50 Things That Make Me Happy

Hey All

Leanne from a Slice of my Life in Wales asked if anyone wanted to be tagged in this. As I'm currently in the middle of revision and a busy period in life I thought it would be a great chance to take a time out.

Last year I did the 100 happy days thing. It really was great to do this as even on a crappy day it makes you find something happy and after it I really enjoyed doing it. So here are my 50 things (I'm sure I'll start scrapping the barrel towards the end!)

1. Revision being made easy by the discovery of youtube videos on the topics
2. Street food places (as I type this L and I are off to street food circus in a few hours)
3. My other half bringing me wine bribes to revise
4. Sales (yesterday fat face had a great one)
5. New make up
6. New hair (my hair is always changing!)
7. The fact I've booked my first tattoo
8. Piercings
9. My nieces
10. weddings
11. Tea
12. Being bought tea in bed! (there is nothing better on a weekend morning, ok maybe there is but it's pretty good!)
13. Planning holidays - I love organising the perfect trip
14. Kickboxing
15. Quiet times with a good book
16. A cwtch
17. Candles
18. Planning the future
19. My family
20. Eating out
21. Working out
22. Cocktails
23. Pretty Dresses
24. Pretty shoes
25. PJs and duvet days
26. Music
27. Awesome friends
28. Random days out
29. Going on holiday
30. Weekends away exploring new places
31. Spa Days
32. Afternoon Tea
33. Sitting in the garden on a summer evening
34. A bunch of flowers
35. Smells that remind me of happy times (this is a weird one but I love it when a smell triggers a memory!)
36. Rings (my favourite jewellery, even better when they have a meaning behind then)
37. My Lady Charlotte Rodology Necklace
38. A blanket (I love a blanket for when I'm on the sofa!)
39. Baking
40. Cooking
41. Cider
42. Photo memory books
43. Clean bedding
44. Live Music
45. Going for walks
46. When you get the perfect winged liner
47. Completing challenges I set myself
48. That I've got to see the northern lights
49. Naps
50. Having different colour hair.

That was actually quite hard to do!

Let me know if you've done this tag. 

Love M

xxx

Street Food Circus

Hi there!

As promised earlier in the week, here is my review on the Street Food Circus, it opened up just last weekend.

Situated behind Radisson Blu hotel in Cardiff right next to the No Fit State circus this was an impressive event, though my photos don't seem to do it any justice!

Having kickstarted the Street Food trend in Cardiff to begin with, SFC have really done an amazing job this time with the Street Food circus. They had an amazing array of food from pizzas, hotdogs and churros to Lebanese, Greek and Hokkei - the Asian takeaway run by two Masterchef finalists.

Below shows my choosing from Hokkei, beef brisket, kimchee and black beans in a soft doughy bun - it was pretty amazing!

What was most pleasing to me at the bar was the discovery of Pimms Cider Cup - as an avid cider and Pimms drinker I'd like to congratulate the inventor of this amazing beverage. Hands down this will be my drink of the summer and I can't wait to have more! (I was driving so only one bottle for me this weekend!)

The idea for the Street Food events is that you eat from a few different stands to experience a variety of foods that you might not otherwise have tried. I did play it safe this time, I knew I would love the Asian food from Hokkei and my second choice was the infamous Dirty Fried Chicken (DFC).

Arguably most famous for their controversial logo, their chicken has been raved about by many and as a chicken fan I couldn't leave without trying it.

It most definitely didn't disappoint, the chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It came with a pot of sauce of your choice and a homemade slaw. I liked this but as someone who can't really deal with celery I couldn't finish it off.....sorry DFC!



Between the two ends of food stalls there is also a massive circus tent with the bars inside, and plenty of seating. There are your usual rows of chairs and tables and also a few random vehicles and sofas to sit on and devour your food. It's also decorated with bunting and a disco ball - who doesn't love a disco ball!

There were so many more food places I wanted to try, the HangFire Smokehouse and Dough boys stands are some I have seen a few times at events and am still yet to try, the Lebanese food and the stand selling the Welsh cockles and crab in flatbreads.
I need to go back and sample more food!

Have you been to the Street Food Circus? Do you have street food events in your cities?

I'd fully recommend trying out any event like this, though I am a big food enthusiast!

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me

I don't know about you, but I love reading lists and tips, especially when the tips are concerning fitness and diet.

I've been coming up with this list of tips recently that I wish I had known before I'd set out on my fitness journey, so I thought I'd share some with you, I may need to add to this in future!

