Busy bee!

Apologies for taking such a long time to write another blog, I've been a busy bee particularly with work and just haven't had the time to sit down and write this. I must be honest as well... I've become a tad obsessed with entering competitions - you wouldn't believe how much time it takes up! But fingers crossed :)

So where did we leave off... Well I think I was about to head for another spa day (I know, I'm extremely lucky). This time is was at the Cheltenham park hotel, and although it's not predominantly a spa they had pretty good facilities. Headed to the gym in the morning, equipment could do with an update but there was plenty in there! We grabbed a couple of sun loungers (which I must admit there were most certainly not enough of - I think there were 5 in total for the whole spa and we were lucky to get there earlier as there were a lot of people without one). They had a swimming pool, which was a fair size although open to the public so if you want a relaxing spa day perhaps not the place - lots of kids splashing about. Sauna, steam room and jacuzzi (which once again, I was surprised as the children were allowed in), and the room where you relax was a tad overheated - they have a huge glass wall so it's like a conservatory but for some reason haven't made it into patio doors. We all had a couple of treatments (facial and massage) and the girls were very good, although quite chatty (I don't really understand the etiquette - do you speak or not?!). Overall it was well worth the deal we got on groupon - we were supposed to have 4 of us but the 4th couldn't come, so they offered us a free robe & slippers along with lunch each... A pretty good replacement although we did wish our friend was there!! We thought it would be a tiny lunch but actually it was extremely substantial, I had sausage and mash which was lovely and homely - inside a Yorkshire pud with gravy :) not great for the bikini all afternoon but tasty all the same - treat day! (And boy was it treat day because we finished off with a nandos when we got home to the boys that evening!) 

That Sunday, I experienced my first ever afternoon tea with my lovely boyfriend who keeps taking me on these new adventures! We went to the Hatton Court Hotel in Gloucester, which was busy due to a wedding and serving Sunday roast, but I was pleasantly surprised with the venue. Once again, a groupon deal - I am a bit of a bargain hunter, we had sandwiches, cakes, scones and unlimited tea and coffee. It was just as I expected - scones were most certainly the best part! Next time I think we shall go for champagne afternoon tea - moving up in the world! The only problem was that we fancied an afternoon walk in the grounds and couldn't because the only grounds was where the wedding was, but other than that we felt extremely well looked after. 

Following our afternoon tea, we headed over to the boyfriends family farm and did some foraging, we found an array of fresh goodies! 

Last week, not a lot went on food wise! We ate in a lot, and behaved ourselves so not much to update. For work, one evening I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Birmingham, which was lovely. I was In a brand new room which was extremely impressive, and the free toiletries were a plenty. Unfortunatly I didn't have time to check out the facilities, but they did have a spa, pool and gym. The reception area was stunning, somewhere I would happily go and relax. The only downfall was parking - there was none and so I had to park nearby and walk 5 minutes to the hotel (and I saw a rat in the car park!!! Eeeek!). 

That evening, whilst staying in the Birmingham area I visited the cinema and went for dinner with a friend. We went to see 'Lucy' which was... To say the least, interesting. Strange plot with a silly ending, and I'm not a fan of Scarlett Johanssen at the best of times. Headed over to Chiquitos for dinner which I have decided is extremely overpriced for what you get. The service was excellent, but I was disgusted with the portion size of my food - I swapped chips for sweet potato fries and it was almost embarrassing the amount of fries I was served. Especially considering the price, and when the bill came they even tried to charge me for a full sized side portion of the fries!! I don't even tell a lie when I say that is the full amount of fries that is on my plate. I could never serve that to somebody! 

On Friday, it was time for date night. So we headed to Prezzo in Cheltenham, the one near Pizza express and I had a standard Spaghette Bolognaise, as per usual it was perfect and scrummy. The service was good, but I did notice that for some reason that evening the staff were dropping EVERYTHING. Following dinner, we headed out for cocktails with a couple of friends and had a rather messy evening, but lots of fun at The Retreat in Cheltenham. 

On Sunday, a friend and I were lucky enough to win tickets to a special advance screening of 'The Maze Runner', which I was extremely excited about having read all of the books, and they are one of my favorites I've read in a while. We headed up to London, and treated ourselves to a Ben's Cookie (if you have not tried one you are missing out, you must!) and a Pret A Manger Lunch, which I must say is one of my favorite coffee houses. I went for a cheese, ham, tomato and bacon toastie, with a cookie and a hot chocolate, and it most certainly didn't disappoint. 

We popped into Selfridges (my favorite place in the world) to go to Tiffany's as my friend needed her necklace fixing, and were incredibly disappointed to receive the WORST customer service I have ever had in there, something I would never expect of Tiffanys. The lady that was serving us was rude and argumentative, and it took 45 minutes just to arrange having the necklace sent off. So time to head somewhere fun a off to Fox for the screening. It was great, although I think we were the oldest people there!! We were each given a free T-shirt and book, along with a bottle of water for the movie. Their screening rooms were lovely and incredibly comfy, although there were not enough toilets for that amount of excited young girls! The film was excellent, intense, action packed and a little jumpy, it most certainly satisfied a fan of the book. And it was a lovely day out with my friend, we had a lot of fun.

That evening it was off out again, as it was D's last day of cricket - so we went out for 'celebratory' drinks. To the Retreat once more, then on to Subtone when we realised this was the only place still open! We got home at 4am (ouch) and luckily I managed to convince D that tonight was not the night for Charlie's (fish and chip shop open all night!) 

This week we have been back to our eating ways - 2 nights out... Oops :). On Tuesday we went for a curry with a group of friends, to the Indian Brasserie on Bath Road in Cheltenham. It was extremely reasonable (we did have a discount card, but including drinks was around £20 per head), the staff were friendly and attentive and the food was good. I had a rogan josh, popadoms, Bombay potatos and garlic naan. It was the perfect level of spice for me (I'm a bit of a wuss), the only thing I would point out is the chicken wasn't as tender as I have experienced in other Indian restaurants. 

The company was excellent, we had a rather hilarious evening as a friend of ours explained how he first pulled his girlfriend by showing her his 'whale impression' (which he proceeded to attempt), and whilst myself and my boyfriend sit at home watching 'Downton Abbey', the pair of them watch 'Babestation'! 

I baked some of Hazel's delicious brownies this week, they were just as good as always. It sparked a disagreement as I am sworn to secrecy and have promised not to share the recipe, but my partner believes otherwise :) I said it doesn't matter anyway as I'll always be the one baking them! I must admit though I'm impressed at how long they last - even 6 days later they're still gooey in the middle. 

Phew, your going to be bored of this post by now it's got so long - my apologies... Lesson learnt write more often! 

Finally, last night we went for another date night (they tend to be on a Friday!). We went to Cafe Rouge, which is always our treat with Tesco Clubcard Vouchers (if you didn't already know, if you convert your vouchers into restaurant vouchers they're worth 4x the amount). We had £70 to spend so decided to push the boat out and both went for steak. We had some baked breaded Camembert to start, with a garlic and salt bread which was yummy. Decided to go with the house red, as when your in a French restaurant you know their not going to mess up with the wine, and sure thing they didn't. I had a fillet steak, and D had a rib-eye, and they were both cooked to perfection, (medium rare), and melted in your mouth. We had a lovely time, and was pretty impressed with the service as well! 

I have more to talk about from this weekend but I think il save that for another day!! 

Much love 

Paigey x