Cohorted - Tea, Biscuits And A Natter

Busy, Busy, Busy is the way things have been over the past few weekends for little old me.

Last weekend was certainly no exception either - I attended not one but two events on Saturday alone.

Saturday Event Number One: A Visit To Cohorted Towers

Now if you aren't familiar with Cohorted...well...why not?

You're missing out on allll of the amazing beauty deals and discounts.

Cohorted are a social shopping site, who at the moment, offer a small, weekly range of products, or cohorts, and then the more people that commit to wanting/needing/having/buying that particular product, then the lower the price drops.

You can't say fairer than that can you.

There's been a whole range of fab things on the site - MAC, Urban Decay, Smashbox to name just a few, and the demand for them always rockets.

I mean, who doesn't want a Naked palette or a MAC lippie cheaper than anyone else...??

A group of us were invited along to discuss all things Cohorted on Saturday afternoon and were plyed with tea, cakes, biscuits and chocolates throughout the day...they certainly know how to keep us happy don't they.

However - initially walking into the room, I was faced with one of my worst nightmares:

Tables set up like this means only one thing in my experiences - public group discussions - and this usually goes hand in hand with public group humiliation for me...

* g r o a n *

My face just ends up a horrible shade of beetroot every time I'm in a situation like this and I feel like I'm attending a dreaded work course or a tedious meeting - both of which I try desperately to avoid at all costs.

* G U L P *

But I shouldn't have been worried at all.

Especially after meeting The Cohorted People at The Leeds May Meet (here) - I knew they were a really easy going, good to talk to, down to earth bunch of people - and they really pulled out all the stops to make us feel comfortable and at ease  - all of my anxieties immediately drained away.

Without unknowingly giving away any of Cohorted's future plans and secrets, the afternoon was designed around an informal presentation and a questionnaire, which really got us talking and throwing ideas around.

We even had a few games thrown in for good measure too.

Cohorted used the afternoon to pick our brains and find out how and why we shop as we do and then how this information could be used to improve the services that they offer.

We were given a little sneaky-peek into the future of Cohorted too...all I will say is that there will be some pritty huge changes in the pipeline for the company - changes which are sure to only build upon the strong foundations they have clearly worked so hard to create so far.

Then, after almost four hours of discussions we were each presented with the cutest, most generously stocked goody bags to take home with us.

I love Cohorted even more now...if that is even possible!

If you haven't already, then I suggest you sign up to Cohorted ASAP.

I mean you're already missing out on some pritty amazing discounts as it is, but once the new site kicks in - well - you'd be a little crazy not to be involved in all things Cohorted in my opinion.

Happy Shopping

My Very First Degustabox

There is so much foodie stuff going on in my life at the moment that my waist is inevitably going to begin expanding rapidly - very soon.

But I just love everything "food" - who doesn't.

And I was very excited when I was presented with a lovely, free box, crammed full of the stuff from the ever thoughtful Kelly in the form of this Degustabox.

Although I do like the concept of subscription boxes and having surprise goodies delivered to my door each month, I've never actually managed to get myself sorted out to order any.

I reckon I've been missing out, so this June box was a very welcome introduction for me.

It was all lovely and really carefully packaged, and was pritty much crammed full to the brim with goodies.

Many of the items inside were a total surprise to me, and were things I had never tried before - which I suppose is the aim of the game really - introducing people to brands and products they have probably never used before.

Before I begin, I must say that the little carton of chocolate milk you can see in the picture above - well it sadly didn't make it to the "having a photograph by itself stage" - my eight year old snapped it up and gulped it down the second he spotted it.

He did say it was lovely though - and the wide-eyed-expression-of-joy that accompanied this statement proved it to be true.

He's certainly a fan.

So sticking with the drinks then, the Hubby claimed both of these Be Fast Banana Breakfast On The Go Shakes (one before the pictures were taken I must add) because they were perfect and very convenient for him to take in the van to work with him.

He's tried quick meal drinks, very similar to these, in the past but has said that they can be quite dry to taste, and he didn't rate them very highly.

This drink however he really enjoyed - particularly ice cold, straight from the fridge.

He informed me that they even made him avoid any early morning fast food stop-offs because he just wasn't ravenously hungry by the time 7am came around.

Promoting healthy changes - I like it.

And then onto a totally different category of drinks.

The alcohol.

Back in my teen days, myself and my friends prided ourselves on being seasoned weekend "Lambrini Girls" - cheap and cheerful was certainly the way to go back then, and we loved the stuff.

I must admit, it's not something I've tried in a lot of years, but I was a little giddy to find a bottle inside the box - a new strawberry flavoured variety none the less - and although I haven't sampled it just yet, I'm sure to love it when I do.

There was a "very pretty for a beer" can of Estrella tucked away in there too.

