October Photo Diary

1. Autumn is here! 2. Trying bubble tea for the first time…can’t say I am a fan though 3. Online shopping 4. Cosy Autumn essentials


1. Mirror selfie in Trafford Centre, wearing my new trench from Miss Selfridge 2. Gym time 3.Healthy berry banana smoothie..yum! 4. Night time Selfie

1. My hometown in the evening <3 2.Surprise post from one of my best friends 3. Foot long Cookie dough..mmmm!! 4. All black errthang…well, except the cobalt blazer…OOTD for a family dinner

1. Favourite hot chocolate ever at Caffe Nero 2&3. Homemade goodies…Chocolate tart and apple pie 4. I spend A LOT of time in coffee shops!

1. Mummy- Daughter lunch date 2. Mozzarella dippers 3. Yummy chicken Salad 4. Sneaky toilet selfie…because I’m classy like that

                                            Pumpkin Carving! I LOVE Halloween!

Topshop Haul

So a little while ago Topshop were doing a 20% student discount promotion in store and online and I am a sucker for extra discounts, even if I am no longer a student...(thankfully I have siblings who can hook me up with NUS card numbers!)

My local store is very small and limited in stock so I spent a Thursday night cosied up in bed trawling the Topshop website (I obviously lead a very eventful life..) and piling my virtual shopping bag with anything that took my fancy. I do this with all online shopping sprees and it normally leads to an obscene amount of items with a high total price tag, so I make sure to whittle it down to only ‘must-haves’ and ‘one-of-a-kinds’ (it’s incredible how I can justify any purchases as a necessity) so my debit card and I remain friends.



I’ve been ill all week and so the arrival of my package was the perfect pick me up!

The first thing I picked up was a pair of Leigh skinny jeans. Now these are my all time favourite jeans, I have them in practically every colour. They are just so soft and comfortable (no stiff denim here, ladies) and fit like a dream (no baggy knees!).



I saw this shirt in store and immediately fell in love with the miss-matched pattern design. It’s also monochrome, which allows me to dress it up or down and accessorise it any way I like.



I love the burgundy colour of this casual sweater, it’s also quilted so not just your boring old jumper. I think I may be returning this though as I found that it’s quite boxy and on the shorter side (i.e. it sits right above the hips, on me anyway) and I prefer slightly longer, slouchier tops.



Next up…these hot heels! How gorgeous are these bad boys! The vibrant magenta is just beautiful and I think pairing these with a simple outfit like jeans and a blazer will make it interesting. I am, however, a little worried about walking in them (perhaps a test run around the house is in order…don’t pretend you don’t do that too), the heel is certainly not the highest I own (these are 3.5 inches), but the heels are quite thin.



The last three items are all frivolous accessories, that weren’t really a necessity, but who the hell cares..YOLO am I right! (*smh* I can’t even believe I wrote that…).

I got a grey beanie, simply because I like hats.



These midi rings are cute and sparkly…I like sparkly.



This has to be the silliest of all my purchases and to some it may be tacky, but it’s a velvet scrunchie (instantly thrown back into my 90’s childhood when I used to adorn my ponytails with obnoxious scrunchies…it was cool alright!) and it has bunny ears(!!) and I LOVE IT!!



And that’s it! All these items are still available on the UK website here.

Aya

=]

Death by Chocolate

I LOVE desserts of all kinds…no discrimination here. I always have room for something sweet and my ultimate weakness is chocolate. The other day I was craving something delicious and potentially sugar coma-inducing (what can I say, I’ve had a rough week), so I trawled the internet in search of something quick and easy yet scrumptious, and Taa daa…I found it.
This utterly decadent little beauty hits ALL the right spots. What truly makes this divine is the spoonful of Nutella (The Holy Grail of Chocolate lovers) that oozes out of the deliciously soft cake. Seriously, this isn’t for the faint-hearted but is definitely worth it (to me at least).



I used a slightly adapted version of Bell’alimento’s recipe and here it is.
Nutella Molten Lava Cake Recipe
Serves 4


Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Prepare 4 ramekins generously with butter or cooking spray.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler, stirring frequently.
3. Whilst the butter and chocolate is melting, place the eggs (whole and yolks) and sugar in a bowl. Whisk on a medium-high speed until light and thick (8-9 mins)
4. Stir the flour to the mixture, then SLOWLY and GRADUALLY add the melted chocolate and butter until well combined and glossy.
5. Pour the mixture evenly into the 4 ramekins till about halfway then add 1 (generous…ahem *addict*) tablespoon of Nutella into each ramekin. Top off with the rest of the mixture being careful not to overfill.
6. Place ramekins on to a baking tray and pop into the oven for 10-15mins or until the outside is solid and the top is soft but NOT jiggly.
7. When the cakes are done they can be served in their pots or turned into a serving plate (they should slide right out), garnish each cake with sifted icing sugar, scoop of ice cream and strawberries and a spring of mint.
8. Serve IMMEDIATELY and enjoy!