All change (and lazy days)

Ta-daa!







Now, I know I was supposed to blog this yesterday but by the time I was done it was a little to late to start taking photos and uploading. Also, my hair looked like crap and needed some styling...

It still needs to be styled properly to look nicer as well as some touch-ups (as the day wears on I find more and more bit that seem to have slightly been neglected. But all in all I'm happy with the result! Considering this is the first time ever I've dyed my hair I actually think I did quite well.

I didn't bleach it myself, that would have been too scary, I had that professionally done.  In fact I whimpered the whole time the hairdresser was doing it to the point where he said even he was getting scared! I've just seen so many people with bad bleach jobs and that, combined with the fact that my hair is naturally almost black so had to be significantly lightened and another hairdresser telling me my hair was too dry to do that, meant I was quite nervous about the whole thing.

I did do the purple myself though. Ordered a pot of Directions hair dye in violet. I think I might order a few more in different colours to try!

In other news, I've got this week off from uni so I've been "working" these past three days. I say "working" because I'm not doing much except watching TV and giving the kid lunch and stuff. In fact, yesterday he went over to his grandparents to do revision with his granddad around 12 and then he never came back. I got a call around 3 saying his cousin had come over and they were going to the cinema then having a sleepover at his house. He doesn't really need me at this age but his mum likes me being around to make sure he doesn't just play on the x-box all day and keep him fed and stuff. I quite like this kind of "work" though as I've had a chance to watch channels I don't normally get to watch (I'm obsessed with true crime and air crash investigation) and that suits me fine as the cold I thought I'd shaken off is back with a vengeance...

Paracetamol and buckets of tea is the order of the day. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow as I'd planned a shopping trip!

Colour (+ sneak peak)

I've been trying to be brave lately and incorporate more colour into my life and my wardrobe. And yes, I know it's silly but I always feel self-conscious when I wear colour. Almost as if I'm wearing fancy dress. Hence, most of my wardrobe is in the black-grey-white spectrum.

But, like I said, I'm trying to change that. I've recently made several purchases in other colour ways than my usual grey scale including a purple-y blue jumper and a muted red one.

Tomorrow I'm doing something which will definitely be the biggest change so far. A step up from a simple blue jumper so to speak. You'll have to tune in tomorrow for that one, but here's a little sneak peak.





I'm so excited about this, it's something I've been thinking about, in one way or another, for a while now. I'm also freaking out a little bit, but that's mainly because I only have two settings: confused and freaking out.


 

My nails are the one thing that's always colourful. I have an acrylic overlay so I have to get them done every two weeks to keep them looking nice and I usually go for either something green or something blue. At the moment I'm on the lookout for a nice purple. This nail varnish is a recent purchase. I spotted the colour and just couldn't resist! As a loyal customer (I've been going to the same place for years) I always get freebies and special discounts. For instance they always do my nail design for free. This time we decided to go for a cute little flower over the abstract swirly stuff we usually go for. I think we were both feeling like spring is on it's way. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking?

Such a perfect day

Yesterday was my adorable little niece's first birthday. I was there for her birth and for the last year I've watched her grow and change from this soft little baby who, when she wasn't sleeping, was attached to my sisters breast into a small child, with a (strong) will of her own and the most amazing personality. Sometimes when we hang out I feel like my heart might burst with all the love I feel for her!

As it was her first ever birthday (and my sister likes to organise things) there was a party. I baked mini  carrot cupcakes, got all dressed up, bought a bunch of presents and cabbed it over there to celebrate.
It was a brilliant day!



Dress, colourful tights and my hair out. It really was a special day!


The birthday girl tries her cake

 
Chilling before all the guests arrive

How can you not love that face? That amazing smile just makes my heart melt!

The b**ch is back (I know you've all been waiting with baited breath)!

It's just taken me about half an hour to sign in to my blog. Which kind of shows it's been a loooong time since I visited it. But. I'm gong to try to make an effort to start blogging again.

