Quad Biking near London

So this experience was actually Alex’s Christmas present…from last Christmas!

Alex finally got round to booking it over the summer, and it turned out, we both weren’t free on a Saturday until September – it’s crazy how busy summer can be.

So on Saturday we made our way down to Redhill, got a taxi from the station to Priory Events, on Sandy Lane (it was pretty cheap, only about £7 each way), and arrived at The Barn ready to sign in early and kit up.

We had a quick briefing in the Lambing Shed, where we were kitted out with helmets and safety glasses, before heading up to the field to be briefed and get going.

There were 9 of us in total in the lunchtime group, and after a quick briefing from our instructor we were set off on warm-up laps (one at a time, but three per group). Whilst not on the track, we were waiting and watching picking up tips, talking about how good people were. And taking a couple of selfies…

Don’t we look cute in our helmets and glasses ready to take on the track…

Obviously the first lap is always a bit iffy – we were told how to go about the war up laps, which cone were stop cones (you had to stop the quad and double tap the cone) and which to weave in and out – but it was scary getting faster and learning how to control the quad. OK, not that scary, I was just listening to all the tales about people who couldn’t control their quads and rolled (apparently, not good quadbikes!).

Alex’s slow and steady start…

Alex and I got faster, coming off the warm-up laps a little more confident. Next up, three laps with the seesaw finish, which were awesome – a tad scarier, but I was so proud when I got over it safely! Alex seemed to be a pro at this straight up, whilst it took me  couple of laps to get to grips with it.

Alex became a pro at the seesaw really quickly!

Finally, we did timed laps – everyone got two goes round the lap for this bit. It was so fun, finally being way more confident, it felt like I whizzed round! Everyone did better on their second timed lap than their first, with the instructor reading out our times once everyone had finished up. Alex came second in the group – I couldn’t believe it! – and I came close to bottom – how? haha. I think my adult fear got the better of me, but I did feel like I was going super quick.

Me getting ready for my timed lap (above) and finally nailing the seesaw first time…

On our way out, we got to watch a group of people trying out the archery experience, which looked pretty awesome. This is definitely something I want to give a whirl.

Priory Events is only roughly 45 minutes outside London, and is super easy to get to, so is close enough for an afternoon out. They have so many activities I think we’ll definitely be going back. Although I did think we’d get longer on the quad bikes, it was still a fab experience and one I’d highly recommend.

Have you done any big experiences recently?

Chloe xx

Hawksmoor, Air Street

Hawksmoor – what a place. Those of you who read my blog post on Go Ape, Alex’s first birthday surprise will already know that this birthday treat followed a fab day out zipping through the trees. A complete surprise, once again, Alex had no clue where we were going.

Alex had never actually heard of Hawksmoor – can you believe it? A steak lover who hadn’t heard of the wonders of Hawksmoor.

We turned up to the restaurant on Air Street half an hour early – I’d forgotten I’d booked the table half an hour later, whoops! – yet they were still able to seat us which was great. The host offered to pop our coats in the cloakroom and we headed upstairs to be seated.

We were shown to a nice little table and were soon ordering a bottle of prosecco to celebrate – you have to have fizz when it comes to birthdays 🙂

Our waiter poured our glasses, after offering us a sip to taste first, and then went on to talk us through the menu as we’d never been before – there’s actually quite a lot to know when it comes to steak, do you know the difference between a porterhouse and a t-bone? I do now.

Alex and I finally decided to go straight in at mains, and went for an 850g medium rare Porterhouse steak, a portion of grilled bone marrow (I’d heard so many rave reviews about it and seen it on their breakfast menu too so we had to try this), a side of triple cooked chips, a side of Jansson’s Temptation (a potato dauphinoise style dish with anchovies), and a side of roast field mushrooms just for myself.

Our waiter let us know that our meal would take slightly longer as the porterhouse steaks are obviously cut and cooked to order, at which we obviously didn’t mind. We sat sipping our prosecco (and tap water – I have to have this too or fizz gives me a little bit of a dry mouth) whilst we waited and took in our surroundings.

The food wasn’t too long and we were soon digging into our porterhouse and various sides.

The porterhouse steak, a mixture of fillet and sirloin, was amazing. Cooked perfectly, it was pink inside, tender and extremely flavoursome and meaty. You didn’t really need any sauce.

The bone marrow was completely different to anything I’d tried before. We were warned by our waiter that it was an acquired taste , but I was determined to give it a go. Jelly like, once removed from the bone, it added a deep meaty and salty flavour to the steak. Something I quite enjoyed, but Alex wasn’t too sure – I think, as he tried it by itself first, it put him off.

