Friday 30 August 2013

Weekly Roundup #5

Hello!

What a crazy week it's been. Is it just me or do you also get the feeling that on one hand this week has raced by but when you think about it, it's actually gone reeeaaaalll slow? Hmm, I don't know!

Anyway this week was the last of my summer so most of it was just spent relaxing. To be honest, having a holiday longer than 2 months with nothing to do is a drag. I prefer being busy. Okay, at first it felt like heaven: NOTHING to do is perfection, but then after about 3 weeks it really did just get too much! I guess it's right when they say that what's perceived is always greater than reality. We should just keep dreaming, then, hey? :D

Anyway so the first of my favourites was finishing reading my book. Favourite Past-time: Reading
Being it the holidays, and having nothing to do, you would expect there to be MORE time to read, right? Wrong. I found that by the time I went to bed I would be knackered and wouldn't have the energy to read! I usually read in my bed before going to sleep - but in order to finish this book, I took advantage of the beautiful weather in London and lay out in my garden with the book. Be sure to check out a BerryReads post on this soon! :D

Food Favourite: Tea
Well, this isn't really a food, more of a beverage, but on the way back from the beach on the day before Bank Holiday Monday I wanted to get a nice hot beverage. Earlier I had a vanilla coffee latte so I didn't want another coffee, also it was closer to bedtime so... yes. Saying that, it doesn't mean this tea was caffeine free, I think it was but I am not too sure. Anyway, this is a favourite this week because I love holding these cups when walking around, the tea itself? Meh, it was ok. haha! It wasn't my favourites but it wasn't terrible. To be honest, I couldn't taste a lot of it because I burnt my gum because I took a big sip of the boiling hot water, silly me!

Favourite thing to look at: My Flowers!
Well, I think I told you but I have flowers on my bathroom windowsill that I like to keep to brighten up the room (and add a little pink!) and for a while they didn't have the best blooms.  Oh, and you can probably tell I like blooms - BerryBLOOMxo, HELLO! haha! So, when they weren't blooming, I was wandering why. Maybe because I wasn't watering them enough. I decided to sod the 'you're going to overwater and kill it' thought in my mind and give the plant lots of water every so often. I used to be very strict and only water it like 2 times a week but now I just water it whenever I feel like it (sometimes 3 days straight) and it seems to be doing great. Even if it's got some water in the soil already, I like to give it more, and now they look lovely!

I guess this relates to life: water/ fill life with what it needs very often and you will bloom! Which relates to health as well, feed your body with the nutrition it needs and your health will be great! I should be listening to my own advice right now too!


Anyway I hope you had a great week and rock out, or relax, during the weekend!
What are your plans? Maybe buy some flowers to brighten up your room?


Wednesday 28 August 2013

Thank You

Hello!

I am not sure you're aware about how it feels to be a blogger - whether you are one yourself or not - and let me tell you: it can be a little scary! See at first I didn't know that anybody would read my blog. I have been a huge makeup, fashion and health blog reader as well as writing personal journal and diaries, so when someone (a very special friend - you know who you are ;) ) suggested that I write a blog at first I thought "Why not? That seems perfect!" and then right after that thought "But who would want to read my rubbish blog?" - but then that special friend gave me that little extra push and gave me confidence to start BerryBloomXO.

The idea of wanting a blog had crossed my mind multiple times since the beginning of 2013, yet I didn't have the push I needed to have the confidence to start, yet on the 16th of June at an engagement party, the topic of blogs had come up and I told my friends the idea - they said I should go for it! For the next week the thought of the blog was on my mind a LOT. Constantly I'd be thinking about what it would contain and I would have started it on the day after the engagement party but it was my exams that were coming in my way.

My last exam was on the 24th of June. I came home, went straight on the internet and made this blog (as well as eating my feelings with a huge packet of biscuits... but shhh...). I didn't think I'd get many pageviews or any readers or anything... and here I am today with over 1,000 views.

You might be thinking that 1,000 views is nothing. Yet to me that's so many. I didn't think I'd get more than 100 views and here I am with 10 times as many. These numbers don't mean much to me but what does mean a lot to me is you. When I read a comment that somebody has left, it warms my heart to know somebody read the post. I LOVE writing these posts. It puts me in my 'happy place'! I know, very cheesy - but true!

Anyway, this post was a bit of a ramble but the reason I wanted to write it is not to brag or anything - I know to most people 1000 views is close to nothing - but I wanted to tell you that I appreciate you for reading this. Without you reading the previous posts, this one wouldn't have been created.

