Popping out to Meadowhall

Lee and I had to pop to Meadowhall for something last week ago, so we decided to go a bit later on in the day. We're not sure how busy it would be around 6pm, so we got there just after 8pm. We went in through Marks & Spencer, wearing masks, obviously. There weren't many people around, but a lot of security guards. 

We went into Waterstones for a browse. It was nearly empty and the cashiers were behind perspex screens. I bought four books, on buy one get one half price! Lee got one too, it was £1! 

Then across the way from Waterstones was a new shop called Kenji, selling Japanese stuff. It had really cute plushies, stationery, and Japanese noodle cups and drinks. I could have spent quite a bit, but I restrained myself to a new bullet journal, some stickers, and some of that black paper that when you scratch a design off, it shows a rainbow underneath. Lee got a couple of cups of noodles to try, too. 

Lee then went to pick up what we'd gone in for, and I sat and read my book while he was gone. It was a bit weird really. I could see the Starbucks downstairs, where there was a huge queue that snaked quite a bit around. There was also a queue for a shop downstairs, but I couldn't tell which shop it was. But otherwise, it was very quiet and a bit weird. So many shops were shut - and who knows if they'll ever reopen - and everyone was masked and keeping apart and there were perspex screens all over. I found it a bit sad really - it's not 'normality' and who knows if it ever will be again. 

Anyway, we were leaving after 9pm so we had to go out a different way. It was fine, though. I'm glad I got to browse Waterstones, but it was a bit odd.

The next day two parcels arrived for me. One was my tri-monthly box from A Box of Stories where you sign up for a themed box and get them as often as you like. I get a mixed fiction box every three months. I haven't heard of any of these books, but I like the sound of all of them and am looking forward to getting stuck in to them. 

Then Lee had ordered Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette on vinyl for me. It's one of my favourite albums - I know every word of it. I bought it on tape when I was about fourteen on holiday in France! It was expensive but I've listened to it a zillion times since. I'm looking forward to listening to the vinyl :) 

Stationery from Kenji. The bullet journal is dotted inside which is my preference. The paper seems good quality, which is good for me as I use fountain pens a lot

The books I bought. I've heard really good things about the top two, and the second two were in the Young Adult section and looked pretty good

These were my books from A Box of Stories. Sugar Money especially looks good!

And my lovely vinyl!

Shopping Local

Well, we're still in lockdown. As I write this it's the end of April and I don't think things will be over by the time you read this in aa couple of weeks. I feel like it's become normal now. I'm working from home a few hours a week, and I've had to go into the centre to pick up donations and the post a couple of times, but mostly Lee and I have been staying in. He's been working, but since we were supposed to be on holiday now he had some hiliday days booked. His boss encouraged him to take at least a few days because he hasn't had any time of since Christmas and he's been snowed under with work as his work have merged with a couple of others and everything's been haywire. So he's off work the end of this week. Yesterday he didn't do much; I didn't either, I lay on the sofa and read my book all morning. We're redecorating the attic and it's actually getting done a lot faster as we've had so much time at home, so I repainted a mirror with white gloss paint. We've also been doing jigsaws together. They're not something I do often at all, but it's been a nice activity to do together.

Today we needed to go to the supermarket. We went last week to the Morrison's in Barnsley, and it took over 90 minutes once you factored in queuing to get in and queuing to pay. They're restricting it to only one adult per household, so Lee goes in as I can't manage a big supermarket by myself. I sat in the car and read my book. We didn't fancy taking quite that long this time, so we went to Tesco in Penistone. It's a medium sized supermarket, it has most things you need, and when we got there the queue wasn't too long at all.

Then I noticed that the market hall in Penistone was open! It's an outdoor hall, it has no sides but has a roof. There was a fruit and veg stall, a cheese stall, an egg stall, a pet stall, and a stall selling things like rice and beans by weight. I was so happy! We queued at the fruit and veg stall but picked up loads of stuff - cauliflower, broccoli, courgettes, grapes, bananas, and strawberries, all for just over £10. The staff put items straight in our bag and we paid with contactless card. The cheese stall is one I've seen before at markets like this. I got some Five Counties cheese which I love, and a slice of something a bit like Brie to try. I don't love it by itself but I'm planning on eating it tomorrow on a toastie with some pesto. Perfect! Lee noticed this stall had salted farmer's butter, so we got some of that.

