Saturday 30 December 2017

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2017

 As we come to the end of 2017 I thought it would be a great time to reflect and share my favourite moments from this year in photo's. Its been quite a challenging year with some personal issues have affected my family but aside from that I always believe it is key to focus on the positives. One of my first keys moments was running my first event overseas in Berlin. I ran a two day conference in Berlin which was very successful and a big stepping stone having only been in the events industry for 6 months at the time. 
 Spending time with my family is another thing I love doing - this photo was taken on a day off I spent in London with my Mum. I first went to a Benefit blogger event in the morning and then we explored the Carnaby Street area, walking from there to Covent Garden and finally finishing our day trip in Leicester Square with a couple of well earnt milkshakes! 
 Despite some cheat moments, as photographed above, I joined Slimming World in January which really helped me to lose weight. A proud achievement was getting back into clothes which I hadn't been aware to wear previously!
All of the blogging events I have been to this year are a massive highlight, I love having these opportunities and also meeting so many lovely bloggers! The photo below was taken at the KISS launch with Pixie Lott. 
 Me & James have been to two theatre shows in London this year. The first show we saw earlier this year was The Lion King which was incredible. We were also lucky enough to get free tickets to Annie recently which was also a brilliant show.
 Another photo below taken at a blogger event- this was the launch of Aenea Cosmetics in the ME hotel London. At this point I was also just a few pounds away from my Slimming World target weight.

 Whilst at RBI we picked up an award for the Best Operations Team of the Year, which was a huge achievement for everyone!
 Myself and James were very lucky to be dog / house sitting again in July this year which meant staying in a family friends beautiful house for a couple of weeks. We were extremely lucky with the weather too!
 This year also marked the first year that all my girlfriends from school booked a weekend away - even though we had all been friends for years, we'd never actually been a nd stayed anyway altogether. We simply booked one night in Brighton and had the best time!

 The photo below was from a press morning with Lydia Bright for imPRESS nails.
 This year I also found a new love of baking and made a few new recipes for various friends and family's birthdays. My personal favourite to make is a Victoria Sponge.

 As well as booking a weekend trip, we also managed to book a girls holiday abroad. The photos below are from our holiday in Spain, where we stayed in a beautiful Hilton hotel.

 Of course, a massive highlight of my year is spending time with James. We both have very similar interests and love to visit new places, looking back over this year we've been some great places and shared some amazing memories. The photo below is when we went on a summer's evening drive down to Brighton for dinner & drinks.
 In October this year I left my job working in events to follow my true passion... I did have a few weeks in between my jobs though..
 Whilst in-between jobs, myself, James and a couple of our friends went off to Antigua to enjoy 10 days of amazing sights, sun and sea. This was a truly amazing experience and a beautiful island to visit.



 After our holiday it was time to start my new exciting adventure working as a Social Creative for Webvid, a creative agency based in London. I have already worked on some very exciting campaigns and even more excited to see what the new year will bring for Webvid!
 I also recently took a trip down to Brighton to see a couple of my favourite people. Below is a photo of me and cousin, Hannah. I also met with Vicky, a friend who I met whilst at University. We had such a great day and visited a Vegan cafe for lunch!

My last photo is the Blaker Christmas selfie. I have loved spending time with family and friends over the festive period! 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and wishing you a Happy New Year!


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Saturday 2 December 2017

Turtle Bay: First Ever Christmas Menu!!


Turtle Bay recently contacted me and gave me the exciting opportunity to review their first ever Caribbean Christmas menu. This was perfect timing as I had just visited the Caribbean for the first time in October and loved trying all of the food and drinks out there.

Turtle Bay are actually offering a variety of packages for Christmas, including 3 course lunches, all day 4 course meals and festive platters. Obviously, being the foodie that I am (others would probably call it greedy) we opted for the 4 course menu. As you can see from the photo's, the restaurant itself is gorgeous, I absolutely love anywhere with fairy lights. We picked the Guildford restaurant as this is the closest one to me and my friend Steff who I invited along to share the experience with.

Firstly we tried the 'Upon Arrival' snacks, this is like the starter's starters I guess but such a great idea for when you're really hungry, it also means you don't quite rush your main meal decisions. The 'upon arrival' food consists of Garlic Flatbread, Trini Chickpeas & Spicy Pork Rinds. 
 

For drinks I decided on the Porn Star Martini - one of my favourite cocktails! 


To start I had the Sweetcorn Fritters, these were delicious but definitely not a healthy choice!


For mains I had the Spinach, Aubergine & Sweet Potato Curry, again this was absolutely delicious but pretty spicy. I really tried to finish this but as well as having a massive portion, it was just a bit too spicy for me to enjoy towards the end.


Steff went for the Guyanese Duck Curry which she really loved! 


See, I almost finished my food...


Oh, and another drink - this was a special recommended by our lovely waitress. I believe it was recently taken off the menu but a previous favourite from Turtle Bay? 



Yes, we still made sure we had room for pudding. I had the Rum Cake which is actually imported in from the Cayman Islands so was a true taste of the Caribbean.


Steff went for the Banana & Toffee cheesecake but admittedly we had half and half of each others just because pudding is the best bit, right? Oops! 


So after that, we were completely stuffed and could hardly move we'd eaten so much. All the food was super tasty and the staff extremely friendly, making the whole experience wonderful for our Sunday afternoon. I would definitely recommend Turtle Bay for a place to try this Christmas, this would be he perfect place for any Christmas party! 





