Modern Day Ulster Travel Posters- Show Your N.I. Pride Or Visitors, Remember Your Game of Thrones Location Tour With a Beautiful Print

JS Kelly Belfast print

I love vintage travel posters. I have two in my home at the moment, purchased from Travel Posters Online, a Bangor one in my living room and a Portrush golfing print in my bedroom.

The traditional travel poster style  

Artist  JS Kelly is keeping the tradition alive with simple yet beautiful designs of local landmarks and towns. There are designs of places all over Ireland, but it's the Northern Irish prints that I'm sharing with you today.

Pickie Swans

There are illustrations of well loved destinations, home towns & tourist attractions. 

You can search for a design of your home town, but if you aren't from NI you still might like these prints. There are several artworks of Game of Thrones filming locations, including the Dark Hedges and Ballintoy harbour. 

If you've taken the Game of Thrones location tour, you may recognise some of the other Antrim coast and north coast locations. 

I'm definitely planning on buying one or more of JS Kelly's prints, it's just a matter of trying to decide which ones!  

They would also make great Christmas gifts, and if you buy now there is an offer to get 20% off when you buy two or more, so you can get two 50x40 prints for £40. 

If you follow me on Snapchat you might recognise the station house at Helen's Bay from my walks. 

Beauty Quickie: Jeffree Star Velour Lip Scrub

This summer YouTube blew up with drama of the fall out of Kat Von D and Jeffree Star. I had heard of both of them, and knew both had makeup lines, but after watching Jeffree's response video to Kat, I started watching his other vids and got hooked. If the pair of them engineered the drama to boost follower size & sales, it sure worked.

Two weeks ago Jeffree's store had a weekend flash sale, so I took the opportunity to purchase one of his liquid lipsticks and a lip scrub. 

I'll be reviewing the liquid lip soon, as I bought some fakes on AliExpress also, and I will show you the difference between them & the real thing and how to spot whether you've been sold the real deal.

But for now, the lip scrub. It comes in several flavours and some are sold out, but I chose the strawberry. 

The only other flavour left is Mojito  

There are half a dozen steps you can do for your skin care routine on your face at night, but up until now I didn't have a lip treatment except for an Estée Lauder lip balm. This scrub removes dead skin and any leftover lipstick after cleansing. 

Here is how it looks on my big, makeupless bake! 

Firstly, the product itself smells SO GOOD. I know from Jeffree's videos his liquid lips have scents like root beer, and this scrub smells like strawberry candy.  

It feels like very coarse sand, and falls apart more than I expected, so it can be tricky to scoop and get it straight onto your lips. 

Then you simply use your finger to rub the scrub on your lips. It's edible, so you can either lick it off, or wipe off to remove.

The packaging suggests you can also use the scrub as a lip primer, before lipstick, for a smooth finish.

Each lip scrub is $12, which is a lot, and more than I would usually spend on a makeup or skincare item, but I really wanted to try it.  

The scrub tub was actually a lot bigger than I expected. From the images I thought it would be the size of a lip balm pot, but it's about twice that size. 

UK shipping was $10.95, HOWEVER you will be hit with a customs charge and have to visit your local post office to pay the balance before you can get your hands on the package. That was an extra £10 which was a nasty surprise! 

So to sum up, the product smells good, you get a good amount, and it works. The downside is the postage price coupled with the hit from the customs charge, so unfortunately this will have to be my one and only Jeffree Star purchase. 

What's New For Autumn and In M&S Right Now

I don't know about you, but I find in summer time I am more reluctant to fire up the oven to cook, and instead go with quick and easy food. Now the season is changing I'm craving more homely dishes, Sunday roast style. 

So I went along to M&S, Sprucefield this time, to pick up some new, easy to cook products, and something for our family Sunday lunch yesterday. 

There was an interesting selection of meats, with duck, rabbit and wood pigeon to choose from. I went for the rabbit, which is perfect for slow cooker recipes. M&S also has a wide selection of potato and other vegetable sides. I love the ease of these, no chopping or peeling. 

Some of the new sides available

For Sunday lunch for four I picked this hearty rack of pork. These are priced by weight, so you can choose a piece that is the right size for your family. The tangy apple sauce accompaniment really made the meal delicious. My parents said it was the nicest pork they've had in a long time. 

