Gin Festival London

Gin Festival London is a once per year event. Filled to the brim with hundreds brands that bring in the crowds like a magpie to shiny things. This is a gin festival so if this drink isn't your cup of tea, then your probably not going to like it, but if your open to trying something new, I would definitely give this a go. I am a newbie to the gin crowd, so for me this was a perfect way to get stuck in.

When you first get to the festival you are given a booklet, a little bag which I found really useful to carry my glass in (if it wasn't in my hand which was 90% of the time), a pen and a sheet too add your details too if you wanted to purchase a bottle of your favourite after but not want to carry it home. We then headed to the tills where we each brought a card for £20 which gave us enough tokens for four drinks each. Off to the bar we went...

We were guided to a large room where four bars awaited us, each labelled from A-D. We found that each one had a rough theme to us based on the flavour notes given to us in the book, but it could have just been a coincidence. I personally found bar B was full of the strongest percentage ones and C full of spiced gins.  Deciding it would be a good strategy to try a drink from each bar we looked through our books to find one that took our fancy. The key flavours I was looking for were fruit and citrus as I find this helps to freshen the drink making it easier to consume. I already knew spiced gins weren't my thing so I stayed clear of those from the offset.

My first taste was from a brand called Brockmans, it was deliciously fruity with notes of blackberries, perfect with your standard tonic water. This was actually my favourite from the whole day and I will be purchasing a full bottle of it in the future. Now with each gin it tells you which tonic compliments it the best but after trying a few variations I noticed that the lemon and elderflower tonics overpower the gin flavour. If you were there to try the real flavours of the gin I would keep to standard tonic for this purpose. I personally LOVE elderflower in my gin so I was all over that and the lemon tonic made one of mine taste just like lemonade which was delicious and very easy to consume.

The are also food stands, (I tried an a-maz-ing nacho veggie burger with halloumi in - ugh dreamy) Live bands were playing in the bar, there was an outside area filled with deck chairs to sit with your favourites and enjoy the day. During the day I ended up consuming about six drinks and got quite merry from it. It was nice to forget the world and laugh at stupid things such as when I was explaining how people sniff their gins first for flavour and somehow managed to get a straw wedged up my nose.

It was a really lovely start to my bank holiday weekend and would highly recommend giving it a go next year. Are there any festivals you've been loving this year? Please let me know as I want to make a conscious effort to go to more in 2017.

Pre-Fashion Week dinner at Balans Soho Society

Last week I had the privilege of being asked to a bloggers event held by Danielle of The Bloggers Hangout. As there was going to be a fashion week event on the Monday, Danielle wanted to organise a pre party at Balans Soho with a few bloggers she hadn't had the chance to get to know as well.

Now I'm all for an event as it is one of the nicest perks of being a blogger. You get to meet new brands and like-minded people with the chance to also try and review a few products you might not have known about before but then I am also a socially awkward person. The two don't really mix.

The reason I started my blog in the first place, was to have a new hobby with the hope that it would help with my self confidence and social anxiety. I am now saying yes to a lot more opportunities by realising that things are never as bad as they first seem in your head, this event being one of them. I was very close to not going as I was so nervous but as soon as I arrived I was greeted with smiles and great conversation with Rosie from 'A girl on a journey' and felt comfortable straight away. 

Danielle was really thoughtful and added personalised seating cards to the table which I got very excited about, as I never have anything with my name on with its unusual spelling. We all talked while we waited for the other girls to arrive before we each ordered a cocktail of our choice. It was really difficult to choose from the colourful menu but I ended up going for the Apple and Elderflower Collins with a little persuasion from our very attentive waiter David J. Its the perfect cocktail if you don't want something too sweet as it packs a slightly bitter kick at the end of every mouthful. A good choice if you want something light before a heavy meal.

