beauty · hair · review

Sugar Bear Hair – an introduction 

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A note – hello! I apologise for my absence but finishing 4th year of university, sitting exams and writing my dissertation took over everything. Blogging is a hobby for me so naturally other things take priority! But I’m back! On to the post! 

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I’ve been dying my hair since I was about 12. It began with highlights. My emo/goth phase saw me changing from red to black before I decided, at 16, that I wanted to be blonde and my love affair with bleach began. Aside from very short periods and a bunch of crazy colour experiments, the blonde seems to have stuck. It feels natural. Alas, it’s not been the kindest to my hair, which has always been thick and slightly wild (those friends episodes where Monica’s hair goes huge in Barbados? I sympathise!). I have suffered with snapping and my hair never seems to grow past a certain length but overall, I don’t think it’s in too horrific a condition. 

That being said, when a YouTube binge found me watching a video about hair vitamins which showed fantastic results, my ears pricked up. 


So what are they? 

SugarBearHair vitamins claim to make your hair stronger, longer and shinier and are packed full of good stuff to aid this. They include Vitamins A, C, D and both B12 and B6, amongst others like biotin and folic acid. Flavoured with real berries and Coconut Oil, they’re pretty sweet and completely vegetarian friendly. People online rave about the taste but I don’t have a sweet tooth so I can’t say I’m a huge fan. Don’t get me wrong, they taste good and I’ve found no trace of the weird after taste some reviews mention, but I wouldn’t want to “eat them like sweets” like some people say! 


They’re like tiny wee blue gummy bear sweeties and their adorableness makes them easy to want to take. You have to take 2 a day and I couldn’t see anything saying not to take them together which is great. I find if I have to take one in the morning and one at night, I can often forget. I find the texture a little odd – they are chewable but my brain thinks they’ll be like gummy bears. They’re not dissimilar but they’re weird. 


There are no known side effects of taking these vitamins. A few reviewers said their hair felt grassier for the first few weeks but settled down after that time. This would perhaps be expected if your hair is getting vitamins and minerals that it doesn’t usually. 

But do they actually work? 

Of course there’s the issue that if you have a healthy diet and lifestyle, you shouldn’t need to take a vitamin. All the listed vitamin ingredients (A, D etc) are found naturally in fruits and vegetables but like most people, I’m not perfect. Whilst I do try to eat reasonably well and go to the gym regularly, I’m not the best so if these help fill holes in my daily nutrition then who am I to say no? 


I’ve not long hair my hair cut and coloured, so I’ve included “before” photos of my hair here (how hard is it to take a good photo of the back of your own head?). It’s been around 2 weeks since it was trimmed so that feels like a good starting point. Growth speeds will be different for everyone – someone may be over the moon with 2 inches of growth but that might be considered slow for someone else. Even posting photos to show growth, it’s completely personal if you feel the condition of your hair improving and for me, even if it doesn’t magically turn me into a mermaid, reducing split hairs and benefiting the health of my hair overall isn’t a bad thing. 

SugarBearHair is based in the US but they do ship to the UK. They have different packages, with discounts for the more you buy. Alternatively, if you don’t want to commit and are impatient, they’re available in one month jars (60 bears) on Amazon and are on Prime. I opted for this one as it gives me a chance to try a months supply without dropping nearly $100 for something that may not work for me. 

I’ll be posting an update at the end of the month period to see if there’s any changes and if I think these are worth the money. 

As implied above, this product was purchased with my own money and was NOT sent to me. This review is entirely my own opinion and the company are not involved in anyway! 

Healthy Snack Haul
food

Healthy Snack Haul

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Hello lovelies! I apologise for the slight gap between blog posts recently, but as I’ve said before, I am in my 4th and final year at uni and it’s been taking it’s toll on me! But I’m back with a wee post for you today.

As you can probably tell from this blog, I love my food but unfortunately, this has recently been catching up with me. I had labyrinthitis over the summer and could barely walk, let alone exercise and recent stress has meant it’s often easier to order a pizza than cook. So I’ve decided to get my bum in gear and start exercising and eating a bit better, which lead me to head to Holland and Barrett to grab some new, healthier snacks to try out. They usually have great sales and offers on and right now it’s buy one, get one half price across the whole store, so everything in this haul cost me less than £20!

