Going For A Leisurely Walk For Fun | Bradford Leisure Exchange Bloggers Night (Gifted)

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I was invited to check out the Leisure Exchange in Bradford, via, their Bloggers Night and I thought that, I would talk to you all about what happened at it today.

Before the event, I arrived in Bradford after coming from Leeds after doing some University based work. I met up with Luke, and, as I had some time to kill. We decided to go to Costa to try some of their new Festive products, as I am creating some posts about Festive Food that is on the high street. We made our way to Costa and decided on getting, Irish Velvet Hot Chocolates and a Terrys Chocolate Orange Muffin to share. If you want to know my opinion on the above, then stay tuned for my Costa Coffee Festive Menu blog post.

After trying these products, we made our way up to the lovely Leisure Exchange. When we got there, we met with the lovely PR member of staff, Laurissa, who had made the night possible. We started off the adventure around the wonderful complex, at, Nando's. Most of you will know what Nando's is, but for those of you that don't. They sell Portuguese food and focus mainly on the Peri Peri phenomenon that has now become a staple in most of the worlds, and, especially England's cuisine repertoire. We decided to stick with non-alcoholic drinks for most of the night, so myself and Luke decided to have a Coke. As we were only having starters at Nando's, I decided to go for the Halloumi, whereas Luke decided to go for Hummus and Pitta, due to not liking most Cheese's unless they are melted.

I love Halloumi, yes it is squeaky, but it is so delicious, and it definitely didn't undeliver when I had it at Nando's at the Bloggers Event. I could;d eat Halloumi all day and all night! It came with some Chilli Jam, which cut through a lot of the creaminess of the Cheese and added a bit of freshness to the Halloumi. I could have this dip on absolutely everything!

After chatting for some time and finding out about some of the other events that Laurissa is helping to create, we decided to move on to the next location. (If you're in Manchester then I urge you to check out, Lightopia at Heaton Park. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet due to Uni, but I can't wait to see all of the amazing lights, the next time I'm in Manchester!)

The next location that we headed to was, Pizza Hut. I honestly couldn't wait. I realise that sounds so weird, but I physically haven't had Pizza Hut in years so I was looking very forward to it! We wandered in and sat at a beautiful table. Again, as we weren't drinking loads, especially as I had University in the morning, myself and Luke decided to get Pepsi's. Pizza Hut, are doing a Christmas Deal where you get a drink, a starter, a pizza and salad for £15, so I decided to get that as it sounded amazing!

I started off with Jack 'N' Rolls, which are completely Vegan. These contain, Sweet Chilli, BBQ Jackfruit and Vegan Cheese. I loved these, but honestly thought that they were going to be more of a crispy Spring Roll rather than a Pizza Roll sort of thing. I loved the Jackfruit and I loved the Cheese. These are a perfect light bite to start a meal off with.

After the starter, I had decided to go for a Cheese Stuffed Crust Texas Meat Meltown. This contains, Spicy Pork, Chorizo, Chicken Breast, Pepperoni and a BBQ Sauce Base. First of all, Cheesy Stuffed Crust is always the best way to go when it comes to Pizza. I did order this just from the title alone, so, I was surprised when I actually bit into it. I wasn't expecting that much spice, but I love the spice from Chorizo so I knew that it was a familiar spice when I tried it. I love anything with a lot of meat, and oh honey, Pizza Hut didn't let me down as this was crammed with juicy meat galore! If you want to find out what Luke had from Pizza Hut, then, make sure to check out his postQ!

Sadly, we were approaching our final stop! We then went to Hollywood Bowl, to enjoy a spot of bowling. I love bowling, but I have to have the bumpers up, because, well, I suck at bowling without them. We enjoyed a game of bowling, which involved Luke nearly wrecking the lane, in true Luke style. I got a couple of spares and I think a strike at one point! During the game, I had a cocktail. This cocktail was called, Strike (For some reason, the website won't work, but I remember that it had Passion Fruit and Vodka in. I mean I love both, so I knew that I was going to love it!) it was also neon Green which looked awesome under the light within the bowling alley. I also received some Nachos during the game, but, honestly I was full from all of the other food so I didn't have that much of the Nachos. I didn't win but I did have an amazing time!

