Hi guys! If you live in Britain, I hope you’ve been enjoying the lovely weather (if you’ve been as fortunate as us in the South to have so much sunshine) and the Bank holiday weekend. I hope the weather is just as nice where you are!
Beautiful blossom tree on my walk with Alfie
This weekend has been a mixture of being busy and doing nothing. Perfect combination I’m sure you’ll agree!
Friday night Ben and me went over to my parents’ house to enjoy a sneaky Indian take-away. I much prefer the Indian take-away near their house than ours. They know us well which is rather embarrassing but makes it feel homey.
Since moving out (actually, since going to university) whenever I came home I’d always raid my parents’ cupboards for anything nice. I know it’s wrong. I don’t do it without them knowing (most of the time 
). They just tend to buy stuff I’d never buy as it’s either too expensive or I don’t know if I’ll like it or not so won’t want to waste my money. So I steal borrow it from my loving parents. It’s a very similar situation with my mum’s nail varnish/handbag/shoe collection. She doesn’t mind…sort of.
Anyway, this time my mum seemed to have gone crazy with buying loads of different herbal and normal tea bags.
Sooo I did a bit of sampling to take home with me…as you do.
Only problem is when I got home I don’t know what is what. So it’s a bit of a tea adventure. Ben helped me sniff out the Chai ones as apparently he has a talent in identifying cinnamon. He’s a keeper!
I think I enjoyed a Sunshine Grey Saturday morning, but who knows!!
Anyway so Saturday morning I got up and ran my usual long run (9 miles) which was a) tough in the warmer weather and b) tough after a spicy Indian take-away the night before. Pre-run food it is not.
Then I got back and did the housework. Not much different to most Saturdays! I went on a little adventure to Waitrose to have a mosey around. Does anyone else do that? Just go for a little trip to the supermarket just to have a look? It’s a fun activity for me. I can’t believe I’ve just admitted that.
I literally walked up and down every aisle just browsing around. I don’t get to go to Waitrose that often as it’s quite far away and expensive. I managed to spend a fair bit of money on nothing that we needed. You know how it is…you see stuff you don’t necessarily need but want… In the end I came away with several tins of tinned pumpkin, Ambrosia rice pudding and tapioca, a jelly with sweets in it for Ben as a pressie and a new porridge bowl for me. It could have been a lot worse. I was quite refrained. It’s a good job it’s not closer!
Saturday night we went out with our couple friend (you know, friends who are a couple – is there a better way to say that?). We went to a Brazil all-you-can eat (‘rodizio’) restaurant. Oh. My. God. It was good.
You sit down, order drinks, fill your plate high with salad from the salad buffet (though actually more than just salad really – they had meatballs, fries, fried banana things – which Ben adored; he had six of them).
Check out that bad boy of a selection platter. We’ve got refried beans, fried mushrooms, Greek salad, battered mackerel, black eyed peas and tuna salad mix, meatballs, green beans, broccoli and salad. And no, that is not the only plateful I got.
Then you turn over your magic card to the green side and the waiters bring round meat to your table to carve for you to add to your plate.
Sirloin steak, rump steak, venison, pork, gammon, chicken drumsticks, roast turkey, king prawns, ribs, sausages, chicken wrapped in bacon, and chicken hearts. Yes chicken hearts.
I pretty much had everything but the steaks, sausages and drumsticks. I even tried a heart. Small and chewy. We literally all tried one at the same time. It was the culinary equivalent of a shot. Tasted like chicken.
And I even had myself a strawberry capirinha cocktail.
And maybe a few jugs of Sangria were shared…
Honestly, I was STUFFED. Like uncomfortably full stuffed. We all were. It was just really hard to not keep going. They kept coming round with more meat that we hadn’t tried and well…we just kept eating. But it was good fun.
Needless to say I was looking after a hefty food baby when I got home and had to ‘sit and chill’ for a bit before going to bed.
Sunday morning I was surprised that I was actually hungry in the morning. My body is a strange thing. Ben’s mum came over and helped with some gardening. Now gardening is neither my forté nor my favourite thing to do. So I did some cupboard organising while they worked away like troopers and then I helped a bit at the end…I know where my talents lie I am massively impressed at what they achieved and hugely grateful for my mother-in-law’s expertise and help.
This is what it looked like before.
But without the flowers. Basically we just had two main plants and then a barren wasteland of cracked soil because Ben and me are rubbish with anything that requires more than watering. One of those plants is a blueberry plant and honestly I have no idea how it survived. It’s a fighter.
And this is what it looks like now.
So much tidier and easier to deal with now. It looks rather posh, if I do say so myself!
My little blueberry plant is standing strong
And the cupboards are all nice and clean and organised as well
Monday I got up and ran an even warmer 6 miles. Really, really tough. My legs felt like lead.
Not fun. Enough said.
Then I enjoyed a bit of solo shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I love going with my mum or friends or Ben (if I fancy enduring his sighs and not-so-subtle moaning), but sometimes it’s nice to whizz round on a mission by yourself. I stopped for a take-away coffee with hazelnut syrup and then speeded on.
The only tough thing is trying to decide if something looks nice. Which involves a lot of photo taking and sending the pictures to Ben to harass ask him for his opinion.
Lots of dresses were purchased (even though I told myself to buy something other than dresses). And a pair of wedges, yay!
And a few tops. A very good haul!
