THE MEGA UPDATE: April - Birthday Loveliness and a Magnetism to York...

The second part to my MEGA UPDATE! This covers the happenings in April!

It's finally April! We all know what this means...

BIRTHDAY TIME!! :D *Yay!*

We made a couple of days out of it because everyone was more free at the weekend, so I've got a few pics to show you (and yes, I did manage to eat a lot. There seems to be a theme here...)!

Here we go...

On the Sunday that everyone happened to be free, we went to Le Mistral in Sherwood. It's a lot like the Nottingham version and the food was just as tasty :) I had Duck Confit for my dinner (you may need to tilt your head to one side to properly see it) and Crème Brûlée for dessert.

This year's birthday cake, made by Mum! Me and Gem had a shared cake this year - 2 sections represent me and the other 2 represent my sister. Can you guess which ones were which?

On the day of my actual birthday me & Dan decided we would be adventurous and go out for breakfast. We took a trip to Pudding Pantry (one of my favourite places!) and I encouraged Dan to try his FIRST EVER pancakes & bacon with maple syrup (that wasn't made by me!).

He looks so happy in that photo!

(The pancakes did NOT last long after that)

Even Google decided to celebrate my birthday! (Mmm, cake)

To round off yet another day of eating lots, me & Dan headed to the Treetops in Mapperley for dinner. For a long time I thought I was allergic to scampi, but an enlightening trip to The Lobster Pot (see previous post!) changed all that. So for the first time in FIVE YEARS, I had scampi and chips! Dan had yet another glorious-looking cheeseburger with cheesy nachos.

To be totally honest, I truly didn't know what I was going to do with my birthday this year - I thought about having some kind of party (always a good option in my book) but I really didn't know what I wanted to happen for the day. So Dan, being the lovely and understanding person that he is, took me shopping for my birthday.

Now, Dan is not overly fond of clothes shopping for himself, so it meant a lot that he wanted to take me out into town to help me spend some of my birthday money.

We went into Cath Kidston and I picked out a dress - I wasn't sure of it at first, but Dan encouraged me to try it on! Naturally, I bought it because it turns out he's secretly a clothing genius :3 (He probably wouldn't say that though!)

I haven't had chance to take a photo of it yet, but when I do you'll see it on either Twitter or Instagram. Or both. It's a habit of mine. (And you'll probably find it next to all the food photos!)

Right, gotta go - I have more in the way of exciting things to plan... :3 x

So fun times were had with birthdays and eating and wonderfulness. But we're not done with April yet!

The following was an entry due for late April or early May...

FINALLY!!! I'VE BEEN TO YORK AGAIN!

It seems like it's been ages since my last visit to York and I've truly missed it having moved back to sunny (well, not that sunny, more like rainy) Nottingham. So to get the chance to meet up with the lovely Hannah and Sarah was too good to miss!

York was quite cold and a little bit wet whilst we were there. Hence the coats in the photo. We got plenty of time to do some shopping and a lot of catching up!

Me and the girls!

Yup. Cake again. Though this time it was at Betty's Tearooms!

So FANCY cake. :3

Another fancy cake called Japonaise, otherwise known as a "Jap". My Mum has been looking for places that sell the milk/dark chocolate one for ages - I found a white chocolate and rose one at Betty's, so I came close!

(This next section is a continuation and was written in early May)

UPDATE! I WENT TO YORK AGAIN!

Now it's early May. There were a lot of works on the train lines coming into Sheffield so it's currently closed off. Very annoying. Managed to get to Sarah's in good time and we planned to catch the Park and Ride into York.

Big Mistake.

Turns out it really would have been quicker to get the train - due to the unprecedented amount of traffic our bus was 40 minutes late! Thankfully Hannah was very patient and she saved a table for us at the Harkers pub in York city centre. We were exhausted already, so it's a good thing the food was amazing...

Ah. I thought I took a photo. No such thing exists.
Probably because I ate it so fast.

BUT after a lot of shopping was had (a miracle considering we only had a rather limited time after the bus escapade) we did manage to sneak in a trip to Crumbs Cupcakery and also a little shop we'd never seen before called Cocoa and Sweet!

Party. Ring. Cupcakes.

In a word: amazing.

