Weekly Nibble- Ending September In Style!

Hi Everyone! Hope you all well and Happy 1st October! So exciting that Halloween is nearly upon us but got lots of things coming before that, this weeks been a good'un so I'll share my highlights with you below- feel free to leave me a comment! thanks :D

1] The Curiosity Carnival Oxford:  

On Friday Night me and Adam took Fin into Oxford to two of the museums (The Ashmolean and The Pitts Rivers) The outside of the building was lit up beautifully by a light show and music and there was lots of activities for kids to get involved with too (all science related of course!) our mini scientist got stuck in straight away making a clay cold virus; followed by drawing one of the stages of a developing virus, he got to feel the difference in bones with and without the protein and had fun looking through all the microscopes and the radiation camera. It was hard to pull him away from it all but a promise of a hot chocolate soon got him home!

 Bowling & Family Time:

As we had Finlay all weekend we planned for my family to come down from Leicester and spend some time with us on Saturday. We all had a really fun time being competitive at Bowling and I didn't lose, I mean I didn't win either but still! Yay! We all had a really good catch up and then went out for dinner at a nice restaurant by a lake, we were a bit disappointed with the quality of food (the menu was really good but it didn't live up to it!) but it was still a lovely way to end our day together. 

2] Watching/Reading/Listening to:  

Watching: The Super vet & The X factor- Okay so I know the X-factor is totally cringe but I do take a slightly guilty pleasure in watching other peoples dreams crash and burn...and come true of course! and well the Super Vet is just a bowl of goodness isn't it, I try and ignore the gory bits and just delight in the waggy tails after the ops! 

Reading: I am currently reading "Little Bird" by Camilla Way and it seems pretty good so far! Once again a completely different read to what I am used to, it's basically about a child who was kidnapped by a mute and grows up in the forest so she can only speak in bird sounds. Pretty cool story and no hefty chapters! 

Listening to: I have recently revived by deep DEEP love of Catfish and The Bottlemen so have been listening to all of their best tracks and having Van McCann's vocals stuck in my head for days.If you've been living in a rock and haven't heard of them check out: Hourglass & Twice!

Cooking & Baking: 

As my obsession with GBBO grows and grows I have decided to release my inner baker and get involved with their bakes each week! Last week I made a Caramel and Pear Cake (mmm) this week however I chose to use up the rest of my Caramel icing and make some chocolate cupcakes with Finlay (it was #nationalcupcakeweek!) it was a pudding week episode last Tuesday so I am a week behind but oh well gives me chance to think what deliciously amazing stodgy bowl of comfort I'm going to create next weekend and so on so forth....will probably definitely need to dramatically increase my evening runs...haha 

  Coming Up........

 Other than work and catching up with a hella load of washing (but woo for new machine!) I am going to a vintage fair in Oxford next Saturday with my Mum, I've not been to one in such a long time so I am very excited! last time I brought a key necklace, Adams old man hat and some retro comics for him. This time I am hoping to enjoy a nice lunch and tea and pick up at least some vintage accessories to wear for my Dads Wedding in December (think 50s style with a dash of tweed!) if not an entire outfit! I also really want to go and see Oxford City Stars play (Ice Hockey Team) and go to the Circus but time seems to be sprinting away from me this year so we shall see! 

Hope you all have a lovely week! 

Thanks for Reading- Kiki :) x

 

 

Weekly Nibble- Autumn Edition

Hi Everybody! (you may read this in Doctor Nicks voice)


I thought I would attempt to write a new blog of Weekly Nibbles! no they are not something you can eat or even all food related sorry! just little life updates of whats been happening in my little life... what I am loving and not so much, so without further ado and with Christmas songs playing in the background (yep I begin festivities in September!) lets get to it!

 1] Sunday to Saturday Shenanigans!

So Sundays are normally our dedicated "family day" as we usually have Fin we like to plan things to do and really make the most of our time together, Last Sunday was a bit of a grey typical Autumn day so we decided to make the most of the season and go out to our local park to try and catch frogs and bugs and whatever else we could find lurking in the cold muddy waters.

