Bottomless Brunch at Banyan, Leeds

At the beginning of December Lee and I took my mum and stepdad out to Banyan in Leeds for my stepdad's birthday. My mum and stepdad had both been interested when I'd been for bottomless brunch at All Bar One, so I decided we'd take them for one. All Bar One weren't running theirs in December, so I came upon Banyan instead. I booked a table and we picked my mum and stepdad up on Sunday lunchtime and set off.

It's in the old Post Office building; my mum says she can clearly remember when it was the post office. It's gorgeous inside, really nicely decorated. We had a nice table for four in the corner, and our waitress was fantastic - she was really nice and refilled our drinks really quickly each time.

The menu was fairly small, but quite varied. My mum and I both went for eggs royale with smoked salmon, and my stepdad went for steak sandwich and chips. My mum and I had prosecco and my stepdad had Aperol Spritzes which he really likes and which I think is quite unusual on a menu like this, but he was happy about it. Lee doesn't drink, so he could order off the main menu, so he went for a buttermilk chicken burger and fries. We weren't made to feel a nuisance when Lee didn't eat the brunch, which is really good.

The time limit is 90 minutes which was plenty of time, we had a decent amount of prosecco and the food was delicious. I would go back to Banyan another time to try something else.

After this, we walked back towards the Light where we'd parked and went into The Liquorist for a drink. I've never been in but I really liked its interior. We got a cocktail each - I think my stepdad had an Old Fashioned, my mum had a raspberry bellini, and I had a pornstar martini which I love. Lee had fresh orange juice which was extremely fresh and really nice.

It was a really lovely afternoon out, we said we'll really have to do it again soon!

It's a fantastic, huge building

Eggs royale

Lee's burger

In The Liquorist

My mum was really pleased about her bellini

My stepdad

Lee looking slightly loopy

And me! I'll share details of my outfit in my next post

My 2018 Secret Santas

I joined in two Secret Santas in 2018, down from previous years because I'd found it really stressful in 2017, and because I had a bad experience with a swap in the middle of 2018 when I was told that what I'd sent in a random swap wasn't acceptable. That made me really sad because it was a package that I would have been happy to receive, and I had put thought and effort into it. So I decided to just do a couple of swaps. One was Janet's Thrifty Christmas swap which I've done for years now and which requires you to be a bit thrifty with gifts, and one was through a Facebook group and it required a couple of gifts and also a letter.

I got back some lovely presents and wasn't disappointed at all! I also got a thank you card from the person I sent to for Janet's swap, which was so lovely of the recipient and really brightened me up.

Here's what I got:

Firstly these gifts were from the Facebook group swap. The little vial has rose quartz crystals in it, which I love. I also really like the cloud sticky notes! I use sticky notes a lot.

Secondly these gifts were from my friend Cath, to say thank you for the Star Wars cross stitch I did for her partner, so they're not a Secret Santa but I was taking photos of the same time. I've stuck the stickers into my bullet journal (yeah I'm one of THOSE people, although mine is a mish mash of stuff) and I absolutely LOVE the Welsh love spoon. I've never had one before, so I love this especially as it was a gift from a friend. I'm going to put it on the wall. 

Thirdly these gifts were all from Janet's thrifty swap, the sender did so well! I haven't heard of the book Jake + Lily, but it sounds really adorable and I'm looking forward to reading it. The bullet journal notebook is really practical, I will definitely get to use it in 2019. The face masks and foot masks are great, I will definitely get use of these. I put the pen in my handbag!

Thank you so much, Santas!

Films of the Month - November

I watched nineteen films in November, which was TONS! This is partly because when Lee and I went away in the caravan, we watched four films and the another when we got home! It was lovely to just hunker down in the caravan in the evenings and watch films before wandering over to the toilet blocks to brush our teeth before sleep.

Here's what I watched:

I haven't read the book of the Girl on the Train, but I've heard really mixed reviews about it so I thought I'd watch the film instead. It's okay, nothing amazing.

I went to the cinema to see Bohemian Rhapsody with my friend S and my mum. I know there's been mixed reviews over it, too, but I really liked it. I thought the people playing all of Queen were all perfect, and I liked the way the story was told. I would watch this again for sure. 

I don't know why I wanted to watch Florence Foster Jenkins but I'm really glad I did, it's a really cute film and Meryl Streep is great

I've never seen The Harder They Come even though I obviously know the story and like Jimmy Cliff. I really liked it, it looks ace and the music is great

I had never seen They Live, but it was on at the Vue cinema in Leeds and Sam wanted to go, and Lee was really up for it because he really likes it. I liked it, it's pretty funny but also thought provoking. One of Lee's brothers bought him this poster framed for Christmas, god know where we'll put it!

