Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and done fabulous things. Have we all chosen some resolutions? I have selected mine which include:

1. Stop swearing (it isn't very lady like and at the moment by mouth fathoms that of a sailor, mainly when I am at work, hmmm)
2. Visit at least 3 new places. (Normally I say countries, but I am going to count the different states of America as a new place so hence the choice of word 'place') I already have Jamaica, Californa, Nevada and Arizona on the list, so that is 4, but I would like to fit another trip in somewhere. Lots of wonderful additions to my food adventure!
3. Concentrate more on writing. I am a top class procrastinator and need to sit my ass down and actually commit to it.

And those are my resolutions, or the main ones at least. I welcomed in the New Year at my friends house as she had a bit of a party. This is me with my friend who threw the party and our yummy glasses of champagne.

She put on a bit of a buffet but the highlight was the iced fairy-cakes, they made me feel like a little kiddy again! If your having a party, there has to be at least one piece of party cliche in there somewhere.

And the New Years Eve 'Wall of Shame!' Who made the cut for 2011? Not me! I was a good girl and I paced myself, except when we played a drinking game and I was picked several times for the forfeit : S

In between Christmas and New Year I did a couple of things. Normally on Boxing day, me and my friends get dressed up in fancy dress and go on a night out, but this year, as I am saving my pennies to pay off my U.S.A trip, we decided to stay in, watch a christmas film and order chinese. We also attempted to make Bailey's cocktails but we were not very successful! I think I put too much Vodka into the Mudslides.... I also enjoyed a bottle of Brothers Toffee Apple cider which has to be one of the nicest ciders I've ever tasted. If you see any in the supermarket, buy it and try it!!

I also went to Manchester on the Bank Holiday Tuesday for a bit of sales shopping and for a few drinks. Me and my mate went to Tiger Tiger in The Printworks where I enjoyed a 'Vanilla Kiss' cocktail made with vanilla vodka, Drambuie and cranberry juice. It was a nice cocktail but I could barely taste the vanilla because of the Drambuie, which is a shame because I really enjoy vanilla flavoured vodka. My next cocktail was a 'Ga-Ga Colada' which was delicious, made with Havana Club rum, Malibu and pineapple juice, my kind of drink!
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While I've been off I've had a little trawl of the internet and found a fantastic website called 'Fine Food Specialist' You know me, I love my internet shopping and there's nothing I like better than to find a gem of a website, be it fashion or food! They specialise in, well, fine foods and they offer the most amazing range of ingrediants and foods. If you are into your food and enjoy cooking, you need to check it out. My particular favorites that I have spotted and think sounds a-mazing, is their 'Mini Wagyu Burgers', perfect little bite-size burgers, ideal for canapes which you can find here in their Beef selection.

If you have a bit of time, make sure you check out the Seafood section as well as they sell fresh Lobster and Crab Ravioli, which, in my opinion, sounds absolutly divine. They sell so much different stuff and is a really nice alternative to the supermarket counter. You'll even find cheese and pate's on there which is a little weakness of mine. Check it out!

You may not hear from me for a couple of weeks as this is my last day off work for 15 days (getting in the overtime as I need the money!) and so I may not have very much that's interesting to say! But it is all in preparation for this year's plans. I'm always keeping my eye out for a good Groupon (I know, I know, such a bargain hunter) so let's hope for some good reviews this year. Here's to 2012!

It's Chriiiistmaaaas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody is having a fabulous time eating, drinking and generally being merry!

Where to begin? In a chronological order I suppose. I've had a wonderful time doing festive things such as Work christmas partys, visiting christmas markets and spending time with friends.

17th December - Work Christmas Party

Oh yes, the annual shin dig organised by moi for my colleagues at work. It was just your standard christmas do, a function room thing but we all had a fantastic time having a laugh and swapping our Secret Santa presents. Here are a few piccies from the night.

My outfit was a bargain from River Island (I know, I know, I've said before, I have a problem!!) I snapped up the dress and shoes from the sale, the dress was £35 knocked down from £60, and the shoes were £30 knocked down from £55. I love a bargain!! The box of wine was my Secret Santa present and saved me a few pennies on the sly haha!

My meal at the party was lovely as well considering it will have been a mass-churned out affair! I had Pate for starters, Roast Ham for my main and Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert.

18th December - Manchester Christmas Markets

The day after the party I was surprising very fresh! So me and my friend decided to go to the christmas markets in manchester for our annual hotdog! Me and my friend also enjoyed a cherry strudel which was gorgeous, If you have never been to the markets in Manchester then make sure you go next year! One of my friends has just been to Frankfurt in Germany for the christmas markets and she said was brilliant, so that is now on my very long list of places to go!

22nd December - Italian with my friends

Every year me and my friends go to a wonderful Italian in Westhoughton called Casanostra just before Christmas. The food is great and they do a great deal, 3 courses for £11.50. So it's always an affordable affair, leaving more money for drinks! I try to vary my menu choices but you know what it is life, when you don't go somehwere that often, you always go for your favorite! But the problem is I have about 5 favorites!

These prawns were FIT! They were in an amazing white wine and garlic sauce. Just writing about them makes me want them again. I want them NOW! haha.

This Carbonara was equally lovely. Because I'm not a fan of onion, I really hate it when there are massive chunks of onion in a Carbonara, I have no idea if it is supposed to be in there but there wasn't a scrap of onion in sight in this dish which made me a very happy girl! Each year we usually make the mistake of gorging ourselves on garlic bread and our starters so by the time it comes to our main we are usually full, but this year I excercised some willpower, I actually managed to finish my main this year.

And these are my lovely friends.

24th December- Christmas Eve!

Normally on Christmas Eve I stay at home with my family, but this year I decided to go for a few drinks with a couple of my friends. I had a great time without getting too drunk (don't want to ruin my christmas day with a hangover!) We mostly drank Christmas cocktails, largely featuring cranberry juices and the words 'Elf' in the name but they were cheap at only £5 for a pitcher from Yate's!

My playsuit was from ASOS and I got it for £26, although it did later go down in price to £19 but never mind! It is something a little different to what I usually wear but I got a few compliments on it so I may wear it again sometime.

Christmas Presents!

I really had a lovely Christmas day. My day is usually a lazy one as family live a little bit of a drive away so it's me, my brother and our parents for the day, eating and watching christmas telly!

I have been a very lucky girl this year and gotten some wonderful presents. As you can see I was given a Kindle which I am absolutly made up about as I love reading and I think it will come in very handy when I do my bits of travelling next year!

My mum n dad thought it would be funny to give me a toy for christmas and seeing as I used to be mad about Pony's this is what I got!

I always love a bottle of perfume and my brother bought me a bottle of Lady Million (aswell as giving me $80 towards my America trip which was very generous of him!) and my cousin sent me a bottle of Ricci by Nina Ricci which is lovely.

I also got these gorgeous boots from Dune which I LOVE. And this was my present of my friend Emmy, this lovely Urban Decay palette, the eyeshadow shades are stunning.

I have a few other plans yet before the year is out and will be posting about them, so for now, I hope you all continue to have a wonderful Christmas and have a fabulous New Year!