February's wishlist

Is anyone else finding that February's pay day is taking far too long to get here? January was a very lean month due to a financial hangover after Christmas, and February is even worse for some reason. I have a wishlist of six things I really want to buy at the moment, so I'll console myself by blogging about them and looking at pictures of them until I can actually afford to buy them. That's more sensible than putting them on my credit card, right?

The soundtrack from Les Misérables... I've fallen in love with the songs all over again since seeing the film in the cinema recently. 

The Jungle Book DVD... it's currently £33 on Amazon, not sure if I'll ever be able to bring myself to pay that much for it!

This beautiful gilet from Superdry is horrifically expensive... still, I can dream. 

Pretty dress from New Look. This one actually is affordable!

A Thumper teddy from the Disney store... beautiful but expensive. 

I've heard good things about this product, and really want it if it's half as good as the Sugar Crush body scrub from Tuesday's post!

So... does anyone want to find a money tree for me?

Six Nations 2013... what will happen?

It's that time of year again... the Six Nations tournament starts tomorrow! I love love love the Six Nations and can't wait for it to start. Wales won the Grand Slam last year, but I have a feeling we won't be retaining our crown this year after our performances in the Autumn internationals. We did get better towards the end to be fair, but we just couldn't close out the game at the crucial stages.

We've been blighted by injuries too which hasn't helped matters, but at least Leigh Halfpenny is fit and well again. He was the only player who stood out for me in the Autumn and he literally puts his body on the line every time he wears the Welsh shirt.

Photo courtesy of www.wru.co.uk 

Despite my apparent pessimism, when the game kicks off against Ireland at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon, I'll still be super excited and will be convinced that we really can win the game and the whole tournament. Call it blind optimism if you want to, but it's the effect the Six Nations tournament has on me. It's just a great rugby tournament with a unique atmosphere, and it definitely brightens up the otherwise dull month of February. 

Here's what I think the final table will look like... I hope I'm wrong. It always feels wrong to predict that my team will end up in the bottom half of the table!

1. Ireland

2. France

3. England

4. Wales

5. Scotland

6. Italy

What are other people's predictions?

Everyone loves a good questionnaire... tag, you're it!

Earlier this week, Liz tagged me in her Tag You're It! post. When I realised it involved me filling in a questionnaire about myself, I was pretty excited. I used to love filling these things in when I was younger and haven't done one for years. I'm new to the whole blogging scene so I haven't actually tagged anyone, but feel free to answer the questions I was set if you want to! Here goes...


The rules:Answer the 11 questions set.
Mention the blog who tagged you.


Here are my questions from Liz:

What really irritates you?
Lots of things... I'm not very tolerant sometimes! My top three pet peeves are probably bad grammar and punctuation, bad drivers and attention seekers.

What have you done that's made you feel really proud?
I think the proudest I've ever been of myself was when I got my 3 As in my A Levels which meant I could go to Cardiff University to study English Literature. I was genuinely worried that I wasn't going to get the grades, even though I'd worked my socks off. 

What's your favourite flavour of crisps?
This is a difficult one... I LOVE CRISPS. I'll say good old Salt and Vinegar. 

Snog, marry, push off a cliff: Ross, Chandler, Joey.
Hmm... I love all three, but I think Ross would be the most annoying if I was friends with him, even though I do really love his character. So I'd have to push Ross off a cliff, snog Joey and marry Chandler. 

Cats or dogs?
Dogs. Cats are easier to look after, but I love the way dogs are so loyal and always so pleased to see you even if you've only been gone for five minutes. 

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
Radioactive, McFly

Have you ever been on TV?
I was on a few S4C programmes when I was younger, nothing major. Is there actually anything major on S4C these days? I've also been shown on TV in various rugby matches over the years... the most embarrassing was when there was a big close up of me crying when Cardiff played their last game at the Arms Park (before moving back again last year). They'd just made a big speech about Rhys Williams, Jamie Robinson and Nicky Robinson having to retire/leave the club, of course I was crying! 

