Man vs Meat

Meat and men and meaty men.

A phrase that sums up "Grillstock" quite nicely.

So the annual Christmas work-do came around (very belated- more like a new years shindig), and instead of opting for the usual chain restaurants to gorge in , we thought we'd try something new and support a local business.

Our resident piercer (for all who don't know- F.Y.I,  I work in a piercing shop) had heard on the grapevine about a certain "Grillstock challenge", where a champion's t-shirt and a bottle of house BBQ sauce was on offer for anyone who could complete the array of food in 1 hour or under. "Easy!" (famous last, testosterone fueled, words...).

Up we rocked, ready to be out-meated, where we were greeted and seated on the large communal bench that spanned the length of the restaurant; a kind of 'last supper'/ hill-billy saloon love-child layout. Pretty damn cool if you ask me. The dull red lighting and scrapbook-esque wallpaper soon got our deep south juices flowing, just in time for the trays of food, piled high with tasty meat treats to appear. I say trays and I mean trays- there's no messing about in Grillstock.

I tucked into my 'Smokestack Burger', consisting of 1 patty (or 'Burger' to those getting confused with the Simpsons character), topped with pulled Pork with a side of fries and 'slaw' (Cowboy for 'coleslaw'), and MY GOD was it good. Not being one for Pork normally, this baby converted me. Tender and tasty, the accompanying american square cheese and gherkins made it potentially one of the best burgers I have ever eaten. And I do love a good burger.

Tooth pick 'nd all! 

The star of the show however, was the 'Ultimate low 'n' slow BBQ meat feast' a.k.a The Grillstock Challenge. All four meats (pulled Pork, Chicken, Ribs and Brisket), a 'hot link sausage' backed up by lashings of Slaw, BBQ Beans, Burnt ends, Cornbread and finished with a pile of fries- just in case the meat alone wasn't enough. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. With an hour on the clock umpired by the Grillstock team, a quick pep-talk, and a motivational photo of the person currently holding the most ridiculous record of finishing in 19 minutes- (a 20 something size-8 girl), our piercer got underway.

He's not small. In no way is he fat- I think "hench" is the word I'm going for. (He'll love that). And after a couple of days of drinking water to expand and train his stomach, (yeah, he took it pretty seriously), I was convinced he could complete it with absolute ease. How wrong was I. Half and hour in and the sweat started to show. Finished were the chicken, ribs, chips and slaw- pretty impressive in itself, but no where near a clean tray. A rival competitor commencing his meat challenge next to us, sparked some what of a masculine surge within our teammate resulting in the devourment of 3 ribs and a slab of cornbread. Somehow the prospects of finishing were looking bleak, and with this dawning upon his meat-filled mind, a cease-fire was declared. 1- 0 to Grillstock. Bravo.

A concentrated competitor on the left

An entertaining and appetite-pleasing, (understatement of the year), evening was successfully had by all thanks to the unique restaurant that is Grillstock. We left, stomach's swelled, smiles on and only a chunk of pride missing from our failed competitor. Better luck next time, ey!

A must visit if you find yourself hungry whilst roaming the streets of Bristol.

Remember kids: Meat, Music Mayhem!

p.s.- they have their own Grillstock Festival- how cool is that?!

Body Shop Haul

I recently took the plunge and dumped my Vodaphone contract in favour of a younger, sexier network; everybody say hello to O2. With O2, comes O2 priorities. And with O2 priorities came £15 pounds off a £30 shop in the Body Shop. How could I say no?! I'd been wanting to add some new beauty bits into my make up bag for a while, but always found buying products in one go resulted in a hefty chunk out of my bank balance (*overdraft. I'm not fooling anyone), which I simply couldn't afford. I quickly snapped up this offer and purchased £34.50 worth of goodies for an impressive £19.50- perfect!

Small bag = Big smiles.

If any of you, like me, suffer from acne prone, red combination skin (the worst) then you'll understand that finding the perfect moisturizer is near impossible. However, the Aloe Vera Soothing Gel comes in as a close contender. With properties that calms and soothes the skin, it is ideal for anyone with irritant, allergy-prone or red skin. It cools and hydrates just enough, without clogging up the pores and prompting break outs, whilst the Aloe Vera itself is a natural promoter for skin renewal. And at £8, you won't need to be extending your overdraft any time soon!

Aloe Love!

Next, i'd been searching high and low for an eyebrow kit after falling out of love with pencils. I kept missing my eyebrows and draw on extra lines underneath- not a good look! I found the body shop Brow and Liner kit in shade 02 Brunette and Brown, which also provided its own double ended brush- how kind. The colours were a perfect match for my bushy brows, and they didn't require too much product to look filled and ready to face the world. The brush provided wasn't so good with one side being too stiff, the other too flimsy-I think i'll stick to my usual slanted brush for now. £10 was slightly pricey, but it seemed like it would last a fair amount of time, making it a worthwhile investment! 

Bushy Slugs, here I come!

Even though I suffer from spots and have the odd acne scar on my face, concealer isn't usually part of my day-to-day make up routine. What I was looking for however, was a good highlighter to get rid of my dark eye circles and illuminate parts of my face, such as the brow bone. What I found was the Body Shop Lightening Touch in shade 04; a concealer AND highlighter in one- nifty! Being one of the Body Shops bestsellers, it certainly lived up to its status; GOODBYE dark circles and annoying spots and HELLO illuminated glowing skin! It provided that little bit of oomph to my usual make-up whilst again not being too heavy or clogging on my problem areas. Sorted. At £14, I would definitely invest and re-buy this product as there's nothing really not to love!