First up is a selection of alternative crisps, something a wee bit different from your standard salt and vinegar! I openly admit I struggle with eating fruit, so I picked up these Emily Fruit Crisps in crunchy pineapple for £1.85 a bag, which is maybe a little pricy but they look tasty! They also come in other flavours like apple and banana. I also picked up two bags of crisps from The Giving Tree, one sweet in strawberry and one savoury which is broccoli. I LOVE broccoli so I can’t wait to try those. I tried the strawberries yesterday and am in love. They’re so sweet and have a strange, almost fizzy texture which I love. They’re 100% strawberry so have nothing added and for £1 a bag, they’re great.

As I said, I’m trying to get more fruit into me and my go to for this is by making smoothies. I like trying out new things and this usually ends up in me chucking a bunch of things in the bottle and seeing what happens! I know a lot of people add dates to smoothies to give the sweetness a boost so I picked up a packet to try out. These were £2.59 for 200g which I don’t think is too bad.
As for liquids, I usually use fruit juices but these can have loads of sugars and whatnot so for creamier smoothies, I decided to try some alternative milks and settled on these wee cartons of banana and strawberry soya milks as they’re the ideal size to try out and see if I like them and at 75p each, you can’t complain!

Part of what has kickstarted this healthy motivation is Zanna van Dijk – she’s very quickly become a big inspiration after my friend Emma recommended her to me. I started watching her youtube videos, and an hour later her book had been ordered on Amazon Prime and I spent an evening digging into it. One video which interested me was her nut butter cupboard tour and review – I know that sounds kind of bizarre but stick with me. I’ve tried peanut butter before and I want to love it. I love Reese’s cups and everything like that, but when it comes to straight up peanut butter, I’m always like…eh? So I grabbed these sample sachets of almond, peanut and coconut almond to give them a go. I wish they had cashew as well but we’ll see how it goes. At £1.19 a pack, they’re pretty expensive for the size but as a wee sample, I’ll let it slide. I’m super excited to try this crunchy maple peanut butter because it sounds delicious. This was only £2.29 a jar, which is still a bit pricy but for a jar, it’s not too bad.

Excuse the carpet change in this one – I actually went back to Holland and Barrett to pick up some more goodies (and another few bags of strawberry crisps!) so I’ve made this a bit of a bumper haul! Nakd bars are becoming a firm favourite of mine – they’re so easy to have in your bag to snack on. I didn’t think I’d enjoy them at first because they’re full of dates and raisins but you honestly cannot taste them. I haven’t tried these flavours so I’m looking forward to testing them out. As above, I like the idea of peanut butter so I picked up this Meridian peanut and banana bar. The Nakd bars are 99p each and the meridian was 93p, which is not too much more than a chocolate but much better for you! Much like chocolate, they’re not something I’d eat often – like I wouldn’t sit down and eat a bar of chocolate, I wouldn’t sit down and eat one of these, but I am super bad for going off without breakfast and feeling woozy so they’re handy to have in your bag, and your gym bag in particular.

 

Next are some more crisp alternatives – crisps are my downfall so I will happily test out some different options! Emma let me try the Hummus chips last week and they’re pretty yummy, while still being reasonably healthy. The Quinoa chips barely lasted for me taking this photo, they got scoffed! The cheese and chive sweet potato chips look amazing as well – anything with cheese and sweet potato is appealing to me! The first two bags were 85p each which is fantastic and the sweet potato are 99p a bag.

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Last up are two more energy bars – I can’t lie, the fudge flavour is what attracted me to these. I love things with fudge in them! At £1.79 each, they’re a little costly, but I munched the fudge almond one this afternoon and honestly, I would say it was worth the price. I could have had half a bar and been satisfied, as it’s quite a dense bar but so delicious.

