No Bake Baking | Halloween

Spooky Scary Ghouls and Pumpkins 

Happy October, I love this month because in my christmas obssessed brain it's the beginning of the festive period. We have Halloween, bonfire night, thanksgiving for my American friends and then its the big day!

 

After the year we've had so far I wanted to really celebrate spooky season this year, I don't love Halloween but I do love autumn and frankly I will take what I'm given. Myself and Hilly decided to try some halloween baking, these recipies don’t include any actual baking just chilling in the fridge. 

I just want to begin by saying we didn't use any measurements we just eye balled it - I know I know it's incredibly professional here.

Strawberry Ghosts:

What you will need: 

• Strawberries
• 2 Bars of white chocolate
• Black icing - easier if it's in a tube

We started off melting the chocolate in a bain-marie (yes I googled that leave it out) I find this the easiest way but you could probably chuck it in the microwave. We melted the chocolate until it was completed lump free, once that was completed we delicately and gracefully dipped the strawberries into the chocolate. Once submerged we placed them onto a plate, then put the plate into the fridge. 

Once the chocolate has hardended (approx 15 mins) we took them out of the fridge and decorated them. Hilly is amazing at art so I allowed her the highest of honours by doing most of the work, especially decorating. 

They turned out great and tasted amazing! Would highly recommend if you're looking for a little spooky snack, would be perfect for a halloween film night. Plus its fruit so that makes it healthy...right?

Due to using 2 bars of white chocolate once we completed the strawberry ghosts we had a good amount of melted chocolate left. We decided to use these for our Rice Krispie pumpkins.

Rice Krispie pumpkins:

What you will need:

• White chocolate (melted)
• Marshmallows preferably white
• Orange food colouring
• Green Fondant 
• Matchmakers we went with orange flavour to add to the autumnal feel 

The first thing we did was added the marshmallows into the Bain-marie with the melted chocolate, it's important to continuously stir to avoid burning the chocolate. TIP: work fast 

Once we have our marshmallow chocolate mixture, we added our orange food colouring, again absolutely no measurements just eyeballing.

It immediately started turning bright orange so we quickly added the Rice Krispies along with the remaining food colouring. I have to say the colour of these pumpkins is amazing they turned out so vibrant. 

With this gloop use your clean hands to mould them into balls and slightly push the top and bottom in to create the pumpkin shape. We decided to use a muffin tin and before placing them in the fridge added the matchmakers as the pumpkin stalk. 

Whilst the Krispies are hardening in the fridge, take a sharp knife and the green fondant and start to create the leaves. We weren't super precise, some pumpkins have only one leaf others we piled a couple of leaves on top of each other. Using the same fondant we rolled it super thin and curled it around itself to create the stringy leaves?

Once hardened we removed the pumpkins from the fridge, added the greenery and once again Hilly drew cute little faces on them all to give the carved pumpkin effect, you could miss out this step if like me you aren't very artistically talented. 

Overall, I am super happy with how our baked goods came out, a perk of these recipes is you don't need to use the oven, and could melt the chocolate and marshmallows in the microwave if you so wished. I feel these would be perfect for a spooky film night or even a cute halloween activity to do with children.

Let me know if you make either of these or anything else you can think of! 

Massive thank you to Hilly for arguably doing all of the work, literally could not have done it without you. 

What I’ve been up to | Lockdown

2020 has taken a turn that no one expected.

For the purposes of the future 

- We are currently living through a global pandemic due to a virus called COVID-19 aka Corona Virus. As I am writing this we are currently on week 7 of lockdown which means not going to work/working from home and only going out for essentials. it's been weird. 

- As I am posting this I have no idea how many weeks it’s been I mentally disassociated in March. It's currently September and I'm back at work after having 12 weeks off.

I wanted to share a couple of things I have been doing during lockdown, not going to lie I wanted to be a lot more productive than I have been. I have been in the mindset of "i'm never going to have this much free time again..." so I cant decide whether to relax or be productive, i've decided to be a bit of both.

Driving

In January I passed my second test and bought a little red Suzuki Swift named: Taylor McQueen and having a car has been a real life saver for me this year. During lockdown I was able to safety travel to the supermarkets as well as I had somewhere I could be safe but out of the house. I went on endless drives as-well as just spending time at the beach in my car. 

