I've moved!

Hey everyone,

So a move to solid ground deserves a new fresh blog! I'm now living here:

Dolloped Goodies

See you there :) xxx

A final farewell song to the island of dreams

Right, so I now have 2 weeks left of island life.  Yes, no more lunch breaks spent on the beach.  No more mad cycling home from the pub in darkness anticipating bigfoot spottings.  No more waving to everyone I pass on my drive down to the shop.  No more dodging pheasants and partridges.  No more afternoon walks around the island.  No more walking into the pub and the barman suggesting "the usual, or is it a vodka night?".  Man, I'm going to miss this lovely little island that floats off the West coast of England.  So many friends and memories have been made.  But it's now time to move back onto solid ground and begin my adventure.

Here's what I'll be missing:

My mode of transport to and from the island

The snobby ducks who turn their nose up at the scraps I bring them - the chickens love them though!

Pure beauty! Mainland England is in the far distance - you can't even see it (It's not those islands on the horizon)

The one time we got snow - gorgeous!

Stunning sunset - will miss this!

Here's what's next, can't wait! :

Food Styling Course with Sarah Cook (Deputy Food Editor of GoodFood Magazine!) - OMG so excited. 7 weeks of Tuesdays spent with this talented lady! And it's taking place in the prestigious Leith's Cooking School.  This WILL be incredible.

Contiki Tour to Europe - 18 days of magical travelling with a group of young people like me.  We'll be enjoying the sights, lots of food and alcohol (I am sure of it!).  An experience I should never forget and something I have been wanting to do for a very long time.  Just grateful I can afford to go and have the opportunity too!

Having a life - can't wait to have full weekends to myself! I miss being able to walk around different places and meet up with friends.  Bring on my future!

**Ching,ching! Here's to what's next! Hope you all have fabulous life plans xxx**

Love Love Love.. spread a lil love today!

Things I'm loving at the moment:

• Hemp Oil  - it is so deliciously nutty and adds an extra element to anything you make! I've glugged it into bread doughs, salad dressings and just today I drizzled hemp oil over sliced chicken breasts mixed with chunks of fresh garlic, pitted kalamata olives and needles of organic rosemary.  The smell whafting through the house was just incredible and everyone was drooling! The oil is made from hemp seeds (doh!) which are naturally rich in omega 3 - good for the skin! This brand is amazing to use as they steer clear of all that mechanical stuff - just pure, simple and good tasting hemp oil! Thumbs up, ya'll -   http://www.goodwebsite.co.uk/Good-Oil-Hemp-Oil.php

• Ginger and Lemongrass Cordial - Even though I sneeze just about every time I am about to take a sip I can't help but guzzle this sweet nectar.  The fragrance of ginger attacks your nosebuds with an invigorating rejuvenation while the more subtle citrusness of the lemongrass soothes.  The cordial is so refreshing, especially on a hot summer's day.  For a twist, top up the cordial with sparkling water instead of still and you have yourself a refreshing homemade pop! Just pure deliciousness - Bottle Green have a range of delicious cordials so try them out!  http://www.bottlegreendrinks.com/products/cordials/bottlegreen-cordials/ginger-and-lemongrass

• Cadbury's Mini Eggs & Creme Eggs - One word, yum! Hello Easter :)  http://www.cadbury.co.uk/home/Pages/home.aspx

• Lady Antebellum - I love a lil bit of country music.  This band is amazing! Just love the vocals :) I demand that you buy their album - it's a piece of musical heaven! 

• Pinterest - What a fabulous website filled of pretty things and its oozing with inspiration! Click, click, pin, pin and you can create a magical fantasy world for yourself.  Create your own boards and browse away.  My head  is now filled with new ideas and I constantly find myself daydreaming about my future coffee shop (Oh, and donations are welcome for the setup fund... )  Check it out -   http://pinterest.com/

Love fest over for now, enjoy! 

A new adventure awaits

So the time has come for me to flap my wings and take a running dive back into mainland life.  Having lived on an absolutely stunning island off the coast of Cornwall for the past 2 years it should be quite a big jump - but it has to be done, albeit very sad! I've learnt an incredible amount working for such a wonderful family.  I am now a licensed lobster and crab murderer, seasoned early riser, Dukan Cook and buggy driver aka pheasant dodger!

I'm trading in my wellies and Ecover-infected hands for high heels and tube passes (well, um kinda not really maybe but we'll see :p).  I'm moving to be closer to family and friends and to have a bit more of a social life.  Ooo and the shops! Sorry, bank account.

I'm pretty relaxed about finding a job for the moment because at the right old age of 25, I feel like I need somewhat of a break as I have worked my arly off for the past 2 years.  Although, there are some great agencies out there in the UK like :

http://www.bookacook.com/

http://www.goodcookco.com/

I have 4 weeks left on the island today - which I am sure will go dramatically quickly even though I am excited for my future there is a part of me that is a touch bit sad to leave such an incredible island filled with amazing, friendly people - a touch of Cornish life! Proper job!

