The Life and Loves of a Smiley Lady

My First Ever Attempt at Making Cupcakes

2010-03-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

Firstly I have an apology to make. I haven't paid enough attention to my blog - it has been such a busy, busy few weeks and I've just been constantly doing this or that and not had much in the way of spare time. Anyway here I am and today I'm going to tell you about something new I did recently.

I quite often read lots of blogs whch feature gorgeous cakes that people have baked and have thought to myself "I'd really like to have a go at doing a spot of baking". Now I have to admit I am no Betty Crocker! The last time I tried to make my husband a cake it was so bad it ended up in the bin before he could see my feeble attempt (words cannot describe how bad it was!). The worst thing about the whole experience was the actual sponge cakes themselves were frozen and all that needed doing with them was putting in the oven to bake - they themselves wern't too bad but it all went wrong when I tried to add the buttercream filling before they had properly cooled down.......that will teach me for being an eager beaver!

Last weekend it was a very good friends hen do. As one of her bridesmaids I really wanted to make something lovely for all the hens as part of the buffet so I decided to bake some cupcakes - a major project for someone of my cooking standards!

I'd got all my ingredients enough to make 12 cupcakes and the decorations which I would use to make them look pretty. So on Friday night when most people are out clubbing I was at home donning my apron and following the recipe that I'd got off the internet. Once in the oven all I could do was wait to see what happened - about 15 minutes later I checked and there in front of me were 12 lovely looking little sponge cakes.

Remembering my experience last time I made sure the cakes were completely cooled before I tried to ice them with the buttercream topping. Unfortunately this didn't come out quite how I wanted it to - I'd wanted it to be a nice pink colour and had slowly been adding red colouring to the mixture which ldid look the perfect colour before I left it to thicken slightly in the fridge to make it easier to pipe. When I went to use the frosting it had turned a beige colour, not quite what I was hoping for but it was still useable.

A sprinkle of different toppings on each cake finished them off nicely and I was very proud of my creations.

Of course the proof was in the pudding but I coudn't test them as I had made exactly the right amount of cakes - one for each hen. It was a little bit of a worrying time when the first person took a bite but I was very happy that everybody told me the cakes were yummy - in fact as a well known advert says "they tasted exceedingly good".

Not bad for a first attempt I think. I'm looking forward to making some more - maybe I'll do some at the weekend as I think my husband was a little miffed that he didn't get to try one!

As always thank you for reading.

xSx

Finds, Buys and Eyes

2010-02-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

After feeling rather under the weather in the latter part of last week with this horrible cold that is going round the weekend got off to a quite boring start spending Saturday curled up on the sofa with my laptop and a husband nursing a hangover from Friday night.

Even though I'm not 100%, I'm feeling much better today and so this morning we got up early for one of my favourite Sunday passtimes - a trip to the local car boot. Having been brought up in a family that quite often visited car boot sales I've always enjoyed finding bargains and scouting for treasure. Admittedly a car boot is usually a mixed bag, stuff that you wouldn't look twice at, stuff that would be perfect but maybe needs a little TLC or is a fixer upper and sometimes you come accross a diamond in the rough.

We are very lucky in Milton Keynes that we have a massive car boot every weekend (even during the winter) at the Bowl a huge outdoor venue used for concerts. In the height of the summer when the weather is glorious it can take three or four hours just to walk around and thats without really even stopping that often - I love it!

Unfortunately, as is the case with a lot of winter weekends, the weather was against us this morning. It was a little drizzly when we left the house, I didn't think it would be worth going but as my husband said we were up and dressed and out now so we may as well go. As I thought by time we got there there the rain was coming down quite heavily and a lot of the stall holders had given in and were packing up. I did pick up a few things though....

Sunglasses £3 - Brand New with Tags (taken off for picture)

I think a girl can never have too many pairs of sunglasses. I love having a selection of different styles to wear when the sun is shining. They can totally transform an outfit and as any celebrity will tell you a pair of oversized sunnies is very stylish!