The triple cooked chips were really good too, crispy on the outside, and fluffy in the middle, they tasted really good – and that’s coming from someone who wouldn’t choose chips!

The Jansson’s temptation however, was by far my favourite side. Creamy potatoes mixed with anchovies, with a crispy topping, it was indulgent and heavenly. The anchovies didn’t give off a super strong taste, but added a nice depth to the flavour.

We finished up, with the plates almost completely clear – only one/two field mushrooms left (I couldn’t quite finish a whole side portion to myself) – which shows just how good it was.

We were pleased we hadn’t gone for a starter at this point, as dessert is pretty much a must for birthdays, especially with the dessert menu at Hawksmoor.

There were a few things which took my fancy, but when something has peanut butter in it, that’s it, I’m set. We actually both went for the Peanut Butter Shortbread with Salted Caramel Ice Cream – I think the salted caramel ice cream sold it for Alex.

I’d reminded the waiter sneakily during Alex’s trip to the toilets that it was his birthday, so Alex’s dessert came out with a candle and happy birthday written in sauce. It was so cute! I then sang happy birthday, by myself – How good am I making a huge fool of myself for a birthday? – before Alex blew the candle out and we dug in.

I’m not sure I have enough words to describe how good these desserts were. The shortbread was softer in the middle, and slightly warm, it was buttery, and peanut-y and so good. Combined with the salted caramel ice cream, it was a match made in heaven. The ice cream had a strong salted caramel flavour, was super creamy, and the two flavours really complimented each other. I think this might be my favourite dessert ever! – I did say I loved peanut butter.

We finished our little birthday celebration with a couple of cocktails, before calling it a night.

We both really enjoyed our evening at Hawksmoor, it was a fab birthday celebration spot. The service was second to none and the food was absolutely delicious, with incredible steak and the best dessert ever. I’d highly recommend Hawksmoor for a celebration or treat.

At roughly £190-£200 for two courses, a bottle of prosecco, two cocktails, and service charge, it’s on the higher end of what I’d usually pay for meal, but well worth it.

Where is your favourite spot for a birthday meal or celebratory dinner?

Chloe xx

My First EVER Afternoon Tea

Last Friday I had my first EVER afternoon tea. Yes I may be English but not all of us have experienced this, right? – my mum had never been for one either!

My mum’s birthday was in August and as I went home a little before and they came to London for my Uncle’s wedding in September, we still hadn’t managed to do anything to celebrate, so I booked my mum and I a champagne afternoon tea for last Friday, in Worcester.

I told mum on thursday night and she seemed to love the surprise! She was already picking out what she was going to wear 🙂

Friday morning we got the train to Worcester and did a little shopping (mainly the window variety) before heading to Bill’s.

Bill’s is reasonably new in Worcester but one of the lovely waitresses said there are more in London – maybe I’ll have to check these out! We entered and were greeted by a friendly member of staff who showed us to our table. We were given a drinks menus for if we wanted to order extra drinks and mum and I sat chatting and awaited our champagne.

LOVE the strawberries on the side!

We also got some tap water for the table, trying to keep hydrated and I thought best not get too tipsy at lunch 😛

The gentleman I spoke to on the phone the day before came over and made sure everything was ok and wished mum a happy birthday, which I thought was lovely! (By the end of our time in Bill’s I think almost every member of staff had! – She was worried they’d come out singing haha!)

Our afternoon tea didn’t take too long to arrive at our table, and look how it arrived…

It looked AMAZING! Such a selection. Mum said, do you think we’re only meant to pick one cake, making a joke as there seemed so much! 😛 

The finger sandwiches were soft and delicious. I think the salmon one was my fave, but I’m a sucker for most things salmon. You could tell they put a lot of effort in though with keeping them looking neat and yummy – Not squished from cutting or bits falling out!

We then went for the scones. Again delicious. They came with a really cute pot of jam and a small dish of clotted cream. We spread the cream and jam and indulged. Every mouthful was almost ‘melt in your mouth’, they were so good!

We then slowly made our way through the cakes…Yes we did manage them all 😛 We shared them all, so really it was only 2-3 mouthfuls of each cake – that was us justifying the amount we ate haha. But it was a great way to do it, so we couldn’t disagree about who had what – only joking! We just wanted to try everything! 

The pink square on the left was a squishy sweet with a marshmallow texture. It had something crunchy on the top, but didn’t taste too sweet. We did think it had a slight cucumber taste – not sure if this was our taste buds after our champagne 😛 But we ate it all.

