The Great Blogger Bake Off – Classic Cookies

Welcome to week two of The Great Blogger Bake Off! This week’s theme is ‘biscuits’ and after a little bit of pondering, I decided to bake my world famous (slight exaggeration) chocolate chip cookies.

These are classic style cookies (I love a retro bake) and make the perfect addition to any gathering- or even as a cute little present for a friend! They’re also ideal comfort food and after the terrible news about Robin, an indescribably important and beloved element of my childhood, I think I’ll be taking a cookie or two and watching Hook to commemorate the laughter he brought to the world.

This is a recipe I’ve perfected over the years, much to the delight of my family and friends. Apparently these are the tastiest cookies around, so try out the recipe yourself and let me know what you think!

Much love,

Nikki x

Recipe

• 225g flour
• 100g light brown soft sugar
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 125g butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200g chocolate chips/chunks

  

1. Cream together your sugars and butter. Add the egg and vanilla.
2. Sift the flour and salt, add to the mixture and then add your chocolate!
3. Cover bowl with cling film and place in fridge for 30-60 minutes to firm a little. You can skip this step if you wish.
4. Pre heat over to Gas Mark 4/ 180C.
5. Add small round shapes of cookie dough to greasing papered baking tray and flatten slightly. Leave plenty of space between each cookie!
6. Cook for 7-10 minutes depending on how gooey/crispy you like them. I find 8 minutes is perfect for me! They look undercooked when you remove them, but trust me – they’re done! 
7. Leave on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack – I often add mine with the greasing paper still underneath! Make sure they’re hardened or they’ll fall through. Messy. 
8. Pour yourself a nice glass of milk and enjoy!

Beaches and Fireworks

Carousels and Crystals

It’s nearly the end of my holiday – boo!

Thankfully, it’s been a beautiful week – one day of which was spent in the delightful Weymouth. Picture your stereotypical coastal town: stretches of sand, turquoise sea, pastel houses, donkey rides and an endless parade of tourist shops selling crystals, ice cream and souvenirs. That’s Weymouth. 

I spent the afternoon strolling around the quaint streets, eating Frozen Yoghurt and watching the boats in the quayside. Pretty sweet! 

What I Wore

Dress  – Dorothy Perkins | Floral crown – New Look | Shoes – New Look | Bag – Accessorize | Necklace – Accessorize

Summer Fireworks

And to finish off the day, we headed to Poole Quay for a round of fireworks. When you live by the sea, this is a weekly event over summer. I set my camera to a long exposure to capture the crazy patterns – take a look! 

Got Ink? TTTattoo.

Have you seen my new ink?

Okay, I lied – it’s not real. Gotcha!

When TTTattoo asked me if I’d review their new temporary tattoos, I jumped at the chance. I’m fascinated by body art and despite having no ink of my own, I was excited to join the club – even if it was just for a week! 

Tattoos seem to be everywhere at the moment and now that one third of young people have them, they’re far from the sailor/soldier/rock star/bad ass symbol they once were. Everyone from accountants to catwalk models sport them now. They’ve basically become the ultimate accessory – as big a part of festival fashion as Hunter wellies, an oversized fedora hat and chunky ethnic jewellery.

I have a lot of concerns about real ink – how do I know I’ll like it in 10 years? What about picking a great design? I change my mind all the time – I can’t keep a haircut or a WordPress theme for more than a couple of years. Committing to something forever is pretty terrifying. Oh yeah, and it hurts! 

So whether you want to sport some cool body art for an event, to freak out an elderly relative  or to test out a design you’ve come up with before you get it inked for real, TTTattoo’s temporaries are the perfect solution.

The Design

The best bit about reviewing these beauties was getting to design my own – any excuse to crack out the pens! I chose an anchor for my design, I love the aesthetic and what it represents: the sea. I’ve always loved and lived near the sea and therefore anything nautical has a special place in my heart. I even added a heart to the design! I drew the anchor to look thin and symbolic, so its overall look is light and feminine – or it would most definitely look very wrong on little ole me. I’m actually pretty pleased with how it turned out! 

If you don’t fancy designing your own, TTTattoos have a whole host of great designs – like the beautiful vintage style feathers featured at the start of this post. The vintage camera, the array of finger tattoos, the arrows and the compass are also personal favourites!