We didn't need eggs or pet supplies, but we did need red lentils and Lee has struggled to find them in any supermarkets. We bought 200g and also some raw cashews which I love. For years people have been asking us all to shop local and while I do try, I haven't done anything like this in ages. I rarely go anywhere with a market, and it can feel like it takes a lot of time and lacks convenience. However, we've all got time right now. Plus it's keeping money in my local area and supporting businesses who may be struggling (which the big supermarkets are unlikely to do, they'll just have less profit than last year probably). I was happy to do it.

Lee went into Tesco and got everything else we needed, but it didn't take him too long at all. He bought a French baguette and we had bread and butter and cheese and crisps for lunch like we were on holiday!

Shopping in Barnsley

A new independent bookshop was opening in Barnsley in the middle of December, so I asked my friend Sarah to come along with me on the day it opened so spend some money locally and support a new business. Barnsley doesn't have the best town centre, and in recent years the only place to buy books has been The Works. In the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is, I wanted to go and support the shop, and I'm planning to go back every couple of months to spend some money. I bought three crime/thriller books and Sarah bought four books and a reading light.

Afterwards we went to Frankie & Benny's which is just out of the town centre. It was quite busy for a Monday afternoon. We shared some mozarella sticks, and then I tried one of their vegan burgers which I liked while Sarah had a chicken burger. Then we both had the hot cookie dough dessert which was really nice!

It was a lovely few hours out with Sarah. We swapped Christmas presents and chatted and it was lovely!

The ouside of the bookshop

The YA shelves in the bookshop 

And some more

Strawberry lemonade - it was delicious!

Mozarella sticks

Vegan burger and fries

Hot cookie dessert

The books that I bought - can't wait to get to them!

A Saturday Out in Meadowhall

On the 23rd of November, just over a month before Christmas, I woke up and realised I was really quite stressed about Christmas shopping. Often we are really on the ball with buying Christmas presents and get all kind of things bought in October and November. However, this time, for some reason, we just hadn't. We had bought a few stocking fillers while on holiday and at a craft fair I went to, but we really didn't have the bulk of it done. We had planned a quiet day in making something nice for tea, but I suggested we go to Meadowhall instead.

Lee thought I was mad, but agreed. We got there about 11am and it was really busy. I've rarely seen the malls so full! We parked near Marks & Spencer and went in there first. We went all over - Meadowhall, Waterstones, Lakeland, HMV... so many shops. Lee chose a couple of bits for himself which is a huge help for me, and we got presents for nearly all his family and some stuff for my mum and stepdad.

At lunchtime I said we should go for lunch in the Oasis. We chose Coal, which we haven't been to for ages but which I liked last time I went. It was quite busy and I felt that service was a little on the slow side. I went for tapas and Lee had a pizza and some coleslaw. I ordered a raspberry smoothie which was really nice. The food, when it came, was really good. I had halloumi sticks, which were delicious, a Greek salad which was really nice, and nachos, which we both shared. Lee's pizza was just a margherita as he doesn't like a lot of stuff on his pizza. It was fine food, just busy!

We went down towards the other end of Meadowhall and went in a few more shops. I have very specific requirements for my annual diaries so we went into the Works so I could chose them for myself. I think that was the shop with the worst queue - everywhere else was busy but didn't have long waiting times to pay, which was good.

We finally left at about 4pm! It had been a long day, but successful, and I felt a lot better and not nearly as stressed.

We had planned to make salt and chilli tofu for tea. Lee isn't keen on tofu but I've been saying that if you press it and fry it first then that makes it really yummy. He decided to believe me and bought all the ingredients the day before. We put the tofu to press as soon as we got home. We put it between two plates, with plenty of kitchen towel, and rested some heavy cans of pop on top. It really helped to get a lot of moisture out.

I dredged cubes of tofu with cornflour, and then fried the cubes in oil. It doesn't take long for each side to be fried. Lee cut up all the other ingredients, and then he fried those in a different pan. He then added the cubes of tofu.

