I am 20!!

Yaaay I turned 20 on August 30th! I am so grateful to God because I didn't even have to make it this far!

I had such a great birthday, it started at work on the 29th when my boyfriend came in with a bunch of roses and a badge for me! It was lovely! My colleagues were all like "awwwww" lol! also that night some of my friends came over for a girlie movie night!

I made my own "cocktail" lool it was supposed to be rum, sugar, cranberry juice and sparking water but silly me accidentally bought cranberry juice DRINK instead of just juice (and we all know there is a huge difference in taste lol) and I also bought soda water instead of sparkling and it didn't stay fizzy :( However with copious amounts of rum and sugar it ended up tasting lush! I was very pleased. My sister also had the idea to buy lime for the glasses and they ended up looking lovely!

We watched "Lottery Ticket" (Bow Wow✓) and also a film called "Dysfunctional Friends" which my friend recommended and was really good! We munched away, laughed loads and had a whale (Whale? Wale? Wail?) of a time!

The next day me and my sister went out to town to shop and get cake and tea! I got a lush Japanese Cherry Blossom body mist from The Body Shop (more details soon) and we had so much fun!

Me with my balloon from Kai! :D

We then went to The Marlowes Restaurant for lunch and had a blast! There was about 10 of us and the staff didn't mind us making loads of noise and also didn't mind us bringing our own wine! I had the southern fried chicken with curly fries and coleslaw, the chicken was a bit dry but the rest was lush!

The meal was £12.95, it would have been £8.50 for a main and dessert (lunch menu) but as we bought our own wine we had to order from the normal one but was still great!

We all decided we would split then meet back at mine for pre-drinks before going to The Cuban!

Red Velvet Cake with chocolate covered strawbs  courtasy of my friend Nicole! Place your orders guys! lol

My friends all pitched in to get us a private table with champagne and it was so nice! :'")

The next day I slobbed out with a pizza, "Americas Next Top Model" and the boyfriend until the afternoon when I went back home to visit my family for the week which was also awesome as it was my brother and my mums birthday whilst I was there!

Here's to being 20!

God Bless

Nay

xx

Healthy living: Snack tip!

Chocolate lovers this one is for you! Having a sweet tooth and craving chocolate can often lead to unhealthy eating which can throw us off track (trust me I know haha) however there are somethings we can do to extinguish the cravings and not feel guilty!

  Today I discovered these awesome biscuits by Special K and they are only 98 calories per two biscuits! Perfect! They may not look it but they are soooo chocolatey and taste delicious!!

I also saw that my friend Melv'yn posted a yummy dinner pic on instagram and I tried to recreate it haha, its strawberries,  scrambled egg with orange peppers and salad, I added some curried prawns after too! Yum!

As im on 12-4's all this week at work I've decided to hit the gym before instead of after as sometimes after work I'm far too tired and talk myself out of it *covers face* but I like going in the morning as it gives me a clear head and makes me feel refreshed and pumped!

What time of day do you workout?

P.S my laptop is getting repaired and im writing this on my phone just in case the layout looks dodgey ha ha

God bless
Nay
Xx

My first Graze Box!

It came! Yay!

I've been eyeing up these little boxes on peoples posts and on adverts for a longgg time so when they started their first box free initiative I jumped at the chance (Hey who doesn't love a freebie!)

Basically you log on to Graze.com and fill in your details then they show you a list of snacks they provide, from porridge to chocolate brownies! (you can also choose from the really healthy options).

You state which ones you like, love and would not like to have in the boxes that get sent to you so you have a better chance of getting the yummy snacks you like!

I ordered mine on Sunday and it arrived today (Wednesday) and they would be every Wednesday unless I choose to cancel,

Here's what arrived!

Inside also was a guide to each sections calories and it also came with some vouchers to give to friends!

Box 1 Copacabana: My faveee! Dark & Milk chocolate buttons & Brazil nuts! Nom!

Box 2 Cookies & Cream: Not bad! Mini chocolate cookies, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds..loving the chocolate buttons theme lool the seeds were a bit random though

Box 3 Nacho Libre: Salsa Almonds, Cheesy Sombreros(biscuits), jumbo chilli corn....yummy! nice and fiery

Box 4 Salsa Fresca: Tomato Salsa Fresca with Cheesy Sombreros (biscuits) second fave! The dip was lovely

Have you tried any of the Graze boxes? How did you find them and what did you get?

God Bless

Nay

xx

Food glorious food! - Soup edition

Different from what I usually post but I feel like a proud parent with the soup I just made for lunch haha! So.Yummy...

