My Life in Lists: 10 Things I Want To Do When I'm Better

Hello ladies and gentlemen! I am currently snuggled on the sofa admiring the perfect blue sky from my window so I thought, whilst I'm suitably cosy, I'd come out of my 'surgery sabbatical' over here at Viva to update you all on my progress! I also thought it'd be a great way to escape my latest assignment - three cheers for procrastination. As you may or may not know, a few weeks ago I went into hospital to have some Crohns related surgery. To cut a long, and painful, story short my wound is now healing really well and I'm reacting well to the antibody that they're pumping into me via a drip every fortnight. 

I've been house bound for a few weeks now so a nasty case of cabin fever has well and truly set in and is driving me absolutely mental! It doesn't help that they've removed one of my favourite guilty pleasure shows, Four Weddings US, from the daytime tv schedule - bastards. Whilst Mama and I have been driven crazy and completely drained, I have also taken a lot from this experience about myself as an individual. I actually feel quite proud of myself for coping with the things I have been faced with and I have been adopting a much more optimistic outlook on life. I'm not saying I've had some sort of spiritual reawakening but I'm hoping I can continue to work on myself as an individual. With respect to my cabin fever, I thought I'd use this opportunity to list the things I wish to do once I've got better. 

10 things i want to do when i'm better

 ♥  get organised
It's safe to say that I have let everything slip whilst I've been struck down and rendered, quite frankly, completely useless in my recovery. I have three assignments to complete in the next couple of weeks, an overflowing inbox and a blog that has been horrendously neglected this year. All of these things make me want to weep. I need to put my thinking cap on and try and tackle each little task before I am completely overrun with stuff. Wish me luck!

 ♥  treat my mama
Anyone that knows me well enough will know that my Mama is my best friend and also happens to be one of the strongest, and most selfless, women on the planet. I literally wouldn't have been able to cope with my surgery / the recovery process without her. She has catered for my every need, washed me, dressed me and helped to reassure me that everything is going to be okay and that I can do it! I cannot put into words just how inspirational my Mama really is. She is my everything. I'll stop being a soppy little bear now...


 ♥  have a huge tv catch up day with luke 
Whilst I've been on my sickbed, Luke has been back in Plymouth slaving away on his dissertation and preparing for his final assignments and exams. Thankfully, he's popping back for a few days next week to come and hang out with me. I cannot wait to devote time to just chilling out with him, watching our favourite TV shows and eating our way through our favourite snacks. We've got The Walking Dead, Californication, The Office US and Game of Thrones to catch up on. Phew! Whilst he hasn't been able to be at my side these past few weeks, his support has been invaluable. He's made sure that I've kept smiling. He even sent me a video of him dancing to the whole of Weapon of Choice for god's sake. If that isn't true love, I don't know what is! Luke will probably kill me for sharing that with you all - it was nice knowing you.

 ♥  blog!
As I've already mentioned, I haven't been able to spend any time on Little V this year. I've just had way to much to contend with in the 'real world' and I didn't want to just post for the hell of it. However, it has made me pretty miserable and I've missed having an outlet for my thoughts, etc. I can't wait to get back to taking you guys on adventures once I am fully healed and ready. Will you welcome me back with open arms or do I have to bribe you all with cute animal photos?!  



 ♥  go on a mini break / fun days out
Unfortunately, I've had to cancel both of the holidays that I was gifted by family members this year due to my treatment. I know, woe is little old me right?! However, I'm still hoping to go on some sort of break or take a few fun days out to give myself something to look forward to. If you've had an awesome break in the UK, please please please let me know where you went/where you stayed in the comments section below. I'm trying to find good value UK stays! 

 ♥  treat myself
I mentioned in my 2013 goals post that I find it difficult to treat myself. However, I'm starting to come round to the idea after this little tough spell. It doesn't necessarily have to be anything of material value. I quite fancy bagging up a picnic and heading to a quiet spot for some quality chill out time with the family. I say that but I could also really do with buying myself a new camera and some new clothes. Hmm...