Check out Bradford Leisure Exchange! Have you ever been? If so, then let me know about your experiences there in the comments section down below!

I hope that you have enjoyed this post! Thanks to the staff at Nando's, Pizza Hut and Hollywood Bowl for having us, and, thanks to Laurissa for inviting us to an amazing event!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

This post was in return of free food and bowling at Leisure Exchange. All views, opinions and ramblings are my own. 

Poking The Palette & Trying Something New | Oke Poke Manchester

Hey everyone! 

How are you? Are you enjoying the weather at the moment? Let me know down below! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to Manchester a while ago, and, tried Poké, so I thought that I would talk about my experience with it today.

Poké (poh-kay) is a traditional Hawaiian street food that is a healthy alternative to western fast food. It’s normally a combination of diced raw fish, vegetables and various other mix-ins. Poké in Hawaiian translates as ‘chunk’. It has been compared to a deconstructed sushi bowl, with hints of Asian flavours which creates a unique, healthy and soulful alternative to an everyday salad.

I was in Manchester a while ago, with Alex & Jake. We had ventured into Manchester for a good catch up, and, to defeat and conquer the Doctor Who Escape Room at Escape Hunt. (More details shall be explained in a post very soon.) After conquering the game, we decided to head to Oké Poké.

This business has a cosy yet casual aesthetic with vibes of Hawaii. The aesthetic on it's own makes you feel like a part of something bigger with being able to see everything being made before your eyes. It's something that you can rarely do when eating out at an established restaurant.

I didn't get a photo sadly of my dish, so I am using the photo of Alex's throughout this post. 

You can either get a Poké bowl or a Pokérito. (It's exactly what you think it is, imagine an amazing Hawaiian influenced Burrito.) I decided to just go for a normal bowl. The great thing about this establishment, is that, you can either choose a already created bowl, or, you can create your own. I decided to have all the fun in the world and create my own!

When choosing your own, you have the decision of, choosing your rice, protein, three toppings, garnishes and a sauce. I decided to go for, Black Rice, Free Range Chicken, Pineapple, Spring Onion, and, Avocado, Coriander, Pickled Ginger, and, Teriyaki Sauce.

I loved the colour of the black rice against the wonderful pop of colours from the Pineapple, Spring Onions and Avocado. The Chicken was seared on the outside and succulent on the inside. I loved this, as sometimes, restaurants have a tendency on overcooking Chicken. I loved the contrast of the crunchy Spring Onions against the clay smoothness of the Avocado. (I rarely eat Avocados, so I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to be a stereotypical 'millennial'.) I love Coriander, I can eat it by the bundle, but the pepperiness of this against the sweetness of the Pineapple was to die for. The Teriyaki sauce added flavour to the Avocado. but also mellowed out the burn of the Onion. All in all a great dish, and definitely one to have with friends as you can all come back to the table and talk to each other about what you chose.

Have you been to Oké Poké before? Let me know down below? Where should I go and eat next? Let me know down below! 

Click here to check out Jake 
Click here to check out Alex 
Click here to check out Oké Poké. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you come back next time for another post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

My Day Out WIth Michelle | As It Is, Shopping & Food

Hey! 

How are you?

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to Leeds last week with Michelle, and well, I thought that I would tell you all about it. I will also be tagging Michelle throughout this post, so, if you want to check her out then do so!

The day started off by me being up at 7am, getting ready and grabbing everything and running for the bus... Well by running, I mean fast walk. (I do not run unless very necessary, for example, after ice cream vans.) I headed to Bradford Interchange, walked past the photo of myself advertising the MCard (if you havent heard of the MCard then check it out,) I scanned my MCard and went to Leeds supping an energy drink. Yes, i know that they're not healthy but, a scolding hot cup of coffee on a moving bus, no thank you.

