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Tuesday 31 July 2012

Monkey's Red Baron

Hallo lovelies!

I got a bike!! 

I'd been planning to buy a bike for ever and ever but as you all know, I'm a world class procrastinator...  

We've had a few sunny weekends since I got home from Turkey and now that we live a bit further away from town, it was the extra motivation I needed to get off my butt and get shopping!!

I saw another bike the first day I went shopping, but it wasn't quite ready to be sold, the guy said he would call me to come down and take the bike for a test ride once it'd had a full tune up but he was trying to get me to leave a deposit which I didn't really want to do... As I wasn't sure I would get it back if a) I decided I didn't really like it after a test ride or b) the cost of the bike went up if they had to do more work on it than they anticipated... 

The guy took my number but never called me back.. I was a bit disheartened but knew there were plenty more bike shops to investigate around town!

On my way home after training for work last week (yes, I have a job! It's only super part time, but it's super fun and keeps a bit of money coming in and gets me out of the house, which is the main thing!) I decided to detour and pop into another little bike shop... 

They had quite a few pre loved bikes in store but none that would fit me... They had this bike in the service area as they were just finishing tuning her up, after a few adjustments once they'd taken it for a test ride, I got to take it for a toodle and loved it! I was hesitant about buying it and actually asked them to hold it for me overnight so I could sleep on it....

I got halfway home and saw loads of people riding past on their bikes and it was enough to make me turn around and go back to bring her home!

It came with a bell and mudguards... now all I need is to put a rack on the back or a basket on the front so I can carry stuff around! It's really quite difficult cycling with a handbag over your shoulder as I discovered on my ride home!! I've been using an over the shoulder bag (messenger style) to get my stuff around over the weekend, but it would be really handy to have something that I can transport cupcakes/shopping/groceries in without squishing it all! I'm thinking mostly cupcakes!! :) 

We've already been on a few adventures over the weekend.. to the bakery, to the pub, to the markets!! So much faster getting around town on a bike rather than on foot!!

Bring on more sunny days I say!!

xx Caz

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Tasty treats from Taste of London

Hey lovelies

I am super sad because Taste of Edinburgh was rained off last weekend... I was so super excited to go.. I had my little menu all planned out for the restaurant stalls I wanted to eat from.. but alas... it wasn't meant to be... considering the Meadows looked more like a pond than a park!
{Photo taken from facebook page for Edinburgh's Hogmanay}
I am consoling myself by reminiscing about my time at Taste of London a few weekends ago with Ms Sok... Sadly, most of the tasty treats I managed to haul back to Edinburgh with me are just about all goneskies... and as I spent the better part of this evening trying desperately hard NOT to eat the entire jar of Isle of Wight tomato relish I brought home, I thought I'd do a quick write up of the all yummy things I actually managed to bring home with me.

{Photo from the Propercorn website}
The first thing to disappear (into my belly!) was the sweet & salty Propercorn.. mostly because we only discovered them at the end of the day and I only had enough cash left to buy one bag... they reminded of the kettle corn I loved so much when I lived in Canada... they were just the right mix of sweet and savoury and the popcorn was perfectly crunchy and fluffy! I wasn't overly crazy about the sour cream & chives.. personally I think that's a flavour more suited to potato chips.. 


{taken from Vegesentials website}

The folks at Vegesentials launched at the event and were super duper generous with their samples.. There were plenty of people walking around with entire 6 packs of juice, myself and Sok included! I also walked away with an extra 3 bottles of varying flavours as they opened new bottles to let people test out the different varieties. Their juices are 100% natural and taste like it.. in a good way! They taste healthy as opposed to sugary which gets a big thumbs up in my books! I had the Perky Bliss, Groovy Mellow and Groovy Roots juices and they were all delicious! The Perky Bliss was quite 'earthy' tasting which I attributed to the beetroot, I quite liked it after the first few sips, but may be an acquired taste for others. Big thanks to Vegesentials for being so bountiful with their product!! Much appreciated!! Just waiting for them to stock it somewhere local....

{Photo from The Tomato Stall website}
The lovely folk from The Tomato Stall had all sorts of delicious tomatoes from the Isle of Wight along with relishes, ketchups, sauces and juices. If I lived in London, I seriously would have bought lots of tomatoes from these people... they were so delectable! I had trouble deciding between the red and green relishes, ultimately going with the red though Ms Sok bought the green and we gobbled up half the jar that night. I was so busy trying to rearrange all my stuff that I left my jar of relish on the table after I bought it... I literally turned around, as we were leaving, and ran back across half the grounds when I realised it was missing from my bags! They were very gracious and I didn't have to leave the event heartbroken at being relish'less.

