Rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore

Since reading Emma's decluttering blog post, I've been thinking about potentially sorting my life out when it comes to make up and nail varnish storage. I have such a ridiculous amount of nail varnish and it's currently overflowing in the bag it's in, which means I can't pick it up or put it down without something falling out of it, let alone actually being able to rummage through and find the colour I want. And as for my make up well, apart from the masses of stuff that I don't actually use, I have an old floral bag that has various foundation and mascara stains on it that I use for the stuff I use daily. To be honest, I just need some sort of storage method that will keep everything I need looking nice, easy to access and easy to either pack and unpackwhen I go away, orrr is just generally easy to transport.

Currently my draw and dressing table look like this:

I mean, I know the latter doesn't look too bad, but I'm sure you'll all agree that I could do with something to make everything look neat and tidy, right? What do you all use to store cosmetics? Tell me, share your dressing tables with me! Obviously it's a little bit harder because I'm at uni so anything I do get will need to be brought home with me when I move back (or when I move into a dingy little room with mould growing on the walls in a shitty house-share in central London.... wishful thinking...) but for now, show me the endless possibilities that are available to me.

Just a heads up too - I seem to have gone off on an almighty tangent recently from the beauty posts that I once did. I have a few posts up my sleeve, I miss doing them, especially since this is what my blog is, or was, primarily about. I have an eyeliner and a mascara review coming soon as well as a show and tell of even more Models Own nail polish/nail art pen that I bought last night. Aside from that, is there any posts you want me to do more/less of? Anything you like or dislike about it? Tell me what you honestly think about grazedknees.com :)

Maltesers cupcakes

So here I am once again at home for the weekend and I've spent my Saturday afternoon baking. I am such an old woman at heart! One of the reasons I love coming home is because it means I get to bake properly; Mum always has the right ingredients in, she has proper vanilla extract instead of Morrison's own brand stuff, she has more than one type of sugar - not just the stuff used for coffee along with a whole host of other exciting things to experiment with!

This morning I decided I was going to bake Maltesers cupcakes. I wanted to do some sort of fairy cake-esque cooking so I could use a piping bag properly for the first time (again, we have a proper one at home as opposed to a makeshift one made out of greaseproof paper) so after about a few minutes searching, I settled on this recipe. I was going to make Malteasers buttercream for the top - thanks to Sarah & Sarah for the suggestion - but I forgot to pick up some Horlicks while we were in town so I couldn't. Instead, I added a little bit of cocoa powder to the mixture to make it a bit chocolatey. I'm quite impressed with the outcome actually and it makes me want to make even more! Piping bags are so much fun!

If you follow me on Twitter then you might have already seen one of these pictures, sorry!

Let me know if you try the recipe, I want to see how they turn out! And, it's not often I say this, but they do taste as good as they look ;)
Hope you all have a lovely Saturday evening, anybody got anything exciting planned? I'm staying in, two of my friends are coming round and we're going to get a takeaway (naughty!) and watch telly, which I'm strangely excited about! I told you I was a Grandma at heart!

Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own saviour

So, I finally got my grubby paws on a Cupcake Couture Circle Scarf, handmade with love by Rani. I've been after one for so long, I'll admit that I am partial to a good scarf, and this here is definitely a good'un! I love wearing scarves, not for any reason in particular, mostly just because they tend to brighten up a dull outfit as well as being practical. I own a fair few pashminas and it's a rare occasion I don't have one wrapped around my neck.

As you can probably tell, I haven't actually quite mastered the art of wearing it yet; despite the amount of snoods and circle scarves that there's been in the shops over the past few months I haven't, until now, branched out into that particular trend. I'm a few months late on the ol' bandwagon, as is usually the case.

But yeah, I totally recommend buying from Rani's little shop, there's a couple of really nice bits in there and everything is handmade with love, affection, care and other nice adjectives! There's even a little label sewed into the scarf which I personally thought was a lovely little touch, I got a lot of love for that girl :)

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited

Last night I went to see Black Swan, it definitely lived up to the hype, that's for sure! It was seriously incredible. I'm not going to pretend I know a lot about films or actors/actresses (apart from the fact Lindsey Lohan and Mara Wilson are in most of my favourite films) but Natalie Portman was AMAZING. It was such a headfuck but I feel like I need to see it again to get a better understanding of it, you know? It's one of those films.

