Pamper Night

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This post is about my pamper night that I recently had. The weather has turned chilly, the dark nights and dark mornings are setting in and I was just feeling a bit deflated and in need of some pamper time.

I had been working all day on my university work and I was down in the dumps thinking of what I could do. The items I list now, are my top pamper night necessities, which will hopefully inspire you to take a break, have a few minutes to yourself and relax.

Firstly I ran myself a bath. I don't usually have baths and I prefer the thought of germs/dead skin (all that kind of thing) to drain off me and go straight down the plug hole. As you can tell, I'm very much a shower kind of person. However, when I'm feeling stressed, a good soak in the bath can often help alleviate stress. For me, a bath helps me to focus on what matters, or at least allows me to clear my head. I used a lush bath bomb called Golden Wonder. If you are wanting to check out some of their bath products, they have some great seasonal ranges out for Halloween and Christmas. I got two uses out of this because I broke it in half. You could also just have one use or plenty of uses depending on what suits you. The inside is an amazing blue colour that turns your bath water, yes you guessed it, blue. It has orange and lime scents which make it nice and fresh.

Secondly I lit a candle. This is a Yankee candle in my favourite ever scent lavender. I love lavender in general so this was a no-brainer for me. It fills the room with the calming scent and also works well to add some ambient lighting.

Once out of the bath I moisturised using the Body Shop's strawberry body butter. Then, I got all cosy in my; M&S dressing gown and my Primark pyjamas. My pj's are in a Christmas theme but I don't really care. I love Christmas and they're super soft, comfy and very affordable so go check those out if you are curious.

This was my short and quick pamper night to relieve some of the day's worries. It's not rocket science and I am aware that this is not an original idea, but sometimes you need a little inspiration and encouragement to give yourself ten minutes of you time. 

If you want to look at the lush bath bomb, the link is here!
https://uk.lush.com/products/bath-bombs/golden-wonder

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Restaurant Launch: Red Dog Saloon Opens in Nottingham

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog!

Today's blog post is about a recent restaurant launch I went to and my first initial experiences there.
The Red Dog Saloon is an American themed restaurant that is already well established in Hoxton Square and Clapham North, London. But it has now made a home in Nottingham.

The overall theme of the restaurant is smokey food, due to the way a lot of their meals are cooked. Some of their courses are smoked for up to 18 hours, giving it an authentic American taste (apparently). As you can imagine, it's a meat eaters paradise. They serve burgers and wings and other BBQ dishes. Unfortunately there is only one main course that is vegetarian.

I can't review the food too much due to only going to the opening and not receiving much.  However, after looking at the menu what I can say is that it isn't the place for a vegetarian to go, due to there only being one option for them on the menu (this may change after the publishing of my blog- hopefully)!

Prices are very similar to those of the other smoke houses located around Nottingham, so there is no difference there really. From the food that I did try (a bbq wing), it was quite tasty. The other food product I was given was one of their 'original' wings. I'm unsure as to why these are called original, as you get an extremely spicey shock after just tasting some of the sauce. As someone allergic to spicey food, an indicator or the spice should really be indicated in the dish's name, for example, 'super dooper hot wing'. The server may have made a mistake so if you do go, just ask!

(Sample size for tasting at the launch)

The drinks are possibly the highlight for me. There is such a wide variety of drinks on offer. I had a margarita which was nice and also one of their wines. However, if wine, cocktails and spirits isn't to your taste (or legal drinking age), there are also milkshakes in three non-alcoholic flavours (alcoholic ones are also available) and other general soft drinks.

The interior is another highlight for me. It's really well decorated, spacious for its occupancy and the bar area is also of a good size. The toilets are up some stairs so you can work off your burger if needed on the way up, but don't drink too much because there could be a few trips.

I really hope you enjoyed a little insight into the Red Dog Saloon Restaurant that has only just opened in Nottingham!

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My In-Flight Travel Essentials

Hello everyone! So I've been a busy bee recently and have just returned from a lovely holiday in Ibiza. It occurred to me that it might be interesting to see what my top hand luggage bits and pieces were, to help you if you're going away soon, or just to have a relaxing read.

For this holiday I took a small backpack. It's lightweight so wasn't too bad to carry around. I like the style of the bag, with its minimalist black and brown fabric. It has a simple magnetic popper opening, disguised as fake buckles. I do like that this means you can get into your bag easily, but sometimes for extra security, it'd be nice if the bag had a zip or did actually buckle down. Inside, there are two small sewn-in pockets, a small zip pocket and a large compartment at the front.

Ipod and Headphones

I placed my Ipod and headphones in the zip pocket so that the headphones and Ipod were easily accesible. I think it also helped my headphones stay un-tangled, a first world problem I'm sure many people have encountered.

Wordsearch Book

I have had this wordsearch book for a while now. It contains loads of word searches and so it keeps me well distracted whilst on the flight. It's also useful to have when on holiday, to use on the beach, by the pool, or just whilst you're waiting to do something.

Magazine

I love magazines. I am not the type of person to be able to sit down and read a full book. I find that magazines suit my lifestyle. I love to be doing things, going in the pool, playing a sport etc. Therefore, a short one page read, or a look at the latest trends for five minutes is great for me.

Sunglasses

I love my sunglasses. These were just around the £2.50 mark and came with their own travel sleeve which is really handy. I like to pack these for when I come off the flight when the sun can be quite dazzling, or even just when coming off the plane due to the change in brightness. I also like to carry these for tired eyes because often my flights are in the morning or late at night and so they can be a little more susceptible to being sensitive to the light. Also, an extra tip and reason to carry sunglasses is that they're great for hiding tired eyes/ eye bags, which I get a lot. And because I don't wear make-up on flights, you can at least still look human for a bit.

Tissues

Anyone who knows me, will know that I often carry tissue with me wherever I am. The air-con on planes can sometimes make my nose run, or eyes water and so tissues are just convenient to have. I tend to be sensitive to dust or strong smells also, so I'm normally the one sneezing. If don't have the above issues, still take a pack of tissues (yes, I know that rhymed), because you never know when an unexpected sneeze may arise. And they're multi-functional for spills too.

Camera

My camera goes in my carry on so that when I get off the plane, I can start my holiday snaps. On my recent trip to Ibiza, we had a short transfer and so I took a few pictures on the journey. I also just like to have my camera in my bag anyway....I don't really know why.

Passport/Travel Documents

This is a given. Without them, you're not going on any flight. However, I thought I'd mention them anyway, just to remind you that if you're going away, check they're in-date and that all your documents are ready.

Stress Ball

I'm afraid of flying. I have been going on aeroplanes since I can't even remember and have experienced flights with bad turbulance. I have also been on a long haul flight to America, which coincidentally was one of the flights with bad turbulance. None of these experiences even phased me and I actually found the jumpy flights to be entertaining. It wasn't until around four years ago that a little nerve kicked in. Firstly, I wanted to be sat next to my family, then I just didn't like flying and then last year, I just freaked out. Now I have found a way which really really works for me. A simple stress ball. This green, squidgy, foam, stress ball helped so much to the point where take off and landing was a doddle for me. If you're not a good flyer, I would highly recommend trying this out.

So these are a few of the things that I took with me in my carry-on bag. Obviously you may need to take more if on a longer flight and you can take liquids that are up to 100ml. I decided not to take any liquids with me, just for ease and you can always buy drinks once you're through security.

 I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you're going to be flying soon, where are you going? Leave a comment, follow my blog and see you soon!

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