Saturday 30 March 2013

Easter Creme Egg Brownie recipe

I love chocolate brownies, they're also about the only cake/ dessert thing that I can consistently (fingers crossed) make well every time, so I thought I'd try a little twist after seeing a photo of Creme Egg brownies on Instagram and thinking they look amazing!
I find them so simple to make once you know how.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

If I was a rich girl... Na Na Naaaa

Basically I've put together a list of things I really want to buy and have been on a wishlist/bookmarked for a long time but I either can't bring myself to buy them or can't afford to!!
1) Pearl Jacket £95- Toppers, 2) Nars Sheer Glow in Deauville £30.50 SpaceNK,  3) MK Rose Gold watch in MK3181 £143 Amazon,  4)Rayban aviators in RB3044-L0207 £90 Smartbuyglasses  5)  Bowie pink high top wedge trainers £149  ASH,  6) Ella Black Scallop pinafore dress £64- Dahlia
There we have it, I want all these lovely wonderful (expensive) things but I don't see me buying them any time soon!!
What do you have on your wishlists?

P.S. anyone remember the rest f this Gwen Stefani song? :)
PPS. Dahlia have a competition on a the moment to Win a Whole Season of Dahlia clothes (five pieces of your choice)! All you have to do is like their FB page (here) and comment on on of their blog posts (here). Easy peasy

Saturday 23 March 2013

30 day shred

So a few weeks ago I joined the 30 day shred band wagon after reading various posts loving it, and I ordered the DVD from Amazon :) so that I could throw in my two cents 
I joined the gym about 5 months ago and try to go at least three times a week but normally it's less and I don't feel that once or twice a week is enough- not with the type of food and drink I love to eat (chocolate, Wine, Full fat coke, Chinese, Indian, Thai, pasta, Pizza) etc.!!
So with the DVD I also bought some weights, I got these 2kg Davina (McCall) ones from Argos and I really like them! The 30 day shred is said to make you lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days so I weighed myself and in my follow up review, I'll put how much I lost.
This won't be a weekly post thing, but I thought I'd do a quick review at the end and say how it has worked for me and the progress I have made. The exercises themselves are said to go up in how hard they are- most people have said the 3rd level (last 10 days) is horrible! 
I've also joined 'My fitness pal' which is really helpful in counting the calories, especially now I've put the app on my Nexus7 which I seem to carry everywhere with me, so I can update my daily calories easily :) it's so handy- and even has most of the graze boxes calories listed on there so I don't have to go digging through my rubbish to find out what they contain!

Wish me luck :)
Have any of you tried the 30 day shred or other fitness videos? This is the first one I've ever tried so I'm not sure what to expect! Did you like them?

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Barry M Gelly hi-shine love

I know these polishes have been out for a while, but I only recently started to love them, the hi shine look is supposed to be as though you are wearing gel nails.
I have only ever had gel/shellac on my own nails once and I dud love how long it lasted for with no chipping! But they are quite expensive and it means you can't change your polish for 2 weeks+  (if you want to get your moneys worth).
The Gelly polish gives so much shine, and does last quite well for a regular polish.
These 3 I have are my favourite colours; Lychee, Blueberry and Plum- but I still want to get more, really want the Blood Orange for summer! I love how they're all named after fruit. The one I'm wearing at the moment is Plum- I love the colour, also when I bought these it was 2 for £6 in Superdrug, can't go wrong with saving £2!!

What do you think? Have you tried any of these Gelly polishes?


p.s I've been reading all over bloggyland about GFC supposedly being closed down- I'm not sure when, but everyone seems adament that it will. And I've been seeing a crazy flux of blogloving followers.
So I've started following every blog I follow on GFC so that I don't love them :)

In cas any of you did want to follow on Bloglovin, you can click here- or on the link in my side bar --> :)

Sunday 17 March 2013

Book review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This is the first e-book I've ever read and although I'll always be loyal to me 'real' books, I can see the allure of e-books. But anyway this isn't a review of e-readers! 
This is Rachel Joyce's debut novel. It is based (loosely) on John Bunyan's 'A pilgrims progress', and has extended the narrative to cover the modern day 'pilgrimage' of Harold Fry.

Thursday 14 March 2013

The hype of La Roche Posay Effaclar duo?

Is it worth the hype? I bought this 2 weeks ago now, dubious as to whether it really was worth the hype that the blogging world seems to give it.
Everyone seems to rave about it; the product claims to 'eliminate skin imperfections such as spots, redness or scarring. It contains LHA and Linoliec acid which helps unblock pores.

I was expecting amazing results straight away, which I didn't see. but then I don't have 'severe' imperfections, more the odd spot and slight redness. I did find it quite drying- this is probably due to the LHA and acid but I have found it has really help unclog pores.
Effaclar Duo has reduced my pores and made them much less noticeable! I've also found it's helped smooth my skin out as a base for make up. I wouldn't say it helps a spot once it's appeared but it definitely stops them from forming.
I bought this for £8.67 as it's currently reduced on Escentual.com, but I'm not sure it's as amazing as everyone makes out and is worth the full price tag- maybe time will tell!

Thanks for reading, have you tried any La Roche Posay products or do you have any good alternatives to recommend?

Monday 11 March 2013

Life lately

An Instagram (finally joined) round up of the last week or so.

1) Horse riding times 2) Graze box! 3) Pretty flowers I picked up in Tesco for 45 p :) 4) Bowling and losing- I was lucky to hit 3- so bad! 5) Barry M Blueberry, fav new polish, 6) Got a bit excited in first visit to Tottenham Court Rd Primark 7) Fredbear sticking his tongue out 8) Chicken pie goodness

Sorry I've still been rubbish on the blogging front, uni work is keeping me so busy :( I'll be better next week! What have you all been up to this week?

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Sweet potato Gnocchi with Arrabbiata sauce

I'm back! Been away for a few weeks as uni work has been taking over my life a bit. I have a new recipe post (finally); I love arrabbiata sauce and will usually opt for it over penne at Italian restaurants. I've never really been a fan of gnocchi, but after making this sweet potato version- I love it!

Ingredients for 2 servings;
Gnocchi:
1 large sweet potato
150g plain flour
Nutmeg
Thyme
Salt
1 egg
Arrabbiata sauce:
2 tbsp tomato paste
250g chopped (tinned optional) tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 chopped chillies or chilli flakes/powder
handful of Black olives
1 small chopped onion
dash of red wine
1 or 2 tbsp of sugar (brown is better)
seasoning
Basil
olive oil