On a slightly lighter note, I'm glad Eastenders won at the NTAs!

Now, onto my third outfit post. I think this dress, this whole outfit, and these photos are my favourite from all of the ones that were taken on Tuesday. I saw Rani in this dress and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it! It fits really nicely and is so comfortable which makes it perfect for smart/casual day wear.

Also, say hello to the third cream cardigan in the collection that I spoke of yesterday. This creation is from New Look and it cost me £26.99. I've been after a 'boyfriend' cardigan for a while, I've been eyeing up the lovely ones in Topshop, and as much as I'd love to pay £50+, I just can't justify it right now so this will have to do. I do love it and it's a nice cream colour that will go with most things. The Peter Pan collar dress is also from New Look, this was £27.99, although I bought these both on the same day and there was another 20% student discount promotion so they didn't quite cost as much. Again, I've paired this outfit with my trusty Topshop leggings (I literally wear leggings every.single.day!) and a H&M bodycon skirt to stop it from crossing the line of indecent!

Not so long ago I vowed to myself that I would never board the Peter Pan bandwagon but alas, it seems like I have. I think it was mainly down to the fact that I didn't think they'd suit me, even now I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced because of the high necklines, although saying that, the neck isn't quite so high on this one. What are your thoughts on Peter Pan style tops/dresses? I know a lot of you have them so that's probably a silly question to ask...

I'm actually quite impressed with New Look on the whole at the minute, they seem to have surpassed themselves for some reason. Did anyone else think that, up until recently, all their clothes just had a cheap/tacky/wannabe edge to them?

Two out of three ain't bad

I'm quite enjoying these outfit posts and they seem to be getting a good response from you lot which is always nice too! Thank you all so much for the lovely comments you left me yesterday! I was thinking, maybe I should employ Amy (if you don't follow her, please go and check out her blog because it is lovely) to be my official photographer, except I can only afford to pay her in love. And maybe Party Rings and Jaffa Cakes on the odd occasion...

Anyway, here goes outfit post two of three. Or maybe four if you're lucky.

I got this from River Island, again bought from Meadowhall last Saturday. It was £24.99 which I personally don't think is a bad price. I absolutely love the colours in it, I think it's so summery and the print is so nice - everybody loves a good swallow pattern! The cardigan is also new (I now own a total of three cream cardies. One for every occasion I guess), and that's from H&M and cost £14.99. It's one of those organic cotton ones which means that it is SO SOFT, it's the right length, the sleeves are long enough AND it has pockets! Yes!

Now, can I just make it clear that I don't intend to wear this dress EXACTLY as shown here. Mostly because it is navy and not black, therefore I think black leggings look ridiculous and too heavy. I think I'm going to wear it with jeggings if I can find another decent pair, my Topshop ones I got have been worn to death and are way beyond repair but I can't find them in store anymore, well I can, but they're not in the tall section so I don't think they'll be as long as I'd ideally like. Any suggestions as to what other colors I could wear/where I can get loooong jeggings from? I'm also on the hunt for a navy belt to stick round the middle of it too because again, the black doesn't go but I can't find one, has anybody seen any about recently?

I haven't been up long and today I need to do loads of work, for some reason I keep getting waves of motivation at around 10pm, which isn't realllly that ideal, but I guess it's better than none! I'm going to see Black Swan with my favourites (inc. Amy & Emma) tonight, hopefully it'll live up to the hype ;)

I wish nothing but the best for you

Here we go with the first of three outfit posts, probably the only three I will EVER DO. The pictures come courtesy of Amy's big posh camera and her fantastical photography skillzzz. I was debating whether to just put all my new dresses in one big post but I decided it'd be much nicer to spread it out over three days. Plus I need an excuse to use all my favourite new Adele lyrics as post titles! I am still very much in love with the album - if you haven't already bagged yourself a copy then you need to very soon. I have literally had it on repeat for the past three days.

