Starbucks, Shopping, Sushi and Fro Yo

In the spirit of looking on the bright side...one of the things I’ve been enjoying about my recent separation is the occasional child-free day. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my children, but single parenting is hard work so the odd time to myself is enjoyed too!! Liam normally has the children on Saturdays, so I go spinning and to the gym in the morning and before I know it it is time to pick them up again! This weekend however, he had them on Sunday. The 4 of us went to Halfords to buy Christmas presents. A bike for Izzy…

And a helmet for Toby, as we are giving him a second hand bike from my friend’s son…

I then headed into Exeter on my own, bliss! First stop, Starbucks for breakfast…

Dirty chai latte and toasted fruit bread, my favourites!

I then set about the serious business of clothes shopping(!) It was so peaceful shopping by myself, but I did miss having someone there to give an opinion…so I ended up taking lots of photos of myself in changing rooms & texted them to my sisters…what did we do before iPhones?!!

My main aim for the shopping trip was jumpers, as I literally have none – it has been a little chilly around here in just tops and my gilet! I bought this turquoise jumper from Superdry…

and I also loved this purple hoodie…

but my sister, Sarah, suggested I look in Republic instead…

Perhaps not quite as nice, but £20 instead of £45…I was glad of the saving!

I am also addicted to buying Pineapple exercise gear from Debenhams…I already have it in black/turquoise, grey/red, and black/purple but this black/lilac combo drew me in!

These capris are a bit longer than my usual ones, which is good for this cold weather. The new design is also more black than the other ones - my other sets have tops that are mainly coloured with just bits of black or grey. I'm happy that these look a bit different whilst still being the great fit that I love.

For lunch I went to Yo Sushi. It only opened in Exeter about a month ago, and I’ve only been to any Yo Sushi once before when I was pregnant with Toby, so I was excited to try it!

I don't like the idea of raw fish though, urgh, I definitely stuck to the vegetarian options!!

Avocado maki…

Inari Pocket…

Crunchy Tofu Salad…

and Vegetable Futomaki…

The tofu was a bit bland - but the rest of the salad was good; and the inari (fried soya bean) was a bit sweet – but the contents of the pockets were tasty. I loved both the rolls though, simple really is better!

No dessert as I was headed to the most exciting part of my day! When I’d been out in Exeter in the evening a couple of weeks ago, I’d noticed a new cafe called Bubble Bubble Co. It mainly sells bubble tea, but it also has self serve frozen yoghurt!

The bubbles were also part of the topping options. I was curious about them. They are vegetarian – made with seaweed extract and fruit juices. I tried the peach bubbles and they were actually my favourite topping – so fresh and real tasting!

I had chocolate and caramel swirl frozen yoghurt, topped with spiced biscuits, chopped peanuts, a couple of varieties of chocolate sprinkles, raspberries, blueberries and peach bubbles…

It was priced by weight so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too expensive…it came to £3.12 which I didn’t think was too bad? Although my wallet and waistline are both probably glad I don’t live that close to Exeter…this is definitely a treat that will be included in every shopping visit from now on!!

My other aim for shopping was to buy some shoes. I have flat feet, which are also size 8 and wide…so shoe shopping is an absolute nightmare. My current shoes were some men’s navy hiking trainer type things from Sports Direct, and after just a few months they already had holes in both shoes – by the big toes and at the edges! I failed at finding any other shoes to fit me though, in the end I bought the exact same shoes again (!) but at least this time they were half price!!

Luckily yesterday I was shopping in my local town and popped into Fat Face. They had some boots that caught my eye and the display size was an 8 so I tried them on, so comfy! This is the first time I’ve ever owned boots like this so fingers crossed they wear well!!

I also bought those trousers, but in the next size down from the pair I'm wearing in the photos, yey, my hard work at the gym is beginning to pay off!!

And now I really need to stop spending any money…at least until the post-Christmas sales!! I have got everyone's Christmas presents sorted already, luckily, but yesterday someone crashed into my car while it was parked outside my house, grrr, no contact details left so I’ll have to pay the bill…not what I wanted a week before Christmas!!

