Just keep smiling 💋

Num nums

Despite Storm Katie and leaving the house with sunglasses, umbrella AND gloves in bag

What’s that little owl?

But in those brief periods of sunshine we can grab our sunnies, shed the layers and emerge from hibernation bleary eyed. If you happen to be doing this in Bournemouth there is a place you have to try to prolong that Summer-is-coming feeling- YOBU!!!

Yobu is a frozen yogurt and bubble tea cafe located next to 7 Bone (a very worthy place to eat) or if you want directions from Cath Kidston, because where else you’ll you be, step out of the shop, turn right and walk out to the street, look diagonally left and there it is!

(I grabbed these images off their website)

Or just put 7 Gervis Place, BH12AL into your phone…

Don’t know what bubble tea is? That’s ok, here is a long explanation

IT’S YUMMY, DRINK IT & GET A LOYALTY CARD!

(it’s cold tea with milk and jelly bits in- you choose the flavours)

Last time I had rose tea with jasmine, mango jelly and peach balls, my favourite so far! And it’s pink 💗 #nofilter

Staying on the topic of Disney and princesses, here are 35 cocktails you just have to try making……any excuse for a princess party! You can find more great ideas on the creators Facebook page “cocktails by Cody”. Cheers to that!

I could easily live in coffee shops, if it weren’t for the calories and price, cake and yummy drinks would constitute the majority of my diet. I’ve been gluten free for a decade and so am always on the look out for GF friendly cafes…and please STOP displaying the calories in everything; ignorance was bliss 😔🐷 Little-piggy-me!

In my head I am not an “adult” until I drink plain filter coffee…so it’s only mocha-frappe-smoothie with cream goodies for me!

Latest was a Starbucks Chai iced tea (in an attempt to hide from caffeine) which was so yummy and very photo-worthy. Really creamy with a hint of mulled wine, it’s light and refreshing (and a little healthier, which I made obsolete by having a GF Honeybuns millionaire shortbread!)

I regret nothing.p

If you’re trying to save the monetary pounds and lose the weight pounds then make yourself this brilliant creation of my friends! Blend ice, banana and blueberries…that’s it! Give it that coffee shop feel by putting it in a smoothie jar/glass with a pretty straw (Paperchase and Not-on-the-high-street)

Earlier this year caffeine found me…hello mocha smoothie and GF brownie at Bean Around The World, I did slip into a caffeine coma afterwards….

There is always that point in your life when everyone starts getting married, over the last quarter of a decade there has been at least one every year. But this isn’t a complaint…could I talk about everything wedding related every day?

Am I a girl who demanded her mum make her a veil and train from net curtains, repeatedly lined up all her toys along the “aisle” and wanted “being a princess” to be a full time occupation?

YES!!!!!!!!💗💍👗🌹💎🎀

*** I actually have a friend whose job is being a princess! See a later post, I am so jealous ***

The most recent wedding I attended really would be at home on the pages of a wedding magazine, the level of detail and time spent creating it really was incredible.

Normal table centre pieces consist of flowers, candles or confetti, so if you’ve got beautiful flowers worthy of being a brides bouquet, what else do you need? More flowers of course!

And candles.

And heart confetti, but not just pink heart confetti, personalised heart confetti cut out of maps due to the couples love of travel.

Oh and the little bouquets were in a variety of recycled jars and bottles adorned in ribbon and lace. SO CUTE.

So along with the main room being beautifully decorated, the bride had also created an adorable reception room, complete with a writing desk with typed and written messages of the couples first conversation. You could follow the story of their first encounter: part 1 in the typewriter, part 2 in the notebook, part 3 in the letter and the remaining in the filed envelopes! Not only was this incredibly personal, with both of their dissertations and travel plans laid out, you ended up wanting to take the writing desk home with you!

On ANOTHER table were photographs of both sets of parents and the grandparents who couldn’t be there to share the day with them, along with a candle and a journal for guests to leave wedding messages in.

The table plan was brilliant, I have never seen this done before. It’s quite common to see tables with themed names or places, but they are usually shown on a room plan. This bride (I would like to credit the groom as well, but I fear she is the one with the artistic talent) used a map as the backdrop for the different areas/ tables written on vintage postcards and on its own looked like a work of art compiled over many years.

And finally the food, weddings are difficult because you want to wear a nice dress but have the problem of the almost guaranteed onset of…the food baby.

If you somehow had avoided edible substances all day on account of your recently purchased dress, that fits perfectly…on an empty stomach but after you eat it becomes hard to breath in, (for the academics out there that formula is👗+🍰= 😨🐷^😩) the bride had a solution to that as well.

When hunger reaches a level that you wonder “if I eat a bit of decoration off the wedding cake, will anyone notice?”, there was a TABLE OF PICK AND MIX AND A MINITURE POPCORN MACHINE!

No girl has ever felt so happy tucking into her little box of popcorn before filling a pink striped sweet bag to her hearts content. I have now made a rule to only go to the evening events of weddings for the good of my dresses/ weight (you cannot eat a cute box of popcorn and little pink bag of sweets and feel guiltly, ONLY HAPPINESS) 😍

Burgers, burgers everywhere…the only veg we will be finding is the single gherkin and lettuce leaf between the bun. In an attempt for just one of your five-a-day, fruit smoothies are the only answer. Even the salad comes with chips! 🍟🍔

So to get into the holiday spirit, I’ve begun two days early with a trip to Yobu in Bournemouth that specialises in frozen yogurt and bubble tea…a completely new concept to me!

Yogurt wise you just choose your size, flavour of yogurt (plain or mango) and add two toppings (everything from chocolate flakes to fruit) and enjoy!

Bubble tea has a base of tea (jasmine green, oolong or lychee), with or without milk and then add two extra fillings (I had coconut and peach balls, little jelly things that pop in your mouth). Then ice is added and the whole thing cleverly sealed at the top with a cute bear face, so you have hot tea at the bottom and cold ice at the top with yummy fruit in the middle.

Really delicious and thirst quenching and far more interesting than a coffee shop iced drink. Prefect for summer and highly recommended (even if you don’t like tea!) ☕️☕️☕️🍇🍒🍊