Lunch with Chloe and Laura

In the middle of July I had plans in Sheffield with Chloe and Laura. We decided to meet in Sheffield at about 12pm, and go to Wagamama. We were going to go somewhere else but it just didn't work out, so we decided to go there. Chloe came to my house first and I drove us to Middlewood, and we got on the tram there. We got off at Cathedral and went to Lush first of all because I needed some more shampoo. Then we walked through to Leopold Square to meet Lolly. 

The service was a bit slow but it was fine. I decided to go for something different to what I usually have, so I had bang bang cauliflower but then I tried two new things. Ones were vegan hot dogs with like crunchy stuff on the outside and spicy sauce. The others were pulled shiitake mushrooms on little crouton type things. They were both fine, but they weren't amazing. I should have got curry after all! 

We sat there until about 1.45 and then we walked up to Creams which is a dessert restaurant. I know Chloe isn't keen on a lot of desserts, but I also know that Creams has slices of cake, and indeed, she had lemon meringue cake. So did Lolly, but she had gelato with it, too. I had a crepe with milk and white chocolate sauce and whippy ice cream. It was lush!

We said goodbye around 3pm and Chloe and I got back on the tram and back into the car. We got back to mine justg before 4pm which was perfect! I was wearing my Schitt's Creek pattern dress from Carolina Dress Room because I remembered about it and pulled it out to wear. I also have new black capri tights from Snag. The capri ones are only slightly shorter on me, but I love them. I wore them with the sparkly black Converse that my mum bought me from Vinted for Christmas. They're really comfortable! 

Capri tights and comfy Converse just before I set off

Bang bang cauliflower which I always get because I love it so much

Vegan corn dog things. They were fine but I probably wouldn't bother again

Pulled mushroom things. Also fine

Here we are in Wagamama

My ridiculous dessert in Creams

And finally my Carolina Dress Room dress and shrug cardigan when I got home!

Food and Alcohol in Barnsley with Sam

On the 6th of July I met up in Barnsley with Sam. Lee was going to York to go to a festival, and I could have gone, or I could have stayed at home by myself, but I decided to see if anyone was free for food and drinks. Sam was, so we made plans to go to The Salt House for bottomless brunch. I have been in there once before, but haven't had bottomless brunch in there before. It's £40 and although the service was a bit slow it seemed like pretty good value. 

We arrived about 12.15 and first of all we were put at a table that wasn't suitable for me. So then we moved upstairs. It was a more comfortable table but I am a bit annoyed that I had to go upstairs. Never mind. The drinks on the brunch menu are pretty good - we went for a rose prosecco to start with, and also had some pornstar martinis and other stuff. You can also choose two dishes off the menu and either fries or rice. The menu is not huge but it's pretty evenly split between vegetarian and not, so there were loads for me to choose from. I went for mac and cheese croquettes and mushroom bao buns, both of which were delicious, and fries. 

As I said, the service wasn't the fastest ever but we still got a good number of drinks before our time was up. We then walked to Wetherspoons. Barnsley's Wetherspoons is not very big and it's generally really full. There was also a football match on later in the afternoon, so I said it would be better to go there first before it got really busy. We ended up being able to get a table near the door and it was fine. Sam has the app so she ordered a bottle of wine to share. 

Then we walked across to Falco Lounge. It was almost empty in there, but the football wasn't on so maybe everyone was trying to find that instead. We had three cocktails in there and also some dessert - I had a caramel brownie sundae. My cocktails were reallly nice, as they always are in there. I like it. By this time we were quite drunk, as you can imagine, so around 6pm we said goodbye. 

I waited for a bus but when it came it went right past me even though I had my hand out, which was annoying. So I decided to wait for a taxi and I eventually got home. I laid down for a bit, hoping to sleep, but couldn't! So I got up, had some leftover mushroom soup, and chilled out before bed. Lee didn't get back until past midnight!

I was wearing this Scarlett and Jo dress that I've had for over a decade now. I absolutely love it and it always feels really nice to wear. I had mostly forgotten about it but rearranged some stuff recently and found it. So I thought I would drag it out again! 

I put some make up on to go out, including this Charlotte Tilbury lipstick that Georgina sent me - isn't it a lovely colour?

It was a bit sunny but it rained too in town, but the fountains in the centre are absolutely lovely when the water cascades down them. When it was sunny there were kids running through them and so on. I really like this part of Barnsley now they've redone it

Rose prosecco! It was really nice

Here we are waiting for our food

Mac and cheese croquettes

Mushroom bao buns - these were perfectly nice but the sauce was a bit too tarragon-y for me

Oh look at the ridiculous parrot earrings I was wearing! I got them off Vinted for literally a couple of quid and I just love them

Drinking white wine in Spoons

My sundae in the Lounge

Mine was a Cherry Bakewell and Sam's was a Lemon Drop

And here I am in this lovely old Scarlett and Jo dress - I just love the colour and pattern of the skirt so much 

Films of the Month - June

I watched fifteen films in June, and ten of those were with Lee while we were away in Wales! I hadn't watched ANY films in June until Lee and I arrived on holiday, and then I didn't watch many when I was back, either. Plus most of what I saw was stuff I had seen before, but no matter because some of them I hadn't seen in absolutely forever. It's nice to watch films with Lee, too. 

