Sunday Mornings #3

Hello my little Sunday morning campers! Here we are again, these weeks are just flying by aren't they? I'm not going to lie, I'm a huge Sunday fan. A decent lie in, something on the naughty side for breakfast and then a whole day of lovely nothingness ahead. Let's reminisce about our week shall we?

* Bank holiday Mondays. Don't they just change your week into something much lovelier to handle? A three day weekend and only a four day week. Can we keep the bank holiday every week? We just pottered about and did a little car shopping on ours (O wants a bigger car...). The Mr then made an amazing lamb roast dinner. Think I can persuade him to do the same again today?

* New candles. Yup, as it's getting a little colder, I can definitely justify burning candles again. I got some serious candle-shaped bargains in the Sainsburys home department. You should check it out if you're of the candle persuasion. 

* The east. We spend Friday and Saturday in Manchester visiting the Mr's family and it poured down with tremendous proportions the whole time. Driving back east last night, we were driving into the sun! It's as if all that rain was a bad dream. Don't get me wrong, I'm a westerner at heart and love a good torrential down pour, but it was nice to have a sunny little break. It was great being amongst family again too and seeing that little cheeky puppy again.

* The sky. Hasn't the sky been wonderful this week? I feel like every single evening I've been running out into the garden trying to snap a photo of the sun going behind the clouds or the lovely pink hue that it's been sporting some nights. I just can't get enough of it. Although I can feel the dark nights looming over us...

* Soda bread. Oh yes! After much inspiration from Sally and Rosie, I finally got my soda bread bake on. It was the easiest thing to do and gave me the tastiest bread at the end. The lovely Sally has given me many little soda bread twist ideas, so this won't be the last soda bread I make. Oh and just in case you were wondering, it has been devoured with lovely salty butter and (mostly) Nutella. 

* Autumn nails. Barry M brought out their Autumn nail collection this week and I managed to snap up three of them. I love them all! I really don't need any more nail polishes, but y'know, it's Autumn!

* Guide books. Some of our guidebooks have arrived for our Scandi road trip. We spend the whole car journey down to Manchester reading out facts about Norway and Denmark. Well, I did the reading and O did the driving, otherwise that would just be unsafe. I am SO excited!

Tell me lovelies, how was your week? Was it a good one? Were you lucky enough to have the bank holiday? What is your sky like? Please share them with me in the comments below, I'd love to know what's been putting a smile on your faces this week...

New Music Thursday // Three Favourites

It's definitely a week for favourites on W&P, isn't it? This isn't a typical post for me, but music is a huge part of my every day life. Whether it's my beloved digital radio or my iPod, there's a constant stream of new music filling up my world. Living away from home, we spend a lot of time in the car, so decent music is a must. O and I have a "New Music Tuesday" tradition, where we buy a new CD every Tuesday and it becomes part of our driving/road trip collection. So I guess this is a follow on from that? There are three tunes that have been filling up our little house (and garden, sorry neighbours!) this week and I thought I'd share them with you...

I'm in love with the new Twin Atlantic record, Heart and Soul was a serious summer road trip favourite! O and I try to "out Scottish" them when we're singing along, even though I am Scottish, it's pretty difficult to sing with a Scottish accent, so props boys! Their follow up single, Brothers and Sisters, is another belter of a hit. Perfect for Autumn!

I discovered Royal Blood a few weeks ago and I'm in love! They're more of a roar, turn it up and blast it out the car windows type of band and I can't get enough of this song at the moment...

Lastly, I think we all know what's coming next! Taylor Swift is my serious guilty pleasure! I know she's a love/hate kinda artist, but I love love love her! Sorry (not sorry)...

What tunes have you been listening to? I'd love to hear your favourites, I can never get enough of new band recommendations. There's nothing quite like finding a new record that you love and playing it over and over. 

 

happy face :: three favourites

Today I'm coming at you with three things that have transformed my face. Seriously! I used to be a straight up facial scrub and moisturiser kinda gal, but lately I've been thinking that at the ripe old age of 33 {still acting like I'm 12 though..}, I should start paying more attention to my skincare. After a trip to Boots and a few pounds lighter, I came home with some Good Things swag! Now, I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to cleansing, so I'm sure there are things I should or shouldn't be doing, but here's what my skincare routine now looks like...

