lately.

half price platters at 'slug and lettuce' with suzy

family meals on new years day

putting the selfie stick into good use

mastering the perfect photography angle

crispy cold sixth form days

moving into our new kitchen aka lots of cleaning to be done!

baking pistachio and nutella macaroons and enjoying a girly sleepover and catch up time

matching coats with anna. 

Insta-Thursty: Week 19

beautiful colours on a sunday morning

baking gingerbread hands and feet with my girls for christmas church celebrations!

christmas polaroids

first baked goods in our new kitchen - chocolate and vanilla marbled cupcakes, made without kitchen scales!

scrummiest dessert time with suzy.

winter wonderland craziness and reunion with my old school friends

reminiscing the highlights of 2014 on new years eve - gotta be croatia!

winter wonderland

i am definitely still wishing it was the christmas season and that i wasn't sitting at a computer typing up my 5000 word essay. i got a chance to meet up with my old school friends during the christmas break and instead of meeting our tradition of hanging out in kingston, we decided to venture out to the festivities of winter wonderland.

gotta love photobombers.

sure enough it was festive, for everyone was flocking to hyde park and even getting on the tube was a struggle with so many people!

nonetheless, we were so excited by the massive christmas tree, the sweet smelling scent of nutella crepes and a gazillion rides whirling people around!

it was such a cute catch up and a time to free ourselves from the busy schedules of school and work. though the weather was bitterly chilly and windy, our hearts were definitely warmed with our laughters and conversations

winter sunsets occur around 4pm these days so it was a real shame it was getting dark so quickly!

^^ and here's my three kids playing on a little spinny ride! did i ever mention i can't deal with rides that spin you round? my childhood was ruined by the fact i can't withstand a teacup ride!

^^ of course, the obligatory photo under the winter wonderland sign!

and here's a little bus journey selfie to commemorate the blasts we had! i'm definitely missing these girls already...life will be so different when we leave to different places for university...maybe even miles apart!

^^beautiful sun setting in london

Colour my Friday: juicy reds.

happy birthday dear mummy...

^^ when the selfie stick is particularly handy!

every new years eve there will be a special cake cut.... a special song sung... a special meal eaten and fireworks to end the evening

the cook this year appears to my dad who by the looks of things enjoys grilling his sweetcorn!

we were served tiger bread and smoked salmon for the starter. and as for the main...well it was just too tasty i forgot to take a picture of it! 

this year we also had a lovely little guest who came to stay with us during this holiday break

with the kitchen not fully finished yet, i still managed to find my scales after opening what seems like 2443 million cardboard boxes and cooked up this yummy matcha cheesecake. i made a smaller version of these here!

what a perfect finish to 2014.

happy birthday mummy, i love you!!

london photoshoot: house of ho.

remember these fun photoshoots with kelly a while back (1, 2, 3)? here are a few taken at the restaurant we stopped at for some vietnamese food, called 'house of ho' in leceister sq. 

we had never been here before but decided to try it out since there was a massive half price meal deal sign plastered on the window. we were chuffed.

the lighting was pure bliss as we were seated next to the window pouring in gorgeous natural lighting

^^ the tastiest fresh salad ever. bursting with flavours and everything. it's got the full package. ^^

^^some shots taken by kelly^^

last but not least, cheeky nikki who popped along for a coffee with us after she was let loose from uni!

new year, new me.

one of my happiest and most treasured moment in 2014. read about my trip to croatia here, here and here!

firstly, happy new year! and merry christmas, for the record.
though certainly my blog doesn't seem to be as festive as other blogs worldwide, i can tell you i've been utterly drowned in this christmas season! - the food, the laughter and banter, the games and family time. it's been so perfect despite not having completed any work i hoped to do.

anyhow, as it has been trending, "new year, new me" is perhaps the most commonly quoted phrase when entering january as people start hopping out of the festivities and dropping back to reality.

going with the flow, i decided to set myself a few goals though i'm not sure how long these will last at all. after lunching with my friend and deciding i need some sortta structure for the next 365 days, i went home and came up with the following:

1) drink more H2O particles i.e. water. if you know me well enough, i clearly do not consume enough water as much as i'm with the looking-after-my-body trend. a better me starts with a healthier body so lets start with topping up my flashing hydration levels baby!

2) as cheesy as it sounds, go run. in all honesty, since sports was no longer compulsory after year 10, i have done absolutely no sports. except exercising my finger muscles when i type. bought my first pair of running shoes last night....must. use. to. the. max.

3) ok, everyone says this, but work even harder. in simpler form, stop procrastination!!! or at least lessen it. c'mon gurl, you got uni requirements to meet this year!

4) my relationship with God - work on it! water it and nurture it through discovering the treasures of the bible and speaking to him

5) up my game with this blog. its clearly getting somewhere but i want to make it one of my greatest accomplishments this year.

6) family. always so important to me. i aspire to work on some random acts of kindness and grow my patience with these people who are more than just human beings.

a year is not long or short. use it wisely to strive to be a better person. make new friends, new jokes, capture many more memories and treasure past memories.

here's to an even better, wackier and CrAzIeR yearrrrrrrrr