Quad Biking in Sherwood Forest

The other weekend my other half and I decided we'd head out for an adventure.  It's very rare we both get a weekend off together so we wanted to make sure we had something fun planned. 

Often when you're in a long term relationship you can get a bit stuck in a rut after many years, so shaking up your routine is always a healthy step forward.  We decided we would go Quad Biking in Sherwood Forest, what a fantastic way to do something exciting together! Dodging the trees and racing through the mud... where do I sign up?!  We booked our fun morning through Xperience Days for £75.00 for us both and we were ready to roll.

 

Now I haven't been quad biking since I was a kids camp instructor in surrey, so this was going to be interesting but my goodness I was excited.  We arrived in the car park of Adrenalin Jungle where it was hosted, we were then greeted by the schedule attendant and their jungle dog who were patrolling all visitors.

We did have to wait about a bit in the carpark whilst hen dos and stag dos went in, which I must admit was quite frustrating because I just wanted to sit down with a cup of tea before we started! There was no cafe or even seats whilst you waited so we simply wandered about waiting until 4 others arrived to join our group. 

Once we were called through I understood a bit more why we were held back, there was a den in the middle of the trees which played host to the Adrenalin Jungle activities and at the present time it was full of groups waiting to do activities. We went in and were immediately given out overalls and helmets. We had a thorough team talk about how to use the bike, how to position ourselves and various hazards to be aware of.  After that my nerves started to kick in... what if I slowed the group down? What if I was terrible? 
As I was the wimp of the group I sat behind the leader at the front.  We were told we'd do a few small laps to get started and then head into the forest. 

 As we got going I started to get the hang of it but got slightly ahead of myself and almost crashed into a tree! Great start.  As we headed into the forest we went splashing through puddles, over the mud, up and down hills and weaved in and out of the plants.  It was absolutely fantastic!  I think my favourite part was when the track went straight and you could go really fast knowing you weren't needing to turn suddenly! 
There was such an adrenalin rush to racing around Sherwood Forest on quad bikes... in the mud! It was an amazing experience and one I'd really reccommend.  As I mentioned there were lots of hen dos and stag dos there but equally so you could get a group together and go for a day out!
If you're interested in taking your partner or maybe your best friend Quad Biking, make sure you have a quick browse at Xperience Days, I was amazed at how much I could do in my local area and there was allsorts you chose from. 

I think I've got the adrenalin bug and need another adventure... what shall we do next?! 

xoxo

Style: Spring Time Country

I have been quite busy this weekend and have only just sat down and stopped.  I am a bugger for cramming so much into my life that I often forget I do need some down time... and more importantly to give myself time to relax.  

I absolutely love flowers, and gardening is on my next checklist of things I must learn. I know that my favourite flowers are peonies and that I love any David Austen Roses, but I wouldn't know where to start with creating my own.  I was invited to attend the Chelsea Flower Show this year but unfortunately due to work I can't attend, I'm truly gutted because it's the one event I have never had a chance to get to.  When I flicked through the images from previous years shows it really made me realise how great it is to have a garden and be outdoors.  

I currently don't have a garden but hopefully that will all change soon, so I often visit my local town park, go on country walks or generally try be outside. The other day my boyfriend and I decided we would venture for a tea trip and go for a walk, all via some colourful outdoor scenery.

I often hate when we have a mix match of weather as it totally throws you with what to wear. 

 What I'm Wearing: 

Coat - F&F Trench Coat

Jumper - Topshop Pink Knitted Mix Stitch Jumper - £36.00

Jeans - Topshop

Shoes - Topshop Hatti Peep Toe Cut Out Shoes - £35.00

Bag - Nica Vanessa Shoulder Bag - £69.00

Scarf * - Laura Orchant Sunset Fireworks Silk Scarf - £100-£155

As you can see my outfit is quite simple yet colourful and the main focal point is my scarf. I'm wearing a gorgeous Laura Orchant scarf, a designer that has just returned from Who's Next in Paris and Pure in London with rave reviews from international buyers and key fashion press. 

Laura Orchant initially hand sketches the design and then digitally manipulates the drawing into an explosion of bright colours and fractal patterns.A lot of the 24 year old, Manchester born designers inspiration comes from nature, animals or the woman's form, this is then printed onto luxurious silk or viscous in various sizes. The scarves range from £80-£150.  

I am a huge fan of scarves which you will have noticed from my previous posts, but this one is my must have one at the moment.  It really makes a very average outfit come to life, especially with subtle hints of colour through the other garments. 

Do you wear scarves in the spring or summer? 

