Nintendo Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition

You guys voted for today’s post over on my Twitter account, so I’m being a good blogger and bringing it to you today! 😀 I did also mention in my wish list for November that I had bought this too.. 😛

I decided recently that it would be a good idea to order my own Switch, whether it be the original or the Switch Lite due to Pokemon Sword and Shield coming out, as well as mine and Dane’s upcoming Japan holiday.

I settled on a Switch Lite, especially the limited edition Pokemon Zacian & Zamazenta one! If there is one thing I disliked about the Switch Lite’s when they were released in September is the three colours they came out with. Yellow, turquoise and grey. YUCK! Why not a purple, neon green or red, for example?

So when I saw that the Pokemon edition was grey, cyan and magenta I knew I had found the Switch I was after! I didn’t really want to go for a Switch as me and Dane already own one (it’s his!) which would be sort of pointless. So the Switch Lite was just a better option for me!

I am so excited for so many Switch game releases, including Pokemon Sword and Shield on Friday and Animal Crossing: New Horizons in March 2020.

I already plan to take my Switch Lite with me to Japan and (as sad as it sounds) to work some days for lunchtimes when I want to play Pokemon or Animal Crossing.

So, I’m going to show off what the Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition looks like! You may be thinking about picking this up yourself, or just want to know what a Switch Lite is like in comparison to the Switch.

I hope you enjoy this post today! It won’t be anything special, but I know you guys wanted me to write about it… So I am! 😀

First of all the box it comes in! It’s nothing special but shows on both the front and back what the Switch Lite will look like, both on the front and back. In the box you get your Switch Lite console, as well as a charger. The 3DS never came with a charger, so I’m really pleased that Nintendo learnt from their past mistakes and made sure to supply one with the Switch Lite.

Apart from this, there isn’t much to the box at all! However, the Switch Lite itself is gorgeous, in so many ways.

The Switch Lite is amazing! It’s gorgeous to look at, feels good in the hands (both weight and feel) and is a perfect handheld console.

It’s a light grey colour with accents of both white, cyan and magenta. The cyan and magenta were chosen after the names of the two new legendary Pokemon – Zacian (sword) and Zamazenta (shield). Cyan is blue, magenta is pink. I didn’t really think of this until the Switch Lite arrived on Friday. The cyan and magenta work really well with the light grey colour of the Switch Lite overall and if anything, makes it pop!

A D-Pad has now been added to the left hand side of the Switch Lite, which used to be 4 buttons previously on the Switch. This is the only noticeable thing in all honestly.

Something else I noticed is how much better the ZL and ZR buttons feel on the Switch Lite in comparison to the Switch. They just feel firmer and that little bit more satisfying to press… I hope this makes sense! 😛

Another thing, I don’t know if it’s because my Switch Lite is new, but I’m struggling at the moment to open both the game card slot at the top and the microSD slot at the bottom. This being said, Dane didn’t have an issue when I asked for some help! I think I’m just being too sensitive with my Switch Lite, which makes sense.

On the back of the Switch Lite is a gorgeous design of both the wolf legendary Pokemon, Zacian (sword) and Zamazenta (shield). The outline of both the wolf designs is in a darker grey which pop out of the back of the Switch Lite! It looks amazing and works well with the light grey and white which is on show around them.

My one issue with this however is the fact they could have added each legendary on the same side as their matching colour, instead of the opposite… I know this sounds fussy but in my head it makes sense…

So that’s all I can think to talk about with my Switch Lite! I really love it and have played a little but of Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! but I have been on the lookout for a small game to play between now and the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Before I wrap up this post I thought I would show off some comparison images of both the Switch and Switch Lite alongside one another!

So! That is the Nintendo Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition! 😀

To buy this it will set you back £199.99, however I picked mine up from the official Nintendo UK store for £179.99 and I bet yourself wondering how I got it so cheap?

When me and Dane visited the Pokemon Center London (which you can read about here!) we popped upstairs to demo Pokemon Sword and Shield and we were given a new guidebook about Nintendo Switch, which included a 10% discount code for the Nintendo UK store! You can get one of your own by following this link! Fill in your information and you’ll receive one in the post. 🙂

What do you guys think of the Switch Lite that I picked up? 🙂 Do you own a Switch or Switch Lite? What games are your favourite and which are you excited for? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend! 🙂

8 Games I’m Excited To Play

This evenings post is something I have wanted to write about for a while. I’ve been a gamer since the age of 5 and proud of that! My first console was a Super Nintendo Electronic System (SNES for short), which I still own to this day! Soon after that I was gifted a Game Boy, with a Tetris cartridge in. I loved that game so much, I never got bored of the games music either. 😛

There’s quite a lot of games coming out this year and even next year that I’m already excited about, so I thought I would share those here with you all! I talk a lot about gaming to be honest with you… In the “real world” if you will, but I feel like I never talk about gaming on my blog as much as I would like to. I want this to change and in the future I would even love to film myself playing some games to pop up on YouTube!

I know not a lot of people can afford games, or are interested enough in them to play them themselves and just want to see the story. I’m like that myself to be honest with you. I’m really interested in Cyberpunk 2077 BUT the reason it didn’t make it onto this list is because I doubt I will play it and instead I would watch my boyfriend Dane play it instead. I’ve done this time and time again with games and I have zero regrets.

Let’s start talking about the games! This post will be a long one. 😛

Image taken from Untitled Goose Game website

• Untitled Goose Game – Out 20th September 2019 Nintendo Switch (link)

This is a game that I’m gutted I never got to play at EGX… I’ve seen people playing it and watched videos of trailers etc but as of yet I have not had the chance to try. I’m not going to lie, I had forgotten all about this game to be honest with you! It’s only from looking at my EGX post last year that I discovered it again. This is a goose simulator game, where your task is to annoy humans as much as possible! You get tasks you have to do to complete the level. I cannot believe this is out next week! I hope it is in the UK anyway… If so I will be buying it and spending my weekend playing it with Dane. Apparently this is available on Steam too, but I’ll be getting it for the Switch.

Image taken from Steam

• I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator – Out 24th September 2019 on Steam (link)

This game was announced this morning. I read about it on Twitter and I am already smitten with the idea of this game. I’m not like a massive KFC fan or anything, but the fact this is a dating sim game AND it is made by KFC makes me fucking laugh. It’s out in a couple of weeks (again, hopefully in the UK again as well) and not only do I plan on getting it, but I also plan on filming myself playing this game. I’m so damn excited for it, that I need to share the shits and giggles of playing it with others.

Image taken from engadget

Luigi’s Mansion 3 – Out 31st October 2019 on Nintendo Switch (link to Smyths)

I’ve never played the Luigi’s Mansion games, but I’ve always wanted to! I never played the first game as it was around when I didn’t own a GameCube and I never played the second one because I didn’t play the first one! I’m pretty sure you don’t need to know the story to play this game. You’re Luigi (the better of the two plumber brothers, in my opinion!) with a Ghostbusters style kit and you’re in a haunted mansion. What more is there to explain, really? This isn’t a game I plan to rush out and buy the date it comes out, but if I found it at a decent price I’d definitely pick it up to play with Dane, as this is a two player game! I love that this is out over Halloween! Perfect timing to be honest with you. If a demo comes out I’ll definitely give that a go.

