We've got some news... | Granite City Baby

Speculations of my untimely demise have undoubtedly crossed the minds of a few, rumors circulating I'd run off and joined the circus had perhaps even done the rounds. Or maybe some of you guessed right and I've just been taking some time off to celebrate and plan for some very big changes coming to the Adams house this year...

Guys...this time...it isn't just a food baby!

Yes, I'm pregnant, I've quite recently crossed over into my second trimester, which means our baby will be due to arrive on (well around) the 25th of July 2017 (fashionably late like their Mum I'm sure or you know...just busy sleeping like their Dad)

We are of course elated, feeling so full of love and understandably also pretty terrified but mostly just very excited to be extending our family.

If you guys are at all interested in reading pregnancy updates, hearing about my first trimester symptoms (sickness and headaches if you need the jist), baby hauls (because the clothes - oh my god I'm excited) or just about my general experiences as I enter this new phase of life be sure to leave a comment below, come chat to me on Twitter and of course you can see regular updates on Instagram and Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, 

H.Elizabeth (and the bump)

Happy Anniversary Mum & Dad

Just a quick soppy little post to say a big happy anniversary to my mum and dad who have been happily married 21 years today, if Nick and I are half as happy as you in 20 years time we'll count ourselves lucky, Ross and Rachel ain't got nothing on these two let me tell you! Unfortunately as they are quite camera shy (unlike me!) and I couldn't snap a picture of the two before this blessed day despite my best efforts. But hey just you wait until next year!

Continue to enjoy your 'happily ever after' and live long and prosper.

Love Hannah, Nick and Marble x

Our Paris Adventures | Bateaux Parisiens Dinner Cruise

Today ladies and gents (upon my return) I would like to share a little snapshot of our recent (and first ever) trip to Paris for our honeymoon in May as this is something I would like to rave about due to our inexplicably positive and amazing experience with this company and the fabulous value for money we received during our journey and that is with Bateaux Parisiens river cruises.

Back when we were booking our trip to Paris I distinctly remember being incredibly indecisive when it came to activities for the week ahead, but having said that I knew exactly what I didn't want. I didn't want a guided tour exploring the histories of the city (sorry sometimes I am an uncultured sod) as I felt that would waste a great deal of our already short time in the city, I didn't want to have to keep up with a group of snap happy tourists and I definitely didn't want to have mandatory viewings, I was in Paris to relax and enjoy time with my new (ish) husband none of which involved my fellow tourist, so when I came across glowing reviews for a dinner cruise company named Bateaux Parisiens I was instantly sold.

The cruise promised viewing of almost all of the main attractions of Paris (including the Eiffel Tower - where the boat departs - Notre Dame and the Love Lock Bridge) complete with a 3 course French dining experience (including wine) as well as professional photography on board during your trip. There are a number of different times and options for your cruise, for example a lunch cruise, which is shorter and slightly less expensive, a late evening cruise (which is more expensive) but we decided as we were doing this as our last hoorah in Paris we would go for the 6pm dinner cruise which lasted approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. The entire experience only cost us 164E which also guaranteed a window table, needless to say I had anticipated this to be one of the highlights of our trip and we were not disappointed.

Upon boarding we were given our menu and shown to our lovely window table (which was utterly beamed by sunlight but who are we to complain!?) kitted out with an ice bucket, wine and champagne and a cute little faux candle then we were introduced to our waiter for the duration of our trip who took our entire order so all we had to do was relax, enjoy the views and each others company as we sailed serenely along the Seine. The menu had a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts, none of which served as a disappointment, everything was cooked to perfection, after all miss this is France and the dinner here is never second best (wee Disney reference for you fans out there) but don't worry I shan't bore you with all of our dishes and the intricacies of French cruise cuisine all I will say is it was the finest meal we had away.

Another on board service that I very much appreciated was their on board Bateaux photographer who took 5 - 10 pictures of you and your party to develop them at the end and give you the opportunity to buy them, now which other tour operator offers this type of service? We ended up coming away with a couple of pictures which serve to us as a perfect reminder of our time in Paris as well as the amazing views we experienced with the cruise and I can't wait to give them the frame they deserve (the folder they're in at the moment is the folder they need right now but not the one they deserve - scathy Batman reference)

When we do eventually visit Paris again I consider this to be a must on our list, for me it's the best way to see the best of Paris and by far the most romantic (although that may have been the vino talking!) so I do hope if you're going along to Paris for the week or maybe even just the weekend you'll consider Bateaux Parisiens, of course if you want to ask me any questions you might have about the cruise I'm always free on Twitter or if you'd like to see more upcoming Parisian adventures we had you can follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be dreaming of Paris.

