tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58634547260283930552024-03-13T11:33:19.536-07:00EliphiAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-48272145974513362492015-08-25T11:24:00.003-07:002015-08-25T11:24:41.410-07:00Barcelona! Barcelona! Barcelona!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HfLh20-U5lY/U80kCiOWwkI/AAAAAAAABRA/KW8c5dhywgw/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="507" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HfLh20-U5lY/U80kCiOWwkI/AAAAAAAABRA/KW8c5dhywgw/s1600/IMG_5824.JPG" width="760" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring the park behind the National Art Museum of Catalonia </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside Sagrada Família </td></tr>
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During the incredibly stressful final year exam period of university, my friends and I decided to book an end of term holiday so we had something to look forward to! After tossing around destination ideas, from Budapest to Magaluf (thank god we didn't settle on that one), we agreed on Barcelona.</div>
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Less than 24 hours after receiving my results, I had squeezed my clothes into a tiny suitcase and headed to the airport. Although we arrived fairly late in the evening, we realised in the taxi ride from the airport to the apartment that, no matter what the time was, Barcelona was always lively. We had found a really beautiful apartment on <a href="https://www.airbnb.co.uk/">airbnb</a>, which was right between the beach and the Gothic Quarter and super close to La Rambla. Prime location! After dumping our stuff, we headed out onto the still bustling streets and explored the many, <i>many </i>bars lining the little cobbled streets of the Gothic Quarter. It was a really beautiful area, but very pricey - be warned! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside Sagrada Família</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Art Museum of Catalonia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria</td></tr>
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Our trip was only a few days long so we made sure to cram in as much as possible! My feet were a wreck by the time we got home. Though rather touristy, La Rambla was lovely to walk up, and the market just off the street was amazing! So much fresh food and plenty of fruit stall brimming with colour. There were smoothies and juices on sale everywhere, which was a lovely way to keep hydrated! We also spent a day trekking up to the famous Park Güell, which was really cool, but I much preferred walking around the quieter gardens behind the National Art Museum of Catalonia. My favourite sight was, unsurprisingly, Gaudi's (still incomplete) Sagrada Família. We spent hours there taking in the really unusual, but beautiful architecture.</div>
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The trip also coincided with the gay pride parade, which was really fun and ended with a huge street party and concert in front of the Art Museum! I would absolutely recommend Barcelona as a city break! You definitely don't need any longer than a week to see all the sights (and revisit some!) and I would love love love to go back! I'd probably take more sensible footwear next time though. Lesson learned.<br />
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Lizzie is heading there in just a few days, so hopefully this post will give her plenty of ideas and I'm super excited to see what she thinks of the city! If you have any recommendations for sights/restaurants/etc for her to visit, then please comment below!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-49839050960931426702015-08-21T05:38:00.000-07:002015-08-21T05:38:31.994-07:00That's What She Read: July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Lizzie</i></div>
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<b>A Million Little Pieces - James Frey:</b></div>
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This book is one of the most honest, harrowing stories I've ever read. I was absolutely gripped by the stream of consciousness narrative, I could just feel the journey he was on when reading it. The novel tells the story of James who is battling with addiction in a 'twelve step' rehabilitation centre. Honestly I don't even want to give too much away about this novel, it's so harsh and unlike everything I've read before. His relationship with drugs and therefore the people around him was explored in such a unique way, it was so interesting to read about. Despite being a really dark novel, tiny glimmers of light come through, peaking under door frames and through cracks in the pavement, making it a weirdly uplifting novel to reach the end of.</div>
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<i>A little warning for those with anxiety, this book was pretty triggering for me and it did take me a while to get through it, if you're not in a good place then maybe give this one a miss! Keep your head happy folks xx</i><br />
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<i>Sophie</i><br />
<b>East of Eden - John Steinbeck:</b><br />
I've had this book on my shelf for a long time, and on the urging of my lovely friend Elliot I decided it was time give it a go. I was instantly hooked. The novel is an absolute masterpiece, probably one my favourite things I've ever read. It spans an entire generation, following Adam Trask from a young child to old age, and the interwoven lives of the Trask and Hamilton families. There are a lot of biblical parallels, and the underlying foundations of the novel are the stories of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. A key theme of the book is the dichotomy of good and evil, but what I found more compelling was the struggle between fate and free will. It's such an epic novel, so rich in detail, and the characters are so beautifully human. As soon as I finished it I immediately read it again. For me, this is one of those books that changes your life.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-73785409219938314992015-08-14T05:24:00.001-07:002015-08-16T09:08:20.530-07:00Recipe: Chocolate Oat Biscuits.<div style="text-align: center;">
It's that time of year again, Bake Off is back. We literally can't watch GBBO without wanting baked goods to eat alongside it, so we thought we'd follow this weeks theme and made some biscuits to munch whilst we watched! Not going to lie, these super more-ish biscuits are pretty showstopping, they have a good snap and the chocolate on top gives them a perfect finish!<br />
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<b>Ingredients:</b></div>
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140g caster sugar</div>
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140g butter</div>
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140g self raising flour</div>
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110g oats</div>
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1 tbsp milk</div>
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2 tsp golden syrup</div>
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1 tsp bicarbonate of soda</div>
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100g milk chocolate<br />
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Preheat the oven to 150C.<br />
Line a baking tray (or 2) with baking paper.<br />
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Cream the butter and caster sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the milk, bicarbonate of soda, and golden syrup until mixed well.<br />
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Fold in the flour and oats making sure everything is well incorporated.<br />
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Roll the mixture into small balls - there should be about 16 - 20 depending on how big you want your biscuits!<br />
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Place the balls on the baking sheet. Make sure they are well spread out, as they will expand!<br />
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Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes. They should be a nice golden brown colour.<br />
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Leave the biscuits to cool on a wire rack.<br />
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Now it's time to melt your chocolate! Break your chocolate into small pieces and place in a glass bowl. Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water.<br />
Stir the chocolate as it melts to ensure it doesn't burn or clump.<br />
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Once all the pieces have fully melted, turn off the heat and take your bowl off the pan.<br />
While the chocolate is still liquid, dip each of your biscuits into the chocolate. Make sure you get a nice thick coating on the bottom! Place the chocolate dipped biscuits on a plate and put in the fridge so the chocolate sets quickly.<br />
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Once the chocolate is set, they're ready to go.<br />
They're perfect to have with a cup of tea, and are so easy to get through while watching GBBO!<br />
Enjoy!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-23502688266144600782015-08-13T06:50:00.000-07:002015-08-13T06:51:30.460-07:00Sophie travels - Laos Roundup Part 1<div style="text-align: center;">
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I'm finally back from my travels, and sadly it feels like I never left. I enjoyed those 4 months so much, and had my bank balance allowed it, I'm sure I'd still be on the move. I didn't get chance to keep up with regular travel updates as I originally intended, so instead I'm just going to do a series of posts over the next few weeks on the highlights of my trip. This should force me to dig out all my memory cards from amongst the unorganised chaos that is my bedroom floor and properly organise my photos.
