Birthday Bonanza!

So after months of making lists and explaining to everyone my not quite so exciting plans, my birthday has finally been and gone again. The past few days have been absolutely crazy what with Richard taking time off work, celebrating his 21st and then mine whilst also seeing friends and family who were keen to give us gifts and catch up with our adventures. I can't ever remember being so tired from just generally socialising. I must remember not to do it again.

On Saturday I got yet another 'fake' birthday celebration with my parents when Richard and I went over for a BBQ and early present opening session. I personally think it is really important for friends and family to see the presents they have carefully selected being opened. I love buying people presents and seeing their reactions which is why I love Christmas so much. With this in mind since moving out I have tried to make the effort to see my family and share important occasions with them. We sat outside and I opened all the gifts from my family with them and Richard, whilst being snapped by my Dad (this didn't swing at all in my favour judging from the pictures). 

I was well and truly spoilt for my 'real' birthday too by Richard, family, friends and my colleagues. I woke up nice and early on my birthday to be greeted by a cup of tea in bed by my two favourite boys. I got ready, made my way downstairs and had a delicious breakfast of bacon sandwiches cooked for me before finally settling down to open my presents. I received some lovely presents and was really spoilt with money and gifts. 

Soon enough we were setting off for our exciting day to London, fully paid for by my wonderful work colleagues. We made it to Leagrave Station bright and early, missing a train into London by seconds (we might have made it if it wasn't for me trying to maintain my dignity by holding down my billowing dress that was convinced it had to bare by behind). We used that opportunity to sit in the sunshine and wait on the next train, reminiscing about the times we used to both spend at the station on our weekly commute to see one another. We were soon aboard another train and headed to St Pancras International after hearing that the London Bridge station was closed for maintenance, from here we decided to head to the shops and made our way to Oxford Circus.

Once here we had to make an immediate stop at H&M on Oxford Street for a pair of shorts for my unruly dress which continued to try and embarrass me. Luckily I found a pair instantly and the exploring continued. After a little while of wandering around the busy streets we headed back to the city centre to make our 2pm appointment at the Shard. 

It is safe to say I have never seen such a smoothly run operation at an attraction in all my life. From the moment you entered you were greeted and guided the whole way which made the experience very smooth, if not slightly clinical. Thanks to our home printed tickets we managed to avoid the ticket office queues and glide through fifteen minutes before our appointment. We were quickly led to security and the usual checks were made to baggage and bodies. No sooner had we made it through and collected our belongings than we were ushered over to have our picture taken in front of a huge green screen. 

Feeling slightly confused and stunned we made it around the corner where we were greeted by yet another official and guided through the arrangements and told to enter a large lift. These lifts were incredible. Beautifully lit by interchanging images on the TV panelled ceilings, brilliantly spacious (perfect for someone who is claustrophobic) and a smooth transition between the many levels you travel to in seconds. It truly was wonderful. 

We made it to the first viewing platform which was simply stunning. The views on this gorgeous, clear, sunny day made for perfect scenes and photo opportunities. As if this view wasn't enough, you could take a trip up to the 72nd floor to the second viewing platform which gave you even better views over the city in a more well ventilated space thanks to the Shards clever design.

Plenty of people were making the most of what is an expensive trip by setting up shop and sitting on the artificial grass floor, watching the city at work below. It was also selfie central which was actually quite nice because you didn't feel like a complete idiot for doing it yourself.

I must say I am very proud of Richard, who is in fact scared of heights for his determination and relaxed approach to reaching 72 stories. We of course had to take a picture to symbolise his true feelings...

Of course with all of this you have London prices and the inevitable tacky merchandise. We saw at least three different gift shops from the parts of the building we saw, which admittedly were few. Here you can find the usual bits of tack you really didn't need nor want yet feel compelled to buy. What astounded me in my research of the Shard and what it had to offer were the prices of food and drink. It has a number of high class restaurants on offer, one of which expected £43 for one person to have brunch. Seemingly ordinary champagne would set you back £10 a glass and a tiny glass at that! It is safe to say we didn't sample the food or drink, instead settling to spend the money we had been given on something we would enjoy far more. 

Expenses aside the Shard was fantastic and I would definitely encourage London lovers to spend their hard earned cash there. The views were stunning and you simply can't beat them, no matter where you stand or visit. It also gives you a chance to appreciate the sheer brilliance of the architecture and creativity behind the building, something I have always admired, even more so now.

After taking plenty of pictures and taking in the views we decided to make our way back down to the ground floor where we could view the pictures that were taken on arrival. It soon became clear that this apparently 'random' shot was actually edited onto a variety of backdrops which could then be selected and purchased. We were shown a variety of shots and settled on the one which depicted us near Tower Bridge. I enquired about the price of a sleek frame that was displayed with an example image which was said to be £32 and came with a memory stick of all the various shots available. We asked about the most affordable package which was a nicely displayed large image of us in a cardboard sleeve. This still set us back £22 but something I felt my colleagues would appreciate seeing and certainly the nicest picture we would have been able to have of us from the Shard that we could keep for years to come. 