This last year has been mad. I became an aunt. I finished college. I got into a good uni. I've met new people and lost touch with old friends. I've been happy and I've been sad. And I've been working and studying, til it feels like my head is spinning sometimes and I just want to lie down for a bit.

It's not just my blogging that's been on the back burner, I haven't been reading blogs either. But lately I've been getting back into blog-hopping and feeling a bit of an urge to start writing again.

So. Soon there will be a brand new post (this one doesn't count, it's just a placeholder) and hopefully many more after that!

Until then my friends, stay cool!

The wonderful versatility of oopsies

Isn't it great when you find a recipe that works great as a base with which to experiment, adding things, changing things, and generally freestyling it? Since me and sis discovered oopsies we have had them as sandwiches, burger buns, chocolate cake, chocolate muffins... And the other day I decided to try them as pancakes. And yes, they were delicious! As I'm not much of a breakfast eater I tend to get really hungry around ten, and these are perfect as a filling brunch.



After googling some lchf pancake recipes I settled on adding some coconut to my oopsie recipe (which doesn't use all the yolks to avoid a too "eggy" flavour) and replacing half the cream cheese with double cream. In the end the recipe looked something like this:

2 egg whites
1 egg yolk
30 g* cream cheese
2 tbsp* double cream
3 tbsp dessicated coconut*
pinch of baking powder

Whisk the egg whites with the baking powder until stiff. Mix the other ingredients in a separate bowl. Put a spoonful of the egg withes in the cream cheese mixture and fold it in then dump it all into the egg whites and fold together. Many recipes recommend using a metal spoon for folding, I like a rubber spatula. Either way, you want to be careful so you don't knock all the air out, but not too careful as it will take ages and the egg whites will start to break down. Fry dollops of the batter in lots of unsalted butter, I got five but it all depends on how big or small you make them. They will puff up in the pan, so if you want flatter, thinner pancakes press down with the spatula after turning them.
These make American style pancakes and I'm sure they'd be nice to eat with bacon (if you like that sort of thing and eat meat, neither of which applies to me), I eat mine with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Enjoy!

* I don't really measure or weigh my ingredients when I make this so these are estimates. I blitzed my coconut in a blender to break it down into smaller pieces but that's all about preference.

Yesterday is but today's memory...

Used, discarded,unloved. It has served its purpose and been forgotten about. And there it hangs. No-one even cares enough to take it down. What was once bright and new is now sun bleached, rain washed and windblown. Time marches swiftly on and it is no longer relevant.


Bunting from the diamond jubilee.

Liar liar pants on fire!

Yesterday I spotted something which struck me as odd: the menu from El Camino (which I wrote about the other day) said el Camion. After some googling I realised that the latter is in fact the correct name of the restaurant. I fired off a text to my sister, the one who introduced me to this culinary gem, and she replied saying she knew this but always called it El Camino anyway because it used to be called that before it changed its name.

What?! I have been deceived!

I feel dirty. I feel betrayed. I feel... I don't know how I feel...

Ok, bit of an exaggeration. It's a funny story though. I'm going to take a leaf out of my sister's book and keep calling it El Camino. Because that's what it's called in my head. Also because, as anyone who knows me can attest to, I'm never wrong!

Life through a lens

The other day me and sis walked past a bush in full bloom. There were different flowers around it, all of them in pink hues. Immediately we both stopped and pulled out our cameras. 





As bloggers, we don't stop and smell the roses. We photograph them!

Breakfast of champions

Boiled eggs with creme fraiche/mayonnaise/cream mixture and some chives. Yum.

Lazy days

Yesterday was spent with my two favourite people:  my gorgeous sister and her equally gorgeous daughter.

After I babysat my niece, while my sister went to the gym, we all went for Mexican food.

El Camino is a lovely little place close to where my sister lives. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is great. Not to mention the charming decor!

My sister is obsessed with Cholula hot sauce and was a bit disappointed to only find the chipotle version.

I, on the other hand, was overjoyed as chipotle is one of my all time favourite foodstuffs!

I love hanging out with my girls!

