My Christmas Wish List 2015 - Santa baby.

Santa baby,
A '54 convertible too, light blue;
I'll wait up for you, dear; Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.

My Christmas Wish List 2015

I have been after this for a while, its £100 on Tiffany website. Inspired by the iconic key ring first introduced in 1969. Personally, I would opt for the 18 inch chain. If Santa doesnt bring me this I think I may treat myself to it as a late brithday gift to myself end of febuary.

Anna Sui Secret Wish

Its a scent I have been wearing throughout the years and out of every purfume I have ever owned this one has always felt the most like me. Its becoming hard to find now and I need this in my life. It is one of the most beautiful scents.

Clear clutch bag

I saw this on ebay for £13 and its one of the most beautiful things ive ever seen. Team this up with a class cream coat and your talking!

Item no: 251479825490

Make up brushes

These again were an ebay find, super cheap at around £5. I am in love with the colour and the brushes look fair quality. I can see one there that will be perfect for contouring. I have some mixed brand brushes already (UD, Benefit) but these are half the price and look as good. Sign me up!

item no: 261810297062

My bottle water bottle and canvas bag set

Next year I want to start making fresh smoothies every morning to take to work and this is perfect for me. I really want one of these. They are super cheap even with the bag. Great stocking filler, and I am the sad kind of loser who gets excited over a £2.79 water bottle.

Ebay Item no: 251948062339

Baby pink home ATM
Now this is a fun one... or at least I think it is. I LOVE being organised. Planners, to do lists, diaries. thats me. And the idea of having a little savings machine in my house fills me with a sad little joy. I could draw out a bit out of my wages each month, pop it in and have that as my "spending money". Its so easy to pop a bank card in the shops machien these days and not keep track of what your spending. I think I would really really like this. At £26 it seems just a really cute/fun thing to have around the house.

Ebay no: 331673624916

Harrods Barrel bag

Super cute and quite plain which I think, black goes with almost anything too.

£40

I have like the perfect notebook set and planner to go with this!

Found on Harrods.com

Snowflake Cookie Yankee Candle

Found on Yankee.co.uk for £7.99 for this small jar. Never much point in having a large one as its a christmas edition candle and a large one would still be going in late spring.
So cute, totally need this <3

Found here: https://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/product/view/party-poppers

All I have to say is "Its the only thing I ever wanted" To quote Sansa (GOT)

W7 Brow Parlour Eyebrow Kit

Ebay item number: 141788777943
£3.90

Starbucks travel mug - has ice coffee written all over it!

Ebay item no: 291583743547

£6.40

 Taylor Swift Enchanted Wonderstruck

50ml for £15!

Ebay item no: 311466010493

Yes please!

Ebay item no: 161379405216

Fruit champagne bubble bath

Ebay item number: 131285001849

£8.30

I really need one or two :/ at £1.50 each

Ebay number: 121097687115

 Bath sparkle

I would like either Snow Queen or Forever

Ebay number: 281259126094

Bath set I would LOVE

£9.95

Ebay number: 121772314139

W7 MATT black nail varnish

Ebay number: 151786809912

&

STARGAZER GOLD

Ebay number: 141558348278

YVES SAINT LAURENT MAKEUP BAG

Ebay item no: 262074047746

Clear and gold travel bag

£2!

Ebay number: 291595980658

Classy and cute size 7
Ebay number: 252111747807

Wall's body butter and exfo set Ebay number: 351493955725

Lip smackers in Feast and Twister!

3 for £3!

Hell yes!

Ebay no: 221424197382

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing... A ring...
I don't mean on the phone; Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight 

My Cath Kidston Christmas Planner Diary 2015

Hi guys, I purchaused this little baby last week for just £6 (Ebay find) Its the Cath Kidston 2015 christmas "To Do" Diary/ planner.
Going to keep this short and sweet as just a quick mini review.

The Good:
 Decor is so cute, its christmas fare themed and the pages are bright and bold.
The print quality is very nice and the paper thickness is the best ive found on mini planners.
Very affordable and fits in purses/ bags easily.

