Sorry!!

Hey guys,

I'm sorry i had planned to do a post about our skiing trip but just been snowed under (ahaa get it ;) because i was skiing ahaa ohh dear aha) with homework and other things and this weekend I'm going to Cardiff to see One Direction (which i am so so so so excited about!!! 
So i promise when i get back i will have two lovely posts for you, one all about skiing and one all about One Direction. For now I'll leave you with these pictures: 

I hope you all have an amazing rest of the week and the weekend and I'll speak to you soon (post-concert!) 

love you all :)
xxx

Beautiful people

The other week me and my sister went to the gym and after we had finished and we were just about to leave i noticed a little envelope in one of the lockers.

On it, it said 'to whoever finds this' so (as i found it ahaa) i opened it.
Inside was this little beautiful card.

Curiously, we opened the card. Inside it read...

''We learn something from everyone who passes through our lives. Some lessons are painful, some are painless. But all are priceless'' -Anonymous

Firstly i thought this is such a good quote as it is so true, everyone you meet will have an influence on your life and you as a person. If they end up leaving you it will be for a reason, either as a lesson or to make room for someone else, if they continue to be in your life, again they're there for a reason :)

Secondly, i thought this was such a good idea, leaving nice little messages for strangers to find, to make their days, to cheer them up or whatever. I just really liked this idea :)

It actually made me feel really happy so THANK YOU to whoever it was who left that little card for me ahaa

Hope you enjoyed this or found it interesting or something ahaa

Inspirational Tuesday

I'm just going to write and not plan for this post and I'm not sure how its going to go, it may be a bit deep so i apologise in advance ahaa

For as long as i can remember i have hated my body, i remember being a child (cant remember exactly how old, perhaps around 5) and doing ballet in a leotard and looking around at all the skinny girls and wishing i could be that thin. 
I've never been 'fat' but I've never been 'thin' and I've just never been comfortable with how i looked.

For such a long time I've been yo-yoing on and off diets, before a holiday, before a party or whatever, and i know that's not good for me but i felt like it helped.
I guess it was around September last year when i got really bad, first i stopped eating breakfast, i thought it didn't really matter, so what if it's meant to be the most important meal of the day, does that make it true or does that mean if i skip it i will get thinner? Then i started skipping lunch too, not eating breakfast wasn't getting me fast enough results, then i stopped eating full dinners. At this point i was literally just eating part of my dinner each day. I felt in control. Or i felt like i felt like i was in control (if you get what i mean) but actually it was in control. I was like this for a while, i got pretty thin, i was weak, i had no energy and i couldn't concentrate properly.

Since around January time, i decided to change my ways, I've been eating more healthily and rarely ever skipping meals, and you know what, I've been happier, much happier.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you just have to learn to accept your body for the way that it is because that's the way it's meant to be and it's beautiful no matter what you think. Starving yourself, skipping meals, going on a diet, it's not going to change anything, yes you may get thinner, but the chances of you actually being happy about it when you can't eat what you want or accept your body are very thin.

If you don't have a thigh gap, that's not because you're fat or not beautiful, its because your body isn't built that way. If you have a bit of fat on your body, you're still gorgeous, that's just how your body is. If you eat a bit more than you should, IT DOESN'T MATTER! That's okay, accept that you did and move on, YOU'RE STILL BEAUTIFUL!

Yes it may be hard to learn to accept your body for how it is, but believe me, you will be much much happier if you do, or try to, than you will be if you starve or diet or whatever.

Just remember, Stay Strong because you are all gorgeous no matter what your size is, if you feel you're too thin, fat, tall, short, whatever, you're still all absolutely stunning <3

All these images were found on tumblr so credit to the owners of them (the gif of me obviously i made myself) ahaa

I hope you found this post helpful or interesting or something :) <3

Skiing

Hello my beautiful followers and anyone else who stumbles upon my blog,

Tomorrow (Sunday) me and my family are going skiing for a week so i will not be here to read your amazing posts and reply to comments and whatever.
I have scheduled some posts for you while we're away. (one im a little nervous about so be kind :) ahaa)
I will be back next Sunday.
Hope you all have amazing weeks and speak to you soon

love you all :)
xx

Graze Box Review

My first Graze box arrived! I have them delivered on Tuesdays so this one came last Tuesday, as i ate one 'punnet' a day i have only just got round to reviewing it!

It comes with two cute little booklets and has a different pretty picture on the top of the inside of each box.

