Reviews

Book Review- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

- cupsofcharlotte Leave a comment

Recently a book I have heard a lot about is Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine this is one which I have seen in a number of people’s favourites. I saw it in my friend Hayley’s June favourites when Joe wanted me to order a book off amazon which I noticed was in the the 2 books for £7 offer I knew it was fate. I had to order this book and I can not say that this is something I regret I actually managed to complete this book in about 6 hours for sure it was a page turner.

Blurb

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

She leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself.

Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – whilst searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?

Thoughts

Well as a I stated this is a book which I really could not put down due to the fact that I did manage to read it so quickly. It had me gripped I needed to know what happened to Eleanor this was not a typical book which I would read. Usually I read a lot of romance kind of stories however, this is a book to some element which I could actually relate to.

The main character of the story is Eleanor who is a 30 year old who has been working the same job since finishing university. She also speaks to Mummy on the phone once a week and drinks two liters of vodka every weekend.  We soon realise that she is awkward when it comes to social encounters and she has a reliance on alcohol because this is the way in which she buries her feelings and past grievances.. This book for sure highlights the fact that there are people who are struggling with loneliness, alcoholism and depression.

Eleanor does has never been loved we find out that she has received third degree burns as a child which has result in a scar on her face. Since the age of 10 years old she has been in the foster care system and society has kept her fed, clothed and educated but never fully loved.  Even the relationship which she has with her mum is hurtful and abusive.

This makes you think about the relationships in your life,it show you the highs, the bad and the medium. This story really makes you realise how valuable one friend can be. Eleanor had been stuck in ways she didn’t even have the eyes to see how abusive her mum was been to her let alone done anything about it.

For sure this is a book which I would recommend people reading this summer.I could not put it down and it is rare for me to actually be able to finish a book in the same day as I start reading it.  Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine is scheduled to come out as a film I can not wait to see how this book gets portrayed as a film.

 

Have you read this book? If so what did you think?

 

Charlotte xxx

 

Review- My Personalised Case

- cupsofcharlotte Leave a comment

 

Taking photo is something which has been a passion of mine since I have had Jess. I must have over 2000 pictures of her if not more, however, displaying them is something which I fail to do but then I remembered that I could have a personalised phone case with one of my images.  I thought this was a subtle way of having Jess with me at all times.

Phone cases  protect your phone from drops and knocks now and they are a good way of showing your personality and art work. I used to change my phone case a lot but I think I have only had 1 in the last 18 months since I got my iPhone 7.

I have never had a personalised phone case before I have always had just a bog standard one from either the high street or Amazon.  It is now so easy to be able to have anything personalised I have done it for members of my family a gift.  A personalised case is something which I can see me purchasing for my family this year because they always have their phones on them and want to protect them from breaking.

When I found My Personalised Case I could not believe how cheap they were because I know when you start customizing items it can become very expensive. However, the one which I have actually only come in at around the £12 mark which is not going to break the bank and is considerably lower than some of them which I have had in the past.  I decided to choose the full hard case because this would give my phone more protection when either me or Jess drop it.

I found the website so easy to use and could customise my design as much as I wanted. Sometimes I have found it very hard to be able to get what I want when I have a vision in my head.  All you have to do is choose the phone or tablet which you want the case for. There are so many different types including Samsung and Apple you are sure to find the phone you are looking for.  They also have a number of styles which you can have for example silicon, hand shell, and even wallet options.

When personalising the case you can either add one photo or several and make a collage and even add text like I have chosen to do.  For sure you can have a lot of fun playing around with the site but it is so simple when I had finalised my design all I had to do is add payment and shipping details, this was the most simple part of creating my personalised phone case.

I seem to remember that my case arrived within 3 days which was amazing as you never want to have to wait.  When I got my hands on it I realised how hard wearing the case is and it seems like it is made to a high quality. There is no chance of my phone falling out of my phone case or it breaking which is something you want from a phone case.

I have had my phone case on for a month now  I wanted to give it a real test. My phone has been dropped several times due to me and Jess. I can not feel any scratches which have occurred as a result of the drops which is amazing as usually, I can on phone cases.   Jess loves getting hold of my phone and saying Mummy it’s me.

