Friday 26 July 2013

Where I am and where I'm going...

Hey guys!

Thought I'd write a little update on what's been happening with me and my ever hectic life! Right after I got back from my holiday Dan and I went into massive work/apartment finding mode. Now sadly I have yet to hear from any of the drama schools whom put me on their reserve list but I've come to terms with it and like always have found the silver lining. And this is why jobs and apartments became a very important goal because in order to start my goal of singing and performing I've gotta be where the action is and that is London! It goes without saying that a part time job is essential in order to fund my line of work so I knew that the job I found had to be something that I held nearly just as much love for. And I'm here to say I did! But lets show a few pictures before I give anymore away hehe.

 So this is my poor little room before and after. I moved out at the beginning of the month, I never knew how much I had until I started packing so with that in mind I decided to have a car boot sale. It was a fun day selling would of loved to sell more stuff but I came home with a nice little profit.

 While looking for jobs and a little flat to call our own we've been staying at Dans parents house on the Isle of Wight. Dan also managed to get a part time job on a little cove café while we looked for something more permanent. This is me walking along the lovely sea side road to say hi during one of his shifts!
Skipping ahead a week or so, after mass amounts of job applications and dead end interviews I was asked to come and do a job trial for a baking job at a cool London café. And after a crazy 7am start which lasted 3hrs I received a call that I had got the job!

So with that amazing news I was given a dead line of two weeks to find a place to live which was much harder then I could of ever anticipated...
We viewed everything and anything our budget would allow from the down right small and scary to the perfectly formed but highly over priced! On our third trip up to London to view flats both me and Dan were at an all time low with our enthusiasm. But I'm happy to say third time was the charm because on our first viewing that day we were shown a perfectly formed studio flat 2minutes from the tube, minutes from our much loved Starbucks, right next door to a food market and our very own patio garden! Goes without saying that we snapped it up there and then.
After our success flat hunting we awarded ourselves with a much needed alcoholic drink and some yummy mexican food.



With a top of 32 in London I thought a yummy frozen yogurt was in order. I got natural yogurt with super food nuts and some raspberries yummmmmmmmm.
 Even though our aim was to move into our pretty new flat before I started work with the mass amounts of paper work which needed to be processed sadly it just didn't happen. So I had to stay in a short stay flat for my first week of work.

My first day of work was very scary and stressful, the mere mass of information I had to process was intense! I worked for 8hrs that first day with nothing more then a pot of yogurt at 6am to keep me going.  After that stressful day I was awarded with some yummy food I picked up from Camden Town which is just a 20 minute walk from my work!

 The last day of work had me missing my usual breakfast greatly, though convenient these pots of porridge just don't float my boat..
 On my day off I hoped on a tube to Soho to check out a awesome food stall I've been dying to check out known as the Pizza Pilgrims. This awesome food stall dishes out authentic wood fire Italian pizza cooked right in the back of their awesome little van. And the hype didn't disappoint the crust was so soft I felt like I was biting into a donut! Though not the healthiest of meals the fact it was good quality ingredients with no yucky additives has made this a meal I will definitely be eating again soon.

I am now currently on the Isle of Wight for the weekend while everything is finalised and hopefully next time I write it'll be from my new little apartment! Everyone keeps your fingers crossed!

Thursday 25 July 2013

How I lost weight on holiday!

Yes you heard right LOST weight! A few posts ago I told you that at the start of my holiday I weighed 73kg and was very worried about all the yummy temptations I would have to deal with on my trip abroad. Well when I got home though the scales seemed a very daunting task I knew I had to face them eventually, so boy was I shocked when the scale read 70kg verging on 69kg!

Now your probably thinking ow she probably just lived off carrot sticks and water and didn't enjoy the many splendours of Italy and Greece. Well I'm happy to say I did, pasta and all. So what's my secret? Here's some helpful tips I used to help me on my trip and hopefully they can help you too!


 
 
 


1) Portion sizes- When faced with an abundance of yummy pastas and naughty deserts I knew the only way to have my cake and eat it to was to eat smaller amounts. So when faced with a temping menu ask for an entrée size of your dish, and if you want to bulk it out order a side salad. You'll save on your pocket and your waist line!

2) More lemons please!- Yes you've heard me say it before and I'll say it again, in the morning pop some lemon in your water. It kick starts you metabolism ready for the day ahead.

3) Pick a meal- I'll give an example of how this tip worked for me. On the last night of our cruise we were told after dinner there was going to be a chocolate buffet, yes I said it a CHOCOLATE BUFFET! With this knowledge I knew self control was not going to be my strong suit so I made sure that my daily intake before was clean and healthy. If you opt for some self control you wont feel as guilty about that little late night indulgence.

4) Self control- yes sorry to say its not all fun and games while on holiday try not to go crazy and as hard as it may seem try to keep some control in play. If you have a really really naughty day ( guilty of this!) just make sure that the following day is a bit more healthy and clean.

