#Blogmas Day Three: BBCGFS

On Sunday, i travelled down to Birmingham for the day to visit the BBC Good Food Show, you can read everyone's tweets from the day under the hashtag #BBCGFS. It was a lovely day out, and a really fun experience to try different foods and meet the people behind some cool ideas. There was also a big show from the Great British Bake off as well as and M&S food theatre and lots of Tesco food stands as they were a big sponsor. Here's some snaps of the day.. 

Bensons totally fruity stall - review coming up on the hot apple and cinnamon drink (SO GOOD!)

Warm spiced cider - Perfect for this time of year.

This guy was a bit of a joker at the French onions stall!

More super tasty drinks - these were soooo good..

Tasty water buffalo burger!

There were literally 27 tables of different cheeses for the cheese awards..

Lots of cakes and sweet treats..

Stokes real tomato ketchup - this is the good stuff!

A couple of other companies that a worth a mention are the Mini Jam Jar company who sell a variety of delicious condiments including Raspberry and white chocolate jam - yum yum! As well as Uncle Bobs food products which do hands down the best nachos. I will also be doing a review on these on Friday so look out for some tasty food pictures! I also really enjoyed the Joe Delucci's ice creams which come in every flavour possible, my favourite being the coconut!

We came away with arm fulls of goodies to try as well as goody bags, if you ever get the chance to go to the Good Food show, i do urge you to give it a go. It's good fun and leaves you're taste buds wanting more..

Have you ever been to the BBC Good Food Show? What are some of your favourite foods?

#Blogmas Day Two: Fairy Cake

It's blogmas day two and today I thought i'd share a little outfit post with you all. This is the kind of thing i wear day to day, just to run errands and that kind of thing. The jumper is a new addition to my wardrobe and i love the colour, as you may of notice I'm slightly obsessing over burgundy colours! It is slightly thin though, so it's an essential to layer this one up. What i also love about it is the little speckled detailing which just makes the colour more interesting. 

The tights I'm wearing are also totally adorable with little white polka dots, however not very practical for the colder weather. I'm on the hunt for some chunky warm tights at the moment. Also I've been wearing these shoes to death, i love creeper style shoes grunge down an outfit and they're also super comfortable which is a bonus. 

I bought this necklace a while ago on a whim in primark. The geometric shapes and almost illusion-al print caught my eye. It's a unique piece and it definitely makes this outfit more interesting. Plus it was a bargain at something like £3! It looks great with high neck tops more than anything or under a collar, but it can work with outfits like this too. On my lips I'm wearing the collection 2000 creme puff in fairy cake again simply because i rediscovered and fell in love with it. The colour is so pigmented and it lasts for ages! 

Jumper - New Look

Necklace - Primark

Skirt - Primark

Tights - H&M

Creeper styled shoes - New Look

What has been your winter staples this year? Stay tuned for more #blogmas!

Also, please like my Facebook page for regular updates.

#Blogmas Day One: Instagram 007 - Cider Lane

This month i've decided to take on a challenge and do Blogmas! Meaning I will be posting on here every other day. If any of you know of any tags going around please let me know and if you have any requests of what you may like to see leave a comment! To kick things off i'm doing an instagram update!

1. New ASOS dress 2. New Look creepers for work 3. 99p Ebay find 4. Dyed my hair red 5. My all time favourite, Percy Pigs 6. Montagne Jeunesse exotic fruits range 7. Just chilling with the Kaiser Chiefs!!! 8. Favourite tic tacs, Strawberry Fields 9. This is Halloween 10. Dip dabs yum 11. Sleepy Kitty 12. Delicious bed time snack and hot chocolate

13. My business cards came! 14. I bought an xbox! 15. Cute little lovehearts gift 16. Frankie and Benny's waffles are the best 17. November She Said Beauty Box 18. Autumn outfit of the day 19. New iPhone case from Etsy 20. Slatkin & Co goodies!

What have you been up to lately? You can follow my instagram here!

November She Said Beauty Box

Last month's She Said Beauty Box was such a disappointment, so I'm so pleased they seem to have stepped it up a bit in November! I love how there is a good mix of haircare, skincare, make up and perfume so definitely something to suit everyone. Not to mention, a good amount of full sized products in this box too.. I can't wait to see what She Said do for the Christmas box!

In a previous box, i received the Redken radiant 10 spray which i totally loved using, so seeing the brand reoccur i was excited to try their smooth lock shampoo and conditioner combo. Yes, it was nice but it didn't wow me. It doesn't really stand out from any other shampoo and conditioner but i think that's mainly down to the fact that the samples are for one use only. I don't know about you guys, but i don't feel like i can really get a feel for a product if i only try it once. I'm sure it's a lovely product, but I couldn't see the effects of this, so therefore I wouldn't want to fork out £12 or so for the full sized product. However, on the topic of shampoo and conditioners, can anyone recommend any good hair products for coloured hair to make the colour last longer?

