My hobbies for the last 10 days have been very heavily film related, with a smattering of cross-stitch and a couple of Modern Family marathons...
Thursday, 30 April 2015
#100DaysofHobbies : DAYS 11-20
It's a bit of a late post (apologies!) but I've still been doing the #100DayProject challenge with my 100 Days of Hobbies.
My hobbies for the last 10 days have been very heavily film related, with a smattering of cross-stitch and a couple of Modern Family marathons...
My hobbies for the last 10 days have been very heavily film related, with a smattering of cross-stitch and a couple of Modern Family marathons...
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Transformation Tuesday: Week 44
Rather boringly, I don't have much to report this week, sorry!
It's been a tiny loss on the scales, but I've achieved a much more important victory when buying clothes (I'll give you a clue: everything fits!).
It's been a tiny loss on the scales, but I've achieved a much more important victory when buying clothes (I'll give you a clue: everything fits!).
Sunday, 26 April 2015
The Ciné File Vol. 28
I feel like I'd been waiting for this week for months.
I booked tickets to the first showing of the day on the first day of its release of Avengers: Age of Ultron months ago, and I've been waiting in giddy anticipation ever since. To say it lived up to my expectations would be a massive understatement, and writing a spoiler-free review was very hard indeed (but it is, so if you aren't as sad/keen as me and haven't seen it yet then you can read on in the knowledge I won't be spoiling anything for you, except that it's brilliant!).
I've also braved French gardening romance A Little Chaos and Russian espionage 'thriller' Child 44 and was extraordinarily disappointed - sadly, they're just awful!
I booked tickets to the first showing of the day on the first day of its release of Avengers: Age of Ultron months ago, and I've been waiting in giddy anticipation ever since. To say it lived up to my expectations would be a massive understatement, and writing a spoiler-free review was very hard indeed (but it is, so if you aren't as sad/keen as me and haven't seen it yet then you can read on in the knowledge I won't be spoiling anything for you, except that it's brilliant!).
I've also braved French gardening romance A Little Chaos and Russian espionage 'thriller' Child 44 and was extraordinarily disappointed - sadly, they're just awful!
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Sunday, 19 April 2015
The Ciné File Vol. 27
Normal service can resume this week as I've actually watched a couple of films: instead of just hiding in a cinema and seeing Cinderella again as I did the week before...
Along with my favourite Batman films, I've seen teen hits The DUFF and Insurgent; tried to watch John Wick but the cinema was evacuated half an hour in; and finally squeezed in A Thousand Times Goodnight on Sky Movies. It's been a varied film week then!
Along with my favourite Batman films, I've seen teen hits The DUFF and Insurgent; tried to watch John Wick but the cinema was evacuated half an hour in; and finally squeezed in A Thousand Times Goodnight on Sky Movies. It's been a varied film week then!
Thursday, 16 April 2015
#100DaysofHobbies : DAYS 1-10
I love a good 100 day challenge, so when I came across The Great Discontent's 100 Day Project on Instagram signing up and getting involved was a total no-brainer for me.
The idea is to pick something - anything - and stick to it for 100 days. People are doing all sorts, from a doodle a day, to water colouring, photography, calligraphy, an act of kindness, conquering a yoga pose... The idea is to focus on the process, and not the final product: it doesn't have to be a perfect, completed act each day, instead it's about committing and getting into the habit of doing a little something regularly.
I wracked my brain for ages trying to decide what to do, and eventually settled on #100DaysofHobbies. I have a habit of disappearing into my head and hiding from the world when everything gets a bit much but I've found hobbies - baking, cross-stitch, reading, colouring, film etc. - help keep me grounded, happy and strong. Making them a more permanent addition to my daily routine definitely couldn't be a bad thing!
The idea is to pick something - anything - and stick to it for 100 days. People are doing all sorts, from a doodle a day, to water colouring, photography, calligraphy, an act of kindness, conquering a yoga pose... The idea is to focus on the process, and not the final product: it doesn't have to be a perfect, completed act each day, instead it's about committing and getting into the habit of doing a little something regularly.
I wracked my brain for ages trying to decide what to do, and eventually settled on #100DaysofHobbies. I have a habit of disappearing into my head and hiding from the world when everything gets a bit much but I've found hobbies - baking, cross-stitch, reading, colouring, film etc. - help keep me grounded, happy and strong. Making them a more permanent addition to my daily routine definitely couldn't be a bad thing!
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Transformation Tuesday: Week 42
I don't know what to make of this week. I'm in a glass case of emotion / eye of the storm / standing on the edge of a cliff: basically I'm desperately trying not to panic, spiral, and turn to food to sort out my problems. So far so good, but I can't make any promises for the week ahead.
Essentially, if I look at the big picture it's a minor bump in the road, sort of a miniature pot-hole so small it's not bad enough to be fixed by the council but still annoying (bear with me: I hope this will eventually make sense...), but right now - in this moment - I'm fighting with the hideous temptation to either give up entirely or spend a couple of weeks on a ridiculous 'damage control' mission by fasting again. Neither of those options look even remotely appealing - or healthy - to me but I'm so, so scared as they're well within reach.