But then again, I'll always come back so I guess Tresco, be seeing you drekly!

U S of Ayyyy, have a good day!

I recently embarked on a journey across the pond to the Land of Opportunities.  Ok let me rephrase - 5 months ago I embarked on a journey across the pond to the Land of Opportunities! I have the Daily Mail sprawled out around me filled with political pieces, rubbish about X Factor and the very annoying Pippa Middleton - updating my blog is soooo much more appealing!

So in Mid-September I boarded my flight along with my sister.  Destination: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, USA.  Where the food is plentiful! We weren't too exhausted and once my sister had been interrogated by the US Border Control we set our sights on island of Manhattan.  We boarded the AirTrain hauling our luggage and our excitement - I used the time to check out the Americans, (or Yanks!) some munching "Cheetos" and others looking drained from longhaul flights, like ourselves.  We eventually made our way onto the airconditioned subway trains which had to be one of the perks of using public transport as we had a couple of stinking hot days.

We checked into our Hostel and headed straight for the shops, well food shop! This was the beginning of our loving relationship with Whole Foods Market.  I literally could've pitched a tent in the shop.  The fruit and vegetables were shiny, big and looked incredibly tasty.  I think my sister could've quite happily pitched her tent in the ready made food section.  Anything you could imagine from salads, curries, desserts, olives and fried foods.  Heaven! Until you reached the check out point....

My sister and I spent 9 fabulous days in New York City doing all the touristy sites, eating lots of food, cruising around The Hamptons like movie stars, eating a hot dog in Central Park and spending a good 10mins saying "OMG there's Jacobbb's car - eishhh!".  Little did we realise was that South Africa would be chilling in one of them larney hotels at the south end of Central Park for a UN summit of Noncommunicable diseases.  Oh yeah and Obaaaama was in town too. We didn't see anyone famous, despite walking around the Upper East Side of Manhattan like seriously under-dressed stalkers.

We spent a morning walking around Union Square Market.  Our eyes popped out at the delicious looking fruit and vegetables, homemade cider, dairy products and general passion for food!

One day, we walked around Greenwich Village on a food tour tasting pizza, cheese and an awful custard flan tart.  It must have been one of the hottest days we had in NYC but we washed it down with a delicious mojito at a bar in the Village, ya'll.

We returned to our hostel only to find out that the State Fire Department had come to inspect the building and subsequently CONDEMNED the frikking place! We panicked.. until we saw that we could stay in our room according to the sign on the door.  Regardless, we were still going to be kicked out.  We sat in the common room biting our nails and violently searching on google for alternate accommmodation for about an hour and a half only to be told by the staff that the "owner" had negotiated with those official peeps to let us stay until Monday - well thank Bejeeezus we were leaving on Saturday before for San Francisco.  We were quite glad to say goodbye to our prison cell, erm I mean hostel room for the delights of our stunning accommodation in San Fran!

We were in room 503, phew!

We left NYC with mixed feelings - sad to say goodbye to the concrete jungle but glad to be staying in a building that was hopefully not condemned! The Starbucks in Columbus Circle had taken all the money they could've from us - having given me about 5 Pumpkin Spice Lattes and plentiful "Have a nice day"'s to last me until my next visit to the land of stars and stripes!

We touch-downed in San Fran and lugged our bags up a relatively steep hill, past some worrying fire engine sirens going off (Oh dear God, is this building condemned too?) and up a couple of flights of stairs into our gorgeous private room fit with a TV and fridge *cue angelic music*.

Man, did we walk up a couple of hills in San Francisco!! Which morons decided to build a city there? It was lovely, but very hilly.  I was quite sick with a cold and nearly pegged at the summit of numerous hills.  We explored the waterfront of Pier 39 where I slurped on a delicious vitamin-packed smoothie.  Apart from eating at a diner, we boarded a bus to Napa Valley where we tasted hideous wine but enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and sunshine.  The Golden Gate Bridge was glorious but we nearly melted in the heat and slathered on plenty of sunscreen.  We definitely enjoyed our accommodation at USA Hostels in Post Street - it felt like The Ritz compared to the crummy NYC cell! 

Lombard Street - The Crookedest Street in the world! 

Beautiful Betties in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

We left San Francisco on time, but arrived in London LATE! A long story... that involved a water salute, circling above Rochester, turbulence, a sister as pale as a ghost praying to the Lord above to save us, refueling in Philadelphia, running across JFK airport (just like the movies) and finally sitting on a later flight to London.  On arrival, we waited an hour for our luggage because of a power failure. But hey, it was all good fun and we had a fabulous time filled with good food and friendly Americans. Have a good day ya'll!