* Cleansing: every morning I now grab this beautiful Good Things Manuka Honey Creamy Cleanser along with a face cloth. I noticed the difference in my skin the first morning I used it, no lie! My skin, even before moisturising, seems so much softer and hydrated. So much so that I almost forgot to moisturise yesterday! It smells divine and the formula doesn't have any of the nasty things in it like some other brands. My old facial scrub used to leave my skin tight and I'm just realising, slightly angry. This cleanser leaves it feeling soothed with none of the red patches I used to get. Back in the day, I used to think cleansing was too much of a time wasting faff, but having skin as soft as a baby's derrière is well worth the extra 5 seconds it takes in the morning. 

* Serum: now I'm complete novice when it comes to serum. I didn't even know when to apply it, before moisturiser? After? Instead of? But after some googling and a tweet from the lovely Vivianna Does Makeup, I was sorted. Basically, I use it after cleansing, leave it 5 minutes or so to soak in and then put my moisturiser on top like normal. So far I've only been brave enough to use this in the evening. I don't have particularly dry skin and didn't want to overload my face during the day. Although, saying that, the morning after some serum action, my face feels so glowy, smooth and a little more plump...does that make sense? The one I've been using is the Nude ProGenius Treatment Oil which I got as a sample in a recent BirchBox. I'm not gonna lie, this serum doesn't have the nicest whiff to it, but it makes my skin sing! I'm on the look out for some other decent brands, so please hit me up if you have any recommendations! 

* Moisturising: for years I've been an Olay girl. So I was a bit wary of trying something new. Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturiser is the bee's knees! First of all, the smell...berry goodness! I wasn't sure that I would like a fruity scented moisturiser at first, but oh my...I'm a convert! This leaves my skin SO completely hydrated, seriously softer and maybe even a little less shiny? I used to get a little dry patch down my nose and now it's completely disappeared. I've been using this morning and evening and my skin is thanking me for it! 

O has been laughing at all the new face cloths I've been buying to accommodate this new ritual and I may have a Body Shop order {oops} winging it's way to my door mat sometime soon with some new skincare products...

Do you have any favourite skincare products? I've chosen these three because they've completely turned my skin around and I love them so! Have you discovered anything new that's made your skin happy? I'd love to hear about them!

 

Sunday Mornings #2

How can it possibly be Sunday morning again my lovelies?? This week has been so busy {in the most brilliant way}, that I'm glad to have a weekend filled with pyjamas, coffees and trashy TV {Covert Affairs}. Let's discuss what little wonders have made this week a delicious one...

* Having my Mum down for a visit! I've had 5 whole days with the mothership! Is there anything better than having your lovely Mum around when you live away from home? I don't think so! Lots of coffee and whiskies have been drunk and many scones demolished. 

* This week has been full of adventures. We've visited Durham, York and Beamish. Durham and York were their usual beautiful selves and Beamish was so...different from anything I've ever experienced! In every one of these places I scoffed a scone and sipped on a coffee. Not too shabby, eh?

* Scones. Have I mentioned scones? Scones with jam and cream. Or cream and jam, depending on which way you lean. I've polished off far too many to mention this week and now that my Mum has gone home, I think it's time to have a little scone break for a while {who am I kidding?!}.

* Face serums! This week I popped my face serum cherry, so to speak. I've been meaning to dabble in the world of serums for a while now, but when I got a sample in this month's Birchbox, I finally took the plunge. My face LOVED it! I don't think my skin has ever been this happy. The sample I had smelled a little funky, so I'm on the look out for one that's a little easier on the nose. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

* How catchy is Taylor Swift's new song {or T Swizzle as we've taken to calling her!}?? I've had this on repeat all week. Is this wrong? If it is, then I don't wanna be right!!

* Having a plan-free weekend. I've been needing one of these so badly. The last few weekends have been filled with trips home and visitors, so I'm pretty stoked to have this weekend all to myself. O is working, so I've been happily pottering about in my pyjamas, reading, watching Covert Affairs and munching on the choc chip banana bread I made. Nothing could get me to leave the house this weekend!

* Colder weather...I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm LOVING it. I've had my proper pyjamas on in the evenings, lit candles and even used a blanket on more than one occasion. Hello Autumn, I've missed your pretty face!

* Making plans for our Scandinavian road trip in March! We pretty much have our itinerary sorted, now we just need to start booking schnizz before it gets extra pricey. How many months is it til March? Seven? Is it too early to start a countdown? Maybe {never}...

