adventures :: by the sea

Seaham is a gorgeous little seaside town and Lickity Splits Creamery is amazing. Just in case you were wondering, I got marzipan, pistachio and bubblegum and O got cornish clotted cream and lemon meringue! Just beware of the dodgy seating system they have...

 

 

10 things...

I just realised that I've missed two weeks worth of these posts. Although, the last two Friday's I've had back related dramas, so let's start again, shall we?

1. Nutella. This week has been a seriously naughty Nutella week. I literally just finished the last remnants of a jar (this makes me sad). This is why I never buy the stuff, I can't put the jar down until it's empty. But hey, I've got a sore back, I need a little Nutella in my life, k?

2. Getting back into my own bed. The past week, I've not been able to sleep in mine and O's bed, as it's too low down and kills my back. So I've been sleeping in the spare room, which I've hated! On Thursday I was able to get back into our bed and man, this made me so happy!

3. Ice cream. We discovered a new ice cream joint this week. I ordered the weirdest (BEST) combo: marzipan, pistachio and bubblegum. I'm sure to some of you it sounds like the worst, but my three favourite flavours all in the one place? Mmm!!

4. Eating chips by the sea. We went to Seaham this week, just to get me out the house for a bit. It was the sunniest day, so we bought some chips and shared them on a bench at the sea front. Bliss!

5. Orange is the New Black season two! Oh yeah! Netflix has 13 whole episodes waiting for me!!

6. Suki tea. When we first moved here, I bought O a Suki tea set. It was kinda one of those gifts that's more for me than him, ya know?! I've been brewing some tasty teas this week.

7. 24. We've finally got around to watching it, thanks Netflix! We found it really slow at first, but now it's so fast-paced it almost gave us whiplash!

8. The rain. I don;t know about you, but when I'm feeling down or grumpy, I love it when it rains. There's nothing worse than being in a grump and the sun is splitting the trees! So I've been loving these crazy downpours this week (sorry)!

9. Free stuff from magazines! This week I got a free Eyeko eyeliner with Glamour magazine. Loves me a freebie!

10. The TwoDots app. I have been addicted to this game all week! The graphics are so cute!

What's made you happy this week?

{This photo ^^ is from my favourite beach down South...Botany Bay beach. So darn pretty!}

1101

Yesterday, O and I went for a jaunt to Seaham for the first time. Being newbie North Easterners, we love going on road trips to discover our new home. Our plan was to go sample Lickety Splits (more on this in another post), but as we parked the car we were greeted by this imposing gent!

Tommy sits close to the Terrace Green cenotaph on the Seaham seafront to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War. Created by local artist, Ray Lonsdale, Tommy sits head bowed, with a rifle in hand, as he reflects upon the horror of World War One during the first minute after peace was declared in 1918. The sculpture, built out of special corteen steel was named "1101" to reflect the moments after the Armistice was declared at 11am on 11 November 1918. He stands 9 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 1.2 tonnes. The piece also represents the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which many of the returning soldiers endured. Tommy will sit on the Seaham seafront for three months before moving on elsewhere (due to costs, I think).

Tommy was surrounded by crowds of locals and visitors, it was difficult to get a photo of him on his own, let me tell you! The photos really don't do him any justice. When you're actually standing next to him, he towers over everyone, leaving you feeling very humbled. If you're in the area, I would seriously recommend visiting the lovely Tommy, he is majestic.  Lonsdale also penned a poem engraved on the side of the sculpture entitled "Eleven 'O' One".

 

                                            

The #selflove tag!

 

Don't worry, this tag is not as naughty as it sounds! Since I'm pretty much couch bound for the next few weeks, this blog may be slightly lacking in the exciting experiences area. So, bear with me until I get back on my feet. Anyway, back to the topic in hand. This tag is all about how bloody awesome we all are. That's right, we're all pretty darn special. I pilfered it from the lovely Lisa's blog, so go check her answers out, if you get a chance.

So let's get on with the questions...

What’s your favourite thing about your appearance?
Getting the tough questions out of the way first, I see! Probably my eyes. Cliché, I know. Sometimes they're blue, sometimes they're green. I kinda like my hands too. People always ask me if I play the piano...do I have pianist fingers??

