Lunch Out and What I Wore 31st August

On the 31st of August I went to Sheffield to meet my friend Philippa again. It was two days before I went on holiday and I am usually really anxious before I go on holiday, so to make plans to do something really helped. I suggested we go to Pho because I love Pho. It's Vietnamese food, it's a chain but I've only ever been to the one in Sheffield. I know parking round it can be terrible, so I parked at Middlewood tram station and got the tram, which I find delightful because it's such a novelty. I got to Pho about 11.50 and sat outside until it opened. Pippa arrived just after me.

I went for veggie summer rolls with peanut sauce and tofu curry with rice, which is what I always have, because they are both always so good. I had something different once and didn't like it as much, so I won't make that mistake again! The curry is always slightly different, yesterday's had mushrooms in which was nice! Pippa had summer rolls and then the three mushroom soup, which she enjoyed. I wouldn't normally have a dessert but decided to have some ice cream - dark chocolate and honey and ginger. They were nice! Pippa had the rich chocolate truffle slice. 

We left around 2.15 and I got the tram back to the car and then drove home. I then had a nap - I had been awake really early as I was anxious about the holiday. Lee did some work next to me, while I was sleep. I then headed out for my nail appointment. I still had the same gel polish (on my natural nails) that I had had done for Lee's party, so I wanted some new stuff putting on before our holiday. When I'm back I'll leave my nails bare for a while I think, but I'll definitely have them done again for Christmas. My nail tech works from her house in a village near to mine and she's absolutely crackers, totally bonkers. I really like her! I chose a nice bright polish with glitter fade on four nails, I really like it.

When I got home I had leftover soup for tea; Lee had already eaten his tea because it was quite late when I was done. We watched TV for a bit and then Lee had a bath so I watched Netflix in bed and read my book! It was a good day, though, nice and relaxing before my holiday.

I was wearing this black dotted skirt, which used to be a dress but I cut the bodice off. It's a Scarlett & Jo Lollidot one and I love the pattern, but had forgotten about the skirt but had unearthed it while packing for my holiday. I wore my Be Gay Solve Crimes t-shirt, which is a reference to the Murder Most Unladylike novels by Robin Stevens. Love this t-shirt, it's really soft. I pulled on my bubblegum pink footless tights from Snag, they were warm enough for the weather but not too thick, and I like the pop of colour!

Summer rolls and peanut sauce - I could drink a vat of that sauce

Tofu curry - I thoroughly recommend this dish

Ice cream - it wasn't loads but enough

Be gay solve crimes

Close up of my tights

And finally my nails!

Lunch Out with Lee

On the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend Lee and I went into Barnsley for a look around and some lunch. We didn't have anything to do so I said it would be nice and Lee agreed. Plus it was nice to spend time together! We set off quite early and parked in the Glassworks and went down in the lift. We went to Game first of all because Lee had a birthday voucher he wanted to spend. Then we went into the market ground floor, where I bought some pear drops. I sat outside while Lee went to the record shop - he came back with something for him and the 12" single of A Rainy Night in Soho by The Pogues for me! It was a nice present. 

We walked over to Marks & Spencer to buy food for the rest of the weekend, I like their Plant Kitchen range so got a couple of things from there. Then we went to TKMaxx as I was after some flip flops for my holiday but they didn't have any. We went upstairs in the market and I went to the bookstall - if you take a previous book back then you get money off your next book. I find this really good because they've got a lot of crime books and once I've read I don't feel the need to keep them, so taking them back works really well for me. 

Then we went into Market Kitchen for lunch. I really like it because we can get different things but still sit together. It was busy but Lee snaffled us a table. I went for Thai - I had vegetable tempura, tofu massaman curry, and jasmine rice. Lee went for a Turkish chicken wrap and chips which he enjoyed. I couldn't eat all my curry so brought some of it home with me. After lunch we went to Asda in search of flip flops and swimming shorts for Lee; I stayed in the car though while went in. On the way home we got a McFlurry each. It was a hot day! We relaxed for the rest of the day. 