It’s important to remember everything in this haul was buy one, get one half price so I saved a fair few pennies on these goodies. I can’t wait to test out the rest of the items and hopefully find some other new snacks I can have around instead of junk food! Let me know if you have any recommendations of healthy snacks or if you try any of these!

healthy · personal

Sometimes everything isn’t fine

thatedinburghlassLeave a comment

anxiety2Regular readers of this blog might be aware that I’m currently in my 4th year of university.  For years after leaving school, I studied art and although I really enjoyed it, it ultimately wasn’t something I wanted to make a career from. I moved to Aberdeen to attend Gray’s School of Art but ultimately ended up dropping out. The reason? My mental health.

I first started having issues when I was 20 and visited the doctor, which resulted in me beginning to take antidepressants. I’ve visited therapists over the years, but my issues aren’t linked to anything, so I never found this particularly helpful. Some people are just a wee bit chemically imbalanced. I did receive some useful advice, from a university counsellor I visited in my first year at Napier. I was concerned about the fact I took antidepressants daily and how long I would have to “rely” on medication to cope. She said “if you had a problem with your stomach, some sort of disease, and had to take medication to manage it, would you feel that you “relied” on the medication, or would you just accept it?” and she was right. Just because my “illness” is in my head and isn’t physical, doesn’t mean I should feel wrong about taking medication to help me. In any case, a few years ago, in 2015, I decided to stop taking my tablets and stopped when I went on holiday with my parents.

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Since then, for the most part, I’ve felt fine. Everyone has their down says, where you don’t want to speak to other humans and curl up in bed with Netflix. Third year was a bit difficult for me; having to find a placement and then not really being too into the one I got (even if I did end up enjoying it) and ending up ill, but I was OK. And right now, for the most part, I am OK. Work is good, life is good and I have some great friends and an amazing boyfriend. I’m happy…really happy. Except my wee brain doesn’t seem to agree.

I’m pretty sure everyone can agree that 4th year is a stressful time but I seem to be struggling more than I expected. I’m comfortable with my dissertation topic and I’m confident in my abilities to do the work. But ever since trimester 2 started, I’ve been stressing out. Realistically, I know I have plenty of time to get this work done and the capacity to do it but my brain won’t let me believe this. A few weeks ago, I was due to get up for work and had some sort of anxiety attack – my pulse was racing and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath and I currently cry at the drop of a hat. I felt like this all day and couldn’t shake it. It’s not a fun feeling and it’s been happening more and more. I’ve been noticing old habits, like not wanting to go out with friends wanting to stay in bed all day and avoid responsibilities. But the good thing is, I recognise them now and I feel comfortable enough in myself that I know what to do.

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I’ve always been very open about my mental health issues and I guess that’s part of the reason I wanted to right this post. Never be to afraid to ask for help. It’s taken me a few weeks of feeling like this to accept that I need help and there is nothing to be ashamed of in that. I’ve joined the gym, in the hopes that going and working out a little bit will help me feel better and as much as I hate exercise, they do say it releases endorphins! I’ve been taking baths, lighting some candles and taking time to relax, as well as trying to look after myself, eat well and avoid alcohol. I’m working on allocating time to work on my dissertation and trying so so hard not to panic.

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I guess the point of this post is to say that it’s OK to struggle with things sometimes. It happens to everyone. It’s not just university that can cause stress like this, it can be anything and it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, it’s still just as relevant. Work out what works to help you calm down and embrace it but most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Be strong, my lovelies!

All images used in this post came from Google – I apologise if you own them but please let me know and I’ll happily remove them!

 

Review: Steak, Cattle and Roll, Glasgow.
food · Glasgow · review

Review: Steak, Cattle and Roll, Glasgow.

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Earlier this month, S and I celebrated it being one year since we met by having a wee date day out in Glasgow. We saw Moana – which is the most fantastic Disney film I’ve seen in a long time and the soundtrack is outstanding – as well as visiting the Stand for a bit of comedy, and partaking in some White Russians. But somewhere in the middle, we had to eat and I had a craving for burgers, so we headed to Steak, Cattle and Roll for some dinner.

