Summer or Spring Party

Hello,

So we thought as the weather is finally brightening up in Wales, an unusual occurrence, we are going to share with you our ideas for a summer or spring party in your back garden. We don't really have summer or spring parties but as we are so down in the dumps with our exams we thought that a party would be a great pick up on the stress and nerves we have had.

Firstly it is important that there is enough space for the number of people that you are inviting. Therefore your garden needs to be big enough to have a party if you want to take advantage of the sun whilst it is still there.

We take full advantage of having a bar in the back garden and even get excited over a bottle opener on the bar. You can decorate the bar to fit the theme of your party and it is a great way to liven up the party. We find that using solar powered fairy lights is a great effect  and a nice setting when the party leads into the evening. Keeping drinks here is good as ours is next to our make shift dance floor and therefore it is easier to get a drink when feeling tired.

The decking is a great little make shift dance floor compared to the grass although most of us end up on the grass anyways. It is a great dance floor when it leads into the night and there are solar panel lanterns creating the party feel but also adding a touch of romance.

If you have any archways into the garden it is good to decorate them as it makes a good photo area and is a nice little entrance into the main area of the party. It is also good to have a lot of small little party snacks that people can just go back and forth to the archway for these and not miss out on any of the party. The food will also not be in any danger of bugs and falling on the grass.

Send us your pictures of your parties on our twitter or tag us in the photos on Instagram which is linked at the very bottom or tweet us some of your favourite party moments. You can also leave us a comment on what you would like to see in the future and if you have any tips from us on our ideas. Don't forget to tweet us that you have shared our blog or that you have read it so we can give you a shout out and a follow,

Thank you see you next week x

ThePolkaDotDaffodil

Cute places to go in Cardiff

Hello,

This week we are going to share with you some of our favourite places to go to in Cardiff if you are ever in Cardiff and are not familiar with the area or if you go to Cardiff a lot but need new places to try out.

Our new favourite place to go to is the Cosy Club. At first we were a bit confused about how we get to the restaurant. We quickly found out that we needed to go up the stairs to get to the restaurant. After that embarrassing  episode we finally knew where we were going and was pleasantly surprised at how homely it felt. We thought it was cute how there was all different furniture and it didn't match as it gave a more rustic and boho type feel to the place as well as feeling like a home environment. We also thought that the prices for what we had was good as well as having breakfast at 5 in the afternoon.

As it was a typical cold and rainy day in Cardiff, we decided to have hot drinks with a pot of tea and a soy latte which were relatively well priced. The pot of tea was especially good for the price as we were able to have at least 3 cups full before it was empty.

For our breakfast, in the afternoon, we decided to have a vegetarian breakfast but without the eggs to make it Vegan and another one we ordered was pancakes with bacon.

Although it doesn't look like the most delicious thing in the world it was heavenly. 

Even though the vegetarian option was the best choice for being vegan and the easiest way to make it vegan the toast did have butter on it so it may be worthwhile to check before and make sure that there is no diary in it for vegans. But if you are a vegetarian it was still nice enough. 

|We loved Cosy Club and would definitely recommend going there. They do much more than just breakfast and have a variety of options. Unfortunately we have not been able to try other places like Crumbs Kitchen and another place we found on our walk to try. 

If you have any suggestions of where we can go next we would love to hear from you and if you try the Cosy club or go to Crumbs let us know. We would be happy to hear from you about anything and if you have any other suggestions for us let us know. Don't forget to check out our social media accounts and tell us that you know about us from our blog so we can give you a follow and a shout out. See you next week,

ThePolkaDotDaffodil x 

  

Birthday Presents ideas

Hello,

This week we have a lot of people that we need to get birthday presents for. So we were thinking about what makes a good present and what is a good present to get someone.

The present you get someone always depends on how close you are too them. Most of the time we fall into the trap of just putting money into a birthday card and letting them buy their own present. Sometimes at a stretch they will get a gift card.

If you are friends with someone but obviously aren't super close to them the safest option to go with is either chocolates or bath stuff. Although, sometimes you can be friends with someone and not be super close but still put some extra thought into their present. If you know something they like then it is a good idea to get them something related to that.