Potato tots were fab

Now here's what I'm talking about. The Cook Menu is a range of meals you simply put in the oven without preparation that  'elevate the everyday' dinner time offering. There are salmon, pork and chicken varieties, pre-seasoned and with their own sauces and vegetables included. 

Look at how colourful they are even before going in the oven. They are meant for one person per pack and are on offer right now, I think it was 25% off. 

The piri piri chicken cooked

Finally I had a look at what's new in the lunch department. Lots of avocado choices which made me happy. If you want to check out what else is new, visit the Marks & Spencer website.

My next M&S blog post will be the Halloween 2016 run down, which I know you are all looking forward to as I'm getting lots of hits this week on last year's post. Hang in there, soon!

Unicorn Armour Purses, Fake Fur & a 3ft Flamingo- My Top 13 Picks from the New Ards' TK Maxx

TK Maxx open their first new NI store in 11 years tomorrow morning, 9am, bright and early, in Ards Shopping Centre.  

The store is in the previous Tesco location, with a huge major refit having taken place in the past few months as part of a wave of new retailers arriving at the centre. 

Smix & I went along for a nosy this evening, and here are my 13 top kitsch picks spotted in store, counted down. 

13. The Entire Halloween Department.

Halloween only started to get big here about ten years ago. We always had parties, but now the UK is swaying towards the full on, decorate the whole house, celebrate all of October, type Halloween season. I remember 8 years ago when I was just married and had a house to decorate, travelling to the big Boucher Road TK Maxx to buy their imported Halloween Homeware. Candles, ornaments, prints, cushions- of course many of the pieces were used all year round as back then I was a little more rock and roll than I am now. So skull print everything wasn't just for Halloween!  

Top choices from this year's selection of home wares? The light up signs and skulls for sure.  Those Halloween print tea towels I wouldn't be afraid of using all year round either.

12. The Stationary.

Lots of notebooks, crafting items, and down in the second pic, very cute storage pouches. 

11. Retro Bins.

We are living in a time where even a bin can be retro! I love the blue especially. 

10. A Rainbow of Blankets.

You would have a hard time choosing. They have autumnal oranges & russet tones. Beautiful teal throws and peacock blue blankets.  

9. Tiny Little Cat Shoesies.

These little felt slippers make me jealous I'm not a five year old girl. Cosy for winter or even as part of a show stopping Halloween outfit. 

8. Macarons.

So many flavours. I think these were £2.49 because I remember thinking they were prices really reasonably when I picked them up. They even had my favourite- pistachio. 

7. Kitschy Cute Bags.

I think the accessories have to be my favourite part of TK Maxx. It's where you'll most readily find something designer that you can buy without it being the same price as that month's mortgage payment. 

I thought this was a school bag, but I imagine I might get a phone call from the office if I sent in a bag with 'nice junk' on it. Doesn't stop us big kids having it for the gym or university though. 

6. Moroccan Tea Glasses.

I literally haven't seen these for sale anywhere else. They had several different designs too. I think I would feel like royalty having a cuppa in these, although I might ruin it with my tea preference for lots of sugar and milk. How uncouth! 

5. Kooky Phone Cases.

They've a good selection of Skinny Dip London cases. I discovered Skinny Dip on our last trip wandering round Soho trying to find Yo Sushi. Everything is neon, glittery, furry, sparkly, in other words- every single darn thing I love. 

4. Designer Scarves.

A designer scarf is a great accessory if, like me, you can't afford designer clothes. You could be wearing a Primark outfit but adding a fancy scarf can make you look a lil' bit more expensive.  

The new TK Maxx has your full on designer name print scarves where there's no doubt about who made it, but also more subtle but well known lines like Love Moschino's Olive Oyl prints. Both these scarves were under £50.

3. Unicorn Armour Purses.

If unicorns needed armour I bet it would look like these purses. So shiny. I want. 

2. Mega Kitsch Fake Fur Scarves.

These scarves would make any old coat look crazily cool, and they were only £9.99 each. 

1. A Three Foot Flamingo.

My top pick from the new store. A lifesize flamingo. I think I know what to ask Santa for this year now. 

But what did I buy? Well from the beauty department I picked up a Sanctuary Spa candle for £2.99

All TK Maxx store are having huge beauty events right now, so there are lots of bargains to be had. 