Which four fictional characters would you like to go to the pub with?
Little Cousin Scampy, The Beast, Ron Weasley and Dougal from Father Ted. What an interesting crew we'd be. 

If you won £20,000, what would you spend it on?
If I was being responsible, a deposit for a house. Otherwise, I'd buy some kind of tablet (probably not an iPad though), all the Disney DVDs I need, a Superdry coat, a new car (I love mine but he's slowly dying and costing me a fortune), and laser eye surgery. 

If you could make one food completely fat and calorie free, which food would you choose?
Crisps!

Tell me about a time when you laughed so hard that you could hardly breathe.
Most work nights out, mostly as a result of Jen, Montgomery Clift or both... You kind of have to be there though, so I won't try to explain why! Also many occasions in uni, again too many to mention. Cop out answer, I know.

Go on, you answer them too!

Chilli bean con carne

I've been trying to widen my cooking horizons, so tonight I cooked chilli con carne properly for the first time. I used a recipe from this amazing book I had from my Secret Santa at work... my love of baked beans is a bit of a running joke in the office.

Here are the ingredients I used:

500g minced beef

70g chorizo (my own addition!)

One tin of baked beans

One tin of chopped tomatoes

1 onion

1 pepper (again, the recipe didn't include this but I have an insatiable love for peppers)

2 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of tomato puree

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

2 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs

Lots of Fry Lite!

The recipe also tells you to use 2 red chillies, but I didn't this time as I haven't used chillies before and didn't want to accidentally make the food too spicy. I don't mind a bit of spice, but I do like to be able to taste my food rather than it burning all my taste buds off. 

It was very simple to make, which is always helpful. I cooked the mince first, then added the chorizo, onions, peppers and garlic. After heating those for about 5 minutes, I added the tomato puree, herbs and chilli powder, then added the beans and tomatoes last of all. 

Using baked beans instead of kidney beans was definitely a good variation, and I think it actually improves the taste of the sauce. And chorizo makes everything taste better, obviously.

What shall I cook next?

Girly post #1... the wonder of Soap & Glory!

My first beauty post just had to focus on Soap & Glory. My friends introduced it to me last year, and I've been madly in love ever since. Here's a selection of some of my Soap & Glory products:

Their products range from shower gels, body butters, moisturisers and face washes to make up, perfume, body sprays and cleansing wipes. I'm yet to sample a product I haven't liked! Soap & Glory products are fairly expensive compared to supermarkets' own brands or brands such as Radox, but they're usually available on a 3 for 2 basis  in Boots. They also occasionally have great discounts on their gift sets which could save you lots of ££s. I don't believe in spending unnecessary amounts of money on products just for the sake of the brand, but I do believe it's worth spending a bit extra on Soap & Glory products because they're that good.

Here are my top 5 Soap & Glory products:

Smoothie Star - This moisturising body milk genuinely tastes good enough to eat. It rubs in very easily and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy. Best of all, it leaves you smelling beautiful for ages!

Flake Away - This body scrub is lovely and grainy, and leaves your skin feeling soft and totally moisturised after your shower. It's a great exfoliator, and smells amazing.

Peaches & Clean - This is the best face wash I've ever used. It smells peachy (obviously) and gives a nice cooling sensation. I especially like using this face wash after wearing make up all day as it's a great cleanser.

Sugar Crush - This is another amazing body scrub. It smells sweeter than Flake Away and isn't quite as grainy, so I like to use this one when I'm more concerned about smelling nice than about exfoliating.

Hand Food - The best hand cream in the world, ever. It makes your hands feeling soft and supple, doesn't leave you feeling greasy and smells delightful. An essential ingredient for your handbag! I've already converted both my parents into using it, and hopefully I'll convert some of you too. 

Can anyone recommend any other products I haven't got in my collection? What's your favourite Soap & Glory product?