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I thought I'd kick things off with a round up of my time in Laos. We did a bus (and boat) tour through Laos and ended up spending about 3 weeks there, although a good amount of that time was probably spent sleeping on a bus. We crossed the border from Thailand and stopped at a tiny village called Huay Xia where we were boarded a slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. The slow boat really lived up to it's name; we spent about 8 hours on there for the first day. We stopped overnight at a little village where we stayed in a family's home. It was an eye-opening experience. We played with the local children (or at least the ones who weren't terrified of us) all afternoon, then in the evening a welcomign ceremony was held for us, where each member of the village tied pieces of string around our wrists and said a blessing. We had to eat food offerings; a banana and sticky rice, and then drink shots of the local whisky, Lao Lao. I think the years of shotting the cheap value vodka at uni really prepared me for that. It was such an interesting experience, and the people there were so kind and welcoming. Also, the family we were staying with had just had a litter of puppies which provided me with hours of entertainment. <br />
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By far my favourite place in Laos was Luang Prabang, our final stop on our slow boat journey. The little town is right on the river and a jumble of old French architecture and beautiful temples. I especially loved it by night when the night markets would start and we would wander along the main road and spend hours looking at each stall. These were probably my favourite night markets of the whole trip - I left Luang Prabang with my backpack considerably heavier, filled with lanterns, patchwork make-up bags, comfy trousers, and bracelets. While in Luang Prabang, we took a day trip out to visit the stunning Kuang Si Falls. At the entrance to the falls is a Bear Sanctuary, where we spent ages watching the rescued bears playing and rolling round the huge enclosure. They were so beautiful and some of them were huge - I would not have wanted to get any closer! We trekked up through the jungle to the main fall, watching the water cascade from pool to pool. The water is such a lovely colour and the pools are perfect for a swim to cool off in the hot weather.<br />
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From Luang Prabang we journeyed to Vang Vieng - this bus ride consisted of hours and hours of winding roads up through the luscious green mountains. We'd heard so much about how stunning the views were, but unfortunately there was a huge storm as we drove through so our views were mainly of torrential rain and heavy mist. Typical, eh? There were definitely some <strike>scary</strike> stunning moments though, when the lightning would crash around us and light up the whole area.<br />
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We did arrively safely in Vang Vieng though, and once the weather cleared up, we could really appreciate our surroundings. Vang Vieng definitely has a rep for being a party town (ahem, tubing) which we weren't particularly down for. So while everyone else grabbed a rubber ring and went to get drunk along the river, we booked ourself a hot air balloon ride! The views were absolutely amazing - I could have stayed up there for hours. </div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/127395701@N05/16589330173" title="Laos by Sophie Williams, on Flickr"><img alt="Laos" height="427" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/16589330173_593dc90f10_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/127395701@N05/16589300603" title="Laos by Sophie Williams, on Flickr"><img alt="Laos" height="427" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8820/16589300603_a235a4d7e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/127395701@N05/17021776828" title="Laos by Sophie Williams, on Flickr"><img alt="Laos" height="427" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8827/17021776828_141f536538_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/127395701@N05/16587073984" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" title="Laos by Sophie Williams, on Flickr"><img alt="Laos" height="427" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8806/16587073984_0a4d21294e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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From Vang Vieng we head to the capital, Vientiane. Here learnt about Laos's history and how it was affected by the Vietnam war. Some of the museum trips were quite upsetting, but important to see. I loved that Vientaine has it's very own Arc du Triomphe, although it looks slightly different to the one in Paris. The Patuxai was built when America gave Laos funds to build a new airport, which the American's intended to use to access Vietnam. My school history lessons had never really gone beyond Western Europe and the USA, so I found it super interesting to learn all this history about completely new places.<br />
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The next half of my Laos journey will be up soon!<br />
Sophie<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-31185221411794658852015-08-06T13:19:00.000-07:002015-08-06T13:29:22.786-07:00Updates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Hello! We know we've been absent for a while, so we thought we'd do a little round up post on what we've been up to in the last few months. Things just got super busy for us both, but we're hoping to get back into a regular blogging routine again - expect some new posts soon!</div>
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<b>Sophie:</b></div>
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It's been a busy few months for me! Between February and July I travelled round Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, then spent a week in Bali, two weeks volunteering at an Elephant rescue centre, and a fortnight with family in Australia! Some highlights are pictured above: the sky bar in Bangkok , the lantern lit markets in Hoi An (blog post to come soon!), and the stunning Mount Batur. I got back just over a month ago and have had plenty on since then. The day after I got back from my travels, I visited my lovely friend Elliot at uni, a trip which included Fleetwood Mac, countryside walks, and lots of coffee and cake. I've also had a few days out with Lizzie, and spent lots of time with family and pets. In just over a week I'm off again, this time with Lizzie and our friend Louise for a trip to Paris! After that though the job hunt will officially be on. I've probably avoided the real world for long enough now!</div>
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<b>Lizzie: </b></div>
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Well, a lot has changed in the last five months! My time has mainly been spent applying to be a teacher and making a hell of a lot of coffee. I'm excited to tell (literally) everyone that I am starting my PGCE at the University of Durham in September!! It's crazy to think that this time next year I could be teaching English in a secondary school somewhere, I literally feel like the world is at my feet at the moment, it's such an exciting (and a little daunting) time for me!! I'm pretty sad to say goodbye to my little Costa family though, it's been such a great experience over the last year being back in Yorkshire. I've also been doing a lot of good eating with the boyfriend, couldn't do a round up post of the last few months without including the best burger and fries of my life.. (bottom right!) The next few weeks are pretty busy for me, going to Paris for the first time with Sophie and Louise, my uncle's wedding (and i'm a bridesmaid!) then heading off to Barcelona with my boyfriend, then moving to a whole new place! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-46778573536569768622015-04-29T10:57:00.001-07:002015-04-29T10:57:05.062-07:00Lizzie watches the London Marathon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9GFnJMtVsY/VUEK1BTrn_I/AAAAAAAABzU/_8nYNMBPCF8/s1600/DSC_0510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f9GFnJMtVsY/VUEK1BTrn_I/AAAAAAAABzU/_8nYNMBPCF8/s1600/DSC_0510.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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This weekend my Dad completed an amazing achievement, his second London marathon! He covered 26 miles in under 5 hours, which is mind boggling to me (I currently can't run 5km!) and we're all super proud of him! </div>
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To start the weekend we headed over to the Excel Arena/Exhibition so my Dad could register. Not going to lie, it was absolutely heaving so wasn't a fun experience and we couldn't look round the exhibition bit at all, i suspect there were many freebies missed out on! </div>
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Early on Sunday morning, the marathon begin and Dad set off on his massive 26 mile journey through London. As my family and I are obviously not locals, it was our mission to navigate to areas we had never even heard of so we could meet Dad and give him some support! Trying to pick him out amongst the thousands of runners was a challenge, thankfully Dad kept us updated on where he was with messages and photos. Our favourite way to work out how close he was to passing us was spotting Chris Evans off of the Radio who was a few minutes in front, although Dad did run with him at one point and had a quick chat - pretty cool!</div>
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Having been to support Dad run the marathon a few years ago and supported marathon runners with Oxfam, I know how uplifting, inspiring and wonderful watching this event and cheering on the runners can be. Most people have their names on their shirts and seeing them grin and wave through the pain or visibly spurred on by you calling out and supporting them is a joy!</div>
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Every time I've been to watch the marathon I've been incredibly inspired by those running, it's on my bucket list to run a marathon so hopefully one day I'll commit to it! It's always a really fun experience to go along and support the runners, we had such a good day exploring bits of London and cheering like crazy every time Dad ran past!</div>
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This year, my Dad was running for three incredible charities that are close to my family's heart; Yorkshire Cancer Centre, Dementia UK and Barnardo's. You can still donate if you fancy giving some money to those amazing charity's who's work is literally life changing! (And probably making my Dad's heavy legs feel a bit better in spirit!)</div>
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=willpalmer" target="_blank">My Dad's Donation Page</a></div>
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Lizzie </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-21101154835077751912015-04-19T03:53:00.000-07:002015-04-19T03:53:07.203-07:00Lizzie goes Skiing!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XywGY0N0LGw/VSfgXDKcnAI/AAAAAAAABws/F4gN4J2OERE/s1600/1620848_10151877269491861_228459331_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XywGY0N0LGw/VSfgXDKcnAI/AAAAAAAABws/F4gN4J2OERE/s1600/1620848_10151877269491861_228459331_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now the ski season is over, I've found myself reminiscing about my trip to France at the start of February. I've been a skier since a young age and it's the only sport I can actually say i'm good at, it's my absolute favourite hobby! It gets your heart going, it's fast paced and has fantastic views, what more could you want? My annual trip to Les Gets with family and friends this year was a fantastic one, here's some of the snaps from the week!</div>
