Goodbye Blogger

There comes a time in every bloggers life where they just move on, they get itchy feet, look for something bigger, they want to spend money they don't have to move from a free hosting site to one that charges money. Why you might ask, why?

Well I don't have the answer to that, but it is something that just happened to me!

So this is not a goodbye, it's just a "I'll see you on Wordpress"

I couldn't be bothered with all that transfering of data so this blog is staying where it is so I can visit every now and again but for all my new stuff (there isn't much to see at the moment) get your arse over to the all new

Tantrumsandglitter.com 

Prezzo

I don't go out to restaurants very often, mostly just special occasions. If I'm honest, when I have the money and want to treat us all I much prefer to just get a takeaway and enjoy it in the comfort of my own home! With Jasmin pestering me to take her to Prezzo (she loves Italian and Mexican food) and a Tastecard burning a hole in my purse I thought it was about time we had a meal out for a change.

After an afternoon of shopping in Bromley we caught the bus down the road to Beckenham.

On entering the restaurant I was surprised at how large and spacious it was. Split onto two levels, it was very light and airy and modern looking.
The restaurant was quite empty with only a handful of other diners in attendance but I suppose being a weekday afternoon it is not likely to be bustling.

The waitress that served us was lovely and we ordered our food and drink within a few minutes of being seated. The food arrived promptly and looked very appetizing.

For starters Jasmin ordered the king prawns in a pomodoro sauce and I ordered the crab cakes with a garlic mayo. Both starters were delicious and I could of actually ordered another lot of crab cakes to go with my main course...I didn't!

For the main course Jasmin had the Penne Arrabbiata Which tasted lovely and was very filling. I was a bit disappointed with the choice of pizzas as I am quite picky with my toppings and usually go for something with chicken. I was not too keen on their options so chose the classic Margherita. The pizza was really big and covered the whole plate but was nothing to write home about taste wise. After a while it got quite hard to eat as it was so dry but I suppose you cant expect too much when you order the basic Margherita and it didn't stop me eating the whole thing!

We would have loved to of sampled the desserts but was just too full after stuffing our faces so maybe a trip back is in order!

Overall it was a pleasant experience and we left feeling full.

Prezzo offers 2 for 1(excluding drinks) for up to 2 people on the tastecard all week except Friday and Saturday. We did not need to book in advance, I just informed the waitress when I arrived. The total bill for two drinks, starters and mains was just over £20

I quite liked doing a restaurant review, I just felt a bit self conscious taking photos of all the food when it arrived and nobody was even looking, imagine how I would feel if it was full up! Anyway I am hoping to use my Tastecard more often so if you have any recommendations then drop me a comment!

Summer book delivery

Flicking through the latest Book People leaflet I noticed loads of great value sets that I wanted to get the kids to keep them (and myself) occupied over summer. The Book People's books can be highly discounted and they are always bringing out new ranges which is why I often cannot stop myself from buying more and more!

Coming home to a new delivery always gets me excited especially when it has all these goodies inside...

My youngest son is just getting into action novels and was eager to start The Maze Runner collection so hopefully that will keep his evenings busy. I doubt very much I will get through 10 novels but for £4.99 for the whole collection I couldn't not order them, I'm sure eventually I will read them all!

My daughter loves YouTube and is a keen crafter so if she gets bored of watching Alfie and Zoella, she can just read about them instead, or make something with some fabulous fun tape.

I am not sure who is more excited about the Querkles and the Dot to Dots, we have all had a turn and I am amazed at the outcome! They actually take a lot longer than I expected to complete but I suppose that means I just get peace and quiet for a bit longer.

It cost me just over £25 for 17 books which I think is a bargain, although I still have loads of other sets that I have my eye on!

What are you reading over the summer?

Hastings

Last week myself, a few friends and the kids took a day trip to Hastings. We were very fortunate that we chose a day that had really good weather as both the previous and next days were pouring with rain and probably would have ruined our fun!

I hadn't been to Hasting since I was at school and learning about the battle of Hastings in History class but I had some expectations of there being really sandy beaches, not sure where I got that idea because as far as I could see the whole beach was just covered in stones! We didn't let the stones bother us, it was not sunny enough to be laying around sunbathing and there were so many other things to do anyway.

