"Italy will always have the best food"

I've been back from Italy for over a month now and I must say, i'm missing it so much!! Italy has been on my wishlist of places to go since... well, just as long as I can remember. I have always been so fascinated by the simplicity and beauty of Italy and its amazing people. My boyfriend and I just knew that we had to go to Italy this year and it took a while for us to choose a particular region as it all looks so beautiful and unique, but we ended up choosing Tuscany and Umbria.

We stayed in the most gorgeous hotel called Borgo Tre Rose, which is situated just outside of the little village of Valiano. The settings were perfect and so picturesque - just what we had in mind! It actually confirmed what we had always imagined Italy to be like.

"Italy will always have the best food" - Diane Von Furstenberg.

Needless to say, the food was incredible. My boyfriend and I are both MASSIVE foodies and love to eat out whenever we can. It was so much fun trying new places and eating our favourite food everyday. In fact, the way in which Italians eat is just so ideal. They will often start off with some delicious home-baked bread, then a first course consisting of a small, simple pasta dish, followed by meat with a few vegetables or potatoes and then finished off with dessert and possibly a coffee. This may sound like a lot of food but because each course was slightly smaller in size, it was just the perfect amount and it was great to be able to taste so many diffierent flavours each night - ideal for foodies like us!

The hotel we stayed at had a lovely restaurant which served a set menu everyday. We only ate there once, but the food was incredible and we'd definitely recommend it to anybody staying there (they even cater for people suffering from a gluten intolerance/allergy - hallelujah!) We found a gorgeous little family-run Pizzeria in Pozzuolo which did amazingly authentic pizzas; this was probably our favourite find whilst we were out there! Just incredible! 

There's so much I want to say about Italy and what we did there but it has left me pretty speechless and I'm just in awe of its beauty. I will do another blogpost soon of some of our favourite photographs so you get a feel for the area we visited as words just cannot describe how beautiful and amazing it was. Here's a little teaser... This was the Piazza Grande in in the beautifully picturesque town of Montepulciano. 

(Photo taken by Jason Smith)

To be continued...

Chocomania - Because every girl NEEDS chocolate!

I think it's fair to say that women are renowned for their love of chocolate and I must say, I am no anomoly to this stereotype. In fact, not many days go by where I haven't eaten at least one chunk of chocolate or something containing chocolatey goodness. When doing a bit of online present shopping before Christmas, I stumbled upon the magnificent Chocomania range at The Body Shop. I know i'm a bit late joining the Chocomania bandwagon but it wasn't until recently that I REALLY started to look through the entire selection that The Body Shop had to offer. Even though I only bought two products from their Chocomania range, I must say that I was sold immediately!

As you can see above, I bought the Chocomania Shower Cream and the Chocomania Lip Butter; both of which are amazing products that are good for your skin (huge bonus!) First of all, I will talk you through the scent of Chocomania. On first opening of either of these products, your senses just go wild! Your nose is hit with a wonderful, slightly sweet, slightly bitter hint of chocolate and the aroma just encaptures you, taking you into an idyllic world that might be found in the head of Roald Dahl, like his timeless classic of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The packaging is nice and simple with minimal text on each product. I like this minimalism as let's face it, nobody wants to read lots on products anyway! I really do recommend both of these products and can't talk higly off them enough! The smell alone is enough to attract somebody i'd say, but they're also soft and gentle on your skin too - even better! The lip balm is super nourishing, silky (but not at all greasy) and lasts for ages (if you can resist licking it off because it smells and tastes like chocolate!) The shower cream is just as good and comes out of the bottle like gloriously silky, melted chocolate, the only difference is you put it on your body, not in your mouth - oooh!

I think it's safe to say i'll definitely be checking out the rest of the Chocomania range at The Body Shop! I just can't wait to have more choccies that won't harm my figure - a woman's ideal world I think!

My adventures of 2014 so far!

I must admit this post is a little belated as i've been so busy dealing with lots of exciting changes in my life. I'm not one of those people that will set a 'New Year's Resolution', if i'm honest I think it's just a little clichéd, they're not normally SERIOUS goals and they never usually go to plan anyway, so what's the point in that? What I thought i'd do this year is something a little different. I decided I would think of one goal to complete by the end of the year, but it was to be something important and manageable.