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Steak, Cattle and Roll can be found on Sauchiehall Street, which is teaming with a variety of bars and restaurants, so it can be difficult to stand out, but this American themed restaurant definitely does. Specialising in good quality meat and shakes, they promise their focus is on memorable food, with high quality, locally sourced ingredients.

The restaurant has a very chilled out atmosphere, with lots of exposed brickwork and light colours and doesn’t go down the typical line of 50s American diner feel that you’d maybe expect from this sort of place. We were swiftly greeted by a waitress and seated in a booth, so although it’s casual, there’s full table service.

We toyed with the idea of having shakes – there’s a range of non-alcoholic or alcoholic options and you can customise your choice by adding coffee or peanut butter. They have basic options, like vanilla or chocolate, as well as more decadent options such as oreo and even Irn Bru! If you’re lactose intolerant or have dietary issues, there are dairy free options available as well. We both debated going for a milkshake, but Simon opted for a beer from the small but concise range, so I went for a cider which is pretty standard.

On to the burgers – this was another difficult decision. This isn’t one of those huge menus where there is so much choice that you can’t choose what to eat. It was just the fact that there was so many options that sounded totally delicious I didn’t know which one to go for. There are you standard chicken and beef options but instead of simply vegetarian options, the 3 choices are entirely vegan – a small selection to be fair, but it’s a nice touch that they’re vegan. Outside of the burgers and steaks that the name suggests, there’s sandwiches, salads, hot dogs (including a 2 foot option!), a selection of pulled meats which includes duck, and even ribs.

I was torn between the Nacho Burger – I’m sure you’re aware about my love for nachos – or the Bacon Ketchup burger as I’m also a huge fan of parma ham and chipotle mayo. However, I ended up going for the third option which ties in with another of my favourite foods – The Mac & Cheese burger! Simon ordered the same and I was still stuck on the idea of “bacon ketchup” and what this entails, so talked him into ordering a bowl of bacon ketchup topped fries to share. This place used to do onion straws which were unreal – so crunchy and delicious while not being too greasy – and despite Simon hating onion, I would have loved a portion. The above image comes from the menu, and shows everything that comes as standard with any burger. Being fussy, we both wanted certain things removed. The waitress directed us to this diagram so we could completely customise our meal which is great.

So did the food live up to my expectations? Definitely. The burger was huge with a generous portion of yummy macaroni on top. The patty itself was perfect – well cooked and moist. I’m a fan of thinner burgers  and this was in-between being thin and thick and just right. Although the burger was massive, it wasn’t dense or heavy and despite filling me up, I didn’t have that weighed down feeling you get after a big meal. The chips were unreal – it’s a sharing portion but was more than generous and the bacon-ketchup was weirdly delicious and tasted like ketchup flavoured crisps which was interesting. They were hot and crispy and the perfect accompaniment to the burger.

The wait-staff were great and attentive but not too in your face and were completely understanding of the fact we asked for more time about 3 times and took forever to decide! Overall, I would definitely both recommend and return to Steak, Cattle and Roll. I mean, I have at least two more burgers to try out!  I don’t often opt for a burger when I’m out for dinner but when I want one, this is definitely an ideal place to fulfil that craving.

I was not in anyway compensated for this review and all opinions are my own. I just really enjoy food!

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Review – Game of Thrones Bar, Edinburgh. 
bars and pubs · edinburgh · review

Review – Game of Thrones Bar, Edinburgh. 

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If you pay attention to Buzzfeed, you may have seen a post regarding a Game of Thrones bar that’s currently on in Edinburgh. This week, I visited with a few friends and thought I’d share my views. I will preface this by saying I’m not the biggest GOT fan, I’m on season 4 and that’s been for the last few years so I get it, but I’m not a super fan.


Hosted in the basement of the Daylight Robbery bar on Dublin Street, the bar is the brainchild of events brand Pop Up Geeks and is running every Wednesday and Thursday through until the end of February. 


