17th Birthday Celebrations 2016 - Simple ways to Celebrate

 If you have been following me on Instagram (which you can do here), it was my birthday last month and I have finally had time to get this post up.

 

I had a great week (because if your anything like me you would take advantage of the fact that your birthday only happens once a year and celebrate it for the whole week because you can) - which mostly consisted of cake, food and chocolate!

 

Sometimes I am lost for ideas on how to celebrate birthdays but I've learnt that sometimes keeping it simple it the best option.

 

So what are the ways  that you can celebrate turning 17?

 

- Go out with friends for a cheeking Nandos - I recommend you going for the Churrasco Thigh Burger which is a chicken burger with cheddar cheese, coleslaw (I thought it was weird but it taste pretty good) and salad. I added extra avocado and I can tell you now it was the most satisfying meal with a portion of Piri Piri salted chips

 

- Celebrate with Wilton's Cake - In my area Wilton's is a baker renowned for its cakes and sweet treats. I got the half milk, half white chocolate cake which was very rich, amazing quality and perfect for all you sweet toothed girls and boys out there

 

- Take your first driving lesson - If you haven't started driving yet you really ought to. My family booked me a 2 hr lesson as a surprise on my birthday, I was a little nervous but it was so lovely to have a drive around on a sunny Sunday morning.

 

- See friends you haven't seen in a while because you realise how much you miss them and it makes your day a  whole lot better

 

- Dance - You heard me, just shut your self in your room, put on your earphones and let it all out if your not having a party ( there are so many birthday songs to choose from and they are all made for your special day)

 

- Watch a  comedy / your favourite movie - It is great to have a laugh around the television with your family in the evening

 

- Be grateful - An amazing day can pass just like that but if your grateful for every minute of it, you will remember and cherish your birthday with all the great people around you more than if you just let it pass and complain that you have not been doing anything exciting

 

Let me know what special things that you like to do on your birthday. Does your mum have a special recipes she likes to bang out for everyone or have you had any surprises that have particularly blown your mind?

 

Priyanka xx

Pizza Express, Covent Garden

I'm not going to lie to you about how terrible I am with directions.....

 

Seriously. I am pretty bad.

 

One of my friends invited me for dinner at Pizza Express in Covent Garden, my internet stopped working (so that I could not use the navigation on it) and there I was, all alone not knowing where the restaurant was nor where to go. Even from asking directions, using the maps and calling my friends I still couldn't make it out by myself.

 

45 minutes later when I was rescued by my friends (who were very tired of waiting for pizza), I found that it was ACROSS THE ROAD and under a bridge from the station I got off at.

 

Urgg. At least I burnt those calories, right?

 

Usually pizza and pasta are not my thing simply because it is such a common food, so when I want to treat myself to something slightly more 'unhealthy' I venture for other exciting foods to full fill the desires of my taste buds.

 

I chose pasta over the pizza because one of the girls were telling me it was really good and her 'go to' choice. The Pollo Pesto Pasta (oh, the alliteration...) was very filling. It had chunks of  chicken, mushrooms, red onions, mozzarella and pesto sauce. The chicken was a little dry but there was just enough sauce and cheese to make up for it.

 

Honestly, it could have been a little creamier or saucy to make it work better. It was a good meal but nothing incredibly special. I think the pasta at Vapiano was of a much higher standard than Pizza Express and you can see my post on that here.

 

Where is the best pasta you have had? I would love to know for another dinner out :)

 

Priyanka xx

Shake Shack, Covent Garden

 Yes, I had work experience the whole week.

Yes, I was tired of filing things away.

Yes, I was craving a cheesy burger.

Yes, I was satisfied after finishing my food that day!

 

Last week some of my friends and I decided to take a trip down to Covent Gardens to meet up and grab some food, since I barely get to catch them for a chat now days.

 

I brought up the idea of eating at Lobster Kitchen since I have never eaten Lobster before but unfortunately one of my friends said they were allergic which was a great disappointment.

 

Then, we decided on going to Five Guys in Leister Square because so many people had told me they do the best burgers ever. I should learn to do my research because unfortunately all the burgers were beef (which I do not eat). One friend got the Five Guys Peanut Butter Milkshake and ohhhhh my godnesssss, it was heaven in a cup. Seriously, I can't express how damn creamy, smooth, thick and oh so good this milkshake was. I didn't get my own but we all shared from one cup. I can tell you now, it was gone in seconds.

 

Eventually, we reached Shake Shack in Covent Gardens, where I waited very impatiently for my 'Shroom Burger £8.50 (which was a crispy Portobello mushroom burger with melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and Shake Shack sauce), with Crispy Crinkle Cut Fries £2.95 and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake £5.25.

