Dining Out: Aubaine

For my second and last birthday meal out Matt took me to a French restaurant named Aubaine and we went to the branch in Wimbledon. Although there are a few locations, we liked that it doesn't feel like a chain restaurant, rather more boutique. We had been wanting to go there for a while so it was really nice surprise :) Inside it is modern with a rustic French twist and the service was very friendly and quick. 

When we first sat down I was surprised with a bottle of wine awaiting us with a little note from Matt, which is kind of a tradition as he normally does this when we go out to eat for a special occasion. It definitely set off the evening in a lovely way!

While choosing what to eat we were given a variety of tasty bread in a cute little bucket, as you can see above. There were lots of options to choose from, all quite simple, but for starter Matt had the caprese salad which was amazing. In his words, if the chefs can make something simple taste exquisite then you know you've gone to a good restaurant! I went for the squid which was flavoured with chilli and coriander and served with a lime aioli. It was a great combination of flavours and I also thought the way the lime was cut was pretty (I'm easily pleased as you can tell). It was good to have light starters so we had lots of room for main and pudding!

I opted for sea bass with tomato compote and roquette which was so good - I loved that they had got the skin nice and crispy. The quality of the ingredients as with all the dishes was great which is a necessity when providing more simple dishes. I also ordered some broccoli as a side to share (gotta get those vitamins in!) and it was cooked just right so it still had some crunch was nice and buttery. Matt went for the mussels with chips which is always a winner and one of our favourites.

Dessert was most definitely a highlight of the meal. We were presented with a slate platter that had a selection of delicious patisseries - I wish we could have had all of them! Matt had a salted caramel and pecan cake and I had a giant vanilla macaroon because they are one of my favourite things.

Overall we had such a lovely experience, with great quality food and service. We will most definitely be going back!

Have you tried Aubaine before? Do you like French food? xxx

Turning 21 | Part 1 |

Last Sunday it was my birthday and I turned 21!! Although it is quite scary to be properly in my 20s now, I'm also really excited to start the next chapter of my life. I had the most amazing of weekends which I will remember for ever, so thought I would share some snippets of what we did on LML as this is kind of like an online diary for me as well as a place to rave about beauty. I felt so lucky, loved and happy the whole weekend and it really made me cherish having such amazing friends and family. Part 1 will focus on what I did with my family.

We began the weekend by having cocktails at the American Bar in the Savoy hotel and then we met up with my sister, her boyfriend and Matt and had a pre-theatre dinner in the Riverside restaurant there. It was so sweet Matt met me with some pink Moet and flowers :) Needless to say, the food and service was impeccable and it was an amazing treat to begin my birthday. After dinner I got presented with a plate decorated with some handmade chocolates and lemon macaroons which said happy birthday that was a lovely touch! We then got taxis to the theatre where the show was, which was meant to be a surprise, but my Grandma let slip earlier in the day (doh!) that we were going to see Phantom of the Opera which was so exciting as I have always wanted to see it. The show was fabulous although I wasn't expecting it to be so scary (I screamed twice :|) My mum and dad even bought me a mug afterwards as I collect mugs from places I have been and being a massive tea drinker I find I can never have enough! 

On the Saturday I had all my family over for a pseudo-Christmas lunch as Matt couldn't be with us on Christmas day and I love everything to do with Christmas! It was amazing, we had turkey and beef with all the trimmings and we even had my Grandma's homemade Christmas pud for dessert. We watched some baby videos of when I was first born which was rather embarrassing and had tea, birthday cake and turkey sandwiches in the late afternoon. I also opened some early birthday presents from my grandparents and extended family and felt so lucky. I'm not going to list everything I got as personally I don't like to do that, but I have included a few pictures of some special gifts that you might be interested in (also see my instagram!) 