We booked a table and the little touches were evident from the off, as you can see on this reservation sign (excuse my blocking out of my friend’s surname!). My first reaction was that the bar was quite small – we were very squished in our table next to others and sat on the most uncomfortable stools imaginable. The music was Medieval and very Celtic sounding, the lighting was low and if you suspended your belief, I guess you could think you were in a rough, old-world bar where a black fur cloak wouldn’t be out of place. 


We were offered a menu by a waitress who looked the part in a blousy peasant shirt and long skirt. Most of the staff had this look which worked but the girl in the heavy jewellery and bomber jacket kind of ruined the feel a little! 


First up, we have a selection of wines covering red and white, as well as mulled creations. You can get a flight of 6 wines for £10 which is fantastic value. Actually all the prices were really reasonable. We had the Old Bear’s hot spiced wine which was really good. It was citrusy and full of nutmeg – perfect on a cold winters night. 


They also have a selection of ales, mead, spirits and “infusions”. My only issue with the cocktails is that you have no idea what’s in them! I know it’s not in keeping with the theme but I like knowing what’s in something before I order it. 


The bar gantry was decorated as well, with furs and props. I think the bar itself lends quite well to the ye olde style theme with its bare walls and stone work. There were TVs showing the series and they do accept debit card in Westoros! They were obviously busy working out arrangements with bookings or such because it took us a while to get served. The barman actually offered to bring our drinks to the table which was a nice touch. 


They do offer some good and snacks – well, three items. You could have some Serrano ham which is a favourite of mine and it does look cool but I like it with something, not just alone. There was also fray pie (sausage roll) and lemon cake. The little cards explained why these were chosen which I appreciated as a non-fan! 

The sausage roll was delicious, with flaky pastry, juicy meat and a touch of sweetness. The lemon cakes were sweet but at the same time very lemony and sharp. We may have had a few…


Overall I don’t know how enamoured I am with this bar. Maybe if you’re a massive fan of the series then you’d appreciate the decor and atmosphere. Some of the items felt very home made but it is a pop up so it can be forgiven. This brought down my opinion, but the “super fans” at buzzfeed loved the decor so maybe I’m just clueless. The drinks were reasonable and tasty, as were the snacks but for me, it was these little touches that brought it down. 

Rumour has it the Pop Up Geeks are planning Harry Potter and Walking Dead bars later this year which are right up my street so I’m far more excited for those. 

If you’ve been to the bar, do let me know what you thought! 

Lucky Dip Club Box – It’s been a pleasure! 
mail · subscription · unboxing

Lucky Dip Club Box – It’s been a pleasure! 

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Every month for the past few years, the Lucky Dip Club box has arrived thru my letter box and made me smile. I do believe that I was one of the very first people to subscribe to the box when it launched. I’ve been a supporter of Leona since the days of Lady Luck Rules OK, when I spent any money I had on kitsch jewellery, glittery heart name necklaces and lucky bags. I own a fantastic black cat teapot thanks to Thriftola. Leona has an amazing ability to know when it’s time for a change and to try something new and with a new family to think about, that time is now for Lucky Dip Club! 


The last monthly box arrived today and it’s very bittersweet. The box is hopefully going to continue as a quarterly subscription but no one could blame Leona if that doesn’t work out. 


The theme is new year and good news which is very appropriate. As usual, we open onto the magazine which is full of interesting articles as usual, including one from Leona herself. 


Onto the goodies – first up we received an illustrated card print from this boxes partner Emily Coxhead. 

I’ve already set up my January bullet journal but I think I’m going to insert this into the journal somewhere. Here’s a look at my Pink A5 leuchtturm1917 squared journal – regular subscribers will recognise some of the stickers! 


The rest of the goodies are very bullet journal friendly as well. We have a folder with monthly cards in, where you can keep a line-a-day diary for the year. I already keep daily gratitude pages for the month in my journal but I’m going to use these in addition to that and perhaps not always as a “gratitude” note. 


We also have a sticker sheet which will be so useful. It’s already in the back of my journal! It’s not all New Year themed which is great. I like stickers to add a wee splash of colour or interest to a page. I’m quite a basic journaller, as I’ll show below so this is useful for me. 


