Picks of the week/ Weekly roundup

Beauty
I've sort of rediscovered this kit. The eyeshadow pot in RSVP is really pretty and the whole look is just very fresh but polished. The concealer is also pretty good! It was a gift from a friend a while back and I'm still very grateful :-)

Source

Books
The only book I've finished this week is How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran and you can see my review (if you can call it that) in my previous post.

Film
I received this as a Christmas present and have only just got round to watching it. It was brilliant. Very random but very funny! 

Source

Food
I tried the Sorted Food coconut crusted chicken recipe (link). It was really tasty! I didn't make a papaya salad as we didn't have a papaya but I just did a normal salad with corriander and lime juice. I didn't take any photos I'm afraid but I can definitely recommend it! It was like healthy (ish) chicken nuggets and chips.. with a twist!

Music
I managed to download this song free from Amazon. It's strange because now it's 89p....  I really like it. It's not new or anything but I've just downloaded it this week!

I'm sorry for a pretty sparse post. I haven't mentioned quite a few categories just because I have nothing to really say about them! It's quite late at night and I wanted to get something up and just to say that I'm off for a few days, visiting a friend and so won't be posting!

Cherrio!

Picks of the week/ Weekly roundup

Fashion
My fashion pick of the week is this wonderful cardigan that we found when sorting through my mum's wardrobe. It was knitted for her by her aunt ages ago and she's given it to me! It's really cosy and great just to throw on!

Beauty
I've been striving for a dewy/  iridescent skin look lately- I think it looks very youthful. I want to buy a powder that gives me this finish (any recommendations?) but for now I've been using my clinique colour rub and the highlighter that comes in the sleek contour kit. You can see both these items in this post.

Books
Before I started my reading challenge I actually finished two books this week. One was a chick lit book called RSVP. It was okay, classic chick lit. The other was a Poroit 'Peril at End House'. I really enjoy Agatha Christie books. They're so easy to read and very entertaining!

Read more about it here

Music
I've added this section this week. Mostly because I've become obsessed by this song by Emili Sande. I think it's kinda a through back to big 90s tunes by Whitney Houston and people like that. I love it!

Film
My film this week is One Day. I'm a huge fan of the book and I wasn't keen on seeing the film because I thought it might spoil it! I saw it last night however and I enjoyed it! I thought Anne Hathaway's accent was truly awful but it didn't take all of the enjoyment away. Jim Sturgess is sweet!

From Pinterest

Money
I've been fairly good. I bought some cosmetics but nothing extravagant. I need to keep it up though!

Food
I made another banana loaf. Because I've given up chocolate I made this one with hazelnuts and rum soaked raisins! It looks crumbly in this photo but that's only because we we impatient and wanted to taste it before it cooled!

Health and Fitness
I've been swimming and cycling this week. I'm still not 100% (come on immune system, start working!) so I'm happy with what I've done. I've also given up chocolate for lent although I had an ice cream today (with chocolate in and didn't realise until about an hour later!).

So... aims for the week ahead.. pretty much the same as always, spend and eat less and exercise more!!

Hope everyone's had a good week :-)

Time for tea!

As I come from a nation famous for tea drinking I thought I'd share my favourite teas. I am rather partial to a nice cup of tea and I have a few favourites that I pick depending on my mood and what I fancy.

A pretty tea cup and plate that I recently got from a charity shop

-Clipper organic tea. This is my standard tea. 'Builders tea' if you like, though it is organic! I like to start my day with a cup of this but also at any interval throughout the day. Milk, no sugar please. Friendly and reassuring, like drinking a warm hug! Goes excellently with a plain chocolate digestive biscuit (or two...).

http://shop.clipper-teas.com/teas/everyday/organic-everyday-tea-1

- Twinings green tea with apple and pear. This is light and fruity and refreshing. After reading about all the great things green tea does for you, I tried to find one I liked and this is my favourite so far!

http://www.twinings.co.uk/green-teas/apple-pear-green

- Twinings straberry and mango tea. Some fruit teas don't taste of much but this one is really fruity. After a indecisive shopping trip a few years ago when there was an offer on these teas I ended up buying 4 of these range and this one was the only one I really liked. It's a gorgeous pink colour when brewed as well! Nice for when I don't want any caffeine.

http://www.twinings.co.uk/fresh-and-fruity-infusions/strawberry-and-mango

- Char Roobois orange and eucalyptus. This is a recent purchase actually. It's loose tea so is a bit more of a hassle but I love it! It's very refreshing, the mixture of the fruity flavours mix well with the freshness of the eucalyptus. Roobois is also caffeine free so this is another good evening drink.

http://www.charteas.com/home/shop/product/1-0-28.html

-Fresh mint tea. Another favourite is mint tea made with fresh mint (ie. mint leaves in hot water). This is very cleansing. It's nice if you've had quite a rich meal. We have loads of fresh mint growing in our garden so this one is also free!

From pinterest.

Does anyone have any tea recommendations?

Picks of the week/ weekly roundup

I'd like to get into more of a routine with my blog and thought that I'd start doing a weekly roundup of sorts, picking my favourite items of the week and so on..

Fashion
I'm going to cheat on this and pick two items. One for comfort and one for style. I bought this shirt from crew clothing in the sale and love it! It's very me- Floral, girly and comfortable.

Second is my new Rab generator jacket. It's super warm which has been a godsend in the frozen climes that has been the UK recently but isn't bulky at all. I've barely taken it off. It's not a fashion statement and I think I look a bit like I'm wearing a bin bag but there a plenty of times when I just don't mind looking like a bin bag!

