Summer Special - The Best Things in Life

This 'Best Things in Life' blog post brings together both June and July's inspirations from our favourite Red Magazine. The sun is (finally!) shining, festival season is in full swing and we are feeling good!

Katie

The best things in life...

I am loving Luke Johnson’s weekly article in the Sunday Times Business Section, my recent favourite was on ‘The Anatomy of a True Leader’ which discussed elements that are crucial such as the ability to motivate, reliability in a crisis, frugality and financial literacy…to name but a few! We met Luke when Not Dogs was named by DEFRA as one of its 50 Food Stars last year and he gave us some unfailingly honest advice which actually turned out to be very true!

A 2015 summer spot this year has to be the champagne roof top terrace at Marco Pierre White in Birmingham’s The Cube – it’s a real sun trap combined with an energetic atmosphere, and the cocktails are delicious!

As the meat-eater in the Not Dogs duo, I love how Quorn helps me to go meat-free and reduce my carbon footprint. The latest test taste I carried out was the humble chicken nugget…I haven’t had a chicken nugget in years, mainly because of being conscious about eating cheap & untrustworthy meat…one word….WOW. I dare any meat-eater to give it a go!

What marks the start of summer for you?

A BBQ at my mum’s house – this year I’ll be offering up some delicious meat-free delights!

The one thing I can't travel without is...

One million bags, even though I have travelled so many times I still haven’t mastered the art of streamlining my travel essentials… and if I’m traveling by car, I’ll fill it up in no time. The other thing I always have handy is a scarf – perfect for covering up on a chilly plane journey!

My favourite summer inspired pin is...

Jane

The best things in life...

Light is the New Black book by Rebecca Campbell - I recently stumbled across a few quotes from the Hay House author on Addictive Daughter's Instagram channel and quickly pre-ordered the Kindle version of her first book. I brought it the day it came out and I've not been able to put it down since! It's positive, inspiring and written by a modern-day 'jet-setter with a gypsy spirit' (love that description!).

My morning routine - I've really made an effort to follow a morning routine of; an espresso while writing my to do list for the day, followed by meditation (just five minutes if that's all I can manage) and then ten minutes of fun yoga using the PopSugar app. While at Glastonbury and coming to terms with sleeping in a tent, I lost the routine and once I was home really saw the impact that not doing it for a few days had on me.

Sunshine - For me, waking up to blue skies and sunshine makes such a difference to my day. It instantly makes me happy and itching to get outside to start my day off right. I think I was born for sunny climates!

What marks the start of summer for you?

The first festival of the year - BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend! The start of summer used to be the summer break from school and moving to France for two months, then it turned into finishing work for a holiday when I worked 9-5 but now it's the first festival for Not Dogs! Now summer goes by in a fun blur of sausages, new cities, hotels and laughter with Katie. Oh how my life has changed but I wouldn't have it any other way!

The one thing I can't travel without is...

My pink squashy pillow, or mooshy as I like to call it (embarrassing!). It's perfect for the airplane or car and it gives me a little piece of home wherever I sleep!

My favourite summer inspired pin is...

Our Best Things in Life in May

With all the Not Dogs activity going on recently, we're a little behind on our Best Things in Life but here's the lowdown on all the best things in May!

Katie

Best Things in Life...

French’s Mustard… before Not Dogs I hadn’t had French’s Mustard for years and now it’s a staple in my cupboard at home, even after a weekend of serving up lots of Plain Jane Not Dogs & Original Franks! We recently met the brand team who seemed to really like how we use their products and with their recent tweet we are very excited to be working more with them in the future!

City breaks… I recently spent a weekend in Amsterdam with my lovely friends and we laughed the whole time, bike rides, delicious food, gorgeous drinks and well-needed catch ups in a beautiful and diverse setting was perfect. The next city I am going to see is Manchester for a lovely night out soon and in September we are taking Not Dogs to the Manchester Food & Drink Festival too!