Here's what I saw:

We are yet again making our way through the Scream films so we picked back up with Scream 4. Neither of us remembered much about it, although I remembered who the killer was when Lee didn't

We watched Addams Famils Values which is one of the best films ever, no argument

I had mentioned before we went away that I wanted to watch Shaun of the Dead again so we did

Back on to Scream 5 or Scream 2022 or whatever you want to call it. It is good. We really need to watch the sixth one soon too to complete the set 

Lee wanted to watch The Incredibles so we did. I don't love it, but it had been a long time since I saw it so I did enjoy watching it

I had also mentioned wanting to watch the Ghostbusters with the women in, so Lee brought it for us. I do love it and I don't think it deserved the hate it got at all 

I haven't seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off in an ice age so when I noticed it when Lee was scrolling I said we should watch it. I do like it but Ferris is a total dick 

I love Back to the Future II and felt like we hadn't seen it in ages so we watched it. My cousin made the claim that it's the best one, and I can't argue with him

We watched the second Incredibles film since we had seen the first one just a couple of days before. I think I've only seen it once before. Lee said it's better than the first 

And then we were clearly on a bit of a Pixar thing because we watched Toy Story 2 as the final film of our holiday

I think I posted that I went to the cinema to see The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, with Jodie and her friend Rachel. Sam couldn't make it which she was fuming about, haha. I really liked it - I haven't seen it in years and there was loads in it that I forgot about

I also watched a documentary film on Netflix called The Football Fraudster, which I really liked, it was just crackers. The guy was such a dick! I would recommend it 

Lee and I watched The Addams Family in late June, going backwards in order, but no matter

The Devil Wears Prada was on Netflix so I watched it. I really liked the book when I read it way back fifteen years ago and I love Anne Hathaway. I've seen the film before but not for ages, so I did

Finally Lee and I watched Platoon together. One of the things I want to do this year is watch ten fillms about the Vietnam War, so this seems like a good place to start. I haven't seen it in more than a decade,  I reckon. It's good, brutal of course, but good

Family Celebration

The very last day in June was Baby T's dedication and first birthday party! Lee and I weren't sure if we were free but it turned out we were, which was good because I'm glad I didn't miss it! Baby T is the son of my cousin Rob and his wife Beth and it has been a pleasure to get to know him over the last year! We didn't go to the church service but left ours about 11.45 so get to Leicester at about 1.15. 

Beth had got lots of dinosaur decorations which were so cute. The food was sandwiches and crisps, then plenty of homemade cake and scones. It was all delicious! We sat with my cousin Pete and my mum and stepdad, but we talked to a few other people too of course. There was a birthday cake for T which was delicious. Beth was wearing this gorgeous dinosaur dress from Joanie Clothing I think, but she got it off Vinted. I was wearing a dress from Yours that I've had forever but I really like it. I had a black cardigan over the top. 

We left Leicester at about 4.30 maybe, and then met up with my mum and stepdad at a motorway services at like 6pm for some tea. We had different things so we were all happy! 

It was a lovely day and I'm glad we could go. I'll let the photos speak for themselves: 

Baby T and Beth's dad, he is so cute. He looks a lot like Beth's side of the family, but I can also see Rob in him

Beautiful cake!

Beth and T before we sang happy birthday

With Rob too. It's so cute because when we all clapped T joined in! Celebrating himself!

With my aunt, uncle, and cousin too 

Here's Peter and I. It was really nice to catch up with him

And here's T with some bubbles as we were clearing up, he loves bubbles

The Last Week of June

I'm going to squash the last week of June into one post because it was a busy old week for me but not really anything big enough to warrant its own post. Except for our anniversary, which I've posted about, and Sunday, which I'll post about it in my next post. 

So first of all on Monday, my mum came to craft club with me! I got to a craft club in Penistone every Monday morning and I love it. Sometimes we do projects and this one was a Liberty fabric beaded necklace. My mum fancied doing it too, so we had arranged for her to come too. She picked me up at 9.15 in her soft top Mazda, and since it was sunny we went to Penistone with the roof down! Everyone made her welcome at craft club and we both did our jewellery making. My friend Ann also made me this adorable little crocheted rabbit, so I've started making a cross stitch for her in return. She has also made this little penguin, isn't it so cute?!

After craft club my mum and I went to Holme, which is a newish cafe in the middle of Penistone. I've been before with Sarah and it's really nice. I had chilli avocado and feta on sourdough toast and then a chocolate brownie which was really squidgy and delicious. 