Now we can socially distance within our bubbles it's been perfect as myself and my friends have been able to go for drives, go through drive thru's and just be in each others company without having to venture into the outside. 

Reading

I love reading and I kept wanting to just pick up a book and turn off for a while but I never knew what I wanted to read. The world of books is so vast I didn't know where to start, I decided to google 3 things I find intresting;  the 1920's, superpowers/fantasy and murder.

I found the book; The Diviners by Libba Bray 

I am about half way through and I am really enjoying it so far. I always find that reading before bed helps me switch off easier therefore fall asleep better so I've been loving that.

Entertainment 

Althought I've been trying to limit the time I am using screens, before lockdown I was doing really well due to being a work all day and then driving for 2 hours a day. Within the first week of lockdown my phone told me my screen-time was up around 300% I was gagged. 
Aswell as watching TikTok's for hours on end I have been watching lots of Disney Cruise Vlogs and Disney+ think im just bitter my Disney Land Paris trip was cancelled.

Evening Walk

I have been using my hour of government alotted hour of exerise to go on an evening walk and have a good natter on the phone. I've been trying to go a little later around 7/8 to try and limit the amount of people I could come into contact with not trying to get corona. I have loved this time to just chat with my friends and get some fresh air.
Due to lockdown restrictions starting to loosen I have been going in walks with my friends, meeting up for coffee or chilling in back gardens. Being able to see friends and family again has been a real game changer.

Gaming

I'm not the biggests gamer in the world my main gaming achievement is 100% in both Lego Harry Potter games, that being said Animal Crossing has once again taken over my entire life 200+ hours spent and really not that much to show for it. I used to love animal crossing on my Nintendo DS so when we were going into lockdown my want for a switch grew astronomically and my mum very kindly bought me one as an early birthday present and I have been addicted.
For my birthday in May my brother kindly bought me Luigi's mansion and my auntie Claire has kindly lent me some of her games to try out and I am loving it!

Volunteering 

My mum works in the NHS so once I was furloughed I decided to do something with all my free time and help out. I have been going into the practice two days a week (8 hours a week) calling patients ti see how they are doing during this time. I am really enjoying helping out, thankfully having previous work in a call centre has been really helpful!

Mental Health & Covid

Anyone with mental health issues will know that some days are better than others, I want to be more open and talk more about how my brain works on here as I find it helps me a lot to publically admit it to myself, my twitter can sometimes be a personal diary.

Covid has really been a rollercoaster in regards to my anxiety, I really struggled at the beginning panicked beyond belief I was going to catch it, as I think many people were. As the world started to change it and masks and social distancing have started to become more normal my anxiety started to calm a little.  

I am taking each day as it comes, we'll be alright.

Please speak up if you have any mental health issues people are great and they will help.


I want to remind you all that we are living in a pandemic you do not have to be productive! Use this time to do whatever you need to do, if that is sitting on the sofa watching Netflix all day, starting your own buisness or writing a book. Take this time to do what you need to do.

Stay safe and stay smart.

Alton Towers | Travel

If you go down to the woods today...you'd better not go alone 

 Due to not being able to leave the country due to corona but also finances... Beth and I decided to take a little mini trip to Alton Towers somewhere we have talked about going for years. I have talked about wanting to go to a cottage for years also so maybe that will happen soon *hint hint* 

Alton Towers is a theme park in Staffordshire, England about 4 hours away, both Beth and I went as kids with our families so nothing was new to us except that we were going as adults and without our parents. Since I got my car back in January we have been talking about the idea of going on a road trip and having a weekend away so we decided to risk it for a chocolate biscuit and give it a go *spoiler, it went really well*

I was a bit nervous to drive all the way as I had never done a long drive really, so like a couple of losers a few weeks before we did a test drive, yes we did drive to a service station and back I have anxiety people this isn't new! So that went great and I ironed out some things I was worried about and was ready to go!

We drove down on Friday in the aggressive heat, it was so hot I felt like I was driving a portable sauna.   As a new driver (passed in January) I was quite nervous but once I got onto the motorway it was fine, apart from the heat it was actually really enjoyable. Could probably do it again but not on my own because I'd get bored.

