Sunny Monday in London

Hello dolls, hope your Monday was just fine and the weather is nice where you are! Today was pretty warm here in the UK, and I spent the day in London with 3 of my closest friends, for a delicious lunch at one of my favourite restaurants Cafe Rouge (I had my favourite, french onion soup to start, baguette poulet for my main and tranche au chocolat for dessert). Later, my friend Clare and I took a little trip to Oxford Street where we spent a good hour in a shop new to the UK, that I have been desperate to visit... yes ladies, I finally made it to Forever 21!

My first impressions of Forever 21 was that it was huge, very girly (decorated in pastel pink and white), with fairly good merchandising, and clear 'zones' so you knew where to go for what. The changing rooms were a good size with proper doors (I personally dislike curtains) and the lighting in the changing rooms was pretty good. The queue at the till was long, but the staff were numerous, and therefore waiting time was minimal. The range of clothing was very good, with a style for everyone. Oh and the prices were amazing! I knew it was a cheap shop but I was particularly impressed with the quality and fit of the items, especially considering the low prices.

My new purchases! I bought 2 sheer tops (love that style as so easy to dress up and down), one in a print and one classic cream colour. I also bought a kind of slouchy long sleeved jersey top in a dark orange that I think will be great with jeans. Lastly, I bought the gorgeous shimmery cuff and horn necklace. All in, 3 tops and 2 pieces of jewellery cost only £48 so I was very impressed. I will definitely return to Forever 21 when I am in London as the styles are great and the prices even better!

I got home at about 7 0 clock tonight and was surprisingly hungry (after my huge lunch!) but pretty tired, so I wanted to try another recipe that was both healthy and quick. I decided on super healthy sausages and beans (another recipe from my Sally Bee recipe book)

Step 1 - Cut your sausages up into smaller pieces (each sausage into 3 to 4 pieces is perfect). Put to one side.

Step 2 - Chop up your chosen veg (pretty much anything goes, today I used carrots, celery, green beans, peas and courgette). Chop up one onion and peel 2 cloves of garlic.

Step 3 - Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and then add the sausage pieces. Cook on a medium heat for 7 minutes until the sausages are browned on all sides.

Step 4 - Add your vegetables (including the garlic which can be crushed right in) and let cook for another 5 minutes until the onion is beginning to soften. While this is cooking prepare 400ml of chicken or vegetable stock, and drain and rinse one tin of mixed beans and one tin of lentils.

Step 5 - Add your beans and lentils to the pan and pour on your stock. Add a good couple of sloshes of worcestershire sauce too. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes (by this time the carrots will have softened and your dinner will be ready). Around the same time, begin to cook your rice (or whatever you plan to serve the stew with).

Step 6 - Add 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard to the stew to taste and a generous sprinkling of black pepper and parsley. Serve with the rice and enjoy!

* Sausages often get a bad reputation but as long as you buy minimum 90% meat content they are actually healthy - I usually buy mine from a butcher to be sure.

xoxo

My week in pictures

What I ate: Lots of home made, locally sourced food! Being at home is an excellent excuse to indulge my domestic side, and I have been visiting little organic farm shops for all my fruit and veg. As I blogged about here, I made a lovely chicken Korma that went down very well in my household! Today, I made some cupcakes using a recipe from my new Primrose bakery book. They were a light vanilla sponge topped with a rich vanilla buttercream (which I piped using my new piping set from Lakeland) So yum, perfect afternoon snack!

What made me happy: Lots of different things are making me happy at the moment, and my house bunny Woody is definitely one of them! He is the kindest, tamest, loveliest bunny I have ever met and I just want to squish him with cuddles! He is also a fan of my home grown organic veg, and has today been munching on purple sprouting broccoli and carrots! Only the best for my boy! : ) xx

What I am dreaming of: Right now I am dreaming of a trip to Moscow early next year! One of my best friends Anna will be there for 6 months for her second law placement and has invited me and another best friend to visit. Flights are reasonable but visas look set to be more difficult as you have to have a Russian citizen invite you into the country... there are ways round it but its tricky so I envisage a trip to the Russian embassy in London at some point!! Still, I am already dreaming about the Kremlin and the Red square and hope that we do get to go...

What I have purchased this week: Firstly, I am very excited to have got my hands on the heritage tweed jacket from new season H & M that I blogged about here - in London I was unable to locate a small size, but I managed to find one size 8 in the Maidstone branch! Cashback! I also purchased a few little bits and bobs for my nails this week, a strengthening clear varnish by Sally Hansen, a lovely pink shade by GOSH cosmetics and a gorgeous little pink tube of hand cream that I bought for my handbag! Lastly, I bought some bits and bobs for the house, including a little 'home' sign for my hallway wall : )

What I am listening to: Right now, Radio 2! Great mix of classics and debate about current events have kept me amused in the kitchen all day! I have also been listening to hubbys Metronomy album, and re-living memories of the Big Chill festival : )

What I am looking forward to next week: Firstly, I am looking forward to a leisurely lunch and catch up at Rocket in Canary Wharf, London with 3 very good friends, and then some shopping in the afternoon. I am also looking forw ard to going into school to pick up the kids AS and A Level results... nervous as well but they did their exams such a long time ago, I just need to know!!

Hope you all had a lovely week, it's Friday.... : ) xx

Outfit of the night

Hey sweeties, just a quick outfit post today from last night. As mentioned in my previous post here, I went out last night with my best friends for a spot of dinner, cocktails and a good gossip. I love our catch ups and cannot go a week without a meet up with at least one of my best friends!! We went to a lovely restaurant called Wildwood that serves gorgeous freshly prepared food. We spent a glorious couple of hours chatting and working our way through 3 delicious courses. Afterwards we decided to drop into one of our favourite bars in Maidstone, MuMu. We ordered cocktails including the MuMu tea cocktail which was prepared in a teapot and served in traditional English china tea cups!

Outfit-wise, I decided to wear my black Armani Exchange vest top with a new Yumi laddered jumper over the top. I wore this with black leggings that I picked up with my shopping in Tesco the other day (thankfully they only cost £6 - they are not particularly good leggings and will now be saved for Zumba class - in future I will stick with American Apparel leggings which are brilliant!) I belted the jumper in with an orangey-red belt from H &M, and wore one of my new H & M scarfs (posted here) casually over the top. I wore my emerald green Zara wedges, my gold H & M headband and a black Chanel bag (sooo gorgeous and one of the benefits of having a best friend with a zillion designer bags!)

I have also added a picture of my friend Nikita with me as she looks so great in her printed maxi and denim shirt tied over the top!

Hope you all had fabulous weekends!! Until next time xoxo