Recent Downloads and New Discoveries - Banks, Jack Garrett, FKA Twigs & Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift (really loving her right now) - Blank Space & Shake It Off

FKA Twigs - Two Weeks, Pendulum & Lights Off

Jack Garratt (this guy's voice is amazing! You have to give him a listen) - Water, Worry, I Couldn't Want You Anyway & Remnants

José González - Stay Alive, This Is How We Walk on the Moon & Step Out

Banks - Goddess (this whole album... I paid money for it, and I've only done that for Beyonce before!)

Wanklemut & Emma Louise - My Head is a Jungle (MK Radio Edit)

Jess Glynne - Right Here

xo

Q & A a Day: 5-Year Journal

I would love to keep a journal, and I try it every year but never really make it past March. This Q and A a day, 5-year journal really caught my eye as something a little different and something that might be easier to keep doing.

Firstly, how gorgeous is it!? I love the design on the front cover, I think it looks really classic and elegant, and this theme continues inside. Also, the edges of the pages are gold! Gold! They're so reflective you can even see me taking the photo above. I love it, it's really unusual and gives the book quite a luxurious feel. 

The journal dedicates a day to each page, at the top of which is a question; these range from simple questions such as, "How did you start your day?" and "What was the last restaurant you went to?", to more thought-provoking ones such as "What's your mission?" and "Can people change?". It has a few lines for you to you to write an answer, next to which you can mark the year, and (being a 5-year journal), there are 5 places for you to do this. 

So far I'm doing really well with it, filling it in every night before bed, and I'm loving it. I like seeing what the questions are going to be each day and it gives you a moment to reflect. It's exciting thinking about how my answers may differ next year, let alone in 5 years time! I would definitely recommend this journal to anyone who likes the idea of keeping a diary but wants something a bit different.

You can purchases it from Amazon here.

Do any of you guys keep diaries or anything like this question a day journal? 

xo 

My Goals For 2015 | New Year's Resolutions & SMART Targets

I love making new years resolutions, I often set resolutions for myself throughout the year, however the start of a new year is a really good time to assess what you want to improve in your life, and make resolutions to achieve that. This year, i've decided to look at things a bit differently - I'll be setting goals and targets for myself, instead of making resolutions. I don't mean to sound pedantic, but I do think there is a genuine and significant difference between 'goals' and 'resolutions'.

Did you ever have to do SMART targets in college? I know I did, and they seemed like such a pain at the time, but looking at it now I can see that they're actually a really useful and effective tool in setting targets. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Timely (within a time frame). I shall be setting goals for myself this way, so instead of having one of my resolutions to simply be 'read more books', I'm going to set myself the target of reading one new book a month. That way I have a specific target - one new book - within a specific time frame - each month. It's easy to measure and in my view one book a month is an attainable and realistic goal. Do you see what I mean?

Read More Books

Read at least one new book each month. 

I know I don't read enough, I love reading but I never make the time for it. Almost every year I tell myself 'read more' but its never been specific enough to actually make a difference. I think reading one new book a month is a good goal that I can stick too. My reading list so far includes Thursdays in the Park by Hilary Boyd, The Mouseproof Kitchen by Saira Shah, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Yes Please by Amy Poehler, amongst many many others. Ideally I'd like to start reviewing the books I read too, but we'll see about that, one step at a time.

Sleep Earlier, Rise Earlier

In bed by 11, asleep by midnight. Out of bed before 9.30, ideally before 9.

I often find myself staying up late for no reason, especially living away from home, I find I easily lose track of time and end up watching YouTube videos until 1am. Then I'll sleep in the next morning until 11 or 12 and be angry at myself for wasting the morning. However, you get into a routine, and the following night I wont be tired until 1am again, and so the vicious cycle continues. I want to get into a good routine this year. I know that the earlier I go to sleep, the earlier I can get up. I enjoy being up early, but I enjoy my sleep too and I'm the type of person who needs at least 8 hours to function properly. So this year, other than nights out and a well deserved lie in here and there, normally I want to be in bed by 11, asleep by 12. And in the morning I want to be up and out of bed by 9.30, ideally by 9am. 

Study More

At least 1 hour of work 6 days a week. 

Study more, or get better at doing uni work seems to be another resolution that I set every year. So again, this year I making a specific goal for myself - to do at least 1 hour of study 6 out of 7 days of the week. Easily attainable and realistic right? We'll see.