I couldn't resist these socks either. £3.99 for three pairs. Cats and pugs and sailors. 

My major purchase I was talked into by my little shopping buddy. 

This Little Moose satchel style handbag. RRP £50 but I got it for £29.99  

Look how cute! 

So get yourselves down in the morning to be some of the first to grab the best bargains. If you find anything particularly cool- tweet me so I can see! My username is @rudedoodle

The World of Kitsch is an Ireland Blog Awards 2016 Finalist!

I feel a bit cringe showing off, but at the same time I want to have this on record as it's quite an achievement for me. I also want to thank YOU, those of you who took time to vote for me when I made the shortlist. I know it's a pain in the arse when these things come around & you are being asked for votes left, right and centre, so thank you for taking a minute to help me. 

I'm a finalist in the Best Blog Post category & I'm very excited, because although I was a finalist for all sorts of national blog awards when I started out in 2009, I haven't seen as many finals since 2013, now the blogging world is so vast and I've so much competition. 

The World of Kitsch has always been a hobby for me, and without getting too personal it's my way of staying sane and having some sort of thing going on, when my M.E. doesn't allow me to pursue a career. It's also been something to open doors to incredible opportunities, events & experiences for myself & my son to partake in, that I simply couldn't offer him otherwise on our budget. 

I get to partner with brands I admire so much like M&S and IKEA, as well as help my local friends out by popping up a quick plug for their show, or Etsy Shop or event. 

So thank you to everyone who reads The World of Kitsch and enjoys it. It's a very special part of my life, and to be recognised amongst so many talented peers on our island is a real treat. 

Fingers crossed- I might even win! Who knows! 

Come Say Hi To My Favourite NI Artist in Belfast This Friday & Take Advantage of the Under £25 Pop Up Shop To Take Home a Hand Drawn Creative Piece of Your Own

Neal McCullough is probably my favourite Northern Irish illustrator and artist. I'm terribly fond of Sara O'Neill and Stephen Maurice Graham, but Neal from Hand Drawn Creative pips them at the post for two reasons. Firstly he's also from Bangor, and I always bump into him in M&S, so you know he's good people, but secondly and most importantly he is responsible for the The World of Kitsch logo, with its bang on fonts and mid-century plant table splendidness.

This Friday evening coming is Belfast Culture Night & Neal will be showcasing & selling his work in a pop up shop in Blick Studios on Hill Street- full details here. Neal is one of a collection of local artists who will be offering all work for under £25, so that's a great opportunity to buy some starter pieces if you wish you had a local artist collection but don't have an art lover's budget.

Here are some of the works on  the Hand Drawn Creative web shop, but I'm not completely sure whether these will be there on Friday, and whether he will be selling brand new never seen before prints too. The online prices start from £20, so if you don't live in NI you can still own one of Neal's designs without busting the bank. The Beastie Boys ones would make brilliant Christmas presents if you have a fan of them in your life.

Neal's wife Jules with a second Beastie Boys design

There is also an artists' panel before the pop up, also free & looks very interesting indeed.

A Visit To The New Ballyhackamore Pizza Express :Wait Until You See Their Clever, Subtle, C. S. Lewis Interior Theme!

Pizza Express opened two new NI branches today, one in the city centre at St. Anne's, the cathedral quarter, and one in Ballyhackamore. The location is on the right driving into the city, at the little row of shops set back from the road.

We live in Bangor & previously would drive through Belfast & up to the Lisburn Road branch, why? The free parking! So now there's a closer restaurant on this side of the city, with no need to park in Belfast city centre & have to pay. 

The first impression walking in to the Ballyhackamore Pizza Express is just 'wow'. The decorative wooden ceilings, panelled walls, booths & book features coupled with the traditional clean & open spacious Pizza Express aesthetic you find in any of their restaurants just works.   

It wasn't until I overheard the manager speaking to another table of diners about the C.S. Lewis theme I realised- the walls aren't panels- they are wardrobes! The well-loved author of 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe' and 'Chronicles of Narnia' was born in the East Belfast area. I really love the fact Pizza Express has taken note of the local heritage & whilst this isn't an out & out 'themed' restaurant, it's just the sort of quirk that goes down well in my book.

