Confessions Of An Introvert

Recently there seems to be much on the web about how to treat introverts. 

Like most people, I thought introverts were quiet and shy, so I didn't apply that label to myself. I can be quite loud, I'm comfortable in groups & I'm definitely not shy. It turns out though, or so I am reliably informed, that introversion is about how people get their energy, not about being socially 'awkward'. Introverts replenish their energy reserves from within themselves, extroverts get theirs from other people.

I've always been an introvert, just a confident outgoing one. I need solitude & thinking time & space, but I really love people. In the midst of my solitude my mind races & my heart longs for the people that I love. But my spirit demands me-time.

So to those that I haven't seen in a while or spoken to, please forgive me & know that I am thinking of you. 

I'm good, we're good & we will reconnect soon.

Peace & Love
xx

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Summertime in London

It's February, it's dark & cold & wet. For some of us in England, it's been really really wet. Flooding has been a major issue for many people, bringing with it power shortages, destroyed train lines & all sorts of disruption. At times like this, I long for summer and reminisce over the happier times.

Last summer was epic for me & whilst seeking inspiration for my latest nail art designs, I remembered this birthday cake that I made for a friend's landmark birthday & just had to go with it!

The birthday girl

The cake was designed to encompass the things that make us happy; London, love, art & music with cherries on top. 

So fast forward to 2014 and I'm in the middle of a love affair with nail art. What better way to bring on the summer than combining my two favourite things, nails and cakes!

Special thanks to L Does Nails for the nail art and Alexia Lenoir for help with the cake design.

Peace & Love

xx

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Sugar Cubes and Sonnets

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep. (Pablo Neruda)

Peace & Love

xx

Click here for instructions on how to make these cuties, they are really easy!

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Heart Shaped Sugar Cubes (How To Post)

Heart shaped sugar cubes are the easiest thing ever to make and make really cute gifts.

1. Pour out some sugar into a bowl, around 4 tablespoons per colour, and add just enough cold water to make it the consistency of wet sand.
2. Use a tiny amount of gel colouring of the colour you desire (you can also use a drop of normal food colouring). Mix until the sugar has a consistent colour and then shape using either a cookie cutter or a silicon mold.
3. To get the shape using a cookie cutter, first place it on top of a sheet of baking paper. Then stuff the cutter full of the coloured sugar and smooth the top using the back of a teaspoon. Finally pop it back out on to the baking paper.
4. Once you have finished making all of the shapes, leave them to dry in the fridge (or freezer) for about 2 hours and then they are good to go. You may need to dust off the edges so that you get a smooth shape.

Easy Peasy!

Peace & Love

xx

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Honey I Love You

It's that time of year again and Valentines Day is near. For me, Valentines Day is special because it's my son's birthday but I guess in a way over the years it's lost the whole romantic meaning....

Sugar cookies in the making...

As I've named this year the year of love, money and happiness, I'm focussing on what I want rather than what isn't. So to start with, I made a little collage of my ideal Valentines Day gifts (take note people).

Pictures courtesy of  Pintrest

Love letters, flowers and balloons, what more can a girl want from her Valentine? 

Sugar cookies of course! 

Sugar Cookies Recipe (American style adapted from Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups plain flour

1. Combine the sugar, butter and salt light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Finally add the flour (sifted) until it it's just combined.

2. Roll the dough into a large circle 1/4 inch thick in between two sheets of baking or parchment paper. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter and place them on one of the sheets of baking paper at least 1" apart. Leave to chill for a further 1 hour. 

4. Pre-heat the oven to 180oC (gas mark 4). Bake until light golden, 6-12 minutes depending on the size and shape of the cookies. Rotate halfway through cooking so that you get an even colour. Leave to chill on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I covered these delicious sugar cookies with peach coloured royal icing (click here for a video recipe) and sprinkled them with love hearts. They lasted about 5 minutes and didn't even make it out of the house! Not to worry, this month my baking will be all things love and someone will get to be the recipient! :)

Peace & Love

xx

ps - if anyone wants to spoil me this Valentines, please do!!!!!

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I Love Love....

The wedding cake

Today was the wedding of my cousin Melissa and her husband Northy. At the best of times making a wedding cake is scary, but delivering a stacked cake over 160 miles across England, family in tow, takes anxiety to a whole other level! 

Setting up the cake (in my almost-wedding outfit!)

In fact I was so focussed on getting the cake there in one piece, that I forgot to bring my wedding outfit with me!!! Thank God for my sister who had some supplies; jeans, trainers and a dirty apron are not a good look at a wedding! Once I'd set up the cake & gotten changed, I was finally able to relax in the beauty of the day. 

The beautiful couple...

I would describe myself as a hopelessly romantic, wannabe cynic: I just love love. After my failed attempts at happily ever after, I often wonder why people put themselves through it & the cynic in me gains strength. Then I come to a day like this & see the love in their eyes and the hope in their hearts & I'm a blubbering mess!

So happy :)

To be fair, anyone who knows me, knows that I cry at everything. It's a running joke in my family & borderline ridiculous, but I make no apologies: I feel, therefore I cry!

So whilst I don't know what the future will bring for me on the love front, for now, I know that I am happy for this beautiful couple and I wish them all good things! 

Below are some of my favourite snaps of the day, I think you will agree that it was beautiful! 

Flower Girls

Me (far right) & some of the family :)

My niece and nephew playing in the beautiful grounds...

I pretty much stalked this baby, too cute :)

My mum and Uncle aka the Father of the Bride 

Cutting the cake.

 Peace & Love

xx

ps for those interested, the tiers are; bottom - Red Velvet; middle - Lemon and top - Chocolate Truffle. There was also a rum cake for good measure :).

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Losing My Religion...

re·li·gion (r-ljn)

n.

1.

a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.

b. A personal or institutionalised system grounded in such belief and worship.

2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.

3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.

4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

Not many people would admit that they are religious. Despite what the definition above says, most people associate religion with greed, intolerance, war and legalism (stressing the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it). 

The truth is that I have been in a passionate love affair with religion for most of my adult life. I like the routine, the clarity and the sense of belonging that it brings. That was, until my love 'betrayed' me and suddenly I was on the outside, lost and confused. I looked around and saw so many people like me, some lost, some angry, some rejected some unconcerned. I'll never forget a gay friend of mine asked me with tears in his eyes "Why does God hate me? I wouldn't chose this life, I feel so abandoned because He doesn't accept me." It broke my heart.

This last year has been a real time of inward and upward reflection. A time of going back to basics and once again asking those difficult questions. I don't have all (or many) of the answers but there are some things that I know to be true;

- There is a God, He is alive, He is love, in Him we live and He lives in us.

- To love is the duty and calling of all men.

- God wants us to be our true and best selves and live our best lives.

Am I losing my religion? I don't think so, I would more say I am gaining a better awareness of my true self. What are your thoughts?

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life ~ Buddha

Peace & Love

xx

ps.The pictures are of chocolate dipped honeycomb from a recipe in 'Gifts from the Kitchen' by Annie Rigg. Click here for a link to the recipe.

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