One of my goals for the year was to take a day trip to explore Bath. While it isn't that far away from home for me it is a bit awkward to get to and takes a while to drive there, so I've never really bothered.

To celebrate our 4 year anniversary Jared and I caught the train to Bath for a day of exploring and eating.

First stop was to see the Roman Baths which is obviously the focus for most tourists who take a trip here. We weren't even there on a particularly busy weekend but it was packed and quite expensive to get into (like £15 per person!). I wouldn't mind but there was so many people I couldn't actually look at any of the artifacts and I kept getting separated from Jared by the sheer amount of people. 

That said it was really interesting and pretty incredible at how much of it has survived. I particularly enjoyed looking at the curses people had written on pieces of lead and then folded up and thrown into the spring, hoping the Goddess would bring the perpetrators to justice on their behalf. They were mostly complaints about petty crimes, such as someone stealing their cloak but its fascinating to see proof that human nature has changed very little since Roman times! 

Afterwards we went to look round Bath Abby which was pretty awe inspiring. Some of their stained glass windows were particularly interesting with one showing multiple different parts of Jesus' life. In addition the incredible ceiling with its fan patterns makes it well worth a look.

Lunch was the high point of the day and we really went to town to celebrate our anniversary with a full three course meal and multiple cocktails at Turtle Bay. One of the best things about living in Southampton was having a branch on our doorstep and I haven't been since I lived there. Turtle Bay please can we get one in Salisbury?!

Not going to lie it was a pretty extravagant meal but I adore their jerk glazed steak and I live for sweet potato fries <3

We had a look around some of Bath's lovely shops (hello Anthropologie) but I was very good and didn't buy anything so we wandered back to the station to catch the train home.

After all the food and day drinking we both fell asleep on the way home so we were lucky we didn't miss our stop to be honest! It was a lovely day out and a wonderful way to celebrate together. 

Hopefully we will be back soon!

A Weekend of Sunshine

Since I moved back home from uni I’ve been so focused on saving money that doing things at the weekend hasn’t really been possible. Days out and trips all add up and I’m trying hard to watch all of my spending.

As you can imagine it has lead to life feeling quite repetitive and dull. Go to work all week, chill out at home at the weekend, repeat. 

I was starting to feel if I spent another weekend at home I would go crazy. 

Last weekend we had such utterly fabulous weather, the clocks went forward and it really felt like Spring had finally arrived.

As we’re watching our budget Jared and I went for a drive. I know, we sound about 74 but we are really lucky to have fabulous countryside on our doorstep that Jared hasn’t seen before. The drive itself was lovely in the sunshine, with some tunes playing and chatting away about our week. 

We headed for the tiny village of Compton Chamberlayne which is where my Nan grew up and my Dad was born. The whole village is one street so I showed Jared the house they used to live in. It really is the cutest little place and has a real old charm to it, with its daffodil lined verges.

After having a quick look around we headed out of the village towards Fovant in order to see the Fovant Badges. These are military badges of regiments that fought in the First World War which have been carved by soldiers waiting to head over to France. The oldest was created in 1916 and they are carved into the chalk hillside. You can see them from the road and there’s a viewing layby which has a guide to the badges. Well worth a look if you are interested in local history.

We then drove back through Barford St Martin and stopped for lunch at The Barford Arms. Two enormous plates of food and drinks cost us around £25 so we were really pleased with the value for money. The food was hearty and tasty and the cosy interior of the coaching inn topped off a really fun afternoon. 

Overall we had a really lovely time and it was so nice to actually get out and explore our local area a bit more. I'm going to try and think of some more fun things to do that are close by and still inexpensive. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Things that have made me happy this week

Its been a long week that has mostly consisted of revision but I have managed to squeeze in some fun things to stop me going completely crazy. So here is what I've been up to this week. I'm one exam down now with only one left to go next week.

1. Abbi's birthday. So last Wednesday was my absolute BFF's birthday and shes a whole 21 years old. In the three years I've known her shes always insisted on us making no fuss for her birthday but this year I decided to just totally ignore her requests and go all out. My original idea was just to get a small group of our geology friends together for dinner to celebrate. But then I thought her flatmates might like to be involved so I contacted one of them and we hatched our plan. It soon grew to include her friends from halls and rugby friends as well. It took a lot of planning to get 4 separate groups totaling 18 people in the same place at the same time so a massive thanks to Felicity for all her help (you're amazing). It was 100% worth it for the look on Abbi's face when she walked in and we were all waiting to surprise her. Thanks for being the best mapping partner a girl could wish for <3

2. Cheeky Nandos. Ok after all the social media buzz surrounding #cheekynandos I remembered I had never actually been. So as a revision break Jared and I went to the one in Southampton and it was everything I expected. The food was good but not amazing and the banter was out in force. I don't know if I'll go again but I'm glad I experienced this part of British culture.

