Perfume haul

Hi guys!

Just a very quick post because I haven't even unwrapped these yet but I also got two perfumes as part of my new year present.

My mum likes to bulk buy (who does that remind us of?!) and she's been hiding Heat by Beyonce for ages to give me for 2014 and now she can't find it...so lucky me I ended up with Alien and Flowerbomb instead :)

I'm excited to try Alien because reviews suggest it's my kind of scent. I know that people love Flowerbomb but not to sure if it's my thing....but I'll enjoy using it all the same. I hope everyone is having a great 2014 so far. I cannot believe it's February already!!!

Monica Vinader - Ava bracelet

Oopsy! Another post I forgot to publish!
I was very lucky this Christmas and I also got the Monica Vindader Ava friendship bracelet.
Ava is a simple bracelet with a slightly hammered gold plaque, which I have engraved with my name. 

The Ava friendship bracelet looks great with the others, and it also matches the pendant on the chain my mum got me.
A lot of Monica Vinader items can be engraved and they offer the service free of charge. The bracelet itself was rrp £85 for the gold. I think this makes a lovely simple gift for a special friend. 

I also love all of the bracelet straps (blank mind...can't think of the word...but the picture above is what I'm talking about) when they are stacked together, looks cute :)

2nd attempt at Homemade Kale Chips

So I decided to give the homemade kale chips dealio another go and #fail.

This time I left them in too long and they burned (no poop Sherlock!!). I actually ate most of it anyway. It tasted burnt(!) but at least I know I can get then crispy.

I'm like Goldilocks and I'm almost there. Don't give up kids!

Homemade Kale Chips

Hi Guys!

I had a go at making Kale Chips (the latest blogger's food fad!!!) and thought I'd share the experience with you. I say experience because truth be told it didn't quite go to plan!

The taste was good (seasoning) but I didn't leave the kale in the oven long enough so some were perfect and crispy, and then some was just a bit like stir fry.

In terms of taste and what I was aiming for - think seaweed from the Chinese takeaway. 

My kale was already prepared so the first thing I had to do was wash it under water but if your kale isn't already cut up then just grab scissors and cut the leaves off the hard stalk bits (cos these don't crisp up - if you wanted I guess you could just bung the whole thing in the oven - want not, waste not - waste not, want not?)

Then dry your kale (super duper duper dry) and place on an oven tray. Season with olive oil and whatever you want really. I ended up using salt, pepper and sugar to make it taste just like the Chinese seaweed stuff.

Put in the oven until crispy!

So erm. Like I said, mine weren't exactly what I was hoping for, but hopefully I'll master the baking technique second time round.

LESSONS LEARNED

1) DRY THE KALE DRY THE KALE DRY THE KALE - after washing make sure the leaves are dry, otherwise they will not crisp up in the oven, DRY THE KALE. I dabbed at mine with kitchen roll but was a bit lazy about it tbh so I deserved my soggy kale. DRY THE KALE. The one thing I would say to you is DRY THE KALE. Ok, do we get the point now? Because I read a few 'how to's' and I still didn't fully bother. DRY THE KALE. DRY THE KALE PROPERLY. KALE NEEDS T BE COMPLETELY DRY DUDE!!!

2) Don't overload the oven tray. This is probably common sense to most people - but I am not most people so I overloaded the tray and even if my kale had been dry it probably still wouldn't have had room to get crispy.

3) I've purposedly left out times or oven settings because I can't be trusted. I might edit this if I improve, but for now, read these idiot proof notes, but go and get the techy bit from somewhere else.

I've got half a bag of kale left and will be making more this evening (practise makes perfect...hopefully?). Despite my mishaps I would definitely recommend you give these a go - a healthy and yummy snack, that's "easy to make" (hahahaha).

Monica Vinader - Rio friendship bracelet

Hi Guys!

Omg I was just checking my posts and realised that I didn't post about my rio bracelet!

For Christmas my parents got me this Monica Vinader friednship bracelet. It's the Rio bracelet, gold with black and the rrp was £130. Out of all my MV bracelet's this is the easiest to wear/put on, and fits a bigger wrist.

I was eyeing this up on the MV website for a while, and the customer service guy (I emailed about sizes) recommended the Rio but I wasn't too sure how it would look and if it was worth the money, but then I went to Selfridges with my mum and saw the real thing and I fell in love with it. I thought it was fun and understated, but stacked up looks good (not too young or like I'm a hippy!) and I get a lot of compliments on it :)

I guess I've only had this for 2 months (or not even 2 months?) but I really like it and am so grateful that I got it :)