 

I would say that the fries and the burger were pretty good but the milkshake was no where near as good as the one from 5 Guys. Also, the burger and milkshake portions were incredibly small for the high price I paid. I would have also liked a little more cheese in the burger.

 

Where do you think the best burgers and milkshakes are in London? I would love to know!

 

Also check out my previous Shake Shack and burger experience here.

 

Priyanka xx

Dear Best Friend

Dear Anisha,

 

It seems like such a long time ago since we met. In fact I don't remember first meeting you at all or introducing myself to you because it is as if you were always there beside me. I know I tell you how much I love you all the time and attempt to express my love within text messages (which always end in infinite x's) but I don't think it's fair to say that these messages really can sum up how grateful I am to have met such an incredible person as you.

 

I've realised that one of the reasons you have been my longest and closest friend is because no matter which situation we fall in, you have the heart to forgive me, to accept my changes, my decisions and opinions. Most others would not be bothered to deal with it, whereas you have always thought I was worth accepting and fighting for.

 

Thank you for being someone who I have spent some of the best moments of my life with so far, for being in my thoughts as hope in darker moments and someone I can turn to whenever I feel the need. Its incredible how alike, yet how different we are and how I can be thinking any thought with there being a high chance you will be thinking same. Even the complicated things I cannot clarify in my own head seems to make complete sense to you but won't necessarily to anyone else.

 

Every time I drink coffee, count down to summer or sing a Taylor Swift song I think of you. I feel like you know me inside out and only you have had the courage to stick with me for this long (given the trouble!)

 

I hope that we make plenty more memories together and that we never have the opportunity to drift apart because that is not what family would do. I am sorry that words nor expressions will ever be able to express how thankful and blessed I am to have you.

 

Let our adventures be infinite and our worries be small.

 

Forever and always,

 

Priyanka xx

Prom Photos 2015

Everyone was talking about prom, dresses, shoes, hair, makeup and of course suits since last year and it has already passed by.

 

Not only was the venue very beautiful, but everyone looked gorgeous... even effortless; but I know that the boys took at least a few hours to look as smart as they did!

 

The day was hot and sunny but I must admit that the night didn't last as long as I hoped it would have lasted as the DJ called out the last song at 11 pm. Now that is a little early don't you think?  There were food bites, drinks and the all special 'Prom King and Queen' who also shared a dance together.

 

It was lovely to see that people I have seen almost every day, for the past 5 years of my life, all came together to dance and share this last night before people move away and our year group is lost to a new herd of students.

 

If I had one last wish for everyone it would be: never forget these years.

 

Priyanka xx

Taylor Swift Concert Hyde Park

 

 

 Yes. It happened. It really did. And it was beautiful.

It was an incredible night and I'm so glad that I could be there with my best friend so we could share our love for Taylor together.

I hope my memories will remain as vivid as the excitement, rush and build up of the whole day.

The venue was perfect (I could smell gorgeous food everywhere) and the day was sunny and hot so we all had to accept that everyone was sweating by the end of the day from jumping around screaming the lyrics of her songs at the top of our voices.

The funny thing is even grown men (in their 30s) knew all the lyrics, of all her songs, off by heart as well as I did. I will happily praise that aspect of their personalities!

We were standing up for more than 4 hours, at a skin tight distance to everyone in the crowd since she also had Vance Joy, John Newman and Ellie Golding singing before her. The loveliest thing is that Taylor not only sang the new songs from her album 1989 but also really old classics as the much adored 'Enchanted' and 'Love Story' (they never get old).

And so the day all ended with hungrily scoffing down a Chicken Legend Burger with chips from McDonalds, at 12 am on the hot and sticky tube home.

Priyanka xx

Birthday Gurrl!

Okkayyy this post is a little late but that doesn't mean anything...

I have been (and will be) VERY VERY busy studying, but lets not let that ruin this :)

 

I am just so damn grateful for everything.

For every moment that I have lived and all the people who made my day perfect because it really was a really special day *tears of gratitude starts to flow and warming background music plays*

 

 

I mean come on...my friends got me macaroons!

So here's a praise to every incredible moment of my birthday:

- My dearest mother cooked me her INCREDIBLE homemade rice pudding. (The rice pudding in pots from Asda doesn't even classify as rice pudding after you taste my mum's thick, creamy, sweet, makesyoudribblemouthwateringwarm rice pudding that she makes with her secret ingredients)

-My best friend arriving at my house at 7.20 before school so we could have pancakes with banana, Nutella, peanut butter, ICE CREAM  *air punch* and coffee for my birthday breakfast.