Conclusion

The quality of these cases are amazing and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a personalised case you can make your own phone case so easy and stand out. They are so cheap compared to others on the market and you are not compromising on the quality. This for sure is a company who I would recommend if you are looking for a personalised phone case I know when I upgrade in November I will be purchasing another one

What photo or design would you get if you got a personalised case

Charlotte xx

This post includes a PR sample however, all views are my own

Book Review- Wilde Like Me

- cupsofcharlotte Leave a comment

Recently when I was feeling under the weather and browsing Morrison’s I remembered that Louise Pentland’s book was now available in paperback, I managed to be able to get in store there and then because I had only heard good things about it from those who had read it include Emily who states it is her favourite book at the moment. I was skeptical about this book as it is a youtuber book but to be honest I forgot about that when I was reading the book and my review is on the book not Louise.

Blurb

Meet Robin Wilde! You’ll make a friend for life and she’ll take you on a journey you’ll never forget …

Single mum Robin Wilde adores her six-year-old daughter and loves her job as a make up artist’s assistant. She has a wonderful best friend and an auntie who is bonkers, yes, but loves her to the moon and back.

But Robin has a secret. Behind the mask she carefully applies every day, things just feel … grey. And lonely. She struggles to fit in with the school mum crew. Online dating is totally despair-inducing, and she worries every day about raising her little girl with self-confidence, courage and joy.

What Robin longs for is someone (over the age of six) to share with – someone who’s always on her team.

After 4 years (2 months, and 15 days!) of single-mum-dom, it’s time for Robin Wilde to Change. Her. Life.

Exciting new opportunities are about to come Robin’s way … Perhaps a man, perhaps the chance of a lifetime …

What will Robin do with the possibilities she creates for herself? And what potential will she unlock if she takes the leap?

My Thoughts 

Well I managed to read all of this book in three days which I think says something that I could not put this book down. I was hooked I needed to know what happened to Robin and Lyla along with the rest of the characters.

This story really showed all the ups and downs in life. It didn’t sugar coat anything. Sometimes life sucks and you let it get you down for a bit, but then you have to get back up and move on. I should know because times at the moment have not been amazing.  I loved Robin’s journey through this whole book, how in the beginning she was on the look out for someone else to come in and fix things and how through out the book she found herself and found out that she was and will always be able to fix shit for herself. This is something which I know I have to do and this is for sure something which I could relate to.

I loved the characters. I loved Robin and her little girl Lyla. I loved how female driven this book was there was not a knight in shining amour needed at all in this book. We have so many wonderful and different woman in this book. I love the different relationships Robin has with all of them. Women supporting each other through all the ups and downs in ones life. I LOVED IT.

The book had a really good ending and would have been fine as a stand alone. But knowing, that there will be a second book, I can’t wait to get back to these characters again. I am glad I have waited to read it as I only have about  6 weeks to wait till I can read the second  Cause even though, Robin and Lyla are a amazing team on their own, I kinda wanna see how things turn out with the man who she is interested in at the end of the book.

Conclusion

Just because this is a youtuber book does not mean that it is going to be poor for me it was a page turner I lost hours within this book. I could not put it down always wanting more from the characters that much that within 10 minutes of finishing this book I had preordered the second book. I think that we all could take something from the book whether it is how amazing single mums are, how friends are always there for us and also how we feel like we don’t belong somewhere when we actually do.

Have you read this book if so what are you thoughts?

Charlotte x

 

Review- Appy Kids Co Drinks

- cupsofcharlotte Leave a comment

 

Jess recently has become obsessed with the gruffolo which really hard because of the fact that you struggle to find much with this on it when it is not Christmas time. However, recently we were contacted by the lovely people at Appy Drinks Co asking use if we would like to try some of their drinks. One of them included the Gruffolo, Matilda and a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If you have not heard of Appy Drinks Co they are a company who are on a mission to create healthy drinks which are affordable for children. To make children want to do to drink this they have used well-known characters to encourage children to do drink these instead of wanting fizzy or unhealthy drinks. Jess when she is at home usually has a small amount of no-added sugar cordial into her water which she loves but when we are not at home she ends up having to drink fruit shoots when she is travelling or on a day out.

