BLUE MONDAY

   Today is Blue Monday. Exactly what we all wanted to hear right? I mean seriously who comes up with these things?! If its not kiss a ginger day, its short girl appreciation day, what next?   Anyway, this is one of my more unusual posts, in fact, I don't think I have ever even done a recipe post! I tend to bake over Christmas and New Year, and this year I've been obsessed with gingerbread. It is so simple to make, and tastes absolutely delicious, so if you are feeling the January blues, a relaxing bake and a gingerbread snack is maybe exactly what you need...   Ingredients 100g Light muscovado sugar 85g Golden syrup 100g Salted butter 1 Tsp  bicarbonate of soda 350g Plain flour, plus extra for dusting 1 Tsp ground cinnamon 1Tsp ground ginger 1 Egg   To decorate Star cookie cutters Ready roll icing Tub of royal icing   Method

1. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and pour into a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

2. Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the mixture and blend until the mixture clumps together. Knead the mixture briefly until smooth, wrap in clingfim and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.   3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line baking trays with greaseproof paper.   4. Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm thickness on a  floured surface. Cut out the gingerbread shapes and place on the baking tray.   5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking regularly. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool.   6. Decorate with icing.     

NYE

Wow. New Years Eve literally feels like forever ago now, and it was only 2 weeks ago! As always I was a total bore and decided to stay in with my close family, as we tend to have our own little NYE party, rather than go out, how did you spend yours?

I've been thinking lately, I don't actually have two separate day time and night time makeup routines or looks... how bad is that?! I feel like I would literally not mind at all if I had to go straight on a night out without re-doing my makeup, because apart from some bold lippy and a sprinkle of glitter, it's no different!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I really want to invest some time into learning some new makeup skills, I don't even attempt a smoky eye look for goodness sake! But until then, here is my NYE look...

Skin

Rimmel London Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation

Benefit 'Dallas' Bronzer

Rimmel London Mono Blush powder "Live Pink"

Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder "Pink Blossom"

Eyes

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Mascara

Rimmel London 5 pan eyeshadow palette "Pinkadilly Circus"

Glitter Eyes 'xtra sparkles' Pot "silver" Not On The High Street

Brows

Benefit Brow Zings "Medium"

Lips

MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick

Leave me links to your latest makeup posts!

OOTD: CHRISTMAS DAY

MINI TULLE SKIRT, £25, TOPSHOP Is this post allowed? I'm not sure. I'm either going to annoy you for still banging on about Christmas, or sadden you that it's over and we are now almost slap bang in the middle of dull January. Anyway, i'm catching up a bit on posts, having been busy preparing for my university deadlines (which have now all been submitted, yeyyyyyyyy!). I feel like 100% of the female populations Christmas day outfits fall into two camps, you're either a onesie/ pyjama girl, or a dress up as much as you can kinda girl. I'm the latter. Although it's pretty pointless unless you're actually leaving the house to visit family or eat out, I think its always lovely to feel pretty on Christmas day. For me, its the one day of the year I can wear as much glitter as I want and nobody can say anything. This year I opted for one of the beautiful Topshop taupe mini tulle skirts, teamed with pink glittery top from Topshop (a couple of years ago). One thing I would say about the fit of the skirt is that size wise, it is super stretchy due to its elasticated waistband. I ordered an 8 but really I would say anybody up to a 10 could fit into a size 6. Comment your links to your Christmas outfit posts!

2016 HIGHLIGHTS & 2017 PLANS

Well I'm definitely a bit late to the party here... we are already 10 days into the New Year and this is my very first post written in 2017! First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope you all had the most wonderful Christmas and I wish you the very best in the New Year!
Anyhoo, I thought I would kick start the year with a recap of my 2016 best bits, and what I hope to happen in 2017! Sorry, you won't find any New Years resolutions here, I am the absolute worst at keeping them... for real I promised myself that this year I would film a 1 second video each day of the year so I could watch my 2017 back at the end of the year... I remembered today that I hadn't shot anything since 3rd January for goodness sake.
Okay so 2016 highlights: I completed the most amazing 1 year placement in the marketing department at Barbour It was my 21st Birthday! Tenerife Summer family holiday in Devon Kicked off final year of university in September Holiday of a life time to New York in November Made some new friends and made up with some old ones
2017 plans: Battle my way through final year I would love to see some more of the world and plan a couple more holidays Graduation... I hope... Find my first proper job (please be a dream job in fashion) Invest more time into learning how to contour/ highlight/ have amazing makeup like everyone else Finally finish Gossip Girl after 3 years
If any of you have done posts like this I would absolutely love to read them!!.... oh and if you have made any New Year resolutions, good luck!!!

