Sunday 29 November 2015

Number 19: Discover 10 new restaurants - Croma

This post should definitely have the disclaimer of "new-to-me" restaurants...

Croma Pizza
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Croma is by no means new, in fact it's a bit of a Manchester institution; with the first restaurant opening in 2000.  But, despite living in the city for seven years, I had never been...  So, spending a rainy Saturday evening catching up with old friends over delicious pizza and a few glasses of wine seemed like the perfect way to rectify this oversight.

The food was delicious, I can't recommend the Garstang blue and goat's cheese pizza highly enough.  And I will definitely be back to sample more of the menu next time I'm "up North".

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Number 17: Watch 10 Audrey Hepburn films - Paris when it Sizzles

This is one of those films that gets funnier every time I watch it.  I love the film-within-a-film aspect and all the geeky references to other Hepburn films.  And let's face it, its worth watching for Tony Curtis alone...


Paris when it sizzles.jpeg
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Sunday 22 November 2015

Number 19: Discover 10 new restaurants - Wahaca



Last weekend, I headed back up to Manchester for some much needed catching up with friends.  As always, there were tonnes of new restaurants that had opened up in my absence so we took the opportunity to try out a few of them (more to follow...).

wahaca manchester now open
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First on the list was Wahaca, which I'd never been to before despite it being quite a large chain.  And I was really impressed - we had delicious food and good service, I'd definitely recommend!  And as they regularly change the menu, I'll be heading back too to see what's on offer.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Number 17: Watch 10 Audrey Hepburn films - Charade

Charade movieposter.jpg
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I do love a whodunnit, so a whodunnit featuring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant was always going to be a winner.  This is the sort of film you can watch over again and see more each time.  I love every twist and turn in this cracking film.

An exhibition of Audrey portraits has just opened at The Wilson in Cheltenham and I'm very excited to see it (once I've watched a few more of her films).

Sunday 15 November 2015

Number 47: Exercise 3 times a week for 3 months



Having conquered the first hurdle of actually attending a Barre Concept class, I challenged myself to exercise three times a week for three months.  I did a combination of cycling and classes and I think having the challenge as an impetus really spurred me on.  I'm never going to be super fit or mega into exercise, but hopefully I'll keep my body in better nick for a little bit.

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I completed this challenge early in July and managed to keep up attending Barre Concept until I moved home.  Since getting back I've basically done nothing, but last week I started doing a few of Yoga with Adriene's videos, which I'm really enjoying so far.

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Number 37: Visit every county in the UK - Yorkshire

This year, I was invited to my first ever hen party and followed by my first wedding as an actual grown up (not just tagging along with the rest of my family).  This meant that both my May bank holidays were spent in the largest county in the England; Yorkshire (Leeds to be specific).  And it was pretty glorious...




Sunday 8 November 2015

Number 35: Take a cooking lesson

For my birthday this year, my parents bought me a bread baking lesson at the Cambridge Cookery School.  Having never made bread before, I was a little nervous about nearly a full day of baking!  But the day was really good fun - baking four different types of bread (Scandinavian soda bread, cinnamon rolls, bread rolls and white tin loaf), each using a different technique and then eating lunch as a big group and sampling some variations on the recipes we'd tried.

Spoils of the day...

Since the lesson, I've tried making the cinnamon rolls again and, although they weren't quite as perfect, they were edible #nailedit.

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Number 90: Meet a celebrity

Having already scoured the shelves of Waterstones in Piccadilly for a signed copy of Mary Portas' memoir Shop Girl following her signing, which I sadly couldn't make, you can imagine my excitement when I spotted that she would be speaking at the Cambridge Literary Festival.




After listening to a lively discussion, I queued up with the rest of the hoards to meet the lady herself.  She was so lovely, exactly like she is on the telly, even though I was completely tongue-tied at meeting her in the flesh!  



Sunday 1 November 2015

Number 44: Buy personalised stationery

I've always loved writing (and receiving!) letters via good old fashioned snail mail.  But it wasn't until I starting reading Carly's blog that starting lusting after my very own personalised stationery. It seems that this sort of thing is much easier to get hold of in the US, but after a bit of searching I came across Honey Tree Publishing.  After a large amount of deliberation, I finally decided on a pretty bicycle design and placed my order, which arrived super quickly (now I just need to get organised to actually write my letters!).