Here’s a quick peek at a page from my journal. I’ve blurred it out but you get the idea. I note my meetings and work Rita’s and whatnot but I also go back and make notes about what happened, especially after events or days out. I’ve also stuck in tickets and business cards or items from places I’ve been. 


Finally we have the pin and a key ring. I’ve made myself a pin board and decorated it with notes and all of the pins and patches from my LDC boxes. I need to decide how to wear them in the future. 

The key ring is a sold metal blue and gold disc with “smile” on the front. It’s super cute tho I was just saying yesterday thag my keys have too much on them so I’ll maybe need to come up with an alternative use for this one! 

So that’s it. That’s all for the final monthly lucky dip club box. I’m definitely going to miss it. Like any other subscription, I didn’t love this every month but the months I was apathetic about were very few – I can only think of 2-3 out of many that I wasn’t thrilled with so that’s an incredibly positive review! In my opinion it’s always been worth the money, it’s been really unique and supports indie designers, encouraging positivity, girl power and crafting as it’s gone. I wish Leona and family all the luck in the future and am excited to see any new endeavours that may appear! 

Review – NYC, Glasgow. 
food · Glasgow · review

Review – NYC, Glasgow. 

thatedinburghlassLeave a comment

Happy New Year, blog readers! I spent it the way I usually do, working behind the bar but it was a lot of fun. I managed to spend time with the boyfriend for a few days between Christmas and New Year and for our last wee day out of the year, we decided to go to the pantomime in Glasgow. We went to see Elfie’s Magical Adventure at the Pavilion and visited NYC for dinner beforehand, which leads us into the point of this post…


NYC is located on Hope Street, minutes from Sauchiehall Street so it’s a perfect stop if you’re out and about. What originally attracted us (this wasn’t our first visit, but is the first in the instance of this blog!) is their excellent 2 for 1 offer – Sunday to Thursday and until 4pm on Fridays, you can take advantage of 2 for the price of one on all their hot dogs and burgers. Add in cocktails for £3.50 and they’re a total winner. 


We got seated in a window booth, given menus and a specials board and had our drinks order taken. The staff were attentive without being too in your face which I appreciate (I once walked out of a shop the 4th time I was asked if I was OK. I’d been in there less than 5minutes). The guy who served us seemed enthusiastic and happy to be there. 

So the food…I will be honest, I’ve yet to try a burger because I have to be in the mood to at one and hot dogs feel like a bit of a treat so I lean towards those when visiting NYC. And I’ve never been disappointed. I opted for a “hound dog” which has chipotle paste, ranch and a sausage wrapped in bacon, coated with melted cheese. There’s meant to be peppers but I swapped those for onions. They have a selection of sides or starters and you can add a dip from a wide selection for just 50p.


And look how yummy that looks! The hot dog is generously sized in itself but it comes with an equally generous portion of fries as well. Simon just had a regular dog with ketchup and mustard but we also ordered chicken strips and mozzarella sticks because it was that week between Christmas and New Year when calories don’t count…


I have nothing I can fault from our visit to NYC – the food was reasonably priced, even outwith the 2 for 1 deal, and the portions were generous for what we paid. The staff were all really warm and welcoming and we managed to eat quickly without feeling rushed. In short, I would definitely recommend trying out NYC and if you’re in town before the 15th of January, go see Elfie’s Magical Adventure as well! 
You can find out more about NYC at their website and as usual, we visited here off our own back and did not receive anything in return for this review. 

Review – The Raven, Glasgow
food · Glasgow · review

Review – The Raven, Glasgow

thatedinburghlassLeave a comment

Simon and I first visited the Raven a few months ago and really enjoyed it, so much so that I intended to blog but ate all my food before I remembered I’m supposed to take photos of it. Best food blogger ever, huh? So it was finally time to return and I managed to grab some photos. I am going to compare both visits because there were some inconsistencies and a slight menu change. 

The Raven can be found on Renfield Street and hosts a bar, with a smokehouse style restaurant through the back. We headed through and it was super quiet (but it was 8pm on the Sunday before Christmas) so it was easy to grab a table. When we visited at lunch time it was much busier. 


