Review - Wagamama at Glasgow Fort

You might have noticed from my earlier competition with Glasgow Fort that there is a newly opened Wagamama restaurant at the retail park. I was invited along to review the eatery and I took Rick along with me, cos I'm nice like that ;-)

On arrival, the restaurant really does have that wow factor. It's an impressive building. I particularly like all the large glass windows that go right to the floor; there are also tables outside for when the summer finally lands in Glasgow. The interior has an industrial feel with polished concrete walls, exposed air handling pipework (is that what you call it?), and filament bulbs dotted about. I've only been to Wagamama a handful of times, and this is certainly the nicest one I've been to in terms of the look and feel of the restaurant.

It was Rick's first time experiencing Japanese fusion food at Wagamama, but he knew what he was going to order as my sister had recommended the Firecracker Chicken to him ahead of our visit. He does love his spicy food! 

We chose two starters - pulled pork gyoza and a beef filled bun. For mains Rick chose the Firecracker Chicken and I had Teriyaki Chicken with rice. What I didn't realise was that the food would be brought out when it was ready, so Rick had his main first, then his starter. My starter arrived as Rick got his food... and then I had to wait 15-20 minutes for my main to arrive. So by the time my food got to the table, Rick had finished (he inhales his food!!). I've had a peek at the Wagamama website and they refer to the starters as sides, whereas on the menu at the restaurant I'm sure it referred to them as starters, which is perhaps a bit misleading.

We chose to visit the restaurant the week it had opened to the public (Day 2 to be precise). I think this was a mistake on our part as the service wasn't what I would have expected unfortunately. That said I can totally appreciate that there are members of staff new to Wagamama that will still be undergoing training and I do think it's fantastic that the restaurant has brought 40 new jobs to the retail park.

The food was lovely, presented beautifully on a range of gorgeous platters and bowls. I'll certainly go back in the future.  

Firecracker Chicken

Korean Barbecue Beef & Red Onion Hirata Steamed Bun

Pulled Pork Steamed Gyoza

Teriyaki Chicken Donburi (steamed rice stir-fried with chicken and mixed vegetables served with a pickled side)

Free green tea? Don't mind if I do!

As I was leaving I asked to see the children's menu and I was pleasantly surprised. We've been to restaurants before where the children's options are chicken nuggets and pizza regardless of the type of food on the adult menu. I liked that at Wagamama the kids have the choice of mini Japanese dishes... ramen, noodles and katsu curry amongst others... giving them an introduction to Japanese food.

We received £30 towards our dinner at Wagamama Glasgow Fort in exchange for this review. As always, opinions are my own and are honest. 

Giveaway Three - £50 to spend at Glasgow Fort

Can you believe it's June already? This month my blog turns 4 years old, and I've another great giveaway to share with you all.

I have £50 to spend at Glasgow Fort up for grabs!

Glasgow Fort, which is now open even longer, has a fantastic new M&S which opened on 21st May and FatFace will be launching later this month. In addition to all the existing eateries, there's now a Wagamama - yum!!

I love the Glasgow Fort - it's really not that far from the city centre and there are so many great shops plus restaurants and a cinema at the one location. The huge draw for me is the long opening hours which have been further extended!! The new hours are:

Monday - Friday, 9am - 10pm

Saturday, 9am - 8pm

Sunday, 10am - 7pm

To win this prize, all you need to do is enter the Rafflecopter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There is only one prize.

No cash alternative.

Prize must be collected from Glasgow Fort.

Thank you Glasgow Fort for providing a fantastic prize.

Glasgow Fort

Junction 10 M8

Glasgow

G34 9DL

Review - Chiquitos at Glasgow Fort

{image source}

A while back, Rick & I reviewed Chiquitos at Glasgow Fort and we had a fantastic dinner washed down with a delightful cocktail before heading to the cinema. Very civilised and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I was invited back to dine at the restaurant, this time with the kids to see what the experience was like as a family. Of all the chain restaurants, Chiquitos to me is more for the 'grown-ups' - not a balloon in sight! 

Anyway, we took along my friend Lauren (Living in a Boxx) with us as I wasn't sure I'd manage to deal with my two cheeky rascals at the same time and I'm very glad Lauren was there to assist!

