The Bertinet Bakery & Bath shopping

There's nothing I like more than a shopping trip in my favourite city, on a summer's day Bath is just beautiful. We pottered around all our favourite shops, did a bit of bridesmaid shopping , had lunch and of course finished off the trip with a salted caramel brownie from our favourite place in Bath, The Bertinet Bakery.

We of course popped into LUSH, which may I say is the biggest LUSH I have ever been in. The bonus of Bath having such a huge store was that we weren't all suffocating around the bath bomb section, there was so much space and much more variety than my local lush store, they even sold makeup! 

I didn't want to disappoint but I didn't take a picture of my brownie this time around, but instead the beautiful bakery itself. Not your generic bakery, but built in one of baths old tunnels, its tall ceilings with dangling lights accompany the cosy seating and large windows for people watching. They serve your coffee in takeaway cups with old fashioned milk bottles and cake with paper plates, its quaint, simple and beautiful I LOVE it. 

We finished they day by visiting a beautiful flower stool on Walcot St, the flowers looked amazing in the sun and I couldn't resist a photo.

 The famous Bertinet Bakery ^^

Have you been to Bath? What do you LOVE about it?

Good morning !

Morning all, it's 8.30 AM and I have already been up for two hours, been to the gym, had breakfast and showered! Result. I am off to Bath today for a girly day with family, the best kind of day. At present, it even looks like the sun may be peeking out of the clouds for us, which brings my so far productive day to a halt, what do I wear!? I hope I'm not the only person who currently has this daily struggle. With the weather being so unpredictable I have ended up wearing knitwear in 20+ degrees and shorts in the rain! They have promised us a heat wave in August, were almost there so I think I'll be optimistic and opt for a more summery outfit. 

We are still without WIFI  at the house, which as well as me being off work at the moment has contributed to a massive lack of blogging. I've been super busy - what can I say?

To see what I've been up to on my time off work, take a look at my Instagram or Twitter @Fairybumpkin

Have a great day:-)

What I've been eating on Instagram!

                                                                     

From top to bottom

Picture 1. We had dinner at The Mezze in our local town before the theatre, I love eating here as you get to sample a bit of everything and it is truly tasty!

Picture 2 & 3. Liam's burger at The Burger Joint and their incredible menu. You completely customise your own burger, the lunch offer includes a side and a drink - Warning - the sides are Humongous!

Picture 4. Nibbles with Sammy & Kate at The Grain Barge in Bristol, I thought I was getting a small side of bread and olives as you can see I got a very large portion but perfect for sharing! Their home made hummus was delightful!

Picture 5. I was experimenting with Avacado, which I have never really liked, but for the health benefit gave it another go. On top of some wholemeal toast topped with an egg I really enjoyed it!

Picture 6. Cauliflower rice, my new favourite side dish, it tastes just as yummy as rice, with less carbs and bloating. I added lentils and spinach it was really tasty!

Picture 7. We had a naughty treat at TGI Fridays, this was their Hot dog with pulled pork, I loved how it was served, but couldn't manage the chips once I had reached the bottom!

Picture 8. Hobbs House Bakery Eccles cake. We stopped off at a service station on the way to West Midlands Safari park and I couldn't resist a pastry from one of my favourite bakers!

Picture 9. Home made fudge - need I say more. I didn't buy any unfortunately but it looked lovely!

Picture 10. Yummy Nando's Mediterranean Salad, with plenty of feta and olives! We had a side of their new sweet potato wedges also, they were amazing!

:)

West Midlands Safari Park

I had such a great day at West Midland's Safari Park recently, I had to share some of my favourite pictures! If you haven't been before, you should definitely go as it is well worth a visit.

- Featuring my best friends :) 

 The new Dinosaur area!

 Bambi <3

 Don't forget to buy some feed for the animals on your way in, you can feed the Giraffe's and Zebras! Keep your hand out of the window though, as some can be a bit cheeky and stick their head right into your window... As we found out the hard way!

 My favourite The Giraffes

Had to put this on, it made me laugh :)

For more information about West Midland Safari Park check out their website!

www.wmsp.co.uk

:)

Summer reading list...

