Barcelona Food Guide

I am kicking off my Barcelona posts with my food recommendations. I asked on Twitter whether you would prefer to have one big post with all my food recommendations or to split it into two. The majority of people voted for me to do separate posts, which I am secretly glad about as I have a lot of food to talk about!

When we first arrived in Barcelona we headed to the beach and we ate in a great tapas place along the beach front called FOC. For our first tapas meal this was a great introduction. The tacos selection dish was yummy and I would recommend this. I enjoyed this meal a lot, and would recommend it if you are along the beach and are wanting to grab some quick food to head here.

We struggled to find somewhere to eat on the first night, as the restaurants which had we had researched were either full or the menu was not quick what we thought. We ended up at Macchinas, which is essentially a build your own perfect pasta dish restaurant. You can choose what type of pasta you want, what sauce, and then add your own personal choice of meat and vegetables. I went with the chicken pesto fusilli and added broccoli and mushrooms. This was a really great pasta dish and the portion sizes were massive. We then headed to a bar called Sugar, which was very small and had only a few tables but had a great vibe and cocktails for only 4 euro.

On our second day we headed to a little cafe called Escriba just off Remla San Jose. They had a huge range of cakes, biscuits and macaroons. I decided on the gigantic waffle with chocolate sauce, and it tasted as good as it looked.

We were at the beach again in the afternoon and headed to Makamaka, which is located just off the beach front. I had the big maka burger which consisted of the beef patty, bbq sauce, cheese and bacon. I have to recommend the cava sangria from here as it was really fruity.

As we had not had tapas for lunch, and we were in Spain we decided to take as many opportunities to try out the different tapas on offer. I enjoyed the food here at Avinya 10, but it was not the best which we ate during our time in Barcelona. We then went for some cocktails in a bar called First Cocktail Bar which was not too far away. It was once again small, but offered a great array of cocktails. They also had a great concept where each table was provided with sticky notes, and all of the walls were completely covered in messages from visitors from around the world.

On the third day, we headed to the beach in the morning and went for brunch at Breakfast and Lunch. There was a place next door called Brunch and Cake, where we had planned to go originally as they do very instagramable food. However, it was super busy and there was a long queue. We were starving so settled for next door, and their beef and cheese sandwich was really yummy. Later in the afternoon we headed to Zumito for smoothies and juices, and mine was lovely it had pineapple, mango and orange in it.

Easily the best meal of the entire holiday took place at the restaurant Amerre 69. The tapas here was sensational. We decided to get a portion of nachos to start, and it was a gigantic pile. Every plate of food which we ordered here was amazing. I have to mention their cheese croquettes, as they are honestly the best which I have ever eaten in my entire life. I would definitely recommend eating here if you are staying near or within the La Rambla area.

On the last day we went for a lovely breakfast at Tropico. This was a great find by one of my friends which she found on Trip Advisor and the food was as good as it looks. The pancakes were light and fluffy and the cream cheese complemented them beautifully. The juice was also really fruity and refreshing.

I finally found the ice cream shop which I had been trying to find for the 4 days of the trip. Amorino is located half way up La Rambla, they have definitely found a niche within their market. The queue was massive and the prices were to match. It was 4 euro 50 for this ice cream, it was however very tasty and very instagramable!

We decided to have a pizza on the last night before heading to the airport to fill us up before the flight. It was really tasty, thin and crusty just how I like it. They had a great range of pizza and pasta on their menu. We had our last jug of cava sangria here and it washed everything down perfectly.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my Barcelona food guide as we did eat at some amazing places. Check back next week as I will be bringing you my Barcelona city guide, and I will be letting you in on everything which we got up to whilst we were visiting the city.

Lucy

xoxo

Friendsfest

Yesterday I went to Friendsfest which is currently touring in the UK. I went to the one taking place at Heaton Park, Manchester with my sister and we had a fabulous time. It is touring up and down the UK for the next few months and you can find all of the dates and venues here. It is sold out in most places, but there are still a few tickets left. We got our tickets online on their website, and it was a mad rush as we really needed to go yesterday as we go on holiday on tomorrow. The tickets were £26 which I do not think is cheap, but these events are never cheap and overall we had a great afternoon out.