I got this top in Meadowhall on Saturday, my mum dad dad kindly bought for me. It was £26 (I think) from Dorothy Perkins but they've currently got a 20% student discount offer so it ended up being just over twenty quid. I had to pair it with a trusty H&M bodycon skirt though because it's a bit too indecent otherwise, leggings are my old faithful Topshop ones and the cardigan is also H&M which I got for a tenner but I think they've gone back up to £15 now, but still not a bad price! My waist belt is from Primark, £1, and I think it's going to become a staple in my wardrobe from now on, I love how much a belt can make an outfit look so much better. The necklace, ALSO A WORKING CLOCK, I got last year from Dorothy Perkins, I think it set me back about £18 but I love it, I have a silver one as well and I don't wear them enough. Oh and my nail varnish is part of the lot I got from Nails Inc. last week, it's called Wilton Crescent and it's finished off with Seche Vite.

So there we have it. Exciting, no? The other two posts will be up tomorrow and Thursday because everybody loves a bit of serious procrastination.

We could have had it all

This weekend (can't believe it's Sunday again already!) has been filled with lots of fun but I haven't done ANY WORK WHATSOEVER. I really need to get my arse into gear and get cracking on my diss - I'm currently trying to put together a questionnaire/survey-type-thing but it seems the only thing I'm actually doing is perfecting the art of procrastination. As if I didn't do enough of that already! I want to crack it soon though because my diary for February is full of more exciting and fun things that don't relate to the BBC or ageism in any way! Time is slowly ticking away, argh!

Yesterday I got the train to Meadowhall where I met my parents and my grandma for a spot of shopping. It was a lovely day! Grandma bought me a Radley compact mirror to replace my extremely broken heart-shaped Topshop one. I also got a new cardigan and two top/dress things, I was going to put up some poor attempts of pictures of me wearing said clothes but I'll save that for a post tomorrow. I'm secretly hoping Amy will use her big posh camera to take some half decent pics for me, obviously I'll have to ask her nicely...

Today, me and Sophie have been baking. I made Lantern Tray Bake (oh, to be original!) and Soph made some vanilla cupcakes from her Hummingbird Bakery recipe book. They are AMAZING. We both decorated them though which was very exciting as you can probably tell from the pictures below. Next time I'm in London I'm definitely going to visit one of their bakeries, I'm not really sure why I haven't already been to one actually. Has anyone been? Please tell me they are every bit as amazing as I'm expecting them to be!

I have also got my grubby mits on Adele's new album and it is so beautiful, I've had it on repeat for most of the day and I cannot get enough. Her voice is incredible.

What have you lot been up to this weekend?

Let me tell you a secret...

It's not so much of a secret actually, more of a little tip. And it's not even like I made it up, it's something I've learnt from one of the few YouTube videos I've watched. And I didn't go searching for it either, I just kind of stumbled across it somehow. I hate watching videos on there, I don't get how people can sit and find amusement from watching them for hours?! Is that just me?

As I was saying though, the tip I have is to easily remove glittery nail varnish (Juicy Jules, I'm looking at you!) or, as I've just discovered, RHINESTONES! Who'd have known they were such a bitch to get off? Taking them off definitely wasn't something I thought about as I was putting them on! Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. BASICALLY, if you wrap your finger in a cotton wool pad that's soaked in nail varnish remover (the cheaper the better!) and then wrap it with foil to keep it in place, leave it for about five minutes and then slide it off your nail... VOILA! Clean nail. Or almost clean, but still, so much easier than scrubbing for what seems like hours, right?! And it stops all the glitter from getting everywhere.

Magical, no? I didn't leave the foil on for long enough because I'm impatient so I had to go over my nails again with another cotton pad, but this little trick makes life so much easier! For a much better explanation, you can watch the video here.

You're a shining star, you'll do great in LA

I got around to changing the layout of this thing, the header is my first attempt at using Photoshop - thoughts? I've used Paintshop Pro 7 ever since I started making web layouts (I say that like I'm some sort of expert, I'm obviously not but I used to do them loads when I was younger!) and so I know how to use it, meaning Photoshop was a shock to the system. It all seems so complicated but fingers crossed I'll get used to it!

Enough geeky chat for now though because I finally used the bamboo flat eyeliner brush that the kind people who deal with E.L.F's PR sent me last week. I used it, as I said I would, with MAC's Fluidline that I bought at the weekend.

