What I'm reading: January

Every year I hope to read a book a month and every year I fail. In 2015 I read three. THREE! I'd like to make 2016 the year I stick to my plan so I've started scheduling in some dedicated reading time into my week. usually whilst waiting for my tea to cook I'll scroll endlessly through instagram or play a game on my phone. So far this year, most days I've spent this time reading. 

January's book of choice is The Selection by Kiera Cass. In the first of I believe 5 novels, America Singer is one of 35 young girls chosen to compete for Prince Maxon's love and thrust her self and her family to the top of society in a country where social mobility is practically non-existent.

I've only read a third of this book so far but I am completely hooked. America is, at least for the moment, a likable character, easy to relate to and very much a girl next door type representing the masses of under privileged girls. She's already battled between what is right for her heart and what would, at the least financially, be better for her future and her family's.

I'd love to know if you've read this series (no spoilers please) and any other book recommendations are welcome.

ox Lucy

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Red Apple Wreath - Blogmas Day 7

During the power cuts in Lancashire over the weekend my obsessive candle hoarding finally proved to have a purpose. Our living room looked beautiful by candle light with a mixture of tea lights and larger candles dotted around sporadically. Whilst I was careful not to use more than one scented candle in a room at one time, this was the perfect opportunity to use up some candles and give me an excuse to replenish my stocks.

Yankee Candle's Red Apple Wreath has been lurking around for a while and I wish I'd used it before now. The warm cinnamon scent is sweeter than you'd expect thanks to the apple and maple notes so if the usual festive candles don't do it for you, this might be the one. 

I only used the votive size but I might treat myself to a jar of it I liked it that much.

Were you affected by the floods this weekend?

ox Lucy

I'm taking part in Blogmas! 

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Miss Patisserie - Queen of Hearts Bath Bake

When I'm looking to buy a bath bomb for myself I must admit I look no further than my local Lush store. Whilst using up my bath bombs recently I found this little beauty from Miss Patisserie lingering at the back of my drawer and decided to give it a go. Queen of Hearts is a cupcake style bath bake and comes complete with a mound of red 'frosting', glitter and a small red heart to top it off. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the frosting like topping is actually a gentle exfoliating body scrub whilst the bottom half of the bath bake is the actual bath bomb. I haven't seen this done before but I absolutely love the concept. 

The bath bomb smells beautifully sweet with slight floral scents to it. I'm always hopeless at describing scents but the website tells me it's filled with citrus zest and blackcurrant notes. The water turned a lovely muted purple colour - it reminded me of those Palma Violet sweets.

At £4.50 I wouldn't use one everyday but for a weekly treat or special pamper night they are perfect. That being said, the price point isn't that dissimilar to Lush but with this one you get the added extra of the body scrub. 

You can expect to see these in my Christmas gift guides coming up this month. What alternatives to Lush have you found?

ox Lucy

Lush Haul Review - Skydancer

Every time Lush release new products I cannot resist popping in and have a look smell. It's fair to say I was pretty overwhelmed by the new additions and spent a good twenty minutes annoying the sales assistant with my indecisiveness. Finally I settled on Skydancer. The first thing that swayed me was the size. As much as I love lush I can't always bring myself to spend £5 on a bath but selling for just £3.95 and being larger than their average bath bomb I knew it would be worth the money. But what sealed the deal for me was that the profits from each Skydancer sold goes towards tagging English Hen Harriers in a bid to save them from extinction. This is why I love Lush - not only do they care about producing good quality products, they care about the environment, animal and human rights. Lush, I love you.

Now when I was in the shop smelling everything, I think my nose might have been slightly overwhelmed because only when I got home did I realise that the main scent in Skydancer was liquorice. I feared I'd be bathing in a sambucca-like bath but after a couple of days the scent became less daunting. The floral notes balanced out and I knew it was time. As you can see, I broke off a chunk rather than use the entire bath bomb all in one go. I try and do this with most Lush products, very rarely will I use a whole bath bomb or bubble bar. The water turned an awesome green colour, it reminded me of those gooey little Alien things from the 90's but I liked it all the same.

