Instagram Catch Up

Instagram is my favourite way of keeping in touch with my friends around the country.

I also love looking through my own photos and remembering the fun I've had.

Here's a catch up into 2013:

Succulent pork and crackling with cabbage smothered in gravy. 

My little blogging corner in my flat.

I've become quite the organised bunny, keeping with my 2013 resolution.

A little perfume gift.

My perfect relaxation.

Meat sharer board at The Chorloton Brasserie.

The duck paste is to die for.

Homemade sweet potato and carrot broth

New Year's Eve

Christmas beauty gifts (blog posts on some of these to come)

Liverpool's Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar

Love Chanel gift wrap

My gift wrap

My Jasper

Eton Mess at Room, Manchester.

Topshop jewellery haul.

Christmas Tree!

The Christmas Party

Eggs Benedict Muffin at Sugar Junction, Manchester

The Tee Pee at The Oast House, Manchester

A loose blowdry

Belly Pork

Lauren Conrad Beauty

Stila In The Light Eyeshadow Palette

Stila is a makeup brand that has recently launched in Harvey Nichols and has been firmly on my wishlist since.
Victoria Beckham is a fan, which sealed the deal for me.
The first piece from the collection I bought is the In The Light Eyeshadow Palette.







A gorgeous mix of colours that all compliment one another, you can get plenty of looks from this palette.
The Urban Decay Naked palettes are staples for me and this is a gorgeous addition to my collection.
Four matte basic colours and six rich, shimmer shades blend well give a velvety finish.
The shadows are ideal for creating a day look for the eyes and then adding the darker shades for an evening out.
The palette also comes with the Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner, a perfect tool for creating a smokey eye and this one is soft and pigmented so works well; the groove is also ideal to pop in a small eyeshadow brush for when you're on the move.
The palette is £25 and feels such high quality for it's reasonable price tag.

New Year

I do hope your new year was filled with friends and lots of champagne...

Cheers to 2012! It was a year of growing, learning, working hard, travelling and having nights I don't remember with the people I'll never forget. I attended two beautiful weddings and made amazing new friends as well as cementing those existing relationships. I've generally started to worry less; worrying really does get you nowhere.

Looking forward to the new year, I've started with a positive mindset. I'm living in a gorgeous, homely apartment in the city and have plans to see lots of friends over the next few weeks. January is certainly not the time to deprive yourself of anything so eat lots of healthy, hearty foods and enjoy the odd glass of wine with friends.

However, having goals is never a bad thing, so here are my resolutions:

1. Be organised. Keep plans and meetings in a diary.

2. Update my blog more often

3. Be healthy. Drink more water and run more

4. To change what I don't like before I hate it

5. Say yes

Happy New Year! What are your New Year Resolutions?

Azurmendi, Bilbao

Azurmendi is a 3 Michelin star gastronomic restaurant in Bizkaia, 20 minutes out of Bilbao.

The food is an experience in itself, with courses that are straight from a scientific experiment.

The visit begins in the indoor garden, with tricking waterfall and comfy benches.

A waiter brings out a picnic basket, when you stand and munch on the appetizer delights. 

Appetizers in the garden:

'Mimetic' peanut

Tomato and basil cold infusion 

Homemade cheese with homegrown basil flowers 

Another diners' garden starter experience

Then, you are lead to the main dining room which is beautifully decorated and scented with a strong yet unobtrusive aura.

Eggs from the restaurants' chickens, cooked inside out and stuffed with truffles

'Betizu' cow tail raviolis, wrapped in corn brad with legume broth

Sea caress: oyster, salicornia, iodinated tremella, sea weed and small crunchy nettles with natural aromas from the sea

The 'Earth' tea service

Brasiered squid, a mantle of it's own juice, crunches and onion

Salted stew: vegetables, anchovies and pork jowl with 'Idiazabal' cream cheese balls

Grilled red mullet, crunchy mushroom broth and onion toffee

Pigeon, 'hazelnuts,' leafs...

(The hazelnuts were chocolate to lead you into dessert, you're advised to eat these last) 

Chestnuts with vine shoot scent

Strawberries and roses

Honey

(Ice cream as light as air on a real honeycomb)

Truffles

The restaurant is an encounter not to be forgotten.

The waiting on staff were attentive and knowledgable and certainly added to the experience. 

Azurmendi's website is here.

San Sebastián, Spain

San Sebastián was our next stop on our trip, which is about an hour from Bilbao.

A quaint town on a bay with a gorgeous sandy beach and piers to step down to the water.

This is where you can canoe, sail or swim from.

Walk along the beach front to find the famous Spa, La Perla.

Here I opted for a relaxation massage and was pummelled to my heart's content. 

Afterwards I pulled on a huge fluffy robe and soft slippers and padded to the Thalassotheraphy area.

Essentially, flitting between different hot salt water baths where water jets massage different parts of the body, a jacuzzi, an underwater gym as well as walking through a corridor of freezing cold water jets.

We laughed and relaxed for a sublime 3 hours; it's not an experience I'd have enjoyed half as much by myself, so do go as a couple or group.

You can find La Perla here.

The city is architecturally beautiful and, very importantly, a great place to shop.
Girls rejoice, it's Zara heaven!
We stayed in an apartment above the bustling pedestrian streets, metres away from the Pinxos bars.
San Sebastián is famous for it's food, foodies will not be disappointed.

Be sure to visit San Sebastián Food.

They offer food experiences in the area, from cooking classes to wine tasting trips.

We opted for the Pinxos tasting tour, a great introduction to the bars so you can re-visit your favourites for the rest of your trip!

Our tour guide Eli was friendly, informative and kept our glasses full.

Also, if you're very lucky as we were, you'll meet a few people who you'll wish lived nearby when you get home.

Find San Sebastián Food here.