Meet Maxy...

This is Max...

He is my boyfriend's new Plummer Terrier/Jack Russell Cross Puppy.

Here is a Maxy fact file:

Max is scared of pretty much everything. 

• He is scared of ice cubes in drinks because they make a funny noise when they chink the side of the glass.
• He is scared of bubble wrap and boxes (that means sending him back to where he came from by post is not an option)
• He is scared of wrapping paper tubes
• He is scared of the spritz noise that aerosol cans make
• He is scared of fireworks and thunder (that one is understandable though really - they are loud!)

In short, he is the biggest whimp known to man (proven by his girly bark). On the day I first met him, he thought I was scary and hid in his bed until I coaxed him out with treats. Shame he isn't still scared of me, now he just clambers on me.

Max's favourite past times are:

• trying to jump the neighbours fence.
• wildlife watching/ hunting most notably staring at the light fitting on the look out for flies, patrolling the bedroom window for cats and (pictured below) bird watching.
• as you can see from the picture above Max also enjoys licking camera lenses and everything else for that matter - he's not fussy
• having no respect for any kind of personal boundary, clambering wherever he wants whether you're in the way or not and flopping at any given moment.
• putting muddy paw prints on the white bedding first thing in the morning.
• ripping apart toys labelled indestructible thread by thread.
• biting Richard (though this one is just plain amusing to everyone apart from Richard).

 In short he is an absolute terror...

...but who can resist that forehead wrinkle.

Scriptoeris and The Shorty Awards

So as you may or may not know as well as keeping up my own little slice of the internet here on Amble, I also contribute to the online wonder that is Scriptoeris magazine.

Its founder (and our editor-in-chief) the one woman powerhouse that is Miss Scarlett Clark took a long hard look at the world of women's magazines. All she saw were articles on how to lose weight and how to get that man - there was nothing for the smart, young, career-driven woman. From that realisation, Scriptoeris was born - an outlet for those who are ambitious and ladder climbing, travel-loving and adventurous, in short clever women like us.

I was thrilled to be asked to contribute to their travel section and love contributing to such an amazing publication as much as I do nosing at all the articles from the other girls on submission day.

It looks like all of Scarlett's hard work has paid off as our lovely magazine has been nominated for a Shorty Award. For those of you from the blogging community, this need no explanation. For the rest of you lovely people, the Shorty Awards mean recognition for the best of social media from twitter users to youtubers to onliners like us at Scriptoeris. For a publication under a year old it means the world to us!!

Please go over to www.scriptoeris.co.uk to see what we're all about, join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and if you like what you see please support our nomination for the Shorty Awards here.

This is all just the start of an amazing journey for the ladies of Scriptoeris, one that we hope you'll take alongside us...define the decade today!

With love and many thanks from the Scriptoeris Team xo

A foodie day out in Bath

Bath. I absolutely fell in love with the City the first time I visited on a University of Bath Open Day way back in 2009. I set my heart on going to the uni that day and lo and behold here I am in 2014 half way through my third year there.

So far I've had so many wonderful experiences on my placement year but I've still found myself missing the little things about my uni town, which has become so much like home! Whilst I was in Somerset visiting my boyfriend, I couldn't not take the opportunity for a flying visit...

So many of the things I love about Bath are food related...I am indeed a self confessed fatty! With so many amazing restaurants (both chain and independent), you could go to a different place for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for a year and still have missed some out. I've lived there for two years and still haven't even made a dent in what is on offer.

A real favourite is Bea's Vintage Tea Room, which we made a bee-line for as soon as we parked. We got their soaked to the skin only to discover that it was closed for their annual two week holiday. Such a shame - not that I would ever bugrudge them it, the staff always work so hard and are so friendly. With wartime decor, music and mismatching tea cups, the tearoom is so quaint and is definitely the place for a traditional afternoon tea that wont break the bank. It will be one of the first places to visit in my forth year - a very British return to the city.

As we skirted the alley way next to the assembly rooms, where lots of independent boutiques are clustered, Rich suggested that we duck in to a tapas bar for a light lunch.

Same Same But Different is one of the places that I have walked past numerous times, always meant to pop in, seen how busy it was and decided against it. Luckily there was a table nestled in the window so we nabbed it before anyone else could. After umming and ahhhing over the sandwich menu and the tapas menu, we decided on a main course each (very naughty) with a bread and oil and chorizo to share.

The restaurant and its chefs have won numerous awards and I can see why...the food was SUPERB. Rich ordered the Sticky Ribs with triple cooked chips and I had the Butter Bean Cassolait with Pork Collar. Now I'm not usually a fan of pork but it was so tender in the bread crumbed cake and the sauce of the cassolait was something truly special. The Sticky Ribs will defintely be what I order next time - I'm not 100% what the sauce was made of but it had the edge of sweet balsamic to it. AMAZING. The warmed bread had a hint of char to it, perfect dipped in to the oil of the chorizo. The chorizo was perfectly cooked but not crisped (how I like it). It's given me a taste of Spain just before my departure...I'm looking forward to trialling the tapas of Sevilla. I am confident that I've found my Spanish fix for when I return in 4th year - independent over chain La Tasca any day. For anyone in the Bath area looking for a January Christmas party, Same Same But Different are doing festive tapas parties perfect for the retail crowd who couldn't fit a celebration in the busy shopping period. If anyone takes them up on that offer, let me know how that is...I'm excited to try their tapas menu in the near future...!