The slice of cake at the back was a lemon cake. It was moist and a great ratio of cake to icing so not too sickly! It was really yummy.

The strawberry tart looking cake had a biscuit-y texture base with fresh cream and strawberries on top. I’m not a huge fan of cream but this was pretty tasty! The biscuit was nice and crumbly, it hadn’t gone soggy under the cream and the cream had kept its shape and firmness under the strawberries.

Last but not least, the chocolate brownie. Now I think this had to be our favourite as we seemed to be savouring each mouthful! It was divine, maybe if we’d had big pieces it would be sickly but sharing the brownie was perfect. It was VERY chocolatey with a moist texture, and my tastebuds were loving every mouthful! And they’re normally quite savoury lovers! 

Whilst making our way through our last cake we did order another drink, amaretto sours (amaretto, pink lemonade and lemon juice), which were awesome too – I think I might try make these at home soon too after trying them.

Our table was cleared once we had finished our feast and mum and I sat chatting and laughing letting everything settle a little before asking for the bill.

With the bill came a birthday present for mum – I know, how sweet! It really was a fab experience, great friendly service and a pretty good price to match too!

I’m really pleased I got to experience an afternoon tea for the first time with mum. A lovely mother-daughter afternoon, with giggles and delicious food and drink.

 

I would obviously go back to Bill’s for another special occasion, but I would love to hear where you recommend for afternoon tea too.

Chloe xx

Facing Your Fears…

Most people will have fearful feelings or anxiety to some extent in their lives, whether it’s making new business calls, small spaces, business meetings, networking events or something else. But when you are faced with a fear, how do you go about dealing with it?

I got told yesterday “If you don’t face your fears, how are you going to grow as a person?”.

I do believe this, but at the same time I know fears can be so irrational that some can seem truly unable to overcome.

I’ll let you in on the fear which has made it’s way back into my life – cats! (Or actually kittens!)

The weekend just gone my boyfriend got a kitten for his birthday – My heart stopped. How the hell was I going to deal with this one? No more going to his? Only seeing him at weekends when he came to mine? Completely avoiding the situation?

 

A photo Alex sent me of the kitten on Saturday morning…

But he had a birthday BBQ and night out on his birthday and everyone was going to his. All really excited about this new ‘thing’, and at first I could ignore it. UNTIL one of Alex’s best friends decided he was going to try get me to go see it and kept taunting me – I couldn’t deal with it, I had to walk off as I started crying and shaking like crazy. I felt like Alex looked at me like I was just being silly when he came outside, but he said he was confused because he didn’t know what happened. I realised other people don’t always see/understand how fear affects you. 

I calmed down but I haven’t actually see the kitten in real life, and I can now laugh about the fact I fear them, but thinking of facing it which I was talking to one of my housemates the other night made me want to cry…tears were actually ready to fall!

But I know I need to do this. For Alex, and for myself to grow. I mean seriously, I can’t avoid his, or run from room to room with the hope a kitten isn’t in the hallway! I’m still not going to like it, but I’m hoping at least I can not be tearful and shaky if it’s around. Right now I feel like the kitten comes first – what does it matter how I feel about it he’s not going to do anything about the thing, so this is also why I need to face it so I can stop feeling this way.

So I started researching facing my fears, and here’s what I found –

Top tips for facing fears:

• Take a breather – if you’re feeling anxious, and are worked up, this is not a good time to try and face your fears. Take some time to relax and de-stress. When you have calmed down you will be able to think more rationally and deal with the situation better.
• Get exposure to what you fear – the more it stays hidden or you don’t expose yourself to it, the scarier it will become.
• What is the worst that can happen? – a panic attack? Calmly try to think what the worst is that can happen. Even if something goes wrong, chances are you will be fine! Think positive.
• Fears do actually tend to be worse than reality – will it really happen again?
• Talk about it – It helps so much more to have someone close you can talk to about your fears. I’ve already seen this in my amazing housemates!
• Reinforce yourself for facing your fear! This is such a great way to get used to dealing with a situation causing anxiety, by creating positive consequences to facing them.

So here goes, I shall let you all know how I get on – please do wish me luck! I’ll also let you know if I find a better way to deal with this ‘thing’.

If you have any other tips, please do comment to tell me, it would be very much appreciated!

 

Chloe xx

TGI Fridays – Birthday Celebrations

I’ve finally got round to writing this post, super busy, and so many other topics I want to write about. But this is all about my friday birthday celebrations at TGI Fridays in Covent Garden.

Overall: FAB NIGHT!