I was wearing my Schitt's Creek dress from Carolina Dress Room, I had forgotten I even owned it but was looking through my wardrobe! I was wearing it with this shrug from Yours that I've been wearing all the time recently; it's just enough of a covering when the weather is warm.

It was a nice day!

I love Massaman curry so much!

What I got in town

Schitt's Creek dress - the only problem is I wish it had Johnny on it, but it doesn't, just David, Alexis, and Moira. Cute though!

Dinner Out and What I Wore August 26th

For my birthday back in January my friend Sam bought me vouchers for V or V in Sheffield. It's all Vegetarian, Organic, or Vegan. I hadn't even heard of it but she had obviously done her research and thought it was somewhere I would like. It was a fancy menu, so I was looking forward to going. I invited my friend Sarah to go with me, so we booked to go on the Friday night of the Bank Holiday weekend. We arrived just before 7pm and were seated. There was a wedding party in with a bride in a very sparkly silver dress, but even though it's not a huge place we still had room to chat and so on. The waiter explained to us that it's like tapas and they would recommend four or five dishes between us, so we chatted about what we'd like. I don't remember all the fancy stuff, but we had:

- rose harissa and preserved lemon olives
- courgette flowers which were stuffed with a cream cheese type thing
- zatar flatbreads with dips
- barbecued bak choi with a satay sauce
- kohlrabi and potatoes with a Sri Lankan curry sauce
- tikka mushrooms

I had a raspberry lemonade and then for dessert I had a salted caramel affogato. I loved the flatbreads - they were a bit like roti and delicious, but my favourite was the bak choi, it was delicious! I wil lalso say that the tikka mushrooms were REALLY like chicken tikka, and were delicious. I didn't think that the kohlrabi and potatoes were as good as they could have been. There was more than enough food between us, it was all nice. We were both full! 

We were told at 8.25 that we only had the table for another five minutes, which was a bit of a shame but when we were on our way out there was a queue of people waiting to come in, so it must be really popular! 

I was wearing a top that I've had for a while, from Simply Be. I love the glittteryness of the colour blocking. I pulled out my Sprinkle of Glitter skirt to wear with it which is lovely and which I don't wear enough! I put on some glittery make up and this lovely burgundy lip crean, which went on a bit oddly but it lasted well and looked nice. I also found these glittery brown ish shoes, also from Simply Be, which are really nice! I liked my outfit and so did Sarah. It was a good night! 

Make up face ready to go out

My outfit outside in our yard. 

Courgette flowers

Zatar flatbreads

Barbecued bak choi 

Kohlrabi and potatoes 

Tikka mushrooms

Lovely raspberry lemonade, it wasn't too sweet

And finally, salted caramel affogato!

Trip to Alton Towers Water Park

On the Monday after Lee's birthday he was off work (a company wide day off - again a perk of working for an American company) so we had booked to go to Alton Towers water park. We went before back in 2019, and have wanted to go back. Now, because of Covid, you have to book an arrival time, and the website does say that your visit is limited to time, but we didn't find this at all. We booked to go for 1.30 and left around 4.45 but no one seemed to be policing how long you had been there. We had a relaxed morning then set off from ours around 11.30.

We stopped at Tibshelf services to get some lunch. There's a McDonalds so I knew they'd had the McPlant meal, but I didn't really want that, so we looked at the cafe just next to it, and I was impressed because they had a ton of vegetarian and vegan options. For instance: vegan fish and chips, vegan hotdogs, vegan burgers. I went for this vegan New York deli style bagel, which turned out to be delicious. We ate the food in the car because we were running a bit late. We got to the water park about 1.40 and got changed and in! It was busy, but still pretty much okay.

