GLUTEN FREE AFTERNOON TEA AND BABE’IN DRESSES

So this is what I wore and I promise you I didn’t chose Orange and black because of International Tiger day [insert guilty face/”Look, don’t blame me OK, some things just have to be done” emoji here]. But I absolutely adore this New Look dress. The Off/Cold shoulder trend is something that I have totally jumped on board with and I’m obsessed with the length too. Midi’s just have a way of making me feel classy and sassy and like I can take on the world.

… which must be why I paired it with a choker that makes me feel like a goth 90’s kid that had no friends.

My comfy Debenhams heels came out to play because I can actually walk in them (#Winning) and my Zara/’Chanello” bag that I’ve recently rediscovered came along for the ride too.

So then it was time to get icing and this is where things got fun. Along with an icing expert – I’m 100% sure that’s not the accurate name for what the lovely lady was, but you get the gist – Hannah, Kristabel, a lovely author and her ridiculously cute kids (I am SO sorry for my lack of name retention skills but she was lovely) and the team at Born Free, Kuoni and Biscuiteers, we preceded to learn how to ice Tiger and lion shaped biscuits. And despite being a little bit shockingly bad at the icing, I actually loved giving it a go and found it strangely therapeutic. I imagine it’s a little bit like the adult colouring in books but much tastier because if you don’t lick off half of the icing, who even are you?

D’you know what, I laugh at myself and say that my icing was awful – which it kinda was – but they actually turned out a lot better than expected so you know, 10 points to Gryffindor and all that… 

After finding another thing not to give up my day job for, it was time for our afternoon tea and it’s safe to say that Biscuiteers really do know how to put on a bloody incredible gluten free spread. It was one of the first times that I didn’t feel totally separate from everyone else because our teas were pretty much identical. From amazing sandwiches – seriously, kinda salivating over them as I type – to dreamy scones (100% my favourite part of any tea) and the most innovative little cakes and biscuits that I’ve seen in a long time, I absolutely devoured every last bit – apart from a little cake because everybody else had left a bit and I felt like pig of the year eating it all, but better believe that I doggy bagged that bad boy up for later – whilst hearing all about international tiger day. So here’s a few little facts;

• At the rate that we are going, Tigers could be extinct in 5 years.
• In just over 100 years we have lost 97% of all wild tigers.
• Iconic tiger ranges are being taken over by human settlement, timber cutting, hydroelectric dams etc. 
• Poaching is a massive threat to the remaining 3000 tigers as the illegal wildlife trade business is said to be worth a whopping 19 billion dollars a year (a sickening figure if you ask me).