 ♥  read read read!
I've read a couple of books from my bookcase whilst in recovery and it has got me back into the swing of reading novels at a stupidly fast pace. I'm going to try and tackle the books I already own, but haven't read, before I make a couple of sneaky second hand purchases but I don't know how well that will work out. Leave me some book suggestions in the comments below! You'll be able to see my reviews of Joe Dunthorne's Submarine and Kaufman's All My Friends Are Superheroes over on Nouvelle Daily soon so keep your eyes peeled, folks. 

 ♥  take woody for a walk
I haven't seen my favourite little pup for months! I'm working towards popping over to see him and taking him for a walk around the village when I'm feeling a bit better because I need some quality puppy cuddles. I am also painfully aware that he will pretty much floor me at first sight so I think I'll have to leave it a few weeks before I brave his excitement! In the meantime, I've been having plenty of kisses and cuddles with the little bear below. LOOK AT HIS FACE! HE'S SO BLOODY CUTE!

 ♥  explore and go on adventures!

At this stage, an 'adventure' pretty much equals a walk round the block but, by this summer, I want to be able to go exploring. I'm thinking about taking you on my adventures around the local area so do let me know if that's your sort of thing! The West Country is pretty bloody lovely and I don't think it's embraced enough in the blogosphere. 

 ♥  begin my dissertation
Ugh! I just handed in my dissertation proposal to the powers that be. I say 'dissertation proposal' but it was pretty much just a copy of all the messy notes in my journal that barely made sense to me let alone anyone else. As an English with Creative Writing graduate, I have to compile a creative dissertation rather than a critical one so I'm not going to be bogged down with research. I am, however, going to have to come up with a bloody good novella/collection of short stories. I will let you know how I get on. 

I seriously cannot wait to get started with all of these things. The nurses think I've got a couple more weeks until my wound is pretty much healed but I'm hoping I'll be able to venture into the big wide world after that. What sort of things are you looking forward to getting up to? I shall live vicariously through you all! I'm off to settle down to some more essay writing. Oh, joy! Feel free to keep me company on Twitter! ♥ 

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Restaurant Review: The Dolphin House Brazzerie, Plymouth

A little while ago, the people at Groupon got in touch and asked if I'd like £40 to put towards one of their offers and being a fan of a good deal, I said yes. Being the sort of person that I am, I waited around for a good local deal that involved eating lots and lots of food. As if by magic, The Dolphin House Brazzerie, in my university city of Plymouth,  were offering a six course tasting menu for two for £37! After waiting around for a good time to go, I made a booking over the phone with a friendly employee and Luke and I headed off to the Barbican in pursuit of good food. 

The Brazzerie is tucked away in a part of the Barbican that we had yet to explore so it was nice to be able to stumble along, away from the busier areas of the harbour. As we entered, we were greeted by a lot of staff members. I'd probably advise that they have less staff hovering around at the start of the shift because it can be a little off putting when you walk in. We were shown to our table and offered various things that we could add to our meal, including a celebratory pint of Guinness or the accompanying wine list. In my opinion, we really didn't need two waiters to come to our table and wait on us but this wasn't an issue for too long because the restaurant soon began to fill up. Despite all this, the waiters were really friendly and well informed when it came to the dishes on the menu. I shall now do my best to take you through the courses and describe them. I'm not a pro, just yet, so bare with me ;) 

Smoked haddock goujon with homemade tartare sauce 

This dish was a great way to start our meal. The goujon batter was light and crisp and the fish flaked apart at the touch of a fork. It was a very classic combination of flavours but it was beautifully done. The homemade tartare sauce was also lovely but I could have done without the addition of beetroot because I'm not a massive fan. However, overall, it was a great dish and we polished off every last mouthful! 

chilli and lime gazpacho

This gazpacho smelt absolutely incredible and the flavours were really fresh and perfect for welcoming in the spring. As you can see, it was also pretty visually enticing and the added dollop of sour cream was a very welcome accompaniment to the dish. However, it wasn't to my personal taste because it had way too much of a kick for me. I took a few sips, and was bowled over by the taste explosion but I had to leave the rest because of the heat. This doesn't discredit the fact that it was a really interesting dish though!  

