Blackpool

When your wondering where would be great place to go on holiday with friends when you are in your 20s that is cheap, in the UK and easy to get to, what better place to go than Blackpool. Blackpool has a reputation as being a bit of a dump (to put it nicely) and I didn’t have great expectations when we booked it. I’m not going to try and defend Blackpool’s reputation here however it was a LOT better than what I thought it would be. The beaches in particular are really pretty, and there are cute donkeys!

I mean once you have accepted the fact that there you will be surrounded by amusements and a thousand seagulls, then its pretty good fun. I spent a lot of money on this trip mainly because I get addicted to slot machines but if you have the willpower that I don’t, it would be so cheap – I mean we found a pub which serves a free meal with a drink, could you get any better?

 

Future plans

I am at this weird time in my life where half my friends are getting married, buying houses and have established themselves in their career. I on the other hand currently have no solid career pathway sorted in my head and just float about the place and chill, basically.

About a year ago I applied for a volunteering project via International Citizen Service. It is a government funded program which works with charities to sent volunteers abroad to work within communities working on various projects. Once you apply you rank each charity on who you would like to work with the most. I chose Restless Development, a youth led organisation mainly tackling issues such as health promotion and employability. Once you are matched with a charity you attend a day in London where you partcipate in group work so the charity representitives are able to assess you and see if you would be suitable for helping in these projects. After the assessment day, the charity email to say whether you have been successful or not.

I was lucky enough to be successful and passed the medical clearance. I’ve been placed in South Africa in the Eastern Cape region. The projects which are carried out here are mainly to do with the very low youth employment rate and the very high rates of HIV/AIDs. Because it is a government funded project, flights, accommodation and living expenses are all covered whilst I am out there however, the charity recommend each volunteer raises £800 to donate to the projects in these poor communities.

I wanted to write this post incase anyone wanted to know more about what I will be getting up to or wanted to donate any money to the projects via my just giving page which I will link below. Any donations large or small would be greatly appreciated and would help these communities greatly. Thank you to those who donate.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alice-jonesics

Tuesday Bake Off

So after receiving some fantastic news about my Masters results I thought a celebratory bakathon was in order. I never really bake properly unless I am at home so luck had it that I was at home when I received the news. I decided upon Macarons and turmeric antioxidant bites (which wasn’t really baking as they were so simple).

Firstly I made the macarons which were actually surprisingly uncomplicated. I followed the BBC recipe which tasted brilliant. I had a macarons mould which held about 25 but because I had so much mixture I had some freehand ones aswell. The freehand ones were massive (as you can tell by the picture). I didn’t make the filling used in the BBC recipe, instead I just made some raspberry butter icing for the middle. I don’t know why I have been so scared to make macarons before but at least thats one fear conquered.

The turmeric balls were literally the easiest thing ever to made and took about 5 seconds. I used a recipe which was in The Simple Things magazine October edition. I basically mixed turmeric, honey and ground almonds together then made chickpea sized balls with the mixture, coated them in ground almonds and left in the fridge. You are meant to take 1-2 per day. I wanted to make these because my skin has been so dry of late and apparently turmeric does wonders to the skin so we will see.

The macarons and the turmeric bites were both washed down with a cup of tea after a nice crisp autumnal dog walk. What a brill day off work.

 

21st Birthday

My sister finally turned 21 last Saturday.  She clearly had been waiting for it for months and the day finally arrived. It was a pretty chilled out day – opening presents, eating cake and having a meal out.

The cake was unreal. We bought it from a bakery near my flat called Sugar Daddies. It was deathly sweet but really yummy. And it looked amazing.

My granny came over from Ireland to join in the celebrations. Dinner out was amazing. We booked a table at Wedgwood just off the Royal Mile. It was such a nice restaurant, with lovely attentive staff and delicious food.

They had a very extensive menu and wine list. Not too much choice for veggies but what the did have sounded so good. I got the Isle of Mull Cheddar and onion bread and butter pudding starter followed by the Basil and Ricotta rotolo. I couldn’t even stomach a desert because I was so full but my mum had the Scottish berries.

I would recommend a visit if you are wanting a nice special meal out. WARNING: it is pricey!