Thank you for providing me with confidence. Even if you're not a follower or you don't read regularly, thank you for reading this anyway. If you are a regular Thank You sooo much for your support, it's so much appreciated. If you are going to become a regular: Welcome to the family.


That was filmed the day the day of the party - with 2 friends supporting me! Thank you girls.

Lots of Love, and Thanks again.

Monday 26 August 2013

My Current Playlist Favs!

Hello!

I was just YouTube-ing some music - like if you go to the music section of YouTube there's a list of current top songs that you can listen to... so I was searching what to buy next! As always, the blog - A.K.A. you - are always on my mind, so I thought I'd blog about my current favourite songs that I LOVE listening to!


1. Jessie J - Wild (ft. Big Sean)

The video starts at like 50 seconds - the beginning is just walking for some reason? haha! This song is quite upbeat and makes me want to dance. Right now I am sitting in my living room writing this post (duh) with headphones in my ears and as soon as this song came on my feet started to move! Want your head bopping up and down? Listen to this song!

2. John Newman - Love Me Again


This song is AMAZING! You will want to sing this song at the top of your voice - trust me! Such a good road trip song! Especially if you're going to the beach or somewhere, you'll want this blasting in your car! Oh, and don't forget your air guitar ;)

3. Lorde - Royals


This girls voice is different yet so good! This is the song you'll be singing with your girlfriends at the next sleepover, you know, with your hairbrush microphones and everything! haha! Can you believe this girl is only 16?! Amazing.

Well, that's my roundup for my summer playlist! Listen to the beach or chilling at the park - your choice! ;)

What's your fav song at the moment? Leave a comment!

Friday 23 August 2013

Weekly Roundup #4

Hello!

How was this week for you? For me, it was filled with a lot of things... it was a very long week to be honest! On thursday it was the day to collect my results, very stressful - actually, it was a mixture of feelings. I was nervous yet eager to find out what I got. Congratulations to all that got your results in the last two weeks! I'm sure you did well :)

Earlier this week I went to Summer In The City! It was so much fun and I met so many amazing YouTubers! If you don't know what SITC is, it's basically a UK version of VidCon, based in London. I met so many people including one of my role models: Tanya Burr.


I also met Bertie Gilbert, Oli White, Joe Sugg, Louise (Sprinkleofglitter), Joey Graceffa, Sorted Food (mentioned here) and Chris Kendall. I didn't get to say anything to Joey Graceffa as he was in a rush but talked to the others mentioned above. I was so happy and over the moon - especially to see Tanya who I told about this blog and she said she'll try and check it out! I mean she's a busy woman, so I doubt she'll check it out but it's nice of her to say. She's absolutely gorgeous in real life too, and it's crazy to think that we watch her on our computers yet they're real people!


Also, MTV interviewed us and we might be on the show! OMG! Crazy, right? :D


Later on in the week I went to a rose garden and saw these beautiful roses and a dreamy water fountain! It looked lovely and of course I had to take pictures! They turned out wonderful!

As well as that, I got to take one home and decorated with fresh lavender from my neighbours front garden (shh... don't tell them!), it smelt gorgeous and I placed it on my desk to brighten it up a little! I recommend you do this before the end of summer and the flowers are no longer there!

Well, yes, that was some of my week, well it was mostly about Summer in the City yet I thought I'd update you anyway! Don't forget to check out Weekly Roundups #1, #2 and #3 from the last few weeks!

Did you attend Summer In The City? or VidCon?

Wednesday 21 August 2013

BerryReads: Lauren Conrad Edition

Hello!

Hope you're well and rested, if you're not, maybe you should read. You may be thinking "Okay, what?"- well, I find that when I read before bed it puts me in a relaxed mood and I sleep better. That brings me onto why I really wanted to write this post about what I've been reading!

You may, or may not, know this about me but I LOVE reading. I always have been a reader from such a young age. I actually had a disney princess book with an attached mini projector which had pictures related to the stories in the book - it was pretty awesome: Disney Princesses, a pink projector with pictures AND reading: Heaven. So, since a young age I have been interested in reading, and although the genres I liked have changed over the years, the fact that I am obsessed with reading has not. I used to love reading mystery when I was about 11 years old and then once I hit the age of 13 I really liked girly, romantic books and haven't really changed since.

