Rose Tinted Cupcakes

I am meant to be on a diet for that belated and rather more winter than summer bod, but it was a friends birthday recently and I thought it was as good an excuse as any to whip up a tasty treat for me and my buddies. On a birthday, nothing else quite cuts it (pardon the pun) like cupcakes. But these aren't just any cupcakes. Oh no. These are vanilla and rose cupcakes. Are you intrigued yet?

I've been admiring a variation of this recipe in my cupcake book for about 3 years and today I was browsing the bakery isle in Sainsbury's for inspiration, when the elusive rose water ingredient that I had stuggled to find, caught my eye. All excited about the cute little make over Sainsburys's had given their bakery section and the rows of cute little bottles, (which kept me occupied for a good 15 minutes, much to my mum's irritation) made me eager to get home and have a play. They looked and tasted great (if I do say so myself) and I thought it was a nice little treat to share with my lovely readers.

Makes 6 cakes.
You will need:

Cakes

2oz Baking Butter

2oz Caster Sugar

1 or 2 Eggs (up yo you!)

Splash of Rose Water

Splash of Vanilla Essence 

3oz Self- Raising Flour

Cupcake Cases

Decoration

Pink Ready to Roll Icing

White Fondant for Modelling

Edible Glitter (if you like)

Dorothy Perkins: Back in the Game!

A few years ago, Dorothy Perkins was my go to. No matter how often I went in, there would always be at least one thing that I felt I needed in my life, there and then. It was the place I got my Chanel-look quilted chain bag, (that I still have, 5 years later), and the place I bought my only pair of vaguely bearable heels.

But alas, recently DP has been letting me down. There isn't actually one in Guildford where I go to uni, so that's partly why, but everytime I have been in there in the last year or so, it's always been very.... 'fine', very 'that's quite nice'. Nothing has made me stop, scream and march over to the til to spend my final pennies (apart from my gorgeous kharki spring jacket, must have!). Until today.

I was passing and thought 'it can't hurt' so stuck my head round the door, expecting nothing special. Instead I was hit with a selection of clothes I fell immediately in love with. Turns out the designers at Dorothy Perkins have upped their game significantly at the turn of the season
. I was so excited about my little visit that I thought I had to share my favourite pieces with you, so here is my Dorothy Perkins wishlist:

In Her Shoes...

At the weekend, my trusty black pumps decided to finally give up on me after a year of battling the British weather and my inability to pick up my feet when I walk. So this meant I needed to get shoe prowling pronto.

After hours of traipsing around Bluewater, scowering various shops and many a sales rack in the hope of a good bargain, with no success and so much disappointment, I found myself, as always, in New Look.

Just when I feared even New Look's humongous shoe heaven couldn't help me, I spied these little beauties in the corner, the final 3 pairs. My size. Sold.

New Look, £17.99

New Textured Nails

I've been feeling like I need a change recently so I was mooching around Superdrug to see what different nail colours there was. I'm a bit of a nail bore. I stick to pinks and reds and I rarely bother with anything more than a block colour. But in the Barry M section, I came across this lovely blue/green colour. The bottle also said there was a texture to it. At first this put me off but then I realised I wanted something new so why not give it a go.

The texture was actually more subtle than I thought it was going to be which was a slight relief as it is a very bright colour (seriously, I swear it's gonna glow in the dark). It's quite a sandy texture, almost like those new nail decorations you can get than look like the 'Jazzies' you used to get in pick and mix. I wasn't sure whether a top coat might ruin the effect so I tried it on one nail and it almost blends in with the sand although I don't think it's a necessity because the point of the effect isn't to be shiny and reflective like normal polish. 

This is what it looked like and I was so happy with it that I had no choice but to Instagram it!

Follow me on Instagram
 

Book Worm!

So today I finished a book I have been reading since about May because I've been such a busy bee! The book was 'Nine Uses for an Ex- Boyfriend' by Sarra Manning. I found this in the cheap section in Morrisons for £3, as Sarra Manning was my favourite author when I was 14 (I read the 'Diary of a Crush' trilogy about 10 times) I thought I'd try one of her 'grown up' books.

MUA Reviews

Hope everyone is enjoying this amazing weather! Nice to have a summer for once...

Now, if anyone has read my blog before you may be aware of my love for MUA Cosmetics. I discovered the brand thanks to a friend in one of my early posts and you can see that here.

Anyway, as the months have gone on, I have managed to sample enough MUA products to pick 4 of my favourite, staple items that I thought I would share with my lovely readers.

Photos from MUA website, my camera was not loving life today unfortunately

Festival Fashion

Festivals are the highlight of the Great British Summer. We make the most of the rubbish weather by donning our wellies and jumping around on muddy fields all over the UK to some of the best music in the world. Over the years, festivals have developed and grown and now you can find one for almost every genre of music possible. Most are largely televised in some way so the less brave of us can still enjoy the atmosphere.

For the girls, a lot of us like to use a festival as an excuse to purchase copious amounts of clothing, regardless of its inevitable ruin during the weekend. Alas, I am not going to a festival again this year. I have yet to pluck up the courage or funds to go to one, so instead I thought I'd follow my festival music post with a festival fashion post (not really the same as going but I vow to go to a big festival one day).

Let's Get Musical...

So this is a Wish List with a difference. Like many poor music appreciators, I did not go to Glastonbury this weekend. Instead, I turned the living room lights down, switched on the surround sound and jumped around my house with it on the TV, with vast amounts of wine (I couldn't bring myself to have a beer, I was not that desperate to embrace the almost full festival experience), pretending I was there. With my parents. Needless to say, me and my Dad positioned ourselves in the living room half an hour early purely so we didn't miss The Rolling Stones. Well the hour of it they were allowed to show (I sound bitter. I'm really not. You don't pay £300 to stand in a muddy field to see a legendary set that would be broadcast in full from your sofa, I'm just jealous) but it cannot be denied that it was a bloody good hour, Keith Richards existence being my personal highlight, Mick Jagger's fur coat being a close second. 

Anyway, back to the point of this blog post. Summer is arguably the best time of year to spring clean your iTunes and fill your iPod to bursting for the endless lazing around and thus this post will consist of a selection of CD's I am going to spend my first pay packet on (yes I am a working girl now. At last).

Review of Gel Nail Polish

In my 'Nailed it! (or not...) post, I made a resolution to take better care of my nails. I am happy to announce that I am finally trying to keep my promise!

Last week it was my Mum's birthday party (post about that coming up soon!) and, as a treat for both of us, my Dad treated us to having our nails done. My Mum has been having gel polish applied every 4 weeks for about a year now and swears by it so I was really excited when she announced I was having mine done.

Failure to Blog.

I know. I failed in my promise to blog more but this time I do have a valid excuse. Sort of. I've just finished uni so had exams, then end of first year shenanigans then recovery from such shenanigans which has led to my utter failure to blog. But, I am now (relatively) free for the summer so I actually promise to blog more often.

You may have also noticed the slight change in the look of my blog. I decided to have a little play with Photoshop and this is what I've come up with so far. I'm still in the process of improving things but Blogger is not loving me right now so bare with.

Anyway, in a bid to justify my absence, here is what I've been getting up to.