Goldey Coloured Bangle - 50p

I love car boots for adding to my accessories and when I spotted this gold coloured chunky bangle I thought it could work well with a few things in my wardrobe. At the bargain price of 50p it wasnt exactly going to break the bank.

Another great buy were some Clinique skin care items, all brand new at 50p each. I also brought a brown boho style belt which I will be offering as a giveaway prize when I reach 25 subscribers, so if there is anyone you know who might like my blog then feel to point them in the direction of it.

Also today I had a bit of a play around with my eye make up. After watching a tutorial on You Tube I picked up some hints on how to create a winged eye effect. I wanted to have a pratice for a wedding I am attending in a couple of weeks - although I used a totally different colour today to what I will be using for the wedding. This was the result......

It was only a very rough practice and annoyingly I couldn't find my black eyeliner so looks like I will need to buy a new one of them but I was quite pleased with how the look turned out. This look has two colours a silver in the inner eye and then a teal green on the outer section of the eye - I used MAC pigments for this but this could be achieved with any brand of eye make up.

Not such a great picture as it's quite hard to take a picture of your own eye with your eyes closed!

If anyone would like some step by step instructions on how to achieve this kind of look just leave me a message and I will try and do something during the week.Maybe even suggest a colour combination as I always like to try out new things.

Finally my last purchase for this weekend was down to my new found addiction to butterfly necklaces. This addiction started after my friend brought me a really pretty butterfly necklace for my birthday last year and I had a lot of compliments on it when I've worn it. Now I find myself drawn to similar necklaces and I spotted this one a few weeks ago in Asda and I gave in yesterday and brought it.

I wear a lot of black v neck tops (staple wardrobe favourite) and also have a green v necked jumper that I wear to work a lot which will go so well with this necklace, It was only £4 and it is actually quite large so I think it was worth the price, the black and green is kind of enamelled. I've learnt that if I see something at Asda I like I should buy it more or less straight away as they have a quick turnover of stock - many a time I have held off and then when I've gone to buy the item it has gone.

I have the next week off work so am looking forward to that. Have got various things planned - a trip to Manchester to do a photoshoot for my friends little boy and a birthday party on Friday. Tomorrow my husband has the day off work so we are having a nice day together. The other days I am going to try and have a good clear out, put some stuff on Ebay and possibly even paint the bathroom - lets see how much I actually get done!

Ooops what a long blog today! I'm such a chatterbox. I hope you've all had a good weekend with lots of bargain finds and fun for good measure.

Thanks for reading.

xSx

Rainbow Eyes

2010-02-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

Not been able to update my blog for a couple of days. Have been mega busy and had a boiler breakdown which I think we have now sorted out - for the time being at least.....hope that isn't tempting fate! At least we know the required part has been ordered so it should be properly fixed soon.

Anyway another of my loves is make up - especially eye make up. My eyes are one of my favourite features and a lot of people comment on their colour, or mixture of colours. They are a mixture of green, grey and brown with green being the most predominant colour in them. When I do my make up for a night out I always tend to play up my eyes and keep my lips nice and neutral. I love using green on my eyes as it really brings out their colour but also like to experiment with different colours - only problem is that it starts to get expensive.

I usually tend to use MAC pigments (buy them by the teaspoon) and Barry M Dazzle Dusts (good budget brand) but then one day I stumbled accross the most perfect item for someone like me.

This is the 88 colour Shimmer Eyshadow Palette from Coastal Scents. Eighty Eight different shades of eyeshadow all in one handy palette. I had to get it shipped in from the US but I'd seen good reviews on them and liked the idea of having so many different colours all in one place.

The pans are quite small but the colours are really strong and they blend well. I've used it quite a few times now and each time I try something different with it. It is fantastic for weekends away when I don't really know what colour I might want to use on my eyes and can't really carry lots of individual eyshadows with me - this is very portable as the palette itself is pretty small. I keep it in the box so that I can take it with me when I go away. The only problem is that sometimes there too much selection!

