A Summer In Spain

A Summer In Spain

Hola! I'm writing to you from a very sunny Spain where I moved nearly a month ago now - wow, crazy how time flies huh. So much has happened and it feels so long ago since I set foot on the plane to Madrid. I wasn't intending to blog while I was away, what with looking after two children (au pairing btw, not my own!) and exploring what this amazing city has to offer - but I've genuinely missed writing on my blog and think it needs a good ole update.

When I get back to Liverpool come September I will resume my usual fashion & make up posts, but for now the blog is taking a break away from it, just like myself, like seriously -  over here I wear make up 10% of the time and am about 99% in a bikini - it's great.

Honestly, I was preeeetty nervous before coming here - I've never done anything like this before and this is probably the longest I've gone without being home but I'm surprised at how quickly I've adapted and how comfortable I feel here. My family are so super lovely and their kids are adorable too - it's been tricky at times but so worth being here. 

Here are some other things that have happened since my arrival:

- I've met the most incredible people from different parts of the world - American, German, French, Australian, Scottish - all brought together (I know I sound so cheesy, can't. help. it. ) for the same reason in one city and we all get along so well. I was quite worried of not having a good social life outside of au pairing but have been out and about spending time with new friends and exploring this new city together so the worrying was unnecessary!

- I experienced the biggest pride in the world 'Madrid Orgullo'. Like seriously, the biggest parade you have ever seen - parties on every street of Madrid till morning and lots of sangria. I also saw my favourite band Hinds perform in Plaza de Espana this night which was followed by 2 hours straight of dancing outdoors.

- I went to Pamplona, just last weekend for the famous San Fermin festival, which was honestly such a blast - everyone wearing the same red & white uniform, marching bands, drinking and dancing in the streets, people throwing water out of windows (it was BAKING hot) - 1 hour of sleep in a park then 8am to see some crazy people run away from a herd of bulls and cows. It was such a weird and wonderful tradition to experience - and the Spanish really love to party so I would recommend going to this, i'd love to go again!

- I visited the beautiful city of Avila with my (host) family. The day was spent marveling at Spanish architecture, which I have become infatuated with - I wanna marry a building.

- I've ate delicious Spanish food (tortilla, tapas, croquetas, bocadillos...etc) and got used to the late meal times (10pm most nights) here. Pool all day, eat at night - my kinna lifestyle.

- I've got sunburnt. I've tied about 100 water balloons for the kids. I've realised kids can be happy or amused by the smallest thing. I've learnt quite a lot of Spanish already. I've drank a lot of gazpacho and ate a lot of olives. I've found meditation in swimming, after doing it for 15 minutes and realising no thought other than me swimming went through my head. I've had a café con leche and actually enjoyed it (normally coffee hates me). 

So much has happened already and I still have another month to go and travelling to do afterwards - I miss home occasionally but at the same time it makes me sad and want to stuff my face with tapas at the thought of leaving this lovely country.

A Taste Of Cuba

A Taste Of Cuba

Well hey there folks! Exams are over, and summer is HERE! I'm away for 2 months this summer to be an au pair in Madrid, and I honestly can't wait! I will be busy but I promise to fit in some travel posts and travel guides after my trip as well as a vlog!

On with today's post! The lovely people over at Liquid in Liverpool got in touch about a blogger event at the brand new, fancy schmancy Revolución de Cuba bar/restaurant on the Albert Docks - with a brief mention of Cuban inspired food and drink as well as live music in the invitation - my reply was of course - hell. yes.

On arrival we were given two amazing (if a little strong woaah) mojitos - and went for a little wander round the venue to find an amazing 3-piece band jamming away on a keyboard, guitar and bongos so we sat and enjoyed the music letting it transport us to Cuba right in the heart of Liverpool.

Afterwards, Jamie, one of the youngest head chef's working amongst the Revolución de Cuba brand, gave us a brief introduction and began to hand out tapas to sample from the menu. It was obvious how much Jamie loved his job and food, talking about each and every dish with such passion!

I tried one of everything, naturally - starting with chicken quesadillas, followed by an array of roasted vegetables glazed in honey, patatas bravas, prawn/shrimp style calamari with guacamole and pork meatballs in the most delicious and AMAZING of sauces - wow. I'm crying just thinking about it all again. Such beautiful food.

Next, we were taken into the bar area and greeted by the lovely Coco, assistant manager and specialist in rum! He took us through a very insightful history lesson into where rum came from and how it's made...another member of staff of Revolución de Cuba extremely passionate about their profession! We tried three different types of rum, which I enjoyed, in all honesty though they were v strong and I am a lightweight so I didn't knock them back like it was a Friday night in town.

Following the rum tasting, we had a little burrito lesson with Jamie! All ingredients were sorted, we just had to put the burrito together ourselves (fun fact: burrito means little donkey in Spanish). Jamie showed us how it was done first and obviously did it perfectly first time round, it was a little tricky but most of us managed and got to enjoy eating them afterwards - they were filled with guacamole, grated mozzarella cheese, rice, spinach and mushroom, refried beans, sour cream, chicken and peppers - everythaaaaang. Delish.