Image taken from Polygon

Pokemon Sword & Shield – Out 15th November 2019 on Nintendo Switch (link to Smyths here, here and here)

This game is already on pre-order and I’ve even bought both of the games, one for me and one for Dane! Of course for the time being I’ll be sharing Dane’s Switch (which we have been doing since he bought it in 2018) alongside him to play this game! I still don’t know which game I want to play yet, but for me it will entirely depend on which game has the best exclusives. I’m very much excited for these games though, as I have a feeling Pokemon have learnt from how lame Sun and Moon were and worked really hard to bring us better game play. Gyms are back and we also have some new features in Sword and Shield! I’m definitely swaying towards Sword though. 🙂

Image taken from Alchemic Cutie

Alchemic Cutie – Out 2019 on Steam (link to Steam)

At EGX last year I gave this game a go and I really enjoyed playing it! It reminds me of Animal Crossing with the game style and is a very relaxing game. You live on an island that is home of jellies, which you must go out and tame to make them your own. Then once you have these jellies you can participate in competitions with them and more! It was definitely a cool little game I played during EGX and one that stood out to me the most. There isn’t an official release date yet, but it just says 2019 at the moment. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled on this, I really like relaxing games, especially after a long day at work.

Image taken from Mashable UK

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Out 20th March 2020 on Nintendo Switch (link to Smyths)

I don’t think I need to say a whole lot about this game. Everyone knows how much I love Animal Crossing and just how damn excited I am for New Horizons to come out on the Switch. As of yet I haven’t actually pre-ordered the game, as I’m praying that Nintendo will release a Switch console (normal or the Lite) to coincide with the new game. Even if it doesn’t, I’ll still be happy, but either way I would still pick myself up a Switch of my own as I would like one for playing games like this. I know Dane is planning on picking up New Horizons too so that we can play this together. This looks like there’s so much more to do now than ever before and alongside the old school Animal Crossing, it also reminds me of Minecraft too, where you need to craft and build things. Honestly, I can’t stop thinking about this game and for the time being I am trying to keep my Animal Crossing cravings at bay with Pocket Camp! 😛

Image taken from Calico Kickstarter campaign

Calico: Magical Girls Running Cat Cafés – Out April 2020 on Steam, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 (link to Kickstarter)

Next we have Calico, a game that I backed over on Kickstarter quite a while ago now! I stumbled across this game and after keeping my eyes on it for a couple of days, I decided to back! Again, as the game’s name explains, Calico is a game about two magical girls who are running cat cafes. This game reminds me of Animal Crossing, where you need to look after your cafe, whilst gathering cats and other animals from the woods nearby to host in your cafe. You can also create massive animals too who you can ride, including a red panda! I am so excited for this to come out in April and I although it is available on all consoles, I decided to get it on the Switch, as this is a console I have really loved playing my games on of late. 🙂

Image taken from To The Rescue Game

To The Rescue! A Dog Shelter Simulator – Out August 2020 on Steam (link to Kickstarter and Steam)

Finally we have the last game on this post! I’ve actually backed this game on Kickstarter. It was one I wasn’t sure about and due to that ummed and ahhed for ages about it. I’m glad I backed it in the end however, as I think I would have regretted it. As the title of the game tells you, this is a dog shelter simulator game and as you would in a dog shelter, you look after any dogs that come in, try to get them adopted and more. There is even a point in the game where you may need to put a dog to sleep if it’s not adoptable, or been at the shelter too long. However, this is a an optional option for the game, so if you don’t want to do anything like this, you don’t have to. This game isn’t going to be out for just under a year now, which is crazy! It’ll be worth the wait though.

So those are all the games I am excited for for the remainder of 2019, as well as 2020! I didn’t quite realise how many games I’m hyped for until writing this post, as well as how many I have pre-ordered.

Which games are you excited for? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a great week so far!

Petty Bones Club – New Poke Pins AND a New Petty Babe*

The beaut that is Lauren over at Petty Bones Club has done it again. She has created yet MORE gorgeous Pokemon pins and I’m going to show them all off to you!

I’m also going to talk a little about the new Petty Babe that recently joined the team, as well as Claire Likes To Doodle, who is also a Petty Babe.

Petty Bones Club recently held a search for a new Petty Babe and she settled on Catherine (peachy.pink.cat on Instagram) to be our new recruit! Her feed is gorgeous and I love it so much. She’ll be perfect for promoting Petty Bones Club and I cannot wait to work alongside her.

I’ve spoken about Claire Likes To Doodle on my blog before, who is also a Petty Babe! She’s amazing at artist and all around honest and lovely person. 🙂

Make sure to go and check them both out on Instagram and show them some extra love for me.

Now it’s time to show you all some of the new designs that have hit Petty Bones Club recently. Honestly, I’m so excited to share them with you all!

I feel when Lauren designed this Pokemon drop, she was going for chunky girls and boys… I’ve never seen a cuter Charizard pin, I tell you!

I actually purchased the Charizard pin myself as I just loved it so much! I’ve been wearing it on my new Persona 5 Ann hoodie from Insert Coin clothing (well, when it hasn’t been too warm anyway!) and have received loads of comments on it.

Flame Chonk is the Charizard pin I purchased which comes in both the normal colour, as well as the Shiny Flame Chonk. A part of me wishes I have purchased the latter, but either way I do love my chubby boi. It’s so damn cute, which Charizard really isn’t! This pin has certainly had many comments, especially on the fact Petty Bones Club has made Charizard look so gentle and not as frightening as it appears in the anime (and sometimes the games). This is something I really do love about Lauren. She can make anything look kawaii and pastel, even the shiny variant!

The last Pokemon pin drop that Petty Bones Club did, an Ampharos was released, which I still LOVE as I feel you don’t get many Ampharos pins and this one was so chubby and cute (you can read and see that pin here)! So what has Petty Bones Club released now? Mareep, the Electric Sheep* Pokemon. I have fond memories of Pokemon Silver, purely as it’s the one Pokemon game that I dedicated all my time to. I played that game for around 5 years until the cartridge broke and I lost EVERYTHING. I was gutted and I still am to be fair. Mareep was a Pokemon I remember seeing on the promos everywhere and I KNEW I had to have it in my party. Which is why Ampharos is also one of my favourite Pokemon. This pin is adorable and looks so squishy and cuddly and of course has an adorable little face too. I honestly love it!

I don’t think anything will top Charizard the Flame Chonk as my favourite pin in this drop, but the Dragonair Dragon Elegance* pin is pretty damn close! Another of my favourite Pokemon’s is Dragonite and always has been since the first Pokemon Movie where we saw Dragonite delivering Ash and the gang some post and then flying off. I couldn’t wait to get one into my party in Pokemon Red and Yellow (they were the games I opted for) so when I played Pokemon Silver and Lance walks around for a split second with a Dragonite, I was in love and also done at the same time. 😛 This pin is all around cute. I love how Dragonair is all wrapped up in it’s tail, it looks lovely and seems to be the perfect pin to wear in winter due to the colour scheme. I really do love it and I cannot wait to wear it soon!

Next we have the last pin from this Pokemon release, which is Swablu the Fluffy Blue Birb*. I’ve mentioned a lot here how a lot of Pokemon in this months drop remind me of my favourite Pokemon and game(s), however I never played the original 3rd gen games and I’m still gutted about that to this day. All Swablu reminds me of is Pokemon Go and even then it semi annoys me due to all the sods I had to catch in order to evolve it! I kid, this is a hella cute pin and if anything makes the original Pokemon design look so much cuter… In my opinion anyway! The shiny variant of this is so cute and it would be cool if possibly in the future Petty Bones Club released this.