I definitely think it's just a case of practice makes perfect when it comes to applying Fluidline, I personally don't think it's the same applying liquid eyeliner at all, although I know some people have said it is.

The whole range of mineral brushes are eco-friendly, the handle is made from sustainable bamboo and they're all ergonomically designed to fit perfectly in your hand for comfort and precise application. The eyeliner brush retails for only £5.50 - a very reasonable price, as all ELF brushes tend to be - and so far, so good.

Admittedly, it is recommended for use with mineral make-up, although I'm told they can be used with wet or dry products too. I've had no problems with it so far;apart from the fact it isn't angled which I find makes application a little bit more difficult, but it really is just getting used to it.

For the price, I would definitely recommend both this brush and all the others that ELF do because they're such good value for money, are all made from synthetic hair and are really easy to keep clean and in a good condition. Despite having the 210 from MAC (I think) before when I had Fluidline, I can't really tell the difference between the two, and I'm not sure I'd be prepared to shell out almost triple the price of this one for another MAC brush when the same look can be achieved with this one!

What brushes do you swear by for gel eyeliner application/eye make-up in general?

London calling to the faraway towns

My Nails Inc. order arrived today along with the rhinestones I ordered off eBay a few weeks back so I've been having lots of fun this evening playing about with them.

I've never had, or even tried, Nails Inc. polishes before (I've not even bothered to buy Glamour when they've been free with it) but I'm not really sure why. I love the names of the colours because they're all names of places in London and you should all know by now that London holds a special place in my heart!

As I said in my last post, I ordered five polishes off the Nails Inc. website for a tenner on Friday morning. The offer was definitely too good to turn down and I don't regret it at all. You couldn't pick the colours you wanted, it was just a lucky dip but I feel like I've done quite well. I think they're all old stock but that doesn't really matter...



I got (left to right) Wilton Crescent, Chelsea Park Gardens, Blenheim Terrace, Pembroke Close and A&E which is a protein and vitamin treatment.

First I painted them with Blenheim Terrace but had my middle finger done in Chelsea Park Gardens with silver rhinestones on it but it didn't really look right so I took it off and used Pembroke Close instead and put the rhinestones back on my middle finger and fnished them off with Seche Vite (which, Sarah, yes does prevent chipping for quite a while! Sorry I didn't reply sooner!). These rhinestones are definitely going to release my inner chav but I DON'T CARE BECAUSE I LOVE THEM.



What are your favourite Nails Inc. colours?

In other news, I've decided to try another MAC lipstick with a different finish before I give up hope altogether but this is their final chance to impress me!

Highstreet vs Not-so-Highstreet #9

I haven't done one of these posts for a while, the main reason being I haven't bought any make-up for a while. I actually do miss doing them for some reason, but hopefully they'll be more frequent now Christmas is out of the way and such like.

I'm going to slag off my MAC lipstick that I bought last week, well, not quite slag it off but I honestly can not tell a difference between that and a Topshop one, called Satin, I bought waaaay back in early December - a review of which I did for At Home Magazine that you can read here.


Anyway, the MAC I got is called Bombshell and it's apparently a frost lipstick. Maybe that has something to do with its staying power? It cost me £13.50 whereas the Topshop one cost me £8 and there is no difference between them whatsoever, except the colour. Obviously.

I'm not pretending to be a lipstick expert because I am far from it, but Bombshell doesn't feel any different on my lips in comparison to Satin, it doesn't appear to last any longer and to be quite honest... I don't know what the extra £5.50 is supposed to have paid for? To me, it's more like a lipgloss than a stick, it doesn't have any of the qualities that a lipstick should possess and, to put it bluntly, I am disappointed. If only Topshop had more variety in lipstick colours...

Does anybody else have the same problem or is it just ME (it usually is)? Do I need to try a different finish in order for my faith in MAC to be restored? Don't get me wrong, I'm not not going to banish Bombshell out of my make-up bag forevermore, I will still use it but I haven't yet learnt what all the fuss is over MAC and their lipsticks.

What colours from the MAC range are your favourites? Tell me about them, tell me why you love them, give me recommendations that will change my life! OR are you not a MAC fan? Any other lipstick brands I have to try instead?

