June in a Nutshell

The weather in England this June seems like it has Bipolar. One minute its 30 degrees celsius and the next it's raining and cloudy with thunder and lightening. So, due to the rain, I have spent quite a but of time lounging around - repeatedly watching Nicholas Sparks' 'The Notebook' and 'Dear John' both *amazing*, and watching tennis at Wimbledon, (obviously only for the mens abs tennis). Have you seen Nadal's bum?! Anywho I've just finished watching the English 17 year old Liam Broady (in the pictures below) unfortunately lose to the Australian player Saville. Liam is sooo good looking!

On a more serious note, I really want to go and play tennis now. I used to play it a couple of times every week competitively and I won a few competitions. But I gradually stopped playing tennis, and I really miss it.

Anway, enough of boring you with tennis. I've also been baking a lot. I made a delicious roasted tomato and thyme soup with twice baked potatoes. It was a recipe by Sophie Dahl, whom I love. Here's the recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roastedtomatoandthym_93625 

And I also made some Chocolate Puddings using a Lorraine Pascale recipe from her book 'Baking Made Easy'. It's a really easy recipe to follow and they turned out perfect first time round; with the gooey chocolatey centre and the slightly spongey outside YUM! And dare I say it, they were even better than the Gu melting puds :O It's the second thing I've made from her book, and I really recommend it.

Oh and here's a little tip... when you buy a Gu pudding that comes in the little glass ramekins like the 'Hot Chocolate Melting Middles' or 'Lemon Cheesecake' just wash and keep them because they are oven proof. Also, they are the perfect size for creme brulee, individual cheesecakes, chocolate mousse, souffles etc.

Thank you for reading :) Have a lovely day!

Emily xoxo

P.S Thank you so much to all my readers, I've reached 300 followers WOW! :D xo

Milestones and Holidays Abroad

Gosh. The last time I posted anything on here was February! This year has been the busiest and most stressful year of my life. I have finally finished my GCSE's and I am so relieved. Now it's just a waiting game until the end of August, when I will finally find out if months of revision, stress and effort has paid off! I am now finished school for this year and I don't go back until September, and it'll be really different. I will be a sixth form student, not a school girl. It feels kinda wierd to think that I am not a little girl anymore; nor will I have to wear school uniform, and I can now actually wear makeup on a daily basis.

Recently I have been reflecting on everything (cheesyiness alert) and I feel like this is a big milestone in my life. Education is no longer compulsory, if I wanted to, I could go out into the big wide world and begin work. But I have also been faced with a lot of questions like 'Should I go to Uni?', 'If I went to Uni did what would I study?', 'What job do I want?'  But I just don't have a clue.

Talking of milestones... I am going to Corsica this summer. It's a *BEAUTIFUL* French island between France and Italy. And I am extremely thrilled as it will be my first time abroad! I know crazy right, I'm nearly 16 and never been abroad! (Well, I have been to Jersey numerous times when I was a bubba but that doesn't really count!) The weather in Corsica is said to reach temperatures as high as 35 degrees! Which is a big difference to what I'm used to in cloudy London. I also burn VERY easily and so sun lotion will take up like half the weight of my suitcase. On top of it being my first time abroad I'll be with my best friend Alicia, whom I've been friends with for 11 years now :O. It is going to be soooo fun.

Just look at the picture below of a beach in Corsica. It's perfect; sandy, sunny with turquoise waters. I cannot wait!

Where are you going on holiday this summer?

Oh and before I go I just wanted to thank you all for the positive feedback from my last post :) I will probably do some more 'In a nutshell' posts in the future ;D

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/evening!
Emily xo

February in a nutshell

I love reading these posts about peoples summaries of their week so I thought I'd do my own; February in a nutshell.

February has been very stressful, packed full with revising and coursework deadlines, and to make matters worse I have tonsillitis :( God help me next year with A-levels! I'm thinking of taking History, Geography, English Literature and Textiles. But I have changed my mind so much! I kind of want to take Philosophy and Psychology instead. I am so bad at making decisions! Have any of you chosen your A-levels? Or if you're doing/done them what did you take?

Anyway, onto the pictures...

Favourite spring perfume - Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom and Honey. You need to smell this its so fresh and fruity, perfect for spring.

Recent makeup favourites

You know spring is on its way when the daffodils come out...

Beautiful sunsets

How was your February?

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.

Love Emily xoxo

P.S Thank you for following!

