friends & food in the sunshine

Yesterday I went out for dinner with one of my best friends from college. We barely see each other any more, but when we get together it's like nothing has changed between us. I think that's the meaning of true friendship - it lasts the test of time. We met in town (after I caught the bus all by myself - another little mile-stone achieved!) and then tottered off to Pizza Express for some lunch. Unfortunately we had a £10 off when you spend £40 - that clearly meant that we just <u>had</u> to go for three courses. Ooops. Like a complete ditz I only remembered to take pictures of my main course - that's surely enough food porn for one post though, right? To start I had the scrumptious dough balls with garlic butter, #uhhmazing. Then this glorious beast of a pizza is their Pollo Ad Astra Leggera pizza which has a super thin base and a hole in the middle filled with salad - all around 500 calories, talk about guilt free. But... then the guilt came. I was forced to have the most divine Chocolate Glory icecream filled with vanilla icecream, fudgy (I'm already salivating) chocolate sauce and pieces of chocolate fudge cake; I don't think that was quite so under 500 calories...

We were also meant to go and see 'The Fault in our Stars', but because of all our shopping, eating and talking we missed it. Whoops... All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day with some fabulous company and food.

A week of happy #4

1. The sunshine - the weather in the UK has been a bit hit and miss this week, but the rainy moments have made the sunny ones 1million times nicer. 

2. Walking around the golf course with my mum - my mum has become quite the little golfer and so to spend any time with her I have to follow her around the 9 hole at our local golf course. It's beautiful though, and especially in this weather and drawn out nights there's nothing better than walking bare foot through the grass. 

3. Coconut Records 'West Coast' - this song just represents summer, and whenever I'm on a bit of a downer I just play it loudly and everything is right again with the world. 

4. Afternoon tea - On Friday I went to a local hotel and had the most beautiful afternoon tea ever; I won't say too much because there will be an accompanying blog-post on tuesday...

5. Signing up to an online course - I've been looking for something to fill my summer for a while - alongside blogging that is - and it seems as if I've now found it. I found the deal on WOWcher for an Criminal Profiling course, and thought it works quite well with my degree and I get a level 3 qualification at the end of it. It was a steal at just £29 instead of £220 - I'll possibly update you on that as and when things happen!

6. Toast - simple, quick and easy; I've been obsessed with oaty wholewheat toast and butter lately. Perfect for breakfast and just a small snack throughout the day. 

7. Orange Is The New Black #OITNB - I've only just got in to this, I'm still not fully on the bandwagon yet. But I was watching the other night and just completely laughing out loud. I have a feeling it's going to be a new favourite of mine. 

8. Rosé wine - I'm not the biggest drinker by a long shot, but I've loved the occaisonal glass of wine whilst sat outside soaking in the beautiful evening sunshine. 

9. Instagram - I've become somewhat in love with this social media platform this past week. Check mine out if you haven't already... @jemmainwords... plug plug plug.

10. Staying in my home town with my grandparents - as you read this I'm currently their now enjoying their company and all the familiarities of home. Since moving away, I've come to understand just how lovely it is to be back there and around the things and people close to my heart. 

A week of happy #1

Inspired by the incredible blog, Cider with Rosie, I want to write about my week by focussing on 10 things that have made me happy. Sometimes I forget to find the pleasure in the simplest of things, and everyone is always so caught up in their own busy lives, so I'm making a pact that every Sunday to reflect upon the positive in my previous week.

1. Getting to spend time with my grandparents - My nan and grandad recently came back from their cruise around the mediterranean, I'm super close to them and so it was lovely to have them back home and to spend some quality time with them. They're honestly some of my favourite people in the world and so any time with them is so precious to me. 

2. Drinking tea in my garden in the morning - With the weather being gorgeous lately, the mornings have been the perfect mixture of crisp air and British summertime. I've loved nothing more than having my morning 'peppermint and liquorice' Pukka tea (I'll probably write a whole post about this tea soon - it's heavenly...) with the morning birds chirping away and the sun glowing my skin and getting my daily dose of vitamin D. 

3. Enjoying the sunshine - Linking closely to the latter, quite simply the sunshine makes me happy and so when the weather is like it is - I am a happy chappy. There's something very relaxing about donning some flip-flops and a tee!

4. Catching up with friends - When I stayed with my grandparents I got to catch up with my best friend who I hadn't seen since before christmas. It was lovely to get to catch up and revisit our old 'stomping ground'. I can't wait to catch up again and with other friends soon!

5. Getting complimented on my writing by the editor of my favourite magazine - So I wrote a post about 'Company' magazine a few days ago and tweeted it to their twitter and also the editor - I never thought they would read it, let alone give me any feedback. That's why, when I did, I was so stunned and honoured. For her to be so complimentary about my writing just means the world to me. 

6. Lana Del Rey's new album - I've already done a blog post yesterday about this album so I'll keep this sweet. I'm in love with this album and it's just perfect for the weather at the moment too. 

7. Keeping up with the Kardashian's - So I'm late - very late, on to the bandwagon but I've been obsessed with this show and its re-runs on E! at the moment. I love it so much and I don't even know why, I've never been their biggest fan and totally never got the hype. I have K-fever good and properly now and it's starting to get serious... don't send help though - I'm enjoying it far too much. 

8. Getting in to freshly washed sheets - I don't need to explain this, everyone knows how good it is to do this. It's heavenly - although the process of actually making it is somewhat of a chore. The end result is divine though. 

9. Seeing my mum after her holiday - She's only been gone a week, and I've not missed her. But it's just lovely to see the people that you love. She's been on holiday in Turkey for the past week and it was just nice to have her home again <3. 

10. Daisies in the garden - Everyone seems to hate the sight of daisies in the garden, but I adore them. They remind me of walking through fields on a summers day. From my desk I look out over our back-garden and it just reminds me of the beautiful weather and, I don't know, it's just lovely. 

I've really enjoyed writing this and it's helped me see the beauty in the smallest of things - I'll be looking out for my reasons to be happy next week. I feel like it's really going to help me appreciate the beauty in life a lot more.