Restaurant - AnnaTheApple

September 17, 2012January 5, 2017

Almost there now…

What a busy weekend! Wow I can be super efficient when I want to be (an impending deadline looming ahead helps quick things I must say…W-Day is approaching sooooon!)

I got up early to rush off to my beauty appointment Saturday morning, then had to rush home and do some housework (yes I am that OCD). And then my sister, my mum and me rushed off to have lunch in Chichester. Chichester is such a lovely place and the weather was fabulous. There were all these little stalls about selling local foodie things which just made my day. I was like a kid in a sweet shop! [Apologies for the photos, it was very sunny and I was using my IPhone!]

So obviously I had to pick myself up a little something…or three…

I’m in love with these chutneys. I could have bought more than this to be honest but I had to restrain myself (well, my sister had to restrain me). Banana chutney sounds crazy, but it’s SO good. I cannot wait to start using these!

We then went to a lovely restaurant called Trents.

That’s my mum and me.

And my sister and my mum. We’re a very small family (with my dad) but we’re very close. I have such fun with my sister and mum, we all just have a lot of banter with each other and are always there for each other if we need them.

For starter we shared a platter of hummus-type dips and a baked camembert…

Divine. We dove into it and hoovered it all up like locusts. Very yummy.

For main I chose a lime and chilli chicken salad.

And I was STUFFED. Let’s be honest, I was quite full after the starter! But it a perfect lunch.

Then we ambled along Chichester high-street just moseying about really. We ended up in Lakeland Plastics which is one of my favourite shops (seriously, they have they answer for every chef’s problem!!) And similar to those mini-spatulas I found last week, I found this mini-frying pan:

I mean how cute is that! It’s to fry a solitary egg.

And we also found some random items that made us laugh. A tin for all of Ben’s essential items!

You know what I mean though…all that random Man Stuff that get scattered about the house(batteries & screwdrivers…things like that). Hehe.

And this card made me giggle:

Now this might sound sappy, but there was a violinist playing outside as we were mooching about and while we walked along I realised he had started playing the music I’m going to walk down the aisle to!!

Canon in D Major (by Pachelbel). It was so lovely.

Hope you all had lovely weekends!

August 23, 2012August 23, 2012

Hen Party Extravaganza–Part 1

I’ve decided to split my hen party shenanigans into two parts as both days deserve their own post.

Initially I was very apprehensive about the hen do [bachelorette party], as you can imagine. The stories you hear about what goes on and the dares that the bride-to-be are force to do…the horrible photos that get taken…And the fact that my big sister was organising it for me. So a lot of nerves! My sister is crazy. No-inhibitions-loud-daring crazy. Nothing like me, basically. I’m fairly quiet, can be quite shy, I don’t drink much, I don’t get drunk often (like twice a year) and I don’t go clubbing anymore…what can I say, I feel too old now! I like my sleep and I like waking up with a clear head.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. It was such a good weekend. It started with my friends from university coming down to stay with me until the Sunday. It was so lovely to see them as I don’t see them that often due to geographical issues and everyone’s conflicting schedules. We then spent the Saturday afternoon PAINTBALLING. It was a Hen Vs Stag affair where Ben’s friends were teamed up against all my girlfriends. There were around 20 of us in total and it was brilliant. Painful, very painful. But brilliant. And obviously they thought it would be hilarious if Ben and I were dressed in bunny suits. So everyone one else was in nice camouflaged, thick army-style gear. I, however, looked like Bugs Bunny preparing for a war:

(This photo was at the end when I was free from my bunny suit, but not my bunny ears)

I like to think that in a war I’d be a survivor. I’d be one of those hero-types. However, I was slightly disappointed to find that I was one of those hiding-types. A good ditch or a big tree was my friend. I’d be rubbish in war. I wasn’t a complete coward though – I did get my fair share of shooting on. I just wouldn’t get any medals…

Then we got home and showered (major issues with mud & sweat!). Next it was party time! Check out the lovely gear my darling friends inflicted upon me [I quite liked the veil if I’m honest…though I did conveniently lose the feather boa through the night…] And, as it is a well-known fact that I have a bit of a crazy love for Jamie Oliver [it’s the amazing food, his funny personality…he’s just so lovely] they managed to find the next best thing:

Oh and check out my beasty bruise from paintballing! [I had four of these!!]

