Fun Things To Do On Halloween

Hi lovelies,

Ok, let's be honest here. I'm not a fan of anything remotely scary. I hate being terrified.. I can't think of anything worse! I know some people love it & I applaud you for it. I wish I had the guts to visit haunted houses & watch scary movies but I get no enjoyment out of it, just a slight heart-attack & feel sick. But, the reason I wanted to write this post, is to prove that you don't have to be into scary things to enjoy Halloween. I absolutely love decorating the house with cute sparkly pumpkins & baking cute spider cookies, so I've put together a few ideas to inspire you to do the same.

Pumpkin Picking
This is something I have wanted to do for years & finally, this year I got to go to a pumpkin patch! I took my mum & we visited Tulleys Farm. They have a PYO section on the farm, where they grow over 75000 pumpkins each year! There was so much choice, from big traditional pumpkins, to small bobbly ones! Mum & I picked a selection, as I find the little ones are perfect for decorating around the house, including our window sills, ledges & bookcases! Tulley's are open until this Wednesday, so there's still time to go along if you're local.

Baking

There are so many mouth-watering Halloween treats that you can bake from the comfort of your own home. You just have to walk into a supermarket & you are transported to confectionery heaven. I've lost count of the amount of magazines I've picked up over the past month & how many page corners I've turned to save the recipes! I made the most delicious Salted Caramel Tart this week & oh my goodness, it was incredible if I do say so myself! I decorated it using white icing to give it a Halloween theme, but I'm definitely saving the recipe for other occasions as it went down so successfully. If you simple type 'Halloween Food' into Pinterest, the most amazing selection comes up & the recipes are incredibly easy to follow. I loved the idea of these little strawberry ghosts, so easy & quick to do.

Movie Night
This doesn't have to involve scary films as such.. any Autumnal / Winter themed movie will do! The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favs, alongside Halloween Town (who remembers this from the Disney channel?!) But even films like Chalet Girl that make you feel all warm & fuzzy are definite crowd pleasers. I would highly recommend one of these over the Final Destinations! You can make up for the lack of scariness with some Halloween snacks & decorations after all!

Walk
Now you can make this as scary as you like! There's nothing I love more than wrapping up in my fluffiest coat, putting on my hat, scarf & gloves & going for a walk at this time of year. I much prefer to go in the daytime.. however if you did feel daring, you could venture out at night for an extra scary experience! (Just make sure you go with friends / family & take your phone!)

Games Night
There are so many fun games I've found online for this time of year! The girls & I are heading to visit our friend Nicola this week & I've printed off Halloween themed quizzes & prepared some games! So far we have 'pin the nose of the witch', 'Mummy wrap' & 'dangling donuts'. All you need for the Mummy wrap, is to be divided into teams & see who can wrap the person of choice in as much toilet roll as possible in a short space of time! & the dangling donuts game I thought would be hilarious to play; you just need to put some donuts on a piece of string & hang them from a door frame or something similar & blindfold the person before they try to eat the hanging donut! Think of a pinata but with donuts & you can only use use your mouth! You can tell we're taking alot of alcohol with us.. haha!



I would love to know what you've got planned for Halloween.

Whatever you're doing, I hope you have a wicked time : )

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September & October Favourites

The Sidemen Book
Ok, this book makes me seriously happy. James & I are massive fans of The Sidemen, so when we heard there was a book coming out, I went straight onto Amazon to pre-order it. It arrived on 18th October & we haven't put it down since! Yeah, we are hard-core fans.. ; D

Elizavecca - Milky Piggy - Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask
I'm not going to write too much about this mask, as I've already written a full post reviewing it, but you can probably guess as it's in my favourites how much I love it. It's just such good fun to use & leaves my face feeling so soft & revitalised. Like I say, make sure you check out my full post about it (even if it's just to laugh at my moon face..)

Maybelline - Matte Maker
I needed a new powder to set my foundation & thought I would try this 'Matte Maker' from Maybelline. I wasn't expecting too much from it if I'm honest but I was seriously impressed. It's only £3.99 (from Superdrug) & lasts all day.

Lush
Ah Lush. Not just Lush, but Lush at this time of year! I'm loving everything in store at the moment. From the Autumn bath bombs, to the new sparkly Christmas bath melts, to the products they stock all year, everything is just so perfect. I recently picked up & reviewed the Pumpkin Bath Bomb & the Autumn Leaf Bath Bomb. Reviews of some of the new Christmas bath bombs will be coming soon!