Image from HERE
Keeping with the girly theme, I love Lauren Conrad. Lauren Conrad is like my idol to me. I read her blog, look up to her for inspiration and if anybody asks who my celebrity role model is, I can say it's her - without a second thought. The thing with Lauren is that I can relate to her loads. She's girly, smart, creative and loves being healthy yet still indulges once in a while - like what I see myself as... basically, I want to be her! When I found she has written books I obviously had to put my 2 loves together and read it. I haven't read all of her books but recently picked up 'The Fame Game' to read during the summer and I really liked it.

The Fame Game is about these 4 girls who are in a reality show. It reveals the truth about reality TV and what it is like to be part of Hollywood - moreover, what it's like to try and climb the ladders of Hollywood, and the competitiveness to reach the top is revealed. What I really enjoyed about this book is that it really brings back the idea that all these celebrities are indeed Real People. They're just like you and me. They have their own families to do with, all coming from different backgrounds. They have their own troubles, fears and anxiety. They also have to work hard to get what they get, it doesn't just come to them, even if you're born in a famous family.
I did enjoy reading this book. I suggest you read it if you're looking for a light read with the story based in LA.


You may know that I am Obsessed with LA (mentioned in this post) and would love to live there one day, so reading this book just satisfied my dreams for the time being! haha! Following from reading 'The Fame Game' I bought the Lauren Conrad book 'Beauty'. It was either 'Beauty' or 'Style' - quite frankly I picked up 'Beauty' because it is newer and has better reviews, probably because LC was more experienced by the time she wrote 'Beauty' compared to when she was writing 'Style'. Actually, the main reason I bought it was because I was looking for a Coffee Table style book for my study to make it look nice! I haven't gotten round to reading it yet but am eager to do so!

Currently I am reading 'About a girl' by Lindsey Kelk and might write about it when I'm done! Maybe have a BerryBooks/BerryReads bookclub sort of thing where we can talk books!

What are you currently reading?

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Monday 19 August 2013

Want Millions of Lashes? - Mascara Review


Hello!

You may, or may not know this about me: I'm a mascara FREAK. Okay, not a freak - but I do love me some mascara... for dinner... joke. Anyway, as you can tell, I'm in a suppperrr hyper mood right now and I don't know why, but I was taking some pictures for my beach essentials post after doing my makeup and decided to take some pictures of my mascara and therefore decided I write this post!


If you're like me, then there are those days (most days) where you head out the door with a bit of mascara and chapstick on, and call it a day. Well, that means you need your lashes to look stunning, so I hope this post is a real eye opener to what is out there in the market today! See what I did there? ;)

This mascara has been raved about in the beauty community but not as much as it deserves. I can honestly say it is THE BEST mascara I have tried and would definitely repurchase the L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes, but probably won't for the time being as there are constantly new mascaras on the market I am dying to try - so keep your eyes peeled for more mascara reviews in the future. Again, see what I did there? haha!


There are a couple of things I like to look for in a mascara and that is: Curl, Length and Volume. I always choose Black coloured mascara too, in case you were wondering. Now for me, this mascara ticked all the boxes.
 I can say that the hold of curl is incredible. I come home from an intense 6 hour day and my lashes still look amazing, curled and nicely shaped. I curl my lashes and the curl holds, naturally I have pretty straight lashes but with this mascara on you could be fooled if I say I have naturally curled lashes. Even on days that I'm in a rush and don't have time to curl my lashes, they still look like they've been curled.
 The length definition is also lovely, My lashes reach my brows - almost. This is again amazing for me as I don't have naturally long lashes but this makes it look like I do - and I love it. And the length lasts all day too.
 My lashes are naturally very thick, though, but this does add volume to my lashes, just as it says on the bottle.


My favourite thing about this mascara, compared to other mascaras, is the wand. It is just. perfect. It is a big brush with a tapered, pointed end. The pointed end is ideal to reach the corner lashes, making your eyes look doll-like. It also separates lashes so it genuinely looks like there are millions of them, so it won't get your lashes in a twist! hehe - wow, I'm on a roll today!

I don't have anything bad to say about this mascara. In fact, I love it so much, it's been more than 3-4 months that I have owned it, which means it's life expectancy is over (check out my makeup expiry dates post for more info.) yet I can't bring myself to throw it away... it just sits in my mascara draw in peace.

I even layer it over my not-so-favourite mascaras to give it an oomph - trust me, it works wonders!
I bought the falsies mascara to try out next, not sure if it'll beat this one in my books but it had been HUGELY raved about in the beauty community and I want to see what the hype is about!