I have read a lot of interviews with Ultimo founder; Michelle Mone recently, and I am always left feeling so inspired by her grit and determination to succeed. UTan is her latest innovation, billed as the first scentless fake tan, she has launched a selection of radiant tanning products that create a natural-looking, streak-free tan…I can’t wait to try it in time for the Summer.

My definition of beauty is... laughing – nobody looks better than when they are laughing & to quote an all-time favourite “You’re never fully dressed without a smile”

The pin I am feeling at the moment is...

Jane

Best Things in Life...

Having my own business - This is a bit of a large statement but it really is one of the best things in life and our first Not Dogs festival in May has made me appreciate it. Spending 12 hours in the food truck serving tonnes of delicious Not Dogs to the BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend Norwich crowds was damn hard work but looking back, there's no other 'normal' job that comes close to the highs you get from having your own business. The highest-high of the weekend came when we were on our way home and Radio 1 DJ Greg James mentioned Not Dogs on the radio! So proud!

Actually finishing a book! It's tough for me to actually finish a book (see above!) but I managed it in May - How to Love by Katie Cotugno was an addictive easy-read on the trials and tribulations of teenage love. It's the perfect summer book to make you smile.

Living in the country... after our stint in London, the bright lights and loudness of the big city makes me immensely happy to come home to my little village in the country. Growing up, there was nothing I wanted more than to move to town where I didn't have to depend on lifts from my parents to go out but now, coming home, visiting the local pub and walking the dog is my idea of perfection!

My definition of beauty is... confidence - as simple as that. It doesn't matter what you look like, how you do your make-up or what clothes you choose to wear, if you have confidence you are one of the most beautiful people in the room. I wish I listened to this advice years ago as I wouldn't have spent time worrying about what I looked like, or what people thought. When I'm feeling confident and happy in my own skin, I feel truly beautiful.

The pin I am feeling at the moment is...

The Best Things in Life in April

Keeping up our Best Things in Life is very important to us as it makes us happy to look back on how far we've come and also our feelings each month so despite not having time to breathe sometimes at Not Dogs London here's April's blog post...

Katie

Best Things in Life

I used Easter to finally visit the National Space Centre which I can honestly say was absolutely brilliant. Along with the other children I had lots of fun crawling through space tunnels and learning about how heavy a can of baked beans would be on each of the different planets. The best bit was the fantastic show at The Planetarium, narrated by Rupert Grint. ‘We are Aliens’ was a stunningly produced short film exploring the possibility of life on other planets, I would urge anyone to go & get your mind blown!

Seeing how much my mum uses Countdown Keeper! I know she is totally biased, but she uses the app how we envisioned and hoped people would use it, and she loves using it every day to keep track of her very busy social life – it definitely makes me smile!

Creating a new Not Dog!  On our travels in Bali we enjoyed a delicious breakfast which has now inspired a brand new Not Dog topping, we will be trialing it at a private event later this month, but it has already past the Katie & Jane test, so watch this space!

How would you describe your personal style?

I have a simple rule I live by when it comes to personal style – stick to what I feel comfortable in. This ensures that whatever trend or style is in season, I wear my version of it. My mum has always said it’s not what you wear, it’s how you wear it. Although saying this; my personal style has took somewhat of a downturn lately as all I’ve been wearing is my ‘Kickin’ Katie’ Not Dogs uniform!

What's your favourite thing about London?

At the moment it has to be The Shard, I get to walk past it every day and look at it from afar before I go to bed at night and it really is magnificent! My friends will always be my true favourite thing about London, it’s always a great excuse to visit and enjoy the capital.

The pin that sums me up at the moment is... 

Jane

Best Things in Life

Easter - well actually, the whole Easter weekend... a lovely break to catch-up with friends and family and also the perfect excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I brought some beautiful Easter treats from Daylesford - the real hens eggs with praline chocolate inside were out of this world!

Wedding fever! Although I'm not one to have dreamed of a fairytale wedding I'm getting very excited about one of my oldest and best friends big day in May. I was over-the-moon when Lucy asked me to be her bridesmaid and cannot wait for a full-filled day spent with our closest family and friends in our little village.

