Out for My Mum's Birthday

On the last Sunday in May we went out for my mum's birthday. Her birthday was actually the previous Friday, but she and my stepdad had gone away to Scarborough for it, so she had asked us to go out on the Sunday instead. My aunt and my cousin's wife were up too, and then my stepcousin N decided to come across too. My mum booked Qubana in Wakefield, where I've been a few times but not for ages, but I've always liked it. It's located in what used to be Barclays bank, so you can book the old vault for you privately, so my mum did that. It seats up to 10 people. 

We arrived at 6.30 and were greeted by a friendly staff member and shown into the vault. It's pretty cool - the table and chairs are lovely, and you can connect to their speaker, which I did, and put on a playlist of our music. There's curtains across the door. 

They have a few cocktails so I went for a Cuban Cherry which was gorgeous, I would have it again. They do tapas and then burgers and steaks and stuff. My mum, Niri, Beth and I all went for tapas. My stepdad had a steak and Lee had a chicken burger. 

I will say that I thought the vegetarian selection was a bit disappointing - perfectly fine but a bit heavy on rice and potatoes. I shared some bread with Lee to start with, then had patatas cava with tomato sauce and aioli, veggie jambalaya, and deep fried manchego. My mum and I shared some rose wine which was nice. 

I think everyone enjoyed their food, but service was slow. At around 8.15 we had only just had our mains cleared, and were discussing desserts. But my mum wanted us to go back to hers for a bit, and obviously Lee had to work the next day so I didn't want to be too late. So we decided to buy ice cream at the shop and eat that at my mum's rather than stay in the restaurant. It kind of felt like since we were in the vault we were out of sight and got forgotten a bit. It was a bit annoying especially as they could have sold us some desserts quite easily! 

But! It was nice to get together. I wore my Yours dress that is nice for a special occasion but easy to wear. It's black on the top and mint green and patterned on the skirt. I wore it with dolly shoes from Schuh and black footless Snag Tights. I also did some make up - just some concealer and a Models Own lipstick which I think is lovely on me! 

Here's my photos: 

Sitting in the vault!

A Cuban Cherry

Bread to start with, it was all nice

Veggie jambalaya

Deep fried manchego

Patatas casa

Me and Lee back at my mum's 

My black and mint green dress, I do love it

And Nirosha wanted to get in on the photo action too!

Lunch with Philippa and What I Wore April 6th

I went to Sheffield on the 6th of April to meet my friend Philippa for lunch. On the way I dropped some stuff off at Sarah's and also this cross stitch for Robyn for her first birthday. I didn't make her anything when she was born so this was delayed! Sarah loves foxes so I chose a pattern accordingly. I used threads from my stash and think it looks lovely! It's done on black evenweave as I really like the finish that evenweave gives. I couldn't go in to Sarah's as the whole house has Covid (it currently feels like everyone you know has Covid) so I didn't stay long.

Philippa had chosen for us to go to Dysh, which is on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield near Endcliffe Park. I've not been there before, but I knew that children's book shop Rhyme & Reason is on the way, so I stopped off there next. I was pleased to see one of my friend Vicky's "Feminists for Trans Rights" stickers in the YA section. I had a good look around and bought a game which is a bit like Rock Band Go Fish, and a YA book. I only bought one book! A lot of stuff that appealed to me in the YA section is stuff I've already read. I need some intel on what's forthcoming! 

It was throwing it down in Sheffield and I was stupidly early, but I drove up the road to Dysh and went in. Our table wasn't ready but I was offered a window seat and a drink. The window seats are high bar stools which I usually struggle with but these were okay and comfortable. I got a decaf cappucino and I had packed my book in readiness, so I sat reading. Our table came free so I moved to it, and Pippa arrived not long after.

The menu isn't huge but they have quite a few vegetarian and vegan options, which is good. I also overheard a member of staff telling someone about their allergy advice, which seemed really comprehensive and I was pleased the staff member knew it off the top of his head. The breakfasts looked delicious and I would definitely go back for that, but I went for crispy cauliflower with katsu sauce, served with potato tots. The menu said they come on top of, but I'm not about that life, so I asked for the tots on the side and they very sweetly put them in a whole extra dish for me. Philippa had homemade fish fingers also on tots. We got two sides of buttered greens and wild mushrooms and shared both, which were lovely. 

