Summer in Cardiff City

So the summer holidays are officially over and even though the weather was a little hit and miss we still managed to do loads of fun things in the Welsh capital. I was lucky enough to attend a few events, try out some new places to eat, spend time with friends and local bloggers, so I thought I would share a few of the happy moments captured over the summer holidays.

Like many cities around the UK there has been a real food revolution, especially with the more unusual, interesting and quirky, seeing a rise in food trucks and street food which accumulated in the Street Food Circus serving up some delicious bites on the weekends in Sophia Gardens. So of course we made sure to stop by after a wonderful walk in Bute Park and while the boys enjoyed the Brûlée Bar we enjoyed some halloumi bites and local craft ciders.

Two of my favourite events and meet ups over the summer were firstly a Pizza and Cider pairing night at The Stable which has become one of our favourite spots when we are in the city with the kids as they offer some great salads, use fresh and local produce as well as offering nice small thin crust children pizza's which is always a treat for them. They also have a huge array of craft ciders and beers and the well informed staff are always on hand. On the night I got to catch up with one of my friends and local blogger who also happens to be an incredibly talented illustrator Laura from Cardboard Cities. We also had a lot of fun getting in the kitchen and making our own pizzas as well as learning all about how cider is made from some of the best in the business. 

Another highlight was spending the evening with some lovely local parenting bloggers, trying out the newly opened american style fast food diner Five Guys in The Red Dragon Centre. I have to say I'm not much of a fast food kind of person, we don't really do the Golden arches and other such places but this is certainly a step up from that. It's clean, well designed and easy to order with a fairly straight forward menu and friendly staff and perfectly located right next to the cinema. While I really enjoyed the Cajun chips the vegetarian option was very disappointing and if I am going to opt for fast food it should feel like a treat but on this occasion it fell flat. Saying that however there was positive feedback from the meat eaters on their choices and the milkshakes looked amazing. 

Just before the end of the School holidays a new stationary store - Smiggles in St Davids 2 put together a morning of fun arts and craft activities for some bloggers and their children. It was the first time we had been to the store and the first thing that hits you is all the creative and colourful products, they certainly take children stationary to a new level and my eldest loved designing his own backpack  with all the other children.

I was also very lucky to fit in a little "me time" with an evening of makeup and pampering at Debenhams and getting some fantastic advice from Dior, YSL and Urban Decay. In less than a week I will be turning 32 and with each year I get older I realise the importance of good skincare as well as what a lifesaver a decent concealer and foundation is once you have children *hello tired eyes*

It was also fantastic to have a little preview of some new products such as colour tinted mascara from YSL and I also got to try the bigger badder Perversion mascara from Urban decay and Poison Girl perfume from Dior. 

What did you get up to this summer?