Chocolate-brownie-fudge-cake-thing- Hey I baked!

I'm not sure what category this post would fit into. Recipe? Maybe. Although,I think it may be just me being a little too smug about a sudden baking urge!

I love cake, probably a little too much, which is why I randomly though on Sunday night- 

'Hey, why not make cupcakes?'

I used the Channel 4 Plain Cupcakes Recipe  which is extremely easy to follow, even for an amateur such as myself. I also decided on a whim to make them chocolate flavoured...and add fudge pieces. This is where it could have gone horribly wrong and result in a complete waste of cake but no - some how I managed to guess about the right amount of cocoa powder to add to my concoction (50g if you're wondering). I didn't measure the amount of fudge pieces I used, I just kinda' chucked them in (Again, if you're wondering, I used the Silverspoon Cakecraft Mini Fudge Chunks).

As if I hadn't strayed from the recipe enough already, I put the mixture into a cake tin instead of cupcake cases, mainly because the cupcake cases were no where to be seen.

I think it stayed in the oven for about 15 minutes-ish. If in doubt just poke a metal skewer into the middle - if it comes out clean (or near enough if you like a gooey cake) then, hey presto, it's done!

I think it could look a bit more appetising..

This is the best picture I could get, I was a hungry girl with a chocolate cake in front of me, did you really think  it would last that long? In fact it only lasted a day after my family had tried some.

So there we have it. Odd, random post? Check. I think The Great British Bake Off has 'inspired' me to get out the mixing bowl and see what else I can create. This should be interesting...

Autumn Bucket List

I saw this on Imogen's Blog Eloquence and Flair and thought it was a great idea!

Image: Weheartit

I take back what I've said before. I want Autumn to hurry up! I'm really, really, looking forward to everything Autumn has to offer - crisp mornings and an excuse to wear chunky jumpers, big boots, in fact Autumn fashion is really exciting me this year! I don't know what's changed my mind, a week or two ago I was having some serious separation issues with summer as this year it was amazing. 

Here are a few things I'm determined to do this season.

1.Be Lazy Whenever I get the chance I can guarantee I will be spending all day in bed, wrapped up in a blanket watching films and drinking hot chocolate. Even the thought is making me want to run upstairs and snuggle under the duvet.

Image: Weheartit

2. Go to Starbucks I seem to be the only person in the world who hasn't been to the 'amazing' Starbucks and by the sounds of it I'm missing out. I'm not a coffee drinker so I think I may just go for the odd hot chocolate or maybe I might just go for it and try a coffee. Whoa, living life on the edge here!

3. Start reading again I am the worst person for reading. I used to read all the time, I've even whizzed through a book in a matter of days! But alas, technology has distracted me. I have a stack of books just waiting to be read including the last few pages of A Fault in Our Stars. Yep, the one I started a few months ago. I've been putting off finishing it because I love it so much (there's logic in there, I swear).

If you have any recommendations please let me know :)

Image: WeHeartit

4.There will be pamper evenings galore! In the summer I find I can't enjoy pamper evenings, I feel guilty for wasting the sunshine but now the days are becoming shorter and shorter so no more guilt! I tell you now, so much money will be spent on Lush bath time goodies, nail polishes and face masks!

5. Actually do something for Halloween I'm a bit past the age now for Trick or Treating but I want to do more than just hand out sweets to children at the door. The next month will be spent dropping hints to my friends about a Halloween party as I would never in a million years be allowed to host one. Boo! (pun not intended)

Hopefully, one by one, they will all be checked off of the list. I can't wait for Autumn to properly begin.

What are you planning to do this Autumn?