Apparently Estrella is a Spanish, award-winning pale lager known as "The Beer Of Barcelona" - so this kind of tells me that it's going to be good - which the Hubby has his sights firmly set on trying out.

I for one just think it looks a whole lot better than most other cans of lager.

And next we have something to enjoy alongside all of this alcohol  - the Elizabeth Shaw Chocolate Flutes...

...which are flavored with amaretto...

My favourite.

So how on earth was I supposed to resist these?!

Well...I didn't - they were amazing - and they don't contain any nuts or any alcohol either.

I had to fight my Dad off pinching them all from me when he popped round for a cuppa - he's an amaretto fan too and wanted to take them home to "have with a beer".

Sorry Pops - I just loved them too, too much.

Now back to my son - food-wise, I am trying to sway him around to eat more of "the good stuff", the healthy stuff, and so far so good, he's playing ball and is understanding why he needs to be a little bit health conscious.

A bonus is that he has always loved fruit, so the Urban Fruit pineapple packet made a really quick, easy, no-mess addition to his lunch box.

I love things like this because I know he's at least having one thing healthy during the day when he's away from me at school.

Although giving him fresh fruit is always my first option, this lightly baked packet is brilliant when time is a little limited - especially for messy-fruit-chopping scenarios.

 He's also shown a real interest in the Bear Alpha Bites cereal over the weekend too.

No sugar-filled, chocolate coated options here - just pure multigrain goodness...and a lot of fun spelling words out in the bowl too.

And the Veetee microwave rice - well, what's not to love about a ready in two minutes meal accompaniment.

Healthy food, but fast.

Speaking of fast and convenient, the last product in my Degustabox was the Dr Oetker Vanilla Grinder.

I do tend to bake quite a lot of cakes - especially in the school holidays when I have a lot more free time on my hands, and simply due to pure laziness I tend to use vanilla extract most of the time to flavour my 'creations'.

Having this vanilla grinder will help me to enhance the flavour that I love within my cakes, but be able to do it quickly, with no messing about - just how I like it.

Between the three of us in my house, we've really enjoyed delving into our first Degustabox and we may even need to be taking a peek at what July's has to offer...

I love discovering new things - especially new things to eat

*box provided free, for consideration of an honest opinion of products

The Hop, Saltaire - Pre-Opening Event

Throughout my ten months or so of blogging, there have been a rare few events held in my hometown of Bradford, with Leeds seeming like the event place to be.

So when I was contacted and asked if I would like to attend the pre-opening night of The Hop in Saltaire, I jumped at the chance to get myself onto the guest list.

The Hop is housed within the building which was until very recently known as The Old Tramshed - a very popular haunt for a whole host of people of different ages.

I even found myself in there on a few, slightly intoxicated evenings.

But I know that a few people, one in particular being a work colleague of mine, were a little worried as to how a change would affect things they formally liked about the place - such as the menu.
My colleague is a regular dine-out-with-friends kind of a lady and was known to regularly visit the place you see.

However, I've put her mind at ease, now that I've had a real nose around, and she is certainly ready to embrace The Hop and all it has to offer.

Myself and Kel popped along to the opening on Thursday evening and were welcomed at the door with a couple of drinks vouchers and a gentle push towards the bar with an encouraging word about sampling some of the real ales that are now on offer.

Being driver for the evening, I stuck to the boring old soft-drink options, but Kel decided to try a couple of the ales out...

...purely for research purposes of course...

And she seemed quite pleased with her choices I must say.

I entertained myself by having a little mooch around the bar, and decided that the decor is classic and quite "homely".

This little book-nook-area certainly appealed to the book geek in me that's for sure.

It's so classy - I love it.

The dining area upstairs has a welcoming, warming feel to it too.

I could certainly see myself eating here.

One of the main additions to The Hop, is the huge, fantastic pizza oven in the new Pizzeria cooking area.

As well as offering amazing (and oh how they were) freshly made pizza, The Hop has also decided to keep a more traditional, "meal-y" type menu too - complete with all important dessert options...my work colleagues will be pleased.

I have to say though, with pizza as fresh and yummy as the ones I managed to sample on the evening, any other type of menu would be totally wasted on me (apart from those desserts!), but I think it's great that The Hop do offer different options to suit most people.

They even have a kiddies, which is always useful to know.

I tried the meat board too, which was amazing...

As were the meatballs...

In fact, everything I snaffled was extremely tasty and very fresh, but I have to say my absolute favourite pizza was one that I threw down my neck so fast that I didn't even manage to photograph it, but it was fantastic - a spicy meat topped piece of amazingness.

And apart from all of the yummy food and lovely new surroundings, there was another aspect of the building which certainly had people buzzing.