Having finished university last year, it was obviously a plan of mine to kickstart my career in design. I was slightly torn between what I should set my goal as. Should it be 'starting my career' or 'getting a new car'? Both were important to me, of course they weren't equally as important but nevertheless they were both still important. I decided I couldn't choose between the two so said to myself that I would complete both by the end of 2014. This seemed like a good personal challenge to give myself.

The real reason i'm writing this post is because i've been feeling quite overwhelmed lately due to the fact that i've already completed both of my goals. Shocked? Yes, me too! It all happened within one month and was VERY unexpected to say the least. In early January, I received an email offering me a 6 month internship doing something absolutely amazing! I would be a Graphic Design and Marketing Intern! It sounded perfect and of course, I accepted the very generous offer straight away! Needless to say, I really love my new job and the fact that i'm beginning to live my dream in terms of my career.

A little later on in Janaury, I went to my nearest Suzuki branch to just 'have a look' at the new Alto SZ. What I didn't expect that day was to be leaving the dealership having put a deposit down on a brand new Suzuki Alto SZ! I've now had the car for nearly one week and i'm absolutely loving it. It's a gorgeous car to drive and looks super pretty! (See photo below!)

So having completed two of my goals for 2014 within the first month, I almost feel like I should set myself one more (yes, I like to keep challenging myself!) Having been with my boyfriend for four years this coming April, we're wanting to get our own place so that is definitely the next big thing for 2014 hopefully! Just need some luck to come our way in terms of money. Fingers crossed!

(Please ignore my face. It often goes a bit stupid-looking when i'm very excited about things like a brand new car! Who can blame me, right?!)

Hope your 2014 is going as well as mine is so far!

 

Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch rockin' out at the LG Arena in Birmingham

Earlier on this month, Jason (my boyfriend) and I set off to Birmingham for two (slightly contrasting) events, Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch on the Thursday and then the Clothes Show Live on the Friday. We'd booked to stay at the Premier Inn on the NEC complex and arrived there just in time for check-in after a day of Christmas shopping in Tamworth. We had a lovely meal in their Thyme restaurant early that evening before heading off for quite a chilly walk over to the LG Arena to see two of our favourite bands, Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch. Needless to say, the event was absolutely fantastic! In fact, it's probably the best gig i've ever been to.

Avatar were on stage first, followed by Five Finger Death Punch. FFDP were incredible, just as expected. I first saw them live at Download Festival 2013 and they just blew me away if i'm honest. Ivan (the lead singer) performed exceptionally well and put on a great show as always. If you haven't seen them live, I really would recommend seeing them if they're your sort of thing. Ivan knows how to keep the crowd entertained and often does little sections where the crowd can join in and really feel better linked with the band.

As for Avenged Sevenfold, words cannot describe how good they were! This was only my second time seeing them I think but they get better everytime; their show was just spectacular! I'll be seeing them headlining Download Festival 2014, which i'm really excited about already. I'm intrigued to see how they can improve on their performance in Birmingham, i'm sure it's not even possible. Again, Avenged Sevenfold are an absolute must-see live! Their show was just out of this world, it featured a giant deathbat which had flames inside it and around it, as well as a line of flames on the stage, which were all perfectly timed with the music.They played a lot of songs off their latest album, Hail to the King, which has had a tremendously good reaction from their fans and the metal industry. In fact, it's quite possibly their best album yet!

I had a fantastic time in Birmingham and I must say i'm on the look-out again for more gigs to go to soon! But until I book anymore, I guess i'll just have to look forward to Download 2014. I took a fair few photos at the LG Arena and back at the hotel so here are some from that night... Enjoy!

The absolute delightfulness of rocking out to some good old classic metal.

