Super quick note

Hello lovelies, 

Just a quick note to say that there will be no game review or Thursday ramblings this week or next week. I'll be back at the weekend with baking. 

Blogging Love xxx

Tuesday shorts - SkyGuy

One time, after SkyGuy had drank a few too many drinks, he took a taxi home with a girl he's met at a club. 

N.B. The above picture is just a representation - not the actual SkyGuy. 

SkyGuy then proceeded to get the taxi to the supermarket car park near his house. The taxi pulled up and he leapt out and ran across the carpark leaving the poor girl to pay for the taxi. 

Genuis...

Monday life update

Remember that this week I'll be starting the photo a day May challenge! (see last week's post)

Fifteen week challenge: Most recent person you started following on Twitter and why

The most recent person I've started following on Twitter is John Cochran from Survivor Caramoan. 

What can I say? He's funny, charming and I think I have a little bit of a crush on him. I'm a huge Survivor fan - when Season 26 ends in a few weeks I'm going to post a series review. Baking this weekend has happened - recipe to follow on Thursday. 

1 - Two good things that happened recently

2 - Most recent person you started following on twitter and why

3 - Last movie you saw and your thoughts on it

4 - Story behind something you recently discovered

5 - Recent development in one particular relationship of yours

6 - Last book you read and your thoughts on it

7 - One unlucky thing that happened recently

8 - The latest random thing that happened to you

9 - Something you learned about yourself recently

10 - Last trip you went on and one major highlight

11 - Most recent event that made you smile

12 - Three new music artist you became interested in

13 - Last thing you’ve missed of reminisced about

14 - Most recent words of wisdom you heard that stuck with you

15 - Two things that you hope to see happened in the next three months

See you tomorrow for my Tuesday "short"

Much Blogging Love

Tuesday shorts - Skyguy

Hello lovelies, 

Sorry I haven't posted this week. I've been too busy with work - I was evaluated by my boss and it was super stressful. That's all over now though and I'm back and posting. 

This story is part in honour of the end of JLS and partly in honour of my best friend "Skyguy" who always has the most amazing stories. 

Recently, one of JLS (no idea which one) had arranged to visit Skyguy's work - as part of this deal, the JLS member's girlfriend would also be coming up to the work to meet her boyfriend there. On the day, the JLS member cancelled and so imagine the surprise when, after she'd travelled for around four or five hours, his girlfriend arrived at the workplace ready to see her boyfriend. Awkward situation. 

Much Blogging Love, 

Monday - Life update and quizzes

Hello lovelies, 

Nothing to update on the life front. It's just been such a dull week - literally work, sleep and eating. Below are the two challenge I will be doing for the next little bit. Below is the May Photo-a-day challenge that I'll be completing  and a fifteen week about me challenge too.

Fifteen week challenge: Two good things that have happened recently

The first was enjoying the Easter holidays. As I work in Education, school holidays are so much fun. I didn't do much - but it was so nice to have the time off, lie-ins, lazy days and staying up late. 

The second thing is getting to spend some time with my family. I recently went out with my cousins, brother and Grandad for a day out and stuff like that is wonderful. We went to a National Trust property and had a great time exploring, learning about history and pretending to be apprentices. 

1 - Two good things that happened recently

2 - Most recent person you started following on twitter and why

3 - Last movie you saw and your thoughts on it

4 - Story behind something you recently discovered

5 - Recent development in one particular relationship of yours

6 - Last book you read and your thoughts on it

7 - One unlucky thing that happened recently

8 - The latest random thing that happened to you

9 - Something you learned about yourself recently

10 - Last trip you went on and one major highlight

11 - Most recent event that made you smile

12 - Three new music artist you became interested in

13 - Last thing you’ve missed of reminisced about

14 - Most recent words of wisdom you heard that stuck with you

15 - Two things that you hope to see happened in the next three months

See you tomorrow for my first Tuesday "short"

Much Blogging Love

Weekend baking, part 2 - 110 cakes

Hello Blogging Lovelies, 

Welcome back to Part 2 of my baking weekend. Today we're making "110 cakes."

110 cakes are super simple to make, and are perfect to make with children as it's all about the decorating and less about the measuring, baking, fiddly bits etc. You just add 110 grams of sifted flour, 110 grams of margarine (or butter to make it a bit richer), 110 grams of sugar, 2 eggs, a splash of milk and a teaspoon of baking powder into a bowl and whisk. When it's smooth, you put into paper cake cases and bake at 180 degrees for fifteen minutes. It makes 12-15 cakes depending on how big you want your cakes to be.

These were cakes that are super easy to adapt as well: over the years, I've added chocolate chips, raisins and dried cherries into the mixture and various types of icing. melted chocolate, chocolate buttons, whipped cream, mini-eggs. paper flowers, sprinkles and fruit onto the top of the cakes.

Today, I just went with icing sugar. The cakes last about three days, so I'll be taking some in my lunch box this week. Yummy. 

And so ends my first week blogging - just to say thanks to all the people who've read so far; I've been overwhelmed by the number of hits. If you do like this blog, or any of the posts, either join by Google friend connect (over to the left) or write a comment.

