The Green Monster Smoothie

Morning guys!

So seen as a lot of you guys (my self included) are embarking upon a lifestyle change or weight-loss journey in 2015 I thought I would kick-start my first recipe of 2015 with something super tasty, pretty healthy and very green! As they say at The Breakfast Club - "Green is good" and well, it is.

Don't let the fact that this smoothie is green put you off, seriously. I was just as skeptical back in the day and I'm still afraid of full vegetable juices - (a bottle of Carrot Juice in Sweden was almost enough to put me off Juicing for life!). Yes the Spinach makes the Smoothie Green but I kid you not, you won't even be able to taste the Spinach - it will just pack in tonnes of nutrients without compromising on flavour.

This Smoothie requires a mere 2 minutes of preparation and you're set for the day ahead. Oh and it's Vegan!

What you'll need:
1 slice frozen Banana
1 big handful of Spinach
1 TBSP Meridian Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup of Alpro Plain or Vanilla Yogurt
1 Cup Water or Almond Milk
1 TSP Agave Syrup

Simply throw it all in a Blender and serve up. I think this tastes better through a straw as well!

I have one of these Smoothies nearly every day and they taste so good but still keep your sweet cravings at bay.

What is your favourite Smoothie Recipe?

The Wednesday Post - A Week In Photos #9

Morning guys! So the last few weeks has been a bit hectic all in all, I've had loads of fun things planned but consequently it has caused my week to be very busy.

This week I've been for my usual dog walk with my dad - we had a leisurely stroll around Danes Hill, which was lovely as always. I also waved off my best friend Fern who has started at university this week. We had a little catch up and spent hours scrolling through Vines (as usual!).

The weekend soon arrived and I had planned a whistle stop trip to Newcastle. I literally just went up north for the night to have a chilled night with Kyle and shock horror I fell asleep at like 9:30pm, ooops. On Saturday morning Kyle and I went to our favorite breakfast place, The Garden Kitchen in Eldon Square before heading back to the train station. Kyle had the Eggs Benedict & I opted for the Vegetarian Breakfast - yummy! Drinks wise I went for the standard Soya Tea and Kyle had a Toffee Latte, which is superbly presented as you can see in the photo below.

On the way home from Newcastle, I hooked my Ipad up to the wifi and had some giggles watching one of my all time favourite comedies - White Chicks! 

Sundays are a day for re-cooperating your body and getting your self ready for the rest of the week. My Sunday began by eating 3 chocolate biscuits and then going on a guilty run afterwards!  I think I ran about 3 miles without stopping which is okay I guess - I'm hoping to sign up to a whole host of events next year including the Tough Mudder Challenge and potentially The Great North Run so getting my fitness levels up is of paramount importance at the moment. I also fancied a change from the gym and wanted an excuse to show off my snazzy new Nike Shorts which I am in love with! (You can buy the shorts by clicking here).

For Sunday lunch I had a bit of an Anti Pasti Salad which was lovely and followed this up with my favourite  - a green Peanut Butter Smoothie, sounds horrendous but trust me it's really delicious and has super powers.  I accompanied the smoothie with some Pineapple which just so happens to be one of my favourite foods! This weekend has been a very piggy one and I'm feeling the side effects now so it looks like exercise is now the cards every single day this week, hooray!

What have you been up to this week?

The Wednesday Post - A Week In Photos #4

Morning guys so a whole week has whizzed by and here I am again rambling on about my week but I guess that's what you're here for isn't it? I hope so anyway. So here it goes...

Since I last spoke to y'all I have been a pretty busy bee - I've been hammering the driving lessons and fluttering around to Sheffield and a few other places but as they say in The Wizard of Oz 'It's always best to start at the beginning'...

On Thursday my dad picked me up from work and quickly whipped me round to Boots to pick up a parcel that was waiting for me. I won't tell you everything that was in the parcel but lets just say all will be revealed on the blog shortly. As you've probably already guessed - the package did contain numerous beauty products and I may or may not have indulged in some more Soap & Glory Bath Products - damn the 3 for 2 offer. Catches me off guard every time!

Anyways, once I'd waited a mere second before ripping open the parcel, dad dropped me off at home so I could get changed at lightening speed as he was taking my sister, Paris and my self to Sheffield United to watch a football game. It was lovely to have some family time! Whilst in the process of raiding through my wardrobe (soon to be a floordrobe) my sister ran in the room with several parcels addressed to me and urged me to open them - I think she was more excited than I was! One of the parcels was a super cool top that ASOS had kindly sent me out the goodness of their heart and it has my name on. How cool is that? The other was some business cards for my Fiverr business - which, I must say I was pretty impressed with.