We then left the Shard in search for food, something we didn't find until at least 5'oclock simply due to us being initially quite picky and then ending up so far away from anything that we ended up just strolling into a Tesco Express and stuffing our faces with a meal deal. Cheap never tasted so good. This being said in our travels to find somewhere that served the kind of cuisine we wanted we did manage to see lots of things we just wouldn't have come across if it weren't for being dare I say, a little lost.

With our bellies full we decided to head back home, taking that long commute on numerous tubes,hot undergrounds and busy stations back to Leagrave. I must admit despite having a wonderful day it was a relief to make it home, sit on the sofa and rest my feet! It was certainly a birthday to remember and won't be one I will be forgetting anytime soon...

Devilishly Destructive Delights Visits: The Dew Drop Inn

Given how much of a food lover I am you would expect me to eat out frequently but alas I sadly don't. In the early years of mine and Richard's relationship (when we were young and carefree) we would eat out at least once a week, favouring our local Toby Carvery (which I can strongly recommend a visit to). 

But now with full time jobs, a house, bills and a woofer to consider we never think to go out for dinner any more and should we decide to treat ourselves we immediately look at a takeaway menu, scan it for an inexcusable length of time before finally settling on the same thing we have every single time we do this ritual. Whenever we see friends or family and they mention restaurants they have been to or that we should meet there for a change we both look at each other as though this is an entirely new concept and nod enthusiastically, only to forget the moment we get home and slip into the same mundane routine.

My sister however is a saint and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have eaten out in an actual restaurant for at least two years. So of course when I got a message from my sister suggesting we go out for dinner to celebrate my impending 21st birthday I of course was eager, even more so when I found out it was up to me to decide where we would be eating. 

Despite living in Houghton Regis with my family for years prior to moving in with Richard, I don't really know many places to eat out that haven't changed hands, moved or just shut down completely. With this in mind I decided to stick to what I knew and eat out in Ampthill, the neighbouring town of where I used to live. 

There are plenty of places to choose from, in fact according to TripAdvisor there are seventeen restaurants in Ampthill, the number one rated place being Cakestand and Crumb, which is new to me and one I am keen to visit. The second is Fratellis which I used to regularly visit and one which I miss terribly. In third place is Arena which is a firm favourite with my friends and family and one which I reviewed in an earlier post A Taste of India.

I decided however to move away from the well loved and most visited and take a trip down memory lane to one of the only two Chinese restaurants in the town, The Dew Drop Inn. This is a restaurant I visited many moons ago with a group of friends to celebrate my birthday back in 2010. We had a great night and the food was amazing but for some reason I have never been back so this was long overdue. Luckily my sister enjoys Chinese food too and we were soon on our way over...

Once again we were the only people in there. I don't know what it is when we go out for dinner together but we somehow manage to clear an entire restaurant. We were given a table by the window which thankfully was open on what was a very humid evening. This not only cooled us down but gave us the chance to snoop out of the window at the idyllic English town below.

We spent a while perusing the menu while the waiter bought us over a jug of iced water and complimentary prawn crackers. I was stunned by how much there was to choose from. There was a choice of set menus, appetisers, mains and additional courses as well as specials. After a lot of deliberation and encouragement I chose an appetiser of barbecue spare ribs which in no time at all seemed to be placed in front of me. 

They looked, smelt and tasted sensational and I could quite happily have eaten those for the rest of the evening. 

As you can see I was very quick to dig in and could only really take a picture of the aftermath. I was even able to enjoy Kayleigh's appetiser which was minced prawns wrapped in pastry and served with sweet and sour sauce. They too were delicious!

For my main I settled on a firm favourite when I have a Chinese which is Beef with Green Peppers in Black Bean Sauce served with boiled rice. I don't really know why I even bothered to open the menu because I had that in mind from the moment I mentioned the restaurant and while I was driving there. Why change a winning formula aye?

Again it was only a short wait before our food came sizzling over causing us all to cough and choke in a dramatic fashion. The great thing about The Dew Drop Inn is that they don't scrimp on portions or flavour. I never find myself eating absolutely everything, which when you see the portion of rice that comes over would seem surprising but the food is filling and satisfying.

All in all we had a pleasant evening in what is a lovely quiet restaurant full of very attentive staff. I will certainly visit again soon and I would say it is even worth the drive over from where I currently live for a meal out. 

Thank you Dew Drop Inn for rejuvenating my love of good quality restaurants over the simple takeaway menus.

Devilishly Destructive Delights Talks: Journals

Ever since I can remember I have had a love of stationary, from my new school kit, all the way down to the colouring pencils I received for Christmases and Birthdays each year. Even as a 'grown up' I still love looking and buying stationary, something I have previously blogged about in 'Oh for the love of... stationary'. 