I arrived at Leeds City Centre and walked towards the Core Shopping Centre, where Michelle was waiting outside for me, waving with one hand and holding a cup of Coffee with the other hand. We sat down on a slightly cold bench and chatted about a lot of things, things that I can't probably ever go into without causing some form of trouble. We walked towards the HMV which is situated within The Core and purchased As It Is' new album 'The Great Depression'. We have both loved As It Is and their music for a long while. The fun thing about purchasing the album on the day that we were in, was that we were also able to go to a little gig of theirs in HMV later on in the day, and, get our albums signed by As It Is themselves. (If you have been reading Jamie Sowden for a while, then you will know that one of my first posts were about an As It Is gig.)

We made our way towards Lush. Honestly, when myself and Michelle first met, it was a mixture of As It Is, Lush and Disney that helped us to bond on a lovely but intense level. We entered the quiet but whimsical store. I showed Michelle the new Bath Art products, which she loved due to their being a Snow Fairy based product. She is the queen of Snow Fairy. We made our way around and found the new Magic Crystals Scrub and tried it out. (You can also read my post about that.) We chatted to the lovely staff members and then made our way onto Harvey Nichols. Yes, you heard me right.

Harvey Nichols is the epitome of high class shopping, and, Michelle felt unworthy so, I told her to act like Jeffree Star and to not be afraid of swatching products. We went to Fenty Beauty, and, I showed her some of the new products (if you want to find out what I thought about their new stuff then read the post here.) She loved some of the products and then we made our way to Victoria Quarter, and, checked out the Charlotte Tilbury stand. We chatted to the staff members and tried out the Lip Lustre in a lovely Nude colour. I was also told to try the Magic Cream, which I haven't yet. If there is anything from Charlotte Tilbury that I should try, comment below!

Next on our journey was Victoria Gate to check out T2, as Michelle loves her tea. We tried a wonderful Peach Iced Tea. After this, we wandered around John Lewis and checked out Bobbi Brown  and smelt a few fragrances including Viktor and Rolf's Spicebomb Intense and a fragrance from Jimmy Choo. Both were to die for!

Whilst making our way back from Victoria Leeds, I was stopped by the ITV to talk about air pollution within Leeds and how it affects the public. It was random but fun. I did it mainly because, Michelle didn't want to and, I felt like it was my duty as a Media student to participate.

Carrying on with our adventure, we made our way to Wetherspoons. Me, Michelle and Wetherspoons is never a non-entertaining or a quick thing. One of Michelle's most memorable moments is shouting about wine whilst being drunk. That was a fun night. We sat down, ordered our food and drink and chatted about well, everything. I decided to throw caution to the wind, and ordered a Whiskey which is rare. The only problem doing that was that the bartender brought too much over in one go, and well, spilt it all over me. I didn't mind smelling of Whiskey with notes of Coconut and Vanilla. We ate, chatted some more. ordered more drinks, chatted more and then made our way back to HMV.

We queued up. got into the store and made our way to the staging area to watch the intimate set. It was amazing, well, except for the two guys at the side of me and Michelle expressing their views that screamed toxic masculinity and didn't shut up about women throughout the set. We sang along, filmed and cheered the band on whilst they performed. After the set, we made our way to queue up to get our albums signed. We were thankful that we were away from the annoying guys. We got our albums signed, chatted to the guys, smiled.

After the gig, we made our way to Costa, I got a Lacto-free Coconut Mocha. They are to die for. Michelle got a pot of Earl Grey Tea. We chatted, sipped our drinks and decided that we would pop into Primark. Our wander into Primark consisted of looking at all of the new Friends clothing (I was tempted to get the We were on a break vest), and Disney clothing including Disney Pyjamas. We had a look at socks and I ended up getting some cute Mario socks, and a cute Japanese inspired Sonic The Hedgehog top.

Finally, we made our way to take a few photos at Freedom Quarter, which will be featured in my next post which is a OOTD post. We grabbed McDonalds and made our way to our trains.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this lifestyle post. I hope that you come back next time for another post.

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

Where To Watch A Film In Leeds

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought, that today, I would talk to you all about a few cinemas that are within Leeds and what they offer.

I thought that, due to Leeds being such a vastand spacious city, there is quite a few cinemas. That's why I thought that it would be best to give you some information about each/talk about the differences between each establishment. I also think that it would be great, to travel to all of the cinemas within this post in one day, to have a full on day of amazing cinematic experiences.