SO me and my two housemates got to TGI at 7.40pm on Friday night, and tried to get our table booked for 6 (You can’t book before the night on a friday or saturday, you have to wait for your table). Unfortunately you also have to wait for everyone to turn up too before being put on the waiting list, so we waited in the entrance for Alex, his best friend and GF. Luckily they weren’t too far behind and so we got us put on the list for our table once all together.

We headed to the bar to wait for our table, opening the cocktail menu to decide on drinks – they have some amazing cocktails, there’s so many making it very difficult to decide. Going for a paradise punch to start, Alex ordered me a large (Mahoosive cocktails…they come out in large bowl sized glasses – AMAZING!). Alex’s best friend and his GF also bought me a bottle of sparkling for my birthday present so we all had a glass and toasted my birthday.

The sparkling didn’t last long that’s for sure

Me and the girls at the bar

The table was an hour and 20mins wait – which for 6, at peak time on a Friday evening in London I guess isn’t too bad. And it did go pretty quick with us all drinking and chatting. We managed to fit in a couple drinks before being called by our bleepy flashy thing you get given at the beginning.

We were sat down at our table and given a few minutes to decide before ordering. Absolutely ravenous, especially after drinking and not eating since lunch, we skipped starters and went straight to mains. Half of us ordering burgers, Alex ordering steak with ribs and Shrimp, and I ordered chicken and shrimp with sweet potato fries. We ordered more drinks, me having another cocktail (again, very difficult to choose, Alex’s was awesome – it had a black vodka shot on the top, tasted so nice!)

Alex’s friend had a delicious looking cocktail with lots of fruit in it – I will admit I did have a little drink envy!

Food didn’t take long after ordering – or perhaps it was the fact we were enjoying ourselves so much.

Alex’s Food – Yummmm!

I caught Alex’s best friend eye-ing up Alex’s chips – Alex doesn’t like veggies or onion rings so ordered extra chips, Look at the mountain of them!

My Food

It was delicious! The sauce was Jack Daniels sauce, which is sooo good. And the sweet potato fries were definitely a better choice than cheesy mash, and I don’t really like normal chips, so i love it when this scrumptious side order is on the menu.

Plates emptied rather quickly. Everyone seemed very happy with their choices – not much food envy that evening!

Our table was cleared and we were all sat just chatting again, when our waitress brought out a piece of chocolate cake with a  candle in it. Everyone sang happy birthday to me – I was so happy I didn’t have to wear a birthday balloon hat! (Some TGI’s I remembered doing this for people’s birthdays – OH the humiliation!)

We shared the cake for dessert – still super full from our mains, each having a little bit.

We finished up, and paid the bill – wasn’t too bad a price either!

I loved my Fridays celebrations with friends! There’s a reason this is my fave restaurant and I keep returning – FAB cocktails and AMAZING food! If you haven’t been, you MUST go experience a TGI fridays outing.

 

The Ripe Old Age of 23 – Belated Birthday Round-Up

This year I had a fab birthday. First one in London. Was definitely spoilt.

I actually celebrated for 4 days – I know, talk about milking it. Well let’s call it making the most of it.

I would much rather have some fantastic nights with friends, family and my boyfriend and gain lots of experiences than get lots of presents. Experiences do make memories after all.

So here’s a quick look back over last week:

Wednesday (my actual birthday):

I woke up to my housemate singing ‘Happy Birthday’ down the corridor and birthday banners on the flat doors – I love my housemates.

I did go to work – what’s the point in booking the day off when no-one else would be off, I’d much rather spend it with my lovely work colleagues. They got me a lovely swanky salad bowl from John Lewis, and some LUSH pampering goodies. We also went out for lunch at The Breakfast Club in Spitalfields – was AMAZING! I had avocado with egg – which came on toasted bloomer, with chillies and I ordered chorizo to come with it too. Was so delicious! Everyone’s meals did look good, but I definitely didn’t have any food envy with this brunch delicacy in front of me:

In the evening I went to Alex’s to wait for him to finish work. I didn’t know where we were going, all I knew was the time to be ready. 8pm arrived, Alex was back and ready and I was excited – I really wanted to know what my surprise was! Jumping on the tube, he took us to Queensway (I had never got off here, so how would I have guessed where we were going). But then we walked to Whiteleys Shopping Centre and that’s when I realised – HE DID WELL! More than well.

Alex took me to The Lounge (Fancy Odeon Cinema we’ve been to previously, the weekend after valentines day) and we were waited on all night whilst watching the new Captain America Film (which is fantastic – definitely a MUST SEE!). We even had dinner in our screen (I had a naughty lamb kebab – I know! But was a posh one, so lots of lamb in a wrap and a side salad, so yummy!) and I had some delicious cocktails too. My favourite was one called a ‘red bird’ – prosecco, peach schnapps and grenadine with a strawberry straw (sweet) to stir. Very sweet but I will be re-making this at home!

