A Little Piercing

I finally found the time and money to hop on the nose piercing bandwagon, horray!

I love it, from the minute I saw it I was so pleased I did it - it didn't look different, it looked like i'd always had it pierced, which is kind of surreal but also great news for me as I didn't think it would suit me.

It was a lovely sunny Thursday when me and Lauren popped to the Corn Exchange to get it done. I also purchased these shades from Blue Rinse the same day, Lauren then purchased them about an hour later - great buy. 

I was umm'ing and ahh'ing about getting this done for a while as I knew none of my family would approve - not as much as they disapproved my tongue bar anyway!!  My mother actually liked it as it's tiny and can barely see it however I received a disappointing reply from my dad and the rest of my family just didn't bring it up. I decided to get it pierced as even though they may dislike the idea that I have a 'hole in my face', it's not their body and besides I barely see them when i'm living away at uni anyway.

I can't wait till I can change it, I want to buy a cute etsy stud or just a plain ring, maybe even both. The only bad thing is that I keep fiddling with it which sometime looks like i'm picking my nose (opppps)

Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, Apple and Sage Muffins Recipe

My mother's day was spent playing scrabble and baking with my beautiful momma. For my mums birthday I bought her the Lorraine Pascale's 'A Lighter Way To Bake' which is packed with a load of lovely recipes which aren't too naughty for you - the brownies are like 50 Kcals less than the average recipe. Personally I didn't like the sound of these muffins and was very dubious about trying them however I actually really enjoyed them and they are only 155 Kcals!

What you will need:
- 12 Hole muffin tin
- Muffin cases
- 200g ready-prepared sweet potato and butternut squash mix, chopped finely
- 300g wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 eggs (1 egg and 2 egg whites)
- 250ml semi-skimmed milk
- 100g low fat natural yoghurt
- 50ml sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tsp finely chopped sage leaves (we actually didn't us sage in ours as we didn't have any)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 eating apple - peeled cored and roughly grated

Method:
- Pre heat the oven to 200'C, Fan 180'C, Gas Mark 6. Line the muffin tin with 12 paper cases
- Steam the sweet potato and butternut squash for 5 minutes until tender
- In  large bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder
- Beat the egg and egg whites in a large jug
- Beat the milk, yoghurt, oil and maple syrup until smooth and well combined and add the egg mix
- Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture with as few stirs as possible
- Add the butternut squash and sweet potato along with the sage and salt and fold in
- Spread the mixture between the 12 cases
- Scatter the grated apple over the cases

Pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The centre may be damp from the moisture of the vegetables but the cakey part shouldn't look raw.

Send me your links if you have baked the same recipe, I want to know your thoughts! I really enjoyed them!

My brother sent me this while away at uni of my mum with her Lauren Pascale Carrot and Apple Cake, the cutie hahaha!

Thanks for putting up with me and being the best friend and mum I could ask for. Love you forever mumsy!

Recipe from Lorraine Pascale 'A Lighter Way to Bake'

Sun & Moon Boutique: UPDATE

Last night, well, this morning, we went out at the fine hour of 1am to shoot some photographs for our Sun & Moon Boutique website. Which, will hopefully be launching next week! 2 hours later, after lots of outfit changes and mid shoot squatting, Hayley had turned into an ice cube. Today the plan is to fit in editing and uploading more garments on the the website around uni work and Hayley is planning an editorial/advertisement shoot to be shot in the next couple of days. In the mean time check out our new twitter page

Inspiration: Hindu Weddings & Holi Festival

 

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Happy Holi!

Today is the day spring festival of colour in the Hindu calendar. Holi is celebrated by throwing, playing and chasing each other with dry powder to resemble love and belonging with lots of dancing, music and singing involved. I would love to be in India right now!! Hopefully in August we are going to the Holi One Festival in Leeds, which is inspired by the Hindu festival.
Ever since I met Sonia at university I have fallen in love with the Indian culture; the festivals, the colours, the jewellery, their family ethics, the dancing, well just everything else. She showed me the video below of an amazing, magical wedding the other day and I can't get over how incredible it would have been to be there. Obviously, the family must be utterly minted, especially to jet their wedding guests off to Vegas! I'm just waiting for Sonia to get married now... She is actually bringing some henna back to Leeds with her, so if you follow me on Instagram, I will put some pictures up but in the mean time you must watch the whole video!!

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A little update

I'm currently in the library and I've just gotten so bored at looking at share prices that I needed to blog a bit to de-stress myself. We have a presentation in a month about 2 companies that we are reviewing the shares and news of, I know nothing on reading up about share prices, so if you know of any good advice/hep sites then please comment!