 Next up it was time to choose what we wanted for our main course. What I like about Balans Soho is the variety of food they do, from burgers to crab linguine and all thats in between to cater for every palette. Now I'm a sucker for a burger and even though there was such good choice on the menu I just couldn't resist it and its triple cook fries, it did not disappoint. The burger was cooked to my medium/ well done satisfaction and the chips were delightful. Creamy in the middle with a crispy coating so moreish that the salad on the side was like an old friend I had grown out of. 

Conversation with the girls fell like a seamless waterfall and it felt like we had known each other for ages. We were a great mix of people with different personalities which would make for the perfect girlband. We talked for ages during and in between the courses which made time fly by, nearly forgetting that we still needed to order our dessert. Now this was another tough choice but David J was ready with his best recommendations, which led to my decision of the banoffee pie. Not having ever tried this before, (I know whats wrong with me?) I had to break my banoffee virginity. 

It was delicious! A buttery crumb with layers of perfectly ripened banana, topped with a mountain of delightfully light cream so big, even I was unsure if I could climb it. To add to the abundance of layers, it sat on a river of toffee so delicious I had to eat it by itself once I was shamefully defeated half way through. I had never been so satisfyingly full in a long time.

As we had turned down the offer of a hot drink, David J decided we needed to end our night with a little tipple. A tray of sweet (but yet very strong) limoncello shots came our way which warmed our bodies like a hot water bottle on a winters night. We made a toast to new friendships and celebrated what a wonderful evening it had been before the night had ended and we had to sadly go home. We are all going to keep in touch and hopefully I will see all these amazing girls again soon. 

They were all so friendly, talented and very beautiful. Their stories were enchanting, with personalities to match and I am so grateful I got to meet them. A huge thank you to Danielle for organising the evening and to Balans for looking after us so well, we felt spoilt. The food was delicious and the company was even better, I will be returning to the restaurant in the future for sure.

I love their quirky interiors and cosy atmosphere. You don't feel rushed to eat and get out the door quickly with its relaxed vibe and friendly staff. Perfect for a catch up with old friends.

You all need to follow these lovely ladies I got to spend the evening with, their links are all down below. They all have amazing blogs by the way so definitely check them out:

Rosie from 'A Girl on a Journey'

Aura from 'Aura B Verene'

Amy from '50 Shades of Blonde'

Angie from 'Chocolate & Lipstick'

Danielle from 'The Bloggers Hangout'

Love Khrissie x

Travelling the UK: The Lakes

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm glad to be back. Christmas was wonderful with all the family, catching up with friends, over eating and playing board games. It came and went so quickly that it was New Year before I could say 2015. For the New Year I went up North with my partner to see his family who I had not seen in months. We travelled up on the Mega Bus on New Years eve and enjoyed a takeaway, played more games and set off our own fireworks into the new year, it was wonderful. The next few days were spent seeing the rest of the family until it got to the 3rd Jan.

On the 4th of Jan it was mine and Nicks 5 year anniversary of being together (if you want to here how we met etc let me know) and so we thought we would celebrate it in a different way. My New Years resolution is to be happy and part of that is doing more of what I love. Travelling and seeing new places is one of them so we thought we would head to The Lakes for the day with his parents. I've always wanted to travel back to The Lakes since I visited it as a kid and fell in love with it.

Kendal, UK

Kendel, UK

We left Wakefield at 8:30am and headed for Skipton, a quaint little town in the heart of the countryside. It was the perfect place to stop for a cup of tea and a tea cake before we carried on the rest of the journey. Next stop was Kendel, this was another small market town, full of cute shops and beautiful limestone houses. One of those places you could imagine spending your days when you were a little older. It was lovely to just walk around and take in the beauty of the place. After a quick stop at Costa and a cream cake (my favourite) we headed on our journey up to the lakes. 

If you follow me on social media you would have heard I got a new camera from the boyfriend at Christmas, he really spoilt me and I am so grateful for it. I've been wanting to learn how to use a camera properly for years so this was a perfect way for me to learn. He got me the Nikon D3300 which is a lovely size and looks quite simple to use with some practice. I thought this trip would be the perfect time to test the camera out to see how it compared to my little canon camera. All photos shown in this post are the results I got from it. On first impressions I'm quite impressed. So I spent a lot of my time just looking around and trying to spot opportunities where I could take a snap and practice my composition and instinct in finding beauty in the most simple of things.

