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!

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!