TIFFANY & CO. NEW YORK

Return to Tiffany heart tag ring in sterling silver ring, £345, Tiffany & Co
Lets be honest, what would a trip to New York be without a visit to Tiffany & Co? Of course I had to go. The New York flagship store is just incredible, nestled in the heart of fifth avenue (as if you didn't know), not only is the art deco design building incredibly beautiful, inside there is floor after floor of beautifully designed jewellery.
My friends who had also visited the store told of the engagement ring section, "stick to the peasant floors"... I couldn't help myself, of course I went for a sneak peak. Having dreamt of a heart shaped Tiffany diamond for at least the past 10 years- future husband take note- I couldn't resist seeing it... you know, just to be sure...
No word of a lie, they are so sparkly you cannot even see the shape of the rings, and I would definitely not have found it if there hadn't have been an "other shapes" sign! I knew I had already taken it too far just by asking for the engagement ring floor in the elevator, and when asked if I would like to try anything on I knew it was time to leave!
Back to reality. I did however purchase some beautiful silver return to tiffany earrings, and this stunning rose gold heart tag ring. I mean which girl can resist rose gold...
Just wondering... does anybody know where I can purchase Tiffany silver cleaner in the UK?...

NEW YORK: DAY 5

I have to admit, our last full day in New York was a bit of a flop, there was ridiculously heavy rain all day long... but as it was our last proper day we had to venture out. We had planned to go back to spend most of the day in Central Park and the rest at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market.

We ventured out and did some shop hopping on the way up to Central Park, calling off at the NBA store, Barneys and Tiffany and Co, but when we actually got to The Central Park Zoo, there was literally only 4 other people there! However having the Zoo to yourself isn't a bad thing, and despite the rain, the animals were really active! The penguins in particular and the grizzly bears were absolutely amazing to see. However, I booked tickets thinking it would be like Madagascar, but sorry to burst your bubble people, but the zoo is actually tiny!...and apart from the penguins, you will not find lions, zebras or hippos...

We then had a walk along to the Columbus Circle Holiday market, which I had been looking forward to the whole holiday, however I must admit, there isn't actually that many stalls who are selling Christmassy things! We then headed back to Times Square for a Shake Shack lunch and visited Sephora and the Disney Store before heading back to the hotel to dry off and eat pizza. Safe to say, we didn't venture out again that night!

 

NEW YORK: DAY 4

I feel like day 4 was an absolute marathon, as we tried to cram so many sights and so much walking into one day!

10am was our slot for the Statue Of Liberty boat trip, and as it departs from the very bottom of Manhattan, the subway was essential... but lets not talk too much about that. The boat trip in itself offered such incredible views of the City, and the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island, is also blessed with insane views, and as our ticket permitted access into Lady Liberty we were able to see so much more! Although our ticket permitted us into the immigration museum, this wasn't for me, so we headed straight back to the City.

Any visit to New York should include a visit to the 9/11 memorial, I expected there to be a very morbid feel to the place, but it was surprisingly tranquil. You have probably seen pictures of the huge memorial fountains, but I had no idea there were two of them (although really that makes sense) and in reality they are unbelievably big. 

We then headed back up to Macy's and Bryant Park Christmas market, where we had discovered a hut selling 'chimneys', its basically a cinnamon tube made with pretzel, and filled with Nutella, caramel or jam, so delicious.

The best part of my day had to be dinner, we booked a table at Carmines, a family Italian restaurant in Times Square. Which is voted one of the best restaurants to visit whilst in NYC, they pride themselves on Italian dishes to serve 3/4 people, so we ordered a giant plate of meatballs, we got so much we had to take the rest to go. Literally the most delicious food ever, and it actually worked out cheaper than some other chain restaurants we had been too early in the week. Definitely one to visit...