The Collective Dairy :: #tub4grub

You know when you hear about something special and it gives you a warm, fuzzy glow inside and makes you want to open your front door and shout, 'YES! THERE ARE RUDDY WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD'...

Well when I received an email from The Collective Dairy about their new scheme for Action Against Hunger - #tub4grub, that was one of those moments.

I reeeeally hope if you're reading this you will pass on the message so we can all spread some joy to people less fortunate than ourselves and brighten their days. The Collective's scheme is just wonderful.
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Emily Victoria :: Salon, Mortlake

A million gazillion years ago when I first started The Betty Stamp, (actually it was my 2 year anniversary a week ago! I should probably bake some sort of cake...watch this space), I went to visit my dear friend Emily at her brand spanking new salon in Mortlake, South West London and wrote this post about my relaxing, Christmassy experience.

Two years on and Emily Victoria is a buzzing little hub of top quality treatments, complete relaxation and charming personality.  I absolutely love going there, especially during the winter months as you can snuggle up under your towel blanket cocoon and be pampered to the max whilst everyone outside is getting drizzled on :)
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Exploring Stratford Upon Avon

I have to say, hand on heart, the medieval market town of Stratford Upon Avon is one of my favourite places in England. (Not to be confused with London's more concrete version on the Central line)! Luckily for me, my Auntie & Uncle live here, so it gives me a great excuse to jump on a train out of London and into the fresh air of Shakespeare's birth place.

So when my family invited William and I up for the weekend with the promise of a Mexican food feast and Bananagrams, we obviously jumped at the chance. Not just for the Mexican food feast though...promise... ;)

We had such a lovely weekend rambling along the river, seeing the bustling barges with swans gliding behind with the knowledge of them being the best tourist traps for bread crusts! Ducking into shops and pubs, munching on the scrummiest fish and chips at The Dirty Duck ale house just behind The Globe theatre and accidentally stumbling into the all year round Christmas Shop... AKA the.best.shop.ever.

And with all the womping willows hanging over the river, it makes me feel like I'm in a Harry Potter film :) So really, what's not to love.
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3 Year Anniversary and a Victoria Sponge!

I've been treated like an absolute princess!

The 4th of October marked 3 whole years of William putting up with me in his life. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty impressive, seeing how temperamental relationships can be these days, (and how much I scrutinise his washing up methods) I know I count my blessings daily to have found such a good egg :)
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Afternoon Tea at The Black Swan, Helmsley

Oh what a beautiful mooooorning, oh what a beautiful daaaay!

I feel like we picked this day perfectly as the final beams of Summer sun shined their shine on us in Helmsley this weekend. What a cheery little market town! Rivers, pubs, old fashioned sweet shops - that sort of vibe, ie - right up my street :)

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Oliver Bonas :: Kitchen Wish List

IF I won the lottery (which would never happen because I don't even play...sooo lets say instead if a money tree grew in my garden...more likely), firstly I would build at least one gigantic window in my kitchen so that I wouldn't have to take all my bakes outside to photograph(!) and secondly, I would buy the entirety of the Oliver Bonas home section and KIT. MY. KITCHEN. OUT!

I've often left slobber on their windows so I must firstly apologise for that.
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Sunday Fitness Fix #4

After our trip to Krakow where I ate like a baby elephant, I've been on a bit of an exercise kick. I think I've made peace with the fact that I just cannot diet, it's physically impossible for me to look at cake and not eat it's entirety. So there's no point in even trying anymore. I will just gym more, EAT CAKE and be merry.

I've been getting some really encouraging responses from you guys on my 3 other Fitness Fix posts, so I'm hoping they're coming in handy to some of you and you might be trying out some of the workouts, even if it's just taking tit bits of exercise ideas. It's like having workout buddies across the internet!
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A Wedding Weekend in Krakow

What a weekend! 

Krakow is hands down one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. What a gem of a place. The sun was beaming and the main square was constantly buzzing with locals and visitors sprawled out onto the pavements in cafes and restaurants, supping cocktails and wiping plates clean of Polish stew.

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Northcote Road Summer Fete

I LOVE a fete. I really don't think there's anything better than supping Pimms, tasting food from all over the globe, breathing in that smokey sausage and cooked onion smell and getting your face painted.

(maybe that last one applied more 15 years ago...maybe)
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Saturday Fitness Fix #3

The holiday is looming! The bikini is staring at me. The gym is a calling!

I've had a couple of chub chub weeks which has been slightly crap on the old love handles, but this week has been a turn around one, packed full of gym time and scrummy juices! Well...also one not quite so successful green juice involving chia seeds that tasted of the ground but we'll skip over that.