They come in a range of flavours we were kindly sent the orange and carrot, mixed berries and also an orange. I was actually worried that Jess was not going to enjoy the gruffolo ones due to the fact that they were the orange and carrot. However, I can report that she really did end up loving them because they were the ones which she ran out of first. This reminds me I need to order her some. I have actually tried some of the juice and can admit that it is very nice to be honest I thought that they would be weak and not full of flavour. I for sure can see why Jess really enjoys them.

They come in cartoons which means that they are very easy to be able to put in the bag when you are going on days out or if you are like us we do have some in the boot of the car. However, we need to make sure that we open the for Jess because she can’t actually open them by herself because it is a little bit tricky to pierce the pouches with the straw even for me.

The Appy Kids Co drinks are available to buy from Tesco, B&M,  Wholesale Foods Market, Spar and Poundland. If you are like me and like to shop online you can actually purchase them from Amazon as well there even on Prime which means that you do not have to wait.  For 24 of the 200ml cartoons they are between £15 and £24 depending n the flavour and the pouches which they also do are around £18 for 40 on amazon.

Overall Thoughts

I’m really pleased with these drinks! They taste nice and Jess seems to enjoy them a lot too. Appy Kids Co have a huge range of juice drinks available and you can find where to buy them here, and they’re all healthy. These drinks are perfect for the whole family and I would definitely buy them myself in the future.

 

Have you tried these drink?, If so what were your thoughts

Charlotte xxx

Disclaimer: We received products for the purposed of this post. All opinions are our own. 

 

Vintage Inns – The Three Cups – Stamford Bridge Food Review

- cupsofcharlotte Leave a comment

A few months ago now after a day at the beach, we were heading back towards York in need of food. When we drove through a village called Stamford Bridge which is close to York. I think we had a couple of moments to have a look at the menu before they stopped serving food as it was around 9 pm. The food which we choose was of a very high standard that we decided that we would return in the future.

A couple of weeks ago now we actually made the returning visit. As we were child free for the night and looking for somewhere to have some high-quality food and we knew this is something which would find at the three cups in Stamford Bridge. As you can see from the menu they do have a vast array of food which you can choose from. All which is cooked fresh when you order as you would expect. One thing which I would state is the food is not that expensive I think for a two-course meal for two it came to around £40 this included drinks.

I choose to have the pate as a starter which is something that I am highly fond of anyway. It came with a small amount of toasted bread which of course was delicious I managed to spread it over the bread. However as with pate when you have eaten it you walkways wish there was more this something which I really enjoy. This for sure is something which I would have again if I returned I think it might have been what I had on my initial visit as well.

My partner, on the other hand, a prawn cocktail which is something that I am not a huge fan of anyway. However, this did make me jealous because I think for sure I could have had this. It looked like it had the right amount of sauce this is something which I find rare when you order a prawn cocktail as usually, you get either a large number of prawns and a lack of sauce or the other way around. This is for sure one which he would recommend as it is the second time he has had this meal when we have dined at this pub. I think if we returned it may be something which I order because of how nice it does look which say a lot because I really do like the pate.

Burgers are something which a lot of restaurants/pubs serve, however, it can be hard to find one which is of high quality with succulent meat. This is for sure something which you can find at the three cups as you see the size of the burgers are large enough that they should fill you up. For example my partner who can eat so much found this filling even if I did steal his onion ring which was amazing as it was made with proper onion which means that it was so fresh. I think I could just have consumed a bowl of them on there own and not even been sorry. I think that this is something which most people would enjoy no matter if they are a picky eater or not.

Me on the other hand fancied something different this is why I choose the salmon as it is a dish which I do not have often. This came with potatoes and vegetables and a lovely source which for the life of me I can not remember what it was at all. This is something which I would recommend because of you are someone like me who does not always want something so filling like a burger, of course this is a little bit more of a healthy option. I think this for sure is something which I which I would have again in the future should I be returning to this restaurant. We can not comment on the drinks because of the fact that the fact that we both had a pint of coke.

Conclusion

This for sure is a place which we would visit again due to the fact that we have had great service both times we have been. The food had been of amazing quality which made up really want to go back I think there is still so much which I still want to try on the menu.  This means that I am going to have to go back there I think this meal actually only cost us around the £40 mark and this was for drinks and a two course meal. I know that the vintage inn is a chain so I might have to visit some of the other branches.

Have you been to a Vintage Inn for food?

Charlotte xx