mince pies

I made these mince pies with my boyfriend last night and they were so yummy and very easy to make!

Ingredients:
8oz of flour
4oz of margarine
3 or 4 teaspoons of cold water
A jar of mince meat
Sugar to sprinkle on top

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6
2. Measure out the flour and pour into a bowl.
3. Measure out the margarine (leave it out of the fridge for a few minutes to allow it to become soft) and cut it into small chunks and put them in the bowl containing the flour.
4. Use your fingertips to rub the flour and butter into a breadcrumb like consistency.
5. Add 3 or 4 teaspoons of cold water to the mixture, stirring each one in before adding the next, until it has become dough like.
6. Sprinkle your worktop with flour and roll out the dough. Cut it in half, using the first half to create the base of the mince pies.
7. Cut out the bases for the mince pies using a circular cookie cutter, I managed to make just over 12. Put these dough bases into a cupcake tray.
8. Put about half a teaspoon of mince meat on the bases.
9. Using the other half of the dough, cut out the tops for the mince pies. We chose star and heart cutters but I’m sure most shapes would work! Once cut out, pop the tops on to of the mince meat to complete the mince pie.
10. Sprinkle each mince pie with a bit of sugar and then bake in them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

And there you go, a lovely festive treat!

christmas and cakes

I spent yesterday morning baking these cupcakes for the Christmas dinner held by my boyfriend's flatmates. It was such a fun and festive evening! The festive activities continued the next evening as I watched The Grinch and The Snowman with my own flatmates, we all wished we had some Baileys to top the evening off! I've spent most of today watching How I Met Your Mother and in a few hours the stew I've made should be ready. This evening I'm going out for cocktails which will be a lot of fun. This time next week I will be home and I can't wait!

tinsel

As the 1st of December is now upon us, I decided to put some decorations up in my bedroom to make it feel a bit more festive! I did this whilst listening to the lovely Christmas album by She & Him.

Last night Tom and I went into town and he bought me my Christmas present, I cannot wait to stomp around in these! As soon as we got home I ordered his present, a pair of Dr Marten Langston boots. I love having a Dr Marten shop nearby!

I have a lecture on referencing (zzzz) in about an hour but when I come home I shall do what I have been looking forward to for many days, watching Elf!

take care

On Friday my best friend Georgia came to visit me and we had such a fun weekend together! After having a massive catch up on Friday evening, I showed her around Liverpool the next day. We had lunch at American Pizza Slice and I love it there! Apart from their delicious pizza slices being the best thing they sell there, they also serve Coke in glass bottles! Coke tastes the best from a glass bottles. We went out that evening and we ended up in Popworld, I think the name says it all!
The next morning Georgia caught her train home, a later train than originally planned as we were both feeling a bit worse for wear. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the flat and in the evening Tom and I went on a double date with one of his flatmates and their girlfriend. We went to Red Hot World Buffet and I definitely got my £13.99 worth of food! I still felt full the next morning!
This week has gone really quickly! I've had the mark back for an essay I did and was surprisingly pleased with the result, I've been to my first ever house viewing (most of us fell in love with the first house we saw, it was amazing!!), made a sausage casserole from scratch, and last night night I went out with Tom and our friend Pete and we always end up having a really fun night out with him (e.g I feel a bit hungover now and all I want to eat are crisps).
I think this afternoon Tom and I are heading into town to do a bit of Christmas shopping, I can't believe it's December tomorrow! I will definitely be watching Elf tomorrow.

christmas is coming

These are some Christmas decorations I picked up when I was at home for the weekend. The wreath of bells reminds me of The Polar Express, a film that I cannot wait to watch! As soon as it is the first of December I will be putting these up, stocking up on mince pies and apple cider that I can heat up, buying presents, and making a Christmas playlist! I also can't wait to visit the German market that is currently being built in town. I love Christmas!

you are a tourist

 Last Friday Tom and I travelled to Birmingham to see Death Cab For Cutie perform at The Birmingham Ballroom. After we had wandered around the wonderful German market there and had a pub dinner we went to go and watch my favourite band in the whole entire world. They were fantastic. I was slightly disappointed that they didn't play Marching Bands of Manhattan, but they did play A Lack of Colour which was just lovely. I will definitely be purchasing tickets to see them when they tour again (which I hope is very soon). We stayed at my Uncle's house afterwards and met my cousin's new chinchilla called Charlie, she was so cute! We caught a train back to Market Harborough very early the next morning to spend the next few days at home.

