Music, music, music!

This year music has seemed to be a prominent theme. Not only have I been lucky to see my favorite artists live....many times, I've discovered new artists too.

Once again I managed to nab tickets to see The Script at a very intimate gig they were doing at The Forum in Kentish Town, Camden. This was an event set up by Sony and Vodafone to promote their new phone by giving away tickets to anyone who'd bought this phone or who'd been lucky enough to win tickets. Even my parents came along as we had spare tickets, in which other friends couldn't come, due to it being 18+. At first I was more excited to see what my parents thought after me going on and on about The Script for the past few years, and they loved it to say the least. They loved the energy that The Script provide at any of their gigs, and how interactive they are with the audience, especially Danny's usual run through the crowd. 

Although, stadium and arena gigs are great, the atmosphere of a small venue's is incomparable. The experience of being right in the action of the gig, singing along with many die-hard fans is amazing making the evening truly special. Now I'm in the festive spirit and ready for the No Sound Without Silence tour early next year, waiting to see what amazing things The Script do next!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks for reading :P 

 My YouTube Channel- I have posted some videos from the concerts that I've been to in the last few years
The Script YouTube
The Script Twitter

18th Birthday!

Last Saturday, I turned 18 and I had the most amazing day....or should I say week. The celebrations started off on Tuesday, when a few friends and I went for a meal in London for one of my friends birthday. As always London looked beautiful, especially at this time of year when everything is festive.

Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden Christmas tree

 The celebrations continued on Thursday when two friends and I went to see the new Hunger Games film, Mockingjay. To say the least it was amazing! The story line is truly captivating and shows the power of people when they come together.

We then went ice skating on Friday at Somerset House, which is a beautiful setting to go skating. This really got me into the festive spirit and excited for my birthday!

Finally, on my birthday I had all my family round in the evening, which included a pretty spectacular firework display my dad put on (how cute!). I was spoiled with so many amazing gifts from friends and family, which I am defiantly very luck to have! 

And of course I always have time for some cupcake baking!! 

Thank you for reading! :P

Revision playlist

As half term is upon us, and although there's a lot of relaxing to be done there's also revision and homework to also be done. I thought I'd share a few tracks that are on my playlist, that I've been loving at the moment to get me through the boring revision.

Howl at the moon- The Script 

(There is not an official video yet so here is a lyric video)

Shake it off- Taylor Swift

Youth- Foxes

Gold Rush- Ed Sheeran 

(Again, there isn't an official video so here is a lyric video) 

Waste of time- MØ

I want you- Saint Raymond

I hope you enjoy these few songs that I am enjoying at the moment :P 

iTunes festival and Ed Sheeran!

Earlier last month I got the opportunity to go to the iTunes Festival at the Camden Roundhouse in London, to see The Script (Squeel!). For those of you who don't know what the iTunes Festival is, it is 30 days of music throughout September each year, where current popular artists play each night. However, all the tickets are free so obviously they are in very high demand, which makes it super hard to get any...however many times you enter all your family members :P. Anyway I was told about an app, called YPlan, which provided tickets as well as iTunes, where they released a few up to two days before the event, and I was lucky enough/quick enough to grab a pair for the 15th September! :D (after all my efforts entering multiple competitions). The gig was (of course) amazing, and probably the best i've ever been to, not only because The Script are my favourite band but because of the small, intimate atmosphere, and how close to the front I was, which I think will be hard to beat. As well as seeing my favourite band, I also got a chance to see an artist that I'd never heard of, Foxes, who were also great. I thought I'd share a few pictures I took. Enjoy!

 

In February a friend and I managed to get tickets to see Ed Sheeran on the 14th of October at the O2 arena London, where he was playing four consecutive nights. Obviously, Ed Sheeran is a hugely popular artist, and considering this was his first UK arena tour the tickets were in very high demand to say the least! I had also planned to see The Vamps on the Wednesday evening however, on the 13th I recieved an email from Octopus Books publishing company saying I'd won their competition to win two Ed Sheeran tickets for the 15th (which I had forgotten I'd entered) and of course I accepted. Which meant that I couldn't see The Vamps, but who would pass up the opportunity to see Ed Sheeran two days in a row...I certainly wouldn't/didn't. This was pretty lucky as I'd been looking for tickets for a friend for weeks, without luck because all four shows were sold out, and the only tickets available were ridiculously overpriced! Of course I was extremely excited to tell her I'd won tickets and that I was taking her to see him. Both nights were absolutely amazing and Ed Sheeran did not disappoint at all. His stage presence, with only him and his guitar is truly captivating, and I would defiantly recommend seeing him live. 

