Amazing Things I Did In 2014

Happy New Year Everyone. Wow I can't believe we're now in 2015. I know everyone say's it but this year has actually flown and guess what that means...I'm 20 this year! That feels crazy to me, I don't want to be 20 I quite like the little old age of 19 but hey ho time moves on and you've just got to go with that.

2014 has been an amazing year for me. When I actually had chance to reflect on some of things I've done/achieved over this past year I genuinely couldn't believe it. I mean yeah there's things that I haven't achieved what I wanted but they're a work in progress I guess. Obviously still need to lose 2 stone but I've made quite a few lifestyle changes which will hopefully help to make that magic happen! So without rambling on too much, I just thought I would list some of the amazing things I got up to in 2014 and who knows, maybe this will inspire you to do the same! So let's get started...

1.  I got a new job closer to home but earning more money & still got the chance to continue my Marketing Apprenticeship. 

2. I joined a gym and actually went (need to step it up this year though). 

3. I did a whole load of travelling with my boyfriend and best friend!

4. I started my driving lessons.

5. I opened a savings accounts (I feel so grown up now!).

6. I became Vegetarian and in turn adapted my diet to almost Vegan i.e. Dairy Free, Gluten Free the majority of the time!

7. I went to Edinburgh.

8. I went to see Sub Focus.

9. I went to Edinburgh Dungeons.

10. I saw the Giant Panda's at Edinburgh Zoo.

11. I developed an obsession with Peanut Butter. 

12. I dyed my hair Lilac. 

13. I visited The Mayflower Sanctuary loads of times throughout the year and cuddled all the dogs!

14. I did a hair photo shoot (I was very nervous but had so much fun).

15. I went to Leeds, Nottingham & Lincoln tonnes of times!

16. I started blogging at least 3 times a week and got the chance to work with some amazing brands.

17. I started doing a  lot more baking and cooking in the kitchen!

18. I went to the Seaside with my dad & Biscuit in Scarborough & Filey. 

19. I worked with some amazing clients and helped them with their Digital Marketing.

20. I visited Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice with my cousin and grandad!

21. I visited Newcastle loads of times (my second home).

22. I went to Stockholm in Sweden.

23. I went to the Ice Bar in Stockholm, which was pretty awesome!

24. I went a load of amazing dog walks to lovely places such as Rufford Park & Sherwood Forest.

25. I started reading books on a regular basis.

26. I went to more Football matches than I like to admit.

27. I had some lovely nights out with my best friends.

28. I ended 2013 and started 2014 with my family on a night out in Newcastle.

29. I went to The Breakfast Club, finally (yes this was a highlight for me). 

30. I discovered Blogger chats and in turn got the chance to get to know some super talented people.

31. I dyed my hair Peach.

32. I went to Milan. 

33. I visited the breath taking views of Lake Como.

34. I went to the San Siro Stadium & Anfield Stadium Tours.

35. I went to Liverpool for a day out.

36. I had proper Gelato & Pizza in Italy (you've just gotta do it).

37. Leading on from my previous point, I went to some amazing restaurants this year!

38. I went to my first Christmas Market

Wow that was a longer list than I thought it would be! This year has been so amazing for me, I can't wait to see what I will be typing this time next year!

Stockholm Travel Diary

Hey lovelies!

As you all know last week I ventured over to the magical city of Stockholm AKA the capital of Scandinavia. I packed my suitbase (full to the brim might I add) and tootled off for the week along with my boyfriend. It was so so much fun, we had the best time. In case of you are interested I thought I would let have you a glimpse through some binoculars (my iphone) of what we got up to during our time there.

Day 1
It all began with a load of stressful packing and then a painfully late and extra long journey to Heathrow Terminal 3. We left Kyles just after midnight and headed straight for London! Upon arrival at the airport at around 2:30am we were suprised to be greet by a deadly silent Airport.

 It was so surreal everyone was asleep everywhere you went - we decided to take camp at a Costa Coffee - where I observed some strange sleeping positions including a nose diver, a group of engineers 'snuggling' and the classic, 'catching flies' position - Kyle has this one on point! Anyway, I couldn't sleep so I just grabbed a Soya Mocha. Whilst I waited peacefully for my coffee-chocolate mixture to be brewed I was rudely disturbed by a little mouse scurrying across my foot.. yes a mouse! Absolutely horrified I let out a loud squeak. One of the engineers had soon awakened and piped up 'is that the norm around here!?' and to be honest I couldn't help but wonder the same.

