Lost in Paradise

Hello my lovelies, hope you guys had a lovely bank holiday weekend and just counting days till the weekend, as, believe it or not , its almost here.

Mr Not-So –Spontaneous surprised me and the little bundle of joy over the bank holiday weekend. Usually it’s down to me to search for deals , weather, food and stalk tripadvisors looking for reviews.



Over the weekend we paid a visit to the Paradise Wildlife Park, a family run zoo in Hertfordshire. I absolutely love visiting zoos and just love, love …LOVE being around animals. Ok, so in my head…zoos need a lot of space to run and this is London,  so putting 2 and 2 together I automatically assume that this zoo has got to be like really ..really far away, but we got there in like about 40 mins from home (Chigwell). Which makes me think their car parks must be cramped or worse case FULL!!…it being bank holiday and all! But it wasn’t. Ample space and no lack of instructions. Great, you would think that would be it. But no, my head just goes to the next possible disaster, what if it isn’t all it promised to be. Boy Oh Boy! How wrong was I?

The zoo is apparently the only zoo in UK who shelters 5 massive cats.














Home to over 400 animals from your lion, tiger, lemurs as well as sheep, goats and pigs, it also offers a full programme of animal shows every half an hour or so , a play area for the toddlers and also your park area for your ‘getting back to nature’ walks.

I personally feel the park is a great day out for couples and families, especially if you love animals.











Just make sure the suns beaming as I cannot imagine doing those walks in the rain.








My son loved it to bits and I think his favourites were definitely the 5 cats which were the White Lion , White Tiger (who was having a siesta…shame!!) Snowy Leopard,  Jaguar and the Tiger.





It was just awesome to see these animals in their full element. There are eating areas available all over the park , same with toilets and baby's changing facilities.






My little one enjoyed it to bits and I’m sure kids of all ages will really look forward to it, even if it is the kid stuck within the adult you.

Peppa World

“Let’s go to Peppa World, this Easter bank holiday weekend”. This was followed by a minute of silence to allow my boys to digest the fact that we will be spending most of the day outside queueing up for rides on a day where there was about 80% chance of rain and horrid windy moments. So after the awkward one minute silence the hubby comes back with this, isn’t that more of a little girls thing. We both look at our 2 and half year old son who’s already ranting about how I was Mummy Pig, my husband, Daddy Pig and if he would see dinosaurs. So that pretty much sums up how a 2 and a half year old thinks. Blue, Pink, green, aqua, the stereotypes don’t matter to them.

We set off at 9 am, the little bundle of joy slept for most of the journey, the weather was getting grim and so was my expectation of this being a good out. We arrived by 11 and managed to get a parking space, 3 minutes walking distance from the main entrance. The car park was full, which wasn’t surprising to be honest, it being Easter bank holiday and all.

As we entered the park, there were moment where I actually asked myself,” Are we at the right place.?”. There was no sign of Peppa or the whole pig clan. It took us a bit to realise that the actually Peppa Pig is a part of the Paultons Park .Which worked brilliantly for us as Paultons park have rides more suited for your teenagers and adults . Funny enough, it was my little boy who first spotted Peppa World and before we knew it, we had a child on the run.

To say he enjoyed it, is an understatement, he LOVED it, mainly because he knew the characters. He couldn’t read but he understood we were at Peppa’s house, the Windy castle, the helicopter rides and George’s dinosaurs. He even stopped at Peppa’s school for a photograph, all smiling minus any of those “before shots” tantrums. He told me he wanted to get in a yellow car and the blue seat on the train. This was his world and he definitely was no stranger here. The ones who felt out of place was my hubby and my friend’s daughter who was a teenager. Hubby, because the weather was getting to him (Did I mention it was so windy , we could see the helicopter rides actually shaking mid-air ??) and my friends daughter, because she was a teenager and she couldn’t force herself to enjoy this world and just couldn’t understand why we weren’t  trying out the rides at Paulton Park. So this world does come with an age limit. I think my son might appreciate it for another year and maybe that’s it. But I’m sure by then there will be more 2 and a half’s in there knowing their Peppa World like the back of their tiny palms.

