Spring Wishlist

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As you may have guessed, I'm rather happy that we're heading into spring. The air is feeling warmer, the days are getting longer and I can finally hang up my heavy coat and cardigans. I seem to be liking floral patterns lately which make me feel especially ready for spring. I've also added the scent I received in the March Birch Box to this list as I loved it so much.

All I can say is, bring on spring!

March Favourites

March is over and it's already April. This year is already going so fast. But on the plus side, with the clocks going back last Sunday, we are now officially heading towards summer.But before we throw ourselves head first into April, it's time to take one last look at the best bits of March.

Personally some really good stuff happened in March, but it was an incredibly busy month. Many of the posts I wanted to write didn't happen, but I did get my first beauty box! Luckily it had some good stuff in it too. So here is my brief, mini round-up of a few of the things I loved in March. I'm sure April's favourites will be much longer!

Favourite Beauty:

In March I have being seriously loving Top Shop nail polishes. I am very much into their pastel shades, and in fact, I am currently wearing their Peaches and Cream shade as I type this. Their colours are gorgeous and I find that they dry very quickly, which is brilliant for my impatient lifestyle.

Favourite TV:


There was some excellent television in March, and it was hard to choose. But the TV I really got into last month was Chris O'Dowd's incredibly charming Moone Boy. It tells the story of a boy and his imaginary friend growing up in 90's Ireland. It is such an hilarious show. It has some brilliantly, clever moments. I cannot recommend it enough. Now, I really need to find out how to get one of those hats.

Favourite Music:The song I have been listening to over and over in March is the incredibly catchy 'Beat The Love' by Autoheart. It's such a great song which I urge you to listen to. There's not much more I can say. You will understand why it is on this list once you hear it.

Birch Box - March 2014 Review

I've been reading and watching good things about subscription boxes recently. Beauty ones especially seem to be the perfect little thing for trying out new products, especially things I may not have considered before. I decided it was time that I tried one for myself.

I decided on trying the very popular Birch Box to be my first ever Beauty Box. March's box was a collaboration with designer Lulu Guinness and inspired by her new collection. The box costs £10 plus £2.95 for postage on top of that. Of course, this is only a good price as long as the products are worth it.

Every box comes with a little glossy booklet. This month it was entitled Life Lessons as told by Lulu Guinness, which, if I'm honest, wasn't very interesting. I was more excited about the products themselves.

Benefit Stay Don't Stray -  This is a primer for eye shadow and concealer. Being out the house for around nine hours a day to work means that often my concealer will fade throughout the day. Hopefully this will mean that it will last a bit longer. It's a very small sample size but as a little goes a long way it doesn't really matter.

Dr Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner - I thought this would be useful as like most people, I have quite large pores and I've been wanted to find a good product to help reduce them. As this retails at £39 it would have to be pretty good for me to justify spending that amount on it. Sadly, I haven't found it to be. After a couple of applications, I can't see any difference.

Korres Citrus Body Milk - This is one I've not yet tried, but it smells very nice. It's also one of the better sized samples.

English Laundry For Her Fragrance - I absolutely love this and I will definitely be investing in a full bottle. The scent is absolutely gorgeous and it lasts for such a long time. I was really happy with this sample.

Molton Brown Rhubarb & Rose Replenishing Hand Cream - This is another one I am considering in investing in. It rubs in really well and made my hands feel great afterwards. Not only that but it also smells great!

A stick of Rock - Probably the most useless thing in this box for me. As I'm cutting down on sugar I really can't eat anything like a big stick of sugar. For anyone else who loves sugar, I'm sure this will be great. For me, however, I'm going to have to give it away.

I found this box included some great introductory products and I was happy with it. I'm very much looking forward to April's box now!

Autumn - simple apple crumble

As soon as it hit September the temperature dropped and it suddenly got very chilly. Autumn has definitely arrived. The last couple of days seem to be clinging on to the last remnants of summer but the autumn fruit are already out.

We have an apple tree growing in our garden. Usually, we don't take advantage of it enough, but this year I am determined to find more recipes that will use the apples that we have on hand.

I went picking apples from some of the lower branches with my nieces and we ended up with the tin of apples above. I decided to use them to make the most delicious, but simple dish; apple crumble!

It is ridiculously easy to make and only has 4 ingredients. And did I mention how delicious it is?

You will need: 150g Plain flour, 100g granulated sugar, 75g butter and about 3/4 cooking apples. That's all!

-1- Peel and core the apples and  then chop them up into cubes. Add them to a pan on medium heat with 2tbsp of water and 50g of the sugar. It will be done when the apples are all mushy. Add them to an ovenproof dish.
-2- Add the flour, butter and remaining sugar to a mixing bowl. rub in the ingredients to make a breadcrumb-like texture. It should look like -3-
-4- Add the topping over the layer of apples. Place in an oven preheated at 180°C/gas mark 4 for 30 minutes.

And then you're done.

It's a recipe that's also easily customisable. Next time I plan to use brown sugar and add bit of cinnamon to the apples. I hope you enjoy!

Stockholm

I haven't been on a holiday in so long, so I decided to take a few days off and fly to Stockholm. After the extra stresses of work it was great to spend some time relaxing and taking in some beautiful sights.

The city is absolutely gorgeous. It's so clean and fresh! The buildings were all colourful which is something that isn't generally seen in Britain. The architecture is amazing. I really did fall in love with the city.

I spent all my time doing very touristy things, including visiting lots of museums and having guided tours on a boat.


However the best of the guided tours was the free tour of Stockholm. It was a really funny tour which gave a great view of the city and it's history.

The best museum was the Vasa Museum. The entire museum is a shipwreck, The Vasa sank before it'd even started it's maiden voyage in the 17th Century. It's amazing how intact it was.

I had a fantastic time in Stockholm walking around the old town and seeing the animals at the The Open-Air Museum. It's definitely a place that should be visited, and maybe one day I'll go again.