On Tuesday I went to work and on Wednesday it was our wedding anniversary, as I've said. That takes us to Thursday. I had a Covid booster! Someone I follow on Instagram had posted saying that there was a chance to book a booster so I did, and booked it for 11.15am on Thursday in Penistone. I was meeting my friend Jane, from craft club, for lunch on Thursday, so I had plenty of time. I got to Penistone to be told that the pharmacist had had to pop out, so could I come back? I had a while so I went into Holme again and had a coffee while I waited. I went back, got the jab in two seconds, and left. The pharmacist thanked me for going but honestly as long as they're willing to keep giving me boosters, I'll keep taking them!

Jane and I met at Yummy Yorkshire which is a lovely cafe with an ice cream parlour attached. I like the food and generally think it's one of the nicest places in the area, but the service on that day was lacking a bit which was a shame. I had smoked salmon with dill creme fraiche on a waffle, which was unusual but really yummy. As a reminder, I am 99% vegetarian but do occasionally eat fish. There weren't many vegetarian options on the menu that I would have liked, so I was happy to have this. 

After we had eaten this course, Jane and I would have had dessert, but the service was a bit crap and it was taking forever. We had to go up to the bar to get the bill. There's an ice cream counter at the back so we decided to get ice cream from there. The queue wasn't long but there was only one member of staff so it took a while. I went for mint choc chip and a vegan dark chocolate sorbet which was absolutely delicious, I really want to try it again! We sat at a table outside to eat our ice creams, still chatting alll the while, and then went back inside to buy pints of ice cream to take home. Lee was happy about it!

On Saturday, I had plans with Sarah and R. I haven't seen them in ages but we didn't have tons of time. I suggested Cannon Hall so Sarah was there about 10.15. Lee and I had gone up to the shop to get some bits, then went into the cafe to meet Sarah and R. We had brunch - more avocado for me with poached eggs and bits of halloumi. Lee left when we'd eaten because he wanted to go to Doncaster to a record fair. Sarah and R and I walked down by the river a little bit, chatting and that. Then Sarah brought me home before going off for R's swimming lesson! 

Phew! I think that's everything!

Here's my mum and I in her fancy car - sun's out roof's off!

The tiny rabbit that Ann made for me, it's so lovely and now lives on my desk

And the gorgeous little penguin! I can crochet but I'm rubbish at these little 3D models

Smashed avo on sourdough with feta

And my very squidgy brownie

Smoked salmon with a delicious sauce on a waffle

And my lovely ice cream - it was a warm day so melting terribly!

Poached eggs with avocado on toast with little cubes of halloumi

And finally the river at Cannon Hall where you can walk over it. The weather wasn't great but we didn't get wet!

Our Wedding Anniversary

The 26th of June was our nineteenth wedding anniversary! I really can't believe we've been married so long! Who let some children get married?! Weird!

Anyway, we weren't sure if we weren't going to do anything or whether we should wait until the weekend, but then I said we should go to Pho for tea. We both really like it and haven't been in a while so I said we should go to Sheffield. Lee was working so we set off about 6 o'clock. It wasn't busy inside which we didn't think it would be, so we easily got a table. I had summer rolls with peanut sauce and tofu curry which is what I always have, but it's just always nice so I like it! I had a prickly pear punch which was delicious. Lee had chicken wings and then chicken noodles. The service was fine until we then wanted to order a dessert too. 

It took ages and we were on a bit of a schedule because Lee wanted to go to a gig. There was an American band playing the Lughole and he wanted to see Retsu, who were one of the supports. They were on at 8.15 so we wanted to get down there. The dessert took a bit to come and the server ended up taking it off our bill which was nice of them. We left about 8pm and made it down to the Lughole in time for Retsu!

It's moved since I last went to it and it's really nice and fancy inside! It's got a big disabled loo and a ramp now too which before it wasn't. There's a few tables at the back so I sat there with my earplugs in (it's very loud) and my book. And a drink! I was perfectly content. I really enjoyed Retsu, too, and it was nice to speak to them afterwards. We stood outside between bands talking to some of Lee's friends. Everyone was amused that he had dragged me to a hardcore punk gig on our anniversary but I didn't mind. It was warm outside so I stayed there a bit before going back inside to read. I had fun! 

We got home about 11am. I was wearing this colourful dress that I got secondhand off Debz. It's from Shein originally. I love the colours in it and thought it would be lovely for the summer. It's a bit of a low neck so I put a green camisole underneath it. It's nice and flowy in the heat!

This was one of my anniversary presents from Lee

Here we are in Pho. As you can see, Lee was wearing a bright orange t shirt - that's how you can really tell it's summer now

Summer rolls with peanut sauce

Prickly pear punch

Tofu and veg curry with jasmine rice

Sign outside the new Lughole

And here I am in this gorgeous bright dress when we got home