I bought a great Tomato & Basil soup from Tesco the other day and thought I would try and make my own version to use up some of the tinned tomato I have lying about and it tastes just as delicious!


Nays Tomato & Basil soup!

Ingredients

• 1 tin of peeled tomatoes (Chopped will do too! or even normal tomatoes boiled down)
• Small amount of chopped ginger (You will notice my measurements are rather vague, I usually just dash & dash as my mum would call it haha!)
• A couple shakes of dried Basil (Fresh is great too)
• Tablespoon of Mango Chutney (Random but WORKS! Adds great flavour)
• Anything to garnish (I used a bit of Rocket)
• Some gorgeous wholemeal crusty bread to dip in

Blend the tinned tomatoes with the basil, ginger, and mango chutney then put in a saucepan on the stove to boil.

Serve in a bowl with the bread on the side and ENJOY!

God Bless

Nay 

xx

Eureka!!

So this is probably the most obvious post ever haha but something kinda clicked in my head recently....

The reason I ate so much rubbish was because....I was not eating enough!! Sounds a bit backwards but stick with me on this lol...

I eat pretty well especially at the start of the day but I was finding I was losing motivation to eat healthy as the day went on, not just losing motivation but healthy food can be hard to find when you're out and about, here's what a days food would be like........

What my "meals" would look like

Pre Gym
Rice cake
Breakfast
Porridge with honey & cinnamon
Lunch
Rice cake
Whilst out running errands or in the library
Chocolates
sweets
Sandwiches from Greggs
Food when visiting friends houses

etc etc etc lol

This is not good!!

1) If I eat a decent lunch I won't be as hungry when I'm out and will stop me having food on the brain (thinking about food when I'm trying to study is awful loool such a distraction!)

2)  If I take snacks out with me then I wont have to hit the shops and will also save me money.


What my meals are like recently!

Pre gym
Banana
Breakfast
Porridge with cinnamon and honey
Lunch
Chicken strips with 1 boiled egg or omelette
Dinner
Prawns with rice and broccoli or chicken with prawns and broccoli

Much better :D

Dinner Example( Chicken with broccoli, rice and a little sweet & sour sauce (

Lunch example ( Chicken with sweetcorn and a boiled egg)

Okay so it doesn't look tooo appetising but I was hungry and rushed the shots loool! 

Remember failing to plan = preparing to fail!

What do you daily meal plans look like?

God Bless 

Nay 

xx

How to not be (completely) broke at uni

(Note: talking to myself as much as anyone here haha!)

We've all been there, that blissful moment when the figure in your bank account reads higher than it's ever read in its entire time of being open and you get that text confirming......."Student.Loan.Has.Dropped"

You immediately think of all the possibilities! Louis Vuitton belts! Peruvian weaves! trips to raves across the country! Dominoes every single day of the week! enough Indomie noodles to make a yellow brick road to uni!!! The look on your face kind of resembles......

The options are endless!!.......or so you think......

Now it may seem weird me being a 1st year 2nd term student writing a 'guide' on how not to be broke but as my family can tell you i've been brokeeeeeee at uni and I have now seen the mountain tops and have gotten a smidge better ( it's progress :P lol!) just thought i'd share a few things that have helped me.

Tip 1: Remind your self how long the money needs to last for

It may be awesome going to every single gathering/party/restaurant trip that arises but you have to remind yourself if an event comes up at the end of the month YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT. Kind of blunt but true, why not hold movie nights indoors or go to some free entry events, that way you can go to the theme park trips and holidays away everyone talks about towards the end of the term! :)

Tip 2: Cook!!


Sounds crazy but it can be so easy to forget about having meals whilst at uni, there's so much to do and so many places to be that grabbing something fast for breakfast (if you remember to have it that is) will sustain you until the massive take away you have for dinner lol. All the take aways add up thus leaving your purse/wallet crying.
Cooking meals and taking lunches with you to uni is so much better because it may not save you time but will save you money in the long run. If you think...how much can you buy at Asda with that £15 which was just spent at Nando's lol. Make your own chicken and have the left overs for lunch :D  but please  remember to wash it :P

Tip 3: Save on transport


There are so many times when grabbing a cab can seem like the easiest option....and it probably is haha! Just think though the £6 to get to uni or town can easily be replaced by a £1.10 bus ride or a 30 minute walk :)
The only time I'd say getting a cab is the greatest option is after dark, saving money is not worth your safety <3

There's probably many more tips but the bottom line is basically think before you spend...do you really need TWO dresses in H&M? (Yes:P)....can I walk the journey I need to go?

                                                          Treat yourself but not too much ;)

                           
                                                                           God bless
                                                                              Nay :)
                                                                                xx