As per most Lush products, I was left with lovely soft skin and for once there was very little residue left in the bath afterwards although it's worth baring in mind I did use a small amount. If you're in Lush I urge you to give Skydancer a chance and support the English Hen Harriers cause but please don't be put off by the liquorice, it works a lot better than you'd think. 

Have you bought anything from the new Lush collection?

ox Lucy

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Manchester | Black Milk Cereal Dive

I'd read about Cereality New York and Cereal Killer Cafe London with envy so when the north west had their very own piece of the cereal cafe trend I couldn't wait to get try it myself.

Black Milk Cereal Dive is Manchester's very own Cereal Cafe. Situated on the 2nd floor of Afflecks, Black milk has as many cereals as you could wish for and you get to play cereal chef to create your own delicious combination. I opted for Toffee Crisp with Curiously Cinnamon, soya milk and topped off with mini marshmallows. As delicious as that was, the part I was most excited about was the chocolate bowl my cereal concoction was served in. This is an optional extra but you with the choice of milk, dark or white chocolate you will not regret choosing one. 

Next time I'm in Manchester I'll be back at Black Milk, there are far too many cereals to try that one visit just isn't enough. Next time I'll be giving flavoured milk a try too.

What's your favourite cereal? Have you been to a cereal cafe?

ox Lucy

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Yankee Candle | Fresh Cut Roses

I love Roses and I love candles so you can imagine how happy I was when my mum presented me with a little gift last week and Fresh Cut Roses was beneath the wrapping paper. Although it's my favourite scent, I find Rose candles to be a little hit and miss but I'm usually impressed with Yankee Candle so was eager to give this one a try.

This scent seriously lives up to its name. I've had a few rose scented candles that I find way too sweet and artificial smelling but this one is fresh and crisp and true to life. My major disappointment was that the scent just didn't fill my bedroom which for a Yankee Candle is pretty disappointing. I'm not sure I'd splurge on the large jar for this one but I'd buy the reed defuser, this jar in particular is beautiful.

What's your favourite scent?
ox Lucy

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Ed's Diner | Restaurant Review

Ever since I can remember I've wanted to visit a real all American diner. It started with that scene in Grease where Danny Zuko's attempt at going undercover behind restaurant menus on his date night with Sandy was rumbled by the rest of the gang. I don't know whether it was the massive shakes, burgers, the decor or the jukebox but I knew that was my kind of place.

Where I live couldn't be further from 1950's America but when I was in London last month I took a trip to the Ed's diner near Euston Station for some pre-travel fuel and this is what I ate.

My go-to meal at Ed's is a slick dog with a side of sweet potato fries and a shake but I thought I'd switch things up this time and trade my hot dog for a Chicken BLT burger. A whole grilled chicken breast in a sesame seed bun with BLT & a slice of American cheese. One lettuce leaf and one slice of tomato was a little underwhelming but the grilled chicken was moist and the bacon.. well you can't exactly go wrong with bacon can you. 

On to the sweet potato fries. Oh my what can I say about Ed's Diner sweet potato fries?! The are delicious! Unlike some I've tried the outside is crispy, the inside is soft and fluffy and not at all soggy. If I could eat them everyday I would.

Ed's are famous for their shakes and my recommendation to anybody who'll listen is peanut butter. It's my idea of heaven in a chilled glass. Served in an Ed's tumbler it fills two glasses at least so for £4.35 you get more than your money' worth. be warned though, it fills you up so if you've not got a large appetite you might want to share.

I must admit, I was left a little disappointed by the chicken BLT burger and wished I'd ordered the slick dog (hotdog with BBQ sauce, cheese sauce and bacon). For the amount of lettuce and tomato you get you might as well order the Chicken Classic and add bacon on for an extra pound.

That being said if you're in the vicinity of an Ed's Diner I recommend you pay them a visit, even if just for a shake.

I'd love to know what your favourite American Diner is.

ox Lucy

Sunday Brunch | Frankie & Benny's

Brunch is my favourite meal to eat out and Frankie and Benny's £5 menu is my go-to for a filling yet inexpensive start to the day. Ham is always my meat of choice to accompany Eggs Benedict and came served on a toasted muffin, drenched in hollandaise sauce with a sprinkling of chives. The ham can be switched up for bacon or a flat mushroom to suit your preference but I haven't tasted any of those options yet. 