Inside my box was 'herby bread basket', 'tropic sundae', 'jaffa cake' and 'omega booster seeds'. I will talk about them in the order of my favourites. This little booklet has all the nutrition information which is really helpful :)

First up: 'Jaffa Cake' 

The 'jaffa cake' punnet included Belgian Dark Chocolate coins, orange raisins and roasted hazelnuts. The Belgian dark chocolate coins were very yummy, but i love all chocolate so this was no surprise. The orange raisins were amazing, they were so good, in my opinion, them alone tasted like jaffa cakes ahaa. The roasted hazelnuts were alright, but im not really that much of a fan of hazelnuts. Overall, it was really good, and actually tasted like jaffa cakes! ahaa 

Nutrition Information (per punnet)

208 Kcal

19g carbs

18.3g carbs (sugars)

3g protein

13.5g fats

3.5g fats (saturates)

2.6g fibre

11.5mg sodium

Next up the 'tropical sundae'

This included dried pineapple pieces, dried mango, dried banana coins (ascorbic acid and citric acid). The dried pineapple was very delicious and tasted great, the dried mango was a bit chewy but still tasted nice, the dried banana tasted quite interesting but was still yummy. Overall was very enjoyable and was one of your 5 a day so added bonus!

Nutritional information
77.6 Kcal
18.4g carbs
15.5g carbs (sugars
0.8g protein
0.3g fats
0.1g fats (saturates)
2g fibre
7.7mg sodium

My next favourite was the 'herby bread basket'

This included mini garlic croutons, mini basil breadsticks and oregano rice crackers. The mini basil breadsticks were the best think in the punnet and were very yummy, the mini garlic croutons were also very nice and the oregano rice crackers were alright but weren't that great in my opinion. Overall, was satisfying and with only 83 calories per punnet, can't really complain ahaa.

Nutritional information
83.1Kcal
10.5g carbs
0.9g carbs (saturates)
1,6g protein
5.2g fats
1.8g fats (saturates)
0.5g fibre
44.8mg sodium

Finally, the 'omega booster seeds'

 The omega booster seeds included sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and golden linseeds. As i am not an expert on seeds and they were all mixed together i couldn't really tell the difference between them (my bad ahaa). If you're like me and not really a fan of seeds i would suggest going in with an open mind as they weren't as bad as i expected, they were actually quite nice, just a little dry. However, they actually have lots of healthy benefits, they include: Omega 3, Copper, Vitamins B1, B6, B9 & E, Magnesium and Zinc.

Nutritional information
189 Kcal
5.6g carbs
0.7g carbs (saturated)
7.6g protein
16.5g fats
1.7g fats (saturates)
3.8g fibre
4.1mg sodium

Overall, i'm really glad I ordered this and will continue to order them each week. Can't wait to see what i get in this week!
Go to Graze to get more information, but i would recommend it. If you want to try it for free (come on it's free food ahaa) I got a 'feed your friends code' which you can use: WKD4XKTD I will keep the code at the side of my blog so if you ever want to use it just look over there >>> 

Hope you found this interesting or enjoyed it or something ahaa 
Let me know if you use the code or if you get graze boxes, let me know if you like them :)

Liebster Award

Hey guys,

I have been tagged by Farah for the Liebster Blog Award which i think is a great way to find out about other bloggers who also have fewer than 200 followers, so thank you for tagging me!


The rules are:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you, plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.
3.Tag other bloggers.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

 LET'S DO THIS !

My 11 things

1- My birthday is in the summer, making it my favourite season, closely followed by winter- CHRISTMAS!

2- This summer i am planning to dip-dye my hair light purple or pink :)

3- My favourite colour is purple 

4- My favourite shop is New Look (could you have guessed ;) ahaa) closely followed by Hollister

5- I really want to go travelling to all the places I've never been, especially America!

6- My favourite books are Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Hunger Games

7- My favourite bands/artists are One Direction, Maroon 5, Demi Lovato, Marina and the Diamonds and Ed Sheeran

8- I love to dance (and perform) but I'm really shy

9- I've never had a proper relationship (yep get me, forever alone ahaa)

10- I love finding new music/people to listen to, especially if they're not well known or 'famous' (i mean like properly famous and 'big') like Sam Tsui and The Vamps (thank you Zoella for introducing the vamps to me!)

11- I really want a tattoo but pretty sure my mum would kill me if i got one (ahh well she can't stop me when I'm 18) :p

My answers

1.What's the worst movie you've ever seen?

Probably Mean Girls 2, shameful attempt of trying to make a sequel to the amazing Mean Girls, I apologise if you liked it! ahaa

2.what does your name mean?

Apparently the name Emily has a Latin origin and has several meanings: Rival, Eager, Flatterer, Ambitious. I looked on several websites and they nearly all said something different so those are some of what they said.

3.What's the first thing you notice when you meet someone for the first time?

Their eyes and their smile

4.What's your most hated food?

Parsnips! eeewwww

5.Name 3 pet peeves

Noisy eaters, people who read over your shoulder, when people say 'less people' instead of 'fewer people' (an example) IF YOU CAN COUNT IT THEN IT'S FEWER!

6.If you could have one super power what would it be?

To be able to fly!

7.what's your biggest fear?

Probably heights, but like really high not just like 2nd floor ahaa

8.What's the most expensive thing you own?

Either my Laptop or my IPhone (not sure which ahaa but i do want a camera which would be more expensive, shame i can't afford it :( ahaa)

9.Would you rather find true love or travel around the world?

