tea - AnnaTheApple

December 19, 2019September 16, 2020

Things I’m loving – December

Christmas is ALMOST here. I cannot wait. We have our work Christmas do tonight, Kyle and I have a day off tomorrow and we’re seeing Star Wars. Things are pretty good!

I thought I’d do a quick run down of some things in December I’ve been enjoying.

I was recently sent two items from the website Born Tough to review. A pair of tracksuit bottoms and a matching jacket.

I went for the rose colour which I think is really subtle and pretty. The fabrics are super soft, stretchy and fit nicely. The material is relatively thick. I went for medium as I was advised that the sizing runs quite small. They fit perfectly. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of matching items but actually I quite liked how this looked when I put them both on.

The jogging bottoms are high waisted with a draw-string waist and have contoured markings on them to sort of enhance your assets.

I like the jacket’s thumb holes too.

All in all I lovely set!

I would wear when mooching around the house as well as going to the gym (the bottoms are very squattable and easy to move about it). They’re super comfy and flattering – and not a bad price at all!

I’ve also been loving my birthday cake flavoured tea from Bird and Blend.

It’s verrry subtle but delicious. It’s basically a rooibos tea with a hint of vanilla-y sweetness. I’ve been using my mum’s David’s Tea mug to brew it which is super handy. It has a tea strainer sieve thing that sits on top to let the tea leaves move around and brew.

I’ve actually nicked the mug from her so she won’t be getting that back now 😉 She doesn’t even use it so it’s fair game in my opinion.

I’ve also recently being wearing my new trainers, the Hoka Arahi’s.

They’re super cushioned and bouncy. They do take a bit of getting used to but so far I’m pleased with them.

I’ll be testing them out soon for a… run. Yep. An actual real-life run will be happening soon. I’ve been working hard at the gym on my single leg strength and rehabbing like a pro (well I hope I have anyway) and things are feeling A LOT better. Whether that translates to a successful pain-free run, WHO KNOWS. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

And on the subject of running… I was sent my Six Star certifcate from Abbott.

I have a digital copy and a very nice thick paper copy. I guess I should frame it or do something exciting with my medals but for the moment I’m just pleased to have it.

Anyway, I hope you lovely lot have a wonderful Christmas! Eat lots of food and enjoy yourself 🙂

What are your Christmas plans?

Have you ever tried Hokas?

What’s your favourite tea blend?

Full Disclaimer: I was sent the jogging bottoms and jacket for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019

Such a lovely weekend in Brighton

Despite my frustrations and venting in my last post and feeling down about my knee, I do have a very happy post now recapping what was a rather lovely trip to Brighton.

Honestly, it was possibly one of my favourite trips – and favourite trips away with Kyle. I mean they’re all good of course, but this one was really special.

We had the Friday off of work and after a quick gym visit (yes, Kyle now goes to the gym as well) we had a Harvester breakfast with Kyle’s mum.

And black pudding (which they forgot at first)

It’s definitely quantity over quality but it did the trick. I even chose vegan sausages in the hope they might be Linda McCartney (no such luck).

Then we headed up to Brighton on the train (to avoid any car clamping issues like last year…). We stayed in the same Airbnb which was right in the heart of the lanes and so made everything super accessible. The only thing that wouldn’t have been that accessible would have been parkrun but as I’m not running it wasn’t an issue (sadly – we all know the distance of a parkrun would never put me off going).

After settling in we went for a walk around the lanes and the eclectic mix of independent shops. It was a shame to see that the Choccywoccydoodah shop had closed down!

Luckily the rain held off and as the darkness came in and the Christmas lights came on, it looked very magical. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed myself. There’s something so lovely about Brighton. I love how unique it is, how it’s near the sea, how colourful everything is and how many food and coffee places there are.

I bought some home-made fudge for Kyle’s dad for Christmas, a tree decoration for Kyle and I for whenever we manage to move out (a saga in itself trying to sell my flat during the current political and economic climate) and some DELICIOUS smelling tea from Bird and Blend, which the lovely Maria from RunningCupcake always raves about.

They threw in a couple of freebies of Eton Mess and Fruit Salad teas too

I bought some Birthday Cake tea (so sweet and vanilla smelling) and some hazlenut flavoured tea for Kyle for Christmas.

We were booked to see Daniel Sloss, a relatively new comedian, at the Dome at 7.30pm. I’d done my research, of course, and had a table booked at MEATLiquor before the show. I was very excited as it looked exactly like the place Kyle and I love (horribly unhealthy, disgustingly greasy and immensely tasty).

We ordered some pre-food drinks. I got a gin-based cocktail which was delicious. We never normally drink but we decided to splash out a bit. One was enough though, we weren’t quite that adventurous ha.

For food, I ordered the Ripper, which was a deep-fried bacon wrapped beef frank with lots of relish, mustard and pickled cucumbers. This was INCREDIBLE.

I used to think I didn’t like hot dogs but since Chicago (where I didn’t manage to try one) I’ve been having a craving for one. I’m so glad I decided to go for something a bit different. Though of course, I ordered chicken wings as well… just in case it was a fail 😉

Kyle orderd a chicken burger and cheesy fries with chicken gravy

The chicken wings were delicious. Dripping in Buffalo sauce and with a thick creamy blue cheese dip, I was in heaven. And I also got some Dead Hippie sauce (which is their speciality)… amazing. It was a mix of tomato ketchup, mayo and Worcestershire sauce and some other bits. Yum.