We stayed in a really nice premier inn in Stoke Trentham Gardens was only £74 for 2 nights, not sure if we just got lucky or they were socially distancing the hotel guests but we ended up in a really big room with a beautiful view. We ended up bringing our own pillows just as another Covid safety precaution. 

On the Friday we went to see my bestie Molly for dinner, we had Pizza Hut and chatted it was wonderful. 

Also huge congratulations to Molly and Jay, they are pregnant and I am very excited to be an unofficial auntie!

On the Saturday we headed to Alton Towers, I am not a fan of driving down country roads and it was country roads all the way I did it but I did not enjoy it. 

Saturday was so unbelievably hot, it was rough. The park was quite busy on the Saturday as it was sold out sat-tues, I hope the park was at a limited capacity but it really did not feel like it. Wait times were between 45-120 minutes which is unheard of for Alton Towers. 

On the Saturday we tried our best to do everything we wanted, we started the day by riding nemesis which was my favourite ride growing up and it did not disappoint me as an adult. We also rode oblivion and duel this day and they were both amazing.

On Sunday we decided to head to the park a little earlier so we could try and ride thirteen. I had spoken to a member of staff the night before and they explained that the park doesn't open until 10am however, they open the gates around 9:30 and allow guests to enter the park and begin to queue ahead of the rides beginning at 10. We arrived at the park around 9:30 and by 10:15 we had rode 13. Another amazing ride!

We then went on oblivion once again and headed home. I was nervous to drive from Newcastle as it was about 4 hours and was the first long drive I have ever done but Beth and Harry Potter audio books kept me entertained and although it was like driving in a sauna it wasn't bad at all.

I was hesitant to include this but I read a lot of forums and they really helped me with my confidence going to Alton Towers. I am plus size so theme parks can seem incredibly scary. For the majority of the rides I asked for modified seating which is the same size seats but instead of one strap clipping your restraints in there are two. This is due to the overhead restraints having a bump around the stomach. In modified seats there are two straps that go around the bump rather than over. The staff were amazing and incredibly helpful, there was certainly moments that made me incredibly anxious but reading lots of forums before hand helped to calm my nerves. 

The links below I found incredibly helpful but there are many many more online.

Forums

https://plussizedguide.com/plus-sized-guide-to-alton-towers/

https://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=41926

http://ramblesofanimpatientgirl.blogspot.com/2016/05/plus-size-at-alton-towers.html

COVID-19 Precautions

Going on a trip during the current global climate was always going to be risky and nerve-racking but with holidays cancelled earlier in the year and all the stress Beth and I decided to take a trip. During the entire lockdown we have been as safe as we possibly can. Alton Towers was no different. 

Anytime we stopped at a service station or going in and out of the hotel we wore masks as well as sanitising and trying our best to keep our distance. 

In regards to Alton Towers, it was incredibly busy and hot. You were only required to wear a mask on the rides along with anytime you are inside the ride stations or shops. We tried our hardest to wear a mask at all times but it was just too hot to do so. It was hard to socially distance as it was so crowded but we tried our best and didn't spend the entire time within the parks.

I feel they are doing everything they can, from cleaning the ride vehicles to temperature checks before entering the park. In regards to the temperature checks it is a gun type machine held at a short distance from your forehead, if your over 38 degrees (I believe) you will be asked to take a break to cool down afterwards they will take your temperature a second time and if again it is over the limit you will not be allowed to enter the park. I found this extremely reassuring as just like bag checks you know everyone has had to go through this in order to gain access limiting the threat.

Overall I had a lovely trip away with my dear friend, it was the first time we have really had a trip together and it was super nice just to spend some time together and chill out after talking about it for so long. 

if you have any questions or concerns about being plus size or the safety precautions please leave a comment and I will try my hardest to answer them as I know I had a lot of questions before my trip. 

23 Things I've Learned at 23

Happy Birthday to me, I have offically made it to 23 years old! It's taken me a long time to get here but I have finally achieved it, I wanted to do a little birthday post a classic 2014 YouTube trend of 23 things i've learnt at 23 i'm not expecting this to be breathtaking for you all or even life changing. I just want to drop the experience bomb. I don't want to make this all philospofic but it might turn into that.

