LIFESTYLE: MAD HATTER'S TEA

On Sunday 5th February, my sister and I treated my mum to a Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel in London for her birthday. 

This tea is entirely based on Alice in Wonderland where there are character loose leaf teas, ladybird cakes and magic marshmallow mushrooms alongside an almost unlimited amount of other treats! 

I can safely say that it is one of the best afternoon teas I have had (and I've had a lot) and it should go straight to the top of some sort of Afternoon Tea Bucket List.

One thing I would say though, don't plan on eating for about a week after because when they say "would you like any more of anything", it is only polite to say EVERYTHING!

Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson Hotel in London

Coat: Zara / Dress: Topshop / Boots: Bershka / Necklace: Accessorize / Bag: Adora London

ktcrossthwaite x

LIFESTYLE: THE MORE FUN THINGS IN LIFE

Calling all stressed third year students! Whilst sitting in the library slaving away at your 10,000 word report, don't you think back to the days where you went round to your grandparent's house and sat colouring in pictures for hours? Well I sure do! There was a special drawer at my Gran and Grandad's house that was filled with colouring books (obviously me and my sister had separate ones) and countless colouring pencils. How times change....or so I thought!

Recently, a craze has developed consisting of 'adult' colouring books. Now, when I first heard the term 'adult colouring books' something very interesting came to mind - something that I did not want to take part in! However, I came home one day and my mum had kindly bought me one of these books, along with a whole new pack of pencils. 

Now, if you don't own one of these colouring books, GO AND BUY ONE. I was under strict instructions to only do it when trying to relax - not instead of my dissertation. But my god do they relax you.

I think I spent about two hours colouring in the picture below and I just got completely lost in it. Who would have thought a 21 year old could still enjoy the simple pleasure of colouring within the lines?!

So turn off the TV (or maybe have it on in the background - I still need my daily dose) and get scribbling! You'll thank me later!

ktcrossthwaite x

A DAY OUT: THE SHARD, LONDON

Oh I do love living near London! Although I am in Nottingham for most of the year, my real home is just outside of London which makes it so easy to have a day (or just an afternoon) in the city. 

Although pretty cold, me and my family took a trip up the Shard recently, followed by dinner at Aqua; one of the restaurants on the 33rd Floor.

Luckily, the weather was beautiful (very rare) and we had the most amazing view as the sun set (even more rare)! 

If anyone is in London soon, a trip up the Shard is a must. You get an all round view of London, can have afternoon tea - or cocktails if that's more your thing; it definitely is mine - overlooking the Thames and just appreciate the city that we call our capital!

I would say, however, try and make sure you visit in the Spring/Summer as there is more of a guarantee of nicer weather. We were very lucky with this Winter day!

ktcrossthwaite x

L'Oreal Colour Trophy Regional Finals 2015

Lifestyle: What's Been Happening?

So recently I have gone a bit MIA.  In fact, very MIA as I have only posted once this year and it is already April (can we have a moment - how is it already April?!)
I thought I would post a little update of what's been happening in my life that has meant blogging has had to take a back seat.  Nothing big or exciting really has been happening, just the standard stresses and jobs of being a university student!

Summer Favourites!

I've never really done a proper favourites post (maybe one a while ago) and so I thought what better time to do one then for summer!

This favourites is just going to be a general one, so anything I have been loving this summer whether that's books, nail polishes, clothes or beauty products.

Here we go...

Where have I gone?

Sooooo....some people may think I've just vanished off the face of the Earth, but I haven't, I'm still here!

My life has been SO hectic recently (hence why I haven't posted in what seems like forever), so this is just a quickie to say I am still here and I will be posting LOADS more now that I am on SUMMER!

So, here's a quick update of what I have been doing with my life!

Healthy Eating (well, trying!)

Eating healthy at university has to be honestly one of the hardest things (as some of you may know) due to the expense of healthy foods and just the motivation to do it is severely lacking.

Recently, I have been trying to eat a bit healthier as I have been getting that sluggish feeling due to eating a tonne of chocolate, biscuits and chips (too many late night post night out chicken nuggets as well)!

So, I set out to buy a nice bag of cripsy salad and some dressing and decided that now was the time to attempt the healthier lifestyle.  Luckily at my university (Nottingham Trent), we have a delightful fruit and veg man who sells all sorts for ridiculously cheap.  I decided to turn my dinners just that little bit healthier and have some nice lunches instead of settling for cheese on toast and I thought I would share with you what I've made.
Now, I'm not Nigella or Jamie but I think, considering I'm living on a student budget, I've done pretty well and they're so easy to do.
So if you're a suffering student like I am and you want to be just that little bit more healthy, have a go at making one of these!

Motel Rocks!

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Detox Water

I was at a friend's house last week when she went to her fridge and bought out some home-made detox water.  I asked her about it and she said that she had found loads of posts on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) about different recipes and decided to try it.

So, copying her, that's what I did.  I Googled different recipes that used different ingredients to give you a different outcome and thought I would try one.

I read that detox water is meant to flush out any impurities in the body and therefore making your body more healthy as a whole and I'm always trying out different things to make me more healthy - I've tried drinking litres of water, exercising, yoga, meditation, vitamins and cutting out parts of my diet such as chocolate (that did not last long) - and so this is another one of my attempts!

Lemon is also a major part of trying to keep healthy as it helps digestion, increases the immune system, helps keep the skin healthy and, of course, acts as a natural detox.

Below is the recipe that I used (I kind of made one up and based it on my friends one) but there are so many out on the internet that I really want to try and so I'm going to link them below!

My Detox Water

Ingredients: Raspberries, Lemon, Fresh Mint, Water

- Fill up a large jug with cold drinking water

- Wash the raspberries and add to the water (the amount depends on preference, I added the whole punnet)

- Slice the lemon into thin slices and into chunks to give more flavour and add to the water (again, the amount depends on preference, I used about 3/4 of a lemon)

- Break off a couple of handfuls of fresh mint and rinse under water and add this to the water (amount depends on preference)

- Then mix all the ingredients, trying not to break any up and store in the fridge

- It is best to leave the jug in the fridge overnight so that all the ingredients diffuse into the water

- Top up the jug every time water is taken from it - this will keep it fresh

- I will probably change the ingredients after a week or so, depending on if they're fresh or not!

My water tastes more lemony and minty rather than like the raspberries but I wouldn't change the amount of ingredients I put in - it's so nice and fresh!

And so far so good.  I'm trying to not drink as many fizzy drinks and only drink water, the detox water, tea and green tea!

Here are some more recipes that I want to try in the future!

http://everydayroots.com/detox-drink-for-cleansing

http://nancycreative.com/2013/05/26/lemon-mint-cucumber-water-aka-detox-water/

http://kojo-designs.com/2013/01/detox-water-recipes/

Spitalfields Market

On Sunday 18th August, me and my sister took my mum and dad to Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane in London.  Spitalfields is one of my favourite places as it has almost everything you can think of - clothes, jewellery, artwork, photography, food, drinks - everything!
It has also been my dad's life long dream to have a curry on Brick Lane (as it's famous for its curry houses) and so we thought we would take him there.
If you ever have the chance to go to Spitalfields and Brick Lane, I highly recommend it!
Below are just a few of the snaps I took whilst in London!

And here's what I bought!!

Bob Dylan top - Tory Burch earrings - Henna tattoo