What's your favourite mascara?

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Friday 16 August 2013

Weekly Roundup #3

Hello!

Welcome to the THIRD of the series of Weekly Roundup, where I roundup my week for YOU. Does that remind you of all of the lawyer shows out there when they say 'We'll fight for YOU.' anyway...

This week was quite eventful in the kitchen for me... I made a bunch of things I had never made before such as Chili Con Carne, Cheese and Onion Pasties and.... *drumroll*
GRANOLA! I really like oatmeal/porridge but in the summer I tend not to lean towards it but more towards the cold cereals, granola includes a range of dried fruit, nuts and seeds as well as cooked oats. The way I made this was by layering oats and some nuts and seeds in the oven and 'stirring'/mixing it around every couple of minutes until the oats turned a golden brown. I then added some honey and let to cool. It turned out quite nicely, but next time I think I'll add the honey first. I actually received the idea from the Sorted Food boys, who are so fun to watch on YouTube! This granola included pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts, dry dates, raisins and cashews - a range of vitamins and minerals which is great for your body. As well as that, there were no added sugars other than the natural sweetness of honey - unlike shop bought granola, this is very healthy for you. If you would like a full post on this, let me know!

Speaking of health benefits, I was scrolling through my twitter feed and found this image:
Image from HERE
It lists the benefits of certain types of teas! I LOVE chai tea lattes - which is Black Tea with spices - I had no idea that it is great for those with diabetes! This may seem a little weird but I am SO interested in diabetes, production of insulin and all that, although nobody in my immediate family is diabetic, other than my uncle, who I don't see everyday. Come to think of it, he does drink black tea 3-4 times a day, hmm, maybe that's why! Anyway, I have been having my chai tea latte fix almost everyday this week, maybe I should have feautred that in this weeks roundup! Oh well, maybe next time? If you haven't tried Chai tea latte, you should! Honestly, you will not regret it! It also has a range of health benefits from various spices as well as the black tea base itself. I've heard the Starbucks Chai Tea Latte with soy milk is good!

Finally this is me with a face mask on.
I haven't done a face mask in a VERY long time, and oddly enough, I decided to do one at 2am in the morning. Basically we went to a party and I came home at 2am but wasn't sleepy. So when I went to do my usual face routine, instead of putting on my moisturiser, I put on this face mask and left it on while I read my book. It was quite relaxing yet very odd of me to do so at that time of day - well, night. Anyway, it was fun! haha!

Well, that was my weekly roundup - don't forget to check out last weeks roundup featuring cute animals, moustaches and yummy food/treats!

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo, BerryBloomXO

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Fall Fashion 2013 (Back to School)

Hello!

It's mid August, you know what that means: Fall Trends is the next thing on our minds! So, I did some research and gathered some of the major trends for the up coming months!

Fall is my favourite season for multiple reasons, a) it's my Birthday Month! b) the weather is getting colder and c) the fashion is ALWAYS best in Fall - Always.
Fall is also when the leaves turn golden and the air is crisper yet the sun still shines... well I guess it always shines, but you know what I mean!

1, 2, 3
Searching for the 2013 fall trends I found something: it's practically the same trends as the year before. During the fall months there are the typical trends including plaid/flannel shirts, leather jackets and fur-trimmed coats. Well, this season includes those as well as some further specific trends.
There is the trend of Khaki once again, this time focusing more on the camouflage print, think leggings, Keds and backpacks in that print, that would be great for back-to-school. You could easily add a leather jacket to be even more trendy!
More with leather, circle skirts are really in for summer at the moment and leather circle skirts paired with tights will be trendy during fall, too! A nice transition piece, that is!
Also, oversize, boyfriend-style flannel shirts are a huge trend, wear them unbuttoned with a pair of jeans and a top and bam: you're suited for fall.


A newer style this year is the vintage-inspired which includes peter-pan collars (which I am in LOVE with but wish I could pull off better) and vintage prints, as seen worn by the gorgeous, Lily Collins in the picture above (source).

As for shoes, thick heels are hugely in - this is great for me as I have a pair of boots with a thick heel that I absolutely adore and cannot wait to get my footsies into! I think ankle boots with a thick heel are so cute and go with skirts and pants alike! These are some of my favourites I found online:

1, 2, 3, 4

As well as the biker trend, there is the military trend - as always, but these are the trends that scream 'Fall is Here'. 
As well as that, the winter whites are brought into fall this year. Wearing completely white attire is on trend and wear this or shades of blues and you won't be stopped by the fashion police! ;)

Okay, so that's my fall roundup, hopefully you get ideas for back to school. I may do whole outfits for fall closer to the time, kind of like what I did for the Fourth of July outfit ideas

Let me know what your favourite trend is for this fall!