1 | It's okay to say no 

Sometimes you just want to stay at home in bed doing nothing but scrolling through the instagram explore page or going clubbing really isnt your thing. I put myself in a lot of situations that I found difficult or made me anxious for the fear of saying no, I learned a long time ago that it not worth putting myself through something that is going to make me sad just to please others.

2 | Do whatever the hell you like

If you want to post something a little "cringe" on your instagram story, start a blog, become a singer literally anything that you enjoy just do it, the judgement from other people truly isnt worth it. When I first started my blog I was so scared of what people would say about it, or if people would laugh at me so I didnt share it for months barely even letting my closet friends read it until one day I thought fuck it and i'm so glad a did. I still sometimes get that fear when I post something a little out of my comfort zone but in all honesty people who dont care wont read they'll just scroll past and that is okay with me.

3 | You don't need a thousand friends

In school life felt like a popularity game, now I have a handful of close friends that I know are friends for life and I wouldn’t trade any of them for a thousand friends.

4 | Just let it go

It's not worth holding grudges, yes there is people that I don't like and don't agree with some of the things they have done in the past but it's just not worth being caught up over. I'm alsotrying to apply this to myself too, not let myself get caught up in mistakes i've made in the past.

5 | Take as many pictures as possible

The people we see most often are the ones we tend to have the least pictures with, with the creation of snapchat I feel like I capture a lot more moments but I have learnt that there is never enough pictures of you with your loved ones.

6 | Be nice to everyone 

Whether it's a shop assistant, someone on the bus or your best friend in the world. Live life being as nice as you possibly can it makes all the difference to you and everyone else. Negativity attracts negativity.

7 |  It's okay not to be okay 

It can be a little cliche but I think it's true we all get a little sad sometimes and that's okay supressing thoughts and feelings in my experience just makes them worse and harder to deal with in the future. There is no shame in therapy and it can help more than you could imagine.

8 | School isn't the best time of your life

There is no way in hell that school was the best time of my life, I hated it. University might have been the best time in my life so far due to the people, the exprience and I was finally learning infomation about a subject I have a passion for. Don’t feel pressured if school or uni life isn’t going as good as you thought you have forever to have the best time.

9 | Long Distance Friendships Can Work

It can be extremley hard when you can't just text and meet up in an hour but myself and Molly prove that it can work, she is one of my best friends in the world we speak everyday and make a conscious effort to meet up. This is also the case with my uni friends we often communicate with each other about life. You just have to put in the effort, your best friends arent nessecarily the people who live next door.

10 | Read More

Whether it’s books, articles or blogs reading is good for clearing the mind and helping to de-stress but also reading the news and popular articles not just relying on Twitter moments for all of your news helps to broaden your knowledge and understanding as to what is happening around us. (Edit; the world right now is scary but twitter is where the real stories are being exposed not the news)

11 | Spend Less Time on Social Media 
I can not deny that social media is amazing! I have met some of my best friends in the world online and started my own photography business using social media as my main business platform however, there is also a lot of negatives that social media brings from body image to not being in the moment. Try spend even an hour less a day on your phone, you’ll feel the difference.

12 | Try Not to Judge One Another

First impressions matter I can’t dispute that but I try super hard everyday to just let people live, what others do tends to not effect or concern you. Let people do what they wanna do and be who they wanna be you’ll be a much better person for it.

13 | Not Drinking Alcohol is Totally Fine

After my anxiety issues alcohol was a big no no for me, the thought of clubbing was just too much and I wasn’t sure how alcohol would affect me and that worried me a lot. A couple of years later and I know I can have a pint or a couple of gins every once in a while but I don’t feel pressured to drink if I don’t want to. Throughout university I would often just stay home and have a movie night for one whilst my friends went out drinking because I didn’t enjoy it so I didn’t want to go and that’s totally cool! Don’t let anyone force you to drink and don’t force yourself it’s just not worth it.

14 | Write A List

 Personally setting myself little goals and ticking them off gives me a feeling of being productive. Keeping your life organised can help to keep your brain organised too. It can often get a little hectic and even a list can’t solve it but it’s a start.