The park itself looks small and you might feel for a second or so that this can be covered under half an hour. But perfect enough for those little people in our lives. All rides are basically a variation of the same thing , they are all rides going in a straight line or around a wheel. There’s an eating area with both indoor and outdoor eating facilities and toilets and baby’s changing facilities, all clean. There’s food available which is mostly your burgers, chips hotdogs that kind of thing. Or you could just have a mini picnic and you might even have a curious duck walk up your table for a morsel. There’s a souvenir shop with all your Peppa Pig merchandise from your stationery to your towels. In addition to this, Paultons Park has another souvenir shop which you will see as you enter the park, which houses merchandises of most of your cartoon characters.

I would have loved the experience all the way through if we had better weather and the hubby didn’t end up losing my little boy's backpack. But it was still a good day nevertheless and you just won’t be able to get that Peppa Pig tune out of your head, even if you tried. It plays everywhere in Peppa World all day. It s a shame I couldn't get any pictures as my camera was acting up and all I have are just videos.

The tickets aren't cheap but kids under 1 meter go free. But there are offers available if you go in groups. Check out ticket options here : https://paultonspark.co.uk/tickets/buy?category=21

 

Needless to say , my little one was knackered for the journey back home and when we got home he asked if we can go to Paw Patrol World next time round….HELP!!!


How were your bank holiday breaks? Do you have any family faves?

I'M BACK!!!

It’s been 5 months since my last post. Yes, I left my ‘baby’ for 5 whole months!!!  I just had way too much on my plate and just needed a break away from it all. Hope you all are doing good and are in the best of your health and spirits.

One thing I’ve learned from this whole exercise was just how difficult it was to stay motivated to blog as often as possible. The longer I left the more things got out of trend or got covered by hundred other bloggers/vloggers. But this place is my ‘baby’ and I have really decided to take things under control if not for anything else, mainly for just being really cross with myself for not being able to complete or continue something that I started.

So, the things that I was up to during my sabbatical…

Death

Well obviously not mine, but a really good friend of mine who was battling with cancer for 3 years. This just broke me. You know when your IT guys ‘advise’ you to just reboot your machine and see if it works. Well, I desperately needed a reboot. It’s weird how nothing ever prepares you for that feeling you go through when someone whose presence you have taken for granted is just not there anymore.  He was the life of the party, the one who loved to take pictures and make memories, the king of OCDs and a real gem of a human being. And till this date I miss him and his banter.

Travel

Last year we also decided to make a mini trip to India with our little bundle of joy . This was part of the reboot I was talking about.  I now have full respect for parents who travel with 2 or more kids. Our days were just spent scheming thing to wear him off so he would sleep in the flight, coz nobody wants to be those parents whose kid keeps the whole plane and the neighbouring countries up all night. No, our scheming didn’t work .Yes, he was awake for most of the flight journey and yes, he most definitely decided to do his vocal checks 35,000 feet up in the air. But you know what I realised, when your baby cries; you try to calm him and you just couldn’t give two hoots about the judging eyes around you.

Weddings

So we had about 3 weddings in 3 different states in India and yes, it was as hectic as it sounds. If you weren’t already aware or lived under a rock for most of your life, Indian weddings are a true piece of work. You are just knackered by the end of the events that just goes on for days. Ok so now try this with a toddler who just cannot fathom why we aren't having a White Christmas and just refuses to wear anything on as the heat was just too much for him to deal with. Yup, he worked on his ‘diaper look’… till he found out how he could take them off and then it was just 2 grown-ups looking at each other just nodding off questions like ‘ Is that your child?’. This was going very well till he started pointing at us and calling out “DADDDYYYY!!!!”, “MUMMMMY!!!!” at the top of his voice. Lucky for us, he’s still at that age where people just go…’Awwww!!!’

….what else?

There has been loads of mini stories happening here and there in my life.Some blog worthy and some not so much. Divorces, friends moving on in life, new jobs, new homes, laughter, joy and oodles of bliss moments! Now lets get crackin'.....

The Graham Norton Show

Sawubona lovely peeps!!Hope you guys are all set for autumn and embracing the last rays of sun we might see for a bit. I have had couple of amazing days with some even amazing experiences and all blog worthy I assure you!