The Botanist, Birmingham - We had a wonderful lunch on the opening day of The Botanist in central Birmingham. There's six restaurants around the UK all serving an amazing selection of botanical drinks and inspired food. Herbs are everywhere in this unique place, not only in the food and drinks but as decorations too which makes you feel like you're in a homely greenhouse. The service was excellent and our lunch of perfectly baked camembert, beef BBQ skewer with rosemary seasoned chips and scampi in a basket with homemade tartar sauce in a mini watering can was a lovely escape from Easter chocolate!

How would you describe your personal style?

I love to dress for the occasion - you'll regularly see me in a 'themed' outfit - Easter pinks and yellows, Christmas tartan and reindeers and summer pineapples! But, in this fast-paced digital age, I love how trends are so personal now, no longer do you pick up Vogue to see the latest season's fashions but head to Pinterest and Instagram and get inspired by other people's personal styles. I'd say my personal style is a mix of what I feel amazing in, the trends and a touch of online inspiration but overall I simply pick clothes based on my mood whether that's carefree in the Summer or glammed-up for a night out!

What's your favourite thing about London?

I love that there's so many amazing things to keep you entertained in London. Katie and I have a 'London List' filled with things we'd like to do while living there part-time... we've already managed to tick off a few including pushing ourselves to the limit at the Skinny Bitch Collective, enjoying Spanish tapas at Jose on Bermondsey Street and picking up an amazing coffee at TheWatch House. Next on the list is take a class at Frame and go to Richard Branson's favourite Greek restaurant!

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

The Best Things in Life... in March

Spring has sprung; the sun is shining and the lambs are bouncing around the fields but we've moved out of the country and into London to open our first Not Dogs pop-up shop! In our 'Best Things in Life' this month we talk feeling inspired, veggie chilli, new coffee love and exploring new areas.

Katie

Best things in life?

Being inspired daily by Sam Baker, ex-editor at Red Magazine & now very successful author. Each day she tweets a quote from somebody she admires with the hashtag #todayimchannelling – I always find it such a positive and happy start to the day. You can find Sam tweeting @SamBaker

Launching our very first Not Dogs pop-up shop in London and meeting all our new customers – the feedback across Twitter & Instagram has been so exciting to see! Our most popular dog so far has been The Original Frank, and we’ve been having fun collecting lots of #SausageSelfies. We’re very busy creating lots of new recipe ideas, so those looking for a lighter or vegan option – watch this space!

The Pool UK is a very exciting, but secretive new concept launched by Lauren Laverne this month, and all we know so far is that it aims to give opportunities to women. Lauren has been quoted as saying “There’s loads of us out there; I wanna claim our half of the world!” I guess we’ll just have to be patient for the time being… www.the-pool.com

What's your favourite Not Dog?

I’ve chosen from our Winter menu as I want to highlight how much I love vegetarian chilli! The Cha-Cha Chilli Dog is packed with our home-made chilli con carne, with a layer of tortilla chips and finished off with a sprinkle of birds eye chilli flakes – it’s a spicy dog that’s for sure! To me, there is nothing lost in substituting meat in a chilli to Quorn, in fact I find it tastier & far more lighter, but still very meaty too!

The pin of the moment for me is...

 Jane

Best things in life?

The Watch House, Bermondsey - Katie and I are living in Bermondsey while we're running the Not Dogs pop-up shop and it seems like a really distinctive, funky area to be in. We stumbled upon The Watch House on Bermondsey Street one morning - an artisan coffee shop located within a unique 19th Century building with housed guards who protected the churchyard graves. There's loads more amazing restaurants and bars that I can't wait to try.

The new Starbucks Maple Macchiato - there's a big marketing push on Starbucks' new drink and, of course, I've been sucked in by all the amazing branding so my usual Skinny Caramel Cappuccino has been relegated and the Maple Macchiato is in!

