Review: Big Easy

A few weeks ago I managed to finally drag myself to the newly opened Covent Garden branch of the American/seafood restaurant Big Easy. Having already visited the Kings Road branch I fell in love and was very excited one had opened a bit nearer to home.

It's not the cheapest of places to eat and is definately a treat option for lunch. But the portions are huge. Absolutely huge! I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day. I opted for the Carolina Pulled Pork and it went down an absolute treat. The BBQ sauce was sticky and tangy and went perfectly with the melt in your mouth pork. The chips were a little bit too well done for my liking but Lily helped me finish them off! The coleslaw had a tasty lemon tang to it and baked beans were moreish.

I'm a sucker for presentation and I loved how everything was served in seperate bowls. The brown greaseproof paper added a great rustic feel to the food. It was fairly busy but not overpowering or too loud. Service was a bit hit and miss. Sarah's main came out quite a while after everyone elses so that was a bit annoying. I think meals should come out all at one rather than in droves.

Next time I visit i'm zoning in on the delicious ribs Aisling chose. The girl did good!

Have you ever been to Big Easy?
 

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NYC Part Two

During the second part of the week we braved a visit over to Bronx Zoo. Despite the reputation you hear we made it out alive! The zoo was a bit of a disappointment and despite the good reviews we'd read it really wasn't that good at all. It was just so large which isn't a bad thing but it seemed to have a serious lack of animals. London Zoo may be ridiculously overpriced but it's 10 times better. Leave the zoo in the guide books if you visit NYC guys!

We also decided to rent bikes and cycle around Central Park. Got to admit I was bullied into this as I was not keen at all but I'm so glad we did it. I really recommend it. You see so much and we did the six miles perimeter in around 2 hours. It hurt like hell but we got to see everything! Of course we refuelled in Hooters after as you do.  We did the majority of our shopping in the last few days. Boy did we shop till we dropped! I was a bit underwhelmed by Macys, I thought Bloomingdales was top notch. A way to comp[are is to say Macys is Debenhams and Bloomingdales would be Selfridges. The service was just so much better in the latter and it was spotless. Just a much nicer shopping experience!

We also visited the Top of the Rock at night. It was absolutely pouring down and unfortunately we couldn't go outside so I didn't get very good pictures. But the view was gorgeous, it was particularly nice to see the Empire State all lit up. Such a beauty! I think I preferred seeing the city at night with all the twinkly lights showing off. I had the most bizarre experience in Time Square that night. We were walking back from dinner in the rain and then all of a sudden it started snowing! SNOWING! We had gotten sunburnt the day before in the park. It was madness! I've got to admit the city's a lot better in the sun!

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NYC - Part one

Looking back at these has made me want to jump on the very next plane back to the Big Apple. I need to go back!

We crammed in so much in just a week and it still wasn't enough. There's so much more I want to see and do. In the first few days we caught a ferry over to Liberty Island where we saw the awe-inspsiring Statue of Liberty before we stopped off at Ellis Island. It was a shame some of it wasn't open (it's still recovering from Hurricane Sandy) but it was still interesting and mind-boggling reading about the sheer number of immigrants that came on those shores. I got to catch my first game of Baseball and I can't say I was overwhelmed. It's very stop and start meaning there are many times throughout the match when no one is playing. It was an experience i'm glad I had but I much prefer seeing a football match!

The view from the Empire State was insane. Up there with one of the best views i've seen hence why i'm grinning like a cheshire cat in the first picture. Like I said I loved Chelsea Village/Meatpacking as it really was picture perfect New York. It was just how I imagined what the city would look like. Rows and rows of brownstones lining the tree filled streets. It was also home to Chelsea Market which i'd love to go back and explore in closer detail. The vintage on sale was just asking for a rummage!

Finally I fulfilled a bucket list wish and rode in a horse and cart around Central Park. We had a charming Irish chap who reeled off random but interesting tibits. It was a tad smelly being sat next to the horse's behind but it was a lovely way to see the park. Pick a sunday like we did as no cars are allowed in the park!

Stay tuned for part two. I took a hell of a lot of pictures!

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Beauty: Simple Skincare

Simple was one of the first brands I tried when I ventured into skincare many moons ago. Over the years I've tried and tested many different brands both budget and high end. When Simple offered to send me the new Kind To Skin selection to try I jumped at the chance and was transported back to my teenage years left wondering why I stopped buying the brand.

001: Kind to Skin Protecting Moisture Cream SPF 30
I fell completely in love with this product and will buy it myself when it runs out! It's one of the best budget moisturers I've tried and for a small bottle it lasts for a fairly long time. It leaves my skin feeling hydrated and doesn't have an overpowering smell. Being the wrong side of 25 is not sitting well with me and when I look for a moisturer it ideally has to have SPF. This ticks all the boxes, the SPF 30 will help with any dreaded premature ageing. They do say the sun causes the most wrinkles!

002: Kind to Skin Perfecting BB Beauty Balm
Admittedly this is the first time I've ever used a BB cream so I don't have much to compare it with. However, this took to my skin like a duck to water and didn't feel too heavy on my skin. I don't wear foundation because it makes me feel claustrophobic. I wouldn't buy this again, not because it was an awful product but because I just don't think BB creams are for me. I prefer to be au natural before putting my daily face on!

003: Kind to Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Boost
I have a feeling this will be a god send in the warmer months! It will be great to keep in my bag so I can freshen up on the go. It dries almost instantly and makes your skin feel lovely and refreshed. Perfect for waking you up in the morning!