After getting ready, we went and had a Mexican dinner:

I had a grilled coriander and lime marinated chicken with green rice & garlic wilted spinach. Very zesty and yummy and not too heavy – I didn’t want to impair my dancing ability! And obviously being at a Mexican restaurant meant an obligatory Mexican drink:

Margarita! And this is how much I enjoyed it:

Not a big tequila fan I have to admit. Also, the sneaky barman had put a double in it as he found out it was my hen party! I love my friends as well – they told me that around the brim of the glass was sugar and I, like a mug and being very unworldly, believed them. Very salty.

And then it was time for dancing! It was a fairly tame evening – both mothers came out with us (by the way, HILARIOUS – get your mother into a club and no end of amusement is had). My friends had thought up some ‘great’ dares for me to do as well…like randomly asking a guy to give me a piggy back (tick), trying to get a free dink at the bar (tick), dancing on the table (tick)… And lots of alcohol…Apple Sourz obviously!

The music was a good bit of cheese (hello Backstreet Boys, hello Greece Mega Mix), random people kept congratulating me, and all my friends enjoyed themselves. It was just lovely. I felt very lucky

Well, we got back around 2ish – which isn’t that late I suppose (though late for me!) It was such a good evening. And I still had the next day’s adventures ahead! So, tune in soon for part 2 of my hen party shenanigans!

Has anyone else had a hen party/bachelorette party? What did you get up to? Was it crazy?

Anyone else have a secret crush on Jamie Oliver..?

July 14, 2012July 24, 2012

Fuelled by go-go juice

I do love Saturdays where you have nothing planned. It’s nice to take a day just to ‘reset’ yourself, you know? Do all those bits and bobs you couldn’t do in the week because you were too busy earning a living. Not to mention a cheeky little lie-in!

The meal out last night was good. Though I was a tad disappointed with the starter I’d chosen. Goat’s cheese crostini:

Apologies for the blurry picture: I was trying to take a photo quickly before I looked odd in front of Ben’s mum. Also, it’s one third of the way through as I’d forgotten to photograph it. I was hoping for a larger goat’s cheese to bread ratio. And they were a bit heavy-handed on the chutney. That’s not to say I didn’t clean the plate!

I went for something I wouldn’t usually go for for the main course:

Duck with butternut squash and pomegranate and mango salsa. I never go for duck but I just loved the sound of the salsa. It was very good, but I do prefer chicken or turkey. There is a sneaky chip that found it’s way from Ben’s plate on to my plate as well…no idea how it got there…

Anywho, this morning I was planning to go for a 6 mile run. But I extended it to 9.4miles as I really got in the swing of it.

Really chuffed with how it went. However, literally as my Garmin beeped to tell me I’d hit the 6mile point the heavens opened up on me and I got absolutely drenched. Not just mildly damp. Full-on soaked through to my undies (sorry, too much information?). It got to the point where I just didn’t bother jumping the puddles. I squelched all the way home. Was I being punished for doing more than 6miles?? Well, there’s nothing like a bit of downpour to get you moving. It really spurred me on to get home.

This is me post-run. Literally, I am soaked. My leggings are usually grey!! Now my best look I have to say…no judgement please.

I also tried out a new sports drink. Now, I’m more of a purist to be honest. Plain water is just fine. However, I got these water tablets free with a magazine and I thought I’d give them a go.

Though the taste wasn’t amazing (a bit like watered down squash with a weird after-taste) I really think it helped my run. Whether this is all psychological, I’m not sure. But I’m going to give them a go when I go for my 6mile-plus runs. I don’t take water with me for anything less than that but when I go out longer I always need water (made the mistake of forgetting water on a long run once and had to stop at a pub and beg for water…not my finest hour!).

Right, I thought I might leave you with a photo of our little dog Alfie. After peeling off my sodden socks after the run, the cheeky beggar made a grab for it. He looked so cute I had to take a couple of photos.