I'm off to Barcelona this week with work and to be quite honest I'm not looking forward to packing! I'm going to be indoors most of the time and will be doing long days. Anyways I'll no doubt tell you all about my adventures...plus I've still got lots to tell you about my other adventures this weekend! 

Watch this space!

xoxo

Win £1000 to Refresh your Room with Laura Ashley

I'm excited to be hosting a competition for us bloggers... Read on to find out more! As you may or may not be aware but I'm in the process of moving home.  When browsing other peoples houses I can't help but invision how I might interpret my perfect look into each room. When I saw what my potential master bedroom might look like, it truly got me thinking about how I could change it.  

We often want to refresh our interiors and that's perfectly normal, but how might you go about doing it? The possibilities are endless.  It might be a complete revamp or maybe just a small alteration, it could even be a new bedding set from the feminine Coco Amethyst collection, or perhaps a touch of coastal print. 

For the chance to win a £1000 Laura Ashley gift card to refresh your room for spring, all you have to do is:

1: Take a photo of your room – we want to see what you’re working with! 

For example - 
This is the room I'd very much like to refresh... have you got one?

...It's best not to even say anything!

2: Tell us how you’d refresh it for Spring - pick two (or more if you’d like!) items from the Laura Ashley Bedroom Furniture and Accessories ranges that you think would help create the perfect environment for spring and pop them into a blog post with a few works telling us why they’d work for you. Be sure to link back to this post in your entry

A few ideas -

What will you chose for your room?

 

3: 3: Let us know you’ve entered - leave a comment on this post which includes your name and the name and URL of your blog post and tweet the link to your blog post using the hashtag #LARoomRefresh – this will allow us to count your entry

Good luck!

Terms & Conditions:

The following terms and conditions will apply to the competition:

• The competition is open to UK residents only and all entrants must be over 18.
• This Competition is not open to employees of Laura Ashley, their family members, or anyone professionally connected with the competition.
• The competition will run from Friday 10^th May 2013 09:00 GMT until Friday 7^th June 2013 00:00 GMT.
• Any entries received or processed after the closing date will not be eligible to win.
• Entries which do not refer back to the original competition announcement on http://www.talesofanniebean.com/ will not be eligible to win.
• Entrants must tweet using the hashtag #LARoomRefresh and a comment on this blog post including their name URL of their entry for it to be counted.
• By entering the competition the participant agrees to participate in reasonable promotional activity surrounding the competition.

·         It is the responsibility of the participant to ensure their entry meets entry requirements and is submitted successfully.

• Only one entry is allowed per person.
• The winner may be required to provide additional information such as their address and telephone number.
• The winner will be announced on http://www.talesofanniebean.com/ shortly after the competition closing date.
• If Laura Ashley cannot contact the winner within 14 days of the prize draw, Laura Ashley reserves the right to select a new winner.
• The prize is a £1000 Laura Ashley Gift Card. Terms & Conditions apply, click here for details.
• The competition winner is not entitled to exchange the prize for any cash alternative.
• http://www.talesofanniebean.com/ and Laura Ashley reserve the right to exclude from the competition any entry that does not meet criteria set out in these terms and conditions.
• http://www.talesofanniebean.com/ and Laura Ashley reserve the right to change, suspend or terminate the promotion and entry period at any time. They may also disqualify participants if they have any reason to believe that the promotion cannot be carried out fairly or if they suspect any person of manipulating entries or results or has acted unethically in any other way.

 

What are you waiting for?!  Get your creative thinking caps on! 

Remember you've got to be in it to win it.  

xoxo

Tweet #LARoomRefresh  
ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Rediscovering Hilton at St George's Park

It had been a truly long drawn out week, the sun had been shining and I had been stuck behind a work desk.  I was very ready for the bank holiday weekend to get here. 

It finally got to 5pm on Friday and I was straight out the door. I was going to be staying at the Hilton at St George's Park in Burton on Trent with fellow blogger Gingey Bites.  I had been invited to there to take part in their latest Rediscover Hilton campaign and review our stay.  I never get a chance to get away so I was really excited about going away just for the hell of it.  Often I find I stay away from home in hotels for work purposes so never really have the time to relax.  
Into the Sat Nav the postcode and off we went.  I'd got my Nica weekend bag packed, my cute new Primark dress and was ready for the adventure. I live quite close but I'd never actually been to Burton on Trent and neither had Gingey.  
Firstly we got really lost! The sat nav had us down a random country road, after a while of searching we pulled over to check the directions.  Whilst stationary we both admired how blissful the area was with the sun shining, green fields and birds tweeting.  As we took this all in a little pheasant was plodding across the road... happily minding its own business when this huge 4x4 came zooming past and no joke the bird was in two pieces.  Feathers went everywhere.  Both myself and Alex squeaked with horror, we'd never seen anything like it!   