15 | Work As Hard As You Can No Matter What Job You’re Working 

You are being paid so naturally you should work hard but sometimes when you’re in a job you hate that feels impossible but it’s important to work as hard as you can! This builds a strong work ethic that you will eventually take to a job you enjoy (or at-least don’t hate) it will also give you more job satisfaction when you walk out the door knowing you did all you could.

16 | I Love You 

This has became part of my everyday vocabulary I am always telling my family and friends that I love them I think it’s important, some people find it difficult to say and that’s okay but a little love and appreciation never hurt nobody. I often felt ashamed for being “too much” but now I’m cool with how loving I am and that is called growth!


17 | “Nobody Knows What They’re Doing”

This is a phrase I have heard over and over again but it’s true being in your twenties is a weird time for everyone, some people are off getting married whilst others are moving across the world. Everyone is on different life paths but no one knows where they’re gonna end up or if they’re doing the right thing, life is a personally journey not a group race.

18 | Learn How To Be Alone

I am still very much working on this I struggled a lot to be in my own company especially when I first moved back from university I’d gone from a house of five people to me and my mum. We have established that I am a clingy friend but I am slowly learning to be able to have a good time on my own, from taking myself shopping to going to the cinema on my own it’s good to be able to do things alone I’m happy I’m on the way to improving my needy-ness.

19 | There’s Some Amazing TV Shows & Films Make Time To Watch 

Again this is something I want to continue to do and make more time for there is some incredible entertainment out there especially coming from Netflix and Amazon Prime. Make time to sit down and watch them, be entertained and you never know might learn something.

20 | Everyone Can Benefit From Therapy

Everyone has baggage they need to unpack.

21 | Dogs & Pets Make The World A Better Place 

Unfortunately right now it's not fair for me to have a dog, I work full time and live with my Mum but eventually I will have a little pooch to call my own but for now I can make do with visiting friends who currently own a doggy. Just being around animals makes me so happy even as simple as seeing a cute dog across the street fills my heart with joy.

22 | Not Everyone Is Going To Like You

Personally I don't want everyone to like me, if that was the case I would feel like a robot woman with no personality of my own. The people who like me I truly value with my entire heart and I want in my life, I don't need everyone to like me.

23 | Life Is Long

I am a big believer in take opportunities life gives you and treat every month or so as your last (treat everyday like your last doesn't work for me I don't want my last day to be me at work) and live life to the fullest as much as you can and want to.
That being said, there is endless time to figure life out. You don't have to know exactly what you want to do by the time your 18 just try everything. Fail, fail and then fail again.



Well that ended up being quite deep sorry about that didn't plan it that way. I really enjoyed writing this post and thinking about what I wish I knew when I was about 15.
I'm off to celebrate my birthday now!

Self portrait | photography

When you can't meet models, become the model.

It's no secret that I am not a model, I rarely even post on instagram.

One day in quarentine I was really in the mood to do some photography, I started by taking pictures of random things round the house but it wasnt quite what I wanted to do. Next thing I know i'm doing my make up for the first time in 2 weeks, I am a different person in lashes. 

Due to not taking many selfies (apart from ugly snapchats) I didn't really know where to start. I had seen a lot of TikToks of self portraits but they were a little too extreme for me. I wanted to try something that wasn't just selfies. 

I am happy with how the images turned out, they clearly arent my best work but I did what I could. I grabbed my mums plants and stuck my face in them.

To my fellow photograhers out there I employ you to give self portraits ago, it was out of my comfort zone but I did enjoy it. I find myself watching more and more videos about it and I have so many more ideas for the next time I fancy putting lashes on.

FaceTime Photoshoot | Photography

What a strange world we are living in.

My plan for this year was to try and up the amount of photo shoots I do as I enjoy it so much but also to improve my skills. However, as we know that’s going to be harder to execute than planned.
That being said I had seen online a lot other photographers collaborating with models across the world through FaceTime Photoshoots. I quickly realised this was something I wanted to try. I reached out to a wonderful model I have worked with previously and got to work.

I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to Sibohan there is no way I could of pulled this off without her. That might seem obvious, surely every portrait photographer needs a model however, Sibohan didn’t just show up and pose. She styled each look, set up the phone and of course did an incredible job modelling. It was a weird feeling to give over all of the power, I kept finding myself wanting to slightly change the angle or fix the lightening myself so it was a new challenge to try direct the shoot remotely.

