Fashion 5 | Summer Flats

I'm all about comfy open toe flats in the summer.  There are so many that I'm loving at the moment - this could easily have been a Fashion Fifty!
These are a few of my current favs. Which ones are your favourite?

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What I Ate Wednesday | Too Many Avocados?

Hola Sparkly1s


Welcome to another WIAW.

 I've been reading Blogilates a lot the last few days and that inspired me to look into the amount of carbs in fruit.  As you may know, I'm trying to decrease my carb intake (as a pizza, pasta loving vegetarian this has been no mean feat) and I was surprised to read about some peoples views on fruit.  Now, I'm not saying I quitting fruit.  I love fruit!  But I am going to try and eat more veggies instead of fruit.  Maybe, celery and carrot sticks instead of an apple?  I dunno if that's the right thing to do (I'm gonna do some more reading into it) but I'm gonna give it a go and see how I feel.

Breakfast

 

 

 

I have to say it felt slightly strange eating this for breakfast. It was 1 whole egg, 1 egg white and a splash of almond milk made into an omelette. It was filled with spinach, sweetcorn and peas, topped with a sprinkling of chilli flakes (I've a little of an obsession with chilli flakes at the moment - they go on everything!)

As I have my breakfast at about 9:30am this wasn't as bad as if I eat it earlier but it was still strange.

Lunch

Lunch was this fabulous (or as they call it amazing, which I kinda think is a bit too presumptuous of Marks and Spencer) Amazing Avocado & Feta with mint & crème fraiche dressing.  It was super yummy, but it was only after I'd eaten it I thought 'hmmm, bet that had a lot of calories / fat etc' so I checked the label.  it did.  But it was all goodness - quinoa, rocket, avocado, feta, broad beans... I also only used a bit of the sauce so I reckon I saved myself a few there and I only managed three quarters of it as it was quite filling.

As a vegetarian, I've been looking into how I can get more protein into my diet and I've read that quinoa is a great option, which is kinda why I chose it.  Is that true?

 

Tea

 

I love a wrap, or tortillas or enchiladas but normally I'd have around 3 white wraps with veg in.  As I'm cutting down on carbs I decided to have 1 wrap and cram it full of veg.  It was only afterwards I realised it was another avocado and cheese 'thing' like my lunch was.  Is 2 avocados in one day too many?  Ahh well, it was a one off.  They are fast becoming my new favourite food though after years of hating them! 

 

I filled my wholemeal wrap with

 

1 avocado

a few different varieties of tomatoes chopped

quarter of a red bell pepper

few slices of red onion

small amount of mature cheddar cheese

 

I folded it in half and placed it under the grill for a few minutes to slightly melt the cheese inside and give it a nice bite.  Even if I do say so myself, it was bloody wonderful! 

I hope you enjoyed this WIAW. I don't know how I feel about cutting back on fruit after a whole day of not eating it. What's your opinion on it? Have you tried it?

Are you a vegetarian?  How do you make sure you get enough protein in your diet?

Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner Review

I'm not a massive wearer of eyeliner but I went to Boots the other day as I had decided I wanted a liner.  I'd chosen a Maybelline one and as I was walking to the till I stopped to browse the Benefit counter.  If you know me, you'll know I'm more of a bargain make-up girl than high end stuff but I always enjoy looking at the more expensive stuff.

As I was looking at the Benefit counter a lovely make up / sales lady named Tasha came up and asked if I needed any help.  Now, I'm normally the type of person who would say 'no, no, I'm just browsing, thanks,' but this time I didn't, I found myself replying 'well I'm just looking at getting an eyeliner.' That was all she needed, 'hop up on the chair,' she said and I was instantly at her mercy.  I'd heard about the They're Real Push-Up Liner through blogs and other beauty websites so when she started explaining about it I was instantly impressed.

At £18.50 it's certainly not cheap.  So, is it worth the hype? And the cost? I bought it and been testing it out the last few days and I'm pleased to say, in my opinion, absolutely yes.

If you're not familiar with the product it has been billed as a game-changer that's been 5 years in development.  The first ever lash hugging gel liner in a pen.  It has an Accuflex tip which they claim is soft which an angled tip to draw an easy line, pushes lashes aside so it can get right in close to the lashline and has a wide base for a stable application.