What's been making your week gorgeous? Do you use any lush face serums? Hit me up in the comments and twitter! :) 

floral days + favourite mistakes

I've been messing around with the many settings on my DSLR camera recently, trying to get the hang of different apertures, shutter speeds and such. I'm a complete novice, but sometimes I like seeing the photos that I've completely messed up! Look at this one just above ^^ {the bottom photo}. How trippy does it look?! This was definitely my favourite mistake of the day.

the best afternoon tea i've ever had!

Best afternoon tea ever? Bold statement, I know. But, seriously? TRUE STORY! I don't know why I haven't posted this sooner, O and I went to the Lake District a few months ago for a little weekend getaway. We stumbled across this gorgeous hotel right on the shores of Lake Windermere. If you check out their website, they have a swanky spa and the hotel is seriously the lap of luxury, but all we were interested in was their afternoon tea! We had no idea what to expect and when the sandwiches came out on their own plate, I was a little worried that we wouldn't get a lovely cake stand. This was O's first ever afternoon tea, you see and I had promised him a lovely cake stand filled with tasty morsels. Let's just say, we were not disappointed...

Is that test tubes I hear you say? Oh yes! At the Lakeside Hotel, you don't just choose your tea from a menu, you grab a test tube {or ten}, take a big sniff and then make your decision!

What can I say about these teapots? FANCY!

If you know me well, you'll know that I'm not a huge tea drinker {I know, you're disappointed in me...}, so of course I went for this fruity concoction. O said it looked like Ribena...

Cold cucumber soup in a fancy bowl anyone? I was dubious, but oh my!!! Feels strange eating {drinking?} cold soup, but it tasted AMAZING!

The usual arrangement of sandwiches arrived and this is when I feared there would be no cake stand...

How silly I was to ever doubt the lovely Lakeside Hotel! LOOK! Just look at all those cakes!! I'm not going to lie, we almost did finish this, everything was a pleasure to eat and it was difficult to leave that last bite of cake pop, but by this point I was in a serious cake coma.

Now this wasn't the cheapest afternoon tea that I've ever had, but with the sheer amount of cake and the beautiful scenery, I would've happily paid more than we did. There are different options to choose from too, so if you want to ditch the soup and sandwiches and head straight to the cakes {who would blame you?}, you can do! I'll leave you with one of my favourite photos of the day, except from the cakes of course...

{PS You can now find my review directly on the hotel website here!}

Adventures // Lucy's trip to Loch Lomond

There's nothing quite like driving into Loch Lomond when the sky looks like it's about to explode. The sun was shining for the whole drive up there and then it suddenly morphed into an angry shade of grey. However, if you turned the car around every time the weather took a bad turn in Scotland, you would never leave the house! Since we had the car with us for a change, we decided that we should take our dog {Lucy} with us for a little stroll. That last sentence was a lie, you never take Lucy for a little stroll. She's a border collie and if you have the privilege of being a border collie owner, you'll know that there's no such thing as a little stroll! As she's gotten older {she's the ripe old age of four now}, she's calmed down slightly and is definitely more well behaved! All Lucy wants to do is chase a tennis ball and go for a little paddle...and that she did! Everyone was loving her antics on the beach and I think she's was possibly the most photographed dog in the world that day. It was tough narrowing it down to a few photos, but here's a little snapshot of Lucy's day out in Luss...

Of course I had to include the obligatory kilt shot, no trip to Scotland is complete without one...

sunday mornings #1

Hello my lovelies! How are you all on this fine Sunday morning? If you remember in a previous post, I promised you some new features on this here blog. Lots of the beautiful blogs I follow have weekly features like Rosie's "10 things..." and Sally's "Wonderful Wednesdays", so I thought it was about time I put my own stamp on it. So I had a little ponder to myself, wondering when my most treasured moments of the week usual occur and I realised that it was Sunday mornings! I don't you about you guys, but I don't think there's anything better than a Sunday morning. Mostly, I get to have a snoozy lay in and read the papers in bed with a frothy coffee. If I really must get out of bed, usually Sunday Brunch is on the TV and the smell of porridge or bacon is on the go {depending on how naughty I'm being that week}. I just love having those lazy moments with O, wondering how the rest of our day is going to unfold. So here we have our new feature "SUNDAY MORNINGS"! A weekly update of all the special things that have made my world lovely. Let's be honest, it will mostly be food and whisky related! :)

* Is there anything better than a pen that some how makes your handwriting seem ten times fancier than usual? I found {stole from O} a lovely one the other day and it makes me want to pick up my notebook and write write write!

