Bubble bubble.

With these dark days seeping away the sunshine, it's always a time when we turn to home-comforts. We get out the pyjamas a few hours earlier than normal, snuggle up in a blanket to read our books and we make good, heart-warming food.

The past few meal times I've been struggling to come up with some hearty, comforting dinners, but I have found my rescue in Tesco Real Food.

In the past couple of weeks I've cooked up two of the recipes found in their free Tesco magazine, and they have both been brilliant!

(1) Sausage and root veg with honey and orange dressing (scrummy link)

(2) Bacon, red onion and blue cheese pasta (yummy link)

Now both of these dishes were inexpensive, and were made from ingredients I had in the fridge/freezer and needed to use up. They didn't take much preparation but were nice hot dinners to have at home. After the success of both of these dishes I decided to follow the advice from the Tesco magazine and look online for more recipes. I've found so many I want to try! Here are a few (with clickable links in pink!):

Fish pie with sweetcorn

Sticky chicken with egg fried rice

Ham, cheese and pineapple swirls

Bacon toad in the hole

Parmesan crumb chicken with winter slaw

And I could go on, but I'd rather you just went to the website and found out for youself! It's gotten me out of a dinner-rut!

Jukebox jelly.

Some tunes for an early weekend.

1. Rebecca Ferguson - Nothing's Real But Love
I loved Rebecca's soulful voice when she was a contestant on the X Factor last year, and here she is with her debut single looking every bit the popstar.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVs55XkYzls

2. Slow Moving Millie - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
This song has already featured on my blog as the background music used in the John Lewis Christmas advert. It makes you feel warm and all snuggily inside.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j4hg9VrYX4

3. Sara Bareilles - Breathe Again
I love this song, I can't believe I haven't featured it before. It's mellow, and slow, and a little, well, depressing. But it's deep moodiness just draws me into it even more.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOwvpRZKR4I

4. Colbie Caillat - I Do
For the romantics out there. A cute and quirky song about saying 'I do!'
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0oyglKjbFQ&ob=av2e

5. I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business - Growing Pains

Simple, but lush.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwooB1PDKDg

Key & Classic (II)

Key & Classic: a piece of clothing or accessory that can feature in your wardrobe to build up your 'classic' look.

Each K&C blog post focuses on one particular theme that you can introduce to your wardrobe, so eventually you will have a collection of lots of loveliness that can be used again and again to outfit-build. 

The Leopard.

Too much leopard print looks tacky. However, accessorising with leopard-print is classy and it provides a pattern to a plain outfit. 

As shown above, leopard print can be used to just bring life to a dull, dark outfit and can instantly turn a plain outfit into something more eye-catching.

1. New Look. £15.99.

2. Topshop. £14.

3. Topshop. £16.

4. Miss Selfridge. £8.50.

5. Clothing at Tesco. £8.

Please, please, let me get what I want.

After Bonfire Night on the 5th November...I think it's totally appropriate to get ready for the festive season. I don't mean putting up the Christmas tree or listening to Christmas tunes all the time (that's something I save for the month of December!)...but I think it's time to revel in the feeling of Christmas and to do things like: start to write your Christmas list, maybe even start looking out/making presents for friends and family and enjoy the Christmas adverts on TV!

This is the best Christmas advert I have ever seen. I felt all tingly inside when I watched it and even cried at the end. EMBRACE CHRISTMAS!

Key and Classic.

I'm a very picky shopper. I don't buy myself a lot of clothes and although I do keep up with current trends, I never usually divulge in them. (Block colour pop might be all good and great for some people...but to me it's going to be out as soon as it's come in!) I'm more of a classic dresser. Some of you might interpret that as plain, however I think that clothes should be investments that you buy because they are classic and going to last a long time, regardless of the fashion changes.

So, I'm going to do a few blog posts over the next coming weeks (months even, depends how much I like them!) featuring a different classic piece of clothing that could feature in your wardrobe. (And it's not going to be ones to break the bank balance!) The key is to find clothes that suit your shape, suit the fashion trend currently...and can continue to be worn again when the fashion trend's frivolous ways depart.

