A Pizza-Making Party at Pizza Express, Manchester

Hey,

If you follow me on, well, any platform at all - you'll know that I LOVE pizza. I could live on the stuff, in fact.

So any event involving my favourite culinary pleasure is an unwavering, solid 'yes' from me.

Pizza Express invited me down to their newly renovated Manchester Oxford Road restaurant to try my hand at creating my own masterpiece with one of the chain's Pizza Making Parties*. I love cooking and learning new skills so this sounded like a great way to spend an evening!

To start, we were offered a selection of drinks including Peroni and prosecco to loosen us up for the pizza making! It was nice to chat to our fantastic hosts and the other guests over drinks and Pizza Express' legendary Dough Balls!

We were then armed with aprons and Pizza Express paper chef's hats while the table was floured, ready for the dough.

We were each given a perfectly proportioned piece of dough, ready for manipulation - after a little lesson in kneading and tossing from one of the branch's trained pizza chefs.

Dough rolled and rounded (I was surprisingly pretty good at it!), we transferred our bases into perfectly sized pizza trays and added a generous smear of pizza sauce.

An array of fresh toppings were brought out (including red onion, artichoke and chunks of juicy chicken) and while some of the guests created some fantastically weird and wonderful combinations, I'm classic when it comes to pizza and simply opted for hot pepperoni and some fresh red chilli.

Sprinkled with a generous amount of cubed mozzarella, all that was left to do was wait for our creations to come out of the pizza over, ready to eat!

The big reveal was better than we could've expected! Some of the pizzas, it has to be said, went into the oven looking a little questionable but the cooking process seemed to resolve all sins and everyone's came out looking seriously appetising!

My pizza was absolutely delicious - perhaps more so because I'd made it myself!

After we'd scoffed our creations, the team hosted a little award ceremony with some fun prizes. Naturally, I was given the 'biggest tosser' prize!

I'd definitely recommend one of Pizza Express' Pizza Making Parties for a special occasion like a birthday or hen party as something everyone can enjoy.

Have you ever tried your hand at pizza making?

Branded Lab Spring/Summer'15 Showcase: Get Branded

Hello!

I recently went along to PR agency, Branded Lab's Spring/Summer showcase - 'Get Branded'.

Branded Lab look after some great high street fashion brands and as I'm not so familiar with some of the labels they represent, I was really excited to see their SS15 collections and get to know them better.

The brand showcase was held in Manchester's amazing Rosylee tearooms - one of my favourite places which has recently been transformed into more of a restaurant; I haven't been in for a while so it was great to see the changes to their menus and decor.

Clutch bags from KoKo Couture

Pieces from South Avenue

Bejewelled Coord by KoKo Couture

Pick 'n' Mix!

South Avenue Coord and NaaNaa paisley playsuit

Alex and I looking at the ranges and being papped by photographer Sophie Lobban

Rosylee provided the perfect atmosphere for a fashion event - the inside is so sophisticated yet still maintains that Northern Quarter quirkiness. It has a real vintage feel to it and lots of pretty touches like interesting light fittings and plants around the venue.

While being treated to delicious, classic spring cocktails and the most incredible mini desserts (not ashamed to say that I tried all of them!), it was great to catch up with some of my favourite bloggers as well as meet some new faces.

On to the collections! I was really impressed with the brands on display which included British-made leather bags by Harriet Sanders, Jailbird Jeans, Ruby Prom, NaaNaa and South Avenue. The latter two brands were behind my favourite pieces of the evening which I've photographed above: the dreamy pastel pink Clueless-inspired check coord two-piece set and the cool boho-style red paisley playsuit.

Thanks to Branded Lab for a great evening and for a fabulous goody bag which included products from Lipcote, Elf and Avon - as well as a huge bag of sweets from their amazing pick and mix stand!

Have you seen anything you'd love to wear this spring from these brands?

Manchester Meets Las Vegas: DivasGlamVegas!

Hello!

Last week I attended a very glamorous event, allowing me the chance to get properly dressed up (for once).

The event, which was held at the ultra-glam Milton Club in Manchester, celebrated everything Las Vegas; complete with a roulette table, indulgent cocktails, a photobooth and even our very own Britney Spears!

Me left: Necklace - Vivienne Westwood

Dress - Little Black Dress

The #DivasGlamVegas event was hosted by Thomas Cook Airlines who really knew how to look after us. The Milton Club was a perfect venue for a Vegas theme as it's so opulent inside (and they can make a great cocktail, which is of utmost importance in my book).

