Last Sunday, I decided it would be nice to have the girls over for  bit of quality time together. We're all lovers of tea and cake so it only seemed right that we do our own little afternoon tea!

Everyone was told to bring a sandwich, which we cut up and shared between us, and then a bake!

I feel like triangle sandwiches taste better than rectangle ones! So dainty and delicious :)

I made scones using Mary Berry's recipe which you can find here. I was a little hungover so I ended up making these very last minute...which turned out to be a good thing as I took them out them oven just as the girls knocked on the door!! Freshly baked scones are the best!

Jay made some yummy raspberry mousses with coulis which were very light and fruity! They looked great in the little jar pots - She used the pots you get with GU desserts (great excuse to buy some!)

Tiffany made a selection of chocolate, vanilla and marble cupcakes which I actually thought she'd bought as they looked that good!

Helen made some brownies - a true classic! Our chocolate fix was met that day..

There's nothing like fresh flowers to finish off the look of a table :) I bought these for my room to cheer me up this week for only £1.50 in Tesco!

I really wanted to share this all with you as we all had such a lovely afternoon and it's just a bit different isn't it! I think next we'll have to have a "pot luck" night or something...we're all major food lovers!!

If you're into afternoon tea posts then you can read another one here!

#NWBloggersMeetUp Part Two: The Goodie Bag

So here it is...the one you were waiting for; The #NWBloggersMeetup Goodie Bag!

First of all I just want to say a huge thank you to all the brands that were so generous and got involved in our event! I am overwhelmed by the amount of samples we were given to try and I am still working my way through it all so I will be able to do proper reviews later :) But for now, have a good nosey!!

I know you can't realllly see it properly but if you can spy the can on the right hand side, that's Virtue Strawberry and Peach Ice Tea which tastes super refreshing! Apart from Lipton's Ice Tea, I've never found another one I like until now. It's something that would be perfect for a hot summery day. You also can't really see the Nail HQ all-in-one formula but it deserves a mention as I have tried it out and liked the results. It's a clear varnish containing argan oil and minerals, which can be worn under or on top of your regular nail polish. I always break my nails so I'll be using this as much as I can now!

The Mello and Mallo marshmallows didn't last long as you can imagine! I've never tried gourment mashmallows before but they taste amazing, even just standard vanilla flavour mmm... Foodwise, we also got a few packets of Border biscuits which have been a great addition to my daily cuppas! Crunchy Oat Crummbles is my favourite! If you can spy the silver hearts bracelet, that's from Utility, which I mention all the time and is made by Estella Bartlett. I will have to put a better photo up of it later because I absolutely love it! It's so dainty and pretty.

Bespoke Bracelets kindly gave us these!! How cute of them :) They'd make great personalised little gifts!

I apologise for the fact that a lot of these photos are a bit manic..I just didn't know where to begin! But can you spy the Amazing Cosmetics concealer samples? I've been using it a lot this week and I'll be buying a full size tube as soon as my student budget allows for it...It's reaaaaallllly good at hiding blemishes and I have had awful skin this week! I haven't tried the Vichy Normaderm Hyaluspot cream (what a mouthful!) yet but it is meant to be for blemish-prone skin so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Sweet Cecily's sent us these super cute personalised lip balms! I think this was my favourite item in the goodie bag due to the personal touch and you can ask them to print any photo onto their balms - great as a gift or wedding favour! Mine is Mojito flavour and it really is a delicious smell! Their shop is based in Whitby which is close to home, so I'll definitely be popping in next time I'm there.

Okay, so these two items weren't from the goodie bag, I actually won them in the raffle but I couldn't leave them out! They are from the Naked Skincare Company which is a very natural and eco-friendly brand. I really love their packaging! I have only tried the Hemp and Avocado Body Butter so far which has the texture of actual butter..you know when it's been left out..not like hard out the fridge! It doesn't have the strongest scent but it does leave your skin super hydrated and feels a bit how bio-oil does when you rub it in. I feel like it'd be great for stretch marks!

The Dessert Counter sent us some yummy macarons and cake pops! The macarons are the nicest I've tried and I'd never had cake pops before but they tasted amazing! Baked goods are always a win with me..

I have tried the Glam Glow Mud since my last post but only once so I can't really give it a fair review. It smells amazing, feels nice on your skin but I'm not sure I'd pay £50 for the full tub unless I really start to see miracles..not whilst I'm a student anyway - definitely more a luxury item! They gave us a brush to put it on with which made it feel extra special :)

A few pineapple themed pieces from Utility again - A pineapple lip balm, which I am yet to try and a 3D room fresher thingy (do these have a proper name?!)

Witch Overnight Skin Clearing Serum - I have been using this all week because I love how hydrating it is. It feels less harsh on your skin than their blemish stick, which I feel you can only use on targeted areas! My skin has been breaking out terribly this week but I feel like it has stopped some of them coming out properly. 

I'm not a frequent user of fake tan after a few disasters, so I'm a bit nervous about trying this self tan bronzing mineral powder from Vita Liberata. You brush it over moisturiser or liquid foundations and it claims to last for up to 5 days! I'll be saving this one for the summer time I think, when I'm away from uni..just in case it goes wrong, but hopefully it'll be easier to use compared to other products I've used in the past!

We also got some more fake tan products from Xen-tan; A body scrub and a luminous glow gel self-tan in medium. I've had a professional spray tan using Xen-tan which looked really natural, so hopefully I'll be able to achieve this at home now!

I was really excited about these Asleep and Awake potions from Faust's Potions but I have to be honest and say that they really don't smell good. I gulped down the asleep potion which tasted better than it smelt, but still... really not good....I did have a great night sleep though but it's always hard to tell with these things whether or not it's just the placebo effect..I don't know! 

This Happy Lips lip balm from Blistex smells so fruity and summery! I've pictured just the Mango one as I gave my housemate the Strawberry one to try. All the blogger girls have said how much they love this lip balm and it's another one of my favourite items, easily :) I'll be picking up more of these come summer!

This eye gel which is supposed to stop puffy eyes is from Balance Cosmetics. I don't really get puffy eyes so I can't really say much about that but I've been using it a lot before bed just because I like the cooling sensation is has on my eyes...sends me straight to sleep!

This hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn has already made its way into my handbag. It has a fresh water sort of smell which I love :) 

I'm really loving this Mavala nail varnish in shade 'Elle'. I've actually got it on as I'm typing! I hadn't heard of the brand before so it was a good little introduction :) It's a good colour for every day and not OTT for work or whatever!

I'm a sucker for stationary!! I was so happy to get the coloured pens from Stabilo because I use them a lot for revision. I'm so much more productive when I get new stationary!

I got a magnetic 'to do' note pad from Busy B which will come in very handy, as well as some cute kitchen labels. You would not believe how excited I got over kitchen labels haha..I now have visions of myself making my own jams and chutneys just so I can use them!!! Who knows, maybe in the summer I'll have a go at that! 

A cute card from Utility! I'm pleased I got this one as I'm a keen tea drinker! I might just stick it on my wall rather than give it away (I know, how selfish) as it's so cute :)

Skinetica is an anti-blemish toner than can be worn under make-up which I think is great! I know it's not great for your skin when you wear foundation etc. so I feel a little less guilty about it when I have this working away underneath it all! I don't really like the smell of it though which is the only negative thing I have to say about it! It's not bad enough to put me off using it though!

Finally, a big shout out to Wild Thang who made our lovely bags :) 

I have tried to include as much of the goodie bag items as I could, but there was soooo much! I will be able to tell you more about them as time goes on though. 

Anything caught your eye?

#nwbloggersmeetup part one: The Event

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!