Moving onto possibly my favourite products in the box, the Andrew Barton Max Hold Grips and Ponybands. I haven't photographed the hair grips but you actually get 24 in a pack for £2 and 10 hair bands for £2.50 which i would repurchase in a second. These are ah-mazing. The actual bands have a sort of rubbery texture around the band which stick in your hair and do not budge. It stays in the same place all day when you're on the move, and all night if you like to sleep with your hair up. The hair bands are definitely a staple piece in my hair care collection and for such a miracle product, i think £2.50 is very reasonable. The only downside to the bands are that sometimes they stick and pull a little bit too much on the hair. The grips are also superb at holding your hair in place and for 24 i think £2 is great value. These were both full sized products in the November She Said Beauty Box and would make brilliant stocking fillers!

Another full sized product that was included was the Makebelieve enhance Luminize Skin Highlighter which is obviously a make up product. As you can see, i've been using this product quite a lot already this month and i really like it. A little goes a long way which means it's probably going to last a long time and i really love the creamy texture. I usually dab some on my eyebrow bone and cheekbones where the light hits to make my face glow a little more. I love how this is slightly pink because it makes it feel a lot warmer on the face. This retails for £7.50.

I'm not a huge fan of floral scents, but this reminds me of turkish delight which is my favourite, so i really enjoyed using this product. I haven't tried anything from Weleda so from first impressions i'm pretty happy. I love the pink packaging, i think it's adorable and the product itself sinks in really nicely on the skin. I haven't used many night creams, to be honest at night i just want to go to sleep rather than faff around with all kinds of products but this has made me more excited about looking after my skin. Supposedly all of the ingredients are natural which is another bonus to know you're not putting any silly chemicals onto your skin. It's also meant to be anti-aging and it "aids the regeneration of the outer layer of skin during the night." Sounds a little bit like the Estee Lauder advanced night repair? I'm not sure i'd pay £14.95 for the full size of this but it's definitely a thumbs up product. 

The bonus product this month were these adorable Murrays manicure emery boards which are perfect for your handbag and you get 15 in a pack. I love the cute pinstripe pattern which make them really girly but i have tons of these lying around the house anyway so i thought they could be a cute stocking filler? The downside to these is that they probably won't last very long because of how thin they are. However for £1.99 you can't really complain. 

Lastly in the box was another Yardley sample which is another reoccurring brand. This is the Royal English Daisy Eau de Toilette which is definitely more of a springtime fragrance than an Autumn/Winter which makes me wonder why it was included in November, but still a nice enough scent. This is obviously very floral which isn't really my preference but i do like how fresh it is. Also what i like about this fragrance is how it would suit both the older and the younger, it's quite versatile. I know there's a lot of controversial views on perfume samples across the bloggersphere but I don't mind the occasional sample especially if it has an appealing scent. Personally i wouldn't buy this full sized perfume but I do think it's reasonably priced at £9.99 for 50ml.    

So that was the contents of the November She Said Beauty Box and my thoughts on each item. Like i said, i am far more impressed than last month and I love how there's a bit of everything in this one, not to mention 4 full sized products if you count the individual Andrew Barton pieces. 

What did you think of this months She Said Beauty Box? You can visit my She Said Beauty Profile here. 

RedHead

Jumper - New Look

Shirt - Quiz (Old)

Necklace - H&M

Jeans - New Look

Boots - Peacocks (Old)

Notice anything different? Yes, i am now a red head. I decided to change my hair a little for the autumn/winter, sometimes I think it's nice to have a change and not get stuck into a routine. Plus i was in drastic need of doing something to my hair because before it was so damaged. I used to have red hair before I started my blog and since changing back, i remember how much i loved it! I think it looks quite feisty and vibrant without looking too unnatural for work. Also, i love treating myself to a hair cut now and then - is it me or is it totally expensive these days to get it done in a salon?! Luckily my friend introduced me to her mobile hairdresser who was able to do this for me at late notice and a very good price, so a big thank you to her! If you live in the Bristol area and are looking for a good hairdresser, she is absolutely amazing so drop me a message and i'll pass on her details to you.

This is what I wore just as a casual outfit on my day off this week. I just went for a browse around in New Look and found this jeans at a discounted price and I really love wearing coloured jeans so I picked those up. The colour actually matched my hair quite well! I also picked up a dark red jumper but it's a bit much wearing the jeans, jumper and the hair! So i chose to team it with this waffle knit jumper which i actually bought last A/W and still totally love.

I also love the whole "collar peeping out" trend so i added a collar style necklace and it gave the look a pretty preppy edge. Finally I added these boots which i forgot I owned! Don't you love it when that happens? Rediscovering an old love... So I've been wearing them at every opportunity and they're such a lovely height, especially for a girl like me who needs to wear heels to feel normal! I can actually drive in these which is a bonus. 