When you book online you choose a time which you want to go on the tour set and we choose 13:20. We had planned to get there and got straight on the tour set. You have a member of crew who is allocated to your tour. There is approximately 25 people on each tour. When you first go in to the tour set there is section where they have lots of different things from the show displayed including outfits and props. I felt as though you were a bit under pressure as we were told we had 7 minutes in this section. It was great to see all the different most loved props such as the holiday armadillo.

You then go through on to the set where you go into Joey and Chandler's apartment which is set up the exact same as it was in the series. I found it could be a little bit hard to get all the photos as you want as there are 25 people also trying to get 'that' photo. However, everyone kind of moved in rotation to get what they wanted. 

Monica's apartment is such an iconic set from the series as so much action took place there. I loved looking around and imagining how they filmed it. I was surprised as the set was much smaller than I thought it would be, and I could imagine it being quite cramped at some times when there was a lot of characters all filming there.

Once the 30 minute tour has finished you are then free to wander around all of the other sets at your leisurely pace. We decided to head straight to Central Perk which was very exciting. It looked just as I imagined, once again a lot smaller than I would have thought. They had the stage set up like they famously do, a crew member came and sang some of Phoebe's well known songs which was a great extra touch. 

There is then an opportunity to dress up once at Ross and Rachel's Vegas wedding in bridal dresses and suits. They also have the backdrop from the 1988 prom where you can wear Rachel and Monica's dresses with matching wigs.

They also have got the famous yellow cabs and a NYPD car for you to take photos with.

There is also the opportunity to take photos with the famous opening for the credits with the umbrellas, orange sofa and the fountains. We had to queue for 25 minutes to get these photos, as it was the most in demand part of the set.

 There are also food and drink stalls placed around the park. This was great as they had a huge screen where you can watch snippets of different episodes whilst relaxing on deck chairs.

Overall, I had a great afternoon. As you can see if you want to get lots of photos recreating famous scenes with the sets, you definitely have the opportunity to. Me and my sister both said that we thought that the tour set was a little bit rushed as you were allocated exactly 30 minutes. I would have also liked to have been given some more information during this, to give you a little more insight and learn some new behind the scene facts and knowledge. However, we both had a great time and it really did bring everything to life. 

Lucy

xoxo

The importance of friendships

When I was 13 friendships mean something completely different to what they mean to me now. Ten years later at 23, I have come to realise that friendships are so important in my life. I have been thinking a lot about friendships recently, especially after finishing university and being back home.

I have some friends who I still speak to who I have known since nursery, these friendships are the type where I might not see them in months but I always know that would be there for me. This type of friendship I think is few and fair between. I think high school is one of the toughest times when it comes to friendships. My high school friendships pretty much stayed the same throughout and it was a really lovely that we were so close. However, this is the time where you question other friendships, one of the 'cool' girls might get put next to you in science and you want to be friends and little naive me used to try and act like one of the gang to 'fit in'. In hindsight, I don't think I was as naive as I thought, as I knew that these girls would never be my best friends, but I still wanted to feel as though I fitted in. I think it is perfectly normal for everyone both girls and boys to go through this stage, as you definitely learn a lot along the way.

In college, I didn't meet too many new friends, however I did meet two girls who are special to me. I also strangely became really good friends with a group of girls who went to my school, but we never socialised together. It was really great, and these girls are now my close friendship group. When you go to university, by god is it hard to maintain friendships. However, really when it comes down to it, it really isn't that hard in terms of effort. All it takes is a "hey girls how you are doing?" in your group text. It is so easy for friendships to dwindle away easily, I always worried a lot about going home and having no friends. All of my friends have made new friends at university which is a given. I did, I met five girls and we all have a group text, it is also one of those friendships where we don't have to speak weekly, but we still talk and check up on everyone especially with our jobs as we are all nurses. We have made a little pact to try and meet up two times a year.

That's a little bit of background to my closest friendships, now to why they are so important to me. I feel like lots of us feel as though we have a few friends who we would not tell our secrets to, or would turn to in an hour of need. For me these friendships are a different level of friendship. I always think who would I text in an emergency, and I can count on one hand the girls who would get that text in an instant, and I hope it would be the same for them. I am kind of over those 'fake' friendships where you feel you have to hang out with someone just because you've known them for years. You feel obliged to go to the half yearly night out, just so you don't come across rude. I think you have to be honest with yourself, people change, you change, sometime friendships don't last forever. On to crap friendships. I have had seen people write on Twitter that they've not been invited on a night out with their friends, to me that isn't being a good friend. They knew that would make you feel rubbish, why put yourself through it. Everyone has been through a crap friendship, and I hope you know your worth and have come out the other side.