Overall a birthday to remember!

But that wasn’t all:

Thursday (Night in with the housemates):

We all spent Thursday night in and cooked meatballs together and watched a chick flick. Love girly nights in with my two housemates! They then brought in cupcakes, singing happy birthday with a lighter – improvised candle haha. Lovely Evening!

 

Friday (my second big celebration):

Friday evening after a long day at work we all got dressed up and went to TGI Fridays for some cocktails and food. I think if I tell you all now we’ll be here all day, so perhaps I’ll write this separately (keep an eye out!), but it was an awesome night with Alex, the girls and Alex’s best friend and his girlfriend. Such a funny evening, and food and cocktails were delicious!

Here’s a sneaky peek at my food and drink

Saturday (Family Celebrations):

Saturday I boarded the train to journey home for the weekend with mango smoothie in hand – I treated myself for the train ride.

Mum and Dad greeted me at the station, and we headed back to the house. I had pressies, and lots of family coming to see me all day – was lovely! Mum, Dad and I sat down to a scrumptious meal (Three fish roast, potatoes and salad), and a bottle of prosecco to toast my birthday.

It then turned into mother’s day celebrations for the rest of the weekend – Shopping, Roast ( I cooked for the family – I know, so nice of me!), Film, and lunch out monday before heading back to London.

Had a fab weekend – love going home and seeing everyone! Not long until Easter trip home.

And now my birthday’s over – Maybe I should start planning next year…

23 Tomorrow – another fab year!

Tomorrow I’m going to turn 23. It doesn’t seem that long ago since my 22nd birthday – madness!

I thought I’d have a think back over the last year and what I’ve been up to – such a fab year I’ve had, and I’ve come so far!

March 2013 – I was still in Worcester working as a waitress. At the time I was interviewing for roles in recruitment and wanting so much to move to London!

Being 22 brought:

Moving to London – One of the best decisions I’ve ever made (along with career but will come to that). Moved in with two girls a bit older than me, who were lovely, in North London.

Recruitment – I worked as a resourcer for 6months, trust me that was enough! However the team were great, I had an amazing day out at ascot, and earnt enough commission to help pay for a holiday!

PR – Took a leap of faith and left recruitment to pursue my career in PR. Work experience was fantastic, met some great people and realised I really did love PR. Got offered a job for January and snapped it up! Love my job!

First experiences – holiday with Alex, Notting Hill Carnival, Ascot, winter wonderland, street feast (first food festival experience), The Lounge Bayswater, first Christmas spent with Alex, nights out in Shoreditch, and more!

Became a South Londoner – Recently moved to South London into a flat with friends – Love it! Really enjoy coming home and chilling with the housies, going for walks, ikea trips, cheeky drinks, film days – my housemates are amazing!

Friends – London can be a lonely place, which is strange as I know it’s a large place with so many people. I thought it was going to be just like uni – that was a shocker when it wasn’t! To start with I did find it hard, especially as I didn’t enjoy my job, but now I have some amazing friends – people I’ve met through work, my part time job at DPs, people I’ve met through Alex, some I’ve met through dance…and it makes me realise just how much of a great decision moving to London was!

22 brought about some amazing things. This year is going to be just as awesome, I’m going to make sure – bring on being 23!

Birthday Countdown

SO it’s only a week until my birthday! 7 days and counting!

I don’t know why I’m so excited this year. Perhaps it’s because I know have my flat finally sorted, live with awesome housemates and am finally becoming less stressed – means I can just enjoy myself … Payday next week too means I can definitely enjoy my birthday!

When I was little I used to cry on my birthday – I know, what a loser, right?! I didn’t want to grow up. I wanted to live forever as a little kid with mum and dad.

 

I think I had an obsession with poking my tongue out!

 

Me and Pop (My Great Grandfather)

Now… Yeah I don’t really want to grow up, every year seems to go by so quickly now, but I don’t necessarily want to be a little kid again, obviously I’d love to get somethings back  – I just need to make the most of everything!

There’s no birthday lists – Don’t worry guys. No pictures of the things I want. Because to be honest, I know I’m going to be happy now everything is getting sorted and I’m loving being in London. All I really want is an amazing time with my friends and boyfriend, and a fab weekend home with the family for a joint Birthday/Mothers Day celebration! Bring on the Birthday week (YES, females do get a Birthday Week :P)