Lists / Meal Planner
Who else loves a good list? I've been obsessed with this meal planner from The Works this month. James & I aren't the best when it comes to healthy eating & planning meals (mostly because of working shifts that stretch into the evening) so we find it hard to have a balanced diet & tend to just grab what ever we find in the cupboard. This planner allows us to sit down & actually discuss what we are eating & what food we need to get in for that week. It's been a life saver!

Essie - Ruffles & Feathers
This polish is one that I keep coming back too & I love using it as a base for nail art. It features in my recent nail art post, which will be coming soon!

Everyday Luxe - Pumpkin Spice
I'm so sorry I couldn't find the link to this candle. (more gutted that I can't seem to find where to buy a replacement for when I burn this one!) I bought it from TK Maxx last year & re-discovered it this Autumn & I can't get enough of the scent. It's so delicious. I keep popping into TK Maxx to see if they have had another one this year, but so far no luck.

Events

Right at the end of August, Mum & I had afternoon tea at The Hickstead Hotel. It was lovely to spend the afternoon catching up with her, alongside endless supplies of tea, coffee & cake. I've written a full post about our day, which will be up very soon!

At the end of September, I decided to have my hair balayaged & cut. I've had it done before, but this time I went for less blonde tones & more brown, warmer tones. I couldn't be more happy with it.

Earlier this month, James took me to meet his giraffes at Chessington. I only posted about our trip to Longleat a few week ago, where I got to feed the giraffes there, but this was a special VIP experience, where we were taken to the giraffes house to feed them & have pictures for half an hour. It was so much fun & they are all so beautiful.

On 19th October, James & I travelled to Gloucester for his graduation. I seriously couldn't have been more proud!

Oh & finally, it was Mum's birthday on 22nd October & we had the most lovely weekend together. We had a family meal in the evening with my grandparents which was so nice, lots of wine was consumed!

Music

The Chain Smokers - Closer

Bruno Mars - 24k Magic

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Life Lately #103

Morning lovelies,

I wanted to share with you this beautiful place James & I went for breakfast last week. We've had a real mixture of weather in the UK this month, some days it's glorious sunshine, other days we'll have rain all day & some it's just miserable & cloudy. For the first time this year (& maybe the last!) we managed to sit outside for breakfast. I ordered a full English & James had scrambled egg on toast & although they took a while to serve us, it didn't really matter to be honest as we weren't in a rush, but the food was definitely worth waiting for.

In the afternoon, we decided to head to Guildford for a bit of shopping. This was the view across the river Wey, with a lovely little boat passing under the bridge we were on. It's such a picturesque place to visit & great for shops.

The following day, we made Husky cupcakes. Ok, I'll be honest.. they were supposed to be polar bears but we just thought they looked more like dogs when we'd finished! They tasted so delicious, definitely be making them again.

On Saturday, I said goodbye to James for his last term at uni! He literally has two exams in May, an assignment in for the end of this month, then he's completed his 3 year course! It's amazing & I'm so proud of him. Can't wait for him to be back permanently & for us to no longer have such a distance between us.

Now I say, James headed back to uni on Saturday, he actually headed to Cardiff for a stag do! One of our best friends is getting married next month (hen do at the end of April, so excited Elisa!) but it was the boys turn first as they headed off in a mini bus to Cardiff. All us ladies thought we'd have a girls day / night as the boys were away, so we bought some chocolate & games & headed to Gem's house. It was such a lovely chilled evening, I even came home & jumped straight in the bath for further pampering!

Last Sunday, my tea ladies & I headed down to Littlehampton to visit Lorna for the day. She moved down there about a year ago & although we do meet up often, it's rare for us all to have the day off & travel down to see her. We were so lucky with the weather, it was beautifully sunny, there were a few clouds & it got extremely chilly on the seafront, but we had such a lovely day. We played miniature golf (I won, yay! James' obsession with golf helped me through!) & then went back to Lorna's for a tea before driving home.

How has your week been lovelies?

I'll hopefully be uploading a few more vlogs soon, so keep a look out for them over on my YouTube channel! : )

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Life Lately #102

Hello lovelies!

Hope you had the most wonderful Easter! James travelled back from Gloucester on Easter Friday so we got to spend a few days off together over the long weekend. My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary (still can't get over how amazing that is!) on 24th March, so we had a family meal on the Sunday. It's so nice to actually have the day off work to spend with them all & eat ALL of the chocolate!

Lily turned 3 months at the end of March! Can you believe that!? She's growing up so fast & getting cuter by the day!