All change

I have mixed feelings about my life at the moment.
I'm happy and relieved that I've finished college (with acceptable grades) and survived the nine months of working and studying. At the same time it feels sad to think that I'm never going back there again. I did have fun and I met so many wonderful people and while I know for a fact that I will stay in touch with many of them, many others are going to unis in other parts of the country and others are not the kind of friends I hang out with outside of school but spent a lot of time with in college and whom I will miss.
I'm happy to have some actual free time now, and I get so bored with all this time on my hands.
I'm so excited about going to university in September and my knees turn to jelly when I think of this big step. Will it meet my expectations? Will I make friends? Will I be the old fart surrounded by bright eyed 18 year olds?
I'm looking forward to finally getting on and moving forward with my life, and I'm reduced to tears when I think of leaving the children I have looked after for so many years and whom I have seen grow up.
I can't wait to have my own home and no longer be a live-in nanny, but I worry about how I will manage financially.

Mos

My head is spinning. I know it will be fine. I am constantly freaking out.

Grey

I am only wearing white, grey and black today (yes even socks and underwear). This greyscale look was not a conscious decision, probably more of a reflection on the predominant colours in my wardrobe.

Today is the last time my class is together at college. A bit sad, if I'm honest. I've brought a cake to celebrate the fact that we've survived and to mark the fact that we are now on our way to even bigger and better things!

Take two for uploading photo!

Low carb chocolate muffins

Today, while my sister was at the gym and I was babysitting my favourite Una, I decided to experiment further with oopsies. We had been talking about making them as chocolate muffins so I thought I'd surprise her, ambitious I know! Even though Una woke up I managed to pull it off. I followed the recipe for basic oopsies and chucked in some extra stuff. I don't have an exact recipe as it was very much a case of tasting and adding more but these are the broad strokes:

2 egg whites

2 egg yolks

60ish grams plain cream cheese

2 tsp honey

1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

1-2 tbsp ground almonds

Dark chocolate

Beat egg whites stiff as if making meringue. In a separate bowl mix all the other ingredients, tasting as you go. Fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the mixture then fold the mixture into the eggwhites. Dollop into a muffin pan, mine made nine, and finely grate some dark chocolate over the top.

Bake for about 30 mins on gas mark 2/150 degrees then turn the oven off and leave the muffins to cool in the oven with the door propped up.

I served mine with a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh berries. Delicious!

Last night

My sis' friend is here and last night we went for a little night out. First stop Mexican food, second stop hula bar, third stop home. It was short but sweet!

Pill-popper

My evening snack tonight consisted of antibiotics, paracetamol and ADs.

I freaking hate swallowing pills and I'm really rubbish at it too...

I finished off with a swig of cough medicine.

Today, after 4 days of fever, my temperature has been normal. Yay for that! I don't know if it's the ABs or just the chest infection running its course. I just wish the cough would go to...

What did you do last weekend?

Egg (Mc)Muffin

Had 3 for lunch whilst working on the presentation I have to give on Monday.

The egg muffins were delicious, the work was less nice. My presentation is on gender equality since WW1 (actually since Victorian times) and I know the stuff like the back of my hand, both because it was part of my research project and because I'm a rabid feminist. My worry is that I'll get really nervous, forget it all and start stammering.

The egg muffins were easy and part of my new low carb high fat approach to life.

I just beat together 2 eggs, a glug of double cream, a bunch of grated cheese and a pinch of oregano. It made enough to half-fill 3 muffin cases which I baked at 180 degrees fan for about 20 minutes.

And then I ate them all!

P.s. I don't know if I'm back. The whole working+studying+being an aunt is hard work and very time-consuming...

It's a free bag innit?!

Went to Goldsmiths university for an applicants day today. It lasted from 12-5 pm and of that I'd say about 2hrs were spent in any productive way. I was actually quite unimpressed by the whole thing. When I went to the open day at Queen Mary uni I came away with a great feeling about the place. A real "yeah, I want to study here" kind of feeling. Didn't get that from Goldsmiths.
I did get a canvas bag and various bits of chocolate. So the day wasn't a complete waste!

I can be organised if I want to be

I like to tick things of my to do list/hand when they're done.