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Being the avid baker that I am, I spent this evening baking. Most normal people would be watching the TV on the sofa, or on their laptop checking their email. Where as I spent my evening baking muffins at 9.30 at night. I don't know why I love cooking but, I do :)

The recipe for these muffins come from Sophie Dahl's recipe book named 'Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights'. I adore this recipe book, the pictures so inspirational, and the layout is very pretty, and most importantly the recipe's are delicious. She got a lot of bad press after her cookery programme aired on BBC2 earlier this year. The newspapers were claiming she was copying Nigella Lawson, and slammed her for not filming in her own kitchen. But from watching her episodes I thought she was a really genuine person, and so I bought her book :)



These muffins make a lovely yet healthy breakfast. They are perfect for this time of year, when everyone has eaten far too much! Anyway, onto the recipe...

Makes 12
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
-1 tsp ground ginger
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used the same amount of ground nutmeg)
-145g Spelt flour
-145g rolled oats
-225g Pear fruit puree (I used pear baby food!)
-4 egg whites lightly beaten
-125ml natural yoghurt
-240g honey
-1 firm pear - peeled, cored and diced
-110g raisins

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/Gas 5. Line a 12 bun muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour and oats. Make a well in the middle and add the wet ingredients and the raisins and diced pear. Fold it together, but don't over mix as a lumpy batter makes a lighter muffin ;) Pour the batter into the tray, filling each 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

You could replace the pear and pear puree with apples and apple puree, it'll work just as well. And if you cannot find Spelt flour or just don't want to look for it, then plain flour can be used instead.

Thanks for reading :)
Emily
xo

A new start and Merry X-mas

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin. This blog and my Youtube has been a fail from the start. I have never 100% commited myself to either. And I'm truly sorry for that. How many posts and videos have I done saying "I'm back"! I feel like such a hypocrite. I hate it when my blogger dashboard is full of posts saying something along the lines of "Sorry I haven't posted in a while".

So, the new year will be a new start and I shall try my very hardest to post as many videos and write as much as I can on here. Like I haven't said that before! But I do mean it this time.

I'm currently sitting on the sofa, stuffed after my delicious Christmas dinner, watching good old Corrie whilst drinking a cuppa out of my beautiful new Cath Kidston mug. I got lots of lovely presents and I couldn't have asked for a better day :) I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did, whatever holiday you celebrate.

Thank you for being so patient with me, and sticking by me when I haven't posted in so long. I am truly sorry!

Emily
xoxo

P.S. here's a blog you should check out:
http://www.milkteef.com/ - Emma, who writes the blog, is stunning and I adore her style. After every post of hers I am left feeling very inspired and longing for an item of clothing, shoes or ring she's shown. Plus, I wish I had her eyelashes!

In and Out

So I was inspired by the amazing Laura AKA Lollipop26 ( http://www.lollipop26writes.com/ ) to do this post...

In...
Jo Malone - I have been obsessed with Jo Malone fragrances, specifically the Nectarine Blossom & Honey and the Vanilla & Anise. I got the Nectarine Blossom & Honey one on my birthday (which was Aug 5th, I am now 15 yayyy!). One of my best friends Alicia amazingly bought me it, it smells delicious, perfect for summer it's the sweetness from the honey and the fruitiness of the Nectarines... it's love. But since it's starting to get chilly in the UK I am leaning towards my warmer, stronger perfumes like the Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise one. It is lovely, I bought this with my birthday money and I adore it. It's not like other vanilla fragrances that are sickly sweet (eeehmm Britney Spears' Fantasy!) It's on the spicier side and is a sophisticated vanilla fragrance that I completely reccomend you all go out and sniff. It's the perfect winter and fall fragrance!

My next Jo Malone purchase is likely to be the Vanilla & Anise candle and the Lime, Basil and Mandarin Fragrance. The Lime, Basil and Mandarin fragrance is what they spray the on wrapping paper at Jo Malone. It's smells amazing, just trust me and go sniff!!!


Elnette hairspray - Possibly the best hairspray I've ever used! Enough said. (Even if it does smell like a tad dodgy!)

Pin Up look - This has been my staple look recently with bright lips whether it be coral, red, pink along with a simple defined eye, winged eyeliner and lashings of mascara. The lipsticks I've been using have been Barcelona Red which I bought because of Laura and I adore it, and also Of Royalty, Ever hip and Chatterbox (all by MAC). Simple yet pretty.

Music - I go in and out of music and recently I have been into it. Especially Ellie Goulding, Diana Vickers, Florence and the machine and of course Olly Murs. I have constantly been singing 'Normally I try to run, and I might even wanna hide.' I love him! And his new look ;) He's like a cross between a straight Will Young and Robbie Williams!

Out
For once nothing! I am enjoying my life right now :) I'm happy to be at school!

What have been your ins and outs? xoxo

8 Most Worn Things

So I uploaded a video to youtube of my 8 Most Worn Things and I thought some of my blog followers may want to see it so here it is...

I would greatly appreciate it if my lovely blog followers and readers would pop over to my YouTube channel to subscribe. My youtube name is iLoveMac15. Thank you so much for reading and following, you guys are amazing!

Emily xoxo