Fashion Union Monochrome Wishlist

Hi everyone, today I'm posting about a new online clothing love of mine - Fashion Union. There is a competition running with Fashion Union and etail PR but this isn't an entry, if you are part of etail PR then you might of recieved an email earlier in the week but if not, check out this post http://bit.ly/199X4ST

Cream Slub Heart Jumper//White Crepe Heart Print Sleeveless Top//White USA Flag Burnout Vest//Grey Jersey Dream Girl Graphic Tee//Black Curved Brim Bowler Hat//Black Chelsea Boot//Black Pleated Back Blouse//Grey Chunky Knit Marl Jumper with Long Sleeve

I spent ages scrolling through the Fashion Union Website and finally whittled it down to these 8 items. Gone is summer and with it all the bright, colourful clothes. I find that as the months get colder, clothes get duller which may not always be a good thing. But to put a positive spin on it - black and white goes with almost everything! Simple, bold and always in style.

I've chosen some tops that would look great on their own or worn with a snugly cardigan as, let's face it, it's starting to get a bit chilly. I love how the leather-look sleeves add something extra to the Dream Girl Tee. I'm also really into bold prints at the minute like the hearts on the Jumper and Sleeveless Top and I think if different colours were used there is a risk of them looking tacky or just not as good. I'm obsessed with boots at the minute, I already have 2 pairs and Autumn has barley started! This pair is still simple but gorgeous! 

What's your favourite clothing brand?x

Thanks Kathryn! | Flora Crest Designs

If you've been subscribed to me for a while then I'm sure you would of noticed a difference on my blog. 

Ever since I first subscribed to Kathryn's blog, Effie, I was completely in love with her blog design. How gorgeous is her blog? Amazing, right?! 
I know my blog design has been like this for a few weeks but I wanted to wait for....

Flora Crest Designs to open!

Kathryn now has her own blog design shop! For brilliant prices, she offers a lot from social media buttons to the full blog design and there are even some lovely premade headers in the 'Shop' section.

"When I first saw Kathryn's blog I had real blog envy! So when I saw that she offered a blog design service I had to email her! I didn't really know how I wanted my blog designing but within a few days she had already designed a beautiful header! It only took just over a week to have the whole thing sorted! It has been a pleasure working with her and she is definitely the person I go to will all my tech-y troubles. I can't recommend Kathryn enough and for such a great price I can't see a reason why someone wouldn't want her designing their blog!"  
-taken from my testimonial on the 'Portfolio' page where you can see many other beautiful Flora Crest designs. 


Make sure you go and check out her blog and the Flora Crest Design Shop!

And thank you to Kathryn for my blog design, I love it!
What do you think of her designs? x

Winter Wear Wishlist

I have a complete soft spot for knitted clothing, mostly jumpers and cardigans. They're just so snugly and comforting in the colder months when all I want to do is sit in front of our (fake) fire, wrapped in a blanket with a hot chocolate. Just the thought is putting me in the winter mind set and I feel like I should be planning out Christmas gifts.

Shops are starting to bring in their Autumn and Winter clothing now which only sets off another wishlist for me. Luckily my birthday is only 3 months away.

1/New Look

2/New Look

3/New Look

4/New Look

5/New Look

6/H&M

I did see loads one or two more that I loved but restricted myself. If only I had this kind of self control in Boots.

What's your favourite thing about Autumn?

xx

Summer Stuff

This post is a collaboration with Rachael from A is For Ayla and Jessica from Jessica's Journal- two lovely girls who I've loved working with. Their blogs are brilliant as well so go check them out! 

Rachael is a real tech whiz when it comes to blogging and I cannot wait to read her future Layout Tips and Tricks posts. I love finding out new ways to improve my blog's appearance!

Jessica - I am so jealous of all that gorgeous make up and beauty products she has shown on her blog! Jessica's Journal is a definite must read for all of you cosmetic addicts out there!

For me, this summer has been a big one in terms of beauty. My collection of cosmetics has grown a lot over the last few months and I have found so many products I have loved. It was difficult to narrow it down to one item per category (I may have cheated on one or two).

Here are my favourite finds and things of summer this year. Hope you enjoy

My skincare product is a bit of a recent buy but it has definitely blown me away! 

