Share Some Love This Christmas

Okay so Christmas is coming up very rapidly and apart from having all my presents bought and nearly all of them wrapped, I;m completely unprepared, we don't even have our decorations up at home yet! I usually write a Christmas list to help my friends and family who wish to buy me gifts because they normally tell me I am difficult to buy for (apart from my best friend who always knows what to buy for me). So, here goes:

• 'Wreck This Journal' by Keri Smith, have a peek here
• 'Finish This Book' also by Keri Smith, have another peek here
• A record player that also looks like a briefcase (the dotty one from Urban Outfitters)
• More modern vinyl, preferably: Collide With The Sky, The 1975 & Save Rock & Roll
• A really cool piece of unique artwork to hang in my bedroom
• More candles (I like all smells)
• Cushions for my bed, the quirkier the better

So I hope this gives you all an idea of what I might be looking to get this Christmas. I realise this post makes me look really materialistic, but really, I love Christmas because I get to spend time with my family and make new memories, most of my favourite childhood memories come from the festive period. I also love to give to charity during this time and last year I helped my college send 40 (or so) shoeboxes over to Romania for orphans and children living in severe poverty. Apparently they loved the fact that nearly every box has soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste in, some of them didn't even know how to use them which broke my heart.

I suppose the point of this post is, share some love this Christmas. Giving a little bit of money, or even your time, to a local charity or to someone far away will help them enjoy Christmas as much as you will this year. It upsets me that people spend Christmas lonely, or ill, or in poverty when there are people out there with spare time and spare money who could give them something to make their holiday season a little brighter. Spend some time with a lonely older person, help the homeless find somewhere to spend the colder nights and hopefully get back on their feet, or just give your spare change to the charity collectors that are dotted around at this time of year. Do something to make this world a little better.

The Myths Of Britain Banished

Okay, so I've noticed, now that my blog is a whole month old, that I get my fair share of readers from across the globe, hello to all of you! From talking to people from around the world on platforms like Twitter, I have noticed there are a lot of misconceptions about my wonderful homeland. I'm going to bust some of these myths and let you know what the real Britain is like.

Firstly, I hear a lot of girls say they want a British boyfriend. Here is what I suspect they are thinking of:

And here is what rather a few of the guys in Britain are actually like:

So to all you girls out there dreaming of your perfect British man, yes there are a lot of beautiful charming gentlemen (I am fortunate to have met  quite a few myself), but just remember what us British girls also have to put up with whilst trying to find our own. Myth number one: busted.

Another common misconception is that we all talk like the queen, when in fact, all the little towns and cities have their own accents and regional words. For example, living in Cheshire, I would call a round piece of bread a bun or a roll, but move elsewhere in the country, you may find the same round piece of bread being called a cob, a bap, or a barm cake. Yes, this is a little bit weird for such a small country, but we do all speak a little bit differently, it's not just Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish accents, there's a whole variety of sounds that come out from our mouths. This map should help you understand more:

Myth 2: banished.

Probably the worst misconception is that we all drink tea all the time and it's all we ever drink as we all love it so much that we bathe in it. As a matter of fact: I hate tea, and I also know a lot of other people who agree with me, and are British. It's brown and earthy and disgusting. I'd much rather have a lovely cup of coffee than a tiny sip of tea, thank you. Yes, I suppose we do consume a lot of tea as a country, but then again, so do a lot of other countries around the world. Another issue with tea: no we do not have afternoon tea all the time; when we do have afternoon tea it is a special occasion and we dress up and go to fancy hotels or restaurants and have posh little sandwiches and cakes. No, I have never been to afternoon tea, because surprise surprise, I don't drink it. Although we do have champagne afternoon tea now, I may have to try that instead.

Myth 3: bamboozled.

