Jamie Noms Through Christmas | Costa Coffee Festive Menu 2019

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new post, and, welcome to the start of my little miniseries, where I'll literally be talking about Christmas Food from well known and well loved places on the high street. Today, I thought that I would start the miniseries off with the good old comforting Costa Coffee.

Black Forest Hot Chocolate

I have loved the Black Forest Hot Chocolate from Costa for many years now, so I was a bit shocked on when I found out that it had slightly changed this year. In the past few years, it has come with a Blackcurrant and Raspberry sauce, which has always made the drink exceptional. This year, however, Costa have decided to go for Cherry. I get that it is more original for a Black Forest based hot drink, but, I love the old version, because well familiarity. Saying that, I did love this version. I had it both to drink in and to take out. I preferred the drink in as I could probably stir it to make sure the Cherry dispersed evenly instead of just in certain spaces in the drink. The sharpness of the Cherry works quite well with the richness of the Chocolate. In fact, I would love more sharpness just to really make it contrasting. I think that this is a great option for those who like a bit of fruitless to their Hot Chocolates.

A picture of the Black Forest Hot Chocolate and the Hazelnut Praline and Cream Latte

Praline and Cream Latte

Oooh I do love a good sweet nut in my creamy Latte! I love the sweetness of the Latte against the sort of toasty warmth of the nuts that are in this drink. If you love a well known Christmas Nut flavoured Coffee drink from an American based Coffee chain at this time of year, then you will love this! I do think that it could do with something textural on top maybe, but that's just my opinion. It does come with wafer pieces, but they do end up soaked by the drink really quickly. This is also available cold in the form of a Frostiino too, for when you're feeling a bit warm and flustered in the adventure pf shopping during the festive period.

irish Velvet Hot Chocolate

Okay, so this is kind of amazing, and, I get why its the main drink on Costa's Christmas Menu this year. imagine, well, Baileys but in non alcoholic form. Sweet and creamy, with a slight kick of coffee flavour infused into a hot chocolate. I could drink and bathe in this all year around. Again, I do think that it needs a tad more texture on the top. I know that I sound crazy for saying this about drinks, but, you're paying for everything when it comes to coffee shop drinks, so if im investing my money into a Festive only drink, I want it to be so good/something that hits every spot, that it makes me think about it all year round. I mean, this already does but I would be writing emails to Costa every day if it had just a tad more texture on top of the whipped cream. Maybe something crispy and to do with Irish coffee, maybe Chocolate coated Espresso Beans? Who knows!

A picture of the Irish Velvet and Cream Hot Chocolate and a Terry's Chocolate Orange Muffin

Terrys Chocolate Orange Muffin

This Muffin is brand new for 2019, and, it is amazing. Sadly, you can't whack it to release its chocolate orange flavour, as that would make your sweet treat end up in a squidgy mess on the floor. The muffin is made up of a thick Chocolate Orange segment, which is sat on top of some thick Chocolate frosting, which is on top of a Chocolate Orange muffin which contains pieces of Terry's Chocolate Orange and a Chocolate-y Orange based goo in the middle. The bits of Chocolate Orange and the decorative segment on the top, make for such a textural contrast between the free flowing goo, the crumbly sweet muffin itself, and, the thick even sweeter frosting. As there is a fair amount of sweet going on, in terms of taste, it means that I love the Orange kick even more than I would normally as it just stops it from all being too sickly. Terry's Chocolate Orange as a whole makes me think of Christmas, especially the Popping Candy ones, that you can only get at Christmas time in pouch form.

Have you tried any of the above from the Costa Festive 2019 Menu? Have you tried any of the other products that I haven't mentioned, such as the Christmas Tea, or any of the food? Would you like me to try any of the other items within this menu? Let me know down below! 

Check out Costa Coffee to see what else is on their menu, including their Dairy Alternatives, which are all free this Festive period!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Going For A Leisurely Walk For Fun | Bradford Leisure Exchange Bloggers Night (Gifted)

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I was invited to check out the Leisure Exchange in Bradford, via, their Bloggers Night and I thought that, I would talk to you all about what happened at it today.