 

As i've mentioned in some of my previous posts, I am such a rocker at heart and since 2011 when I lost my Download virginity (figuratively speaking), I really look forward to this time of year. Why? You might think it's because of Christmas (yes, also EXTREMELY exciting) or my birthday, but it's also when they start to release the line-up for the upcoming Download Festival. A festival that I am completely obsessed with going to every year now. I go to the festival with my boyfriend, which I think makes it somewhat more exciting as it's just the two of us. Some of you might think that it'd quite boring going as a couple and without friends, but I actually really enjoy it! We have so much time to wander around the stalls and can go to watch the bands that we love together. Afterall, music (especially rock and metal) is a wonderful thing to have in common. Of course, every year there are bound to be certain bands that one of us likes and the other doesn't. We usually battle it out (and being a girl, I'm pretty sure I usually win too). No actually, in all fairness we do try to see both bands for a bit if they clash. 

So the first headliner band they announced was Avenged Sevenfold, who are quite possibly my favourite band ever! I was so excited when this was announced as i've already seen them once at Download 2011 and i'll be seeing them in December at the LG Arena in Birmingham and now at Download 2014 on the Friday night. They've also just released a new album called Hail to the King, which really is a fantastic album. It has that more 'classic rock/metal' feel to it that you often hear in the music of bands like Metallica and Led Zeppelin. I mean afterall, these are the bands they grew up listening to and were influenced by and boy does it come through in this album. The main reason i'm into rock and metal is because of my Dad, who also grew up listening to these iconic bands, which probably explains why I love them so much too. Avenged Sevenfold are absolutely amazing live and really put on a good show (we even got free A7X flags handed out to us at Download 2011 - cool or what?!)

 Rob Zombie is also set to play on the Friday night, which i'm actually really looking forward to. I've never seen him live before and I must admit i've not listened to a great deal of his music but nonetheless i'm sure he'll put on a good show! He has a very crazy but fun personality and that's always good because they're usually really energetic and get the crowd going when they perform and from what i've seen on Youtube, his live shows are great. Let's face it, Rob Zombie is classic and an absolute must to see!

On the Saturday night, we have Linkin Park performing the whole of their Hybrid Theory album (another favourite band and album of mine!) My boyfriend and I saw them play for the first time in 2011 at Download and it'll be so amazing to see them perform again, especially as they've decided to perform such a great album of theirs. I really love Linkin Park's older music - it's so emotional, easy to listen to and it always makes me feel better. I'm not a massive fan of their latest albums as I think it's lost the emotion a little and is more about the electronic sound, which i'm not that into. I'm sure my boyfriend will read this and either laugh or be angry that i've just said that as he really loves all of their albums and just understands everything about their changes in music, whereas i'm just not quite feeling it.

Also on the Saturday night, we have Fall Out Boy. Again, another band that I haven't actually seen live but i'm really looking forward to it as I do quite like their music, not so much their newer releases but definitely their old stuff. When I think of Fall Out Boy, I go back to being fifteen again and it's quite nice to have that nostalgic feeling when you listen to music, so it should be really good to finally see them perform live. I just hope they play some of their classics!

Finally, we have the amazing Aerosmith ending the festival on the Sunday. I can only begin to imagine how many people are going to turn up to see them, i'm sure it'll be as many as it was for Metallica and Iron Maiden, which was A LOT. I do really like Aerosmith, as I grew up listening to them with my dad as well as my late childhood friend, Amy. So i'll be there next year rocking out in memory of Amy, as she too loved and lived for rock and metal and I just know she would have loved to have seen Aerosmith. 

Also playing on Sunday are Alter Bridge, which was a nice surprise! My boyfriend and I have recently seen them at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham with Shinedown and Halestorm and they were great! It was my first time seeing them but I already liked a bit of their music anyway and I particularly like Myles Kennedy's voice, so that's always going to be a winner. Alter Bridge are really good live and I don't think I can really pair them up with another band; they're quite unique, which is probably mainly because of Myles Kennedy's amazing voice.


So that's it so far. That's all we know but from what we've been told already, it looks like it's going to be one hell of a year again. Download, you never fail me to impress me and all I can say is keep 'em coming! I'm sure there'll be more posts on Download when we get some more announcements or even posts on my adventures to Birmingham to see Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch and Device (along with a quite controversial trip to Clothes Show Live 2013!)