Have you bought any new clothes lately? Or anything on your wish list? I think I’m pretty much sorted for clothes for now, although I am planning to go sale shopping on the 27th or 28th as Liam has the children on those days. I’m not sure how much shopping I’ll actually do then though, it’s always so busy but at least I wont be trying to fit a pushchair in the crowded shops!! The last time I went Boxing Day shopping was when Izzy was still in a pushchair - a year before Toby was born - I still shudder at the memory!!

New Dress + Lunch at Giraffe

This afternoon we went shopping in Exeter with (mainly) one mission in mind - a new dress for me to wear to Liam's graduation ceremony!

We met up with my sister for lunch first though. It was so busy in Exeter, but we managed to grab at table outside at Giraffe which was where I'd wanted to eat anyway. Luckily they had heaters outside so it wasn't too cold. I ordered a Farmers Market Vegetable Burrito. The description for this was "roasted squash & vegetables with pinto beans, feta & herby rice wrapped in a soft tortilla topped with adobe sauce, jack cheese, tomato salsa & crumbled feta." I was a bit worried about the pinto beans (I really can't stand the texture of any beans) but couldn't resist ordering it anyway. It came with an avocado salad which made it even more irresistible!

This was amazing! Seriously one of the best meals out I've had in a while. The pinto beans blended in with the rest of the mix and it was all super yummy. No flavour stood out in particular, it was just all really good. I've only ever been to Giraffe for cocktails and dessert (after having the main part of dinner elsewhere) or for coffee before...but I'll definitely be going back for proper meals again! They do some quite nice childrens' meals too - Izzy had focaccia pizza fingers which came with fries and apple wedges - weirdly the apple wedges were what made her choose the meal, but the rest of it was tasty too!

After lunch, we took Toby to get his feet measured (still the same size) and then started the dress-hunt. We started off by looking in Debenhams and, with my sister's help, found 4 dresses to try on. Two were way too short, one was too frumpy looking with a high neckline, but one was just right. (Sorry - Izzy is obsessed with Goldilocks at the moment, I can't help it!)

Looking at this photo has made me unsure about the dress, nightmare, but my sister and I both liked it in the shop. What do you think? I plan to wear it with black tights as well as those boots. I don't particularly want to have to buy new shoes as I have large horrible-to-shop-for feet, and those boots are really comfy which is always a plus. After Liam's graduation ceremony there is a 15 minute procession through town, and then we'll be walking back into town for lunch, so I really don't want to wear uncomfortable heels!

As we didn't have to traipse around any more shops (I hate clothes shopping, especially with young children - not a fun experience!) we instead went to Debenhams cafe as Izzy had been wanting an "afternoon snack" pretty much since we finished lunch! I had a skinny latte and shared this cranberry and white chocolate cookie with Toby...

He was getting a bit tired by this stage - I'm sure he didn't mean to frown at the camera quite so much!

After this we went home - via Waitrose - to enjoy feta and caramelised onion pizza. No photo as my sister's camera hates the evening (lack of) light. I'm sure you've seen it before anyway - it's our favourite pizza! Each time we toy with the idea of getting one feta & caramelised onion pizza and one different flavour, but in the end we always get two the same - none of the other options sound as appealing!

This post has turned out to be quite short (by my standards anyway) but that is how I like my clothes shopping trips to be - we literally went into 4 shops (Boots for Liam's hair wax, Clarks to not get Toby shoes, Next to not find me boots, and Debenhams) and had 2 stops for food - short but sweet! On the other hand I wish my food shopping trips could be longer. When I was stood at the till at Waitrose - having just bought pizzas, satsumas, sweets to give out to trick & treaters, and a magazine - I saw that the person behind me had bought new-to-me Greek yoghurt, nice apple juice, raspberries etc etc - I wish I had time to browse the aisles but it never seems to happen! Oh well, I'm saving money - that's what I'll keep telling myself!!

