Cycling in the sun!

I have discovered a new love - it's cycling!!

Now that's not as cringe-worthy as it sounds.... While I do enjoy the normal things about it - getting out in the spring sunshine, fresh air etc, they're not the only (or in fact main) reasons. What I love about it is that I can do what I would normally do in a day, i.e. yesterday:- I worked all day in Cardiff and then went straight to the pub to work the evening shift. Normally, no time to go to the gym, so no exercise. But with the bicycle.....I cycled 7 miles! So I burnt nearly 500 calories AND got some fresh air.

Today I met my friend Helen for brunch at Tinto Lounge on Gloucester road, it was gorgeous; the staff couldn't be friendlier and the coffee and food was divine. What was better was that I cycled there and burnt off the calories of my bacon sandwich! I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to cycle between places in Bristol, and also how the hills don't seem quite so bad in practice as they do when you imagine them!

I also met Ellie at the King's Arms on Whiteladies road later in the day (more cycling and calorie earning thank you) and had two delicious Kir Royales for a very bargain-ous price of £3.00 each. I always love the decor here:

After a skype chat with my sister, what more could a girl wish for on a Sunday?

Oh, the house is still a mess. Oops.

Mothers' Day and Sunshine

For mothers' day this year I wanted to treat my mummy, but as she was dieting making a cake/chocolates/dinner wasn't going to cut it. I saw this recipe for a Lemon Body Scrub on the Beauty Department after a link from one of my faithfully-read beauty blogs - unfortunately I can't remember which one! It's so easy I urge anyone to give it a try! The oil stops the sugar from dissolving when you add the lemon, so be sure to do it in that order!

I have the sweet lemon body scrub from the Body Shop which I really love, but this is much cheaper, and another benefit is (when made with sugar) that you can eat it! It's actually delicious but probably very calorific....!  It had separated a bit by the time I left on Mothers' day so maybe a little less lemon next time, but I'm sure with a quick shake it will be fine. I obviously haven't tried this one but I'll be getting a maternal report soon! In theory the sugar dissolves in the water as you massage it into the skin so there are no bits to clog up the drain, and the oil is left behind to provide huge post-shower moisture! There are many variations of this out on the internet and I will definitely be trying it again before I repurchase the Body Shop one!

A few other bits and bobs from the sunshine:

The gorgeous tulips that are growing in my garden

Sunshine on the downs

My current craving - Fish Finger sandwiches!! A-ma-zing.

London Baby!

Last week I went up to London for some training - for both my jobs and I managed to book them on consecutive days. Michael was also speaking at a conference the day before so we managed to book three consecutive nights in a hotel together :) It was lovely to spend some time together. After the conference on Tuesday we went for a walk down by London Bridge and then for a drink in the pub.

After that we then traipsed all the way to the strand looking for a chinese restaurant for dinner, and ended up in Wetherspoons!! Not our finest moment, although it was a tres bargain. We vowed to book the Frontline Club for the following day as Michael loves it there but I've never been. We snuggled up back at the hotel room with an episode of MasterChef on iPlayer....it's the little things we miss!

On the Wednesday I had some training in Islington and finished at 4, so I popped over to Oxford street! I bought two little dresses for £13 each, as the weather was gorgeous and I wasn't at all prepared! I was a rather sweaty mess to be honest and was due to meet Michael for a nice dinner so picked up another outfit. One is a white with narrow blue stripes in a stretch jersey, it's tight-waisted with a flared skirt so nice and flattering! The skirt is striped diagonally so good for slimming. The other is a loose cotton floaty number, with spaghetti straps and a drawstring waist. It has a peplum style frill along the bust line and is super comfy. Unfortunately there are no photos on the website for me to link to and my versions are in the wash... so no pictures!

The next tricky part turned out to be dinner - Michael had attempted to book online but it turned out that it hadn't gone through. So no Frontline Club for us! We did some googling at a nearby pub and settled on a City-Eating deal at Boulevard brasserie in Covent Garden. It was absolutely lovely - starters of calamari and foie gras, followed by Boeuf Bourguignon and then shared a creme brulee for pudding. All topped off with an enormous Kir Royale and coffee for less than £25 each! Lovely.

On Thursday I travelled over to the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill for training number two, and then met with my stunning friend Jessica for lunch in marble arch. We went to Wasabi and picked up a really yummy bento box with chicken and edamame beans. It was delish and made me wish we had one in Bristol!

All in all, a lovely (although tiring!) three days :)