5) Last but by no means least- For me this is what really helped my final weight lost. When I arrived home I jumped straight back onto the wagon. I went back to my usual calorie intake and opted for clean no-nonsense healthy food. Like a cheat day this shocked my body into weight loss and seems I am still continuing my healthy eating the weight has stayed off.

How amazing is that! Hope my tips helped and if like me your feeling very nervous about an upcoming holiday feel free to get in touch I'd be more then happy to help!

Saturday 20 July 2013

Cruise vacation!

So far I've shown you snaps from the UK as well as Lake Como now we've come to the final leg of our trip the Mediterranean cruise! Our cruise liner was Norwegian Cruises and they were great! The ship had a great atmosphere as most of the other guest were either from America and Australia so there was no shortage of friends to make. On another note our room was amazing, we were lucky enough to have a nice big balcony room at the end of the boat as well as a espresso machine and a free plate of goodies sent to our room every afternoon. Life was very good hehe.

The cruise visited Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens and two lovely relaxing days at sea. I was most excited about Santorini as it was the only place I didn't get to visit last year, but being able to go back to places that I fell in love with last year was equally exciting.
So now on to my large amount of snaps!

 So this is me after a long 3 hour train trip from Lake Como to Venice. We were welcomed to a hotel room that resembled a dolls house and was about the same size! But it was pretty and there was a bed so we weren't complaining.
 This was the walk from the boat dock to the centre of Corfu. Very pretty and the colour of the water was crazy blue.
 If you ever been on a cruise you've probably come across one of these, how are cute are they!
 Santorini was exactly how I pictured it. One thing I forgot to think about was the heat however, annoyingly I burnt my shins very badly on this trip. But the view was so breath taking I didn't even notice until we got back on the boat!



 The shops were quite expensive here but when I came across a gorgeous black jump suit I just couldn't help myself.

 As beautiful a Santorini was I will always love Mykonos first and foremost. The combo of yummy food, shops and a nice cool breeze is enough to win anyone over.

Ow and if you ever happen to visit there's a traditional Greek bakery right off the centre square that sells cakes and pastries that are too die for! It is seriously some of the best food I had on my entire trip!
Me, mum and nan having a much needed drink after a day of shopping!


 Our lovely and spacious balcony, how divine is that view.
 Our last night at one of the ships restaurants.

Favourite photo! Our last cruise dinner together before mum and nan jet of to Dubai without me lol
 Off the boat now enjoying our last day in Europe with a walk through Venice. This was the jump suit I bought in Santorini by the way!


Enjoying some gelato and a little dance in Piazza San Marco square!

Thursday 18 July 2013

Wedding planning abroad

So the first leg of our trip was a three night stay in Lake Como to meet up with my wedding planner as well as checking out venues and if we found the perfect place menu tasting!

First day we arrived we enjoyed a nice relaxing walk around the village we were staying in as well as indulging in mass amounts for yummy Italian food.

Me and nan posing in Milan train station, think we were starting to go a little stir crazy...



 This is the amazing hotel me, mum and nan stayed at. Apparently this is the only hotel on the lake that is right on the water, not next to the water but on it!
 Green tea went out window on this trip and was replaced by its European cousin espresso. At 0 calories per cup it's the perfect kick start to your day!


 This hotel was beyond amazing and beautiful and the view from the top was to die for.



After the first day of walking we sat down to a very yummy and indulgent dinner in our own hotels restaurant, which happened to be one of the most popular places to eat in the village.

 This was the morning I got to meet my wedding planner for the first time! I was very nervous and found it hard to sleep the night before, so it comes as no surprise that on this morning I had two espressos!
 This is where we're having our ceremony! This is where they filmed star wars! I always knew this was where I wanted to say my vows to Dan and thankfully he agreed. I thought there was no point in hiding where our ceremony was going to be as I have been telling people on a regular basis hehe.



 Reception venue 1- This was called The Beach, it was very beautiful and kind of reminded me of Auz which was nice.
 Reception venue 2- This was the view from the second place we were considering, it was beautiful very traditional Italian
 




 More eating of course! Key is to up the side salad and down size the main meal, for example I had pasta but only a starter size. Here's mum with a massive plate of food think she preferred the look of nans pizza lol.


 So this is the village where we're having our reception. As I've already revealed the venue for our ceremony I wanted to leave this one as a surprise, you'll all just have to wait a year!
 Seems we were lucky enough to find our venue while we were there we had the awesome chance to taste the wedding menu! It was the most food I had had in months and as amazing as it all tasted my stomach was by no means happy with me ow dear..


Well that's the end of my stay in Lake Como. I had amazing time and came out of the experience feeling very relaxed and excited about planning my wedding for next year, and with Sally and Gemma from Weddingbox to help me along the whole process next July cant get here soon enough!