As with our previous experience, the food was really good. The kids wolfed their chicken nuggets and chips. I had two starters instead of a main -  pulled pork tacos and Mexican fritatta - both of which were beautiful; and Lauren really enjoyed her steak wrap. There was so much choice on the menu that we really did struggle to make our minds up! My son then had churros for dessert whilst I demolished his kids ice cream. Lauren had a chocolate brownie that looked divine. The food was really good quality, the portion sizes were good and in my opinion it was great value for money. The four of us ate two courses plus drinks for £50*.

What was disappointing was that there wasn't really any Mexican food on the kids menu. My two really enjoy a mild chilli with rice and wraps but this wasn't an option. It was chicken nuggets, sausages and mash and pizza that were available. The kids activity packs that we were given were also aimed at slightly older children and they could have benefited from a simple colouring in sheet rather than the complicated game. The kids were given tall glasses for their juice, but were unable to get to the straw because the tumblers were so high. This then proved stressful for me as I had to keep a watchful eye the whole time in case they toppled over. Similarly the ice cream was served in a tall sundae glass which the littlest struggled to reach... she ended up kneeling on the seat for most of the meal. Smaller glasses and a lower dish for the kids desserts would have been better in my opinion; just a few little things that would have made my experience a bit more enjoyable.

I'm not sure I'd go back to Chiquitos with the kids at the ages they are just now, but I'll certainly go back on my own with friends or with the kids once they're older.

We did a bit of vlogging whilst we were there and you can see some footage of our food and our chat in the clip below!!

* I received a £20 voucher in exchange for an honest review. As always opinions are my own.

Sales Shopping at Glasgow Fort

At the weekend, Rick & I headed to Glasgow Fort for some sale shopping. We arrived nice and early, about 11am-ish, and got parked really easily - result! You'll be amazed at all the bargains I managed to pick up. I've filmed a vlog, but not had a chance to upload this yet as I've been travelling visiting family these past few days.

So in the meantime, here's what I chose:

Carex hand wash, strawberry laces and bubblegum scents - 2 for £2 (I absolutely love these hand washes!)

Elizabeth Arden 8 hour creams (30 mL x2) - £3 

L'Oreal eye make-up remover - £2

Hair bobbles - £2.50

Black glittery hair clips x4 - £2.50 (I'm still growing out my fringe!)

Can opener - £3 (mine is really rusty and desperately needed replacing!)

Drop earrings - £2

Camera case - £3.50

Phone case - £1

Cat leggings for my daughter - £4 (not in sale)

Jeans for my son - £4

Pack of 5 socks for my son - £4 (not in sale)

Pack of 5 socks for me - £5 (not in sale)

Fox slipper socks - £3

Suede casual ankle boots - £10

Taupe super soft jumper for lounging around the house - £3

So that comes to a total of £54.50. I think I did pretty well!!

Rick didn't have as much success as I did unfortunately. In Jack & Jones there seemed to be plenty of options available in size small, but there wasn't much in medium :-(

He selected the following:

Maroon hoodie, £20




















Maroon polo short-sleeved shirt, £10

T-shirt, £7.50
T-shirt, £7
Black belt, £5

Bringing that to a total of £49.50.

Both the t-shirts were small so he has gifted these to his brothers:

Whilst we were at Glasgow Fort we had some lunch. We timed our visit perfectly as the Eats from the Street event was running. Burritos from Mighty Mexican were chosen, and they were amazing!

Rick also picked up a new suit from Next in the sale along with a new shirt and tie. I grabbed a few bargains for the littlest from Next as well (leggings and a dress). And we both got some new shoes at Clarks. I particularly love my new Gore-tex tan boots. Aren't they gorgeous...

What bargains have you grabbed in the sales?

We were gifted a £50 voucher for Asda Living and a £50 voucher for Jack & Jones at Glasgow Fort for this write up. Opinions, as always, are my own.

{No7 colour matching lipstick service}

 I was invited along to Boots at Glasgow Fort to try their new No7 Match Made Lipstick Service.

Pamela talked me through the process of finding your perfect lipstick colour, and I was loving that the whole thing was rather scientific...

The No7 Match Made device (or "doofer"as Pamela referred to it!) was used to read my skin colour and matched it to a shade of foundation. Readings are taken from both sides of your face near the jawline, because if you drive like me, then one side of your face will get the sun more than the other. Something I hadn't even considered.

I was found to be Cool Ivory.

Armed with this knowledge, I was then able to grab the card for my skin colour which detailed all the lipsticks that would suit my skin tone.

Pamela tried out two different lipsticks on me - a neutral colour to start with, and then a bright pink. Both of the lipsticks really suited my colouring and I would have happily worn both. But I was drawn more to the brighter of the two. From the comments on Instagram, it would appear that my friends & followers think the colour suits me too.

