FASHION: My minimoon shopping list

I am, obviously, very much looking forward to my wedding. But what I'm almost looking forward to more is the holiday we're going on right afterwards. We're going to Rome for two days and then Napoli for the rest of the week, and I am incredibly excited to eat all the pizza and gelato and be in wonderful Italy.

I'm having to sort out my minimoon planning alongside wedding planning, which has meant ordering sundresses along with potential flat wedding shoes and adding 'buy Euros' to my wedding to do list so we don't forget! I still have a few bits left to buy, though, so here are a few items from my minimoon shopping list...

FOOD: The Greggs Balanced Choice breakfast and lunch challenge

So for the last year and a bit, I’ve been… er, healthy? As a lazy, junk-food loving girl it surprised me too when I stuck to it for so long, but it’s all about finding a routine that works for you. I still have junk-food, but a little less of it and a little more of the green stuff. And I actually exercise these days. Yeah, that part’s still weird.

Anyway, Greggs got in touch to ask if I’d like to take part in their Balanced Choice challenge to see how Greggs and their high street competitors fare when trying to eat healthily. Basically, they’ve partnered with Public Health England on their One You campaign, after studies revealed that on average people are eating an extra 200-300 calories a day. Things like that sugary soft drink, that large bag of crisps or that mayonnaise sandwich (or salad!) can all add up, and the new campaign is encouraging adults to follow a simple rule of thumb if they’d like to eat a bit healthily when on the go - 400 calories or under for breakfast, and 600 calories or under for lunch and 600 calories or under for dinner.

So! Armed with some giftcards and a rumbling tummy, I spent the last week eating breakfast and lunch at Caffe Nero, Costa, Pret A Manger, M&S and finally Greggs to see how they measured up. I'm including both calories and Weight Watchers Smart Points (SP) below. So let's see how everyone fared.

REVIEW: Olive Limes, Tring

A big reason why we loved Tring so much when we chose to buy a house here was because the little high street was packed with intriguing looking independent restaurants. We've managed to try several of them, but almost a year and a half on, there's still several we haven't made it to. One of them, until recently, was Olive Limes, an Indian restaurant on the very end of the high street, which is probably the closest restaurant in Tring to our house. Every time we've walked past, I've said to Matt, 'I want to go there!' but in between saving for a wedding and trying to lose weight, it just hasn't happened.

Luckily then, they took things into their own hands and invited us to an event there this weekend celebrating Bengali New Year. Sadly we couldn't make it as it clashed with my hen do, so instead they invited us in for a meal instead. And let me tell you, I'm now kicking myself for waiting this long. Best Indian meal ever? It's definitely up there.

EVENT: The Superfood Curry Company

One of the things I love about blogging on a local level is finding out about businesses that I might not have known about otherwise. And Tring and the surrounding areas have such a sense of community that it really feels like everyone gets behind independent businesses and wants them to succeed, which is lovely.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to the launch of the Superfood Curry Company, a catering company set up by Meena and Kim who previously ran the award winning Cinnamon Cafe. They took a break from catering due to family and health issues, and as part of their illnesses realised they couldn't eat their own food any more. And they started to think about all the other people who have really specific dietary needs, and how difficult catering events is for them so started to talk about how they could support them - and the Superfood Curry Company was born.