The first thing I love about this place is this – the table set up. You have salt and pepper, vinegar, hot sauce, BBQ, Cajun and smoky ketchup, as well as kitchen roll, wet wipes and toothpicks – everything you need to get stuck in! I can’t explain why, but I just adore touches like this in restaurants. And I can confirm, I tried them all and they were all lovely. 


We were asked if we’d like a drink and the first time, the waitress talked us through the options (beer for him, ciders for me) and was so helpful and said we made good choices. Last night, nothing. We were left to check out the menu while she stood and waited. But after discovering Strawberry & Pomegranate cider here last time, thankfully it was an easy choice. 


Much like our starter because last time we had the nachos here, they were amazing! Like, I spoke about them for days after, compared them to other nachos I had amazing. So we ordered them again. The waitress did ask if we were sharing them but I think we only received an individual portion which kind of sucked but may have been my fault. 


Just look at them! They have huge crunchy, yet slightly soft (I know that makes no sense…) chips which are unlike any nachos I’ve had. They come with a creamy cheese sauce, slightly spicy salsa (nothing overbearing, just a wee bite), sour cream and jalapeños. Simon doesn’t like guacamole so we foregoed that. These were just regular but they have haggis, veggie and chilli options. We had chicken last time which fell apart as we ate it so we were sad to see that option had gone. 


Previously we took full advantage of the smokehouse options and I had the most amazing chicken on the bone which I do recommend. The meat is cooked slowly for up to 12 hours and it was so worth it. 

This time we both opted for mac and cheese, a favourite for us both. I added honey glazed pulled gammon, he had BBQ pulled pork. The gammon was incredible; so soft and a great balance of sweet honey and salty gammon and there was a generous helping of meat. My only tiny issue was that it did overpower any taste of cheese a little. By itself, the macaroni would have been average but the gammon elevated it for me. The garlic bread was good, quite herby but soft and fresh. We shared a wee pot of fries which were…just chips to be honest. 


Overall, the food remained great on both visits but if (when!) we return, I’ll probably stick to the meaty smokehouse options as that’s obviously what they’re good at. My main issue with this visit was the service we received, or rather the service we didn’t receive. Our food felt really rushed and it was only us and one other table in who seemed to have already eaten. That’s were the rushing ended however, as we were left to sit after eating, trying in vain to get the waitresses attention to get the bill and sat even longer waiting on the card machine to be brought over. For there being no one else really in the restaurant by this point, it was kind of annoying as it wasn’t like her attention was elsewhere, it was just a bit like she’d given up and was waiting for her shift to be done. 

So in short, great food (especially those damn nachos, which may have started a new wee blog segment for the new year!) but iffy service, but we will be back. 

mail · review · subscription · unboxing
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It’s that time again where I test out a subscription box just to see what the deal is because, why not? 

I first saw Spooky Box Club on YouTube with different people unboxing their monthly boxes and my reaction was yes! This is the box for me! It’s handmade, unique items and was right up my street. The first downside is that when you subscribe, it takes 2 months before you actually receive your first box. I signed up in September, the first payment was taken in October and I just received my box last week in December. I guess with the handmade nature it’s kind of understandable but for me the excitement is receiving your first box that month. 


So the packaging didn’t disappoint – it’s purple and spooky with themed confetti and your standard list of items. The theme this month was voodoo – you may not know I have a voodoo doll tattooed on my wrist and I have read up on the misconceptions about “voodoo” and the dolls and it’s something that interests me. 

This is what we see when we open the box – hidden treasures and of course, a voodoo doll. 


Every box comes with a lollipop but sadly mine was smashed to pieces. I’ll still eat it tho. And we have a patch which is like a potion and an enamel pin which kind of looks like the potion being served up in a skull. Very cute. 


We have two decorations items – first up is a print of a super cute girl with her doll and a big pin to stick him with. And second is a black magic garland. This doesn’t fit my room at the moment but maybe I’ll find a place. 


This wee guy didn’t photograph well but we got 2 mini black skull candles in a cute mesh bag. I’m torn between burning these or keeping them looking cute. 