Then we headed to see Daniel Sloss. Daniel Sloss is quite a dark black humour style comedian. He jokes about quite serious issues – but in a way that’s not offensive or directly making fun of people or the issue but finding light in darkness, if that makes sense. I imagine he’s quite divisive but Kyle and I find him very funny. We first saw him on Netflix and really enjoyed it.

His Brighton show was fantastic. Like REALLY good. He talked about quite hard-hitting issues, like feminism, the “me too” movement, rape (yes, really) and toxic masculinity. As a female it was really good to hear a white male talk about these issues and take ownership and responsibility of certain cultures. Kyle really enjoyed it as well and we left animatedly chatting and discussing what we’d heard. I really recommend!

The next morning, no parkrun, but a lovely lie-in and then we headed to for breakfast. We decided to go a bit healthier and went to LoveFit Cafe which was lovely. I had vanilla protein porridge and a toffee protein shake. Ooh er!

I do love porridge so this was delicious! The texture wasn’t quite my usual stodgy cemet mix style, but it was good enough. Kyle had a grilled cooked breakfast. Check us out being all balanced and health 😉

We had such a lovely time. I don’t think I stopped smiling once. A much needed distraction from my silly knee 🙂

Do you like hot dogs?

Who are your favourite comedians?

Do you like cocktails?

February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Mostly raving #26

Things are fairly positive in my life right now so I actually don’t have much ranting to do, long may it last!

Rave: I’m really proud of myself. I’ve been reducing my excessive intake of squash. I’ve mentioned before on the blog how I tend to drink a lot of squash. Mainly out of boredom at work if I’m honest. It’s not great as I get the sugar-free variety which though is, well, free of sugar it is not preservative-sweetener-colour-crap-free. It’s not that I don’t like the taste of water, it’s just when I’m at work and I fancy something but not necessarily an actual snack I go for squash. Anyway, I’ve switched a few of these times for something a bit better for me: herbal and fruit teas.

I’ve always drank peppermint tea (my absolute favourite) but I’ve added in a few more to keep things interesting. I’ve yet to crack into the salted caramel green tea though as I’m terrified it’ll make me feel sick (green tea always does this to me). I’m thinking though that because it’s mixed with other things it might be less potent to me? Anyway there was a Twinings offer in Tesco so I risked for a biscuit…or a fruit tea in fact.

Rave: I just love him so much.

It’s OK Alfie, I don’t need much space on the sofa…

Rave: trainers! I have so many pairs it’s ridiculous. I love Strava for keeping me solidly tracked on their mileage as well. I’m a bit of a trainer whore as I don’t really favour any brand in particular. In general I love a good stability shoe as I’m fairly flat footed (though less so than when I first started running due to weekly exercises).

Mizuno are usually my go-to shoes but my current love are the ASICS Luminus. I tend to cycle through the trainers depending on what I’m doing (i.e. my Boosts tend to be for speed workouts or shorter distance races), how wet/muddy a pair currently are and where in the Cupboard of Doom they sit:

It’s a balancing act in there…

Rave: if I fancy a kind of naughty snack but not really a full-on face in cake moment I’ve been having these Protein Works Mug Cakes (I wasn’t sent it to review and have no affiliation with them, just bought it as I heard it was nice).

Granted it looks pretty terrible in that photo but it’s actually very tasty. Nice and chocolaty with a good texture. It has 148 cals per serving and 20g of protein so it’s nice to top up the protein as well. It just h its the spot when I fancy something quick and tasty in the evening. It takes like 30 seconds in the microwave and you just add water – my kind of baking

Rave: I’m listening to a really interesting audio book called The Diet Myth. It goes over all those silly diet trends and looks over scientific data and research surrounding them. It’s really very interesting and has a lot to do with the microbes in our body, which to be honest I’d never even thought about. It’s one of the reasons I’ve switched artificial cheese (like Laughing Cow and Babybells) to real cheese like stilton, Camembert and Brie. I haven’t finished the book yet but from what I’ve heard so far (it’s an audiobook) is variety is key, whole foods are best and avoid artificial crap. No great surprises there, but the rational and science behind it is very interesting.

Rave: my flat is pretty much sorted now. I just need a rug for my living room and I’m there. I’ve tried really hard to make it into a lovely home that I enjoy being in (which I truly do) and a reflection of who I am.My new armchair is a perfect addition. Actually it’s not really an armchair as there are no arms… I also have lots of photos and wall art to give it a nice individual touch. My favourite wall piece is something that was handmade by a family friend, Sue. From an old book she took all the pages and made this:

I love it. I’m a big reader so for me it’s absolutely perfect. There’s nothing I find more relaxing than getting lost in a book.

A single rant: my neighbour had a party in his flat last week. On a Thursday night. A Thursday. I mean seriously, what the hell? I suppose I’m fairly lucky that I’ve had very few problems with my flat so far but this really ticked me off (as, I’m sure, it would most people who work Monday to Friday).

It really agitated Alfie who hadn’t a clue why there was suddenly a lot of door banging, loud music and loud voices coming through our walls. Our flats aren’t even directly next to each other – there’s a corridor we share and that’s it, but I could still hear the music. Alfie would bark every time he heard a loud noise and eventually cuddled right up to my face in confusion (he’s normally down the bottom of the bed). *Sighs*. I only had one ear plug as well as I lost the other one so had to be choosy in which ear got the preferentially treatment.

The next morning I put my radio as close to my door and the wall closest to his flat and whacked up the volume. Now when I get up at 5am in the morning I don’t try my hardest to tiptoe about the place, oh hell no I’m like an elephant. Do not mess with the early riser.

What have been your rants and raves recently?

Do you have considerate neighbours?

Do you read a lot of books?