poached langoustine in a ham consummé with caviar and chives

I think this was the dish that we had the most qualms about. Whilst the poached langoustine was a nice idea, the consummé was far too salty to the point where facial expressions that I didn't even know my face could do were being pulled. I couldn't appreciate the flavours of the caviar, chives and langoustine due to the overwhelming saltiness of the broth and we both ended up leaving a lot of it because of this. It was a real shame. 

pan roasted jon dory, chorizo, scallops, keta caviar, pea shoots, squid ink tuile and angel hair pasta

We both agreed that this was the stand out dish of the entire meal for us. Firstly, look how pretty it is! The Jon Dory was perfectly cooked and just melted in the mouth. The dish, overall, was extremely fragrant and the salsa verde worked surprisingly well with the freshness of the fish. I also really liked the addition of the squid ink tuile and the angel hair pasta because it offered an interesting balance of textures. Overall, the dish was extremely fresh and, in my opinion, would be a perfect spring supper to serve to guests! 

smoked lamb rump w/ crispy shoulder, blueberry compote, cauliflower puree, potato galette and bone marrow sauce 

Again, look how pretty this dish is! I had never tried smoked lamb before but I was won over by the perfectly cooked meat and the smokey flavour which worked ridiculously well with the blueberry compote. I also loved the crispy shoulder for added texture. I was a bit dubious about the bone marrow sauce but it actually came to be one of my favourite things about this dish - perfectly dark and rich. We both agreed that we would've loved more of the cauliflower pureé instead of the onion which felt a little out of place. We both also would've loved this dish to have been served on a hotter plate because the meat cooled pretty quickly. The only thing that really bothered me about this dish was the odd circular potato on the bottom - it didn't resemble a galette, like the menu promised, and it tasted more like a soggy potato smiley. They should serve this dish with some form of roast/sauteed potato instead because I can imagine that would work well. Despite these little issues, we both loved this dish and its interesting mix of flavours. 

lemon mousse with a basil sorbet 

I adored the way that they served this dish and I have now decided that every time I serve a pudding (read: never) I'm going to serve it in little jars such as this! With my Crohns disease, lemon is usually a completely no go food. However, this mousse was fluffy and light and the lemon certainly didn't overpower the dish. We were both dubious about the combination of lemon and basil together but it was simply stunning. It worked as a great palette cleanser and I could easily eat another right this second. 

vanilla and rhubarb panna cotta with rhubarb gel, rhubarb ripple ice cream and sherbert

Firstly, I really don't like rhubarb but this plate of dessert got demolished! The presentation, again, was really interesting. The panna cotta deserves its own round of applause for looking so bloody good, don't you think?! The sherbert was a fun little novelty and I had great fun trying to eat up every last bit of it. The ice cream and the rhubarb gel were a perfect combination   and I would've loved a few more biscuity crumbs on my plate to give some crunch to an otherwise soft plate of food.  

Overall, we loved the experience of the tasting menu and, in our opinion, it was great value for money. The Groupon deal offered us an incentive to try out restaurants in the local area and it also gave us an opportunity to try food that we hadn't eaten before / don't cook on a average day. We'd definitely go back to The Dolphin House to try another of their tasting courses and would love to take some family members along to share in the experience. We are definitely going to make more of an effort to scour Groupon for more deals with our local eateries, particularly when they're this good value! It gave us something to look forward to and also allowed us to take a couple of hours out of our hectic schedules to just enjoy one another's company. Swoon!  

Can you recommend any restaurants in the Somerset/Devon area? What do you think of the courses? I'm off to edit a few photos and bung a nice steak pie in the oven before heading out to the theatre! What a culture vulture ♥ 

*As expressed, I was given a £40 voucher to put towards a Groupon deal. However, all opinions are mine and Luke's because, contrary to popular belief, you can't buy us with food....

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Bee's Beauty Spotlight: REN

A little while ago, I decided to throw caution to the wind and have a little bit of a splurge on some new skincare products. Ever the weirdo, I decided to pack away all of my new lotions and potions and told myself that I'd get round to trying them all out one day. Fast forward a few months and a huge realisation about how stupid I had been later, I decided to lift the lid on my beauty boxes and search for some new skincare to try out! Being the nice person that I am, I thought I'd share my findings with you over here on Vivatramp. 