As you get older you definitely do realise who your real friends are. I'm not about those friendships where it is always you making the effort to make plans, or to do anything. Why should it always be you. If they want to see you, it should be 50/50. I have had that and it puts me on edge thinking why haven't they made the effort, it's not all my decision. Friendship is two ways. Another super important point which I want to discuss, is friends who get jealous and annoyed when friends do well, rather than being happy and proud. I can safely say that my small group of friends when every single one of them have a got a good job after graduating I have been really excited for them. We aren't there to be competing with each other as to who is top dog. We are there to encourage to go and achieve exactly what they want. Jealously can be the devil, if someone isn't championing you on to go and achieve you have to ask yourself why.

Now at 23, it is hard to make friends and meet new people including relationships (another post coming on this when I've got the balls to publish it!). This is why I have recently realised the importance of my friendships. I often debate in the shower who I would class as my best friends, and I definitely know as these are the girls I would want as my bridesmaids. These girls are a small bunch, but to me that is all I need. I honestly hope that I am friends with them forever. We complement each other, tell them they look fabulous, their makeup and hair looks great. Say something nice. I think this is few and far between these days. Social media can be so negative, we don't care about the perfect selfie, we go on a night to enjoy ourselves. We laugh that we are crap at posing. We are all feminists pushing for girls to achieve what they can, this is why I want to always be their friend.

It is also great to have different groups of friends. Like I said we all make out little group of friends at university, that is natural unless we expect each other to sit on our own for three years. I have different friendship groups, but I actually love it. Come on there is no need for us to get jealous of your friends having other friends. I will put my hands up and happily admit to this happening to me in the past. It is natural, you think your best friend is going to be taken away from you in front of your eyes. I also think in hindsight, it was jealously but also fear. As an adult, I have actually become friends with some of my friends friends, it is lovely the more the merrier. I have two small friendship groups, apart from my university friends and they are all fabulous.

From this post, I just wanted to highlight the importance of friendships. As I have said as we get older it is harder to make new friends, we don't cross path with as many new people. I think we are all guilty from time to time of neglecting our friendships when things in life get in the way. This is sometimes when you realise who your true friends really are. All I want you to get of this post is to treasure your friendships. If you have been meaning to text Tina from down the road, or Shelia you went to school with go and do it now after reading this post!

Lucy
xoxo

500 blog posts!

I cannot believe I have made it to 500 blog posts! Who would have thought that 4 years ago in September I started this blog. I had just moved into student accommodation, without any hobbies to do as I was in a new city. I am not sure who actually really inspired me to start up my blog, I do not think it was one blogger in particular. It was when Tanya Burr, Pixiwoo and Zoella were still very much into blogging daily before YouTube really took off. I was really interested in reading what they were reviewing and had to share. I have always had an interest in makeup and beauty on the whole. I thought this was a new way for me to discover and delve a little more into my interests.

I thought when I started that in order to blog you had to do it on a daily basis. For weeks, even months when I first started my blog I did it everyday. I remember rushing home from uni to take photos on my wooden table for the next day. I loved it. It took a bit of a toll so I went down to doing every other day. I was loving it, I had found a new passion for something which I was loving. Fast forward to now, and I blog three times a week. Sometimes I struggle to get three a week written, but I always feel a massive accomplishment when I see them scheduled and all my social media in order alongside it. A few months ago, I lost my mojo big time for blogging, and I was seriously considering taking a long break or even packing it all in for good. Thankfully, I am currently loving blogging again, which I am super happy about.

I can't even begin to think about the amount of hours I have dedicated to this blog. For one, it definitely isn't for money because I have made zero pence. To me this is a hobby. My job is where I earn my living, and I like the definite difference between the two. I enjoy spending my spare time blogging. I think you should never feel forced to blog, you do you.

I am seriously excited that I have made it to 500 blog posts. I think this is a pretty big achievement. I hope I am sat here in another four years time reviewing writing 1,000 blog posts. In four years time I know my life will be very different, and that is so exciting thinking about what I will be writing about. My blog is mainly beauty focused, but definitely within the last year I have really gotten into writing lifestyle posts. I have enjoyed putting up on my blog topics which are important to me, and allowing to spark discussions with other bloggers. I think that is the best thing about blogging, you can write about whatever you want and there is no one to tell you otherwise.