Anyway, here's a little update of my life:
I have finally got a placement sorted! HOORAAY. I start 2nd June as a Trainee Accountant, I'm so scared yet so excited. Luckily I managed to get the placement in Leeds so we have also just signed for a new house for July with the girls. Me and David are also planning on booking flights for Spain in the next week or so as we're going to Bilbao BBK Festival in July and then travelling around Spain after.

 

1. My bargain Vans £20.80 from O'neil / 2. We made homemade facemasks

3. I made a microwave cake in a mug / 4. A cute sciencey drawing which I loved

5. Valentines Day was wonderful, nothing silly, we had a lovely day and ate Pancakes! He is a charmer, eh! / 6. Hayls Valentines gift also finally bloomed and they're beautiful

        

7.  I bought a kingsize duvet set from the Charity shop yesterday and I plan to make a dress and possibly a skirt out of it soon! How cute is the pattern! / 8. Me and Sonia dramatically gave blood, we both nearly fainted however it was totally worth it! I really think this is something everyone should do, or at least try, I almost couldn't due to iron levels, it's not scary at all, I promise!

Cool things #2

Okay, I already broke one of my resolutions, however I have had an essay due today so I've been busy doing that for a couple of days. But now its all over till the start of semester 2 in february!
Anyway, as promised, things i've found pretty cool this week

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Pentatonix is a 5 man acapella group, who are just incredible. If you have no idea what acapella is, then just wow, it is when music is made without instruments and it's just amazing what these guys can do with just their mouths and voice boxes! 

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I think my heart actually melted when I saw this picture. IT'S SO FREAKING ADORABLE!

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David actually sent me this video and after I watched it, I said 'I hope I can dance like that at that age'. He then laughed at me a lot and said they aren't "elderly" ....... Easy mistake, right? Either way their dancing is awesome!

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I've taken up knitting and thought that this idea was so cute. Look at the little penguins ehehhehehe. I would love to knit a jumper for a penguin however I don't I'll be at that skill level anytime soon. To be honest, the first comment on this article is actually kind of true at the fact the wool might not help them at all and could make matter worse...

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Annika is my new favourite blogger! I really enjoy everything she writes about, her fashion sense is awesome and I love this DIY of a Circle Dress she made from second hand bedsheets! My plan is to follow the tutorial and hopefully make it as perfect as hers when I get back to uni.

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Me and David have booked our tickets for Bilbao BBK Live 2014 in July which is so exciting, the plan is to travel around Spain after so we were looking for cultural festivals and events that we could attend while are there. This is what we found, crazy Spaniards. This is a picture from their Human Tower Competition Tradition they hold every 2 years, these pictures of the event are incredible, check out the source to see them in more detail!

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Of course another Beyonce related video. With the release of her surprise Visual Album - which is so fucking amazing - she has release a part 5 documentary of behind the scenes making the album and the videos. I've watched each part a couple times now and I'm just so much more in love with her. Definitely worth watching all parts, as they all reveal details of the song meanings and how she wrote/sung them. She is just so cool.

2014 goals

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I hate the term 'resolutions', it's almost like we make them to break them. I've come up with a couple of things that I would love to have achieved by the end of the year. Kind of like Becky Bedbug's 101 in 1001, however I don't think I could possibly think of 1001 things!

Blogging Goals:
1. A blog post a week with my 'cool things' feature
2. Blog more about baking
3. Go to a blogger event
4. Meet a blogger in "real life"
5. Read everyone's beautiful blogs more often
6. Write more reviews on products
7. Be more consistent at writing posts

Career Goals:
8. Focus more on university work - well I am paying 9k for it.
9. Pass second year - would be most ideal
10. Get a placement - ideally in Leeds, ideally with a good company. However I am NOT being picky, i'm just applying everywhere and anywhere. (If you have any/know of any Accounting internships, hit me up - I'm the best)
11. Be more confident in myself, I always doubt if i'm right or not, and I think especially with my work this is a big weakness of mine
12. Move in a nice flat or somewhere nice for my placement
13. Get supervisory role at O2

Personal Goals:
14. Lose my uni weight - you either can't afford to eat or you eat too much crap...
15. Watch a shit load of Disney films
16. Go to see Charl, Tori and Alice in Spain at least once every 2 months... Hopefully if I can afford it, they are all leaving me for a semester in the sun, boo!
17. Go on holiday with David for the first time
18. Find the perfect skin care routine for me
19. Read the book David got me for Christmas 2012
20. Watch everything on my TV series list
21. See the fireworks on New Year in London
22. Explore Leeds more - I've lived here over a year now, why haven't I yet?
24. Go for a bike ride in Leeds
25. Go to an outdoor cinema
26. Visit friend's from uni in their home town
27. See Beyoncé live again - without paying more than £100 for a ticket
28. Be more like Beyoncé!!?