The Tattoo

This works in exactly the same way as our beloved temp tattoos from childhood: peel off the plastic, slap it on your skin, apply water and hold for twenty seconds. The transfer worked perfectly – no patches or sticky bits. It remained shiny for an hour or so, but then faded to look more like a real tattoo. If you look very closely in bright light, you can see a faint outline from the transfer, but generally speaking, it’s completely realistic. I’ve been wearing it all day and it shows no sign of peeling off. 

Maybe wearing this for a couple of days will convince me to get a tattoo for real – or perhaps I’ll just repurchase some temps!

Check TTTatto’s Pinterest for your inkspiration!

The Great Blogger Bake Off – Chocolate Fudge Muffins

To celebrate the long awaited return of The Great British Bake Off, I’ve joined the aptly named The Great Blogger Bake Off!

We’ll be baking each week, matching the theme of the GBBO’s episode. This week’s theme? Cake!

I’m no Mary Berry, that’s for sure – but this is my recipe for some delicious Chocolate Fudge Muffins! It’s insanely easy and takes barely any time to bake!

Recipe

• 50g milk chocolate
• 85g butter
• 1 tbsp milk
• 200g self-raising flour
• 85g light muscovado sugar
• 50g golden caster sugar
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg
• 150ml soured cream
• Topping: 100g of milk chocolate, 100g of white chocolate, chocolate stars.

  

1. Melt the chocolate, butter and milk in a bowl – stir and leave to cool.
2. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugars together. In another bowl, beat the egg and soured cream, then pour over the dry ingredients and add the chocolate mixture.
3. Spoon the mixture into 10 muffin cases and heat on gas mark 5/ fan 170/ conventional 190 for 20 minutes.
4. Cool the muffins on a wire rack, melt the remaining chocolate for topping and decorate!

I’ll be back next week with some delicious biscuits!

By The Seaside

Hello! I hope you’re all having a lovely week!

It’s my week off this week, so I’ve been fully embracing the world of no alarm clocks, late nights and day trips. Needless to say, I’m having a wonderful time!

I’ve written myself a little to-do list to make sure I don’t waste my week off with Netflix. Top of the the list was a visit to the beautiful seaside town of Swanage. A couple of years back, I spent many a summer evening here, walking along the sea front, guzzling fish and chips and taking in the sights. It might be one of my favourite past times, and I was long overdue a visit this summer.

Swanage’s relaxed atmosphere, down to earth locals and quaint boutiques make it a pretty perfect place to spend the evening. I never thought I’d say this about somewhere in Dorset, but it’s rumoured to be a great place for celebrity spotting (none spotted this evening though, boo)!

An evening by the seaside felt like the perfect opportunity to dig out my H&M floppy hat, which I’ve never quite had the confidence, or the right outfit, to wear. When teamed with my Boohoo Bardot crop top and pleated midi skirt, I felt a definite Marianne Faithfull or Faye Dunnaway vibe. In my books, this is most certainly a big winner!

I’ve been toting this Accessorize bag all month (another summer sale bargain!) and it’s definitely become my summer favourite! I’m almost exclusively donning white accessories this summer, what don’t they go with? And, of course, you rarely see me without these River island strappy shoes. Aside from it’s copper emblem that leaves a green imprint on the sole of my foot (just me with this issue?), it’s my perfect shoe. 

Hopefully there will be a few more snaps like these before the summers out – the seaside is my favourite place to be!

Seasonal Colour Analysis

What are your colours?

As a fashion fanatic, I’m always drawn to the new colours of each season: the oxblood and bottle greens of Autumn, Gothic shades of Winter, ice-cream pastels of Spring and tropical hues of Summer. I’m generally willing to throw myself into each sartorial season with renewed excitement, whether it’s lusting after pastel midi dresses or wrapping myself in dark, grungy knitwear. Are you the same?

I’d always known some colours suited me better than others; I always got a lot of compliments in blues, and I never felt my best in browns or super-bright neons (but then again, who really looks good in florescence?). I’m sure we all have some colours we refuse to touch, and certain colours which fuel our wardrobes, but is there a hard and fast way to determine exactly which colours we should be buying and which we should be avoiding?

