Every Summer Has A Story

Wow.

It's been such a long time since my last post, and for that I am eternally sorry!

I should probably catch you up on what I've been up to.
I got my Uni results for this year back, and came out with an overall first, which I'm very pleased with.

Since Summer began I haven't had a minute spare (hence the total lack of blogging) but I spent a lot of time seeing friends and catching up. And drank a fair amount of cocktails too :)

First week of the holidays I was cat-sitting for my God Parents. They live by the sea and luckily a lot of friends (& my big brother) live over there so I got plenty of beach time (and more cocktails) in!

One day we went over to a place called Sledmere House, which was beautiful!

And another we headed to the Forge Valley. It was really stunning!

My godparents cats are gorgeous and still only really small so they would come for cuddles all the time. So adorable!

Paige - we were watching Lovejoy at this time! We know how to live.

Bobby - she spent every night just gazing at me from my lap!

 While I was shopping over there, I came across a little sweet shop which did some amazing stuff I'd never seen before. There were a lot of American sweets & drinks but I was taken in by this giant block of Equador (I think) Hot Chocolate which you break a bit off and drop it into milk. It's meant to be the tastiest thing ever!

The Sweet Shop on Bar Street

Leading on from that, I am on a determined health kick!
(I didn't buy the hot chocolate... sob!)
Perhaps spurred on by the Olympics, and all the outrageously beautiful people that went with it, I'm really trying to cut down on the bad stuff. I have a few healthy but tasty recipes to post, hopefully not in the too distant future!
My main downfall is alcohol.
I just can't part with my mojitos and wine. Does anyone know any nice alternatives I could give a try?
My friend and I are also going to start swimming regularly. (Mostly to try and bag guys who look like Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte!)

Speaking of the Olympics, wasn't it fabulous?!
I enjoyed every minute of it and really think the whole event did us, as a nation, proud!
After a gruelling SIX HOURS (Yes, SIX) at the computer I finally managed to get Athletics tickets for the Paralympics so I will certainly be blogging about that!

I've been working hard at our various Halls and Castles since I got back and will post lots of pictures in another post.

Hours of hard work but I finally got the library in order!

There's a lot more to tell you but I'm very aware of not waffling on(!) so I will leave this one here for today. Here are just a round up of pictures I've taken over Summer so far.

Our friend's Jayne & Tony got married and I took this photo outside the church.

Our hotel we stayed in for the Wedding Reception.

Our GOLD post box! 

Thanks for bearing with me! Until next time, take care!

Lots of Love, Taz x

The Liebster Blog Award

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers. Thank you Niki for tagging me :) 
 

The Rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves. 

2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven (11) questions for the people you've tagged.

3. Choose eleven (11) people and link them in your post.

4. Go to their page and tell them.

5. Remember no tag backs!

11 things about me:

1. If you include individual tealights, I own over 100 Yankee Candles.

2. I get cranky if I don't have a minimum of 3 cups of tea a day and one of them has to be Chai.

3. My bedroom in my parents house has been the same since I was 12.

4. My favourite person in the world is my mum.

5. I used to walk to uni and pretend I did it to be healthy - it was really so I had more money for booze.

6. I have a biased love for things beginning with T.

7. I have more jewellery than I could wear in two years if I changed it every single day.

8. I've adored Harry Potter since I was 9, and always will!

9. I own a piece of land and therefore my legal title is 'Lady'.

10. I have a whole youtube channel of my videos that is set to private, and will never change.

11. I once got so drunk at a pre-lash, I was taken home and put to bed before we even left the flat. Embarrassing.

11 questions from Niki:

1. Favourite make-up brand (expensive)? I love Clinique, but only as a treat.

2. Favourite make-up brand (budget)? I'm not fussy, usually Rimmel, Maybelline or No. 7 at Boots.

3. Which country would you most like to visit? Without a doubt - Morocco.

4. What made you want to start blogging? To share things from my everyday life with like-minded people :)

5. What one make-up product do you never leave the house without? Foundation.

6. Favourite skin care product? Botanics body cream.

7. Dresses or skirts? Dresses, then there's less faff trying to match up!

8. Favourite food? Sushi, mmm.

9. What's your favourite shopping website? I love ASOS, H&M, and New Look.

10. How do you care for your hair? Deep cleanse shampoo, conditioner, and use a hair mask once a week.

11. What's your diet and exercise routine? It doesn't exist!

11 questions from Me:

1. What are you most proud about?

2. How many different countries have you visited?

3. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

4. If someone gave you a million pounds, how would you spend it?

5. Are you an Optimist or a Pessimist?

6. If you could go back in time, what era would you go to and why?

7. What thing do you wish you had invented?

8. If you brought out a beauty line, what would you call it?

9. What is your favourite product?

10. Which is your favourite season and why?

11. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?

