Fifty and Fabulous

So whilst it has been some time since I last blogged, I felt that I wanted to wait until I had something worthwhile writing about. I know it is considered rude to ask a woman her true age or even disclose their age for that matter. However, this blog post is dedicated to my wonderful mum who just reached this remarkable milestone of 50 years of age a few days ago.

Although she seemed to be experiencing a slight crisis about that number, all around her (especially me), were determined to make it a memorable birthday. As a lot of my friends will know there are many celebrations within my immediate family this year, so instead of a massive blowout party we have decided to go away together at Christmas to mark the end of a big year for all.

However, this does not mean to say that these occasions, when they do occur, should go unnoticed, and yesterday was certainly no exception! I made the trip down yesterday with my Dad and we had planned to go to a lovely restaurant in Nottingham called Hart's, which I had been fortunate to dine at once before for my best friends 21st earlier this year.

The food was delicious, presented beautifully and the surroundings of the restaurant were sophisticated. For starter, I had the organic salmon ballotine with creme fraiche and to follow I had the Cornish lemon sole with vegetables and saffron hollandaise. Other photos are to follow of what other members of my family chose. We arranged some champagne and balloons beforehand which was a nice surprise (although my mum was a little embarrassed by the massive '50' balloon sign!).

 

My grandad and brother raising a toast to the birthday girl

Crispy Salt & Pepper Calamari with Chorizo 

My starter of organic salmon ballotine

 Lamb rump... yum!

 My brother and dad enjoyed pepper sirloin with triple cooked chips and a peppercorn sauce





Now here a few photos of mi familia! Plus... the lovely present we had arranged as a surprise?!?

The boys!

 The parents and me

Family photo

Flowers always go down a treat with my mother

 SURPRISE!!!

Finally, yes so Happy 50th Birthday to my lovely mum! It was a lovely occasion and it has got me excited for my birthday now (3 months and counting)

Enjoy xo 



Birthday Baking

So as yesterday marked the start of a weekend where I had nothing planned I knew that meant one thing and one thing only! I had to bake...

Also because of the fact that it is my dear friend, (and fellow blogger) Alexs' birthday this coming Tuesday, my housemate and I thought it would be a cracking idea to make her some birthday cupcakes! (I mean who doesn't love cake on their birthday?)

As my housemate has rather more work to do than me at the moment, I waved her off to the library and eagerly awaited her return in the evening to let the cupcake creating commence.

In the meantime, another friend of mine came round so we could make some goodies of our own to enjoy. We went for Banana bread with the hidden surprise of warm gooey strawberries in as an extra treat. I hate to admit it but our first attempt was an absolute disaster (charcoal would have looked paler next to it)... but anyway we kept calm and carried on. The second was a bit of a beauty if I say so myself. Here is a picture of our very strawberry Banana Bread:

 Banana Bread decorated with icing sugar and strawberries... Delicious!



So gooey and scrumptious!!

If you want the recipe for this beauty it can be found on the following website: http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/03/strawberry-banana-bread.html There are also tonnes of other recipes on here to get your mouth watering, so definitely give it a look if you want some bakespiration.

Now for the cupcakes... We had intended to do red velvet but our red food colouring was doing a very bad job of turning the sponge red. Anyway, our take on red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, flaked dark chocolate savings and twisted strawberries to decorate.

 I've had this cakestand for ages so it deserved its 15 minutes of fame...

The proof is in the pudding?

The recipe that we followed for this was really simple and can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/red-velvet-cupcakes-1.html I would, however, recommend you search round for some good (gel) red food colouring because ours didn't really do its job properly.

Anyways Happy Birthday Alex. Enjoy your yummy birthday treats and many happy returns!

Happy Baking all!

Demi xo 





Celebrations on Call Lane

Hey everyone,

It has been a while, yet again, but was waiting for something to blog about! This weekend I made the exciting trip down from Newcastle to Leeds, for one night only to celebrate my cousins 18th Birthday.

Having relatives who live in Leeds has resulted in many a weekend trip and normally I leave with one nasty hangover (oh the perks of having a cousin who works at a nightclub). The usual mix of free alcohol and a crazy cousin to consume it with equal one horrible hungover mess. However, I thought this time may be different...

As it was a special occasion, I thought there was no better excuse than to dress up. I was told that we would be heading down to 'Call Lane' in Leeds where they have some cool bars within a hop skip and a jump of one another. We set up camp at Neon Cactus Bar for the night and headed downstairs for some free tequila and dancing. Alex (fellow blogger) made the trip down with me and we danced the night away. It was a fabulous occasion for my beautiful cousin. Happy Birthday darling. I think we (as you would say, 'parDDied in style') the Carnelley girls were out in full force so it was sure to be barrel of laughs, (Danielle providing most of entertainment for the evening). Thanks goes to Danielle, what a wonderful host she is!

So anyway here is what I wore...

Outfit:

Grey Crop Top: Topshop
Lime Green Midi Skirt: Never Fully Dressed
Black Court Shoes: Kurt Geiger
Gold Chain Necklace: Topshop

The Carnelley girls out in full force!

The B-E-A-U-tiful birthday girl

Alex and I

Enjoy a celebratory G&T (would be rude not to!)

