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DAY TRIPPING TO YORK

Published on April 11, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo13 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

Yesterday I spent a lovely day in York with one of my best friends from uni. I hadn’t seen Chloe since autumn last year and so it was lovely to catch up again.

I hopped on the train at around 9.55 and arrived in York at 10.40 ish. We started our day with our umbrellas pitched against the pouring rain and fighting a battle with the wind as they kept blowing inside out. Because it was so miserable we decided to do a spot of shopping and went into Primark where I tried some nice pieces on but didn’t buy as sadly non looked good on, but I did come out with some basics that needed stocking up, more socks and simple tank tops and the like.

After having a browse around Topshop and a couple of other stores we sat down in Pret for a bite of lunch and I enjoyed a yummy avocado, olive and sun-dried tomato baguette.

The rain had finally stopped by the time we finished lunch and so we did a bit more window shopping discovering some really beautiful stores (I love a good window display) including a fragrance shop where I had to really resist spending my money. We also crossed paths with a cute tea shop where I bought a loose leaf gingerbread rooibush tea which I am excited to try as it smells amazing.

We then visited the three Harry Potter shops that can now be found in the Shambles and although I didn’t buy anything it made me want to go to the Harry Potter studios even more!

As it started getting colder we went for a pint and a nice long chat before walking along the wall a bit and then going for a cocktail. I tried an Amaretto in da ghetto aha which was super tasty!

Towards the end of the day we treated ourselves to dinner at the Botanist which was really tasty. I had olives for starters and then a delicious aubergine stake with giant Moroccan couscous for mains. I was happy with the Vegan options available, a good selection and lots I wanted try; I shall have to go back another time.

At around 7.30pm we sadly has to say goodbye and I made my way to the station to catch my train home.

It was such a nice day despite the rain. I love York, it’s such a beautiful place and it’s always nice to catch up with friends you don’t see often.

ANOTHER BOOK HAUL

Published on March 25, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo10 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I feel like this is becoming a habit, buying books from The Works! I don’t have the time to read them all but I’m excited to try haha. Here’s some more books I recently added to my ever expanding collection.

Happy and L’art de la Simplicité

I picked up these two beauties in the Works. I’m really looking forward to reading these. I mean it’s always good to learn more and be inspired about how to be happy and live a more simplistic life. I’m still in the very long process of wanting to declutter and live more minimal so I think these books will be great!

the sun and her flowers

Having recently finished milk and honey and really enjoyed it, I decided to get rupi kaur’s other book. I’ve not read much poetry since my English Lit A-level and it’s nice to read some modern poetry which is very relatable.

Have any of you read these books?! I’d love to know what you think if you have!

COCKTAIL O’CLOCK

Published on March 2, 2018March 2, 2018 by simplycarinaxo12 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

For Christmas my friend Anna gave me a bottle of the Edinburgh Rhubarb & Ginger Gin and I was instantly in love! Hands down the best gin I have ever tried! Now a while back Alice from Zest Of Alice posted a photo of this Hortus Rhubarb & Ginger Gin Liqueur on Instagram and told me it was only £11.99 at Lidl! I got very excited and as soon as I had a chance I went to have a look for myself and low and behold this beautiful bottle was on a shelf just waiting to be bought by me! I picked a bottle up immediately and then also decided to try the Hortus Raspberry Gin Liqueur. So I thought I would do a little recipe & review of these two gins – enjoy!

My friend Anna came over for dinner on Wednesday and there couldn’t have been a better opportunity to try out these new gins than with my fellow gin loving friend. I personally love to add a slightly flavoured tonic to my gin cocktails to give them that extra something in flavour and thus I picked up an Elderflower Tonic and a Lime Tonic from Tesco to mix the Liqueurs with.

We tried the Rhubarb & Ginger Gin first and although good I have to admit it couldn’t best the Edinburgh Gin. I would probably buy it again as I did enjoyed it and it is cheaper but if just based on taste, its flavour just doesn’t quite pack the same punch as the Edinburgh Gin, sorry Hortus. Next to be put under our scrutinising taste buds was the Raspberry Gin and with this one I must say I was disappointed. I love raspberries – they’re one of my favourite fruits – but something about this raspberry flavoured gin was sadly too sweet / too sickly and too artificial for both myself and Anna. I will not be purchasing this gin again.

However that being said everyone’s taste buds are different and you might really like the raspberry gin, so don’t let me put you off from trying it! If you decide to go for a bottle here’s how I prepared these two gin cocktails:

Start with some ice cubes in a large cocktail glass – then add 2 shots of Hortus Gin – fill the glass to your strength liking with 1/2 elderflower and 1/2 lime tonic – next garnish with some fresh lemon or lime or even pop in some cucumber !

Et voila – easy peasy gin cocktail – now sit back and relax!

Tip – I bought these amazing cocktail glasses from Poundland the other day, they are really sturdy glass and great for cocktails. If you don’t already have cocktail glasses I suggest you pop into your local Poundland and treat yourself to some! Well worth it – and so are my stainless steel straws! Please look after our environment in little ways such as using non-plastic reusable straws at home ❤

P.S. Please do let me know your favourite gin recipes and whether you have tried these two flavours before!! I’d love to know!

COOK BOOK HAUL

Published on February 23, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo10 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I recently purchased a few new cook books from The Works and thought I’d show you. If you’re not in the habit of frequenting The Works, I really urge you to check it out on a regular basis because they always have some amazing deals and sales on.