Success! we managed to catch ONE WHOLE FISH, I know right!? harder than u might think those pond fish are damn quick! also lots of pond beetles (that is their official name) and then took to the park to find an abundance of worms; wood louse and a friendly spider. My favorite times are when we take Fin out to play and explore nature, getting muddy just makes it all the more fun!

 Champion of the World! or at least of this gigantic tree stump! Posing with his treasures!

 So. Much. Murkiness. Photos by my better half https://www.instagram.com/amadeusmadamus/


 New Hair- It feels like I am forever changing my hair colour/style (probably because I am) but I really wanted something different to see me through Autumn and Winter...I will probably go back to blonde next year NGL but for now I am happy with this extremely bright and therefore snazzy Red/Orange do. I just feel it makes me look alive again, alive like a flame on a candle that wont burn out... just need to cut this bad boy now!

2] Watching/Reading and Listening to: 

Watching: Westworld- Only a couple of episodes in and not really sure what to make of it to be honest, to me its like an extended even more messed up version of Charlie Brookers Black Mirror. I think the ideas there and the acting is really good but its quite difficult to stay on track with whats real and what isn't, but that's probably the point!

Steven Kings IT- I cannot love this film more! Enjoyed the original but this version blew away my expectations; the kids acting are amazing, the visuals, the tension build ups EVERYTHING. You just need to watch it. Go, go now.

Reading: Interview with the Vampire- The kind of book that is beautifully written, engaging, sexy, powerful but makes you want to pass out at the same time. Maybe that's just me, I'm not really into gore and the transition of man to vampire was pretty detailed!

Listening to: Christmas Songs Obviously, but also Nina Nesbitts new tunes- The best you had and The moments I'm missing ft Goody Grace are pretty sweet too!

3] Cooking & Baking: 

Each week I will try and write about one thing I have made that was pretty delicious!
This week I made a Salted Caramel and Pear Cake inspired by The Great British Bake Off caramel week (which is worth watching just for Noel Fielding Wardrobe envy tbh) This was so sweet and yummy and comforting perfect for these cold Autumn afternoons! Recipe from the delightful : http://www.janespatisserie.com/2016/04/04/salted-caramel-cupcakes-2/ I just did one individual cake added cubed pear into the the middle of the cake mixture before baking and some on top for decoration! Boom! 

 

4] What's coming up..........................

So this week we haven't planned much as me and Adam are both working lots and probably going to have quite a chilled weekend as Fin is at his grandparents for some of it and we have boring adult things to sort- hello broken washing machine! however the following weekend is filled with so much fun my heart might explode! We are going to the "Curiosity Carnival" in Oxford ( a free event where we can totally geek out with Fin and learn about Science!) My family are coming down from Leicester to visit us, so it will be great to spend some quality time with them and we are taking Fin to the Circus which I am bloody excited about! the tickets were half price which makes this even more thrilling!

So that's it! Little Nibbles, or Nibblets of whats been going on! (leaving out the bores of work and studying..noone wants to read about math)
I hope you all enjoyed catching up with us and if you are a "gamer/into gaming" check out  http://twitch.tv/madamadamus it's Adams Sports Streaming Channel on Twitch and he has just become one of their Affiliates! (go celebrate with him!)

Have a Great Week and Bye For Now!

:) xKiki

Life Lately

Life Lately....Christmas Edition 2016

Hi everyone so I've not blogged in a while and as I'm feeling the festivity I thought I would write a bit of a catch up post before I do a Christmas post!

So much has happened this year, in the past couple of months even so I'll just give you the highlights and try not to bore you too much!

