I’m just going to start by saying how much I love going to the zoo. I’ve never been one for animals but ever since we got dogs I’ve been a lot more open to the idea of them! We went to New York Zoo a while back which was great, they had baby snow leopards that had just been born which was really cute! 

Longleat Safari Park has to be my favourite hands down though. We did the safari in my car and I was a little bit concerned that the monkeys would attack my car but fortunately they didn’t! 

Giraffe Selfie anyone?

I’ve been to a few others recently but this year I’d quite like to go to ZSL London Zoo and also London Aquarium!

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What's On My iPhone

So it still so happens that I'm quite behind the times and I still have an iPhone 4.

However, it still does the job which is most important.
I only have 2 pages on my phone. Obviously I have apps like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, to keep updated with what's going on with family, friends and other blogs. Also who can resist a bit of Snapchat now and again?

The first page is pretty much full of your standard Apple apps but a lot of them have been put under one category, purely because I don't use them enough. I know you're probably wondering where the music is and it's there but I use my iPod because it has four times the amount of storage. 

The second page is pretty much miscellaneous, including Bloglovin' and Pinterest, what my lunch break is made up of!

I also recently downloaded 2 photo prints apple, one of which gives you 500 free prints a year and you just pay postage which is pretty cheap compared to some photo websites. The other is called Polabox, where you can print photos as polaroids at 35p a photo or you can also get photo strips, at £6.45 for 5 strips of 5 photos.

I also have static to keep track of followers on various social media platforms. Plus Timehop because I like seeing how far I've come in a year. And lastly C25K, so I can get off my ass and workout!

That's what's on my phone, what's on yours?


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Y is for...Yes

I just want to apologise for not doing one for X, I tried very hard to think of one and the best I could come up with was X-ray and I’ve never had to have one but I didn't want to waste a whole blog post on that, if you have any other suggestions for X please let me know!

Onto Y, this year I want to say yes to a lot more things. I’m always so hesitant and I find myself saying no a lot. I want this all to change! I do find myself a lot busier these days and I obviously do need time for myself, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do any writing…but there are still things that I know I could say yes to, so here’s to say yes more. 

U is for... Understanding

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that some people can be extremely judgemental and inconsiderate. I mean obviously I knew that people can be like that anyway, but when you are trying your best to help people and they are still extremely inconsiderate towards you, it makes no sense to me! I normally like to imagine the situation if the shoe was on the other foot, how would these people feel if I treated them like that? I’ve learnt the value of being nice whenever I can, especially if someone is trying to help me.

The moral of the story: treat others how you expect to be treated.

End of 12 Day Blogging Challenge

Day 12!

So it’s the end of my 12 Day Blogger Challenge and it’s been really nice to write about topics that I don’t normally write about, like my favourite things and even makeup which I know nothing about!

Just by answering a few questions each day you already know more about me, but not only that, it’s given me a break from what I would typically write on here. I’ve had the time to think up new ideas and I certainly can’t wait for the New Year to bring some of these ideas to life!

This is more of a catch up. I started a proper diet again a few weeks ago. Less carbs, less bad fats and plenty more fruit and vegetables. Despite not losing huge amounts of weight, I feel better in myself and that counts for more right now because if I’m eating better now then it will make it a lot easier for me to cut out more bad food in January.

It’s the small steps that lead to big changes!

Basic Cupcakes

Day 9: Teach us a Tutorial

I do a lot of recipe tutorials so I'm going back to basics on what I know best - cupcakes!

To make 12 vanilla cupcakes, you will need: 

6 oz self raising flour

6 oz unsalted butter

6 oz sugar 

3 eggs

A few drops of vanilla essence

I've said before that it is easiest if you have an electric mixer but not everyone will!

Preheat the oven to 160C, it needs to be lower or the cakes will burn on top and not cook. 

Using a handheld whisk, beat the butter and sugar together, at this stage you need to trap in lots of air as this will help the cake to rise, and make it light and fluffy (technical terms here...). 

Then you need to whisk in the egg followed by folding in the flour and vanilla essence. 

Now at this stage it is crucial to be very careful when you fold in the flour because if you are too harsh then you will knock all of the air out and be left with pancakes. 

By now the oven should have warmed up nicely, so spoon the cake mixture into cupcake cases and pop in the oven. 

I will often stay in the kitchen and watch them like a hawk to get them perfectly right. It should take around 20 minutes. 