I tag:

Julie

Bethanie

Liz

Morag

Sophie

Kat

Hannah

Ruth

Angela

Haldis

Georgia

Now all you guys need to do is fill out the things about you, the 11 questions from me, and then ask another 11 questions and tag 11 new people to continue the chain.

Much Love, Taz x

What If The Hokey Cokey Really Is What It's All About?

Hello All!

I've decided to do a HAUL post on things I bought at the MetroCentre in Gateshead. 

I don't go there that often, not since I left Sunderland, but I went a few weeks ago with the girls and got some great stuff. 

So I decided to go again this week and, since one of my best friends lives about 15mins away, we drove over on Monday. 

I'd heard about this American Candy place opening up and the week of it opening there were apparently queues out the door, so I was excited the check it out.

Well, evidently the reason the queues were out the door were probably because its smaller than my bedroom! It's a tiny place, for anyone who knows the MetroCentre it's in that little village set-up between the green & blue malls, so only teeny.

They had a few nice things, but my friend went to America for a couple of years and would send loads of stuff back so there was nothing that really stood out to me. I did get a couple of cans of Mountain Dew though because I've never had the proper American stuff, just that energy one you can get over here.

I also got some, more, candles. If you follow my blog / twitter you'll probably know I have a bit of an addiction to candles, and a quite substantially larger addiction to Yankee Candles...

BUT, in my defence, the Nature's Paintbrush is one that I've been after for ages!

 

Also, the Christmas Tree tealights were super reduced from Christmas so that's okay, right?! 

The Pink Rose one just looked pretty, and smelled nice.

And was only £1.50 from Primark. Bargain.

I have to admit to totally going off Primark in the last few years, and if I'm being honest, I got a bit snooty about it, thinking it was just cheap tat. BUT, I think they've really raised their game recently and although you can't expect to compare the quality against the more expensive shops, they do have some nice stuff.

The only clothing I bought from there was this Roxy Music top. It's really short so probably good over denim or high-waisted shorts maybe? 

I also got some stuff from the Home department, I really like some of the things they have on offer...

I loved this cushion, I'm redecorating my room with a neutral walls and colourful accessories set up so for £7, I thought this would fit in really well.

I also got these pillowcases, because they're so pretty, but mainly because they were only £2 for a pack of 2!

I got a huge bag for half price at only £5 which has a bright orange lining, and I was after some quite plain summer flats so I went for these nude snakeskin pumps for £5.

From Topshop I just got a couple of bits of jewellery...

The cross rings were £8.50, but the other ring was in the half-price sale so was only £2!

We went into That's Entertainment on the way home and I got some DVDs and some posters...

I'm not even embarrassed about the Avengers poster! It's only a mini one but I still unashamedly LOVE it :)

The DVDs, if you can't see them, are Three Kings, Tropic Thunder, The Office Series 1 & 2, Dogma and Pearl Harbour.

I also got two other posters which I havent put up yet, but they're big ones in the style of the "Keep Calm And Carry On" signs, but one's movie quotes and one's song titles. (I'll take snaps of them when they're up!)

I got a vest top from New Look for £8.99. I love the design.

Finally, I got a wooden sign for my room...

I like inspirational stuff like that.

So that's what I bought! (& spent far too much money on!) 

If there's anything you like that I've forgotten to say where it was from or how much then feel free to ask :)

I'm gonna sign off with something that me & my friend both absolutely adored but at £14 couldn't justify buying...

It tickled us anyway!

Anyway take care, Lots of Love, Taz x

Sally The Camel Had Two Humps...

Sloe Gin, aztec spice chocolates, and a camel...

Well, I was supposed to stay home and clear my room ready for redecorating, which in itself is an epic task and most likely to take weeks, so naturally... I went out.

Luckily for me, the mother was also avoiding the same task so we decided to drive aimlessly around for procrastinations sake.

After filling up as much time as possible exploring the countryside for castles and stately homes (yes, that's literally how we spend our lives) we ended up at a farm shop off one of the main roads.