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Monday 12 August 2013

Beach Bag Essentials!

Hello!

Being it August, the weather is usually hottest this time of year, but this month also means that Summer is officially coming to end so this is the season to make the most of it!
Also, in England, there is a Bank Holiday weekend which is soon approaching on the 26th August, I have planned on taking a road trip to the beach on the Sunday (hopefully the weather is good) and wanted to share with you my beach essentials (plus I bought a new beach bag that I wanted to picture in a post! haha!)....


Okay so first of all there's the actual beach bag. I personally prefer tote bags to take to the beach as they are cute, big and hold a lot of stuff - and they're cute.

This is the beach bag I got and I love it! The gorgeous yellow colour caught my eye in the store and the bow made the little voice in my brain scream 'You HAVE to get it, you HAVE to!'


You could also bring a backpack - a striped one would be cute as it follows the nautical theme - and nautical is sailors, and sailors at the sea, so sailors at the beach - make sense? So getting a striped backpack totally fits the scene!
The first thing I would say is an essential is something to read. This could be a magazine or a book. I'm currently reading 'About a girl' by Lindsey Kelk, she's the author who also wrote the famous 'I heart' series. The book is a little adult but it is a very light read and I will take it with me to the beach! I recommend a light read to take to the beach anyway, I mean you don't want the person next to you wondering wy you're bawling your eyes out while reading a book - they might think you're slightly crazy...
Just kidding - you can take whatever book you want, though I do suggest a light read!

Also, to pass your time you should take something to listen to. I would take my phone as all my music is on that, but you can take your iPod or Mp3 player or whatever you may use...
Also, don't forget your headphones! Oh, and try to download new tunes so you don't get bored listening to the same old music over and over. Maybe download some audio books if you don't feel like literally reading but reading at the same time? ;)
Two birds in one stone, that is! Talk about Productivity!


Next take protection from the sun! You want to be shielded from those harmful rays that are terrible for our skin - we do not premature wrinkles! Take some sunscreen with at least SPF 20, sunglasses, sunhat (I love my sparkly purple trimmed fedora) and chapstick (with SPF) to keep your lips moisturised and protected!

As for more accessories, you can take flip flops (a must incase you want to switch your wet toes into something you don't mind getting wet), a beach towel or fold chair and hair tie incase we want to move those locks from our face.

Other essentials are a body mist, to smell nice for that dinner out we may attend afterwards and to also cool us down. I love the Victoria's Secret PINK line for body mists, they're so nice and the fragrance line is very big so you're bound to find one scent that you really like. I have currently been using the purple one which is 'Sweet & Flirty'. I get so many compliments on this fragrance and it lasts a long time. It is also very cooling when you spritz it on - a total must have for the beach.
Finally, don't forget your hand sanitizer as you don't want your hand all germy when you hold onto your ice-cream cone which you then eat!

That's it! My Beach Bag Essentials! Hope you make the most of the final days of summer and enjoy your time at the beach!

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Friday 9 August 2013

Weekly Roundup #2

Hello!

I did my first 'Weekly Roundup' post last week and liked the idea of it, so this is my second!
Well this week I had said to myself: "you're going to take some awesome pictures for this weeks Weekly Roundup" and guess what? I took the least awesome pictures this week than like, ever. BUT don't be alarmed, I have still gathered SOME pictures to show you and better something than nothing?? :D

Food:
This week I tried the Food Doctor Roasted Bean Mix snack. I had been wanting to try out Food Doctor products for a very long time, they're healthy and yummy with a huge range of products but every time I go grocery shopping, I never end up picking it up - but this time, I did! I tweeted about it (link to my twitter HERE) and to my surprise @FoodDoctorUK replied and had a conversation with me online! This actually surprised me as I did not think they'd actually read the tweet I wrote, let alone reply to it! I was absolutely amazed by their customer service and would love to try out more of their products

Smile:
picture from HERE
This picture I saw on Twitter when JacksGap tweeted it, this was so ironic as just the night before I had changed my photo on FaceBook to this:
Here there's my two friends and I (in the middle) with teeny tiny moustaches drawn on our fingers and taking a picture - which is just like that cute doggie! How funny! Anyway, these are all the things I love, moustaches, smiles, doggies and those girls! ;) xxx