Transfer them to a cooling rack and decorate in any way you wish! Here are a few ideas to get you going

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

'Healthy' Cupcakes

Most Loved Possessions

Day 5: Most Loved Possessions

I’m going to be honest, I don’t really like this topic but even so I obviously have a few items that I do love rather a lot!

You’ve probably seen me talk about this a few times, but I LOVE my Filofax. I wouldn’t know where I’d be without it, I’m crazy organised and I’ve personalised this to suit what I need, lots of stickers of course!

Normally I would list my phone, but mines so old now that I’m not too fussed about it…so instead, my most loved electrical possession has to be my MacBook Air. I love it beyond belief and of course I wouldn’t be able to do any writing without it!

Lastly, it has to be my car. It’s literally my baby and I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere without it! I certainly wouldn’t be able to get back to my parents house that’s for sure, and surprisingly it’s a lot cheaper than getting the train! Ain’t she a beauty?

Top 5: Makeup Essentials

Day 4: "Top 5"

I’m not a huge fan of makeup or keeping up with new brands or trends, that’s just not my area of expertise! But here are my top 5 makeup essentials.

I’ll be honest I don’t buy the most expensive brands, I’ve never had the best experience with them so I’m more than happy to be buying drugstore brands like MUA and Collection.

Foundation and Concealer:

Like I said, I get a lot of my makeup from MUA, this goes for my foundation. I completely love these, they don’t make my skin feel like it is under loads of weight. I also use a foundation brush to apply them to get an even coat!

Blusher:

I love my blusher! It’s from the brand NYC, and it’s great because it has 4 different colours so I can choose whichever takes my fancy.

Babylips Lip Balm:

I have 3 of these, although the bring pink one I have has been left in a bag and I’m yet to find it again! They’re so great, each is a different colour but my favourite has to be the purple as it has a slight shimmer to it.

Makeup Brushes:
I really need to clean these, so please excuse the state! I couldn’t apply makeup without them! I hate using my fingers when using makeup so I literally have a brush for everything!

Why Do You Blog?

I thought it would be nice to take part in the 12 Day Blogger Challenge by Amy at Style Storms, so here it goes!

Day 1: Why do you blog?

I’ve thought about this a lot for the past month and it’s going to sound so generic by saying that this is now my own little piece of the internet, but it’s true and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If I didn’t have this blog, I have no idea what I would be doing with my time instead. And who knew I would love writing so much and constantly be complimented on my style of writing?

You know those awful English GCSE grades that I got… and those comments from English teachers on things I need to improve on… they mean nothing! It feels pretty great to be honest, that I have created something and have something to show for it.

I still can’t believe that I had people being so judgemental of the fact I wanted to start blogging, and they actually laughed at me, it’s safe to say we don’t talk anymore. It’s a great feeling being in control of a blog and not knowing where it could possibly go, hopefully to high places!

I guess the reason I blog is because I have developed a love for writing and I love being able to share all aspects of my life, in particular my recipes!

I also love reading other blogs and seeing what everyone else is up to all over the world and what they love each month! (hint: leave your blog link for me to check out, I need some new material). It’s safe to say I’m not going anywhere anytime soon!

6 Months of Blogging

Oh Wow. I would never have thought that I had come this far in 6 months. I didn’t think that my blog would be anything like it is today! I have worked with several companies, different bloggers to improve my blog and at the end of last month I started writing for two other websites to gain a bit of experience in different kinds of writing.

Blogging has really opened up a whole new world to me, I have been able to do things that never would have happened if I hadn’t started blogging and I’ve shared a journey with people that I never thought I would do.

It sounds really cringe but I’m quite proud of myself, I have my own little space that I can do absolutely anything with! I am completely dedicated to this (as you can see) and a lot of the time that isn’t always the case. I mean there aren’t many things that I have managed to self motivate myself to keep it going and achieve something, but here I have! And it feels pretty damn great.

If I could list everything I wanted to do with my blog we’d probably be here until next year, so to avoid boring you to death, I’m going to share my top 3 that I hope to achieve in the next 6 months by which time it will be a whole year of blogging!

I want to seriously improve my photography skills (they are absolutely shocking right now)

I want to learn a bit more about designing so that I can change my blog to how I want it

Which leads on to…

I want to learn how to code and to some HTML, this seems pretty key with designing and even in basic writing

For me, this would really improve my blog and take it to the next level in the way that I want it to.