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Seriously though, this was the view from my room in our family friend's chalet, waking up to this is always an absolute joy.</div>
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The genuine bane of my existence is carrying skis, it's <i>so </i>uncomfortable and awkward (massive first world problem - happy to have it!) so when the snow is as amazing as it has been in the last couple of years, we can ski down the actual road home!</div>
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Every year we take a trip across the valley to Mont Cherie and stop for usually a leisurely and boozy lunch at a restaurant called the Grand'or. The food is fantastic and just look at that view of Les Gets! Amazing. Plus they have dogs so, it's a happy place for me!</div>
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As i'm a pretty confident skier, i'm not one to go for a neutral ski suit, that's me in the middle in the fluorescent yellow zebra all-in-one! I've had this suit for a good six years and it's fully on it's last legs now, but I can't bear to let it go, it definitely makes me easy to spot on the side of a mountain! </div>
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The food and drink is always intensely good when skiing. Always carb heavy and always delicious! I literally can't resist a good goats cheese salad when I see one on a menu, it's an addiction. Below is a picture of what came with a coffee..!</div>
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There's such a sense of freedom in skiing that keeps me coming back again and again, there's nothing like pushing myself till my legs burn in deep powder. Already looking forward to my next trip!!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-22637303623068781672015-04-10T03:26:00.000-07:002015-04-10T03:26:05.477-07:00Sophie Travels - Elephant Village, Luang Prabang<div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When travelling through Laos, one of our first stops was the beautiful town of Luang Prabang. I was super excited about stopping here for a number of reasons; the waterfalls, the buffalo burgers, and most importantly, the Elephants. Both Bex and I love Elephants, in fact we're volunterring on an Elephant sanctuary for two weeks at the end of our trip (cannot wait!). You really have to love them to be willing to clean up after them for two weeks in 30 degree heat! I'd been wanting to do some sort of Elephant experience though before then, and was wary about doing so in Thailand given the rather unethical treatment of the Elephants. I'd been told that the treatment was much better in Laos and to go see them there instead. When we got to Luang Prabang, our guide recommended visiting Elephant Village, and we leapt at the opportunity!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We were picked up about 9am and taken about half an hour out of the city and up to a gorgeous little resort. It turns out Elephant Village also has a hotel where you can stay and do a few days with the Elephants. It's probably for the best that we didn't know this beforehand as we would have struggled to resist staying, even with the hefty price. The "village" consisted of a big green courtyard with a feeding station, a small raised wooden deck and a hut with free coffee (which I absolutely took advantage of). There was an Elephant at the feeding station, completely at ease, eating it's way through a pile of sugar cane. As soon as our welcome talk was over I pretty much ran to the Elephant to give it some love and attention. She was so calm and friendly, I couldn't stop beaming!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While we fussed over the Elephant, a member of staff told us about the Elephants they kept there; all female and all rescued. Apparantly females are a lot easier to look after than males! I learnt about how they can communicate through vibrations in the ground, how Asian and African Elephants differ, how they are one of the few animals that appear to be self-aware, how they bond with their children, mourn the loss of fellow elephants, and really feel emotion. As we recieved our talk, the Elephants came back from their morning walk. It was rather impressive to see a line of ten or so Elephants wander through the courtyard! The staff prepared them for riding and we climbed up to the raised deck, ready to board our Elephant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was a bit disconcerting to be told to stand on the Elephants back in order to get into the chair. I was so worried I was going to hurt it, which the Mahout (driver) found incredibly amusing as he told me she could handle it. They seem so gentle, you forget how strong they really are! We sat in the little chair at the back and the Mahout sat on the neck and lead our Elephant down to the river. Going down the steep slope to the river was a little terrifying as we felt like we were literally going to be thrown out of the chair, but we survived and the Elephant walked through the river and to a sandbank further ahead. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the sandbank, our Mahout jumped off and told us we could have a go leading the Elephants by sitting on the neck. It was a pretty scary prospect, given how unstable we felt just in the chair, but we gave it a go! It was an amazing experience! After the awkward climb down to the neck, you realise you have absolutely nothing to hold on to. But it only took a couple of minutes to get used to the movement, and to stop feeling like you're about to slide off sideways. We practiced the commands for "stop" and "go" with mixed results, they could clearly tell we were new to this. When we reached the end of the sandbank, the Mahout jumped back on, but into the chair rather than on the neck and let me continue to steer the Elephant through the river and back to the village! I like to think it's because I was an excellent mahout, and will happily ignore any suggestion that it's something they do it with every tourist!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When we got back to the courtyard they lead the Elephants round to the feeding station where we got to feed them bunches of bananas. We got ridiculously excited by this and ended up buying extra to give to our Elephant. She was so beautiful, we never wanted to leave! But eventually they were led back to the river where they had baths before being taken across to the shelter they live in on the other side. The staff said they never work beyond 1pm, and will only do a maximum of two rides on a morning - just enough to earn the money to keep the rescuse centre running. I was so pleased to see the Elephants were treated decently. We'd heard such horror stories about places in Thailand, but they never once hit them or harmed them or even shouted here. They just spoke to them and walked with them. It was such a wonderful day and made me even more excited to work at the Elephant sanctuary in June! Have you ever worked with Elephants before?</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: inherit;">Sophie</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-80518632301338985992015-04-02T11:12:00.003-07:002015-04-02T11:12:37.799-07:00Spring Haul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Left to right: New Look, Urban Outfitters, H&M</i></div>
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I recently went back to Leicester to see my remaining friends at university for a night out and a catch up, which obviously led to a shopping spree! I've been clearing out my wardrobe lately and noticed a severe lack of spring/summer clothes. Literally everything I wear in summer is just black winter clothes without tights.. It was time for a wardrobe update! </div>
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<i>Dungarees: H&M</i></div>
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These dungarees were a sale bargain, i've been after some full length dungaree's for months and these are perfect!</div>
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<i>Underwear set: New Look</i> </div>
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<i>Shift Dress: New Look, Smock Dress: H&M</i></div>
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<i>Necklace: H&M, Earring Set: Topshop</i></div>
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Whilst in Leicester I got my tragus pierced! I've been wanting to have it done for over a year now and finally took the plunge, I absolutely love it! This has already made me want to step up my earring game, this set from Topshop is perfect!</div>
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Can't resist a wardrobe refresh at this time of year - any excuse!<br />
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Lizzie<br />
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It's hard to believe i've been travelling for almost 6 weeks now! The time is flying by! I thought I'd do a few posts with some updates of what I've been up to. So, first things first; Bangkok. This was the first stop on our trip and man was it a bit of a shock. I met my friend at the airport, and we were thrown into the deep end - dropped off at Koh San Road and left to find our hostel. It took us a good half hour of walking through little side alleys until we managed to find it! Wandering round in the heat, with massive backpacks, completely lost was not the perfect start to the trip I can assure you! We only had a few days in Bangkok, but we managed to get plenty of sightseeing done in that time. My favourite place that we saw was without a doubt the Grand Palace. The place was huge and surrounded by high white walls. It took us ages to actually find the entrance. Once inside, you start to get a feel of just how expansive the place is.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> We made our way round to the main courtyard and were blown away by how ornate everything was. In the centre of the courtyard was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which was stunning; decorated with masses of colourful glass and so so so much gold. Inside was a tower of golden ornaments an on the top sat the Emerald Buddha, which was a hell of a lot smaller than I expected given the size of the temple housing it! Our tour guide told us that the statue is actually made of Jade, but was hidden for years and when it was finally rediscovered the people saw it was green and assumed it was made of emerald. I guess the name just stuck! There were 3 more big temples in the courtyard, all lined up - the golden bell shape, a cambodian style building, and a more traditional thai style structure. All of them ridiculously ornate.</span></div>
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There were so many tiny statues lining the walls of temples, I loved how colourful they were. So many vibrant reds and blued and greens! It was all just so different from the churches you see in Europe. I have to admit though, my favourite statues were the much less colourful elephant figures. The detail was just amazing - I couldn't get over how realistic the skin looked.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">This building was by far my favourite. The colours weren't as vibrant as some of the other temples, but the decorations lining the walls and roof were all made from beautifully coloured china which the builders had obtained by smashing china teacups! </span></div>
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I think what I most enjoyed about the Grand Palace was how different it was to the rest of the city. There was so much greenery and all the colours were so rich, it was such a nice change to get away from the crazy roads and buildings stacked on top of one another. Although I have to admit, I was pretty desperate for an air conditioned room by the time we had done. I'm so pleased I got the chance to visit the palace, and if you ever go to Bangkok I absolutely recommend it!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-82277462827611415612015-03-24T12:36:00.000-07:002015-03-24T12:36:05.443-07:00What's in my hand luggage?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIcrYT04KEM/VQGdmb6wTgI/AAAAAAAABbk/GrsOmnw-nm0/s1600/DSC_0425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIcrYT04KEM/VQGdmb6wTgI/AAAAAAAABbk/GrsOmnw-nm0/s1600/DSC_0425.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a><br />