Finally we have the Pokemon Ash* pin which is super cute and tiny in comparison to the other pins. This isn’t a part of the latest drop and I actually feel it’s from a couple of pin drops previously! Ash just reminds me of my childhood. Waking up at 9am in preparation to watch SMTV: Live with the first show being Pokemon. I loved it and although Ash is an annoying little shit, he’s adorable at the same time.

Overall, I honestly love this Pokemon pin drop and to be honest with you? It’s by far my favourite to date and I crave more kawaii, chubby and pastel Pokemon pins from Petty Bones Club now! 😀

All pins mentioned here cost £8 each. expect the Ash pin which costs £4, however if you use my discount code COFFEE10 you will snag yourself a cheeky 10% off of your order! If you worry you’ve read this post and then a few days later you want to snag yourself something, but can’t remember the code, don’t panic! The code is ALWAYS on the right hand side of my blog! I’m looking after you all, don’t worry. 😛

As always, a massive thank you to Petty Bones Club Lauren for making me a Petty Babe. It’s the first time I was given the chance to be a brand ambassador and for that, I am truly thankful for that opportunity.

You can read my previous posts about all of the pins that both Ayloulou Apparel here and Petty Bones Club have released here, here and here.

I’ll also pop the website as well as social media pages down below!

Store

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Do you love Petty Bones Club pin badges? If so which do you own and which are you lusting after? If you’ve never bought from Petty Bones Club before, do you plan to in the future and if so which pin(s) do you plan to pick up? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re all ready for an amazing weekend ahead! I for one am most excited. 😛

Independent Shops Tour in FarGo Village

When I travel and visit new places there are always a couple of things in particular that I look out for when I’m there, good food and drink and AMAZING geeky shops to visit and spend all my cash at!

When Amy (Writing into the Ether) asked if she could take me around FarGo Village in Coventry on a little tour, I couldn’t say no really. Although my boyfriend is from Coventry and we often ventured into the town centre when he lived there, we never really went to FarGo Village. Why? I don’t actually know!

We’ve been since, but Amy took me around everywhere, which was so much fun!

In return I recently took Amy on a tour of my favourite places to visit in Birmingham, which she’s written about and posted today on her blog! I’ll link her post here so you can go and read where we went. Birmingham is amazing for geeky shopping, as well as amazing Asian food and drink, so much so we are planning another trip to tick off the places we didn’t manage to go.

FarGo Village is classed as Coventry’s creative quarter and from photos I actually thought it was bigger than it is. I feel like that due to the fact they’ve made so much use out of all the space, which is amazing. It reminds me of the Custard Factor in Digbeth Birmingham, which is somewhere I practically lived in as a student and in my early 20’s.

FarGo is an artistically re-purposed industrial space in Coventry City Centre, designed exclusively for creative, independent businesses and like-minded visitors. Located on Far Gosford Street, a recently regenerated area with a rich cultural heritage.

We are fiercely independent! We have an eclectic mix of over 40 independent businesses based here, including a craft brewery, artisan food, vegan shop, printing , a museum dedicated to Sgt Bilko and a Crossfit Box!

Quote taken from FarGo website

FarGo Village isn’t just a place to go shopping but is also great for food and drink! As of yet I haven’t actually eaten in FarGo Village, although I have eaten at places on Far Gosford Street. I’m sure in the future I will have something to eat at FarGo Village!

They so have SOME geeky things, including some Studio Ghibli art books which you can pick up from TAG! Artwork.

FarGo Village isn’t full of geeky places to shop, but it does have a lot of amazing independent shops to visit, with some already becoming must have shopping destinations for whenever I visit Coventry moving forward.

The first place we ventured to was Sgt Bilko’s Vintage Emporium which was pretty cool! It’s a vintage memorabilia shop with various different geeky bits and pieces, from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel and more! They had loads of comic books in there where you could grab 10 for £10, which Amy took advantage of. I’m not a comic book girl myself and much prefer manga. This being said, the shop still had some amazing geeky pieces though, a definite must place to go if you’re into vintage geeky films and TV shows, I’m more of an otaku girl. 😛

We popped into Budda Boutique where I picked myself up some incense cones, which I have since used and have made my house smell gorgeous. This is the perfect place for hippies to visit, as it is a holistic shop that sells various different products ranging from clothing, healing crystals, jewellery and more! I loved collecting and using healing crystals growing up so whenever I venture into shops like this it really does bring back some nostalgia for me. This is a lovely store and one I will go back to time and time again when I visit FarGo Village.

We ventured onto the opposite side of FarGo Village to have a look at some of the stores I love the most in Fargo Village.

TAG! Artwork is definitely one that has caught my eye due to the cute and quirky books they sell! They do also sell art supplies too but I was in there for the manga! They sell quite a bit of manga to be fair, which is really nice. However, a lot of the manga they sell is also faded from the sunlight, which is a bit of a shame all around but mostly due to the fact they’re selling these for full price too. :S I’d want a discount considering they’re technically “damaged”. They also sell some quirky books and I regret not picking up the book Japanese Floaty Food Guide as I would love to have this for when I go to Japan. Next time I’m in FarGo Village I plan to pick it up!

Container No.8 is full of some right little gems and it’s a shop I would love to buy something from, but both times I’ve been (once with Amy and once with Dane) I’ve always wanted to be good. If I had of splurged a little, I think I would have ended up getting one of these cute little dinosaur necklaces by Bekbek Makes. Honestly, I always eye these cuties up whenever I go in but I just never buy one. 😦 I really love the green triceratops pin badge that I saw, but again. I left him behind. 😦 Bekbek Makes does have an online shop, which I have linked back to under the sellers name here. 🙂

Check out some of the items I love from Bekbek Makes:

Stegosaurus Necklace Large – Pastel Purple & Blue

Triceratops Pin Badge- Dark Purple & Green

Stegosaurus Pin Badge – Pink & Green

Container No.8 was a bit of a mix match of local sellers produce and items, which I really like! It means there is one shop with all sorts of different goods. These cute little honey bar bottles were too cute to not snap a photo of.

I’m not a vegan, hell I’m not even a vegetarian but The Green Unicorn Vegan Store is an interesting little store and I actually picked something up from there during our shopping trip. This gorgeous little store is promoting not only vegan produce but also for people to cut down and stop using plastic, which is something I would like to stop doing and I’m trying to do. The Green Unicorn Store is perfect because you can bring in your own jars, bottles and more to fill up with goods and take away. I ended up buying some cloth bags which I now use when I’m out shopping and want to buy fruit. I feel good not using plastic one use bags. 🙂

The last shop we ventured into before we decided to get a drink was, and I LOVED it so much! Fantayzia Designs is a retro style store that creates things out of stuff people bring in, as well as sell some of those items too. For example the owner has created lamps out of old cassette tapes, which looked really cool! I’m gutted I didn’t take a photo of them to be honest.

I love how the entrance to the shop has some chairs and vintage games on old TV’s. Anything like this attracts me straight away and when we went inside I made sure to have a look at what vintage games, consoles and more that they had on offer. I’m a console collector so I’m always into finding gems like this. Due to this however, it did break my heart a little to see this Game Boy Pocket turned into a clock… 😛 That being said, it was pretty cool all the same. ^_^

When we were shopped out we decided to head to my favourite place in FarGo Village, Bubble Boba for some must needed drinks and natter. I ordered the Red Velvet cheesecake, which was AMAZING! Definitely my favourite drink from there now. I visited Bubble Boba for Mockail Party and Masterclass recently, which was organised by Bubble Boba and Amy, which you can read about here.

It had started to rain not long after we sat down outside Backhaus & Co with our drinks so we finished chatting, drank up and headed for shelter in The Big Comfy Bookshop.

