The Naan Hut Review

Sometimes I feel like all of the chips are stacked against me.

I write about how I've missed blogging, and how much I was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, and then bam! Broken laptop. It wasn't my fault, I hadn't spilled anything or dropped it, the motherboard just decided it wanted a holiday. Can't say I blame it to be honest, because I'm rather desperate for one too, but suddenly I was without laptop for 2 weeks.

Then just to top it off, while celebrating the move into a new house the power went out - just our house. Turns out one of the power lines under the road basically blew a fuse, and so we've had men digging in the streets for the past week to fix it. Being woken up at 7am by jackhammers is no-one's idea of fun.

But Dan and I have been making do, and the lack of electricity gave us a great opportunity to explore our local area, which led us to The Naan Hut.

This little independent delicatessen specializes in homemade wraps and sandwiches, with a multitude of fillings from chicken and pork for the meat eaters and homemade falafel for the vegetarians like myself. They even do special offers, making it the perfect stop for lunch.

Personally, I have a particular affinity for falafel, so of course I opted for that. The falafel was fried as I waited and I opted for chilli sauce and jalapeños as well as houmous and salad, just to give it an extra kick. It's the little things when you're bored out of your mind waiting for the electricity to come back on. The owner was more than happy to chat to me about the food they make onsite and gave Dan some suggestions on what to choose for lunch, and he settled for a piri piri chicken wrap. It really wasn't long before our wraps were packaged up and we were on our way home again, lunch in hand.

My photos really don't do it justice. The wrap was delicious, especially the falafel, with just the right balance of spice from the chilli and creaminess from the houmous. The salad was fresh and provided the perfect contrast to the softness of the homemade wrap - what a break from the less-than-fresh salad offerings you get in other chain delicatessens (Subway, I'm looking at you!). My only criticism - and it's not even a criticism - is how big the wrap was! Not even halfway through it I was feeling full, and I can't imagine how stuffed I'd be if I'd bought a snack to go with it. 

Definitely this isn't one to have everyday - I can't afford it for one, and despite the homemade ingredients I can't imagine that it's a particularly low-calorie lunch when you're watching your weight, but The Naan Hut makes for a great local place to visit for lunch you can really enjoy. Especially while editing.

Brighton Pride | OOTD

As a non-native Brightonian, I had never experienced anything like Pride. The village I grew up in is a quintessential tiny English village - surrounded by greenery, with a small local primary school that you could walk to and only a corner shop for emergency supplies such as bread and milk; anything else and you'd have to venture into the local town which is at least a 10 minute drive away. If 180,000 people lined the streets in my home town it would be a riot, but in Brighton it's one of the best festivals celebrating diversity amongst us and encouraging pride (see what I did there!) in oneself no matter who they are.

This year's Pride Parade route went right us, and the entire house went above and beyond to celebrate - my flatmates painted their faces and their shirts, hung multi-coloured balloons outside the windows, I spent nearly an hour perfecting my eye makeup and even our downstairs neighbour set up a barbeque in the front garden, serving traditional Carribean food. Curried goat isn't really my kind of food but Dan said it was delicious! The nearby shops also decked their front windows out in colourful displays and it wasn't long before people began lining the streets or heading up towards Preston Park.

 For the actual parade, we decided to wander further down towards London Road in order to meet up with friends, and it was great to capture people's responses as the parade went past, as well as the parade itself.

I just loved this image of a woman peering out of her window as the trucks rolled past

George Montague and his partner Somchai Phukkhlai, who married a few days before Pride. George was once prosecuted under the UK's old anti-homosexuality law.

Despite the festival atmosphere, there were many subtle and not-so-subtle reminders of the discrimination and hardship the LGBT community suffered and continues to suffer. The police presence in the parade drew appreciative applause from the crowds, and one pastor who was walking in the parade was continuously mobbed by people wanting to thank him and shake his hand. There were also numerous people holding placards reminding the crowds of the number of places it's still a crime to be LGBT and it was surprising how many there are.

  It was great to see the lengths people went to to show their support through their colourful and flamboyant outfits. For me, I wanted something comfortable but that still showed my support through bright accessories. While wearing a comfortable New Look vest top and my trusty Dorothy Perkins jeans and keeping it neutral with my Zara bag (similar), big enough for my camera and sun essentials, I initially added a splash of colour with a Topshop floral crown (similar).

 To add a bit more colour to my outfit I recreated the Rainbow Flag as eyeliner, using some very well-placed cellotape and a £7.99 Sleek Ultra-Mattes palette. The colour pay-off on these palettes are just amazing, they're so pigmented, they blend easily and last all day. For what is essentially £0.65 per shadow, the Sleek palettes are great value for money and easily available. I kept the rest of my makeup neutral so that the eyes would stand out even more.

For me, this year's Brighton Pride came with an encompassing sense of belonging, no matter who you are, which is something that I think we need to keep in mind more often. It's so easy to tear each other down when we should be supporting each other, and it was so lovely to see so many smiling faces on the streets of Brighton. I cannot wait for next year.