I met up with the girls after a meeting at work on the Tuesday for a cup of tea & breakfast at our local pancake house. Just look at that meal! Pancakes complete with bacon & eggs, it's the most amazing thing ever!

On Wednesday, myself & the girls went to Ikea. It was Lily's first trip & she loved it! & she even managed to get a few cute toys from her aunties. We also stopped for lunch at the café & sampled the meatballs, which are soooo good. I've never had them before, but everyone raves about them, so thought I'd give them a go. I went to work that evening & my stomach swelled up! It was so painful, I've never had a pain like it. It actually felt like a balloon was inside me.. now I honestly don't know if it was the meatballs or not, but has anyone else ever had this?

Last Thursday I met up with Lorna before work & we had a catch up at one of our favourite cafes. We even got to sit outside for the first time this year! Myself & the girls are travelling down to see Lorna in her home town in a couple of weeks & I'm going to try to vlog our day out, so keep an eye out for that!

& finally myself & James made these amazing crème egg brownies last week. Neither of us are master chefs in the kitchen, but we found a simple recipe on Pinterest that both of us thought we could accomplish & they actually turned out amazingly well! I took them to work for people to sample & we got such a good response so we're definitely going to try more brownies in the future, maybe Maltesers & Mini Egg ones!

Hope you've having a good week lovelies : )

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The Perfect Date

Hello lovelies!

Seeing as it's coming up to Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share with you a few date ideas. Obviously these can be done on any day of the year (& you should definitely make time to date your other half, regardless of if your married or not!) Last year I gave James a "date jar" which contained random date ideas, like the ones I've listed below, written on tiny scraps of paper & every time we struggle to think of something to do together, this lucky dip manages to give us a few ideas. You can either make one yourself or there are some extremely cute ones already made online you can purchase for less than £15! Totally adorable.

So here are my suggestions to help inspire you & your other half.

1. Bake together

I absolutely love baking (when I say baking, I mean buying those pre-made cake boxes from Tesco & adding eggs & water..) I really can't cook to save my life, however, nothing beats a fun day making cakes & covering the other person in flour! You could also try making a mug cake, they are so easy to do & don't take hardly any time to prepare. I got this one for Christmas a few years back & swear by it for all the best recipes. There's even a chocolate section!

2. Go out for the day

Depending if the weather is on your side, you could go to the beach or to a local park. If not, there is always tea rooms or cafes. There are so many beautiful places to explore, usually not far from where you live.

3. Watch films / TV

If you're feeling a lazy day, nothing beats watching films, snuggled up on the sofa. If you're looking for a romantic tear jerker, I'd recommend anything based on the novels by Nicholas Sparks. A Walk To Remember, The Notebook & The Longest Ride are some of my favourites. If not, why not start a new series. James has recently got me to watch The Walking Dead (not very romantic but seriously addictive!)  

4. Go to the cinema

Although I work at a cinema / theatre, I love going to see films. I'm really keen to see The Choice (by Nicholas Sparks!) & if you're looking for comedy, How To Be Single looks so funny, especially as Rebel Wilson is in it!

5. Go out for dinner
I'd advise booking this ASAP as I know places get so booked in advance for Valentines Day. Treat your other half to dinner at their favourite restaurant, or maybe try one you've both never been to before.

6. Cook dinner

If your feeling creative (& maybe a little strapped for cash) why not trying making a meal at home for your other half. James has done this for me before & it was the most romantic thing ever. He told me to leave the house for two hours before dinner was being prepared & I went & got ready at my parent's house. I arrived to find candles, wine & dinner & it was the loveliest thing ever.

7. Go for a bike / car ride & picnic
Now this again depends on the weather & if you own bikes / cars! One of mine & James' first dates was a picnic in the car after a drive to the seafront. It was perfect.

8. Go for a walk
I love walks, there's something so peaceful about them. I'm lucky enough to live in the countryside so I can literally step out my front door & be greeted by fields, woods & endless paths to choose from. Why not take a camera & capture a few snaps together.

9. Make a photo album
Ah now this is something I'm hoping James & I will be doing together! We got a photo album for Christmas & have been waiting for a day to just go through all our pictures & pick some out for the album. Like most people our age, we take photos all the time, but hardly have any printed off.

10. Plan an adventure
Writing 'plan an adventure' reminds me of Up, love that film! But seriously, I have so many places I want to go & things I want to do this year, planning is my favourite thing at the moment & what better way to do it than with someone else who shares your excitement.