{Compiled from images from Flour Power City website}
I also, rather outlandishly, bought a loaf of walnut and sundried apricot bread from the lovely people at Flour Power City Bakery.. only outlandish for the fact that they don't use any preservatives in their breads and I had to transport it all the way to Edinburgh! Ms Sok also bought two pieces of delicious decadent brownie from them.. They had lots and lots of samples of all their different types of breads and they were all fabulous! I have yet to discover an artisan bakery in Edinburgh so I'm super sad that they don't stock anywhere in Scotland at all.

{Compiled from images from Black Garlic website}
Ms Sok also bought a handful of Black Garlic and we had a fabulous chat with one of the guys, who we were pretty sure was also a Kiwi! To be honest I was rather hesitant when we were offered this stuff to try. They just had the peeled cloves in a pile on a board... so I really had no idea what it was I was about to consume... but I gave it a go and was glad I did! The taste is only slightly reminiscent of regular garlic... they are quite sweet with a tangy hint of balsamic. As we stumbled upon them quite close to closing time, they gave Sok LOADS of black garlic and I benefited from their hospitality! There is a recipe for mushroom and black garlic risotto on their website that I'm pretty keen to try.

We sampled lots of other food and drink during our 5 hours at the event and if I could remember them all to give them all a mention, I would.. but there were just too many!! We also saw chef Michael Roux Jnr and ate tasty morsels from restaurants headed by Jaime Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and various other Michelin starred chefs.

It was a marvellous afternoon, even though Regents Park was a bit muddy and we had a few showers, we had an incredible time. If I can find the photos I took of the tasty morsels we ate from the restaurant stalls, I shall do a write up about them too.

Thanks to Ms Sok for being great foodie company and to all the fantastic peeps that exhibited at Taste of London! With Taste of Edinburgh rained off, I'm not looking forward to the Foodie Festival in Edinburgh in August! I think festivals are such a superb way to discover new (and local) places to find tasty treats and who doesn't like to support local!?!
xx Caz

Happy Eating!!

Friday 6 July 2012

June Happenings

I can't believe it's already July!! That is crazy talk!! This year is just flying by!!

At the end of June, I had spent a total of 24 days in Edinburgh for the entire first half of 2012... where I supposedly "live"! Can you say you live somewhere if you've been there for 24 days out of six months!?!

Alas, I am here now and have no more trips planned until September! Although I'm hoping we'll be moving house again before then.. hopefully to somewhere more permanent.. Our current flat is an absolute shambles, there are so many things that need to be fixed that haven't been.. it's super frustrating... it took them 3 weeks to drop off a new vacuum cleaner because the last one was broken! Among a list of other things as long as my arm...

Anywhos! I spent the majority of June on a grand adventure in Turkey.. one of my friends, from high school days, married a Turkish lass and it was like a mini reunion for friends I haven't seen for almost a decade!!

I love adding pins to my travel map! 281 Cities in 41 Countries and Counting!!
And for those who remember my #firstworldproblems post.. I managed to have a day and a half in Istanbul AND make it to Manchester for the Pearl Jam concert!! BAM!! I will definitely need to go back to Turkey and properly explore Istanbul and head out to Cappadoccia.. but I had a fabulous time exploring the South Aegean coast, visiting Ephesus and Gallipoli as well as a cheeky little side trip to the Greek Island of Samos. I'm glad I can finally say I've been to Greece! Tho I don't feel like I've been properly.. but it brings my country count to 41!! Hooray!!

I have started writing posts about all the fun things I got up to in Turkey and I hope to share them with you all soon!!

I had a fabulous time in Manchester catching with my crazy friend TR, we had a fabulous lunch at Jamie Oliver's restaurant.. Of course seeing Pearl Jam was amazing.. they played loads and loads of their old stuff (which was great because I don't know any of their new stuff!), then Sok and I found the cutest little tea house and spent about two and a half hours just drinking tea and eating yummy treats.. She almost missed her train because we were so happy just chilling out there to give you some indication!

We then continued to celebrate our 20th anniversary of friendship with a fabulous weekend in London.. we went on an adventure to find Cake Boy (Eric Lanlard's "luxury but relaxed cake boutique").. had a delectable dinner at La Perla.. and ate & drank to our heart's content for 5 hours at Taste of London!

I also got to catch up with some very good friends from NZ whom I haven't seen since I was back home 3 years ago, so all in all it was a fantastic 3 days in London and 3 weeks away from Edinburgh!!

Once I was back, I managed to interview for and get a part time job (though it doesn't start for a couple of weeks yet) AND the mister and I even managed to check out the Scottish Real Ale Festival.. where we drank loads of different ales (and a cider for me) and met a fun new friend who is just about as nuts as we are!! Seriously, we laughed until our cheeks hurt and I can't wait to hang out with her again!

xx CazNot a bad way to spend a month really! Travel adventures, eating & drinking adventures, catching up with old friends, meeting new friends and CREATING MEMORIES!!

Hope your June was fabulous too!!