What i bought today:

I feel like i'v not posted in ages (tut tut naughty blogger) so this is just a quick little update for you guys. This week i'v decided to start doing a little bit more exercise (more? Sammie don't you mean actually start doing exercise) . For all of you guys who don't know since the 2nd January i have given up smoking. I will be doing a post on how i did this very soon. So i thought it was time i started with the exercise. On Tuesday i started the 30 day shred DVD workout and i'v done this 3 whole times now (hey don't laugh that's good for me) and on Wednesday night i went for a jog. Feeling motivated  and also aching i went shopping with then intention to buy some nice bubble bath (for my aching self)  and have a look at the other workout DVDs. Obviously i didn't just stick to buying bubble bath and workout DVD, as i passed Primark i couldn't help have a nosy and did the typical Primark think of sweeping up anything shiny that caught my eye into my arms. 

Dress £15 primark

This will be perfect for this weekend (heading to Tattoo Tea Party, then out in Manchester)

Can never have enough flats and reduced to £6

Skull scarf £3

Clutch bag with skull detail £6

Spiked bracelet £3 (I'm a bit in love with this)

I then noticed at the till they had Argan oil!! Everyone has been raving on about this for a long while now, it suppose to be excellent for your hair so at £2.50 i got 2 of these. 

Then to HMV it was for a workout DVD, what can i say there was a sale on:

 I'v currently just done 2 workouts for the kickbox bootcamp (not my fav workout DVD, i'll add a review next week when i'v complete more workouts)

Not sure what to watch first, any recommendations? 

I also bought some baking ingredients (since i need to be up early Saturday morning to catch a train i'm having a quiet night in Friday) so i thought instead of sulking i'm not going out, why not do some baking.  So you can also expect a baking post coming soon . 

Love Sammie

Too much technology?

Since i started blogging i have defiantly upped my use use of social networking. I'm not saying social networking is a bad thing as it does what it says on the tin and connects us with like-minded people. Not to mention its been amazing for helping me promote my own blog. However i sometimes feel technology is overwhelming us all. Do we really need it?

Ironically i wrote this post in two halves: the first half said this:

For example whilst i'm sat writing this on blogger my phone is sat happily buzzing away every second reminding me of my twitter followers, my emails, what my friends have said on facebook and telling someone made a bid on my eBay listing. I then have friends texting me, people messaging me on whatsapp and kik, its exhausting and i'm not even that popular. Not to mention i still haven't got to grips with instagram (i know mad right?).

The worst part is i feel i'm been left behind with all these sparkly new apps, i'm not LinkedIn and i find uploading to Pintrest a chore. 

I understand its my own choice to use these products, but i honestly feel as though i have to be using them to keep up to date with life. I often imagine living in a world without mobile phones the internet or social media sites. I imagine what it must of been like to live without phones, laptops tablets etc and i imagine a much more polite world. For example now before we go to meet our friends we have to send numerous texts to make sure were there at exactly the same time, god forbid we have to stand on own for a few minuets, then when we finally meet we check in on facebook.  

I imagine a world without phones and social media to go like this: 

We would have to arrange a time and stick to it! If your friends forget to turn up or was late for whatever reason it would be tough. However i imagine in those times waiting around no one would pity you etc they would understand you was simply waiting for friends and maybe even chat to you. If you wanted to find your friends you might have to walk into the local pub or usual hangout alone and simply see if they was there, they might not be but i imagine you would start talking to more people anyways as everyone would understand.

Then there's the other half to this post: On Sunday i lost Rosie (don't worry Rosie isn't a child or a puppy or anything she was my mobile phone, I named her that because of the panda phone case i had, i thought she looked  like a Rosie) !!

Other than having this song in my head all day! Its pretty stressful loosing your phone, I'm sure we have all done this once in our lives. Firstly having to have my phone blocked, await a new sim card, find a replacement, report it to the insurance company. Then there's loosing all my contacts, I'm pretty sure I just about got them all back from last time I lost my phone a years back. Yet despite everything I mentioned in the above post I'm lost without it. The worst part been there wasn't even a password on my phone so now someone has access to my twitter, Facebook, Blogger, eBay, emails, all my messages, photos, contacts... its a nightmare having to change passwords let friends know etc. I also miss all the social media! It is 2013!!

