The A-Z of me: A is for Alyssia, That's Who I Am...

I was born on the 2nd of February 1992, and was christened Alyssia Rose Marie Slade. Ever since then I have been causing trouble, obsessing, and being a general weirdo! So how about I answer some questions about me.

1. What is your middle name?: I have two! Rose and Marie...
2. What is your favorite drink?: A nice glass of rosé wine
3. What is your favorite song at the moment?: 'Love is An Open Door' from Frozen
4. What is your favorite food?: Rare Steak with Bacon, Red Wine, and Mushroom sauce
5. What is the last thing you bought?: Chocolate...
6. Favorite book of all time?: The Hunger Games trilogy
7. Favorite Color?: Blue
8. Do you have any pets?: I have a dog that lives with my mum, and two gerbils that I just got!
9. Favorite Perfume?: One Direction Our Moment. NOT because it's by one direction!
10. Favorite Holiday?: Halloween
11. Are you married?: Nope, not yet!
12. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: Four or five times I think. Mainly to Europe, but once to America! That was the best trip ever.

13. Do you speak any other language?: A little bit of Spanish, but I'm trying to become fluent in it!
14. How many siblings do you have?: One brother and one sister, both younger... it sucks being the oldest...
15. What is your favorite store?: all of them?
16. Favorite restaurant?: Nelson's Diner in Kingsclere has the best milkshakes and American food I have ever had...
17. When was the last time you cried?: Probably watching one of my favourite American TV shows, I get very emotionally attached...
18. Favorite Blog?: Definitely Becky Bedbug's Blog. I've also had the pleasure of spending time with Becky, she is seriously wonderful!
19. Favorite Movie?: I seriously cannot pick a favourite, but instead I'll offer my two favourite genres. Horror and Disney.
20. Favorite TV show?: Once again I find it hard to pick, some of my fav's are Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, Doctor Who, Eastenders, The Great British Bake Off... I could go on...
21. PC or Mac?: PC, mainly because I can't afford a Mac...
22. What phone do you have?: I have an Iphone 5S! It is my baby, and I cannot live without it!
23. How tall are you?: 5’4” I think, this is a total guess..
24. Can you cook?: I love to cook! Me and my boyfriend take it in turns every night to cook, and we've been eating great since then! Such yummy, yummy food...

So there you have it, the first of my A-Z of me posts. I hope you will enjoy this series as much as I will enjoy writing it!

What I Bought: Hotel Chocolat

Ever since I first stepped foot in Hotel Chocolat I knew I would fall in love with it. Although despite having a deep love of their chocolate, I haven't managed to get my hands on a lot of it.

I bought Tim three lots of chocolate from there for Easter, and I ended up just wishing that I had kept them for myself! He hasn't opened any of them yet, but when he does, I will be trying some of them, whether he likes it or not.

Today we were just having a mooch around town, and decided to pop into there, mainly because they tend to give you free samples when you walk in. As soon as we walked in the door I gravitated towards their Easter stock, and I was delighted to see that they had up to 70% off some of the stock!

Tim and I simply couldn't resist picking up a few bits, and all we spend was £10.50!!! Quick Disclaimer: Despite the obvious amount of product placement, this is not a sponsored post, I just really like chocolate, and bargains!

The first thing I noticed was these gorgeous colourful Goose eggs. This is how the website describes them: '4 outstandingly delicious hollow eggs in three luscious flavours. The brown is our stunning caramel milk chocolate, the pink is a creamy strawberry white chocolate, and the yellow and purple are a simple high-cocoa white chocolate without a fruity taste– dressed up in our all-natural pastel colours for the spring season!'

Originally priced up at £13, I picked up these little babies for £3.90! I almost died of shock, when I say how much they had been knocked down.

The second thing I noticed was this totally cute nest of egglets. I actually saw this when I went to buy Tim's Easter chocolate, and I almost bought one for myself then. Here's the websites description: 'A springtime find of freshly laid pastel egglets in white chocolate - a yellow egglet of runny caramel, a pink one of raspberry ganache, and a blue egglet filled with sumptuous praline, all hidden in a 50% milk chocolate nest with crispy rice pieces.'

Originally price up at £13, this one was also knocked down to £3.90! Such a bargain, especially seeing as the nest is SOLID chocolate. This one Tim and I intend to share... even though I can see myself eating it all by myself!