- Receiving cake, PROM SHOES, macaroons, a helium balloon, homemade cupcakes,  Reeces Peanut Butter Cups (which I had never tried before) and hugs from the cutest friends in the whole wide world :)

-The constant 'Happy Birthday!' s shouted at me

- Receiving an.........................................................................IPHONE 6 + in Gold from my dad!! (When he gave it to me I almost died. This is the first time my whole family has kept a secret from me - I'm kinda beginning to like surprises...)

-Clothes from my mummy

-A phone call from my Grandma in India saying that if she forgets everything, the one thing she won't ever forget is my birthday. I love her so much.

-Eating out at Chimi Changa then watching INSURGENT with my friends

-and more chocolate cake :D

There are definitely a ton more things that made my day so beautiful but I just can't put into words how spoilt and loved and special and so grateful I am for all the people who love me .

Thank you everyone.

Priyanka xx

Things I have learnt during Secondary / High School

 

Umm yes.

 

This is my year 6 class photo. Its one of the last primary school photos before all went to new schools, to start new lives, make new friends and make memories.



 



 

 

Its really strange (and scary) to think about how much I have changed since the age of 11 and all the amazing memories I have made with my new friends since then. Here are some of the things that I have learnt from being in secondary school  sorry but 'High School' just sounds way better!)

 

1. In the UK schools (as far as I know) don't have huge lockers that you can decorate like in American movies.

 

It sucks.

 

A lot.

 

I spent all of my time in the last year of Primary School dreaming of the ways that I was going to decorate my locker. I don't have any older siblings to tell me how it was actually going to be like - and the best part is then being stuck with a tiny bottom locker for the rest of the years. Great.

 

2. Your friends can change often.

 

Some of the first friends I made in year 7 I loved. I thought that we were always going to be friends and that we were stuck together. To be honest some of them I don't even say 'hi' to never mind hang out with.

 

3. Confidence is key.

 

I find people so intimidating sometimes (especially on a bar hair day but that's another story) but really sometimes you just have to fake it to make it so that you actually start believing I in yourself. Its not possible to stay quite during all those long, boring hours of school and expect to enjoy it. You have to push the boundaries, participate in class, discuss things with other people and share you opinion and the you will already be interested in learning and socialising.

 

You can see my ten top tips here.

 

4. You might be the ripest, juiciest peach but people are still going to hate peaches.

 

Its not possible to please everyone. Its hard to be clever, pretty, funny, confident, enthusiastic, creative and hardworking at the same time. You just have to concentrate all your energy in being the best version of you that you can be. Then everything else will fall into place.

 

5. Make every day count.

 

If you think about it you're spending at least 5 years of your life at the same school, so its a waste of time hating it (literally). Every moment should count towards something good, something positive, towards your future. Make friends that encourage you and influence you well instead of people you actually don't like being around. Its you life. Its you choice.

 

I hope some of these things open up your mind and help you survive school :)

 

I'm sure I would have told myself these things when I first started but I had to figure it out myself.

 

Priyanka xx

 

 

 

 



 

 



My Girls | Westfield | Shopping | Frozen Yougurt |

Summer. Summer. Summer.

Yes, Priyanka we understand so stop lazing around and get out of the house.

So, I decided that I needed to get back on the London Underground and go to Westfield Shopping City. For some reason I love the tube, apart from the obvious filth everywhere; it gives me freedom because I can go anywhere. I guess really you only appreciate these things when they come infrequently and not when you have to travel my train everyday to work.

One day I do want to travel to lots of different countries, see new places, meet new people and do new things but it seems as though I have some years to pass until then so I'm going to make the most of it - the most of now.



Don't these babies look delish? We were hungry okay. Who can resist some Yoomoo Frozen Yogurt in a shopping mall full of cafes and restaurants anyway?

To be fair they do look like a piece of art, even though I was a fail at using the machine at the 'create your own station'...well I'm no ice-cream maker we've all discovered. 

Did I tell you I love my friends so very much? Who else would I have to annoy and drag around with me...

 

We did pop into New Look to try on some heels and I discovered that I can't walk in heels to save my life! They hurt. Forget about walking, just standing in them hurts. I praise everyone who can do it all day every day, I really do.

See ya from the top.

I got dared, so I did and before any staff could tell me to go up the right escalator instead of running up the one going downwards.

More walking, eating, drinking Monster for 'energy' since the shopping centre is so big. We also managed to play hide and seek in Holister claiming it's 'too dark' to shop in and annoyed a ton load of people on our way. Next time its elevator pranks I promise.

We're here to make childish memories right?

Priyanka xx

Summer in the City

On Sunday I went with my friends to Oxford Street and Hyde Park for my friends Hana's birthday. We all had such a crazy time, (getting up to no good) and I even managed to achieve some things from my bucket list...like eating macaroons!

Here are some of the photos from the day...