A Wintery Day Out

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Earlier this year me and my boyfriend Adam had a conversation about the fact that we hardly ever doing anything at the weekends. The only time we would actually go out was if we were going for a meal (which happens A LOT, we love our food) or if we were going shopping. Whilst having a mooch round a shopping centre can be fun, it is not something that can be done all the time. Who has the funds for that? I ashamed to say we failed in making our weekends more fun for the most part. Most of the time we would stay curled up in bed watching TV and just do nothing. Now, I admit sometimes that is heaven after a hard week at work but I couldn't help feeling that we were wasting our precious free time wasting away the hours watching copious amounts of TV. So, after Adam asked me if I wanted to do something different this weekend, that is exactly what we did. Better late than never right?

We decided to go the Christmas market at Kedleston Hall. The hall dates back to the 18th Century and sits in sprawling, beautiful grounds. It is always nice to have a walk round a Christmas market because you are sure to find at least one present to tick off your list. I managed to pick up a gift pack of beers for my Dad from Derventio Brewery, a local brewery based in Derby. That's another thing I like about Christmas markets, they support small, local companies. I am sure my Dad is going to love his gift! Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any pictures of the stalls that were there, there were just too many people! We did, however, have a walk around Kedleston Hall and I managed to snap the lovely photo above. I love how grand old mansions are!


It was a blustery and quite rainy day and Adam did not have suitable shoes on for walking on the muddy grounds so we didn't have as much of a walk around as we could have. I, however was armed with my trusty winter coat, my favourite boots, two pairs of socks and my gloves so I was quite happy to walk around. We did have a little wander, looking at the Church and the gift shop. Kedleston Hall does have a second hand bookshop but unfortunately it wasn't open (I think Adam let out a little sigh of relief). By this time our stomachs were beginning to grumble so we decided to find a pub for some food.


After driving round looking at mahoosive houses (a girl can dream right?) we decided to eat at the Markeaton Hotel, it was very festive inside and I was extremely appreciative of the fact we managed to snag a table next to a lovely cosy fire. Eating out is a speciality of mine and Adams, a habit which does border on the ridiculous sometimes (this was my FOURTH meal out of the week) but what can I say, we loves our food.


I was feeling some proper comfort food so decided to go with the streak and doombar pie. Ohmylord look at the pastry goodness on that! The pie itself was very heavy on the doombar but it was OK. It came with cabbage, green beans and mashed potato which is my FAVOURITE combination of veg and potatoes so my tummy was very happy. Adam had the sausage and mash and left all his greens (tut, tut). We sat in the warmth for quite a while chatting, mainly about how to rob a bank so we could afford one of the mansions we had drooled over earlier.


I finished off the day by making Adam drive me to Costa so I could get myself the mother of all hot chocolates. Seriously Costa's Black Forest hot chocolate is the tastiest hot drink I have ever had in my life. The fact that it is only part of their festive menu means that I drink a rather unhealthy amount of it throughout December. Isn't my little penguin cup adorable? Also, this scarf, I love it! New Look have a beautiful selection of scarves at the moment, I want them all!

After our very festive and food filled day we spent the evening at my house, watching football snuggled up on the sofa. I will admit that a Pizza Hut delivery did happen, but eh it was the weekend after all!

Did you do anything nice over the weekend? Do you have anything festive planned? Let me know!