3. New Clinique bonus time. I recently discovered the site feeluinique.com (I know I'm about a million years behind the times) and used it to restock on some favourite facecream from Clinique. Partly because I was too lazy to go to town but mostly because you got a free bonus time gift with it. This included the Super Defense Day cream, Liquid Facial Soap, High Impact Mascara, Blush in bashful blush and a Chubby Stick in Roomiest Rose. I can't stop wearing it, its just too pretty! Plus the bag it came with is pretty cute. And you can never have too many little make up bags.

4. Malcolm in the middle. Such an oldie but I never watched it back when it was actually on TV. I'm currently on season 3 and it makes me so incredibly happy. Mostly because their crazy lives are remarkably similar to my own childhood except I am one of 4 girls instead of boys. Whether you've already seen them or not they are perfect for procrastinating as each episode is only 20min long.

5. Real Techniques brushes. I've always been a massive fan of Ecotools brushes but they don't have as large a range as Real Techniques. Everyone seems to love them and they are a similar price so I thought I would give them a try. I got the powder brush as I don't currently have a nice big fluffy brush and the Expert face brush. I've always used a flat foundation brush and find it leaves streaks so this is perfect for buffing in your base. Plus they were on offer in Boots. A girl's gotta take advantage of these things.

6. Sisters coming to visit. All three of my sisters came down to Southampton for a day out shopping followed by dinner at Turtle Bay. I was naughty and got three new dresses and had the juiciest steak for dinner. But shopping and good food soothes the soul right? That aside though it was nice to spend some quality time with them as now that two of us are at uni we don't get to see each other as much as I would like.

Things that have made me Happy this Week

Its been a busy week this week what with juggling work and being at uni. My little blog has hit some small milestones this week as I reached my first viewing milestone. I also had someone tweet me with some positive feedback to say they really liked my weekly happiness posts. Now that made me happy!

Pulled BBQ Chicken

1. Having a nice nap. This is a seriously underrated past time that is only really acceptable if you are a toddler or a student. For some weird reason I’ve been really tired all week and I had a much needed afternoon nap. It made me feel so much better. I think I need to listen to my body on this one and accept that I need a little bit more sleep then I’ve been getting recently. Working early shifts for a few weekends in a row probably hasn’t helped as it doesn’t give me a chance to catch up. This magical nap left me feeling like a brand new person. If you feel like crying because you are too tired then I would suggest grabbing a nap when you can. 

Salted Caramel Milkshake in Hipster Mason Jar (note:fake drink rings haha)

2. Went with some of my old friends from halls to a new restaurant that’s opened up in Southampton called Shrimp and Burger. With that name the contents of the menu don’t hold many surprises as this is a burger bar. What makes it interesting is the fact it’s clearly trying to compete with the infamous 7Bone which in my opinion is both highly overrated and overpriced. If you are looking for the same hipster atmosphere as 7Bone but vastly superior quality food then look no further. I was extremely impressed with the value for money and the taste of the food. I ordered a Salted Caramel milkshake and a pulled chicken burger with fries. It was all delicious and the service was great. Plus you can actually get a table unlike in 7Bone where the staff are also exceptionally snotty. 

An exceptionally drunk pizza selfie after Wild Lime

3. This week was my friend Naomi’s 21^st birthday and I met up with my girlies at Wild Lime to celebrate. Copious amounts of wine, cocktails and Prosecco were consumed and I had such a lovely time. I love spending time with these girls and its even better if theres an excuse to get dressed up involved. Happy Birthday Naomi! You are literally so adorable and I love you!

4. A few weeks ago I popped into my local Clinique counter to grab my free trial of their new Beyond Perfecting Foundation. As a massive fan of Clinique I am super keen to try anything new they bring out. I am very impressed with this foundation. I normally use their Superbalanced Foundation in Beige Chiffon as it gives a sheer coverage and is oil free. While I still love my Superbalanced, the advantage of the Beyond Perfecting is it offers heavier coverage for days when my skin is not looking so great. Plus you only have to use the tiniest amount so I think my free sample might last be a really long time.

5. This week my boyfriend and I had a super cosy night in with PJ’s, the duvet and Dominos two for Tuesday. Literally my idea of the perfect date which is tragic I know.

Its just too pretty

6. In my Pink Parcel which I wrote about last week there was a MUA eyeshadow palette in Romantic Effervesence. I’m in love with it and I wore it every day last week. The best thing about it is it only costs £4 and considering its price tag it is very high quality. I’ve got designer eyeshadow that does not stand up to this. As it costs so little it is definitely worth giving it a go as it’s great for everyday use.