Over the last year or so I have fallen back in love with reading. For years I found it hard to find a genre and style of book that would keep me gripped and interested right to the end. I started by searching in charity shops for books as I didn’t want to spend a lot on a book I was never going to finish! Over the last year I’ve read a number of really great books and I’m so glad I got back into reading as I find it so relaxing.

I’m currently reading ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls; it is based on two people Emma and Dexter. The story tells of the same date every year, year after year and follows both their lives. I’m yet to finish this book, but I am really enjoying it!

I decided to write a summer reading lists of books I would like to get to read over the summer! There’s nothing better than sitting in the garden on a sunny day or grabbing a picnic and sitting somewhere quiet and serene to read! I thought I would share with you the books on the top of my list to read this summer!

The Great Gatsby

 In my younger and more venerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

Set in the roaring 20’s, which I love, I think this book will trump the film.

The Hobbit

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

 I have always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it makes sense to read The Hobbit first and I love the films so I’m sure the books will be amazing.

To Kill a Mockingbird

When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. 

 I have not read this book since I was in school! I remember really enjoying this book so if I get the chance it would be great to pick up a copy and read it again.

Are there any books you would recommend?

What are you reading over summer?

How to D.I.Y Wedding invites & Save the Dates

One of my favourite parts of the wedding prep was making our Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations. Now we have, hopefully, sent all of them out to our guests I can share how I made them, where I purchased various things and any helpful hints and tips I found useful along the way. 

We started by going on Pinterest and trying to get a theme for both the save the date and the invite. We pinned hundreds of different styles, Black and white, Country, Gatsby theme , I really loved using Pinterest for this as you could have something really original and fun. 

Save the dates

We decided we liked the idea of a save the date stamp, this meant getting a PDF stamp made and buying card and ink and hand stamping our save the dates. I love making things by hand and this was so easy. We ordered our save the date stamp on Etsy.com, we also used their website for our invites! Once we had ordered and given the details of our wedding, names, date etc our stamp was created and sent within 3 weeks, we brought our ink and card and off we went! Within an hour I had stamped away and made all our save the dates! This was really inexpensive, fun and personal we loved them! 

Wedding Invitation

As I did with the save the dates, I pinned away until we found the kind of design we were looking for. We also used a company from Etsy.com, we just loved how simple it was, you can virtually scroll through and they make your wedding invite from the template you have chosen. We chose to have ours as a PDF and print it out ourselves but they do give you the option to have them printed professionally, possibly the easier option, but hey I like a challenge. This is where I reeled in the bridesmaids, I think they thought they just got to parade around in a pretty dress, oh no! We spent several hours, maybe even days cutting and sticking until our hands were sore, but finally finished them. We were so pleased with the results and everyone said how ‘us’ they were! I had to say I hope they were ‘us’ after the tedious hours we spent cutting and sticking. Although doing it this way was a bit stressful we saved a lot of money doing them ourselves, but still had the quality we wanted! 

Best resources for D.I.Y invites

Pinterest – Obviously

Etsy – If not for purchasing, for great inspiration and ideas. I love their website and will definitely be using them again for other bits for the wedding!

Hobbycraft – For your card, ink, glue, scissors, glitter or anything else you might want for decoration

The Range – I used the range for things I couldn’t find in Hobbycraft

Friends, Family & the Hubby to be – Most of your friends and family will be more than happy to get stuck in and help! Don’t let your future hubby get away with not getting involved, the ‘I might ruin them’ doesn’t cut it!

Have you made your invites? What has been your favourite part of your wedding planning!? 

We went to the Zoo...

In what was some of the hottest temperatures the UK had seen in years, we decided to go to the Zoo! Who needs to go abroad!? Instead of moping about because we weren't going on holiday, we took the week to enjoy some of the sun and enjoy our local area on some little day trips.

As a child I was never a fan of the zoo, I thought caging animals was cruel and the conditions they were forced to live in were just horrible. Thankfully, Zoos have a whole new image nowadays; they concentrate more on the conservation and reproduction of animals, educating people and fundraising. As well as trying to let animals live in the most natural environment as possible, they also have projects in over 15 countries in the world, helping to save wildlife with local communities. 

We had a great day at Bristol Zoo, as well as visiting the animals; we had a picnic in their lovely gardens. Here’s what we got up to…

 Thanks Bristol Zoo!