Everyman

Everyman Cinemas, is located within the heart of Leeds City Centre, via the Trinity Leeds Shopping Centre, Everymean boasts a wonderful array of plush seating, amazing sound and service to your seat. This is definitely a cinematic experience, that you want to indulge in when it comees to seeing your favourite film. Due to Everyman Cinema being within Trinity Leeds, it means that it's only a stones throw away from the train station, which means that, you can plan and enjoy an amazing day within Leeds without having to walk too far to watch a film.

Vue

Vue are known for their exquisitive screens, and great seats. The Vue within The Light, Leeds, offers both of them and more. As it is in a shopping centre, again, you can get some shopping done before/after a film. As this cinema is so near to the Town Hall/Art Gallery, you can experience high brow culture via art and film. You can also grab a coffee via the Starbucks that is only a moment away. or grab food via Nation Of Shopkeepers, Miller & Carter or Red Hot World Buffet. You can also make a full day of it via booking a room at Radisson Blue which is also located within The Light. There is another Vue within Cardigan Fields, that is located next great eateries such as, Taco Bell, McDonalds and MOD Pizza, therefore you can grab something great to eat, before or after, if you go to that Vue.

Showcase De Lux

Showcase De Lux, was the cinema that I went to, as a treat, throughout my childhood. This cinema is probably one of the 3 that made me enjoy cinema in it's entirety. From it's big screens and majestic sound, to the lush interior even before sitting down, this cinema just exudes style. It is a bit out of the way unless you're travelling by Car due to it being in Birstall. It is a 9 min walk from Ikea and Frankie & Benny's therefore you can enjoy shopping, food and a film all within a few minutes of each other. I mean this is technically in Batley but I always class it as Leeds, but it is an amazing cinema.

Hyde Park Picture House

This Picture House is one of the most amazing buildings and cinemas, that I have ever laid my eyes upon and I urge you to go if you can. This Grade II listed building still shows some of the most popular movies that are on at the minute, but they also show local and indie based films. This means that there is always a variety of films to go see at this amazing establishment. I think that this would be an amazing place to go to when you want to encapsulate yourself in a film, or, take yourself and someone else on a great day out.

Cineworld

This one is the last cinema, that is based within a shopping centre, but this is the latest one. Cineworld White Rose has the most amazing lighting, screens, sounds, seating and environment. When you walk into this establishment, you know that it was meant to be a cinema where great films were meant to be shown. Due to it being within White Rose, it means that you can shop, chat, dine and do anything in between. Go and check it out if you can.

Have you checked out any od these film based establishments? Have you watched any great films lately like, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape Of Water or The Greatest Showman? Let me know down below! Most of these bove have student discounts but, please do double check. 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this film based blog post and I hope that you come back to read another post.

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Because I'm Always Worth It | My Hair Story

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I thought that today, I would talk to you all about my hair story. I know that this may sound a bit weird, but a lot has been done to my hair over the past few years.

I started experimenting with my hair within the good summer days of around 2014 from what I remember, but don't bank me on that. It started off with a friend of mine bleaching my hair on the foor of a well known hotel chain within Manchester. Even though, this sounds like a very stupid thing ever, and it was, I had actually planned it for a good month or so, as for a good couple of years beforehand, I had dreamt about dyeing my hair a completely different colour to boost my self confidence and such. (A completely different blog post about that might be on the blog at some point.)

After letting the bleach seep into my scalp, we stuck on a turquoise semi permanent hair dye and did all the usual things when dyeing hair. At the time, I thought I looked cool, but looking back, it looked like what it was... A first time home done bleach and dye job. I thank my friend for doing it to this day and I love the memory of the weekend we spent in Manchester, but thank goodness we can look back at it with laughter because its needed. I wanted to look like a pretty mermaid, but in reality, I didn't even look like someone trying to look like Ursula for the first time drunk. To be honest, I looked like I had a menage a trois with some bright orange and turquoise paint.