Driving down the driveway to the shop we were admiring all the cute calfs. We were so busy discussing how cute and fluffy they were (think "it's so fluffy im gonna die!") that we didn't even notice the eight foot - two humped - eff off CAMEL that was in the opposite field.

I'm not even playing with you.
It was a camel... In the middle of County Durham.

(For those playing the "pics or it didn't happen")...

Anyway, just when my day couldn't get better - went into the shop to find they have a WALL of alcohol.

Now I know not all of us are fully acquainted yet but, simply put, there are three things in this world that I have an integrated magnetic pull towards...
DVDs
Jason Momoa
And ALCOHOL.
(and not necessarily in that order)

Long story short I walked away with 6 bottles of bizarre flavoured liquer, some apple wine, aztec spiced chocolates (I can only assume they taste of that well-known flavour 'Ancient Civilisation'..?) and numerous photographs of a 2500miles lost camel.

Welcome to my life! :)

Take care, lots of love, Taz x

“Your Birthday Is A Special Time To Celebrate The Gift Of 'You' To The World.”

Hello all!

As some of you will know, it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I was absolutely spoilt rotten, so I wanted to show you a few of the lovely things I got. 

I woke up to breakfast in bed, which was gorgeous and so thoughtful... and then went downstairs to find an actual pyramid of presents! Along with a bottle bag for good measure (and anything in a bottle is certainly good measure!) 

 

 I had a chilled out day where we went for a picnic and saw friends. Then in the evening we went out for a slap-up (I do hate that phrase!) meal, again with my nearest and dearest. Two of my best friends got me a box full of gorgeous stuff (pics will be at the bottom) and my auntie and uncle got me some lovely jewellery.

 We had a great meal, I ended up taking half of it home with me... even though me and Sarah couldn't resist getting dessert, which was a snickerbockerglory. Kinda like a peanut butter sundae! Nommmm.

When I got home, a cute giant cupcake was waiting for me off my mum and dad, and a mysterious envelope which, when I opened it, was a voucher for a weekend away in a Manor House including Spa, Facial and Massage! It was so sweet of them, especially after how much I'd already got!

The Jacquard throw is what I bought with some of my birthday money because I love being cosy and snuggly - it's absolutely huge!

I also do a lot of writing so the Paperchase notebook was perfect, it's much bigger than most other I have. 

The photo in the middle of the three is what my absolutely beautiful girls from uni got me. We went out for a meal just after my birthday and they surprised me with a huge bag of stuff! There's a Floozie make up bag set, a scented candle, some lip glosses, a spa set and some earrings from Topshop that I'd been gazing longingly at for weeks. It was so thoughtful of them and I nearly cried into my TGI Fridays!

 

 I am a self-proclaimed geek and I do love things to do with the Universe. It's going to sound SO sad but I just love looking at the pictures of how big the galaxy is, it sometimes really puts things in perspective knowing there's so much more out there than my problems!

 This is our hotel we stayed in...

 

 Apparently, King Henry VIII used to stay there! So I was hoping for some creepy, haunting activity... but unfortunately I was left disappointed! Although there was this big old chest that, when we opened it, had a picture of a demon in... So chances are, we've unleashed some curse on the place for the next visitors!

 

Finally, these are the presents from my besties! There were some gorgeous Teal earrings (my favourite colour), a lovely scarf, other jewellery including some adorable teapot earrings, a cupcake keyring and a teacup with a Soy candle in it!

It's like all the things I love in one box!

 

So there's my birthday in a post! I hope I haven't bored you!

Thanks so much to everyone who sent birthday messages, and also thanks and big love to everyone who's gifts have appeared in this post! 

Will post about my Vintage Venture soon!

Lots of Love, Taz x

One Of The Very Nicest Things About Life is The Way We Must Regularly Stop Whatever It Is We Are Doing And Devote Our Attention To Eating.

Hi guys!

I’ve got a few things ready to type up and post in the (I hope) not too distant future. There’s a birthday post featuring some of the beautiful presents I got, and another which I’m going to refer to as a “vintage venture” which I went on last week. So they should be up within the next week.

However, after the excitement of the jubilee… and the mass of cakes I ate in celebration of it (God bless you ma’am!) I’ve decided to type up one of my favourite recipes. If you hate the sound of it, don’t make it… I think it’s simple enough :)

And if you do make it, let me know how it goes!