Finally we get two jewellery items – a handmade voodoo necklace which I love. It’s quite long but the green is super pretty. And lastly is kind of a charm bracelet with a Spooky Box Club bat charm and a crossed bones charm. This is cute but it’s very bare. It would be awesome if this continued on with charms in future boxes (lucky dip club did this very well!) but otherwise I’m not sure I’d wear it because it is kind of plain. 

So overall I do like this box. The wait sucked – the website quotes 4-6 weeks on one page and 8+ on another but I think there was a delay maybe. They were super quick to reply to my email query which was appreciated. The handmade aspect is unreal and makes it really special as you won’t really find things elsewhere. For the price – it’s worth it in my opinion. Everything is really well made and presented so nicely. 

Spooky Box Club retails for £21 plus p&p, so around £25 per month. The wait does suck but I think it’s worth it. I’m definitely more into this than I am a pile of licensed items for things I’m not in to. 

Review – Pizza Punks, Glasgow
food · Glasgow · review · Uncategorized

Review – Pizza Punks, Glasgow

thatedinburghlassLeave a comment

Simon and I enjoy trying new places to eat, even though we’re peoples of quite simple tastes (chances are, if there’s Mac & cheese, it’s getting ordered) but we’re both getting to know Glasgow together so it’s nice. We both do enjoy a wee pizza so when we noticed that this new restaurant had opened, it wasn’t long before we gave it a try. 

Found on St Vincent Street, and inspired by their love of pizza, Pizza Punks are aiming to make artisan Woodfired pizzas a Glasgow speciality. 
Walking in, the restaurant feels really modern; it’s very open, with minimal decoration aside from some neon lettered lights and a very relaxed atmosphere…sometimes too relaxed but we’ll get to that later. 

We were provided with a small drinks menu and the food menu but no explanation was given. I guess there’s not too much to say but a brief overview of the customisation process would have been welcomed. My first issue came with the drinks order; I wanted a non-alcoholic cocktail because it sounded amazing (cherry lemonade!) however I was informed they didn’t have the fixings for it and was offered non-alcoholic beer instead. A small thing, but I was ordering a soft drink so a list of other options would have been great. I was only offered San Pellegrino which was excellent, but I later noticed other tables having your standard coke or Irn Bru, which I wasn’t offered. 

What drew me to the restaurant is the idea that for a set price, pizzas are totally customisable. This means that for £9, you can select whatever toppings you like from their list. This makes me so happy as I love trying different mixes or adding something new and you don’t have to worry about additional costs. 

I ordered *deep breath* standard mozzarella cheese and tomato with ham, red onion, broccoli, chilli flakes and Parmesan. I believe Simon had chicken and pepperoni. I know, I’m weird because I like pizzas with broccoli but trust me, with a strong meat and spice, it’s delicious. 


So how was the pizza?, I hear you ask? Well, actually it was pretty good. It was a decent size, not too large but not so massive it was too filling. My main issue was with the toppings, specifically the broccoli. It felt like it had been thrown on raw and so was that hard I couldn’t even cut it easily. It would have been much better if it had been precooked in some way and therefore actually edible. As good as the idea of adding multiple toppings is, you don’t actually get that much of them. It’s not so few that it’s an issue but for me it was noticeable. I did however enjoy the selection of garlic, chilli and balsamic oils that came with it. 

My main overall issue with the restaurant was the service. I work in hospitality so I definitely notice it and maybe I’m picky. Our particular waitress felt a bit like she just wasn’t bothered; she didn’t check us back so the broccoli issue couldn’t be fixed and it took forever for us to get plates cleared and the bill paid when we had finished. On the other hand, for the price, the pizza was damn good and freshly made so I would give it another chance. They are only recently opened but it wasn’t a busy night so it’s hard to tell what the cause was. 


No review but I did make Simon take me to Deeserts on Sauchiehall Street for ice cream afterwards. Look at it. Fudge and snickers with marshmallows, fudge cubes and white chocolate sauce in a waffle basket. Ugh so good but no, I didn’t finish it! 

As usual, this is just my review and the company were in no way involved.