If any of you are ever in Leeds take a trip to Call Lane for a few drinks, its definitely worth a visit! For more information on the bar that we went to here is their website, its a must for you tequila lovers of the world: http://www.neoncactus.co.uk/ 

Demi xo



My Birthday Wish List!

So it's my birthday in less than a month and, apart from me, the rest of my family hate surprises. This means if I want any presents I have to make a massive list that is circulated amongst everyone with gifts they can choose to get me. I suppose it means everything I get, I like, but I also like surprises. So I thought I would turn my present hunt into a blog post and give other girls some good ideas for their own birthday presents!

At the moment I'm loving little rope bracelets and have yet to get myself one. Urban Outfitters do some like the one below which are pretty inexpensive at £8. I also love this one off Etsy.          
                           

     

I also really like these sunglasses for £16 which I have tried on several times!

Carrying on with everything UO I saw this bag in one of the London stores over Christmas and fell in love. I have yet to acquire the money to buy it but might ask the grandpadres! 

I wanted a kind of bright but daytime wearable lipstick. I think Craving by MAC is perfect as a toned down raspberry shade.

My friends and family know how much I like painting my nails so I though I had to include a mini nail set on my list. I love this one by Jessica and also this Nails Inc one. Both seem perfect for spring and summer! 

I really want something small to boost the sound of my laptop and my dad actually has one of these. They are definitely worth the money.

If you are stuck for any other ideas this website, www.notonthehighstreet.com , has some really cute gifts that can be personalised.

Hope this has helped if you are just as stuck as me!

Alex xx

The Present Problem?

As for myself, it is coming to the time when a lot of my friends are leaving their teens,the first year of the 20's and hitting that milestone of TWENTY ONE! This poses me with a great problem, the present problem to be exact. 

What to buy for a 21st? Do you splash the cash and blow it on the expressive gift? OR Do we stick to a sentimental sort of budget? 

Here's some of my suggestions for some 21st Birthday Present Ideas (both blow it and budget)

For the Blow it sort of present, I think nothing says Happy 21st better than a bottle of Champers... 

John Lewis do some lovely gifts, for girl friends, add that special touch of a Rose Champagne, here is one I found when searching today...

Bollinger Rose Ice Tube Champagne Gift- £60

For the Classic Blow-out and a keeper present (suggest splitting the cost of this with other friends as we are not made of money) but this gorgeous black patent Vivienne Westwood Purse is a lovely gift and good enough quality to stand the test of time. 

Vivienne Westwood Classic Patent Purse in Black- £125

Some ideas for the sentimental sort of budget, what about a memory book. If your like me and have known a lot of your friends since the start of school, I'm sure you have a lot of funny pictures dating back to the time of Bebo that you can fill a memory book with. Its a great gift and really shows that you have put thought into the present. On the plus it also doesn't break the bank, get your prit-stick and scissors at the ready... 

Here's a 21st Memory Book that you could fill with fun pics! stockist: www.gorgeousgifts.co.uk - £23

Another gift which I have received myself in the past, and is really cute is this range of Lolita wine glasses that again John Lewis stocks, here is 'Birthday Girl' one. Also what I like about this range of glasses is that under the bottom of the glass there is a recipe for a 'Birthday Girl' cocktail which is quite fun!

Lolita 'Birthday Girl' Wine Class- £18

So here's just a few suggestions of 21st Birthday ideas, I have many birthdays coming up so shall be using some of these ideas. Hope this helps any of you with the same problem. It just goes to show you don't have to spend a fortune on a fabulous gift! 

Enjoy xo Demi 

There was a storm, the sun shone and there was one messy festival! Croatia... it was a pleasure

Hello everyone,

I feel like I have really neglected the blog over the past couple of months and I do apologise but life has been going at a rate of a million miles an hour and it has been a whirlwind. 

Saying that, I have just returned from what I can safely say was some of the best weeks of my life to date. This summer I feel like I have done a mini European tour. (OK, so I've been to Germany and Croatia but still another two countries off my hit list!)

Over the last two weeks I have lost myself in the Adriatic and forgot about the hustle and bustle of my working life, hit the gin and grabbed the Piz Buin. It was utter bliss and I am not writing this to make all those that haven't had chance to get away this summer go green with envy, I simple want to share my fab holiday with you. 

Whilst in Hvar (the must-be party island of Croatia, so I'm told) I celebrated my 20th Birthday amongst good friends. Hvar was incredible and for those seeking some sunshine by day and a secret party island by night there is no better place to be. 

After a few days in Hvar we headed back to the mainland and from Split we took a bus to the North for Dimensions Festival. The festival was incredible, the setting was so woodland creatures meet fairy lights meet abandoned forts. Although, I thought the music was not my sort of scene, the setting and the sunshine plus the music created such a chilled vibe. Ideal! 

To me, you can't beat a good time in the sunshine with great friends and that is exactly what I did. Here are a few snaps to summarise my jollies... Enjoy xo

Dimensions Festival

Flux Boat Party

Beautiful Hideaway beach in Hvar on my Birthday

View from Ferry of Split- divine!

Hvar by Day

Little birthday Dip- my face says it all! 

Daytime beach snap