Lunch Out in Sheffield

The day after I'd been out with Sam and Steph Lee and I had plans with Bettie and Jen. I was extremely hungover, which is something that only happened to me once I turned thirty, and I can't say I like it very much. But I was glad we went out because otherwise I think I'd have just melded to the sofa all day.

We picked Bettie and Jen up and headed to The Depot Bakery for lunch. I hadn't heard of it but Bettie had. It's in quite an industrial area of Sheffield that has some nice bits popping up here and there. It was quite busy so we had to wait for a table, but not for too long.

The menu is quite varied and there's lots of vegetarian options and a few vegan ones I think. Bettie and Jen both went for Eggs Montreal. Lee had eggs on toast, and I had a goats cheese and onion toastie with bacon. I also had a peppermint hot chocolate which was delicious.

We went into the cheese factory next door to the bakery and I bought two cheeses, a Lancashire and a smoked one. They were really nice on the sourdough bread we bought at the bakery!

We headed to Eccleshall Road in search of a cake shop. There used to be a plethora down there but they all look to be bars now. So I suggested going to Rassam, the dessert restaurant, on London Road. I had mixed cookie dough which is honestly one of my favourite things to eat!

It was a lovely few hours out and nice to hang out with Bettie and Jen as it had been a while.

I loved the love heart in the top of my hot chocolate!

The goats cheese in my toastie was all warm and melty, lovely!

Jen and Bettie in Rassam's!

Night Out with Sam and Steph

At the end of July I went out with Sam and Steph in Huddersfield. We did the same last year and had been talking about doing it again, so we made a date and said we'd go to the Turkish restaurant Ephesus.

Steph and I met at the train station at five. Steph had decided to stay over in Huddersfield so she'd already booked into her hotel, and I got the train from my village. We went straight to Ephesus and ordered a bottle of wine while we waited for Sam.

She wasn't too long after us so we ate really early. I had filo cheese parcels and lamb skewer kebab with rice. It's a nice restaurant although the owners are a bit odd and we were one of only two tables in there. But I would recommend it.

Then we headed to Vox and as it was nice and early we managed to get a table and some comfy chairs to sit in. We had three cocktails each in there; we had planned to go to Zephyr a few doors along but since we had a nice seat we were loathe to leave it, so we stayed longer in Vox. I had a Tequila Sunrise (one of my favourite cocktails), an El Diablo (very nice, I would have it again) and a Russian Spring Punch (also very nice and very fizzy). I'm not too sure what the others had!

We headed to the Cherry Tree which is just up from Vox and is a Wetherspoons because pitchers of cocktails are cheap and cheerful in there and I think it's a fun place. It was busy upstairs but quiet downstairs so we headed there. We drank four pitchers between us and god I could tell by the end!

Lee came through to pick me up which was great as I wouldn't have relished getting the last train home. But I had a lovely night with my friends and hopefully it won't be as long before we do it again.

It was just as the heatwave had broken so I was glad I could wear sleeves again, so I put on this blue Scarlett & Jo skirt and was considering what top to wear when I noticed this in the wardrobe. It's from Evans about ten years ago and although you can't tell it has satin on the sleeves which makes it just a bit dressier for a night out. I will have to wear this combo again as I think it looks really nice.

I kept my make up simple because it was still hot, so I just have a bit of concealer, a bit of powder, and some lipstick on here

Gorgeous food in Ephesus

Tequila Sunrise

Sam in her natural habitat surrounded by cocktails

My Russian Spring Punch

Sam and Steph in Wetherspoons

And here's me taking a selfie in the loos!

What I Wore July 27th

On July 27th, Lee and I went out for tea to a pub near Wakefield. My friend Gemma was having a goodbye meal as she's going to work in Pakistan for a while, and she'd invited us and our mutual friend Stacey and her husband along. I'd never been to the pub before, but it was really nice food and reasonably priced, so I'd go back.

Gemma and Stacey and I went to high school together a million years ago and we've met up a few times since then. I don't keep in touch with many people from school so it's nice to have these two as friends. We said we'd have to get a photo of us together so did just before we left.

It was so hot that day; it had rained briefly but not enough to take the temperature down by much. So I didn't want to wear a cardigan or anything, so I put on this black top which has sleeves but is nice and thin. I put my yellow skirt on because it's really thin and light and also really pretty.

Isn't Gemma's dress gorgeous too?! (On the left of the photo) And Stacey always looks gorgeous!

Day Out in North Yorkshire

On the day after our trip to the theatre Sam and Jac and I planned to go out for the day. We had talked about going to the seaside but I knew I wouldn't be able to cope with it, so we decided to stay closer to York and go to Thirsk. We set off listening to a fun playlist towards Thirsk.

Our first stop was the White Horse carved into the hillside, which I'm not sure I've ever been to before. We drove up Sutton Bank and then into Thirsk, where we stopped. We went into some charity shops and I picked up a few things, including a new turquoise handbag that I don't think has ever been used. We went into a book shop that had hosted Peter Robinson the night before, so there were a few copies of his new book there, signed, so I treated myself to a hardback copy as he's one of my favourite authors. We had lunch in Wetherspoons.

Then we went to try to find a red phone box graveyard, but it was underwhelming to say the least. So we decided to go to Helmsley, which is one of my favourite places on earth. We went into Crema for cake and drinks - I had chocolate fudge cake and a strawberry and banana smoothie.