So if you have read any of my previous posts you will know by now that I am actually looking for experiences in this beautiful city of London and this weekend it happened. Now, one of my guilty pleasures is binge watching the Graham Norton Show with subtitles on…thank you BBC. And no , it’s not because I don’t understand the Queen’s English it’s a precaution …just in case I miss out something hysterical if my 2 year old decides to showcase his vocal talents. So imagine my excitement when I got an email from SRO audience saying that I actually had a chance of watching this show LIVE at the ITV studio and on a Saturday!!

Ever since I went for the BBC radio’s recoding for Sketchorama I just had to see a TV show as well. So I requested for some tickets on the SRO audience website and it actually took some time for them to get back to me with ticket availability. So the hubby backed out and in comes my friend Sandy and the two of us made our way to the itv Studios, a 10 minute walk from Waterloo Station. Now I thought I was being really smart by turning up at 4:30 pm , when the email actually mentioned about showing up at 5:15 pm for a 6:30 show. So, that chuffed smile didn’t last too long when I saw an already massive queue in front of the building. But regardless, we queued up and were given a neon yellow wrist band around 5pm. We were told to come back and that they will be calling out the numbers and if your number gets called out you get to go in and if not you get priority tickets for another show or the same show another day.

 

Note : Once you get your wrist band you are free to go away and come back closer to the time the studio door opens . If you have a priority ticket or a red chair story, you don’t need to queue up once you get your wrist bands. And it does help if you get there as early as you can.Security is quite tough here and if they say No Pics, they actually mean NO PICS. Unless you want to be turned away after all that queuing up.

So we went to the pub round the corner for a quick lunch and saw people in their with wrist band going into the 400s range .Now my ticket was 299 and Sandy’s was 300 and you can imagine the sigh of relief we had when we got back in the queue and it was announced that anyone with ticket number greater than 300 would be turned away as the studio was full. Talk about luck!

There were just so many disappointed faces as they had been queueing up in the cold and it really didn’t help the sorry feeling when we got in the studio and Sandy had one look at Jonathon Ross’ pic and asked out loud “Who’s that dude?”

By the time we managed to get inside the studio, most of the seats were occupied and we didn’t get to sit together but they were real good seats. Graham Norton came on at about quarter to 7 and he was just hilarious intentionally and unintentionally.

I’m not going to give too much away about the show as it’s going to be aired this week but I can say , how they manage to get guests who have amazing chemistry between all of them surprises me and the show was just spot on . We had Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway for their new movie The Intern . Sir Kenneth Branagh for his own company’s new play in the West End directing Judi Dench in The Winter’s Tale and Tom Hiddlestone for his new movie Crimson Peak. Graham Norton was just hilarious both on camera and off camera and The Shires were the music segment and they filmed this first .They were just amazing …how can a couple of brits sound that country?

It was definitely a brilliant evening and I would definitely recommend applying for tickets just to see the whole process involved in getting a show out to you. And if not for anything else, for the whole novelty of being a couple of feet away from some huge personalities and also just to see how the show comes to life on screen.And all this for...absolutely FREE!!!

You can get tickets for the GNS or other similar shows by going to the SRO audience site and by applying for tickets.

Have you been to similar TV shows? What’s been your favourite?

More of Hawksmoor, please!

So I turned another year wiser and the other half turned another year older. And to celebrate us getting another year closer to the grave, my mates bee and bottom took us to The Hawkmoors steakhouse at Spitalfields. Now, I knew this was happening and had to keep my tummy well empty and I’m glad I did.

If you love your meat, then chances are you have heard of Hawkmoors and if you have been there you know it’s worth the hype. The restaurant is just a walk from the Spitalfields Market and oozes British decadence. The interiors are just lush with brick display walls, leather seating and wooden tables.

We had reservations for lunch on a Sunday and it was buzzing with people queuing up. We grabbed our seats next to the window and right in front of the special board displaying the variety of different cuts of beef.
 

The girls had their minds set on the Chateaubriand (the most expensive one) and we opted for the Porterhouse. The meat is priced according to the quantity you order, I ordered 900g for the two of us and the girls ordered 800 g between the both of them. We ordered our meat Medium rare and it was just lush….and by far the best I have ever had. My taste buds have been too pampered and a bit spoilt now. It’s difficult to explain just how perfectly tender and moist the meat was. Another recommended item that we tried out was the Bone Marrow with Onions for starters, which was still good but did not have much portion-wise and I preferred my Roasted scallops with white port & garlic. The sauces we had with our meat were the bone marrow sauce and the béarnaise sauce. And trust me when I say this it was lush and I am partially drooling as I write this!!!!