Love

Sammie

Birthdays and Berlin

So this is just a quick post to share with you a few little updates. So you all know i love my music and this week i'v been buying a few gig tickets. However the main point of this post is to share with you my birthday plans and to let you in to a little secret. Ok are you ready? Take a seat. Are you comfortable?, do you need a drink or anything? Ok you're ready. Right here goes. Deep breaths Sammie. Right. I LOVE ONE DIRECTION. Phew, you all know. So when my friend pointed out there was a deal on wowcher to go see them in Europe i was quite excited. I was a bit skeptical about booking this however when i saw the Berlin tour date fell on my birthday May 11th I got rather giddy and had to book it! I know its One Direction but i think it sounds pretty rock and roll following a band on tour to another country. (Either cool or a plot for Taken 3). 

The deal consist of a general entry ticket to see One Direction and a two night hotel stay at the 4* Adrema hotel based on the banks of the river Spree for £189.00 per person, we then have to book our own flights and make our own way there etc so i have no idea how good an idea this will turn out to be. However 1D aside it does mean i get to spend my birthday in Berlin. Asides from the concert i'm looking forward to a spot of sight seeing and probably a night out in Berlin. I am concerned the 2 nights won't be enough to see this beautiful city so i might have to look into booking an extra day. 

Sammie

Reds True BBQ Leeds

 Pulled Pork and Slaw, with fires and fries pickles

Selection of sauces

Bucket of bones with mac n cheese and corn bread

Peanut butter cheesecake

I often here the words "are you eating again" said to me on a regular basis, this would probably bother me however no one has ever dared say this to a "cough" fatty. In fact when people stop saying that to you, that's when you should start to worry. It is however fair to say i enjoy good food.

So when my friends suggested a trip to Reds True Barbecue i can honestly say  i spent all day daydreaming (and possibly drooling) about it. Having been to Reds about a month or so back i already knew it was seriously good food and was looking forward to going.

I met my friends in Oporto first for a few drinks and luckily one of my friends had already booked a table for us. There is usually a wait for a table what can be up to 3 hours at busy times, so its advisable to put your name down first then head out for drinks, there's plenty of nice bars close by and the restaurant call you when your table is ready. 

Firstly walking into Reds it smelt delicious and has such a welcoming ambiance, it feels almost as if you've stepped into a log cabin, with exposed brick walls and a open kitchen in the middle. For me its always a nice sign when restaurants have open kitchens. We was shown to our table and given a menu to look through. One thing i also have noticed about Reds is there is always good rock/indie music playing.

The waitress came and took our drinks orders, I really wanted to get a root beer float or a milkshake but i knew it would fill me up too quickly so i went to for the more classy option. A pint! I must add in here there is a very nice drink selection that also fits in with the theme of the restaurant with american lagers, bourbons, root beer, milkshakes and divine cocktails.  

It took us a little while to choose what we all wanted as everything looked so delicious however out waitress was patient with us. I eventually choose the BBQ rib taster for my starter. I'v never been a massive fan of ribs so thought it would be perfect as a starter to try them as i'd heard they was excellent. I was not disappointed the ribs starter was to die for and i am now converted. The main course swiftly arrived and i opted for the pulled pork and slaw with a side of fries and fried pickles. The main again was delicious and full of flavor. I'm really not a desert person but swayed by friend (why is it no one gets a pudding unless someone else will) i ordered the peanut butter cheesecake to finish with and again this was yummy. 

I also cannot end the post without mentioning some of my friends meals, pictured above is the bucked of bones, as you can see this arrived in a small bin (or trash can if were been american). I can assure you this place does not sell measly were is the meat ribs, these are full on man vs food, size of your arm ribs! I also need to give a mention to the donut burger. Yep forget the bread bun instead your given a rather delicious burger and all the trimmings between two glazed donuts, what looked heavenly. 

Overall this is an excellent restaurant and defiantly worth a visit. 

What restaurants you would recommend? 

Sammie

Head to Toe Wishlist:

Ray-Ban Wayfarer Sunglasses £160 John Lewis

I love the unique print on these sunglasses and they defiantly stand out, I think with these i'm looking forward to festival season a little too early. 

