Happy New Year and how it has been so far...

Hey All!

Yes, I realise I am late with this, but I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope everyone achieves their goals they have set themselves for the year and gets to be happy and healthy and surrounded by friends and/or family (whichever one you prefer!). I know a lot of people will have new years resolutions. Losing weight, being more active, quit smoking, new job.... I don't really do resolutions. Why? Because they are the same every year and they are just not a challenge anymore. Also, if I wanted to change certain things, surely I shouldn't wait till there is a new year. Just start changing whenever! I DO want to lose weight and I DO want to be healthier and more active, but if I really wanted to make this work, I'd do a complete lifestyle overhaul. Stay away from the chocs, no matter how tempting, be more aware of fruit and veg- heavy foods and all that jazz. If you have new year's resolutions, and you have managed to kinda stick to them, then I tip my hat to you! If that works for you as a motivation, then go with it! Just not for me!

Started the year off with a film at the cinema, with none other than Charlotte (may be referred to as "Chazza" in the future). Went to see Life of Pi at Showcase (£5 entry with the Insider card, don't mind if I do!). I did not know a thing about this film before we went to see it, so I had no expectations. I believe, this is the best way to see a film! It was such an amazing film, too! Visually absolutely stunning! Some scenes reminded me a little of Avatar, which is a good thing, as Avatar was a "pretty" film, too. The CGI was a little off in parts. Obviously I didn't know what was supposed to be real and what wasn't, but, without wanting to give too much away (this means: CAUTION!! POSSIBLE SPOILER): the first time you see him trying to interact with the lion, there was something odd with the way that lion moved across the floor. Just saying. :) Apart from that, absolutely woth a watch, if you don't mind watching a film that requires you to use your brains and your heart. 

We also exchanged Christmas presents. While I only had some shiny earrings and a model of the car from Dr. No (Chazza is a massive Bond fan!), she got me a lovely bracelet, a heart-shaped picture frame (BFFs, init!) and THIS!!! :

Sweetest XMas present this year

How bloody lovely is this!!! Such a  great idea, too! (Which reminds me, I should probably make them soon. Don't worry, the egg had been placed in the fridge ages ago. Probably gone now...) 

Oh, I did make some cakes for New Years, cause, you know, that's how you rock NYE these days...

Cakes to ring in the new Year

They are Double Choc Chip and Eggnog. I love making the Eggnog ones! I made some earlier that month as a treat for the work mates, too:

Treats for my chums at work

Top left are (semi-)vegan chocolate cake with mint icing, bottom left we have Eggnog and on the right we have (semi-) vegan chocolate cake with white chocolate icing. I say semi-vegan, because when I started baking my vegan cakes I realised that the cocoa powder may not be vegan. But it was too late to find a substitute so had to give up. Also in this picture: One of the two cake tins and the plastic container that had been accidentally thrown away by our cleaners. R.I.P., you served me well! 

Ok, I think there were quite a few things I wanted to write about, but don't want to write up a whole million-page essay, so I am going to close with a couple of pictures from my presents I got from my family.

First DIY Style project

First: the I Spy DIY Style book that I had on my Amazon wishlist for ages now. I am not a stylish person, I do not understand fashion. I am one of those that wears clothes just to be clothed. If it fits the way I want it to fit and I like how it looks, it's mine, regardless of whether it goes with anything else I own or not. (Colour-coding? What's that?). I had seen some of the things they had covered in the book and thought it would be a fun guide to have! I like making my own stuff. I got the faux-fur gloves from my sister, too, which are from ASOS. I had bought studs from ebay after watching Beautycrush's "How to: DIY Stud" video (I absolutely love her channel), so I added some of those to the gloves.

Mum got me one of the coolest presents from my wishlist, which is this stunning Jessie Steele apron (also available from ebay)

Lovely Jessie Steele Apron

I think that wraps up the old year quite nicely. I think I will try and post more this year (pretty sure I said this before...) and make more use of this blog. 

Thanks for reading! Have a lovely day!

x ♥ x