If you're wanting a few easy to follow gym workouts, then give some of these a try, my whole body has definitely reaped the rewards and I've been sleeping like a log!
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The New Blend on the Block :: YUYO

If you're an avid herby tea fan like myself and enjoy the sentence - ''a more sustained lift than a cup of coffee - without the crash - and more antioxidants than herbal and green tea'', then read on my friends!

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The Food Sauce :: Pop Up Brekkie

To brunch or not to brunch,  that is the question.

Is anyone's answer to this ever no?

Because, if the prospect of leisurely munching your way through two-meals-in-one into the wee hours of the afternoon doesn't fill you with giddiness, then I'm afraid we can no longer be pals.

One person who is my new pal though is Colin from The Food Sauce. A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation from Colin asking if William and I wanted to attend a pop up brunch event at The Salad Kitchen and of course the answer was a big fat yes!
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Against The Grain Food Market :: Camden

Usually I blink and miss things on Twitter but last week something caught my eye that made me pen a date in the diary - not even pencil, immediately penned in!

I love food markets. LOVE. So when I saw Camden Market was hosting a gluten free food market - Against The Grain, I was all of a flutter.
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Lazy Breakfast Smoothie :: SOTW #2

I've had the laziest Sunday morning and it has been glorious. No regrets. Yesterday I was in a hormonal grump, only cheered up by sitting oneself outside and having a quiet word with oneself. Oh, and visiting my best buddy, getting tipsy on pink wine and Indian take away. Yes I was drunk off of Indian take away. Food comatose'd and tiddly. So my tummy hasn't been too happy with me today!

I needed a little pick me up and realised I hadn't done a Smoothie of the week post in quite some time - perfect. My belly needed some TLC, so I could kill two birds with one stone.

My first smoothie of the week was a Belly Busting Detox Smoothie which kicked arse. Perfect vitamin C boost or hangover cure if you've had one too many sherbets the night before.

This is more of a soothing breakfast alternative packed full of oats, banana, mint and more to give you a slow release of energy throughout the morning. Or, if you're like me you had a lazy lie in, a slow release of energy throughout midday. Oops.
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5 Feel Good Sunday Blog Reads

Oh glorious sunshine, you make me so much more productive! (That, and the hangover brekkie I've just devoured). I've de-weeded the jardin, baked engagement cupcakes, super glued my Harry Potter world Muggle mug back together (you know you have a cupboard full of 50 mugs but you always use the same one - yep, imagine smashing that one...distraught) and finally got round to playing with my new cake piping kit(!) GREAT SUCCESS! You can see the end result on my Instagram, ooo boy oh boy I can't wait to share my scrummy cupcake recipe next week. I was chuffed as a chocolate frog!

After reading some cracking blog posts this week, I thought I'd get into the habit of writing a post every now and again sharing my favourite finds so you lot can add to your reading lists too. #spreadthebloglove
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Sunday Fitness Fix #2

This week has been a seriously chubtastic one. By that I mean I have over indulged in ooey gooey chocolate cake, double birthday cake baking involving a lot of oreos! (post coming next week - it's a ruddy good'un) and basically given myself a flubber layer of fat storage ready for next Winter, fit for a baby seal. Ergo, I have needed to exercise my socks off to balance the cake intake!

Well...it's a good challenge for William's PT'ing isn't it! So I'm doing him a favour really ;)
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Sunday Fitness Fix #1

(I know, my socks are offending me too in this picture but William was uber proud of his trainer shot)!

I thought it would be fun to introduce a fitness series to The Betty Stamp so that it means we can all stuff our faces with delicious cake without feeling guily. William's on his way to becoming a fully qualified personal trainer and I'm reaping the rewards of being his guinea pig. I thought I could share some of his workouts with you guys so you can benefit too! Would this be something you would be interested reading about?
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Gluten Free Food Journal :: Entry 1

I've jumped aboard the free-from train !
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Venn Street Market :: Clapham

Pottering around Venn Street Market of a Saturday has soon become one of mine & William's weekend adventures that we get most excitable about.

Though it may be small, (nothing like the beast that is Borough market), it has all you need to satisfy that slightly hungover, Saturday feeling of just wanting every type of delicious cuisine in your mouth without having to cook any of it yourself!
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Home Sweet Home :: Somerset

 You know those days you look back on and they create a warm fuzzy feeling inside? That you want to cling onto forever and lock inside a little golden treasure chest? And wrap that golden treasure chest in alpaca wool to keep it all warm and fuzzy forever? 

Yeah that. 
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