The Bad:
Would have liked an extra section for decor plans but I have popped that in the notes section instead.
Not really any real bad points at all if im honest.

The Extras:
Has two pockets to keep lists and reciepts.
Has a hidden pencil in the spine which is super cute.


The sections are as follows.
2015 december calender chart with enough room to write little events or plans in.
"Food and Drink" section. I used this for shipping lists and menu planning.
"Cards and Gifts" Loads of space so dont worry about running out.
"To do" I felt there were a little too many of these pages but at least you wont be cut short.
"Notes" plenty of room on each page with these ones.

3 words to describe it:
Cute
Functional
Portable

Christmas planning 2015 - The Christmas Menu

Christmas Day

Breakfast

Full English fry up

with

Fresh juices 

Lunch

 Christmas dinner

Meats

Lamb leg

Turkey crown

Roast Beef

Vegetables

Goose fat roasted potatoes with rosemary garnish

Honey sweet carrots and parsnips with thyme hints

Stock simmered sprouts

Sea salt sprinkled savoy cabbage

 Sweet and salty leek slices

 Extras

Tesco finest pigs in blankets with an optional homemade honey dressing

Homebaked yorkshire puddings

Aunt bessies yorkshire puddings

Homemade pork and chestnut stuffing balls

Paxo sage and onion stuffing

 Beef dripping gravy

 

 Dessert

A selection of

 Chocolate and Vanilla icecream bar

Chocolate flaked gateau

 Mince pies

 

A selection of party foods will be served at tea time

  along with a chorizo jam cheeseboard, chocolates and champagne

 Crisps, chocolates and alcholic drinks are had throughout the day.

 

 

 

My Little Fall Clothing Haul 2015 Autumn

The last few weeks in England, the weather has brought nothing but rain showers and night-long thunderstorms. As I look out of my apartment window I see my quiet little street hidden under a thin blanket of autumn leaves and it finally dawns on me that fall has arrived.

So today, I am curled up on the sofa with my other half, all snug in my new soft pug socks I scored for 36p on ebay and the laptop in front of me.
What is a woman to do but start the fall shopping?

I looked though pinterest for fall inspired outfits. I fumbled across fox themed shoes and bags (which have gone on my "Must have" list!) But today I needed to start off a little more practical.

I wanted to put together an outfit inspired by fall colours, but avoiding the reds and burnt shades, as they do nothing for my skin tone.

I needed a cardigan. Something light but warm enough for fall. I wanted high buttons and pockets, like a boyfriend cardy. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack but I got there eventually, finding this baby for just £6.49! At an online store called StyleMaxxUK.

Next up, I wanted soem new boots. Now I have proper UGGs but they are in a pinky/purple colour and I now really do not like them. So I just wanted a cheapy unbranded pair to keep me going over autumn really. I found these for just £5.99 on ebay from "GoSourcing" store. They had many colours and all sizes, but I wanted a set to match my new cardigan. They have the faux fur inside and teh bottoms seem to be reasonably thick, whilst having ridges for balance on wet days.

Next up, a plain top to go with these. I already have a few and will pick more up as I go but for now I settled for one. A roll sleeved basic navy top, baggy, casual and seemed rather cute to go under the cardy. Nice cold colour and it will match my jeggings. Just perfectly casual. This was just £8.93 from a store called "LadiesOutLook".

And to finnish off the look and add a spash of cool tartan colour in I picked up this adorable scarf. It screams fall to me and I am in love with it!
Just £3.98 on ebay!

Combine with navy jeggings and black leather satchel bag. Good stuff.

Not to everyones taste I am sure but I love it and the prices were fab.

Happy Fall Y'all,

Living on a budget - bulk cooking recipes and price breakdown - CUT YOUR FOOD BILL IN HALF EVERY MONTH!

So every week I would do the same thing, head to the supermarket and buy all the fresh produce I needed to cook a variety of home cooked meals.