Try New Recipes 

Try at least 1 new recipe each month.

I love food, and I really do enjoy cooking. I love watching cooking programs and reading cooking books, and I always tell myself I'm going to try all these delicious looking recipes, but unfortunately I can be very lazy, and often tend to stick to things that are easy, and things that I know well. But i do really want to expand my repertoire and improve my cooking skills. So again, we have a SMART target - 1 new recipe per month. To me that's very realistic (considering my laziness) and should be attainable. New recipes and dishes are another thing I'd like to post about on here, but I need to actually get cooking them first!

Become More Flexible in Yoga 

Achieve putting my heels down in 'down dog', and being able to hold my feet in 'deep forward fold'. 

'Get more flexible' is another one that seems to be constantly on my resolution list. I've recently started doing yoga fairly regularly (2-3 times a week, something that I'm loving and aiming to continue) and these two poses are two that I particularly want to achieve. They're only small goals, nothing particularly spectacular about putting your heels down in down dog, but they still represent big achievements for me. I would rather start small and achieve them within 6 months, than set myself a big goal that would be really hard to achieve in a year - such as being able to do the splits comfortably, which is the ultimate goal, but again, one step at a time is the best way to go.

Be Able to do a Headstand

Be able to comfortably hold a yoga headstand unsupported.

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself... I just really want to be able to do a headstand haha and I have a fear of being upside down, so I would love to conquer that at the same time. 

What are your goals for 2015? 

xo 

What I Got For Christmas 2014

Q and A a day: 5 Year Journal (here)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life - Richard Carlson (here)

Maleficent on DVD (here)

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask (here)

Badger Balm Classic Lip Kit - Green (here)

Benefit Erase Paste (here)

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado (here)

Urban Decay Primer Potion (here)

Paperchase Noto 2015 Diary (here)

Reviews of all of these coming up soon! What did you guys get for christmas? :)

xo

My Christmas Playlist - Mariah, The Pogues & Wham!

Some of my favourite songs to get me in a festive mood! 

Bing Crosby - Winter Wonderland
Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
The Nightmare Before Christmas - What's This?
Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody
Dean Martin - Let It Snow
Wham! - Last Christmas

What are your favourite Christmas songs?

xo

My Christmas Wishlist - Benefit, Paperchase & Boohoo

1) Q and A a Day: 5-Year Journal (here)

2) Benefit Erase Paste in Fair (here)

3) Badger Balm Classic Lip Kit (here)

4) Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado (here)

5) Maleficent on DVD (here)

6) Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original (here)

7) Paperchase Noto Mint Green 2015 Diary (here)

8) First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask (here)

9) Boohoo Louisa Pom Pom Onesie (here)

What's on your wishlists this Christmas? 

xo

Halloween Haul | Poundland

Now, I'm someone who is a little obsessed with Halloween... I'm really into all the ghostly, witchy, mysterious elements of it, i love fancy dress, and i love special effects make-up and gore - the more open wounds and fake blood the better in my opinion. To be honest, if Halloween included as much food as christmas it would definitely be my favourite holiday.

Today I want to show you some decorations I bought. My birthday is the day before Halloween so it's kind of an awesome couple of days for me, and definitely requires a party. So, this Thursday i'm throwing a Halloween themed birthday party in my uni flat - very excited! Me and my flatmate took a trip to Poundland the other day to pick up some bits and bobs to put up in the flat:

 My purchases ^^ I bought 2 of those skeletons, they're about 3 and half to 4 feet tall, they're hinged at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees and they have a handy hole at the top where you can loop a piece of string to hang them up. In the bottom right of the picture you can see some 'halloween tinsel' that i picked up and a small bunch of the cotton cobweb stuff (I have loads of that! And loads of fake blood :D) I also bought some little party cups - so cute!  

An awesome scary face cup, some gummy eyeballs (i'm planning on having them floating in jugs of 'punch'), an inflatable bat and an adorable little inflatable ghost.

 

And last but not least I picked up a couple of packs of Halloween themed balloons. I'll take some photos once we're all set up on Thursday and upload them over the weekend so you can see how it ended up looking! I'll also try to take some photos of my outfit and my make-up - i'm being a zombie school-girl! 

