A Girly Evening In Leeds - Hotel Chocolat & The Alchemist

Morning guys!

So last weekend I went to Leeds for the evening to have a bit of a girly gathering with some of my best friends. The need for the occasion was that it was my birthday not so long ago and my friend - Shannons' birthday was also in January.

With life swinging us all in different directions we often find it difficult to plan an evening together but always try to plan something for each of our birthdays to celebrate and have a catch up. We all gathered at my friends house in Leeds and got ready for our girly evening out.

We decided to go to the Hotel Chocolat restaurant in Leeds for a lovely meal out and then head to The Alchemist for Cocktails afterwards. Both of these establishments had always intrigued me as they both have their own niche where they put a fancy spin on something. Ever since I had walked past the Hotel Chocolat restaurant back in the summer I had been determined to go at some point. The food was delicious, it was pricey but not overly - especially considering the quality of the food. For the starter I shared a Sourdough Bread with Pesto, Nut Butter & Cocao Butter. It was an interesting combination but so addictive! For my main I had Mac & Cheese hidden in Celeriac Pastry and a Mushroom sautee then for dessert my friend and I shared the most incredible dessert. This dessert in particular was actually created for the BAFTA awards in 2014 and it was amazing!!

After our desserts we headed to The Alchemist at the Leeds Trinity Centre. The Alchemist is a Cocktail Bar/Eatery and is best known for its scientific concoctions that are served in a very fancy way. Nguyen & I opted for Lavander Daquiri which was unreal, I would 100% recommend it, I could have literally drank it all day. April had 'The Colour Changing One' which was such a fascinating drink. Basically you get your glass with a huge ball of ice inside and then you get two science lab looking beakers filled with crazy coloured liquid, you then pour both the beakers into the glass and the whole thing starts smoking and changing colour from purple to blue to pink etc. It was SO cool! It tasted amazing as well, it tasted like a really really nice Ice Pop!

Where is your favourite place to go on a girl evening out?

Turning 20,American Burgers & A Giveaway!

Morning guys!

So it's been quite a while since I've sat down and had a good old chat with you all, about well life. I'm very aware that my blog has been filled with lots of beauty heavy posts this past month and I hope you don't mind! I like to think my blog grows with me and when my interests change, so does the content of my blog. I'm not saying that my blog is going to be all about beauty and nothing else but some days I feel like whipping up a tonne of beauty posts and other days I just like to share my week with you or what books I've been reading. That's the beauty of having a blog, you can write about whatever you like and hopefully you guys will stay on my journey no matter what.

So January was a long month. Well I say this because it felt like it at the time but now we're already nearly a third of the way through February , crazy! January was filled with lots of fun times with my family. It was actually my birthday on the 17th January and I turned the dreaded 20, boo! Apologies in advance for those of you reading this who have passed the 20 mark. It's nothing personal but this year I was dreading my birthday. After being a teenager for so long and then entering another in my life, well it's kinda scary. I feel as those I've got to take on a whole lot more responsibility and actually be successful in life. I've now come to the realization that in the kindest of terms - that I need to get my life together and well it's pretty daunting to be honest. I spent the first half of January leading up to the day pretending that it wasn't going to happen, as though time would magically stop or something! When it actually got to my birthday, it wasn't even that bad. I mean yeah it's kind of rubbish that I have to grow up and be a mature adult but on the whole I had a lovely day.

Unfortunately I didn't get too much photographic evidence of what we got up to on my birthday weekend because I just wanted it  and not see it through the lense of a camera, like  I just wanted to enjoy the company and have a really fun time. So on the day before my birthday I booked the day off work and went out for Breakfast with my Mum & Sister. With life leading us all in different directions, its actually very rare that I get to have the luxury of going out for some pancakes with my family, so it was really lovely just to indulge on lovely food and have a laugh. We went to NYC Bar & Grill by the way!

