EGG, gosh, where do I start? There was a public outcry when EGG magazine announced that they were ceasing publication a few years ago, but now – along with a set of new gyaru models – they’ve brought out a new mook (magazine book) for their June 2019 issue. I am so pumped about this issue; not only because it’s EGG, my favourite magazine, but because of how gal all of the models were. The old-school gyaru spirit is back! Here are some other reasons why I love this new issue…
Disclaimer: this post contains items gifted to me from Blush Atelier, who helped me in my journey to body positivity.
Three girls are standing in front of a mirror; one exclaims “god my hips are huge!”, another says “oh god please I hate my calves”, and the third scoffs “you guys can wear halters, check out man shoulders”. They all turn to the fourth girl, Cady Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) and she hurriedly blurts out, “I have really bad breath…?”
We’ve all been brought up like those girls in Mean Girls; no matter how perfect our parents tell us we are, we are slowly taught that this is not the case. Society bullies us to believe that there’s always a “flaw” and that we should do all that we can to correct them. Things like having man shoulders, huge hips, or in my case, small breasts.
Disclaimer: Ad-Gifted experience courtesy of Bubble Boba.
I first learnt about Bubble Tea when I was a young gyaru in London; I didn’t really know what to expect but I knew that as soon as I accidentally gulped down the tapioca that I was in love. I couldn’t get enough of the squishy balls at the bottom of my cup and soon I was going for bubble tea at every gyaru meet we had. Unfortunately I’ve long moved away from London and my favourite bubble tea cafes, and had lost all hope that I would go again. But, as life would have it, one of my best friends, Amy, introduced me to Bubble Boba, and I was over the moon! And a few weeks ago she invited me to their first ever masterclass and of course I HAD to say yes.
Disclaimer: This is a gifted review however all thoughts are my own.
If you told me a couple of years ago that I’d be invited along to try out some afternoon tea, my eyes would be popping out of my skull. It’s one of my favourite things to do (and gobble down) so when I found myself sitting in the Laura Ashley Tearoom in Coventry waiting for our vegan afternoon tea I was almost trembling with excitement. The room was empty so I kept getting off my seat to walk around and take photos, with my husband’s eyes following me in amusement. Soon the waiter came in and laid out a delicate bowl of tomato soup in front of us (aka tomato amuse bouche), and I couldn’t contain my surprise. Soup? Where was the tiered platter of cakes? We waited for a while but soon realised that the tiered platter was not going to turn up anytime soon, and tucked into the soup.
Disclaimer: This is a review of my complimentary vegan meal at Cosy Club Coventry.
We were sitting at the Cosy Club in Coventry, and I realised that I had been staring at a painting for at least a minute before I slipped out of my daydream. It was our second time being invited to try out a new menu, the first being at Christmas, and this time we were trying out their new vegan menu in celebration of Veganuary. I had just devoured my starter – ciabatta that I dipped heavily into olive oil and vinegar – and I was ready for my Vegan BLT. It sounded quite promising and I was looking forward to not having to pick off the fat from meat (yep, I am a huge nightmare when it comes to eating meat). I was in such a deep conversation with my hubby that I didn’t notice the waitress arrive with our platters of food, and my brain froze as she laid out the food in front of me.
Oh, Lizzie, you ordered a sandwich. You absolute tw*t.
ad – this post contains gifted items + affiliate links
I’m dreaming of a kawaii Christmas… And nothing can get more kawaii than receiving a box of Christmas-themed goodies from Kawaii Box in the run up to the festive season! I’ve done reviews on their previous boxes in the past and have been really satisfied with them so far, so I was really looking forward to receiving their December edition. There’s even a chance for one of my lucky friends (like you!) to win your own Kawaii Box, so scroll to the bottom of the post to enter our giveaway.
But first, let’s take a look at what I’ve received!
“I should do this more often,” I think to myself as I chug down a rum and coke, it’s warmth adding a pinch of red to my cheeks as I felt the alcohol sink into my bloodstream. Whelp, here comes Lightweight Lizzie again, but this time I didn’t care. I wasn’t driving, for once, so I could drink as much alcohol as I want (which was only two glasses in the end because of my lightweight-ed-ness). My friend Charlotte had a glass of prosecco – or was it wine? – in her hand, and as soon as we took a lil’ picture for the insta/blog, we carried on observing our friends trying out their hand at a cocktail masterclass at the Botanist in Coventry*.
There I was, standing in a room filled with other bloggers at the Viking Picture Perfect event as Elouisa presented us her photography masterclass. I had my camera in my hands and I was trying to figure out what on earth an ‘F-stop’ was, my eyes occasionally flicking to the screen as I tried to keep up. Have you ever seen a chicken hold a camera? Well, that’s how I felt. After a few snaps I sighed and slipped back into the comfort of Auto mode.
