Another year. Another birthday. Another wish list.

• Game of Thrones - I don't actually own any of the books or previous series. GoT is epic.
• Candles - love scented candles and too-pretty-to-use candles (as above)
• Naughty Alice perfume - anything Alice in Wonderland related is fine by me. You can even get quotes from the book framed. It has taken all my strength not to order these for myself yet.
• Flowers - I love surprise flower deliveries. And how cute are these Interflora roses?! 
• Scrabble "L" ring - one of my favourite rings and then mine broke :'( 
• Teacups and saucers - besides tea, a novel way to drink cocktails and burn tea lights
• Quote jewellery - River Island always do the best bangles with quotes on them. I own two already but not the one above. I've also seen some pretty cute rings and bracelets with quotes elsewhere but I forget which website I found them on... frustrating much?
• Disney Couture Drink Me necklace (below) - I've been after one for ages and every time I think I've finally tracked one down online, it turns out to be an old webpage and VERY sold out. :'(

My birthday's next week and I'm celebrating with different people on different days over the next two weeks. Hopefully heading to Brighton too if the weather continues to behave itself. Does anyone have any suggestions of things to do / see / eat there? I hear there's an Alice in Wonderland shop in Brighton! ;)

Blame it on the sun

With the sun finally gracing us with its presence, I'm already planning and plotting and getting way ahead of myself in the process. Longing for summer, I dream of BBQs, outdoor swimming pools, holidays abroad, and drinks in the park. Perhaps rather prematurely, I ordered myself two bikinis:

 Blue & White Floral Bow - New Look

South Beach White Amy Frill - New Look

Looking outside now at the grim skies and fairly epic rain, I feel somewhat to blame for this sudden reversion back to typical British weather. Please accept my heartfelt apologies.

#1 Currently Coveting: ASOS

Oh ASOS, you had me at “sale”. 

But up to 50% off? Oh you do spoil us.

Here’s what I’m currently coveting:

Toile de Jouy print dress - £28 – non sale

Oasis Cutwork shoulder bag - £40 – non sale

Motel Lucille dress - £40 - £20

River Island cat print skirt – £22 – non sale

Statement necklace - £40 - £32

Seriously tempting. Particularly as I can get an extra 10% off and cashback because of work.

The Motel dress looks better in motion in the weird video thing that ASOS do. It’s my birthday in less than a month’s time and I’m thinking birthday outfit right there. The Toile de Jouy print dress is so versatile. Perfect for the winter-spring transition but also great for festivals, gigs, and balmy summer nights spent in beer gardens. And screw designer handbags, this Oasis bag is THE BAG to have. Decisions, decisions...

Have you picked up any bargains in the sales lately?

I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food.

No matter what the holiday, I always use it as the perfect excuse to spend more time in the kitchen and make more of an effort with meals. After work it’s all too easy to reach for a takeaway or grab a pizza because after being confined to a desk for most of the day, who wants to spend hours on end prepping dinner?!

I dug out a recipe I'd been dying to try for ages. A Spanish style stew - chorizo, chickpeas, spinach, red wine and tomatoes – topped with a piece of fish

Waiting for food to cook is a thirsty affair:

Instead of buying a baguette, I made my own bread from scratch. Stuffed with numerous sun-dried tomatoes and black olives, the dough barely held together. There may have been some swearing at this point...

Thankfully it didn’t fall apart in the oven, and the end result was pretty damn tasty:

Bitten by the bread bug, the next day I made bread rolls stuffed with chorizo. 

Think of them as like a pizza stuffed crust... but in miniature form

I gave slutty brownies a go

For those of you who are in the dark about slutty brownies, these are brownies AND cookie dough combined into what I can only call a MIRACLE. Best served warm for a gooey centre. You can use basic brownie and cookie recipes for this. Or you can be lazy like me and buy a mix... thanks Asda!

The chicken stuffed with parsley garlic butter and black olives was a fiddly affair. It was meant to be like a swiss roll but the chicken I bought was bordering on morbidly obese and was too fat to roll out. Even after I beat the hell of it with a rolling pin, it remained stubborn. Instead I improvised and made chicken parcels:

The end result was delicious:

And I like to think some of it looked like a swiss roll (ish)

Stay tuned for more recipes and more food based content!

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