Wednesday 22 June 2011

A busy Saturday and an OOTD

Saturday ended up being quite a busy day for me, I was planning on having a quite one but instead ended up leaving mine at 1.30pm and not getting back until 2.45am! It was also a day of lots of food, I was feeling quite uncomfortable by the end of the day

I met a friend for a drink at the Slug and Lettuce in Marlow and we had a bit of lunch as neither of us had had any yet. I had wanted a fish finger sandwich but they were all out of fish fingers so went for a steak and cheese with chips and coleslaw instead, it was quite tasty, but I think I'd have still liked the fish finger one more.

I then met another friend in High Wycombe and helped her look for a dress for a Hen Weekend she is going on next week. We had dinner at Noodle Nation and I had chicken, king prawn and shitake mushrooms in oyster sauce with steamed rice, plus a few of my friends prawn crackers.


We then went to the cinema and saw Bad teacher, I really liked it. It is a great film if you work with children as you can relate to a lot of what is going on. Although I hope that I do not end up with the teaching styles that Cameron Diaz portrays through out the film. I particularly liked the performances of the support cast of Lucy Punch and Phyllis Smith. 



I thought that Miss Diaz was actually looking a bit, dare I say it, old, facially...I feel bad saying that but I did! However, give me her legs any day! Seriously...why can I not look this good when washing a car...


The final part of my day involved going to my friend Naidas house, we were meeting some friends a bit later on for some drinks and we got ready at hers. It wasn't a big night so I wore what I'd been wearing all day but with some wedges instead of flats and re-did the make up. I'd left my make up behind and so had the rather lovely opportunity to use all of Naidas. She has a really quite impressive collection of Mac and Chanel products and I was very excited to use them. In return I did her hair for her. I took some pictures of both of us...sorry the quality is not great, the lighting was too low and so they are not very clear, but hopefully you get the idea.

Naida first:

Top: Miss Selfridge
Jeans: I don't actually know!
Shoes: Alexander McQueen



Now me!


Jumper: Gap
Jeans: Gap
Wedges: New Look



Face
Foundation: Chanel Mat Lumiere No. 20 (Clair)
Bronzer: Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel No.63 (Terre Ambre)

Eyes
Eye shadow: Mac eyeshadow (Phloof!)
Eyeliner: Bourjois Liner Pinceau Liquid Eyeliner (Black)
Mascara: L'Oreal Lash Architect 4D (Brown)
L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes (Black)

Lips
Mac Amplified Creme Lipstick (Impassioned)

I haven't worn a foundation in ages and when I first put this on I felt it was a bit heavy just because I normally only use a tinted moisturiser. However once it was on it felt really light and my skin felt lovely, I didn't feel at all 'caked' in make up. 
I have been wanting to get my hands on Macs Impassioned for a while, but I can't justify the cost at the moment, so I was very happy to be able to use Naidas, such a lovely bright colour and the lipstick itself was very impressive, not at all drying and it had very good wear, I only reapplied twice throughout the whole night and I still had a slight stain when I took my make up off!

I may have to do my make up at Naidas again but take better photos so that you can really see how it looks. A handy excuse to use all those lovely products again! 

Hope you all had good weekends





Monday 20 June 2011

Baking, Baking, Baking

On Friday one of the teachers at school was leaving to go on maternity leave and we were having a little bit of a tea party at lunch. All of the staff contributed something and to get into the school spirit I did a little bit of baking. I made my usual brownies, but plain this time (omit the raspberries and white chocolate), banana bread with blueberries and cranberry and white chocolate cookies.

They were all a huge hit in the staffroom and I have been told that I have to now stay at the school, instead of going back to Uni, to provide baked goods on a regular basis.

Here are some pictures and the recipes:

White Chocolate and Cranberry cookies


Makes 30 approx

Ingredients
150g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
75g rolled oats (not instant)
125g soft butter
75g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g dried cranberries
150g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180oC/ 350°F/gas mark 4.

Method

Put the butter and sugars into a bowl and beat together until creamy then beat in the egg and vanilla.
Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and oats and then fold in the cranberries and chocolate chips.
Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball with your hands, and then place them on a lined or greased baking sheet and squish the dough balls down with a fork. You may need two baking sheets or be prepared to make these in two batches.
Cook for 15 minutes; when ready, the cookies will be tinged a pale gold, but be too soft to lift immediately off the tray, so leave the tray on a cool surface and let them harden for about 5 minutes. Remove with a spatula to cool fully on a wire rack.


Recipe courtesy of Nigella Christmas slightly adapted

Banana Bread with Blueberries




Ingredients
9oz plain flour
3 mashed bananas (these are best if they are a bit brown)
2 fl oz natural yogurt
4oz caster sugar
4oz butter
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
4oz blueberries


Preheat the oven to 180oC/ 350°F/gas mark 4.