Anyways, after procrastinating to my hearts content scrolling through Twitter and seeing tweets from across the pond, using up my free 45 minutes of Wifi and almost cramming in a full episode of Orange is the new black - the gates for our flight finally opened. We went through the usual regime bag drop, security and then the wonders of Duty Free were upon us! Hoorah! Unfortunately I didn't purchase anything but I was so desperate too. So we boarded the plane and then a couple of hours later we landed in Stockholm.

Upon arrival we checked out buses on how to get to our hotel which was actually fairly straight forward and a lot cheaper than booking transfers! Once we'd checked into the hotel which was gorgeous, might I add. We had worked ourselves up a bit of an appetite and were ready to get our exploring heads on. So off we headed on the commuter train into the city centre. We explored Stockholm old town which was beautiful, the buildings were so tall and pretty  I felt like I was in a film! After walking for what seemed like forever, we spotted a Ben & Jerries restaurant and of course had to grab ourselves an ice cream sundae and a milkshake. Just in case you're interested - I went for the Raspberry and Chocolate Froyo & Peanut Butter cup and it was amazing (hence the lack of photographic evidence).

Soon after we'd wolfed down our Ben & Jerries we thought we'd better head back to the hotel. After having not slept for over 35 hours I was well due a rest and as me and Kyle discussed who was going to fetch the Pizza for tea we both drifted off into what turned out to be a 16 hour slumber!

Day 2

Today it was mine & Kyle's 2 year anniversary, it's absolutley flown by! We both woke up bright and early and headed down to the hotel restaurant to grab some breakfast. It was yummy there was so much variety - English Breakfasts, Cereal, Continental & Pancakes & Maple Syrup (My fave mmmm mmm). After breakfast we got ready and each hopped in the amazing power shower and both got ready for the day! We took the usual commuter train to Stockholm central and went for a Starbucks which was lovely. Something I really noticed during my time in Sweden is that the people are so happy and polite and pretty much all spoke fluent English. I felt bad in a way that I hadn't even bothered to learn any - next time I'm definitely going to make the effort too!

After sipping on a Starbucks we stumbled upon probably the best super market ever. If you're anything like me and get sooo giddy when entering a supermarket full of fresh food and wholesome goodness (so so sad) this Supermarket will blown your mind. If you ever go to Sweden, go to Coop, not the Co-op its called Coop! Imagine a mixture of Waitrose, Asda & M&S - heaven is a real place! I was absolutely amazed at the selection of Alpro products they had to offer. Let alone the Deli Counter - I mean wow lets not even get onto that, I could yap about it for hours and the Salad bar, well for a Vegetarian it was just so perfect there was such a huge variety of food!

Next up we headed for the tube in search of a restaurant I had discovered on Instagram called 'Un Poco'. This restaurant is actually owned by the Swedish House Mafia and has greeted guests including Otto Knows & Tiesto so we just had to go there. Once we found where it was located and booked a table we dashed back to the hotel to get ready for our date night. It was perfect I loved it! I would definitely recommend.

Day 3

We went through the standard routine - up, breakfast, shower get ready for the day! Today was began a little disastrous - it's a long story but basically I dropped my phone behind our bed which we thought was nailed to the wall and that I would never get it back again - I did, after blubbering for about an hour and after house keeping saved the day.

Anyways, after the trauma, our last day turned out to actually be really good, well kinda anyway....We had actually planned to have a picnic  in the city park but after going to Coop and grabbing our super salads, we walked to the exist to discover it was in fact, absolutely chucking it down. We ended up eating our Picnic in the train station waiting room - for a moment I genuinely felt like Kady Heron eating her lunch in the girls toilets - not cool!

Once we'd gone back to our room and got ready, we dashed off once again to another reservation - Stockholm Ice Bar. This was possibly my favourite part of the trip, it was sooooo cool (literally!) you got given a huge blue fluffy coat (I felt like Elsa out of Frozen) and when you entered the bar the whole thing was literally made of  ice, even the cups! We only actually managed staying in there for about 15 minutes as it was sooo cold. We managed to drink up a cocktail each though and followed on with another at our hotel before nodding off to the land of dream world!

When we woke up in the morning we had breakfast, began to pack and had to bid farewell to Stockholm. It was short but sweet and I loved it. I have gathered some fond memories of the place and hope to return in the not too distant future.