Luckily after our traumatic ordeal with the pheasant we finally found our way the St George's Park grounds.  This plays host to the National Football training centre for the 24 England teams and also to the Hilton hotel & a Hampton by Hilton hotel. As we took along the winding road leading up to the hotel it was clear this was going to be a a gorgeous venue.  There were of course football training pitches but if you looked further than that, all you could see was hills and trees. It was stunning and more tranquil than I first thought.  We parked up behind the huge building, trotted into the hotel and were greeted by a friendly member of staff behind the counter. 

We were treated like royalty and immediately told where our room was, what the facilities were, when dinner was and that we only had 30 minutes left in the executive lounge before it closed.  Now as you know I spend a lot of time working away and stay in numerous hotels, if you go to a Hilton when you hear the words exec lounge - you jump at the chance!  Delicious canapes, drinks and in a relaxed setting?!  Oh yes please! 

Myself and Alex quickly scampered to our room, dropped our bags off and hurried back to the exec lounge. Our room was spacious, modern and equipt with very comfy beds.  I had a a lovely little welcome note, along with some wine and cheeky Green & Black's chocolate.

Venturing back along the card only executive suites corridor, we sat down in the exec lounge and instantly went for the wine. We both do love a glass and this wine was simply fantastic,  very easy on the taste buds and just what we needed after our pheasant incident!

 

As we continued to relax into the wonderfully grand surroundings, we decided it was time to head for dinner.  We had a table booked and were placed so we could overlook the grounds.  The ceilings were high with very modern but warming interiors with windows looking into the kitchen.  I always love to see the hard work behind the scenes, it makes you feel like the chefs are involved and have a connection with the restaurant rather than just being tucked away.  

We both ordered our food and even though the menu wasn't vast the selection was quite diverse. As for the taste? I couldn't fault anything, it was spot on. 

I ordered mushroom and onion pate, halloumi and sweet potato salad followed by thee most amazing banoffe pie.  Gingey had some amazing items too.

The Banoffee pie was the best thing I have ever tasted... I may have to try and create on myself soon!

After thoroughly devouring our meals we decided to head into the bar area next door.  There was a wedding going on in one of their conference rooms, so the bar was quite full but not noisy it just felt warm and relaxing.  We had our decaf tea and coffee, then as rock n' roll as we are we decided to head to bed. I knew we were both going to sleep well!  We pampered our feet and faces before hitting the hay.

After both having a wonderful nights sleep we decided before breakfast we'd head to use the gym and spa facilities.  We headed down in our gym gear and were welcomed by the team.  Into the gym we went and firstly I was surprised how modern it was the equipment was quite vast and very spacious, unlike many you see in hotels with only 1 treadmill... this one had plenty.  We worked out then took a nosy at the pool, which even though we didn't have time to go in it was extremely inviting!

After a quick show it was off to breakfast and back into the restaurant.  The room was so light with it's huge windows which overlooked the masses of green countryside, a perfect setting for my yummy breakfast of poached eggs!  There was so much more to chose from you could honestly have got carried away there was that much selection! 

When we came to leave I suddenly realised for once I hadn't rushed, I hadn't been frantic, I hadn't even thought about anything or anyone... I'd simply relaxed. 
Personally I wouldn't of thought to chose such a location normally I'd head for a city based venue, however I was quite surprised how much I loved the calm environment I was in.
It was such a wonderful stay and considering I'd of never thought to go there - it was a real treat.  

 xoxo

* This stay at the Hilton hotel was complimentary  

No1 Bootcamp Norfolk

 
You know the situation when you agree to something that you believe is a splendid idea at the time, then you get to the event and you wonder why the devil you agreed to it?! Well this was one of those scenarios.  When Travel Supermarket contacted me and asked if I'd like to join some other bloggers on a long weekend trip to No1 Bootcamp in Norfolk, I immediately replied screeching 'Yes I'd love to!' 
As the time drew closer and I did my research into what I'd be doing and thats when the fear suddenly set in... What if I wasn't good enough? What if I was the least fit? What if no one likes me? Thoughts like this seemed to swamp my mind.  

Beauty Review: Scholl Express Pedi

The sun is starting to emerge, the blossom is finally on the trees and I am overdue to switch to my SS13 wardrobe.  One of my favourite things about the switch is changing my shoes, by ditching my boots I can finally opt for ballet pumps and sandals.  With the change over I always get very self conscious about my feet. 

Now I'm not the biggest foot fan and I especially detest my own feet.  They never look as good as everyone else's, they dry out easily and with running and generally being on my feet lots - they certainly look worn.