So you can imagine my joy when I discovered Paperchase a few years ago with my best friend. I was immediately drawn in by the bright colours, quirky gifts, hundreds of pens and of course the books! Oh the books. Diaries, notepads, scrapbooks, photo albums, calendars, address books and of course journals, which is what this blog post is all about. I can still remember as a child desperately trying to get into the whole 'diary' craze that all of the other kids were hooked on but no matter how hard I tried, how many books I bought, I just couldn't find the style of writing I wanted without cringing at my words days later. In many ways I wish I had kept all of the silly things I wrote down just so I could stumble across them and smile, laugh, cringe, cry and just generally remember all of the things that seemed like the end of the world at the time, to give my life a bit more perspective now. 

When I visited London with Naomi last month I took a stop off at Paperchase in Covent Garden and spent an inexcusable amount of time scanning through the various books on offer there. In the end I settled on their signature Kraft Exercise Book and this stunning Pilot V Sign Pen and hoped that this time I might be able to get into the spirit of 'writing my thoughts'.

I immediately knew I wanted to use this for my blog as a way of me capturing my ideas and planning the structure of the posts. I have had many different types of blogs, to date I think this is my sixth and I aim to make it a success. My other blogs have always been a way to vent, meet new people and just express the word vomit that comes to mind. However successful or unsuccessful I believe these to have been I have always wanted to make something more of my writing and ensure these were more well written and structured. 

So has it worked? Can I finally scrawl something down that won't induce self loathing days later? Well, here are some extracts from my 'journal' and what it looks like now...

Here I used tickets and receipts to help map out the places Naomi and I visited in London in order to write a more accurate blog post.

I continue to keep pieces that inspire my blog posts which is a habit I have from picked up from my scrapbooking hobby. Here I have kept the packaging from my Graze boxes to help me describe the products I have sampled. 

Although I don't write down word for word what I will write, choosing instead to type it out and adapt it from there, I do jot down talking points in order to prevent me from going off a tangent (which happens 99% of the time in reality). The journal also acts as a visual reminder to me and proves a helpful point of referral when my sieve-like brain forgets things. All in all I think it makes me a more organised and structured writer which can only be a good thing. 

So does this inspire you to grab your old diaries or at least go back to pen and paper? I sure hope so...

Devilishly Destructive Delights Reviews: Another Graze Nibblebox

So earlier this month I reviewed a Graze Nibblebox for the first time on this blog and I received a lovely response on Twitter from none other than Graze themselves...

It only seemed fair that I should review my latest Nibblebox from them and tell you about their latest delicious products. It wouldn't be a Graze review unless I took excessive amounts of pictures of their stunning packaging so please excuse me for just a moment...

Just like the last box I received in this one I had a sample of their tea and limited edition cake not to mention three other products I hadn't tried before so I was keen to get stuck in!

My first product to sample had to be the limited edition Love Cake and Afternoon Tea Infusion.

So whilst I was waiting for my kettle to boil I had a quick read of the handy leaflet that accompanied my box that told me all about the origin of my cake. In the Love Cake was a combination of almonds, orange zest, spices and honey. As soon as I opened the packaging I was hit by the amazing smell of this cake and I was keen to try it. The cake certainly didn't disappoint. It was packed full of flavour although I must admit it was slightly on the dry side which could have been down to how long ago it was made or due to the lack of wheat flour and butter. Who knows! Who cares! It was still delicious and the tea certainly was a pleasant way to wash it down. This is definitely a cake I want to recreate at home so watch this space...

I then tried the Smoky Chipotle Dip and Rosemary Breadsticks. Again I was hit with an array of flavours as soon as I opened the packaging and I was excited to try it. I am not really one for pickles, which was immediately what the dip reminded me of but I was certainly swayed by the combination. The dip was sweet and spicy and complimented the fairly plain breadsticks perfectly. These were a great snack whilst I was watching a spot of rubbish daytime telly and something I would be happy to have again.

I was pleased to see a favourite combination of mine in this box in the form of these Rhubarb slices, custard raisins and apple pieces. I have also posted recently on my love of Rhubarb and Custard and how my own baking has been influenced. I must admit however I quickly took out all of the apple pieces. I happened to sample these in a previous box and was unimpressed by the dehydrated and chewy pieces of 'apple'. This did however leave me to concentrate on the main areas of interest. I chose to combine the custard raisins and rhubarb pieces with each mouthful I took and it was definitely a great combination- the sharp taste of the rhubarb against the smooth sweet taste of the custard was perfect and I was sad to see the end of the packet. I definitely want to look into making my own custard raisins because they were bloody gorgeous- well done Graze!

And finally it was time for the Copacabana which consisted of both dark and milk chocolate buttons and chunky Brazil nuts. Now as I mentioned in my previous Graze review I am not one for nuts (so to speak) but these feature heavily in a lot of their products so once again my partner in crime polished them off for me.

All in all another successful and tasty Graze box! What will the next one have in store for me?

For your 1st, 5th and 10th free Graze box use my code ELLENR9JP and start snacking happy!