A delightful afternoon of baking the BEST banana muffins EVER (even if I do say so myself!)

So i've been meaning to post this recipe for about a week now, but with Halloween and Bonfire celebrations to be had, i've obviously had to postpone it a little. I was on annnual leave for four days last week, which left me with lots of spare time to do lovely things that I don't usually get the chance to do, such as baking! It has to be said that I absolutely love baking, nearly as much as I love cooking. In fact, to me there's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked cakes - mmm!

Anyway, here's the recipe I followed, which I found on www.yammiesnoshery.com. I must admit I was really sceptical about making these at first. The first thing I read was 'The Best Banana Muffins Ever {Without Dirtying a Single Dish}' and for some reason thought they probably weren't going to be that great straight away. However, when I took my first bite, I was ever so pleasantly surprised and I knew she wasn't kidding. The muffins were so moist, the texture was perfect and they just looked and smelt divine. These were in fact the best banana muffins I had ever made and I know I will never use another recipe for banana muffins other than this from now on.


The Best Banana Bread Muffins Ever
Makes about a dozen muffins

3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour (I used gluten free flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil as I didn't have vegetable oil))
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze (optional - I didn't use it because I didn't think they needed it but I bet it makes them super scrummy!):
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk or lemon juice

Method

(Make sure your oven is preheated to 190ºC).

1. Mash the bananas in a fairly large bowl and make sure you've got about one measuring cup full. Add the eggs and oil and mix well.

2. Add the sugar and mix well until combined.

3. Put in the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix all of the new ingredients a little on top before combining properly with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.

4. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. You should now have a very runny cake batter. 

5. Place muffins cases into a muffin tin if you have one and spoon the mixture into the cases making sure they're all relatively equal.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

7. Once they are cooked and out of the oven, put the muffins on a wire rack to cool before icing if you wish to do so.

8. If you are planning on icing the muffins, just mix together the icing sugar and milk or lemon juice and spread over the cooled muffins. Remember this should be quite runny as it is more of a glaze than proper cake icing.

Here are some photos of me actually baking the muffins.

I highly suggest that you have a go at making these muffins as they really are delicious. 

I will also provide you with the link to the original blogpost on Yammie's Noshery, which you can find at http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html?m=1. 

Stay posted for more yummy recipes and beauty/fashion related posts! 

Just a bit of rock to liven up an otherwise boring Wednesday evening.

As I write this blog post, I must confess that i'm curled up in bed all cosy because i've managed to catch the rotten lurgy from my boyfriend (let me tell you, flu-like symptoms are never good!) So after missing a day at work, I thought i'd make the most of my free time by at least updating my blog.

So here we go, last night (Wednesday 16th October) I ventured into Nottingham to their Capital FM Arena with my boyfriend to go and watch three amazing bands - Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm. It was the first night of their tour and we absolutely loved it. Being a rock/metal chick myself, I love being able to go to gigs/festivals to see my favey bands live - you feel like you have a stronger connection to the music you love by watching them so many feet away from you (how exciting!)

So first up, we heard Halestorm with the very gorgeous Lzzy Hale rocking out for the first half hour of the show. Then it was Shinedown who did an incredible set, as well as Alter Bridge who performed last. If you are lucky enough to have tickets for their upcoming shows, then you will NOT be disappointed at all. However, if you haven't, then I must ask - WHY THE HELL NOT?! They're great bands and you will enjoy it if you like their music because they all put on a great show (so make sure you support them and get tickets pronto!)

In December, my boyfriend and I are gallivanting off to Birmingham to see Avenged Sevenfold (quite possibly my favourite band ever!) along with Five Finger Death Punch and Device. Again, three amazing bands that we absolutely love - winner! This show is being held at the LG Arena in Birmingham which is luckily on the same area as the NEC, so i've managed to fit in going to the Clothes Show Live the next day. (Yay! - although much to my boyfriend's dismay i'm sure). Anyway, i'm rambling now so stay posted for more rock/metal posts as well as some very long overdue beauty posts!