The West Gate was a sit-down saviour after a wander around the shops...mainly because of this little beauty...

Lilley's Apples and Pears is the love of my Somerset life, quite literally. Its the best cider on the planet and I miss it far too much when I'm away. As a pub, I love the West Gates chilled and sometimes miss-matched decor with its chilled out music and great open mic nights in the week.

I have had the odd club sandwich there on a lunch time but their evening food looks great - any recommendations from the menu?

Last but by no means least on our culinary whistle-stop tour is the Bengal Brasserie, the ultimate Indian in Bath. They put up with my fussy ordering and always bring me enough food for about 3 days (or maybe my eyes are bigger than my belly?!).

so much love for their booth layout and traditional style pieces.

Indian food is one of the things I've missed most in Russia as there are just no restaurants to cater for it - as far as I can tell Russian's aren't big fans of spice in general. Needless to say, we went a bit mad with the ordering. Sizzling Tandoori Chops that came on a hot plate (with a bowl of salad), garlic chilli chicken with mushroom rice for Rich and special biriyani (with a chicken korma sauce - told you I'm fussy!) for me as well as poppadoms and sides of sagg paneer and mushroom Bhaji (which I coerced Rich in to sharing with me).

I cannot rate this restaurant enough. The waiters are great (and, ashamedly, know us on sight now!) and the food is amazing. Most of this lot came home with us in a takeaway bag, with a cheeky 10% discount for students. I think we got a bit snap happy towards the end (food giddyiness I guess) as some gurning (and food napping) ensued.

The inner fatty in me was certainly satisfied.
Until final year Bath...

Dim Sum and Mormons...the stuff that dreams are made of.

Admittedly rather strange and twisted dreams...but never mind!

My sister and I are both theatre fanatics...both as audience members and performers (many moons ago in my case!). Because of this, it has become a wonderful Christmas tradition in our house that most years we receive theatre tickets for the whole family to go and see a musical in the awful limbo period between Christmas and New Year (thanks Mum and Dad)! Each year the tickets are nestled expectantly in the tree in an envelope addressed in Mums familiar handwriting

Living so close to London means there isn't much we haven't seen and some shows we've loved so much we've gone back for a return visit (is seeing Wicked 7 times a little excessive?!) therefore its always exciting to see which show Mum has picked for us.

I must say I nearly keeled over with excitement when I heard...
The show that beat several others to adorn our Christmas tree this year was *drum roll please...*

The Book of Mormon is something I've wanted to see from almost day dot. My first run in with the show was when the Bath Student Musicals Society (BUSMS for short) performed 'I Believe' in their yearly variety show 'Encore!'. It bought the house down not only because of the wonderful performance but because of the show's unusual choice of subject matter and the ballsy hilarity with which the lyrics bring it to the stage.

Here is the very talented Andrew Rannells performing it at the 65th Tony Awards:
From that point on, I had to know more about the show then a smash hit on Broadway and soon to be previewing in the West End. After watching the amazing Broadway cast rock 'Hello' at the 66th Tony Awards in 2012, I knew I had to see it live.
We tried to no avail to get tickets for my 21st birthday during the preview run - a sell out, the performances were met with rave reviews.

I absolutely squealed when I found out we were finally going....needless to say I had MASSIVELY high expectations of the West End Cast.

Before the show (the Saturday matinee), we headed over to China town for Dim Sum, a Chinese equivalent of tapas for those not in the know. I've been to Joy King Lau before and their service is always so quick and efficient...we were on limited time (too much time spent sale shopping in H&M - sorry, my bad) but to our amazement even with a queue snaking out of the door and half way up the stairs we were in and out within half an hour.

In such close proximity to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus, this is the perfect place for a transition lunch between Covent Garden and Oxford Street.

 The trouble with Dim Sum is that its a minefield of dumplings, dishes and noodles and rice - I don't often know where to start. As my Mum comes fairly regularly on work lunches here, we let here weave her magic whilst slipping in a few suggestions of our own.

As per Chinese tradition, the youngest of the table poured the Jasmine tea...she did better than I would have - It would have been everywhere if I'd gone near it!

 A few quick snaps of the food - most of it was gone quicker than I could photograph it. I am a rubbish food photographer - my favourite dumplings (the scallop ones - to die for, literally!) were gone in less than one bite...my poor lens didn't even get a look in!

The table was certainly in a bad state when we left it...ah well, at least they knew that we enjoyed our meal.

Then it was off at double speed to the theatre...

I vaguely remember going to the Prince of Wales Theatre before when Mamma Mia was performed there but never remember it being so opulent inside - it was literally like stepping back in to the heyday of art deco. Grand pianos, the dimly lit bar, the gorgeous gold wallpaper and vintage posters of revue shows of days gone by. It would be a beautiful corporate venue if anyone had cause to use it...maybe a 20s/Great Gatsby Theme (If anyone needs a party planner...you know where to find me!)

