Beatons Chester - Totally TasTEA

Hello my Lovelies! 

With blogging comes many wonderful opportunities to attend events, store opening and parties. I was recently invited to the brand new Beatons Tearooms in Chester (they've only just opened!) to a Bloggers High Tea and I thought this would be a lovely opportunity to share their deliciousness with you all. 

The location of the tearooms is simply stunning as it is right next to the bell tower with a view of the cathedral. It really is a beautiful spot, particularly in the sunshine, and I was so lucky that it was a beautifully sunny day when I went. I found it to be in a potentially brilliant spot as the bell ringers, tourists and daily shoppers will be able to find it with absolute ease. 

First impressions upon walking in to the tearooms had me smiling with delight. The decor is simply fabulous and consists of all my favourite colours; bright pink, white and black. My favourite part of the decor is quite possibly the chandeliers, which I have been told were put up by the staff themselves. They're simply stunning. Steve and his team have really done a great job. Another super adorable element to Beatons is that they're not just tearooms but also a bookshop, selling books written by local authors. There were really adorable areas of comfortable chairs around small tables where I could picture myself drinking tea and reading one of the house copies of a book.

Speaking of books, the whole reason I ended up at this event is due to being contacted by the wonderful Liz Jones, house poet. She and her beau treated us to readings of poetry from her very own book which contains poems all about tea. She also wrote the house poem for the Chester tearooms which is pictured below.

The menu is full of tasty treats however the most important part of the menu is quite possibly the huge selection of teas. From Red to Black, Herbal to White, even Oolong! There are so many to choose from however I had a taste of the specially created Dong Ding Oolong Tea which is a specialty for the Chester tearooms. I must admit, I'm always rather dubious about trying new teas however this one is especially delicious and I would highly recommend giving it a taste if you visit.

The high tea came with a huge selection of sandwiches and cakes, we were truly pampered! I must say, the sandwiches did not have my favourite fillings however I gave them a try and they were rather delicious. The choice of fillings included; cucumber, smoked salmon & cream cheese, ham & tomato relish and prawn mayonnaise. Surprisingly, my favourite option was the prawn mayonnaise and I'm really not a fan of prawns. I think it helped that the sandwiches were bite-sized so they did not overwhelm my taste-buds. 

The scones were absolutely delightful! I always love scones when they're freshly baked and, fortunately for Beatons customers, everything is made freshly in store. The scones we received were still warm and super fluffy, a quality I always desire when it comes down to scones. I usually prefer my scones with butter however they were not served with it, fortunately they were light enough not to need any. My favourite part of the high tea though, was definitely the cakes. The signature carrot cake is well worth a try and I don't think I've ever tasted such a sweet Victoria sponge. That said, my favourite cake was certainly the chocolate cake, super chocolaty and incredibly tasty I was very close to asking for a slice to myself!

If you are ever in Chester I would definitely recommend that you pop in and try the menu for yourself, you certainly will not be disappointed. If you like it just as much as I do, there's also the option for a loyalty card so that you may earn stamps.

Let me know if you get the chance to visit and do share you experiences. You can find Beatons on Twitter here or at their website and all of my own links are listed here. A huge thank you to Liz for the invitation to Beatons, I'll be back again soon!

Love you all!

T
xxx

Springtime Photo Post!

Hello my lovelies!

It's been a lovely sunshine filled Easter week across most of the UK and I took the opportunity to make the most of the sunny weather. My Easter weekend was spent in Yorkshire with lots of sunshine, family and food and it was all very lovely, I even had the time to take a few pictures so I thought I'd share those with you today. My mother and I also took a little walk around Brocks Hill Country Park this week and I snapped a few pictures for you all as it was just so beautiful in the sunshine.

Easter Week 2015

Brocks Hill Country Park

What did you get up to this Easter? Let me know in the comments or get in touch on Twitter or Facebook! If you'd like to get in touch any other way, all of my links are listed here. 

Love you all!

T

xxx

Getting Experimental - Springtime Hairstyles

Hello my lovelies!

I've recently been a little bit in love with my hair as it's beginning to reach a lovely length after many many years of growing it out. Because of this, I've started getting a little more experimental with how I style my hair and different ways of wearing it. I also dyed it ginger just before Christmas which is quite a change from the usual dark blonde/light brown mix and it's left me feeling a whole lot more confident which is awesome! Admittedly, some of these images do show horrendous roots as I was tempted to grow the colour out at one point however do not worry, the colour has been renewed and all is right in the world once again.

All of the following images have been sourced from my Instagram or personal selfie collections.

I thought I'd share a few cute styles that I've recently loved which I think would look adorable in the Spring time. 

To start with, this is my natural hair, it's a little frizzy and hard to tame at times and I'm currently in the stages of growing out my fringe however this hasn't stopped me experimenting with some super cute hairstyles that I've never dared to attempt before.

This milkmaid braid up-do took me about 5 minutes to do and is super simple. All it takes it hair that's long enough to secure on the top of your head when plaited. I split my hair in to two loose plaits that I tugged at to make them a little wider, before securing them where I'd place a clear hair bobble and used a few extra pins to help tuck away the ends. Once secured I pulled the plaits a little to make them look thicker. The lovely thing about this one is that you can weave ribbon in to the plaits or pop some flowers along them to make it super girly.

An incredibly simple style, this involves very little work. To achieve this look I curled my hair before brushing through the curls with a flat brush then rolled back the front section of hair and secured it with two pins cross locked. This one's great for when you need a day-to-night look. 

I absolutely love this style, it's really easy and looks really cute. For this look, I took a side parting and dutch plaited the hair along the hairline on both sides and secured each plait with a hair band. Then I took the rest of my hair up in to a messy bun secured just below the crown before pinning the two plaits at the base of my head to form a continuous ring.I wear this as more of a casual look however it can be made to look rather glam if a little more time and effort goes in to play and you secure it with a neat bun at the nape of the neck as shown below.

Sleek and smooth and perfect for a fancy evening! I've added a silk scrunchie to the bun however you could also use a bow, or simply pin the hair in to place. You could also add flowers or ribbon to the plait as in the milkmaid plaits.

This last hairstyle is an oldie but goldie and very childish however I love popping my hair in to double Dutch plaits when I've got tons of housework to do. Just to point out the difference, Dutch plaits take the hair underneath to produce a more stand-out 3D effect whereas French plaits take the hair over the top.

Which is your favourite? Are there any hairstyles you've been trying out that you love? Let me know in the comments below OR get in touch through Twitter, Facebook or Instagram! All of my other social links can be found here.

Love you all!

T

xxx