After a short drive we arrived in Windermere, which took my breath away as the view of the lake came into site. It really is a beautiful place, tucked up in the heart of the Peak District just waiting for you to discover it. If you ever have a chance to explore the UK you should definitely pay a visit. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

We spent a good while here just looking out onto the distant hills and feeding the swans and ducks which seem to populate most of the area. It was lovely to be somewhere away from our usual surroundings of London and discovering how beautiful our country can really be.

Our last stop was a 15 minute drive to the other end of the lake in Ambleside. Not much different to the other towns we have visited but beautiful all the same. There were a lot of B&Bs in this town so the perfect place to stay if you want to visit the Peak District for a few days. I was thinking how nice it would be a to have your own little B&B in that area. It would be a lovely business to have if you did not like the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded cities.

The sun set around 4:15pm that day so as it got dark we decided to head back home. We were lucky enough to see the sun set behind the hills of the lakes which was stunning. My first sunset of 2015! It was a wonderful day and I'm really pleased we decided to go. It made for a wonderful start to the New Year as it kept me super busy, just enjoying the simplicities of life with some of my favourite people. Definitely make the most of each day you have, even if it is something simple and never put too much pressure on yourself to do anything as it will just make you feel terrible.

Plan a trip around where you live, its a lot cheaper than going on holiday abroad and you can still have as much fun. There might not be the hot sun to lay around in but who wants to spend all their days getting sunburnt when there are all the places in the world which you have never seen before.

Are there any places you want to visit this year?
I've decided I want to go to Scotland for my birthday this year as I have never been before and I cant wait to spend more time doing more of what I love! I'm going to leave you with this beautiful picture I managed to get of the sunset as we are heading home. Life is beautiful so live the adventure!

Love Khrissie xx

A resolution for us all!

Resolutions are great because it makes us all think in a positive way! We tell ourselves what we want to change so we are happier people, but why is it so hard to keep those promises? It's because we put too much pressure on ourselves to make those changes and normally ask ourselves to change a lot all at once.

This year I'm going to have one resolution and it's very simple: 'To be happy and make other people happy' 

So no matter what that might entail I don't have to put pressure on myself to be a whole new person as soon as January 1st begins because who cares if we have flaws, are slightly messy and put on a bit of weight over the holidays, we were happy doing it so why punish ourselves? 

Things for me are going to change in 2015 with being happy in the forefront of my mind but for now I'm gong to focus on the things that make me happy right now!

My friends, family and my wonderful boyfriend are something I never want to change as they make me the happiest of all! I'm spending my new year with the boyfriends wonderful family and enjoying a takeaway with some fireworks to finish and to be honest I can't think of anything better. 

Thank you to all who have read and commented on my blog and helped to make it grow to what it is right now, I can't wait to see where the new year takes me! 

Have an amazing evening and I'll see you in 2015 for the beginning of a happy life! 

Love Khrissie 

Blogmas Stocking Filler: Mello Mallo #Khristmas

Happy Sunday! The time has come where preparations for Christmas get underway and what a better place to start than stocking fillers? These are the gifts you can buy friends or family to open which are little presents to open before the main present. Now this year I am having a big family christmas and there are a lot of people to buy for but although money can be tight, you can still give gifts which are meaningful and cost a fraction of the price.

Here are some marshmallows* and a couple of hot chocolate sticks* from a new start up company called Mello Mallo who hand make these tasty mellos in a small town called Bedfordshire. This started with a 'desire to spread happiness through the love of taste-tingling treats', and I can tell you they definitely do that! Here are some of the flavours that Laura (the chief Mallo maker) sells on her website here.