I LOVED Please Stand By, PLEASE watch this if you haven't seen it. It stars Dakota Fanning as a young woman with autism, who wants to submit a Star Trek script to a competition and has to go to LA to do so. It's fantastic, I loved how her autism was portrayed. Do watch it. 

I made Jeni watch God's Own Country when she was here, because she hadn't seen it and I knew she'd like it. It remains one of my absolute favourite films. 

I watched a film on Netflix called Minimalism after this, but I can't find the movie poster for it. But you can watch it here. I did enjoy it, I obviously struggle with minimalism myself - I have a lot of stuff - and I do think you have to have a lot of privilege to be able to live like that, to be able to know that you've got money to do or buy something if you desperately need to. But it is an interesting film.

Lee and I watched Ocean's 11 together because I want to see them all before we watch Ocean's 8 again. I love Brad Pitt in this film. 

People on Twitter kept saying the Princess Switch was a cute Christmas film, so I watched it, it was quite sweet if very predictable. 

So then I watched another Netflix Christmas film about an advent calendar, this was really cute too and definitely helped me feel more festive. 

Home Alone 2 was the first film Lee and I watched in the caravan, it is basically the same as the first isn't it. Cute though. 

Then we watched Die Hard 2 which is obviously a Christmas film and has the added bonus of Death from Bill & Ted playing the bad guy. It's not as good as the first one, obviously, and arguably not as good as the third one either (I do love Samuel L Jackson), but I really liked it. 

Then we watched Black Panther which we missed at the cinema, we both thought it was fantastic! I really hope there's a sequel. It looks amazing too, they obviously spent a lot of time on the costumes and stuff.

Lee and I watched Elf together last, I don't think I've ever seen it 

Time for another Netflix Christmas film, I liked the Christmas Inheritance mostly because it has that girl out of Neighbours in it. 

Next I watched Daddy's Home 2 because I enjoyed the first one, it's ridiculous and the kids are the best thing about it to be honest. 

I'm still making my way through some of the classic Disney films, I had never seen Robin Hood and I really liked it, though I didn't realise there was so much footage from Bedknobs and Broomsticks reused in it!

Finally Lee and I watched Christmas with the Kranks, which is ridiculous but I liked it! I've never seen it, Lee said it was good. 

Phew, so many films!

Weekend in York with Lee

I had a really busy week the end of November, it was ridiculous. Lee and I had had a weekend in the caravan booked for ages, because we wanted to visit the York Christmas markets. Then I arranged to go to a workshop in Huddersfield with my aunt, who was up for the weekend. I've been to workshops at Space2Create in Huddersfield before, and I wanted my aunt to come to one. They were running a "Natural Decorations" one when she was up visiting my grandma, so we booked ourselves some places.

The workshop was run by a really lovely and patient person. He had brought a ton of wood and all other kinds of natural things, including these wicker rings. I decided to make a wreath, so I picked out some bits that I liked and some raffia to tie it on with. Caroline decided to make a garland which I think turned out really well.

I wound the raffia around to keep the wreath together and so I could poke stuff into it. 

I am ridiculously proud of my wreath! I hot glue gunned the conker and berries on to it, but everything else is tied on with raffia or wire. It spent the entirety of Christmas hanging from the mantelpiece

Caroline used ribbon and pine cones and seed heads for her garland!

Lee picked me up from Huddersfield and we set off to York together. We stopped for a hot drink each and shared a mince pie. 

It was already pretty dark by the time we arrived in York, but fortunately the site is well lit so we got everything sorted then hunkered down inside. We watched some films and had some bits to eat. 

Home for the weekend

Doesn't this bed look lovely and inviting? It was, but we were cold so ended up putting the heater on all night

In the morning we got up and had a shower, and then got on the bus from outside the caravan site into York. It's really easy and we know where we're going. We walked up the Shambles, taking our time, and then walked across to Parliament Street to the Christmas market stalls. We bought a few things. Then we tried to get some lunch which ended up being easier said than done, but we got a table pretty easily in Carluccios, which Lee had never been to before, so that was nice. After that we got hot drinks outside in the markets - mulled wine for me and hot chocolate for Lee. 

We got the bus back about 5pm and again hunkered down for the evening to watch films and get cosy. 

Picture of us in Kings Square

This is what I was wearing underneath the hoodie!