I picked up some little tips from Tasha on the Benefit counter that I think might help you to get great results:

1. Rest your arm or elbow on a table for support to give you more control.
2. Glide the Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner on the back of your hand before you start to get the gel coming out.
3. You will probably need two clicks.
4. Be quick. As it's a gel it dries really quickly so this could lead to flaking (which is not a good eyeliner look) if you have to go over an area more than once.
5. Go right to the base of your lashes.

Like I said, I'm no eyeliner expert and I did have to practise quite a lot with this before getting it right but I love the look of it.  Some tips that I discovered whilst using it are:

1. Don't go over already applied eyeliner. Oh my goodness how I wish I had taken a photo of the first time I tried to apply this myself! It was flaky. It was lumpy. It was just everything wrong with eyeliner.
2. Remember that this is a gel liner. It's drier than a liquid liner.
3. Have some bloody good make up remover! Once this stuff is on it ain't coming off without a fight. I am yet to find a makeup remover that is good at removing this so if you know one please share it in the comments.
4. A little tip that I picked up from a friend is to keep the little orange plug that comes in the end so you can replace after each use.  It can dry out really quickly so make sure the pen lid is tightly put back on each time.
5. Practise, practise, practise.

Have you tried the liner? I'd love to hear your opinions on it.

Burger Me! | Gormet Burger Kitchen

 

 

Hola Sparkly1s
 

Monday mornings just never get easier do they?  I'm pretty much off work today.  All I have to do is take some kids to school and pick them up at 3:30.  I've got no kids all day (if you didn't know, I'm a Childminder) so I've got 6ish hours all to myself but I still struggled with rolling my ass outta bed this morning.  I've been awake since 5:30am which is a pain, but I just wouldn't get back to sleep so I made use of the time and got up to do a workout.

Anyway, enough of my moaning about Monday mornings.  Have you ever been to Gormet Burger Kitchen (GBK)? I hadn't before yesterday.  I was child free yesterday (Mini Greenoid was staying at his cousins house) so myself and 2 of my sisters headed into Liverpool for a spot of shopping.  (I may share with you my purchases later on so keep an eye out for that post.) 

After our shopping we made our way over to Liverpool 1s upper level, where all the restaurants are.  I love it up there and if you're ever in Liverpool you should definitely stop off there for a bite to eat.  There's loads of different restaurants for all different tastes such as Barburrito, Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express and Chaophraya and it's lovely sitting outside  My sister has a tastecard which gives you discount at certain restaurants, and as I'm a sucker for a discount, we decided to go to GBK.

I have to say , I was really impressed.  The menu looked really good.  There is a choice of 13 beef burgers, 5 chicken burgers, 3 specialitity and 3 veggie burgers.  And if you don't fancy any of them you can create your own burger.  There's also a selection on salads if you don't fancy a burger - but really, why would you go to GBK if you didn't fancy a burger? 

As a veggie I often feel disappointed and 'left out' when visiting restaurants, like veggies are an after thought and they just stick any old thing on the menu just so they have a veggie dish.  Here, there were 3 delicious sounding veggie burgers - the Classic, Falafel and Billy the Kid.  I opted for Billy the Kid which is goat's cheese, grilled aubergine, rocket pesto, harissa mayo, rocket and pickled onion.  When it arrived I certainly didn't feel like I was an after thought.  It was HUGE and so delicious.  I couldn't manage to eat all mine and really I was quite full after just half of it.

 

 

The little touches were really nice, like you can help yourselves to monkey nuts and free jugs of lemon lime water.

 

 

We also ordered 2 sides of fries to share - one skinny fries and one sweet potato fries.  I have to say I was slightly disappointed by the sweet potato fries, and I love sweet potato. I don't know what it was about them but they just didn't do anything for me.

My sisters ordered the Cheese and Bacon and the Blue Cheese and they both said they were yum!

Our waitress was lovely and explained about the free GKB app which I downloaded.  It's like a loyalty card and you received different bonuses each time you visit a GBK.  This time I received a free dipping sauce!

 

 

Overall it was a fabulous lunch out that all three of us enjoyed and I'd definitely recommend Gormet Burger Kitchen to anyone.  With the tastecard discount we paid £30 for 3 scrumptious burgers, fries and soft drinks - not bad I don't think.

 

Have you been to GBK before?  Did you enjoy it as much as I did?

Where are your favourite places to eat out?

 

 

Fashion 5 | River Island Holiday Shop

Hola Sparkly1s

 

I'm getting into the holiday mood this week for Fashion 5.  The 5 products this week come from River Islands Holiday Shop.  If you like any of the products the links are below.

 

Which one is your favourite?

 

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