Lifestyle // Fortnightly Round Up #4

October 15, 2018

Time for another instalment of the Fortnightly Round Up

In the last two weeks I’ve been on more work trips, celebrated Curly’s birthday, had lots of Harry Potter magic, a lot of pampering and finally introduced Andy to my family. Let’s go.

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Curly’s Birthday and Meeting the Parents 

It was Curly’s birthday on the 6th October so of course I went to visit the old bear! I decided it was finally time my parents met Andy so he came as well and no surprises they all bloody loved each other! 

My dad’s an absolute legend, so I always love buying him presents. This year I got him some chocolates, the new Cormoran Strike book and – dad classic – some new socks which he was well chuffed with so job well done!

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Curly’s Birthday Lunch

The four of us went out for lunch for Curly’s birthday, heading to a lovely Italian near their house. Andy and I shared a mushroom bruschetta topped with a poached egg and parmesan shavings and Rockefeller Rock Oysters with a butter and parsley sauce to start. We then moved on to split a Rack of Lamb with mashed potato and buttered veg and Surf and Turf with lobster tails and fillet steak.

It was all really good, but the lamb was definitely the star of the show – so delicious and perfectly cooked. We were *almost* too full to eat some of Sue’s homemade mocha cake when we got home. Almost. 

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Booked tickets to the Harry Potter Studio Tour – Dark Arts

I’ve been feeling a little bit antsy that I haven’t been to the Harry Potter Studio Tour this year – yes it is necessary to go every year – so I persuaded Andy that visiting for Halloween was essential.

I’ve never been to the Dark Arts event before and I’m beyond excited to see the Great Hall bedecked with pumpkins ready for the Halloween Feast. 

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Work Trip to the University of Kent

Another week another work event! This time I headed down to Canterbury to the University of Kent. Whilst I literally just got off a train, walked down the street and got a bus to campus, I was in awe of how pretty and quaint everywhere looked. I’ll definitely be back for a day trip to explore properly soon.

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Work Content Creation Competition

I work for a large travel company and they recently launched an internal content creation competition. There were four categories – photography, writing, social media and videography – with some great prizes available including a camera, money to spend on flights and even trip to Japan. Fingers crossed! 

Even if I don’t win it was really fun to enter and I submitted a photo essay with pictures from my trip to Iceland and a blog about my volunteering trip to South Africa last year. Will keep you posted.

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Harry Potter Primark Haul

Partly in celebration of booking Dark Arts, partly because I was so damn excited by the new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (and partly because I’m just so damn cool) I paid a little visit to the Harry Potter section of Primark Tottenham Court Road.

I was actually very restrained – thank you very much – and came out with just this beautiful vintage Hufflepuff scarf (£8) reminiscent of Newt Scamander’s which I will definitely be wearing to the tour in November. I also picked up this Hogwarts mug for £1 in the sale and these cute Hufflepuff cosy socks (£3) which are oh so soft. It would have been rude not to.

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Friday Night Dinner with the Girls – Jalisco in Brixton

More food! The girls and I went out for dinner in Brixton on Friday. They’d not explored Brixton much before so it was nice to show them around my neighbourhood and we had a really nice time catching up.

We headed to my fave Latin American place in Brixton VillageJalisco. I had the spicy chicken quesadilla which was as good as normal – just the right level of spice, all the cheesy, crispy goodness and extra guac to smother all over it. You wouldn’t guess I’ve got to be in a swimming costume next week would you?!

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Getting Holiday Ready 

Talking of being holiday ready – I’ve been in that slightly frantic pre-holiday mania stage this last week. Not only have I been trying to get everything tied up at work, but I’ve had my nails done, got my brows done and had a haircut. You can’t beat a little pamper! 

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M&S Opticians* 

I was kindly invited down to M&S to try out their new Opticians service. I’ve got a full review coming soon, but I was so impressed with the service I received, it was definitely the most thorough eye test I’ve ever had and their new range of frames is stunning. Thanks guys!

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A bit of a slower paced fortnight than normal, but it’s about to be a BIG ONE – as we’re finally off to India this fortnight. I still can’t quite believe we’re really going, but I’m so excited for such an adventure. 

I’ll be updating my Instagram while I’m there so check that out to see what we’re up to – @emsypickle

Any last minute tips for Jaipur, Delhi or Agra before we go?

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*Thanks so much to M&S Opticians for inviting me to try out their new eye test service. All thoughts are honest and my own. For more information please see my Disclaimer Page.

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I’m Emma – or Emsypickle!

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I live in Brixton in London. I eat out far too much, am always planning my next trip and have a borderline unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter.

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