Then off to the football we went, we had so much fun and laughed all the way there. A few players from Sheffield United & the away team signed my dads match program for him which he was dead chuffed about bless him. Excuse the horrendous photograph quality in the picture above. The sun was shining very brightly, dad was trying to drive, I was stretching my neck to fit us all in the photo and Paris was hiding so she wasn't in the photo. All in all a huge struggle and an ultimate fail at a cute family photo - it was all very traumatic for us. Oh well!

Dad managed to get us brilliant seats for the game. We were actually on the front row and right next to the dug out!

The weekend soon arrived and so Kyle & I went to Meadowhall. We were a couple on a mission, well once we had had our Iced Tea fixed anyway. We're both addicted! Kyle was on the search for yet another pair of Football boots and I was on the look out for some new gym gear. I did end up getting some gym clothes in the end, which I am extremely happy with. They've definitely made working out more pleasant and I will be including the items in a blog post so keep a look out you fitness enthusiasts. I may have also purchased a few more beauty products *cries* - again keep your peepers open for a post very soon. I feel a haul coming on!

After working  up a bit of a sweat running around Meadowhall (it's a workout in itself!) Kyle and I decided to grab some tea and have a bit of a date night. We opted for Giraffe bar. Kyle had never been before and was keen to try it after the brownie points I gave it. Giraffe did it once again, I was certainly not dissapointed and neither was Kyle. I would have got more pictures of the food but we gobbled it down too quick to think about stopping for photos. Oooops. I had the Tomato & Kale Soup for Starter which was served with Garlic Bread and wow there are really just no words. It was genuinely the nicest soup I've ever tried. I can't quite remember what it was that Kyle had - I know it had Chicken in it! You might be able to work it out in the picture below (photography courtesy of Kyle)! For main Kyle opted for the Rodeo Burger and I went for the Goats Cheese Burger. Mmmm mmm. Still after troffing away, I had room for a Dessert. There's always room for Dessert! I had Chocolate Mousse and then I went into a Food Coma.

Sunday was a workout day, so the majority of the morning was spent in the gym. In the afternoon Paris & I decided to make ourselves a little Salad picnic seen as the weather was lovely. We just had a standard salad with Avocado, Cucumber, Lettuce, Peppers etc and served it with Toasted Sandwich Thins and Humous - which I am now addicted to. For drinks we had Iced Coffee, shock horror!

Since Sunday I've been feeling really ill - I've been sneezing, sniffling, coughing and crying. So a side from getting my self in the office for the day I've just been snuggling up in bed with some Candles on and having my self a 7 star snooze. 

What have you been up to this week?

Mini Monochrome Capsule Wardrobe

Hey guys! So something a little bit different from me today on the blog. I know I normally blabber on about what I've been up to, food and beauty products but today I want to talk clothes. I feel like I have neglected the fashion posts a lot as of late so here is my come back.

As you guys all know, a month or so ago I went to Stockholm. In preparation for my little city break I decided to start creating a bit of a capsule wardrobe and well since my style has changed a bit recently - I've gone from looking like a bit of a hipster to more of a classy/girly look as I think it's a bit more grown up and just a bit more me these days to be honest. You know how it is...Anyways, black and white clothing seems to be taking over my wardrobe so I thought hey why not go down the route of making it all Monochrome so it can all be mixed and matched. So that's what I ended up doing and here is the contents of it right here:

Slogan Tees

I've always been a sucker for a slogan tee and probably always will be. These cute tops have been worn to death but I just love them! The Berlin top is from the tall section at Topshop and you can get that here. The Bee inspired lyrics 'I Woke Up Like This' Tee is actually from an online clothing store I was recently introduced to - Wear All. I am in love with this top. It's just easy to throw on with leggings or jeans and you can pretty much pair it with trainers/sandals - whatever you like really and it just goes.  It's fast become a wardrobe staple of mine. 

An All Rounder

This is my most favourite coat in the world, I think it cost me about £60 from ASOS and I love it. I wear it with everything and anything I can get away with. It's just so versatile, stylish but effortless. It dresses up any outfit you're wearing and makes it look just that little bit more smart. I am still after the white version of this because I just know I would get a lot of wear out of it and well, Kylie Jenner has been spotted wearing it as well! 