Where to find The Script - Website

YouTube channel

Vevo YouTube channel

Twitter

Where to find Ed Sheeran - Website

YouTube Channel

Twitter

Where to find Foxes - Website

Vevo YouTube channel

YouTube channel

Twitter

Thanks for reading! :P

The Cake and Bake show 2014

Last weekend my dad and I took a trip up to London to visit The Cake and Bake show. This is an exhibition that happens every year, in which there are hundreds of stalls, and also demonstrations by celebrity chefs. As I am an avid baker this was a very exciting and fun afternoon! There were many amazing cake designs, of all different themes as well as tasters (yum!) at many of the food stalls, ranging from bread to fudge.

We also got a chance to watch Rosmary Shrager's demonstration, which was to say the least hilarious because of her fun, bossy nature, as well as Rachel Khoo, Frances Quinn and Jo Wheatley. Although, to my disappointment this years contestants of The Great British Bake off attended the show the day after.

To top it all off this year there was a stand dedicated to the TV show Cake Boss, which I absolutely love. If you have never seen the show (you should!), it's about a bakery in New York owned by an Italian American man called Buddy Valastro. At this bakery they produce some of the most amazing cake designs, such as a mechanical bull cake, which is what inspired me to have a go at challenging my cake decorating skills earlier this year.

Thank you for reading! :) 

Home baking

As Autumn is officially here what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon doing a bit of baking. The evenings are getting darker and the mornings are becoming colder, so what more do you want than some good old comfort food!  

I've always had a love, hate relationship with macarons, with them going wrong more times than right but, as always I'm determined to get them perfect. Last weekend (27th) I was searching through the cupboards trying to pull odd ingredients together, but in the end I decided to try a classic chocolate macaron with a chocolate ganache filling.

Ingredients: 

• 125g icing sugar
• 125g ground almonds
• 50g cocoa powder
• 90g free-range egg whites
• 2 tbsp water
• 110g caster sugar
• food colouring (optional)
• 50g milk/dark chocolate 
• 2 tsp milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170/C/325F/Gas 3 and line a large baking tray with baking paper, or lay your macaron sheet onto a baking tray. 
2. Put the icing sugar, ground almonds, cocoa powder and 40g/1½oz egg whites together in a large bowl and mix to a paste.
3. Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat gently to melt the sugar, then turn up the heat and boil until the mixture starts to go syrupy and thickens.
4. Whisk the remaining 50g/2oz egg whites in a small bowl until medium-stiff peaks form (when the whisk is removed from the bowl), then pour in the sugar syrup, whisking until the mixture becomes stiff and shiny. For coloured macaroons, add a few drops of food colouring (Note: use gel colouring as liquid changes the consistency of the mixture). Tip this meringue mixture into the almond paste mixture and whisk gently until it becomes stiff and shiny again.
5. Spoon into a piping bag.  With the bag held vertically, pipe 4cm/1½in flat circles onto the lined tray, about 2cm/¾in apart, twisting the bag after each one, or pipe into the indents on the macaron sheet. The mixture should be quite loose to give a smooth finish. The piping will leave a small ‘tip’ on each circle so, when they’re all piped, give the tray 2–3 slams on a flat surface to flatten them. At this stage, sprinkle with desiccated coconut if you want.
6. Leave to stand for 30 minutes to form a skin then bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes with the door slightly ajar until firm. Remove from the oven, lift the paper off the baking tray and leave the macaroons to cool on the paper/mat. (Note: The macarons will not peel off a macaron mat easily until cooled).
7. To make the filling, put chocolate into a heatproof bowl and gently melt over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir in the warm milk until smooth. Leave to cool and thicken a little, then use to sandwich the macaroons together

As well as these delicious Macarons I made some indulgent chocolate chip cookies. I've been making these cookies for about a year now and haven't looked back. Their crumbly buttery texture is divine, along with the gooey chocolate chunks throughout. 