My Google search led me to Seasonal Colour Analysis.

How does it work?

If you’ve watched enough slightly retro TV, I’m sure you’ll have come across someone referring to themselves as a “Spring” or a “Summer”. That’s Seasonal Colour Analysis. It was huge in the 1980s and I wouldn’t be surprised if it resurfaced as The Next Big Thing in the near future.

It works by categorising people into seasons according to their skin tone, hair and eye colour. Simple, in theory! Cool toned individuals (with blue or pink undertones to their skin) will either be a Summer or a Winter; warm toned individuals (with golden, peachy or yellow undertones) will either be an Autumn or a Spring. Winters and Autumns are “high contrast”, with a vivid difference in hair, skin and eye colour (think Anne Hathaway), whereas Springs and Summers are “low contrast” in colouring (think Cate Blanchett).

Within each season are three further sub-categories, but I think it’s easier to leave the explanation at the four seasons for now! For a full description of the theory behind Colour Analysis, head over to The Chic Fashionista’s page.

You might be reading this thinking ‘I’m clearly this season!’, and it’s very easy for some people – Anne Hathaway is almost the epitome of Winter; Cate Blanchett is clearly a Summer, and so forth. However, some people are harder to categorise – and I definitely considered myself as one of these people!

I’m pale, and my hair is medium-dark – so would that make me a winter? I also have freckles, and my hair can turn a little warmed toned summer – would that then make me an Autumn, Spring or a Summer? I thought potentially I was a Cool Summer, but I was by no means confident in that diagnosis.

Feeling incredibly curious, I spoke to 30 Something Urban Girl, who was kind enough to explain which season I really fall under.

My Analysis

What she said: I think your original hair colour could be dark-medium brown. You’ve got beautiful and clear blue eyes and light fair skin tone with freckles. Freckles indicate you have some warm colouring and you also have contrast on your face like Winters have.

According to your colours, you are probably a Winter (cool colours) woman who flows into Spring (warm colours).

The explanation: I think the Warm Spring and Warm Autumn colours are too warm for you. The Clear Spring palette isn’t bad but I think coral (one of the power colour of Spring) doesn’t fit you so well. The Soft Summer palette is too muted, while the Cool Summer is too cool. I think the Cool Winter palette is a bit too cool as well.

The evidence:

This is me with Clear Winter colours.

This is me with Warm Autumn colours, which is almost the opposite of a Clear Winter. Notice how my skin seems washed out and my eyes look duller when compared with the top picture? This has definitely cemented my distaste for the warmer colours!

These are Soft Summer colours. They’re certainly an improvement on Warm Autumn, but they’re so muted they make me look a little washed out.

These are Warm Spring colours, the warmth isn’t really doing me many favours and they’re a bit too light. I feel like these bring out the imperfections in my skin.

These are Cool Summer colours. Interestingly, I thought I could be a Cool Summer when I was doing my research on Seasonal Colour Analysis. They don’t look awful by any means, but they’re a little cold on me.

And finally, Cool Winter colours, which, as the coldest palette, are too cool.

Colours can be quite subjective and I think there is a tendancy to project your own colour preferences onto other people, but I think it’s pretty clear to see that cool colours in moderation bring out the best in my complexion. Isn’t amazing how much difference colour can make? Perhaps you have your own opinion, and think I dazzle in a different palette (do leave a comment!).

I can see the full range of colours that suit me on 30 Something Urban Girl’s Clear Winter page (there’s a page for every season). My Clear Winter buddies include Zooey Deschanel (yippee!), Alexis Bledel, Katy Perry and Miranda Kerr, so I’m in good company!

This has left me with plenty to think about – for one, I’ll be trying out the colour yellow – this is one of my colours, yet I own approximately zero yellow items. It would be awesome to find a new colour that looks nice on me! I’m also toying with the idea of dying my hair darker, in line with my Winter colouring. What do you think?

Why are the right colours important?

I think my analysis goes to show that wearing the right colours can make your complexion appear brighter and radiant, reduce dark circles and skin imperfections, make your eye colour pop and bring out the best tones in your hair colour. For situations like job interviews, or events where you’ll be photographed, wearing your seasonal colours will ensure you’re maximising your best qualities and will make you feel more confident too! Plus, with a wardrobe of co-ordinating colours, picking an outfit will never be easier!

