Papa Tony's at Springfield Quay

As I mentioned, my ma and pa were in Glasgow for a visit last weekend. As per their visits we went out for a meal however this time they requested we didn't stray far from base so I grudgingly decided to take them to Springfield Quay since I'm a south side dweller but generally not a fan of the restaurants you tend to find in these areas. 

I was originally going to take them to Panda however when we were wondering through I spotted Papa Tony's which I had never spotted before and decided I was much more in the mood for Italian than Chinese. The big ice-creams I seen the waitresses carrying to the outside diners certainly helped sway me too!

The menu was large and contained plenty of  veggie options however there wasn't anything particularly different for veggies or meat-eaters. My mum selected her usually favourite of breaded mushrooms (and these were delicious breaded mushrooms) whereas I picked out the vegetarian platter, and boy, what a platter it was! The menu didn't specify how big this platter was but when I received it was certainly bigger than for one person. Thankfully my parents helped me get through it alongside their own dishes.

And then we had the decision of main course, which took all of us a long time! I ordered the Tortelloni Crema e Salvia (first picture), my mum picked out the Cozze alla Marinara(second picture) whereas my dad selected the Quatrro stagioni pizza (third picture). I can't speak for my parents food (though they did gobble it up) but my dish was absolutely delish however it did have a very rich flavour with the combination of spinach, ricotta, cream, lemon and sage. To die for but I couldn't eat a lot of it in one sitting.

I did mention that Papa Tony's had a big selection of drool worthy ice-creams however after all that we were pretty stuffed! Maybe another time we'll skip starters and go for dessert.

Overall, I would say Papa Tony's is what you would expect from the kind of restaurants that tend to congregate around Quay's and beach front areas (or Union Square in Aberdeen). Whilst these places aren't my usual scene I would say Papa Tony's was a cut above, so if you do like these kind of places I'd completely recommend it! 

In This Week

I'm currently sitting in my flat with my OMG mug (which I only Instagrammed to get the photos even, whatever), some home-baked apple streusel cupcakes, which are gorgeous even if I do say so myself, and some Twin Atlantic. Whilst this week hasn't been overly exiting I have found that I am slowly getting into the habit of fitting things around a full-time job. It's not even 9pm yet and I've already  managed to go for a run, do a Tesco shop, make tomorrow's lunch, take part in #lbloggers and bake some cakes. So yeah, thumbs up for adult productivity! 

The only thing left to do is put on some laundry and research what phone I'd like to upgrade to, which cannot exactly be described as a chore. If any of my fellow Android fanatics would like to jump in with a recommendation then I'd be ever so grateful! 

Hope you all have a fun adult week! 

The Linkables

45 Pinterest boards for designers.

I find this interesting, but I agree with a offline/online divide: the internet is real life.

10 DIY plant pots (or planter, if you're American like the author).

Top 10 hard to kill houseplants

46 places to go in 2013.

Lynsey went to Dundee!

YES! The Cinderella Slayer.

A petition I signed this week: stop the creepshots on social media!

I can get behind this. Why Finnish babies sleep in boxes (not as morbid as it sounds).

Do you want to be an IT Crowd special? Erm, yes.

MPs urge UK to eat less meat to help global food supplies

And finally, induction hobs could save you money! (Okay, I'm plugging a post I wrote for work).

Things I Love Thursdays: being settled

Dundee summer sky in 2010, when I went to a fair.

Last week, during the glorious sunshine, I found myself feeling a bit different about summer this year. I love sunshine, I think that moment when day hits night is at its best in summer and I hate wearing a jacket. 

For the last few years I have welcomed the sun and soaked up the increasing summer nights. However as much as I anticipated it I was also dreading the weeks passing by as I attempted to hold on to that university year, my current flat and put off returning to my parents house in Aberdeenshire and resuming my summer job as a waitress. 

And it hit me whilst I was looking out of my big window last week: this summer feels different because I'm not trying to hold on to the days. I'm not going back to Aberdeen, I'm not switching flats and I'm not leaving anything behind. This is the first summer since 2007 where I'm not moving somewhere. And it feels strange and part of me feels as if I should be going somewhere. 

The fact that it is also now one year on from one the biggest months of my life is probably adding to my weird feelings. June 2012 was a big month for me seeing me move half my life away from Dundee before my final move in July, touch down in Africa for the first time, find myself falling in love only to fall out of it by the end of June on less than amicable terms, as well as someone who had been in my life for years proving to me they had no place in my future. 