PS: I lost 2lbs this week - check out Where Are My Knees? if you haven't already! :)

We spend all our time lying side by side

This week I seem to have unnecessarily splurged on random make-up bits and things that I could probably live without. This always happens during the first week back in Leicester though so really, it's to be expected. Plus, this is my final first week back at University EVER so I need to embrace it because it will never happen again! There's a scary thought! I wonder what I'll be doing this time next year. I don't even want to think about it really; I'm currently in the midst of applying for work experience (aren't I always?!) in hope of getting some kind of internship for a month or so in the summer. The only thing I know I'll definitely be doing is touring Australia for five weeks, my sister booked our flights about a week and a half ago so we're due to fly into Darwin, via Singapore, from Heathrow on October 2nd and our return flights are from Sydney on November 6th. Exciting!

Anyway. Since my last nail varnish based post I have purchased even more nail varnish, this time it's Nails Inc. On their website yesterday they had an offer where you bought a random selection of 5 polishes for a tenner. YES, TEN POUNDS for FIVE bottles of Nails Inc (see here). It was definitely too much of a good deal to pass up, so here's to hoping I get some nice colours!

E.L.F have also sent me two more new brushes to test - there's a Bamboo flat eyeliner brush and a Bamboo lip brush, both of which are from their Mineral range. I'm excited to try the eyeliner brush with the MAC Fluidline that I bought today. I've had Fluidline before but they've both dried out because I didn't look after them properly, so here's a tip: make sure you screw the lid on properly after each use! Expect reviews on those at some point soon too.

I also bought my first MAC lipstick and I have to say I'm not impressed so far but I will explain more about that in another post next week, but for now I am going to begin a Harry Potter marathon with Grace before we go out for dinner and a couple of cocktails tonight. We can be classy, you know!

Hope you're all having a good weekend so far, anybody got any exciting plans for tonight?

A kind of nail varnish haul (!?)

I have literally just finished typing the worst essay that I have probably done in my life, despite the fact that it should have probably been a lot more interesting than it turned out to be. The title was The Paparazzi and Celebrities' Rights to Privacy: How Far is Too Far? but it turned out to be really difficult because there's so much stuff and so many varied opinions etc. But enough about that, it's done and dusted and ready to be handed in tomorrow, thank God!

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my previous post too - it seems the majority of us have met and have maintained friendships with people from the internet. It's definitely starting to become a more acceptable way of making friends these days, but I guess that's changing with the times. Back when I started using the 'net (I sound like I'm about 90!) it definitely wasn't acceptable which is probably one of the biggest reasons I'm still a bit embarrassed about the whole thing.

Anyway, the point of this blog was to show you all my new nail varnish purchases! I seem to have bought loads of new colours this week for some reason. Well, actually, I did buy five bottles while in town on Tuesday. I'm not entirely sure how it happened but it just sort of... did.



The OPI polish is Mod About You and is my first official purchase of OPI (aside from base & top coats that I got for Christmas). I bought this on a total whim from Lydia and it's such a nice pink, it's not a colour I'd usually wear but my collection had to start somewhere, right? The Seche Vite is apparently the Top Dog of top coats, according to Lucy anyway. I got this for £5.95 on eBay (it's £8.95 on ASOS!) and so far, so good. I love how shiny it makes my nails!

The second photo is all the polishes I got in town. I actually paid about £12 for all of them in the end. The Models Own was 3 for £10 in Boots which is a really good offer and I had a £5 voucher for Christmas so essentially they all only cost a fiver. I got 24 Carat Gold (they didn't have Gold Rush - is there much of a difference between the two?), Mushroom and Red Red Wine. After I purchased them I got a £5 off voucher for No7 which I used minutes later and bought Totally Teal for £2 - I was torn between this one and Pillar Box Red. Finally I got my grubby mits on Gypsy Night from Topshop which is my ultimate fave of them all, it's so sparkly and nice!

I need to perfect the art of application though to make it look good. I've been debating purchasing one of those OPI Corrector Pens because I can't apply dark colours very well, anybody got one, or a similar one? Thoughts?

Oh, also - does anybody know how to make my blog a 'safe' website? If I come up in Google searches I have a yellow circle next to the link instead of a green tick for some reason. As far as I'm aware I haven't done anything to make this place deemed as unsafe?!