Life Lately #4

Hey guys soooo I've been a bit quiet on the ol' blog lately but I do have a valid reason I promise - as you've probably gathered from my recent posts I've been away on holiday for the past week or so.

In case you weren't aware (if possible from my constant bleating away about it) I went to Stockholm in Sweden - the capital of Scandinavia for the 4 days with my boyfriend! It was SO much fun  I had the best time of my life honestly. For me it was just so lovely to spend some time with Kyle, exploring and having fun.

So this month has been all about working hard and getting prepared for our little holiday. Kyle has been working really long hours and we were both so ready for a break. I am ashamed to admit that although my healthy eating regime has stayed intact, the whole gym thing has gone a bit off course, but I've just been thoroughly exhausted lately. However the fitness routine is getting scaled up today and is staying. I mean, I've been on walks and been to the gym but just not as often and not half as dedicated - poor by me, I know!

When I haven't been two-ing and throwing from one side of the country to the other I've actually had a pretty quiet month and haven't really done that much.

I am pleased however to enlighten you all of 2 things. Gossip bite number 1 is that I start my driving lessons tomorrow, hooorah! It's been a struggle but I'm finally focused on my driving and hope to pass fairly quickly. So excuse me if I haven't got much to tell you next month in this feature but I will probably have been spending a lot of my free time learning the ropes of driving!

 The other thing I wanted to tell you guys about was - I am now a Vegetarian. That's right, I'm no longer a meat eater! I've always felt guilty about eating meat from a young age and sort of knew it wasn't right but just continued to eat it anyway. Now I'm not judging anyone for eating meat as I know its 'part of human nature' but after too many years of feeling guilty for the animals I have just decided to ditch it out of my diet, I didn't really eat much of it in the first place so to be honest the only thing that was a shock to me was the amount of sweets I couldn't eat etc due to them containing Gelatine. I won't ramble on too much about this now though but if you want me to talk more about this subject in future posts please let me know in the comments section. I won't be harping on about it and shoving my opinion down anyones throat I was thinking more along the recipe side of things.

This month I've done the rounds, it's fair to say I've done my fair share of travelling. Especially last week. I went up to Newcastle for the night and then met for brunch with my sister and boyfriend at a lovely quaint restaurant in Eldon Square called the Garden Kitchen which I would 100% recommend, it really is a hidden gem. Next we worked our way back home for Kyle's Mum's birthday meal and then the next day consisted of packing and driving down to Heathrow at an ungodly hour until we boarded our flight and arrived in Stockholm. So yeah, pretty hectic!

Anyways, here is a little portion of what life has been all about this month....

Focusing on - Creating a capsule wardrobe and getting ready for holiday.
Trying - loads of healthy veggie recipes 
Obsessed with - Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Been to - The capital of Scandinavia - Stockholm, Newcastle & London
Craving - A city life and wanting to travel the world
Looking Forward to - Passing my driving test, saving up and going on another city break, sorting my office space this month
Dreaming About - Having my own place
Reflecting On - There a only a few people in my close knit group and I'm happy with that.
Currently Wanting to - Win the lottery!
Reading - The Wolf Of Wall Street, Buzzfeed, Vivianna Does Make Up, Daily Mail
Addicted to - English tea and a slice of cake

Stockholm Travel Essentials

Stockholm Travel Essentials by whatlaradidnext featuring an ear bud headphone

Morning Everyone!

In just over 2 weeks I am jetting off to Stockholm for a short city break with my boyfriend and I cannot wait! As a way to get me in holiday mode and well to make me even more excited than I already I am - I thought I would put together a little travel essentials list. Now I know there are loads more items you need than just what I have put on the collage but these are my must haves!

1. Handbag - A good sturdy Mary-Poppins-esque bag will do just the trick. On city breaks you're bobbing around the city all day long and there is nothing worse than carrying tonnes of carrier bags about. You need a bag to put in all your essentials remember!

2. BB Cream - My flight is at 7:45am from Heathrow which means I will be travelling in the middle of the night to get to the Airport. Although I will be super excited for my little city break, at that hour of the day, wearing a heavy/fantastic coverage Foundation is not on the top of my list. BB Cream - a light glowing alternative however does seem very appealing. It promises to hide blemishes and imperfections and does the trick of a foundation and concealer but without the cakeyness = perfect for an overnight flight.

