Frills 'n' Spills

I don't like being interrupted when I am trying to eat an ice-cream, jeesh! This was a lovely break just before we went back to uni which happened yesterday. It only took us 4 hours to unpack all of my stuff (!) I have the biggest room in our house (bwahaha) but it's quite dark so I need to invest in some pretty lamps... does anyone have any recommendations? Since being back I have been out for a lovely meal, courtesy of Mark, at the pub...

... I've been catching up on the old blogroll these past couple of days, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the wonderful pictures from those lucky enough to go to London Fashion Week. Many of you have indeed been strutting your stuff down in Landan, ogling at models and putting a lot of them to shame in some wonderful outfits. I on the other hand have been eating my weight in chocolate and bagging some 95p bargains at the local charity shop. Glamorous. Anyhow, I thought I'd post a sort of LFW rebellion [not a shut-it-down-riot-sort of way, no no, I'd give anything to be there myself!] by sharing a moreish recipe that may scare a few models away, as well as a couple of cheap and cheerful purchases I found today in good old Sense. Classy, no?

Model repelling Macaroons 

[not gonna lie, I don't think even Kate could resist one of these. Nom.]

The best way to describe these is like a sort of cake- truffle. They're not too chocolatey, and just chewy enough to leave you wanting another. And another. And another. I stole the recipe from Nigella who may have started to annoy the hell out of me but sure makes a mean cookbook.

2 egg whites

200g ground almonds

30g cocoa powder

175g icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6 [200 degrees C] and line a tray with lashings of butter [or use one of those posh silicone sheets if you have one, these babies tend to stick]. Mix everything together [no need to beat the egg whites beforehand] until it becomes a thick, gooey consistency.

Fill a bowl with water and dip your fingers in before attempting to roll the mixture into rough balls. Don't try it without the water - you'll end up with half the mixture on your hands and then, very quickly in your mouth. Not that this happened to me. Nah a-ah...

Place the rolled macaroons onto the baking tray and bake in the oven for 11 minutes. When you bring them out they will probably seem very sticky, but they develop a wonderful crust as they cool. I'm actually salivating. Mmmmmmm.

Now as much as I'd love [and I mean faint with excitement, never let it go kind of love] a Marc Jacobs handbag I don't think I could ever get over the idea of spending more than £30 on one. And let me be honest, at the moment even that price is extreme. However, give me a price tag like this one and I'll probably grab the thing without even blinking.

Okay, so it may only be an M&S orphan but I've more than willingly taken it on as my own. Marc can wait, for now. I also bought a navy belt to wear with my new camel things - it's a little big buut hopefully I'll have the belt knot down in no time :)

So, that's my very un-fashion-weeky post. I hope everyone there is having a fab time, and will be blogging about it when they get back!

“	You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.	”
	— O'Brien

I love my shorts and top combo! What a stylish child I was ;)

• Heights- I have been scared of heights for as long as I can remember, I can be OK on tall buildings of structures as long as they feel solid enough, I feel safe. (The edge of a transparent glass pod on the London Eye does not feel safe to me!)
• Bridges- I HATE bridges, I think it is mainly because they are over a busy road/railway and I am scared about the bridge collapsing whilst I am on it, irrational, yes but most fears are!
• Water- I don't mean drinking water, but rather rivers/the sea. This may come as a surprise to some people but I think it's because I have never really learnt to swim. I can barely keep myself afloat so water creeps me out
• Bugs/insects/creepy crawlies- whatever you want to call them they FREAK.ME.OUT. I think this is one of the reasons why I am "allergic" to the great outdoors :P

Can you imagine the creepy crawlies lurking in here?! URG

• Being alone- let me clarify this a bit! Whilst I enjoy 'me-time' and some peace and quiet to relax, growing up with a big family has meant that there has always been someone around to talk at to. I find it very odd when I am on my own for a prolonged period of time- early onset deafness perhaps?! :P Danni will testify that I have often come into her room so I have someone to distract talk to :) I have got better at talking to people I don't know, though they don't stay strangers for very long ;) 

Oooh gosh I guess now it's my turn! [Danni here for those of you who just got extremely confused :)] My default is set to 'worry' in all honesty. Moreso in the mumsy kind of ''wrap up warm'' kind of way than anxiety. I love to keep everyone happy and it's for this reason that I tend to worry that things aren't perfect. Of course, they rarely are. And why should they be?! Imperfect is beautiful, fun and spontaneous although my head tells me otherwise. My fears are totally random, you'll probably think I've plucked them from obscurity just for want of trying but I promise, these are the things that terrify me!... 

