TOMS

On Saturday I decided I needed some new flats, and since I'd had some money for my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself. I'd planned to buy some ballet pumps, but my boyfriend suggest I try out TOMS. I went into Republic and tried on the first pair I saw, and haven't looked back since. They are, without a doubt, the comfiest shoes I have ever worn. I got them in navy because, well, it's my favourite colour. It's also a really easy colour to wear as it doesn't tend to clash. Anyway, back to my beloved TOMS. They look cool with jeans (I wore them with turnups to a gig last night), or even with skinnies on a night out. I wore them today with a dark red Topshop flippy hem dress and black tights. My one piece of advice is that you don't buy a pair that feel a little bit big.. I'm a size 6, and when I tried them on they felt quite snug, but they give a lot so there really isn't much point in buying some that are too big to start with. 


By far the coolest things about TOMS, however, is their One For One Movement. So, for every pair that you buy, the company donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. I definitely recommend you all invest in a pair.. or two :)

Birthday Celebrations

Chocolate birthday cake :)

Yesterday was my birthday and I was absolutely spoilt rotten by everyone. I have an incredible family, the most amazing boyfriend, and the loveliest friends. I got some really beautiful presents, including; Urban Outfitters shoe boots, navy Hunter wellies, Benefit make-up, tickets to see Wicked in London, and lots of clothes and other pretty things :) 

This was my first ever birthday away from my family, but I did spent Tuesday night at home with my boyfriend and had a lovely birthday lunch with my parents on Wednesday. When we got back to the flat my flatmates had decorated the living room with lots of balloons and confetti, and everyone surprised me later on with a cake. I did get very homesick on Thursday, and it made me quite sad that my parents couldn't see just how much I appreciated everything they got me. Despite this, I had a really brilliant birthday night and day with everyone at Caledonia :)

Finding Mr. Bright -Benefit.
This set is really good, so I'll do a full blog on it soon because I have some more make-up I want to review and show off :)

Valentine's Day Cupcakes :)

So, as it's Valentine's Day, I thought it gave me a good excuse to do some baking :) I decided to make some cupcakes for my flatmates, The recipe I used for the cupcakes is really simple and easy to remember- I got it from an adorable book called Easy Cupcakes that I got for Christmas (they also have an Easy Chocolate one which is also very nice) Here is my take on the recipe...

115 g/4 oz of unsalted butter

115 g/4 oz caster sugar

2 eggs

115 g/4 oz self-raising flour

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Put the paper cases in a muffin tray (about 15 or 16), or double-layer the cases and put them on an ordinary baking tray (otherwise they'll collapse, and nobody wants that)

Mix up the butter (soften it a bit in the microwave first) and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. 

Beat the eggs together, then gradually add them to the mixture. Swap your wooden spoon for a metal one and lightly fold in the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, being careful not to put too much in each. 

Put your tray in the oven for about 15-20, or until 

they're golden.

Once your cupcakes have cooled, you can start on the icing. For some of mine I melted some chocolate (it doesn't need to be the good stuff- I chose Tesco's 83p milk chocolate) and spread it on top. For the rest of them I mixed up some cute pink butter icing. For this I just softened about 100 g of butter then added ample amounts of icing sugar. If you like, add some food colouring, but be careful not to put too much in. The best (and only) way to know if your icing is ready is by tasting, so have a teaspoon at the ready! Finally, just spread it over the remaining cupcakes :)

Hijack & Meeting Luke Pasqualino

So, last night I went to Hijack with Pete, Matt, Dan, Gerard & Ray. It was meant to be a 'UV Rave', which eventually meant that we ended up plastered is UV paint (as in, you could barely see my face through it). It was also a 'Skins Party', but all that really entailed was Luke Pasqualino (Freddie from Skins) doing a brief DJ set. 

I'm not usually that girly about celebrities etc, but Luke is one of my not so guilty pleasures, so I went straight to the front and waited for him to come on stage. They (whoever they are) are definitely right when they say 'patience is a virtue, because after a bit Luke came of stage and came near to where we were standing, touching the hands of other desperate girls. I missed him first time round, but when he came off stage again he came straight to me and actually gave me a genuinely long hug! He even pulled back to ask me what I'd said ("YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL") and hugged me again whilst telling me that I am too. My night was made from that point on, I even had tears in my eyes. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur, but I did get to spend some quality time with Matt & Dan, which I don't usually get to do :) All in all, Hijack was a success.

HUGGING LUKE PASQUALINO!!!

Away We Go

Another proven way to make myself feel better is by watching a selection of good films. I'm starting with Away We Go, and then moving onto (500) Days of Summer. I love these films, not only for their feel-good factor, but both have really brilliant and iconic soundtracks. Alexi Murdoch, whose music makes up the majority of the Away We Go soundtrack, is an amazing musician and his music is really good to listen to when you're just pottering around or attempting to get on with some work. 

This is one of my favourite Alexi Murdoch songs:

Alexi Murdoch- All My Days

Tea & Biscuits

I'm not feeling very well today, but tea (milk, no sugar) and Custard Creams always make me feel better. I like this Victoria & Albert mug- my mum (or should I say, Santa) bought it for me for Christmas, and it came in a lovely matching box. She also bought me some little trinket boxes in the same pattern, which are perfect for keeping little pieces of jewelry etc, and the big one is the perfect size for my Sharpie collection.

It's common knowledge in my family that I am probably the world's biggest fan of Custard Creams, and my dad found this really cool biscuit box that not only looks like a giant Custard Cream, but was full of them when I opened it! (They didn't last long, probably only two days). It was waiting for me on my bed when I visited home for the first time from university- very exciting. It's full of makeup now and has pride of place on my desk. I think it's from Marks & Spencer, but at the outlet near my flat. 

Old friends.

My friend Imogen is coming to visit next week and we're going to see Rizzle Kicks are my university. I'm a bit sad that none of the boys wants to come along, but it'll be good anyway. Also, I will be ridiculously hungover from the night before (my birthday).


Imogen and I have had our ups and downs, but I'm so glad that we're back to how we used to be. This photo was taken in November 2010, when we went to see (little did we know) Paramore's last ever tour with the original band members. It was, without a doubt, one of the best nights of my life. I even cried, that's how good it was.

The other picture is of a Hayley Williams cake that we made because we really had nothing better to do. I did the hair, and I was genuinely quite pleased with myself :)

Anyway, it'll be good to see Imo on my turf and introduce her and her massive boobs to the Caledonia Millains.