Green Rocket

'Green Rocket' is the newest vegetarian restaurant to make its way to Bath situated right in the centre, described by the owners as being a vegan restaurant with vegetarian options. I've been fortunate to go there a few times since its opening a year or so ago and wanted to share some pictures I've taken on my various trips. The food there is simply sublime and I know if I lived in Bath I'd find myself in there every other day, so if you happen to be passing near be sure to pop in. I feel in this instance a picture definitely speaks a thousand words so with that said... enjoy!

''The Ambience''

''Brunch/Lunch''

''Sweet Treats''

''Dinner''

much love, bean xx

Time for a Pamper

When I walk around shops today I get slightly fed up of seeing the same brands and designers over and over. Perhaps I am alone in this but I can't help but feel inclined to buy products that are unique. I love brands that pride themselves on being different, even if they have shops on every high street in the country, just making an effort to stand out from other shops is enough of an attraction to make me want to have a look. Lush is a great example of this with their strong ethical views towards animal welfare being proudly displayed on their shopping bags and in their window displays. However I find it even more thrilling when I find a brand that isn't on high streets but instead has to be found mostly by being at the right place at the right time, such as when I came across 'Bathing Beauty' at 'VegFest' last year.

'Bathing Beauty' is a hand made collection of products made by a lady named George from North Wales who in her spare time picks ingredients, experiments with them, makes her products and then sells them across the country. Yet she still has time to raise her children, go to work, look after her horses and live a full life. Remarkable. I got chatting to her and she began to explain the background behind some of her products and the process of making them. She normally starts with finding an ailment and then tries to make a product accordingly. All of her different soaps, oils, lotions and potions smell absolutely divine and to top it all of each and every one is packaged beautifully. As can be imagined my excitement levels were at an all time high when I discovered all of this.

When making time to indulge myself, by having a simple bath or a full blown pampering session, I've found myself automatically being drawn to her products as they never fail to impress and fulfil their function. One particular detail I like is how the pots for the bath salts are handmade by a man in her local village. I can't help but feel that these little details amalgamate to making my pampering sessions, and myself, feel extra special. She makes a huge array of products for all various functions and purposes catering for the masses for whether you have specific considerations or not. Many of her products are vegan and all of them are free from animal testing. I rapidly made my way through testing many of her products and am now coming to the end of my second buy. I thoroughly recommend having a browse through her website if you're on the hunt for luxurious bathing products that will not fail to impress.

love, bean xx

Self Worth, Respect & Love

A series of connections were made in my head earlier on this evening bringing me to a slight revelation of the great importance of self-worth, respect & love. And I got thinking about how surely in order to love anybody else you must possess a certain amount of love for yourself before you are truly able to expose yourself to another being, and I think that having that belief that you are worthy of another person's love can be quite an unnerving thought for some too. 

Last Wednesday Russell Brand made some comments in his show about his past drug addiction, surely this must have stemmed originally from a lack of self-worth in order for him to stoop to such a low, that forced him to form a coping mechanism that fundamentally influenced and altered his behaviour and personality? The annoyance for others of his unfamiliar and perhaps over-bearing behaviour whilst under the influence of these drugs must have been infuriating, something only a person who knew his true inner-self would have the tolerance for. 

I find it quite remarkable thinking of the almighty hurdle it must have been to to wean himself off them whilst still under the influence of the fog like mentality that heroin tends to bring (said not out of experience but an educated guess!). For despite the support that others offered that initial decision and willpower had to come from him personally. He'd have had to address the true issues that were causing him to use the drugs in the first place, changing his view of himself and beginning to see himself worth more that the damage the drugs were doing to him. Russell said that everyday he is faced with that temptation to reform to his old ways, whether the temptation is small or great it's still remains, but for the past decade or so he has never succumbed to the lows of his old self and instead embraces and actively loves the person that he is, something I strongly admire. 

The drugs in this example could be an endless number of other things for it is just the 'symptom' of an under-lying problem, they could be general habits for some or fatal and harmful actions such as the drugs for others. Whether it be drinking, over-eating or perhaps just blocking people out of your life, these are all coping mechanisms which need that exact same sense of compassion and self-worth to refrain from such abuse instead the ability to visualise yourself as worthy of respect. I think when you can love yourself you can then go forth and begin to go on an endless 'journey' of forming healthy and fulfilling relationships. But that leap of faith, exposing yourself to be vulnerable and learning to accept and cherish all the ins and outs of who you are is quite a daunting process, well certainly for me but we can but try! Anyway just some food for thought! 

love, bean xx 

So much to do, so little time!

I've suddenly realised its been over a week since my last post, how lazy of me! I didn't think life could get any busier but I was mistaken as it seems to have been going double-time lately, leaving me with very little time to remember to breathe, let alone write my blog. Somehow in the middle of every day to day life my family and I went to see Russell Brand live on Wednesday in Manchester, it was a rather magical experience and my sister was lucky enough to meet him yesterday in Edinburgh too. 

For some reason my family seem to feel a great connection with him, perhaps it's because he does TM (transcendental meditation) like us or maybe because he's rather crazy, whatever it is I think we feel like he's a part of our family so it was rather lovely seeing him live (I was secretly half expecting him to jump down mid show and give us all a hug, it's suffice to say he didn't!). I shall write about the show in more depth another time and I'm also planning to do a couple more of my 'Vegan Lunchbox' posts this week and hopefully a review or two of some of the vegan makeup I've been buying from 'Cute Cosmetics' - ah so much to do and so very little time. What I'm trying to say is 'watch this space' but in the meantime I shall leave you with my latest vegan makeup video that I somehow managed to record:

Love, Bean xx