Now when I received these in the post I was so excited! Especially as there was raspberry and white chocolate, orange chocolate and a white chocolate stick! My favourite! You can enjoy these on their own as a cheeky snack or add them to a hot chocolate using the sticks. What a perfect idea!

All you do is fill up a cup of milk of your choice, pop it in the microwave for a few minutes or heat it up on the stove until hot. Add in your stick and swirl it around until all the chocolate has melted off the stick! How delicious does this look?

Once melted you can enjoy it on its own or pop in some marshmallows for some extra flavour. I melted the white hot chocolate stick and paired it with the white chocolate and raspberry mallows. It was so delicious and something I would love to enjoy on the morning of christmas when everyone is waking up and getting excited about the day.

Here you have it! A perfect treat for any of the family to enjoy! They are home made with simple ingredients, gluten free and best of all, they are so moreish! So 'take a moment to Mello out, you deserve it!'

You can buy different sets on the Mallo store with lots of other flavours available including some new festive flavours! You can purchase these little bags of mallos (4 per pack) for only £2 each or 3 packs for £5! The stirrers are only £1.50. A wonderful affordable treat that will surprise anyone when opening their stocking on Christmas morning! I know I want to get some for sure. You can check out the store here. Thank you Laura for sending me some to try, I can tell they are going to go down great with all my friends and family!

Here is my first Christmas post! I'm so excited!
If you would like to see more posts where I share affordable stocking and gift ideas as well as DIY decorations then leave me a comment below and I will get straight onto it.

I will be using the #khristmas, as I feel I have a fortunate name that I just have to use it so I will be creating a chat throughout December where we can talk everything Christmas..woo! Keep an eye out on my twitter.

Love
Khrissie x

The Liebster Award

So yesterday I got nominated by the lovely Katriona Juliekins for the Liebster Award.

This is an award which is given from one blogger to another. Its a great way to promote

other lovely bloggers and to give them recognition for what the do. You then nominate

other bloggers...and the chain continues....

Rules: 

1 / You must link back to bloggers that nominate you

2 / You must list 11 random facts about you

3 / You must answer 11 questions (given by the blogger who nominated you)

4 / You must nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers 

5 / You must not nominate the blogger who nominated you

6 / Let your nominees know you nominated them (link them in your post)

11 random facts about me:

1 / Pizza is my favourite food

2 / I'm from Essex originally 

3 / I love being spontaneous 

4 / I want to travel the world

5 / I love calling people muffin?

6 / I'm yet to find someone who is just like me

7 / I love beyonce! 

8 / Unicorns are brilliant!

9 / I have funny theories about life

10 / I don't like being around negative people

11 / I daydream all the time

11 questions from Katriona Juliekins

1/ Are you a One Directioner?

They have catchy songs but I'm afraid I'm not in love...

2/ Guys with stubble or no stubble?

Stubble is nice to look at but no stubble is better to kiss

3/ Whats your favourite thing about being a blogger?

Getting to talk and meet the nicest people ever!

4/ Whats my guilty pleasure?

Singing to Shania Twain when I'm on my own

5/ Five weird facts?

 - I get bursts of energy before I sleep

 - I'm always dancing in the mirror

 - I like to pretend I'm a mermaid when I'm in the bath

 - When I'm a passenger in a car and a song comes on I pretend I'm in a music video

 - I love picking off nail varnish 

6/ Do you have a bf/gf?...if so how did you meet?

Yes I do have a BF! We met the second month of uni at a pub crawl.

It was love at first sight and I knew I wanted him and here I am 4 and 

a half years later. yipee!

7/ Did anything surprise you about being a blogger that you didn't expect?

I didnt know how lovely the community was or that you could talk to so 

many lovely people!

8/ Night in or night out?

Night in! I've done the uni thing now and I can't really drink now so 

a night in with a takeaway and some friends is perfect for me 

9/ Favourite ice cream flavour?

OMG mint chocolate chip and I want some NOW! ^_^

10/ Chinese takeaway or Dominos?