Now I’m just relaxing. All in all an entirely fabulous Bank holiday weekend.
What have you gotten up to this weekend? Have you had the Monday off?
Have you been to an all-you-can eat restaurant before? They are my nemesis…I just can’t stop myself.
Do you enjoy gardening?
Um, I like certain aspects of gardening… I think I would take the challenge of organizing cupboards most days though.
With the gorgeous weather we’re having however, I will use pretty much any excuse to go outside! 🙂
I hope you got all of those dresses because they are all so cute! I’ve kind of become a dress fanatic (not really because for me that means wearing a dress once a week to church) but I’ve totally changed my mind about them. I love how you only have to find “one” clothing item to wear being a dress, versus two or three when you have to mix and match shirts and pants/skirts 😀
I did indeed get those dresses…I couldn’t not! Dresses are easier aren’t they? They don’t require too much worry about matching stuff with it.
I like the fresh air aspect of gardening, and I love growing fruits and veggies. And just general pottering- I could spend hours at our allotment just weeding and things, although I get a bit embarrassed as some of the (retired) people there have amazing neat and tidy plots and ours is a bit unkempt!
I just wish I was good at gardening! I think I need to bite the bullet and learn really…
Well retired people have more time to keep things neat and tidy.
I swear, everyone on the food blogs is going to Brazilian restaurants (you are the second person to post about it). I went to one while I was on a business trip for work this past week. Being a vegetarian, I obviously did not partake in the meat part, but the whole experience was really cool. They had an awesome salad bar, too!
Great minds, eh! Ahh yeah being a veggie does slightly mar the experience…they did bring round roasted pineapple to carve though! And to be honest I could have just eaten from the salad bar all night long…
Omg I ALWAYS raid my parent’s pantry! They always have fun stuff! haha. What’s bank holiday btw? Love those dresses too.
Bank holidays are just UK holidays that everyone gets off. Love them.
Being busy and doing nothing is a perfect combination, pretty much what I did this weekend too – and I always raid my mum’s cupboards too! She has much nicer things than me and she shops at Waitrose… 🙂
That restaurant sounds lovely but I know what you mean, I’ve been to one and felt like I couldn’t walk on the way out… love the dresses!
Ahh Waitrose, so amazing but so expensive. Thank goodness for mums!
Looks like a great bank holiday weekend. I did a spot of shopping too and bought some wedges very similar to yours- great minds and all that! 🙂
Hehe your wedges are indeed very similar! Can’t beat a good pair of wedges in the summer 🙂
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! I love the dresses – and the Brazillian place sounds amazing! I also ran this weekend (only 3 and 2.3 miles though!) and found it rather tough after two weeks off due to illness – I’m looking forward to getting back into it properly now 🙂 Ahhh Waitrose, how I love that place! Luckily fo rme (and my bank balance), there isn’t one close to where I live!
Ahh I hate running after illness! But good job getting back on it.
the tree is so pretty!! glad you enjoyed a mini holiday….so nice to have an extra day off work
It definitely is. Then there’s only four days at work, perfect!
Hehe, I got a good laugh about your tea-sniffing husband. He’s most definitely a keeper! Maybe I’ll make “tea sniffing” a requirement when I go on dates from here on out. “How well are you able to identify un-labeled tea bags?” 😉
I always raid my mom’s cupboard when I’m home, too! She stocks the most delicious goodies in there—especially cookies and chocolate. Part of the reason her stash is so hefty is because she’s a school teacher, so her students (and their parents) are constantly bringing her little gifts. The other reason is that, like me, she has a major sweet tooth. We’re definitely chipped from the same block. When I arrived a few weeks ago, I found several bags of Lindt truffles, which of course made me very happy. 😀
I go to the supermarket nearly every day just to have a look. Well, I’m really there to study (Whole Foods has free wifi and cafe seating), but I never leave without a lap or two around the store. I think browsing without an agenda is loads of fun. If we ever meet, we’ll have to do save some time to do just that. 🙂
Mmm…Brazilian rodizio restaurants are amazing! I’ve only been twice, and both times I left in a food coma. Those meals are always completely worth it, though; the meat is SO tender!
I actually prefer clothes shopping solo because I feel too much pressure when others are waiting for me while I try on clothes. I think it’s more fun to window shop with friends, though. 🙂
I’m so glad you had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend, Anna! Hugs! <3
Amazing that your mum gets so many treats from work, she must be a great teacher!
Hehe I do enjoy browsing food shops. It drives Ben mad but I could do it for hours.
Love the shoes! That restaurant sounds amazing, it would be my undoing though I think! Looks like you had a fab weekend!
Ahh all of this looks so fun!
I’ve been to a few Brazilian steakhouses before which sound very familiar to this one (HUGE salad bar, the green or red sign, the never-ending meat) and I always wind up completely stuffed. I think you have to go on a day when you’re starving haha.
Your new garden looks lovely!! I wish Fabio and I had an area where we could plant things; I have a little basil and rosemary plant on my windowsill but if we had a real yard I would like to plant stuff. I’m not sure if the plants would actually survive, but maybe I’d get lucky?! haha!
Oh I forgot to add- I love the navy wedges!! I’ve been looking for a pair like that and haven’t found anything I like. Good job!!
Thanks 🙂
I was sooo full, but it was so worth it hehe. I’d love a herb garden! I just need to get better at gardening first I think…