American Dining: An Antidote to Everything

Aaaaah, an evening with Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, milkshakes and Cosmo's....could we really ask for anything more? Well, add in a quick stop off at the pub and you've got the perfect way to wind down after revision tensions. Yes, last night we ended up paying Dockers another visit and used it as an excuse to get glammed up after weeks of slobbing about (at least on my part) in slouchy stuff.


I think my top is actually a dress but on me that would just be plain inappropriate...thank-you skinny jeans!


So we made our way to Dockers and this time sampled their evening menu of American classics. I'd love to say that we savoured every delicious bite, but we were so unbelievably hungry when the food came that not a morsel remained after about five minutes. It really was lovely though; satisfying in a way that only greasy, finger-licking American food can be. Altogether we ordered burgers, chilli dogs, milkshakes and cookie sandwiches galore, but the highlight was definitely the cocktails (perhaps second to the Jukebox - there's something oddly enchanting about those things)...
My 'little Docker burger'
Heaven on a plate?
SJP would be proud
Both me and Maria went to the diner to spend some time with our future house-mates and after days of gradually increasing isolation and insanity from work, it was wonderful to eat, drink and be merry together. And merry we were. I'm not even referring to alcoholic induced sillyness here, I think the last few weeks of holing ourselves away with only authors and automated library e-mails to keep us company, we were in shock at sudden human contact. And so things got a little comic...
Maria having a jive
Maria and Lisa, true men at heart.
Why Danni, just why?!
Only we could find fruit amusing...half eaten fruit at that. The diner went from being super-packed to super-quiet and we decided (after finally noticing fading lights and angry glares) that it was time to head off. Rather than waste time waiting for the bus in the pouring rain (well, the torrent had stopped by then but the pavements, and our shoes, were sodden) we decided it was Pimms O' clock and sought out one of Leamington's pubs where we chatted away to the sound of open mic night whilst sipping Pimms as quintessentially as possible...
make gif

Hmm, perhaps not as prim and proper as Mr. Pimms (not even sure if there is a Mr. Pimm's but go with me here!) would like but we certainly enjoyed at least pretending it was summer, even if the weather was telling us otherwise. It was my first ever taste of Pimms and I have to say it was lovely; very sweet, and definitely more suited to sipping outside on a warm hazy evening, but nevertheless a success!
Pimms = Grins !


Looking back, last-night was a simple affair. Just burgers and bars to put it bluntly. But it certainly put a smile on all our faces, and made us realise just how good the simple life is. Paris Hilton, eat your heart out.


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Procrastination = creativity : )

Well, these past few days have been suitably revision deprived and fun filled and I've found that procrastination leads to all sorts of new hobbies. I'm talking vacuuming, walking, cooking, drawing....anything to avoid even thinking about exams. It was during one of those 'quick, think of something to distract yourself with' moments that I decided to use one of Gem's tuesday tips and practice my nail art skills. Now, I'm afraid I have yet to perfect using my left hand so I had to try out this leopard print pattern on my toes ['scuse the feet] but I'm quite proud of my first attempt. Hopefully it'll be on my hands next time and will look much nicer!

Ew. Again, please do excuse the feet but at least you get the idea. I think the colours work well, and was surprised at how good the liquid eyeliner proved to be - a tip from Gem's blog - although my attempt does look more like confetti than animal print! In an attempt to prolong the procrastinating I also painted my hands [well, nails- you know what I mean!] in a grey and glitter combo...
...nom - I'm rather partial to grey at the moment, which is a little depressing considering that it's June. Ah well, you wouldn't think it with the weird weather at the moment! Anyway, I now have a set of snazzy nails and no more excuses not to work so I shall love you and leave you whilst I enjoy some sociological reading (I'm lying; I plan to sleep instead) but will be back soon with more incessant ramblings and less foot pictures!


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Watch out for flying falafel!

Today Danni and I decided to make falafel using this recipe

Total Time: 15 minutes (Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:

  • 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • herbs to season to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • oil for frying 
 Preparation:

Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour and combine well.

Mash chickpeas, making sure to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste. (Beware of flying falafel! Food processors have a way of flinging the mixture everwhere!)

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.

Fry in oil at  until golden brown (2-5 minutes).

Serve falafel by itself, or with hot pitta bread with veggies, and hommous

 The finished result was absolutely yummy but didn't taste very Moroccan :S I think that was due to the ingredients we used as we used Indian herbs instead of the cumin and coriander suggested by the recipe. I was very impressed though, especially as I have never tried falafel before and certainly haven't made it... a new summer favourite?!

Have you tried any new recipes recently? What's your favourite summer meal? 
 