"online friends"

I'm a bit nervous about posting this, I'm not sure why! I've been thinking about doing this post for a while now, it was first inspired by Sarah when I read one of her Livejournal posts a few weeks back and since then the whole 'online friend' debate has been playing on my mind. But then this weekend I went down to London and had a night out with four other girls that I know through the internet and I had one of the funniest and drunken nights I've ever had. I didn't admit straight away to people 'offline' who I was going with because I was embarrassed and worried about what people thought. I came clean in the end to (most) people though!


These are our Myspace anglezzz!

For me, personally, this is quite a taboo subject, the whole 'online friend' debate and I know a few people I know in 'real life' read my blog (even a few who don't know that I know they read!) and I am, or was, quite embarrassed about it but I'm not anymore. Why should I be? I know for a fact the girls I meet aren't 50 year old paedophiles and I know they're not weirdos. People need to stop thinking that everybody on the internet is a creep. I know there are the odd exceptions, and you never hear of people forming friendships over the internet on the news but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I mean, people meet boyfriends/husbands via dating websites all the time!

This is turning into some sort of confessional post and I don't want it to, but for the record, I DO HAVE ONLINE FRIENDS. Yes, I've met people off the internet and I currently speak to people through the whole blogging scene that I probably won't ever meet, but then I speak to other bloggers who I would actively arrange to meet with. This whole 'secret online life' started about eight years ago when I joined Girland and the few girls I'd consider close friends have pretty much known me since then. In fact, they probably know more about me than anybody else does - people say it's easier to sit behind a screen and be nasty to somebody rather than do it face-to-face, and that's true (I'm not saying I'm horrible by the way!), but it's also easier to tell people things across the internet that you wouldn't ever admit to somebody in person. It was like escapism at first, some people read books but I went on the internet and had this whole other life with these girls! I used to write to them, text them, speak to them on the phone. Like normal friends do!

Admittedly, I spent the majority of my teenage years on some sort of internet site, whether it was Girland, Livejournal or having my own website and blogging on that. That doesn't make me a social recluse and I think the connotations that come from somebody who does that are negative. But I only ever got positive things out of doing it, I gained real friends from it! And, even better, I still have social skills, I still have friends from school and work, I still socialised, I'm still NORMAL!

I don't really know where I'm going with this now, I had it all planned in my head and now I can't remember what I was going to put. Have you girls met people off the internet? Would you ever? Why/why not? What are your views on the whole thing?

Today in photographs

I've attempted to do a video to post on here for the past three days but to no avail so I've given up and I've got photos instead, although they're not very exciting!

I've been trying (and failing) to do a million different things today in an attempt to be productive. And I've been half successful. I've half packed for my return to Leicester tomorrow, half written (well, done 141/2000 words) an essay due next Friday, I've half applied for various work experience placements for the summer and I've half got ready. I have however fully painted my nails and with the help of two of my friends (Rachel & Selin), have fully annoyed everybody (I've lost a couple of followers which proves just how annoying we were!) on Twitter while being genuinely hilarious in a poor attempt at trying to get Olly Murs to Tweet us back. We've yet to succeed, but watch this space! Pure determination is the key. HE TWEETED ME! LOOK HERE!

I've been so tempted to induldge in this all day but as yet have resisted the urge...!

If you enlarge it you can see the full hillarity of it all!

I told you there was nothing of interest! The final two images are of my new dress that I'm wearing to go partying in Islington tomorrow night which I am ridiculously excited about! It's just plain black with a camel belt - thoughts? I was hoping to get a leopard print bag to go with it just to add a bit of colour but I can't find a nice one so I'll just have to use a boring black bag I think.

What's everyone else got planned for the weekend, anything exciting?

Whoopie Pies

I'm going to be brave here and make a pretty bold statement. Well, it's not that bold and telling you doesn't actually make me that brave, but whatever. It's nice to add a bit of suspense in the odd blog post here and there, right?

No? Oh. Well, anyway. I think that this year, 2011, is going to be the year of the Whoopie Pie. 2010 saw the vast growth in Cupcake loving amongst bloggers, stationary designers and chefs alike. Everywhere you looked there were amazing Cupcakes, whether they were edible or purely for decorational purposes. And now I think it's time for the Cupcake to step aside and make room for the Whoopie Pie.