L'Oréal Skin Perfection Purifying Micellar Water - £3.33

I have been after a Micellar water for so long, ever since the start of the Bioderma hype. As Bioderma is a French brand it is quite difficult to get a hold of here in the UK, and even when you do find it it's pretty pricey after shipping to England so when I saw L'Oréal had recently bought out a Micellar water, I jumped at the chance! L'Oréal Skin Perfecting Purifying Micellar Water is meant to remove make up and impurities. It may take a few cotton pads but, wow, it really does remove every bit of make up from foundation to lipstick and water proof mascara with out any hassle! And I have also noticed my skin clearing up slightly since I have started using this. I've got a full review coming soon so watch out for that.



Now for my favourite body product of the season.



Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturising Lotion - £1.50
I could have gone for something more luxurious than a moisturiser but I couldn't leave this little gem out. I mentioned this briefly in a previous post but, again, I won't go into loads of detail as I'm reviewing this soon as well. I cannot express how much I love this product. If you have a problem with dry skin, especially eczema, then I beg you to buy this. £1.50 isn't much for a skin miracle. This has completely gotten rid of my eczema that I have had for as long as I can remember, it's worked better than every prescription cream I've tried and I don't think I will ever be able to go without this it!



L'Oréal Matt and Messy: Salt Spray - £3.75
This year has seen the release of Salt Sprays. Even tough I already had the Toni&Guy one, I bought this. I love using this when my hair is wavy or curly and sometimes when it's in a ponytail to add a bit more life into it. The smell it something I was a bit unsure of at first but now I love it! Added bonus - it hasn't made my hair greasy quicker at all.

Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer - £3.33
My favourite face product or 'base make up' has been the Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration for Normal and Combination Skin. I use this instead of a moisturiser and it does the job perfectly of not only moisturising but leaves my skin smooth and a perfect base for my make up. The formula is quite thin and almost runny but it has lasted me for quite a while and I will be repurchasing. 


       

No7 Exceptional Definition Nutrient Enriched Mascara
My favourite make up product has been this No7 Mascara. It's a bit old but still good enough for use. I found this at the back of my make up drawer and thought 'why not give it a go?' i holds a curl exceptionally (eh?eh?) well and really volumises my lashes. It also lasted all day with out going all crumbly. Unfortunately I think this has been discontinued as I could not find it on the Boots website.



Topshop Nail Polish in Gone Fishing - £5
This colour is amazing for summer. I wouldn't usually go for a green nail polish but I saw this on the stand and fell in love with it. It's the perfect pastel green, it goes on really well and lasts for ages as well. Another good one is Pool Party by Topshop. It's a gorgeous light blue but I don't own it - I just used it at my friend's but it is at the top of my list for my next Topshop visit.


 


Dress £19.99 New Look
Bag £7.99 New Look

New Look has probably been my favourite shop this summer, it's had some lovely dresses, skirts, tops..everything really. Now, they're are starting to bring some Autumn stuff in but clothing from this outfit should still be in stock. I have loved this dress so, so much - it's a pink lace dress with a flowery kind of pattern on the lace. It has t-shirt sleeves and an underskirt that comes up to the chest. For me, it's the perfect summer dress.

I have had such a brilliant summer this year, here are some of my favourite moments because I just couldn't leave it at just one

-My school prom. Although 2 of my friends decided not to go it was an amazing night and I've kind of considered it one last big night with my friends before we go off to separate schools. Even though I wasn't that keen on my dress compared to other people's and I lost my voice within about an hour I had so much fun and I don't think I will ever forget it.

-My Holiday - I went to Menorca for a week with my Dad, Step-mum, Step-sister and Step-brother. The whole week was brilliant but my favourite moment has to be when all 5 of us sat outside eating dinner. Even though we have mosquitoes constantly flying around us we had some great conversations, laughed A LOT and finished it with playing Heads Up (it's an app and oh my god, it's hilarious!) 

To finish off - something I'm looking forward to. 
I'm looking forward to what will happen for this blog. It may take a while but over the past few months it has been slowly growing and I have spoken to some lovely people because of it. 

I'm also looking forward to Christmas. I love spending time with family and as I have a massive family it's one of my favourite times of the year. Loads of us crammed around a table eating, talking, whatever. I love Christmas, just not the cold.

