March Favourites

Can you believe that it is the end of March already? The spring sunshine is trying desperately to make an appearance and now that the clocks have gone back it feels that we are well on our way. Here's a list of my favourites this month!

Music

A couple of songs for you this month - I've realised that Youtube videos are not working from mobile versions of this blog so instead click the artist to link through to the video.  I have just discovered Honne after being told by a friend I should take a listen and Years & Years are just filling my ears with happy sounds.

Honne - Warm on a Cold Night

Years & Years - Real (Original Mix)

Fashion

Can you believe that I haven't really been shopping at all! As I've been losing weight recently I realised that there really wasn't too much point in buying new clothes when the goal is to drop a dress size or two. I did however pick up this maxi dress in the hope that Summer is just round the corner! I love a good maxi dress and I like that this one has a little sleeve even more.

Dorothy Perkins - £16

Home

It is my birthday in a week and my wonderful parents allowed me to open a present early when I popped down to visit them last weekend. They had got me this perfect Stand Mixer which goes beautifully in the kitchen and with its 'Walls Ice-cream' theme is so very retro.

Another early birthday present! This beautiful GIANT mixing bowl. It is just the kind of thing that I love and looks brilliant on display although I am definitely running out of counter space....

Food

Bit of a random one but I just have to put it in here! Leigh bought me a Caramel collection Easter egg this year because, you know, Cara-mel..... Anyway in this Easter egg there happened to contain the single most delicious chocolate bar I have ever tasted. Why on earth have I never tried this before?! Its all over for me. I don't like chocolate but I think I finally get why everyone else likes it if they feel the way about normal chocolate as I do about this:

 Life

This month I have been doing what I should always have been whilst living in London. Being a little bit cultural!

I went to see Die Zauberflote at the Royal Opera House, and attended a showing of Swan Lake the following week via the Live Cinema Screenings that the Royal Opera House organise. It was actually a refreshing way to view the Ballet, for one who cannot afford the stall seats this was such a good way to really see the show. This weekend I went to see 'My Night with Reg' which was fantastic and I laughed the whole way through. I also took my seat in a Choir performance of Handel's Messiah that my friend lent her voice too. It is things like this that I will look back on and think 'At least I made the most of living in this city!'

 Die Zauberflote

Swan Lake

 My Night with Reg

Choir performance

Yet again quite a small favourites post this month but I suppose it makes a difference as I didn't post one for January or February!

C x

Recipe - Hot Cross Buns

With it being Easter next weekend it seemed like the perfect time to bake some of the best things about the end of Lent - Hot Cross Buns.

These beauties have the sticky, curranty, doughy happiness of any shop bought buns but instead you can have the smug satisfaction that they are homemade. It would be a travesty not to eat a couple in a row.....

Click the picture to link through to the video:

A Small Hiatus

Without really meaning to I appear to have taken a little break from blogging. My brain is struggling to work as of late and I am finding that it is dried up and pulls zero inspiration from anything productive or even fun.

Even now I am not really writing this with any idea in mind other than the fact that I feel I have been neglectful which just won't do. I am also currently toying with the idea of just producing a baking/cooking blog as most of my posts now-a-day's seem to be about food. However I am loathe to drop the hauls, favourites and other chatty bits as I enjoy writing them.

So in Cara's life recently, the following has happened:

• I've lost over a stone after some serious calorie counting and a different attitude to the whole thing. I've still got some to go but...progress. This also means I have dropped a dress size which means more shopping
• I have been asked to stay on at my job for another few months, which is very good news because I don't actually mind going in every day even if it is a bitch of a commute
• We have re-signed to our house for another year which means no moving/packing and this will be our third year in the house which is a record for me as before I seemed to move every 2 seconds
• I am only TWO, yes two, essays away from completing my English Literature degree after a six year hard slog
• My brother and girlfriend got engaged which is the loveliest news in the world and means I will soon have a sister-in-law 
• I am getting more excited than ever about Glastonbury in less than 100 days, and will be praying for sunshine as we get closer

I'd say that in the grand scheme of things, it's all looking pretty great right now, especially with spring just around the corner bringing my birthday along with it. I'm coming to terms with the fact I will be 27 slowly, but with a good feeling.

I will try harder to bring more blog posts to the table. I think I had a small slump as I wondered in fact if anyone at all was reading but I was cheered by a chance meeting with someone I had only meet once before on a night out. She greeted me by shouting 'Pourable Sunshine!' which made me feel very sunshiney indeed.

If you haven't already do go and have a look at Pourable Sunshine's Cookery channel. We put some time into the video's and would love to know if there is anything you would like to see being baked.

And that's all really - I now have a guilt-free conscience and you have a little something to read on a Wednesday afternoon. It's a Win-Win really.

C x

Lesser Spotted London

A little look around at some of the history right on London's doorstop! We ventured out to soak up some of the secret bits of London that you might walk past on a daily basis. Let me know in the comments if you know any more!

Click on the picture to link through...

C x