Much Blogging Love xxx

Weekend baking, part 1 - Bread and Butter Pudding

Hello Blogging Lovelies, 

So, for my first weekend baking entry, I decided to make my all time favourite pudding: Bread and Butter Pudding. 

This was super simple to make: I buttered five slices of white, fairly stale bread and sliced them into halves and layered them into a greased dish. On top of each layer, I added dates and sugar. I prefer to use dates instead of the traditional raisins as they caramelise a bit more and, as I have a mega sweet tooth, they taste a little bit sweeter. After that, I just whisked half of litre of milk and two eggs together and poured the custard over the top. Finally, just before the pudding went into the oven, I sprinkled a little bit more sugar over the top to make the top nice and crispy when it had baked.  I put it in the oven at 190 degrees for 35 minutes. 

The finished product.  Looks good, right? Tasted wonderful too. 

And, looks like I'l be baking some more tomorrow, I'm making some mini-cakes for a family party so I'll blog how those turn out too. 

Much Blogging Love xxx

Thursday ramblings - Game of Thrones Season 1

Hello lovelies, 

This past week I just finished watching Game of Thrones Series 1 - I absolutely loved it and am going to start season 2 this weekend. I have a rough idea (thanks to my Uni course-mates) of what happens in the books so far. Below, I'm posting my opinion of each character and my predictions for what will happen to them into the next series. 

Sansa: Included first as she is my favourite calender. I can identify with her, sympathise with her and I completely love her. She, despite being criticised, has shown her political nouse this season; despite how it spectacularly backfired.  Is he naive? Yes. Can I see why she is hated? Yes. Do I think she'll become a major game-changing character? Yes. She is now, from what I can see, about to complete an apprenticeship with Cersei and Cersei's diplomatic and manipulative skill plus Sansa's morals and love for others would make Sansa a wonderful Queen, if she ever gets the chance to.  She has all the heart of her Dad and all of the political skill of her Mum - truly formidable in my book. 

Arya: Controversially, one of my least favourite characters. I have so much sympathy for her wanting to be a boy, and for wanting to develop her tomboyish and fighting side. Do I think she has the common sense to play the game in the same way as Sansa? She still needs to prove her political skill instead of relying on her sword play and athleticism alone. I'm interested to see where her journey takes her - but I'm worried it's going to become a series of hi-jinks and capering with men on the road. I would hate for her to become a comic relief character when I think we need to see the character grow if we're going to take her seriously. 

Bran: First of all, I think he's adorable. I would like to adopt him. I am, and I understand that this may come from watching episodes back to back, SO BORED of his dream. Where is that blinking raven taking him? Bran has been acted beautifully and I felt so sorry for him when he found out he could never walk. Bran seems to have some political sense and a will to fight. My main thought about Bran is that maybe he can see into the future - the three eyed raven being symbolic of that. Bran (or Rickon) is my personal guess for who I think will be King at the end of the series. 

Robb:  I'm on the fence with Robb. He obviously has ambition and is noble, and he seems to be doing a good job of ruling and leading his army. His reliance on his mother, however, frustrates me. I understand that she is very wise and experienced at dealing in politics and with men, and that her father's influence has led them to some huge advantages. (crossing the bridge, for example). Do I however, think that he will ever be taken seriously as a Mummy's boy? Hmmm... Both Joffrey and Robin paint negative images of Mummy's boys - meaning Robb must either buck the trend or he's doomed. 

Cersei: First of all, the incest story line creeps me out. In a world full of spies and manipulation, I doubt that Cersei's love affair would be as secret as it seems. More people than the ex-hand of the King must have worked this out. She is obviously politically skilled but I think her poor parenting is about to come back and haunt her; she can't control Joffrey, but she can control Sansa. Cersei's best move would be to make Joffrey fall in love with Sansa and then use her to get to him! 

Tyrion: Tyrion confuses me. He obviously wants to be accepted by his father, and yet seems less interested in playing the political game. He obviously wants to put the wrongs of the world right, but does not fully commit to this in the same way that the Stark family does. He is either playing a much bigger game than has been revealed yet (I hope so!) or is simply too emotionally affected by his father's mistreatment of him to play the game properly. 

Dany: I love Dany's storyline but I was slightly confused by the end. (Did the witch poison her baby? Was it just the incantation? Why did the baby and the horse not bring back Drogo? Why wouldn't the witch make this clear?) THe dragons were something that I think we all saw coming but for me, this season was Dany's. Her journey was the most startling and the most believable. The characters that surrounding her were the only reason she wasn't my favourite character: Drogo being used as a tool to show how his new wife is much more politically sensitive than him and Jorah being a Wikipedia page for the first few episodes and a lusty uncle by the end. I hope Dany ditches him, takes the horse people as her court and goes back to King's Landing one day; though I don't think it will be as Queen. 

Jon Snow: I'm not going to say too much on Jon because I feel that this character's journey hasn't started yet. I quite liked the army-style training scenes early on but I felt that him being so easily swayed by his new allies (after being so set on leaving) was a slight cop out by the producers.  I don't think Jon will stay in the Night Watch forever; his family loyalty seems to be too strong for that. I feel that his adventures (hopefully, beyond the Wall) will be the making of him. I see potential, but not that much growth (other than "Stop being a smug so-and-so/Learn humility" - Disney movies give you more depth...) 

