A wedding ring needs to last you a lifetime, so here are my top tips on how to choose a wedding ring.

Metal


The choice of metal is important when choosing a wedding ring whether you are looking for a woman's wedding band or a men's wedding band. Traditionally yellow gold has been the most popular choice but today white metals including white gold, platinum and palladium have become more popular. You can even get wedding rings in rose gold, silver and stainless steel if you want to be different. One consideration if you pick a white gold wedding ring, is that most white gold rings are rhodium plated to keep their bright white look. This coating will wear over time so you would need to budget for rhodium plating every 2-3 years.

A guest post by Hayley from the blog Highway 29.

Last year I packed up my life and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and whether you are thinking of doing the same and moving out there or going on holiday to visit the beautiful place that it is, there are plenty of things to keep you occupied. I’m almost sure I could give you an extensive list on things to see and do in Vancouver and the surrounding areas, but even I didn’t manage to see them all in my 7 months of living there.

So I asked myself what would be the best way of showing you how beautiful this city is and I figured everyone loves bullet points, don’t they?! So here are my top 5 places I loved to visit while in Vancouver.

1. Gastown is a small neighbourhood in Vancouver full of culture, food and fashion, it is also home to one of the few fully functioning steams clocks. The clock chimes every quarter hour with a beautiful melody which is played in full on the hour. Gastown has an array of restaurants includingThe Flying Pig, Rogue Kitchen and Wetbar, and The Old Spaghetti Factory which I often visited. There are lovely boutique shops dotted in and around and even maybe one too many tourist shops.


2. Stanley Park is a large public park on the outskirts of Vancouver, inside the park you can find two lakes, gardens and even a cafe or two. In the centre of the park you can take a walk around the Vancouver Aquarium, it is a little pricey but they offer student discount much to the happiness of my friend. Around the outside of the park is the Seawall which is around about an 8 mile walk in full, I used to love doing this, taking my camera and just walking.

3. Capilano Suspension Bridge for me is only really worth it if you’re going to spend a fair few hours there as it’s fairly expensive (unless your a BC resident then you can get a years membership for the price of one entry), you can actually get a free shuttle bus from by Canada Place. I did love it up there though, it’s very peaceful up there and it’s very photographic - Lynn Canyon is a good (free) alternative.


4. Steveston is a small village filled with shops and restaurants, you can also walk along the water front down to Garry Point Park. Steveston also has one of my favourite Ice Cream shops, they have so many flavours and two scoops is only $2.50 which in Vancouver is pretty cheap. Steveston is also used in many TV shows and movies (Once Upon A Time, Godzilla and the new Power Rangers movie).

5. Mount Seymour is one of a few skiing slopes there are just outside of Vancouver, I only ever visited this resort, but from what I can gather they are all fairly similar. Mount Seymour has some love hikes and trails, the view from Dog Mountain is incredible, I honestly could have spent all day up there.



These are just some of my favourite places, but there are so many more, British Colombia is packed with Public Parks large and small and not only do they have Mount Seymour they also have Grouse Mountain, Mount Cypress and of course the most famous Whistler. There are many tourist attractions, places to eat and shop, but too many for just one post.

Last year for my husband's birthday I gave him a voucher from buyagift for a hotel stay with dinner. We hadn't got around to using it until recently so we decided it would be great to use it for Father's Day. 

We've used buyagift many times in the past. One year I bought my husband a driving experience day, the triple supercar driving day. This started his love of driving fast cars. The thrill of driving an Audi R8, Ferrari and Lamborghini is something you never forget. The power of these cars is amazing and the instructors were very helpful. It was such an excellent day, watching from the sidelines I wanted to join in too. 



Driving a supercar gives you an adrenalin rush

There are a lot of driving experiences on the website from a taster experience driving one car to a VIP superdrive experience at Goodwood. With over 55 miles of track the Goodwood experience sounds a fabulous experience, and you get to drive a Formula Ford 2000 which is the closest you can get to driving a F1 car. Other cars you can drive include a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Jaguar D-Type, American muscle cars and more. Driving a super car gives you a real adrenalin rush that is hard to beat.



If your partner doesn't like the idea of driving a super car what about an experience fighting zombies!? For my son's 16th birthday I treated him to a Zombie battle experience in an abandoned shopping mall in Reading, and my husband went along for the ride.



A memorable experience never forgotten

As one of a handful of survivors trapped inside a disused shopping mall, you have to save yourselves by battling the zombies and relying on teamwork. With training from the 'police' and equipped with air soft weapons, you have to think of tactics to avoid the zombies and complete the challenge. 

What made this especially authentic was that the abandoned shopping mall was a real disused shopping centre and the setting was so atmospheric, when the zombies banged the shutters of one of the shops, I think everyone jumped!



Buying a gift from buyagift doesn't have to be all about adrenaline though, it can be about good food, fantastic hotels, and days out sightseeing too. From brewery tours to stadium tours, flying lessons and cookery lessons there is something for everyone. My husband really enjoyed his Tiger Moth flying experience recently, although I think his heart was in his mouth when the instructor did a couple of loop in the plane!