Here's to many more!

Lucy
xoxo

Night Out Essentials

Here you can have a little nosy into what goes into my handbag on a night out. I don't take that much out with me as I am always worried I am going to loose something along the way. However, I do always take some makeup essentials with me.

In case you are wondering my metallic pink small cross over bag I bought recently from the Topshop sale, and I love it. I am taking it on my travels with me this upcoming weekend. My little blue card holder is from Ted Baker and I bought this also in the sale as a little birthday treat to myself. The only powder which I have used for years is MAC's mineralise skinfinish, it is great and I am yet to find anything else as good as this. I use my Sephora multitasker brush with this powder, the brush has a flat head and works great at gently buffing the powder into the skin. The two lip products which I chose to take out with me on this particular night was Sephora's lip cream in 13 marvelous mauve and Charlotte Tilbury lip gloss in Ibiza nights. I love this lip gloss it is the perfect peachy nude gloss with golden shimmer running through it, and has great pigmentation. Mixed with the Sephora lip cream it makes a fabulous combination and my lips instantly look shimmery and much fuller. I lasting took my ever-so-trusty Collection lasting perfection concealer to touch up any pesky blemishes which might start to show after all my dancing!

What are you night out essentials?

Lucy
xoxo

The Ordinary Full Coverage Foundation

Getting hold of the The Ordinary coverage foundation was not the easiest of tasks. I joined the mailing lists on both Victoria Health and Deciem. I managed to snatch myself my colour finally from Victoria Health when they emailed regarding a restock.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding The Ordinary foundation launch. There are 2 to choose from the serum foundation and the coverage foundation. All a long I had been wanting the high coverage foundation, and that is what I managed to get my hands on. I was really impressed with the shade range available, they have 21 shades suiting lots of different skin colourings and undertones. I decided to go with 1.1P, which is fair with pink undertones. There was a really useful foundation guide on the site which I ordered from, which was actually true to colour. It only took 48 hours for the foundation to arrive which I was very happy about. I have been testing this out now for approximately 6 weeks, as it has taken me a while to come to a conclusion on whether I love or hate it.

I initially thought from what I had read that this foundation was very thick and was a total coverage foundation. I was surprised to see that in fact I would class it as a buildable medium coverage foundation. I like the fluid consistency to this as it goes on very easily and quickly with both a buffing brush and beautyblender. It is buildable, which is great as in some problematic areas you can put more product on with it looking cakey. The finish is neither matte or glow, it is differently somewhere in the middle which is great for my combination skin. I think this would work well for dry skin, but this has the potential to make oily skin look shiny.

There are a few negatives which I have found with this foundation. I do find that it does not offer me the coverage which I would desire for a full days work. I have worn this many times to work where I will be out of the house for 15 hours, and by 6-7 hours it is definitely looking worn. Sometimes when I have got home where I have added a little more coverage over my chin, it is visible to see that it has worn and my blemishes are on display. I have also worn it on a weekend where I have not being doing too much, and I have worn it from afternoon into the night and I have been happy with the result. 8 hours would be the maximum length of time to wear this where I am still happy with the coverage.

My overall thoughts, are that for £5.90 it is a very decent foundation, one of the best budget foundations out there which I have tried. I have been trying to think of other similar foundations to this. I would say it is similar coverage to Nars sheer glow but without the glow element, it is a good budget alternative to MAC studio fix and also L'Oreals true match is quite similar to this. The only negative aspect would be the longevity, in particular if you want to coverage any blemishes or redness. For the price I think this is a good foundation, and I would recommend it to others.

Lucy
xoxo

Superdrug Haul

I recently did that thing that happens every time I step into either Boots or Superdrug where I go in for one item, this time it being a new Collection concealer and I come out with a bag full.

Let me explain, so the makeup was on 3 for 2, my beauty blender has disappeared from the depths of my room and has been missing for a few weeks. Instead of splashing out on a new one, I thought I would save a bit of cash and try a Real Techniques blender. I was going to pick up the original complexion sponge, but it was sold out. I needed the concealer asap, and could not be bothered driving to another store to try and find the right sponge. I saw that they had a dual ended expert sponge for foundation and contour so I thought I would try it out and for £5.99 I thought it was a risk worth taking. I was actually wanting to also pick up the Seventeen concealer for my under eye area as I have been loving it, after about 5 minutes of searching I remembered it is only sold in Boots - *sobs*.