Then we were kind of hot and fed up, so we decided to go to Rievaulx Abbey to chill out for a bit. It isn't free to get in, so we parked in the free car park right in front of the chapel and laid down on the grass in front of my car. There was only a tiny fence separating us from the abbey so we had an excellent view. We stayed about an hour just soaking up the sunshine and chatting.

It was a lovely relaxing and fun day with my friends <3

The White Horse at Kilburn

Yarn bombing in Thirsk celebrating 70 years of the NHS

Maybe the red phone box graveyard but maybe not? It wasn't like it said on the internet, for sure

Me and Jacqui in Helmsley

The chapel at Rievaulx

The rest of the abbey, you can see the fence here too

And here's the books I bought!

York Zine Fest and trip to Macbeth

The middle of July saw York Zine Fest happen for the first time! I'd applied for a table so Lee and I rocked up to The Crescent near the station at 11am. We had a table near the bar which was nice, we got set up and the fest opened at 12. It was really busy and we did really well and made some new friends! It was nice to support it in its first year, I think the organisers did brilliantly and had obviously advertised it loads.

Afterwards, Lee and I went to Giraffe at Monks Cross for tea. Lee had a Malaysian chicken curry and I had a Kati roll, which had cauliflower and chickpeas in a nice spicy sauce. We shared some ice cream for dessert. Then Lee took me into York to meet Jacqui and Sam at the Rose Theatre. It's a temporary theatre near Clifford's Tower that's staging a bunch of Shakespeare plays over the summer. Sam and Jacqui had already been to see A Midsummer Night's Dream but I wanted to see Macbeth and it happened to fit in well with the zine fest.

We got to our seats with wine in hand. The play was excellent - Macbeth was good, the actors were all great and the staging was fantastic. It finished just after ten and we got a taxi back to Jacqui's. I was tired as it had been a long day, but I was really glad I'd been to both things.

Our stall at the Zine Fest

My Kati roll

Ice cream! It was just enough

The stage at the Rose theatre

Clifford's Tower all lit up at night

And here's what I bought at the zine fest!

A Productive Weekend

In the middle of July, after a busy few weeks, we had a nice weekend doing not much, so I thought I'd document it. On the Friday night, as you've seen, we went to see some friends.

Then on Saturday we made cheesecake ready to take to my mum's later. We made this chocolate and orange cheesecake, which was really yummy and not too sickly. It didn't take a lot to make it, either.

It actually made double this - we made two cheesecakes in dishes this size. 

Then we went to put the new headboard on the bed. I bought it off eBay for £27 for a king size one, which I think is an excellent price! We used to have cushions which served as headboards, but recently they've been driving me mad so I'd said I wanted a headboard and this crushed velvet one is ideal. I think we're going to put new wallpaper up at some point this year - this stuff is ten years old and very scuffed in places. There's only wallpaper here, under the stairs which go up to the attic, and on the opposite side of the room on the chimney breast. The others walls are painted and they're in okay condition, so I think it'll just be new paper. 

We went to my mum's for a barbecue at about 6pm. It was really warm so we sat outside to eat. 

My mum and stepdad have just been to the Italian Lakes for a holiday, where they tried Aperol Spritz for the first time! So they bought a bottle and made some for us. I already like the cocktail, so that's good. 

This is one of my mum's cats, Ruben. He is very beautiful and very very stupid. I love him. He's lost quite a bit of weight recently and had to have a tooth out, bless him. It did mean I fed him quite a bit off my plate... 

My mum's also just got into gin, so she made me try a pink gin and lemonade. It was okay, but it wouldn't be my first choice of drink. 

We looked through their holiday photos and they looked through ours, and it was a really lovely evening! We didn't get home until midnight. 

On Sunday Lee and I had planned a chilled day of doing house stuff and me doing some writing. We had washing to do, all of that exciting stuff. Anyway I said I would make brunch, so I planned avocado toast and poached eggs. Can you believe we've never poached eggs before?! Lee prefers fried eggs and I prefer scrambled, but we both do like poached. I mashed the avocado with some salt, some pepper, and a generous dash of lime juice. I think I would have mashed it into smaller pieces, but Lee was happy. It was really lovely!

What I Wore 13th July

I ended up picking this pink dress out of the wardrobe to go out on Friday the 13th. I had a really busy day - I went to the gym in the morning with my mum, then I went to see my friend Sarah for lunch, and then I had a bit of time at home before Lee and I went out for tea at our friends Leanne and Adi's. However, I went to the gym and to Sarah's in my scruff gym clothes - old skirt, soft bra, and my sports t-shirt. I warned Sarah I wasn't coming in "proper" clothes, but remember, she's the friend that I hang out with in my pyjamas, so I knew she wouldn't mind. I'd offered to take lunch over, and I was going to get sandwiches and salad stuff, but then I went past Pizza Hut and decided we would share a pizza - half pepperoni and half margarita. It was really nice!

I went home and I was planning to read, but I was really tired, so I napped for a little bit. I think the heat is getting to me and I've not been sleeping well, so I was really glad I could let myself nap. I was asleep when Lee got home at 4.30.

I got ready and we set off to Leanne's in Cookridge. It can take forever to get there, but there was no traffic so we got there at 6. Leanne and Adi have a baby, April, she's four months old, so she's very cute to play with. Leanne had made curry and it was delicious. We chatted for ages about anything and everything. Leanne and I met online in 2005 through Libertines fandom, and she's honestly one of the loveliest people I know. Adi is also really lovely which I love to see. And baby April is learning to tolerate me - by the time she's six we might be friends!

Anyway, I pulled this dress out because I haven't worn it for ages and I wanted something bright. It's from Yours, but about four years ago. I love the palm print.