H.Elizabeth

Domestic Goddess | My New Recipe Book

Since finishing university (because this has granted me the gift of time!) I have been known to dabble in the culinary delights my kitchen and oven can bring and I'll be honest it's been pretty fun and successful. (Successful here meaning that I have not had nor have I given anybody food poisoning yet)

My most recent culinary creations were mini oreo cheesecakes and before that I tried my hand at chocolate swirled shortbread. This newfound hobby is doing NOTHING for my diet and fitness plans, but none the less it keeps me busy and entertained in the evenings.

I've been slowly building up my utensils and cooking resources every week at ASDA, so when I saw this book in Paperchase organisational inspiration struck again and I just had to have it!

The book is wipeable (good for this slap dash cook!) and has an adorable design on the front, it stays closed with a mint green ribbon (that was the dealbreaker in the store I'm ashamed to say)

This book is a neat freaks heaven, I mean from the organised dinner party planner pages to specific meal times and recipe types, its amazing and at times creepily organised! I'm planning on using this book to stick in all of my loved recipes, usually if I see a recipe I like the sound of I'll email it to myself and set up my iPad in the kitchen, however following a recent incident with my iPad and it's recent scare with a water basin I think this is a safer, cheaper alternative!

So that's all from me today folks, I just wanted to share this cute wee book with you because I got awfully awfully excited about it and honestly sharing with you is just second nature now!

Have any of you started experimenting with cooking / baking recently? Drop me comment below telling me your fave thing to bake, or come chat to me about it on Twitter or if you want to see more posts, come follow me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks.

H.Elizabeth x

The Faux Bob - Granite City Style

Hi everyone, so today I am going to take you through a quick and easy hair tutorial for you gals out there who maybe like me don't want to spend too much time on your hair but still want your lovely locks out of your face for a while.

What you will need

Curling Iron

Dry shampoo (if you have day old hair/grease prone hair)

A Large Grip hair clip
A smoothing comb (ideally)

As many bobby pins as you have! (I cannot stress this enough)

Hair Spray / finishing spray (if you live in Scotland LOTS of hairspray!)

Step 1:

If you have day old hair I suggest using a little dry shampoo, not only to make it more manageable, but if like me you have grease prone hair it will also make for a nicer finish.

Step 2:

Clip the top layer of your hair on top of your head (or wherever comfortable and out of your face) and using the curling iron curl even sections of your hair. You can make it as curly or wavy as you want it will all depend on the look you are going for, I tend to make it fairly wavy rather than hardened curls. Spritz the layer with hairspray and then do your top layer.

Step 3 (OPTIONAL):

Once you have curled the entirety of your hair flip all of your hair upside down and gently backcomb the roots of your hair to give yourself a bit of volume (spritz again with hairspray) If you do backcomb and it goes a bit awry then just give it a once over with the smoothing comb.

Step 4:

Sweep all of your hair over to one side and begin rolling your hair upwards into a bun / ball of awesome hairiness. And (this is not the techy techy term) START PINNING!

ET VOILA

So guys that's that the hair look I've been loving so far this Summer, if you have any questions for me about this tutorial or have any suggestions of what you would like to see in the future be sure to drop me a comment, tweet at me on Twitter or come find me on Bloglovin!

Hope to hear from you soon!

H. Elizabeth xx

Size Doesn't Matter | Something a Little Different

Hello everyone so today I thought I would do something that little bit different and share with you something that is quite personal to me and perhaps inspire at least one of you to get on board with my new life outlook / mantra / goal in life.

Recently I was clearing out my wardrobe looking for clothes to donate to my friends latest charity endeavour and I came across a very old size 6 dress from a couple of years ago, and in all honesty the size shocked me. Today I am a well rounded size 10 and cannot imagine fitting my entire body into something which quite frankly is the size of one of my thighs!

