Life through Instagram!

Hello lovely people! :) 

I love seeing instagram updates on blogs and also love creating posts like this just as a quick recap on some happenings, I suppose its an easy post to write but still enjoyable so without further-ado lets get to it! 

I've done my fair share of baking the past few weeks. Some pretty pink vanilla cupcakes, strawberry and banana muffins and peanut butter and banana pancakes! YUM, all of which are followed by some jasmine white tea from Thailand. I am also decorating my parents 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary cake so will post about that shortly.  

I have also had a bit of a tidy up, although looking at the current state of my room you wouldn't think it! I cleared my makeup, brushes and vanity tray and bought a lovely sausage dog ring holder!

Speaking of purchases, I saw this lovely grey top as photographed above from Oasis and loveee it especially as its so comfy! In addition one of my best friends recently went to America for several months and has just returned. She bought us each little presents and I received some Willy Wonka Nerds, EOS Strawberry Sorbet Balm and a Vanilla Cupcake Yankee Candle, what an amazing friend!! The small things in life eh :) 

xx

The Weekend | Cambridge & Punting

Owh.. I was ill on Saturday so not a lot went on other than 'buming' around catching up with YouTube and Saturday night TV, exciting I know. Although I still felt ill I managed to make my way up to the beautiful Cambridge to visit my boyfriend and his family where his mum had kindly booked us a punting trip and a Sunday lunch.

Although born and raised in London I absolutely love East Anglia, the peaceful way of life and unique little cobbled streets, I know one day I shall be moving up there so I am so thankful I picked a boyfriend who lives in the area ha (well done me). More to the point, we started the day with a guided punting tour of the colleges by the river and the history of the bridges. It is so pretty and I would recommend it to anyone. Here's a handy hint, make sure you face the way the boat is going as it saves the neck strain that I experienced. 

After the 40 minute tour we headed a little out of town to a pub called The Old Crown in Girton! It's around 20 minutes outside the city center but an absolutely beautiful pub with incredible deserts.. just check out my instagram for the boyfriends eton mess. Looked like heaven. Tom and I decided to head back into the center to walk through some gardens however we got chucked out by one of the guards who shouted at us that it was closed, if a gate is open, you presume its open right? Oopsie ha. 

The only thing I could remember from the time I went to Cambridge when I was a youngster was the Fudge shop that is actually named Fudge Kitchen. Luckily Tom knew what I was talking about so we headed straight there and I immediately bought some dairy free fudge and some rum & raisin for my parents.

What a lovely day and I hope everyone had a lovely weekend too:) 

I have a lonnnggg week  ahead despite having today off so think some baking is in store today x

Kathryn Bakes: Banana, Honey & Meringue Cupcakes

Yesterday I opted for a slightly different baking technique for cupcakes that contains no butter using a recipe I found in the new Cupcake Heaven magazine. If you have read my posts before you will know that whenever I use a recipe they mostly always come out wrong, so yup *sigh* to my surprise these you could say came out wrong but I would much prefer to say that they 'weren't exactly what I was going for'. 

Not that they aren't nice because they really are, they just aren't really what I would usually look for in a cupcake. If you like a solid cake such as a banana loaf then voila, this is for you. If, however, you have a sweet tooth like me and love butter cream with a light sponge then maybe another one of my recipes would suit you. Either way here is the recipe for Banana, honey & meringue cupcakes: 

P.s this is a small batch that only makes 6

For the cupcakes you will need:

• 150 g of plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2 ripe bananas, mashes
• 1 medium free range egg
• 40 ml of sunflower oil
• 75g of honey
• 80 g of chopped almonds 

For the meringue frosting you will need:

• 2 free range egg whites
• 100 g of caster sugar
• A pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 
• Pearls and banana chips to decorate

1. Pre heat the over to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tin with 6 cases 
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl
3. Whisk together the bananas, eggs, sunflower oil and honey to combine and then tip in the dry ingredients. Beat until smooth then add the almonds
4. Spoon in the mixture and bake for 20 mins. Cool in the tins or a few minutes then place on a wire rack 
5. For the meringue, mix the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of boiling water. Whisk until a sugar thermometer reads 60 degrees C then remove from heat
6. Continue whisking till peaks form, add vanilla then chill for 10-15 mins in the frige
7. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe a swirl on top of each cupcake
8. To finish I added yellow sprinkles and a banana chip!

