June in Photos

Holy heck has June gone fast! I cannot believe it's July tomorrow! Let's see what's been going on this month...

1. Friday night is wine night

A few weeks ago my friends and I had a Friday night at the pub and it was absolutely lovely. A bottle of wine (White Zinfandel is my favourite) and good company is all you need.

2. First ever ballet shoe

I've been dancing since I was 2 and in my bottom drawer I have a collection of my first dance shoes. Look how tiny my first ballet shoe is!

3. Party time

My Uncle Tony turned 60 a few weeks ago so it was a great excuse to get dressed up. I wore my favourite bright yellow Jones and Jones dress with pink lipstick and pink heels.

4. Pimms o clock

I have an insanely close family, so the Sunday afternoon after my Uncle's party my Dad and I still did the rounds and went to see family, even though we saw the night before. And we got to drink the leftover Pimms from the party!

5. Yet another salad

This one is quorn pieces, sundried tomatoes, goats cheese, cherry tomatoes and balsamic glaze.

6. New torture device this month

I've been using this on my non-running days. It's 55 minutes of strength and absolute hell.

7-9. My friends are awesome

My friends came over a few weeks ago to play with my Babyliss Perfect Curl. I curled their hair, we watched Not Another Teen Movie, and then Jenny and Eve both revealed their favourite, identical, Tom Hardy picture, and then proceeded to try to replicate it.

10. Veggie sausage and mash nom

To celebrate her new flat, my Nan took us out all for dinner a couple of Fridays ago. Veggie sausage and mash is always a good choice.

11. Is anything better than a stack of new library books?!

My nan picked me up some library books (remember when you used to get library books that weren't for essays?!) and I was SO excited. She picked me up Middlesex, The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
12. Saturday brunch

Pea and brocolli frittata and salad.

13-15. I like books (and hot drinks)

I finally, finally finished Libra and quickly read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (which is absolutely beautiful) and I've just finished Middlesex, which has become one of my favourite books.

16-17. Fathers Day

Made my Dad tea and toast in bed and shared this wonderful picture of us.

18. Veggie chilli

One of my favourite homemade dinners.

19. Frank mugs!

Kris and I had been talking about getting Frank Design mugs at work and we finally got them ordered. They make me way too happy.

20. Fajita night

Midweek dinners at Shaunagh's usually mean Mexican Food. We made quorn fajitas and nachos- two of my favourite things.

21. Thug Kitchen bean and pesto wrap

I love Thug Kitchen. I've been loving the Broccoli and Chickpea wraps so I gave the Coriander Pesto and Black Bean wrap a try.

22-23. Surprise from Popchips

Last week I got an unexpected, very very light package. I was intrigued and opened it to find a letter and a package from Popchips inviting me to be one of the first people to try their new flavour! What an honour! I absolutely love Popchips and can't wait to try the new ones!

24. Apple and cream cheese snack

My auntie used to make me this as a kid and I really fancied it the other day. The weird thing was, as I was eating it my Dad started pinching pieces! I never thought he was an apple and cream cheese kinda guy!

25-26. Free cake from John Lewis!

Okay, great story about great customer service. It's my Mum's birthday next weekend and she'd seen a bag she liked on the John Lewis website, so we decided to pop in to have a look at it (she's a bit of a bag connoisseur and wanted to check it out!) but when we asked, it wasn't available in the shop yet. However, if we ordered it online to store delivery before 6, it would be there the next day. Perfect! So we had a confirmation text that the bag had arrived so we went down to get it. When we got to customer services, they spent 10 minutes looking for the bag but couldn't find it. We were getting a little agitated by this point and I'm sure they were too (I used to work in Woolworths and it was so stressful when you couldn't find something someone had ordered!). Just when we were starting to worry they didn't have the bag, the lovely guy behind the counter offered us some vouchers for free tea and cake in the cafe while we waited! It was such a lovely gesture and such fantastic customer service- they even found the bag while we were queuing in the cafe and were happy to wait for us to finish our snack. A chocolate brownie and a pot of tea makes waiting for an order much more bearable. Thanks, John Lewis!

27. Reebok and Adidas Haul 

After three weeks of running, I decided I needed some proper running trainers (I'm planning a post on a guide to running for the ultimate novice like me), so my Dad and I took a trip to the local Reebok and Addidas outlet. I came home with trainers, leggings and a shirt for £45!

28. Monster truck trainers

My new trainers looks like monster trucks but they are like running on clouds. They make such a difference to my run. And they were £16!

29. Reading list

I have so many books that I want to read so I decided I'd better get them all down to avoid uttering the dreaded phrase "I have nothing to read!" I've just finished Middlesex and now I'm reading The Wolf of Wall Street

30. More running gizmos

To aid my running I also bought a easy-hold water bottle and an iPhone arm strap.

31. Lox Benedict

I was under strict instructions to eat the smoked salmon in the fridge (oh no, what a chore!) so I made lox Benedict as a post-workout brunch yesterday. Amazing.

32-33. Homemade curry

Shaunagh came round for tea last night so I made us a curry, FROM SCRATCH, I even made the paste! It was aubergine and green bean from River Cottage Veg Everyday with naan breads and poppadoms (which I did not make).

 34. Sunday lunch

I met Steph in Stockport for lunch today cause she was home for the weekend. I had a delicious halloumi salad.

35. Free Rubicon is the best Rubicon

They were giving Rubicon out in Stockport. Nom.

36. Leftover poppadom snack

37. Finally catching up with Breaking Bad

I've been so behind on Breaking Bad and haven't watched it for months. I've finally had a chance to sit down this afternoon and I'm hoping to finish season 2 tonight.

38-39. Mexican quinoa bake

I have loads of frozen bits of leftover dinners in the freezer and I really wasn't supposed to cook tonight, but I came across this recipe for Mexican Quinoa bake and had to make it. It was insanely delicious. As in, one of the best things I've eaten in ages! I had it topped with some greek yoghurt, avocado and coriander, and roasted broccoli and cauliflower. 

EDIT: Don't forget that we're saying goodbye to Google Reader tomorrow (still don't understand why!). I'm personally not a fan of Bloglovin' so I've moved over to Feedly which has a gorgeous interface and a lovely iPhone app and I would recommend it! I've also signed up for Digg Reader cause I'm indecisive! Hope you guys continue to follow me wherever you're following from!