I am unashamedly obsessed with The Hairy Bikers.
(Many believe this is because my father is hairy... and a biker.)
Anyway, my dad got their cookbook from a friend and because he is a self-proclaimed masterchef of the world he, naturally, believed it would be of no use to him and passed it down to his curinarily-challenged daughter! (for the slow kid at the back - that's me!)

I love their recipes because they're easy to follow, they don't use ponsey ingredients (Nigella, I love you, but no-one has oak-dried baby porcini mushrooms or cave-aged truffle pesto in their cupboard!) and they eat REAL food, these guys are not cooking for diet-dwellers!
One recipe I adore is Key Lime Pie so I thought I would share it with you all - ENJOY!

Ingredients

For the base

· 175g/6oz digestive biscuits

· 80g/3oz butter

· 50g/2oz caster sugar

For the filling

· 3 large free-range eggs, separated

· 2 limes, finely grated zest

· 125ml/4½fl oz lime juice

· 210ml/7½fl oz condensed milk

· 80g/3oz caster sugar

· ½ tsp vanilla extract

· pinch salt

To serve

· whipped cream

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

For the pastry base, finely crush the biscuits by placing into a plastic bag and bashing with a rolling pin (alternatively, pulse to crumbs using a food processor). Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then pour over the biscuit crumbs. Add the sugar, then mix well to combine. Evenly spread the biscuit mixture in a 23cm/9in pie case, making sure to cover the sides of the tin as well. Level off any excess biscuit mixture.

For the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime zest, lime juice and condensed milk until smooth and creamy, then mix into the egg yolk mixture. Pour the mixture into the pie case.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Gradually fold in the sugar, vanilla extract and salt, then whisk again until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue mixture over the filling in the pie case, using a fork to form the meringue into peaks.

Bake the pie in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the meringue is golden-brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Place into the fridge to chill completely before serving.

To serve, cut slices of the key lime pie and serve with a few spoonfuls of whipped cream.

Hope some of you will give it a try and tell me if you like/love/hate it!

Will try and get those other posts up within the week but going away tomorrow on a birthday surprise trip!
(Will also post about that too!)

Until then, take care.

Lots of love, Taz x

Fresh, Fun, Cutting Edge Designs That Can't Be Found On The High Street

Hi guys.

I can't say how sorry I am that I haven't posted in so long! I'm the worst blogger in the world! But I will try to make it up to you from now on.

A while back I bought a few items from Punky Pins. They're an online company who do all kinds of wonderful stuff specialising in kitsch, handmade and personalised jewellery.

Anyone who watched The Voice a couple of weeks back, Ruth Brown was adorned in their amazing creations.

I buy from them regularly and am always impressed with their quality and just LOVE the items they offer. 

Here's what I got this time round...

I love this Sugar Skull Ring, it's adjustable so one size fits all! The colours really are as striking as they look in the photo and it goes with just about everything.

The Sausage Dog 2 Finger Ring. How can anyone not love this?! It's so cute and also comes in Maroon or Brown as well as this Black.

Love & Hate Hearts Brooches.

Mini Mix Tape Necklace. Again, this is available in a whole range of colours.

Pop Art Banana Earrings. Available in 7 different colours.

Always Tattoo Necklace. This is my favourite item. I love all the tattoo design stuff, but the colours and details in this one are so nice! Anyone who knows me knows I am completely obsessed with Ed Hardy stuff, so this is really my kinda thing.

And finally, my personalised necklace. I adore this! They have so many different styles to choose from and they'll put any name on there for you. Ideal as a piece of statement jewellery, or get a friend's name put on there as a gift? 

You can even get Twitter ones with your @ name on there, so when that cute boy is checking you out but you're both too shy to make the first move, he'll have all the appropriate details to chat you up online later!

So that's what I got and I already have my eye on something else. Sadly, I can't justify another necklace at the moment, especially after buying this lot! But I'll show you it off the website...

Isn't it THE BEST?! 

Even better, the little stars in there move around... 

My biggest worry is that it will sell out.

HELP ME GUYS! 

Should I just buy it to avoid disappointment? Or be really good and save my money?!

 Anyway, wanted to share this beautiful stuff with you, and hopefully encourage you to go check it out yourself (but if you all go on and sell out my snowglobe necklace, there will be hell on! Haha!)

Lots of Love, Taz x