I am so thrilled with how these images turned out! I would definitely reccomend giving it a go, if anything its a cool thing to have tried and in years to come once this pandemic is over we can say we adapted our craft and tried something new.

TIP: Take your time with it, it’s not going to happen in 20 minutes just like a normal shoot out on the street wouldn’t. We were shooting for just over an hour and a half taking our time making sure it was right and the best we could make it.

 Make sure to check out the links below (simply click on the name) and let me know your thoughts and if you have done any Facetime Photoshoots.

Photography Instagram
Personal Instagram 
Sibohans Instagram 

Harry Potter Studios 2.0 | Pandemic

As I write this I should be living it up in Disneyland Paris with my best friend but due to COVID-19 that has not happened, yes I am very sad.

Last year myself and Molly planned this trip to celebrate her birthday at one of our favourite places but just days before we were meant to set off all 6 Disney Parks closed. I accept that it's for the best but it still sucks. I am trying to keep a positive mindset throughout this entire lockdown situation.

We were determined to make the most out of this trip so we decided to go back to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford. We went last May for my birthday (post) and weren't planning on going back until the summer as they are showcasing the Slyherin common room and we need to show our house pride. Both Molly and I are big Harry Potter fans so it might not be Disneyland but there's still plently of magic.
We also decided to extend our trip an extra night and go and see the West End show Jamie. I personally have never seen it but Molly loves it so I was excited.

My trip started on Saturday, I jumped on the train down to Derby to meet Molly and her family for her birthday meal at Pizza Hut and starting off the trip well I had to pay £110 on the train as my railcard had expired (who knew they had to be renewed thought after I was 25 I couldn't use it anymore apparently not). As you can imagine I was thrilled.

Once I arrived in Derby we went for a lovely meal and then I got to hang out with Molly's dogs Paddy & Seamus who I love very dearly and miss so very much.

The next day Molly and I travelled down to London where we followed our tradition of having a Nando's every time we see each other. Nandos baby I miss you. We then went back to our hotel chilled and watched Tik Toks and chatted all night.

Althought we had been to the Harry Potter Studios only last year it is still so interesting and fun to be there. We got extremely lucky as the studios was closing at 8pm that day, so although Disney let us down Harry Potter did not! 

We spent the day going around the studios being idiots and getting our fake passports stamped (low key so fun & free highly reccommend) which was something we didn't do last time.

I have so much love for Harry Potter so going to the studios is one of my favourite things in the world and one of my favourite places to visit! I can not wait until we get to go back and celebrate Slytherin in all it's glory.

I didn't know what to expect walking into the studios but it was relatively busy. No where near what I have experienced before, we got the first avaliable slot of 10am to make the most out of the day, I highly reccomend this as you can stay at the studios until it closes if you wished. Jumping on the train from Euston to Watford Junction at 9am and waited for the hogwarts express! 

The shuttle bus from the train station to the studios is a £3 return which I dont think is bad. It's always exciting seeing Warwick Davis talking to you about the studios as you drive through Watford.

After a day at the studios we headed back to our hotel to collect our belongings and move to our second hotel in covent garden. We decided to move hotels to be closer to the theatre and it was cheaper.

We sanitised every inch of our souls before getting on the tube (Corona tings you get it) and ventured to Covent Garden. 

We checked in to our hotel and went out to meet Becca who I have known for years and years but never met (Vamps friends who lives at the opposite end of the country problems) before we were going to go to see Jamie on the West End.

We had a lovley Bella Italia, it was so nice to finally meet Becca! Make sure to check out her Youtube Channel - Link
Then 40 minutes before the show was meant to start the tories started acting up and the show was cancelled. That was fun. 

Mol & I really went through it this trip all we have ever wanted was to go to Disney together but we can go next year and we will go Florida together. I still had a lovely time even if I did complain the whole time about how much I hate Corona. 

I hope everyone is staying safe, regularly washing their hands and self isolating where possible we can get through this! Can't wait to be in a GCSE text book. 

Here is a collection of images from my few days off work before I was furloughed: 

love ya mol cya after Corona