<- my happiness project

Happiness: This year I have grown up a lot and started to realise and accept who I am as a person and how to embrace the things and people that make me happy. I have finally become a vegetarian and have spent the past two months meat free, this was hard at first I did miss the bacon sandwiches and burgers but I have also loved a variety of vegetarian dishes anyway so it wasn't too much of a transition for me and I have enjoyed learning more about the planet in the process. For me this was a moral decision and before you ask Adam still eats meat, Its my personal choice and I don't push my views on others and my family and friends have been so supportive so thank you all! :)

Hummus and Pizza are still my favourite foods...forever <3

New Hobbies & Interests: One thing I have learnt to accept and embrace about myself is how much I love to try new things and learn new skills, I used to think being a "jack of all trades" - somebody else's words not mine! was a bad thing but then I realised that if I live my life experiencing so much how could that possibly be a bad thing!? so recently I have got into card making, I love making personalised cards for the ones I love to me it makes it a little bit more special! I have also wrote a couple of poems that I am going to frame and sell in my Etsy Store and I have just picked up a tarot card set so I can start learning to read tarot! Yep I'm going all mystic meg on you and releasing my inner witch!

Helping Others: Recently I took part in the big sleep out in Oxford whereby I slept outside on a cold October night to raise money to help the homeless this winter (thanks to all those who sponsored me!) it ignited my passion for supporting those in need and I feel very proud to say I now have a job working for May Day Trust a housing support charity in Oxford, I love working in pharmacy and will continue to do so also but having this opportunity to finally truly help those in need has made me very happy!

All about the paws...

 

I'm sure the whole world is aware that we brought our gorgeous kitten JiJi back in August well he is now 5 months old and has become a very handsome and loving young cat, like every feline he is a nuisance sometimes terrorising the Christmas tree and attacking our feet under the bedsheet but me and Adam absolutely adore him! He is our little fury bundle of loveliness and I cant wait to put his little elf costume on him at Christmas- that's right we're that couple! haha

I will try and do a 2016 round up post and then one for Christmas before the years out, hope you enjoyed this one and a very merry Christmas to you all if not, be Christmassy and be kind always!

Thanks- Kiki =] x

Life Lately....

Hi everyone =]
So its been ages since I wrote a post so I thought I would do a catch up post today, don't worry its not a life story just a few key snippets of life I've been enjoying recently!

The Body Guard (Musical & Theatre) 

(image not my own)

Recently I spent time in Leicester with my family and on the Tuesday night we went to see the body guard musical at the Demontfort hall, I hadn't actually seen the film and didn't know too much about it other than it starred Alexandra Burke, originally Whitney Houston and was supposed to be damn good!
It was a Christmas present for my mum and nan as I really wanted to treat them to something we could all do together (a bit of girl time!) it was AMAZING, so much more fun than I expected it to be- the singing and dancing was on point and even the gun shots were so realistic they nearly gave my nan a heart attack (bless her :']) all in all an evening to remember and one I would definitely recommend if your a fan of the theatre.

Warwick Castle  

Yeah that's me in front of a castle as you do... I loved my trip to Warwick castle with my mum, the weather was cold but dry and it was so nice to just take a picnic and have a nice walk around the castle grounds and and the towers (it is very expensive so 2-4-1 deals kind of a must!) the castle itself has great history and tells tales of kidnap, betrayal and murderrrrr! (ooh-er!) slightly jumped out of my skin in a particular haunted tower, no shame as it was creepy! its soooo much better than it was when I was a kid, there is activities going on all day and we got to see a bird of prey flight show which was a great experience...im talking giant vultures and eagles!

<- This is a not so giant but ever so beautiful type of owl (dont ask me what time I cant remember!)

 <- LOOK AT THIS WINDOW! its stunning, the whole castle was stunning and it definitely sets the bar for house goals (completely realistic and achievable!)

New Job, Fresh Start

I am starting my new job tomorrow and I am really excited! after 6 years in my previous job I felt it was the right time in my life to start following the career path I've always dreamed about (side of cheddar on that I know) I feel like the new hours and days off will give me the break I need to pursue other interests as well and allow me to socialise more!  (yay no longer a hermit!) my colleagues gave me some wonderful leaving presents featured above including two lush bunches of flowers, a bottle of bubbly and chocolates, truffles, sweet smelling bath bombs, a scented candle and a mindfulness colouring book (already started ;)) 

So that's it! I mean of course I've celebrated Easter and had other things going on and I have ALOT planned in the next month alone, so I will try and keep you posted as I go through spring! 

speaking of spring, how nice is it to see the bumble bees out and about and blossom every where!? it makes me happier instantly! 