Do you guys enjoy halloween? What are you dressing up as?

xo

What's on my iPhone

I've seen this tag on YouTube and always enjoy having a nose at what apps other people have! I'm going to talk you through the apps I have on my iPhone 5C, and I'll do mini descriptions/reviews of the ones you may not have heard of.
*WARNING: Text heavy post*

First Page
National Rail
Duolingo is an app that helps you learn a new language. You can set yourself goals and track your progress. I'm trying to learn French and I find it really effective, just doing 10-15 minutes a day.
Tumblr (i'm a little obsessed)
Facebook & Messenger
Snapchat
Instagram 
WhatsApp
In my music folder is the normal 'Music' app that is already on the phone when you get it, plus:
Air Transfer which let you transfer music to your iPhone over a wi-fi connection.
8Tracks has loads of user-made playlists which you can filter by mood or style. It's a great way to discover new music and independent artists.

Second Page
MyEE helps me keep track of my EE account such as how long I have till my next bill & how much data I've used this month.
Blogger
My Fitness Pal is a great app the helps you keep track of what you're eating, how many calories you're taking in as well as how much protein, cabs and fat your eating. You can add goals to lose or gain weight and the app will calculate how many calories and how much protein, carbs and fat you should be eating to reach your goal. You can add exercise into your day and the app will calculate how many calories you've burnt. I found it really interesting and motivating when I was trying to gain weight. I'd recommend it to everyone.
HSBC
YouTube
My iPill (pill reminder)
My 'Others' folder is just a load of miscellaneous apps that I never really use.

In my 'Food and Travel' folder I have:
Domino's & Just Eat for ordering takeaways
GBK for discounts and special offers at Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Booking.com
TripAdvisor
Weather

Photo Apps:
VSCOcam is such a good photo editing app. You can make loads of different changes such as changing the contrast, lightening the shadows and giving the photo an overall tint of colour. The filters on there are also great and you buy additional packs if you want to.
PhotoWonder is a really cute editing app with an adorable anime-style interface. I like it for its blemish removal feature and filters.
Reflection lets you create those awesome photos were the one side is a reflection of the other, or the bottom is a reflection of the top. It's a great app to play around with, you can create some really surreal images on there.
PhotoGrid is a simple, effective app for making photo collages.
TimerCam (self-timer camera)
And with Free Prints you can upload photos straight from your phone and have them printed for free, you only pay for delivery which makes it super cheap. I recently ordered 40 prints for just £2! They arrived really quickly and are good quality prints, very happy with them.

Games:
Fruit Blast
Candy Crush
Unblock Me
Million Pound Drop (anyone else love playing along?)

Health-Related Apps:
Muji plays soothing music/sounds to help you sleep.
Fit Flexibility includes loads of stretch routines that can help you increase your flexibility.
Blogilates app is great for watching Blogilates vids on the go and looking up delicious healthy recipes. You can also keep track of the workout calendar for each month on here.
SIT times exercise sets and the break time between each one.
Simply Yoga is my favourite yoga app out of all the (free) ones i've tried. It has routines of 20 minutes, 40 minutes or an hour which flow in a smooth logical order. The commentary is very relaxing and informative and I always feel so relaxed and at ease after doing a routine - love it!
MoleCheck lets you photograph the moles on your body, and reminds you to take new photos every few weeks to keep track of any changes that might be happening. This is to make sure all your moles are always looking healthy and safe. I am a very moley person and also very wary of skin cancer so find this app extremely helpful.
Sleep Time tracks how long you sleep for, and how much of your sleep was light or deep. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Relax Melodies is another app that can play soothing sounds to aid sleep. I much prefer this over Muji. There is a much larger variety of sounds to chose from, and you can even combine two sounds to play together.

Shopping Apps:
Depop is a super easy app for buying and selling things. The interface reminds me a lot of Instagram which not only makes it familiar and easy to use, but also I think it looks very sleek.
eBay
UNiDAYS is an app that allows students to get discounts in loads of online stores without having to buy a NUS card.
Amazon

Hope you like this post as something a bit different to the usual beauty content. Let me know what your favourite apps are!

xo

Recent Downloads - Jessie Ware, Charli XCX & You Me At Six

Thought I'd do a quick post sharing some of my recently downloaded music. Might make this a regular thing even though I'm really lazy when it comes to downloading stuff haha 

Katy Perry - This Is How We Do 

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments, If You're Never Gonna Move & Tough Love (Cyril Hahn Remix)

Alt-J - Hunger of the Pine

Snakehips - Days With You 

Charli XCX - Boom Clap

Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong?