My favourite lip product of the month seems to be the collection 2000 creme puff in "fairy cake" which i'm wearing in these photo's. I think i'm obsessed with the colour more than anything, I always feel super pale in the autumn/winter so i love having bright lips to add warmth and colour to my face.

In other news, I may have splurged and treated myself to a new Xbox which i've totally been addicted to this week - if you have any game recommendations then let me know! But at the moment i'm playing a lot of fallout and just dance! 

What do you think of my new hair colour? Do you like to have a change sometimes?
Also please don't forget to like my facebook page for regular updates and chit-chat! 

Fashion Vouchers £100 Christmas Outfit Challenge: Pearls and Feathers

I've seen a few entrant into the fashion vouchers £100 Christmas outift challenge and thought it looked fun, so i've decided to give it a go! However it's a lot harder than it looks. I originally wanted to use motel as my merchant but couldn't find any shoes over there to fit the budget.. Then, having a bright sparks moment I remembered ASOS sell motel! After hours of scrolling through ASOS, i finally settled on something completely different but so very pretty and it's this burgundy Chiffon skater dress with an elegant pearl back. It's the back that caught my attention, i just think it's so beautiful and feminine, I love the little details in an outfit.  

To continue the theme of pearls, i picked out this pearl hair barrette which could be used to pin back your hair, I sometimes like to braid mine to the back and add a pretty pin so this would be perfect. Also I found this pearl multi finger ring which looks like a lot of fun. I have a similar 3 finger ring and I love the way it looks with an outfit. 

I think this crimson colour in the dress matches well with black accessories, so to keep it sophisticated, I paired it with some plain black peep toe heels which are a steal at £18. And to add some fun texture, I love this feathered clutch bag. Finally, no Christmas outfit is complete without a bit of sparkle and glitter so I had to include a festive nail polish! I love gold glitter polishes at this time of year, so i thought i'd include this Barry M number. 

Also, I recently made a Facebook page for my blog so please go and click the 'Like' button!

 If you've entered, i'd love to see your outfits! You can enter here. What would be your ideal Christmas outfit? 

Dining in the Dark

You're probably wondering why I've just posted a picture of myself pulling a strange facial expression blindfolded? Well, I'll tell you before you go getting any funny ideas! Last week I was very kindly invited along to attend a blind dinner party by a chain restaurant, The Living Room. The company have a range of restaurants up and down the country but my local one is situated in the Millennium Square, Bristol. I'd never actually heard of the brand before, but the concept of a blind tasting really intrigued me and I don't like to let opportunities slip, so i decided to attend!

(Pictured: Basil Grande and Spiced Moroccon lamb with giant cous cous.)

The idea was to try and identify the flavours and ingredients in the tasters they provided us of their new Autumn/Winter menu, however the catch was, you have to do it blindfolded. Which, by the way, is a lot harder than it may sound. We each were given score sheets to record our answers and away we went with the starters. The food on the menu was very tasty and there was nothing I didn't particularly like, however my ability to identify flavours blindfolded did not go well with the Black forest cured ham which I thought was accompanied by blackcurrant flavours, when it was actually fig, goats cheese, raspberry and beetroot. 

Next up were sandwiches, and we were given a Pork and Chorizo burger with smoked paprika which i really enjoyed! Didn't do so well on guessing the chorizo though.

(Pictured above: Homemade Glamorgan sausages)

Moving onto mains, we were treated with some really delicious dishes. My personal favourite was the Moroccon spiced lamb with giant cous cous (pictured above). But we were also given duck, shepherds pie,  seabass and sausages, all infused with a variety of flavours to give your taste buds an adventure!

Being a bit of a sweet tooth, I was looking forward to trying deserts and I was excited to try the Basil Grande (again, pictured above). Eton mess is one of my favourite deserts but being blindfolded made it hard to guess the key ingredients aside from meringue. We also tried a passion fruit and coconut creme brulee (yum!) and a cheese board. Finally, moving on to cocktails, i thought i'd be good at identifying the spirits after working behind a bar, but what i was certain was tequila turned out to be Quince?! And it turns out, i really don't like Manhattan's. 

Unfortunately my score of 16/40 wasn't good enough to win the Dining in the Dark trophy, but it was still a fun, enjoyable experience and i'd like to thank The Living Room for having me.

"It’s safe to say that The Living Room’s new menu has been crafted to offer something for all diners, whatever the time of day and whatever the dining preference - be it a light bite at lunch or a full three course slap-up meal. With a new and growing Vegetarian category, it also acknowledges the need to cater more closely for this growing population of diners, who often find the choices in many restaurants limited." - Press release.

In other news, I recently made a Facebook page for my blog so make sure you go and check it out and please like it!

Where do you enjoy eating out?