The Necessities

I always really begrudge spending my money on items like leggings but to be honest they are a wardrobe necessity and you can't fault the comfiness. I don't know if I have mentioned to you guys before but I literally don't own a single pair of jeans. I am - and always will be a comfort over anything kinda girl. I did have some Black Leigh Topshop jeans which wear super comfy to be fair but I chucked them away a while back (come to think of it, maybe a possible re-purchase to add to my list). So yeah basically I wear leggings with everything. My usual go to pair is the River Island high waisted longer length ones which are £10 each. I seem to go through pairs of these like there is no tomorrow, I swear I'm cursed! I'm so clumsy I'm always ripping them or catching them in something. Oooops. Oh and I am in love with my Checked River Island Trousers!

I am obsessed with my black mesh RI skirt. I picked this up about a year ago now and just know it's gonna be a regular in my wardrobe for a long while. 

Plain vests are normally something I never get too overjoyed about purchasing but just lately I'm loving them. There are so many different vest styles out at the minute - Topshop & Zara are my favourites for these as you can see in the above Images!

Another item in this capsule wardrobe I have worn way too much is my Topshop Checked Crop Top from the tall range. I think because the majority of the items in this collection are fairly plain, it's nice to throw in something with a bit of a pattern that just pops. Do you know what I mean?

For the date night

These beauties are my go-to items in my wardrobe at the moment especially if I'm going on a date night. I will be brutally honest and tell you now - the White high neck long sleeved sheer top is my favourite of the bunch. I love wearing this with my ASOS coat. It's from Monki (also available at ASOS). The other favourite is my black high neck crop from ASOS. If my Monki top is in the wash or something this is second option I will reach out for. Last but not least is my three quarter sleeved top from Zara. Kyle likes to call this 'the paper top' because apparently the material on the back feels like paper, strange. The other side of the top is super soft! I like to wear this if we are just going out for brunch or something because it's not as dressy as the other two tops.

For the tootsies

Although it's a part of our body not many of us dare to bare - in summer it's pretty hard to avoid whipping your feet out. My staple summer sandals are from river island and I think they're wondering, especially for wearing in the day time. My chunkier black shoes (which are a bit worse for wear - my apologies) are perfect for wearing in the evening and since I'm already a shady 5ft 9 I don't want to be much taller so these are just right for me! 

What is in your capsule wardrobe this summer? Comment below or send me a link to your post x 

The Wednesday Post - A Week In Photos

Morning guys! Yet another week has passed by. I honestly cannot believe how fast this year is flying by. Its crazy to think that on Friday we'll be in August - but anyway, here for you I have, another 'week in photos' and to be honest it's been a pretty good one. At the start of the week I was forecasting a fairly boring schedule but it actually turned out to be really good.Oh and by the way, the girl on the left in the picture above is Christy - my big sister. Not sure if you've met her yet but now you have! I love this photo. On Sunday the weather was gorgeous so me, my 2 big sisters & my boyfriend all totted off to Clumber Park. We (atrociously) attempted to play Badminton and Football. Although we failed miserably, it was all good fun!

On Saturday Kyle & I also had a whirl at playing Badminton and because there was no wind, it was actually super good. I played quite well if I do say so my self. We also had an M & S picnic which is incredible. I love Marks & Spencer's simply because there are so many Vegetarian Options!

Guys - them desserts in the picture above were unreal. I think they were a Blackcurrant & Madagascan Vanilla Cake or something? Anyways, I would 10000% recommend them, they were absolutely delicious!

Quick car selfie on our way out for coffee! My hair looks so yellow in this picture but it is the filter I promise!

We went for a bit of a date night the other day at Frankies & Bennies. We hadn't been there in ages so it was lovely to pop in and have my favourite cocktail, the Strawberry Shortcake. Kyle's cocktail was a Pineapple one but I can't remember the official name of it ooops. It was very nice though. We were originally supposed to be going to the cinema to see The Purge 2 and I asked Kyle to book tickets (he didn't) so when we got there it was fully booked, gutted. However the evening turned out to be lovely anyway so I didn't mind in the end.

After feeling very adventurous the other day - I decided to put my wonderful culinary skills to practice and attempt to make my first ever batch of Spaghetti Bolognese. I was very pleased with the outcome and I reckon Kyle enjoyed it too. I reckon I will post a recipe up for this soon, so keep on the look out for it on the blog.

I actually tried fake tanning for the first time in about 2 years the other day. My poor pale skin and Fake Tan just don't mix. I usually end up covered in the a rash! However, the other day my sister recommended the Garnier Ambre Solaire No Streaks Bronzing Tan Gel. It's a clear gel (as the name suggests) and you just apply it all over your body as you would moisturiser and then thoroughly wash your hands afterwards. Then you wake up in the morning looking like a bronzed goddess, easy peasy! I was so happy with how it turned out. I was really worried that it would look patchy but it didn't. I had no reaction to the product and it has given me a sunkissed glow. It feels so nice to have a tan again today. I was feeling that happy that I thought I'd share you a bunny dressing gown selfie! I'm not wearing any face Foundation on here - just coloured my brows in and had mascara on. This is a huge rarity with me- I never usually go anywhere without Foundation. 