There's a pool with a big spume in it, and that leads on to the lazy river, where you can snaffle a rubber ring when they become free. From the back of there you can queue for the slides (we didn't) or go outside, where there's a pool with seats, and also a hot tub. From there you can come back inside and then past the baby pools to the upstairs, where there's another hot tub, and a bridge over the main pool, and then the splash zone, where there's a HUGE bucket that tips every six minutes or so. We did this circuit a bunch of times. It wasn't boiling hot outside but warm enough. Plus at one point there were BABY DUCKS and their mother in the outside pool! I can honestly say I've never swum in a pool with ducks before! It was so cute. 

We got out about 4.45 and got dressed. There was a huge queue waiting to come in at 5pm, I guess if you've been in the theme park all day it makes sense to go to the water park later? We got a hot drink on the way out and then set off home. It was so tiring but so much fun - I really recommend the park as it's got a lot going on but isn't too expensive. It was really fun!

"Pastrami" bagel, it was nice!

This is outside the water park, outside the Splash Landings Hotel

Cute umbrellas and lights inside the hotel foyer

The water park from the hotel foyer. I love it, we'll go again!

Lee's Birthday Weekend Day 3

The Sunday of Lee's birthday weekend was his actual fortieth birthday! It was also his dad's 61st birthday! (We celebrated his 60th last year with family in Durham). Lee and I got to my mum's quite early, and his dad and stepmum arrived not long after us. We had also been to Sainsburys to pick up two platters of sandwiches and an American snack platter thing. Hilariously, neither had come in, so we were given ten sandwiches to cut up ourselves and a bunch of snacks. It was fine, but also kind of funny. 

Lee's mam and stepdad and co arrived, and my mum's cousin and my second cousin and co. My first cousins had gone home on Saturday which was a shame, but I'm glad they made it at all. I think there was about 20 of us for lunch, but I can't be sure. Maybe more! My mum and I got lunch ready with help from plenty of others, there was sandwiches and vegan sausage rolls and pasties, plus crisps and all the snacks. It didn't look like loads but I think everyone had enough to eat. Then of course more cake, because there was a lot of cake! We sang happy birthday to Lee again which he was not happy with! He doesn't love birthdays but in my family they've always been a big deal so my mum and I always make a big fuss. 

He got some lovely presents, including a rare record from my mum, a soundbar from his mam, and a lovely watch from his dad. We actually saw it in Market Harborough while we were camping, and Lee's dad had mentioned buying him a watch so we got it then. I had been looking for something a bit unusual and this definitely fitted the bill! He got a ton of vouchers including restaurants vouchers which is great because I get to share in those too! Plus he got a LOT of chocolate (he loves chocolate and doesn't drink). I bought him an evening in a spa near Blackpool and three nights away in a cottage nearby in October, which we're both looking forward to. 

After lunch we got everything packed away and then people started leaving. It had been so lovely though! Lee and I left around 4pm I think. I then crashed entirely, and needed to get into bed for a nap! I didn't get up til nearly 6pm. We ordered some food for tea as we were both so tired. In the evening Lee watched a stream with some friends so he was happy. 

I was wearing my mustard Simply Be dress that is one of my current favourites, it's so easy and comfortable to wear and I love the oversized look. Underneath I had new Better Tights shorts in black, which were comfortable. 

Lee's watch. It's weird to tell the time on isn't it?! The curved hand points to the hour running vertically, and the minute hand is like a normal minute hand. So here it was ten past one

Mustard dress!

Lee's Birthday Weekend Day 2 - The Party

Saturday was party day! Lee's birthday was actually the Sunday but we had the party on the Saturday because that was obviously easier. I was awake a bit early with anxiety/excitement, but I had a shower and got dressed and then we headed to my mum's house. My aunt, uncle, and stepcousin were all staying there, and they had already put up the two gazebos that my uncle had brought. Nirosha and I put up the pom poms we had put together the day before. I put on my make up and then people started to arrive! We started the music outside - it was all songs from 1982. The bouncy castle people arrived and put that up, and Frank from my work arrived with the food. Then the drinks cart turned up! They were called Wilde's Tipples and Treats and I would utterly recommend them. I paid for everyone to have a welcome drink and they were really good at ensuring everyone got one. They had done a raspberry mocktail for us but they were really good at doing other drinks too. I had a few drinks from them!