Meanwhile, I fried chickpeas in the same oil as the tofu had been in, because it seemed a waste to only use it once. It's a recipe from Jack Monroe's blog - you fry the chickpeas until they float to the top of the oil, then drain them, and then shake paprika, spices, salt and sugar over them. They're really nice for a snack! I decided to leave the sugar off last night which made them really spicy and savoury.

I would definitely make the tofu again. We put soy sauce on it and just ate it like a snack, because we weren't very hungry, but I would eat it with rice and maybe hoisin sauce for a full meal.

It turned out to be a really fun day with just the two of us. I'm so glad we broke the back on the Christmas shopping managed to have a relatively stress free day out too.

Raspberry smoothie

Halloumi sticks with chilli sauce

Greek salad

Lee's pizza and coleslaw

Nachos - these were only okay - there was too much salsa for me

Fried chickpeas covered in spices ready to eat

And the salt and chilli tofu - so delicious!

What I Wore 13th September

In the middle of September I had lunch with my friend Sarah. We hadn't seen each other in over two months, since we got tattooed together! That's a long time for us! We had planned to meet at Yo Sushi in Meadowhall as we like it there. I was planning to just lounge in bed in the morning and read my book, which I did for a bit, only then Sarah said she was going to go to Hobbycraft first, so my eyes lit up and I said I'd see her there.

I haven't been to Hobbycraft in ages! I had a nice wander round. I had seen someone in a Facebook group post that they had planner stickers in stock, but I couldn't find any in this one. I ended up buying two other stickers sets and a sparkly purple tackle box that is now my sewing box. My old one had broken so this, at £6.50, is perfect!

We went to Meadowhall itself and made our way to Yo Sushi. I really enjoyed what I had - they've got some new vegetarian and vegan bits on the belt which I really like - but Sarah thinks they've changed some of the recipes of what she likes to have, so didn't like it as much. We sat there for ages chatting; it wasn't busy so we weren't taking up space.

I went into M&S on my way out and, as I had a voucher, I bought some nice alcohol. The buck's fizz I've had before, it's quite sharp and citrussy. I've no idea what to do with the elderflower liqueur but I'm sure the internet will have some ideas!

Finally, I was wearing my new rainbow top. My cousin's girlfriend Beth dyed it for me when we were tie dyeing, she was really good at getting it so good. I love it! i decided to put it on to show Sarah. I found it quite odd that my sleeves were different colours but I got used to it. I think it's perfect!

I got two bottles of buck's fizz, a bottle of sparkling rose Cava, a pre mixed can, and elderflower liqueur

Some paper and the stickers I bought, on the sewing box

I love how sparkly it is! They had a few different colours, I think I might need to buy another

Sarah took this of me while we were eating

And here's the top in full! We didn't have any orange dye, and the yellow and green look pretty similar here but they look more different in person

And finally... What I bought in France

This is the last post about my holiday, I swear! I like to spread things out in order to showcase each day and each outfit that I photographed, so it takes a while to get through everything. As I'm writing this in the middle of June I already know I've got a busy few weeks coming up, so god only knows when all my scheduled posts will stop. Oh well!

Anyway, here's what I bought while I was in France. We did well, actually, buying little other than food and drink. Oh and we also brought some chocolate home that we can't get here - like lime dark chocolate, and a bar with chocolate mousse in! I didn't take photos of those though.

One thing about me is that I love French soap like this. My mum usually buys some for me and this time was no different. One stall at Brantome market was selling five soaps for ten euros, so I got these and my mum got two for herself. Mine are cherry, verbena, and eucalyptus. They all smell so good.

I got this in a little jewellery shop in Angouleme. The owls had been reduced to one euro so were a bargain!

Here's what I bought in Sephora. I love shower gel so Lee's reasoning was to buy a little pot of each of them for a euro each rather than a big bottle of just one. The flavours are mango, cotton flower, monoi, cherry blossom, green tea, and lagoon. I also got this gorgeous highlighter which was pretty spendy but is so pretty, and this lilac nail polish as I don't have a Sephora nail polish.

I love Yves Rocher and always like to go in them when I see one. I bought this verbena shower gel (you can tell I like both verbena and shower gel, can't you?) and these five bath cubes which I'll take on holiday later in the year. These were all cheap, I think it was about eight euros for these.