{image source}

The Stay Perfect lipstick goes on really easily, it's sort of got a creamy texture compared to some lipsticks I have which are more matte and as such it feels quite moisturising. I wore it to a wedding at the weekend and it didn't last as long as I thought it would as it wore off in the centre of my lips, but it looked good nonetheless and I was able to top up my lippy after the dinner.

I just love the colour!! Apparently people would pay for lips like mine and I'm very lucky ;-)

For each skin tone, there are a selection of shades that are recommended. For Cool Ivory for example, there are 12 Moisture Drench lipsticks and 6 Stay Perfect lipsticks in a range of colours.

Whilst I was there, I may have also bought two new No7 nail polishes... which I of course needed to match my dress for the wedding I was at!

Thank you Pamela at No7 at Boots Glasgow Fort.

I was given a complimentary lipstick for the purpose of this review. Opinions as always honest and are my own. 

{Love to Craft}

The kids and I love to craft. My mum loved to be creative - she used to do rubber stamping with us as kids and I have such fond memories of our day trips to Edinburgh where we would chose a new wooden stamp at the stand which was in the Waverley Shopping Centre (and then get sweets from the old fashioned sweet shop on Cockburn Street). We also used to draw, paint, glue, glitter, Fimo, Hama beads etc... the list is endless.

With the recent loom band craze - that my littlest of three is even a fan of! - I started to think what other crafts we could do. I still have all of our rubber stamps from when I was a wee girl and we regularly make stamp pictures. We also love to mould things out of Play Doh (I just love the smell of Play Doh!). And we make greetings cards and pictures using my supplies of embellishments and we even have a set of embossing tools from Becky that are perfect for little hands!

I could easily spend hours at HobbyCraft, and luckily there's a massive store at Glasgow Fort that's open until 10pm during the week!

I used to LOVE fuzzy felts when I was growing up

Hama butterfly kit

Everything is better with a bit of glitter, pink glitter no less!!

I'm already starting to think about *whispers* Christmas, and this punch would be ideal for making Christmas cards with the kids.

And sticking with the festive theme, these stamps are so cute. My littlest would love the snowflakes -  ideal for her to make some Frozen pictures.

This weekend on Saturday (13th September) there are free docrafts demonstrations in-store between 11am and 3pm where you can find out about the Creativity Essentials papercraft range.

What are your favourite crafts for with little ones?

{Review - The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cream}

It looks like summer is over here in Glasgow. We've had some amount of wind & rain these last few days & I've even had my central heating back on! We seem to have skipped right past autumn & winter is well on its way!!

I however am prolonging that summer feeling for as long as possible with this gorgeous coconut hand cream from The Body Shop at Glasgow Fort.

It smells divine & the texture is spot on. It's not too runny, but it's not too thick either if that makes sense, and it rubs in really quickly without leaving your hands greasy as I've found with some hand creams. 

I've grown up with The Body Shop and since I was a girl I've loved their products & packaging. My mum used to use the cucumber toner & carrot moisturiser and I have fond memories of collecting the smaller sized bottles with my sister. We had so many different ones it was unbelievable & they all smelled so amazing. I also think one of my first perfumes was The Body Shop White Musk. I could spend ages browsing in The Body Shop!

Anyway, I digress! I love that scents can bring back vivid memories & the smell of coconut just reminds me of holidays & fun times. This hand cream is definitely a winner :)

Coconut Hand Cream, 30mL  |   Price £3.50

I was gifted a 30mL tube of coconut hand cream from The Body Shop at Glasgow Fort for the purpose of this review. Opinions as always are honest & are my own.

{School Days}

I've had a busy weekend at the Foodies Festival, Edinburgh (vlog coming soon hopefully!) and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so apologies for the lack of posts.

Tomorrow is a big day... it's my son's first day of school. Not only that, it's his 5th birthday!! I have tissues at the ready as I'm bound to have a tear in my eye when we drop him off in the morning.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few ideas of School Run Outfits that can be thrown together easily. I'm just not going to have time for anything else!

A staple for me will be some comfy jeans such as these...

Black Skinny Jeans, New Look, £19.99

My capsule wardrobe will also have a couple of tops that I can wear separately or layer up depending on the weather!

Denim Shirt, Oasis, £35

Floral print t-shirt, Warehouse, £36

On my feet I'll have a pair of flat shoes (or possibly my Wellington boots if the weather is rubbish!)