Method

Cream the butter and the sugar together, then add the banana, yogurt and eggs. Mix well.
Next add the flour, baking powder, salt and mix.
Then add the blueberries and mix.
When all mixed together pour the batter into a loaf tin.
Cook in the oven for 50 minutes, the top should be golden brown.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a cooling rack.



Happy Baking!







Sunday 19 June 2011

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

Some of you may have seen my postings on Twitter, but if you didn't, I had my hair cut on Thursday!

Now, normally this would not be post worthy news but I made a bit of a spur of the moment hair decision.
I do not know what made me think about it, especially as I have spent the last year and a half trying to grow my hair into long luscious locks, but about 20 minutes before I was due to get a little trim, I decided to lop it all off!

Before:



After:



My hair feels in such good condition now and I'm looking forward to doing all sorts of fun things with it and using different hair accessories as I feel they work better on me when my hair is a bit shorter. 

Sometimes you just need a bit of a change and I'm really enjoying having a new look, just need the boyfriend to get used to it now, think he was a bit shocked when I turned up at his later that night and all my hair had gone! He likes it, but he has never seen me with hair this short before. 

Have you ever made any last minute drastic changes to your appearance? Good or bad?!



Wednesday 15 June 2011

Book Club: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Welcome all to my first book review!



I was given this book at Christmas and I'm surprised that it has taken me this long to read it, I've ended up reading all sorts before this but I finally got round to starting it a week or so back. It has taken a while to finish which is unusual for me, but this is not because I didn't enjoy it. Far from it, I wish I had had more time recently to sit down and get really stuck in to it as it is one of those books that is always making you want to turn to the next chapter.

The basic plot is about a young women called Edith. After a long lost letter arrives in the post Edith discovers that her mum was evacuated during the war to Milderhurst Castle, the home of the Blythe family, in particular twins Saffy, Percy and younger sister Juniper.. The story then follows Edith through her discovery of her mums past and those of the sisters Blythe as well as the secrets that lie in the castle. Each character has their own issues, dramas and mysteries that keep you intrigued.

Throughout the book you are given brief glimpses into the lives of each of the characters. I found that I got a good sense of each of them and could picture them easily in my mind. I began to become quite involved with the characters and found myself warming to many of them and wary of others.

I have read two previous books by Kate Morton and I really enjoy the way she combines the present and the past and then throws in an element of mystery to keep you interested.

This is quite a long book, and sometimes I felt that I just wanted to find out what happened and get all the answers, but I still enjoyed following the stories of all the characters and discovering their secrets at the end. The ending is somewhat bittersweet and slightly sad, but also has positive notes to it.


Even though I enjoyed this book, I am not sure that I would read it again, my ability to re-read books over and over is normally a sign that I love a book. So while I felt this was good and quite enthralling, if I do re-read it it would not be for some time. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Next Book: Started early, took my dog by Kate Atkinson 

Tuesday 14 June 2011

OOTD: Lazy Sundays

Fact: the weather on Sunday was awful! The weather man said that the whole of the UK would be pretty much drowned, but from what I've heard, it wasn't just the UK...a lot of the rest of the world seems to be having some pretty dodgy weather. What happened to our promises of a sunny June?!

As it was so miserable outside I took the opportunity to have a very lazy day, I literally did nothing until about 5pm, when I got dressed! I don't remember the last time I did that. I thought I'd share with you my outfit of choice once I finally decided to get out of my PJs.

This is not the most flattering of outfits, but it is really comfy and so just what I needed for an evening at my grandparent being feed copious amounts of food. It also involved a few recent purchases! I also urge you to disregard my face...it was, after all, a Sunday...no make up and dodgy hair!

Jumper: Gap 
T-Shirt: Primark
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Asda

View from the back...this is why I bought this jumper!

Detailing on jumper

I saw this jumper in Gap a while ago and loved the detailing but was trying to be good with my spending. However whilst in town on Friday evening I noticed that they had gone in to sale! So I got it for £24.99 instead of £39.95, there were a few of them and so it will probably go down again, but I don't know when I will next go shopping and I didn't want to run the risk of missing out. As usual with Gap clothing the sizing is a bit of a free for all. I am a definite size 10, if I'm likely to need a different size it's a 12 not an 8, and this jumper was an XS. Great for making us normal girls feel good, but if you are on the smaller size you would possibly be a bit swamped. 

The shoes were a fairly recent purchase on my way to Derby as I was told we would be doing a bit of walking and I hadn't packed any practical shoes! These were a bargain at £7 and they are so comfy! I have worn them wondering around cities all day and not had any complaints, I'm not imagining them to last all that long, but I'll make the most of them while they are still in tact! 