Now the meat just comes on its own so it’s up to you to order your sides we had Anya potatoes, creamed spinach and roasted field mushrooms and all played a perfect part in making this the best food I have had in a while. The food was excellent, if you haven’t figured out yet and the service was excellent. It is a bit up there price wise but it does deserve at least a onetime visit.

 

Needless to say we were stuffed but had enough space to squeeze in one teeny tiny dessert in the form of the Strawberry &White Chocolate Cheesecake, the Crunchy bar and the Peanut Butter Shortbread with Salted Caramel Ice-cream….ahhhh Lushhhh!!!!

 

Bee, Bottom…the carnivore in me thanks you from the bottom of my hoofs and I have now realised that I am not drooling and it is in fact my taste buds shedding tears at the very thought of the lovely food! Respect!

 

 

 

http://thehawksmoor.com/locations/spitalfields/

Have you been to Hawksmoor? Would you recommend something else from here? Are there any other similar steakhouses out there?

Thinking inside the box

Hallo me lovelies!!! Can I please start this post with a question that’s in most of our minds….Where has the sun gone??? Is this officially autumn? I can’t even believe it’s almost the end of 2015…I just blinked there for a while and now we are here almost welcoming 2016. I had to attend some courses and write some exams and hence the long gap. And can i just say....I HATE exams!!!…I mean the whole reason I did uni was just cause I thoght that was the very last time I would have to do an exam. I’m just a complete wreck close to the actual exam. And I was so foolish to think that my uni days will be the last time I would ever hear the words exams and results and in some worse cases both words put in the same sentence. But with the competing work environments right now and most companies actually wanting their employees some sort of qualification trained …it’s just unavoidable!

So, as a treat for clearing a previous exam, decided to have a girl’s night out. This time, in the hope of learning a bit of art and culture, I and the girlies decided(again.as with most of my decisions to step out and do something..I had very little to do with this decision!) to take a trip around the world with Joseph Cornell’s Wanderlust, the latest exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Joseph Cornell was an American artist, sculptor (who could not, ironically, draw, paint or sculpt!!!) and one of the pioneers of assemblage, the art of making connections or reuniting things. Using his art and the ideas behind his work, Cornell manages to travel across seas and oceans, at the comfort of his own New York home. The exhibition gives an opportunity to see a good number of collections of Cornell’s work.

There is a whole of deal of meticulousness and patience that he put into his work and it’s not a case of piling boxes next to each other. The contents of his pieces seem to be scavenged from thrift shops and antique shops as most of his work seems to be massively made of maps, travel guides and toys. But he manages to convey stories with his pieces and you have to admire the thought process that was involved into each composition.

 

If you, like me, enjoy surreal art or even better, appreciate Cornell’s work, you will definitely appreciate the exhibition and if you don’t, this could be an opportunity to see something really unique. The former textile salesman manages to fulfil his dream to travel the world and discover cultures without having to set foot outside New York and in the process transform everyday objects into treasures.

 

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/joseph-cornell

 4 July — 27 September

Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm

The Sackler Wing, Burlington House
£11.50 (without donation £10)

Latest in Beauty

Merhaba you gorgeous peeps…and welcome to my blog. Most of you would have enjoyed your ‘blink-and-you-might-it-summer’ by now. I can’t believe this was it, the summer of 2015. It’s actually flown by so quick, the winter, spring, summer everything and now I’m being forwarded Christmas catalogues….*gasps at the horror! Am I the only one who feels that it seems like the older you get 24 hours just doesn’t seem enough for a day!

In August I received my Glamour Summer Edit Beauty Box from Latest in Beauty. As with my previous boxes, this was my first time trying out the Latest in Beauty box and I just loved the whole design of the box and the contents. When this box landed in my hands it was pouring down like cats and dogs and I had this wonderful watermelon printed box with summer goodies just oozing summer-ness….needless to say I did not appreciate the irony!!!

