Cookie monster!

My baking repertoire is getting pretty big right now. I've always made stuff, mainly cakes, but since moving up north I've baked a whole lot more. Due to the fact there's nothing else for me to do. I'm surprised I haven't ballooned up to be honest...

But anyways, today I turned my hand to cookies, of the M+M variety. The recipe isn't my own, and instead of using shortening (because I didn't know what it was) I used butter, but all in all they turned out really bloody good! Like, seriously good. I actually found the recipe from a cool tumblr blog called Girl-Guts, so if you fancy making them, check it out. I highly recommend you do.

The finished product!

Until next time....

x

Boys? Psshh!

It's Tuesday the 14th. For girls that have a special someone they're most likely spending their day frolicking around in an overly romantic manor. Me on the other hand, I'm single, have been for the majority of my life and I've never had a Valentine. Cards from parents do not count.

So on this day of overspending ridicule, my date was not a boy, it was a white chocolate muffin. 12 in fact. All home made and crazy delicious.

I mentioned yesterday that I would be making them and posting the recipe, so here it is:

What you'll need:

- 2 large eggs

- 2 cups of self-rasing flour

- 1/2 cup of caster sugar

- 2 tsps of baking powder

- 1 1/3 cup of milk

- 1/3 cup of oil

- 1 tsp of vanilla essence

- 1/2 tsp of salt

They're your basic ingredients, you can obviously add ay extra flavourings of your liking. Add as much or as little as you like! I added a large bar of white chocolate-broken up of course, and another tsp of vanilla.

Step one: Turn on oven and pre-heat at 200c/400f/gas 6

Step two: Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla and any additional flavours.

Step three: Beat the eggs, milk and oil in a separate bowl, then add to the dry mix.

Step four: Pour the mix into muffin cases and then pop into the oven. Leave for approx. 20mins. Until spongey and golden brown.

Step five: TUCK IN!

Before going in the oven

Out of the oven

I don't have a muffin tin, so they're a little flat, but they're fat and yummy so I can't really complain.

Seriously, who needs boys when you have cake?!

x

Round up, round up!

To be perfectly honest there isn't much for me to round up on, but I figure it's been a few days since I last posted on here and instead of ignoring it, I may as well post something!

The past few days have been pretty non-descript, what with living in the middle of nowhere and preparing for my trip, there isn't really much room for exciting stuff. However, I have been baking, I've found a new band to love, I treated myself to some new jeans and...um...yeah, I think that's it. See, riveting stuff.

My baking was a success though...chocolate muffins with additional chocolate digestive biscuits. I'm going to be making white chocolate and vanilla ones tomorrow, so I shall type up the recipe/how to.

Oh, as far as the new band crush goes, it's an American group called Fort Lean. Five rather attractive Brooklynites, selling their rather gorgeous surf/indie sound. They've got an EP out, Sunsick, you should definitely go check it out!

What with a rather dull week, it was really sad to finish it off with the death of Whitney Houston. A true 80's legend.

Onto this week; I'm heading back down south on sunday to spend my last week in the UK at my brothers, so I need to get cracking with packing (god, i'm rhyming now)! Not only do I need to pack for a minimum of 3months in NZ, I also need to pack up my entire room as I wont be returning to the north when I get back to the UK. So it's going to be a rather frantic week I think.

That's about it for now!

x

So it would seem that Festival Season is rapidly creeping up on me. Every year I'm met with the same predicament; which one do I go to?! In an ideal world I'd go to all of them, but this isn't an ideal world, it's shit one. So...with that in mind, and the festivals already announcing line-ups I have to start making some choices.

The only thing with this year is that, there's still a good chance that I might stay in New Zealand. If I do that, it could make things a lot easier.

Isle of Wight, Bestival and Download already have a decent amount of bands on their line-up, and I'm pretty much in love with all three of them! Then of course there's still the announcements from Reading/Leeds, Latitude and Sonisphere.

Seriously, there should just be one HUGE festival, which is free so everyone can go...kind of like a giant house party, but in a field. You can eat, drink, enjoy the bands/comedians and have the best time of your life. I might have to trademark that idea and put the wheels into motion.

For now though, I shall just have to lust over the line-ups and hope that I win the lottery!

x

Velvet crush continued.

One of my earlier posts states my growing crush on velvet; my crush has now developed into a certified love. I love the way it feels, the way it looks and the haphazard creases it makes when you move.

