RESTAURANT REVIEW: Crockers, Tring

One of my favourite local restaurants is Crockers, which opened in my hometown of Tring in 2018. Since then, they’ve expanded to a second location in Henley and grown their Tring restaurant, adding an informal dining room option and a downstairs bar. They even launched some dine at home options in lockdown – their bottled cocktails were next level, the 2020 Christmas specials were incredible. 

It’s a real asset to the town. Tring is small, but has steadily grown more and more foodie since we’ve moved there. The high street is full of independent restaurants (I’ve reviewed a few of them before on here, including my faves The Akeman and Olive Limes), and it’s such a treat knowing there’s somewhere you can have a really special meal within walking distance of where you live. 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: The Alford Arms, Frithsden nr. Berkhamsted

I’ve not blogged for ages and ages, and I thought I should come back with a whole big explanation and stuff but honestly: life got busy, I realised I missed it, so I’m gonna dive back in with some local restaurant reviews. That okay with you? GREAT. 

The husband and I had a rare joint Friday off recently and decided to try The Alford Arms, a lovely country pub in Frithsden, just outside Berkhamsted. It’s in the Michelin Guide so I had high hopes for a really good pub lunch, and said hopes were met. It was lovely. 

Why I didn't post about my pregnancy on the internet

As this week is National Baby Loss Awareness Week, I felt it was time to share my story in full. Please note that the title of the post was written many months ago and is not meant to cast judgement on anyone who does share their pregnancy on the internet - it is an incredibly personal thing and everyone will feel differently about it. 

My labour story

One of the best pieces of advice I got during pregnancy was from one of my friends who said ‘They’re going to tell you you’re a bit fat and a bit old, but don’t worry about it.’ Not in a mean way - they'd said it to her. And it’s true, they said it to me, too. I mean, they didn’t put it quite so bluntly, but instead showed me a tick list of risk factors and which ones I ticked. Over 35. A higher BMI than they’d like. And a first pregnancy that had gone very, very wrong.

Having a high risk pregnancy wasn’t actually a terrible thing, but that’s because the risks were concerns that didn’t seem to impact anything in the long run, thankfully. It meant extra scans - every 4 weeks towards the end - and a scheduled induction at 39 weeks.

There’s a lot of negativity out there about inductions, but I felt reassured by having a guaranteed date to work to and plan around. I had a week of annual leave and then about 1.5 weeks of maternity leave before the induction date, which meant plenty of time to sort things out before the baby got here.

Motherhood.

So, it's been a long old time since my last blog post. And there's a pretty good reason for that. A reason that you'll already know if you follow me on social media, which I'm assuming most of you do, but just in case you don't - surprise! I had a baby!

Briony Isla Vernon-Smith joined our family at 5.19pm on 28 January 2020 weighing in at 6lb 9oz, and we're completely obsessed with her. She's ace.

Throughout my pregnancy I wrote a fair bit about the experience with the intention of sharing it here, so now that naptime is a bit more consistent and, like the rest of you, I have absolutely nowhere else to go, over the coming weeks I'll be sharing them here.

I've been wanting to start blogging again for a while - I miss it a lot, and baby stuff is definitely going to be a theme of this blog going forward, but I promise I'll mix it up with some foodie stuff too because like the rest of the world, I'm spending a lot of time baking. Haven't tried sourdough yet, but I want to!

Anyway, for now, HI. Stay tuned, because later this week I'm going to share my labour story. Fun!

REVIEW: The Lazy Pig in the Pantry, Chesham

Well, it has been a long old time since I've done a food review, but I felt like I would get back into the swing of things pretty easily. I even joked the day before we went to try out the Lazy Pig in Chesham that I hoped I remembered how to use my DSLR... and then when we sat down, realised I'd forgotten the battery. So that'll learn me not to tempt fate, won't it?

Luckily, the camera on my iPhone isn't toooo terrible and VSCO and Photoshop managed to take care of the rest. But my point is that these pictures aren't quite as good as I usually take, and that's annoying. And down entirely to my stupidity. Anyway! Let's talk about food!

The Lazy Pig in the Pantry is an excellently named new pub/restaurant combo that's recently opened in Chesham. There's steaks, pizzas, cocktails and an exciting array of other dishes on the slightly intimidatingly long menu. We went on a Friday night, and it was buzzing - considering it's only just opened, it was super busy.

Before I get to the food, let's just cover this: it is hashtag interior goals. Instagram fans, take note.

How I became a Lipstick Person

I'd always loved the idea of being a Lipstick Person. You know, the kind of person who wouldn't be seen dead without a splash of red lipstick. Who always looks put together and glamorous. It always seemed like people who wear lipstick every day had their life together.

As unlikely as that is to be true, I still aspired to it. But the problem was that lipstick just didn't seem to suit me. Every time I put on red lipstick, I felt like I was wearing fancy dress. I've even visited MAC and Sephora and asked them to help me find my perfect red. Whenever I had my makeup done professionally, they always gave me a strong lip - but I wasn't convinced. Every time I went out with red lips, I'd caught my reflection in the mirror and felt a little startled. I just didn't look like ME.

A little while ago, I made a concerted effort to fulfil this entirely manageable goal to be a Lipstick Person, and I actually cracked it. I've got to the point now where I feel bare without lipstick on. I mean, were my lips ALWAYS this pale? I even did a challenge on Instagram recently where I tried to wear a different lipstick every day for a month (which is what the photos above are from). Not only have I become a Lipstick Person, I've become the kind of Lipstick Person that has enough shades to wear a different one every day for 31 days.