Have a good week! 

-Kiki =] x 

February Wish List!

6 Things.......

Hi everyone hope your all having a really good week so far, just a short blog today a round-up of a few items which I thought were worth checking out/someone buying for me..... just kidding...or am I? anyway here we go! 

1] Pokemon: Super Mystery Dungeon 3DS £27.99 Game

So this game isn't released until tomorrow, but boy does it look good! Yes I know it is super geeky, but who in their right mind doesn't like pokemon?! In this game you play as a pokemon rather than a trainer and join your other pokemon buddies (up to 720 to be exact) in an adventure which promises to never let you explore the same dungeon twice! also if you haven't already seen the ads check out the new pokemon ap which is coming soon for your phone which brings pokemon to everyday life! it looks incredible- really! ^_^

2] Jimmy Choo Blossom: £36.00 (40mls) Boots 

A bit more grown up now, I've been spritzing a few fragrances recently to get me ready for spring and I instantly took a shine to Jimmy choos blossom; a perfect blend of red berries, rose, citrus and sandalwood this floral fragrance is my must have coming into march! The fact that is sparkly pink might also be a contributing factor... 

3] Ted baker Lingerie Debenhams

If you haven't already treated yourself or the lady in your life to some new lingerie this year, then now is the time to do it! Ted baker has partnered with Debenhams and has a gorgeous range of floral and non floral delights, With beautiful lace and silks and matching kimonos they are my go to store for 2016! 

4] Cup o' Coffee Face & Body Mash £6.75 Lush

If you are like me and a lover of all things caffeine then Lush has found the perfect way of injecting just a little bit more into our early mornings! It is STRONG it is STIMULATING it is not for the weak! haha I am hoping lathering myself in this most mornings particularly after a heavy night will wake up my skin even if I am feeling like the walking dead inside! 

5] Williamson Tea Caddy £12.99 Williamsontea.com 

This item combines two of my favourite things on the planet: Tea and Elephants (thank you holly for the introduction!) they are all loose Kenyan leaf teas and range from their version of english breakfast tea to ginger and lemon tea and all presented in unique and stunning tea caddys- something to brighten up the rainy English days! 

6] Princess Tiara Ring £40 Pandora 

This one is a bit unusual for me as I don't really see myself as a "princess" type of woman, however I would be more than welcoming to wear this little number on my finger, its so pretty and such a good price I really feel like I have to have this! Unfortunately I discovered this after valentines as this would make quite a romantic gift, but you know there's always birthdays....you can thank me later! 

So that's it! I hope I've introduced you to a few good things this Thursday, feel free to leave any comments below and enjoy the sunshine! 

Thanks- Kiki =] x 

Mini Break at the British Seaside!

 

Eastbourne

"A lovely place"......"really quiet"......"the place where people retire to its so nice" these were all the things that people said that encouraged us to book a couple of nights away in Eastbourne, now I don't know how long ago it was our parents went there but boy it was not what we expected!

Firstly, great little shopping center yes but as you got nearer the seafront at least half of the shops, bars and restaurants were closed down and the places that were open didn't exactly scream come in! But it is February at the seaside and from what we could gather Eastbourne is clearly undergoing a renovation project to make it more modern so im sure it would look ALOT nicer when their finished! 

The People-

The people were really friendly and helpful, everyone seemed to be really jolly whether that's because their lives are genuinely better by the sea or they were just happy to have visitors I don't know but we definitely found a few favourite places to relax in! we did keep stumbling across some not so nice areas with alot of people swearing and shouting and making me feel like I'd stepped into a episode of two pints of lager and a packet of crisps, but on the whole it gave us a good laugh! (below- me at a great local pub showing off my non existent pool skills!)