I really love The Big Comfy Bookshop and this was my first time visiting. I haven’t ventured into FarGo Village since me and Amy did so I haven’t been back, but honestly that place is perfect for anyone who just wants a bit of piece and quiet to write on their own, or with friends. I wish there was somewhere like this near my home so I could venture there after work to grab a coffee and do some blog writing.

The thing I love the most about The Big Comfy Bookshop is how all the books they sell second hand books and let you sit to read them too. I found a gem from my teenage years and it made me so nostalgic! I still own the novel Guitar Girl which I still love and read occasionally (maybe I’ll write a story post about this book in the future?). I also found some amazing cookbooks for sale! They also have a selection of manga on the shelves, which they need more of. 😛

We stayed for a drink, a bit of cake and some more natter before we parted ways. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed the little tour Amy gave me of FarGo Village. I really want to go again when they have an event on. They had a car related event on this day which to be honest annoyed me. People were revving their cars occasionally which just ruined the relaxed mood for me. I can’t moan about that too much however, as I know this doesn’t always happen in FarGo Village.

We didn’t managed to pop into some shops, as I have a feeling due to it being Sunday, they were shut. I think this is such a shame as it means if people work in retail and get Sunday’s off, they miss out on all the gems in FarGo Village.

Some of the places I’m sad we missed out on are:

Olivia Thomas Handmade – I don’t recall if we saw this or not, or if we did and it wasn’t open but the handmade pieces by Olivia Thomas look and sound gorgeous and I’d definitely love to go in the future to pick some pieces up for myself, as well as for friends and family as gifts.

Oshin Art & Craft – This place reminds me of Japan and I don’t know why. It just looks so crafty and kawaii inside, but I feel like when I went in before it just wasn’t for me. I’d love to go again to see what it’s all about!

The Drawing Room – A tattoo shop where (obvs) you can get tattooes done! I know a few people who have a few pieces done here, especially by Kerste Diston (kerste_tattoos on Instagram). Her pieces are gorgeous and she recently posted a photo of design she drew of Haku from Spirited Away.

Overall I loved the little tour Amy took me on of FarGo Village! I don’t think I could have asked for anyone better to take me around. Amy is so passionate about FarGo Village and it shows constantly. I can understand why she loves it so much, it’s such a quaint little place full of unique shops and little treasures. I really want to venture to FarGo Village more in the future, especially when there are events being held there.

Oh by the way, look at how famous Amy is in The Big Comfy Bookshop! 😛

If you’re ever in Coventry will you be popping into FarGo Village? Do you have anything like FarGo Village where you live? If you do, please let me know about it! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far.

The Perfect Daily Journal – Mal Paper Daily Goal Setter*

If there is one weakness I have, besides Nendoroid figures and salmon nigiri, it’s stationary. I love a good notebook and/or journal and I’m always a sucker if I see a really good one in store or online. I’ve had to simmer down with buying them lately after having a HUGE clear out at home and discovered 20 unused notebooks in our office… Oops! 😛

Although I don’t need another notebook/journal in my life, I had recently started to think, “Should I get one for my trip to Japan?” because then instead of keeping anything I need to know on my phone, or on an email online somewhere, a notebook would be handy. It would mean I can carry it around with me, take it to Japan, make notes in as and when, etc.

I know a lot of people like to use their phones and online devices for planning now, but I’m still happy to use pen and paper. I feel I get more done and jotted down if I use a notebook. I don’t end up getting sidetracked by Instagram and games (especially Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp).

Recently Mal Paper contacted me asking if I would like to be gifted one of their Daily Goal Setter‘s to review on my blog. This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time in the run up to my Japan holiday and I as soon as the daily goal setter arrived, I knew it would be perfect for this, as well as other things!

This was a gifted item for promotional and reviewing purposes, so all views on this post are entirely my own.

First of all I want to talk a little bit about Mal Paper (bio about Mal Paper taken from the Our Story section of their website).

The word Mål, pronounced ‘mo-l’, means goal in Swedish.

We also take inspiration from the Scandinavian clean and clutter-free way of living. As a result, Mål Paper designs and produces stylish, simplistic and effective stationery that helps us to be more productive by focusing our minds on the most important tasks.

Our range of products is the result of seeking a solution to solve the common problem of jumping from one task to the next, without prioritising them or even completing the previous task. We were tired of having countless ‘to-do’ lists on notepads, notebooks and journals that did nothing more than complicate our goals and tasks further, to the point of feeling overwhelmed and uninspired to hold ourselves accountable.

Our mission is simple. Focus on creating products that give the user clarity on what they want to achieve with a clear path on how to get there, all while promoting a positive mindset to carry over on to their daily activities.

Earlier this year Mal Paper decided to start a Kickstarter campaign for the daily goal setter, which did really well! It would seem after the campaign ended and people had been sent and received their daily goal setters, that Mal Paper opened their online store.

Let’s talk about the daily goal setter, I honestly cannot wait any longer to show you this gorgeous bit of stationary.

This is a sturdy hardback journal that comes in three different colours, black, grey and pink. As you see, I opted for the latter colour. I’m a girl, how could I say no to pink? 😛

The first thing I noticed with this journal is how soft the PU faux leather is that makes the journal – it definitely makes it comfortable to hold and feels very fancy! It’s good size too for an A5 journal and contains 244 pages – which is 6 months worth of planning right there!

The pink colour is gorgeous and goes with my laptop really nicely, with the text on the outside being in gold. The spine even has Daily Goal Setter and Mal Paper on so this can be popped into a book shelf if you wanted to which I really love.

A few other things the journal includes are 2 divider ribbons and a document folder at the back of the book. I love when notebooks come with document folders as it’s a place I usually keep things that aren’t super important but good to have with a specific notebook to reference. For example if I have a flyer or leaflet from a blog event that I need to refer to, notebooks are the best place to keep these! The 2 divider ribbons will come in handy too, especially as they’re both different colours too. I like how they’re grey! It compliments the pink so well.

Enough of the outside of the journal, lets get into it!

The journal has a contents page – which I’ve never seen before but for some reason it reminds me of a bullet journal.

The contents include:

The daily goal setter, cheat sheet, goal setting, mourning routine (gratitude, affirmations and daily tasks), evening routine, weekly routine, monthly routine, example pages, long-term goals and medium term goals.

So there is PLENTY to do with the daily goal setter!

As you flick through the pages you begin to understand why that contents page is necessary at the start! Mal Paper have made sure to pack loads of good information in here to get people started with their daily goal setting, which is handy. Personally I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.

They go through how you can set goals and how to set effective goals at that. I like how it goes into detail to be honest with you, I mean it’s okay to wing it but sometimes people need a bit of guidance with these things, I know I do!

You can tell a lot of thought and love went into the daily goal setter when it was being made and I really love seeing this through the guidance. I’ll definitely be taking all of the tips through the journal for goal setting with me to work to be honest as these will come in handy whenever I have projects coming up and how I want to plan for them. I feel like everyone needs a goal setter like this on their desk because it’s perfect for people who have busy jobs which involve thinking about loads of different things.

AND if you thought the written guide(s) weren’t enough, they even throw in an example of how your weekly and daily reviews should look. Could it get any better? Well…

You get your lists of long-term goals to create (which I am so excited to get written down!), as well as medium-term and short-term goals.

There are some monthly calendar templates in there you can play with for any particular months you want to plan around, for example if you’re having a busy blogging month due to events and gifted items that you’ll review as a blogger, this would be ideal to keep on top of all of those.