It is also a good idea depending on the relationship you have to get something that means something to both of you. This could be a sweet gesture or could also be a inside joke. Both are good ideas and will make the receiver very happy. A sentimental or sweet birthday gift could be a photo frame or album or even a scrapbook of all the memories and adventures you have shared together. A present related to an inside joke depends on the inside joke, for example one year we decided that everyone on our group was going to get our friend marmite as they were so obsessed with it.

If it is a best friend then obviously you know them pretty well so shouldn't be struggling to think of a present for them. Sometimes it is good to get them something you know they like and is also something that means something to you but sometimes it is a good idea to give them a present like taking them out and doing something for their birthday together, therefore you give them an experience rather than something materialistic.

When we were younger it was often the case that our parents would buy our siblings presents and we would pay them back the money and pretend that we got it for them. This is alright as it is generally something that they have already asked for so is a safe bet. However, we have found that buying for our siblings is not actually that hard. You tend to spend a lot of time with your siblings even if you don't get on with them that much when you are young. Therefore you often learn what they like and often get a lot of inside jokes or trick your parents a lot. Therefore the presents could be related to this and often don't have any use at all after they have it but it is just a constant reminder of what it symbolizes.

When buying presents for parents it is a good idea to stick to something sentimental as it means something to them. Although some parents do like flowers or chocolate as well. Often, we give our parents things like a trip for afternoon tea or treat them to paying for them to go out. It is nice as most parents don't get many opportunities to do this as they are focused on work and their kids.

Sometimes the most simple presents can be amazing. We know that although people feel like chocolate and bath stuff is a safe present it can be an amazing present especially if you get some amazing stuff like a LUSH bath bomb or any other LUSH product  as well as some nice chocolate that you know is their favourite. Once we got our friend loads and loads and loads of Lindor chocolates as they are absolutely in love with them.

Some places we go to get most of our presents are Paperchase, Boots, the Disney Shop and Hobby Craft. There are many other places it just depends on what you wan to get for that person.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to follow us on social media to keep up to date and don't forget to comment, see you next week x

Recommendations for everyone

Hi everyone,

as we didn't post last week we decided to post twice this week. So we are going to share some of our recommendations for different things.

Top 10 Songs

1. One Direction- History
2. Busted- Year 3000
3. McFLY- Star Girl
4. Shaun Mendes- Mercy
5. Harry Styles- Sign Of The Times
6. Little Mix- No More Sad Songs
7. My Chemical Romance- Teenagers
8. TLC- No Scrubs
9. Zayn- Still Got Time
10. Spice Girls- Wannabe

Top 10 Artists

1. Elvis
2. Beyonce
3. Demi Lovato
4. Adele
5. Selena Gomez 
6. Olly Murs
7. Shaun Mendes
8. Zayn
9. Lady Gaga
10. Fergie

Top 10 Bands

1. My Chemical Romance
2. Green day
3. The Rolling Stones
4. All Time Low
5. One Direction 
6. Busted
7. McFLY
8. Little Mix
9. The Beatles
10. 5 Seconds Of Summer

Top 10 T.V Series

1. Big Bang Theory 
2. 13 Reasons Why
3. Mr Selfridge
4. F.R.I.E.N.D.S
5. Once Upon A Time
6. Bad Education
7. The Crown
8. Victoria
9. Gavin And Stacey
10. Mrs Brown's Boys

Top 10 T.V Shows

1. A League Of Their Own 
2. Play The Whistle 
3. The X Factor
4. I'm A Celebrity Get My Out Of Here
5. Made In Chelsea
6. Pointless
7. Great British Bake Off
8. Masterchef
9. The Late Late Show 
10. The Ellen

Top 15 Youtubers

1. MyLifeAsEva
2. Itsaypastmybedtime
3. Tyler Oakley
4. Megan Elizabeth
5. TheSacconeJolys 
6. ThatcherJoe
7. Tanya Burr
8. PAINT
9. Niomi Smart 
10. ThatFangirl
11. Miss Jamie Lily 
12. Mark Ferris 
13. Todrick Hall 
14. SprinkleOfGlitter
15. LucyandLydia 

