Drowning in Paper(s)

Someone shoot me. Have two papers due for Wednesday. One is a 3000 word one on political thinkers and the other is 2000 words on statistics - is all fun and rocking around the clock at my place!

Bought gorgeous new dress at Zara which I'll try and take a picture of today with my vintage hat.

In addition to having to slum it this weekend have got to nip out for an hour or so, so I can get all of my poor shoes reheeled! Have gotten to the stage where I've literally got three pairs that I'm not too afraid will lock me into an escalator.

In terms of fashion, an old offering I'm afraid:

It's all a bit pastel-ly but I really like this skirt. I bought it from H&M for £30. I bought it with the 60s-ish scarf you can just see poking into the frame. I don't usually wear skirts this short (haven't the legs for it!) but I don't know...this seems to work, don't you think?

Hallelujah!

Finally got a new camera battery which is now charging so will be able to take pictures of all my deserving clothes and shoes.

Jersey Boys was great, as always, and had much fun. My friend, Fi, brought her cousin with her to the show and we had good seats - thankfully out of the eyeing up zone of the flirt, as I can't concentrate when that's happening!

Am having dinner with old boss tonight, hoping I might be able to work there again for two months in the summer, really miss working.

Tomorrow my friend, Tabs, is coming down from York to spend the weekend. We're going to make a three course meal with uni friend, go to cricket practice and watch a movie. Am making those cupcakes again so will finish polishing recipe and post it. Saturday brings shopping and Selfridges which'll be madness but good madness.

[EDIT] Have just gotten back from dinner with ex-employer. She's so great. Had liiiitle too much to drink but found another great bar and cocktail - an apple and strawberry champagne cocktail - waaaay too drinkable. More about that tomorrow.

And now, your moment of zen: my Luc Berjen vintage wedges that I bought at a charity shop a few years ago.

Fabulous cut-out shoes...

Briefly mentioned these in my last posting but thought these shoes deserved a bit more attention. They're BCBG patent leather stilettos that I bought in Macy's New York (flagship) last year on sale. Obviously I liked them when I bought them (particularly at the price - $75 - and with an extra out of state discount) but recently they've really grown on me. I think they look so grown up and sophisticated. Do you have anything in your wardrobe that you seem to like more as time goes by?

Anyhoo, as far as life goes, things seem to be going on as normal. Weather here seems to have suddenly exploded into summer, three months early. Wore shorts for the first time this year. Tomorrow am off to see Jersey Boys, again! Am a bit embarrassed about it all but I'm sure I'll have fun. Have you ever seen a show more than once?

Speak soon!

S.S.

Hometown Queen

Ta-Da! This skirt is the one I bought at the vintage fair a few weeks back - not bad, huh? I love the contrast between the pink and green, reminds me of a candy wrapper or something. Also reminds me of this pie I sometimes make (random, I know):

I'm wearing the skirt with an old Abercrombie vest, vintage brown leather belt from a coat of mine, a new pink scarf from H&M, vintage cream bangle and my BCBG cut-out shoes, so sophisticated! That's the Brighton sunset you can see out of my window...ah, home.

Will post more pictures soon!

Have fun!

S.S.

Home and Cookies

Hey there,

Terribly sorry about the long time it's been since I've blogged. Almost drowned in that last essay of mine. Anyhow, only one more paper this term, then three exams and my first year is all done!

I went home on the weekend to see everyone and whilst I didn't find my camera battery, dagnabbit, I did get to take some pictures of some of my clothes and shoes which I'll post later.

I also got to try out a great recipe that I first read on the Heather Drive blog - which is great so go take a look! - plus I forgot to take picture of the finished cookie, so you can take a gander over here:

http://heatherdrive.blogspot.com/2008/08/thick-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html.

I pretty much kept the recipe the same but twiddled with a few things. These cookies are great, but I have to say that contrary to most people I much prefer them the next day when they're cool and completely set - and extra chewy!

Cookies of Troy

(So named as they are the cookies that launched a thousand diets!)

• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda (a la baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup light brown muscavado and 1/2 dark brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325F (160C or gas mark 3).
2. Put the butter into a small bowl and microwave in 30 second segments, stirring in between. Once completely melted, give one last stir then pop into the freezer.
3. Measure the flour, salt and baking soda into a small mixing bowl and give a quick stir with a whisk.
4. In a large mixing bowl measure out the sugar and eggs. Beat the two together until you get it as smooth as you can. Take the butter out of the freezer and check that it's cool to the touch (it should still be completely liquid), if it's not, then bung it back in there for another few minutes. When it's ready pour into the sugar mix and beat with an electric whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.
5. Slowly add the flour mix, about a quarter at a time - making sure it doesn't blow up in your face! The mix should be a little stiffer now but still soft. Add the chocolate chips, or anything else you want to add now, and give the dough another good stir.
6. I use completely non-stick pans which are great, but otherwise just thoroughly grease your baking trays and/or use baking paper. Scoop large, heaped tablespoonfuls of the dough out of the bowl and roll into a ball between your palms. Then taking hold of each side of the dough ball, twist and pull til you have two separate halves. Stack these one on top of the other with the "twisty" bits on top - see the picture at the top, for what they should look like.
7. Space them out with a good 2inches or so between each cookie and pop into the oven for approximate 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, as you don't want to overshoot. They're ready when they're still quite pale and puffy on top (they should give when you poke) and they're just golden around the edges. The bottoms should be a very pale gold. Don't be afraid to take them out! I know it sometimes seems better to give them another minute or two to firm up but they carry on cooking once they're out!
8. Using a spatula, transfer cookies onto a cookie rack and leave alone for about 15 minutes before transferring them to a plate or tin.

And there you have it! Gorgeous, chewy and hatefully moreish cookies! Let me know how you get on!

Have fun,

S.S.

Jersey Boy Flirt

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I know the one cardinal sin a budding blogger can make is failure to update, so I swear I'll try to be better, cross my heart and hope to die!
Afraid I still can't take the bloody photos of all my pretty new clothes. Picked up camera from Mom and got home only to realise that someone (i.e. Dad) has taken the rechargeable battery out. Sod's Law.
Anyways, on to the good stuff: a friend of mine and I went for a night on the town to see Jersey Boys in the West End. We went for a drink at this great, seemingly hidden, bar in Piccadilly which is really worth checking out. It's on the top of the Waterstones building on Piccadilly (between Piccadilly Circus and Fortnum and Mason - it's hard to miss!). It's on the 5th floor, hence the name "5th View", and though not very big has a nice atmosphere and weirdly I've never struggled to get a table. A well kept secret - so don't tell too many people about it! I'm a fussy drinker when it comes to cocktails - a champagne girl you might say - usually I just stick to bellinis or fraise royales but this place has my new favourite called a "Charlie Crocker" (as in the Italian Job), and it's a vanilla and champagne cocktail - what's there not to love?
We were a bit behind schedule and ended up having to miss dinner and go into the theatre hungry, never a good start. The show starts off slowly but picks up pace really well about twenty minutes in. In all the show was: A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! The sets were original, if a little precarious looking at times; the costumes made me ache with jealousy, all those gorgeous dressess and circle skirts (even the men's spangly jackets were lust worthy!); the music was incredible, I recognized quite a few and can't seem to shake them, they're so damn catchy! - really wish they did it somewhere where you could just get up and dance along! Last but not least: the Boys. Where do I begin? At the risk of going into hyperbole overload, they were all sensational. We had a substitute for Ryan Molloy who plays Frankie (the lead), Jye Frasca, who was great, but it is worth trying to catch Molloy as he is out of this world. Stephen Ashfield was adorable and had such childlike enthusiasm as he bounded around the stage as Bob Gaudio, that he was honestly a joy to watch. Glenn Carter plays the "bad boy" of the group who is irrestistably charming, and you can't help but like him despite his sins. Finally, Philip Bulcock plays the "Ringo" of the group, Nick Massi, was wonderful as the restrained, slightly OCD-ish bass singer - and very hunky to boot. As you can tell I was particularly in love with Nick.

But the most exciting thing of the whole evening? The friend who I took me to see it pointed out that one of the lead actors seemed to be making a lot of eye contact with our row, and in particular, with us...so she suggested that we walk, casually, by the stage door a few times - as you do. Once we saw the gaggle of scary fans we started to have second doubts and were just about to nip over to our favourite diner for dinner when who should rush up to us but Flirty Leading Man (not going to say which for own sake as well as his!)! Will spare the details (for now) but left feeling very flattered after he chatted the two of us up for a good ten minutes or so until we had to leave for last orders - now that's what I call service. In fact, we were so flattered, that friend has bought more tickets and we're going again tomorrow night! Feel a bit embarrassed and sure will crack up when he sees us again (we're in exactly the same seats...).
In conclusion, after that big ol' ramble, isn't it time you indulged in a night on London Town? If you have a Jersey Boys production near you: see it! Particularly if you're ever around London - Oh What a Night!