Beauty
I haven't bought anything new this this week which is good. I've had a nasty cold and so I've been trying to moisturise lots. I've been using Johnsons baby lotion as I'm trying to use my way through my lotions and potions. This is frugal too as I think you can buy these for about £1. It's not the most luxurious of products but it does the job!

Films
Muppets Treasure Island!! I'm excited to see the new Muppets movie and they were selling all the old ones in Tesco for £5. This is one of the standout films of my childhood and it just gets better with age! Amazing!

TV
I'm still really enjoying call the midwife (see more about it here) although I was sad last night when she rejected Jimmy. He's so sweet! I also watched the Baftas last night, I'm so pleased The Artist cleaned up!I loved it when Colin Firth helped Meryl Streep with her shoe when it fell off- what a gentleman!

Books
I haven't read any books this week..

Food
The only thing I've really made this week are these. They're super tasty though, passion fruit cupcakes.. yum! It was a good food recipe, I can't find the recipe online but I can type it out if anyone fancies it!

Passion fruit cupcakes on my new cake stand mentioned here

Money
It hasn't been a great week. I had a filling at the dentist, bought a few unnecessary bits and bobs.. Must try harder!

Health and Fitness
I've had a bad cold so I haven't exercised much at all. I haven't been feeling great about my body recently, I need to start eating less!

Considering the above I thought that I'd set some challenges for the week ahead..

- No snacking between meals apart from fruit

- Don't buy anything unnecessary (ie. clothes, make up, DVDs etc)

- Promote my blog a bit more and try and get a few more readers :-)

Recent things I have enjoyed..

 Buyapower/ moroccanoil

From pinterest

Buyapower  is a website where they sell  a limited amount of various beauty products and the more they closer they get to selling the total number, the cheaper the price gets. I've seen things in the past that have tempted me but I've always resisted. However, yesterday, when I saw that they were selling a 100ml bottle of moroccanoil for £21 I got a little bit excited. Turns out, I was in the nick of time, as I grabbed the last bottle of the offer!

I love moroccanoil! Following a disastrous set of highlights about a year ago, I've been on a mission to recondition my hair and moroccanoil does wonders. The only bad thing about it is it's pricey, so much so, that last time I ran out, I tried a cheaper loreal alternative which unfortunately does not cut the mustard! Nevertheless, I'm very excited that I snaffled this bargain!!

The Artist

From pinterest

From pinterest

I saw it last night and loved it! I laughed, I (almost) cried and I bit my nails in anticipation. Go and see it if you haven't already. I love old movies and knew that I'd have no problem with it being in black and white but I wasn't sure how I'd cope with the silent thing! After seeing it I think if anything,  it enhances your viewing. It makes you read more into the expressions because you don't always know what is being said.

Food

I've tried out a few recipes that I've seen on blogs recently. Both of them have been American written which has provided a few immediate translation difficulties. I'm getting used to using cups as a measure though now!

I tried this recipe. It looked delicious. I didn't know what wheat berries were so I used bulgar wheat. I'm also not sure if what I know as curly kale is the same as kale in the US. Also, in absence of my 'local middle eastern grocery store', I made my own pomegranate molasses and I think it turned out okay. My only problem was I think I overdid the curly kale, quantity wise... it was tasty though!

As you can see.. I've discovered food photography isn't as easy as it seems..

The second recipe was the one I posted in my last post, the reese's peanut butter banana bread. I just put chunks of chocolate instead of the reeses. I also assumed that baking soda was bicarbonate of soda?? Who knows!? Anyway, this was delicious :-) Quite crumbly but that doesn't affect the taste one bit!

Mmm.. tasty!

Designing the home I don't have

I don't know whether it's because I have quite a lot of spare time at the moment or whether it's because I've been helping my mother redecorate her house.. but I've been dreaming of how I'll decorate my future house (that I'm no where near buying btw)! I've been browsing pinterest and random sources. I thought I'd share my ideas so far...
Piano stairs:

I love the tiles on the work surfaces:

I really want a picture wall like these two.. though not all black and white.

Also I really want a bed in the style of this one so that the wardrobe is behind the head board of the bed. Not so much made of scaffolding though! From this article by the daily mail.

Also from pinterest there are a few recipes I really want to try..

Superfood salad with lemon vinaigrette from Iowa Girl Eats

Zucchini, black bean and rice skillet from ready, set, eat

Rolo Turtles from so wonderful, so marvelous

Reese's peanut butter banana bread from cookies and cups

About me... food

I come from a family of foodies. My mum is an excellent cook and I am thankful for how much they pushed me to be adventurous in my tastes. My friends joke that I am a serial bad order-er (ie. I always pick the one dodgy thing on the menu) and I think that's because sometimes I try and be too adventurous with my choices!

I am also a self confessed fruit bat! My good friend recently admitted that when I went round their house as a child that her mum would hide the grapes because otherwise I would eat them all!

Me in disguise

I love fresh healthy foods. Lots of salads and vegetables make up a lot of my diet but I think there is always room to incorporate more!

An augergine/ penguin.. how old am I?

My food weaknesses lie with my sweet tooth! I have given up chocolate for lent in previous years but I'm not sure I could give it up permanently!

The spread put on for my birthday party last year!

However, when healthy food looks this delicious, there's no excuse not to eat it!

From.. http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2011/12/recipe-garlic-roasted-butternut-squash.html

How good does this look!? I think I'm going to have to try and make it!

All this thinking about food has got me hungry.. I'm off for a snack!