And finally I bought myself a new bag in Accessorize! I love it, it's so roomy and has a zipped bit in the middle for my purse and phone. 

The Knitting and Stitching Show - Harrogate

At the end of November Lee and I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. I had heard about it through my craft club, who were organising a full day trip. I knew that would be too much for me, though, so I asked Lee to come with me. You can get a Thursday ticket that allows you in between 3pm and 8pm for half the price, so I decided that would be plenty of time and got us a ticket each.

We set off in the afternoon and Lee let me out at one end of the building so he could go park. I ended up in the exhibition area and I'm really glad I did because I got to see loads of fibre artists that I might not have otherwise seen. Lee joined me and we looked at the exhibits, then went into the huge rooms selling stuff.

There was SO MUCH to look at, it was hard to no where to begin and I wanted to see stuff before I decided what to buy. There were craft supplies for basically everything. I do a fair few crafts as you know, so I'd taken along some money. I ended up buying some hand dyed cross stitch aida in gorgeous gold and green, and a thread holder in the shape of a cat, and Lee bought me a rag rugging kit that is for my birthday in January, so I haven't got it yet. I've never done rag rugging so I'm excited to give it a go!

Honestly I could have spent a fortune but I restricted myself. I had so much fun just looking at stuff, I would have liked to buy some beads and maybe some fabric, but I didn't. I would definitely go back next year, I think the late ticket was perfect for me at just £8.50!

I had also managed to do my nails that week, I was wearing this gorgeous rose gold polish from Models Own

Gorgeous nails!

These hearts were in commemoration of the centenary of World War One

Here's what I got!

What I Wore November 16th

I went to Meadowhall on November 16th to meet up for lunch with Laura (Lolly Likes) and Chloe. I've seen both of them recently, but they hadn't seen each other in possibly a few years, so we'd decided to meet up for lunch at Pizza Express.

When I got there Laura was already there and Chloe was close behind me. We chatted for ages and had really nice food. I had a pizza and a cappucino maybe? I can't exactly remember now. I love these two people so much - they raise me up and make me feel valuable and worthy. I'm so glad we're friends.

Afterwards I went to the gym to go swimming with my mum, which was lovely.

I was wearing this black top (from Yours, I think), and this handmade skirt. My mum made it for me several years ago; it's made from sari material and I love the colour and the embroidery on it. It's a bit different for me, but I really should wear it more!

Me and Laura - aren't her glasses fab?

Lovely Chloe

My outfit - you can't see the pattern but the embroidery is little dharma wheels!

My 2018 Advent Calendars

Hello! Happy new year! I'm writing this in December but by the time you read it, it'll be 2019! Isn't that weird? That's so far into the future I barely know what to do about it. Wasn't it 2002 just yesterday?

Anyway, here's the advent calendars I had in December. I kept it quite lowkey for me - I love advent and last year I had a book advent calendar which I really enjoyed. I've had Yankee Candle advent calendars for a few years and I love them - the tealights burn for around 6 hours each and I love the scent throw they have, so I've always found them really good value.

This year I had seen the Yankee calendars, but they stayed pricey and I couldn't justify one, especially as I'd recently bought some lots of their candles off Groupon for bargain prices, so I decided to not buy one. Then I saw a Staylite calendar advertised for £5, so I bought one for me and one for my mum.

The candles don't have as much of a scent throw as Yankee ones, so I've taken to burning two at once - sometimes the same scent but sometimes complimentary ones. This is fine because I missed a few days. I gave my mum the calendar when she'd had a really rubbish week and it really cheered her up which I'm glad about. For £5 you can't complain, I would buy this again next year.

I'd seen the Lindt advent calendars online somewhere. I love Lindt chocolate, so I thought Lee and I would go to the Lindt shop in York's designer outlet when we were there at the end of November. However, when we went, the queue was ridiculous just to get to the car park! So we decided to just come home instead, and Lee said he'd order one for me. There were quite a few to choose from, but I chose this one because it had most of the sweets I like. I enjoyed this advent calendar a lot. 

I bought Lee a Quality Street one for a fiver, which he liked. 

A finally I got this advent calendar as a surprise from my aunt! She bought the boxes plain (from Hobbycraft I believe) and decoupaged them. They're really tiny so she had to be really creative for what went in them, and as you can see she bought me some things that wouldn't fit inside. She had asked Lee and a friend for some ideas, and I am thoroughly enjoying opening each little door and seeing what's inside. I've had stamps, hair clips, a candle, an amethyst crystal... so many lovely little things! 

I've told Lee that he needs to fill this for me next year!