I will be reporting back on our hotel stay very soon.

Tell me would you give a gift experience as a present? What type of experience would you father or loved one enjoy?

Recently I was invited to Jamies Italian in Cardiff to review their menu. We have visited Jamies Italian in Cardiff many times before, and also a few of their other branches in Bristol and Bath. The chain run by Jamie Oliver was founded in Oxford in 2008 and has grown to over 40 branches around the country. Jamies Italian pride itself on using fresh seasonal ingredients to make their rustic Italian dishes with a menu rooted in authenticity. 

At the moment they have a great lunchtime menu on - the 'super lunch' menu is £10.95 for two courses and £12.95 for three courses and runs Monday to Friday from 12 to 6pm.

When we arrived at the restaurant they had our reservation (always a good sign!) and we were shown to the table. Many people were sitting outside as it was a lovely day but I prefer to sit in the restaurant, watching the chefs working away and people watching.



Our waiter Ahmed was very cheerful and was like a breath of fresh air. I explained I was a Jamies Italian gold member and he swiped my card to see what tasters I was entitled to that month. 



He brought over a taster of bruschetta with peas and pesto which tasted very fresh, you could really taste the herbs.

The Jamies Italian gold membership club is well worth signing up for if you are a frequent visitor. It gives you free tasters every time you visit, priority booking and monthly rewards. The first time I visited we had a taster of a new bruschetta and also a glass of wine which was very enjoyable. The tasters are for the whole party too!





My husband had the primavera bruschetta. Lemony courgette, peas & beans with hazelnut & lovage pesto & Bella Lodi which is a cheese also known as black parmesan. He really enjoyed this dish, the combination of flavours was excellent, and it had a fresh vegetable taste, with crunch from the bruschetta. 



The main course ordered by my husband was the Turkey Milanese. The free-range turkey escalope was stuffed with prosciutto & fontal cheese, then dipped in bread crumbs and fried. It was served with a free-range egg & shavings of black truffles on top with some salad on the side.

This dish was larger than he expected and he didn't really need Jamie's classic 'funky chips' that he ordered as well, but they were delicious still. The Turkey Milanese was pretty much what you expect from a turkey escalope. There was a thin layer of cheese under the breadcrumbs, and this had a subtle flavour.  I personally think this dish would appeal well to children and those that like simple well-cooked food, without a myriad of spices, herbs and flavourings. The dish was good but didn't have the wow factor for me.


The 'funky chips' my husband ordered as an accompaniment were delicious. Big proper chunky chips, fried more than once for that crispy taste and topped with shavings of garlic and herbs. We always order these when we visit as they are superb.


I haven't had prawn linguini at this restaurant before so I was really looking forward to this. 

It is described as 'fried garlicky prawns & Scottish langoustine tails with fennel, tomatoes, chilli, saffron, fish broth & lemony rocket. The dish was packed full of flavour and the rocket on the top really added to the dish. The tomato-based sauce as the base was very authentic tasting. The linguini was served al dente which I was pleased about, but I felt it could have been done with more langoustine tails, in the dish. I did feel the price of this could have been a little cheaper as it was £14.95.



The Italian steak and fries and the lemon polenta cake were on the super lunch menu.

The steak came with a generous portion of garlic butter and the fries were well seasoned. My son really enjoyed this dish. The steak was flash grilled and served with herby heirloom tomato salsa, rocket, parmesan and the aforementioned fries. If you are looking for a thick juicy steak this isn't it, but it was still incredibly tasty and value for money when you think it's part of the 2 courses for £10.95 menu.



My favourite dish overall was the orange blossom polenta cake. Polenta cake studded with candied fruit served with whipped crème fraîche & pomegranate. I have had this before at the restaurant and it is a favourite of mine. The cake is quite dense but don't let that put you off, if it was light and airy it would disintegrate with the orange essence.  What I love about this dish is the gorgeous orange taste which makes it very fragrant and delicious. The whipped creme fraiche adds a lightness to this dish and the orange slices and pomegranate top it off well, the latter adding a little crunch.

Today in my Meet The Bloggers series I am interviewing Charlotte from The Social Snob blog.

• 250g Quorn Meat Free Southern Burgers
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
• 1 courgette, cut into batons
• ½ red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil
• ⅓ cup (83ml) low fat Greek style yoghurt
• 1 tbsp (15ml) lemon zest
• 2 large wraps, warmed
• 1 cup (250ml) rocket leaves

Method

1. Pop your Quorn Meat Free Southern Burgers onto the BBQ over a moderate heat for 8-10 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile drizzle your prepared peppers, courgette and onion with oil and cook over the heat of the BBQ for 10-15 minutes. Use a skewer or a grill basket to keep them from rolling around. 
3. Combine your yoghurt and lemon zest then spread a layer onto each of your tortilla wraps. Add some peppery rocket, then your cooked vegetables and finally add slices of Quorn Meat Free Southern Burgers. 
4. Securely wrap up your burger and enjoy!