Japlanning - It's terrifying me!!

For ages i have longed to go to Japan!! I love everything (aside from what they do with Dolphins) I love the culture, the fashion, the gaming, the history, the city sky line.

So I have saved, and saved, and saved, and i have booked 3 weeks off work to go!!

Exciting right!!

Well... yes, and no....

I have been Japlanning for ages now, I know where I want to go, I know how long I want to be there, I know how much flights will be.

But......

I am struggling to book it, to spend all that money I've saved for so long. Its been a cushioning that I am terrified to let go of.

But as I write this I am going home for Easter, back to Gods Own Country, Yorkshire!!

I am going to enlist the help of my Mama and we are going to spend all the money I have in a three week trip to the country that has fascinated me for so long! 

So until there is an update that it's all booked....please cross your fingers for me!!

Keep it Positive

Nessa

x

The V word.....Vegan

I'm back...... and very different.

It's been a while since i wrote a post, and since i did quite a few things have happened with me.

Surprisings to not only me, but lots of people around me, I've become Vegan. (aarrgghh, i know that word scares so many people!!)

My best friend from the North and her husband have both been Vegan now for around 2 years. She's become one of those voices a lot of people want to ignore, the one i wanted to ignore for a while. She spoke about how we shouldn't eat meat, and how Milk isn't for us, its for baby cows. Which i could never argue with the milk thing, but its a great source of calcium....right?!?

How wrong i was, I have to admit, since becoming vegan i have realised how some of the things i used to say were all fiction that has been spread around by pretty much everyone since god knows when.

We have to think back to a time when people thought the earth was flat, or that time we should all stop eating salt, or that time when fat was a bad thing, and now its not.... The academic people of this world are always doing more research into this, that and the other. So we have to listen with an open mind and make the right choice for ourselves.

In December my bestie challenged me to take part in Veganuary. And it being my birthday in January and having a freezer full of chicken and fish i said i would totally take her up on the challenge, but i would do February, or as we came to call it Vegbruary. (Clever huh?!)

So in January i took it upon myself to eat everything that was in my freezer, and all the things in my cupboard that contained milk etc (which is waaaaay more than you think!!)

At the end of January i did a HUGH shop from Sainsbury's, which I've never done so it was all a nice novelty to have a guy fetch all my stuff!! I bought all the veggies, pulses, grains, soya, and generally whole food plant based things!!

Throughout January i had been procrastinating (as i do best) on Pinterest. Finding lots of yummy looking things to make for lunches, as i knew the canteen at work, as well stocked as it is, would be terrible for a Vegan, let alone a new Vegan!

Stuff For Vegbruary

As you can see by the name, i thought this was just going to be for a month....

Its currently the 8th of March, and i feel like this is a life change now.

In my journey i have watched:

Vegucated (Netflix) - More about the social aspect of being Vegan

Cowspiracy (Netflix) - About the environmental effects of eating meat and the dairy, fishing and Egg industry.

Earthlings - Only watch this is you have a strong stomach, if you truly don't want to see another earthling hurt or in pain, this will make you cry and think twice.

Forks over knives - About the health aspects of a meat and dairy diary vs a wholefood plant based diet.

I've also watched on YouTube:

VEGAN 2015 - The Film

Animal Testing on a Human

Earthlings - Deleted Scenes - Not for the faint hearted

Dairy is F*****g Scary - will put you off for life

Also Watch all Erin Janus' Videos they are great!!Best Speech You Will Ever Hear - Gary Yourofsky

My friend who's been Vegan for 2 years hasn't been able to watch Earthlings yet, so that tells you something about it.

I'll do some more posts, going into what I've eaten in my first month and no word of a lie, not all of it has been "healthy"

I'll also go into eating out, and my reactions to some of the things i've watched.

As Always

Keep It Positive

Nessa

xx

Carnaby Street - #ShoppingParty

Christmas has officially landed with me! While writing this i am still stuffed from the Pie and Mash, Cupcake and Free Cocktail i consumed last night.