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Unlike Sophie, I'm notoriously not a light packer. I seem to travel with a 'well I use this at home so I'm clearly going to use it when i'm away' attitude, which means I end up with my entire wardrobe plus a desk lamp and dog treats. However that being said, I feel like i'm starting to get my hand luggage packing down to a fine art, some of my choices may seem a little odd but they all have <strike>Lizzie</strike> logic behind them! I recently went on a couple of holidays to New York and France and this is what I took with me!</div>
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My first port of call is always the essentials; passport, phone and purse. Ironically I haven't included my passport in this photo but it's obviously usually in there! My main priorities after this is always headphones and chargers. My Bose sound cancelling headphones are an absolute must on a long haul flight, they are incredible. Put them on and all the noise of the plane is gone and you're free to sleep, or if you're like me, watch films back to back till the end of the flight! Not having a charger when you need one is an absolute mare, especially if you have a long journey and use your phone constantly, I'd feel lost and unsafe without my phone charged!</div>
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I'm not sure if this is an uncommon thing, but I now <i>always</i> carry my makeup in my hand luggage. This is mainly because I've recently suffered the devastating moment of opening my Naked2 palette which had been in my suitcase to find all the eyeshadows smashed into a thousand pieces.. (still a sore subject!) I've also been separated from my luggage travelling to New York and not having my makeup bag was one of the most annoying problems! Having really fine hair is a daily struggle but no matter what I do with it before I set off travelling, on the plane it decides to become ridiculously flat. Because of this i've started bringing VO5 texturising powder and my beloved travel Tangle Teezer. If you don't have a Tangle Teezer yet get one in your life, they're a game changer! The texturising powder I find really useful, it's powder so it's cool to take on a plane and just gives my hair that little boost it needs.</div>
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Flights without little seat back television's mean I have to take plenty of activities (twenty-two going on twelve I know) so my old faithful copy of Wuthering Heights came with me on both holidays this year, as did my Nintendo DS! Haven't played on it in years but when I found Animal Crossing in my cupboard I became slightly addicted to it.. My little Moleskine notebook comes literally everywhere with me. I've had it since high school and there's something so nice having a little pocket book of memories to keep topping up. I also bring my retainer as I had my braces off only last year so I'm a massively keen about keeping my teeth perfect, a long flight is an easy place to get some time with it on in!</div>
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So the bag.. I'd been lusting after another Mulberry bag for quite a long time and I'd had some savings burning a hole in my pocket, so one snowy day in the York Mulberry outlet I decided to go for it!! It's quite hard to capture the colour on camera but it's a gorgeous granite grey colour. Not only is it beautiful and smells incredible, it's the most practical bag I own. Little pockets for my phone and jewellery, and ample space for the large amount of crap I carry round with me on a daily basis!</div>
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If you could just take one thing on the plane for an entire flight, what would you take? Mine would be a good book! </div>
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<span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline line-through;">9. Buy myself something extravagant </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-12827524432549940102015-03-20T10:54:00.001-07:002015-03-23T07:30:54.926-07:00What we've been loving: Beauty<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sophie:</b></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish hot cloth cleanser: </i>This product has been in my life for years now and is so ingrained into my skincare regime I couldn't go away without it. It's been hot and humid in Thailand and I absolutely love being able to wipe all the grime, sweat, and suncream off quickly and easily at the end of the day. I know everyone has probably heard plenty about Liz Earle's cleanser over the years, so I won't go into detail. But I have most certainly been loving it while I've been away! </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Botanics Conditioning Body Lotion with Icelandic Moss: </i>I burn super easy and when I'm abroad I have to be so careful with my skin. I got through the body lotion I brought with me within a month and was so relieved when I found a Boots right by my hotel in Bangkok. I stocked up on lotion, moisturiser, insect repellent, and suncream for the rest of the trip. I spent quite a bit of time looking for a good lotion and eventually settled on this Botanics one. I've been so pleased with the purchase, not only does it smell so fresh and clean, but it's so moisturising and really soothes any sun burns. My skin is probably doing even better than it was before down to this lovely product. I'll be stocking up on it when I get back to the UK.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Clarins Beauty Flash Balm: </i>My make-up collection has never been big. So the make up collection I've brought traveling with me is tiny. I have a BB cream, a powder, eyeliner, and a couple of lipsticks and I'm still barely touching it. It's just so hot any make-up I apply has pretty much melted off within a couple of hours! There just isn't much point. But one thing I have been applying slightly more regularly is this lovely balm. It's essentially a primer, but i've been wearing it in lieu of foundation/BB cream on the evenings where I want to make a bit more of an effort. I know it's a product that really divides people, but for me it does wonders as long as I apply it right. I only use a small pea-sized amount and smooth it onto my skin - but don't rub it in! It makes my skin feel firmer and fresher and evens out my skin tone. I'm so pleased I brought it with me, but I don't know if it's something I'll necessarily keep using once i'm home and am a</span>ble to go back to my full make-up routine. But as it's too hot for foundation, this is a good replacement. </div>
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<b>Lizzie:</b></div>
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<i>Le Parfume - Elie Saab: </i>This scent has been a favourite for a several months now but I ran out of it last year, was overjoyed to find I'd been bought some more for Christmas! I won't lie, I'm terrible at describing scents, but it's a fairly sweet yet sophisticated smell and is <i>perfect </i>for evenings out. It's one of those perfumes where people always tell me I smell nice!</div>
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<i>Handy Gurugu - Lush:</i> This has been a life saver. My job is very hands on, I'm constantly using heat and it makes my hands ridiculously dry to the point of cracking.. glam life of a barista! I've tried a few hand creams but none were doing the job.. until this. It's thick, buttery and you can just feel it working as soon as you put it on. It smells fab too, it has almost suncream vibes about it so whenever I wear it I think of sun and holidays - which is always nice! Plus it's repaired my hands beyond belief. Absolute must for hard-working hands!</div>
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<i>Micellar Cleansing Water - Garnier:</i> Yeah yeah I know every blogger has raved about this, but there's a reason for that! I tried the pink version of this last year and was fairly underwhelmed as although I have fairly sensitive skin, my face just didn't seem to take to it that well. After using the Liz Earle Cleanser and hating it, I was searching for a good alternative. This 'Combination and Sensitive Skin' cleansing water is fantastic, it takes my makeup off well and I can just feel this suits my skin much better than the original sensitive version. I bought this one and loved it so much that I went and bought three more on 3 for 2, no regrets!</div>
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Have you tried any of our favourites? What are you loving at the moment?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-56373177168311859882015-03-17T12:19:00.000-07:002015-03-18T02:33:13.301-07:00TTDIY: The Alchemist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Going for cocktails has always been a staple night out for us. Although we do enjoy going 'out out', there's just something a bit more special about going out and actually enjoying what we're drinking! We recently went to The Alchemist in the Trinity centre in Leeds, we've tried this bar a couple of times and we loved it so much we felt we just had to do a post on it! This night in particular was a special one as it was for Sophie's leaving night out!</div>
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We started off the night at Wagamamas. Won't go into detail as most of us have been to Waga's but it was GOOD. We're usually katsu curry girls, but we decided to step out of our comfort zones and tried the Raisukaree and the Itame, both of which were so delicious we realised we're going to have to try new things more often. </div>
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The first drinks we had were a 'Lavender Daiquiri', which along with the obvious lavender taste was fresh, sweet, and creamy, and 'The Colour Changing One', which is pretty famous for it's quirky erlenmeyer flasks and well, it's colour change! Not only was this fun to watch but it had a lovely sweet apple taste.</div>
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One of the things we love about the Alchemist is the atmosphere. There's always a nice buzz about it no matter when you go and there's a great sense of theatre about it when making the cocktails in front of you! The bartender who looked after us that evening (who unfortunately we didn't get the name of but he took our blog name - hi if you're reading!) was fantastic, he really knew his stuff and seemed to genuinely like his job, which is always a pleasure! </div>
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Next we found we were drawn to maple syrup and whiskey based drinks, so we went for a 'Maple Manhattan' and a 'Tennessee Breakfast'. We realised quickly our choices weren't for the faint hearted, both were pretty strong but very lovely! The Tennessee Breakfast was a twist on a martini, with grapefruit juice, vanilla and Jack daniels and maple foam and the Maple Manhattan was basically just bourbon and maple syrup (L: This was my favourite despite not ordering this for myself!)</div>
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Our last choice for the evening took some deciding, the menu is pretty big and really varied so we were spoilt for choice! We settled eventually on a 'Caramelised Rum Punch' and a 'Passionfruit Meringue Martini'. The Rum Punch was delicious, with a strong spiced flavour it was the perfect drink to finish the evening. The martini however was something special, we watched the top being blow torched right before us! It was served with a spoon so you could eat your way through the meringue to the cocktail underneath. It was such a sweet and fruity drink with a nice kick, it seemed like a heavenly dessert.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">S: The martini was the best drink I've had in a long time and will absolutely be a staple order for my future Alchemist trips!</span></div>