Before the event, I arrived in Bradford after coming from Leeds after doing some University based work. I met up with Luke, and, as I had some time to kill. We decided to go to Costa to try some of their new Festive products, as I am creating some posts about Festive Food that is on the high street. We made our way to Costa and decided on getting, Irish Velvet Hot Chocolates and a Terrys Chocolate Orange Muffin to share. If you want to know my opinion on the above, then stay tuned for my Costa Coffee Festive Menu blog post.

After trying these products, we made our way up to the lovely Leisure Exchange. When we got there, we met with the lovely PR member of staff, Laurissa, who had made the night possible. We started off the adventure around the wonderful complex, at, Nando's. Most of you will know what Nando's is, but for those of you that don't. They sell Portuguese food and focus mainly on the Peri Peri phenomenon that has now become a staple in most of the worlds, and, especially England's cuisine repertoire. We decided to stick with non-alcoholic drinks for most of the night, so myself and Luke decided to have a Coke. As we were only having starters at Nando's, I decided to go for the Halloumi, whereas Luke decided to go for Hummus and Pitta, due to not liking most Cheese's unless they are melted.

I love Halloumi, yes it is squeaky, but it is so delicious, and it definitely didn't undeliver when I had it at Nando's at the Bloggers Event. I could;d eat Halloumi all day and all night! It came with some Chilli Jam, which cut through a lot of the creaminess of the Cheese and added a bit of freshness to the Halloumi. I could have this dip on absolutely everything!

After chatting for some time and finding out about some of the other events that Laurissa is helping to create, we decided to move on to the next location. (If you're in Manchester then I urge you to check out, Lightopia at Heaton Park. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet due to Uni, but I can't wait to see all of the amazing lights, the next time I'm in Manchester!)

The next location that we headed to was, Pizza Hut. I honestly couldn't wait. I realise that sounds so weird, but I physically haven't had Pizza Hut in years so I was looking very forward to it! We wandered in and sat at a beautiful table. Again, as we weren't drinking loads, especially as I had University in the morning, myself and Luke decided to get Pepsi's. Pizza Hut, are doing a Christmas Deal where you get a drink, a starter, a pizza and salad for £15, so I decided to get that as it sounded amazing!

I started off with Jack 'N' Rolls, which are completely Vegan. These contain, Sweet Chilli, BBQ Jackfruit and Vegan Cheese. I loved these, but honestly thought that they were going to be more of a crispy Spring Roll rather than a Pizza Roll sort of thing. I loved the Jackfruit and I loved the Cheese. These are a perfect light bite to start a meal off with.

After the starter, I had decided to go for a Cheese Stuffed Crust Texas Meat Meltown. This contains, Spicy Pork, Chorizo, Chicken Breast, Pepperoni and a BBQ Sauce Base. First of all, Cheesy Stuffed Crust is always the best way to go when it comes to Pizza. I did order this just from the title alone, so, I was surprised when I actually bit into it. I wasn't expecting that much spice, but I love the spice from Chorizo so I knew that it was a familiar spice when I tried it. I love anything with a lot of meat, and oh honey, Pizza Hut didn't let me down as this was crammed with juicy meat galore! If you want to find out what Luke had from Pizza Hut, then, make sure to check out his postQ!

Sadly, we were approaching our final stop! We then went to Hollywood Bowl, to enjoy a spot of bowling. I love bowling, but I have to have the bumpers up, because, well, I suck at bowling without them. We enjoyed a game of bowling, which involved Luke nearly wrecking the lane, in true Luke style. I got a couple of spares and I think a strike at one point! During the game, I had a cocktail. This cocktail was called, Strike (For some reason, the website won't work, but I remember that it had Passion Fruit and Vodka in. I mean I love both, so I knew that I was going to love it!) it was also neon Green which looked awesome under the light within the bowling alley. I also received some Nachos during the game, but, honestly I was full from all of the other food so I didn't have that much of the Nachos. I didn't win but I did have an amazing time!

Check out Bradford Leisure Exchange! Have you ever been? If so, then let me know about your experiences there in the comments section down below!

I hope that you have enjoyed this post! Thanks to the staff at Nando's, Pizza Hut and Hollywood Bowl for having us, and, thanks to Laurissa for inviting us to an amazing event!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This post was in return of free food and bowling at Leisure Exchange. All views, opinions and ramblings are my own. 