I do love a nice dramatic eye make up on a night out. I really should practice new looks more as I do tend to stick to the same ones over and over again. I recently did my eyes and put false lashes on and everything for a trip to see Rocky Horror at the theatre.

It turned out really well - a lot more dramatic than I usually go for but fitting for the occasion. (check out my reflection in my eye which was from doing a self portrait)

For those that are interested you can get the Coastal Scents palettes via mail order www.coastalscents.com or they sometimes crop up on Ebay. I would definitely recommend them - especially for those who like to experiement with different colours but may be on a budget.

I have a few looks that I want to practice from make up tutorials I've seen on You Tube. I'm off to a weding in a couple of weeks and need to practice my make up for that - I might do that at the weekend as I should have time. You never know I may even post some pictures up :o)

Anyway I'm signing off for this evening. I think I may be coming down with a cold and so am going to have a nice comforting bubble bath and dose myself up with Lemsips.

Thanks for reading.

xSx

Weekends and Pretty Dresses

2010-02-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

I've not updated my blog in a couple of days as I've been away on a girly weekend but I'm back and what a lovely weekend I've had.

A friend of mine is gettng married in August and as one of her bridesmaids I was invited to join her and the other maids on a trip to London to try on bridemsmaids dresses. Luckily for me she is thinking of getting dresses from my favourite dress shop in the world.........Vivien of Holloway.

Vivien of Holloway sell 50's clothing - tops, skirts, trousers and dresses. The items they are probably most well known for are their pencil dresses and swishy circle dresses. They are based in London and have recently opened a new shop on Holloway Road - this was where we were heading on the first stop of our girly weekend.

I never used to wear dresses and instead wore trousers all the time. It is still rare I will wear a dress during a normal day, which is something I really want to work on but these days I love wearing a dress for nights out and occasions like weddings. I think this is because I have finally worked out the best style of dresses for my shape and this includes the lovely circle dresses made by Vivien of Holloway.

I was very lucky to have recieved a gift voucher for Vivien of Holloway from my husband for Christmas as part of my presents so I had that to spend and I'd been saving up some cash in case I saw something I really liked. I'd already been eyeing up a possibe purchase on their website - it was just a case of what it looked like on me.

The sweetheart dress is part of the new spring fabrics range and comes in either red or pink. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it but wasn't sure if the print would be a little too much for me. When we approached the shop they had it in the window on a mannequin and it was as amazing as I thought it would be. As soon as we got in the shop I tried it on - it looked perfect, I was totally sold.

Vivien of Holloway is a very popular shop and for the first time ever they recently had a sale of surplus stock. The sale was originally for a few days only and was due to end before our trip to London, I was gutted as I couldn't make it down due to being at work (boo hiss!). Then just two days before our trip they announced they were extending the sale for another week - this made me very excited as maybe I might pick up a bargain.

Upon arriving at the shop I headed straight for the sale rail as any self confessed bargain hunter would do. There were a few dresses in my size all with £25 off so I decided I would use the money I had saved to get one of those but now to decide which one to go for..............in the end I went for this one.

So as you can imagine I am a very happy lady today as not only did I have a lovely weekend with some of my favourite ladies but also came home with two new pretty dresses. I'm not brave enough to post a picture of me wearing them just yet but who knows I might do later on.

Now I just need an event to wear them to! I hope you've all had a good weekend.

xSx

The first shoe post..............bound to be one of many!

2010-02-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

Now I read all the blogs of ladies on here who have such a great sense of style and I wish I could be better at putting outfits together but I admit I do tend to wear the same outfits and am not very experimental with my style.

I have improved though, a few years ago I lived my life totally in black.....and before you ask I wasn't a goth (not there is anything wrong with goths) I guess I was a bit scared of colour. Not being your average size, shape or height I always panicked that colour and patterns just didn't suit me so black seemed like the easiest option. I have started bringing in colour to my life over the past couple of years, I'm getting there and who knows in another year or two I may well be able to push myself to experiment a bit with my outfits.