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Although the Alchemist is lovely, the drinks aren't cheap and you could rack up a hefty tab if you spent a long time there, which is very tempting given how many nice sounding drinks there are! But as far as celebrating an occasion like we were, it's a perfect spot in Leeds. Definitely worth checking out if you're fancying a good spot for cocktails!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-82320805107389825592015-03-12T13:53:00.000-07:002015-03-12T13:53:38.396-07:00Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These cupcakes taste amazing, but are definitely only for special occasions given how packed full of sugar they are. They can also be a bit of an effort to make as, unlike an easy all-in-one cake, you need to mix a lot of ingredients in separate bowls before combining everything. If you can, make sure you use a good quality food colouring - on this occasion we tried using a pink colour (for valentines day!) and although the batter looked amazing, the cakes didnt quite pack the punch of the traditional red velvet! They still tasted fab though - worth every effort!</div>
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<b>Ingredients:</b></div>
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<i><b>For the cupcakes</b></i></div>
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120g butter</div>
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300g caster sugar</div>
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2 eggs</div>
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30g cocoa powder</div>
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40ml red food colouring</div>
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2 tsp vanilla essence</div>
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300g self raising flour</div>
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pinch of salt</div>
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230ml milk</div>
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2 tbsp lemon juice</div>
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1 tbsp white wine vinegar</div>
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<b><i>For the frosting:</i></b></div>
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75g butter</div>
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200g cream cheese</div>
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500g icing sugar</div>
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Preheat the oven to 190C.</div>
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Cream the butter and caster sugar together until fluffy. Beat in both eggs - add one at a time and make sure the first is well mixed before adding the second.</div>
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In a small bowl, mix together the food colouring, vanilla essence and cocoa powder.</div>
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Gradually add this to the batter and mix until well combined.</div>
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In a jug, combine the milk and lemon juice and leave to settle for 5-10 mins. You can just use a 240ml tin of buttermilk if you have it, but a milk/lemon juice combination is a good substitute that we like to use.</div>
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Mix half the flour into the batter, then mix in the milk/lemon juice.</div>
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When well incorporated, add the white wine vinegar (you can use lemon juice as a substitute), a pinch of salt, and the rest of the flour. </div>
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Your mixutre should now be a beautiful colour and is ready to bake.</div>
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We found our mixture made about 16 cupcakes, but this will obviously vary depending on the size of your cases!</div>
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Line a bun tin with cases and spoon the mixture into each case until about 2/3 full.</div>
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Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.</div>
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When done, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.</div>
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To make the frosting simply beat together the butter and icing sugar, and then gradually beat in the cream cheese. You can add more icing sugar if you prefer a thicker frosting.</div>
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Make sure the cakes are fully cool before frosting. You can use either a piping bag or a knife to swirl your frosting onto the cakes - we did a mixture of both.</div>
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Then decorate as you choose! We went for pink, valentine - themed decorations and had some fun with an edible gold spray we dug out of the baking cupboard!</div>
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We can't resist any cupcake with a cream cheese frosting!</div>
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Have fun baking!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-60007119051464003872015-03-12T09:35:00.003-07:002015-03-12T09:36:01.415-07:00Lizzie goes to New York!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In January I went on a trip to a very cold and snowy New York! I first went to New York when I was about sixteen and I've never felt so attached to a city, there's something about it that I'm <i>so </i>drawn to. I've never felt anything but blissfully happy there! We spent most of our time there just walking around and taking in the city, there's just an atmosphere and bustle there that is like nowhere else. Here's a few of the many, many photos from the trip!</div>
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Seriously though is there anywhere more amazing than Central Park in the snow?? Magic!!</div>
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Visiting the Ground Zero was a really sombre and reflective experience. The site is such a beautiful tribute to those who lost their lives.</div>
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Couldn't resist a little trip to the Disney store in Times Square, it just draws me in...</div>
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THE LANTERNS ARE FOR YOU RAPUNZEL!</div>
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It warmed my heart to see the Empire State building lit up to show solidarity with France #jesuischarlie</div>
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Top of the Rock is always worth a visit, I've been up before and was super excited to go up again! I love the different perspective it offers of the city, in a place where you're constantly looking up, it's such a great experience to look down. Even after seeing this view twice before, it still takes my breath away. </div>
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Our trip to the Museum of Natural History was so interesting, it combined my love of learning and beautiful architecture, plus I hadn't been before so this was high up on my list of places to see! This tree was really cool, was decorated with hundreds of origami animals, as you can see below I was pretty amazed by it.. </div>
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Seeing Phantom of the Opera was genuinely overwhelming. I'd seen the film and watched literally all the Phantom videos on Youtube so I was so excited! There's something <i>so </i>magical about live theatre and I've wanted to see Phantom for years, it was incredible! Our Phantom had a desperation about him that I'd never seen before, I was completely enthralled. Plus our Christine's voice was spectacular, it's a night I'll always remember! </div>
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Being in New York is always an unforgettable experience, I hold every trip very dearly to me, there's something about it that keeps me craving the city. I'm already planning my next visit!</div>
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Lizzie</div>
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x</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-12928418040099488172015-02-18T07:38:00.001-08:002015-02-18T21:22:52.026-08:00What's in my hand-luggage?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I take pride in being quite a light traveller. I am more than happy to go on holiday with just a little carry-on if it means I don't have to pay for hold luggage! So when I do get to check-in a suitcase, my hand luggage is usually pretty small. Yesterday I set off for 5 months of travelling. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Today I finally </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">arrived in </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Australia where I am visiting my dad and his family, then I'll be heading off to meeting a friend in Bangkok and we'll be backpacking around South-East Asia! It's all very exciting and has come round ridiculously quickly. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">So, as I'm kicked off the trip with a 20 hour flight to Australia, I thought I'd share what I like to take in my bag for long journeys.</span></div>
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First up are the obvious essentials; passport, phone, purse.</div>
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An adapter is always handy for long haul flights so I am equipped to charge everything at the stopover airport. I have forgotten to pack one in my hand luggage before and it was a nightmare that taught me a valuable lesson! My iPad fits nicely into my bag and it's filled with all seven Harry Potter Audiobooks which always pass the time. The iPad sleeve is from the wonderful <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/bertiescloset" target="_blank">Bertie's Closet</a>, and I keep any important paperwork, pens, charger cables, etc in the front pocket.</div>
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I prefer to pack headphones rather than earphones as I just find them so much comfier to wear for long periods of time, and my Urbanears have been on many a flight over the years.</div>
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Experience has taught me to focus on being able to freshen up, so hand sanitiser, a toothbrush, and toothpaste are all a must - I've had too many long delays to ever travel without them. Recently I've been throwing <a href="https://www.lush.co.uk/products/teeth" target="_blank">Lush's toothy tabs</a> in my bag as an alternative for toothpaste (I'm using the Sparkle tabs at the moment). The packaging is small and they don't cut into your liquid allowance! </div>
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I also like to include a cleanser - I will swear by the <a href="http://uk.lizearle.com/cleanse-tone-moisturise/cleanse-and-polish-hot-cloth-cleanser.html" target="_blank">Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser</a> til the day I die, so I carry the miniature tube and a cloth with me when I travel. Another gem I am loving is <a href="http://www.clarins.co.uk/on/demandware.store/Sites-clruk-Site/en_GB/Link-Product?pid=C010409008" target="_blank">Clarins' Super Restorative Wake Up Lotion</a>, and I was so pleased to find a little sample bottle I could throw into my bag. It's so nice to smooth on and my skin feels instantly better after a long flight.</div>
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Then I have my Tangle Teezer, a little tube of Soap and Glory's Hand Food, and a small bottle of perfume - this time I'll be travelling with Escentric's Molecule 01. It's small, easy to pack, and I LOVE the scent.</div>