Ballet shoes, Asda Living, £12

And a jacket with a hood is a must for when waiting in the playground!

Hooded jacket, Topshop, £60

And if it's super cold, like it has been today in Glasgow, then I'll grab a scarf too!

Fringe hem long scarf, New Look, £7.99

All of these items can be found at the shops at Glasgow Fort, and with their late opening hours it is the ideal place to shop for busy parents!

{BritMumsLive 2014}

I'm late in the day with my BritMumsLive 2014 round up as I've been swamped at work with my day job and then I've also been away for a few days at the weekend.

Better late than never though!

We left at silly o'clock on Friday morning to catch our train to London and the train seemed to take forever!!! (It was 6 hours!). 

On the train - clearly very excited!!

Bacon roll for breakfast with a hot chocolate from Gordon St Coffee at Central Station Glasgow. Not the best bacon roll I've ever had (Cafe Citron in Blackhall, Edinburgh gets that award!) but it was still absolutely amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A proper cup of boiling hot tea - thank you Yorkshire Tea - 'let's have a proper brew'!

R & I were staying at the Apex London Wall Hotel and we managed to check in and drop off our bags prior to heading along to The Brewery for registration for BritMumsLive 2014. Eek!! I was super nervous!

R gave me a wee push into the courtyard and said he'd see me later that evening. Taking the first step into the crowds was nerve wracking and I'm glad that he took me along to the venue as otherwise I'd have been properly stressing. I didn't see anyone that I recognised and thankfully the doors quickly opened so we could go and register. What wasn't great was that it took me forever to find my badge, but I got it eventually.

Once through the security, I clocked Kate Sutton from Wit Wit Woo who is easily recognisable from her gorgeous red hair and she showed me the ropes pointing me in the direction of the brands. Thank you Kate :-)

I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the brands that had stands. I had expected it to be bigger and better. Please don't hit me, but I wanted to be honest! It's rare that I get to travel to London for blogger events and I had thought that this would be an opportunity for me to start to forge relationships with some of the brands that I may not get the chance to meet in person whilst in Glasgow. There were a lot of competitions which I hadn't anticipated, mainly from holiday companies (I've been to huge expositions with my day job which were very different) and I also didn't recognise many of the brands.

What was amazing was to meet some of the bloggers that I interact with on Twitter and Instagram. Highlights include Kate on Thin Ice (it was lovely to meet Kate in person and say Hello albeit brief) and Morgana from But Why Mummy Why.

I also made some new friends too: Nat from Style Me Sunday, Sharon from Honesty and Humour, Jenny from Let's Talk Mommy, Sarah from Toby Goes Bananas and Life with Munchers.

Anyway, on the Friday night I managed to navigate the London underground to meet R and his friend for some food and drinks. We even did a bit of dancing!!

Bite to eat at Jamie's Diner on the way home!

Day 2 and I'm sporting my Glasgow Mummy t-shirt

It was difficult to figure out from the short description which sessions to attend and I think I ended up making some wrong choices. I went to the Hands On Video Session, but felt it was too basic for me (I already know quite a bit about lighting from the photography night classes I've attended) and I'm not sure if I learnt as much as I thought I would from the Writing a Pitch session. The Google+ talk was brilliant as this is totally new to me, and the Bloggers' Keynote had me in tears. It was a tough day for me as it was the anniversary of my mum's death so I had that on my mind, plus my kids were on their first holiday abroad with their dad which also had me a tiny but anxious. Their first time on a plane too. This will have made me even more emotional that usual, hence all my blubbing! (May also have been due to the wine consumed at the wine tasting, see below!)

The Lindeman's wine tasting was excellent - my favourite was the Pinot Grigio

Cheers!

My T-shirt :-)

After a very hectic day, I touched up my make-up, threw on my dress and heels and headed out with R for dinner and cocktails.

Hoxley and Porter was decked out like a train carriage - very cool! 

On Sunday we headed to Camden Town for a browse and some lunch before catching the train back to Glasgow. Here are some more of the pics:

Brilliant!!

We struggled to choose with all the food options available at Camden Market, but ended up going with some noodles and chicken from a Chinese food stand.

Love this paper cup 'Hey there hot stuff' ;-)

London was brilliant but tiring. I've got loads to consider for my little pink pages here and perhaps there will be some changes coming up. Lot's to do, just wish I had more time to do it in!!

Thanks again to Glasgow Fort for sponsoring me.