The next day was my birthday and I opened my first present in bed - a bag that Louise also has! I then went downstairs and opened the rest of my presents from Matt and my parents with some Bucks Fizz. Matt was so thoughtful and got me 21 gifts arranged into three boxes which were colour coded - pink, gold and blue - each which represented a different area of my personality. It was so thoughtful and lovely I felt so lucky! My favourite present was in a Tiffany box - he put a set of keys to his flat in there which was really romantic! He also got me something to keep for ever which was a Tiffany pearl bracelet that is so beautiful. In the evening we made our way back to Birmingham for the best concert of my life - to see Trey Songz!!! I've loved him for years and to see him so close (we were right by the barrier) made my life!! I didn't get too many good photos as I was too busy screaming haha.

Overall, it was such a memorable and perfect weekend!! Part 2 will be what I got up to with my friends :) xxx

Restaurant Review: Côte Brasserie

As mentioned in my previous post, my boyfriend and I decided to go out for dinner at one of our favourite restaurants to celebrate some good news. Cote in Birmingham is situated in the Mailbox, a lovely building housing many designer shops, lovely restaurants and even a hotel. We started off with some cocktails at a bar/restaurant called Estilo, also in the Mailbox, where we had a Mojito Royale (Mojito with Champagne) which were gorgeous and a great way to start the evening.

We then had a short walk down the steps to Cote which has a lovely view overlooking the river. I have dined here a few times and on each occasion I have thoroughly enjoyed the service, food and atmosphere. The restaurant describes itself as "simple freshly prepared French food at value for money prices" and I would totally agree with this. The quality and the presentation of the food is fabulous and the prices are low for what you get. The only let down would be for vegetarians as there isn't many alternative choices for veggies, especially if you don't eat fish either. I also loved that instead of giving bog standard tap water, you got complimentary filtered water in a cute bottle for your table :)

For starters I had Rillettes which was so good and Matt had Crab Mayonnaise. The fact I hate crab but loved his dish after trying it shows how good the dish was!

Crab Mayonnaise

Rillettes

Then for main I chose the duck and Matt had steak (of course!) with peppercorn sauce. Again, everything was cooked to perfection - my duck was pink and the steak was done medium-rare like it was asked to be.

Lastly, pudding. Every time I go there is at least 3 desserts that take my fancy, but I can't resist getting the creme brulee over and over! Matt had the special dessert which was Praline Crepes which tasted like Guerlain chocolates mmmm!

I really recommend this restaurant if you are looking for fine dining but at an affordable price. You can look at the various locations of the restaurant and menus here. They also have various offers on such as 2 courses for £9.95 on a weekday from 12-7pm. Have you been before? xxx

OOTD: Little Black Dinner Dress

A couple of nights ago my boyfriend and I went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate some good news on our last night in Birmingham before heading down to Exeter. This is quite a simple outfit as it wasn't ultra dressy, but still was girly and suitable for the occasion. I love LBDs just because they are so easy to accessorize and you can wear them in so many different ways, especially this skater dress as it would be great for the day time too. I've also been waiting for an excuse to wear my new gold cuff  necklace which I have been wearing soo much ever since I purchased it. It's been such a great buy as it goes with smart or casual outfits. 

* Black Skater Dress from Topshop

* Shoes from Carvela 

* Tights from M&S

* Clutch bag from a friend

* Bracelet and Earrings from Forever 21

* Gold Cuff Necklace from H&M

*Friendship Bracelet from Turkey

I love wearing black as it means I can really diversify how I do my make up each time I wear the outfit as you can wear literally any colour. I chose to go with purple eyes and my nude Rimmel lipstick. I left my hair naturally wavy/curly underneath and added some curls on top.

L-R: 'Grifter' by UD, True Colour Eyeshadow in 'Midnight Plum' by Avon, Mac Pigment in 'Violet'

More true colour of Avon eyeshadow than first picture.

L-R: Collection Glam Crystals in 'Shake it Up' and Kate Moss for Rimmel Lipstick in 03

What do you think of this outfit and make up? xxx