Aah, Christmas. I feel like I can finally get ready for it now that the Halloween hype is safely out the way without a twinge of guilt. Because there’s one thing that Halloween hasn’t yet managed to trump over Christmas – and that is the copious amount of food.
My “Christmas” began with a mouthful of smoked salmon blinis à laCosy Club in Coventry*, where I sat with a Bucks Fizz in my hand and a purple Christmas hat on my head. Soon I ate another and before you know it, a whole sharing platter was consumed (not just by myself, though, as my hubby and my friend Gem were there too). I didn’t know what a blinis (or is it blini?) was until I got there but they’re basically a small bite of goodness that you could just pop straight in your mouth. Much like the rest of their sharing platter, to be honest, although I steered clear of the mushroom pâté.
A Cosy Club Christmas
The Starters
So I hinted above that there were quite a few things on their sharing platter and I wasn’t lying – there was plenty to line your stomach before the mains! There was the mushroom pâté, pigs in blankets, bread to dip into the camembert cheese, the smoked salmon blinis, and some gorgeous pork belly. It was delicious!
The Mains
Our waiter, Lubos, then came around with a cheery smile and our mains were placed right in front of us. I had the Halloumi & Winter Vegetable Wellington whilst my hubby had the Pan-fried Fillet of Sea Bass. I almost melted after taking the first bite because holy hell it was good. Like holy-sh*t-get-in-my-mouth kind of good. It took me a while to figure out that the halloumi was melted right underneath the ‘roof’ of the wellington-pie-thing, and it wasn’t until my food had gone slightly cold that the halloumi hardened into cheesy chunks. After a while it did get a bit too cheesy, so luckily there were plenty of vegetables and mashed potatoes to eat instead.
While I was busy trying to figure out how on earth I was going to finish it all, my hubby had polished his meal. There wasn’t a single bone in his sea bass! I had a little taste of it too and even for someone who doesn’t like fish, it was actually quite tasty.
The Desserts
After I resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going to finish my meal, another waiter (who had a marvellous collection of Harry Potter tattoos on his arms) served us our desserts. You know that saying, “there’s always room for dessert”? Well there really is because even though I was bursting with halloumi I still managed to eat my Limoncella Cheesecake (whilst eyeing up my hubby’s Chocolate Brownie & Cide Toffee Trifle). It was strange, though, as the top was kinda’ frothy like whipped cream and had pieces of crushed meringe in it. But it was amazing. My hubby really enjoyed his trifle and said – and I quote – that it was “f*cking nice”.
So, the Christmas menu at Cosy Club; was I disappointed? Nope! Was I very full afterwards? Yep! I was so stuffed that you could’ve rolled me out of the restaurant. It was so worth it, and my mouth is watering at the thought of the limoncella cheesecake I had.
I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any questions, just ask. And if your mouth is also watering after reading this, then book yourself a Cosy little Christmas so that you can experience the delicious food at Cosy Club yourself.
Love, Lizzie xx
*The food was sponsored but holy hell it was glorious. That may sound like an exaggeration, but I don’t wanna lie to you babes. I speak nothing but the truth on this blog!
ad: this post contains gifted items + affiliate links
Life is like a box of kawaii… You never know what you’re going to get!
Well, that’s how I feel every time I receive a box from the lovely people at Kawaii Box. It’s one of the things that I look forward to the most and I love the element of surprise.
This month – the Summer Festival box – did not disappoint. It was bursting with kawaii/cute goodies and I couldn’t wait to write this post! What’s even better is that Kawaii Box and I are hosting a giveaway where you can win one of these amazing boxes! Find out more at the bottom of this post.
And without further ado… Let’s look at what I received this month!
I have never been known to have a tidy desk. You’d usually find it drowned under masses of paper, sketchpads, books, with my phone somewhere amongst the mess. It wasn’t until I moved in with my love that I wanted to put more of an effort into making my desk space really cute, and I try to do the same at work. So I’ve put together a list of cute ways to transform your desk space if you’re a lil’ bit stuck on what to do.
Yes, your girl Lizzie here went to her first ever blogger event. It’s not like it’s taken me over 7 years since I’ve started to do blogging, but let’s not think about that. I finally managed to tick off one of my main blogging goals and I’m so happy about it!
“Cup of tea, anyone?” is perhaps one of the most stereotypically British things we say and I felt oh-so-stereotypical when I found myself on the train to London for afternoon tea with my gal pals Chewiee and Maz. It wasn’t just any afternoon tea, though, but Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea. How amazing is that?! This was one at Kona at the Taj hotel, and it was by far one of the best afternoon teas I’ve ever had.
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