I found this washi tape in a weird, British type of shop in Angouleme. It was one euro forty (I've no idea how to do a euro sign on a keyboard...) and is so cute

And finally, I bought myself a purse on Brantome market. I haven't had a new purse in ages and really liked this rainbow one. It was six euros, I think.

Taking Shape shop in Sheffield

A few weeks ago I was in Sheffield with a friend for lunch. We ate at the utterly brilliant Blue Moon Cafe, wandered through the continental market that was on, and went through to Orchard Square, which is a fairly new development with a Starbucks, a Waterstones, an Evans, a TK Maxx, stuff like that. There used to be a shop called Evolution in there, which sold weird and wonderful household stuff like a mobile I have in my window, which is a rainbow heart from which flow rainbow ribbons (it's amazing). I had heard that Evolution had closed down, but I wasn't aware that Taking Shape had opened up in its place.

Taking Shape does sizes 14-26 and although I didn't try anything on, certain things certainly seemed to go bigger than a 26. I would say that their style is for an older person than me - a lot of their stuff seems to fit for a woman aged 50+ - there's a lot of classic lines, colours, and fits. The prices are quite high but from what I saw quality was excellent. Their website has a sale section, too. I could imagine finding something for a special occasion like a wedding in here.

There were 3 friendly members of staff inside, all wearing Taking Shape stuff. One chatted to us, but wasn't particularly pushy. I was impressed by the fitting rooms - they're huge. One would have been big enough for a wheelchair user, and all of them had comfy stools inside.

The store is clean, bright, welcoming, and has quite a lot of space between racks

The changing rooms are huge and bright

I loved the print on this swimming costume

And the weirdness of the pleats in this tunic

These tops would be perfect office wear for me - I'm tempted by the blue one!

*I was not compensated in any way for this post - I simply liked the shop, took some photos, and wrote the post.

Small shopping splurge in York

I went to York on 17th March to see a friend of mine and we dropped into the Designer Outlet Village there. We didn't have much time so only went into a couple of shops, but this is what I picked up.

I haven't been shopping much recently as I'm trying to not spend as much money. However, I spent just £20 here! Bargain!

First stop was Claire's, which is cheap enough anyway but where the outlet has 1/3 off the marked prices. My friend wanted some sterling silver earrings and managed to pick up two pairs. I got some gold plated ones which I will put in the 2nd and 3rd holes in my earlobes. I don't change the earrings in those holes, I leave them in 24/7 so they have to be either gold or silver,

I got a new phone recently but only have one case for it, so I picked up three at bargain prices!

Yes they're horribly tacky - I love a bit of kitsch!

We then headed into the make up outlet store across the way, which sells loads of different make up brands at around a third off RRP. I could have honestly spent a fortune there! Instead I limited myself to this MAC nail polish which was £7. The shade is Discotheque and it's a gorgeous silver glitter. I can't wait to wear it!

Birthday Shopping in Manchester

As I said in my last post, I was in Manchester for my birthday. I hate having a January birthday because it's so close after Christmas and everyone is skint and fed up. So I usually try to do something a bit special for it, and I nearly always have a weekend for friends in January or February. This time it was Manchester!

As we left the hotel we walked into the city centre and went past a bunch of modern and old Co-operative buildings. I like this one a lot. 

This is the Printworks, taken from inside Next in the Arndale Centre. The Arndale Centre has had a big refurbishment and has some good shops, including a Simply Be and a Yours. I'm thinking there will be a rad fat outing there before long!

This is inside Selfridges, I love it. 

We had afternoon tea in Selfridges, I had these adorable little macarons. 

My mum and me standing on stepping stones on a stream type thing - can you see the silver spouts behind us? The water from those was like a little stream and my mum and I walked on the stones.

I'm wearing a printed dress from Yours that I got in the sale for £12, and black leggings, black boots, and my black hoodie. It was cold, what can I say! 

We left Manchester and went to my mum's where she cooked, by request of the birthday girl, beef stroganoff and lemon cheesecake. Lee eats neither so he had chicken stroganoff and chocolate cheesecake. Then I got to open birthday presents!

My BFF Sam bought me this Rancid bag off Etsy. I think it's made out of a t-shirt. I love Rancid, they're one of my favourite bands and I have a tattoo of one of their lyrics. 

Lee bought me a Pingu. 

And Sam bought me a hand-tooled leather journal, it's beautiful!