The Cottage Loaf

Hello everyone,

This morning I drove over to Llandudno in North Wales to see my Uncle and my Grandparents. For lunch we went to a lovely little pub called The Cottage Loaf. I have been there several times before with family and their food is delicious every time! 

Time for a bit of history, skip this bit if it’s not your thing! The Cottage Loaf has been a well loved pub since 1981 after it’s conversion from a local bakery. Parts of the pub are made from the masts and booms of a schooner called the Flying Foam which was ship-wrecked off the coast of Llandudno in 1936. The inside of the pub has a lovely homely atmosphere, aided by the stone floor, which actually came from Liverpool. Parts of the pub have been salvaged from all over, giving it a very eclectic feel. On entering the pub you can see the original bakery oven doors at the front of the bar and the mast of the Flying Foam, with a copper strip around it. When the Levi Jeans factory closed down in Liverpool the wooden flooring was recycled by the pub to be used in the upper bar area and the roof slates are from the Royal Liverpool Hospital. To top it all off the bar surface is constructed from two pieces of the vessel’s decking  joined together. 

Now for the food! This time I decided to have something lighter than my usual “Pint of Fish”. I had a very greek style of lunch, with some lovely fluffy ciabatta to dip in olive oil and sharp balsamic vinegar. Along side there was a ramekin filled with marinated green olives, sweet sun-dried tomatoes and tangy feta cheese. I adore greek food and this was such a lovely lunch, we were fortunate with the weather and were able to sit outside in the sun on the pub front terrace :-) 

The atmosphere in the pub is warm and friendly and the food is consistently wonderful, for a family pub lunch or even as a quick stop for a light snack I would give this place 5 stars! 

Let me know in the comments your favourite places for family lunches!

xoxo

Banned Books Week

Hello everyone,

I don't know how many of you know this, but it is actually Banned Books Week! Going back through history so many fantastic books have been banned or challenged in different countries, states and schools...this is such a sad phenomenon, I feel that books shouldn't be banned completely. Yes, some books should be censored until they are age appropriate, but totally vetoing them is quite a drastic option.

A lot of people think that banning books is a historical action and doesn't still happen today, but it does. Every year books are challenged or banned. Harry Potter is one of the most frequently challenged books as it is seen to glorify magic and deception, which goes against strong religious principles. In China Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was banned due to the anthropomorphising of animals, giving animals voices and placing them on the same plane of intelligence as people.

It is such a shame that people miss out on wonderful writers and stories, we should live in a free society where we can read whatever we like and form our own opinions. To be honest, seeing a list of banned books just makes me want to read them more. It is often said that the best way to make sure as many people as possible read something is to ban it!

In honour of this I have been reading a collection of poems by Lord Byron selected by Paul Muldoon. It is a stunning collection with some of the longer poems like Beppo, Don Juan and The Vision of Judgement interspersed with some of his shorter works. I thought Byron was the perfect author to read this week, his notorious personal life and ground breaking poems, in their time of course, have been constantly challenged and banned!

What have you all been reading for Banned Books Week? Let me know in the comments below :-)

xoxo

Blogtober!

Hello everyone,

To celebrate the month of October, one of my favourites because of Halloween, I have decided to do a writing challenge. For every day of the month of October I will be writing a blog post for you! Let me know in the comments if you want me to cover any particular topics :-)

I am also doing a bit of a spooky challenge with my reading list. My best friend and I have created the #petrifyingprose under which we will only be reading spooky stories with ghosts, witches, vampires, monsters, zombies and magic this month! For anyone who wants to join this, follow me on Instagram @gingersnaphattie and tag me in your spooky book pictures. Enjoy!

xoxo

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xoxo

An Audience with Cressida Cowell

It’s time for you all to see my slightly more nerdy side! A couple of weeks ago an old family friend invited me to go with him to an evening event at the theatre. As children we both loved the books How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, in fact I no longer owned my own copy of the first book because I gave it to him. 

When we arrived at the theatre we were greeted by little goodie bags with “I train dragons” badges, a poster of the Viking Map and a paper crown. However. it quickly dawned on us that we were the only people not accompanied by a parent…whoops! 

Despite the young age group the talk was aimed at, we thoroughly enjoyed it. Cressida read out extracts from the book and taught us some “Dragonese” (the language spoke by the dragons for those of you who haven’t read the books). She is a fantastic speaker and told us all about her childhood holidays on a remote island in the Hebrides and how these fuelled her imagination and stories of ancient Vikings and dragons. 