Personally for my holiday this will be perfect to plan what me and Dane would like to do whilst we’re in Japan.

Something I rather like about the daily goal setter is how they have inspirational quotes throughout, whether it be a page or on the bottom of the certain pages.

Before you get to the majority of the journal which is the daily tasks, you come to the weekly tasks – which will be really handy for if I’m having a busy blog week and need to keep on top of things to do with that, as well as for the 2 weeks me and Dane will be in Japan. This would especially help with planning to go do things and plan around whereabouts in Japan we’ll be with where we could go shopping and go to eat.

The majority of the daily goal setter is daily tasks, which I really like as it means I have more room to think things I want to jot down and fulfil over the day.

There are blank notes pages at the back of the book, as well as a 2019 and 2020 calendar so this would definitely be ideal if you’re a student planning to study in September this year – or even in s secondary school student preparing for your GCSE’s.

Mal Paper also have a guide on the website for how to use the daily goal setter – which is really handy for people looking into buying one for themselves and what to expect.

The daily goal setter will be perfect for so many people but personally I feel like this will be great for people who work in an office environment and have lots of different tasks and objectives to keep on top of over the course of a day, week and/or over various months. Due to this, this would also be perfect for a student too, whether they’re in secondary school, college or university.

The daily goal setter of course is perfect for bloggers like myself, especially those of us who do this for a living and need to keep on top of blog posts, social media, blog events and more!

Personally I really do want to us this for the months leading up to my Japan holiday as I can write so many ideas of places me and Dane plan to go, where we want to shop, eat and more. Even stuff about the trip there and home.

Alongside that I would also love to use it for blog related matters, so I can write down weekly reviews and tasks I set myself for posts I want to try and get written and scheduled, as well as social media posts I would like to plan to go up on places such as Instagram and Twitter.

If you think that the daily goal setter might be for you, but you aren’t sure – Mal Paper actually offer a free download of the daily goal setter and it’s really easy to do. All you have to do is follow this link and subscribe to their newsletter. Simple! You’ll receive a PDF in your inbox and you can try before you buy.

The Daily Goal Setter costs £20.95, which isn’t the cheapest journal in the world, but personally I feel this is well worth the money as it’s of a high quality and you feel like you’re getting what you’ve paid for with that. All of the cheap notebooks from Poundland will never make up for something as high quality as this. Plus Mal Paper are a UK company and I especially love to support companies created in my country. 🙂

Overall I absolutely adore Mal Paper’s Daily Goal Setter and I honestly cannot wait to spend a relaxed evening sat down with it, writing down my goals for the rest of the year, as well as my ideas and plans for both my blog, as well as my holiday to Japan!

What do you think of the Daily Goal Setter? If so which colour would you opt for and what would you use it for? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend so far.

Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Party*

If there is one thing I really love it’s food and if there is another thing I love it’s making food. So when I was invited by Coventry Bloggers to attend the Auntie Anne’s pretzel party last month, I definitely couldn’t turn it down!

In Birmingham we don’t actually had an Auntie Anne’s, although we used to many years ago before Grand Central was finished and this amazing little pretzel place was taken away with the rest of The Pallasades shopping centre. So for me it’s very nostalgic to go into Auntie Anne’s whenever I visit Coventry, as well as a MASSIVE treat.

There are a couple of Auntie Anne’s stores in Coventry, one in the Ricoh Arena Park Shopping Centre as well as West Orchards Shopping Centre too, with the Pretzel Party being in the latter!

We were told we would get the chance to make our own pretzels and although I’ve made my own at home in the past, I didn’t quite know what to expect when it came to making pretzels with Auntie Anne’s!

I was so excited for the event and made my way to Coventry nice and early to make sure I got there in good time, which I did. Me and the Cov Blogger girls got talking before the event and it was a lovely start to a Sunday afternoon.

This was a gifted experience for promotional and reviewing purposes, so all views on this post are entirely my own.

We were told we would each get the chance to make a sweet pretzel with either vanilla sugar or cinnamon sugar. As I’ve only tried the latter I was excited to give vanilla sugar a go!

We went up individually to the table and was shown how to roll out the pretzel dough and then do a special technique to get that pretzel shape we all know and love.

I was really nervous about this at first, but after watching Amy (Writing into the Ether) give it I go, I was confident enough to go next!

It was so much fun and I was so pleased that I got my pretzel shape first time around! Apparently I did the best out of everyone and due to this I featured on the live video that day over on the Coventry Bloggers Instagram page.

Once these were all done, they were put on a tray and ready to be put into the oven! Whilst the first group of us were waiting for our goods to bake we were give an amazing little goody bag each, as well as some new sweet goodies to try.

In our goody bags we either received Cinnamon Nuggets* or Vanilla Nuggets*, I received the latter and they were so yummy! So bite sized and perfect for on the go if you want something sweet to snack on. These were lovely and warm when we were given them too so I made sure to eat as many as I could whilst they were. I did end up taking half of the pot home to share with Dane. We also got a cup of their Fresh Lemonade* which was so damn refreshing and yummy! I’d never tried it from Auntie Anne’s before and I really did enjoy it. I could have easily had another cup.

We got to try one of their new sweet treats which is a pancake/crepe shaped pretzel dough mixture with loads of chocolate drops inside! It was okay, but a little too chocolatey for me…

I’m not a Twix fan but when I saw that they had wrapped pretzel dough around one, I knew I had to give this a go. That was good! I really enjoyed it to be honest with you and would definitely pick it up again if I fancied something really sweet.

After we got to try those sweet treats, it was time to coat our cooked pretzels in yummy sugar goodness! I opted for the cinnamon sugar as I intended on giving Dane my cooked pretzel. He loves them just as much as I do, especially the cinnamon sugar ones. Due to this I sadly never took a photo of the pretzel… 😦

Shortly after this and as the event was beginning to come to a close, I decided to grab some yummy food to eat around Coventry and then headed home.

I honestly love Auntie Anne’s so much and whilst I’m talking about it, I’m seriously craving everything, especially my favourite – the little hot dog rolls. I also love the dutch ice (Slush Puppies to you and me!) and was sad that I didn’t pick one up that day, as it was really warm!

Overall I had SO MUCH FUN at the pretzel party and was delighted to take part in the live stream too!

Do you like pretzels? Have you been to Auntie Anne’s before? Let me know your favourite flavour of pretzel. Mine is either sesame or pepperoni and cheese.

Until next time all, take care and I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

July Wish List ’19

Where did June go? I felt like it was only yesterday that I was preparing for a nice week off with Dane and then BAM HELLO IT’S JULY! Honestly though, how shite was June weather wise? It was well and truly awful to be fair and I’m glad we’re getting some nice sunshine right now. 🙂

I’m currently sat at my dining table with a gorgeous cup of Ed’s Coffee House caramel coffee and I’m planning on writing as much as I can before I need to head out later for a D&D session! This months wish list was pretty hard to be honest with you as I’m trying to be good right now due to Japan coming up, (I know it’s 5/6 months away but it will be here before we know it!) which is boring but meh.

