Last weekend I attended my first big blogger meet up (if you haven't seen my Body Shop Blogger event then click here) and I have been desperate to tell you all about it ever since, but life has just been a little busy!!! So finally, I'm sitting with a cuppa by my side and ready to share it all with you :)

I met a few of the girls at Central Perk beforehand to make the whole 'arriving at the venue' situation a little less terrifying...there were 25 bloggers going after all! They make an amazing spiced chai tea latte, so if you find yourself there, I'd recommend you go for that.

We all voted on our little facebook group we'd created to go to Kabinett which is cutely tucked away down some stairs on Myrtle Street. It has such a cosy atmosphere and the barman was super friendly :)

When we got there my jaw just about hit the floor when I saw all the goodie bags laid out! Sammy did an amazing job at getting them all sorted and we got some amazing brands on board, just you wait and see..

We had personalised bags from Wild Thang which looked fab and were just about ready to spill out all over the place, they had that much stuff in! 

I have so much love for Utility and I've mentioned some of their products in the past here and here! Check them out, they're really good for gifts, cute stationary and little gadgets.

Lucy came along representing Natalie Roche, which is the UK distributor of Xen-Tan, Glam Glow and Amazing Cosmetics! I'm really excited to try out my Glam Glow mask as it's supposed to be really good! I tried some of the samples on my hands and they smelt gorgeous, especially the Glam Glow Power mud dual cleanse.

I've already tried my sample of the Amazing Cosmetics concealer and it is without a doubt one of the best I've tried! I don't have the best skin but I felt like I had enough coverage just from a tiny bit of the concealer, without the need for foundation. It is a little pricier than what I'd usually go for, but Lucy said the 15ml tube would last the year! You can find it in Marks and Spencers and they will hopefully be bringing the foundation over from America soon too!

I also got to meet Carrie from Junkbox who was showcasing a few of her pieces. She was so lovely and had some really cute items to show us. The picture frames had photos in that she had taken on holidays - such a nice personal touch! Her shop is based in Chester and her items will soon be available on ASOS, how exciting!

After chatting to the brand reps, I mingled and chatted to as many different bloggers as I could! It was so busy that I didn't get chance to speak to everyone but I'm sure we'll all be doing something again soon!

I decided to get a raspberry mojito since it was a special occasion after all...but I very quickly got all light headed and giggly haha!

Me and Tasha

There was also some yummy cupcakes provided to us by hello and.... I picked up a vanilla cream one which has cinder toffee on top and jam in the middle..so so good! I managed to get crumbs everywhere, of course!

At the end of the event, there was a raffle from which we raised £80 that will be split between Freshfields Animal Rescue and Claire House Children's Hospice! I managed to win a couple products from The Naked Skincare Company which I'm really keen to try!

Afterwards, a few of us decided to head for food at Las Iguanas, which rounded off the afternoon very nicely! 

Jemma 

 Of course, more cocktails were ordered!

I may have ordered half a chicken yes...

Aisling and I

It really was such a great experience and I'm so happy that blogging has led to me meeting such a lovely bunch of girls :)

I'll be doing a separate post about what was in the goodie bag shortly, but for now, here's a sneak preview!!!

I love reading about meet ups, so if you've done a post about one you've been to, I'd love to have a read!

Home sweet home

Last week I decided to pop home for the weekend. As much as I love being at Uni, I do miss things like having a cuppa and watching Dragon's Den with my parents or catching up with my friends at home, not to mention sleeping in my own bed! 

So I kicked off the weekend in the best way a Northerner can...with a Parmo!!! You're now thinking what on earth is a Parmo...Well it's basically breaded chicken smothered in a creamy bechamel sauce with a sprinkle (actually a lot more than a sprinkle) of cheese melted on top. They're absolutely delicious and a well loved speciality from Teesside, so make sure you try one if you're in the North East area! 

Saturday morning involved a trip to a local farmer's market..one of my favourite things to do! No one is ever miserable walking round the stalls and I love finding cute independent companies...especially food ones! I managed to pick up a few chocolate treats for Rachel's birthday.

Saturday afternoon was spent at my friend's farm where me and my mum basically spent the whole time cuddling lots of cute animals! We even witnessed the birth of twin lambs which was great as my mum was desperate to see this as a keen viewer of lambing live! 

The lamb pictured above was my favourite :) I know you're sitting there thinking awwwww

The vet student in me feels I should point out that you shouldn't actually kiss lambs as you can catch something called Orf, which is a skin condition. It wouldn't be the end of the world. but you know, better just to not get it. Have a little read here if you're into that kinda thing!

Saturday evening was spent eating the yummiest of yummiest food at Chadwicks - my favourite restaurant! I went with my friend Rachel as an early celebration of her birthday! It's quite pricey but oh so worth it!! I won't make your mouth water with the food pics just yet..I'm saving those for a review in the very near future, so all you foodies better keep an eye out!