Last night i went to the Carnaby Street light switch on.... Or as they call it the Shopping Party.

They have DJs in nearly every shop and on the main through route of Carnaby Street itself. Most of the stores give an extra 20% off so its the perfect time to treat yourself to a little party dress for that work function, or grab a few Christmas presents with a good saving!

They promote the night really well by giving it that almost VIP feeling by sending you a ticket when you sign up with all the stores that are participating in the 20% off.

Me and my friend went for dinner at Mother Mash.

Like Mash?? 

Like pie or sausage?

Like gravy??

Then you'll LOVE Mother Mash!!

Its a simple menu choice, pick your style of Mash, I went for Champ, Mashed potato, cheese, and spring onions.

thn pick a pie or a sausage, I went for Steak and Ale Pie (yum!!)

Then choose your gravy, I went for the farmers option, Red wine, Onion, Mushroom and bacon!!

Its such a simple and homely meal! And amazing value for money!!

There wasn't much left after!!

After a mooch round the shops and a little boogie in Benefit to Maria Carey. (my ultimate fave Christmas song!!)

We headed to Crumbs and Dollies! My fave Cupcake shop by far!!

Cupcake Jemma was there, and i said Hi to her and fan girl'd massively! (so embarrassing!!) I showed her my Halloween Cupcakes.

Banoffee and Cookie Cupcakes! Yummers!

Unfortunately i didn't use the discount on anything but food. I've got the perfect outfit in my head for the Christmas period and i didn't see it tonight!

Obligatory pose in front of the #Carnaby sign!!

If you get chance to go next year! Do it! such a fun girly evening!

Keep it positive

Nessa

Xx

Debenhams -Find your fabulous Christmas

Tonight i was lucky enough to be a plus one to a beauty blogger friend of mine. She had been invited to an event held by Debenhams at Mahiki in Mayfair, London.

This was my first experience of the events that happen in the blogger world. My first taste of what this world is. And i loved it!

Now, I've had people say "ohh you just want to get into blogging for the free things!" But that's so not true. I want to get into blogging to show case my cupcakes and things i enjoy. And most of all meet some awesome people!! (Which i did tonight!)

I'm always amazed that people come along and read the things i put out in the world. And i want to keep that going and reach more people. Most of my posts are about cake *yum* or things i love, but every now and again, i write a post about something I'm really passionate about (more than cake) like my S.O.P.H.I.E post i put up. I'm an opinionated person and a passionate one. If i can reach someone who enjoys my spiel then I'm super happy!

There are many bloggers out there, and many awesome ones. One day i hope to be up there with the greats, for now, I'll just keep posting and hope someone reads what i have to say.

I was lucky enough to grab a goodie bag tonight that looks to have some awesome products in. I shall endeavor to use them all and do a little write up!

Keep it positive

Nessa

xx

Late Halloween Cupcakes - Ready for the Party!!

My friend is having a  late Halloween party this weekend as she lives close to Twickenham so with the Rugby World Cup Final on Halloween no one was able to get to her house. 

So that meant I had time to make some awesome Halloween Cupcakes for her (ohh and its also her Birthday!)

My previous attempt at Orange and Black ones turned out really well using the Wilton ColurSwirl Piping device. (of which i LOVE so much!!)

So as i did the Orange and Black ones last time, i decided to do 12 of those and 12 Green and Purple.

I used the same Vanilla recipe and doubled all the ingredients. 

I split the Mixture into 4 and coloured each one. I also did the same with the Icing.

Orange and Black, Purple and Green

I was worried about how the Purple was going to turn out as i has used Violet, but as the mixture wasn't white it gave it a deeper, spookier colour!

My fave colour Gels are always Wilton!

I Mixed the cake mixture so when they are cut in half (or bitten into) you will see 2 colours. On top of the green i put the purple mixture (forgot to take a picture of that) I did the same with the Orange and black ones.