Anyhoo – I hope your enjoy this months haul! I feel like there’s so much Japanese inspired stuff there. 😛

• Vans x Lazy Oaf Old Skool Platform (No longer available)

I know these are limited edition and no longer available (unless you pay an absolute fucking fortune!) but I still want them. I regret not buying them so damn much when they came out last year. Like stupidly regret it. Recently I noticed someone was selling my size on eBay at a decent price. They looked legit and when the seller offered to knock £10 off – I bought them straight away. Over a week later I was chasing the seller for my shoes and ended up getting a refund. I was so pissed off… I really wanted the shoes, especially for such a bargain. I’m still on the hunt for these and if you happen to find any in a size 7 for a decent price (no more than £60 with postage!) please let me know! 🙂

• Elfen Lied Omnibus Volume 1 (link)

I cannot tell you how happy I was when I recently discovered that this manga was coming out in English. Honestly my younger 16 year old self would have been over the moon with this coming out. Basically this manga has been running in Japan since 2002 – which is nearly 20 years ago now since it first came out. This was the first manga I read, as well as the first anime I watched. Elfen Lied is pretty much what got me into the things I am today, which is amazing to be honest with you so it really does mean the world to me to finally see the manga in English.

Now you’re probably wondering, “Okay hang on Nat! You said you’ve read the manga… But it’s only just come out in English? How did you read it then?” The magic of translation my friends! 😛 Someone translated it years ago online so I remember when I bought my first laptop 10 years ago (FUCK I FEEL OLD!) I found the manga on a PDF reader and basically flicked back and forth over the pages, reading it. 😛

It looks like there will be four omnibus volumes overall, which the second one due out in October. I would love to see the anime redone – just like they’ve done with Fruits Basket recently. I’d still love to see Elfen Lied Nendoroid’s released too. 😛

• Pokemon Holiday Night Collection Ichican Kuji (link)

This is a kuji I’ve decided to do! I’ve never done one before to be perfectly honest with you so this will be a first! It just looks too good to resist having a go on. I’ve regretted not taking part in some of the Animal Crossing kujis in the past and that in itself annoys me. I’ve got this through YY Kawaii on her Instagram merch page (link and link) and the prizes are adorable! There’s a couple of plushies, some holiday travelling essentials, pots and towels. It makes a change seeing some “useful” items in a kuji as opposed to the usual charms, towels and random figures. I really hope I get some good pulls from this!

• Insert Coin Clothing Persona 4 Teddie Pocket Tee (link)

I’ve already pre-ordered this tee, but I just had to mention it here today as it’s too good not to! 😀 I LOVE Persona 5, as my readers all know and I have had a go at Persona 4 Golden (which I am currently stuck on!) which I also really love. I’m reading the Persona 4 manga too, which I actually enjoy more than the game… But this may be due to the fact I’m stuck on it… 😛 Either way I saw the cute Teddie pocket tee and just knew I had to have it! I recently bought myself an amazing black pair of mom jeans from New Look and I intend to wear them together loads throughout the summer, as well as the rest of the year. 😛 Of course I would be a fool not to wear this to Japan too.

When this tee arrives – I’ll definitely be doing a post on why I love Insert Coin Clothing’s tees so much! I have this one, as well as their Persona 5 Morgana tee too.

• Sarah Dandh Animal Crossing Mug (link to store and Twitter)

I noticed this mug was going around my Twitter feed about a week or so ago and honestly I have fallen in love with it and I really need it in my life. I really don’t need anymore mugs, but if I didn’t pick this up I would honestly be a fool and regret it until I did. I LOVE Animal Crossing and as an ex barista I also love the coffee theme of the mug. It was always one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing: New Leaf to daily go and work my shift at The Roost Cafe, as well as sit and drink some pigeon coffee. It looks like the mugs will go on sale on Sarah Dandh’s store on 10th July – so I’ll be making sure to pick one up. 😛

• Ohayou! Good Boys (& Girls) Enamel Pin Project (link to Kickstarter)

Finally we have one of my favourite independent artists out there, who has done it again with her recently Kickstarter campaign! 😀 As soon as I saw she was going to be adding Animal Crossing designs to the campaign, I put myself down for two pins and it will be both KK Slider and Isabelle who I opt for. I actually already have an Isabelle pin by Ohayou! but it won’t hurt to have another one, will it? I don’t have a KK Slider as of yet and look how damn cute this boi is! I honestly can’t wait to get these already as I’ll wear them together on my jacket(s) as well as potential ita bag in the future. This campaign has now finished, BUT Ohayou! is a good egg and will probably have them for sale in her store anyway. 😛

So that’s my wish list for July! Again, I honestly cannot believe we are over halfway through 2019 now. It’s scaring me as not only does it mean I’m getting closer to being 30 but it also means it’s closer to us going to Japan and I am SO nervous for that!

Which items do you have on your wish lists this month? Do you have your eye on any of the items I have too? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week, almost the weekend now, eh?

Petty Bones Club – More New Pokemon Pin Designs*

Good afternoon all! I hope you’re all well and have had a lovely weekend so far. I can’t believe we’re almost into May already! 2019 is definitely whizzing by.

It’s been less than four months and already the talented and lovely Lauren over at Petty Bones Club got in touch with me recently to ask if I wanted to be sent her new pins to talk about on my blog! As regular readers will know I’m a brand rep for Petty Bones Club and have been since August 2018 – which makes it 8 months now! I can’t quite believe it’s been so long already. I love it so much though! I love being a brand rep for such an amazing designer and pin badge company, especially one that designs pin badges I love. In all honesty, I feel like it was down to Petty Bones that really got me into purchasing pin badges. Their Studio Ghibli pins under their old name Ayloulou Apparel were what kick started my love for enamel pin badges and collecting them, so I honestly cannot thank Lauren enough for that. 🙂

I’m so excited to share these new designs from Petty Bones Club today and I’ll even be showing off some old designs. This will make sense when it comes down to it.

Anyhoo, let’s get on with the post! I can’t wait to share these gorgeous designs with you all. Of course all these pin badges were gifted to me for reviewing purposes. Any without * were purchased by myself.

Overall Lauren sent me 5 pin badges with one of the designs being an older design that has finally made it’s way back onto the store.

This pin is the Messenger Bulbasaur* who is one forth of the messenger Pokemon designs that were brought out last summer. The first gifted package I received from Lauren contained two of the other Pokemon designs, which I’ve spoken about on my blog before. Bulbasaur is gorgeous and he did very well sales wise when he first came out. I’m pleased he has returned to the store because he’s just such a cutie. I know so many who have stickers of him, but want pin badges. If you’re one of those people MAKE SURE TO GO AND ORDER HIM NOW before he sells out again!

I grabbed the other two messenger Pokemon designs so I could show them all off together and compare them all. They’re all holding their letters, each in a different way. Bulbasaur is holding his in his mouth, Charmander* in his hand and Squirtle* is happily clutching onto his. I love how happy Bulbasaur looks with his letter and I understand why everyone loves him so much out of the original starter Pokemon. He just looks so happy! The thing I love the most about these three designs together is how they’re all different coloured metals. Bulbasaur is gold, Charmander is rose gold and Squirtle is silver. It works really lovely together and these would work great on a bag or even your favourite jacket or coat.

The last one I need now is the Dragonite design! He’s so cute but sadly he isn’t available to buy anymore so unless he is remade – I won’t be adding him to my collection anytime soon.

The next pin badge is one that has been around for a while and I remember first seeing it on one of Petty Bones Club Kickstarter’s back in July 2018. I remember wanting to back this campaign but I wasn’t really much of a user of the website at the time so never did. This saddens me as I LOVED the Eevee PokeScout design. It did come back out for their other Kickstarter campaign but at the time I wanted the Officer Growlithe enamel pin more – so again I never got chance to pick Eevee up and I doubt I will now.