So yeah, big times. And now I'm settled. As well as not moving away or moving flats, I have no boy drama, my friends circle is secure and I'm not leaving one job and moving to on to another one. 

It's nice, but weird. 

Travel Exclusive Vodkas to look out for

If there's something I really love about passing through an airport (okay the only thing) then it's rummaging the duty free. I may be a girl who loves her beauty but as we all know I'm a lover of trying new things so for me I shun the reduced high end-up make-up for something a bit harder to get on the high street. And that is the alcohol.

When I headed across to Africa last summer (and returned) I moved through six airports which gave me a good chance to nosy at all the wines, spirits and liqueurs. I would have bought the lot but I was in limbo between graduating and finding that full-time job, so I only picked up two bottles which I settled on due to their travel exclusivity. 

(As a side note to this post, I haven't been able to find out if these vodkas remain travel exclusive but I haven't spotted them in Tesco so I assume their still at least difficult to get your paws on. Or they've been discontinued, so apologies if you like the sound of them and they are). 

Absolut Flavor of the Tropics

I picked this up in Lusaka airport in Zambia so if you do happen to be there this summer then have a good nosey. However Absolut being a Swedish vodka I imagine a European airport has to have it somewhere. Tropical is my favourite flavour of juice so gravitated towards this vodka which is a mix of mango, orange, lychee, pineapple and melon vodka. I have to admit it's hard to describe this flavour of vodka (helpful as always Morag) and was different to what I expected. It isn't overly fruity and actually tastes quite 'natural' and not as though it's full of flavourings. It became my default vodka for the past year after a long day at work (you come home to vody too, don't lie) and right now there is maybe four bar measures left so I'm now trying to preserve the very last of it.

Smirnoff Gold Collection

Whilst I was perusing the alcohol section of Terminal 5 (which is Disneyland for a spirit drinker) I spotted this beautiful creation. Vodka that essentially glittered. After gawking at the bottle (and others) I headed further through to discover Smirnoff were sampling. The girl gave me a shot glass of the vodka with mixed with apple juice and it was heaven. I left it because as much as I wanted it I couldn't lug it through Africa but I rushed to buy it on my return flight. I did however drop it in Aberdeen (erm, oops) which I was gutted about (it was also meant to be a romantic gesture for the guy I was dating at time because he used moisturiser with gold in it haha) but my parents were heading through to Australia/New Zealand later that year so picked me up a new bottle. 

And I'm guessing you want to know about the vodka? It's a cinnamon liquer with gold bits and if you're thinking it would be like Goldschlager then you would be right. However for me it's a cut above. No matter what position the bottle is in the flakes continue to float whereas the Goldschalger flakes fall to the bottom. Plus the Smirnoff has less of an obvious alcoholic taste and goes down a lot smoother (one measure of G-schlager and I'm tipsy). I still haven't opened this (second) bottle as I want to preserve it for a very special moment, plus I'm scared of smashing the bottle. 

Have any of you guys found a travel exclusive drink you just love and recommend to holiday makers? 

The Chocolate Factory Glasgow

Yesterday I mention that ma and pa visited me in Glasgow, however the female half of my parents was down two weeks earlier and during our small tour of the West End we stopped by The Chocolate Factory which is situated just before you would re-meet the city centre, near the Suchiehall Street end. 

We weren't planning to be go here but were in the area anyway so I could visit Grassroot Organic before it shut down and after leaving my mum piped up that she would like some lunch. I had walked past The Chocolate Factory before and whilst it had initiated some some curiosity in me I had never popped in, so I suggested it. 

Me and mum weren't overly hungry so we didn't order half the menu and both instead ended up with the same brie and cranberry panini (so much for a thorough review). We did however get different drinks: despite the sunshine that day we both opted for hot drinks, my mum a latte and myself a white hot choc. 

The food also came with some carrot and celery sticks and some dip (which if my memory serves me was chive) which beats a panini flung on a plate (which I was expecting!). The paninis themselves were also lovely and my hot chocolate was nom nom nom. 

The atmosphere was quite, kid-friendly shall we say. I didn't pop my head too far round the corner but their did appear to be a kids area so I wouldn't go here if you like quiet grown-up spaces. Even if kids are fine and dandy by you this did feel like the kind of place you would still need to come with someone - not really the kind of place you could settle into the corner and enjoy a book with. 

Have you ever been to The Chocolate Factory?