3. Trainers - On a city break in a place like Stockholm there are so many places to discover and explore, being on-foot for the majority of the day means you need a good pair of shoes. Heels is not an option for me unless its evening so I'm going to invest in a good old pair of Nikes before my mini break.

4. Scrunchies - Again, you'll be doing a lot of walking, a lot of lugging around suitcases and a lot of rushing around. With the air probably being windy, having pristine slick hair wouldn't be awfully advisable as it will just blow all over the shop. A good old scrunchie has many uses - you can wear it in the day, put it in a bun for bed or even use it as a bracelet - my boyfriend has a habit of pinching mine and doing this!

5 & 6. Headphones & Ipad -  I've combined 5 & 6 because they work together generally. My Ipad mini and a pair of headphones are must have for a flight. It means I can listen to my music, do a bit of blogging and just generally forget about the world for a little while.

7. Sunglasses - Regardless of whether it is hot or not sunnies are always on my list. They shield your eyes from the sun on hot days, they're your best friend on no make up and dress down days and they keep them pesky insects out of your way...what would we do without them ey?

8. Snacks - A supply of snacks is a must have, always. No matter where you are, sometimes you just get that feeling where you need food and you need it now. I chose Reeses mini's because well they're like little bites of heaven. I literally praise the person who founded Reeses, what a clever chap.

9. Camera - Travelling is all about exploring and capturing them once in a lifetime moments and having a camera is always pretty useful. I mean, the camera I will be using wont be as fancy as the one in my collage unfortunately but I will certainly be taking one.

What are your travel essentials and must haves? :) 

Life Lately #2

Lunch at Deli & Dine

Hey lovelies, so excuse me for my lack of posts this past week but I do have a valid excuse (sort of) ...I finally joined the gym! Yep there it is in black and white, I did it! As you guys know I've already been trying to change my eating habits by bringing a lot more fruit and veg into my diet, along with cutting out as much dairy as possible and replacing it with Plant Power aka Alpro! As you can see in the pictures below I got involved in the #AlproTops Campaign which I already blogged about here.

Anyway back to the point - I've been smashing the gym the past week or so and getting into the swing of things so I've found it difficult to juggle blogging, exercise and a full time job but with a little bit more organisation things will totally be fine.

Sooo this is what life has been all about lately...

Focusing on - becoming the best I can be in every aspect of life - work, fitness, lifestyle etc.
Trying - My sister and I went to Wagamamas for the very first time last week and it was incredible. I definitely see what all the hype is about now
Obsessed with - I'm soooo obsessed with breakfast foods at the moment. I truly believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day to get you going for the day and I absolutely love mixing it up and trying new fruits, cereals, smoothies etc so expect a blog post covering this topic very soon!
Been to - I haven't travelled anywhere as such recently. I've mainly been visiting parks and forests when going on dog walks!
Craving - Well its almost 11am and I'm already craving my lunch. First and foremost however a craving I currently keep on having is for Peanut Butter. If any of you know me, you will know I'm a huge Peanut Butter freak and use any opportunity to add it to my meals.

Looking Forward to - In my previous Life Lately post I said I was looking forward to going on holiday and it would hopefully to Venice. WELL, Kyle and I changed our mind last minute and we are now going to Stockholm - the capital of Scandinavia on the 30th June for 3 nights. So yes, you could say that is something I am totally looking forward to. 

Dreaming About - the day when  I will have the perfect little office in my bedroom (which hopefully wont be too long away until this becomes a reality)

Reflecting On - How the past few months my life has become better in so many aspects - financially, socially, lifestyle and blogging, its all going good for me at the moment (fingers crossed)

Currently Wanting to - Go and get my Peanut Butter Bounce Ball from the fridge - there will be a post about this recipe soon also. 

Reading - I'm obsessed with Pulse News Feed on LinkedIn and Buzzfeed. I religiously read their articles every day. I've been a bit slack on the actual book side of things lately admittedly...

Addicted to - Orange Is The New Black. Since I finished Breaking Bad and I became depressed about life, I thought it would be a good idea to find another TV show to get addicted to, rather than dwelling on how rubbish my life is since Walter White & Jesse Pinkman are no longer around. 

My First Ever Wagamamas 

New Gym Gear

Naughty Desserts at Wagamamas

Homemade Soup in my new Cath Kidston tubs

Soya Tea take out  in preparation for a dog walk