The Finale | Lush Christmas Range 2019 First Impressions : Everything Else

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new post! I thought that today, I would talk about the final part of the Lush Christmas Range, and, the last part of my first impressions mini-series. This post is all about the rest of the Lush Christmas 2019 range that isn't Bath or Shower orientated.

Body Lotions:

These come in both Liquid, and, Naked form. I've decided to talk about the products themselves as there isn't a lot of difference within Liquid and Naked versions, but, if you wanted more of a post where I compare the Liquid, against, the Naked versions of products, then do let me know. 

Snowflake

This is a weird one. The texture is amazing. It's thick and creamy. It's the perfect texture for a cream that is made for the colder months. The scent is a weird one. It's very Almond based on the ingredients but I get carpet shop and Lemons when I smell this.

Once Upon A Time

This Body Lotion is based on a very well known Princess biting an Apple. This lotion does have a slight Crisp Apple scent to it, but I get more Baby Powder with a spritz of Apple when using this product. It is very moisturising, as, I tried a bit on my ear (as I've been stretching it for a while so it gets dry often), and, it was still soft and moisturised at the end of the day!

Massage Bars:

Let It Glow

I love Snow Fairy and I love Shimmer so this is amazing. My only problem is that its really small, compared to the rest of the Massage/Sparkle Bars that I've tried before.

Let It Snow

I don't mind this but its Twilight and im not the biggest fan of Twilight. I used a little bottle of Twilight Shower Gel (before it became Sleepy), and, by the end I never wanted to see anything Twilight based again. This is a tad sweeter than the Twilight range and has a good amount of sparkle to it.

Dusting Powders:

Sleepy Dust

Do we really need any more Sleepy products? I love the concept of this. It would be amazing for say a child, post bath, on Christmas Eve to get them to sleep before Santa comes...

Fairy Dust

This has a lot of Shimmer to it and I love that. Its Snow Fairy, and I think that it is a great way to finish off a Snow Fairy scented day. I would also keep it around for parties, as it will get everyone talking about you when the light catches your skin and the shimmer!

Face Masks:

Rudolph Jelly Mask

If you like Chocolate then this Face Mask is for you. When you open the tub, you get a massive whip of Chocolate. I've used the one from last year, it has a touch of Orange to it when you lather it up to smear it on your face. I also find it super moisturising which is great for this time of year, as, its slightly getting Volder by the day!

Lip Scrubs:

Galaxy

I love this Lip Scrub! Its super scrubbery and colourful. The Galaxy Scrub, looks like a literal galaxy. It tastes even better than it looks as Galaxy has a Blue Raspberry taste to it. I hope that Lush bring out more products under this scent!

Toothpaste Jelly:

Candy Cane

When I see anything Candy Cane, I forever want to shout, 'Four for you, Glen Coco! You go Glen Coco! Oh, and, none for Gretchen Weiners, bye.' I'm not sure about this one as I've never used a jelly for a mouth product before. I think its one of those, that I would, slowly grow to love the more I use it. It has a very spicy fresh Mint taste to it which would instantly help to wake anyone up first thing in the morning!

Fragrances:

Yog Nog

I love this Spray! It has a very creamy sort of donut smell at the beginning, but when you leave it on the skin to settle, it slowly changes into the Spicy, Toffee-esque scent that we have all learnt to love. I think that this one is definitely made for Cold Days, as, its one of those cosy warming based scents!

Celebrate

This one is just made for Christmas Parties! If you love the Golden Wonder scent, then you will definitely love this Spray! The first sort of note that I got from the spray was, the Cognac, that fizzy rich sort of note, but when you leave it to settle, it becomes one of the best sprays in the world! It settles down into a uplifting and spritzy Orange and Lime scent which is made for those days when you want to feel happy and ready for anything to come your way!

Snow Fairy

All of these scents will make anyone that comes near you wonder and ask you what are you wearing. Saying that, if you want someone to know that you're wearing Lush, then this scent will do that. Creamy and sweet makes up the first sort of note, and, then after a while, the pear sort of note within Snow Fairy comes out a little bit more.

Check out the Bath part of this range post. Check out the Shower part o this range post.

Have you bought or tried any of the products within either three of these posts? Let me know down below! I hope that you've enjoyed this min series of First Impressions. I hope to see you next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x