Wednesday Wish List oo6

The Wednesday Wish List is back! Being sick has given me plenty of time to look at pretty things online when I really should have been recovering and drinking more fluids.. Check out this week's items!

001 | First is this beautiful checkerboard dress from Monki. Monki are a brand who I think get easily overlooked. They remind me of Gap and H&M - brands who create great quality clothing at amazing prices. This dress is £40 and will be so snug and comfy this winter!

002 | I've become really obsessed with Jeremy Scott recently. I'm watching about ten pairs of his Adidas trainers on eBay at the moment, despite the fact that I really can't afford them. His designs are so 90's and a bit Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I think these ones are an older design but I am in love with the Miami pair and pretty much everything else he lays his hands on!

003 | Now for another high end product (isn't that what wish lists are for?) I love love love sunglasses in the winter. I love the idea of a simple black silhouette with dark shades and chignon hair. Basically I love funeral chic. These Nikitas by Tom Ford are so beautiful and I am still devastated that last year I missed out on a brand new pair on eBay for £60!

004 | Ahhh black boots! I don't know how I am going to dress when Summer comes around. I love the detailing on this pair from Choies - the gold hardware and the patent croc is beautiful! definitely going to invest in some moc croc boots when Christmas is out the way!

005 | Being sick means a lot of nail art. I have been constantly painting my nails over the past few weeks but my topcoat is awful! I've been using the Rimmel Lasting Finish Top coat and is chips and dents after about an hour And it takes forever to dry! I've been looking at a lot of top coat reviews and I've heard so many good things about the Seche Vite top coat. Apparently it is THE best and makes your nails look like you've had shellac - really glossy and gel-like.

006 | It was difficult choosing only one item from Zara for this week's wish list. Everything is incredible and I want all their plaid. However I went with this gorgeous blue and gold statement necklace. I love a statement necklace and this is a great day to evening piece!

007 | Another piece I found on Choies was this amazing burgundy coat! As much as I love a tailored winter coat, sometimes it's just really nice to throw on something comfy for popping to the shops or walking the dog. I love the collars on this coat and the shape looks really comfy and cosy. The only thing I really want to change about this is the texture - Choies, can you make this in corduroy?

008 | Whilst currently being obsessed with nail art, I have been keeping up to date with the Queens of nails - WAH on their Instagram! Obviously because I can't get enough, I found their book on Amazon! It's an amazing selection of designs and inspirations with handy tips and tricks! Next time I go to London I am getting booked in for daisy print nails!

009 | Lastly my battered gold watch from Next has gone missing. I know it's somewhere in the house but it's probably time for a new one anyways.. I love this gold one with little globes in the face from ASOS! It's only £25 and really cute. Simon has hinted about getting me a watch for Christmas so this is some good shopping inspiration for him!

I've just had to speed type all of this because I can hear Badger being a little gremlin downstairs. Today she decided to eat a pen. We are both covered in ink and she has a completely black paw. I hope she starts being good soon!

x

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New Blog Name and Update

Hello everyone,

This is a really short post to my followers just to say that my blog name and URL have been changed. As I said in my last post, I was never really a fan of the previous blog name and have decided to just use my own name in the future. So Velvet Mojitos is no more and my blog will now only be found at laurastanley-bratley.blogspot.co.uk (because of the name change my bloglovin link won't work for a short time - waiting on their support team to move my followers across)

I have also changed my Twitter and Facebook names!

I will still however, be using my velvet mojitos email address for all things blog related (you can find this on the contact page)

All as you may have noticed, I'm in the process of giving my page a nice new update, mainly based on the amazing advice I was given at the Next Blogger Workshop (you can read about that here) I'm hoping to get this finished as soon as possible so ignore all the fiddling around and any broken links - I'm still trying to get the page simple but with a bit of personality.

Anyway, after two weeks of sickness, it's nice to be back.

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What's going on?

So, I've been the worst blogger ever recently. 

I've been really sick with gastro since last weekend :( It's really gross but I've lost a few lbs and my clothes are fitting nicely! I felt really nauseous for three days and was struggling to even drink water, so my doctor gave me some rehydration stuff and I'm feeling loads better and less headachey. Unfortunately even the smallest snack gives me the most crippling stomach ache so I've barely eaten since last Monday.. I'm so hungry and I love my food so it's getting a bit depressing now :( I tried to eat burritos on Saturday because toast was getting boring and I'm still paying for it now.. It's only supposed to last for like five days at most so I might go back to the doctors and see what's going on!