To make a beef strognanoaff I would add the following to my basket:
350g of beef steak chunks
A large onion
Small punnet of mushrooms
Tin of evap milk
(assuming I have pepper, stock cube, paprika, splash of milk and tomato purree at home already)

This would come to around £4.40 and would make 2 portions (feed 2 adults). (S0 £2.20 each, plus rice or potatoes to go with)

Now what I do Is I add the following to my cart:

2 x 500g of frozen steak (1kg)
1/3 of a bag of cooking onions (4 small onions)
1 400g punnet of mushrooms
2 x tins of evap milk
(assuming I have pepper, stock cube, paprika, splash of milk and tomato purree at home already)

This costs me £7.90 and out of all this I got 10 portions (feed 10 adults) (So this costs just 80p each, plus rice or potatoes to go with)

Just but making a few changes and cooking in bulk I have found a way to save so much money and still feed my little family lovely home cooked meals with vegetables, quality meats and wonderful sauces. I do not use any value products to make these meals, I use own brand normally and shop between tesco, asda and iceland.

My recipe:
The Strognanoff

What do I need:
1kg of steak (If frozen defrost prior to cooking) (Icelands are ideal for the frozen bags)
4 small/medium cooking onions - chopped
400g punnet of mushrooms - sliced
2 tins of evaporated milk (I use an own brand)
Few pinches of pepper
Dash of paprika
2tbs of tomato purree
1 x beef stock cube (oxo is ideal)
200ml of milk (any)
1 x garlic glove
Splash of sunflow oil (or any oil really)
 Herbs to garnish, optional

Directions
Chop garlic and heat in a little oil. Add in the diced beef and allow to cook, stir every now and again.
While thats cooking, shop your veggies up and prep your stock.
Add in your chopped veg, tomato purree, pepper and paprika. Give it a a stir and allow the veg to mostly soften.
Next add in your stock, evaporated milks and milk. Stir round and allow to simmer for 10 mins.

Take it off the ring to cool. Once cold divide into 10 portions. I use large freezer bags.
Pop them in the freezer and take out as you like. Defrost over night before use. Re-heat on teh hob and add over rice, pasta or potatoes.

Mambi Happy Planner review Aug 2015

I recently purchaused the Me & My Big Ideas happy planner, in the "Life is Beauty Full" theme.
I have been using it for just over a month now and and I am really enjoying it. I feel like I am still getting used to it as its quite a change for me.
I would just like to review it and tell you all a little bit about the planner and help you decide if its the one for you.

View inside here:
http://www.meandmybigideas.com/create365-thehappyplanner/

 The Size
We will start with the size. Quite a large planner measuring at 7 x 9.25 inches. Its a lovely size to be able to hold all your stuff and you feel like you get good value for money with it.
Its a 18 month planner, which is lovely as you get a good year and a half to enjoy all the features.

The Arc System
As everybody knows the happy planner has an Arc discbound system. I know this causes a lot of worry with people, as they question how long this binding system will last.
Well, I have only had mine a month, but I can already tell you those pages are in very firmly and I have never had any looseness or rips.
The pages are super easy to take in and out and I havent found that had worn the pages down at all so far. 

The paper
The paper inside the planner is of very good quality! Not flimsy or cheap feeling. Nice decent sheets all in all.

Quality
Flawless! Totally flawless. No odd smudges or misprints anywhere at all. Colours and very bold and images sharp.

Little things I love
The little quotes along the bottom of the pages!
At the start of every month there are these cute overview pages where you can fill out events, plus a calender for the month.

Little things I dont love
Some of the pattern pages just arent for me
Not much note space BUT you can add these in from MAMBI

Cool Extras
They have freebies you can download on the website to enhance your planner
http://www.meandmybigideas.com/gallery-freeprintables

Planner stickers at my shop - FALL FREEBIES

Just a little update for you all :)
I have a little etsy shop that sells printable planner stickers!

Find me at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StickersOfLondon

Here are some freebies for you all to save, print and enjoy <3