The final thing we picked up was these cute Eggs and soldiers. How could we resist something so fun and different! Tim actually chose these for himself, but I have been assured that I can try one of the White Chocolate soldiers. This is what the website says about this one: '4 Milk chocolate dippy eggs filled with white chocolate truffle, accompanied by a troop of 4 praline-filled white chocolate soldiers, already dipped with a dollop of creamy chocolate yolk.'

This one was originally £7.50 and it was reduced to £2.25! Such a bargain, and I cannot wait to steal some of this from Tim.

So if all this looks very tempting to you, then get your butt over to the Hotel Chocolat website and check it out! I am literally tying myself down right now so that I can't go buy more... OH SO TEMPTING! 

Here are a few of my other picks from this sale.

This is the Bunny in a muddle. Originally priced at £13, reduced to £3.90, this would be the perfect post Easter, Easter gift for anyone that you may or may not have forgotten to get an Easter gift for.

How could anyone resist these cute chocolate chics and bunnies? This one is call the Chirp Egg, originally priced at £7.00, this was reduced to a whopping £2.10! I'd snap this up before they all disappear.

This one is an interesting one, The Egg Sandwich it's a cross between an Easter egg, and their normal chocolate bars that they fill with all manner of tempting goodies. Originally priced at £8.50, you can pick this baby up for half price, £4.25!

I suggest that you all go snap these delectable delights before they are long gone! Especially if you have never tried Hotel Chocolat and you desperately want to!

#100HappyDays Day 48-54

Blogging for two days in a row now? I think I am finally getting back on track, and I am certainly enjoying it! Today I bring you another #100HappyDays roundup, I'm actually not posting one of these every day, and some days I'm posting several. Mainly because I want there to be more interesting things for you guys to look at! So let's go...

Day 48: I finally met my boyfriends neice! She is only 11 weeks old and so small. I had lots and lots of cuddles, despite not technically being family. I love this picture as we look like a proper family! So glad I got to hand her back at the end of the day though...

Day 49: Tim bought me Frozen for Easter! More fool him though, as I'll be watching it all the time now!

Day 50: Tim and I finally got our hands on an Xbox One. Setting up was fun, and the instant sign-in and hand controls are pretty cool too. Can't wait to start playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag!

Day 51: I made cottage pie for dinner, and even though I severely burnt my mouth on it, it was super yummy, and I can't wait to have it again!

Day 52: I found this when moving my clothes around the other day and I couldn't resist wearing it. I'm still #TWFanmily at heart.

Day 53: I realised I had all the ingredients needed to make mini pizza muffins for lunch, they were seriously tasty, and Tim was jealous that he didn't think of it first!

Day 54: I cleaned the Gerbils cage, and it's looking better than ever. Seeing my boys run around in their plastic balls, whilst I was cleaning, was a giggle.

So there we have it, another week, another 7 photos... This challenge is just flying by...

Welcoming New Cuties to our Family!

Hello everyone! I have returned (hopefully for good). To be honest I have been struggling pretty hard with what to write on this blog for weeks now. Every time I sit down to write, I just freeze up and can't think of anything. Then today I totally realised that I haven't introduced you to the newest editions to my little family!

Ever since we moved into the flat I have wanted a pet. I am used to being around cats and dogs, and being able to cuddle them whenever I want. Obviously seeing as we are currently renting, and don't even have a garden, we cannot have a dog or a cat. So when we originally moved in I asked our landlord if it would be OK for us to get something like a hamster, and he said that was fine.

When I was a little younger, me and my sister had gerbils, a black one, and a sandy coloured one. I only remember that the sandy coloured one's name was 'Sandy', I know right? Totally original...

Anyway we used to hold them, and play with them, and I' pretty sure I taught my one to walk across my arms and get onto my head. They are super intelligent, and cute little creatures, so I knew I wanted them again.

A little around a month ago, we went into Pets at Home, just to have a look. and I fell in love with this beautiful black Gerbil with a white stripe down his body. He was super energetic, and running around the cage. I KNEW I wanted him. I begged Tim to let me get him, but he put his foot down and said no, he still wasn't sure about getting a Gerbil. Anyway, I spent the whole day begging, and pleading, and pouting, and batting my eyelashes at him, and even crying... YES CRYING! Over this furry little guy. Eventually Tim caved and said we could go back and get him, so we dashed straight back to the pet shop, and when we got there he was gone... I was so totally heartbroken, I think I cried for an hour when we got back... I know, it's only a gerbil... but I get very emotionally attached to animals, OK?