Recently I added to my collection, hanging on a New Look rack was the following pair of black velvet leggings. At first I was a little dubious, but after trying them on and reeling in their comfort, all doubt was lost. They're thicker than your regular leggings so I cant get away with wearing them as trousers and not look like I'm missing something over my arse! They just generally look good with everything...well...almost everything.

My search continues for more velvet...one day I may actually piece together a full out velvet outfit. Although sitting here and picturing it, it doesn't really look all that good!

Oh, and yes, I have the most amazing carpet ever. It's so old lady chic!

x

I've had a serious love affair with Ray Bans for quite some time now- actually that goes for sunglasses of all brands. I'm a sucker when it comes to eyewear, I have something like six pairs at the moment. That's probably nothing compared to some people, but it's still five pairs than I actually need.

I have big vintage ones, round Mickey Mouse ones (the lenses flip up), two pairs of fake Wayfarer's and one pair of the Ray Ban Clubmasters. I love them all. I'll do my best at wearing them all - not at the same time of course. But after a little googling, I found this pair. And I most definitely just fell in love.

I can't actually afford a new pair right now, but there's no harm in looking right?

However, if there is someone out there that wants to loan a lovely, young girl some money, I would be eternally grateful. I'll repay you in love and cakes! I mean it.

x

Failing resolutions

Like everyone else on the strike of midnight January 2012, I made some resolutions. Three in fact:

-Drop a couple of dress sizes

-Really start living my life

-Find a boyfriend

Well, I have New Zealand in 3 weeks, so that's the second one covered. Still no closer to even finding a decent boy, let alone a boyfriend. And the weight loss is in progress. Although it's a slow burner. I know it's one of the most common resolutions made by women and men, but it also seems to be the hardest one to keep. Well, for me at least.

I'm naturally a bigger girl - I come from a line of chunky people, so I'm fully aware that I'll never be skinny. In actual fact I don't want to be skinny, just slimmer and less wobbly. But finding the motivation to actually stick to a regular routine is proving difficult.

I dont count calories, nor do I binge; I just watch what I eat, when I eat it and make sure I don't go overboard on the sweet stuff. For 3 weeks solid I was getting up, doing 200 sit-ups, walking my dog and doing an hour of aerobic/muscle work outs on the Wii. This was a good routine, I actually quite enjoyed it for a while. Then the motivation started to flag and day-by-day I stopped doing things. I even tried the whole Maple Syrup detox thing. I say tried, I did it for one day, felt sick and gave up. Clearly what's good for Beyonce isn't always good for me as well-hah!

Anyway. After a couple of crappy weeks, I think I'm finally turning a corner. Even if I am going at a snails pace around it. However I'm determined to make this resolution work...with three weeks (and counting) until I leave the country, I'm hoping to loose a little more.

From now on, I'm going to my best to record my progress. I can't guarantee a regular update, seeing as I can't see a lot changing...but one can hope!

x

A little catch-up.

OK...so 3months ago me and the mother made a bold choice and moved up north to the depths of the Yorkshire Dales. Leaving the hustle of city life behind and freezing in a soulless house, I started to forget how to make myself feel good. Living in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmers and isolated Northerners it's been hard keeping up with fashionable people. I'm not saying I'm particularly fashionable, but I do my best to follow trends. So after months of drab hair and lusting after dip-died locks, I finally brought some Alpine Green La Riche hair colour, put on the marigolds and dipped my hair! I'm in love with it and have a sense of one with the rest of fashion world.

And on another note-one less focused on my hair, I should probably mention that in three weeks time I'll be on my way to New Zealand! 27hours of non-stop fun! (My trip will be well documented on here).

This acknowledgement makes living in the Dales somewhat easier. It's like my carrot, the light at the end of my very dark tunnel.

Now that I've covered the important things (my hair might feature on here quite a bit, I'm a bit OCD with it), I think it's time to get the show on the road.

x

Wakey, wakey!

I'm really bloody useless at keeping this thing up to date. After using Tumblr for so long, I just automatically retreat back to it. However I've come to realise that I don't really voice my opinions/emotions on there, I just use it to post pictures of things I love; usually Ryan Gosling, things I've baked or Topshop clothes that I'm lusting over. Not that I'm complaining, I mean, I love Ryan Gosling.

So anyway, I think it's about time I started being honest. Blogging honestly. I know I've said this many a time on here, but then I stop using the site. Sooo...here goes nothing. From now on I shall use this site on a regular basis; upload my pictures, speak the truth, share recipes and anything else that seems good enough to share.

If you happen to stumble upon this blog then 'hello and welcome'. If you don't, oh well, I'll find you instead. Sit tight and fingers crossed something good will happen.

x