A Trip To Upton Park - Father's Day 2014

For my Dad's birthday this year, I arranged for him to get a signed birthday card from the one and only Sir Geoff Hurst. Alongside this I bought my Dad a day at Upton Park with a stadium tour and two course meal in the Executive Lounge. This was booked for Father's Day so that the day could be all about him, and so that he had something special to talk about when he got back to work after a fortnight off!

As an Arsenal Fan, I can honestly say that I enjoyed my trip to the home of West Ham and what turned out to be a wonderful Daddy-Daughter day. We enjoyed looking behind the scenes and taking part in quizzes as well as reminiscing about my Dad's best memories about the club.

With one Happy Hammer during the day, it was made all the sweeter by him being able to meet one of his idols, Phil Parkes - once the most expensive goalkeeper in the world. We managed to get not only a look behind the scenes, but hear all the latest rumours and signings that could possibly be coming to the club over the summer months which was really interesting.

Dad and I had a wonderful day, and I'm sure it will be a tale my Dad will tell for years to come, his favourite Father's Day to date, and to be part of the history before the Hammers move on to the Olympic Stadium.

I just had to share this with you all, as it am a proud daughter and I am pleased I got to arrange something so special for my Dad! I recommend the stadium tour to any West Ham fans, or any football fans in general, it's a club of great history, and I learnt a lot as well as having a lovely day.

Until next time, xoxo

Malaysia Truly Asia

Back in April, Peter and I embarked on a three week trip to Malaysia (Penang and Kuala Lumpur), Singapore and Dubai. This was to be my first long haul adventure, and the first time I was going to meet Pete's Malaysian side of the family, so needless to say - I was nervous!

Our first part of the amazing adventure was to Penang - famous for its gorgeous golden sands, the tastes of Malaysia and of course, the peanut! During our time we stayed at an amazing hotel right on the beach called Golden Sands by Shangri La. Simply stunning scenery, an amazing room, and great service. We explored Penang Hill, the Butterfly Farm, many Buddhist Temples and we explored the markets and some gorgeous restaurants in the evenings.

Our second stop was in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, with the recent MH370 tragedy we were a little on edge about travelling to KL and using Malaysian Airlines internal flights. Everywhere in KL you could see banners of support for family and friends of the people on board the ill-fated flight. It really hit home how even in this technological age, there are still mysteries that go unsolved, and every day we prayed for good news about the whereabouts of the aircraft. When we finally arrived in KL we had a fabulous hotel right by the Petronas Towers (ex tallest buildings in the world) and the main shopping mall - Traders. The hotel had the best sky bar I've ever seen. The ambience, the experience, the views - simply outstanding! During our stay in KL we explored the market places, the old china town and really enjoyed some lovely food and more of a city experience after soaking up the sunshine in the beachy Penang. Our favourite restaurant in KL was a chain called Madam Kwan's - the sweet and sour chicken was to die for! It was all such value for money too, once I got my head around the exchange rate from British Pounds to Malaysian Ringgit of course!

Our third stop was in Singapore, very humid, muggy and swelteringly hot Singapore. Unfortunately I fell ill during our short stay, so I ended up collapsing and being wheelchaired back to the room and I spent most of my time watching the football in bed when the virus allowed me to settle! During the time I wasn't ill, we managed to get out to see the famous Merlion and we visited Singapore Zoo and Night Safari which was a great experience. I'm a big animal lover, so it really did make me feel better to be able to experience such a great zoo without wasting all of my time being poorly in bed! My favourite parts of the zoo were Daisy the leopard and the baby orangutang leaping and soaring through the branches so elegantly above us! I didn't like the hotel we stayed in at this location, so the less I say about the hotel the better, but what I will say, is that if anyone ever needs an escort or prostitutes, I know where they hide out!

After one more short stop in KL we flew out to our fourth destination in a Dubai. In Dubai we really lucked out with our hotel, it was stunning, great views and a room that you. Old probably fit y parent's house in! The food was again very nice, and we turned into proper tourists by visiting he Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world at the moment. We also visited the largest mall which not only has a huge aquarium inside, but it has fountains and sculptures as well as a dinosaur fossil! We enjoyed the perfect wall to wall sunshine as well as spending the day at a water park, which has become somewhat of a tradition for Peter and I on our trips around the globe!