The raised stage overlooking the whole of the bar area which is ready to host lots of live performers is a fab idea.

It is easily visible by everyone - no matter how busy the bar will undoubtedly get at times - so it is the perfect place for performances to take place.

I certainly heard a lot of people praising it anyway.

The atmosphere throughout the evening was really relaxed and everyone was enjoying themselves:

The Hop was certainly "hopping" that's for sure.
(please excuse my poor attempt at having a little bit of a witty moment!)

Now that The Hop is open and up and running properly, I think we need to get a few of the blogger ladies together and book ourselves in for one of the many food-and-entertainment-nights already planned for The Hop.

They sound like a whole lot of fun that's for sure

GOSH Festival Kit - A Prize

So, a few weeks ago, during one of my many (many) half hourly Twitter browses, I stumbled across a competition from GOSH to win one of ten of their fab "beauty festival survival kits".

Never a person to usually win anything, I almost didn't enter, but the prize looked way too nice not to even try to win it.

So I scrolled on back up and gave the photograph a little, very hopeful, re-tweet.

I mean, I do know I'm probably not cool enough to be attending anything that resembles a festival, but the prize looked pretty and very "not to be missed"...

I really wanted it.

Festival or no festival.

I mean what if I happened to be surprisingly whisked off to some brilliant live music event somewhere - I would need to be all ready and set to go make up wise at least.

I may struggle with the song lyrics and the band names, but make-up wise, I would need to be all good to go - and now, now I'm all sorted - thanks to this lovely little kit.

Yep - I did.

! I won !

Y A Y

I love lovely things, and I've really enjoyed trying all of these products out.

The nail polish is a lovely blue colour - Sea Me! - and it has a slight, very subtle shimmer to it.

It certainly suits it's name anyway, and reminded me of the sun sparking on the sea.

(can you tell I've been to the seaside recently!)

Very pretty.

It applied easily and stayed put for days without chipping - which I loved.

Two coats gave this nice bluey colour which had a very slight sparkle to it.

I love it and have had loads of compliments about it.

Something else I've really loved is the very sleek packaged, bright pink "Yours Forever" lipstick.

Embossed with the GOSH logo, it looks really expensive and it wouldn't look a-miss in any lip-product-lovers collection.

I wore this to an event last night, and it was really easy to apply and quite moisturising to wear.

It didn't stay put all night, but it gave me a good burst of colour for quite a while.

I really do love my bright lips at the moment, so this is a winner for me.

I was lucky enough to find three eye products inside the kit too:

~ a black kohl eye liner pencil

I've always used eye kohl, rather than gel or liquid liners (although I am trying to branch out into this area a little) and I use it on my outer lid, as close to my lash line as I can, in an attempt to make my little eyes look a tad bigger.

I thought this product worked really well - it applied quickly and easily with no fuss at all and can be swept on in seconds.

Perfect.

~ a black amazing length n build waterproof mascara

I'm still 'getting into' the idea of mascara really, and as this brush is slightly bigger than the one I'm currently using, I just thought I'd make a real mess and end up with it all over my face, but surprisingly, application went OK.

The mascara itself was different - less 'liquidy' I suppose - than others I have tried.

I'm guessing this is due to it's waterproof formula, and I found it made building layers to create lash volume a whole lot easier and a whole lot quicker.

Oh - and it certainly is waterproof too - nothing shifts it.

~ a grey metallic waterproof eye shadow crayon

Now speed is obviously the aim of the game with festival make-up application, because this product, like the others, just breezed on, leaving a trail of dark grey colour, flecked with lovely shimmery glitter behind.

It made for a very dramatic, festival appropriate look.

The only thing that could possibly be an issue, was that when removing it, the silver shimmer seemed to stay behind - and spread itself about a little bit....but...at a festival or a party this added-extra-sparkle could prove to be a really good look.

But not so much for work...

Regardless of my forever shimmery eye area, I did love all of these products and I would say that they are certainly essentials - especially being waterproof - attending a festival, in the UK - yep - I can see that "waterproof" certainly could be a much needed make-up element.

And then last but not least there was the GOSH CC Cream in the colour Sand.

Now I initially thought this shade would be a little bit too light for my skin tone but it wasn't at all - especially with my usual dusting of bronzer over the top of it.

It gave a really light all over coverage that helped to just skim over the things that I really don't like to be seeing on my face, yet without being 'too much' at all.

I reckon this product will be perfect for the warmer weather when the last thing I can cope with is a face full of really heavy, melting off my face foundation.

Brilliant for a holiday in the sun too...or for a festival perhaps...

I really need to get myself to a festival don't I...

Thanks again GOSH for my bag of lovely beauty goodies.

Quick, simple, easy make-up is certainly an essential, no matter the occasion

*products won as a prize! Thoughts and photographs are all my own.

