Girls Night In

Living in the UK, summer is often fleeting. We get an odd day of glorious sunshine here and there, and then it's gone - pretty depressing, huh? This phenomenon explains the slightly grainy effect of the following photos - lighting was not my friend yesterday, I can tell you!

One sure fire way I find of cheering myself up on a rainy summer evening, however, is having a girls night in! This can involve whatever you like, from a movie marathon in your pjs to getting all dressed up and enjoying some fancy cocktails! Last night, Emma and I decided to combine these two ideas and combat the unsummery weather (and my terrible cold!) by inventing a little cocktail of our own and enjoying one of our all time favourite things to watch... the BBC adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing (with Damian Lewis).

Our drink of choice was a snazzy orange and mango cocktail - the perfect summer drink! We mixed some Innocent Orange and Mango juice, with lemonade and a dash of Sourz 'Mango'*, and even if I do say so myself, the result was amazing!

As for snacks (because what sort of girls night in doesn't include snacks?!) we cracked out the old fondue set and melted some chocolate, but kept it healthy *sort of* with strawberries - fresh orange and mango juice and strawberries? We were racing through our five a day ;)

I really love fruity flavoured drinks in summer, so if you fancy trying out a new cocktail at some point I'd definitely recommend a combinaton like this! It makes you feel like you're on holiday - all we needed was a little cocktail umbrella to finish it off, but we hadn't planned quite that far ahead! The Sourz 'Mango'* is a pretty new flavour which gives a nice little kick to your fruit juice without being too overpowering - and I can be a bit fussy when it comes to the alcohol part of a cocktail! I'm also really loving the Innocent juice at the moment - the orange and mango one we used in this cocktail is delicious, but I also really like the Apple, Peach and Pear and the standard Apple Juice!

I love nights like this - talking nonsense, watching an old favourite film or tv series and enjoying a drink with a friend. Whatever time of year it is, make time for nights like this because I think we sometimes underestimate the importance of just hanging out with our friends and relaxing - stress about work, or finding a job, relationships (or finding a relationship!) and the usually ever present money worries can all take hold, so remember to take time out to have a silly night laughing and reminiscing - it'll do you the world of good :)

Thanks for reading! Let me know what your favourite cocktail/movie combination is!

*Disclaimer - I was lucky enough to be sent a sample of Sourz Mango to try out. I am not being paid for this review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.