June Favourites

The sun is shining and it's been a very happy month. Here are some things I've been loving in June.

Music

Clean Bandit's new album - New Eyes - is a brilliant summer album filled with lots of tracks that Clean Bandit fans will know plus some new fun tunes that evoke a sense of summer spirit.My favourite tracks are Telephone Banking and Come Over.

I am also loving this track from Budapest by George Ezra

Books

I have just started reading The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon and it's as funny as the reviews say. It's current and about a girl who's my age who lives in London so what's not to love! I've been buying quite a few books recently for my summer holidays and am planning on doing a Summer Holiday book review soon.

Food/Drink

I have been loving ginger this month. Ginger Beer, Ginger Cider, Ginger with rum. It is most definitely my drink of the summer.

I had to work an event this month and there was the nicest man there selling his jams and chutneys. They are all homemade and very, very good. I got these two, but I might have to get in touch and try to order some of the BBQ marinade as well. You can have a look at the other's here

Home

I've not really been home shopping this month but I did pick up some silicon cupcake cases and I am never going back. I'm not even sure how I have gone this long without owning any!

Life

I went home for the first time in 6 months this month! I should see my parents more than I do really since they are only an hour away but it was lovely to spend the day at home in the garden having a BBQ and a chat. I am loving the fact that we will also get to see them on our holiday!

Fashion

You can find a list of all my new favourite fashion bits on my Pay Day Haul post!

I also popped into Primark and picked up a few items including a whole heap of amazing summer nails!

C xxx

Honey and Pistachio Cakes - Recipe

Ingredients

175g butter
175g  icing sugar
50g self raising flour
100g ground almonds
100g pistachios, finely chopped
5 egg whites
75g clear honey

 Method to the Madness

Preheat the oven to 200c/gas 6/fan 180c.

Pop the butter in the microwave and blitz until melted and put to one side.

Sieve the flour and sugar into a bowl before adding the almonds and 85g of the pistachios and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites to a soft foam. Add the egg to the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter and 2tbsp of the honey and gently fold until combined.

Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases (I used my new silicone ones! I'm never going back).

Bake in the over for around 15 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before drizzling the remaining honey over the cakes and scattering the pistachios on top. When you finally cram them in your mouth you will find the salt and sweet go so well together and it will be hard to not eat them all.

C xxx

 

Thoughtful Thursday

Reading ~ Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Loving ~ that I have a day off tomorrow. Long Weekend!

Wearing ~ A midi pink skirt and black top

Anticipating ~ Playing Sims all day tomorrow

Eating ~ Golden Grahams

Drinking ~ Tea

Wishing for ~ 5pm so I can get home

Craving ~ Toast and honey

Listening to ~ Sing - Ed Sheeran

Wondering ~ what it would be like to be a lady of leisure

Watching ~ the clock tick

Learning ~ that nothing beats sitting down

Searching ~ for more holiday clothes

Planning ~ what to do with my long weekend

Trying ~ not to think about the fact I'm not at Glastonbury

C xxx

The Perfect World

Do you ever get that feeling that everyone’s is having a bigger, brighter, more fantastic life that you are?

As a blogger and an avid blog reader I have read about so many other people’s lives and it’s sometimes hard to remember that what they are showing you and the image that they are portraying is one of perfection of their own making. Now don’t get me wrong – some of the blogs that I read, I really do think that their life is like that. Especially the lucky ones that are able to blog full time and are endorsed and sponsored to travel to far off places and go to amazing social events but the majority (I like to think deep down) are just a normal people.

I sometimes wonder what the image of me is. I like to think that I come off as a cool fun adult who lives in London, who hangs out with her close group of friends and goes to fun events, whilst maintaining my full time job and gaining a degree, all the while cooking and balancing a mixing bowl on one hip and sipping a drink with the other hand. Or maybe people just think I’m really boring, pretentious and they wish I would stop posting my blog columns on facebook and clogging up their newsfeed.

The thing is, the reason that I really keep the blog, is because it is a way to keep a diary of everything. Having failed spectacularly at keeping a handwritten one past my 22^nd birthday I now find that this is the best way to remember everything that I have done. I’m not going to lie, this is the whole point to this post – I do sometimes sit there and count my followers and wish that I had thousands of followers who hung on to my every word but I know that at least 40 people read my columns when I post them and that makes me happy (One of my posts reached 100 views the other day which made me smile lots!).     