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Giveaway winner and a pampering evening!

Congratulations to Nikki of One Opal Fruit who is the winner of our giveaway! 

"Oh my goodness, I *love* that lace dress! My perfect pamper evening:First of all I'd prepare myself a delicious meal - I love cooking so a few hours in the kitchen in nice and relaxing for me. Before I eat, I would have a really nice big bubble bath- probably with something from Lush. and with a facemask on. Then I'd give myself a manicure and pedicure, cover myself in body moisturiser (preferably a tanning one!) and jump into some comfy PJs. The rest of the evening would be spent eating my yummy meal, drinking wine and reading a book or watching some trashy t.v. Love the blog btw, I think it's really fab :) The only people currently reading mine are the three other contirbuters, haha! x"

If you email us your address Nikki, we will get that posted out to you as soon as possible :) Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, it was lovely to hear all of your suggestions and it was so difficult to choose just one winner. Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways though! :D
All of your suggestions inspired me and Danni to have a pampering evening of our own, so we cooked a healthy dinner of pasta and tricolore salad with vinegarette...
 ...picked out some films for the evening...
Yes, you ARE reading that right... High School Musical 1 and 3 and Sex and the City: The Movie.
Chose some nail varnish...
... which resulted in some very cool nails! 
 She WILL kill me for this!
SO attractive! :S
I love how the Maltesers boxes always have really cute pictures on them...AMAZING! :D 
True love! Speaking of which, what are everyone's thoughts on Zac Efron? Danni and I have developed a full on crush on him...about 5 years late! I think it's his arms, they are so nice!  Here he is in action in HSM 3...



So do you love or loathe Zefron? ;) What are your weekend plans?
 
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Out of my comfort zone...

I was reading this post over at Mademoiselle Robot yesterday and it got me thinking. When was the last time I tried something outside of my sartorial comfort zone? I have been lucky enough to find clothes I love, that (hopefully!) flatter my ever-changing figure but I haven't been very experimental with my clothes recently and I made an effort to remedy this with my outfit yesterday. 
 Yes, I am wearing harem trousers! Something I swore I would never do! I got them at Miss Selfridge for a bargainacious price and I thought that I would take the opportunity to try something new and the response on Twitter wwas overwhelmingly positive so I decided to keep them!
I wore them out to a meal at Zizzis with my friends and my boyfriend. It was yummy as always and it was a lot cheaper than normal as we had vouchers...YAY! Of course I had to have the 'Torta Amaretti' which is my favourite pudding EVER.
I wore them with my Lady Gaga t-shirt and my omnipresent nudey blazer. I like to think that I managed to make this style my own by incorporating some feminine details so the look wasn't entirely foreign!
My flower corsage and bright pinky-coral lipstick glammed it up a bit!
A full length picture for your perusal! Wearing these trousers made me feel quite cool and although it took me a while to get over my initial reluctance, I soon fell in love! They are SO comfy and injected a bit of "fashion" into my wardrobe and although I don't think I will be leaving my playsuits behind any time soon, I will definitely be wearing these trousers again :)
 Me and Mark!  I always thought that harems were supposed to be man-repelling but he hasn't scarpered yet! ;) What do you guys think of them? Yay or Nay?
♥
Have you tried anything new recently? What trends/clothes would you NEVER wear? 
 
P.S. Don't forget to enter our 50 followers giveaway HERE. We will be announcing the winner on Friday!

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Maxi-mum effort.

So, another revision-dedicated break at home, another purse-emptying shopping trip. My willpower at the moment is pathetic, my wardrobe however is not. The 'maximum' effort I've referred to has been focused wholly upon spending time with family, friends and Dorothy Perkins. No bad thing of course, until you realise that actually, exam dates are looming ever closer and there really is no room for manoeuvre. Oopsie. Ah well, I'm writing this intermittently as I download a program for statistics revision... and we all know that just having the program open is a step in the right direction...right?


Anyway, on to a quick [or decidedly lengthy, depending on how horrible this statistics revision looks] peek at what I bought...


Maxi[mum effort- geddit?] from Primark
Gold sandals from Dorothy Perkins
Sunglasses [to which I am developing a worrying addiction] from Dotty P's too :)

It's all for holiday of course, although I'm beginning to use this as an excuse for nearly every purchase - right down to that nail-varnish, or those ear-rings that will look 'lovely with a tan'. Wonderful; if you're not a snow-white, burn-prone skinned girl like me. Again, oopsie. In all honesty though, anything that can remind me of that long lost season that we call summer right now is a godsend in my eyes. Bring on the sunshine!



p.s. Don't forget to enter our giveaway for some pampering goodies :)
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