Image from Pinterest

1) Progress is progress, and most progress is slow. Don't get disheartened because progress is always a step in the right direction

2) Regardless of your diet, unless you are eating enough to sustain your body through your exercise and general life you will not be able to function nor progress

3) You also need to stop yourself from going OVER your calorie allowance - it doesn't matter how 'clean' you eat if you are taking in too many calories for your body to burn

4) Don't make a big deal of your gym sessions - there's no need to snapchat, instagram or facebook your every workout. If I did that I would be doing it 4 days a week and lets be honest, nobody wants to see it. I am also firmly of the belief that posting your workouts on social media makes them seem like they're special - you don't post every meal or when you go to sleep, why post your workouts and make them more special than they need to be? Save it for your cheat meals and you know you've earned them!

5) Don't cut out food groups or foods unless you really do have an allergy/intolerance. Cutting something out just makes you feel like you're missing out, a balanced diet is the best lifestyle to live

Image from Pinterest

6) Save your money on the latest 'must have' products - a decent protein and caffeine are probably all that you really need to complement your fitness plan

7) If you're tired or run down, don't force yourself to the gym. Your body is telling you it needs a break - don't make it worse by running it down even further!

8) Put down the slimmer teas, stop drinking your calories in the forms of juices and fizzy drinks. Just stick with water and normal teas such as peppermint (good for bloat) and green tea (good for metabolism and natural caffeine) and you don't need to spend £25 on a few bags of stuff that will give you stomach cramps for a few days.

9) Concentrate on warming up, form, and cooling down. The benefits of these cannot be underestimated, it's no use pumping weights if you're doing it wrong and injure yourself.

10) Everyone is different, embrace advice and suggestions but know what's working for you - notice someone at the gym doing something you might want to try? Go for it, don't feel like you need to use the same weights or do as many reps

What do you think of my list? See anything on there that might help you?

I'm nowhere near perfect but if I had known some of these things a few months of years ago then maybe I wouldn't have fallen off the wagon so many times in frustration!

L xxx

Life

Hello there!

I thought it was about time i wrote a life update post...the arrangements for buying my house are all still going through so I've been busying myself with some outings to keep me sane but not spending all my cash.

Essentially I've been stuffing my face at a whole host of places around Cardiff and thought it was about time I shared them with you!

First up was the Street Food Warehouse event that was held in Cardiff Arms Park grounds, I enjoyed this and went twice with two sets of people, the food range was pretty good and seemed to improve as the weeks went on.

The Philly Cheese Steak stand was definitely something that I knew I'd be trying out, that much meat in a bun with some amazing bbq sauce and mozzarella was always going to be a fabulous combination and it didn't disappoint!
We also tried some rosemary fries from the Meat in the Middle van and they were really good too. The best part about food festivals like this is the fact you can eat from so many different stands in one meal, I do love variety!



If I'm honest on this evening I was much more excited about the cocktails and they were strong, fruity and everything you wanted after a long week at work.
We sure did line them up!



They have many more events planned for the summer and I'm looking forward to Pop Up in the Park, I've no idea where it is yet but it sounds fun to me!

I've also been to the Millenium Stadium for Judgement Day -  a clash of  rugby teams from South Wales, essentially East v West.

The teams were the Cardiff Blues v Ospreys and the Scarlets v Dragons, its a double game that I normally go to with my family every year. This time it was just me and my dad and we shared a few pints of cider over the fair few hours that we were sat there.



I managed to get this panoramic shot at the end of the game when everyone was leaving and they were opening the roof up. I love going to the stadium for games, the atmosphere is awesome!

I've also been checking out Five Guys, M posted recently about her trip to Five Guys in Bristol and now that it has arrived in Cardiff I had to go and see it for myself.



I ended up choosing the bacon cheeseburger with fries - all burgers are double burgers so be warned, you do need to be hungry when you visit!
It was everything I wanted from a burger and fries. The place is just like a Mcdonalds or Burger King but the food is better, and therefore more expensive.
The burger itself was unbelievably good, it was juicy and cooked to perfection. I couldn't stop stuffing my face with it and the fat was running down my hands - it was messy and dirty and so much fun.
The fries were also pretty good and the drinks were impressive with 120 flavours available from one machine - however I'm a Sprite kind of person so I wasn't very adventurous!

I would fully recommend you check out both Five Guys and the Street Food Warehouse events, I've also visited the Street Food Circus event and will be posting about that this week too!

I have to say having eaten all of this food recently, i was relieved when my latest magazine of Women's Health arrived on my doorstep.

I need to get back in the gym so I don't undo all of my hard work, and this was the perfect motivation!

What have you been up to recently? More importantly, what have you been eating??

L xxx