I've never had to deal with a gain like this, particularly one I genuinely don't understand, so to say it's knocked me for six is a tremendous understatement.
Essentially, if I look at the big picture it's a minor bump in the road, sort of a miniature pot-hole so small it's not bad enough to be fixed by the council but still annoying (bear with me: I hope this will eventually make sense...), but right now - in this moment - I'm fighting with the hideous temptation to either give up entirely or spend a couple of weeks on a ridiculous 'damage control' mission by fasting again. Neither of those options look even remotely appealing - or healthy - to me but I'm so, so scared as they're well within reach.
I've never had to deal with a gain like this, particularly one I genuinely don't understand, so to say it's knocked me for six is a tremendous understatement.
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Transformation Tuesday: Week 41
I'm afraid it's a super short post this week as not only is there very little to say, but I'm also feeling horrendously ill today and don't have the energy to write more, sorry!
Sunday, 5 April 2015
Saturday, 4 April 2015
Simnel Muffins
I've never made a Simnel Cake.
It's been on my list of things to bake for quite literally years, but I've never actually got round to buying the ingredients and giving it a go. I even have a Mary Berry recipe on stand-by, but at this stage I'd all but given up on trying it out. That's when I found this recipe for Simnel Muffins on the BBC Good Food website, and after a quick read through decided it was too perfect to purely leave bookmarked for the future.
These muffins are positively bursting with flavour - they have all of the best qualities of a traditional Simnel Cake - but are much lighter, and in muffin form they're a lot more fun to make!
It's been on my list of things to bake for quite literally years, but I've never actually got round to buying the ingredients and giving it a go. I even have a Mary Berry recipe on stand-by, but at this stage I'd all but given up on trying it out. That's when I found this recipe for Simnel Muffins on the BBC Good Food website, and after a quick read through decided it was too perfect to purely leave bookmarked for the future.
These muffins are positively bursting with flavour - they have all of the best qualities of a traditional Simnel Cake - but are much lighter, and in muffin form they're a lot more fun to make!
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Rocky Road Nests
As far as my baking posts go, one of the most popular has always been my recipe for Rocky Road.
With absolutely no baking required, no fancy ingredients and only the most basic of utensils needed it's the perfect choice for everyone, from the novice that burns water to the expert looking for something simple to mix things up. Plus, it's so open to personal preference and adaptation that it's impossible not to love it!
Given the time of year I've had a play around with my traditional recipe and given it an Easter twist, changing to white chocolate, adding mixed dried berries and topping with Smarties mini eggs. The original has been upgraded: say hello to my Rocky Road Nests!
With absolutely no baking required, no fancy ingredients and only the most basic of utensils needed it's the perfect choice for everyone, from the novice that burns water to the expert looking for something simple to mix things up. Plus, it's so open to personal preference and adaptation that it's impossible not to love it!
Given the time of year I've had a play around with my traditional recipe and given it an Easter twist, changing to white chocolate, adding mixed dried berries and topping with Smarties mini eggs. The original has been upgraded: say hello to my Rocky Road Nests!
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Coming Soon: April 2015
It's that time again: a look at the best new releases hitting U.K. cinemas in April! Get your diaries out and prepare to make notes as there are some pretty brilliant films coming out over the next 30 days...
April sees the return of the Fast & Furious family with a poignant seventh instalment in the franchise: it marks the last opportunity to see the late actor Paul Walker onscreen. There's also teen drama The DUFF; critically-acclaimed The Falling and Juaja; and musical The Last Five Years. In a rather bizarre coincidence, a couple of actors make their directorial debuts in April: Russell Crowe with The Water Diviner and Ryan Gosling with Lost River, and Alan Rickman returns to the directing chair with A Little Chaos. They've been met with mixed (mostly poor-average) reviews so it'll be interesting to see how the movies are received by British audiences.
Also, there's a little film about a couple of superheroes (Avengers: Age of Ultron) but it's so small I doubt anyone will have even heard of it, let alone plan on seeing it...
April sees the return of the Fast & Furious family with a poignant seventh instalment in the franchise: it marks the last opportunity to see the late actor Paul Walker onscreen. There's also teen drama The DUFF; critically-acclaimed The Falling and Juaja; and musical The Last Five Years. In a rather bizarre coincidence, a couple of actors make their directorial debuts in April: Russell Crowe with The Water Diviner and Ryan Gosling with Lost River, and Alan Rickman returns to the directing chair with A Little Chaos. They've been met with mixed (mostly poor-average) reviews so it'll be interesting to see how the movies are received by British audiences.
Also, there's a little film about a couple of superheroes (Avengers: Age of Ultron) but it's so small I doubt anyone will have even heard of it, let alone plan on seeing it...