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Thursday 30 November 2017

URBAN DECAY NAKED SKIN REVIEW


The Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition has been a product I had heard many amazing things about and so I decided to invest and stop using my high street foundations. I thought I would share my thoughts on this product with you - especially if you are undecided on spending a bit extra on a new foundation. 

This product was £28.50 but for me I usually feel that spending a bit extra on foundation and skincare is definitely worth while... Sadly, on this occasion I am not as amazed with this product as I expected to be. It does do what it says 'on the tin' - it's a weightless foundation and I feel maybe that my personal error that I have learnt from this purchase is that I really prefer a bit more coverage when it comes to foundations and face make-up. At this time of year, with a bit of sunshine, my face is covered with freckles and this for me is something I would rather cover up. 

Other foundations I have chosen and loved have never normally been full coverage products however, a couple of examples being the Clarins True Radiance Foundation & L'oreal True Match Foundation. 

I have now found a solution to using this foundation, I have been mixing it with the Boujois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 53, which then creates a thicker base. I have included the photo below to give the outcome of what this looks like on my skin. Once mixed with another foundation I do really like the look that this gives on my skin but at £28.50, sadly I don't think it's one that I will be re-purchasing any time soon! 






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Saturday 16 September 2017

ALL YOU NEED IS SLEEP




This post is something I began to draft several months ago, back when at work we were focusing on 'Sleep Month' - I wanted to re-visit it as I have started to get out of some of the good habits I developed. 

I wouldn't say I've ever really struggled with getting to sleep, however earlier this year I decided to focus a lot more on winding down, going to sleep at a sensible time and attempting to get 8 hours in a night. I did this by winding down an hour before when I wanted to sleep and that meant no phone, laptop or TV to give my mind a chance to really switch off. This really worked for me and at the time I found myself feeling much more refreshed. My aim is to get back into these habits again as the days begin to get shorter for the winter... and with starting a new job in London - exciting! 

I do still find it fairly easy to get to sleep at night but am waking up throughout the night a lot more often. By changing some of my habits again I want to see if this helps to make a difference. 

My tops tips that help me sleep are: 


  • Wind Down: Allow time to relax and switch off before going to bed, I found that listening to calming / relaxing music really helped with this. As the winter months approach, another thing I love to do is light loads of candles, whether thats in my room or around the bath, i just find them really calming. 
  • Bath Before Bed: This might not work for everyone but one thing I love is a really hot bath before bed, especially with a Lush bath bomb. This is the perfect chance to destress and leaves me feeling really tired afterwards. 
  • Develop a Nighttime Beauty Routine: I don't always have time to wind down with a full on beauty routine but when I do I like to have a bit of a pamper session, including using my favourite face wipes, followed by the Face Wash and Toner from Purelogical. I then use the night cream from Frezyderm and Lush's Dream Cream on my body. 
If you have any top tips for a better nights sleep, please feel free to share them with me... 






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Wednesday 13 September 2017

PLACES TO VISIT: CAFÉ ROUGE, ESHER

I was recently asked to head over to the Café Rouge in Esher to review their summer menu. This has been an exciting opportunity for me as I really love Café Rouge and have already shared a couple of my favourite meals from there on my social media - I hadn't however tried the summer menu yet so what better excuse to taste some different foods. I decided to invite my Mum along as my +1 for the dinner as I knew how much she would enjoy the experience and also have a chance to share with her something that I have accumulated through blogging - after all there's not really that many blogging related events you can normally take your Mum to right!? 

Anyway, lets talk about food.. & drinks of course...


So when it came to my choice of drink I had to go for the Gin Blooms, these are absolutely amazing, if you're a Gin fan like me that is. Some of you may have already seen a glass of the Cucumber & Watermelon Gin on my Instagram, I tried this a couple of months ago and had to share as it's got such an amazing taste. I've also recently got my Mum into drinking Gin and therefore she opted for the Elderflower Gin which has a slightly sweeter taste and comes with raspberries in the glass. 



 Excuse the slightly blurred photo but it's the only one i've actually got of myself enjoying the food. To start I had the Soupe de Saison which was with Asparagus and Watercress, not something I would usually choose to start, I would often go a little more unhealthy (Garlic Bread is my favourite) but actually this was the perfect choice, super tasty and left me will still enough room for my main and dessert.
 For my main I had the Porc Schnitzel, which came with slaw and chips. I first tried a little bit of Schnitzel when in Berlin earlier this year and decided it was now time to experience this as a meal - I was not disappointed! My mum had the Poulet Breton which is chicken that comes with creamy mash and vegetables, something I really want to try when I go to Café Rouge again.

 Another main meal which I tried and loved recently at Café Rouge was the Tagine, again not something I would normally pick but I'm really making an effort at the moment to stop being so picky and just try new things!

Dessert is my favourite part of any meal, I have such a sweet tooth. I decided to have the Chocolate Torte whilst my Mum went for the Strawberry Cheesecake. The Chocolate Torte itself was perfect, although it comes with creme fraise which I'm not a massive fan of. I'm sure if I had realised beforehand I would have been able to swap it for cream or ice-cream so I still feel like this would be a dessert I would love to have again. 


The restaurant itself in Esher has a lovely relaxed vibe, with an outside area too that would be perfect on summer days. I am very tempted to go back to the Esher Café Rouge for brunch soon, so you may just see those photos go up on my Instagram.

The staff were amazing and couldn't be more helpful and kind, they really did make the evening feel extra special. All of my meals were chosen from the Summer Set Menu, which is still available in restaurants at the moment, however the Autumn menu will be available on the website soon. 

Do you have a favourite meal from Café Rouge, let me know? 





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