I have always struggled with dry and dehydrated skin. Dry patches are the bane of my life and I always struggle to find skincare that works with my overly thirsty skin. However, I realise that I'm very lucky that I very rarely have a blemish, or worry too much about sensitivity, and I certainly don't have to worry about the perils of oily skin. The first brand I tried on my quest for hydrating products was REN, a brand that gets a huge thumbs up from me because they don't use nasties! 


* I apologise for the quality of the photographs. Our studio flat is practically pitch black!

After around half an hour of furious debate as to what to buy, I decided to pick out the REN kit for sensitive skin (which doesn't seem to be on their website at the moment!). I'd highly recommend trying their kits because I think they're a great way to expand your skincare horizons without blowing your budget on full sized products that may or may not do the job! First up was the ren hydra-calm cleansing gel which wasn't all too dissimilar to the Organic surge daily face wash that I'm currently using. This gel cleanser was super easy to apply and left my skin feeling fresh whilst also being really soothing. The price is a bit steep but I can imagine it lasting for quite a long time and therefore being worth it! The ren hydra-calm global protection day cream had a thicker consistency than most day creams I have tried. It kept my dry skin at bay on make-up free days but I think I'd be a bit wary about picking it up in full size because I had to use three or four pea-sized amounts before I felt that my face had a good coverage. I think there are day creams out there that are a little more wearable and hydrating. The last product that I tried from the kit was the ren omega 3 night repair serum that I applied underneath my REN night cream which I've reviewed below. It took a while for the serum to sink in but this isn't a problem if, like me, you sit around watching things before you eventually hit the hay! When I awoke, my skin was super soft, plump and hydrated so I certainly cannot complain about the initial oiliness. The kit also included the REN F10 SMOOTH AND RENEW PEEL MASK but this appears to have gone walkabouts somewhere between Somerset and Devon :/ 



When I placed my order last year, REN were running an offer that meant you could pick four 5ml samples from some of their most popular products which was a pretty great idea and another way for me to try their products. I opted for a mask, sun veil, a day cream and a night cream. First up was the ren frankincense revitalising night cream. Unlike other night creams, this beauty sank into my skin without leaving a sticky residue. I found that it also soothed any irritations that I had and when I awoke my skin was super smooth and even. It is actually one of my favourite REN products that I have tried so far and I fully intend on picking up the full size because I believe it's worth it! The ren ultra moisture day cream was a nicer consistency than the REN HYDRA-CALM GLOBAL PROTECTION DAY CREAM . However, I don't think I'd be able to apply make-up over it because my skin drank it all up within seconds and the dry patches on my nose appeared about an hour after use. Boo! 

The REN GLYCOLACTIC RADIANCE RENEWAL MASK isn't the sort of mask that I'd usually go for because I quite like the feeling of slathering on thicker masks, such as Catastrophe Cosmetic from LUSH. However, this mask actually did a great job of unclogging my pores and generally making my skin look a little more radiant. It also reduced the redness I tend to get on my nose and on my cheeks so it gets a big thumbs up from me. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works on fine lines because my forehead is fine line central! I'd re-purchase if they had a deal on as the price is a bit steep for me to justify at the moment but, overall, it's a really great product and another favourite. The REN PHOTOACTIVE SUN VEIL SPF 15 isn't something that I'd buy in its full size because I tend to wear moisturisers that contain SPF; However, it's pretty handy to have in my backpack as a back up for especially sunny days and for days where I'm using skincare that doesn't protect me from the sun. 

Overall, I have come to love REN as a brand, especially for my dry and dull skin. I definitely intend on picking up some more products when my purse allows it because they do their job and they do it extremely well! I especially loved the night time skincare products because they left me looking a lot less zombiefied! What are your favourite REN products? What else do you recommend for dry skin? I'm off to write some more of this essay and settle down to the latest episode of The Walking Dead ♥