Blogger Bake Off!!!

Good evening beautiful people!

Myself and the lovely Poppy from Poppy alla Norma have been working on a sneaky little project over the last week! As many of you out there, we are glued to our screens again for another series of The Great British Bake Off! So we thought why not host a Blogger Bake Off!?

The task:

Each week when the showstopper is announced on TGBBO we want you to create your own recipe and show us your baking skills! Write a blog post about your design including photos and your recipes! Tweet your post to @BloggerBakeOff and we will retweet it! At the end of the Great British Bake Off program we will compile a list of all entries on our blogs and open a poll to decide who is the winner of the Blogger Bake Off!

The Prize!

We want to give you the chance to win a gift box full of Lakeland baking treats and the winner will be selected through a fair voting poll chosen by fellow bloggers and participants.

Why Take Part??

We want to connect all of you fellow blogger bakers out there, create a community in which you can exchange tips and share your recipes! Come on who doesn't want to get messy and bake delicious treats?? Especially when you can win a good box full of baking goodies!

The Rules!

- Your creation must be your own...no sneaking down to your local shop and buying something ready made haha!

- You can have little helpers who - if they are anything like my boyfriends little girl will  mainly help by licking the cake mixture from any spoon, bowl or simply eat the sugar from the bag!

- You must be following the @BloggerBakeOff page in order for us to fully be able to see your posts and enter you into the voting poll

- You must tweet your blog post including @BloggerBakeOff page so we can share your post.

-You must include lots of photographs, a write up and a name for your show stopper!

The small Print:

Unfortunately, only UK residents are eligible to win the goodie box. Myself and Poppy will be creating some of our own show stoppers but will not be eligible to win the grand prize. You don't have to reveal your secret family recipe if you don't want to but a basic recipe which is similar would be nice so others can attempt your creation. Entries for these Showstoppers must be in by September 2nd, and for the following Showstoppers left in the series, you have two weeks after broadcast to get your bakes blogged. The more posts you upload the better chance you have to win the grand prize!!!

So without further ado, On your marks, get set....BAKE!!!!

 

x

Public transport woes

I've had my car around two months and the head gasket blew the other week..I stupidly agreed to have it done scotching through a garage which left me without a car for nearly two weeks! Which is what inspired me to write this post!

I never used to mind getting the bus despite waiting around shivering in the cold. It cost me less and it's kind of nice to not have to think about where I'm going or if I take a wrong turning. 

That was until I had the luxury of my car! This post is a list of my public transport woes! 

1. No matter how early I get up or set off I ALWAYS end up running for a bus or a train, usually in heels! 

2. My "perfect hair and make up" is ruined as soon as I step off the bus. My hair looks like I've been electrocuted and my make up is practically smeared down my face! 

3. It always rains when you have no umbrella, in a car it don't matter you're in your out no bother! 

4. You have to deal with people...fair enough there are bad drivers out there, but at least when you get in the car your not dealing with people chewing gum with their mouth wide open, listening to people face-timing on loud speaker taking about which girl they pulled at the weekend!

Image from here

5. Everything's delayed...at least sat stuck in traffic you can wap your fave tuuune on and stick the heating on, waiting for public transport in the rain/snow is not fun especially if you get drenched by oncoming traffic in a puddle - which has happened to me on more than one occasion! 

6. You have to practically take a suitcase everywhere...I like to go to the gym after work, I stay at my boyfriends or friends houses quite frequently, I take a packed lunch and my bag is full of everything in the kitchen sink! In a car no problemo...it's a wardrobe on wheels, public transport it's like weightlifting for about two hours a day! 

7. No more lie ins, what would normally take 40 minutes in my previous broom broom now takes me two hours one bus, two trains and a lift...and that's just to get to work in a morning! 

8. My gym schedule is ruined! Call me ridiculous but most days I used to be able to get to my classes on time (just) I now arrive precisely 6 minutes late to my classes now resulting in me having to go later equaling me to have no life 😩😩😩 

9. Screaming children and worst screaming parents...I know from looking after my boyfriends little girl sometimes if they want to be giddy and loud or want to cry they will! But I do believe there is a certain way to chill those little people out, if not at least quit screaming in their face and making them cry more...

10. If you've forgotten something you may as well throw the towel in...in a car it's a quick u turn, park up, divd in the house and it's all go go go! On a bus it depends how far you've got...if your luck it's one stop from home and then another 20 min wait for the next bus if your not its either deal without the forgotten culprit or head back! 

So yes not having a car killed me, I felt like I've lost my right arm! But it's made me appreciate this luxury so much and I hope if you have a car or have been in the same situation you know where I'm coming from! 

Little Miss negative

Well hello there! I have always looked on life a little on the negative side, always a worry wart what if this what if that...what if I actually just focused of the amazing things I have!!??

I've recently reunited with my friend Lucy who I met through Uni. Since meeting up with her she has inspired me to write this post as she's one of the most positive people I know! 

Staying positive can be a downward spiral sometimes, no matter how positive you aspire to be a small chain of events can set us into a negative mood...life chucks some pretty crazy things at us and it's easy to let little things get to us...but I want to make a change, I want to be positive and enjoy all of the amazing things and people in my life and I want to share my tips with you! 