004: Kind to Skin Sunkissed Moisture Cream
It's getting to that time of year when the fake tan comes out of hiding and the pins need polishing up. I struggle with fan tanners on my face as it tends to make me look like a oompa-loompa.  It's not very dark and it doesn't make a different straight away. But by the time a week has passed it's reached a lovely natural colour. Just make sure you are continuous in your application as it will get patchy if you don't do it daily. Never a good look!

005: Kind to Skin Illumiating Radiance Cream
Again the SPF in this is a winner. I preferred wearing this at night as it had a shimmer in it and I thought it was a bit too much for the day. A little goes a long way and it was very easy to use too much and end up looking like a glitterball! Subtly is key when it comes to this product. It was a really nice cream to wear at night to help jazz up your make up.

006: Kind to Skin Brightening Eye Make Up Remover Pads
Sometimes I find eye pads a little bit too irritable thanks to being a contact lens wearer. But these glide on effortlessly and you don't have to rub hard to remove stubborn mascara leaving your eyes sore and red. It worked out one bad per eye. I do still perfect to use cleansing water to remove my make up but these are a great option if you're on a hurry!

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Washington DC

As we  were in New York for a week we decided to plan a little day trip out of the city. Washington DC was only 3.20 hours away by train and how often are you ever going to see the White House? It's a not a place you'd ever really go on holiday so we decided to visit.

After catching the train bright and early - it seemed like a good idea to book ourselves on the 7.20am train when we booked it at home! We caught up on our beauty sleep and before we knew it we'd arrived in DC. British trains could learn a lot from our US friends. They were fab!

Deciding against an open top tour bus as everything looked close together - schoolboy error! - we set off on our merry way.

I've got to be honest and say I was disappointed with the White House. With Buckingham Palace you can get quite close but here it felt like you were miles away and it was underwhelming. But I was blown away by the Lincoln Memorial. It was huge and had such a presence. I kept expecting it to get up and move around like it does in Night at The Museum!

It was cool to see the Washington Memorial and the Reflecting Pool as Forest Gump is one of my favourite films. I couldn't get over how tall the memorial was! We kept thinking how near we were when we were trying to find it but it was teasing us because it was so tall!

After a few recommendations we decided to stop for lunch in the historic Georgetown. It was very pretty and reminded me of an English chocolate box village. It's a shame we didn't have longer there. Out of pure chance we managed to stumble upon Thunder Burger and Bar which was voted the best burger in the city. It was fate! I opted for the Buffalo Stomp bison burger with sweet potato fries. I'm going to be bold and say they were quite possibily the best sweet potato fries i've had!

We ended up walking a total of 10 miles! Alas given the amount of food  I consumed during the week it didn't stop my waist from disappearing before my eyes.

Have you ever been to Washington? What did you think?

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The Highline

Outfit:
Neon floral tunic: Topshop
Navy skinny jeans: New Look
White block heeled court shoes: c/o F&F
Silver multi strand necklace: Car Boot find (similar)

I'm back from New York broke, fat and sore. So, so sore! I wish I could do it all over again next week. We did so much but yet so little. I guess that just means we have to plan another trip to fit in all the things we didn't have time to do! The city was everything I thought it'd be and more. We were so blessed with the warm weather, it was actually too hot at times and I did not have the right clothes at all! We even managed to experience some snow at 11.30pm in Times Square despite having gotten sunburnt the day before. Madness! It was not fun trying to hail a taxi when you've got a thin coat on and think you're able to die of frostbite. But i'm still alive!

Be prepared to be bombarded with lots of NYC posts!

These pictures were taken on the Highline in Greenwich Village - my favourite part of Manhattan I got to visit. It reminded me of Soho - such a great place to people watch, It's a brilliant old railway converted into a green space and it offers immense views over the city. You can see for miles! It's right next door to Chelsea Market too which is well worth a visit. You'll find lots of handmade quirky bits and bobs alongside some vintage gems. Make sure you check out the delicious food section too!

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Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'

 

A while ago I was kindly given some Sleep In Rollers to try out. I'm always after some extra volume in my hair, given it's thickness I struggle to help curls stay in and it often drops out within hours. Sometimes thick hair is a curse and not a blessing! These rollers are designed to flatten when you go to sleep helping you get a better nights sleep. Having slept in heated rollers before, it's not very comfortable so I was excited to try these out! You could feel the rollers in your hair as you laid down to the land of nod but you soon forget about them and drift off to sleep. I find they are most comfortable when you sleep on your back. I did find my neck ached slightly when I woke up the next day but beauty isn't without pain as we're told! It didn't put me off using them again.

You get given a good selection of rollers and some kirby grips to keep them in place. They're easy to pop in and feel very secure. I didn't worry about them falling out as I tossed and turned in my sleep. I think spraying the hair before you go to sleep might have helped them set better. Something I'm going to attempt next time!

I was a bit sad my hair didn't come out quite as I expected. But it definately has some volume at the ends, just not the sassy curls I was hoping for. I kept them in my hair for around 10-11 hours throughout sleep and a little while after I woke up. They recommend you keep them in as long as you possibily can.

I think the reason why I don't have bouncing curls is because my hair isn't layered and is too heavy. I find it much easier to curl and blowdry when I have layers cut in. This time I decided I wanted my hair all one length and my curls have suffered! I'm going to try them next time in slightly damp hair to see if I get a different result.

Have you ever tried Sleep in Rollers?

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