I always find it too easy to fall into the same cooking patterns recycling the same recipes over and over again, so I’m really looking forward to trying out some new recipes from these books. There’s so many yummy recipes out there I just need to make more of an effort to try them all. Which makes me think… Has anyone ever watched Julie & Julia?! It’s about a woman named Julie who decides to cook every single recipe from Julia Child’s cookbook in a year and blogs about it. I’ve always wanted to do that haha a day although it’s never going to happen, the idea of actually cooking every single recipe in a cookbook is kinda cool. I’d love to achieve that, I mean who knows what delicacies we’re missing out on by not trying more recipes!

Anyway here’s the cook books I just added to my collection and I can’t wait to read through them and try some new recipes out!

I’ve already got one of Aine’s cook books but for a fiver I couldn’t complain and the more new recipes for inspiration the better. Then I also liked the idea of discovering some raw food ideas, as I’ve heard lots of positive things about a raw vegan diet. Oh and the last book I guess isn’t a cook book, but a book about vitamins and minerals which I thought would be a very interesting and hopefully informative read. Being vegan now has opened my eyes more to making sure I’m receiving all the nutrients my body needs; and this is not due to the ever present stigma that vegans struggle to get all the nutrients their body needs (a rant for another time), but rather because the whole vegan lifestyle for me is about starting to take better care of my body. So I’m looking forward to educating myself some more!

Now I’d love to know if any of you already own these cookbooks and if so what are your favourite recipes?!

CHRISTMAS WISHLIST!

Published on December 1, 2017December 1, 2017 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Hey there beautiful souls,

Now that autumn is slowly transcending into winter and Halloween and bonfire night are well and truly over I can slowly start to get excited for Christmas! I love Christmas, I mean who doesn’t bar the Grinch!?! The last few years I haven’t really had a Christmas wishlist but this year there are actually a few things I really want and I can’t wait to share them with you and look forward to reading your wishlist posts too!

Dinosaur £25 Wilkos – I know I am 24 years old, supposed to be adulting, but I’m sorry this Dino is just way to cute!!! And my childhood dream of having a large cuddly toy has yet to be fullfilled!

Epilator £44.99 Amazon – Anyone else hate shaving? It’s so tedious so I love using my electric shaver to just quickly go over my legs. Admittedly it’s not as clean a shave as using a razor, but does the job if you’re in a hurry. So as my old Philips epilator/shaver decided to give up I would really like a new one for Christmas and this Braun epilator seems a great deal. I’ve shopped around and amaxon definitely has the cheapest deal.

Milk and Honey £6.99 Amazon – This book has been on my wishlist for ages. I keep seeing her words float around instagram and have thus wanted to read her work for a while now.

Turtles all the way Down £7 Amazon – I really enjoyed all of John Green’s other books so I’d love to read his new one. Although I do already have a huge to.read list! Let’s be honest you can never have too many books!

Catan Extension pack £22.73 – this is one of my favourite games, but when my flatmates and I get together there’s often more than four of us so I would love this extension pack so that more of us can play together, because it’s not really a game you can play in teams.

Vikings Seasons 1-4 £34.99 Amazon – I absolutely love this series nand really want to rewatch it. However now that I do not have Amazon prime anymore I thought the best option was to add this series to my collection.

Bamboo Bathtub Caddy £17.99 Amazon – I love a good bath, who doesn’t!!! I go all out and make it a real pamper experience. I get out the wine, the candles a healthy snack and watch an episode of something. However there’s never enough space for everything, so I’ve had my eye on a bath caddy for ages! Hopefully this will be under the Christmas tree!

So here are just a few of the things that are on my wishlist this year. What about you? What’s on your wish lists this year??

Love Carina xo

CHRISTMAS HOMEWARE HAUL

Published on November 29, 2017November 29, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey beautiful souls,

I have been so excited to share this blog post with you! I am obsessed with homeware and just love decorating the house, so of course I get very excited about Christmas and can’t wait to make the house all festive. I do have a rule though that Christmas decorations can’t go up until December, however as I am now currently in northern Ireland, I did make an exception to this rule and started a little early.

The milk bottle ghosts and pumpkins have been taken down and the Christmas candles and decorations are slowly being put up. Here are some of the Christmasy bit’s and bobs my housemate Jessica and I picked up on our trip to Newcastle the other week:

Star tealight holder £5 Wilkos – Red Display plate £1 Wilkos – Bath bomb £1 Wilkos – Candles £3 Primark – Room spray £3 Primark

Tealight holders £1.50 each Tiger – Cookie tin £3 Tiger – Napkins £1 Tiger

These are only the first few Christmasy decorations we bought and I can’t wait to buy some more bits and bobs, put the tree up and finish decorating the house! Have any of you started decorating yet??

Love Carina xo

RECENT BUYS – HAUL TIME!

Published on September 24, 2017 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Hello guys,

So I’ve been really excited to write this blog post! I have been spending a little too much money recently aha but sometimes I just can’t help it, all things fashion, beauty or homeware just excite me too much and I don’t always have enough willpower to listen to my reason telling me ‘No Carina you don’t need this!’ aha. So here is my haul, anything I can find online I will add a link to. I hope you enjoy!

Unicorn Slippers – £4.99 B&M