I'm going to jump right in the deep end with this blog post, pull out all the stops; and introduce to you the most flamboyant (but versatile) garment you could have in your classic wardrobe:

The Sequin. 
Now, sequins can be classy. They are very on trend at the minute but also keep recurring throughout the years. I think the best way to wear them is as part of an unpatterned outfit.

If you're not brave enough to embrace the sequin-laced dress...then you can tone it down with just a sequin top/purse with dark block colours.

1. Oasis. £25.

2. Oasis. £65.

3. H&M. £24.99.

4. Matalan. £25

5. New Look. £12.99

A new experience.

Last week at University I was just walking through campus to class when I got handed a flyer. Usually I just bin them straight away as they are constantly about 'free shots here', 'drinks for 70p' and 'free entry to this club' - but it was actually something better than all that tack. A flyer about a vintage fair that was happening that Saturday. I got a little excited. I had never been to a vintage fair before and had always wanted to experience one, and now here I was minding my own business and bam I had found one!

I told my mum and sister about it and rallied a little girly trip to Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair. I was met with a treasure-trove of clothes and accessories and surrounded by people in plain attire, quirky attire and mostly fabulous vintage attire. I felt somewhat plain in my skinny jeans and coat. I wanted to have one statement item from an earlier decade and started my hunt.

After a lot of looking and aww-ing at the beautifulness before me, my Mum found a black pleated maxi skirt from the 1970's that was my size. I hurriedly tried it on and found that it fit. me. like. a. glove. I ran back over to the seller and proudly declared that this skirt was now mine. I love it.

I definitely now have the vintage-shopping bug. I would definitely go to Judy's Vintage Fair again (and recommend that you do too!) but until it returns I will have to start thrifting my way around the vintage shops in my city!

Buy Nothing Day.

After having one of those internet browsing sessions when a click on a link takes you to another link which takes you to another link, I found out that it's Buy Nothing Day on Saturday 26th November 2011.

I had never heard of Buy Nothing Day before and thought that it must be a new fad, invented to try and cut consumer spending and encourage consumer saving...but it has actually been going since the "early 90's and has since grown into an international event celebrated in more the 50 countries. Its is a simple idea, which challenges consumer culture by asking us to switch off from shopping for a day. The day is celebrated as a holiday by some, a street party by others - anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!" (read more of this my clicking here).

At first I thought, how ridiculous by spending the day having a street party as surely that will encourage people to shop more a couple of days before Buy Nothing Day to stock up on paper plates, party poppers and pop. Yet, I have realised that it's a day to reflect on how much we actually spend and how we can have days when we buy nothing...and that's okay.

I think this idea is actually really good, and I like that I have found it at a time when we are in a recession and are being constantly bombarded by shops and companies to spend our money and to take part in every single Buy One Get One Free deal that is going in Asda. We can switch off our spending, and we can live happily and more simply without having everything all the time.

Well, this date will get pencilled in my diary and hopefully it'll be a day where I can see that spending isn't the be all and end all, and that it's okay to miss out on the half price offers at Tesco! It would be quite a nice idea to have a Non-Spending Day each month where you have to make do with the leftovers in the fridge and wait to buy some chocolate treats or a new book, it'll make the purchases seems even more worthwhile when they are treats and not just the norm.

Tonight.

Bonfire Night = deep, unrequited love.
I am so excited to put my coat and boots on (and maybe mittens if it's pretty cold) and watch the bonfire be lit, the fireworks light up the sky and smell all the candy floss and sweets in the night air. I also love when all the children have those plastic light toys that swivel and make lots of colours in the dark.

I feel that after Bonfire Night the official countdown to Christmas begins and everyone has just got festive-fever and are full of festive cheer! I feel so lucky to live in the UK and to have one day a year when we can just have a sky of colour and lights which isn't celebrated any where else really.

Oh, and if you don't know what Bonfire Night is, here is a description that I have basically just copied and pasted from wikipedia (original, I know!): Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night or Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

There's a bit of British history for you. Have a good evening guys and dolls! I know I will!

p.s. want some Bonfire Night related music?
1. Katy Perry - Firework
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlLgvQErn6o

2. Boyce Avenue - Firework (Katy Perry Cover)
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocL-o8GY02k