What happens on a snowy day in England....

You may be wondering what I get up to when I'm snowed in....well, this year I ended up in the kitchen making a homemade cottage pie from scratch! I'm a huge fan of meat, vegetables and plenty of potato, so this recipe is right up my street.

Little L's Lushious Cottage Pie 

What you'll need to serve 2:
1 red onion
8 chantaney carrots
250g lean beef mince
150g petits pois
3 heaped teaspoons of beef gravy
4 medium Maris Piper potatoes
Goats cheese 

What to do:

1. Peel and quarter the potatoes, put them into a pan of water and boil (for approx. 20mins).
2. Peel and boil the chantenay carrots for approx. 10mins. Once boiled, cut the cooked carrots up into small chunks. 
3. Put a little oil in a frying pan to heat up. Add the beef mince and cook until browned. 
4. Once the mince is browned, add the finely chopped red onions and carrots. 
5. Continue to cook the mince, carrots and onions for a further 5mins. Then make up some gravy; mixing 3 heaped teaspoons with 150ml of hot waters. Stir well. 
6. Add the gravy to the pan and stir.
7. Boil 150g of frozen peas (for approx. 5-10mins) and once cooked, add the peas to the pan. Leave the cottage pie filling mixture to simmer for 10mins. 
8. Take the potatoes off the boil and drain. Add a knob of butter, a sprinkle of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic purée (or chopped garlic), 4 tablespoons of milk and then mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
9. Place the mixture of mince and vegetables into an ovenproof dish (I usually fill the dish 3/4 full of the mixture). Then ass the mash on top; remembering to smooth around the edges. 
10. Place in the oven on 200°c for 10mins. 
11. Grate your cheese of choice. Remove the cottage pie from the oven and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the mash potato. 
12. Place the pie back on the oven and leave to brown on the top. 
13. Serve and enjoy!

PS: The sprouts are optional!! 

Let me know if you tried out my recipe and loved it too!

Love,

L x

Aussie - A 'Winter Miracle' for my hair....

Until recently I've been loyal to certain hair care brands and I've not been one to branch out into something new. My motto usually is...if something works for you, why change anything? That was the case, until I found myself away from home and running out of my travel shampoo and conditioner. My friend suggested that I tried her travel mini 'Aussie' Miracle Moist set. So I did and I instantly fell in love with the products! Why? Because 1) it made my hair look and feel in tip-top condition and 2) the smell of the product was divine! 

On my return home I scoured the shelves of Boots for the Aussie products and stumbled across two products in particular that sounded right up my street...the Aussie 'Frizz Fixer' and the limited edition 'Winter Miracle'. Even better, if you bought 3 Aussie products in store then you received a free purple Pom-Pom hat - what a deal clincher! 

I have coarse, thick, mid to long length hair which needs lots of taming and defrizzing. So any products that can do this without leaving my hair feeling oily or over-conditioned is indeed a miracle! Let's move onto the products themselves....

The Aussie Frizz Fixer Shampoo and Conditioner

Over the years I have tried so many hair products that claim to defrizz your hair, but actually don't really pull it off without needing to blow dry like a professional or use extra styling products. All of these half hearted attempts have left me disappointed; that was until I discovered this Aussie product! The Aussie tag line of this product is "for unruly, frizzy 'please behave' hair" - exactly how I would describe my hair on my days! The shampoo and conditioner formula contains extracts of blue gum leaves from the Australian eucalyptus tree; which is known for its soothing properties. I currently have two styles of how I wear my hair - the main style is sleek and straight and the other style is natural curls. Usually I find a product that will suit my straight style but not my curly style or vice-versa, so I have to have two products on the go. But not with Aussie....this product works with both styles; taking just enough Frizz off my natural curls to keep the curl definition and keeping my hair frizz free for 2 days when I am rocking the straight tresses look! I've fallen in love with this product so much so that I have already repurchased this twice! 

The Aussie Winter Miracle Shampoo and Condition (Limited Edition)

My hair tends to become greasy after just 2 days so needs washing at least every other day. Particularly at this time of year I find my hair looks dull and dried out after washing or straightening it every other day. With Ginseng extract and Pearl powder, this 'winter miracle' keeps my hair looking shiny, healthy and a little bit sparkly! Who doesn't love a bit of sparkle?! Again, this product is perfectly suited to both of my styles and on the odd occasion I have been able to go an extra day without my hair needing a wash. I'm 3/4 of the way through these bottles already, so I'll definitely be repurchasing this holiday season! 

Well done Aussie; you've given my hair the confidence to shine and sparkle! 

Oh, and that free Pom-Pom hat is super cute and cosy too! So Go grab yourselves this offer at Boots while it's still on and let me know what you think.

Keep Smiling,

L x

Planning our USA Adventure wasn't as hard as I first thought.....

I thought strolling around the streets of Manhattan and walking in the footsteps of "The King" in Memphis would be a big feat to achieve in just 9 days; but with Google, an excellent foodie App and a good guidebook (or 4!!!) our plans took shape....