There was such a feel good vibe and I really enjoyed trying my hand at roulette (which I was shocking at!) and messing about in the photobooth with Fikki and Lola from Pastime Bliss and the lovely Frances at Frances Cassandra, as evidenced above!

There were also some great mini makeovers on offer like ombre lips and sparkly eyelashes - the perfect finishing touch to our diva looks. I was actually a little apprehensive about wearing my dress as it's pretty over-the-top compared with my usual uniform of ripped jeans and trainers; though it was great to see that everyone else seemed to have gone all out for the Vegas spectacular.

I would absolutely love to visit Las Vegas myself. I'm sorry to say that I've never travelled further than Europe - I would love to see more of the world but struggle to get enough funds together for a big trip away. I was pleased to hear that Vegas is a little more within reach as this event was to mark the introduction of affordable return flights to Vegas from Manchester Airport, as well as a handful of other airports, which start from as little as £549.

Thomas Cook have put together a great mini website full of tips and ideas for things to do and see in the city, especially for us chicks! Get the low down, here.

Have you been, or would like to go to Las Vegas?

Fragrance Direct Christmas Party

Hello!

I've been so busy gearing up for Christmas that this post has been a bit delayed. I'm now off work until January and chilling at my mum and dad's so I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging while I've got a little more spare time.

I few weeks ago I was invited to a great event with Fragrance Direct at their festive 'Christmas Blogger Party'. At the time, I wasn't feeling particularly Christmassy but this really put me in the mood.

Fragrance Direct combined their great ranges of fragrance and cosmetics with delicious drinks and food, as well as bowling! The event was held at All Star Lanes in Manchester, a really cool retro-style bowling alley and we had our own private room with its own bar and two bowling lanes.

Longline blazer- Monki

Top- Killstar

Fragrance Direct made every effort to make everything festive. There was fake snow everywhere, a tree and the most amazing Christmas crackers filled with little beauty treats.

It's probably a bit late for Christmas gifts but Fragrance Direct have currently got a huge sale on with big discounts on their already amazing prices.

Having tried out lots of perfumes on the night, my favourite fragrance had to be Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. Can you spot any of your favourites on the table?

Rare London: AW14 Event

Another late post- forget that extra hour we get for daylight saving, I think I need at least an extra three everyday! So busy it's unreal.

Anyway don't feel too sorry for me because I'm about to tell you about a great event I went to a few weeks ago; the Rare London AW14 Collection Launch Blogger Event.

If you're not up to speed on Rare London (srsly?), they sell quite possibly the best reasonably-priced stand-out party dresses around. Their pieces tend to be bold, fitted and beautifully embellished.

Thankfully, the AW14 collection didn't disappoint; the party season is not a time to shy away from sequins and sparkle!

Rare showcased the collection alongside a really fun chocolate-making workshop! I'm not all that sure that chocolate and beautiful clothes really fit together but it seemed to work so well and we all had so much fun. You'd be surprised how creating curly shit-shaped piles of truffle from a piping bag breaks the ice!

I was pleased to have lovely ladies Jess from Forever Miss Vanity and Georgie from She Dreams on my chocolate making 'team'. The three of us got to the event a little late and found it hilarious just how terrible we were at making the different chocolates.

As they say though- it's not how it looks, it's how it tastes. We were able to take home the chocolates we made and they were indeed delicious if I do say so myself!

Throughout the chocolate workshop, it was hard not to get distracted by the beaut clothes on display behind us. In particular, I had my eye on a stunning monochrome shaggy faux fur coat that I couldn't stop looking at!

After a thorough hand-washing, we all had a proper look at the pieces on the rails and they really were jaw-dropping.

This black cut-out grid shirt dress was one of my favourite pieces 

Rare also showcased a new range of perfect party accessories and jewellery

I particularly liked the dresses and jumpsuits from Rare's 'Opulence' range- a premium collection of hand-embellished, luxurious styles made from high quality fabrics and trims. This range is a little pricier than the regular collections but perfect for that special piece for a festive occasion. I fell in love with a multi-coloured jewel number that I just thought was incredible- whether or not I could ever pull it off is another question!

Choker- eBay + DIY

90s style button-through dress- Pop Boutique

Fluffy clutch bag- Topshop

Has anything caught your eye from the collection?