* Getting some much needed girly time! It's lovely living with a boy, but sometimes you just need a girl to talk to. To get out any little boy rants, to talk about make up without said boy asking "why is this £40 mascara better than this £5 one??", to eat the WHOLE pack of giant chocolate buttons like it was an accomplishment and to of course, watch the obligatory chick flick without any moaning. I got to do all of these things this weekend when I went back home to Glasgow to see one of my Bestests. My heart feels happier for it.

* How much am I loving this chillier weather? I know it's naughty of me to wish away the summer, but Autumn really is my favourite season. I can wear all my cozy cardigans again and look out my many scarves. Hello Autumn, I've missed you!

* As much as I love visiting my childhood home, it's such a nice feeling getting of the train and seeing O there waiting for me! I think a little night apart is great for a relationship. I love missing him and getting excited to see him again so we can fill each other in on our days apart. We all need a little "me" time sometimes to make you realise how much you need the Mr time. 

* Shopping. Yes, you heard me! I may have {definitely did} purchased some new goodies whilst I was in Glasgow this weekend. Oh and I saw the most delicious new handbag that must be mine at some point in the near future. I NEED it. 

* How much do I love getting presents? Well while I was up in Glasgow, O was in London town with his old work buddies at the beer festival and he brought me back the best present. Yes, got me some Fortnum & Mason coffee {the coffee of the Queen, don't you know?!}. There are three gorgeous tins with different coffees in and I love them! Once the coffee is finished I'm going to keep the tins and re-use them, that's how pretty they are!

So tell me, how has your week been? What lovely things have brightened up your day? Leave me a comment so I can relish them all :) 

2 + 1/2

O and I are two and a half today! I know it's not a big milestone anniversary, but aren't all anniversaries important? I think so. We have two anniversaries {like the Queen}, in fact. The first is February 14th when we went on our first date {oh I know, smoosh to the highest level} and the other is December 15th when we got engaged. I love seeing these numbers pass by every month as the time rushes by. We don't do anything major to celebrate every anniversary, but it's all about the little things, you know? Those wee little things that just get you every day. So today, I'm celebrating those. For me, some of these little things are...

:: snuggling: there isn't anything better than getting into your bed at the end of the day and having a good little snuggle.

:: bedtime chats: even if we've spent the whole day together, I can't go to sleep unless we spend about half an hour re-hashing what's gone on that day.

:: laughing: I love when O does a serious belly laugh...makes my heart happy.

:: daily emails: O doesn't get a phone signal at work, so he emails me. I love hearing that little ping when I get a new email from him. Brightens up my day, no end.

:: surprises: life is never dull around O, he's always up to something sneaky like booking nights away and adventures at the last minute and the telling me to go pack a bag. He definitely keeps me on my toes.

:: the sofa: coming home in the evening and sitting on the sofa with our dinner on our knees watching something on TV {usually Netflix or West Wing reruns} until we're falling asleep. love these little nights.

So here's to another 2 + 1/2 years {I won't lay anymore gooey romantical-ness on your laps, I think that's enough for one day!}...

 

Welcome!!!

Hello my lovely readers! I have finally moved over to Blogger! LOOK at my new design!!! It's pretty darn ace, isn't it?! You don't have me to thank for this beautiful layout, but my lovely designer Veronika over at by the shore. Veronika was beyond patient and made this process seem like a lovely cup of coffee, rather than the complicated coding hell (thanks, Weebly) it actually was! I would recommend her services over and over again, so if you fancy a new look, head over to her site and have a gander :)

You'll have to bear with me as I move all my old posts over from Weebly (which isn't easy due to their evil coding), but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new posts that I have planned. I'm trying to be a bit of a cleaner blogger. To post more regularly and have some new features that I'm really excited about. On that note, I'm off to battle with Photoshop (we're becoming better friends) to finish off said new posts! I hope you love this new little space as much as I do, so put your feet up, brew a cuppa and have a nosy...

 

work in progress...

                                                            {image credit}

Hello my lovelies! Just wanted to let you know that I'm right in the middle of migrating all of my posts over to my new Blogger space. Hopefully it'll be up and running in the next few days, but until then I won't be posting any new posts (I know, you'll miss me!).