Although if I'd had another, the girls implied they probably wouldn't be able to peel me off the ceiling.

This lovely little shop of magicness is called Cocoa and Sweet. This wasn't in York when we finished university in June of last year, so this is a relatively new shop to me and the girls.

It certainly is a beautiful one though - it gives the impression of a modern take on an old sweet shop.

Personally, I love it!

*Phew*. I've had a busy month.

Probably won't be long before I visit York again though. Looks like I can't stay away from the place...!

Tune in next time for the third part of THE MEGA UPDATE! The final month to be covered will be May!

Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
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Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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THE MEGA UPDATE: March - The Art Of Trying! (And Eating A Lot)

NNNNNGH.
SO. MANY. HAPPENINGS!

I've been doing a lot these past couple of months where I haven't exactly updated (obvs) so I'm gonna have to have a MEGA UPDATE and split it into 3 parts: March, April and May.
Here's the first: March...

This month I've been trying a few new things. Mainly food. But I DID go a little bit social and I tried Twitter's Periscope for the first time. It was a rather awkward experience if I'm honest - you know that feeling when you are in a position to talk about absolutely anything but suddenly you can't find ANYTHING TO TALK ABOUT-

Yup. That.

So once I've figured out a little structure or theme for each one, I'll try it all again and see how it goes! It's all live, you see. Very different to vlogging! (Speaking of which, I'll be getting a new video editor soon, so you'll see more of those in the near future!)

On the theme of trying new things, I visited a wonderful seafood restaurant recently called The Lobster Pot, located on Mansfield Road in Nottingham, with my colleague Lucy after we'd been to the gym (another very recent development and a slightly exhausting one). 

I've included a couple of pictures of what I had (and a glimpse of what she had!) - I even tried oysters and mussels for the first time! Two new things in one night!
I can't find the pictures of the mussels and oysters, but I got a couple of other pictures...

The main course - I had Salmon with a red onion marmalade and fries, whilst Lucy had a soy sauce and ginger Salmon with salad :)

BANANA CAKE (with ice cream)!! 

I very nearly face-planted this and probably would have done if it wasn't hot...

So a lovely evening filled with tasty things :) Good job Lobster Pot!

Jumping forward a little to the Easter weekend - I travelled up to Sunderland again, this time to share Easter with Dan and his family, as well as to celebrate Dan's birthday!

I received MANY chocolate things (believe me, it took a while for get through them all, even for me) and the Easter service at Dan's church was fantastic. I was also assured by Dan that he had a "brilliant" birthday (his words!); he got some fabulous presents, one of which being concert tickets to see Electric Light Orchestra! 
A few family members and friends came round for a lovely buffet lunch put on by his Mum and Dave - as for the theme of trying new things, I tried Dave's (very hot) chicken curry for the first time.

Two words. Instant. Regret.

I don't remember ever reaching for a glass of wine as quickly as I did after one bite of that curry!

Continuing on the theme of food, me and Dan went out for the evening to a nearby pub called The Stackyard. We usually go to Italian-themed restaurants when I'm up there, so it was nice to try something a little different. 
Here's a few pics of our meal (which was very tasty and didn't last long in the slightest):

I had steak and chips with crispy onion rings and Diane mushroom sauce...

...Whilst Dan had the most gloriously large cheeseburger I'd seen in a long time...!

Oops. How'd that get in here? ;)

So unashamedly, most of my 'trying' this month has been 'guinea-pigging' with food.
With all this eating, it's a good thing I've signed up to a gym so I can burn off the calories (so I can eat even more stuff!)...

The next update will cover April. Stay tuned!


Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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A Busy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

*Thud*

It's a good thing us Brits are natural queuers!

I can't believe it's already been three months since I started my full-time job at Beaverbrooks Jewellers (sorry for the lack of updates by the way :P) - I certainly learnt a lot over Christmas and the weeks leading up to it. Who knew we'd have to have a queuing system just to get through everybody? 

(Well, my colleagues did - they warned me and the other newbies that we'd be quite tired by the end of Christmas and the New Year sales!)

My colleagues are fantastic (and very funny!) and they've really helped me to settle into this kind of retail. It's very different to what I did before, so it takes some getting used to, but they're very supportive.