You Me At Six - Room to Breath

xo

Jamie Oliver's Asian Tuna, Coconut Rice & "Jiggy Jiggy Greens" | My Take

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

Tuna:

4 Fresh Tuna Fillets

200g Sesame Seeds

2 Green Tea Bags (I chose not to use these since I don't like green tea)

Salt 

Sesame Oil

Greens:

Bunch of Asparagus

Bunch of Tenderstem Broccoli

Bunch of Bok Choi/Pak Choi 

2 Cloves of Garlic (I chose to omit this)

Teriyaki Sauce

Rice:

Basmati Rice

1 Tin of Coconut Milk

Optional Dressing :

Sushi Ginger

Juice of Half a Pink Grapefruit

(I didn't make this since I really don't like ginger)

Extras

1 Red Chili

2 Spring Onions

Bunch of Fresh Coriander

Soy Sauce

Method:

1) I began by sprinkling sesame seeds and a couple of pinches of salt on a board. I then pressed the tuna raw tuna fillets into them before setting them aside.

2) I added the tin of coconut milk to a pan, then filled the tin with boiling water and poured that in, then i filled the tin again with rice and added that to the pan. I let it simmer with the lid slightly open and turned it off after 10 minutes.

3) With the rice simmering away, I finely chopped all my greens, as well as a red chili, the spring onions and the coriander. 

4) I added some oil to a pan on a medium heat, and, once hot I put in my greens, keeping the chili, spring onions and coriander aside. I stir-fried the veg on a medium heat for a couple of minutes, and added a few dashes of teriyaki sauce, before turning it down to a low heat. It is at about this point that you should turn off the rice.

5) I bought out another pan, put it on a medium-high heat, and poured in a table spoon worth of sesame oil. Once hot, I placed in my tuna fillets. I gave each one about two minutes on each side before turning it. The amount of time you should give your tuna will depend on both the thickness of your tuna pieces and how well done you like it. I wanted mine to be still raw in the centre, as Jamie's was.

6) Once I felt the tuna was done enough it was time to plate up, the rice and the greens were perfectly cooked at this point. The last thing to do once everything was on plates, was simply to sprinkle the chopped chili, spring onions, and coriander onto the rice, and add a splash of soy sauce onto the tuna. Et voila! You're done!

My Verdict:

I loved this meal! I enjoyed making it and I enjoyed eating it even more, and so did my family. 

The tuna was enough taste on its own and I was glad I hadn't used the green tea as I think it might have masked the beautiful taste. The sesame seeds and the the sesame oil were a really nice subtle flavor that worked with the tuna and the rest of the meal. 

The greens were lovely, the different flavors and textures worked well together, my only disappointment with this was I felt the teriyaki sauce was too strong for me. Next time I would either use a lot less or omit it completely. 

The coriander and spring onions were lovely extras, but the chili was, again, too strong for me and only took away from all the other lovely flavors. 

Lastly, the rice, it was amazing, so delicious! Slightly sticky and slightly sweet, i loved it! Coconut rice was now become a staple in my household - you have to try it!

______________________________________________________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed seeing my attempt at one of Jamie Oliver's '15 Minute Meals'. I was quite proud of myself, even if it did take me closer to an hour! Haha

xo

Let's Get Ready for Spring!

I have returned! Aha, sorry for being AWOL these past couple of weeks, uni's been rather hectic, and (as usual) i'd managed to leave myself a week to write a 2000 word essay. Dear me. However, with that out the way, and the Easter hols close by, I can get back to you lovely people :)

Today we're talking about Spring! Wooo! Flowers, pastels, spring chicks, spring lambs (so cute!), skirts, sandals, blue skies, sun, and the possibility of warm weather - what's not to like? And best off all it's just round the corner, and it means Summer's next :D

For me the start of Spring almost feels more like New Year than the real New Year, it makes me feel so optimistic for the coming months, and always makes me feel like I should be getting my life in order. So i thought why not share some of my tips with you guys on 'How To Get Ready for Spring':

*Plant Plants*

This time of year is the perfect time to get planting - whether it's out in your garden, in pots for you patio or even in pots to keep indoors. Personally I love having flowers and plants indoors - it's a lovely way to brighten up an area and bring some life into the room. Some great flowers that you can buy now to add colour to your garden or house right away are daffodils, crocuses and bluebells. Of course you can also start planting summer-flowering plants now too and watch how they grow over the coming months.