Topshop - Pink Camo Cropped Jacket £42

This looks perfect for when the summer comes and since i never got round to buying an army jacket last year i'm very happy the fashion will be around this summer, I have a weakness for buying jackets, so i'm not sure how long i can resist this. 

ASOS - Peg Trousers in jersey £15

Since i'v been living in leggings and jeans for the past year i'v recently discovered wearing trousers again. When i saw these they look very practical and a steal at £15.

Court Shoes £14.99 H&M

I'v posted about brightly colored court shoes like these on a previous post and wasn't sure how often i would wear them. Then i came across these! These look so fun for the summer and what a steal at £14.99!!

Little things i hate:

As much i want to keep my blog on a positive note, we all have those little things that annoy us. In the words of Peter Griffin here are a few things what really grind my gears: 


The first of these been when i'm sale shopping online and i click on an item only to find it's out of stock! Topshop you little tease.

Following on from been lied to by websites this brings me onto amazon. As much as i love amazon from the bottom of my heart and buy the majority of my DVD's, CD's and books from there, if i'm buying second hand DVD's i am always careful i only buy the ones that are listed like new or very good. This is especially true if i'm buying a kids film (recently bought Marry Poppins, Matilda and Babe) as i don't want sticky hands and crayon wax on it. Therefore when an item arrives looking like it could of been part of a deleted scene in the Kelly Clarkson video for since you been gone, it's fair to say i'm not best pleased.

I was also going to add in YouTube adverts here however i'v found i often discover some pretty good bands from the background music of YouTube adverts. My only hate here been i'm not quick enough to shazam the song. 

Moving onto fashion. Now i'm all for people having there own sense of style and bow down to anyone who is daring enough to follow the more outrageous or extravagant fashion trends, however there is one fashion item should be made a public crime. Crocs.

Having never worn a pair of crocs i couldn't say if they are comfortable or not. I will however assume looking as ridiculous as they do and becoming as popular as they did they must feel amazing. I'm imagining the comfort of a pair of crocs been higher then walking on air, i imagine bathing in marsh-mellow to the power of sleeping on cloud nine comfort levels. 

I did want to keep this rant short and sweet however when i noticed this new product in the shop this morning i reminded me of one of my biggest hates:



Calling drink flavors by colours. How am i suppose to know what these taste like by simply calling them red, silver and blue. I understand this is a good marketing tactic as i have to buy them to find out however its annoying. 

Finally i cannot end this post without adding in; rude people, people who have overly loud phone conversations on public transport, people who walk too slow, when you'r trying to tell a story and no one listens, people who tell stories unaware no one cares, not been able to think of a song, that guy in the pub who acts like he knows everyone, people who post pictures on social network sites saying how bad they look when they might as well of had a professional makeup artist over at their house, people who think they can sing (when they can't), bad endings films, hay-fever, burning pans when i cook (its on the lowest heat!), tents that leak, captch and finally been hit with a cup of pi** in festival crowed. 

Wow that rant went on for longer then i thought. I'm not a "moaner" i promise. 

What are your pet hates?

Sammie

American style Pancakes

So pancake day has been and gone and since pancakes are one of my favorite foods I have been thinking of a way to make pancakes in different ways.

I then came across american style pancakes on the Londoner blog. Why i have in never thought of this before is beyond me. So this weekend to cheer myself up, since I'v been feeling unwell since Thursday and it doesn't look like i'm getting better, I made myself an american style breakfast and it was yummy. 

The pancake recipe: 

You will need:

125g Self raisin flour

1 Egg

300ml Milk

1 Table spoon of caster sugar.

(oil/butter for frying)

Methord:

1. Put the flour, baking powder, egg, milk and sugar in a large jug then whiz with a hand-held blender until smooth (or just whisk together in a bowl).
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan (add a little butter if you need) and pour in small amounts of batter. Once the top of the pancake has bubbled and set, flip with a palette knife and cook on the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used.
3. Stack the pancakes in a pile, add cooked bacon on top of the pancake stack. Drizzle with maple syrup (i'm using butterscotch sauce) and serve. 

I must admit i wasn't sure how much i was going to enjoy this, us British folk aren't use to maple syrup or butterscotch sauce on our bacon but i can assure you all it was delicious. 

It also remind me of watching The Simpsons. 

Love

Sammie