After that I kind of didn't want to go through that experience again, so for a few weeks I didn't even go into Pets at Home. Then when we were visiting a nearby store, I decided it was time to take another look. To my complete surprise and joy, there was the perfect Gerbil, almost exactly like the one I had missed out on, maybe not as energetic, but still super cute. I turned to Tim and told him we were getting them, so we quickly started grabbing a cage, food, woodshavings, and then I grabbed an advisor to grab the gerbil for me.

I always knew I wanted a pair of Gerbils, because I hate the thought of only have one, and it being lonely. So I picked another gerbil to come home with us, and they got boxed up and ready to go! So without further hesitation, I introduce to you, my furbabies!

For the first day we got them, we really struggled to name them. We were told by the ladies in the shop that they are both boys, so we trawled the internet looking for famous double acts that we could name them after. However after not finding anything suitable I started to look up Disney double acts and toy with a few of those names. Some included, Mike and Sully, Timone and Pumba, Buzz and Woody, but after really thinking about it, there was only one film in my recent life that wanted to name this little boys after... That film was Frozen. There was no way I could call either of them Hans, as even saying his name makes me spit venom, but I was originally toying with Sven and Kristoff, seeing as at least they are a double act! Tim wasn't so keen on Kristoff though, and suggested that one of them be named Olaf, seeing as that is his favourite character. As soon as he said it I realised how perfect is was... So they have now been named Sven and Olaf. 

The black and white cutie, is Sven. He is the more adventurous of the two, always running around, digging holes and flicking sawdust out of their cage. He is always the first to discover new things that I put in their environment. He has jumped onto my hand a few times, but I have yet to fully hold him.

That leaves our sandy coloured baby being Olaf. He is a lot more quiet, and will happily sleep in their tube/house all day and will only come out for food, or if their cage is open. He loves his Sunflower seeds, and takes them straight from my hand. He has also sat on my hand a few times, I have picked him up once. He keeps biting me gently, so I looked it up, and apparently he's checking to see if I am edible, and in time will realise that I am not food, and therefore will stop nibbling me. The website also suggested that I wash my hands before touching him, so that I don't have any tempting smells on them!

All in all, they are very amusing little things, and sometimes myself and Tim just like to sit by the cage and watch them scurry around. I can't wait until they let me hold them properly so that I can give them proper cuddles, but until them I am just happy to have them in my life!

Let me know in the comments if you have any pets, especially if they are Gerbils! I'm also thinking about doing a Gerbils 101 post, so let me know if you would like to see that!

#100HappyDays Day 34-47

Hello again all! Yes I am alive, no I haven't given up blogging I have just been a very, VERY, busy girl. What with having a full time job, a flat to look after, and a boyfriend to cook for, I haven't had a lot of time to myself. I'm slowly getting used to this life and will no doubt have it under control very shortly, and I'm going to try and blog once a week from here on out.

Day 34: I finally got hold of my favourite sweets in the whole world after having an almost two month break from them!

Day 35: We made delicious home made pizza, with curly fries. Which again I hadn't eaten in a long time.

Day 36: I made Paella! It was super tasty and I cannot wait to make it again. I will be writing a post about this very soon!

Day 37: I'm obsessed with this new game, it's basically Bejewelled... but it's Frozen related, therefore it is awesome!

Day 38: This t-shirt I bought at Primark is super cute and I simply couldn't resist it!

Day 39: I went to a Dog Show in my home town and came across this lovely boy, Oscar. Doesn't he look super Dapper!

Day 40: Out with my old school friends, first time I had seen some of them since Sixthform! I drank a fair amount of wine...

Day 41: It was our anniversary and therefore Tim made me breakfast in bed. Pancakes, banana and golden syrup, served with orange juice. I scoffed every last bite.

Day 42: Technically the same day but I needed to catch up! Tim FINALLY bought me flowers, and even managed to surprise me with them! Anyone who knows me will know that I am actually quite hard to surprise!