Monday 6 June 2011

Book Club

I love reading. Fact. We have been talking a lot about reading at Uni as it's the big topic at the moment in our English lectures and a lot of the people on my course don't seem to read a lot in their own time. I always feel like I can't mention that I constantly have a book by my bed and have been known to read 14 books in 10 days (while on holiday!) I'd say that it must be my age and that not being 18/19 anymore, I must have more time on my hands to read as I'm not going out drinking till 3am 5 nights of the week, but I've always been like this. Reading is just one of my things!

So, as I read so darn much I thought I should keep track of all the books that I read, mainly because it's getting to a stage where people ask 'have you read this' and i honestly can't remember if I have or not! So, dear readers, every time I read a book I will do a little post about said book. Hopefully some of you will think they sound good and will go off to read them yourselves, I'll be like the Richard and Judy of the blogging world!

I warn you not to expect in depth 'War and Peace' type books here, most of the books I read are fairly easy going but I do vary a bit with my genres; from ridiculously easy and trashy chic lit to historical dramas, i'll read pretty much anything if I'm honest!

Also if anyone has read any good books or have seen any they like the look of but haven't had a chance to read then please throw suggestions my way, I'm happy to read them on your behalf and let you know if they are worth a go.

Sunday 5 June 2011

It's been a hard days night...

Afternoon fabulous followers,

I am slightly embarrassed by my recent blogging activity, my last post was the 19th May, it's really quite shocking. Going in to school for my placement as well as having 2 assignments due in on the same day have meant that my time has been taken up by other things and after going slightly insane last week I'm counting down to the 1st July when it will all be over until October!

Anyway, the assignments are in which frees up some time for blogging...much more important and I'm so looking forward to writing up all the ideas that I have floating around in my head.

Last weekend it was our last bank holiday until August (we really need one in early July I think...and maybe one in October?!) and the boyfriend and I went to Manchester to stay with a friend of his. I'd only been there once before and I only saw the place at night, so I was all open for seeing it for real for the first time.

The people we were staying in had a lovely apartment on the outskirts of the city and I am insanely jealous of it! It's in a big old converted mill and had huge high ceiling, exposed brick work and even a thick metal pole/pipe in the middle of the central hallway that all of the rooms come of off. They also have a great selection of 'coffee table' books as well as an impressive selection of travel books as they often go away, this also made me jealous and I have added a few more places to my holiday wish list. I can not wait to finish uni and look for a place of my own and make it look all lovely, something like any of Rachell Ashwell's places would suit me just fine, her work is fantastic!

http://www.shabbychic.com/gallery/interiors-and-exteriors/

Manchester was lovely, but freezing and shame 'o' shame I had forgotten to bring a pashmina scarf...I just had to buy a new one! And as I was so chilly cold the boyfriend couldn't really say no, so here is the latest addition to my ever growing collection:

Scarf: H&M £7.99

detail...all my lovely favourite blue and coral colours

I've not mentioned before but I am a big fan of Rob Ryan his stuff is lovely, he has a collection of 4 dinner plates  that I would love to have mounted on the wall...they are far too pretty to actually use!
Anyway, we were in a shop in Manchester full of lots of lovely random bits an bobs that I could waste all of my money on and the boyfriend surprised me with a little treat! 

My treat...a Rob Ryan water bottle!

I love it, it's so cute and I am looking forward to using it for the first time tomorrow when I go into school. Now all I need is a lunchbox to match!

Hanging up in the background is also the necklace that the boyfriend got me for our anniversary.


It is from a great little range at Urban Outfitters of 'gift card' necklaces. Each of the necklaces has a little charm and comes in an envelope with a notecard, on the notecard is a little note relevant to the charm and normally with a romantic link...mine said 'you are my cup of tea'.

While we were up that way we decided to pop over to Liverpool for the day, why not, eh? I have to say that Liverpool is not anywhere that I've ever really thought about going to and I wasn't all that bothered by the trip over but I thought, well it's something different to do, and I was very impressed! It was a lovely little city, great old buildings, lots to do and the shopping was fab! I'm already trying to arrange a girls weekend away there as there are also lots of places to go to eat and drink and dance. 

We went for a walk along the docks and went to the Beatles museum which was cool (we spent that evening playing Beatles rockband!) went to the Cavern club and listened to a guy playing his guitar and I may have bought another pair of sunglasses...oops! I did a deal with the boyfriend and if I sold an existing pair then I could get the new pair, yay! I am a bit bored of my Ray bans, Ive had them for 3 1/2 years now and although there is nothing wrong with them, I want something different, so they will be going to a new home hopefully! My new ones are from Fossil, I couldnt decide between gold and silver, I am very much a silver girl but decided that gold would be something different and the colour complements all my coral loving at the moment! 



I also picked up these two photo frames in Urban Outfitters as they were doing a 2 for £10 deal, just need to decide what photos to put in them now.


Hope everyone else enjoyed their long weekends!