Here's a few more I have come across that I will quickly go through:

• We don't all have bad teeth- we actually get free braces on the NHS
• The Queen doesn't have more power over us than the Government
• Not all of our health care is free
• It doesn't always rain in Britain
• Our breakfasts aren't always huge- some people don't eat breakfast at all
• Great Britain, United Kingdom and England are not all the same
• We DO NOT like to queue, I, in fact, hate to queue (unless it's for a concert)

Now please, go forth and spread your newly found knowledge about British culture, and no more stereotyping us, thanks.

Picture Sources:

//i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01208/10th-tennant_1208537i.jpg

http://www.imjoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/chav-scum.jpg

http://front.dadaviz.com/media/viz_images/english-dialects-on-the-british-isles-3256618.png

My December Bucket List

I have recently been inspired by the blog posts I've been writing in work in the run up to the festive season. One suggested writing a bucket list of everything you want to do during the holidays and I thought: why not have a crack at it myself? So here it is!

1. Try a gin & tonic
2. Make macaroons (I'll share the results with all of you!)
3. Have an amazing Christmas day
4. Write up some festive blog posts
5. Try my hand at making tree decorations
6. Learn to crochet
7. Watch all the Christmas films! (Okay, just the good ones)
8. Finish reading Twenty Eight And A Half Wishes (it was a free book on iTunes, but it turns out it's actually pretty great, it's quite gritty, even though it sounds like a girly book)
9. Get to at least one blogger event (now I'm in a group that advertises them on Facebook!)
10. Make new blogger friends

I'll keep you all updated on Twitter and I'll write posts about the bigger points on there like the blogger events and learning to crochet (I've wanted to for so long!). 

What will be on your Christmas bucket list? Let me know.

Support Small Business Day

I am a major supporter of smaller businesses as I believe they need our money more than the larger corporations do. Living in a small town, I am constantly seeing small businesses lose out to the bigger companies and this really isn't fair, which is why yesterday (29/11/2014) was so important. It was national support small business day in the UK which meant after the consumerist's dream that was Black Friday, it was time to show some appreciation to those people who are trying so hard to please people with their products. For me, this has spread over the whole weekend (naturally).

On the day itself, I took a trip to Afflecks in Manchester and spend almost £150 on some amazing things. For everyone who doesn't know, Afflecks is the alternative dream in the heart on Manchester city centre. A huge market place with 3 levels and so many independent retailers. I bought everything from handmade earrings to a vintage military jacket to patches for my denim vest. There are a range of shops that sell good food, band merch and even roller derby kit (I was in heaven). Kickflip Boards have their own little corner of Afflecks, and yes I was slightly shocked when the guy behind the counter told me who has was! He was Matt, the actual owner of Kicklip Boards. This may not mean much to most of you, but he's awesome!

After my shopping spree in Afflecks, I did put some money back into bigger businesses because I was in the city and I needed some things that I couldn't buy in Afflecks such as Nandos' chicken and Iron Fist shoes. But yes, most of the money I spent yesterday went to independent retailers and it felt good.

Both last night after I came home and this afternoon were spent going around the Christmas markets in my home town. Lots of unknown makers and bakers come together every month to sell their wares and get their name out as high quality retailers. I personally adore these markets. The streets get closed (usually just for the Sunday, but this one lasted the whole weekend) and people come together and form relationships with sellers and buy some incredible, unique products. This month, I mainly bought food. Good homemade cheeses, macaroons and breads were far too tempting and the people who sell them are much more friendly than walking into a large supermarket, after all, this is what they love to do and have made a business out of it!

This month I saw some very interesting stalls and sampled some amazing goodies. The highlight of this afternoon's shopping has to be my tub of Prossecco sorbet from the artisan ice cream parlour that is situated in Knutsford, Cheshire. It makes incredible ice creams such as pistachio (another one of my favourites) and rum & raisin.

Supporting local businesses doesn't just have to mean once a year, or even once a month. I am a frequent shopper at The Candy Warehouse, again based in Knutsford. The staff are amazing and the concept behind the shop is great. There is a great mix of old favourites and fascinating new discoveries from all over the world (they have a major love for Japanese sweets). The best thing is, not only do they have the best shop front ever, they also ship deliveries all across the UK!