 

So, the Latest in Beauty. Similar to the LFBeauty box, there is no rolling contract for the Latest in Beauty box .There options for the kind of box you prefer for the month for eg. The LIB Beauty awards 2015 Winners box, the Pure and Simple box, the Capital FM box, The Glamour Beauty box and some more. For August I chose the Glamour Summer Edit Box, as the goodies seemed for exciting and also it looked like I had covered most of the travel size goodies in some of my previous month’s beauty boxes. Ever season Glamour (that’s right, the very same mag!) teams up with Latest in Beauty to create little boxes of goodies perfect for that particular time of the year.
So the goodies, in no particular order

 

Vita Liberata Trystal Minerals in Sunkissed + full size brush 3g /£11.50 (RRP £35 /9g )

One of the main reasons for opting for this box was the addition of some full size products and this looked like a decent size product and also the tag line of first ever self-tanning bronzer. It’s the first one I’ve ever used and it does a great job as a bronzer but I haven’t used it enough to confirm the lasting tan effect yet! It also comes with a ridiculously soft mini Kabuki brush .So score!!

Pixi Glow Tonic – Sample Size of 15ml/£1 (RRP £18 /250ml )

Some beauty products manage to achieve the title of the Holy Grail and this is definitely the month of the Pixi Glow. This stuff is often sold out in most places as I learned the hard way. It’s an oxygenating, exfoliating facial glow tonic and helps to tone, firm and tighten the skin and works over time to get your skin look like that I-live-on-kale-and-water kind of look. It has no alcohol or oils in it , which will be good news for many out there and also includes Glycolic Acid  which can help to lighten skin pigmentation  and also great for acne. Again, great quantity portion to try out and see check if it’s actually meant for you.

Nails inc Gel Effect Nail Polish – Full size (RRP £15/8ml)

One of three available shades, I received .This needed at least two coats for a nice glossy gel like finish. Its ok, but nothing too exciting. Perfect summer colour…when it finally gets here that is!

Caudalie Divine Oil – Sample Size of 15ml /£8  (RRP £13.25 /250ml )

The bottle says divine oil for the face, body and hair and this is a high claim. This multiuse oil has a very pleasant feel to it and this manages to give your skin that dewy feel without making it feel greasy or worse leave an oily residue. Again, another product to try out before reaching out for the full size bottle. And that smell….just …well, divine!

Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayon – Full size (RRP £7.99)

I have never tried out the Bourjois lip colour. I haven’t opened this yet. But couple of things on this it offers SPF protection for your lips and it promises to last for up to 10 hours. You will receive one of the three different shades. So, can’t wait to try this out soon.

Eucerin Sun Protection – Full size (RRP £16.50/200ml)

As I mentioned earlier, it was raining cats and dogs when I got my LIB Box and it’s just seemed very non-ironically funny when I got a SPF product in the box and that too a full size product. Eucerin is ideal for sensitive skin and again no oily residue after application.

L'Occitane Essential Oils Shampoo and Conditioner-Sample size of 35ml/£2.40( RRP £17 (each )/250ML)

I haven’t had a chance to try out L’Occtaine Hair care products yet but going by the L’Occitane skin care products this should definitely give your hair the needed TLC, plus look at that packaging!!!!

Balance Me Super Toning Body Polish - Sample Size of  50ml /£6  (RRP £18 / 150ml )

I see loads of beauty boxes giving out at least one balance me product, be it masks, exfoliator or in this case a body polish. Differences between a polish and exfoliator….a body polish is a treatment for the skin kind of like a facial for the body and an exfoliator works to rub off hard and flaky skin aiming for baby smooth skin. So this is a polish works as a n exfoliator, toner and moisturiser, all packed in one, to improve the skin tone, smooth the skin and with it gentle buffing ability give good circulation for the skin. Another perfect, sample size product.

Seekers of the Sun Temporary Tattoos

The box also contains some temporary tattoos from Sun seekers which are completely lost on me so I will be giving them to my ‘almost’ 2 year old!

Overall, not bad for £17.99, a no strings attached deal with a value of at least over £100. It’s a great way to try out beauty products from some really good and known brands and also some new discoveries and you get some actual full size products.

Have you tried the Latest in Beauty Box? What are your thoughts on the August edition? What are your favourite beauty boxes?