I love seeing other peoples creations so if you are a baker or happen to use one of my recipes (in my dreams) then please give me a taggg on instagram or twitter (: 

Happy baking beauts x 

Shopping Haul | Pandora, Essie, Nars etc.

Another pay day...another shopping spree. I like to think I am good at saving money but lately I have just had to urge to work, spend, work spend, which really isn't the way to be! First stop on my spree was Boots. I have a shellac set at home and love it to bits but I really wanted a white nail vanish fast, so I purchased Essie Blanc as well as a topcoat, take a look at my instagram for close up as I lost my camera and now I have chipped a nail... not a good look! 

Then into SpaceNK where I purchased NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the shade Vanilla. I am so sick of my Collection 2000 that I thought I would treat myself (not that I needed too) and buy one that actually matches my skin tone. So far so good but it's only day one (:  

Oh Pandora! All my girls have Pandora rings and although I have had my bracelet since my 16th birthday, I just never considered myself as a ring person...until now. This is from their Autumn collection and I am slightly in love, looking to purchase the earrings to match, uh-oh. 

Then onto River Island where I bought this black simple top. I never wear black so this is a bit out of my comfort zone but the v-neck is so elegant and classy that I can see myself wearing it a lot! Following on from buying my adorable Koala Slippers I was eager to buy a dressing gown. How pretty is this one from Boux Avenue? I have worn it every day since and loveee it to bits, its so me! 

And there you have it, think I got over excited with money but ohwells... that's why you work eh?!

:) Kathryn x

The Weekend | London Town The Shard

After a long tiresome day that was followed by a night out at a rollerskating disco, I headed back into London on the Sunday to reunite with my fellow uni friends. First stop was Covent Garden aka the meeting point of every trip to London, and I insisted we bought some paella in the market mmmm, a must if you are heading into Covent Garden quickly!

Hoping back onto the underground we decided to have drinks up the Shard! This was such a lovely experience and as a bonus you can walk into Aqua Shard for free, although I suppose you pay for it through the cocktails ha! I am unsure of the name of my cocktail but it was a take on my favourite cocktail, the beautiful Pina Colada but martini inspired! 

If you are following me on instagram you will have seen a lot of recent purchases, oopsie but these means there is a lovely haul in store tomorrow! 

Much love :) It's nearly Friday, whats your plan for the weekend?

xx

Olivia Burton Large White Face Watch

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my Michael Kors watch however lately I'm finding it hard to style with particularly when I wear more delicate jewellery and especially as it was around four years ago that I bought it, it's not looking its prettiest. After seeing several posts about Olivia Burton watches I decided to have a little google and I am so thankful I did as a few days ago I stumbled across The Dressing Room online who happen to stock Olivia Burton watches and to my surprise had a store located near me. 

Originally I had my eye on their exclusive watch which you can find here, but I felt the rose gold was just too much and too similar to my Michael Kors that I decided to buy the Large White Face Watch in Rose Gold & Pearl Pink Croc instead. Ohhhh I love it, I wore it today and felt all girly and pretty. It's so beautiful and although it doesn't feel anything like my MK, it is still high quality for £75 and looks stunning with any elegant silver bracelet. 

Like it? Which watch is on your wish list? I would love to know (: 

Kathryn xx

The Weekend | London Town O2 Climb

Although I technically don't live in London, I like to class myself as a London galll and love going in town for little adventures to discover new places. This weekend was a special one as it was the last 21st birthday of our friendship group and we sure did celebrate it well. The first adventure of the day was climbing up the O2 ( you know the one, that big dome by the river in Eastenders). I hadn't a clue what to expect and can safely say I was least prepared girl in the group... I even had to purchase some socks because I stupidly thought my shoes would be suitable. All geared up in some uber attractive climbing wear we were ready to take on the huge challenge of accomplishing the O2, that's a slight exaggeration ha.

I really would recommend it, we had such a laugh and although it's not the highest of buildings the view was still vast, especially seeing the cable cars over the Thames. I think that will be my next on my to-do list in London. Being the classy girls we are, half of us ordered a sushi whilst the rest of us ordered a Nandos takeaway... can't beat a good Nandos pitta :)

Birthday girl!

I have a post to follow and after my previous post I feel really excited about my blog and my upcoming posts! I really hope all you lovely followers still enjoy my blog but I understand if you are more interested in the beauty side of things, who knows I'm sure a makeup post will pop up here and there :)

P.s Thank you everyone and also so proud that I reached 100 followers on instagram today! You are all wonderful people and have made me a very happy blogger <3