Next 'New In' Event at the Soho Hotel!

Last week was a super fun (if a tad busy) blogging week with a couple of events going on that I was lucky enough to attend! First up was the Next 'New In' event in London on Wednesday! I always love a trip to London for the Next events, the team are so so fun, lovely and welcoming and they really know how to spoil us bloggers! I arrived at the gorge Soho Hotel just off Oxford Street and headed up to the top floor to the most beautiful suite which Next had taken over for the day! I was immediately met with smiles, a delicious platter of food & mocktails, and surrounded by rails of pretty clothes and leopard statues, you can't ask for much better start than that!  

After tucking into some delicious lunch and chatting with lots of lovely bloggers, myself and Em ventured into the beauty room to get our nails done. I had never unfortunately met Em before, even though we were up for the same Cosmo Blog award in 2012, so it was so great to finally meet her - she really is as lovely as she is on her blog and Youtube! In the Beauty Room you could get your hair done in some beauts styles by 'Blow Ltd' and the ladies from 'I Made it Myself' were painting nails and creative nail art inspired by the new Summer Prints for the new collection. Pretty nifty, huh? I opted for a baby pastel pink and some 'statement' nail art in purple and white. The lady who did my nails was so talented and did it all free hand like it was nothing, I can't even paint my left hand well, let alone create flowers! Em had a bit more of a tropical style created for her with a nude base and bright floral detail.

After taking a few fun bathroom selfies of Becca, Em, Steph and Olivia on Instagram (I don't think that Bathtub could've been any bigger!) I checked out all the clothes and got in the summer mood! My favourite pieces were all from the Pastel rails which had an array of cute pinks, mints, pale blues and cream pieces that were right up my street. I fell just a little bit in love with the pinky pleated dress! The accessories and shoes were also pretty lustworthy too with some amazing box clutches, sunnies, espadrilles & sandals to team your pastel look with. Thank goodness it's not too long to wait to get your hands on these beauties as they're due to launch in May! 

I'd planned on trying to get a sneaky visit to Oxford Street for a bit of shopping before I had to head back to Cheltenham, but I had such a fab, relaxing time I ended up whittling away the whole day there spending a couple more hours browsing, chatting and enjoying tasty afternoon tea. (Queue my bank account sighing with relief) so a big thank you again to the lovelies at Next!

 

La Tasca - Cheltenham Re-opening Night!

Last week I was invited to the re-opening of La Tasca in my hometown in Cheltenham. It's just down the road from me at work so seemed like a pretty tempting idea when I got the invite through with the offer of cocktails, paella masterclass and a bit of Zumba, besides the fact I've always enjoyed their tapas!

Two of my friends came along with me to join in the fun which all kicked off with a welcoming entrance from the lovely staff, a delicious glass of sangria and entrees of Spanish Omelette, Chorizo, Manchego ( a traditional Spanish Cheese) and Dipping bread with authentic oils and vinegars. Yummy yummy. I would definitely recommend! We almost felt like we'd been jetted over to Spain...till the sound of Rain pouring outside kicked in and ruined that day dream!

Next, we had a fab cocktail masterclass with the hostess Nadia, showing us how to make two of my favorite cocktails, Sex on the Beach and Mojito. Oh goody.. but then it was over to us! It's safe to say we tried to pay as much attention as possible, but given that in the past we have tried to grind Trebor Extra Strong Mints as a subsitute for fresh mint, it didn't seem hopeful. (Totally logical solution though right?! ha) It was initially going really well, Ice.. Check, Mint, Lime, Sugar, Check..FOUR shots of rum... erm oh, wait a minute. It didn't really work out when my friend Charlotte managed to accidentally add a quarduple shot of rum for her Mojito. I think it's fair to say cocktail making is never going to be our party trick. Unless you want to get very drunk.

After we drank our concoctions and the delicious ones made by Nadia, we were all up off our seats to have a go at some traditional Spanish dancing such as Zumba, much to the amusement of all the diners enjoying their meals. After a few clumsy twirls and twists on my part and when we'd all just about managed to get the hang of it we had to partner off for couples dancing. Zumba with a partner is pretty sensual and 'up-close' and started off with you and your partner - who you'd just met - giving each other 'bear hugs' to get the right intimacy... Not how I usually spend my Thursday nights, but a right giggle all the same!

To round off the evening we were treated to a yummy dish of the Paella which had been slow cooking on the large steel pan throughout the evening. My friends and I had the Chicken and Chroizo Paella, it was soo delicious and I would recommend it to anyone who goes to La Tasca! They also did a Seafood Paella which lots of the other ladies enjoyed if you like your seafood! We were even given a goodie pack of La Tasca Paella Cooking ingredients which I'm really looking forward to using to try and re-create at home!

Thank you to all the friendly staff at La Tasca for being so welcoming and generous!