After this experience, I spent a good while getting three different colours out, and slowly took the time to get my hair back to a point where bleaching would be fine for my hair. After that I dyed my hair electric blue and I loved it! The only problem is that, when blue hair fades, it becomes a pale blue crossed with a slightly green hued mess. I stuck with green for a week or two, whilst I figured out what to do.

After consulting a hairdresser friend of mine, I decided to strip my hair and decided to dye it medium brown due to brown neutralising a lot of the pigments that are found in green hair dye. I stuck with this for quite a while. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, then you will remember my medium brown shaggy hair at the beginning of the blog's creation.

After growing this out, I slowly decided to go back to blue in the form of Black-Blue hair and I loved it. At the same time, I decided to slowly grow my hair out. Sadly. the main reason to growing my hair was because my anxiety became ultra bad for a long while. This meant that hairdressers were a deffo no for me. My hair grew to just past my shoulders and shimmered in a wonderful blue shade when the light hit it. I did love having long hair due to being able to play out so many styles with it, and I do miss it sometimes.

Long hair and using several treatments to condition my hair including Coconut Oil and such took it's toll, and after a whie, I decided to cut it which then lead into my combover phase. This simply meant that I would wear my hair in a sort of combover style, and I still do to this day sometimes. It took a long while to get used to this but I did!

Last stop on the train is the present look. I've had my hair cut even shorter, as I've realised that lactose and my scalp have arguments every now and again. I have started to experiment with styles and using more products in my daily style. I now use a Pomade and try to style my hair into somewhat of a curved sort of quiff. It's not much and often, it's a mass but I kind of love it!

I have no current plans to dye my hair or do anything drastic with it anytime soon, but I do wish that I did dye my hair maybe a sort of Purple or Red colour so, that may happen within the near future.

Share your hair story down below in the comments section below! 

Thanks for reading this beauty based blog post and I hope that you come back to read the next post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Having A Wonderful Wintry Weekend | Trinity Leeds Wonder Weekeend 2017

Hey!

Welcome to a brand new post! The wonderful guys over at Trinity Leeds invited me to come along to their Wonder Weekend event and I thought that today I would tell you all what happened at Wonder Weekend.

A tal; dark green tree in sparkly blue lights all the way up the tree with a big red box supporting it at the bottom on a white floor on a dark background.  

Wonder Weekend is a weekend long event that is held within the shopping centre Trinity Leeds near around November. Wonder Weekend is a weekend full of well, wonder and things that you would never expect to end up in a shopping centre. The best part of Wonder Weekend is that as well as attending and participating in these events, you get to experience the lights of the Trinity Leeds Christmas Tree/Wishmas Tree being turned on for the very first time that year.

I started by going straight to the belly of the wonderful beast. The Ball Pit and Bar space. This space was turned into a massive ball pit with a bar and some brands offering free goodies next to it. Sadly, due to the amount of people as Wonder Weekend was open to the public, I decided to not go into the ball pit but I did get to try one of Meatliquors amazing burgers for the first time and I absolutely loved it!

After the ball pit, I decided to carry on and go to the Sherbet Shack which contained wonderful sweets for the taking!

Carrying on from this, I then went to decorate my own Toffee Apple which I absolitely loved as it meant that I got to dip my own Apple into the Toffee. I love it when I get to create something and take it home!

I then made my way to the viewing area for the switch on of the Wishmas Tree Lights. This bit was hosted by the wonderful Jojo that works at Capital FM. This part of the event included acrobats, singing, dancing and much more. After a while, the lights were switched on which made the shopping centre look wonderful and sparkly, there were things such as balloons that descended from the top of the shopping centre to the bottom.

I then slowly made my way towards Everyman Cinemas to have a look at their Slumber Cinema. Sadly as I think a good few decided to do this after the switch on, it was still quite packed for myself to fully embrace it but I think that this is a wonderful idea as it encapsulates being wonderful and rested but cosy at the same time. I think that Everyman should do something like this more often.

I then decided that it was time to head off back home even though I felt completely festive and wanted to smother myself in things such as Spicy Hot Drinks and luxurious food which is associated with the festive times.

Thanks to the wonderful PR team that invited me to this event and to Trinity Leeds for putting on such an amazing event. 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this festive post and that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x