At 3pm a local ice cream van came round - you can request and they'll turn up. A lot of people had one so I reckon they did okay moneywise. They had vegan ice creams for our vegan friends, which was good. I had a sherbet twin which was lovely. I did go on the bouncy castle but was quite terrified. So many people came! We took a photo of everyone on the bouncy castle, including my 96 year old grandma! She was sitting on the front. At 5.30 ish food was ready. I had ordered chicken curry, vegan chilli, and rice, from Frank. He had provided comprehensive instructions on how to reheat, which my uncle and cousin had done, which was great as I didn't have to worry about it! The vegan chilli was delicious - full of beans and vegetables!

The party continused into the evening. Fortunately it was nice and warm and it didn't rain, so we could all sit outside until late. My cousins came up, my grandma came in the afternoon, and some of my extended family came, so it was lovely to see them. Lee's parents and stepparents all came, plus two of his brothers, and his friends Paul, Lianne, Brian, Leesa, and Leah. Our friends Leanne and Adi came with their little girl April, who was happily running around. The lads were being very silly on the bouncy castle trying to prove who was toughest.

I was wearing this Bardot shoulder dress which I bought in lockdown in 2020 so have only worn a few times. I love the plant print, and the dropped shoulders and the shirring, and the high/low hem too! It's such a lovely dress. 

Lee got three cakes - one we got from M&S and which all went on the Saturday, one which his mam made and brought down, and one - a Fall Out one with Vault Boy on the top - which was made by the daughter of a family friend and which was a total surprise to him. It's delicious, we're still eating it! 

Here's tons of photos: 

My mum ordered these balloons off a local Facebook group, which I didn't know about either. They're nice!

Pom poms up on the gazebo

Nirosha and Lee testing the bouncy castle when it arrived. It was quite windy so we had to keep testing the wind speed to make sure it wasn't too windy for the castle! It was fine though

With make up on

This is the cake Lee's mam brought

This is the M&S Cookies and Cream cake. I bought the 'hooray' from Flying Tiger in Meadowhall the week before the party. I also bought water balloons but we forgot to use them! Oh well

My outfit - I do love this dress and I got a lot of compliments on it. I was wearing Better Tights shorts underneath

The drinks cart! It was so cute!

And the drinks available

Proof I was on the bouncy castle

Lee and I on the bouncy castle - yes I obviously meant to match my lipstick to his hair

My cousin Peter, my cousin Rob's wife Beth, and me, on the bouncy castle. I love this photo!

Elderflower fizz - I think these were my favourites from the bar cart

Taking a picture of the cocktail makers inside

Ice cream!

Lee's brother and friend playing wrestling. They are all over thirty years old

Peter, Jon, my grandma, and Chrissy. Chris is one of my mum's oldest friends and it was lovely to see her and Jon

Leesa, Leah, and Brian. Brian is in Lee's band. They couldn't stay very long but we made sure to send them home with chilli and vegan cake (there was a vegan cake that Lianne brought but I don't think I got a photo of it!)

My mum, Donna and Ben - Ben is my second cousin. He came with two of his daughters, so it was lovely to meet them

Leanne and I before she and Adi had to go 

The amazing Vault Boy cake

Nirosha being thrown on the bouncy castle by Andrew, Lee's brother

April and me - she used to hate me so this is definitely progress!

Paul was king of the bouncy castle, I dunno, I didn't get involved

Pina colada cocktail

And lastly here's Paul wearing my mum's hoodie later at night when he was getting colder