Lastly, we were given a cocktail masterclass with two of the lovely bartenders - Alex and David! We all had the chance to make our very own cocktails ourselves with the guidance of the pro's. I volunteered to go first, to get the embarrassment out the way nice and quickly. I chose to make the raspberry mojito which had rum, sugar, soda, mint, crushed raspberries, lime juice and ice! It was good fun to make, even if I was a bit clumsy woopsieee - but actually getting to enjoy the fruits of my labor afterwards made it all worth it - and I got to use a soda gun - dreams. fulfilled.

I had such a fun night sampling the menu and indulging in the cocktails - I can't wait to go back to Revolución de Cuba to try more of the menu!! I'd highly recommend going - the food is insanely good as well as the cocktails and you can also sit outside and admire the wonderful views of the Albert Docks.

A big thanks to Liquid PR for inviting me and a huge thank you to the lovely staff at Revolución de Cuba - I had a blast!! Revolución de Cuba, Albert Docks officially opens on Friday the 10th of June - get your table booked asap!!

Liverpool Bloggers Ball

Liverpool Bloggers Ball

Last weekend I was kindly invited along to the Liverpool Bloggers Ball - the aim of the event was to give bloggers in Liverpool the chance to mingle and network with other bloggers, enjoy a tipple or two and have a grand ole time...and so it was! 

The event was held at the recently opened Roxy Ball Room on College Lane in Liverpool - a fantastic new venue with roof terrace, lounge, ping pong tables, pool tables and a mouth-watering menu to boot. I was really impressed with the interiors and it had such a laid back, fun vibe - somewhere ideal that you could hang with friends over a few drinks, pizza, burgers and all that lovely stuff.

I was greeted by the lovely Steph Bewley, the lady behind the Liverpool Bloggers community. She did such a great job organising this event for all of us! There was glasses of orange juice and Bellini's on offer (I hadn't had breakfast, so started with the oj) as well as little complementary lollipops and pouches to collect other bloggers business cards ooh err.

Steph also organised a round of ping pong and pool tournaments - which I sadly lost after the first round - maybe the Bellini and lack of breakfast had something to do with it?? Any excuse. She also organised a little Twitter competition for us all making everything interactive and fun.

Me, failing at ping pong

From the lounge, there were stunning views over Liverpool and luckily that day the sun was a-shinin' so the wall to wall windows let the blue skies pour right in.

Steph also gathered some really inspiring and interesting people together who gave us a talk about their businesses and how they started them. I was so inspired and motivated by these people who started out their businesses from an initial hobbie/passion and turned it into their job! I was close to not coming to the event, feeling tired and lazy (as always), but forced myself out of bed and I'm so glad I did!!

Firstly, we met David from the 'Independent Liverpool'. I am an avid follower of the Independent Liverpool (Facebook, Instagram - you name it) and love everything they recommend and how they promote independent cafes, restaurants and shops so it was so interesting to finally meet one of the faces behind the successful brand. David is also alumni of the University Of Liverpool where he studied business so it was great to see someone go onto something great and do so well post university. He gave us a short but sweet talk explaining how the business started and that they plan to expand to other major cities across the UK and places like Paris and more! It was refreshing to see a guy who was into blogging - as I think it's commonly seen as something woman do, which we do of course, but there are men that are into blogging too. Blogging isn't gendered folks!

Secondly, the lovely Gemma from Buttons Boutique also gave us a brief chat about her business which provides a range of art & craft workshops, parties and master classes in Liverpool. She also now has her own stall at REX Concept on Bold Street and told us she also has a TV show on Channel 4 that will debut later this year about upcycling! We also got to see some items from Teardrop designs who are a jewellery brand as well as a bespoke wallpaper designer - a really talented bunch.

After all the networking and mingling, some of us were starvin marvin and ordered some food. Roxy Ball had a varied menu with a selection of snack type meals like pizza, pitta bread and hummus, burgers and more - just good food. I went for the olive burger with mozzarella and tomato which came with a side of fries - there were LOADS so I shared them out amongst everyone. Everyone agreed that the food was delicious!

I haven't been to many blog events like this but I hope this is the start of many! It was great to meet so many other like-minded girls doing a similar thing to myself and discover different blogs from lifestyle to fitness, healthy eating, fashion, beauty, books, restaurants and so on all under one roof. I learnt a lot from the people there and met a lot of inspiring, lovely people so overall, it was worth getting out of bed for.

Thanks Steph for organising such an enjoyable afternoon!

Blogging gals I met and their wonderful blogs:

Sabrebeauty - Hollie in Wanderlust - Andra Loves Fashion - Saloca in Wonderland - Adorn with G

- Magazines and dreams -Sophie's Anecdotes - Olivia Cheryl - Dorkface - Reviews à la mode - Student To Staff Nurse