Herbs are also good options to start growing too. Having you're own fresh herbs is brilliant - they're great to add in all sorts of dishes, and you can use them in cocktails too ;) 

*Spring Cleaning*

Cliched i know, but i honestly think spring cleaning is a real necessity, for me anyway - it's a great way of clearing everything away from a grey, cosy yet cluttered winter to allow room for the sun to come in and of course some nice new dresses too! I not just talking mopping floors and dusting mantlepieces - i'm talking sorting out, de-cluttering and preparing yourself for summer! 

- Sort out your wardrobe: Donate or sell any clothes that you haven't worn in the last year. Look through all your tights and socks - throw away the ones with holes in. Take all your winter clothes and put them in storage/boxes under your bed. Organize your spring/summer wardrobe.

- Do some cleaning of course: vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, mopping (although you should really be doing this at all times of year - not just in spring - eek!) On sunny mornings open the windows and let the fresh air in, you'll be surprised the difference it'll make to your house and to your energy levels - fresh air always wakes me up :)

- Do some de-cluttering too: look through your shelves, draws, cupboards - donate or sell old ornaments, books and cutlery (i'm well aware i have far too many mugs but i have problems parting with them!), file away bills/letters/important documents, back up your computer files (i never do this as often as i should!), and look through your fridge and cupboards, check the jars and tins at the back that seem to have been there for years - they're probably out of date! Clear these out to make away for some lovely new spring foods :D 

 *Prepare for Sandals, Skirts and Strappy Tops*

After months of being covered in long sleeves, jeans, thick socks and boots, our skin and feet are going to be rather grey, dry and probably a bit battered. Now is the time to get them looking gorgeous again, and ready for their imminent public exposure. Start moisturizing your body every day - legs, arms, chest, tummy, unless you already do this, in which case props to you! I am terrible at remembering to moisturize! One of my favorite body moisturizes is Palmer's cocoa butter - although it's not my favorite smell in the world, i love how thick and creamy it is, and it always leaves my legs feeling super soft and hydrated. 

As for the feet, if you can afford a full pedicure then i'd say go for it. If not, grab yourself a foot file and some moisturizer - you can get a foot file from somewhere like Wilko's or Superdrug for a couple of quid and any thick moisturizer will do, although my favorite ones for my feet are the Scholl products (sold in Boots). Do this before bed: first, give any hard skin around your heels or on the balls of your feet a bit of a 'file'. Then take a small amount on your moisturizer and work it into those areas - take your time and really massage the cream into the skin. Once it's all been absorbed, take a large amount of moisturizer and apply it all over your feet. Don't work it all in, instead with your feet still very much covered in cream, put some socks on - thin, cotton ones if you can. Sounds weird i know, and it feels pretty weird too, but trust me on this one. Go to bed like this and when you take your socks off in the morning you will have feet soft enough to rival a baby's bum and gorgeous enough for flips flops and jelly sandals! 

*Renew your Resolutions*

Every season is a chance for a fresh start but especially spring - it's a season of new birth, animals waking from hibernation, re-growth of leaves on trees and plants flowering again, so what a better time than now to have your own re-start. By now, i'm sure most of us have forgotten what our new year's resolutions even were! I had to go back and visit my 'Goodbye 2013' post to find out! Getting back into fitness, writing more on this blog and working harder at uni were mine. This is a great time to look back on your resolutions, re-assess why you wanted to do them and re-motivate yourself!

What did you guys think of my tips? Are you doing anything to prepare for spring? Let me know :) 

xo 

iSound Firewaves Speaker Review

Size: 7 x 10.2 x 12.7 cm (249g)

Where I Bought It: Amazon (link)

Price: £25

Features:
- Rechargeable
- Portable
- Bluetooth Connectivity
- Solid Aluminum Shell
- Colour-Changing Light
- Surprising Volume-to-Size Ratio
- 5 hr Battery Life at 70% Volume
- Built in Speakerphone Function

Personal Opinion:

Pros:
- Quick to charge & long battery life
- Small size and lightweight (it's super cute)
- Amazing audio quality considering it's small size
- Auxiliary cable included for connecting to headphone jacks (of laptop or ipod)
- Compatible with all smartphones (providing they have bluetooth)
- Practically no set up needed

Cons:
- No volume control on unit

This is such a good little speaker, i love it and would definitely recommend it to everyone :) Hope you enjoyed my review, have you got any portable speakers that you'd recommend? 

xo

City & Colour

I went to see City & Colour the other night with my boyfriend at the O2 Academy in Birmingham. They're such a good band anyway but were even more amazing live. And i'm very much in love with the lead singer, Dallas Green, he's a lovely man. 