Unfortunately I have always battled with my weight, facing the stigmas I'm sure every teen girl faces in life I was always fighting to be skinnier, change my shape and tone my body which  I've only now realized I shouldn't have had to. I wasted the entirety of my teen years battling with food and exercise to achieve some sort of twisted version of an 'ideal body' which does not exist, and let me tell you those were the unhappiest days of my life so far. I spent so much time focusing on how much I hated my shape, what I wanted to change about myself and who was better looking than me and today I really don't know what I was striving towards, I looked fine.

Before you all turn away, don't worry this is not another media rant, I personally believe we all have the inner strength to say no to any 'ideal' we have either in our heads, in magazines or even pressures from our peers, and today I have decided to say no.

All I want now is to be happy and healthy so this year I endeavour to take care of and love my body, eat well, exercise right and not be driven by the stigmas of weight, shape or trends. And I challenge all of you, size 2 to 24's and everything in between to learn to love your body the way it is before you waste away your years chasing an elusive dream of the 'perfect body'

As you can see this has been a slightly different pace to what I usually natter to you about but this is something that really matters to me personally and my eyes have been well and truly opened recently. As you know I love hearing from you, have you been changing your ways recently or have you previously struggled with body issues? Drop me a comment, come chat with me on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up to date with the latest Granite City posts follow me on Bloglovin

H.Elizabeth

Valentines Day - A Granite City Romance

Happy Valentines Day everyone, today I thought I'd do something a little bit different to the traditional 'valentines day look' blog post and instead tell you a bit more about my own love life in the form of documenting my relationship milestones in photographs thus far. 

Going Courting: Year 1

First things first, Nick and I met a fairly generic way in a bar in Summer...while he was clad in lycra and dressed as one of the greatest cult superheroes of all time, Spider-man. Indeed I love the eccentric and meeting a man in dressed lycra, on a Summers night, for no particular reason...well naturally this was a pairing that was meant to be (plus the comical link of Spider-man and redhead Mary Jane)

Going Steady: Year 2

This year Nick and I came a long way in our relationship, as a very talented watch maker I received the most thought out and personal gift, a custom watch as you can see above (he's a difficult gift giver to top!) For our first anniversary we hired bikes and embarrassingly Nick taught me how to ride one... (when I say I'm a city girl I mean it in the most literal sense) And on another milestone, we took our first couples holiday to Rome. City of romance and rejection I'm afraid (My attire wasn't appropriate enough for his highness the pope..oops) But lovely none the less the Trevi Fountain is on my list of top favourite romantic places.

Going Down the Aisle: Year 3

Last year marked one of the best years of my life as you can probably guess. On taking a trip to London for our anniversary Nick proposed in the only way I would have expected, while we were eating pizza and he was dressed as Spider-man. Best holiday ever! (to end on a high I'll tell you the top right pic is us at the Rocky Horror Picture Show)

And here are some of the other bits in between

I hope everyone else is having as fab a Valentines day as I am, I look forward to the next 3 years worth of milestones Nick and beginning the rest of my life with him as from August this year.

How have you guys been spending your Valentines Day, drop me a comment below, send me a Tweet or if you want to keep up with my posts follow me on Bloglovin

H.Elizabeth

Ghost comes to Aberdeen

As some of you know (from my 20 things post) I have a fairly close relationship with my Mum (the daily phone calls was a hint) she is a wonderful, hardworking woman who deserves nothing less than the best, therefore every Christmas I work to find the perfect annual gift to give her and for Christmas 2013 I found myself giving her the gift of a Ghostly theatrical performance!

Since a young age I have shared many cinema going and movie watching experiences with my mother, but none, more so, than of the Hollywood blockbuster and romantic comedy genre ( mostly of the Patrick Swayze persuasion I may add!) With some of her most loved films being Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman and of course Ghost it was natural that I take her to the live stage shows when they occasionally appear in Aberdeen, and this year was no exception.

 

(My copy of the programme)

On purchasing the tickets for 'Ghost' the West End spectacular about 6 months ago, I went in with not only skepticism but exceedingly high hopes, the transition of a Hollywood classic to a theatrical stage show is not an easy feat to accomplish, but tackled the right way can lead to something mesmerising.