Restaurant review: Pizza Express

I go to Pizza Express pretty often, and only ever have good things to say about it. I usually go the St David's 2 restaurant, but last weekend I went to the one on High Street instead as there was a huge queue outside the other one. That's the problem with the food court at St David's 2... a lovely selection of restaurants, but they're nearly always full with a 45 minute wait for a table. If you've met me, you'll know that I'm not good at waiting for my food. Anyway, Pizza Express came to the rescue on Saturday evening.

We were seated within five minutes, and the waiters were very friendly as usual. We didn't order starters on this occasion, as we've learnt our lesson from previous visits. Don't waste valuable space on a generic starter when their pizza is so good! It can also be quite an expensive meal if you order starters as well as mains. I ordered a Giardiniera Classic Pizza, which consists of artichokes, mushrooms, red peppers, santos tomatoes, leeks, olives, garlic oil, and a tomato and pesto base. I asked for it without olives, because I positively can't stand the things.

Looks amazing, right? It was.

We did have to wait about 30 minutes for our food, but that was understandable as the restaurant was very busy. When it arrived, it was well worth the wait. We both cleared our plates, and were predictably too full for dessert. 

The only negative thing about the visit was that we had to wait about 15 minutes for the bill after asking for it, and we were in a hurry to get to the cinema to see Lincoln. An annoyance, but it certainly wouldn't put me off going again. 

I'm now going to write a positive restaurant review on Trip Advisor... I have become obsessed with Trip Advisor. 

What are other people's opinions on Pizza Express? 

5 songs which remind me of my teenage years

I actually got in to music a lot later than normal people, seeing as I always had my head buried in a book. However, once I did start getting interested in music, I bought some amazing (in my opinion) singles. I still own most of these singles on my iTunes, and they've become synonymous with my teenage years and the various experiences I went through, good and bad. Let's be honest, you have a lot of bad experiences when you're a teenager which always seem a lot worse at the time. Here are the top 5... I've also included the YouTube links so that you can have the pleasure of watching the videos after all these years. You lucky, lucky people.

Back for Good, Take That

I used to play this song over and over again before I'd even had the pleasure of going through a break up... naturally I played it even more when that first joyous event took place. I might have been less angsty if I'd realised that there was worse to come in my early 20s. Ah well, you live and learn, as they say. I've now seen Take That live twice, and can confirm that they are amazing. No, I don't include Robbie Williams in that judgement.

Bring it all Back, S Club 7
I used to watch Miami 7 religiously in the 90s, and was a little bit obsessed with S Club 7. I still own every album they ever released and listen to them regularly... I especially enjoy singing along to their songs enthusiastically when I'm driving. Bring it all Back was a particular favourite because it made me feel better about being bullied, but S Club Party and Reach are close contenders. Don't stop, never give up!

Better Best Forgotten, Steps
I never actually owned a Steps album when I was a teenager, but I used to 'borrow' my sister's all the time. Don't worry, I own them all now, I found a beautiful box set of all their albums in the HMV sale. Again, very difficult to choose a favourite but I think it has to be Better Best Forgotten... Again, it helped me through a lot of teenage angst, or at least I thought it did at the time. Being a teenager is horrible, isn't it?

If I Let You Go, Westlife
I definitely fancied most of Westlife when I was a teenager, on a shallow note... I did like their songs too though. I got to see them live a few years ago, and they were actually really good and put on a brilliant show. Continuing with the angsty theme, I used to play this song mournfully when I was too shy to tell a boy I liked them (which was all the time). Ugh, remember those days? When you had to tell your friend you liked someone, then they told that someone's friend, then they told that someone, who then reported back to their friend, who reported back to your friend, who reported back to you? I really hope that didn't just happen in my school.

Rollercoaster, B*Witched
This song is amazing... I wore out my cassette back in the day because I listened to it so much. Whatever happened to B*Witched anyway? I heard a rumour that they're getting back together... PLEASE LET IT BE TRUE.

So there are my top 5 songs from my teenage years, which I'm not going to pretend I don't still listen to. Other people love some of these too, right?