I love going to gigs, there's nothing better than feeling the music vibrate through the floor and up through your body, it always makes me a little bit emotional. Saw Biffy Clyro, Beyonce, Ben Howard and Everything Everything last year, as well as a variety of bands at Open'er Festival in Poland. Can't wait for more live music this year, hoping to see Ben Howard again, and would love to see CHVRCHES play too.

Photo by Tom Allport - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomallport/

What's the best live gig you've ever been to? And who are you hoping to see in 2014?

xo

52 Week Money Saving Challenge

Recently, I've been looking at other methods of saving money rather than just limiting myself each week. The other day i came across the '52 Week Money Saving Challenge'.

The idea is pretty simple, you start by moving £1 into a savings account in the first week of the year, and build up to £52 by the last week. Or, you could start with £52 and work your way down to £1, to account for the money you might need during the holiday season.

The challenge looks to have been started by Kassondra Perry-Moreland, and it went viral last year. I think it's a really clever and simple way of saving, and the variety and novelty of it makes it different to normal weekly saving plans. Or, if you'd prefer a set amount you could try putting away £26.50 per week.

Whatever method you decide to go for, by the end of the year you'll have saved a whopping £1,378!

Please let me know if any of you decide to try this! Or comment below if you have any saving plans of your own :)

xo

I Went Shopping - Whoops

Fire Waves iSound Bluetooth Speaker

This was actually a belated birthday present from my lovely boyfriend <3 it's a super cute, tiny speaker with big sound, and a rather pretty glowing middle. Review coming soon.

Whittard of Chelsea Instant Strawberry & Blueberry Flavoured Green Tea
I picked this up last weekend from their Nottingham shop. It's a tea that I used to drink years ago and I wanted to try it again. Unfortunately, i'm not allowed it at the moment because it has a couple of high fodmap ingredients (don't know what fodmaps are? click here), but i shall definitely be trying it within the next month or so, once i'm back to a normal-ish diet.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I have seen this on so many blogs recently! I love Real Techniques brushes, and being a steal compared to the Beauty Blender, i just had to grab it in Boots. Review coming soon.

Superdrug Deep Action Pore-Cleansing Nose Strips

I have some pretty persistent blackheads on my nose - hoping these will be able to rid me of them! I've heard good things about the Biore Pore Strips, but i refused to pay and extra £2 for essentially the same thing. We'll see how they go.

Maybelline Dream LUMI touch Concealer

Stocking up while it's still 'buy 1, get the 2nd half price' on all Maybelline products in Superdrug. (review here)

'Self-Saucing' Gluten & Lactose Free Chocolate Brownies (FODMAP-friendly)

My recipe for some super-simple, scrumptious and totally fodmap-friendly brownies...

Ingredients:

Makes approx. 12 medium-sized brownies in an 8" x 10" baking tray.

125g Gluten-Free Plain or Self-Raising Flour 

   > I used Dove's Farm Gluten & Wheat Free Self-Raising White Flour 

70g Golden Caster Sugar

25g Cocoa Powder 

Pinch of Salt

50g Butter (melted) plus a little extra for greasing.

   > (click here for more information about the lactose content of butter)

2 Medium Sized Eggs

75ml Lactose-Free or Rice/Nut Milk 

   > I used Lactofree Semi Skimmed Fresh Milk (not suitable for those allergic to cow's milk)

Dark Chocolate Chunks 

   > (check ingredients/allergy advice for lactose content) I used Lindt Excellence Orange Intense

For the sauce:

100g Light Muscovado Sugar
12.5g Cocoa Powder

Method:

1) Grease a shallow baking dish with butter, pre heat to oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4 and put the kettle on.
2) Put the flour, caster sugar, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, and stir until combined.
3) Whisk together the melted butter, milk and eggs until smooth. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix together until smooth.
4) Stir in the chocolate chunks and pour into your baking dish.
5) For the sauce, mix 150ml of boiling water with the muscovado sugar and cocoa powder, then pour this into the baking dish, on top of the brownie mixture. It will look very strange at this point! Don't worry though, just pop it straight into the oven and bake for 30 mins until the surface looks firm, risen and crisp.

As you scope out your brownies, you should find a glossy, rich chocolate sauce underneath - yum!
Eat immediately while they're warm and gooey or save for later - just make sure to pop them in the microwave for about 15 secs to heat them back up!