Speaking of my girlies:
This week we had a sleepover! It was a whole lot of fun - I mean what could be better than your besties, food, movies and the whole night to enjoy (and dance)?! We roasted marshmallows on a fire in my garden, made some smores, melted chocolate and had with more chocolate and marshmallows and everything and anything, had some nachos and fresh salsa and even made ourselves some hummus the next day! Oh, and for breakfast we had a yummy fruit bowl and cereal on top to be healthy again after than intense night, you know what I mean! We watched 3 movies - well 2 and a half because SOME people fell asleep before they could finish the third! Oh, and something I can't forget: after the 2nd movie, when the ending titles came on, which was at around 3am, we all randomly got up and.... DANCED. Yes, we were jumping around the living room to 'You Spin My Head Right Round' by Flo Rida. Then we looked out the patio door and got scared and rushed into our sleeping bags and quilts! It was a whole lot of fun!

Well, that's my weekly roundup! I hope you had a lovely week! If you're not doing anything special next week, how about you plan a sleepover and watch 'The Ugly Truth' - I recommend it!

What's your favourite movie?

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Wednesday 7 August 2013

DIY: Summer-ify Your Notebook

Hello!

Now that I'm on summer vacation, while I've had a lot of 'do nothing' days, I like to be a little more productive: whether that be tidying my room, doing some chores or just catching up on some reading. Sometimes this can be a little harder than you think, especially when you find that there are a lot of things that need to be done, but very few you actually want to do... are you with me on that? ;)


Well, I have always been a fan of writing diary/journal entries since I was quite young (hence why I now have this blog) and thought that I should vamp up a plain notebook for use as my next journal as my current one was coming to a near end, where I shall pack it away my memories....



You will Need:
- Fabric (enough to cover your notebook)
- Glue (I used PVA - try and get some that dries clear)
- Scissors (to cut... obviously)

Method:
- Cut enough fabric to fit the size of your notebook and leave about 2-4cm extra so you can glue it in
- Apply Glue to the notebook
- Carefully stick the fabric onto the notebook
- Fold in the edges and use the scissors to cut off too much excess
- Glue this
- Stick the front and back pages of the notebook to the cover as this would hide the edges of the fabric glued down (I had already written on the front page of my notebook so just got some pink paper, cut to size and did the same kind of thing to hid the excess and make it look neater)
- Leave to dry (mine took a couple of hours, yours may vary depending on the glue/fabric)


That's it! Can you believe that this was once a plain, old, slightly broken, boring black notebook I probably would not have used?! Hey, I guess doing this DIY can save the planet too as it saves paper - see, if I didn't DIY this, I would have bought a new, prettier notebook than the boring, plain one and the boring, plain one would have not been used, hence wasting paper, hence NOT saving the planet!




Doing this was so incredibly easy and there are an endless amount of patterns you can do! I used this lovely floral piece of fabric to create a floral cover for my journal, hence it being Summer-ified! You can add extra 'bling' if you want to or even add some velvet or fur fabric to add texture - hmmm, I think I'll do that next time!


Well, there we go, that's what I DMS (Did MySelf - haha!)...

Okay, well let me know what you'd like me to 'DIY' or DMS (Do MySelf) next time!

Keep Blooming, Berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

PS. How do you like the new out-ro 'Keep Blooming, Berries!' - creative, huh?? :P

Monday 5 August 2013

Tinsletown - The All American Diner

Hello!

If you know me at all then you'd know I LOVE America. Yes, I want to live in LA. Doubt it's ever going to happen, but a girl can dream ;)

Anyway, so I went out with the girls to have a fun shopping trip - it was around lunch time and so they decided to go to Tinseltown. I had never been to, nor seen, a Tinseltown - ever - but I had heard about their milkshakes (and nachos). I didn't know that it was an American diner but I did like the retro vibe that came along with the restaurant - very 60's, I could just imagine the waiters transporting around the place in roller-skates!

image from here
Anyway, so being a vegetarian there weren't THAT many choices for food, and to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of burgers and such, so I ended up ordering the food keeping in mind I'd order the famous milkshake later on. The only options they really had for vegetarians was a vegetarian wrap, a vegetarian burger and some sides...