Our 9 day American Adventure began in the amazing city of New York and finished in the mesmerising Memphis. Obviously we planned to experience as much as we could while we were there and the only way to guarantee this is by means of a well planned itinerary. It is worth knowing that I have been to New York before (back in 2002) so was already privy to some of the main tourist sights; Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park..... Another thing worth mentioning - my travel companion was my gluten and dairy intolerant, best friend and fellow blogger Deb (from Mabel's Beauty Bee) - so meticulous planning was needed for mealtimes. Breakfast was not a problem because we had chosen 2 hotels which included this in the deal, but lunch and dinner reservations proved more tricky to plan around our jam-packed itinerary.

So, here's a whistle stop tour of how we researched, planned and booked our trip - from flights to food....and with some top tips thrown in along the way!

Flights and Transfers
We booked our flights and transfers to our New York hotel via the trusted online travel agency Expedia. With Expedia, booking multiple connecting flights is made so easy and there are plenty of airlines and times to choose from....they even give each flight a customer rating! We needed to find a way to get from JFK airport to our Manhattan hotel without breaking the bank. I knew it would be easy enough to pick up a famous yellow cab, but we were on a budget! After much googling, I found the ideal solution on Expedia with a company called GoAirlink. The shuttle bus picks you (and a group of other travellers) up at the airport and drops each party off at their destination. Compared to the fixed fare of the yellow cab ($52 plus toll charges), the Go Airlink shuttle bus cost a fraction of the price at £16 per passenger! Perfect!

Hotels
From the moment this USA trip was conceived (after a glass or two of vino), we knew exactly where we wanted to stay in Memphis - Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' and we found the best deal for this hotel on Travel Republic.  Incidentally, the Heartbreak Hotel ceased trading a couple of weeks after we left, but before any of you die hard Elvis fans become "all shook up" with this news...don't worry, it's replacement 'The Guesthouse at Graceland' looks even more incredible (and definitely on my bucket list)! So, hotel numero uno - check!
For our NYC hotel we wanted a fairly central location as we planned to do lots of sightseeing and shopping all over the city. So, where more central to be than a few blocks away from Grand Central Station?! I drew up a list of 5 hotels in the area and checked out the guest reviews and photos on Trip Advisor. In the end, 'breakfast included' was the deal clencher for us and so we hopped on booking.com to book the Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central on East 43rd street.

TOP TIP #1: If you're new to NYC and 43rd street means nothing to you, use google maps to find the exact location of your hotel, the nearest subway stations & how far the nearest Starbucks is...you know, the important details!

Tourist Attractions and Things to do
NYC is a big hustle and bustle city with lots to do and see, so I would definitely recommend having an itinerary of some sorts to hand. Using the powers of Google and our 4 guidebooks, I tasked myself and my travel companion with each drawing up a list of 5 must-see sights and 5 must-do shops. Once we had drawn up our lists I spent hours on google maps locating where everything was in relation to the shops, our hotel and the nearest subway stations.

TOP TIP #2: Plan to work by 'areas' (or districts) to save yourself from darting all over the city throughout the day and to save wasting precious shopping time?!

Once our itinerary was negotiated, it was time to pre-book some of our attractions. We decided on using the New York City Explorer Pass website to book the tickets we wanted for the Empire State Building, The Top of the Rock observation deck and the Liberty & Ellis Island tour. I found the process of booking the tickets simple and I liked the convenience of having all of our tickets saved onto the App so all you have to do is scan the barcode once you arrive at the attraction. Best decision of the trip!!

TOP TIP #3: To save your dollars for more important purchases (i.e. goodies from Sephora and the Disney Store!), pre-book your attractions and hotel transfers.

Moving onto Memphis...our itinerary was easier to plan as we were there primarily as big fans of Elvis and obviously visiting the Graceland estate was our top priority. Again, we pre-booked our tickets for the VIP experience at Graceland via the official website, which saved us carrying more cash than we needed. We had scheduled 2 and a half days to fully immerse ourselves in Elvis and the Memphis culture. You might not think it, but there is actually quite a few interesting things to do in Memphis and if we were going to fit it all in, then our planning had to be faultless. As a lot of the touristy things we planned to do in Memphis were tours, it was difficult to plan due to timings as we weren't sure how long everything would take. To help us both with deciding what our priorities were, we each drew up an old fashioned 'top 5' list again; knowing that there would likely have to be some compromises. Fortunately we both wanted to visit Graceland (the home of Elvis Presley), do the Sun Studios Tour (where Elvis was discovered) and witness the cuteness and quirkiness of The Peabody Ducks March.

Eating out
Planning where to eat before you travel when one of your party is gluten and dairy intolerant is really important as it saves times and energy traipsing around the city looking for suitable eateries that are within your budget. Fortunately NYC had plenty of choices, but dining out in Memphis proved to be more challenging! To make our planning easier, we used a handy App called "Find Me GF" to help us locate any restaurants, cafes and diners that cater for people with specific dietary requirements. The App gives you links to the current menus and a list of the gluten free options, as well as customer reviews and photos. Here are just a few of the eateries that made it onto our NYC and Memphis itineraries.....
Mulberry & Vine
Marlowes Ribs and Restaurant 
The Counter

TOP TIP #4: If you plan to visit any restaurants or cafes that are off the beaten track or not near any famous landmarks, then I would recommend that you locate the place on google maps and screenshot it in your phone (or go old school like me and print it off!) so you have it to hand should you get lost or need to hail a taxi!