Once again it was so nice to be back at home. I spent a lot of time annoying my cats, I miss them so much when I'm in Liverpool. I went to watch my sister's dance show and it was great, it felt strange not being a part of it. We came home and had a curry, a post dance show tradition in my house. I spent Sunday with my Dad and we went to Rutland Reservoir before heading to a lovely pub for a drink. Sundays are most definitely my favourite day of the week. They should be filled with lie ins, bacon sandwiches and cups of tea, walks in nice weather, afternoons spent curled up on the settee with a newspaper, and finished with a delicious roast dinner. I almost can't wait to back in Leicestershire to spend more days like that.

t is for tom

I bought this yesterday from Urban Outfitters and it may be the soppiest item of jewellery I own but I don't even care. It's so cute!

home

On Friday Tom and I travelled home and due to numerous delays and problems with the trains, it turned out to be rather a long journey! I did end getting a bit mardy as I just wanted to get home, however I cheered up considerably when I noticed that a woman nearby was holding a shih tzu puppy. It was going on it's second train journey, it was adorable! Cute animals aside, it did take bloody ages to get home! We left my flat at about 3 o'clock and I didn't arrive at my house until 9pm!
Once I got home I was greeted by cats, (who I had missed ever so much), my family, and a Chinese take-away! I also found out that the tickets I'd bought to see Death Cab For Cutie had finally arrived, hooray! I'm going to see them next Friday and I cannot wait. I saw them earlier this year and they were just fantastic, I really hope they play Marching Bands of Manhattan.
Yesterday I ventured into town with my Mum and sister as they both needed to get some bits and bobs for Liberty's upcoming dance show. It's probably going to feel quite strange when I watch it next week and I'm not taking part, I've been dancing there for about ten years! Leicester was very busy as the European market was there and I had to resist buying the ridiculously expensive but delicious olives. I did end up buying some slippers from a cheap shoe shop. I'd originally wanted the ones from Topshop but I found these ones for just half the price, brilliant! I also bought a rather jazzy shirt from Goldrush, I'm not sure exactly how I'll wear it yet but I was drawn in by it's lovely pastel colours of pink and turquoise. I popped into Primark, normally a massive mistake on a Saturday as it is horrendously busy, and bought some berry coloured leggings for only £3!
In the evening I went over to Tom's and we went out for dinner with his family to celebrate his little sister's 10th birthday. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant called Venetos. Afterwards Tom and I headed to Loaf and it was quite strange going in there and not seeing anyone I really recognised. We did have a nice chat with a few of Tom's friends, including one who is expecting a baby any day now. How exciting!!
This morning I finished my essay for Film Studies, I don't think I could write another word on expressionism in German cinema if I tried! I napped most of the afternoon away at my Nana's house. When I wasn't dosing off I caught up with some family that had popped over and snuggled on the sofa and read the newspaper whilst my Great Grandma watched Deal or No Deal. We all sat down to a delicious beef stew that was followed by possibly my all time favourite dessert, cherry pie. I had a really lovely Sunday!
I've packed up all my stuff to travel back to Liverpool tomorrow morning and I'm not too sad about heading back there as I know I'm coming home again next weekend for the gig and my sister's dance show. This week it is one of Tom's flatmates birthday and I think we could be heading to a casino for it which should be a lot of fun, and another excuse to wear this dress. I also hope to get my hair cut this week, the last time I had it cut was in December last year so it is most definitely due a trim!
I have seem to have babbled on quite a bit here so I'm going to go bed now and watch Smack The Pony on 4OD, it's such a funny show!

my favourite songs at the moment

                                    

I've been listening to these songs an awful lot at the moment. I bought tickets to see Bombay Bicycle Club this morning and I am very much looking forward to seeing them! I saw them at Glastonbury on the Sunday and really enjoyed them so it'll be great to see them again, I can't imagine the weather will be as wonderful as it was then though! 

recent things

(The view of Liverpool from it's Big Wheel, another afternoon spent at the docks, yummy creme brulee macchiato from Starbucks, and my new favourite place to grab a snack!)