Top 10 films

I thought I'd write a blog about my top ten films, which is actually harder than it sounds. First of all, I had to actually decide what my top ten films are, which is difficult when I've seen more films in the last two years than you could shake a stick at. I also have some firm favourites from my childhood which just had to be included. However, after doing some brainstorming, I think I've come up with a definitive list. These aren't in any particular order, it was hard enough to choose a top ten let alone deciding on a specific order of preference. Don't worry, they're not all Disney films. I also didn't include any of the Harry Potter films, because I couldn't choose a favourite and I'd like to write a separate blog post on those one day. Here's the list, with very short descriptions about why I chose these particular films...

1. About a Boy
Absolutely love this film. I can actually recite most of the dialogue because I've seen it so many times. I don't usually like the characters Hugh Grant plays, but he does a brilliant job in this film. 10/10!

2. Home Alone
I don't think anything needs to be said about the calibre of Home Alone... everyone loves Home Alone, right?

3. The Lion King
A Disney classic with brilliant songs. Hakuna Matata!

4. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
A nice typical chick flick, which is actually hilarious. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a chick flick, you might actually enjoy it.

5. High School Musical
Cheeeeeeeeese! Love it.

6. Carnage
I saw this in the cinema about a year ago and pre ordered it straight away. A lot of people didn't enjoy it at all and thought it was plain weird, but I think it's very clever and extremely funny. Kate Winslet is actually brilliant in it, which isn't a sentence I say very often.

7. The Truman Show
I'm not usually a fan of  Jim Carrey, but he's fantastic in this film. I love the whole concept of it, and the way the truth is revealed slowly throughout the film before hitting you fully at the end. Such a sad film in many ways.

8. Nativity
A lovely heart warming film which makes you laugh and cry in equal measures. Martin Freeman is great (as usual), but the very lovable Mr Poppy steals the show!

9. Invictus
Invictus is a very poignant film, and I always have goosebumps throughout. You don't need to be a rugby fan to enjoy this film, but it certainly contributes towards the goosebumps if you are! Morgan Freeman is immense as Mandela, and Matt Damon makes a great Francois Pienaar.

10. Remember Me
I cried buckets when I watched this in the cinema... you might not be a fan of Robert Pattinson (I'm not), but he really brings something extra to this film. Shocking in parts and desperately sad in others, you'll definitely need your tissues for this one.

I know none of these films are particularly profound, but I could watch them all over and over again without getting tired of them. What are your favourite films?

Fajitas!

I've decided to be a lot more adventurous with my cooking in 2013, which is why I baked cupcakes and chocolate chip shortbread earlier this month. However, I also need to cook more adventurous main meals... I currently live on beans on toast, poached eggs on toast, pasta and pesto, and various sauces out of jars. This week, I decided to cook fajitas for the first time.

Here's what I used:

340g of diced turkey breast (I used turkey because it's cheaper than chicken, and needed it to be diced because I can't actually stand the thought of cutting raw meat myself)
100g of chorizo (BEST MEAT EVER)
1 onion
2 peppers
2 cloves of garlic
1 packet of Asda's own Fajita Seasoning Mix (49p - bargain!)
1 packet of wraps
A lot of Fry Lite (the seasoning mix stuck to the bottom of the wok if you didn't spray plenty of Fry Lite at it)


I basically just chopped it all up, shoved it in the wok and mixed it up... not the most difficult meal to cook. I cooked the turkey well (probably too well) before putting anything else in, due to my meat paranoia

I can confirm that the wraps were very delicious, and I had enough left over to take to work for lunch the next day. I think everyone was pretty shocked to see a variation on the old beans and toast/pasta and pesto theme. Yummers!

I think my next creation might be chilli con carne with a twist... watch this space. 

New baby :)

One of my best friends has recently had a beautiful baby boy, and I had the pleasure of visiting him this week. I bought this Disney set of clothing for him... actually the cutest outfit I've seen for a while.

I think I should count myself lucky that I haven't got any babies, as I'd spend an absolute fortune on cute clothing for them and might actually run out of money for important things like, you know, food. 

Short blog post tonight, I know. Coursework got in the way. Apologies.