One, two, three

Apart from the glorious British weather, this week has been pretty fab. On Wednesday it was my nineteenth birthday (weeeeeee...) and so I had a day filled with loveliness and the odd one or two presents. I went out for a bit of a boogie on Thursday evening, to celebrate with my friends and had lunch out with the family yesterday. All in all, it was perfect. 
Here are three things that are currently making me smile, in the hope that next week will be just as good.

The reappearance of it on my dressing table - there is nothing I don't love about this perfume

A surprising twist on my birthday cake from one of my friends

William Morris at Liverpool Walker Gallery

♥

Chunky chocolate cookies

Last weekend, whilst feeling pretty glum that the sunshine was starting to disappear and with signs that winter was creeping ever closer(don't get me wrong, I am also quite the fan of the odd knitted jumper but it's always a sad moment when summer officially ends), I decided that cookies were the perfect way to brighten up my Sunday afternoon. 

With that said, here is the recipe for approximately 12 rather large yet delish cookies. And when I say large, I do mean the size of your head.

What you'll need:

• 350g unsifted flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 225g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 175g soft brown sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 350g dark chocolate, crumbled 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375F/Gas 5. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In another bowl, place the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract and mix until creamy. 

3. Beat in the eggs.

4. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Then, using a rolling pin, smash the chocolate, before adding it in with the rest of the ingredients. Mix until everything is fully combined.

5. Cover several baking trays with baking parchment (unless you want to chisel the cookies off once cooked) and carefully spoon out the mixture, onto the trays. It is up to you what size you make them, but make sure they are widely spaced apart as they do spread A LOT. Each cookie should be about 2cm thick, and baked for 9-11 minutes or until nicely golden.

6. Once cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes on the baking trays (to allow the cookies to harden slightly) before transferring onto a cooling rack. 

Team with a cup of Pukka's cleanse tea (mentioned in my One, two, three post) for the ultimate afternoon snack.

♥

One, two, three

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, this last week has been pretty busy. I started my new Art Foundation course at college on Monday, which so far I'm thoroughly enjoying, AND I'm in the process of completely redecorating my bedroom. I'm currently living out of random bags and boxes until the new carpet is fitted. So much fun. 

The perfect alternative to the classic 'English Breakfast'

A cheeky gold studded, pre-winter splurge from Topshop

The smell of freshly baked tastiness (Recipe for these bad boys to follow in the next couple of days)

♥

France - Part two

As promised, here is the second part of my France post, although a little later than planned I'm afraid. Having just started my Art Foundation course this week and currently being in the process of redecorating my bedroom, it's all been a bit hectic. This beautiful weather is definitely making everything a lot easier though...I like to believe that I brought it back from France with me!

Anyway, how's your week been? I understand that like me, some people have already started school/college so I hope it hasn't been too bad for you all. And like many of my friends, people are getting ready to leave to go to uni having hit IKEA in a big way, which is SO EXCITING, so good luck to all of you in the same position. 

As you can probably see from the photos below, the second half of my holiday was just as fabulous as the first, consisting of many days spent around the pool, a trip to the most incredible market(notice how I may have gotten a tad carried away with the food there, but enjoy having a chuckle at the Marilyn Monroe esque photo of sister Webb), and a small visit from my tres cute little cousins. Most of their time was spent either shooting each other with shuttle cocks and hose pipes, or finding as many ways possible to play with an inflattable frisbee. Who knew you could create a miniature pool for toy knights, with one?!

♥

One, two, three

I've always found that when it comes to the end of the weekend, I'm overwhelmed with that Sunday feeling. I guess it's something to be expected as it's soon to be Monday morning and the start of another busy week, however it's not particularly the greatest of things.

Now, going back to my holiday, when I was flicking through the September issue of Glamour, I stumbled upon an article on Emily Schuman's blog, Cupcakes and Cashmere, and instantly fell in love with it. Her uber-stylish mix of home makeovers, fashion, recipes and organisation secrets are somewhat addictive, and you can't help but spend hours reading her never ending number of fabulous posts.

After recently having a little browse on it and coming across her 'five things' posts, I was instantly hooked on Emily's idea of focusing on different things that she's currently loving, being inspired by or are just making her smile. 

With that in mind, I've decided to share with you my (very similar) version of 'five things'. With thanks to Emily's wonderful idea, I'm hoping it'll be a way to diminish my Sunday feeling and start a new week more positively. Sundays will soon become my new best friend.

Memories of warm, candlelight dinners on holiday

Beautiful, white flowers that greet me in the kitchen every morning

Last few days of the summer sunshine

♥

France - Part one

Apologies for the extreme lack of blogging...turns out that it's pretty difficult to find decent internet that won't crash every 10 minutes, in rural France. However, after four weeks away, I have returned and am well and truly ready to get back into blogging...oh how I've missed it!

So, how were your holidays - do anything exciting; go anywhere nice? Mine was A-MAZING and it is fair to say that I most definitely have not missed the British weather. I got far too used to endless days of sunshine and relaxed barbecues, in the evening, with family and friends. 

Anyway, here is a little glimpse into where I went and what I got up to over the summer...I've split it into two separate posts as there's too much goodness to have in just one (but don't worry, I won't bore you with all the photos).

♥

Au revoir, à bientôt

Oui oui, I'm off to France for the next few weeks and with the difficulty of having no internet, I'm afraid the blogging will have to be put on hold for a while. (I am however quite the fan of 'ye olde local French internet cafe', so you may be in with some luck and see the odd post from time to time!)

Summer is most definitely my favourite time of year and being able to spend some of it in France is always an exciting part of my holiday. As much as I love England, there is nothing better than being able to get away from everything for a few weeks, and do nothing but eat, sunbathe, read, swim and occasionally visit the typically French local market or village-I just hope that I don't take the oh-so-wonderful British weather with me!

Aside of all that, I am also aware that the BIG results day on the 16th of August is creeping ever closer and I'm starting to feel pretty nervous. Have I done enough? Will all the revision have paid off? Will I be happy with my results?

...honestly, I'm not quite sure whether I want to know.

I'd rather skip the 16th and wake up one day and have the results just pop into my head. Things would be so much easier. None of this umm-ing and argh-ing, whilst the kind lady on the other end of the phone trundles off to find my little brown envelope, leaving me waiting for what feels like a bajillion years. It's far too stressful.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all having a fabulous summer-do feel free to comment below and let me know what you're up to! And if you too are expecting results, I hope they are exactly what you want...my fingers and toes shall be crossed for us all!

♥