Obviously due to the above I haven't really been up to much.. Started watching American Horror Story - oh my god how good?! I'm on the second series now and Jessica Lange is just the greatest! For those who haven't watched it, it's not really scary. I think it's meant to be more of a psychological drama thing, but to me, it's just good trashy tv.

I've been having a little think about giving my blog a face lift - including a name change. It took me a few weeks to initially start my blog because I couldn't think of a name. Velvet Mojitos was the first thing that popped into my head and honestly, I don't really like it.. ( It sounds like it came from this) I didn't want fashion or food or anything like that in the title because I didn't want my blog to be filed into a specific genre. I think I'm going to change it to my own name and maybe buy the domain too. It's a blog about my general interests and nothing specific so my own name as a blog title is perfectly suitable. 

Other than that, I've been in bed, spooning Badger and dreaming of eating anything and everything..

x

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Kabinet - Pinterest for Cosmetics?

This week I got an email inviting me to try out a new social platform called Kabinet. It's sort of like a Pinterest kind of site, where you add your favourite beauty products to your own page (your Kabinet) and can make recommendations. You can also create a wishlist of items you would love to get your hands on!

I've been having a little play round on it and I think it's a really great idea. Whereas Pinterest is for collating every pretty picture you've ever seen, this is solely for beauty and is great for getting immediate reviews of certain products.
You can browse the categories for skin care, hair care, bath & body, make up, fragrances and tools or use the search box to find specific items.

You can then add all your items to your Kabinet. As I said, it's very similar to Pinterest but I think if you're a big beauty buff then this would be perfect for you. I'm more of a basics make up kind of girl and my products probably aren't interesting enough for this kind of platform but I think a lot of beauty bloggers would really love to see the reviews and discuss available products. My only issue with the website is that all the prices are in dollars. I'm not sure if this is something you can change (I haven't yet checked) and there are a few British products which I couldn't find. Of course it's still a fairly new platform and I'm sure more products will become available as it grows! I also find it a tiny bit annoying that you have to comment on every product you add to your Kabinet - there's only so much I can say about moisturiser...

At the moment, access is invite only, so if any bloggers want to try this website out, send me your email address and I'll invite you to join!

What do you think? Would any of you beauty bloggers be interested in a cosmetics Pinterest?

x

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Wednesday Wish List oo5 The CHRISTMAS Special!

This was scheduled to run yesterday but for some reason it didn't work! Nevermind, check out Wish List #5!

Anyone else think that October lasted about five seconds? Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night are over, we can think about Christmas! 

I'm getting really excited for Christmas this year. It's been a horrible few months and I just can't wait for roasted potatoes, Badger dressed as a reindeer and 'A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector' on repeat! And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without hearing our favourite racoon eyed rock princess, Cindy Lou Who in The Grinch!

Here is my Christmas Wish List and I hope everyone is getting into the festive spirit!

It's no secret that The Whitepepper have become my favourite brand this year! They have the most beautiful oversized smock dresses and this gingham one is on sale at the moment! The angel cuff smocks are also adorable (if anyone wants to buy me one, I like the pink and check dresses :) These boots are amazing - heavy duty, black, chunky sole, everything I am looking for in a winter boot this year!

Because my outfits have become quite monochrome recently, I tend to reserve colour for accessories. These watches from The Watch Hut and are such festive colours - perfect for winter! Forever a Marc Jacobs girl, I am in love with this berry toned chronograph! The gold detail is subtle and the face is beautiful! 

Obviously, you can't get away from Michael Kors these days and whilst I do love the rose gold MK watch, I think this Felicity watch is a bit more special. Emerald green is not a common colour for a watch face but it works! I would be happy to be sporting either of these this A/W (or maybe both!)

Yes, it's another chunky boot, but I couldn't get over the price of these Topshop Annys! I always assume all the boots in Topshop are a minimum of £70 and therefore never really buy anything.. These are only £42 and I love the style! Next are these Martie T-bar shoes in the sweetest holographic silver colour! These would look cute with a smock or some rolled up black jeans!

Has everyone noticed how amazing the clothes in ASOS are at the moment? Keeping with my smock obsession, how cute is this tartan cut off dress? I think the allure is the fact that you can each as much as you like under these dresses (perfect for Christmas day!) I love the sleeves on this floral smock too!