They were kind in letting me have New Year off so that I could go and see Dan up in Sunderland - it's been quite difficult as of late to get up and see him, due to us both having full-time jobs. He has weekends free, but I don't quite a lot of the time.

We had an absolutely fabulous time up North - he took me out for dinner on the 30th (*melts*) and then spent New Year's Eve visiting people and briefly visiting Newcastle (as you do). He even drove me all the way back to Nottingham on New Year's Day, only to drive back up the next day! He is good :)

Speaking of Christmas, I got a great baking-related present this year - a cake airbrush! You attach a specific food colouring bottle to a special-looking airbrush thing and you can spray the colour to decorate cakes and icing sculptures! I haven't used it yet, but you peeps will be one of the first to know as I'll probably end up posting it on here :3

I'll have to practise my decorating skills anyway - two of my friends who I have known since secondary school got engaged back in November and they want me to not only be a Bridesmaid, but they want me to make their wedding cake too! Well, I did help them choose the ring! Congratulations Mary and Stephen! :D

Right, I'd best be off - I have Christmas chocolate to polish off and it isn't going to eat itself... *nom*




Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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National Cake Week!

Overviews written from 5th - 9th October, pictures and news added 18th October

TL;DR: I went to 4 cafés in Nottingham and stuffed myself with amazing cake :3 don't forget to scroll to the bottom for my news!

Okay, I will freely admit that this is one of my favourite weeks of the year!

To celebrate National Cake Week, I thought it would be good (well, actually it was my Dad's idea!) to try a few new cafés in Nottingham to get me out doing a few fun things before -

Oop. I won't mention that piece of news just yet! You'll have to wait till the end of the post!

So this week, I tried the following cafés - I have done an overview of each (and attached pics!) to help you cake fanatics out (I've also attached their Twitter handle so you can look for them!):

Pudding Pantry (@pudding_pantry)
200 Degrees (@200DegreesCafe)
Copper (@coppercafenottm)
Homemade (@homemadecafe)


First of all, Pudding Pantry!

Date of Visit: 6th October 2015
What I had: Cappuccino (okay, TWO); Blueberry and White Chocolate Victoria Sponge
Price: £7.75 for all 3 items (not bad when you're still in student mode)
Food thoughts: Have never had such a colourful blueberry cake, never mind one combined with Victoria sponge! Genius!
Atmosphere: Comfy and friendly! Great location near the Cornerhouse too.
Service: Very lovely, smiley, quick service, especially considering how busy they can get!
Presentation: Amazing! These peeps are Pros!
Other notes: I find this café to be very similar to Brew and Brownie (@brewandbrownie) in York! Similar atmosphere and similar menu items (very much a coincidence, I must add), but local twists!
Next time: I'd love to try their pancakes for breakfast, or their afternoon tea! (Looking around at the stacks of food available, I may need some help!)



Next up, 200 Degrees!

Date of Visit: 7th October 2015
What I had: Cappuccino; Choccy Woccy Slice
Price: £4.20 total
Food thoughts: Great coffee and tasty cake! Reminds me of tiffin crossed with brownies! *nomnomnom*
Atmosphere: Warm and lots of people! Currently on a seat with a little 'bar' attached to the wall. Precarious but still surprisingly comfortable!
Service: Very quick service accompanied by very friendly staff! They found me with no problem at all in a crowded café!
Presentation: Lovely presentation, just wanted to get stuck in! And the coffee - we have baristas in the house, people! :)
Other notes: Drank and ate VERY quickly! I think that says something about the tastiness!
Next time: There were lots of cake choices and savouries too, so definitely worth another try!

On the same day, I popped over to the newly opened Copper Café in Nottingham City Centre!

Date of Visit: 7th October 2015
What I had: Elderflower pressé; Chocolate Ganache Cake
Price: about £8
Food thoughts: WHAT. Possibly the lightest chocolate cake I've ever eaten! Was expecting a traditional close-textured chocolate cake but was pleasantly surprised!
Atmosphere: Very quiet as it only opened today! Great décor and feels cosy :)
Service: The staff are amazing! Some are brand new and they're doing very well! :3
Presentation: Took a pic but didn't have time to look properly :3 Hehehe!
Other notes: Was totally determined to finish the cake, but sadly couldn't due to earlier cake! Very, very tasty though! Good job Copper!