The cafe has a lovely enticing display of cakes at the front, mostly muffins and cookies and with a cheesecake etc too. I went for a raspberry and white chocolate muffin, and a dark chocolate hot chocolate. Both were lovely! We sat for ages after we'd eaten - I would have felt bad but there was someone else in too so we weren't stopping them from closing. It was past 5pm once I got home! 

I pulled out this black Simply Be dress that I've only worn a couple of times since I bought it last autumn. I don't like the floofiness of the sleeves, so I pull them up to my elbow and think they look nice there. There's elastic in the cuffs which keeps them in place. I put the dress on and then went over to my back of Snag tights, intending to pull out either my footless or footed pair of black tights. But then I realised that the blue footless tights - the colour is called Beach Bum - matched the blue hearts in the dress perfectly! So I put those on for the first time. Now I will say that they seem to run slightly smaller than my other Snags. My friend Chloe said this can happen because of the different colour dyes, so I wasn't too surprised. They do still fit fine, but are just maybe a smidge tighter. 

My shoes are from Schuh, I saw an advert for them and had to make them mine. I love the cracked patent look to them. They're slightly too tight, but I'm hoping they'll loosen up the more I wear them!

The gorgeous cross stitch I did for Robyn! There are tons of mistakes in it so don't look too close

The YA section and pro trans sticker in Rhyme & Reason

The game I bought, I'll have to play it with Lee

Cauliflower katsu, on top was pickled carrots and thin fried leeks, I think

Tots! I could have eatewn a bucketful of these

Wild mushrooms, I do love a mushroom

Simply Be dress, Snag tights, Shuch shoes

A close up on the footless tights and shoes - isn't the colour of the tights just glorious?

Out with Friends and What I Wore April 1st

I had plans to see my friend Katie on the 1st of April, and then I also invited my friend Stacey to come too. They don't know each other, but they have friends in common and I thought they'd get on. And they did! It was nice. 

Our bathroom got refurbished during the day. We had bought new fixtures and fittings, but were keeping the same bath, toilet, and sink. We bought taps, a new shower, a new shower screen and bath panel, and some other bits. The bath and sink needed resealing as they'd been leaking. Lee had managed to secure the underneath but we hired a plumber to do everything else. He arrived early meaning I couldn't have a shower beforehand, and we weren't allowed to use the bath or shower for a while, so I headed to my mum's for a bath. She was on holiday in France, so I let myself in. As I knew I was having a bath I had taken one of the bath bombs that my cousin bought me for Christmas. It was lovely! Pink and yellow and glittery, and it smelt lovely. I wallowed for a bit then washed my hair in the shower and got dressed and ready. 

We had booked a table at Smokehouse in Wakefield city centre. I was surprised by how many vegetarian choices they had even though they're a meat smokehouse, so I was happy to go. Stacey arrived not long after me and Katie wasn't long after that. We ordered food, which did come quickly. I had nachos with cheese, guacamole, and salsa, and then the pulled jackfruit barbecue burger. I wouldnt' make jackfruit myself at home, so I was happy to have it in a restaurant. It was yummy. 

However, the service was really slow which annoyed me. They could have easily sold us puddings or another round of drinks (I actually only had water as I wasn't asked if I wanted another drink) but didn't bother to bring over the menus. It felt like the staff didn't really care if we were there or not, which did really annoy me. But, we had fun sitting and chatting, which was the main thing. 

I got home just before 10pm. I was wearing a new mustard dress from Simply Be which was in the wardrobe still with its tags on, so I thought it would be ideal. I love it, it's floaty and cool so will be perfect in the summer. As it was cold, I put my Simply Be denim jacket on too - I love this for just chucking on over an outfit for some warmth. It fits me so well. I was also wearing my black footless Snag Tights, which is something I've been doing a lot recently. And my patent dolly shoes from Schuh which I bought with some Christmas money. I love the outfit as a whole!

Gorgeous nachos, I could eat them again right now!

Pulled jackfruit sandwich

And my outfit!