See you on the other side! :)

{Post originally from July 2014, migrated from Weebly}.

five guys {in photos}

I'm pretty sure these photos do all the talking, but just to make sure you get it...I LOVE FIVE GUYS! I know that the general consensus is divided, but O and I were mighty impressed. We went to the Trafford Centre location in Manchester {O's hometown, we didn't drive all that way just for a Five Guys...honest} and couldn't fault them. I love that you get to choose your own toppings or go "all the way" like O did. The fries!!! Oh my...best fries ever! Bold statement, I know, but they were just soooo darn good. Then there's the drinks machine. Over 100 different flavours. I had raspberry Coke, yup...raspberry! Can I go back right this moment? I'm drooling as I type this. Now, it's not cheap, but for something that we'll only have once in a while (my heart and waistline thank me for this) it's completely justifiable.

If you're lucky enough to have a location near you, get down there and order the bacon cheeseburger, fries and a raspberry Coke. You won't be disappointed! 

{Post originally from July 2014, migrated from Weebly}.  

RECIPE :: Butternut Squash & Lime Soup

I know that soup isn't exactly the summer staple, but this recipe is so tasty that you'll want to be eating it all year long! This recipe was modified from a Weight Watchers one, which you can find here. I've made a few different versions of this soup over the last few months, my favourite two being this one and another which has roasted garlic instead of the lime....yum!

Now, let me tell you the recipe for this lovely soup...

Ingredients:

1 portion of butternut squash {peeled, de-seeded and diced into 1 inch cubes}
2 medium onions {quartered}
2 cubes of vegetable stock {dissolved in two pints of hot water}
1 lime {the juice of}
Pinch of salt and black pepper to season

Method:- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C/425°F.
- Place the diced butternut squash and onion in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, until tender {if you are doing the roasted garlic version, I would add your chopped garlic in here too}.
- Remove from oven, tip into saucepan and add the stock.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes {do not pour hot soup directly into food processor, or you risk it exploding}.
- Purée in batches in blender or food processor.
- Once blended, pour the soup into a sauce pan and add the juice of one lime and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Adding in the lime at the end really gives it a refreshing edge, perfect for this time of year. The roasted garlic or curry versions are great in the autumn and winter. For those of you who are calorie counting it's also super healthy (0PP for those Weight Watchers out there) and makes a perfect light lunch or pre-dinner appetiser. If you do make it, tag me in your photos (Instagram) or leave your links below so I can drool at them! 

 

life lately // wednesday catch up!

Hey pals, it's been a little while since we had a catch up, isn't it? Life ain't too exciting over here, but sometimes it's the mundane things that make life good, eh?

:: O and I will be making some big decisions over the next few weeks. I can't say anything for sure yet, but watch this space.

:: O has been working like a million hours over the last two weeks, so we haven't been up to too much lately, just getting on with the every day things...making dinner, food shopping etc. Sometimes it's nice to have a quiet week or two where you can just chill out, especially after having a few crazy weeks.

:: I went to the driving range with O on Sunday and I loved it! I couldn't get my swing on too much, as my back is still healing, but it's kinda a good past time if you've got some rage to work through...smacking the ball and all that!!

:: I've still been following Weight Watchers since we joined. Had a break when I hurt my back again and now I think I may have to change meetings as O's hours have changed, so he can't give me a lift to this one! Still doing well though. Don't get me wrong, some days I would much rather be munching into a giant burger or pizza rather than eating a healthy stir fry or salad. But you gotta do, what you gotta do...right?!

:: I bought Jamie's 15 Minute Meals a few weeks ago and I love it. Tonight I'm making the spring frittata, O is a lucky boy!

:: I also bought this little One Sketch A Day ^^ book. Trying to get a little creative these days!

:: Have any of you guys watched The Killing on Netflix? Been having a serious marathon today and yesterday...it's so so good!

:: I've been reading like a maniac. There's nothing nicer than sitting outside in the sun reading. I think I already told you what I'd been reading in a previous post. If you need some recommendations, let me know. I'm kinda stuck trying to get into a new book at the moment due to the last book being so epic. Do you ever find that? Some books just stick with you a little longer.

:: As I'm typing this I'm waiting on a Tesco food shop being delivered. Our local Tesco gives me supermarket rage, so I've been all over online shopping at the moment!

:: Today has been a good blog catch up today, there's loads of good posts out there at the moment. Get on Bloglovin' and have a little mooch.

:: I am so excited to have a weekend off with O this weekend. Hoping the weather is good, today is looking a little grim. No plans as yet, but I think some relaxing is in order. Maybe a BBQ and a sneaky little beer?