Travel the world, then find true love, or find true love whilst I'm travelling the world ahaa

10.Describe yourself in 3 words

Awkward, Creative, Friendly

11.Are you a morning person or a night owl ?

Definitely a night owl ahaa

all images found on google images

My 11 questions

1- What's your favourite quote? 

2- What's biggest dream?

3- Who's your favourite author?

4- What's your favourite TV programme?

5- Tea, Coffee or Hot Chocolate?

6- Where would you most like to travel?

7- What's your favourite animal?

8- Fashion, Beauty or Lifestyle?

9- Favourite shop?

10- One thing in your make up bag that you can't live without? 

11- How would you describe yourself?

I tag...

thelittlethingblog

forevermissvanity

thestellarskin

ivyandgoldxoxo

annanuttall

meganshaelyn

pisceandoll

Now you guys have a go and you can say that i tagged you, keep the chain going :)

Hope you enjoy this :) 

OOTD & FOTD

Hey guys! So today i did something a little special with my hair, but i'll get to that in a bit, first up, here's what i wore today...

I got the top for Christmas from my parents and it is from, guess where... New Look ahahaa i really like it and think its really pretty. My shorts are from River Island and i got them just before Christmas and love pairing them with tights and can't wait to wear them in summer without tights ahaa. My cardigan is also from New Look and i actually got it last year for Christmas, it's really warm and cozy and i love throwing it on top of an outfit for an extra layer (really needing it at the moment) (not sure if its still in store but this one is similar).

So back to my hair, as i love the hunger games, i asked my mum if she could do a Katniss inspired plait (seeing as i can't french plait myself). The first time i asked her to do this for me was a while a go but i decided to ask her again today as i love this style.

As you can see the plait starts from round the back of my head and goes round and down (just like Katniss ahahaa). I have to admit this isn't the best one she has done (sorry mum!) but it is still pretty good and i would never be able to do it myself so i can't complain! 

My make up:
-Rimmel London 'Wake Me Up' foundation in True Ivory
-'17' Pressed Powder in Delicate Beige
-Maybelline New York 'The Falsies Volum' Express' Mascara
- Maybelline New York 'Master Precise' liquid eyeliner

So that was today's look, hope you like it :) 
I also got my first 'Graze' Box so will be reviewing that soon (i know its not fashion or beauty but when did i ever specify that, that is all this blog is about ;) ahaa)
Hope you enjoyed this post or found it interesting or something :)

Baking day!

Today's post is a little different (not that any two of my posts are thaat similar but you know). Yesterday i went a little cooking crazy as i didnt have much else to do (isn't my life just so interesting ahaa).

The first thing i made was  Butterscotch Tart.

Ingredients:
- 8" blind baked pastry case (as my mum 
has coeliac disease (she cant eat wheat/
gluten) i had to make this from scratch)
-200g Margarine
-5fl oz Milk
-200g Demerara Sugar
-50g Plan flour (i used gluten free flour)
-Vanilla Essence to taste

Method
-Melt margarine then add milk. Bring to the boil. Combine sugar and flour. Add to pan, stirring continuously.
-Cook/boil whilst stirring for about 2 minutes, taking care not to burn base of mixture. Add vanilla essence to taste. Stir filling.
-If there is a greasy separation on top of butterscotch, drain off a littler. Don't worry this sometimes happens (i didn't get this on mine)
-Pour filling into pastry case and cool. This helps the filling to set (i left mine in the fridge for about half an hour and still wasn't quite set, didn't matter too much but you may want to leave it in there for a little longer.

This is how mine turned out. I'm quite pleased with it, the pastry was the hardest thing to make so if you have a pre-made pastry case this will be really easy thing to make, and very yummy :)

The next thing i made was Mini Apple and Banana Muffins

I have made these before and found the recipe here. But this time i doubled the amount (we ran out really quickly last time ahaa). It didn't work as well this time as it did last time but im not too sure why. These ingredients makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
-150g plain flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-50g caster sugar
-100ml semi-skimmed milk
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
-40g low-fat spread melted (i used margarine)
-1 medium apple peeled, cored and chopped
-1 banana mashed

Method
-Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C, fan 180 degrees C, gas mark 6. Put 12 paper cases into a bun tray.
-Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, then stir in the sugar.
-Put the milk, egg, vanilla extract and melted low-fat spread in a jug and beat together. Add to the dry ingredients with the apple and mashed banana. Stir unitl just combined. Do not overmix.
-Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are risen and golden.
-Careful take the muffins in their paper cases out of the bun tray. Cool on a wire rack.

These are really easy to make and really yummy, they're also great things to grab as a snack or quick breakfast. 

I then made us dinner but didn't take any pictures of that or anything, but it was also very yummy ahaa.

So that was my day of cooking, i found it really fun and was very proud of my concoctions. :)
Hope you found this interesting or liked it or something ahaa

P.S check out my new fluffy slippers from Barratts...