Ox Pasture Hall - The Amazing Food

I can't leave you hanging on in suspense any longer.

I know you're just desperate to hear all about the lovely food I ate on my visit to the very beautiful Ox Pasture Hall on Saturday afternoon aren't you.

Well wait no more.

The (rather lengthy, picture-crammed) post is here.

As I stated in my previous post (see here), the staff at the hotel were all so lovely and friendly - they really made the three of us - myself, The Hubby and my eight year old son - feel very welcome from the moment we arrived.

We were seated in a very comfortable, leather chair adorned room, to relax whilst sipping on our (non-alcoholic) drinks and pondering over the beautiful looking menu.

The restaurant offers both a bistro menu and an A La Carte menu, and we were encouraged to pick what we wanted from either one, mixing or matching as we liked.

Now my son did try to get his head around some of the more "exotic" (to him) sounding dishes, but he was very kindly (and very helpfully) saved, and given a much more child friendly kiddies menu.

So we ordered, sat back and took in the beautiful views, whilst waiting to be seated.

We were then very quickly led into the beautiful, luxurious Courtyard Restaurant and were seated in the best possible seats ever - directly next to an open door leading straight onto the immaculate gardens.

Just how amazing were my table views eh!

And then the food extravaganza began, with us each being presented with a lovely appetiser.

(my son looked on in horror at the beetroot...but he managed to try the rest.)

Even the bread looked special.

Then came the starters.

I decided upon:

Smooth Duck Liver Parfait with Tea Soaked Prunes & Duck Fat Toast

The Hubby fancied the Ham, Egg And Peas

(a very fancy version - he was desperate to try a quails egg)

And my son was extremely happy with his Cheese On Toast option

Everything was just beautiful, and I think we surprised our waitress by how quickly we polished everything off.

We don't mess about that's for sure.

Then, very suprisingly, we were presented with a palette cleanser - a very sweet Strawberry Consume... or "Strawberry Sippie" as my son named it.

It was very sweet and naturally my son loved it - he even wants us to find the recipe so we can make it at home.

Main course next, and I think I sighed in pure happiness when my Blade Of Beef arrived

Have you ever seen such a huge, tender hunk of meat before?

It was fantastic - everything tasted just amazing and all complimented each other perfectly.

However, the meat beat me and I couldn't finish it all...but the Hubby gladly helped me out with this...after he had devoured his Lamb that is:

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb, Braised Rump, Lamb & Kidney Faggot,

Sweet Potato Dauphinoise, Butternut Squash Puree

And my son enjoyed his Bangers and Mash with gravy on the side...he even tried peas for the first time.

Once our tummies had had a few minutes to relax, we were again surprised by being presented with yet another in-between-course-treat, myself and The Hubby were given a Passion Fruit and Whiskey Sour.

Slightly iced and very much laced with whiskey.

We loved it, even though it was a tad strong.

My son thoroughly enjoyed his Mango With Passion Fruit Sorbet too - he couldn't get enough of it

And then, last but by no means least, we had our dessert.

Not sure I could fit anything else into my body, but I still couldn't pass on a sweet treat, and I opted for the Lemon Cheesecake.

I was delighted when it arrived

Yes, there was a square of beautiful cheesecake on my plate, but it was accompanied with lots of other lemon infused niceness.

There was sorbet, cream, a brandy snap - lots of lemon, which all complimented each other perfectly.

The little glass jar filled with yet more lemony-ness made me squeal a little too - it was just so cute.

Really beautiful.

The boys both opted for a lots of summer berries on their plate.

(No kids menu choices here for my little one - oh no - he's not daft!)

A strawberry jelly, fruity cake with cream, a raspberry sorbet with fresh fruits and a creme brûlée.

How amazing is the presentation.

And the taste was quite outstanding too.

Well...we certainly approved anyway!

I really can't praise Ox Pasture Hall enough.

The staff made jokes and conversation with us throughout our meal and the atmosphere wasn't stuffy or too "posh" or formal at all - it was really relaxed and laid back, which made the day even more enjoyable.

And then as we were leaving the hotel, a full wedding party turned up.

The staff and chef had catered especially for us, had made us feel so welcome and ensured we enjoyed our visit, all whilst trying to plan, cater for and accommodate a wedding party arriving.

And we were none the wiser at all.

How fab is that.

The hotel certainly deserves all of it's proudly displayed awards that's for sure.

I would send anyone and everyone in this direction - it would make a stunning wedding venue, but equally a lovely, calming place to get away to for a few days.

Everything - the service, the quality, the atmosphere, the attention detail - was simply amazing.

Can I go again please...?

*meal provided free of charge for consideration of a review - all thoughts, opinions and photographs are 100% my own