Which do you prefer - food shopping or clothes shopping? And what do you think of the dress I bought? Honest opinions please - it's (just about) not too late for me to change my mind!! Or any suggestions to improve upon this dress - do you think I should wear a belt with it or leave it as is? It is this dress on the Debenhams' website if that helps. Thanks! :)

Food From The Weekend

Hello! How have all your weekends been? Good I hope :) We've had a relaxed one here - bit of tidying, bit of exercise and, of course, lots of eating!

I've been trying to eat a bit "better" this weekend - cutting down on my snacking and processed foods - as I realised that it is less than 2 weeks until Liam's graduation ceremony and I have nothing to wear, eek!

This has resulted in some quite yummy meals - going back to basics + trying new things is good! :)

Saturday morning I had a smoothie for the first time in ages. It was a bit cold, but delicious - about a quarter of frozen avocado, frozen blueberries, a banana, milk and a little agave...

This was really tasty, I love how thick the avocado makes smoothies!

After this Izzy and I headed to the gym. She started going to a gymnastics club which she really enjoys. Last week I stayed to watch to check she got on ok, but this week I spent the time in the gym (just down the corridor) instead - a bit of exercise for me while Izzy has fun, win!

Lunch on Saturday was a big plate of roasted red kabocha squash, with a couple of scrambled eggs and ketchup randomly on the side!

I've got majorly into roasted squash recently, I just wish it wasn't so difficult to cut! Luckily at the weekends Liam is home to do the knife work for me. We had squash again today, and I asked Liam to chop some extra up for me to use tomorrow/Tuesday - save my fingers from getting chopped off!! :)

Dinner last night was a quick stir fry - courgettes, peppers, basil tofu, noodles and soy sauce:

Simple but tasty. We hadn't had stir fry in ages for some reason, despite Liam often asking for it, so this was appreciated by all of us.

After dinner treat of a Halloween "Scream" Egg! I love Creme Eggs and this tastes just the same, with a seasonal colour, yum!

*****

This morning started off with another smoothie, but an even better one - Oh She Glows' Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothie. Minus the chia seeds as I really don't like them, this was delicious. The recipe says it makes only 1 serving, but I managed to fill the glass below 2 and a bit times - no complaints here! :)

This was fantastic...I'm planning to have it again tomorrow! It somehow didn't seem as cold as Saturday's smoothie, although I'm sure that was just psychological - pumpkin is such a comforting food no matter what temperature it's served at.

Lunch today was a random assortment of foods that needed eating. The others all had cheese on toast, but whenever I have that I end up having two slices, and then wanting another two slices immediately after! Not such a good idea on day 2 of "better" eating! Instead I had this warm salad that filled me up and kept me full for much longer than cheese on toast would have.

Cooked quinoa/bulgar mix, last of a bagged salad that needed eating, roasted beetroot (thanks Mum!), avocado and Munchy seeds. This was delicious - I'm always pleased when I make a bit more effort with my food. Trying to improve my eating has made me realise how much we rely on bread, especially for weekend lunches (yesterday the others had poached eggs on English muffins when I had my squash egg combo) but I never find that bread fills me up for long so finding other alternatives is great. This salad was perhaps a bit too filling - I spent a good 20 minutes unable to move after finishing eating!!

Tonight's dinner was another one that we haven't had in ages - butternut squash risotto. This time without spinach, and with a red pesto "sauce"...

I love this recipe. It's actually really quick to make, but tastes like more effort has been put into it. Today I used a mix of red kabocha squash and butternut squash (with half the butternut left for another day) which worked just as well. I did miss the spinach - next time I must remember to buy some. I used to always have some in over the summer, but I haven't been making any green smoothies lately.

What was the best thing you ate this weekend? Pumpkin smoothie for me I think - I loved all the meals I've had but my sweet tooth always wins! Also, any suggestions for what I can wear for Liam's graduation??? I'm thinking black trousers and a nice top maybe? I'd quite like to wear a dress, but I always have an issue with shoes (size 8, wide, flat feet = shoe-shopping nightmare!) and I can probably squeeze into the black trousers I already own which would cut down on the new clothes I need to buy. Feel free to link to any nice clothes you've spotted recently please - I'm thinking a shopping trip will be needed later in the week!