Feels Like Nothing Else

First of all, hello! I've not been here for a while. Life has been happening. Some good and some not so good. But I've still been here, lurking you could say. I've enjoyed some quiet time catching up on my favourite blog reads.

Talking of which... I was busily catching up on Wendy from the Thankfifi blog on Sunday evening when I noticed a competition!! Woohoo. Win a trip to Copenhagen plus some nice UGG goodies. I wasn't going to hesitate to enter this competition. What a dream. I could visit the sights from one of my favourite Scandinavian TV shows of the moment, Borgen. I'd pretend I'm meeting Kasper Juul for coffee. Swoon...

I started scouring the web for an outfit with my imaginary £1000 budget. Then I gave up around midnight as I was getting bleary eyed. I didn't forget though and the next day I collated my outfit and here is my entry below.

UGG Evera shoes - UGG - £95

red ribbed knit jumper - Cos - £49

black cashmere knit hat - Cos - £29

white cotton oxford shirt - Mango - £29.99

camel soft tartan scarf - Zara - £19.99

Tom Ford TF5207 glasses - Pretavoir - £163.50

Acne Hep 5 pocket straight leg dark denim jeans - The Outnet - £52 

Mulberry Dorset medium red leather tote bag - Net A Porter - £395

OPI In My Santa Suit nail polish - Beauty Bay - £8.05

Total = £841.53

For this look I decided to stick with my usual smart casual style. And we know how much I LOVE my red Converse trainers, but since the weather is a bit chilly to wear those just now, I was thrilled to discover that there were a very cool (and not too dissimilar) pair of UGG shoes complete with furry sheepskin around the ankle and tongue as well as and leather lining to kick start this look. A perfect alternative to my Cons? Yes! I'm sure these would 'feel like nothing else' on my feet and would keep my little size 3 tootsies warm and toasty in winter.

Wearing my dark denim jeans, crisp white shirt and a pop of red in a cosy knitted jumper. I can see me sipping a hot tea and munching on a warmed scone in a little cafe on a bright winter afternoon.

To keep me ahead of the game in my second favourite spectator sport (people watching. Oh come on we all love doing that!), I opted for a new pair of Tom Ford glasses. I may paint my nails with my OPI shiny berry red polish from the Mariah Carey Holiday collection. Then, when it's time to go I'll pop on my cashmere beanie hat and oversized tartan scarf. Well, we are in Scotland after all! Cosy.

To finish my look I'll pop my laptop and purse and keys and phone and camera and 2 lip balms and notepad into my gorgeous leather Mulberry tote bag and set off to wander the streets...

To me that just feels like nothing else.

Hope you've liked my look. 

Angela x

Isabel Marant pour H&M

Two weeks ago saw the launch of the hotly anticipated Isabel Marant Pour HandM collection in Paris. I've not really bothered much with the HandM collaborations in the past (the Versace one being too gold for my liking), but this one I've been looking forward to since it was announced earlier in the year and even more so since the look book hit the internet in September. I've been saving some extra pennies in my November budget for the day itself, Thursday 14 November. I cannot wait.

I think I'd like something from each of the sections; women's, men's and kids. They're so nice and laid back. Chunky knit cardigans, sweatshirts and kids slip on sneakers, which I'm sure will turn out to be a HUGE must have item. As always with these collaborations the prices are much higher than normal for H&M but I'm hoping the quality will justify this. Actually, £80 for a long line chunky knit cardigan isn't too bad.

Here are some on my favourite pieces.

Kids cardigan, £39.99

Long chunky knit wool hooded cardigan, £79.99

Black and white loopy wool jumper, £69.99

1) Sequinned Trousers, £149.99; 2) Slip on sneakers, £29.99; 3) Silk skirt, £39.99

I would've given anything to have been able to attend the launch party and have a browse inside this pop up shop. Hurry up 14 November!

All photos - vogue.co.uk

Angela x

Sweet Treats

Sunday was spent watching Formula One and then at another family gathering saying goodbye to my cousin who leaves for a six month sabbatical to Australia on Wednesday. But before all that I'd cooked up a batch of raspberry cream sweets.

Why? Because we're organising a Christmas fayre / cake sale / Christmas jumper day at work on Friday 13 December for Save The Children. It's their annual Christmas Jumper Day where you wear your best (or worst) Christmas jumper, pay £1 to take part and donate the money to Save The Children. We thought we'd go one better and sell cakes as well as have raffles. So far so successful. Thanks to Linda we've had around 35 prizes donated from various local businesses and crafty businesses on Facebook. It's really amazing. One prize includes a 4 night stay in a holiday cottage in Aviemore. The voucher is valid for 18 months too! Quite remarkable isn't it.

Anyway, the cakes. So I'll do my usual Mars Bar cake, coconut balls and i thought I'd try peppermint creams too. Put them in nice wee Christmas bags, sell em for a pound maybe.

I decided that as well as peppermint creams, I'd try strawberry creams. Couldn't find frozen strawberries on their own so opted for raspberries. I boiled and simmered them until they'd broken up and were a thick luscious sauce. Strained them through a sieve (a muslin cloth would've been for easier and less time consuming).

Boiling and straining

To my cream paste I added a few teaspoons of the raspberry sauce and mixed it again. I then rolled out the paste and used little cutters to make the star and heart shapes.  I chilled the shapes for a little while then melted some chocolate i had laying around and dipped ht shapes in.

So i didn't have a lot of chocolate left over. The ones i sell won't look so messy. Still taste great though

Pretty easy really. Pretty messy too. They taste pretty good but I'll add more of the sauce next time, whichever flavour I decide on. They'll keep for a few weeks on an airtight container but I'll make my batch for selling in the week of the fayre.

So if you're free on Friday 13 December and are in the area, come along, buy cakes, have a cups, win raffle prizes. Go on.

Angela x