IT'S A SUNSHINE-Y DAY

It's one of my days off from work again as you may have guessed! I utilized my time efficiently (ahem) packed away all my baking utensils and some bits and bobs. I found some 'agar-agar' ingredients (jelly that's made from boiling seaweed - it's really not as bad as it sounds) and decided to make some jelly! Added in some winter melon and grapes for some colour.

  

To match the weather I opted for my bright yellow Zara puffball skirt. For my hair, I'm currently loving Charles Worthington Front Row - something that I've wanted to try a couple of years ago but never got to it. Currently using the dry shampoo and forever lasting hairspray to give my already voluminous hair that extra boost factor.

I had my last flute lesson with my teacher Hazel - she's one of the loveliest teacher's I've had and I'm definitely going to miss her when I leave. If anyone is interested to learn music, the Yorkshire College of Music and Drama is conveniently located opposite Leeds University  which offers music lessons for beginners to more advanced levels. I'd recommend my teachers Hazel (flute) and Iveta (violin) - they are amazing :)

I met up with Hai Choo and her adorable little son Shern for a late lunch at Dare Cafe in Headingley. I ordered the spinach and ricotta cannelloni with a glass of pineapple juice - lunch meal deal of only 5.95 pounds. I originally wanted to order the vegetarian lasagna but they had run out (how convenient), so I had to settle for this - talk about cheese overload!

A rather unhealthy vegetarian option

We then went to have some coffee at The Heart Cafe down the road. 

Hyper-active Shern :)

Unfortunately we had to cut short our meeting as Shern wasn't feeling too well today - failed to get a pretty picture with him, maybe next time. 

The weather was just too good to head home straight away so I wandered round town to have a browse.

Spotted some cute colour block bags and just couldn't resist taking some happy snaps - this one totally matched my outfit today! There were two others that were also quite attractive - I'm loving colour blocks at the moment.

It was truly hard to resist buying the bag, at least I have some photos as a keepsake. But I did get another pair of GEOX comfort shoes! My feet needed some loving after some leftover sand from the beach that was stuck in my shoes made quite a mess around my heel area that I didn't notice it until I saw a huge blotch of blood when I took it off. I think I was a bit too distracted by the sun to feel the pain on my 30 minute walk to the college before.

Time to catch up on the latest episode of Desperate Housewives x

A QUIET 25TH BIRTHDAY

Barely staying awake til 12 midnight last night, I decided to have a lie-in the next morning (and by lie-in I don't mean sleeping til 2pm in the afternoon, more like 8am by my standards).

After barely avoiding a wardrobe malfunction (!), I settled for my comfy dusky pink MNG playsuit, Zara knitwear jumper, silk floral scarf and Aldo white city bag. Really need to start making use of my pile of accessories in future, many of them have barely seen the light of day.

Decided to finally try out this little cafe @ The Light - La Bottega Milanese which opened a few months ago. I originally intended to try out one of the coffees, but then got distracted by the 'Specials' board and ordered the Coconut Hot Chocolate and 'Crostata di cacao' (chocolate and patisserie cream torte). The hot chocolate was served in a really dainty cup, which tasted really smooth and thick (not like your watered down, overpoweringly sweet hot chocolates at Starbucks). It had a good balance of sweetness and some bitterness, couldn't really detect any coconut-y taste but was good nonetheless. The torte was delicious as well, quite a sticky texture. It's a nice cosy corner with wi-fi internet, with friendly waitresses (my fork was immediately replaced after I dropped it on the floor in my flurry to balance my drink and torte). And it's also opened til quite late which is always a plus!

It can be a bit of a wait during the late evenings though as when I intended to takeaway a 'Rum baba', there was only one member of staff making coffee with no one else at the till which was a bit of a put-off.

    

Fueled with high sugar levels, I went on to indulge in some retail therapy. Tried a few dresses in T.k.maxx but wasn't too impressed, so settled with a Fiorelli pewter bag (originally 75 pounds for which I bought for 30 pounds - another one of my bargain buys!). And in the mood of getting back into my fitness regime I also bagged a couple of crop trousers for gym - investing for my summer bikini body! (though I don't think all the cake has helped). Tried on more clothes at Zara but came out empty-handed, I did see a lovely yellow scarf that I am still contemplating whether to buy or not.

As calories don't count on your birthday, I gathered some cupcakes to satisfy my craving (I have the excuse that I didn't have a birthday cake this time round) - a raspberry and white chocolate cupcake from the shop in the Queens Arcade, and two from Waitrose. The yellow one was the least tastiest but it did look quite pretty (89p!).

Rushed home in time to Skype with mum & dad - daddy who recently started playing the piano even played a birthday song on the piano for me hehe! And they even ate cake on my behalf!

Technology is amazing.

In the evening I met up with Iveta, my violin teacher - we went to have dinner at La Cafetiere, a cosy little Mediterranean cafe in Headingley. The food was served promptly after we ordered. We both order 'Kubah' which was rice and potato croquettes stuffed with lamb, accompanied by some sides - yummy. The dish only cost 8 pounds which is cheap and affordable. Loved the candlelit atmosphere - has a very home-y feel to it.

     

My lovely card from Iveta - with a flute and violin! and a french horn which I will apparently learn next year lol

Thank you Iveta for the lovely evening (as well as the chocolates and the card!), looking forward to our coffee sessions x

And thank you all for the Facebook/text/whatsapp birthday messages! Love you all x

Off to catch up on some beauty sleep now, appointment at the hairdressers tomorrow! ;)