And the last of the week... Homemade Café!


Date of Visit: 8th October 2015
What I had: Cappuccino (in need of comparisons!); Lemon and Raspberry Cake
Price: £5.45 total (I got a discount, so £5)
Food thoughts: AMAZING cake! Lemon and raspberry go very well together and the cake was quite refreshing! *accidentally gets crumbs on notepad*
Atmosphere: Was expecting it to be heaving with people like it normally appears to be, but I managed to come in on a quiet day! Very chilled out and relaxing :)
Service: Quick and always with a smile!
Presentation: Simple yet effective :) Loving the pink icing on the cake!
Other notes: Seems like a nice spot for a catch up - most times I look in the window it's INSANE, so it proves its popularity for this I'm sure :)


Thanks to those cafés who provided me with noms for this! I had a lot of fun, so I think I may have to do some café overviews more often... :3

I also made my own cakes for National Cake Week and took them in to a very appreciative-looking newsroom at Notts TV (See right!)

Now for my news!

I can now officially announce that I am leaving my part-time job at Whittard of Chelsea. My last Sunday is on the 25th October - and during that time I will be starting my first ever FULL-TIME job at Beaverbrooks Jewellers! 

I will be keeping my job at Notts TV as well - it'll be tricky and I will be working A LOT (Gah, more blog delays!) but it's all going to be enjoyable and worth every minute!

I'll miss everyone at Whittard, whether you worked at York Parliament or Nottingham (and the Outlet & Leeds as well! You know who you are!) but I'm very excited about everything that's happening and I'm looking forward to the future!

I can also announce that I have PASSED my theory test in driving! Now for the final stretch to driving in the practical test and then I'll be driving independently! (You might still want to stay away from roundabouts. I'm sketchy with those)

So yeah.
BRING IT ON!!!
...

I may need coffee and cake first... x



Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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Lack of Organisation Skills & Late Night Hot Chocolate

*Has Hot Chocolate*

*slurp*

*gulp*

*nom*

Oop. Hi!

So it's been a couple of weeks (ish) since the last post! (Gah. When will I get good at continuity?)** 
More work-y developments, such as try-outs for the Counter job at Notts TV (harder than it sounds - basically keeping EVERYONE IN THE STUDIO IN TIME) and possible supply work as a TA in the works. We'll see how that goes :P

Whittard Nottingham are having their tea relaunch NEXT WEEK, so we're a little crazy at the moment. If you happen to walk past and see us in chaos, bear with. We're excited but have a lot to do!

Driving lessons are going well (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-) and I'm actually making some progress! I've still got a little way to go, especially overcoming my fear of quite literally everything else on the road (-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA). People who like cutting corners do not help my confidence when it comes to this. Nor those who assume that I'll be slow.

I've just been night driving with my Mum, as she and Dad have put me onto the family insurance (brave souls). It's very difficult for me, especially as my eyes seem to get tired easily. But I hope my driving instructor will be proud of me when I tell him that I DID manage to spot (and not squash) a hedgehog in the road! I waited for it to scurry past and onto the other side of the road.
That 90s advert clearly did not help it. 

(You haven't seen the 'King Of The Road' Ad? Really? Get out.)

Oh, and I went to IKEA today.
*Storage...*

*Ahem*

Anyways, so much stuff to do and seemingly so little time to do it.

I mean, I STILL haven't finished Destination Paris.

It's only been a year...


**At least I'm not the TV show Sherlock. That just takes a ridiculously long amount of time.

Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
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SO...MUCH...HAPPENING!

*Takes a deep breath*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay.


So much has happened in the last few weeks! Here's the short version of the highlights:


Transferred successfully from Whittard York to Whittard Nottingham (yay!); caught up with many peoples; tried to sort my room out as I was living out of boxes (Mum gave in and did it while I was at work!); took a trip to Redcar to catch up with the York house-mates (double yay!); then they came down to Nottingham to surprise ME (triple yay!) saw Pixar's new movie Inside Out (OMIGOSH IT'S HOW MY BRAIN WORKS); and a whole lot of other stuff I'm trying to remember on demand but I've suddenly forgotten!