Sorry if this post was a bit long but it has been fun writing it and working with Rachael and Jessica. 
Be sure to check out their posts!
 Hope you enjoyed reading it.

What have you been loving over the summer? 
xx

The Best Brownies I Have Ever Had

Today's post is another recipe. I have made these brownies a few times and they have turned out great every time! They are honestly the best ones I have ever had.

You will need

-200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

-175g unsalted butter

-325g caster sugar

-130g plain flour

-3 eggs

-Baking tray lined with grease proof paper
-You can add nuts if you want but I prefer them without

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3

2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water)

3. Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and stir until well incorporated.

4. Add the flour and stir until well incorporated.

5. Finally, stir until in the eggs and mix until thick and smooth.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake in a preheated oven for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the brownies are flaky on top but soft in the centre.



And that's it! Tell me what you think in the comments if you made them. If you don't you'll be missing out
xx

Music to my Ears #3

Over the past month or so I've found a few songs that I've fallen in love with and I'm sure you will too. Some of these have even featured as my 'Song of the Day', when I've been able to update it.

Bastille - Things We Lost in the Fire

These are the things. The things we lost. The things we lost in the fire, fire, fiiiirrreee.
I am a big fan of Bastille, I think I first heard this song on TV. The other week I heard it playing while shopping in River Island and it was so hard not to sing along.

Disclosure - F for You

This isn't my usual type of music but I just find it so damn catchy! I love the video as well, actually seeing them (kind of) play this kind of music 'live' if that makes sense?

Jake Bugg - Broken

Oh..my..goodness. Is this song not perfection? It gave me a slight chill when I first heard it and I can definitely fallen in love with it. Jake Bugg's voice is amazing and relaxes me so much in this song.

Two Door Cinema Club - Handshake

Yep, the video is a but odd. 'Severed head bowling, anyone?'. But, again, such a catchy song that was on repeat a lot. 'She said the devil will want you back'

Mumford and Sons - Babel

I do love a bit of Mumford and Sons. I was exciting to see that they'd released a new song and 'Babel' definitely lived up to the mark. This was a song that kept popping up on the music channels when I was packing up my room. Needless to say it was played a lot on full blast.

And last but not least
The Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know

This is easily one of my favourite songs of this list. For some reason, this song doesn't come up in the results when I search for it on my phone's YouTube app. So because I don't really go on Youtube on my laptop, I thought the song wasn't on YouTube and had to wait for it to come up on the music channels. I now know every word...
Another amazing song by the Arctic Monkeys is R U Mine. Please listen to it!

What songs have been your favourites recently?
xx

Summer Dessert

A few weeks ago when I was in Menorca, my dad and step-mum ordered a dessert at the restaurant we were eating at - Kiwi, honey and cream. It's as simple as that. They loved it so much they decided to recreate it at home to show us what we missed out on.

You will need

-kiwis - we had 1/2 a kiwi per person 

-*if you don't like kiwis most fruits will work just as well

-double cream - there isn't really a specific amount, just use as much as you'd like

-*of course if you don't have enough time or you really don't want to have to whisk the cream up, use cream from an aerosol can but it isn't as good

-honey

1. Cut up the kiwis into slices. Arrange them in a circle on a plate.

2. Pour the cream into a bowl and whisk to make whipped cream. I recommend using an electrical whisk for this unless you want aching arms

3. Put a dollop of cream in the centre of the 'kiwi circle'

4. Pour a small amount of honey over the top 

5. If you want, you can pour some extra double cream over the top as well

And that's it. Such a simple dessert, delicious and easy. We certainly all loved it.

Would you try this recipe out?

xx

Music to my ears #2

If you hadn't noticed I have added a little bit of writing to the right, my 'Song of the Day', which basically I update daily try to update whenever I can or whenever there's another song that I love, which can be every day although I have been known to play a song to death from the moment I hear it.

Here's some songs I've been loving recently...and there are a lot!