Ingredients:

• 125g butter
• 100g light brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4
2. Cream butter and sugars, once creamed, combine in the egg and vanilla.
3. Sift in the flour and salt, then the chocolate chips.
4. Roll into walnut size balls, for a more homemade look, or roll into a long, thick sausage shape and slice to make neater looking cookies.
5. Place on ungreased baking paper. Bake for 7-10 minutes until they have reached your desired colour. The longer they are left in the oven the crunchier they will be.
6. Take out of the oven and leave to harden for a minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. 

Thanks for reading, happy baking! :P

Final school year!

Once again we are a month into the new school year...but this year is a bit different, as it's (hopefully) my last year at school. I've began to feel  a little sentimental of the short time that I have left at school, and have finally understand the saying "school is the best days of your life". Lets face it things get a lot harder from here on out!

The slow walk to school on the first day back became a walk down memory lane of the past 14 years and the great time we've actually had at school. As well as this it made me look back on all that I've achieved over the years, such as my GCSE's and A level's not to mention all the great friends I've made not only in secondary school but in primary too. Which hopefully will remain even when we all go onto new adventures next year.

Being in the final year has also made me feel oddly old... now this may seem strange that a 17 year old could feel old, but seeing all the new years sevens with their backpacks twice the size of them. Not to mention them running to get to their lessons 'on time' with their well used maps. These things have made me strangely jealous. Don't get me wrong, I in no way want to go back to year seven as I would hate to have to do all those exams again, but jealous because they've got all these fun experiences yet to come!

All being said I am defiantly looking forward to a change in scenery when I go to university (hopefully) and making many new friends and memories! As well as being able to study what I love!

Thank you for reading!

Engagement cake!

Recently, my brother and his girlfriend got engaged which was a perfect excuse to have a big celebration party. Inevitably there was a lot of planning to be done and as always I offered to make a cake. I thought after my Formula One cake I made for my brother and dad's birthday I'd try something simple. So after a look on Google and Pintrest for ideas I chose a design. The cake was a two tiered Victoria sponge, decorated with white roll out icing and white textured icing hearts and stars (you can't beat a good ol' victoria sponge ay! :D).
 I then bought two ribbons from a local cake decorating shop, put their names on the base and printed a silhouette of a couple (unfortunately I couldn't get an edible one in time).
 Although there were a a few glitches and disasters along the way I feel that it turned out quite nicely in the end, and the happy couple were defiantly happy with it along with the rest of the party.

For this recipe I used the same recipe that I have previously posted on cupcake posts however, with 250g of butter, sugar, flour and eggs (5 eggs) for the bottom cakes and 150g of each for the top cakes.
I really enjoyed trying out a new cake design and hope this has inspired you to have a go and challenge your baking skills.

Happy baking :P

Best day ever!

As you may already know I am a huge fan of a band called The Script. They have recently revealed that they are bringing out a fourth album named 'No Sound Without Silence', with their first single 'Superheroes' being released to radio on Monday 21st July 2014. As always new music means more promo and interviews. Last Monday they revealed that the single was being released on the BBC radio one breakfast show in London. So what better opportunity to go and try to meet them! After my friend kindly agreed to come with me we (got up....at a very early time) set off to London for the day.
As you can probably tell by now we did in fact get the chance to meet Danny, Mark and Glen from The Script after their interview, which of course was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. They were as always very grateful to see so many people there to meet them, and took the time to have a little chat with everyone there.

Although some may say that they're just people, I believe their music has helped and inspired me so much over the past few years to achieve and feel my best. Their use of honest and story like lyrics, I feel is an admirable quality to have in a band within the music industry today, and hope that there will be much more to come from them in the future.

I thought I'd share a few snaps I took on the day for anyone who's interested, thanks for reading :)

My Pictures with Glen, Danny and Mark. 

photo 1-1

photo 1-2

Pre-order The Script's new single 'Superheroes'

Pre-order The Script's new album 'No Sound Without Silence' and get 'It's not right for you' straight away

Follow The Script on twitter 

Like their Facebook page

Father's day!

Although Fathers day has been and gone I thought I'd share a cupcake recipe that I did for my dad on fathers day, but they would also be fun to make for any other special occasion. Recently I have been watching an Irish family called the SacconeJoly's on YouTube, where Anna (the woman) has been uploading baking recipes onto her channel. This recipe was one of her recent cupcake recipes and they were too cute not to make myself!! However, I did make a few changes as I couldn't find some of her ingredients and also my dad prefers vanilla cupcakes to chocolate.