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Finally I have my pocket moleskine which I never go anywhere without, and a book. </div>
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For this trip I'm planning on taking Jane Eyre, which I've never read before. But I'm tempted to take Steinbeck's East of Eden with me too.... and probably something by Murakami. </div>
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Choosing which book(s) to pack is always a struggle.</div>
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Unless it's my only bag, I don't bother taking a small suitcase as carry-on. I honestly don't pack enough to need one as well as a main suitcase! My current bag of choice is my Topshop V Panel Holdall. It's just wide enough for my Ipad to fit in, has a zip compartment for me to store my passport/ticket/visa/etc, comes with a detachable shoulder strap, and is divided into two sections which makes it a little easier to find whatever I need.</div>
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I like to occasionally tie a ribbon onto the handle of the bag just so I'm able to easily tie my hair up without hunting down an elastic.</div>
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I'll be using a small rucksack when flying from Australia to Bangkok (much more durable for backpacking), but the contents will be pretty similar!</div>
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What are your favourite things to pack in your carry on?</div>
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Sophie</div>
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X</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-9057573220043958322015-02-03T17:24:00.001-08:002015-02-03T17:24:23.045-08:00Yer a Wizard, Harry!<center>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOaUoSoMLXU/U8V3Bxtp6wI/AAAAAAAABMg/o4fwsMaThxE/s1600/IMG_5605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KOaUoSoMLXU/U8V3Bxtp6wI/AAAAAAAABMg/o4fwsMaThxE/s1600/IMG_5605.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have visited the Harry Potter studio tour twice now and I still want to see it all again. My first visit was just with my mum and it was rather overwhelming. Then, a year later, my utterly wonderful friends took me back for my 21st birthday.</div>
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As I'm sure some of you know, the tour itself is amazing. I'm always in awe at the amount of detail in all the props; from the illustrated pages of a textbook to the cereal boxes in the Burrow! I always find that the little things are the most fun to photograph too, you spot little details you never would have noticed. You can also find golden snitches hidden around the place, usually suspended over doorways - I think there are a certain number to look out for, but I always get swept up in it all and forget to keep track. My absolute favourite part, and the main reason I keep wanting to return is the model of Hogwarts, which I stood and cried at (both times) until ushered away.</div>
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Now, having the gift shop located immediately after the model of Hogwarts is clever. I always enter the shop in a very emotional state, in desperate need for some Potter-themed retail therapy. I have to admit that both my visits to the Studio Tour have resulted in me blowing a stupid amount of money and having absolutely no regrets. And I'm not even particularly careless about my spending - I really take my time narrowing down my options! I've spent a good few hours of my life trying to decide if a Quaffle is a decent investment. </div>
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It's been over a year now since my last visit, and I'm definitely in the mood for another trip (and another Butterbeer mug). </div>
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Have you visited the Studio Tour? What was your favourite part?</div>
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Sophie</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-11108382606635997992015-01-29T04:38:00.001-08:002015-01-29T08:35:27.374-08:002015 To-do Lists!<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy New Year everyone! (Belated we know!) We realise you've probably seen a million Facebook status' and tweets along the lines of 'new year new me!' resolutions but instead of one overriding resolution, we've set ourselves a list of 15-20 things to complete in the new year. We've been doing this for a number of years now and 2015 is no exception! This year we've decided to share our lists publicly (slightly to help motivate us to get things done) and will be posting our progress throughout the year when we complete these tasks we've set ourselves! Some are just fun things to do, some are to help us get our shit together and others are just to improve our lives a little. Alongside our 2015 goals are some photos of our favourite moments from 2014!<br />
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<b>Lizzie's List:</b><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDZYxwV4htc/VMokl1xddoI/AAAAAAAABQA/aiaXL_HKT2o/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oDZYxwV4htc/VMokl1xddoI/AAAAAAAABQA/aiaXL_HKT2o/s1600/PicMonkey%2BCollage.jpg" height="211" width="640" /></a></div>
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1. Move out</div>
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2. Go see a play</div>
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3. Go to Paris</div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">4. Go to Liverpool or Cornwall</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">5. Visit somewhere on my own for the day</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">6. Drink more water</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">7. Raise money for charity</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">8. Get fitter and healthier</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><strike>9. Buy myself something extravagant</strike></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">10. Run 5km</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">11. Go to a comedy gig</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">12. Get a skincare routine</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">13. Eat red velvet cake</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">14. Say yes more</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">15. Write more</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">(as you may notice i've already completed one of these already, no regrets!)</span> </div>
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<b>Sophie's List:</b><br />
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1. Move out</div>
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2. Visit Ireland</div>
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3. Invest in a decent moisturiser</div>
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4. Get a new job</div>
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5. Try street food in Thailand</div>
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6. Work with Elephants</div>
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7. See the new Star Wars</div>
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8. Read Les Miserables</div>
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9. Create a travel scrapbook/journal and stick to it</div>
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10. Learn something new</div>
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11. Try yoga</div>
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12. Bake a successful lemon meringue pie</div>
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13. See Angkor Wat</div>
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14. Go to a comedy gig</div>
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15. Get a macbook<br />
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What are your resolutions this year? </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-68212695788322160002015-01-23T14:39:00.000-08:002015-01-23T14:39:11.563-08:00Recipe: Carrot Cake Muffins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-siF3WvKYq1k/VI4keVK8j5I/AAAAAAAABJ0/HCRrk6Df-EI/s1600/2IMG_895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-siF3WvKYq1k/VI4keVK8j5I/AAAAAAAABJ0/HCRrk6Df-EI/s1600/2IMG_895.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Ingredients:</b></div>
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<b><i>For the muffins</i></b></div>
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175g light brown muscovado sugar</div>
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200g self-raising flour</div>
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1 tsp bicarbonate of soda</div>
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200g carrots (roughly 3 medium carrots - you don't need to be too precise!)</div>
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2 eggs</div>
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150ml sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)</div>
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3tsp mixed spice</div>
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a lemon</div>
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<b><i>For the frosting:</i></b></div>
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300g icing sugar</div>
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125g cream cheese</div>
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50g butter</div>
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You can buy jars of mixed spice, but if you don't have any then it's easy enough to make yourself by just combining a teaspoon of each of the following spices;</div>
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Allspice</div>
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Cinnamon</div>
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Nutmeg</div>
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Coriander</div>
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Ginger</div>
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Cloves - just a couple</div>
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And just grind it all together.</div>
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Now, on to the muffins! To start, preheat your oven to 180C.</div>
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Measure out your sugar and flour into a mixing bowl.</div>
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Add the zest of one lemon.</div>
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In a separate jug measure out your oil, add both eggs, and whisk together.</div>
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Grate the carrots and add them to the mixing bowl and, while gradually pouring in your oil/egg mix, start beating everything together.</div>
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Spoon your mixture into muffin cases - you want them to be roughly 3/4 full. </div>
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We found our mixture made about 20 muffins, but it may vary depending on how big your cases are!</div>
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Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_3sCYKWkreU/VI4mqPEdJHI/AAAAAAAABLs/TqRJkcTaLKI/s1600/2IMG_9052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_3sCYKWkreU/VI4mqPEdJHI/AAAAAAAABLs/TqRJkcTaLKI/s1600/2IMG_9052.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eXw4ht1Ajfw/VI4nIx3lwgI/AAAAAAAABME/H0gq-8WuaBc/s1600/2IMG_9069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eXw4ht1Ajfw/VI4nIx3lwgI/AAAAAAAABME/H0gq-8WuaBc/s1600/2IMG_9069.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a><br />
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While the muffins are cooling you can make the cream cheese frosting.<br />