I can never have too many bags.. They are Badger's favourite chew toy and my two month old satchel has become her latest victim. This massive Shopper bag from H&M is perfect for cramming things into!

Speaking of H&M does anyone ever remember that they sell homeware as well as clothes? After a quick browsing section I came away loving these items and the cost is amazing! 

I seem to be collecting cookie cutters at the moment but I don't have any lip, moustache or dog shaped ones yet! This set is so sweet! And of course, when baking you need an apron to keep your self flour-less and a cake stand to present your beautiful goods!

My own wish list aside, I need to start Christmas shopping! I love buying gifts but can't stand how busy it gets in town. I think online shopping will be a must this year!

What are you wishing for this Christmas? I hope you're as excited as me!

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All images come from the noted shop.

Halloween Inspired Chocolate Orange Batternberg

This week's #britishbloggerselection theme is Halloween so, here is a little throwback to Halloween 2010 at my friend, Rosie's birthday party! To this day, I still don't know what I was dressed up as...

 I didn't really do much this year, besides dressing Badger up, but I did make this cake!

A few weeks ago I made the most delicious batternberg using Rachel Allen's recipe. Her recipe is for one big cake but I made mine into mini ones, similar to the Mr Kipling cakes. 

A few days later I was in Costa Coffee and noticed their cake selection had a new addition - a chocolate orange batternberg. It was so yummy but I couldn't find a similar one in any supermarket. 

After a few weeks of practising, I came up with my own recipe. The cake is perfectly moist the orange is so fragrant! It's also a lot easier to make than you might think.

A few notes for this recipe: I added ground almonds to my cake but you can leave this out and make up the difference with more flour. This will make 2/3 big cakes depending on the size of your tray or 10/12 mini ones.

Also, you might be wondering - where is the Halloween inspiration in this cake? Well, it's orange...

Servings: 2/3 big cakes (8 slices each) or 10/12 mini cakes

Ingredients: 

250g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

6 eggs

250g self-raising flour

90g almonds

4tbsp cocoa powder

Zest of one orange

Juice of half an orange

1 tsp orange food colouring

50g chocolate (I used chunks and melt just before step 3!)

3tbsp apricot jam (warm this up just before step 6!)

500g marzipan

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°c and line two cake tins with greaseproof paper.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy ( I used my new mixer!) Slowly add the eggs and continue beating until smooth (it won't go completely smooth but try as hard as you can!)

3. Divide the batter into two bowls. For the chocolate layers, add 110g flour (sifted), 50g almonds, the melted chocolate and the cocoa powder and mix well. For the orange layer add the remaining flour (140g) and almonds (50g), the food colouring and the orange zest and juice. Mix well until completely combined and then pour each batter into a cake tin. Bake for 25 mins until spongy to touch.

4. Once removed from the oven, leave to stand for 15 minutes before you transfer them to a wire rack. Leave until cold and then transfer to the fridge for an hour or two to firm up.

5. When you cakes are nice and cold, it's time to get trimming. Using a bread knife, level your cakes on the top and sides until they're all even. 

6. Coat one layer of sponge in jam and sit the other layer on top. Then cut the cake into three rectangles for large cakes or 10/12 for mini ones.

7. Then take your rectangles and slices lengthways through the brown and then orange (or the other way round!) Brush with jam and lay the colours in the opposite direction to get the batternberg pattern. Repeat for all other layers of sponge.
8. Roll out your marzipan divide into three or 10/12 pieces to fit around the cakes (dust with icing sugar if it's really sticky!) Spread each piece of marzipan with a little jam and roll around the cake. Press firmly, trim away the excess and dust with more icing sugar. Voila!

Such a simple cake to make and it's so tasty! I'm sure there are thousands of other combinations - if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments!

Also, if you make this cake, let me know what you think!

x

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#britishbloggerselection

Yesterday, I was having a little peak through Abi Prentice's blog and noticed a little group she had joined called The British Blogger Selection, where every week, members write a post based on a set theme.

Intrigued, I followed the link to Ellie's page - Little Vintage Camera, where almost 100 people had signed up to be part of this little blogging community.

I thought this was a really sweet way to get British Bloggers talking to each other, either though the comments box or on Twitter ##britishbloggerselection and a theme is always great for a bit of inspiration!

To join, click on the button above and send Ellie your details!

x

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