I was then deciding on my technically 'free' item and ended up at the MUA stall. I haven't bought many items from them, as I never known what are the best items to pick up. However, I saw the undress your skin highlighters in the shade pearlescent sheen and I was instantly sold. I already have one of their highlighters in iridescent gold and I love it. It is an amazing budget highlighter as they are just £3.

As I am going on two holidays within the next month, I needed to pick up my ever so trusty Garnier micellar cleansing wipes, and they are currently on offer for £1.59. I should have picked up more of these, and I definitely will be before the offer finishes as in my opinion they are the best face wipes out there high and low end. I also needed a new deodorant to pop into my work bag, as I can get very hot on my long shifts. I am not one to favour any particular brand so picked up a Nivea pearl and beauty spray deodorant because it was half price in store.

I was happy that with the offers and with my 10% student discount, all of my items came to a grand total of £11.12! What a bargain!

Lucy
xoxo

Topshop Stud Heels

Topshop has done it again. For my birthday I wanted to treat myself to some new shoes. I was not sure what type of shoe or style that I wanted. The only thing I did know is that I have been missing a pair of shoes that fall into the heel and sandal category. I wanted something without a huge heel, which I could wear day and night. I have been longing after a pair that fitted into the day time drinking category, or a meal out where you will be wearing them for hours and therefore being comfy is a must.

The shoes which fitted into everything which I wanted was the Morocco stud two-part sandal from Topshop. I am always scared to look on the bottom of Topshop shoes as the prices are either affordable or expensive. I feel like they are either £30 or £60 and more, there is never anything in the middle. Thankfully, the price tag of £32 put a beaming smile on my face. I always size up in Topshop heels as I think they come up quite small. I was wearing these the night I bought them for my birthday night out, so I did not have the breaking in option. I have to say I had zero problems with these, they were so comfy, and I always find the thickness of the heels helps with the comfort factor.

These were not the kind of shoe which I would be naturally be drawn to. I thought the studs were just enough and added the perfect detailing. I usually wear gold details on my heels, but it was nice to mix it up and buy silver for once. It has definitely added some variety to my shoe collection. Whilst finding the link for this post, I found out that they do these in baby pink and boy are they gorgeous. In the Topshop store which I bought the black version from, they had them in grey and they were also beautiful. Topshop has done a fabulous job with these, and I have got so many occasions coming up where I have thought they will be perfect for my outfit. I was also the bad blogger with this post, as I had to take my photos after the night out, I tried my best to keep them nice and looking new, but I don't think I succeeded!

Go grab yourself a pair!

Lucy
xoxo

The Ordinary 2% Salcylic Acid

About 2 months ago I made my first order from Deciem and ordered The Ordinary 2% Salcylic Acid which to my surprised costs just £3.90 for 15ml. If you are a beauty junkie you will of been hearing about The Ordinary left, right and centre as since it arrived on the scene their has been huge hype surrounding it. If you have not heard of them, like where you been. The brand is owned by Deciem, and they have focused on having products which have targeted purposes, with simple packaging and no fancy branding.

In order to get the facts write on exactly the what salcylic acid is I did a little research from where I bought the product from. It is a beta hydroxyl acid in a solution which purposes is to exfoliate the walls of the pores within the skin. This also contains witch hazel which is commonly used in acne treatments, as it helps creates clearer skin and reduce the look of blemishes by exfoliating the inside of the cell walls of the pores.

So did the product work. I would say yes. Now I am on treatment for my acne which includes a face wash which I have been using for about 6 months, which I think has done nothing. I use the product every morning after applying my moisturiser, and I have currently used approximately half of the bottle. I think it has definitely contributed in terms of reducing my angry blemishes and reducing redness. I feel as though I have not had major clusters of spots, which would usually take a good few weeks to calm down, and this has helped reduce the timing to a few days. I was never expecting it to be some sort of miracle product, but it is the first product which I have used in a while targeted for acne where I have seen some kind of results.

I like the design of the bottle, it is small and travel friendly. I also like the peppet which comes with it, as you are able to control how much product you are using without wasting any. I have also been putting to the test the primer and foundation, so expect review posts on those products in the near future.

Lucy
xoxo