I've had a lovely but rather busy past few weeks. Both mine and my boyfriend's family came up to visit and it was so nice to see them all. We took each of them out to dinner at The Pumphouse I couldn't recommend it enough, really delicious pub food and puddings! I went on the The Big Wheel, visited the Merseyside Maritime Museum and also did a bit of shopping with my family before they went back, I'm already looking forward to their next visit!
 I've also been kept very busy by uni. I've recently changed part of my course at University and I am now studying European Film and Communication Studies and I love it! I wish I'd changed earlier but I am so glad that I have now, and as I studied Film at A Level I haven't got that much to catch up on. I handed in my first essay as well for Communications and I already have another one to hand in soon. I guess this is a taster of what the next three years are going to be like!
As busy as I have been with seeing family and uni, I have managed to do loads of nice things like cooking (I'm making chilli con carne tonight), win a beer pong tournament, Skype my cat, go to the top of the nearby Anglican church, get tickets to see a few bands I used to really love when I was about 16, drink red wine a lot with my flatmates, and make awesome plans for Halloween.
I really am going to try and post more often on here I think!

wonderful weekend

I went home for the weekend and it was absolutely lovely! Here is my weekend in pictures:

 I had a rather horrible and long journey back to Leicestershire. I listened to The King Blues for the majority of the journey and have come to conclusion that I must see them live!

My friends and I had lunch at Pizza Express and it was great to catch up with them. They're currently applying to university and it felt weird that I was doing exactly the same only a year ago! It feels ages since I used to check track on Ucas everyday without fail!

We all opted for a mini pudding with either a hot chocolate or a cappuccino. I had the semifreddo and it was delicious!

I went out for a drink with my Dad and afterwards he let me borrow this CD.

I'd missed my cats very much so it was very nice to see them and give them lots of cuddles. This is Phoebe.

This is my cat Whisper and we spent lots of quality time together over the weekend, this included activities such as her sitting on my laptop when I was trying to use it and trying to stick her head in my mug of milk. 

I went shopping on Sunday and I picked up a few things. I'd wanted a black pleated skirt for ages and I found a reasonably priced one in H&M. I also bought these shoes from Topshop, after being disappointed that they didn't have a pair in my size we discovered that a mannequin was wearing them in a size six! It's getting incredibly cold in Liverpool so hopefully these tights will keep my legs warm over the next few months, I'm not exactly sure how I'd wear the dark red ones just yet.

Tights from New Look.

These shoes are so comfy, I wore them on my journey home today and they were the perfect choice of footwear I think.

My current mascara is Bad Gal Lash Mascara by Benefit and it has just run out and being a student I can no longer afford such luxuries (sorry short eyelashes) so I bought this one by Maybelline. I also bought a Carmex lip balm.

I acquired a variety of treats over this weekend, Dairy Milk Whole Nut is my favourite chocolate. I'm looking forward to trying the Jelly Squirms!

I hope everyone else had nice weekends too!

liverpool

I've recently moved to Liverpool to study Communications, Media, and Popular Music at The University of Liverpool and I absolutely love it here. All my flatmates are very nice and all have very good taste in films! We watched Fight Club the other night and after studying it for my A Level Film Studies exam it was fun to watch it without having to constantly analyse it.
With my boyfriend only living a 40 minute walk away, I haven't felt too homesick. We've cooked some really good meals together over the past week (spaghetti bolognese, shepherds pie, steak, bangers and stilton mash, and a curry) so I feel like I've been eating quite well here. I enjoy cooking and tonight I'm going to attempt a spicy vegetable pasta bake!
The weather has been bizarrely boiling over the past few days so I have spent as much time as I can down at the docks with my boyfriend, it's so lovely there. I don't have any lectures or seminars on a Monday so I've had a nice relaxing day and caught up on all my homework!