Day 43: Tim really spoilt me on our anniversary... He cooked a gorgeous steak with a red wine, bacon and mushroom sauce, served with onion rings, chips and peas. Literally my favourite meal, and it was absolutely delicious!

Day 44: I had a really pretty apple in my lunch box, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it at work!

Day 45: I did a cake sale at work to help raise money for my Race for Life campaign, which you can check out here. I managed to raise a cool £22.15, which considering I work in a small office was a miracle!

Day 46: Introducing my new Gerbils... Olaf and Sven! I'm gutted that this picture is so blurry, because my little babies were cuddling inside their bed! It was far too cute!

Day 47: The sun was shining, and the bluebells just outside of our flat are in bloom! It's so nice to be able to look out of my window and see these beautiful flowers...

So there we have it, a quick recap of how my #100HappyDays challenge is going. I have managed to skip a few days, mainly when I wasn't doing anything interesting, but I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am!

I'm Doing It: Race For Life!

Doing something for charity has been on my list of life goals pretty much since I was in school, but I've never managed to commit myself to something. Every year I say to myself, 'I'll do the race for life' and then I always forget to sign up, and by the time I remember it's too late to really raise any money for the cause. This year is the year I break that habit, because I HAVE signed up! On Sunday the 6th of July I will be facing a 5k race, and I will be wearing a costume! I won't be running as such, my goal this year is to simply finish the race and have fun doing it.

Yes to encourage you all to get donating, I am putting my costume choice in your hands! If you would like to vote then please do so using the poll below. You may note that all my choices are costume that can be made in PINK, for obvious reasons. Before you vote though, please visit my JustGiving page and donate towards Cancer Research, and my Race For Life journey.

Or alternatively you can simply text ARMS92 followed by the amount you wish to donate (£1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070, and this will automatically go to my JustGiving Page!

I've set myself a target of £100, seeing as this is my first ever fundraising event, but I would love to exceed that! I will be closing the the poll on the 6th of June, to give myself a month to get the costume ready, so please get your donations and votes in by then!

What costume shall I wear for the Race For Life?

Superhero

Pig

Fairy

Footballer

Poll Maker

Bloggers Kindle Book Club: March

Good evening everyone! I hope you are all well. I am finally getting back into blogging, I have lots and lots planned, so you will have plenty to read. This week I have to talk about how the Bloggers Kindle Book Club is going!

Our first month's book was 'Life after Life' by Kate Atkinson, and this is the book that I chose myself.

I have to admit, that this book was really difficult to get in to, and remains half finished on my tablet. It's not because I didn't enjoy the book, because I am still trying to finish it. I think the problem I found with the book is that it takes time for you to wrap your head around it. I didn't start this book until half way through the month as it was, simply because I had been so busy with moving a settling in.

Here's the synopsis for the book: 'During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.
What if there were second chances? And third chance? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from it's own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
Life after Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moment, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of outselves'

Without giving too much away, this book is very ambiguous. We follow the life of Ursula, who keeps dying over and over, but getting the chance to relive her life each time. When the group discussed the book, we couldn't all decide what the author was trying to say Ursula was doing. Whether she was time travelling, or simply having foresight, being reincarnated, or whether the author was simply exploring how one small action can set off a chain of events. For me this presented a problem with the book, because I was so confused with what the author was trying to say, that I often had to re-read sections due to getting lost. 

Another thing I found with this book, was that I really didn't like the choices that Ursula made, in fact a lot of the time I wanted to reach into the book and slap her! Though I think the author was simply trying to make a statement about the naivety of women in that era, especially when it came to men, marriage and sex. In fact there was only one character in the whole book that I found I liked, Pamela, and even then I feel like her character is very basic. 

Although I still have half to read, I am confident that I will finish this book, it's just taking me much longer than I would like. Based on what I have read I would give the book a 5/10, and that's mainly due to the difficulties that I have faced when reading it. However overall the story-line is interesting and carries your attention through, despite the author making it much harder work for you!

So with that book out of the way, we can move onto this month's book which has been chosen by Nicola, and it is, The Forgotten Daughter by Renita D'Silva. If you want to join the #BKBC then all you need to do is join up to our Facebook Group and get reading! We have monthly chats to discuss the books we have read, and each month a member gets to pick the next book we read, providing it is on Amazon Kindle Store, and is under £5. Hope to see some new faces next month!