Wardrobe door panels used throughout the interior  

I said before the restaurant is spacious, so bringing prams along is not a problem. I always think of Pizza Express as your toddler's 'starter restaurant', as it was certainly the first experience Smix had regularly eating somewhere where he had courses, choices & felt welcome.​

Spacious and bright- lots of pram parking space

There is a dedicated children's menu of three courses for £6.95, but that's not just what makes Pizza Express so popular with families. It's genuinely a kid-friendly place, where you aren't going to get glares if your child is a bit over excited​. The kids' menu doubles up as a fun activity sheet, complete with stickers, social media competitions, puzzles & white space for drawing.

This is the child meal starter. Dough balls, garlic butter & crunchy veg. Pizza Express Lisburn Road was where Smix started his dough ball addiction, and he gives the Ballyhackamore versions a thumbs up. 

Adults can begin with dough balls too, or bruschetta, calamari rings, and the usual Italian treats including antipasto sharing platters.

Because we were trying something new, I tried the 'Prosciutto e Melone' from the summer menu.  

This was REALLY GOOD. So fresh but with the prosciutto supplying your first taste of the authentic Italian ingredients & flavours. Also worth noting you get a serious amount of meat, they aren't doing it by halves, even though it is a starter. 

Catch the summer menu before its gone

Moving on to main courses. There are salads (the Niçoise is my usual go to main course in fact), pastas, calzone and three types of pizza. You can choose a regular classic pizza, a romana, or a leggera.

With the romana they take the dough and toss it for longer to make the pizza larger & thinner, so it bakes crispier.  

The leggera is the calorie counter's dream- a pizza all to yourself and it's UNDER 600 CALORIES. 

When I get pizza rather than the salad & dough sticks, I pick the leggera option. This is because there are benefits above that of just being a less calorific meal. I like to partake in the three course experience, and if I try to eat a starter, a full size main course pizza & a dessert & coffee- I'm almost fit to burst. So I prefer to get a starter, the leggera, and a dessert than to blow my entire stomach space on just my main course (tactical eating!). It means I'm still eating a lot of calories, but it means I can actually experience the different dishes along the way. 

The other reason besides any notion of dieting, is the fact the centre of the pizza is salad. I always take salad with my pizza if I can, so rather than having to order a side salad, these come already loaded with one. Handy! 

Leggera American Hot with selection of peppers

Smix always and forever chooses the pepperoni main course pizza, which is a good size for him. The kids' menu also has a selection of pastas, and you can add whatever pizza toppings you wish to the couple of varieties on the menu. Smix used to love olives when he was little, so we would add those to his pizza. It gives kids a chance to experiment and try ingredients they might not have a chance to elsewhere. He's also a total Parmesan fiend, and Pizza Express give you it free and fresh.

Next, chips, but not just any ordinary chips. And this will expose my lack of food blogging credentials, if there were any notions I was a foodie in the first place. 

They are 'polenta chips' baked with Gean Milano cheese. Now to me they looked like, and pretty much tasted like 'fancy chips'. But I was chatting to the waitress about them, because they are new to the menu & I hadn't tried them before & she explained they are made from wheat- and not a potato in sight!  

It's hard to even describe what they are like, so I will cop out and simply say that if you visit Pizza Express soon, get a side of them to share and tweet me (@rudedoodle) what you make of them! They were good, but my little N.Irish head found the prospect of non-potato chips hard to get around! 

Finally, dessert. Smix wanted a full sized dessert, so I will just mention that included in the kids' meal you do get a choice of desserts, pictured below. 

However Smix's favourite is chocolate fudge cake, and he says this was a good one. 

I usually go for a dolcetti dessert, and again it's a clever little Pizza Express menu option for people like me who can't eat massive meals but simply have to have 'afters'!  

They are mini-desserts that come with your choice of tea or coffee, and again there is a low calorie option under 100 cals if you are watching your weight. 

However today I thought I would try the Eton Mess cheesecake from the summer menu, as I hadn't tried it before.  Another top tip- always get the mascarpone rather than ice cream or cream when you are in a Pizza Express- you'll thank me.