Cupcakes: 
- 150g Butter/ Margarine
- 150g Caster sugar
- 150g Self raising flour
- 3 Eggs
Icing: 
- 50g butter
- 100g Icing sugar
Toppings: 
I used ground coconut covered in green edible powder instead of green sprinkles.
- Round mints
- Straws
- Post it notes
- Ground plain biscuits (e.g. digestives, rich tea etc)

Method: 
For making cupcakes I just use a standard creaming method as I feel that this creates light, airy, spongy cakes. 
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line your cupcake tin(s) with cases.
2. Place the (softened) butter/margarine into a mixing bowl along with the sugar,and mix together with a wooden spoon until fully combined and of a creamy consistency.
3. Place the eggs into the bowl one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each egg.
 NOTE: Don't worry if the mixture curdles, this is due to the eggs being too cold but this does not effect the cakes in any way, once the flour is added it will go back to normal.
4. Next add the flour and fold in with a metal spoon until the ingredients are all combined.
5. Finally place the mixture into the cupcake cases until they are about 3/4 full.
6. Place in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Topping: 
1. Place the (softened) butter into a bowl along with the icing sugar and mix until combined/ of a smooth consistency.
2. Once the cupcakes are out of the oven and cooled completely, cover the top of each cupcake with a thin layer of the buttercream. This is used as a base for the other toppings to stick to.
3. Place the coconut into a small bowl and cover with the green dust until it is of a grass colour. Then place this on one side of the cupcake as the green.
4. Then finely crush the biscuits and place on the other half of the cupcake as the bunker.
5. Cut your straws to about 5cm and on the sticky side of your post it notes cut a small triangle. Place the triangle on the end of the straw (as a flag) and place in the grass side of the cake.
6. Finally, place the round mint in the (bunker) biscuit side of the cake as the golf ball.

Anna Saccone's YouTube Video of these cupcakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IazBl4XXw58

SacconeJolys channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxJrnvfqSSvly5hiq2Fe68g

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this fun, easy recipe :) 

May favourites!

As we are approaching the end of  May now I thought it was about time I did another favourites post! Here are five items that I have been loving throughout May!

The first item is a perfume that I've had for quite a few years now, but have been wearing more often recently. This is the DKNY be delicious perfume, I am not too keen on overpowering smelling perfumes, and this one is defiantly not that, it is light and suitable to be worn not only in the day but on a night out too!

£34.99 Boots

The next item is a trio of Body shop lip balms that I received for Christmas from my brother. They came in a cracker shaped packaging that twisted at either end. Obviously it's not Christmas any more (sigh), which means that they do not currently sell these exact same lip balms any more. However, they do have similar ones such as the Honeymania lip balm, which is £4, or a similar collection called Born Lippy pot lip balms which come in Satsuma, Raspberry, Strawberry, Passionberry and Watermelon which are £2 each. I have been loving these lip balms as they smell amazing, they are not too thick and make your lips look healthy and shiny.

The third item I have been loving not only throughout May but since December 2013 is a No7 eyeshadow. I received this eye shadow in a gift set from No7 when buying multiple items from them and cannot find it on their website, but this is defiantly worth looking out for if they have similar offers in the future. It is a brownie purple colour with a slight shimmer. I've found that works nicely on top of a lighter base eyeshadow, in the outer corner and in the crease of your eyelid. I have loved this eyeshadow throughout May as it is not too dark and can be worn everyday or on a night out. 

 Another Item I have been loving in May are lip crayons. I have two, one from Revlon which is a dark red ,and the other is from No7 which is a light pink. I love wearing these under my Kate Moss red Lipstick from Revlon (£5.49), and my Brighton Rock lipstick from Topshop (£8). They are easy to apply and help the lipstick last longer, as I apply one of these as a base coat.

The last item is a top I was bought recently from River Island. I found that as the days were getting warmer I did not have much clothing suitable for the summer, or for festivals (as festival season is approaching). The top was £20 and has detailed cutouts at the front and buttons up the back.

I hope you like some of these items I have been loving throughout May!