From arriving at our well picked (if I do say so myself) seats in the stalls I was in awe at how my small local theatre had been transformed into a clear window display of the New York skyline, from then on I was hooked (my NYC love knows no bounds) Although, we were intrigued as to how they could turn one of our favourite movies into a musical performance having known only one song from the actual film, but I must say their original songs 100% delivered and I think struck the perfect balance between cinema and stage show.

Perhaps the most impressive and jaw dropping aspect of all; other than the male lead's washboard abs.. it had to be mentioned; was the special effects. NEVER and I mean NEVER have I seen a show who used so many clever lighting tricks and special effects to simply add to a shows performance. Bodies floated with what appeared to be no strings, the actors ghostly bodies appeared while at the same time leaving their physical bodies behind, and most impressively our buff Sam was shown to pass through physical objects, as if the scene had literally jumped out of our much loved Hollywood blockbuster and onto stage... more impressive in real life if you ask me!

(Musical numbers from the show)

As I do not want to spoil anything for those who may not have seen the film, or those who may even now be wishing to see the stage show, I'll end here, but I will say this...bring your tissues ladies and gentlemen, there won't be a dry eye in the house.

Most importantly, my mum had a blast and I couldn't have been happier! So until the West End decide to make a Pretty Woman Musical I may have to get a bit more imaginative with future gifts!

As always your comments are welcome and you can always catch me on Twitter or follow me on BlogLovin

H.Elizabeth

  Stay tuned for my Ghost | What I Wore post coming soon.
 (Recent theatre visits include: Dirty Dancing, The Full Monty and The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Quirks of a Cinephile

Today I'm going to reveal something a few of you don't know about me, I am a major Cinephile.

A 'Cinephile' for those who don't know is someone with an intense interest in cinema and film, I personally have gone to the cinema every week, at least once a week since I was about 5 or 6 years old. It's a passion I have shared with my parents  for years, with the interest actually stemming from their...encouragement (can it be called that?)

Those who know me often have to suffer through those Cinephilic quirks which have came to define my personality and enhance my...qualities as a person, here is a taster of what it can be like as a friend of a Cinephile:

#1. First of all as a cinema fanatic and being an avid viewer of many many films over the years, I have a movie reference for pretty much everything, discussing McDonalds will remind me of Pulp Fiction and even my shopping style is reminiscent of scenes from Confessions of a Shopaholic. So if you ever are in a situation where you meet me, you can guarantee I'll have a movie reference for that exact moment.

#2. Watching a film with me can literally take hours and hours if you're a chatterbox, that film will be paused and rewound more times than Leo DiCaprio has cried on screen ever!

#3. I remember life milestones by the film that was released that year, for example the year I met my first boyfriend was the year I went to see Juno in Vue Cinema (significant as it isn't my regular cinema) and the day I was accepted into my college course, I went to see Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, a surprisingly handy way to remember my life!

#4. Cinema is my temple of worship, many of my pet peeves were born in the cinema, loud crunchers, erratic movements and misuse of the 'silent' phone option being a few. You need to be a truly special person to achieve cinema-going status with this Cinephile!

#5. Not only am I a Cinephile, I am an analytic Cinephile, meaning that when I see a movie I spend days deconstructing the plot and searching for plot holes to determine whether or not I shall ever watch it again (Iron Man 3 is a big no no unfortunately)

#6. My house is full of film related memorabilia, mainly Star Wars and Avengers related, one of my favourite websites for this is called Sideshow Collectibles which I recommend for any film fans looking to add some character to their homes (pun intended)

#7. My favourite films are often related to consumerism, greed and excess, one of the most recent cinematic wins I have witnessed from this category is, 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' and 2013's 'Filth' as well as recent indie flick, 'The Bling Ring'

#8. A film debate with me can turn very nasty very quickly.. you were warned..

#9. I have had a Cineworld Unlimited card since they were released originally as Virgin cinemas (I think)

#10. And lastly on my Cinephile quirk list, a wee bit more personally, I have collected every cinema ticket stub I have been able to for the past 10+ years.....

Now you have seen into my quirky mind and read about one of my greatest loved past times, I hope this doesn't send you running! As always all comments are appreciated, it'd be nice to hear from some fellow Cinephiles, or I'd love to hear about your own quirks?

(a couple of the oldest in my collection)


H.Elizabeth