What do you like about your personality?
I'm a pretty laid back kinda girl. My friends used to say that I was almost horizontal. I like to go with the flow and not get too stressed out by the world. If you were to ask O, he would say that I'm stubborn and I think that this can be a good trait, as well as a bad!

Tell us something you’re good at:
I'm pretty good at sussing people out. I'm good at making people feel better and bringing them out their shell. I'm also pretty good at procrastinating. If I can avoid doing work, I will! Oh and I'm seriously amazing at justifying cake.

What has been your biggest achievement, over the past 12 months?
Adapting to change. O and I have moved around a lot lately. I'm kinda proud that I'm brave enough to quit my job, leave my flat and move to the opposite side of the country. All for love of course...shmoosh! Ha!

What goal are you most likely to achieve this year?
This year, my main goal is to figure out what I want to do with my life. I'm lucky enough to be able to take some time out for a few months to try and decide what I want my future to look like, with O by my side of course!

Are there any other goals that you think you’ll achieve this year?
Getting fit and healthy. O and I started training for a charity marathon walk a few months ago and I loved all the exercise. Unfortunately, last week I hurt my back and it's going to take me at least six week to recovery from it. So, really my goal is to take better care of myself. There's only one of me!

What was the last thing that made you feel good about yourself?
Last weekend when O and I got dressed up and went out for the day. We had an awesome day and it just made my heart happy. I didn't really answer this question properly, did I?

Have you noticed any positive changes in yourself recently?
I'm learning to love my own company and trying to be more positive about life in general. I think O has really noticed a difference in my attitude since we left the South.

Share something that fits in with the theme of self-love:
I think it's important to learn to love yourself, as soppy as that sounds.

When was the last time you treated yourself? What did you do, and why?
I bought some new stationery last week, along with some new make up. Usually, I don't need a reason to treat myself! :)

When do you next plan to treat yourself? Any thoughts on what you’re going to do?
Once my back is better, I have a whole list of things that I want to do with O. Lots of nice restaurants, cafes and pubs that I want to visit.

Give us a tip for improving self-love:
I've always been one of these people who cares too much about what other people think. Once I turned 30, I realised that I was wasting my time worrying about other people. Now, as long as O and I are happy, I don;t really care what anyone else thinks. If someone causes you stress and pain. Get out. Simples. :)

This post is much much more mooshier than I usually am. Being a Scottish, we don't do too well with talking about our feelings, so this was a toughie for me. I tag all my buddies to do this, gives you a nice sense of calm afterwards! Ok, that's enough moosh from me! :)

 

 

introducing...plewsy.!

I reckon by now, you're all pretty much aware of my stationery obsession. Late one evening last week, I was browsing through one of the many Twitter blogger hours, where local companies and bloggers can share their ideas, products and blogs, when I discovered Plewsy.

Fiona Plews, a clever local Yorkshire illustrator and designer, created Plewsy in 2013. She has many strings to her bow, including some seriously pretty note cards, designing various logos and her involvement in many other design and illustration projects. You can learn all about Fiona and her shenanigans on her blog here. The illustrations on her note cards are what first caught my eye and she was kind enough to send me through a few samples.

I seriously can't get over how cute these are. There's no way I can actually bring myself to deface these with my handwriting, so they will take pride of place in a new gallery wall project I've got going on (more on this soon). I'm a totally obsessive collector when it comes to beautiful cards like these and will be fully taking advantage of Fiona's Etsy shop, so that I can get my hands on every last one of them!

Luckily for us all, Fiona is holding an open day to launch all of her new collection, which includes some new wedding stationery, which I'm already lusting after. I seriously want this lady to design everything for our wedding, I'm sure this will be news to her!

 

You can find details of the open day here. Pop along to have nosy at Fiona's new collection and for a spot of tea and cake of course!

See you there! :)

{These samples were provided by Fiona Plews, but as always, all views and opinions are entirely my own.}

local eats :: pleased to meet you!

I don't know about you, but I love me a good gin bar. I'm actually half way through writing a post where I declare my love for said gin. So, when O and I decided to go to Newcastle for the afternoon, I knew exactly where we were headed. Pleased To Meet You is nestled on a little side street called High Bridge and looks pretty unassuming from the outside. Inside, however, it's glorious exposed brickwork and super comfy leather benches seriously woo you.