Top 20 Disney Films 

1. Tangled 
2. Mary Poppins 
3. The Little Mermaid 
4. Peter Pan 
5. Oliver and company 
6. The Rescuers 
7. Mulan 
8. The Aristocats 
9. Beauty and the Beast 
10. Hercules 
11. The Lion King 
12. Tarzan 
13. Finding Nemo 
14. Toy Story 
15. Cars 
16. Lilo and Stitch 
17. Aladdin 
18. The Hunchback of Notre Damn 
19. Cinderella 
20. The Fox and the Hound 

Top 10 Books

1. Me before you 
2. How to kill a Mockingbird 
3. Billy and Me 
4. If I Stay 
5. Your the one that I want 
6. Always in Love 
7. Dream a little Dream 
8. Mary Poppins 
9. Peter Pan 
10. The Book Thief 

Top 20 Musicals 

1. Les Miserables 
2. Wicked 
3. Billy Elliot 
4. American Idiot 
5. Hairspray 
6. RENT 
7. Hamilton 
8. Mary Poppins 
9. Only the brave 
10. War Horse 
11. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 
12. The Lion king 
13. West Side Story 
14. Sound of Music 
15. Guys and Dolls 
16. Mama Mia 
17. Funny Girl 
18. Dream Girls 
19. Phantom of the Opera 
20. Shrek: The musical 

Top 5 Movie/book Franchises 

1. Harry Potter 
2. Divergent 
3. Hunger Games 
4. Star Wars 
5. Marvel 

These are our recommendations. if you have any suggestions leave a comment or if you take our recommendations and watch or listen or find out about our recommendations tell us what you thought about them. 

RENT with a view

Last Friday we went to Cardiff Bay as we were going to see the musical RENT, we drove in to Cardiff bay and parked in the Mermaid Q two story car park.

On our walk to the restaurant before the show we saw some of Cardiff Bay well known buildings as well as the Millennium Centre. (as shown in the photos below).

 

We went to Pizza Express, a normal location for us on a day or night out when we want something to eat. As you can see from the pictures the food looked delicious and tasted the same. On the left is the margherita bufala which was a classic and was delicious to the least. It had lots of flavor and didn't disappoint at fulling someones stomach.

 As well as the margherita bufala, we had the pianta pizza and, as you can see from the photo on the right, was full of rocket as well as having hidden elements that added to the pizza.

We decided to have a proper treat and ordered desert as well as having our main and a starter of dough balls.
On the right is two scoops of ice cream, one was chocolate and the other vanilla and it tasted as if we were actually in Italy and eating their ice cream.

The coconut delight, as shown on the right, was also so delicious and also contained no dairy, a plus when trying to eat out with a vegan.

The coconut delight was a coconut sorbet and did not disappoint as it was absolutely amazing and a real treat.

After our delicious meal, it was time for the musical.
We had a short walk to the |Millennium Centre and we were lucky that the weather was nice, a hit and miss in Wales, and it was such a lovely day.

The weather helped to bring out Cardiff bay's beauty and we couldn't help but take pictures of a place where we go to an awful lot.

When sitting down in our seats we looked at the stage and we were blown away by the set. It was an amazing and well though out set. We felt that the set helped with creating the scenes and it was used well throughout the performance as well as looking amazing throughout all the scenes.


The cast for the performance was amazing. Everyone of them fit their roles and were amazing to watch. It was so nice to see Layton Williams play Angel as we are such big fans of him and have seen him in a stage production of  Hairspray in Cardiff  and in the T.V. programme  Bad Education. His performance was outstanding as well as the rest of the cast.

To anyone who ever gets the opportunity to see Rent I would highly recommend it as there is a strong meaning behind the show as well as having some amazing musical numbers.

A day trip to London!

hello lovely's,
This weeks new blog post is all about my day trip to London last week. I went to London on Wednesday the 29th of March where i caught the great western train from Bridgend to London Paddington station. we got to London around half ten ish where we went straight to get our all day tube tickets, we then got the tube from Paddington to south kensington where we then made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum. If any of you ever visit London i highly recommend this Museum as there is a lot of interesting things to see, also if any of you are interested in fashion defiantly check the museum out as there is a collection of the outfits that Queen Victoria wore throughout her royalty.