Good luck :)

xo

Saving Money

from Tumblr

So one of my big aims for this year is to save save save! I tend to get to the end of every month and wonder where on earth my money's gone. So i've decided i'm going to try to limit my spending to £30 a week, which sounded like plenty at first, but i spent £40 last week :/

I have a little diary, which I write down my spending in for each day. I add it up as I go, so if i reach £30 i know that i'm not allowed to spend anything else for that week. If i do go over (like last week) i deduct the amount i've gone over by from my £30 allowance for the following week. E.g. I spent £10 more than i should've last week, so this week I only have £20 to spend... which is going to be super tough since I'm going to Nottingham this weekend and the train's gonna cost me £15... 

...Hmmm starting to think maybe I should be allowing myself £40 instead. 

I'll see how it goes. I wanna give it a good go.

I'll try to update you each week to let you know how it's going, wish me luck! :)

xo

"Real Women DON'T Have Curves" by Arkansassy

I have just been introduced to Tyler Lucille's blog: Arkansassy, and one of her posts in particular caught my eye - Real Women DON'T Have Curves (link).

The issue she discusses is something i've always felt strongly about. It was so well written that it inspired me to write this, not only to share her post with you (as i think it's something everyone needs to read) but also to address it from my point of view.

I'm personally thankful for what she's written because I know exactly what she means about shaming thin women by saying "Real women have curves". Is that to say that a woman who doesn't have curves isn't as "real"?

Since about that age of 11 or 12 numerous people have asked me why i'm so thin, told me that i need to eat more and i've even been called anorexic.

But it's not about food. It's about genes too.

I have a very fast metabolism, it's part of my genetics. No matter how much i eat, it's extremely hard for me to gain weight. Some people might say that's lucky but to be honest i've always been extremely body conscious and have wanted to gain weight since i stopped growing at the age of 14. Like everyone else, i have my own issues with my body - i think being slim makes me look lanky and the fact that i'm rather 'straight up and down' makes me feel a bit boyish. I would much rather have kim kardashian-esque curves but, thanks to my genentics, that's never going to happen. Having people saying that i need to eat more or calling celebrities of my size 'disgusting' really doesn't do much for my self esteem or for any other slim girls' self esteem for that matter.

I've never understood why fat-shaming is so frowned upon, but thin-shaming is so accepted. 

You would never tell a big girl "eat less!" Or call them 'disgusting', or ask them why they're big. But that's exactly the same as telling a slim girl to "eat more!" Or calling them 'disgusting' or asking them why they're so thin.

People need to think more about what they're saying before they say it, because shaming is extremely hurtful no matter what size you are.

Real women are all shapes and sizes.

As Tyler put it: "If anyone is really worried about the self-esteem of tomorrow's youth, perhaps we should be teaching them instead that compassion is the thief of joy. Maybe we should tell them that whether they're built to look like Miranda Kerr or Adele, that they are beautiful and have value as a woman."

I'd love to hear your guys' opinions on this subject. Do you think size-shaming is a problem? Do you agree with what Tyler says? Let me know.

Goodbye 2013

I began this blog 12 months ago, and am sad to say that i only got 5 months in before giving up. However, next year, i'm going to give this blogging lark another go.

For now, i thought i'd do a quick round up of the year in 15 questions :)

1: What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
Started a blog. Went in an ambulance. Visited Poland. Stayed in hostels. Went on a night train. Followed a fitness regime (for a couple of months). Went abroad with my boyfriend. Went to a festival abroad. Started pole fitness classes (something i've always wanted to try). Visited Blackpool. Went to a Ben Howard gig. Saw the Mrs Carter tour! Saw Biffy Clyro and City & Colour in concert.

2: Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?
No, unfortunately i never seem too although i will always make new ones.

3: Did anyone close to you give birth?
No but my cousin is due to give birth in 6 weeks! So excited :D

4: Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully not.

5: What countries did you visit?
Turkey (June). Poland (July). Dubai (November).

6: What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I achieved a 2.1. in my first year at uni. Kinda wish it actually counted.

7: Did you suffer illness or injury?
I contracted a pretty nasty stomach bug at the started of April which landed me in hospital. Other than that i've been pretty lucky this year.

8: What song will always remind you of 2013?
Anything by Miguel or CHVRCHES. Anything from Everything Everything's album Arc. Anything from the 1975's album.