:: I think I chose the wrong time of year to chop all my hair off. It's been SO humid and it's too short to tie it up...what was I thinking? Grow hair, grow!

:: Last night we went for a little drive to blow some cobwebs away. We blasted some of our favourite tunes and drove around in the countryside with the windows down. Came home and promptly passed out in bed!

:: We've been having a board game revival recently. One night a week we play either Scrabble, Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. I seriously kick ass at Scrabble, but not so much at the other two....

Well chums, that's pretty much all I've been up to lately...nothing groundbreaking! Just been enjoying having some time to ourselves. What have you been up to lately?

frustrated!!

Ever had one of those moments when you want to chuck you MacBook out the window? Well this is where I was at yesterday. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I'm trying to move away from the Weebly blogging platform to WordPress. Why I hear you ask? Well, initially I loved Weebly. It's so simple to use and I love the whole drag and drop thing. But it seriously has it's limitations. I can't schedule posts, which is a biggie for me. There's also loads of fancy plug-ins and widgets that Weeby doesn't support. Now, I know that Weebly is a relatively new site, it's still growing and adapting every day. But I'm just too impatient to wait on it becoming the platform that I want it to be.

I've messed around with WordPress and Blogger recently and I much prefer the WordPress interface. So, off I went, using lots of different online guides on how to migrate my Weebly posts on to WordPress....but then I hit a brick wall. WordPress no longer allow you to import RSS feeds (insert angry and frustrated faces here). I even went up into O's man cave to use his monster PC (sorry MacBook) to try and figure it out, but to no avail. Unless I want my old posts as a RSS feed widget, or using some complicated conversion program, I'm all out of ideas! I resigned myself to that fact that I'd have to copy and paste any old Weebly posts that I wanted to keep, it's ok, I'm a lady of leisure at the moment so I've got the time for that schnizz.

I then decided to browse the old internet world for a new custom blog template, only to discover that a non-self hosted WordPress cannot support these! Oh lordy, talk about banging my head of the wall! I really don't want to use the generic WordPress themes, so it looks like I might be going down the self-hosted route. Are any of you guys self-hosted? I follow a few bloggers who are and have asked them for advice. It seems *relatively* easy and Go Daddy have a sale on...

So this weekend, I've roped in O to help me sort out the whole self-hosting thing (which is cheaper than I'm paying Weebly at the moment anyway) and to add a custom template. Who knew when I embarked on this mission yesterday that it would be so complicated? If you are thinking of starting up a blog, I would recommend messing around with a few different platforms before making your final decision, I wish I had! Are any of you lovely folks giving your blogs a make over? Or can you recommend any lovely blog template designers? I'd love to see them! Watch this space for a new Whisky & Pancakes coming your way soon!

                                                        Image from Pinterest

food adventures {in newcastle}

My buddy MC was coming to Newcastle for the day, so I called on my blogger buddies for some scrummy food recommendations. As usual, Chloe, did not disappoint! Firstly we jumped on to one of those sightseeing buses and learned some Newcastle trivia. We then hopped off at the stop closest to our lunch destination...The Garden Kitchen. Chloe recommended ordering one of the picnics and oh my, we were soooo happy that we did.

We ordered the Garden Picnic (you can choose from three), which included BLT's, quiche, corn on the cob, salad, coleslaw, mini baked potatoes, mackerel pate, and two HUGE slices of Victoria sandwich, all served on this cute mini picnic table. We also ordered a jug of the homemade lemonade, which is so tasty and refreshing. The food was absolutely mouth-wateringly amazing! We ordered some sweet potato wedges on the side (as if the picnic itself wasn't enough!) and then followed everything with some cocktails!

I ordered the Bramble and MC had the Held in Preserve! FYI they are super strong!!!
Once lunch was finished, we decided to track down our sightseeing bus again, but then realised we had missed the last pick up! D'oh! So we strolled around in Granger Market for a bit and then headed down to the Quayside to sample The Great British Cupcakery. Again, Chloe's recommendation was spot on! The cakes all look spectacular and it's incredibly hard to decide which one to try. In the end, I went for the Strawberry Cheesecake and MC had the Raspberry something or other (the name eludes me!).

After filling up on these gorgeous cupcakes, we headed down to walk along the Quayside to try and burn some of those cake calories away in the glorious sunshine. Newcastle, I heart you!