I actually was disappointed with this one course, and it was the taste. There is just way too much going on in that small dish. You've the pavlova type concoction of the Eton Mess, but then it's laid on a layer of dulce de leche, then a cheesecake base. It tastes like about three desserts at once, and too sweet for me. I think I would go back to the chocolate brownie or the cake Smix got. Sorry Pizza Express!

So, fancy trying out the new Ballyhackamore branch yourself? Or the St. Anne's venue? Well until the 16th September you can get 30% off your food in ANY of the Belfast restaurants. That's Mon-Thurs or after 5pm on Sunday. 

Not based in NI? Well the Pizza Express website has an offer for everyone to get 40% off food in all restaurants this Sunday- visit the link for details and more offers.

Thank you to the Ballyhackamore team for making us so welcome this afternoon. Meal provided for reviewing purposes. 

Say Sayonara to the Spirit of Summer, One Last Feast of a Fling in M&S

Why is it so hot?! I almost feel personally offended when the weather doesn't immediately switch to autumny as soon as September the first rolls around. I've been wearing t-shirts this week! I want to be wearing my leather jacket with the fake fur collar, not short sleeves! However the sweatfest of this week has allowed for one good thing- the extension of the ice cream & lollies season. 

Before we see selection boxes in the shops (& yes I've seen the Quality Street in supermarkets already), I went along to my bestest shop which I love so much, Marks & Spencer, to pick out my favourites from the whole Spirit of Summer season, which you can catch too before they leave stores in a few weeks. 

Ice creams £3 each

The two Spirit of Summer ice creams are fab, and this was actually my first time trying them. The quality is great, very creamy, and both have biscuit throughout, so if you like Ben & Jerry's loaded style ice cream, you'll love these.

Now below we have something really special. I first bought a M&S BBQ pulled pork Mac n cheese in June, and I fell in love. I had a three pack a week habit at one point. This stuff is like cheesy crack. The thought of it not being in store soon gives me the sweats. Luckily, I can bulk buy and freeze them, and I will be doing that. The £3 pack serves one person & can be whizzed in the microwave in a couple of minutes. It's true love. 

I know you can find mozzarella sticks all year round, but these are particularly good, and one of Smix's favourites. Also £3. 

Now I sort of sunk myself casually picking up these reduced £1.25 Alfajore biscuits, because when I tried them I was like, "oh okay now there's something else I have to bulk buy before Spirit of Summer ends!" 😂 There are only maybe 8 biscuits in a pack, but they are really super sweet & you would feel sick if you ate more than two (yeah, I ate three). But they are so good! M&S why do you have to torture me with these seasonal deliciousnesses? 

I haven't tried the cashews yet, but the heat of the jalapeño with the coconut was something I couldn't pass up. The bag was a pricy £3.50, but that's typical for cashews really.

Now the Blacksticks velvet seems to be a new product, at least to my local store. I love the darker coloured variety, so I'm keen to see what this is like.

Hold your horses, I'm about to tell you something from M&S that I DIDN'T like. I know, it feels like I'm cheating on a boyfriend. I had forgotten my previous purchase of the snacking chorizo, but after eating it I remembered. It may just be me but I can taste a slight fishiness to the mini-sausages and I just can't get past it. I chose them because I wanted to feature snacking items, so let's move on to those.

These little £2.50 picnic boxes are great even leading into autumn, as you could as easily heat the dinky bites as enjoy them cold. The pork and apple bites are particularly good. Like mini-scotch eggs but with an apple sauce filling. If you've a suddenly starving growing boy like I have, you could even throw something like these in for break time with some fruit.

A sad goodbye to the 3 for £7 Spirit of Summer meats. So many BBQ and spicy goodies that have been protein-snacking ideal all summer. The Diablo chilli beef is a favourite. It actually looks like ham, and it's a medium to hot heat- if you can handle a Nandos you can handle this beef. 

And so long microwaveable £3 subs! These are so easy to whizz for lunch, but I have a feeling there will be a version of them still on shelves after the Spirit of Summer departs. If you are dieting, keep an eye on the calories of these, but it's a warm, hearty snack without any fuss, and I love that.

Finally there's always time for crisps and dips. The Spirit of Summer flavours play through from the deli products and dishes with crisps in BBQ and spice flavours that you'll want to eat all year round. Don't forget to stock up on all your favourite Spirit of Summer products before they phase out over the next two months. I'll fight you for the last Mac n cheese.