We ordered a plate of nachos to share and I have to say: it was good. I liked the guacamole and the salsa, but not so much the sour cream (I think it was)... so the nachos were nice - they were just regular nachos to be honest, the kind you can get anywhere - you know, the kind you order when you go to theme parks and you don't feel like having chips (french fries) - yep.
We did order one plate between 6 of us but we didn't finish them off, and they weren't good enough to take home in a take out box.

The one thing I found kind of weird was that you had to get up to order your food - okay that makes me sound very lazy, but I mean usually there are waitresses/waiters to take your order, right? Well, this time you had to go up to the till - the annoying thing? They didn't have a menu at the till - so it was a bit all over the place by having to carry the huge menus to the counter and then bringing it back and then not knowing where to put it and it was just a confusing thing, but anyway....

So yes, I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of burgers and you couldn't get a side by itself - the sidescome complimentary with any ordered burger/wrap. My friend and I shared as she couldn't eat the entire meal due to the huge size of it, she ordered the wrap and had she got mexican vegetables as a complementary side which I ate. The mexican vegetables were basically like the stuffing of vegetarian fajitas, consisting of vegetables in a tomato based sauce and including kidney beans. I really liked it and would like to make it myself at home. It was quite filling and yummy!

After the meal, we ordered famous milkshakes! They were served in a lovely glass - I'm all for food being served all fancy and I am one that likes to present food nicely anyway (perfectionist side of me coming out there...)!
There were many types of milkshakes too: VIP, Premium, Regular, Chocolate etc...
The VIP had whipped cream, sprinkles, sauce and a wafer as you can see in the picture. This was the 'Ambassador' and 'Brownie Bonanza'. I tried the 'Ambassador' from my friends, and to be honest, it tasted VERY heavy - if that makes sense? It was very chocolatey and to be honest, after the nachos and the meal, I think it was too much.

This is the one I ordered. It was a premium shake in the flavour 'Reeses peanut butter cups'. I have never had the legit Reeses pb cups before - to this day - but I REALLY, REALLY like peanut butter (had some this morning) and so I thought this was a must to try - it was between this or the peanut butter and banana premium shake, then one of the people with us recommended this one, so I went for it. It was nice, and I did end up sharing it, although I had most of it - mwahhaha (fail attempt of an evil laugh.)...
You know what this milkshake tasted of? It tasted of peanut M&M's - the ones that come in a yellow packet. Yes, it tasted EXACTLY like them.

So yes, that was my experience in Tinseltown - would I purposely go again? Probably not. Did I enjoy it, though? Yes, yes I did. However, not enough to make me a convert to a Tinseltown lover. Frankly, I think if you like burgers and chips, and an American Diner experience, I say go for it!

Overall, it was a good experience and I have to say that some of the servers were quite nice, they even bought us some complimentary citrus smelling hand wipes! Although, the lady at the cash register was a bit less smiley, maybe she was just feeling down that day? I don't know, but yes, I had a good time. Oh, and I must warn you, the portions are big... like the way it is imagined to be like in America, so be aware before you order loads, because we were going to order 2 plates of nachos to share but then went for 1 to try first, and there was still more than half left over from that one plate!

There we go, that was my Tinseltown experience! Where do you recommend to try next?

xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Friday 2 August 2013

Weekly Roundup #1

Hello!

I was catching up with one of my favourite blogs: laurenconrad.com as I had received an email update of the newest post which was a 'Friday Favorites' post. The 'Friday Favorites' are a) Spelt wrong as 'Favorites' are spelt 'Favourites' in England - haha - and b) nice light hearted post which rounds up Lauren's finds for the week. I loved this idea and decided to write something similar to give you an insight of my week! So, I was looking through my photos I took on my phone and picked a few from this week that I wanted to share:

Satisfying my sweet tooth:
There was some cake on the kitchen counter, it was before dinner time and I was feeling a little hungry... so naturally, I went ahead and cut myself some cake, and with the weather being very hot recently, I took advantage of this and had some Carte D'Or Vanilla Ice-Cream on the side.... weird to have dessert before dinner, but, hey, it was fun! The cake had a vanilla icing in between which was nice.

Organising my closet:
I had a some clothes piling up in the corner of my room that I was determined to not tidy away until I decided to completely clean out my closet, I knew that if this pile kept on building up I would be further motivated to clean my closet quickly and it would be a constant reminder as I entered my room that this needed to be done! After I had moved into my new house I had not gotten a chance to completely sort out my closet AND I didn't have the correct clothes hangers. I wanted cream, matching ones... Call me picky! I DID NOT want to fully do my closet until I had found the right ones so at the time my clothes were just folded and in the shelves - none on hangers - and let me tell you, it was a mess!
When I had found the time, I searched and found some great hangers online. They're velvet, in the colour beige and seem so luxurious.

