For the first Summer in a few years I’ve been in a position to take advantage of the warm/mild weather by keeping up my salt and hydration levels (essential for people with POTS/EDS), pacing myself and only doing one or two tasks per day (and asking for help with them) and not going out until mid afternoon when it’s cooler.
Food & Drink
I have gotten massively into veggie sushi. This Uramaki or ‘inside-out’ sushi is incredibly refreshing and doesn’t taste of seaweed as strongly as the usual Hosomaki, if that’s what normally puts you off eating sushi. I’m very lucky that a Chinese noodle and sushi takeaway has opened up in the place of my old Thai take away. Wheat and dairy free, veggie options abound! Just don’t mistake a big blob of wasabi for avocado like I did 
I took a chance and bought some new things to try. Read my review of them here.
My Dad is lucky enough to have a community garden and allotment around the corner from the house which he goes to a few times a week. He brought these amazing organic strawberries and raspberries home. They were all ripe and tasted amazingly fresh and sweet, wow! Nothing like the half ripe, irradiated crap from some of the supermarkets.
Dairy free fruit split lollies from Tesco are a winner in lemon, strawberry and blackcurrant.
I decided to review these simple to use Sacla sauces because they are so handy to have in the cupboard.
Jelly peaches were always one of my fave sweets in pic’n’mix so I was so chuffed to find these in Tesco.
The nicest energy bar/ball/snack I have ever tasted! It doesn’t sit like led in your stomach or endanger your filings and it tastes wonderfully nutty and spicy and sweet and savoury all at once. Oh yeah, it gave me a few hours of extra energy to, ha!
My and the Bloke decided to go spontaneously to get some food from V Revolution in the Northern Quarter. They make delicious and creative ‘junk’ food, tasty traditional-with-a-twist cocktails and they get giant gluten free cakes from a near by bakery. I’ve since been again and was even more impressed. I really should dedicate a whole blog post to this place.
I’ve discovered that Rockstar do imaginatively flavoured energy drinks for people who hate the taste of most energy drinks. My gosh do they work as well! Usually half a can keeps me functioning in my own wobbly way when I’m weak/tired/slow on the uptake. If Rockstar doesn’t work, then nothing will and I just have to accept it’s another one of those chronically fatigued, brain-fogged kinda days.
OMG these are A-mazing! *drool* They are salted caramel (dairy free) chocolates from Goupie, heavy on the salt. My Dad tried one and screwed his face up like a two year old after trying a lemon slice. The Bloke tried one and thought they were pretty good but I could eat these ALL day.
Street Art
See my full post for more street art around Manchester.
Style
Finally, I have lots of clothes which all go together quickly and easily (necessary when you have to change a lot due to wildly fluctuating body and weather temperatures). I singled out items that always clash with everything and made up simple outfits just revolving around those items which I will stick to in the future. I charity shopped any items that are always bloody uncomfortable, don’t seem to work with any season (really warm cable knit jumper with wide neck and cut out panels down the sleeves, vents maybe!?) or things that need constant adjustment because why the hell should my clothes be stressful?
Summer Day To Night OOTD post. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t tuck the vest into the fancy waistband of these pants. After all, style is about styling clothes and not just throwing them on.
Why do I hardly ever wear tights and a skirt for casual days? Well now, I do ^_^
About a third of my wardrobe is from EMP these days. I’ve recognised that ‘Urban Rock’ is my instinctive style genre . Hoop earrings, spikes, studs, trainers, skinny/ripped jeans, big black boots, black vests, Uggs, skulls, (p)leather, hoodies, armour rings and blue hair.
Really shouldn’t class this an ‘outfit’ but I love this combo of clothes so here it is with links of where to by the same or similar.
I was asked to review some clothes from Sammy Dress and wanted to replace some items that weren’t quite working in my wardrobe so I agreed. The rest of the items and links to them are in my post here.
Stylish Summer Cover Up’s because why should we have to bear everything just because it’s 80 degrees outside.
I popped into Cyber Dog and after a helpful chat about Cards Against Humanity as well as hair dye, I bought this Voodoo Blue dye. I’m going to just slap it all over my hair as it’s gone a lighter brown in the sun so this will restore my hairs natural vampy darkness.
Can’t believe that I’ve never made a Creepy Cute Wishlist from EMP before!
Wearing fishnets or beehive tights with jeans looks cool and vampy but it isn’t exactly comfortable. Why do they feel so harsh and scratchy just because I’ve put them under jeans? Whaah!
Random What-not’s
Oh my, that’s a rather large…
I spontaneously wrote a post about Things You Do When Your Partner Is Also Your Best Friend.
Then I saw this adorkable – and let’s be honest – relatable comic by Catana.
I bought a cross-trainer from Argos which me, my Dad and the Bloke carted up the stairs and assembled. All of the metal parts are incredibly well engineered as the Bloke (6’2″, 15st) going at full speed tested but the plastic moulding doesn’t quite click together well in places. The action is lovely and smooth on my knees, the stride length of 20″ is perfect and the display is really easy to use. I’m so pleased! Maybe I will work up to doing a whole 5 minutes on resistance 3 by next year, ha! No, seriously.
Beauty
I’d almost forgotten about Weleda before I came across this shampoo and body wash. This is the gentlest shampoo I have ever used.
I have so many opened mascara’s already that I just really needed to add to the pile, smh. The idea was that I really wanted to find another affordable cruelty-free beauty brand as a lot of my original one’s have sold out to L’Oreal and Estee Lauder. Although the good news is The Body Shop are in the process of being sold to a totally cruelty-free company I’ve heard. Here’s my review of Soap & Glory’s Thick & Fast Mascara.
Stickers or Decals if you want to sound grown up.
I have been known to flirt for pizza and I’m not ashamed to say it lol
Bling, pastel and galaxy print, what’s not to like. I thought my lap top was looking a bit too 15-year-old-skater-boy with type of stickers on there so I slapped this on it.
Got a nice blue-pink-purple theme going on, on my iGadget now. Looked a bit random before. Now, its more coherent than I am! ^_^
Preview of What’s Coming up in July
❤ Chrissie ❤
Vamp It Up 