Taking our seats...

By the time the curtain fell on the first act, I wasn't quite sure what I had just seen - stunned is the word. But something told me the first blasphemous act was not as crazy as it was going to get. Written by the makers of South Park, the script certainly does not take in to account the blushes and humour fueled outrage it will cause the audience. Like Avenue Q (on which Robert Lopez also collaborated), it is beyond me how they manage to get away with putting their content on the West End. Whatever powers that be that allow such things to go on, I thank them because The Book of Mormon is truly a revelation! From Ugandans cursing Gods name and reenacting fictitious sexual acts with frogs to the campest group of Mormons I have ever seen turning off their gay feelings 'like a light switch', with every song the show gets more and more risque and more and more hilarious. I have never been so outraged and never given heartier applause. There is a reason The Book of Mormon won The Times Best Night Out award!

I did wonder, however, what Mormon's themselves thought of the whole thing - seeing as it kind of defaced their entire religion! Judging by the 3 pages of adverts they put in the colour program, I guess they see the statement 'Any publicity is good publicity' to be true!

The Book of Mormon - I couldn't recommend it more!

January already?!

So here we are…the third of January already.

Life since I got back from Russia has been a whirlwind of wrapping paper, family visits and full glasses. I feel like the festive season kind of ran away from me. Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I am the biggest Christmas nerd – I LOVE IT. As soon as December hit, Christmas films dominated my laptop screen, I coo-ed over decorations in the shopping centre and the excitement of having Christmas at home was building. But when it came down to it, it all went a bit too quickly.

I find that in December we all find ourselves counting down the days until the next party…pondering outfit choices, thinking about the perfect gifts, wondering if we’ll have someone to share a smooch with at midnight on the 31^st. And after it’s all done and the decorations are packed away for another year, January falls a little bit flat.

It’s a time of evaluation and self-scrutiny, but also one of new beginnings, new goals and aspirations to be fulfilled.

With want of a new project to sink my teeth in to, I have signed up to a new challenge set by Emma from Made in Hunters. The challenge: 52 lists. Every week for the entire year Emma will send out a topic and an army of bloggers will respond with their lists.  Though a little daunted (disorganised me shudders at the thought of commitment and lists), I am excited to get started.

So here is my first list:

Topic: List your goals for the New Year.

1. Document my life.

This is something I have always been quite rubbish at. I have scores of abandoned journals, scrapbooks never started, empty photo albums, a memory box in disarray. Though blogging has gone a little way to help, there are still posts that I planned left unwritten. This is the year to take the plunge.

I need to:

• Finally put my photos from two years of Holiday Repping in to the beautiful albums I have sat on a shelf.
• Sort and print pictures for my first year abroad album: Russia.
• Get organised on the blogging front: a post a week, a notebook in my bag for ideas, catch up on posts that were meant to be written from Russia.
• Make use of my beautiful five year line-a-day journal. One line? It can’t be that hard can it?

2. Be more motivated and driven

To me these are two very different words. Motivated is what gets us out of bed to do that work out or stay that extra hour at the library – the more everyday things. Driven is actively going out and seeking the tools to get ahead –asking that professor what he wants from that essay, going for that work placement.

I want to:

Be more motivated:

• To get fit: half an hour of PopPilates(via Blogilates) per day, and swim at least 3 times per week.
• To study hard: to get my dissertation done and study hard (must remember that year abroad isn’t all about fun in the sun/snow!)

Be more driven:

• email professors about final year units, 
• try to secure work experience for a week in the summer in a field I’d like to work in after graduation.

3. Be more positive.

It’s easy to slip in to a negative mind-set, to talk yourself down rather than talk yourself up. I want to focus on what I have got instead of what I haven’t. Not look at something as impossible but look at the steps I need to take to get there. Be a bit kinder to myself.

I want to:

• Start a gratitude journal and try and scribble a few words a day about things that have made me happy or that I’m grateful for.

4. Be less afraid.

Most people would label me an outgoing person but a lot of the time I talk myself out of trying new things or going to new places. Picture the mental conversation: ‘you could go to that new zumba class’ ‘But I don’t know anyone and people might think I look stupid, they might not like me’ ‘ok, we could always stay in and have a nap instead’. :| Not great is it? (Especially referring to myself as we – bad times!)

I want to:

• Be more outgoing  and have a can-do attitude – how else will I make friends in Spain??

5. Learn a new skill.

Sometimes I feel a bit stuck in a rut – maybe a new hobby would make a refreshing change and it’s a chance to meet new people! Looks like number 5 could help with number 4.

I want to:

• Try my hand at Flamenco and Sevillana whilst out in Spain and maybe try a cooking lesson or two.

So that’s my list…here is Ema’s list from Made in Hunters.

Looking at it I guess what I need most is a change in attitude and mind set.

Here’s to that New Year, new me bullshit ;) Maybe this year I’ll actually pull it off – come on Number 2, let’s get motivated!