So, there’s only one question left to ask: which season are you?

Find out now with 30 Something Urban Girl!

Kitten Update: 4 months old!

It’s official: the kittens are exactly four months old today! Can you believe it’s been that long since I was posting adorable baby pictures of them to… well, just about everywhere?

I’ve had a few lovely people enquiring about the kittens recently: how they’re getting on, where are they now and what they look like, so I thought I’d settle everyone’s questions with one big update!

It’s been something of a bittersweet journey between my last kitten post and this. I was so overjoyed to know each kitten was going to a loving home and to be able to keep tabs on them all, but unfortunately, there’s some sad news too. Their mummy, Evie, went missing just before the first kitten left home and weeks later there’s still no sign of her. Evie came into my life just before I graduated in 2012 and she’s been there through some massive milestones for me: leaving University, first jobs, big brithdays… It’s really strange not having her beautiful self with me.

But Evie’s disappearance meant I could keep Jude – who I’d been worried would end up going to strangers and I’d lose all contact with him. So, I suppose every cloud has a silver lining – and I think Jude is certainly the most like his gorgeous Mama – they’re both incredibly aloof and cool (and fluffy).

But back to the topic of this post – how the kittens are getting on. I sent each of their owners (and myself) a little questionnaire and a request for pictures – the answers are below. It’s amazing how different each kitten has grown to be.

Penny

Penny lives with my best friend Ellie in Surrey. This well travelled feline is a constant source of mischief and fun. She’s no stranger to a manic five minutes, loves joining in with the washing up and already has a cat best friend who comes to visit her.

Nicknames: B.B., The Beeb, Pussk, Princess Penelope, Minky

Personality: Funny, naughty, affectionate, mad, happy.

Hobbies: Chilling out in sink, helping with the washing up (or so she thinks), staring at her garden cat-friend through the window, finding inconvinient places to sit, and making toys from household objects (walnuts and balled up crisp packets are her favourites).

Favourite toy: Her birdie.

Funniest moment: Hearing Penny crying downstairs and, upon investigation, finding her stuck in the leg of a skinny jean.

Naughtiest habit: Biting my ankles.

What does she bring to your life: She’s fluffy and she has a face and I love her.

Pepper

My mother is now the proud owner of this insanely charming kitten; no one can resist this boy’s charisma. According to the vet, he’s set to grow into a big cat, so I’m hoping he’ll eventually resemble a small panther. He’s also endlessly cheerful and has the loudest purr in the world!

Nicknames: Peppy, Peps, Pepsi, Boysie.

Personality: Lively, comical, clumsy, cute, cheerful.

Hobbies: Eating, catching flies, jumping, hiding, making toys from random objects – current faves include a bean pod and a brazil nut.

Favourite toy: His little black mouse.

Funniest moment: Finding Pepper hanging by his paws from the landing, perilously dangling over a 10 foot drop. Or when he ran headfirst into the door.

Naughtiest habit: Jumping on window sills. And the time he weed on Kate’s bed (and then she sat on it, excellent practical joker that Pepper).

What does he bring to your life: Joy and fun!

Maggie

Miss Maggie lives with my sister Kate, and this is her very first pet of her own! She’s a very friendly poppet who adores attention, adventures and creating havoc. Her best friend is her brother Jude and they’re almost inseparable.

Nicknames: Moo, Mooey, Maggs.

Personality: Weird, adorable, fabulous, greedy, hilarious.

Hobbies: Eating, catching imaginary objects, cuddling and/or annoying people.

Favourite toy: My feet, I seem to be her personal scratching post.

Funniest moment: Finding her in the kitchen bin….not quite sure how that happened… I swear she knows every way to cause mischief! She also once sunbathed in the garden, ran back into the house and looked out of the window to see if she could spot herself outside. She couldn’t.

Naughtiest habit: Stalking you as you try to eat…I don’t want a cat in my face whilst I eat dinner!

What does she bring to your life: Maggie is my best cat friend who cannot talk back to me as she happens to not speak human languages (or can she?!).