The Food- 

The weather was predictably cold and windy so as soon as we arrived we grabbed a much needed late and a huge slice of cake (I regret nothing) we then continued on our indulgence  later that day by having 2 courses at a gorgeous Italian Restaurant "Pomodoro E Mozerella"  I had the bruchetta to start (standard) and we both had a veal dish for the main accompanied by alot of wine! The service was brilliant and it literally smelt of Italy as soon as we walked in the door which is definitely a sign you should eat half their menu! 

Coffee and Black Forest Gateau cake! mmm

Me enjoying my veal! 

Adams Goats cheese and Aubergine Starter!

Adam <3 

We finished the night with a four pack of beer and a packet of fish and chip crisps (remember those!?) classy I know!

Brighton- 

Walking down Eastbourne sea front we spotted a bus to Brighton, nearly an hour later we had arrived into beautiful sunshine and a bustling environment! we were starving by this point so heading into the centre to grab some lunch and found this gem! 

"The Western!" 

Offering a great selection of cocktails,ciders and delicious american style food with a chilled atmosphere, we both settled on the waiters recommendation of pork belly hash with crispy potatoes, blue cheese and a poached egg on a bed of salad and oh momma it was the best lunch we'd ever eaten! 

There is alot to see and do in Brighton, its got so many different shops and kooky restaurants in central and down all the back streets, its got a modern art museum, the sea life center, pier and the promenade so its great if you want a day to mooch around and relax! 

 

Seaside Cheese- 

Finally it wouldn't be a seaside holiday if we didn't gamble alot of money away in the arcades! after alot of various attempts at different games we triumphed with one Mario soft toy! yahoo! We finished our coastal trip with seashell collecting, watching Aston villa get owned by Westham on the big screen (sobs) and a damn good curry at Eastbourne's seafront tandoori restaurant! All in all a great and much needed break to "blow away the cobwebs!" as they say!   

Hope you enjoyed my summary of our winter trip to the coast! Going to put out a couple of tried and tasted ;) recipes for you soon, before my feb favourites round up! For now have a great weekend! 

Thanks- Kiki x 

Bright and Beautiful January Favourites!

 Happy Thursday! 

So today im talking about my January favourites; after the twinkly time of Christmas January is always a bit of a sad and long month of being poor, watching Netflix and feeling like I've ate my weight in food. 

I decided early on to kick January in the teeth, I got back to cooking delicious (and healthish) food from scratch, started to get more organised for work and began planing goals and fun things to look forward to- currently saving for Canada which im super pleased about!

Magpie Mug! 

 TK MAXX is fast becoming one of my favourite places to shop, I always manage to find at least one quirky purchase to buy and raid their clearance like a kid in a sweetshop! check out this cute magpie mug only £2.99!

Satchel of dreams! 

 I have to wear a uniform to work so to add a pop of colour to my wardrobe I've started using my green satchel Adam got me for Christmas (2 years ago!) team it up with some brightly painted nails and lippy and I feel much better about getting up in the gloomy mornings!

Lady Of Tea! 

 People that know me will know its best not to talk to me before my morning coffee fix, but recently I have switched it up and been drinking some tasty teas instead! the chamomile, vanilla and honey is perfect for a good nights sleep and the green tea is my rescue remedy when im having a stressful day!

Cleansing and Indulging! 

I've become a big No7 fan recently and their beautiful skin range is just "so!" I always moisturise from top to bottom after a bath/shower and this range makes my skin feel really fresh and nourished, the packaging is pretty as well and it feels a bit more luxurious then my staple Nivia/Dove products!

Amazing Box Sets! 

Dark rainy evenings have meant I get to catch up on some cracking television! from the psycho, scarefest that is American Horror Story to the hilarious and inspirational Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation I have been well and truly entertained this January! Looking forward to watching the 3rd series of AHS and I still have Fargo and Madmen to catch up on before the sunshine starts tempting me back outside! 

I would definitely recommend both of these series as a "must see!" 

That's it my round up of January favs! I hope you enjoyed my blog and find your own ways to make your winter days brighter!

Cheers- Kiki =] x