Oh go on then, maybe just the one! 

On Sunday, I went with my parents and friend Rachel (again yes, we're inseparable when we're both home) to the Hartlepool's Maritime Museum which is somewhere I used to go all the time as a child, so it really brought back heart warming memories being there again. 

Peek-a-boo!

 It was fun walking in and out of the different houses that were made to look as they would in the 18th Century. Places like this make learning about history so much more fun and interactive!

As fun as it might sound climbing up ropes etc on a big badass ship, life at sea sounded pretty horrendous and I can't say I envy those men that went to war at sea but you have to admire their bravery!

"he's got the whole world, in his hands, he's got the whole wide world, in his hands"...

After we were done taking silly pictures, we headed to the calmness of Saltholme Nature Reserve, for a bit of bird watching.

Can you spot the famous Transporter Bridge in the background?

We even managed to have a spot of tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter!

How adorable is this!? There were holes at the back for wild mice to climb in and steal a treat or two!

 This place is perfect for clearing your head for a bit. Something I'd been needing to do for a while actually, so this was a refreshing visit!

 Can you spot the duck?

It was so lovely to be home and I already can't wait to head back for Easter! 

A brushin' good bargain

Just a quick one today to bring a great affordable product to your attention that was kindly sent to me by beauty product testing, in return for an honest review, so here it goes...

I never really used to use make up brushes for applying my foundation, until I was basically made a laughing stock in MAC by the counter girl for admitting I used a sponge...and was bullied  persuaded into buying a stippling brush for around £30!!!!! Personally, I think that's a bit excessive...

BUT BUT BUT!!!! 

For £3 you can get yourself Revolution's Pro F103 Stippling Brush! As a student, that is music to my ears...

My first impressions of the product were good - I thought the packaging made it look a lot more expensive than it is, so I was genuinely surprised when I looked up how much it costs. I think a lot of it has to do with the rose gold foil of the packaging, I'm a sucker for rose gold - aren't we all at the moment!

The bristles are lovely and soft, although I must admit, I ever so slightly prefer the feel of my MAC brush when applying foundation to my face..not enough to justify the price difference though! 

The brush is great for applying foundation under your eyes and blends it well, leaving just as good a finish as my mac brush. The head of the brush could do with being a bit bigger but at the same time, the smaller size gives you more control.

Overall, I think that this product does its job, looks the part and doesn't break the bank! I'm quite keen to try out some of the other brushes in the range now that I'm becoming a more frequent user of make up brushes!! 

Have you ever tried Revolution make up brushes? 

Salthouse Tapas Review

I don't know if this is something that happens commonly in your twenties or if I'm just a greedy guts, but I can say, hands down, that I would much rather spend my money on a nice meal than on a night out. I'm becoming a little foodie and it's great! 

Last night, I went for a spontaneous meal out to celebrate passing my most recent exams at uni. I'm not usually one for spontaneity, but if food is involved, I'm in 100%! 

We wandered the streets of Liverpool for a good twenty minutes or so, freezing to death, until we came across Salthouse Tapas!

They had fairy lights on the balconied area where we were seated, so I was pretty much sold from there. Plus lots and lots of candles which created a relaxed and cosy atmosphere, despite it not being that small a place!

I love trying lots of different foods (I'm that person that towers their plate sky high at buffets) so tapas is right up my street!

The Deep Fried Goats Cheese with Golden Beetroot and Apple Chutney was the first to arrive to our table. It was absolutely delicious and melted to perfection. As a huge goat's cheese fan and trier of many, this is easily one of the nicest I've had! My mouth is watering now just thinking about it mmmm. Also, I know people read blogs in whatever voice they imagine me to have...well apparently I pronounce Goat as 'Gorrrt.'  This provided some with great entertainment that night..

Next up was Baby Chorizo with Honey! Another favourite food of mine...I'm going to call a lot of things favourites so maybe we should just accept that I love food of most kinds...

This was so so good and the sweetness of the honey was a great combination with the Chorizo! 

I picked the Iberico Ham Croquettes as I first tried and loved them in Madrid last year. These tasted just as good as those from their native country! 

Patatas Bravas is another choice I made based on my visit to Madrid and these made a great side to everything else we ordered. 

Roast Pork Belly with celeriac puree, caramelised apple and sage; another favourite of mine - honestly the menu must have been created with me in mind. Very very tasty!

To round off the meal, we had Churros covered in a cinnamon sugar and chocolate dip! These were finger lickin' good!! 

And what better way to wash down a meal, than with a jug of Sangria!!! It was dangerously nice, so as you can imagine, I skipped home singing after that. A great way to celebrate passing my exams :)

If you're from Liverpool or ever find yourself there, I would highly recommend stopping by here. The food is seriously good and it was great value for money!!