Anyway guys, that's a quick round up of my week. Hope you enjoyed it!

What did you get up to this week?

Brunch in The Garden, Just Desserts & A Walk With The Pooch

Morning guys! First of all I would like to apologize - it's been a whole week since I posted! I suppose my driving lessons and freelance work have just been taking priority the past week or so.

Today I wanted to share with you all another sort of 'week in photos' blog post. (I promise I've got some super good beauty and fashion posts on the way for you, so don't worry just yet).

With all the hustle and bustle this past month, this week was somewhat a tad quieter. I mean it's been busy don't get me wrong but its not been manic if you know what I mean, which I kinda like. Sometimes it's nice just to chill.

On Sunday morning it was such a beautiful day so I decided to make Kyle and I some brunch. Days like this are my favorite. Them ones where you get to sit in the garden and eat. I opted for my super lovely Banana Pancakes with some chopped up fruit. Naughtily I added a drizzle of Chocolate Sauce but hey ho it's Sunday so I don't care! I made Kyle a mini English Breakfast - Bacon, Beans, Toast and Egg and we both had an Iced Coffee to Drink. As you can see in the picture I pride my self on my ability to create a super cute set up by using unnecessary crockery...but then again who wouldn't want a heart shaped toaster holder? You see my point?!

We proceeded to spend the rest of our Sunday binge watching Netflix. Shamefully we watched the entire first season of American Horror Stories in a one'er. It was totally addictive but I wouldn't recommend watching it if you're a wuss like me. I spent the entire afternoon following Kyle around like a lost sheep, asking him to come to the toilet with me and having the lights on everywhere I went.


During the week my dad and I also went for our weekly walk. We pranced off to a hidden gem just outside of Clumber Park, which might I add has fast become my favorite place to go for a walk!

This was the first time in a long while that my feet actually ached after a walk but it was such a fun adventure!

Biscuit had a lot of fun playing and is such a clever little dog, he took this stick with him all the way round the walk bless him.

What did you get up to this week? 

The Thursday Post - A Week In Photos

Good morning lovelies! This past week has been a bit of a great one for many reasons - I've had so much fun, but for once in my life I wont keep harping on and will just share a few snaps from the week so you can see what I got up to.

My apologies for the lack of photos but sometimes I just want to experience the moment rather than capturing it all on camera. So here we go, enjoy!

Kyle got his uni results back for his second year so I treated him to a Wagamama's Date Night, it was super lovely!

My Grandad came over to visit from Aberdeen so my Dad, Cousin, Grandad and I went for a walk to one of my favourite places - Sherwood forest. This was my first experience standing inside a tree and it was pretty fun!

I just had to get a photograph of this lovely little river in a village not far from where I live. The picture probably doesn't do it justice but it was just so cute.

It was a pretty quiet week to be honest but very enjoyable all the same!

What did you get up to this week? :)

The Perfect Summer Breakfast Smoothie

Hey lovelies, today I thought I'd share with you a little recipe I whipped up the other day and what I like to call - the perfect summer Smoothie! I'm a big Smoothie lover and have one for breakfast at least 3 times a week I would say and usually because, it's too early to think and I'm just half asleep - I just throw anything in the blender and hope for the best. Winging it normally turns out ok and I'm pretty well known around my house as a bit of a blending queen!

So back to the important stuff...ingredients!

What You'll Need

- A Handful of Raspberries
- A Handful of Blueberries
- 1 Banana sliced up (Frozen)
- Alpro Lemon & Lime Yogurt Alternative
- Alpro Soya Milk
- A Handful of Spinach

There is no right or wrong way to make a smoothie - add as much Milk as you like or if you're trying to be healthier swap the Soya Milk for water. My top tip for Smoothies is definitely to freeze as much of the ingredients as possible - the Banana is a given, you must freeze the Banana if you don't freeze anything else! Freezing your ingredients makes your Smoothie extra ice cold and refreshing. (I will do another post in a couple of weeks to give you some tips on organizing your food the night before and planning meals).

If you're liking what you see on the blog please do comment below or tweet me etc and I will keep on churning out the Smoothie Recipes!

What's your favorite smoothie? Comment below and share with me, I'd love to hear! :)

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.