Using the ColourSwirl icing kit, i made these!! I love the way the colours sit together! Really Halloweeny!!

No cupcakes are complete without sprinkles! I had a pot of Halloween theme sprinkles which would go out of date before next years Halloween. so I went to town!

Hopefully they will taste as amazing as they look!!

Keep it Positive!

Nessa

xx

Black Roses - Sophie Lancaster - S.O.P.H.I.E

I sat here for a while thinking how I should start this off....

I've just finished watching Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster

I'm a flood of emotions. Angry, Sad, Happy, Thoughtful, Thankful, Bewildered....

Since I was a young teen I've been different....I've always been a mixture of "things" never settling for one particular style or music, or food....It's who I am. I'm too curious, inquisitive, intrigued, interested in the world to just pick one style of anything.

When I was younger, as defiant as I was, that this is who I am. It was seen that, that made me a "faker" because I didn't conform to just one thing. Now I'm older that is seem to be the norm, though not everyone like the same things, its ok to like a lot of different things. How I wish this had always been the case.

I've always been true to who I am, what I feel like at that time in my life, and yes its changed slightly over the years, I wear more colour than I used to (Red and Black was all I ever wore for a lot of years) I still have that side of me, I still have days where I want to just wear 2 colours. As well as the days where I wear 5 colours.

I've known about Sophie Lancaster since the day it came out in the news, it boiled my blood then, and it still does now! We live in a world so amazing and full of so many amazing people, places, cultures, that I never understood what drives someone to do that to a person just because they look different to them.

Through my early teens and college years I had names thrown at me, rocks thrown at me, I had people push and pull at me all because I looked different.

They looked different to me, but I didn't go around pushing and pulling them, throwing rocks at them or calling them names! That's just not a nice thing to do!
Even at my ripe age of 27 I still come across people, older, younger, the same age, who still want to call me names for looking different.

I am defiant, stubborn, I am my fathers daughter. I will not let what anyone says or does to me affect who I am! I am me, pure and simple, always have been always will be.

I don't just have friends who are only into the same things as me, they are all different from each other and that, to me, is the best way to be. It opens everyone's eyes to the oh so many different things in this world!

If you don't know about S.O.P.H.I.E please go check it out and see the amazing work her mum has been doing.

S.O.P.H.I.E is the main reason I found Illamasqua Make Up they support the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and I love that!!

If I could say one thing to anyone struggling out there with the fact that someone is different from you, ask them, go with an open mind and an open heart and find out about what they like, its doesn't mean you then have to like it, just understand it. Hate is born out of ignorance.

To the people who have been affected by name calling, abuse for being different, don't let go of who you are. You are AWESOME!!!

My only hope is that no Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Cousin, Friend, has to lose another person from their life due to an attack from someone just for being different.

Remember, someone out there loves you.

Keep it Positive

Nessa
xx

Salted Caramel for the win!!

Another set of Birthday Cupcakes had been requested by my friend at work....so of course i said yes! (New recipe, yes please!)

Consulted my Cupcake book....

and settled on the recipe in there. Though it said to add coffee essence, and i knew the girl i was baking them for isn't a massive coffee fan, so i tweaked it slightly and left it out.

6oz Plain Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

3 1/2 oz Caster Sugar

3 3/4 oz Soft Dark Brown Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Medium Eggs

125ml Milk

I decided on brown muffin cases for the base. Filled them half way and popped them in the oven. They rose to about 3/4's full which i was expecting. 

I then used Dr Oetker's cupcake center in salted caramel which i had gotten in my goodie bag from The Cake and Bake Show the week before (see previous post) 

Then lavished them in vanilla buttercream with just enough salted caramel left to drizzle on top.

I was SUPER happy with how they turned out!

I shall be making more new things soon....got an amazing idea up my sleeve, just need a reason to make them.

Mondays a good enough reason, right?!?

Keep it positive

Nessa

xx