It was very interesting when Cressida spoke about the movies made by Dreamworks as they actually don’t follow the stories in the books. Although the basic idea of learning to be a hero the hard way and how greatness is something to be striven for, rather than a pre-wrapped gift, is the same for both formats. Cressida actually has quite a lot of sway over how the plot changes and manages to keep the characters similar to those in the books. 

One of my favourite parts of the story is the fact that she illustrates the books herself, I feel that this really helps the reader to see the characters exactly the way Cressida imagined them from the beginning. The Dreamworks team tried to stick as closely as possible to these character designs too.

The talk was really interactive and Cressida asked the audience questions and answered many at the end. Even as an adult it was a really enjoyable evening. At the end of the talk we had the added bonus of getting our books (I repurchased the first one…shush!) signed and having a photo with Cressida herself. I had never been to an author meet up before, but I will definitely be trying to go to more in the future! Let me know in the comments if you have met up with any authors recently =)

xoxo

Back to Uni

On Monday I started back at university for my 4th year, saying that makes me feel like I’ve been at uni forever! I always like to plan in advance my outfit and makeup for the first day. It’s so important to feel confident, but also comfortable when you’re going to be seeing people again after a whole summer away. I am naturally very girly and I have always felt at my most comfortable in a dress or a skirt, so that is my go-to for a first day back outfit. I also like to make a bit of a statement the first day! 

I decided to go with this gorgeous burgundy dress from Miss Selfridge, it is a bold colour, but very autumnal and feminine. The top of the dress is fitted, but at the hips it swings out to give a nice float and swish as you move around. I paired this with some thin black tights and these gorgeous black suede brogues from a small boutique in France (I have forgotten the name!). For my hair, I decided to tie back the front and top with a small black lace bow clip, to give a semi-up-do feel to my hair, out of my face but still quite casual. I went with very simple jewellery, a lovely Vivienne Westwood watch in lime green and salmon pink tones, a gold bangle linked by a thin chain to a ring and my usual array of earnings.  

For a first day back at lectures I think it is important to be fairly natural with the makeup, especially as it is still early autumn and a fresh look will show off a summer tan very well. Plus it helps with the whole casual chic aim of this look. For my face I use the Benefit How to look the best at everything kit in light as a base, minus the powder, and Clarins Everlasting Foundation + in Ivory as foundation. I then use the Benefit Flawless powder in Ivory to set my makeup. My blusher is the old Benefit Coralista, I think the current shade for this has changed and is more bronzey, mine is quite old so is more of a coral/plum tone. Around the eyes I used two gold, one light and one more intense, shades from the Ted Baker Ballerina pallet. This gives a lighter version of the traditional smokey eye and catches the light to give a subtle glow. I love the mascara I’m using at the moment, it is the My Little Beauty mascara soin et volume and it give a fabulous length and curl to my lashes. I pencil in my eyebrows very lightly, just to give a bit of shape using the Sephora long lasting brow pencil in light brown 01. I also like to use the clear L’Oreal Brow Artist Plumper gel mascara to maintain the shape throughout the day! Finally, I like to use the muted pink Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 01 to provide a nice sheen, for a natural looking lip. 

I just thought I would share my first day back outfit with you all and let me tell you, it was such a good choice, I really appreciated the comfort of the dress and flat shoes after a 9-6 day in class! One piece of advice, avoid new or uncomfortably heeled shoes in your first week as you never know how much walking you might need to do! 

What did you guys wear on your first day? Or what have you planned to wear if you haven’t gone back yet? I would love to hear about it in the comments below :-)

xoxo

Hattie enters the 21st Century

This blog post has been a long time in coming, but it's a little daunting you know, kind of like a shout into the void, you're never quite sure what response you'll get, if any really! But here I am, so go easy on me blogosphere (is it still cool to call it that?)...

I have long been someone who reads blogs and wishes I could be one of those people sat behind a computer writing witty, inspiring and fun things, so this summer I finally plucked up the courage to give it a go. 

I feel like I really should introduce myself before I get started, so here are 5 random facts about me: 

1. I have a teeny tiny (which means huge) obsession with cozy jumpers in the winter, the stranger the pattern, the better...

2. I LOVE putting cinnamon in scrambled eggs then eating them on crumpets. 

3. Purple is my favourite colour, in case you hadn't noticed. 

4. I have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy about a dozen times, I read them every exam season as a stress relief. 

5. I have known my best friend since the day I was born, and no, she isn't my twin or even related to me! 

Let me paint a picture for you, I'm just a girl sat at her desk, staring out the window and dreaming. I want my little corner of the internet to be a warm place filled with all the things that I like: beauty, cooking, books, lifestyle and nature :-) So welcome and I hope you enjoy. 

xoxo