Creative Goals:
29. Have a creative night at least once every 2 weeks with Hayley
30. Make a smock dress with the help of Annika Victoria's blog DIY DIY 
31. Make some clothes with the patterns I bought
32. Make a scrapbook of first and second year of uni
33. Get a new lens
34. Shoot more in film! I love film photography
35. Photograph my soon to be step-sister's wedding
36. Keep a 'Good things jar 2014'
37. Learn Spanish
38. Learn how to knit
39. Knit something substantial
40. Use pinterest more

Here's to a good year!

Cool things #1

Merry New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. Mine has been hectic, travelling to and from Leeds, home and Sheffield. I spent Christmas with my dad in Sheffield, which was lovely, although I had to go back to Leeds for work on Boxing day. Which to be honest wasn't such a bad shift 9.30pm - 5.30am, I got £15 in tips (yess), I took top take of the night and won a flatpack aeroplane which I conveniently left in Leeds. I had 2 glasses of Baileys at 5.30am, which was a perfect way to end the shift.

I've been thinking of some 2014 goals which I will share with you once I have thought of a reasonable amount! One of them is to do a weekly post of pictures/things/quotes or whatever that have made me think 'wow, thats pretty dam cool'. David and I raided reddit last night (which is why the sources aren't great) but here's the outcome.

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An artists work, using a projector, glass and a wall! So beautifully clever. 

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This is hilarious. I love everything about this, Jay-z face and Beyonce's reaction!

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This is from a blogger I found, Annika who writes The Pineneedle Collective which is a Fashion, DIY and Science blog. Which I think is super cool. I actually tweeted her saying how much I enjoyed her blog and that me and David were going to try and make some DNA ourselves! She replied with 'If you manage to *MAKE* DNA you could probably get a Nobel prize - you can extract it, though ;)' ...  I felt so silly! However I am going to attempt to extract some!

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Just oh my!

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This is a tomato which has grown in a metal fence feature. I just think this incredible how its grown!

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'SkyCycle' this is just a proposal, I'm assuming, but I think this is a really cool idea. Following the train routes around London with an above cycle track. This would lower the carbon footprint of the UK by not using cars, trains and tubes getting in, out and around London. How futuristic does it look! However I honestly don't think this would happen, it would cost a hell of a lot and would 12,000 people per hour actually use it?

Currently loving #1

Hey, I know it's been a long time blogging, it's literally been on my mind for weeks to get round to do my list of posts of what I want to tell you/show you. Every List in my room (that's a lot of lists) have about ten reminders each to get blogging.

One of my favourite bloggers, Kate from ghostparties - if you haven't heard of her then where have you been? She does a Currently Loving post every couple of weeks and I thoroughly enjoy reading them. They give you a little insight into what she has been up to and also obviously what she is loving at the moment, I will probably mumble on alot more than Kate does though! Check out her latest currently loving post.

From the 1980s version, Prisoner: Cell Block H series, they have remade a contemporary version called Wenworth Prision, an Australian drama. This now airs on Channel 5 in the UK on Wednesdays at 10pm, and it's amazing! This week will be the 10th episode but I totally recommend catching up, it's just so dramatic. Remember Bad Girls? It's kinda like that, but the Australian version. There is one woman, Jacs, who is just so cruel and tries to run the place but there is a new gal in the compound (the main character), Bea, who tries to innocently stand up to Jacs and put her in her place and ITS JUST SO GOOD. On the edge of your seat and eye locking good. Be warned - in one of the episodes there is a fair amount of lesbian action in. This is the episode that me, Tori and Sonia showed the other girls and they then questioned why we were bigging it up so much haha. So I definitely say you need to watch it from the begining, to know the whole story and you get to slowly understand why all the women are in there.

Last Monday, I had probably one the best nights out of my life. The whole night just went in our favour. I work at the O2 academy and my work friend, Lauren won guest list tickets to a gig of her choice. Because she cannot make the City and Colour gig, she decided to see Bastille and take me as her +1 on Monday, lucky me!! 

We got to skip the queue and 2 free drinks each, perks of a great job! 

To be honest we wasn't crazy excited to see them because we're not huge fans, but that changed throughout the night. The gig was amazing, Dan (lead singer)'s voice is exactly how it sounds on the recordings and the whole band is beautiful. Dan came out in the crowd for one song, he walked straight past us and I kissed him. Smack. Bang. On the cheek. You could tell he didn't want one but I was already kissing his sweaty, stubbly face to care. Lauren fell in love with the first support act Dan Croll, he is a real cutie with a great voice, we managed to spot him walking past the box office after the gig and got a cheeky picture with him. Swiss Lips, the second support, was also really good, thoroughly enjoy listening to them - I love finding a good new band! We also managed to get a picture with the lead singer at the end, he kinda of chin molested Lauren in one photo, bit weird... 