The eggs were perfectly poached; soft but not so runny the hollandaise sauce was compromised. Brunch isn't brunch without a hash brown (or three) so I ordered a side for only £1.45. They don't quite meet the standards of my all time favourite has browns from the McDonald's breakfast menu (guilty pleasure) but a with a dollop of ketchup they hit the spot.

After taking a few snaps I wolfed this down and was pleasantly full for the rest of the afternoon. As well as their budget five pound breakfasts, F&B offer a lighter menu for a luxury menu which showcases the ever tempting breakfast pizza.. I know, I know, how could I resist? Maybe next time I'll give it a try but until then, I'll continue to recommend their delicious Eggs Benedict.

If you're thinking of trying Frankie & Benny's you can take a peek at their menu here.

Where's you favourite place to eat Sunday brunch?

ox Lucy

Restaurant Review: Frankie and Benny's Leicester

As far as I'm concerned you can't go wrong with an American-Italian restaurant and Frankie and Benny's was always a favourite of mine when I was younger.

A couple of months ago I was extremely excited to see that they were opening in my university city of Leicester and so I vowed to visit after Christmas. True to my word I've been twice in the past week (judging forbidden) and I was not disappointed!

Lunchtime on a Sunday isn't the best time to go if you're looking for a quick meal, I had to wait 20 minutes before being seated but the staff were really friendly and went out of their way to make sure we were seated as soon as possible. In the mean time we waited in the bar area. Although I played it safe with a diet coke I watched the barmen prepare a fair few cocktails and they seemed to go down very well with some brave Sunday lunchtime drinkers.

Whilst waiting I browsed the menu and was impressed with the 2 courses for £11.95 offer that's available all day Sunday to Friday. You can pay a little extra and have three courses for little over £14 but me and my friend decided one of us would order starter and a main and the other a main and dessert. 

For starter we shared warm dough sticks with a garlic butter dip. I'm going to make a statement now and it's a pretty bold one.. I prefer them to Pizza Express' dough balls. They were warm soft inside and big enough to wet your appetite for the rest of the meal. If you don't like garlic butter you can choose a philly cheese dip instead but I'm quite the garlic addict so this was perfect in my eyes. You get four per serving and a generous amount of dip.

I chose the 'ultimate hot dog' for main. The sausage was wrapped in bacon and on a bed of pulled pork in the bun with BBQ and cheese sauce. It also came with more than enough chips, a small corn of the cob, coleslaw and fried onions. To say it was delicious would be an understatement. The sausage and pulled pork were perfect but there was so much I had to leave the bun although I wasn't too bothered about that. F&B chips are my favourite so I made sure to leave some room in my increasing full stomach for them.

My friend had a meatball calzone and for review purposes (tee hee) I had to have a taste. It's filled with full size beef and pork meatballs, slices of pepperoni, mozzarella and bolognaise sauce. Although I preferred the hot dog, next time i'll choose the calzone. One bite was not enough!

Dessert was one of those tough decisions that you have to make in life and after ten minutes contemplating what to order we settled on the salted caramel cheesecake. It's served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sprinkles of chocolate honeycomb. I'm not a massive salted caramel fan so I wasn't crazy about this but the cheesecake was nice and I munched up all the pieces of chocolate honeycomb. 

I'll definitely visit Frankie and Benny's again in the future. The food was delicious but it was the atmosphere that will keep me going back. The decor gives a lovely relaxed feel that caters towards adults and families alike. The toilets were clean to a very high standard and instead of music playing in them, there was a 'learn Italian' disk playing. It's those little touches that really keep the atmosphere constant throughout the restaurant that I love.

I never say this lightly but all the staff were helpful, polite and efficient. The restaurant was extremely busy but all our needs were catered to and when we needed assistance we were seen to straight away. 

Do you love Frankie and Benny's as much as I do? What's your favourite dish?

I'll be back with my second review from their breakfast menu soon so watch out for that.

Lucy ox