9: What do you wish you’d done more of?
Traveling. Fitness. Going out.

10: How did you spend Christmas?
At home with my family.

11: Did you fall in love in 2013?
I stayed in love <3

12: What was your favourite TV program?
Game of Thrones i think. Breaking Bad is close second. Oh, Keeping up with the Kardashians has been a guilty pleasure of mine too.

13: What was your favourite film of this year?
I can't possibly pick one. Some of the best have been The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina & The Hobbit.

14: Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Beyonce. As always.

15: What are your resolutions for 2014?
- Get back into my fitness. I follow Blogilates on youtube with Cassey Ho, do any of you guys watch her? She's brilliant :)
- Start writing this blog again.
- Work harder at uni.

I tag everyone who reads this to do one too! It's great looking back and thinking of everything you've done. Let me know in the comments if you do so that i can read yours :)

(Late) New Years Resolutions. 2013.

Like most people, i always make New Years Resolutions but rarely stick to them. I do still like to make them though. I think it's always important to try to better yourself and aim for certain things. However, i think it's also important to remember to keep your goals realistic. If you make them unachievable you will only end up stressing yourself out and feeling disappointed.
So here are my resolutions for 2013 (even if i am two weeks late).

 *Drink More Water*

I'm definitely with Zoella on this one - I always feel so much better when I make the effort to drink more water. And my skin definitely benefits from it too. I always take a bottle of water to Uni with me but often don't finish it even though it's only 75cl. Not drinking enough also results in me having terrible headaches every day which make me feel tired and fed up.

*Eat More. But Healthily*

Since starting Uni in September I've lost weight. Some girls might think that's brilliant but for me it's terrible news. I was underweight before starting (thanks to my super fast metabolism) and I always struggle to keep weight on, let alone put more one. I've been the same weight for about the past 5 years!  So losing some was really not what I wanted. It's just hard at uni, having the motivation and the energy to cook anything substantial as well as fitting three meals a day around my awkward timetable - i often start at lunchtime and once a week I'm in till 9 making having any sort of proper dinner impossible. This term (and for the rest of the year) I'm determined to push myself to eat proper meals regularly in order to try and regain the weight that i've lost. However, i need to make sure I do it healthily - i can't just start living off Dominos and McDonalds because it won't do my insides any good and it'll only leave me feeling sluggish and lethargic. This is not going well so far - i've had two huge McDonalds meals in the past 5 days.

*Go To Bed Earlier*

When i lived at home it was unusual for me to stay up very late, now i'm at Uni though its so easy to lose track of time (not even doing anything important) and end up not going to bed till 1/2 in the morning. It's really not doing me any favors - i'm tired all the time and find it so hard to get up in the morning before about half 10. I really need to get my body clock back in order. I need to start going to bed around 11, especially on nights when i have Uni the next day! I'm hoping it'll also allow me to get up earlier in order to take advantage of the whole day to get stuff done. Which leads me nicely on to my next resolution.....

*Stop Leaving Things Until The Last Minute*

I am the biggest procrastinator I know. I'm so easily distracted as well. Everything I do gets left till the last minute - from packing before going away, to getting my uni work done. I really need to stop doing it because it frustrates me so much and only causes me way more stress in the long run. From now on i'm going to push myself to be more productive with my time and not get so easily distracted. When I get given work next semester I'm gonna start it straight away instead of leaving it until a week before the deadline!

*Be More Selfish*

This might sound like I strange resolution, and just to clear things up I don't mean being selfish as in not being generous and kind and helpful, i just mean i feel like i need to look out for myself more often. I'm often way too tolerant with people, and too nice and never stand up for myself which ends up meaning people just take advantage of me and walk all over me and i'm always too shy, too scared and too nice to say anything. It's got to the point where i really need to stop taking shit from people because it just makes me feel so unhappy. I need to start doing more for myself, looking out for myself, and most importantly standing up for myself! I need to stop people taking advantage of me and I want to find nicer people to surround myself with. People who make me happy, instead of making me feel drained and bad about myself. I also wanna focus on doing the stuff I want to do. I feel like I need to have some new focuses this year as what I've given all my focus and efforts to over the past year could unfortunately disappear at any moment. This year I wanna be able to make myself happy instead of relying on someone else to it. Something that, sadly, i haven't been able to do for the past 3 years. I seem to have forgotten how to. Hopefully this will result in me feeling more positive and happy.