The Skinny Bitch Collective - SBC is loved by many of the amazing, inspirational women I follow on Instagram so I had to find out more about this wellness and lifestyle project created by Russell Bateman. The collective promotes lean, strong, empowering women and is loved by Millie Mackintosh and Ellie Goulding to name a few. While Katie and I are in London I really hope we can attend the 'illusive class designed to throw you as far away from your comfort zone as possible'!

What's your favourite Not Dog?

I should say the Plain Jane as it's obviously 'my dog' but I'll have to go with Hello Houmous as although I love houmous I really didn't think it would go well on our Not Dogs but that's the surprising thing... it so does! Quorn Bratwurst, Houmous, Roasted Red Peppers and Smoked Paprika make for a pretty perfect Not Dog!

The pin of the moment for me is...

The Best Things in Life in February

Katie

Best things in life...

This year I’ve finally got to grips with PopSugar; a fitness app that provides short 10-15 minute workouts that can be done in the comfort of your own home! I love the yoga with weights, Pilates floor and the standing abs workouts, and you can download all your favourites to your profile so you can do them whenever and wherever you are.

My iPhone recently took a swim and I found myself without Instagram, I wasn’t too bothered at the digital detox from Facebook or Twitter, but I did miss my daily Instagram inspiration, so I will be making an effort to use the app much more from now on.

I love the start of Spring and I have some very pretty oriental lilies on the dining table to mark the occasion. March is one of my favourite months of the year and so I’m happy to be marking the end of winter soon!

 Changes I will be making in 2015 are...

Seeing more of London! We’re busy making some very exciting headway for Not Dogs in 2015 which we will be announcing very soon, but in the meantime we are off to Downing Street this week to showcase Not Dogs after we were named as one of the UK’s Food Stars by the government & DEFRA... wish us luck!

My favourite activity in February was...

Yoga in Ubud! Following a huge sunrise climb of Mount Batur in Bali (which was also a favourite activity in February but I’ll let Jane tell you about it below!) most people sleep and relax, not us! We headed straight to the Yoga Barn in Ubud to try out a spot of Yin Yoga. We used soft bricks and tennis balls in this never-before-seen class that taught us to use long static poses to access the ‘yin’ (connective) tissue after too much ‘yang’ such as cardio and resistance activity. It was great to try something new and the instructor was really informative, but using those tennis balls under the side of my rib cage… ouch!

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

Jane

Best things in life...

Whilst in Seminyak in Bali (travel review coming soon!), Katie and I stayed at The W Retreat and Spa. I've been lucky enough to travel around the world staying in some amazing hotels but this hotel is in another league - the best hotel I've ever stayed in. I can't really praise it enough - the staff, the smell (really!), the breakfasts and the whole hotel's design is faultless, so much so 'stay in every W hotel in the world' has been added to my bucket list.

I am in love with my new Nespresso coffee machine although it wasn't on my Christmas list I'm glad Santa delivered it! Not only do I love the coffee and the design of the machine itself I love Nespresso's whole branding. The little pods are great to display and I love spending time with the coffee experts in their little boutique in Selfridges. I couldn't do without my morning espresso now!

After returning from beautiful hot Bali I was more than happy to see little snowdrops appear in my garden signalling for me the start of Spring. Although I say it for every season, I actually think Spring is one of my favourites.

Changes I will be making in 2015 are...

I am on a mission in 2015 to become as fit and healthy as I can. I love following routines and recording it manually rather than digitally so I've recently purchased two fantastic tools - a daily greatness journal which helps you plan '12 weeks to a rocking fit body, mind and spirit' and the infamous Instagrammer Kayla Itstines 12-week workout plan. I can't wait to start both although I'm not looking forward to 'death by Kayla' in week 7!

My favourite activity in February was...

Climbing Mount Batur to watch the sunrise in Bali. This was a massive achievement for me... not only were we not warned exactly how hard, steep and dangerous the trek was going to be but personally with me not being a morning person, getting up at 3am and then spending two hours climbing 2000 metres is something to be proud of. Yes the journey up was very tough but seeing the sun rise over the mountains with Katie is going to be a memory I smile about for the rest of my life.