Joffrey: As my Dad would say, "cruising for a bruising", I doubt that Joffrey will be King by the end of next season. In a way, although I believe that his becoming King helped so many of the other characters to develop and fuelled the action, I wish he had stayed a Prince for a bit longer. The title of the series "Game of Thrones" has not truly been fufilled, and I only feel it will upon Joffrey's death. Tommen will not be a strong King and could be easily usurped. Joffrey is almost too much - there's crazy, and then there's "Why haven't you been disposed of crazy?". For me, Joffrey errs to close to the fantastical and unbelievable side. 

There we have it folks, my opinion of Game of Thrones series 1: I only discussed the main characters, and none who were dead by the end of the season. I would love to discuss the series and GoT with you; please leave a spoiler free comment below. 

Much Blogging Love

xxx

Game Review: Emily's Wonder Wedding

 Hello lovelies, 

As promised, I am straight back with my first post, reviewing  "Emily's Wonder Wedding."

 

This is the most recent game in the "Delicious" series of games where you control Emily, a young waitress who is struggling with love, money and marriage in this edition. I'd played the original "Delicious" when it came out and had enjoyed it so I was excited to see what developments had been made over the last few years.  Below, I'll comment on the story, the game-play and the design of the game. 

Story: The story is split into twenty-five "episodes" each with two levels. This was a nice way to break up the story and split the game down into "bitesize" chunks, which was nice to have. The story develops well, and at a nice pace - you get to meet and understand all of the characters and their motives without having played any of the previous games. The story does "jump" backwards and forwards between two locations (Snuggford and Ireland) which, while nice, does make you start to consider how much the characters are spending on air fare? Millions by the end of the game, I'm sure. Emily, the main character, appeared charming at first, but was sickeningly optimistic by the end of the game. The plot wraps itself up almost too neatly in the final chapters; some conflict or unresolved issues may have made you want to play more - or wait for the next game. 

STORY RATING: 3.5/5

Game-play: The  game is addictive. Levels started off slightly too easy for me but, as an experienced gamer, that is a flaw I can live with. The tutorial is clear but skippable and the levels get gradually harder without ever jumping in difficulty. Each restaurant (you visit five) has a different menu and set up with it's own challenges. For example, the second restaurant is also a hotel, meaning that you need to provide towels, soap and keys to guests. Some of the levels do start to drag by the end of the game by becoming too long - and more of an endurance test that a level.  The real winner for me were the challenge levels that appear in each episode. These levels are fairly easy to pass but often  hard to gain an expert rank on. The challenges that appear in these levels are realistic but tough. The challenge levels are so addicting that you want to keep playing them. 

GAME-PLAY RATING: 4.5/5

Design: The game looks beautiful. The characters look realistic and yet still cartoon-like and all of the levels are designed. The music matches all of the levels really well. A few small mistakes show that programmers may have been rushing towards the end - the bedclothes (which only stay messy and crumpled) in Episode 1 are a prime example. The dialogue is clear and easy to read, A perfectly sound design - but not something that took my breath away either. 

DESIGN RATING: 4.5/5

OVERALL RATING: 4.25/5 

This game is definitely worth a look; I purchased and played this game through I Win  (http://www.iwin.com/)  who offer a one hour free trial where you can test the game. 

Hello, Aloha and Bonjour.

So this is the first post in my brand new shiny blog... I'm just a little bit excited. 

This blog has been inspired by so many people: my friend from Uni, Fiona, has a fantastic blog (http://maid-in-scotland.blogspot.co.uk/) and one of her friends, Rachel, also has a fantastic blog (http://sweet--rachel.blogspot.co.uk/). I love them both and am constantly so inspired by their passion, creativity and the joy that they get out of blogging. My Uni tutor has been encouraging us to write so this is hopefully an extension of that task. 

Here is my current plan for my blog:

Monday - Weekly catch up and my challenge. As an avid Instagram user, I tend to do Instagram photo a day challenges; I also love blogging quizzes so I may post one of those once in a while. 

Tuesday - Tuesday "Shorts." Basically, a really short story from some point in my life/something involving one of my friends that has happened in the last week. 

Wednesday - Game Review. Anyone else love gaming? I'm a total nerd. I'll be reviewing a mixture of games from both I-Win (http://www.iwin.com/) and from major games consoles. If you haven't checked I-Win out yet, then do so! They have a great mixture of both free and pay for games and I'll be reviewing one of their games in my next blog post (up in about twenty minutes). 

Friday/Saturday - These days are pretty interchangeable. This post will be about FOOD. I love baking and eating so this will be an opportunity for me to talk about everything foodie. I plan to start by working my way through "Easy Peasy Cooking" (yes, it's a children's cook book) as all the recipes in there are yummy! 

How yummy does this look? My baking will be nowhere near as successful!

I may post other things from time to time: film reviews, things that I've seen or that I'm interested in, poetry, tit-bits, big life moments (you get the drift, right?)

Much Blogging Love

xx