There is also a really nice coffee shop at the back of the museum. After the museum we went to the nearest tube station and got the tube to Piccadilly Circus where we went looking for food and where we went exploring.

When we were in Piccadilly we walked past Les Miserables and decided to have a spontaneous trip to see the show so we went to les miserables box office and bought two tickets. we were sat in the upper circle in really good seats considering we bought the tickets last minute. If you haven't seen Les Miserables i highly recommend it as it is suitable for everyone. 

After the show we caught a taxi back to Paddington station, as we had a bit of time before our train came.we got some food (which i forgot to take a photo of sorry) but it was really nice, we also had a look around the shops and got some food ready to take on the train for our journey home. We went in the Paddington bear shop to have a little look around as it is very cute.

By the time we had a look around it was time to get on the train home:( 

Although it was sad to say goodbye, we were excited for future trips as you can never get bored of London. 

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment and don't forget to check out our social media accounts at the bottom of the page. See you next Tuesday for our next post. Byee

Also can we please talk about the advert Harry Styles released, like come on where was the warning as i needed a warning. 

Tale As Old As Time - NOT

Hello,
So we tried to go to see the new Beauty and the Beast film on the first day that it was released, the 17th of March 2017, but unfortunately it was sold out so we couldn't go and see it. We tried both of the cinemas in Cardiff but both were sold out. However, we did go on one of our many train journeys into Cardiff and was cheated in another way by having to pay £7 due to travelling at peak time.

But, it wasn't all a disaster. We went to a new restaurant which was recommended to us by a few people and found it was a pleasant change from our normal and reoccurring trip to Pizza Express as it is one of the only places where they serve vegan food as well as food for everyone else. For any vegans out there, or non-vegans, we highly recommend Zizzi's as it is suitable for everyone.

Zizzi's is an Italian restaurant which has classic Italian dishes as well as a separate dietary menu where it shows foods that are vegetarian, vegan and gluten free. The waitress who served us was endearing and often joked with us about her long day. It was a Friday which was a busy day in Cardiff as there was concerts as well as the new release Beauty and the Beast. We ordered a table in advance though when we got there we didn't know why we did as it was so quiet but as we sat down more and more people were coming in and we saw how busy it got. when we sat down we saw how nicely their tables were laid and thought the presentation was worth sharing with you.

One of us started with a vegan garlic bread (shown below) which was divine. In fact it was tried by all and all loved it even if they weren't vegan. It was well worth the price paid for it as there was a lot of bread to eat, we would highly recommend when getting this to buy it as a starter to share with everyone as you may be full before the main even arrives.

Another one of us had the melted mozzarella and pepper pesto chrocchettes (shown below), which were also marvelous.However, as you can see from the photo there wasn't a lot to this starter but the taste certainly made up for that and it was a nice if you wanted to treat yourself and not care about the price.

The mains came quickly besides the vegan dish as we were told that it had burnt and they were making a new one and therefore was offered a free drink which was quite nice. We didn't mind waiting and it was worth the wait as the Pizza was so nice. The other pizzas were a normal margherita pizza as well as the vegan pizza being a margherita alternative. The other pizza was a classic pepperoni campagna. 

After the amazing food we set out to go to the nearest cinema which happened to be Cineworld, when we got there we could see that there was a long line of people waiting but what we didn't know was that they were all queuing for the same film that we wanted to see. Finally after waiting for what felt like years we finally got to the front of the queue, were we got told that all the showings that night for Beauty and the Beast we all sold out. we then walked all the way to the other side of Cardiff to Vue cinema in the pouring rain and high wind to find out that all their showings were sold out as well. The only thing that we could think of doing then was catching the next train home and sitting in front of the fire with a nice cup of tea in our Cath Kidston mugs. All I can say is that a night that was going to be so good and exciting turned out to be a total disaster but I think that they make the best memories as we had such a laugh and we will never forgot when one of us decided to forget their glasses even though she was reminded before we left so it turned out to be a hunt for a pair of glasses that she could wear to watch the film that we never saw in the end. 

Hope you all have a great week and don't forget to check out our social medias that are linked down below to see sneak peaks of our next blog and our adventures. Thank you for reading, see you next week for our next blog post:)