What are you planning on doing this Valentines Day? I hope this post gave you some inspiration : )

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What I've Been Lovin' This Week

Hello lovelies,

 

I wanted to share with you a few things that have made me smile this week. As Friday was International Day Of Happiness, I thought it was a perfect time to share this post with you : )

 

 

Ways to feel happier right this second

Lily's post about how to feel happier right this second was an eye opener. I happened to stumble across her post on a down day & it instantly lifted my mood. Worth a read when you're struggling to find ways to get out of a rut.

Salted caramel mug cake

I found this mug cake recipe & it instantly made me feel happy. I like things like that. I've mentioned before that I'm hopeless at cooking & finding a recipe that I read & think 'I could probably do that' is a rare thing, but just the look of this makes me want to try it!

Baths

I'm addicted to baths. When I'm stressing out, I instantly try to think of a way to plan a bath into my schedule. Not always possible, but when it is, my brain & body completely relax & I feel happy. I managed to squeeze a few in this week & they made such a difference.

 

Saving money on makeup

Reading Becca's blog the other day, I came across this website called Save On Makeup. Oh my lord, I don't think my bank balance is going to like me after a purchase.. or two..

 

YouTube

Yes, as simple as that. I have discovered some gems this month & some favourites that I'll follow as long as they make videos. There's just something fascinating about vlogs of people's every day lives that I can't get enough of.

 

What are you loving this week? : )

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Bake Off!

Lemon drizzle cupcakes / Chocolate cupcakes

 

Hello lovelies,

 

You might have seen in my previous update post, I mentioned I'd been baking. Now first of all, can I just say, myself & cooking do not go well together. If you asked me to make dinner, you'd probably find yourself being served pasta or beans on toast. (This is why I'm grateful James did a cooking course recently..) However, the one thing I do like to do, is bake. I'm not saying I'm good at it by any stretch of the imagination.. (these cakes above actually came out of a box.. the shame I know!) but I didn't burn or undercook them, so I deme that a success. I actually had someone ask me for the recipe.. you should have seen their face when I said I'd bought it for less than £2 in a packet from Tesco..

 

I know a lot of bloggers love cooking & baking & I have to say, it does become addictive.. but I think I should stick to the basics so I don't kill anyone. I blame The Great British Bake Off, it makes you believe you can bake anything!

 

Do you like baking? What sort of meals do you cook?

 

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Life At The Moment #61

 

Hello lovelies,

 

Mum's been decorating the bathroom this week & every time I go in, something new & pretty has arrived. Starting to look so nautical.

 

James returned from his cookery course having picked up some delicious tips & tricks. We don't have much time to cook meals 'properly' because of our working hours, but one evening, he managed to rustle up this. Seriously, nom. And as you can see, he inspired me to bake some cakes in return. (much to the joy of the ladies at work)

 

Myself & the girls (+ a few bf's) went out for dinner last week to Chiquitos. Their steak is seriously yummy. Have you ever been? I'd definitely recommend going.

 

Myself & James came back from Chichester yesterday, after visiting his family & his cutie of a cat. We watched the Liverpool match Monday night, which resulted in me having a very grumpy boyfriend for the rest of the evening.. Really doesn't help me saying "It's only a game.." Yes, I've learnt from my mistake..

 

& finally, Elisa celebrated her 21st! The picture on the bottom row, far left is a throwback to my 21st (2 & a half years ago! Scary how time flies..) We went out for brunch on Sunday with the girls which was lovely. Oh & in my last update post, I mentioned I was off to Elisa's 21st birthday bash! So here's a snap on the end to show you what I wore. I went for a side plait with a body-con black & white dress : )

 

Hope you're all well lovelies!

  

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Bakin' With My Girl

Yesterday, I made a cake.

A lemon, honey & coconut cake.

With Cathy. : )

Here's the ingredients list in case you want to make it:

- 120g white rice flour

- 4 eggs

- 80ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

- 260g honey

85g dessicated coconut (some extra if you want to sprinkle it over the top for decoration)

- 1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract

- 375ml soya milk

- 60g of melted butter

Right so.. this is probably the easiest recipe to follow.. ever. : )

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4.

Step 2: Throw all the ingredients into a bowl & mix:

First the flour

Add the honey

The 4 eggs next

Then the lemon juice

The milk

The coconut

Then the butter

& finally the vanilla extract

Then stir the mixture till it combines

Pour the mixture into a tin & put it in the over for 50mins - 1 hour

We might have slightly burnt the cake..

Now, the recipe said bake the cake for an hour, ours got slightly burnt so I'd suggest maybe a little less time & keep your eye on it cooking! It smelt so gorgeous when it came out, so lemony! : )

Hope your all well & having a good day. : )