smaller creatures that can't stand up and fight for themselves. You can read more about the campaign here.

I did a little test the other day to see how readily available microbead free products were on an average high street. I went in to my local Boots and Superdrug, Body Shop and Lush looking for some of the microbead free products found on the PDF below. Result: I found nearly all of them. There really isn't any excuse. Thanks to the companies who have already stopped, we can easily make the change to plastic free products nowadays.

Here's a PDF where you can read through all the products currently on the market that are microbead free, yourself. Why don't you check it out and see if your products are on there? You might surprise yourself and realise you're doing more for your planet than you realised.


There are so many great companies on that list, all doing their bit to damage the planet less.
To name a few...Kheil's, Lush, Soap and Glory (I always buy from Boots), Elemis and of course The Body Shop.
Shops such as Waitrose, Tesco and Wilko also make plastic free cosmetic products. A huge shout out to all of them (and the rest on the list).

If you'd like to read more, you can on the website for the national campaign against micro beads here.

If you'd like to do some further background reading on it, you might like these too:
Citizen's campaign
A guardian article

You can join the Facebook campaign, by liking the page. 

*Photo taken from Greenpeace's website. You can read their article on the issue here.