Jude

Mr. Gorgeous. He is the coolest cat around and enjoys sititng at this window sill to people watch and battle insects. He is a total foodie and loves eating. He loves his sister Maggie very dearly, and they often walk around with their tails entwined. I’ll give you a minute to process that amazingly adorable mental image.

Nicknames: Judey, Judey-Woo, and more formally, “Mr. Woo”.

Personality: Aloof, cool, nature-loving, inquisitive, loyal.

Hobbies: Eating, people watching, nature rambling, insect catching, being aloof and handsome, perfecting the Paul McCartney ‘bitch face’.

Favourite toy: He enjoys chewing my feet nearly as much as any toy mouse or jingly ball.

Funniest moment: Jude is genuinely too cool to do anything embarrassing like his siblings. However, he did slap Kate in the face when she asked to kiss him, which, naturally, I found highly funny.

Naughtiest habit: Eating his sister’s food when she isn’t looking and trying to chew my iPhone/ laptop charger cable.

What does he bring to your life: I like to think Jude teaches me a little something about being cool. Occasionally he also showers me with love and affection. That’s nice too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with Penny, Pepper, Maggie and Jude! For more pictures, check out my Intagram feed! If you’re feeling nostalgiic, take a look at this post from when they were five weeks old – how they’ve changed!

Until next time,

X

Ahoy Sailor!

Dream dress

When you purchase the sailor dress of your dreams (hello velvet ribbon!), there’s really only one location to début it… the beach!

The eagle eyed among you might have noticed this dress mentioned on my blog before, as it’s something I’d coveted for months! As soon as summer arrived, I knew it was time to make it mine! It is, of course, a Vintage Style Me handmade creation. Their smocks are without a doubt the comfiest dresses in my collection; they’re super flattering, they leave plenty of room for seaside ice creams and as they’re made with light weight cotton, they’re perfect for summer!

I stuck with a navy & white nautical theme, with a preppy white New Look backpack (eat your heart out Cher Horowitz) and a pair of River Island chunky white sandals. Next time I’ll be donning  red accessories (to match the ole lippy!) for a bit of va-va-voom.

I still have a VSM voucher to use from my birthday, so I’ll be adding to my already vast collection soon!

Let’s go to the beach!

As soon as the sun appears, I feel incredibly grateful to live just 15 minutes away from the seaside. Nothing relaxes me like sitting in the sand, watching the waves and eating ice cream! Even as the sun sets, there are plenty of people eating fish and chips, cooking barbecues and having  a bloomin’ good time – one of my favourite things in the world is an evening beach walk. I’m hoping to do quite a few of those this summer!

I had a gorgeous afternoon and I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Until next time,

X

Parlez-vous Franglais? Day Three.

The Eiffel Tower

No trip to Paris is complete without a quick visit to the world’s favourite landmark. With amazing panoramic views of the city, it’s must visit for any tourist, old or new.

There’s a few tips for a successful trip:

• Go when it’s quiet – week days and early in the morning are generally suggested to be the best times.
• Be prepared to queue, regardless! Even when I arrived early on Monday morning I queued for 40 minutes (still beats the couple of hours you might have to wait otherwise!).
• If you can, buy your tickets online so you don’t have to join the big queues. They sell them in specific time slots, but don’t release many – so be quick!

But it’s worth the queues for the amazing views – I’d recommend visiting all floors to make the most of it! I’m lucky as, of all my fears, heights is certainly not one of them! I loved the third floor – which is that little platform near the very top! At 896ft up, you can see for miles and miles and miles! Even if you’re a bit scared of heights, I’d recommend pushing past your fears for this – you won’t regret it.

Of course, we deserved a celebratory ice cream! Another chocolate-vanilla combo for me – which was my favourite treat en Paris. Where can we get these in the UK!?

Not long after this we headed back to the UK – another holiday over, boo! There was still time for one last embarrassing moment – a French boy asked if he could kiss me in a Carrefour (think Tesco’s) check out line. He then brought his elderly Grandpa over to translate. Mortifying…

As Audrey Hepburn once said, “Paris is always a good idea“. I’d fully agreee. Beautiful buildings, airy streets, al fresco cafes, uber safe transport, excellent food and shopping galore  – what more could a girl ask for? I’m pretty in love with this beautiful city and can’t wait until my next visit. Any takers?