Part of that PokeScout collection was the Sailor Snorlax* enamel pin. I don’t own any Snorlax pin badges and whilst I don’t know if I’d ever pick one up, I do really love Petty Bones Club take on Snorlax, especially with making it a PokeScout! I don’t think it is something you would expect to see and due to that I love it so much! This is a gold metal too, which I think is the best for this design. Any other metal colour wouldn’t have worked as well.

The next design is the only one with a silver metal which is the Lapras* enamel pin. I feel like I’ve hardly seen any Lapras pins around and this one is adorable! The silver stands out to me straight away as it works so well with the design. The colour palette and Lapras’s face just reminds me of when I was younger and received my own Lapras in Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow. This pin badge will be one I wear throughout the summer for sure! Especially when attending barbecues and drinks with friends.

This is definitely my favourite pin out of the bunch Lauren sent me as it’s one of my favourite Pokemon. This pin is the Ampharos* enamel pin. I remember months ago on the Petty Bones Club Instagram page where she was coming up with ideas for the new Pokemon pins and this was one of them. I loved the concept back then and I LOVE it now it’s in pin form.

Finally we have the last pin of the five I was sent is the Arcanine* enamel pin, which I can only imagine is one of Lauren’s favourite designs seeing as this is her favourite Pokemon. I remember when she was designing it and showing it off via Instagram that she stated he’s her favourite! At least I hope my memory is correct here. 😛 The Arcanine pin is MASSIVE and due to this the price of it is a little more than the others at £10. I think this is fair though considering the size of the pin, I’ve tried to compare the size of it to her other pins as well, which I’m sure the pictures show off well. The metal is rose gold which is perfect for this pin badge. I love the size of it as I feel loads of detailing would have been missed out if this pin was smaller.

I put this pin alongside my Officer Growlithe enamel pin as I feel like they work so well together! I’d definitely wear them together for blog events and especially for comic cons.

All of the pins I was sent come with rubber clutches and two backing posts. Apart from the Arcanine pin these all cost £8 each.

Overall I LOVE all of these pin badge designs from Petty Bones Club and they’re so unique and different, which is what I always love about the store. I especially love how Lauren chooses the best metal colours to match the designs of the Pokemon.

I have to say my favourites out of the five are Bulbasaur and Ampharos. They’re just gorgeous and I honestly cannot wait to wear them around this summer. I plan to visit loads of conventions this year as well as do more geeky adventures so these pins will be perfect for that! 😀

You can read my previous posts about all of the pins that both Ayloulou Apparel here and Petty Bones Club have released here and here.

Don’t forget I have a discount code for Petty Bones Club with you can use to bag yourself off a nice 10% off of your order. The code is COFFEE10 which you can also always find on the sidebar of my blog so don’t worry if you ever loose the code, it’s always there. 🙂

I’ll also pop the website as well as social media pages down below!

Store

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

I want to thank Lauren again for being such a lovely person by sending me these pins and most of all making me a brand rep. I’m so proud as well as happy to be representing her company.

I know my readers as well as friends LOVE her pins! Are you going to be checking out the new designs to the store? Make sure to let me know in the comments, as well as which pin(s) you’d love to pick up.

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.

MOD Pizza Coventry – Review*

A couple of weeks ago I was invited alongside loads of the Coventry Bloggers to another new restaurant addition to the Cathedral Lanes in Coventry, this being the new MOD Pizza!

I felt so lucky to be invited to the press night, especially with some of my favourite blogger gals. I’d had a pretty shit day at work prior to this event and actually felt really down in the dumps, so much so I almost cancelled going to this event. I’m so glad I didn’t however, as I had such an amazing time and I discovered a great new place to eat in Coventry!

*Of course due to the fact I was invited to the press night, all my food and drink was gifted to me for reviewing purposes. This being said 100% of what I’m writing about are entirely my own opinions.

MOD Pizza is actually an American company that has started to gradually make it’s way over to the UK.

I didn’t quite know what to expect though for the evening at MOD Pizza and for some reason in my head I thought we were having a masterclass on making our own pizzas, but how wrong I was. It wasn’t as messy as I originally thought it was going to be and in some aspect we were going to be making our own pizzas…

If there is one thing I loved about MOD Pizza the most it’s just how creative you can get with your pizza, without the price of your pizza making your bank account cry.

The concept of MOD Pizza is that you can create your own pizza for a set price and have as many (or as little) options on your pizza as possible, which I think is amazing. This being said you don’t have to make your own pizza. You can of course choose from the menu of pizzas they have on offer. Personally though none of them took my fancy so I went for the create your own option.

I obviously can’t speak for if you pick a pizza from the menu (as I didn’t do this) but if you create your own you make your way around the counter at all the different sections and add as many or as little to your pizza! When you approach the counter to order the staff will take your name to add to a brown baking parchment, which they use as to log your order down on as they make it.

Before you really get your creative thoughts going for which pizza you would like to order and create, you’re asked if you would like any starters, sides etc. Kayleigh (Hazelnut Musings) was telling me how she wasn’t sure which side to order so I suggested she order one thing and I order the other and we could share.  Me and Dane do this all the time when we go out for food so that we can try as much as we can! So I went for the MOD crinkle wedges and Kayleigh went for the cheesy garlic strips.

There are so many options available for starters, sides and even desserts!

First of all you pick your base which come in three different options – MINI (£4.97), MOD (£7.97) and MEGA (£9.79). I went for MEGA as I eyed up Amy’s (Writing into the Ether) pizza base and it looks really good! That and I’m not a fan of thin pizza bases, go big or go home… You know what I mean? 😛 In regards to bases you can of course go for a gluten free option but let me just warn you this does cost an extra £2.

The next stage is to add your sauces and cheese. Like the base you can of course choose to have vegan options with their dairy free cheese.

There’s loads of options for both the sauces and cheese but I was boring and went for the normal red sauce (tomato) and mozzarella. For sauces you can choose – red, BBQ, garlic rub, pesto and white. Cheese you get the options of – mozzarella, asiago, blue, feta, Parmesan and dairy free.

The girl who was looking after us at the dairy section was so lovely and fun as she made the cheese “rain” for us! I regret not doing a boomerang video of it over on my Instagram stories (you can find my Instagram account here) but I took photos which is just as good!

After you’ve seen your cheese rain (hahaha cheesey joke :P) you go onto adding your meats if you want them. I didn’t feel like there were any Quorn style meats that vegetarians and vegans could add, but I tell you what, there was so much choice! The fact you could have them all if you wanted really blew my mind. I didn’t do this however and ended up opting for chicken, bacon, ham and chorizo.

The meat selection is really good and there are even a couple of halal options on there – bacon, grilled chicken, ground beef, ham, mild sausage, pepperoni, salami, spicy sausage, anchovies, chorizo and spicy beef.

Then finally you have the last sections of the counter where you can choose any greens, veggies, herbs and more. I didn’t really bother much with this section (being the unhealthy person that I am!) and just opted for some roasted sweetcorn on my pizza. I feel like people who like this choice on pizza get judged for it… Is it just me? I bloody love sweetcorn on pizza haha!

The options here are huge though and range from all sorts including – rocket, romaine, spinach, artichokes, black olives, chickpeas, green peppers, jalapeños, mushrooms, pineapple, red onion, roasted red peppers, roasted sweetcorn, spicy red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes, chilli flakes, chopped basil, coriander, garlic and rosemary.

Like that wasn’t enough you can finally add some sauces and/or salad dressings to your pizza too. I wish I’d don’t this now but at the same time I’m glad I didn’t.

You can choose from – balsamic fig glaze, bbq swirl, hot buffalo sauce, pesto drizzle, ranch (garlic dip), red sauce dollops, sri-rancha, pesto sri-rancha, pesto ranch, hot honey, balsamic, caesar, honey mustard, italian, olive oil & vinegar and ranch.