You SOOOO have that lightening touch.

Finally, I caved and threw away my beloved WHSmiths sharpener in favour of the Body Shops Small Pencil Sharpener. I figured it was time to take this make up thing seriously, and a grown up sharpener for £2.50 was the first step in the right direction.

Oh so professional. 

Overall my buys were a complete success, with the potential for future repurchases- nailed it!

And for anyone admiring my b-e-a-utiful bedding in the first picture- you can buy it here :)

You've got a friend

12 hours into 2014, and with the storms came a brand new friend.

Driving along the worst country lane known to man, singing my heart out to Miley Cyrus (Yes it was 'Wrecking Ball', Don't hate), and laughing to the world that I was secretly still in my Pyjamas whilst hoping that today was not going to be the day that I had to get out of my car and display said outfit, was how I first came across Susie.

Looking ahead, the flashing of hazard lights and the shipwrecked car loitering in the bend of the road triggered my nosiness, which in turn made me pull over to see what was going on... and honestly whether it was going to be a dramatic story to tell my sister. And my god It was.

Out-hopped Susie, an 80 year old lady with hair permed to perfection and nails manicured to within an inch of their lives. Expecting her to usher me on telling me not to worry and help was on it's way, her panicked and slightly lost tone of voice corrected this thought straight away. She had obviously hit the vat of water across the road too fast and dislodged something from underneath her car. Being 80, lying down on your front to check beneath was not a feasible option, so out I got remembering my current state of dress and feeling slightly silly.

I've never voluntary lain in a puddle before, so new experiences were had by all that day.

After confirming Susie's fears, and attempting to put back whatever was hanging loose (who was I kidding), a quick call to the AA was made (it should be compulsory for elderly people to own a phone), and I was on my way, knowing that Susie was going to be picked up within the half hour. I gave her my number and address, and told her to call me when she was back home to give me piece of mind that all went smoothly.

I got that call. But I also received something else through the post a week later. The loveliest, most heartfelt thank you letter I have ever got in my life, along with a gift card for £50. Incredible. "You were our good Samaritan that day... and I shall remember your kindness forever. Please find yourself something nice with this gift card". I was stunned and truly touched at how much my help meant to Susie. It's incredible how the smallest of actions from one's own point of view, could mean a whole lot more to someone else. This event has restored my faith in humanity that little bit more; people are kind, really. And that's not referring to myself. A call and a quick thanks was enough for me, but to go to the effort of writing a page-long letter along with the most generous gift a stranger has ever given me, truly was unexpected and rather lovely.

A good start to the year, I think.

@FreyaWallace2

Stop! Cousin time

So my darling cousin Charlie, took a little visit to Bristol last week.

With her studying at Bath University and Myself plodding along in good old Bristol, we always manage to squeeze in a catch up in between essays and the hectic life that entails being a 20-something year old student.

However, with the hotly anticipated Christmas break coming and going faster then you could say "ho ho ho", a catch up was well past its due date, and thus a trip to Nando's was required. (Classy girls we are).

After unintentionally starving myself from midday the day before, a feast fit for a king was in my vision and no one, not even Charlie, was going to stop me from wolfing that bad boy down. Yum.

Chicken Wrap, I owned you. 

A little order had to be restored following our meal, and not wanting to halt our gossip-flow, we quickly moved on to the Tea Bird Tea Rooms for, (guess what) a spot of tea. If you're ever on Park Street in Bristol, be sure you pay it a visit- a Tea experience like no other.

Earl Grey Obvs, 

After becoming far too excited about the prospect of actually drinking real  tea out of a real tea pot, with a sophisticated cup and saucer, our attentions turned to what looked like a first date. Well... he was drawing and she was working... BUT STILL, love was in the air, and how lovely it was to watch from a distance. And how bitter Charlie and I suddenly felt. (Tinder do not fail me).

Apparently you're meant to strain loose-leaf tea.. a skill I learnt the hard way.

Totally posing. Not even embarrassed. 

Eventually it was time to bid Charlie a fond farewell; the dreaded ticket officers were fast approaching, and what with all the Dior and Chanel students these days buy, i'm not sure a parking fine would have much helped.

Cutie.

'Till next time, Cuz!

@FreyaWallace2

For the love of blog!

Well hello there!

I'm Freya, and I have taken my 2014 new years resolutions to a rather daring level;  become a Blogger. (What have I done..)

The idea petrifies me. I don't even know if I can string a sentence together that vaguely resembles the English language, let alone entertain all you fine fellows out there with witty remarks and insightful posts. But here goes..

I still haven't entirely got the hang of how to actually make my blog; it seems I can't add those Piece de Resistance touches, like the clever Twitter and Instagram boxes, that make you look oh so 'proffesh' and a natural born-blogger from birth.

But what I hope to achieve, is a little bit of sassiness, a little bit of sauciness and a large amount of oh so naughtiness to all things wonderful. Food, fashion, adventures, everyday meanderings, you name it. Lifestyle blogging feels like a passport to utter freedom on opinions and loves- of -life; so i'm taking it by the horns and running away with it.


Frey Frey X