A Trip to Essex, My 100th Post & a Raw Chocolate Giveaway!

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend!

We had a couple of important birthdays to celebrate this weekend so, on Saturday, we decided to take a road trip back to our home town of Essex.  It’s the first time we’ve been back to Essex this year, and it was really nice to catch up with family and old friends. 🙂

On Saturday night, we celebrated M’s Dad’s birthday at the Strada Italian restaurant at Lakeside.  We had a great night and the food was really good.

 

On Sunday, we headed to M’s best friend’s in Hertfordshire to celebrate his 40th birthday.  It was really good to catch up with the gang and their off-spring (all of whom have grown incredibly since we last saw them!)  To mark his friend’s special birthday, M had sprayed a unique piece of graffiti art for him.  (The lettering spells out his friend’s surname!)

 

Before we left for the party on Sunday, I managed to squeeze in a visit to see my best friend from school.  It was so good to see her!  We met each other on the first day of school and we’ve been friends now for 35 years!  I still can’t believe that we turn 40 in a few weeks time!

 

So, after a busy Bank Holiday weekend, I’ve finally managed to sit down and write a blog post and… guess what…. it’s my 100th post!!!  After nearly a year of blogging, I’ve finally made it to the big 100!  It took a while didn’t it?

 

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To celebrate reaching my 100th blog post, I thought I’d make some celebration raw chocolates 🙂  I’ve made one batch of goji & almond raw chocolate hearts, and one batch of raw chocolate orange segments.  Do you fancy sharing them with me?  If so, just leave me a comment below and I’ll choose a winner at random next Monday, 14th May.

Good luck everyone!

And finally, before I sign off, I must announce the winner of my ‘Be the Change’ book giveaway.  The entrants were placed in chronological order, and a winner was selected at random using random.org

I am pleased to say that the lucky winner is…..

Candy @ Healthy in Candyland!

Congratulations Candy!  The book will be flying its way across to you very shortly! 🙂

Have a great week everyone! xx

18 thoughts on “A Trip to Essex, My 100th Post & a Raw Chocolate Giveaway!

  1. Wow! Really?! I never win anything! Thank you so much! Now I feel a little guilty leaving a comment because I’ll be entered to win the chocolates, but to be honest, those chocolates are amazing and I won’t be terribly disappointed if my luck continues!
    How wonderful to still have your best friend after 35 years!
    Happy 100th post! Here’s to thousands more!

    1. Thanks Candy! 🙂 I can’t believe I’ve actually written 100 posts. I never expected to make it that far! To be fair, I have been pacing myself 😉
      Just to let you know, the book will be on its way to you this weekend xx

    1. Thanks Laura! I never imagined that I would actually get round to writing 100 posts. Now I can’t imagine stopping blogging! I’m still enjoying it so much. I do have to pace myself though and limit myself to 2 posts a week as life is crazily busy with the family!

    1. Thanks for stopping by the blog Manda! I’ll be running another chocolate giveaway next month, so keep an eye out for it. I’ll notify via Twitter and FB xx

  2. I have just discovered your blog and I’m really enjoying looking through all of your delicious looking recipes 🙂 I would love to win some raw chocolates!

    1. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog Becca. It’s nice to meet you! Congratulations on being my lucky winner! I’m making a fresh batch of chocolate on Saturday, so I’ll post some to you on Monday. I hope you like it! xx

    1. Sorry Alexia! You’ve got to win one of these days!! Maybe we should do a choc swap? I could send you some of my coco cups or goji hearts, and you could send me some of your gorgeous goji truffle balls. What do you say hey?

  3. Congratulations on the 100th post (I know I am quite tardy). A wonderful milestone to reach indeed and what a wonderful weekend you all had as well.
    I love the graffiti art that M created. I don’t have the artistic prowess for it, but a pat on the back to those who do.
    40 this year? Surely you joke. You look absolutely fantastic for 40.
    Funny how time just seems to BLOW by when you are busy with life 🙂

    1. Thanks Rachel!
      I cannot BELIEVE that I’m actually going to be 40 next month. It seems so ridiculous! I feel like I’m still 20. Where did those decades go???

  4. I live just by Lakeside in a place called chafford hundred, Its nice sitting there overlooking the lake on a sunny day. The swans are also really nice for the children if they are open.

    1. Hey James nice to hear from you! I’m originally from Grays, so know Chafford Hundred well. I always like to pop to Lakeside when I’m back in Essex for ole’ times sake. I remember it being built. We were so excited when we heard we were going to have a massive shopping mall on our doorstep. Showing my age now lol!

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