We had a couple of drinks in Baa Bars after the gig and then left about 12 and Dan - Bastille's singer, was just outside O2 meeting people, so we stood in line had a 'cool and collected' conversation with him, unlike the lass before us that just sounded extremely obessed and creepy. We also got a picture each (apologies for the bad camera quality, my phone died but luckily Lauren's hadnt), he also signed our tops we bought! I woke up the next morning after a drunken night out in Leeds with maccies happy meal stickers on my forehead and in my signed Bastille top. Fab.

I visted Blackpool last weekend for a not so crazy weekend away with the fam. Totally random, I just got a call one day tell me we were going to Blackpool and staying over for a night. The train is just under 3 hours from Leeds which is ridiculously long, when I got there our b&b was full of partying Geordies - they bought me a Cider, cuties, I even got invited out. Instead we spent our time getting caught in a storm, walking around bpool in kids size Sealife ponchos, eating Pizza express, walking up and down the promenade and waiting an hour for the tram to see the illuminations, then having an hour journey on the roofless tram (it was so cold) looking at the illuminations. It was a really lovely evening! On the Sunday we went to the Pleasure Beach. I went on all the big rides, like a big gurl. The Pepsi max and the Tabagons were definitely my favourites, we only went on them once though :( how cute is this picture of me and my brother, Jack on the Tabagons, mum bought it for me as a present to remind me of home while I'm at uni, the softie! 

The main goss of the day: we saw Angelica Bell from the One Show (she used to be a CBBC presenter) and BBC filmed us going onto the ghost train, and our thoughts after. Watch the One Show on 31st- Halloween to potentially see us ;) I'm so not looking forward to it!

     
I'm loving work at the moment, I have two brilliant jobs which is better than what I would have said last year when I worked at Subway. Warning: never ever work at subway. I've worked so much this past week, I'm excited to be home for a couple of nights to recuperate. I've been able to see Blue, Rudimental, Sub Focus, Cirque Du Solei and served a load of freshers these past couple weeks and it's been great because I enjoy my jobs and the people I work with. You should never do a job you hate, which I learnt last year.

What is Autumn?

How beautiful is this leaf? The boys told me off for taking this but it just looked too good

It was only the other day that I said to David how it's starting to properly feel like Autumn. The smell of the fresh grass, the change in nature and the sun beaming down on the chilly days, it's so exciting. I've recently been out and bought 100 denier tights, and my woolen jumpers are all ready to be worn again. I think i'm ready. I definitely prefer wrapping up more than dressing half naked, in big coats and cute mitts, hat and scarf combos.
Halloween and Bonfire Night are also coming up. I can't wait to dress up again for Halloween, I need to beat my outfit from last year (I was a demented rag doll and david was my master, cheeky). If you have any good costume ideas, let me know! Whether it be for me or for a group, last year Tori and some of the girls went as Alice and wonderland theme, we all looked fab!

Tori did have a proper outfit but the girl she borrowed it off hadn't arrived when this was taken

Bonfire Night at Hyde Park, Leeds 2012

I saw this post on the lovely Hannah from Tea? Three Sugars. Definitely recommend you check her blog out, she is a brilliant artist and is currently having a 150 follower giveaway (big congratulations!)

For Autumn, What is your...
1. Favourite thing about it?
The weather! It's not too cold yet so it's perfect temperature.
2. Favourite Drink?
Obviously hot chocolate, with cream and marshmallows
3. Favourite scent/candles
A log fire burning in the mantle piece
4. Best Lipstick
I'm feeling like I need to buy a Berry colour this autumn, but definitely need a chap stick through the weather change!
5. Go to moisturiser?
My Body Shop Beautify Oil and Hemp Hand Protector
6. Go to colours for the eyes?
Browns and nudes with maybe more cat flicks
7. Favourite music or band/singer to listen to?
Well i'm going to see my favourite bands this Autumn so all of them. Deaf Havana (they have a new album out which is great), Don Broco and Crystal Fighters!
8. Favourite outfit to wear (i.e. Boots & a scarf combo)
Urm, my topshop cape will be in full use again, mittens and Uggs (however I need to get new mittens and Uggs...)
9. Autumn Treat? (i.e. a new scarf or bag you have your eye on)
I just bought a new bag for uni, but like my last answer, i'm in need of new mittens and Uggs!

I tag anyone who wants to take part in this :) 

P.s. if you want the CHANCE TO WIN A YEARS WORTH OF FASHION, enter Mr Price's competition here. MRP is the South African equivalent to Primark, they have so much amazing items for fantastic prices! 

It would be really cool if you could check us out on Blog Lovin' or on Google+, even follow us on Twitter or Facebook (basically stalk us)