• Motorways. It has now been 2 years, 10 months and one day since I passed my driving test. It has been 20 years, 7 months and 16 days since I've feared the motorway. Yuh huh. That would be my life. Goodness only knows why; I've never been in an accident, nor have any of my family or friends [thank God, touch wood, gather all lucky totems and kiss them twice] and I've never witnessed anything on the wrong side of risky on the motorway. Something about it though scares me witless. Oh I don't know, it may be the great hunks of metallic machinery hurtling along at ninety miles an hour whilst attempting to swerve around lorries [i.e. even bigger hunks of metallic machinery] and dodge that old lady in a Punto. Just a thought. Whatever it is, I just hate them. I can avoid them for the rest of my life right?

•  Wind Turbines. I do not know why. All I know is that heavy turning blades are not my friend. 

• Interviews. Ironically, I had an interview today. It actually went well [although I'm not sure I was flexible enough for them] and for once I managed to take my time and think about my answers. This was a fluke. Usually I will stutter, spit, dribble, sneeze, sweat, shake, and hesitate in all the wrong places. Attractive huh? Interviews just have that ability to crush me, in every sense of the word. As my C.V will show them I've managed GCSE's, A levels, half a degree, part-time work, and volunteering and yet I still haven't mustered a good interview technique. Tips would be greatly appreciated although honestly, unless you can come up with a sneeze preventing, stutter suppressing, employability enhancing drug I reckon I'm with this one for life!

• Public speaking.   I tend to faint. 
  It's quite embarassing.
  I'd rather not talk about it.
  

• Isolation. Where Maria fears loneliness, I fear isolation. Loneliness I can actually cope with. I love being on my own-  I relish in having that time to do exactly what I want, just when I want to. I'm certainly no conversationalist, and although I've got a little better at not looking like a mute, I'm still socially inept in most busy situations. What I do fear though, above all else, is losing the knowledge that someone is at the end of a phone or letter. The thought of having no connections in this world to the people I love, or indeed of having no-one to love full stop scares the hell out of me. Whilst I hate being the centre of attention, I love surrounding myself with people and by this I don't mean for them to be there physically. The very knowledge that they're but a phonecall away is what keeps me going, it's the best motivation around.
  

I wouldn't normally post a photo of a haircut, but I've just had to take a mugshot for Glasto registration as apparently my last photo was either 'not of a human' or 'of someone who looks too young to attend'. Wow. They sure know how to make a girl feel glam. Anyhow, here's my cut- please ignore the face.

 Danni auditions for the role as the new Demon Headmaster.

Somehow I always manage to make a fool out of myself at hairdressers. I think they repel me. Today was no exception as I arrived bright and early [and bleary eyed] and had to linger awkwardly as the window cleaner was eagerly swiping the door. Eventually, after attempting to edge into his peripheral, and having become overly conscious of the stylists look of sheer satisfaction at my dilemma I simply said excuse me and the poor guy jumped aside to let me through. I naturally left a greasy hand print on the otherwise pristine glass. Can't take me anywhere! Then of course you've got the awkward chat with the washer and/or stylist, where I swear to god my ability to string a coherent sentence together goes out the window. Oops.

On a different note, I've been bargain hunting too and managed to find a £3 jumper hug and a 50p belt. Win! 

Posting might be a bit sporadic for me over the next week or so - still waiting to find out when I'll be back at uni. It could be this weekend [PANIC!] or it could be two weeks time. Either way I should really start to think about packing. Oooorr I could just ignore it in the hope that it will go away?! How is everyone else feeling about this new term? Scared? Excited? A bit of both?!