If you don't do anything else to support local businesses, go and support my friends at The Candy Warehouse and Kickflip Boards.

Getting Lippy

So lets be honest here, it's the week before payday and I'm broke, as are a lot of other people I know. I know what will cheer everyone up! Buying new lipsticks. "But you just said you have no money," I hear you cry. Yes, you are right, but I got 3 new lipsticks for £2 the other day. 2 whole British pounds. No I didn't buy them from a friend or get special family discount, that is the actual price of MUA lipsticks. You don't have to scrimp of quality, the strength of colour or the packaging either.

I already had the matte Wild Berry lipstick and quickly fell in love with it. Even though it is a matte colour, it doesn't dry your lips, in fact, it hydrates them better than most lip balms, making it a must for the A/W season. It looks like a deep purple colour here, but goes on a bit redder, but still keeping its plummy richness. It also seems to act like a lip stain as its staying power is incredible!

Scarlet siren is another matte shade and looks as if the colour is going to be amazing, I will keep you updated with how I find the colour when I wear it, but it should be positives, I love bright and bold reds.

Shade 1 is my typical lipstick. It has a nice gloss, is amazingly moisturising and is very bold, however with a sophisticated darker twist. This is the first time I had used the MUA gloss lipstick instead of the matte colours and I loved it! My lips felt amazing which is odd for a less expensive lipstick and it stayed on for hours! I was definitely not disappointed.

Now I am always one to take a risk, but Raven is starting to make me nervous. I have wanted to try a black lipstick for a while (I wear a lot of dark clothes and I attend a lot of rock concerts, it's only right) but now I have one in my possession, I keep putting it off. It will be worn one day and I realise that yes, it will probably become my favourite lip colour ever, but for now, let's just leave it be until I grow the balls.

What I love about MUA lipsticks in general is that thy come with little pots of the lip colour that you can unscrew from the bottom of the container. I love this because using a lip brush is my favourite way to apply lip colours but I hate destroying the shape of the lipstick because it makes it harder to apply without a brush in the future. These handy little pots give me the best of both worlds and let me get my own way (and who doesn't love that?!).

Let me just add that the colours are usually £1 each, I got three because of a special 3 for 2 offer that I found about when I went to pay, which was the best feeling ever that I could get more things for free.

Recipe: Raspberry & White Chocolate Cupcakes

As it is international cake day on Wednesday 26th November, I decided to share with you a new recipe I have fallen in love with. My adoration for this classic flavour combination came from my addiction to raspberry and white chocolate cookies as a child. Now baking with and eating the two together takes me back to shopping with my Nan and the innocence of childhood memories. I found a recipe online and tweaked it, as well as adding my own raspberry jam butter cream with a homemade raspberry sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 250g soft butter
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g self raising flour
• 4 eggs
• 4-5 tbsp milk
• 100g white chocolate (chips or broken into small pieces)
• raspberries (no quantity, I used about 2/3 small punnet)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4
2. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (see picture towards the end of the post)
3. Add and beat in the eggs one at a time, continue beating until some volume has been added
4. Gradually sift in the flour and fold in, then add the milk to loosen up the mixture slightly
5. Add the raspberries and white chocolate chips or pieces delicately so you don't knock the air out of the batter or destroy the raspberries. I suggest coating them in flour before adding to the mixture as this stops them sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking
6. Spoon into cake cases and bake for around 15 minutes or until golden (see pictures)
7. Decorate how you want, I used raspberry jam butter cream which is a small pack of butter with around 5-6 tablespoons of icing sugar and 2 teaspoons or raspberry jam, more if you want a stronger colour or flavour. The sauce was made with the leftover raspberries, 2 teaspoons of caster or granulated sugar and a splash of water, then strain to take the seeds out.

THIS is soft and fluffy

This is the colour my cakes went when they were done