So in the absence of items of interest my way of adding a kooky or unusual edge to my outfits would be through one of my biggest loves in life - shoes! Just the thought of lovely new eyecatching shoes brings a huge smile to my face and when I see a pair I love well sometimes it's hard to resist them.

As I have so many lovely shoes I'm not going to add them all on one post as that would be a) silly and b) so long you'd fall asleep! So for todays blog I'm going to add two of my favourite pairs of shoes.

Whilst shopping in Asda of all places I saw these beauties on the shelf, they called my name in a tantalizing way "Shazza we want to come home with you" they said - who was I to refuse? After trying them on I asked my husband what he thought and he said he liked them with a rather cheeky glint in his eye! I checked the price £12 - well it was hard to leave them there (as you can imagine). They are made of a lovely soft material it isn't suede but has the feel of it and they are so comfortable to wear. I usually wear these with black trousers and a black top - though I'd love some ideas on other combinations I could wear these (although bear in mind I do not own a pair of jeans!).

I think probably these would probably be included in my top three pairs of shoes..........

I may even go so far to say that these are my favourite shoes out of all my pairs. I can't remember where I saw these first but they are from New Look. I never saw them instore but think I came across them whilst browsing shoes on Ebay (one of my favourite passtimes!). All I remember was when I first saw them they wern't in my size and I searched for months for them before finally finding a pair in my size (a six in case you're wondering) for sale on Ebay. I ended up paying aboutr £7 plus postage for them and I ♥ them so much. These are definitely ones I wear with a totally black outfit whether it be trousers and a top or a dress as they just totally stand out - I think I'll be gutted when I eventually have to throw them away but luckily there is still plenty of wear in them yet ☺

I am sure that this won't be the only post I'll make about shoes. I have so many pretty pairs that I'd love to share with you all but until then goodnight everyone my bed is calling!

(Friday tomorrow hooray!)

xSx

My Bargain Boots Bag

2010-02-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking today what my first favourite thing should be when I suddenly realised the answer was right next to me.

On Boxing Day as always I headed off to the sales to see what I could pick up. First shop on my list Boots! As a self confessed make up, perfume and toilettries addict I always make sure I save up all the points on my Advantage Card so that I can spend them on the reduced items in the post Christmas Boots sale.

Another of my favourite things is getting a bargain, I mean who doesn't? Sometimes though things that seem to be bargains turn out to sit unused or unworn so this year I was determined to be a little bit more careful with what I purchased in the sales.

Whilst in Boots I spotted this bag, it was the last one and it immediately caught my eye.

Front

Back

A lovely big shopper bag with a Geisha on the front and a colourful oriental pattern on the reverse, marked down to half price at £5. I picked it up, put it back and thought "I don't really need that it's pretty but I probably wouldn't use it" when my husband came along and said "thats a nice bag" just what I needed to hear! So my heart over ruled my head on this occasion and I am so glad it did as I use this bag everyday. I bring my lunch and all my bits and bobs to work in it - much more stylish than using a carrier bag which I did before hahahaha!

If ths bag taught me one thing it is that sometimes it pays to take a risk. Since I got this bag I have had so many compliments on it and it always seems to get admiring looks from people. I love my Boots bargain bag and it is the first of my favourite things.

Hope you've all had a good Wednesday :o)

Thanks for reading.

xSx

Hello and Welcome

2010-02-03T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my blog.

I already have a photographic blog (you can find a link in my profile) but I have been thinking of setting up a more general one for a while now. So today I decided to bite the bullet and this is the result - I whole heartedly blame the MSE girls for making me do this! *wink*

This blog will be concentrating more on the day to day things that make me smile, the places I've been and the things I've seen. It isn't going to concentrate on any one particular theme but I can imagine there will be lots of talk about make up, perfume, shoes, pretty dresses, cats, films, my friends and my husband among many other topics as they are some of the things that make me smile.

I hope that you will enjoy reading.......

xSx