We arrived around noon, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which meant the service was impeccable. We started off with some beers whilst we perused the HUGE menu (it's about two feet long!). O ordered a craft beer (can't remember the name) and I got a bottle of Anchor lager, which I loved. Nothing nicer than a cold beer to start off your afternoon! Their selection of craft beers is pretty epic, even O was impressed.

After much debate we decided to order the Meat Slider sharing platter with herb fries. Oh my. Firstly, those fries were to die for. Crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy on the inside. The mini burgers were so darn cute. They all had some kinda quirky flavour, not your usual run of the mill slider. We had brisket, pulled pork and salt beef to choose from, and luckily for us, they give you two of each, so no fighting over them! 

The sharing platters are just the right amount of food to line your stomach before embarking upon one of their infamous cocktails. It literally took me half an hour to choose which cocktail I wanted. The descriptions themselves leave you slightly drooling...

In the end, I went with a "Pleased To Meet You No1", which was a concoction of: Gabriel Boudier saffron gin, Yellow Chartreuse, Licor 43 and DiSaronno Amaretto. It was served ice cold with a "spray of orange blossom flower water". Hells yeah! You really need to enjoy oranges if you want to like this bad boy, which luckily, I do! It was served in a champagne saucer, which is seriously my favourite cocktail glass. I want these beauties in my wedding! I was initially planning on ordering one of their many gins, but I have a least twenty different gins at home that I can have anytime (I'm not an alcoholic, I promise! Just a collector...). 

O decided he was feeling too manly to get a cocktail, so he ordered a whisky. A Japanese Hibiki 17 year old, which was also pretty darn good. The only problem with this, is that O now wants to buy a whole bottle of it!

All in all, we pretty much fell in love with this place. Don't get me wrong, it's not the cheapest gin joint I've ever been in. But I'm a sucker for quirky places with atmosphere and PTMY definitely ticks this box for me. It covers most bases, good food, it boasts hefty whisky and gin lists, craft beer and some seriously interesting cocktail combinations. Do yourself a favour and nip into this joint for a wee dram, a slider or some lush gin. 

 

Thursday :: In burgers {it's all about the little things}

 

How cute is the little fox? I found him in Paperchase on a cute little note card. I think I'm equally in love with both foxes and stationery...

Anyway! As you've probably heard, I've been laid up all week with a dodgy back. I've never realised how difficult it is to be vertically challenged. I've had to completely rely on O to do almost everything for me. I actually miss doing housework, yeah I know, what's that all about?! This week I've realised it's all about appreciating the small things. So, before I get into all the burgers, here's a wee list of all the small things that have rocked my world lately. Oh and just a heads up, they're all mostly O related (hearty smoosh!).

1/ O buying me flowers and doughnuts to cheer me out. He knows the way to this girl's heart!

2/ We were supposed to go to Durham for the day on bank holiday Monday, but I literally couldn't walk. Instead, O got me into the car (the only place I find comfy right now) and took me for a driving tour of Durham! He said it was just a preview of the city, like a little appetiser, before we actually get to do the walking tour. How darn cute!

3/ Chatting to my Mum. Don't get me wrong, I always appreciate talking to my Mum, but this week she's been calling me every day to check on me and I love it! She listens to me rant and moan for about an hour and I don't know about you, but this always makes me feel better.

4/ Make-shift hot water bottles. We couldn't find any, so have been using SIGG bottles covered in one of O's big work socks. It's the perfect shape for wedging behind my back.

5/ Yesterday I got mad because I couldn't even take the clean washing out of the machine. Clearly I had serious cabin fever. So once again, O came to the rescue and took me out to the MetroCentre. This is where all the burger-ness happened! Oh and sweet potato fries? They make my belly so happy!

So yeah, last night this happened. We hit Gourmet Burger Kitchen hard...

Oh darn, I'm always one photo short for a full gallery...oh well, we'll cope. We had the halloumi bites, which with the slightly spicy dip, where so salty and cheesetastic. I had the Camemburger. You can never have enough cheese and hash browns, right? We both know that a burger ain't a burger without sweet potato fries along with aioli and baconnaise. That's right, baconnaise! Bacon mayonnaise, hummana hummana! Oh and O had the Don (with an extra patty) and skinny fries. GBK isn't my favourite burger joint, but last night, it seriously hit the spot.

Where are your favourite burger joints in the North East? Oh and I'm going to Newcastle tomorrow (back issues permitting), which places should I hit up??