Whoopie Pies are, according to Wikipedia (don't shoot me down), an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. Sounds good, huh?

I'd never actually heard of them until my mum sent me this picture, and then I forgot about their existence until Christmas day when my darling sister got a Whoopie Pie recipe book and today I made some for the very first time! (She did take the book back to Leeds with her but she emailed Mum a recipe to make Chocolate Chip ones).



This was the end result! I know, I know, I'm quite aware they don't look THAT appetising but trust me, they are amazing. And they can be made to look a lot prettier, all the recipes vary and you can put icing on the top and decorate them with lots of pretty things and make them a variety of colours. You can pretty much do as you please! The filling in these is chocolate marshmallow and it tastes SO GOOD.







If anybody wants the recipe, it's available HERE. I've put it on a separate page because it's quite long and this post is already gigantic as it is!

So yeah. Watch this space for the masssssssssive Whoopie Pie bomb that I predict will explode anytime soon...

Leopard print nails

My nails have definitely felt the pressure of working at McDonald's more than me over the last few weeks! To say they've suffered is an understatement, I tried painting them over the three days I was off over Christmas but they were all flaky and weak and in a generally terrible condition so I gave up. When I'm working I usually paint them with a 'yellow nail brightener' (attractive name, huh?) that I picked up in Marks & Spencers in the Summer because I'm yet to come across a base coat that prevents my nails from staining - anybody got any recs? - and having nails that look like I've had a 40-a-day habit for my entire lifetime is not a good look, not even to McDonald's customers. But I gave up on that and just painted them with my OPI base coat & top coat with nothing inbetween in a bid to make them stronger. I'm not sure what I thought it would do but that's besides the point!

Anyway, that's all pretty pointless drivel to be honest. The point is, I'm not working anymore until Easter (although if I got my way I would never work there again, but alas, money is money) so I can go back to never not having something on my nails. I gave myself a quick mani this morning before attempting leopard print once again and you know what? I reckon the break I had has improved my skillllzzzz. I'm not saying I'm as good as a Wah! technician but I can definitely see an improvement and I'm secretly proud of myself. I need to train up my left hand and become ambidextrous in order for both hands to match, but for now, they'll do.




Can you venture a guess at which is my right hand and which is my left...? For the base I used Nude Beige, the spots are done with Fuzzy Peach - both by Models Own and the black is the Models Own vs Wah! Nails nail art pen which I have thankfully (and finally) got the hang of!

PS - first day of the diet has gone WELL! Check out Where Are My Knees? if you haven't already. The support so far is amazing so thanks for everyone following and commenting - keep it coming! :)

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful evening whatever you got up to, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the masses of drunken Tweets that were on my timeline all through the night! And the few of you that posted pictures, you all looked gorgeous :)

I'm not a fan of New Year. At All. Mum's not either, and nor is my Grandma so it's probably because we've grown up with not properly celebrating it. We've had our fair share of parties and stuff as we've been growing up but the emphasis has always been on Christmas and there's not much fuss made after that. I've tried my hardest since hitting the ripe old age of 16 to have a good time and to actually realise what the big deal is about but as yet, haven't been able to which has resulted in the last three years being in bed for 11pm! It's far too hyped, overly busy, massively over-expensive and not a taxi in sight - where's the fun in that?

My friend Grace came up to Grimsby from Milton Keynes, we got ready and went to a girl I work withs house with a few other people I know from work, we lasted until about half past 9 before we made our excuses and left. We stopped at the Chinese on the way home and armed with chicken chow mein, special fried rice and prawn crackers we settled down for the evening with Eastenders on catch up followed by some programme hosted by Graham Norton. To be honest, it was fun. All our favourite things (almost) combined into one, even moreso because we had pyjamas on but kept our make-up on so as not to waste it! Ha.

Anyway, I, unlike most people it seems, really enjoyed 2010 so I hope 2011 has lots in store for me! I wish you all the happiest New Year and hope the next 365 days are full of happy surprises for you all.

Oh, and I've also set up a bit of an 'on the side' blog, Where Are My Knees?, which is going to document my weightloss journey for 2011 because God only knows I can't go to Australia looking like this! And my thinking behind it is that if you guys support me along the way, I can't let you down!