So that's a wrap for our USA adventure itinerary planning blog post. Stick around to read about what happened on our trip and whether we stuck to the itinerary, got lost, went hungry or ran out of money!

NEW YORK AND MEMPHIS TRAVEL BLOG.....COMING SOON!

Thanks for reading,
Big love,
L x

My in-flight travel essentials....

I love travelling and I have done since I was a little girl, with my parents as perfect travel guides. Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to travel around America, Europe, North Africa and the Caribbean. Whether I am travelling on short or long haul flights, my in-flight essentials tend not to change....which makes things easier when it comes to the 'big pack' a few days before I travel!

So here is a run down on the items you will always find in my in-flight bag....

• Highbury 12" Vanity Bag - When deciding on my ideal hand luggage, this super lightweight travel bag from Highbury is always my go-to bag. The Highbury fits in everything I need and so much more without getting lost! - Mary Poppins eat your heart out!I love everything about the design of the bag - the idea that you can have it as a shoulder or a cross body bag and the handy bit at the back where you can hook the bag onto your pull along suitcase. I wouldn't be without my lightweight Highbury!
• iPod Touch and Headphones - Now call me old school but I don't go anywhere without my iPod Touch! It has been my travel companion for the last 10 years (ignore the fact that this is in fact my second one as my retro one died and is still in a drawer somewhere with the rest of my sentimentally attached gadgets), whether I am out for a run, in my car or on a flight. Sometimes there's nothing quite like a subtle boogie to my favourite U2 track mid-air! My little pixie sized ears don't get on  very well with earphones, so I rely on my trusty Sony headphones. There is nothing particularly special about them....they don't cancel out any unwanted background noise (i.e. Mr Snooring sat next to you on the plane) and they aren't sparkly, but they are comfy on my ears (and they fold away neatly into a bag!)...enough said. Just don't, whatever you do, accidentally lean on the jack and snap it when you're half way through a movie....yes, yes that was me. I did it. 
  
  
  
• A couple of good books - yes, that's right I read old fashioned books rather than squint through pages on a Kindle (other branded electronic reading devices available!). There's just something about physically flicking through the pages of a battered old book that reminds me of the days when, as a child, I'd get lost on adventures with the Famous Five or find myself stuck in the Magic Faraway Tree. *Sigh*.....Anyway, these days my choices of books are more chick-lit, fantasy and a trusty travel guide. On my recent trips, I have been reading my way through the fantastic Sophie Kinsella "Shopaholic" series. I'm currently on book 7. 
  

• Earplanes - These little things have literally saved my ear drums and sanity over the last 2 years. I suffer from chronic ear pain whenever I fly and over the years, I have tried every potential remedy thrown at me by Google. Then I stumbled across Earplanes and initially I was sceptical, but....after trialling them on 3 flights, I can report that they reduce my pain by at least 80%. ***Top Tip*** Screw them firmly in your ear before you take off, then keep them in for 20-30 minutes after take off. Replace them in your ears at least 30 minutes before you land and keep them in for 20 minutes after you have landed. This allows your ears time to adjust to the air pressure changes. 
  
  
  
• Hand sanitizer - Germs and bugs are rife on planes and I never travel without a hand sanitizer so as to avoid catching any nasty viruses. My current travel hand gel of choice is the Bath and Body Works in Peach. Smells divine and cleans my hands....says it all really. 
  
  
  
• A pair of comfy shoes - I love a good pair of funky heels (someone remind me to put these bad boys on my shopping list....), but when you're flying above the clouds I always go for comfort over style. This year my footwear of choice has been my comfy Toms. They fit like a glove and I love the company's "One For One" ethos. Toms are my ultimate favourite footwear of choice....every time. I'd sleep in them if I could....
• Document wallet -  Does anyone else check their bag a million times before check in, just to make sure you have everything you need?! Yep, that's me! So I find it easier to have all my important travel documents in one place. The document wallet I have was a gift from a lovely friend and is from Jasper Conran. It's a gorgeous patent leather luxury wallet which has separate compartments for your passport, currency and tickets. I'd be lost without it....and that's not a good look for a traveller?! 
  
  
  
  
• Notepad & pen - I never know when a spark of inspiration is going to hit me and when it does I need to write it down, so I need to be prepared. I'm also a lover of lists.....whether that's a shopping list, a 'to do' list or a bucket list and lists can be very practical when you're travelling. I love documenting where I've been or what I have done that day so that I can look back with fond memories.
  

So there we have it, my in-flight travel essentials....in list form! I hope you found this blog post interesting and that it has given you ideas for any future trips you may be making? I'd love to know you're 'Top 3' travel essentials....

Keep smiling, 

L x