- Write things down. My Nana always said if you needed to say something and you felt you couldn't, write it in a letter, even if you have no intentions in sending it...write it put it to one side to read over when you've calmed down or burn it - watch that negativity go up in flames! Lists are always good too if your struggling to deal with a problem that's come up in your life, list different options or solutions you have. If its about something in your life make a list of pros and cons nine times out of ten the pros will outweigh the cons.

- Learn to say no! Sometimes we really don't want to take part in things or we become tired of always being good ol' so and so they will do this because they're too nice not to! It can be something as simple as not wanting to leave the house because we want time on our own or getting tired of doing favors for every Tom Dick and Harry... Yes it's great to never miss out on a social event or to help out a buddy once in a while but when it starts to effect your mood I say learn to say no! In my experience if you do things you really don't feel up to it can make you feel quite negative and if your friends are true and care about you they will understand when you do say no!

- Socialize. On the other hand it's not good to separate yourself from people for long periods of time! Even if you feel like slouching on the couch with a duvet and a film it can do you good to get out there and see friends and family even if it's just for a few hours. Interacting with others engages our brains and makes us feel connected with one another. If your like myself and my friend Cheryl we can have a lazy Sunday together catching up on "So you think you can dance" with the only words being exchanged "Hummus and Bread sticks" but just being around a friend makes me feel positive! Surround yourself with positive people and you will emanate this. 

- Eat well. May be a simple one but it's a core one! A vast amount of research has shown that the food we eat goes to our limbic systems which is the emotional "head office" of our body...resulting from this, if we put unhealthy food in our body this is exactly how we will feel and vice versa in terms of healthy food! I personally have noticed a difference since I've started eating healthier, eating high sugar, quick fix foods taste yummy and sends me bouncing off the walls for a good hour but then the sugar crash comes and I fell horrific. Whereas, when eating healthy food my energy levels are high throughout the day, I feel fuller for longer and full of beans! - pun totally intended!

- Exercise. Even if your not hugely into fitness, get out there go for a walk or a jog. We release happy endorphins every time we are active which overall improves our state of mind. It can be quite therapeutic and quite addictive! If you've read my earlier blog posts you will know I hated sports at school but since starting going to the gym when I started Uni, I'm hooked and actually now feel awful if I don't go!  

- Sleep more. Now from reading a lot of other bloggers tweets and posts it seems like rather a lot of you love a good snuggle in the sheets and getting all cosy...but how much shut eye do you actually manage to get? According to a study by the sleep council in 2013 33% of British people survived on five to six hours sleep and 67% of people squeezed in between seven hours or less with an overall average bedtime being 11:15. Not to be a boring sod but getting a minimum of eight hours sleep a day will help you improve your mood and concentration!

 Picture from internet unknown source

- Snuggle up! There's nothing better than putting on your comfy pjs, lighting some candles and snuggling on the sofa! According to studies candles give us unconscious relaxation which relates back to the days we used to light fires in the openings of caves to see if it was safe to enter resulting in a calming reassurance. Burning incense sticks is also another way I find helps me to wind down it helps to release anxiety. Certain scents such as vanilla, lavender, rose and even peppermint are proven to improve your mood! 

 

- Hug people. It's a difficult one, some people are very affectionate and others aren't ones for cuddling! But did you know that hugging releases endorphins and reduces tension, builds up your self esteem, helps to boost you immune system and increases the levels of the bonding hormone known as Oxycontin. So hugging really does have an impact, and best of all it's free! 

- Sing your heart out. Bridget Jones comes to mind as I write this "all by myself...don't wanna be..." Yeah, yeah you get the picture! But singing truly does help to improve our mood. I've been caught many a time singing along to my tunes in the car and then I look to the side of me to the person in the next car staring back at me either in shock or fits of giggles...but that's all the fun of it, having a laugh and laughing at yourself! 

So those are just a few of my happy go lucky tips! I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know if you find any of these tips useful!

 

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daisy chains and daydreams

Why hello there!

I thought I would do a cheeky outfit post seen as I've been purchasing some new pieces to add to the wardrobe! If any of you have seen my countless moaning posts on Twitter, you will know my cars been in the garage for over a week now due to the head gasket blowing. My boyfriends been a god send picking me up from the train station and driving me about so I thought I would take him out for a meal to say thank-you last night! And this is what I wore:

Myself and a friend went on the hunt for a date outfit yesterday as despite having two full rails of clothing in her practical walk in wardrobe she "didn't have anything to wear" Me being me I can't help buy end up spending a little 'moolah' which has practically given my bank a breakdown! On my travels I picked up this gorgeous daisy mid/crop top from River Island for a whopping £7! If you've been catching up with my previous posts you'll know I Love a good ol' bargain!

I've been trying to avoid buying dark colours but this will go with so many outfits and it's so cute! I love the eyelet detail to the front it gives it a quirky finish! I styled the outfit with my black disco pants, I picked these up from a charity shop for 99p as they had a slight hole in one of the pockets which I managed to stitch up.

Accessory wise I decided to keep it fairly simple, I didn't want to over dress the outfit as it has such a bold print to the top! I picked this choker style necklace from New Look for £2 in the sale, I'm really into boho jewelery at the moment and fell for this piece as soon as I saw it!

The bangle is from Primark and I think this was £1/£2 - I've had this one a while so I can't quite remember! 

And the shoes were from New Look a while back in the sale for £13!

So that was my outfit from last night, just a short post today, let me know your thoughts! 

x