It’s just so easy to portray a lifestyle that you want people to see on the internet. The amount of times that I have posted about something, and told a little white lie just to make it sound like I know what I’m talking about, before my friends – the ones who were there with me – call me out on it. Sometimes I’m not even aware I’m doing it! Photographs are the other easy thing to fake. The right light, angle and background can make the double chin disappear and the face seem radiant.  It is the same with pictures around the house. Look at my perfect tidy house, it is always this way with no mess at all…

Oh no wait……
 

We live in a world and a culture where everyone is always trying to keep this façade of perfect up. I want to know how all these other bloggers find people to take pictures of them as they walk down the street. I know that my friends wouldn't follow me around with a camera, waiting while I posed!  I say this not because I plan on changing it but because I am trying to make my own self aware that this happens so when I see someone else blog about that holiday with the pictures of perfect bliss:

Or the beautifully lit food shots that make your mouth water, I just have to try and remember that they have probably spent an hour trying to get that one shot and they burnt the first batch:

What do you think? Would you prefer to see the messy side of things, rather than the perfect? Would you prefer to hear about the slightly rotund girl who is forgetful, a bit of a bitch, loves a gossip and can’t go a day without eating cheese (hence the rotund-ness). The girl who spends 20 minutes taking pictures of food before she will eat it, and won’t let her boyfriend eat either. The one who much prefers to sit on the sofa watching TV than actually exploring the amazing city she lives in and who tried to cram a year’s worth of revision into 4 days because instead of revising she was baking lemon cakes and getting pissed with her friends.     

I just needed to have a bit of a chat today actually, and this is the most diary like post I’ve done in a long time. Sometimes I just need to sit down and talk. Not that it’s changed anything though – I’m still a bloody jealous person who wishes I could be paid to write a blog and travel the world but I guess sometimes it’s much more preferable to sit at home with the boy and the cat and eat an entire melted camembert with a four pack of cider.

C xxx

Pay Day Mad - Shopping Haul

So as usual pay day has come and I have gone a little bit shopping mad and spent all my money. OOPS :/

I was trying to make myself feel better as it's Glastonbury tomorrow and I am not going for the first time in years and it's making me cry a little bit inside.

It also gives me an excuse to show you all my purchases!

I don't know if I've mentioned but I AM GOING ON HOLIDAY IN 3 WEEKS! It coincides very nicely with Sale season which means I can buy even more things!

Dorothy Perkins

As usual DP manages to drain my bank account...

 Tropical Bird Dress - £12 in the sale - I thought this would be quite nice to throw on over a bikini

 

Port Cami Maxi Dress - £10 in the sale - I love the colour of this dress and you can never have enough maxi dresses

 

Tropical Printed Skirt - £10 in the sale - Nothing screams HOLIDAY like a tropical print

 

 

Rose Palazzo Trousers - £20 in the sale - These are the most beautiful trousers in the whole entire world. I'm doing to wear them with a light blue cami top.

 

Hawaian Joggers - £24 - Are these a bit loud? I couldn't decide if they were fantastic or a bit much!

 

 

George - Asda

 

I have never shopped in George before but when I was reading the Metro this morning they were advertising a lovely fringed white lace kimono which is just what I've been after. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same idea as by the time I went to buy it they had sold out of my size HOWEVER I found some other gorgeous things.

 

Floral Full Midi Skirt - £14 - I love floral and I love midi length so this is perfect!

Swimsuit - £6 - Perhaps not the most exciting but you can't beat a plain black swimsuit sometimes



 



Moda Floral Maxi Skirt - £14 - Another floral skirt, I sense a theme.... 

 

 

Swimsuit - £12 - This is a lot of fun and very colourful. George had quite a few nice swimwear bits in 

 

New Look

 

With over 100 kimonos available at the moment New Look is where you want to be for all your kimono needs. I finally found a white fringed one here after the disappointment of George.

 

Cream Lace Tassal Kimono - £16.99 - I just love kimonos, they are perfect for throwing over a swimsuit at the pool

White Gladiator Sandals - £17.99 - A summer essential!

 

That's it for now but I need to have a quick look in Primark at the weekend to get some 'essential' bits ie. cheap cami tops.

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I bought, and try not to judge me too harshly for spending all this money - I am in a whole heap of sadness due to my absense from Glasto 2014. I know what will cheer me up......I still haven't been to ASOS, H&M or Zara!

 

C xxx



Thoughtful Thursday

Reading ~ The Lie by Helen Dunmore

Loving ~ my freedom

Wearing ~ A green dress and kimono. It's cold today!

Anticipating ~ Seeing my parents for the first time in 4 months

Eating ~ Trifle

Drinking ~ Water

Wishing for ~ My holiday to hurry up and get here

Craving ~ Ginger Cider

Listening to ~ Lana del Rey - West Coast

Wondering ~ How many calories are in trifle

Watching ~ the grey clouds rolling in

Learning ~ that I should go to bed before midnight otherwise I'm shattered!

