Info all Articles

Hi folks! Hope you are all doing well! I’ve been looking forward to sharing with you what I got up to on my birthday.

After I’d opened my pressies I went out for a run. I knew that going for a quick run would set me up for a great day. I did 4 miles in good time – 37.16. When I got home I relaxed with a little bit of yoga courtesy of Davina (I did the yoga stretch section of the Davina Fit DVD)

Breakfast was just delish! I made protein pancakes with 3 egg whites, a scoop of cookies and cream spirutein, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a large tablespoon of apple and banana puree. I served the pancakes with fresh strawberries, blueberries and banana, plus peanut butter sauce (smooth peanut butter and soy milk warmed in the microwave) and maple syrup.

It was lovely to set the table and sit down to breakfast properly!

I got all showered and dressed and headed into Newcastle. Here’s Outfit of the Day No1. I thought I’d better include the trench due to the forecast rain :-( (I managed to master the self timer on my camera!)

Trench coat – Debenhams, bretton stripe top – Warehouse, brown leather belt – vintage, brown bag – Dune, straight leg jeans – Topshop, black strappy shoes - Zara

I met up with the hubby for a coffee in Chalk and Paper which is a cafe I’ve been dying to try. I had the most delicious Chai Latte.

Something tells me I’ll be visiting this cafe more often!

After quite a lot of shopping (there’s lots to cover so I’ll post details of my purchases tomorrow) I went to Olive and Bean for lunch. On the recommendation of lovely blog reader Joolz I ordered the halloumi and italian roast vegetables on a granary baguette.

I was not disappointed! So yummy. I also had a berry smoothie.

By this time I was fairly laden with bags and the rain had started so I decided to head home rather than head to where the vintage shops are, I’ll have plenty of time to browse around them in coming Saturdays. (Hope to see you then Joolz!)

While at Olive and Bean I ordered a slice of their Carrot and Walnut cake to bring home with me for afternoon tea. I had it with a pot of Earl Grey and a bowl of strawberries and apple.

While watching 500 Days of Summer I snacked on two Hotel Chocolate dark chocolate vintage buttons from my pressies.

These tasted wonderful, they have 70% cocoa solids but taste a lot creamier than Green and Blacks 70%. They won’t be lasting long!

After watching the movie and putting the days purchases away I got ready for my meal out. Here’s Outfit Of the Day No 2 -

Bolero (bought this on the day) – River Island, white vest top – H&M, black tapered trousers – Zara, strappy black sandals – Dune, black clutch bag – Warehouse, black beaded drop earrings – inherited, black bangle – Topshop.

I went to Ebony in Durham and enjoyed a cocktail while I waited for the Hubby to come and meet me after work. I had a Strawberry Balsamic Martini and it was to die for.

Sooo good. We then went to The Fat Buddha. My god this was just the perfect meal for me! We started with the crispy duck pancakes with cucumber, spring onion and hoi sin.

Then for my main I went for the Thai Green Curry with Prawns served with sticky steamed rice.

For desert I had the Thai Caramelised Bananas which were served with the most amazing caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

The hubby had the sponge cake with chocolate sauce which he insisted I photograph! It was so rich he couldn’t finish it. I told him to pass it over ;-) The chocolate sauce was basically just pure melted chocolate. Heaven!

We came home and just crashed. Perfect day accomplished! 

Sorry for such a long post, they’ll be another one tomorrow when I post about what I bought with my Birthday Budget. However I am now totally broke and have no ‘special days’ to treat myself for the remained of the Big Budget Challenge. On the positive side I actually cleared my credit card this week. How awesome is that! I’ll be hiding the card in the freezer now, these buys are going to have to see me good until the end of September now!

Thanks again for all the lovely birthday comments. Do you like to make your birthday a special day? We were chatting at work and thought that there are some people who like to make a big ‘thing’ of their birthdays and others (like my husband) who just aren’t fussed. What’s your thoughts? Do you have any plans for your next birthday?