Finally your pizza is created and is put into the oven to cook whilst you order a drink and take a seat. I opted for a milkshake and went for the Biscoff shake, which was amazing! I don’t want to compare this flavoured shake to anywhere else but bloody hell it was good. It was really thick and I actually had to stop myself from drinking it before my food arrived. This being said, I think from having this milkshake it stopped me from eating most of my pizza… Not that that was a massive issue. 😛

You’re given a buzzer which vibrates when your food is ready! I liked having a bit of time to chat with my girls, as well as take in all the gorgeous decor of the MOD Pizza in Coventry.

From what I’ve seen/read online all the MOD Pizza restaurants have a different and unique theme, with Coventry having the “You Be You” theme and style, which I loved so much! They had some postcard with this on, which I took home with me, alongside some MOD stickers. 😛

One by one everyone’s pizzas slowly started turning up, including my own. This is by far one of the best, if not THE best pizza I’ve ever had and I loved it so much.

The pizza itself was just so fresh tasting, with all of the toppings I picked for it working together to create a perfect pizza for me. The best bit about this pizza for me however was how dry the base was, no grease in sight! Something that I absolutely hate about takeaway pizza or having pizza out. I feel like if you want a good pizza you usually have some greasy around but nope, none of that here! The base was also really crispy and the crust was just perfect for me. It didn’t seem burnt just that perfect crunch as you bite into it.

As I mentioned before I ordered wedges as my side, whilst Kayleigh ordered the garlic bread. The wedges were seasoned so lovely and were so moreish to eat. The garlic bread was really good and had fresh garlic on it, which was surprisingly nice! I’ve eaten raw garlic in the past and I hated it, so was pleasantly surprised by this. I feel like it was Emily (The Emily Chapters) who had loads of wedges left over and donated them to our table. I was loving life! 😛

One thing that did annoy me though was how one of the girls was waiting ages for her pizza to arrive. Even though staff were quick to amend this issue when it was raised, the amount of times they came over to the table to ask how we were etc – you think they would have noticed one of us didn’t have side, let alone her pizza! When I worked in both a coffee shop and a bar if I noticed one person didn’t have food out of the group or at least an empty plate I always sensed something was up.

I understand they were busy though and I liked that they were honest about what had happened with her pizza, along with getting her a new one out quickly so fair play to MOD Pizza for that. 🙂

As I mentioned somewhere, I couldn’t actually finish my pizza and only managed to eat under half of it, so when Dane picked me up from the train station near our house, he decided to have a cheeky slice and commented how lovely it was. He agreed with myself in regards to how it was none greasy and fresh in comparison to some takeaway pizza places out there.

Overall, I LOVED MOD Pizza and I’m already craving to go again soon either on a date night with Dane, a double date night or even just a good place to go for lunch whist shopping with my friend Sophie.

This is such a great addition for Coventry, especially as student life seems to be growing there lately. I feel for students this is an affordable place to go after a heavy night of drinking on a budget friendly hangover cure.

I know I’m talking about the Coventry MOD Pizza but I also wanted to share where else MOD Pizza is at throughout the UK:

Borehamwood – WD6 1AE

Coventry – CV1 1LL

Gateshead Metrocentre – NE11 9XG

Leeds Cardigan Fields – LS4 2DG

Leeds City Centre – LS1 5BQ

Leicester High Cross – LE1 4SA

London Leicester Square – WC2H 7AT

Nottingham Market Square – NG1 2DR

Romford – RM1 1AU

Waford High Street – WD17 2DJ

I really hope you enjoyed my review of MOD Pizza in Coventry and if you liked the sound of it I also hope there’s one nearby you so you can go and try it out for yourselves!

What do you think about MOD Pizza? Let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

 

March Wish List ’19

At the time of writing this post I’m in a pretty bad mood… I ordered a game through Amazon Prime Now so that me and Dane could spend our evening playing it whilst we had dinner. It turned up… But with no game in the box. I made a complaint and to add insult to injury I couldn’t order another copy on Dane’s account. I’ve ordered it on mine now but Amazon need to book their ideas up! I know you guys love catch up/ranting posts from myself so I’ll be talking about Amazon Prime and all the shit I’ve had to endure the past 6 months!

Anyhoo, it’s a couple of days late but I’m here with my monthly wish list for March! The items on it seem so random, but when am I NEVER random, eh? 😛

• Disturbia x Charles Peterson Kurt Long Sleeve T-Shirt (link)

I noticed this t-shirt for sale on my Facebook page through an advertisement and I KNEW I had to have it! Well, at least save it to my wish list for a rainy day. I’m a massive Nirvana fan so I’m a sucker for anything like this. I wear my Bershka sweater dress to death so I already know I’d wear this all the time with jeans or a skirt. It’s not cheap at over £30 but all the same, I may just treat myself to it soon. 😛

• Weishiart Ninetales Pin (link)

I discovered this pin through the gorgeous Sarah over at Raiin Monkey and saved it to my wish list straight away! I love pin badges so much but in 2019 I am trying to not buy as many as I used to, purely for the fact I feel like I don’t have enough space on clothing or even time to wear them. This being said I would like to make an ita bag where I would be able to show off all my pin badges on the go! This pin badge is adorable though and I already know I’ll be ordering it in the future as it’s just too cute not to pick up!

• Nendoroid Green (link)

I actually have this pre-ordered already through YY Kawaii as she’s one of the few who are stocking it at the moment. She also has him at a bargain price too, so it would have been silly not to take up such an awesome offer. Apart from Ash and Pikachu I don’t actually own any Pokemon Nendoroid’s yet so I’m rather excited to start a new money draining thing. 😛

• Rogue & Wolf Midnight Mug (link)

Like the Kurt long sleeved t-shirt I discovered this mug through an advert on Facebook. I don’t remember if I’d ever visited the Rogue & Wolf website in the past or not but I’m so glad that I was shown this mug as it is GORGEOUS! I’d really love to buy it for myself for coffees at work, but it costs a lot… £20 to be exact which is stupidly overpriced in all fairness. I’ll keep my eyes peeled on it in the future however!

• Killstar Dutchess Mourning Dress (link)

As regular readers of my blog will know I’m a massive Killstar fan and whilst I wanted to try and pick up more pieces from the brand throughout 2019, so far I haven’t just yet. I doubt I’ll pick anything up in March but I’ve seen this gorgeous dress that I would to own for when it’s spring and summer in the UK! I can only imagine I’ll pick this up in April as I’d love to wear this for Dane’s 30th birthday.

• Yoshi’s Crafted World on Nintendo Switch (link)

This is something I’ve already pre-ordered and pretty damn excited for! If there’s one character game I love playing it’s always Yoshi. I’m not a massive Mario game fan when it comes to platform games I’ve just always preferred Yoshi and even Kirby. I gave the demo for Yoshi’s Crafted World a go and fell in love! It felt so relaxed to play but with some puzzles in there too! I don’t think I could ask for a better game to keep me engaged at the moment. So yeah I’ve pre-ordered it from Smyths which in turn has saved me £5.00 off of the game! Give the demo a go if you fancy picking up something new on the Switch. I’m so excited for this to come out at the end of the month.

So those are some of the items I am lusting after this month! Dane’s 30th is looming however, so I could do with starting to think about what I want to pick up for his birthday. 🙂

Do you have any interesting items on your wish lists this month? I’d love to hear about them. 🙂

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely day.