To do this simply beat the icing sugar, butter, and cream cheese together until smooth.<br />
If you sift the icing sugar first then it makes it much easier to get the desired consistency.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YMdp1Rj-qg/VI4m7Vea81I/AAAAAAAABL8/xr7vG4NdUG0/s1600/2IMG_9064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YMdp1Rj-qg/VI4m7Vea81I/AAAAAAAABL8/xr7vG4NdUG0/s1600/2IMG_9064.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0uC4bYjmrA/VI4nYJbJOmI/AAAAAAAABMM/8zgMKZ-pFxY/s1600/2IMG_9073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u0uC4bYjmrA/VI4nYJbJOmI/AAAAAAAABMM/8zgMKZ-pFxY/s1600/2IMG_9073.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once your muffins are cool then go ahead and frost. We had fun using piping bags to decorate, however you can always swirl on the frosting with a knife to get the "Hummingbird Bakery" look. Remember not to add the frosting until the muffins are completely cool or else it will melt!</div>
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Viola!</div>
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Once your cupcakes are frosted feel free to add any extra decorations, and enjoy!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-69100446825827886082014-12-03T03:20:00.001-08:002014-12-03T03:20:08.131-08:00Mockingjay Part One Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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OH MY GOD IT WAS SO GOOD</div>
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Not going to lie we were tempted just to put that and be done with the post.. We loved this film. Really loved it. A lot. We came out the cinema and basically just flapped and said omg for a good hour. We've tried to make this review as spoiler free as possible!</div>
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Fellow lovers of the books would probably have felt the same way as we did, it stuck so closely to the novel and some of the dialogue was word for word to the book. We feel that if you hadn't read the book it would have been a bit slow as there is a lot of detail that went into the film. However, the pacing is deliberate; a very gradual build up to the next film where everything will kick off. The second part of the book was incredibly action packed so we're so excited to see that come to life on screen. We liked that from the film we see a perspective that isn't just Katniss', as fantastic a narrator as she is, it's interesting to see those few scenes that don't involve her. One thing we were immensely happy with was the portrayal of Finnick. The development of his character transferred SO well from the book to screen, we're so happy they kept his key scenes in as it's so important to the story and we just love his character. His backstory really emphasises the dark nature of these novels, and these films are getting progressively darker, so it was always a nice reprieve to see Effie and Haymitch on screen and to be provided with some much needed comic relief! There's no other way to describe the films, they are war films. They are dark and brutal in some aspects which is brought to screen so well.</div>
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Jennifer Lawrence absolutely slays in this film. I mean really, really well acted and she even briefly shows off her singing skills. We also loved Phillip Seymour Hoffman, his character's quietly manipulative behaviour was portrayed perfectly, coming across as though he believed his actions were for the greater good . It was convincing and real. Julianne Moore was good as President Coin, leader of District 13, however she did make us like the character more than we did in the book, perhaps it's because we just love Julianne. It may all change in the next film! And finally, although Josh Hutchinson doesn't have a huge amount of screentime in this film, what we saw was incredible. His performance and the costuming, hair and makeup were brilliant. The visual portrayal of his deterioration both mentally and physically was harrowing to watch. </div>
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We called where it was going to cut off ready for the next film, it was a good place to stop.<br />
(Did anyone else have that moment where the screen went black and you thought it was the end???) Some aspects of the film weren't how we pictured them, such as district 12 which we'd both imagined different than what we saw, but there was nothing major we could find fault in. We also imagine Panem to be in a straight line with one district after another and the Capital at the end, clearly not the case!</div>
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These novels are complicated and dark and contain scary parallels to the society we live in. We're so happy they're being brought to screen so well and we're so excited for the next film! (and a little annoyed we have to wait so long!)</div>
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Have you seen Mockingjay: Part 1 yet? If you have, let us know what you thought of it!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-69575782567157376772014-11-17T09:14:00.000-08:002014-11-25T06:06:56.087-08:00Recipe: Hot Toddy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7wdi4wv3h0/VF0Bp1QDCDI/AAAAAAAABDc/alLCkAC0PKs/s1600/IMG_8929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7wdi4wv3h0/VF0Bp1QDCDI/AAAAAAAABDc/alLCkAC0PKs/s1600/IMG_8929.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Winter is fast approaching and we're fully in hot drink season. This classic recipe filled with warmth and winter spices is guaranteed to make you feel better if you have a cold. We've found that it helps you breathe a lot easier and clears up any sniffles. Funny how whisky has that affect!</div>
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<b> Ingredients:</b></div>
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Any whiskey</div>
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Cloves</div>
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Cinnamon Stick</div>
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Lemon</div>
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Firstly, boil a kettle and add a measure of whiskey to a heat proof glass or mug. A measure is usually plenty, but if you fancy a bit extra, go for it. </div>
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Whilst the kettle is boiling, add the cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves to the whiskey, try not to overdo the cloves as it's a strong flavour! If you have ground cinnamon as opposed to sticks then just add a sprinkle to taste. </div>
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Place a metal spoon into the glass (this stops it cracking apparently) then pour the hot water into the glass and stir. We'd recommend letting it sit for five to let the flavours blend in. Squeeze a wedge of lemon into glass according to taste, then chuck the wedge in! </div>
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We like this drink for it's warming and medicinal flavours, perfect for a cosy Saturday night!</div>
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It warms you through after a day of being out in the cold. </div>
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Let us know if you try it, or comment with your favourite hot drinks for cold days!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-5513609523307365072014-11-17T08:47:00.004-08:002014-11-17T08:47:29.944-08:00Snow + Rock Leeds Launch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y07Nh4HqniA/VGEo4UGTEOI/AAAAAAAABG8/R3AFRs_4VBc/s1600/IMG_8851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y07Nh4HqniA/VGEo4UGTEOI/AAAAAAAABG8/R3AFRs_4VBc/s1600/IMG_8851.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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A couple of weeks ago we were invited to the opening of the new Snow + Rock store in Leeds and as an avid skier, Lizzie went along to check out the new store! </div>
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I've been skiing since I was nine years old and genuinely love doing it. So much so, my usual line when asked about skiing is 'it's the only sport i'm good at'. I always love my annual skiing holidays to France with the family! Having the right gear is so important when facing the cold (I was once so cold my eyelashes froze together!) and Snow + Rock has always been my go-to store for getting my clothes and boots! Annoyingly, my closest store was always a good hour away in Manchester, so you can imagine my excitement when discovering there was going to be a store in Leeds! </div>
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As Snow + Rock kindly gave us the opportunity to have custom insoles fitted free of charge, My boyfriend Alasdair decided to take the opportunity of the store event to get some ski boots fitted. Having bought ski boots myself over a year ago now, I knew the process takes a long time, but I hadn't seen the new methods used to fit them (the ski nerd in me really came out here, cue a million questions!) so it was a good new experience for both of us! Ski boot fitting is an extensive process to get the fit just right and find the best boot for your ability. Literally can't stress enough how informative and friendly Laurie, who fitted the insoles and boots, was and she made the process so easy for us! Every step was throughly explained and having a sales assistant who not only knew her stuff but clearly loved her job was such a great experience. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yGAIPv4Yucs/VGE0OAP2WPI/AAAAAAAABHo/FzfCwtvtvz4/s1600/sr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yGAIPv4Yucs/VGE0OAP2WPI/AAAAAAAABHo/FzfCwtvtvz4/s1600/sr.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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So I thought i'd give you a little insight into the process, there's a lot of new technology and science that goes into making ski boots as comfortable and practical as possible! They first measure your feet and look at the arches of your foot. You then try on some of the wide selection of boots they have depending on your ability and feet and a bit like a crap version of Harry Potter where the wand chooses the wizard, the boot tends to chose the foot!</div>
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To create the insoles, Alasdair was placed on two bags of silicon, which was moulded round his foot, then had the air vacuumed out. This ensures a true custom fit (and makes it super comfy, my boots fit like gloves!)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ExhTICuOS3Q/VGE0PwHJLGI/AAAAAAAABIA/lw09yL7FbD0/s1600/sr5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ExhTICuOS3Q/VGE0PwHJLGI/AAAAAAAABIA/lw09yL7FbD0/s1600/sr5.jpg" height="426" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div>
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Whilst Laurie worked on Alasdair's insoles, we took the opportunity to explore more of the store and see what was happening at the opening event! As well as the winter sport area, there is the 'Rock' aspect which had climbing and walking gear, but we were also excited to see both a cycling and running area of the store. As Alasdair is a cyclist and I attempt to run (i try really hard to run but i look like Phoebe off of Friends, my arms and legs flail as if independent from my body) the store basically covers all bases for us!</div>
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To celebrate the opening, there was a little ceremony outside in which Olympic and Commonwealth medal athlete Laura Weightman opened the store. The CEO of Snow + Rock was also in attendance (he has a man to hold his umbrella - goals!) and everyone seemed genuinely excited about the opening! I had a chat with some of the guests whilst milling around the store and the reception was all positive, my favourite person being a man who hadn't skied in twenty five years but had been inspired to give it a go again, love it!</div>