We started off with a ride on the Go carts (the kids, not me) they felt very grown up with the helmets and petrol race cars although I thought the price at £10 each was pretty steep considering they only had about 5 laps around the short course.

A short walk up from the Go carts is the funfair, it is no Thorpe park but there are a fair few rides. I would say it is mostly aimed at younger children. The fair runs on a token system and they cost £20 for 40 tokens which is pretty reasonable considering each ride is around 3 tokens each. The tokens can also be used on the the lake to take a ride in the swan boats.

After tiring ourselves at out at the fair we enjoyed a meal from one of the many chip shops along the seafront, with the seagulls flying over us looking for their lunch. We then spent quite a bit of time (and 2ps) in the arcades winning lots of tat that we didn't need but it is my favourite thing to do!

We couldn't take a trip to the seaside without having a little paddle in the sea so before going home we enjoyed the views and the weather while the kids got their shoes off and went for a dip.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and would definitely go back, although next time we would leave the bucket and spade at home! 

How I lost 16lb and gained £60

Over the years I have slowly gained weight, so slowly that I didn't even notice it was happening! I was bumping into people that I hadn't seen for years and they would always say 'You're looking really healthy' or 'you've gained weight, but it suits you' and it has never bothered me because to be honest I do believe that everyone has a weight that suits them. I think I do look a lot healthier than when I was a size 8 but it is more than just how you look.

My regular clothes size is a 12 and I am quite happy as a 12 but I noticed that my 12 was becoming a little too snug and flesh was starting to hang over the top of my jeans, everything felt like it was being released when I got undressed, like I have been holding it hostage all day. So I decided to weigh myself!

At nearly 11st it dawned on me that I weighed more than I did when I was nine and a half months pregnant with my first child (he was two weeks overdue) and thought it was time I got myself into shape.

Well this was a couple of years ago and it is easier said than done isn't it? I found it pretty difficult to give up eating anything so I signed up for a 5k superhero race in the hope that training would help me drop the pounds. It did for the time it lasted but after the race I lost all motivation and stopped running. My aim was to get to 9 and a half stone and I have even put it on my bucketlist as a reminder to keep trying.

In January I decided to join the health-club at work, its been running for a few years but as I only work part-time I have never got involved before. The health-club is run by one of the teaching assistants who also happens to be a qualified zumba instructor and she started it to encourage us to live healthier lifestyles and achieve our weight-loss goals.

How the health-club works

It runs between January and July and is great for all those with new years resolutions to lose weight or be healthier. We had 16 members and held weekly weigh in sessions on a Friday morning. We each set a weight loss goal that we would like to reach (and maintain) by July. There started off with 16 members and every Friday we would pay £1 while being weighed. Our weightloss was tracked to see how much we lost and it would be a big talking point in the staffroom by lunchtime to see who had lost (or gained) the most.
All the money was put in to a kitty and saved to use as prizes for the participants that had lost the most. Over the weeks there were members that were not seeing changes and dropped out but for those of us who had lost a few pounds it was great to compete against each other and the prize money was a great motivation to keep going.
I didn't want to go on any fad diets and lose loads of weight only to put it back on again by the end of the challenge so I decided to make healthier choices, cut down my portion sizes and do some more aerobic exercises that would get my heart pumping. It can be a bit disheartening when you don't see massive changes or even when there are weeks that you stay the same or put a pound back on but perseverance is a great thing and the challenge of competing against others and reaching an end goal really kept me going.

And the winner is....

Not me, but I did come second and got myself £60 worth of Debenhams vouchers as a prize, but even better than that I don't have to squeeze myself into my size 12 jeans anymore! I lost 16lb altogether and was just 1lb away from my target of nine and a half stone, this was a couple of weeks ago and I am pleased to say that I have kept the weight off and according to my scales I am now 9st 7lb!!

There are no massively different 'before and after' pics because I don't think I particularly look much different but I do feel better and that is the main thing, I am now happy with my weight but would love to tone up a bit more so that is my new challenge (I love a challenge I do) over summer.

The healthclub was a great motivator for me and can be set up by anybody (you dont even have to be a zumba instructor) in any workplace or setting that has a large group that would like to join in. It would be great to do between August and December as the prize money could help towards Christmas (sorry to mention the C word) so if you have a target why not go for it!

Now I just have to decide what to spend my vouchers on...