I Have the Golden Touch

Ooooops, I have accidentally neglected my poor little blog over summer.

I'm going to blame BT for my absence - we moved to a new city a few months ago and getting the internet set up has been such a nightmare. They cancelled my order for no apparent reason then took ages to send out the hub and connect everything up.

Anyway, I'm back online now and I've got lots of things to share so expect regular posting to resume from now on!

I made these yummy brownies the other day, using a recipe from Jamie's Monster Bake Sale, which was a mini recipe book sold to raise money for Comic Relief. They were so good, I felt compelled to share the recipe with you all!

• Melt the chocolate and butter by placing in a bowl over a pan of boiled water.

• Mix the eggs, sugar, flour and salt together then stir in the melted chocolate and the walnuts.

• Spoon the mixture in to the tin then bake for about 15-20 minutes. You want the brownies to be crusty on top but still gooey in the middle.

• Let them cool down a little before you slice them up. 

I finally decided what to buy with my ASOS Groupon vouchers, and went for this cute denim skirt and the coral blouse. I also added a lovely little bracelet by Orelia to my basket at the last minute because I just couldn't resist it!

The sun was out in full force yesterday so after taking these pictures I spent the afternoon sitting in the garden reading my book. It was lovely!

I'm off work all week so I originally planned to do lots of baking and sewing (and blogging too) but unfortunatly my week has not been going to plan so far!

I spent most of Monday in A&E with my little sister after she hurt her foot. Someone dropped a brick on her by accident and it looked so painful - she could hardly walk and couldn't fit her shoe on because it was so swollen. 

Then, this morning I woke up feeling awful. I've been hit by a horrible cold and have had no motivation to do anything today, except sit in my PJ's drinking tea and finally watching Never Let Me Go which, quite frankly, just made me feel even worse! 

Who else has watched it? What did you think?

It was so lovely and sunny when I wore this on Friday and I was so pleased to get my legs out haha! I know heart-shaped glasses aren't really the accessory du jour anymore, but Tom bought these leopard print ones for me 3 years ago and I still love them.

I'm back from Malawi. I actually got home last week but I've been super busy getting back into my working schedule etc so I haven't really had time for blogging.

I don't really have many photos from my trip because, to be honest, I was a bit too busy having fun! But anyway, here are a few snaps of some of the places we stayed...

A lot of my favorite bloggers have done a 'What's in My Bag' post and, being terribly nosy, I've loved finding out what they deem essential enough to carry around with them everyday. I thought you all might be interested to find out what I like to keep in my bag...

My current everday bag is this old tatty one from New Look. It's not my favorite but it does the job and it's the perfect size for all the crap I seem to lug around with me on a daily basis. I added the Marc Jacobs scarf to jazz it up a bit and if you look closely you will see that the ends are all ratty because I am constantly getting it caught in the zip, oops!

It may seem a little silly to have both, especially since I only listen to the same twenty or so songs on repeat for a few weeks, until I get sick of them, but I always prefer listening to music on my ipod rather than my phone. The ipod cover is from Gelaskins, it's like a protective vinyl sticker and I used to have a matching one on my old iphone (sad maybe, but that's how I roll).

I got an iphone 4 last week when my iphone 3 finally failed me. The cover is just a cheapo one from eBay and I jazzed it up with some stickers from my mum (yes, I am still a My Little Pony fan at the age of 22 and I'm not ashamed. I've got a collection of ponies dotted about my bedroom and for my 21st my mum actually bought me some old school My Little Pony episodes on DVD. I made my boyfriend watch them with me!)

That sweet little strawberry is actually a fold away shopping bag. I got it in my stocking at Christmas and I must say it's been very useful. I always try to take my own bags to the supermarket (I like to think I'm doing my bit for the environment, plus you get extra nectar points at Sainsbury's if you re-use!) so this is so handy for quick trips on the way home from work. Plus it's super sweet.

The cat keyring is actually a teeny-tiny coin purse and the ladybug has light up eyes to help you find your keyhole in the dark! My mum loves silly little quirky things like these and she's always buying them for me.

Self-explanatory really. The purse is from Firetrap ages ago and the little silver logo fell off within about 5 minutes but apart from that it's holding up nicely. The notebook is filled with lists of books I need to read, movies I need to watch and things I need to look up on wikipedia.

Both christmas presents, the gloves from my mum (I think they're Accessorize)and the hat, which is from Fat Face, was from my boyfriend's mum. I don't wear the hat very often because I don't think it suits me very well, but I keep it in my bag just in case it rains, because my coat doesn't have a hood and I hate carrying an umbrella but I don't want to get 'rain hair'.

The bottle actually belongs to Tom and he has a matching lunchbox and cycling jacket. I've become addicted to Graze boxes - they are always so tasty and also the little boxes are perfect to keep in your bag in case of a snacking emergency. I think the ones in the pic are Lost and Funky Gibbon. If you've never tried Graze before then you totally should, especially since you can get your first box free with this code 8P5832X.

I've got super wavy hair and although I can tame it with my GHDs any hint of humidity or rain sends it haywire, but a dollop of Secret Agent cream always saves the day. I'd really reccomend it if you have frizz prone hair.

I'm a bit of a YA fiction geek, especially when it involves anything supernatural, and in between reading 'proper' books I like a little light relief filled with lovesick teenagers. I loved Shiver, which is about a girl called Grace and her boyfriend Sam, who turns in to a wolf during the winter months. It may sound like another Twilight cliche but it's so much better (and free from grammatical errors and spelling mistakes). I got the sequel, Linger, for Christmas and since I started reading it the other day I've found it so hard to put down - I have to take it to work so that I can steal a few chapters when it's quiet. If you're a YA fantasy fangirl like me then you really need to read this series!

I'm so awkward in front of the camera - I always end up either looking at the floor or pulling a ridiculous face, as you can see above!

I got this dress from Tesco last summer - Tom and I were on a bit of a road trip to visit friends and when we stopped for petrol he sent me into Tesco to buy some supplies. I spied this dress for a cheeky £10 and knew I had to have it! I actually hid it in my handbag so that Tom wouldn't find out (he dosen't think I need any more clothes), but I'm terrible at keeping secrets and 'fessed up eventually.

Looking at these pictures now, I wish I had worn a belt to break up the florals but thanks to Gok Wan I'm always cautious about wearing waist belts because I see so many girls wearing them with everything and anything. Does anyone else think that or am I just being ridiculous?

 

Dress, Tights & Shoes - Topshop

Cardigan - H&M

It was rather nice and sunny this afternoon, for a change, and so I was brave enough to venture outside to take my pictures.

Now that I'm looking at the photos, I really wish I had worn different shoes but I guess it's a bit late now...

I'm going through one of those 'My wardrobe may be full but I still have nothing to wear' phases at the moment, and this is actually the third outfit I tried on today, after spending many moments pondering in front of my wardrobe. I just feel so bored and uninspired, does anybody else ever feel like that?