My lovely friend Chloe came up from London to visit me last weekend, and I'm not ashamed to say amongst the massive catch up our time mostly revolved around food. Woo hoo!
Last time Chloe visited we spent a lot of time in the city centre, so this time I wanted to take her out of Glasgow and into the countryside. We headed towards Loch Lomond and went for lunch in the newly refurbished Tullie Inn, Balloch.
Blogger issues - don't take a bite of that before you've got a photo! The Inn has been refurbished beautifully, with quite a soft and vintage nautical look running throughout. The perfect theme for any bathroom or kitchen at home - think white washed/distressed paint finishes, driftwood, shells boating ropes, and a beautiful blue colour pallette.
For started I had Mussels and Chloe had chicken tempura. Both were very yummy. I absolutely love mussels and they were in a nice creamy broth too which I dipped my bread in at the end.
For main I had a ribeye steak, which was medium rare with chips, onion rings and peppercorn sauce. Absolutely lovely. I wasn't used to the very small streaky bits of fat that run through a ribeye steak. It kinda caught me off guard at the start but it was actually very flavorsome and not too fatty tasting at all. Chloe had a good old fish and chips which went down well too.
We were both pretty stuffed by this point, but the menu contained my favourite dessert - sticky toffee pudding - which I just couldn't resist! And I'm so glad I went for it because it was GOOOOD. Light fluffy sponge soaked in butterscotch sauce with a side of ice cream. Happy Ayden.
With our tummies fully satisfied (and us feeling almost ready for a snooze) we took a drive round to Loch Lomond shores for a gander at the shops and a walk along the beach. We've had a bit of a temperamental summer here in Scotland with things going from one extreme to the other. So unfortunately the sun wasn't really shining when we went a wander, but I don't think Chloe was expecting much less from the Scottish weather.
I wore my Abandon Ship Apparel kitty dress, Topshop cropped denim jacket and new leather fur lined boots, which are believe it or not by UGGS! They are so comfy and really different from any other Ugg boots I have seen or wore in the past. I know Uggs seem to get a lot of hate in the blogging world but I don't know why. They are amazing quality and very comfortable as I mentioned before. I don't know what I would have done without my Ugg mittens in Iceland over new year, they were absolute life savers! I'd much prefer to pay for one expensive and reliable piece of clothing/shoes, rather than loads of cheap throw away pieces. Does this sensibility mean I'm getting old?
I had a brilliant wee weekend with Chloe, and I feel really lucky to have met such good friends via blogging. Would love to get a wee visit down south to meet up with all my favourite blogger ladies soon, so watch this space ^_^ I promise I won't get drunk and end up in hospital like last time... (HI ROSIE!) haha.
After pigging out at the weekends I do always go back to eating well during the week. I've lost 11lbs so far which just goes to show you can still incorporate some of your favourite foods and treats into a healthy lifestyle. I've not really had to do any cooking lately as we get catering on set, but I decided to take up the #ElectroluxAtCannes flavour of film challenge, to cook up a meal that related to a movie. I ended up making some home made meatballs and spaghetti. I love cooking in my wee kitchen, and although it is pretty small it's modern and still has all the usual things like a built in oven and integrated washing machine. The only thing I don't have in my kitchen is any windows! :( Which can get a bit smoky and claustrophobic if I burn anything (I promise that is NEVER) haha. But yeah I guess that's what cooker hoods are for! ;)
My presentation skills aren't the best but I promise it tasted amazing. And the irony of it looking like a dogs dinner is that it quite literally was a dogs dinner in one of my favourite films, Lady and The Tramp
I hope my food related post hasn't got you desparate to get home for your dinner! I have one small favour to ask before I go... I've entered a photo competition to win a night at the penthouse suite at the Blythswood Hotel for my first Suicide Girls shoot that me and Ashley are doing soon. It would mean so much to me if I was able to use this lush interior as a location. So if you could take two seconds to vote for my picture I would really appreciate it.
Here's the picture I entered from an afternoon tea I had at the Blythswood. To vote you can click HERE and my entry is about 14 rows down. There is no signing up or anything needed if you have facebook, literally just a click! I've had about 20 votes so far and the person in the lead is at over 100, so I could really do with your support on this one lovelies ♥