On my Birthday Kyle took me to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. We went last summer and really enjoyed it (we love any kind of animals) but what sparked our interest in going again was the arrival of Victor the Polar Bear. I was so excited to see a Polar Bear in real life but was kinda disappointed when I realized I would probably need binoculars to see him as he was tucked away in his cave. I did however get within probably 2 metres of a Tiger which I thought was amazing. Last time we went there the Tigers were prowling in the middle of their enclosure so we didn't really get a look in. PS. How gorgeous are the Flowers Kyle got me for my birthday? :)

Later on in the evening we had  booked in to go to Prezzo's for a date night. I love Prezzo's it's not overly priced but you can get dressed up for it if you like. I also absolutely love Italian food so it's pretty ideal for me. We had a lovely evening and I couldn't be more grateful for having such a wonderful boyfriend. I also have the most amazing family and friends!

House of Fraser Giveaway!! 

So before you all tot off and get on with your day, I have some exciting news!I have partnered up with House of Fraser to host my first ever Giveaway! The Giveaway is super easy to enter, all you have to do is enter details into the RaffleCoptor form below to be in with a chance of winning. I am giving away a House of Fraser White Cedar & Musk Luxury Gift Set, worth £40! It contains a 200ML Reed Diffuser, Jar Candle, Mini Pillar Candle & a Mini Room Spray. This is perfect for a relaxing early night! The Giveaway ends on the 13th February at Midnight so good luck every one! I will contact the winner on Valentines Day!

PS. Entries restricted to UK & Ireland. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ASOS Marketplace - Buy my stuff!!!!

Rather than selling on Ebay, I thought that due to my love for fashion it would be appropriate to make a selling account on the spin off of the ultimate clothes website. ASOS' little brother - ASOS Marketplace.

Initially my boyfriend and I created the account to make some money to save up for us to go on holiday together. You know what? - It worked. Within 20 days of saving we were able to book our holiday. We're going this Saturday and I am ridiculously excited. Back to the point - I thought I would share with you some of the little gems we're selling. All items in the collection are branded. The clothes on there are mainly from All Saints, Topman, Vans, UO and River Island, along with the occasional vintage luxury brand piece. The prices are also dead cheap, because well money doesn't grow on trees does it. Affordable fashion without the horrific price tag. Go wild my fellow bloggers!

https://marketplace.asos.com/listing/shirts/vintage-miami-print-shirt/965625 - Miami Print Shirt
https://marketplace.asos.com/listing/shirts/vintage-yves-saint-laurent-oversized-shirt/965599 - YSL Shirt
https://marketplace.asos.com/listing/t-shirts/re-worked-red-tee/965636 - Re-worked red tee
https://marketplace.asos.com/listing/t-shirts/red-printed-tee-with-paisley-pocket/826887 - Urban Outfitters red paisley printed pocket tee
https://marketplace.asos.com/listing/shirts/denim-short-sleeve-shirt/826817 - Topman denim short seeved shirt

Go on, have a browse...

Rather than doing a long post like the other previous (aside from the selfies one) - I just thought I'd post pictures and quickly explain each of them, so here we go...

1. My sister and her boyfriend bought me a Thomas Sabo bracelet for Christmas with a Statue of Liberty charm.
2. They also got me a Lakers top.
3. I had a catch up with two of my best friends.
4. My boyfriend and I dyed each others hair (cute) he did mine ombré and I added a blonde flick into his.
5. I got some new clothes from DEEP and All Saints.
6. I wore this sparkly dress for New Years Eve and intend on wearing it again, I love it.
7. Revision.
8. I treated myself to some more MAC cosmetics, woooops.

My weekend in photos

This weekend I actually socialised (shocker!). Problem is I enjoy my own company far too much and when my friends go out in town I either stay at home watching Keeping up with the Kardashians or have a Sex in The City marathon. Either that or I'm working. However this week I thought I would venture out and see what all the fuss is about. I spent the evening with my two best friends which was well overdue.

I also got my Christmas shopping done. However I almost had a breakdown In Vivienne Westwood because I was buying for other people and not my self. I didn't even let my self loose in Topshop because I knew I'd end up spending all my money on me! I went to Nottingham, which is one of my favourite cities - mainly because pretty much all my favourite shops are there.

Thought I'd post a selfie of my weekend outfit: Peplem top, Leather Jacket and All Saints jeans. Sunday was spent recovering from the night before and my lovely sister cooked us a delicious Sunday dinner. All in all a wonderful weekend. However I am now procrastinating as I am supposed to be doing my English Coursework. Boohoo!

Oh and does anybody wish to purchase that amazing beanie and leather tinsel dress for me? Please :(