November round-up

Hello glitter sticks, how is everyone today? Wednesday's are mad for me, sooo busy, I just feel like I am on a treadmill all day long! Happy that it's Thursday tomorrow though, not long now until the Weekend : )

Today I thought I'd do a November catch-up post, just a few bits and pieces lighting up my life right now : )

TV I am loving: Frozen Planet! I love watching this, interesting and educational, such a good combo! Young Apprentice is keeping me entertained too.

Love the Penguins!

Favourite Website of the moment: ASOS. I love checking out the 'new in' section, there are some great winter items in at the moment, the dresses in particular look amazing.

ASOS party dress in mesh £55. I think the colour of this dress is really unusual, and  I love the plunge neckline style and mesh skirt, very ballerina-like.

ASOS Midi dress in flocked mesh £65. I love the classic lace overlay style of this dress, classy and gorgeous.

Playing in my car right now: Britney's greatest hits... love it, really, truly do!

Favourite moments: As the weather gets colder,  I am really enjoying cosy nights in with hubby and Woody. We are loving our film nights and working our way through all the Sky + programmes stored up for the cold weather!

My two favourite boys : ) This is actually an old photo just after we got Woody and he was still a little baby. I had a look through his baby pictures earlier and got a bit teary... love him sooo much!

Charitable cause of the month: This month I am mostly supporting Movember, a charity that asks men to grow moustaches for the month of November in order to raise money for prostate and testicular cancer. One of my former students is growing a 'tache for Movember so I will be supporting him : )

Eating too much of: Mr Kipling Frosty Fancies. I spotted these the other day in the supermarket and had to buy some, as I already love French Fancies, and loved the Christmassy take on them! I have since purchased and devoured about 5 boxes... worrying, especially as party season is coming up and I have dresses to squeeze into! Note to self, up the running...

My downfall ; )

Most looking forward to: Soooo much! The end of November and all of December are always amazingly busy months for me, I went through my diary a couple of days ago and noted with some fear that I have something on every Friday and Saturday in December... so going to need my Christmas holiday to recover!! Right now I am most looking forward to going to my first Opera next Thursday, Castor and Pollux at the English National Opera in London. Both hubby and I adore classical music and have been wanting to see an Opera for some time. I am also looking forward to seeing the new Twilight film this Friday, the day of release : )

Castor and Pollux at the ENO

Well that's everything for now dolls, more soon XOXO

Christmas Cookies : )

Hello lemon bon bons how are you all today? I have had the most ridiculously lazy day ever. I didn't wake up until 11 (no alarm clock in half term!) and then allowed myself to stay in bed til half 12. It was so nice not having to rush around for anything, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts! I decided to have a practice run making some Christmas biscuits today so set off later in the afternoon for a couple of ingredients from Tesco. Here's how I got on...

1) Get all of your ingredients ready, you will need 2 tsp of vanilla extract, 250g butter, 140g caster sugar, 1 yolk of  an egg and 300g plain flour. The cookie cutters to the right were a Christmas present from my mother in law and were perfect for creating festive shapes.

2) After weighing out the ingredients, mix the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light and creamy.

3) Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat in quickly. Then sift the flour and continue to stir in. Towards the end, you will have to get your hands in in order to turn the mixture into a firm dough.

4) Flour the kitchen surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin. Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes., and evenly space them out on a greased non-stick baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 12 minutes at 180 degrees, and then place them on a wire rack to cool.

5) Decorate! I used an icing sugar mix to create the white icing, and a sprinkling of icing sugar on a few as hubby is not such a big fan of icing as I am! You could experiment with different colours and toppings too as I intended to (but ran out of time!) Still, I like the white, I think it looks like snow, simple and effective : )

So there you have it, I think they turned out quite well for my first attempt, however, I have learnt some lessons for next time:

1) The icing sugar mix was quite messy and tricky to apply so next time I may try some ready to roll icing stuck down on top of the biscuit with apricot jam.
2) I am going to buy some tubes of different coloured writing icing as it will be quick and easy to create designs then without having to use my piping bag.
3) Make sure I only using my baking sheets (I used a regular cooking tray with one load of biscuits, and despite being greased it was not non-stick at all, so all the biscuits on that tray broke up).
4) Remove my wedding rings beforehand - when kneading the dough, it all got stuck between my diamonds, meaning I had to use an old toothbrush and washing up liquid to scrub it all out afterwards!)

Love to you all, more soon xoxo

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy Thursday cupcakes, hope you are all well, I am finally recovering from my sickness bug thank goodness. I went back to work today which I enjoyed, I do get bored sitting around at home when I'm ill! Today is my lightest day of the week so I taught a triple and then was free for the rest of the day. I say free, I obviously spend the day planning and marking books! Still, a lot slower paced which makes a nice change.


Today when I was writing my usual list of tasks to be completed today and tomorrow, I flicked to the 'Christmas' section of my notebook, checking what I have done so far and what still needs to be completed. As with all areas of my life, Christmas is tightly controlled and organised which I gain a great sense of achievement and sense of peace out of, as I know exactly what needs to be done and when. For example, my earliest preparations for Christmas begin in January, when I stocked up on cards, tags, beautiful tree decorations and wrapping in the sale. This is carefully stored away until Christmas time. I buy a few gifts throughout the year, as I see things that I think people will enjoy, and these are also carefully stored away. I do not do all my Christmas shopping throughout the year though, as being an absolute shopaholic, I adore Christmas shopping, on my local hight street, at Bluewater, or in London, with all the twinkly lights and festive music. I cannot wait for the lights to go up this year, it is something I really look forward to.

Twinkle twinkle little star... Christmas lights on London's Oxford Street

This year, hubby and I have already planned our Christmas shopping trip where we will get the bulk of our presents, for each other and other people. We will go in November, and spend the whole day browsing beautiful department stores such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols, perhaps a little trip to Westfield and an outdoor Christmas market. We will have a Christmassy afternoon tea in Harrods or somewhere similar, and finish off the day ice skating at Somerset House. I did this 2 years ago with my best friends and loved it (despite the fact that I was pretty useless and had to grip my friends arm the entire time!)

One of my favourite things about ice skating at Somerset house... the Tiffany tuck shop!  Cupcakes and jewelley, what more could a girl want?!

Me and Clare at Somerset house. Thinking back, one of the reasons I think I may have struggled to skate was because my hat was so huge I could barely see! It did keep my ears nice and snug though ; )

I have already written my Christmas list and know exactly what I want from hubby. Obviously, hubby has paid for Berlin and the Nutcracker tickets as my joint birthday and Christmas presents so I won't ask for too much more... I do have my heart set on a Thomas Sabo necklace though and some new pieces for my Pandora. Then of course there is the usual perfume, pyjamas, make up and beauty products for my stocking... I know what I am getting for hubby and have written a list and have already starting ticking it off. It would be nice and a bit special to get some presents for each other in Berlin so hopefully we will find some nice stuff. I have also written lists of exactly what I am buying for family members and have started to tick this off too... satisfaction indeed!

I want the long silver chain and a selection of charms (not necessarily the ones above but you get the idea!

Maybe a cute little handbag charm for my Pandora?

What are you guys looking forward to most about Christmas? Have you started to plan yet? I have already bought some magazines with ideas for Christmas recipes, card and all other things festive, sooo excited!! xoxo

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...