Searching ~ for some energy to get through the day

Planning ~ a trip to Thailand next April

Trying ~ to convince myself that exercise isn't that painful and that I should do it

C xxx

Thoughtful Thursday

Reading ~ The One by Keira Cass

Loving ~ The sunshine

Wearing ~ The skirt from my May Favourites and cami top

Anticipating ~ The weekend

Eating ~ A banana

Drinking ~ Apple juice

Wishing for ~ More money to buy holiday clothes

Craving ~ Peri-peri chicken

Listening to ~ New Eyes - Clean Bandit's new album

Wondering ~ How to change a bad habit

Watching ~ funny GoT gifs

Learning ~ that I have bad habits

Searching ~ for the best type of mosquito repelent

Planning ~ where to visit when we go on holiday

Trying ~ to think of an excuse to leave work early so I can enjoy the sunshine

C xxx

Happy in the Sun

I have just been in such a good mood recently!

I am going to put this all down to the fact that I have finished Uni for the year and now I can start to enjoy summer without feeling like I should be revising or reading another nineteenth century novel.

I think my exam went ok....I probably could have done a bit better and I didn't come out of there feeling that confident, given that I forgot one of the critics I needed to remember, but trying to learn 17 of them is quite tricky, especially when you only leave 4 days to cram as much in as possible.  I figure that even if I have to retake I've still only got one more year left before it is all over and I have a degree! So looking forward to that!

There is just something about having a window open in the summer with the blue sky outside and a cool breeze floating through (with the sound of the Wallace and Gromit theme tune being played on the trumpet), this is about as close as I am going to get to summer with work every day but it is enough for now!

I am loving being able to plan my holiday which is in almost a month, read books that don't make me think too hard, catch up on all my tv shows, eat burgers, sip down some ginger cider and get a tan.



I've got a few blog posts that I want to cover and now Uni is over I can also spend more time writing, so I want to try and make several features. I have just introduced my Thoughtful Thursday and for a while now I have been trying to post a recipe on a Sunday, but I think I should be posting about 3 times a week so that's the aim!

Work is good, Friends are good, Home is good, Love is good, Life is bloody good!

I hope that you are just as happy :)

C xxx

Sausage, Bacon, Chicken and Sundried Tomato Roll - Recipe

Ingredients

1 large skinless chicken breast
3 rashers of bacon
3 sausages
6 sundried tomatoes
1 pack of pre-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp mixed herbs
1 garlic clove
25g sesame seed

Method to the madness

Take the skin off the sausages and drop the meat into a food processor along with the chicken, bacon, sundried tomatoes and mixed herbs, with some salt and pepper seasoning. Whizz it for a few minutes until combined.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface and cut in half length ways. Spread the meat out along one half, leaving a 2cm gap around the outside.

Brush the edge with the beaten egg and then place the other half of the pastry on top. Press around the outside with a fork to seal and cut a few slits across the top.

Heat the overn to 200c/180 fan/gas 6. Place the roll on some baking paper, brush with more egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds before popping into the oven for 20 mins, until golden brown.

 This is so tasty, hot or cold and with a salad on the side. Enjoy!

C xxx

My thoughts are temporarily unavailable

Thoughtful Thursday is taking a break today as I am due to go into my exam in 2 hours and lets face it my only thought at this time is 'Ahhhhhh!'

Hopefully it will be fine and I will be able to retain everything I have memorised. One of those photographic memories would come in handy though! After today I will also be able to stop going on about the same thing, I sound a bit like a broken record at the moment.

Anyway wish me luck!

C xxx

Street Feast

This weekend my friends and I hopped on some public transport and made our way over to Dalston for the much anticipated Street Feast.

Street Feast is a food and drink event that takes place in the evening (5-12pm) and has a variety of different 'restaurants' and a couple of bars that serve pint sized cocktails, ciders, wine, ales and beer. If you arrive before 7pm it's free entry and after 7pm it's £3.

As soon as you walk through the gates you are hit by the aroma of delicious grub, a lively atmosphere and a unique setting. There are seats, tables and fire pits spread throughout the open air venue (although there are covered sections).

The biggest challenge was deciding what to eat!

There' s a Pizza Pilgrims Pizzeria, a B.O.B's Lobster shack selling clam bake and Lobster Mac & Cheese and Smokestak pumping out the glorious smell of barbecued meat.

If you fancy Indian you only have to look as far as Rola Wala and Spit & Roast has you covered for all your Pulled Pork needs. In my eyes the piece de resistance was the appearance of Anne Mae's Mac & Cheese, which I first tried last year at Glastonbury and have been a worshipper of ever since.

Four different Bars sort out the thirst you will have worked up from all the food and you can either try the Gin Store and Cocktail shed or sample the cider from the pop up stall.

There are several different areas to the venue including a lovely area upstairs which is covered in pretty decoration and offers a view on the festivites.

As the evening drew in we sat and chatted surrounded by the bright lights of the Yard.

We had a brilliant time, we ate lots and drank more. It is currently running for 20 consecutive weeks in Dalston Yard from the 16th May - 27th September so if you are in London pop along because any excuse to eat scrumptious food is a good idea!

C xxx