We've seen and done so much on his trip that I really cannot do it justice on a single blog post, however, I am creating a wonderful scrapbook to immortalise the memories made!

Until next time; xoxo

Slim 2 Win - WINNER!

Back in mid-January I embarked upon a fitness and diet challenge, the aim to get fit and lose weight and gain body confidence.

I can happily announce, that I managed to drop 22lbs (just over a stone and a half) as well as two dress sizes and not only that but I WON the competition! As a result I have earned myself a free year's gym membership at LA Fitness worth £432, an Activity Weekend Holiday worth £250 as well as a lovely full body massage and facial courtesy of a new Spa locally, worth £100.

I feel so lucky, and blessed that all of yet hard work has finally paid off! At so many points I was questioning whether all the pain and all the heartache was worth it, and proof in the pudding - it was. I am finally beginning to get the smile on my face, I don't feel so embarrassed going into clothes shops, I buy clothes that fit rather than are loose and baggy to hide away in, and for once, I'm starting to feel body confidence, and I'm starting to feel dare I say it - beautiful.

I am continuing my netball as captain, as well as embarking on a journey to keep my fitness up going to the gym and going for runs. This competition has given me the confidence to enter my first 5K Race for Life as well, it feels great to be doing something for charity and a cause very close to my heart - Cancer Research.

Although I haven't stuck to my strict diet regime during the slimming competition, I have learnt an awful lot about portions, special meals and great tricks with certain foods to minimise weight gain. But I do make sure I do have treats, what is the point in working so hard never to be able to have a Krispy Kreme or a Chinese take away with friends or loved ones?!

Until next time, xoxo

The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.

I'm six weeks through a fitness and diet journey, and I thought it was about time to put a post on the blog about my progress, what I've learnt so far, and where I aim to be by the end of the 12-week program.

I've managed to lose 15lbs to date, a mix of different diets and exercise plans. My next weigh in is on Sunday, so we will see how I have progressed this week.

In the beginning I devised a calorie based diet plan, which enabled me to eat a maximum of 1400 calories a day, whilst monitoring my nutrients on an app to make sure I had enough vitamins and fats etc to lose weigh and be able to sustain it. I was then lucky enough to win a competition which gave me a Personal Trainer until Mid-April. When we first met up, it was clear that I was dehydrated, and a lot of my problems with shifting the weight was down to not drinking enough water, so this was the first obstacle to tackle. After this, I was drawn up a meal plan, that increased my protein intake, reduced my fat intake and also meant that I was eating more often than my strictly calorie controlled diet had allowed.

As far as exercise goes, I was given a plan to be at the gym 5 nights a week, as well as my netball once a week. Effectively I was training Monday-Saturday and then having a rest day on Sundays. This was a mix of cardio, weights and interval training to maximise weight loss and build up my muscles.

This week we decided we needed to change tact with diet and exercise as the weight loss had began to slow down. Due to a slow start with being unwell, it was time to kick it up a gear and give it everything I've got to make a difference and to reap the rewards at the end.

So for the foreseeable future, I have a new diet plan, which consists of a lot of egg whites, chicken and white fish, green vegetables, and vegetable sticks or rice cakes for snacks in between. Still keeping with the philosophy of eating often to keep hunger pangs at bay, but this time giving me the absolute minimum amount of calories my body will survive on whilst training in the way that I am.

My muscles constantly ache, I get up before sunrise to go for early morning fasted cardio sessions, head to work for 7am, work for 8 hours before coming home, having a snack and then heading off to the gym again. Life is pretty hectic and I do not have a lot of time to rest right now, but I'm really hoping it will all be worth it in the end.

It just goes to show, you get out what you put in. Now I'm putting even more effort in than I was before, I am hoping my measurements and next weigh in session fully represent this!

Until next time; xoxo