Er! Dominos...duh! Pizza is the best!

11/ What are your expectations or goals for your blog in a year?

I would love to reach 1,000 followers, meet more bloggers and 

have content I am really proud of!

11 questions from Becky from BBYB:

1/ What makes you really happy?

Knowing my friends and family are happy and healthy & personally 

achieving my goals and ambitions

2/ What is your real passion? My first passion was to become a Graphic Designer. I am one now and my new passion is creating a blog I love. 
3/ Why did you start blogging? I've been reading blogs and watching Youtube for years now and I have always tried to start one since the first year of uni in 2009 but it never worked out. I've always dreamed of being Carrie Bradshaw but I'm not the best writer so this is the next best thing. 
4/ Who is your favourite blogger + YouTuber? At the moment I love the blog by Audery Leighton called Frassy. She  gives me lots of inspiration. I'm watching a lot of Tyler Oakley at the moment and I also love Velvetgh0st
5/ What are your top 3 'desert island' products? If I really was on a desert island there would be no one around me so I  would definitely be sporting the bare faced look as no one would care.  I would want to be clean so a big bottle of cleanser and cotton pads, a moisturiser with an SPF and deodorant....done!

6/ What couldn't you live without? I would have to say my phone! I can access everything through it and how would I contact my friends and family when they dont live near me! Its an obvious choice but its obvious for a reason.
7/ How do you stay motivated? Funnily enough I'm not motivated at all at the moment. I just cant be bothered. I'm not sure whether its because I'm confused with what I want to achieve in life or I have so much going on in my mind that I  can't order what I'm meant to be doing. 
One thing I find helpful is to concentrate on something else for a minute.  Theres on post I need to finish off and thats my goal, once thats complete  I can get onto a new thing. Reading blogs helps too!
8/ Do you have a dream job? If so what? My dream was to be a graphic designer and now I am but I want to be something more now I've reached my goal but I'm not sure  what that is yet? Being a full time blogger and exploring the world sounds pretty awesome though
9/ Something you learnt recently I've learnt that almost everyone you know is putting on a front to what they are really feeling and having to deal with in life. Be nice people! 
10/ If you had to live in a decade other than the current one, which would you choose? I think I would love to experience the 70s/80s just to see how different life was without all the technology we have now.
11/ Finally, What's one life lesson of words of wisdom you love? I've always told myself 'everything happens for a reason' from a very young age and  it has always stuck with me. It keeps me positive as I really think negativity can have a huge impact on your life

That was so much fun! I'm now going to nominate:

Hope

Amanie

House of Lure
Hannah Long
Melissa

Laura Evelyn
Beauty Dreams
Kirsty
Hariette Casey
JoughBloggs

Your questions are:
1/ What would be your dream job?
2/ If you had to wear one thing everyday, what would it be?
3/ What inspires you?
4/ If you go to starbucks etc. What do you order?
5/ Do you have any pets?
6/ If you could be spontaneous right now, what would you do?
7/ Whats your pizza topping?
8/ Favourite artist(s)
9/ 3 funny facts about you?
10/ Whats a bad hait you have?
11/ Whats a staple beauty product you have?

I hope you enjoy the questions have enjoyed reading my answers.
Have a lovely day!

Khrissie x

KhrissieLoves... Vlogging Pt. 2 (holiday edition)

 

Evening Ladies & Gentlemen!

Here I have Part 2 of my vlog as I had to separate the footage as there way too much! It's been so fun trying to learn how to edit these things, and I still have lots to learn but hopefully its watchable without being too annoying? 

I seem to talk a lot in these vlogs ha! It was my first ever vlogging session and I didnt really have a plan on how it was going to come together, so this is me just being me! We play mini golf and get a little bit crazy at the end of the video....

Part. 3 will be uploaded next weekend.

I hope your enjoying this little holiday series and if you want more just let me know

Are any of you heading off on holiday this summer?

Or have yu already been somewhere. Let me know as I love hearing

about your recommendations