Dilemma:
Mid-week my entire street was faced with a problem: no water. There was a huge pipe that burst at the top of the road meaning that we didn't have water for most of the day! There was enough to brush teeth and take quick showers but no flowing water from the tap. I went to the top of my road and saw a huge flood of water - the police were there, as well as the fire engines and some other people fussing over this! The water was gushing out of the pipe and looked like a flowing river - I was shocked! Anyway, that day felt really weird to me as usually there'd be an unlimited amount of tap water available  this just proves how much we take for granted! The water did come back at about 6pm, though, so we didn't go without it for THAT long, thankfully.

Enjoying the summer:
The fair is back in town! I went to the fair which comes every summer - it's a flashback from my childhood where they sell cotton candy, popcorn and have the same rides which we go on every time, and each year we go on with less and less fear. I went with one of my best friends which I hadn't really had a chance to catch up with for a long while and to be quite honest, when we were on the rides, we didn't notice anything but the deep talks we had gotten into, so it didn't matter whether we were on the ride or sitting on a bench. We then ended up sitting under a tree and this was the picture I took. Enjoying the summer and the gorgeous foliage!

To be honest, I didn't expect to be writing this post and kind of wish I had taken more interesting pictures! Well, I guess I know for the future, now!

So, tell me, what was your highlight of the week?
Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

BerryHealthy: Charming Cherries and Pick-Your-Own Farms

Hello!

Hope you guys are making the most of the sunny weather - going to have picnics, going to the beach, having dinner in the garden or... going fruit picking! We have a tradition to go fruit picking every year during the summer months, usually we go to a local strawberry farm but this year we decided to pack up and take a mini road trip to the cherry farm, which is slightly further away but still not that far! YAY Road Trips!

Cherries are in season in July in pick your own farms and they are so yummy! Not only that but they are full of vitamins and minerals that are great for your body! Did you know, these beautiful fruits are 75% water?! I didn't know that until I dug down into some research!


We entered the farm and there were multiple rows of these trees with little red ball-like fruits hanging off them. The entire first 2-3 rows were left almost bare of cherries but there were still so many delicately hanging from the other trees. These cherry trees were quite short - which is good for me because I'm short and then I can reach the highest cherry and it makes me feel like a giant - come on, I'll never get to feel like that with normal trees!


Cherries are a great source of potassium, consumption of potassium leads to lower blood pressure. This is done as potassiums removes excess sodium in our bodies - so when you're not feeling like eating a banana, grab a handful of cherries for similar benefits! Cherries also help fight cancer, due to the dark pigmentation we can see that they're great antioxidants! Cherries contain an antioxidant called Flavonoids that help fight cancer by preventing cancerous cells from growing.

Also you insomniacs that like cherries may be happy to know that cherries help you get a good nights sleep - tart cherries contain a hormone called melatonin which promotes sleep. So, you want a good nights sleep? Have a glass of cherry juice before bed - check this post why squeezing your own fresh juice may be better than cartons from the store.

Moreover, cherries contain anthocyanin which is shown to improve memory! So, you need a study snack? Try some cherries to make sure the notes you're reading stick! Anthocyanin is also said to increase insulin production by 50%, this is great for diabetics.


Cherries are also said to be great for the skin, the vitamin A and high carotene content allows this fruit to be great for the immune system and to beautify your skin!

With all these benefits, I couldn't help but put a basket together for me to take home - well, it was a pick-your-own farm, so obviously I was going pick-my-own!

I picked all my cherries in twos so the stem contained two cherries at the end of them - because to me, that looks cute... and this way the cherries don't get lonely! LOL! Is it just me that thinks like this?

Also, the pick-your-own farm had other fruits like strawberries and raspberries, but during this time cherries were the main attraction! Oh, and they had loads of wheat!


 They looked lovely in the sun, all yellow and happy-looking! Did you know if you rub this between your hands you get sunflower seed-like seeds which you can just eat? They tasted nice and chewy - and this was legit WHOLE-GRAIN wheat - with the total nutrients.

Oh, and don't forget to check out my Watermelon Wonders post to see the benefits from watermelons!

So, yes, that was how I spent my Sunday and I had so much fun! How do you like to make the most of the sun? Comment below!

xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

Info from here, here and here
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