Frank Turner - The Way I Tend To Be (link here)

Recovery (link here)

Noah and the Whale - There will come a time (link here)

Imagine Dragons - Demons (link here)

 It's Time (link here)

On Top of the World (link here)

One Republic (link here)

The Lumineers - Ho Hey (link here)

Stubborn Love (link here)

Flowers in Your Hair (link here)

Flowers in Your Hair has been on repeat pretty much non stop. It's strongly in my top 10 favourite songs, I just wish it was a longer song.

I think I might make 'Music to my ears' a regular blog feature, just as a culmination of recent 'song of the day's. What do you think?

What songs have you been loving recently?

xx

Music to my ears #1 (link here)

Rainy days and Mondays

Where has the spring weather gone? The past week or so it has been lovely and sunny and warm everyday, I actually thought the weather was starting to improve and it was actually going to stay warm. But no. British weather doesn't work that way.

Saturday was filled with constant rain and hail and hail and rain. It was the kind of weather where you stepped outside for a few seconds you would be soaked head to toe. So I decided the rest of the day would be better spent inside, curled up on the sofa under my big fluffy blanket in front of the fire and reading my book and a few blogs. Perfect.

Sunday, the weather was..better..but still pretty gloomy so, again, I retreated to the sofa and watched 3 of my favourite films - Les Miserables, Pitch Perfect and In Time. On top of that, my dad made burgers. I don't know what he puts in them but oh my god they're delicious. I'd choose home-made over McDonalds any day!

To be honest, if I'm actually inside and out of the cold, I find the rain pretty relaxing. Just the sound of it pattering against the windows can send me off to sleep at night or just relax and de-stress me completely.

Just so you know, I've had 'Rainy days and Mondays always get me dowwnn' in my head for the whole time I was writing this post. 

How was your weekend?

xx

When in Devon..

Devon (in the south of England) may not seem like the most glamorous place to some but to me, I don't really care where it is. When ever I go on holiday with my family I always have a good time whether it's abroad in sunny Spain or in an English seaside town even if it rains.

Just a warning: I went a little camera happy so there's quite a few photos but it's such a beautiful place, why should that matter?

This was the view from where we were staying. Who doesn't love a sea-view?

My lovely nephew making the most of the beach

Me and my step-brother took a walk along a public footpath and ended up climbing down a really steep hill for a better view at the sea. Probably wasn't the best idea as I ended up slipping a few times and got a bit muddy in the process, haha.

Luckily, the weather was quite good over the weekend and some  even got a bit sun burnt! This mini-holiday' has made me even more excited for summer and has reminded me how much I love travelling, although spending 4 1/2 hours in a car isn't ideal it was still worth it. I love Devon!

Have you been anywhere recently? 

xx

I do love to be beside the seaside!

I love holidays! The majority of holidays I have had were in Somerset in England with my mum's side of the family . The 5 or 6 times we went, 9 of us spent a week almost right next to the beach. We stopped going when I was about 7, I think, but these holidays are still some of my favourite memories.

Playing outside with my older cousin for hours, spending evenings in a nearby small theme park, riding the small train that drove around the whole resort - which easily took half an hour at least - just for the fun of it and just generally spending time with my family.
Oh - running off to play on the small climbing frame near to where we were staying....without telling anyone. Needless to say, my parents weren't happy. 
Whoops.

And on Friday I'm going to Dorset for 3 days with my dad and step-family. I can't wait! Even if it probably won't be very warm it still means spending time with my family by the sea.

Where is your favourite place to go on holiday?
xx

Oh, hi spring

Even though spring officially started over a week ago, today has been the only day so far that it hasn't rained, snowed (yes, it snowed in march) or been all gloomy and horrible and the sun has been out. It may not of been very warm but the sun definitely put me in a good mood :)

Music to my ears

Just some songs I have been playing non-stop over the past few days :)

The Arctic Monkeys - Baby I'm Yours

What a cute song? Aw

Of Monsters and Men Mountain Sound

And this one just puts me in a good mood, haha

Nina Nesbitt - Stay Out

Nina Nesbitt - The Apple Tree