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, videos and recaps of my adventures. Have you ever visited? What were your favourite moments?

Until next time,

Nikki

Parlez-vous Franglais? Day Two.

Montmartre

Our first port of call on day two was Montmartre, located in Paris’ Latin quarter. If you were a bohemian in the late 1800s, this was the place to go – think Van Gogh, Toulous-Lautrec and the rest of the Moulin Rouge crowd. As you can imagine, this is now a pretty big tourist spot- everyone wants to catch a bit of that Moulin Rouge sparkle; taking in a show, slugging coffee with local artists and taking in the amazing views from the Sacre Coeur. Being 10am, I did the latter.

But it’s not me without an embarrassing moment or two, right? After zooming through the Sacre Coeur (I’m not a church girl and there were enough shh-ing clergymen to ensure I didn’t want to hang around long), we took a stroll through the tourist-shop lined streets where street-artists in their handfuls roam, looking for tourists to draw (and charge). As soon as the spotted me, the sore thumb 23 year old with a head full of brightly coloured flowers and an even brighter lipstick, their targets were locked and loaded. “You’re so beautiful! May I draw you?” “You look like a Princess!” “Please, the artist wants what he wants!”. I am not sure compliment really count as compliments when the prospect of money is involved, so I was immediately doubtful of their sincerity! I’m not the best at receiving compliments as it is. Still, if you need an ego boost – head to Montmartre and wear flowers. That’s my number one tip.

Bateaux Mouches boat tour

After our morning in Montmartre, we headed the Bateaux Mouches for a boat trip across the Seine. It was midday by this point and around thirty degrees, which meant that the plastic chairs on the boat’s top deck were hot hot hot. There was a few scalded tourists leaping around the top deck before the cruise started! If you’re planning on cruising around the city this summer, bring  a layer you can sit on (top tip #2). The boat trip provided a completely different viewpoint of the city, so for anyone wanting interesting pictures, I’d seriously recommend it! All the iconic sights of Paris, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Louvre etc, are very close by and the boat moves slowly enough for you to snap plenty of photographs. The trip takes about an hour and a half, so it’s a great opportunity to sit back, relax, eat some lunch and enjoy the stunning views. Just rememeber your sun cream…

Le Petit Palais

After our sweltering boat trip we were in serious need of shade and a drink. Our guide recommended we walk up to the Pont Alexandre III (a blooming beautiful bridge) and explore Le Petit Palais from there. When we reached the bridge, we collapsed, took a long drink and sat in the shade. And, of course, I couldn’t resist snapping a few outfit shots with a tantalising Eiffel Tower infused background. Le Petit Palais was a short stroll away, a jaw-droppingly beautiful building (do they make any other sort in Paris?) which acts as an art museum for a host of early 1900’s art. We saw humungous murals that took up whole walls, quirky portraits, and plenty of grand sculptures. It didn’t take too long to walk around and we found a delectable modern cafe outside. It’s big brother, La Grande Palais, sits across the road – if you have a while longer, it could be worth a look round. Judging by it’s side you’d need at least a couple of hours!

 

Champs-Elysées (again)

We were faced with two options after we arrived back from our boat trip and museum visit: relax in the hotel room (very tempting) or make the most of the beautiful city and head back out. We chose the latter and headed over to the Champs-Elysées again because I was desperate visit Laduree and try my first macarons!

You’ll be pleased to know I did visit Laduree, there was a huge queue so I didn’t buy anything. Looking satisfied me well enough, though! After checking that off my list, I realised I was very tired, very hot and pretty peckish. “I can’t face sitting down in the sun and waiting half an hour for some food”, I thought. We looked up and saw a McDonalds… the rest is history. I got a little bit excited by this Parisian Maccy D’s – which houses a McCafe selling tarte au citron, macarons and other delectable goodies, and you could order everything on a little screen and have it ready in under 60 seconds. It was a magical experience. I’m not even ashamed.

After our gourmet dinner, we took in a couple more shops and headed back to the hotel for our final night and a much needed sleep! Stay tuned for day three…