Oh, and I've got a part-time job as a Floor Manager for Notts TV!

WHAT?!?
Okay. :D

So basically, for frequent updates it's best if you follow me on Twitter - seems to be the easiest form of communication for me right now! (@PinkPurpleDinky)

It's a little weird being back in Nottingham now I know that I'm not heading back to York for Uni - the realisation that I've finished seems a little unreal, to be totally honest. Not that I don't enjoy being back home, of course, and I will visit York whenever I can (and who knows? Maybe I could end up going back to live there one day?). It's just... *nngh*

Starting at a new Whittard has been exciting though (still thinking of everyone at YPS!) - the company are relaunching their entire tea collection! New teas are being made and some of the older ones are getting an update, with new packaging! I know a lot of you won't find new packaging exciting, but I do - I've seen some of the new stuff (which I'm probably not allowed to tell you yet, so I won't)!

The staff at Notts TV have been great too - I was a little nervous learning what I needed to be doing, as it's all LIVE (yes, really!), but I think I've gotten the hang of it now - it's not gone wrong yet, at least! :3 So I'll be doing that a couple of evenings a week.

Family update: Twinnie Gem and Brother-in-Law Joe celebrated 4 years of marriage this month! 4 years already?!? Where did the time go??
Mum and Dad are awesome as always - they're working on a great project. A train - in the garden. That we can ride on! For all you train buffs, it's a 7 and a 1/4-inch gauge steam train - the only thing electric on it is the emergency stop! (I posted a pic of the upcoming track on Twitter! Well, mainly of whisky, but the track is in there!)

Dan's still amazing - he's struggling to find a good job (suggestions welcome!) but he's still optimistic! He's in the process of starting his blog, so I'll let you all know when that launches :)

I think that's everything for the time being, but there is one major event coming up in November that I cannot wait for - graduation day! In York Minster, no less! Our Chancellor (of York St. John University) is Archbishop Sentamu, and anyone who has ever had the privilege of hearing him speak will know that this automatically makes the event worth going to. He. Is. HILARIOUS.

Seeing Dan graduate last year was amazing; knowing that it was going to be me the following year was a little daunting but exciting! All I had to do was pass.

Although, I'll admit that getting a 2:1 in your degree is rather relieving! :D

More soon! I'll keep you peeps posted...! x


EDIT: I almost forgot to mention! Thank you all SO MUCH for helping this blog reach 10,000 pageviews!!! YOU'RE ALL AWESOME!!!!!! :D xx

Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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100th Post!

Before I go on to how awesome it is to have reached 100 posts on my blog, I want to say something very important.

Thank you.

Thank you all so much for bearing with me whilst I've been completing my third and final year at York St John University. Thanks to your patience and the support I have received, I have been able to finish.

And kick those essays' butts. :3

I won't lie, it's been very stressful and tiring. But it's all been 100% worth it!

More info on my final grade and graduation will be coming soon, but for now, I want to thank you again!

I've reached 100 posts!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!

It's been a long time coming (see above!) but I enjoy writing these so much - and I love the idea of you, the reader, enjoying these posts too!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and I hope that you continue to enjoy it!

I also want to thank my friends, family and boyfriend for putting up with me through the years I've been doing this blog, especially when it came to Uni. You've been so supportive of me and although I have come dangerously close to running out of happy on a couple of occasions due to stress, you've always found a way to make me smile! :)

There is so much material for the blog on the way - adventures, a Uni theatre review(!), events and baking, as well as many other random things such as work and the daunting task of moving back home after a wonderful three years in the beautiful city of York...

Gah - I'm having to write a list so I can order what I'm going to be writing about! XD

Once again, thank you for all your support so far - it means a lot...! :D

Keep reading peeps...! x


P.S. YouTube stuff: Destination Paris episode 1 is finally finished, but there is a delay on episodes 2 and 3 due to lack of skills in video editing - I should have plenty more time to do them now! :P

P.P.S. My boyfriend Dan will have a blog coming out soon! I'll let you know when it launches! :3

Twitter: @PinkPurpleDinky
Facebook: Pink, Purple and Dinky (Writer page)
Instagram: @katylizzie1804
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