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One of my favourite parts of the opening was the balloon release, where gold balloons had prizes inside. Not only was it fun to be a part of (Alasdair was literally the keenest person there, so determined to catch one!) but was pretty to watch! </div>
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Once we'd watched the opening (and got soaked in the process, classic Leeds weather, always bloody raining!) We went back upstairs to see how Alasdair's boots were doing. This next part of the process I hadn't seen before, not only were the insoles fully moulded, but the shell of the boot was also custom fitted! </div>
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The boots were heated up to 180 degrees and then placed on Alasdairs feet to mould around them. Icepacks were then placed around the outside to cool them to his feet. I didn't envy him at this point, the process isn't the most comfortable! </div>
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And these are the boots! Fully custom fitted with excellent service in a lovely new store. Can't fault our experience at Snow + Rock and look forward to buying my new ski suit there next year! </div>
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Lizzie </div>
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xx</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">this post was sponsored by Snow + Rock</span></i></div>
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Winter is coming. The night is closing in on the day and darkness will reign over light. What better time to read a good novel?! There's not much we like more than curling up with a book, cup of tea and a blanket when the weather is miserable. This is what we've been reading over the last month!</div>
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<i>Lizzie</i></div>
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<i>Read: <b>Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn</b></i></div>
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This book seemed to be the 'it book' of the moment due to the recent film adaptation, so I had to give it a read. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I did find it a little hard to get into a first, I thought the start was really slow, but once I got further in I couldn't put it down. It's filled with unexpected twists and I really couldn't decide if I trusted Nick or not. Amy as a character was so unusual to read, really interesting perspective on life as a woman and how people perform their gender (my dissertation was on gender performance, the literature student in me came into stride reading this!) However, don't EVEN START me on the end. I was not happy with how this novel ended. I mean, it really made sense and I was pleasantly surprised that it did have a sense of closure. However, I literally threw the book across my bedroom at the end in anger, if you've read it you'll probably know why! </div>
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<i>Just finished: <b>Maze Runner, James Dashner</b></i></div>
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I absolutely LOVED this novel. I literally did not stop reading this book from start to finish and by the time I looked at the clock, it was 3am. The story is <i>so</i> addictive, it's the Pringles tube of YA novels. Set in a mysterious world in the middle of a maze, we follow the story of Thomas who is put there with his memory wiped and surrounded by teenage boys who'd learned to live life in the maze and spent every moment trying to work out why they were there. There are twists and turns throughout (heh), filled with strange monsters, camp politics and a drive to survive in a world with no mercy on the lost and the weak. Basically, when Thomas arrives, shit goes down. Young adult novels can be overlooked as good literature, but this story captivated my imagination and to my delight when I turned over the last page, this is the first book of a series! I can't wait to read the rest! I have forced this novel onto Sophie so I have someone to talk about it with soon!</div>
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<i><b><br /></b>To read: <b>Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami</b></i></div>
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<i>Sophie</i></div>
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<i>Read: <b>The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami</b></i></div>
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I am a big lover of anything Murakami writes and usually after reading one of his books I can't start anything new for a good week because I still feel deeply involved with what I've just read. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle didn't have as much of an impact on my as say Norwegian Wood or Kafka on the Shore, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It's rather surreal at times and there is a very strong spiritual aspect to the book, which can make it quite difficult to wrap your head around. So if you're wary about it being too heavy, maybe try one of his other books first to ease yourself in. Though is starts innocently enough, with a man listening to the radio and boiling spaghetti, everything quickly becomes more and more warped and fluid; the perspectives seem to shift, lines blur between reality and dream, you're no longer sure what is metaphorical and what is literal. I think that is what I love so much about Murakami; you can still be thinking about it months later. People can get different things from it and have their own interpretations, especially when there are ends purposely left loose.</div>
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<i>Just finished: <b>In Cold Blood, Truman Capote</b></i></div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>I say I've just finished this, I actually read it a while ago, but I just really wanted to talk about it.</div>
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It is amazing and truly brutally scary about human nature. It is honestly one of the most repelling and captivating books I have ever read. The book is a recount of the murder of the Clutter family and the following events that occurred in Kansas in 1959. Capote travelled to the town in which the murders took place, and spend six years gathering information from interviews with residents, policemen, and the killers themselves. There is still debate as to whether the book is considered fiction or non-fiction, but we can assume a certain level of accuracy to the recount, and it is enough to challenge your ideas on human psychology. Unlike most crime novels, we know from the start who has committed the crimes and why. The suspense of the book doesn't come from any mystery of what <i>could </i>happen, but from the knowledge of what <i>will</i> happen.</div>
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<i>To (re)read: <b>The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien</b></i></div>
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What have you read recently? Let us know your thoughts if you've read any of these books or if you want to tell us about other books you've enjoyed!</div>
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x</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-74897715187082081672014-11-04T08:05:00.001-08:002014-11-04T08:05:30.761-08:00TTDIY: Charlotte's Ice-cream Parlour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just as summer was drawing to a close, we made the most of the last of the sunshine with a little trip to Charlotte's Ice Cream Parlour. This has been a staple place to visit for us for as long as we've been in Yorkshire and has changed a lot since we first started visiting! Although the weather is getting colder now, it's still a fun place to visit whatever the season. You can sit out in the sun with an ice cream or huddle up inside with a hot chocolate!</div>
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With a large variety of flavours, both traditional and unusual, there's a lot to choose from! We nearly always get two scoops and try get a good combo of flavours, there's also loads of toppings and sauces to go with it. All the icec ream is made by Charlotte's and their Jersey cows! </div>
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There's also loads of stuff to do for both adults and children whilst having your ice creams; it's not often you find a mini-golf with such a fabulous view!</div>
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The view from Charlotte's is of our town, Mirfield, we always spend time trying to point out various landmarks that we recognise but it's genuinely such a pleasant place to sit and take in the view. When we were younger, visiting Charlotte's would be more of a day trip as we used to have to trek up and back through the woods and fields.</div>
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As well as mini-golf there's also a pretty good selection of animals to look at and pet, the donkey's are always up for a scratch behind the ears! </div>
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The goats were probably our favourite animals to sit and watch, they always provide some entertainment on the rocks! We were slightly disturbed however by some wildly inappropriate pig behaviour, we can't look at the piglets in the same way anymore...</div>
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<i>Hat: Primark, sunglasses: Rayban Clubmasters, top: New Look, belt: Primark, skirt: Boohoo, Boots: Topshop, Bag: Mulberry, Lipstick: Mac in Chilli</i></div>
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<i>Dress: Topshop, cropped jumper: H&M, boots: Topshop, bag: Primark, Lipstick: Kate Moss for Rimmel in 09</i></div>
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How did you spend your last days of summer?</div>
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x</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5863454726028393055.post-34719823873910025722014-10-31T14:18:00.001-07:002014-10-31T14:19:49.134-07:00Why don't skeletons go to parties? Because they have no body to dance with<div style="text-align: center;">
One cold autumn eve the winds start to change </div>
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And it as it grows dark the carved faces grin.</div>
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Something in the air is feeling quite strange,</div>
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There's knocks on the door but noone's let in.</div>
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It's not every day you see a drunk ghost,</div>
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Stumbling witches propped up by their brooms.</div>
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Staggering zombies down pints with a boast,</div>
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Mummies that need to go back to their tombs.</div>
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Men dressed as heroes, Elvis and babies,</div>
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The bunnies are out and all dressed in leather,</div>
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Women dressed as men and men dressed as ladies,</div>
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Scantily clad in spite of the weather.</div>
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But can these costumes truly disguise,</div>
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The real monsters that lay dormant in side?</div>
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This is a sonnet I wrote for a poetry class I took at university, felt very appropriate to share this with you today!</div>
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Lizzie</div>
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x</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173848237951458045noreply@blogger.com2