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

The Best Things in Life in January

2015 is upon us, a new year, fresh start and a time where we love to plan out our goals and dreams for the next year. 2014 was a fun and successful year for Katie & Jane and we look forward to all that 2015 has to bring!

Katie

Best things in life?

My new Happiness Tin! After reading my friend George’s new blog, I was so inspired by her thoughts on happiness I decided to create my very own happiness tin which she says will help to... 

“Consciously appreciate the little things in life that can so easily pass you by, not just so they can bring a smile to your face at the end of the year, but so you get into the habit of noticing the happiness and humour that happens all the time…if you choose to notice it.” 

This really reminded me of how much we like Happier, and as well as my tin I hope to start using the app a little more too! You can read our review of Happier here.

One way to avoid the January blues is to think about all the events and exciting things 2015 has in store! (although biased) I love using Countdown Keeper to collect all the things I have to be excited about, and being as organised as I am I love that I can keep them in custom categories that I’ve created myself too. To find out more about Countdown Keeper head to the App Store.

Who doesn’t love a Happy Birthday cake? To celebrate our second birthday we were treated to a lovely cake with our Katie & Jane dots on – it was so lovely to see those dots connecting and reflect on how far we’ve come in the last two years. We wrote our 2014 annual business review last week, you can find out about our highlights, challenges and memorable moments of last year here.

My New Year's resolution is...

I don’t usually make resolutions, as it’s inevitable I’ll break them after January! However this year I do intend to take better care of myself. It’s easy to get into bad habits when you are focused on everything else but yourself and building up a business during the last two years has meant that I have put myself and wellbeing at the bottom of the list, so I’m trying to eat better, work out more, stress less, let go of worries easier and be more mindful in 2015.

What I'm most looking forward to in 2015 is...

Seeing more of the world! I first visited Bali in 2010, and I’m so excited to be taking a trip back there this year, there is so much more to see of this beautiful country and the islands surrounding it. I am also happy that when I come home I won’t be dreading going back to work at all, Katie & Jane is definitely more of a lifestyle i.e. non-stop! I wouldn’t have it any other way though…

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...

Jane

Best things in life?

New stationery! I'm a stationery geek so was over-the-moon to receive a big parcel all the way from Australia containing tonnes of gorgeous Kikki.K stationery for Christmas. I've filled out my new 2015 diary using my new pens and my iPad is looking pretty with its new berry pink cover on! Literally in stationery heaven!

Daylesford herbal teas. On a recent visit to Daylesford Farm Shop in Kingham, Gloucestershire, I brought two boxes of their tea; green and peppermint. I love green tea so have tried a few different types but theirs is just perfect... not too 'green tea-y' (if you've tried green tea before you'll know what I mean) and the peppermint is so smooth and has been delicious to calm my tummy after stuffing myself at Christmas!

Breezy walks along the Suffolk coast... I've just got back from celebrating New Year in the lovely seaside town of Southwold with my friends and family and my most favourite thing that we did every day was walk along the beautiful beach. Southwold's beach is perfect in Winter... a long stretch of sand with beach huts one end and a pier the other. Along with it's amazing shops, cafes, restaurants and bakeries it's just the best place in the UK to see in the New Year.

My New Year's resolution is...

To meditate daily even if it's for five minutes! Before the Christmas period I completed a morning routine of yoga, skin brushing and meditation which I really found improved my day even after a week or so of doing it. Unfortunately with all the Christmas and New Year celebrations, the routine went AWOL. Meditation reduces stress, helps concentration, increases self-awareness and happiness and slows aging (!) so I plan to do it every day in 2015!

What I'm most looking forward to in 2015 is...

I do want to say Bali but actually I am most looking forward to all the exciting business opportunities in 2015 for Katie & Jane! I love that we don't have a clue where our business will take us next and every day is an adventure! Anything with '5' in is lucky for me so I know 2015 is going to be amazing in so many ways. After a few weeks off for Christmas and New Year I'm raring to get back to work!

The pin that sums me up at the moment is...