Monday Motivation

Bettys

Last weekend I headed back my home town for a little reunion with some good friends. My best friend has never seen where I am from so I invited her along to get a taste of the north.

My favourite thing to do while I am home is to treat myself with a visit to Bettys tearooms. I guess it's pretty 'Yorkshire famous' with a just a few locations around West and North Yorkshire but I never realised until I went to uni that people from the south don't know about Bettys...and that upsets me. 

The menu included the most amazing cakes you will ever taste, gorgeous brunch and lunch options with a Yorkshire-Swiss fusion and exclusively produced teas and coffees. I went for the China Rose Petal tea this time and loved it so much I had to bring a bag home with me.  

This time we went all out and had brunch. I went for my new favourite the Florentine Breakfast Rosti - potato rosti, field mushrooms, roasted tomatoes topped with poached eggs and breadcrumbs

Sophie is a big fan of the London afternoon tea scene and Bettys definitely got her seal of approval...of course!

I'm not really sure why I don't go home more often...

Corralejo

Last week, after a few dramas (one of my travel buddies losing her passport, to be exact) and a very early start, I took a much needed holiday to Corralejo, Fuerteventura. I didn't really know what to expect apart from the usual Spanish tourist town but I was in desperate need of as much sun as I could possibly get in February and for that the Canaries are the place to go. Turns out, Corralejo is beyond perfect! A small town set on a sandy coast (fun fact: the sand blows across from the Sahara) with a enough of mix of surfers, hippies and skaters to make me weak at the knees. Here are a few snaps from my trip...

The hotel was paradise and actually looked exactly like it did on the photos I saw when booking...

...Which I fully made the most of because it was actually hot enough to lounge by the pool in just a bikini almost everyday

When the clouds came I headed out to sample some local cuisine. By cuisine I mean...SANGRIA

I haven't had such good food on holiday for a while but the Canarians really outdid themselves. The main reason being this caramelised local goats cheese with blackcurrant jam, caramelised onions, walnuts and strawberry, with mini toasts. It has literally changed my life!

A couple of days in we stumbled across Waikiki beach and headed to the bar. I was followed in by about 20 hippies who quickly started dancing to my favourite Zumba tracks and I fell in love with the place, not to mention the frozen strawberry daiquiris were to die for! That was enough for me and I pretty much stayed there for the rest of the holiday!

...Until I headed for the airport to wait for my future husband...

...And remember kids...

The Shard

Friday night in London and guests are in town...what exactly do we do?! Naturally, we decided to visit one of the 3 bars on the 32nd floor of The Shard for a drink (I won't bore you with The Shard credentials but in-case you didn't know, that's only half way up!) So, I put on my most grown up outfit and headed south of the river...dun dun duhhhhh...

The lucky girl that I am settled at a breathtaking table overlooking St. Paul's Cathedral with my tea and champagne infused cocktail and soaked it all in. This really is a treat. And, I mean a REAL treat, that kind of treat where you leave feeling giddy and bouncy. The drinks were delicious, views stunning from every angle and atmosphere second to none. 

Now no Friday will be complete without a casual glug of Verve...

Reborn

LFW Life Lately

Beyobasi

I know it was a little while ago that I went to Turkey now but I was just looking through some photos and I wanted to share with you all the most beautiful place I have ever been to. It was like something I have dreamed of, or those photos you see on Tumblr and think 'man, I hope I'm lucky enough to go there one day'. So here it is - the Balin restaurant in Beyobasi

Situated by the coldest river ever in the mountains this restaurant is also a trout and chicken farm. All the tables are around and over the river, underneath the trees. There's no menu, you are simply asked on arrival 'chicken or fish' and you can watch the owners wife fish one of the trout out of the pools next to your table and fillet it then and there. As a veggie we went for some freshly made bread (still warm out of the oven), home-made baklava and cheese rolls. All washed down with plenty of chai, of course.

We particularly liked the rope swings. The waiters had fun swinging us over the river the hardest they could!

I could have sat here all day!

A few snaps from Turkey