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COOKIES

| On
Sunday, August 31, 2014
I had to look after my 7 year old sister, and I thought what better thing to do than bake cookies? So using (and tweaking just a tad) Tanya Burr's chocolate cookies recipe, we scrambled to find the right ingredients and set off baking. (You can find and follow Tanya's recipe here). I totally recommend that you follow Tanya's recipe rather than mine, but here is what we did:


First of all, these are the ingredients you will need:
- 1 large egg
- 200g butter
- 300g caster sugar
-325g self-raising flour
- a dash of milk (if needed)
- We used 400g chocolate (broken up) as we were using things that we could find around our house as we couldn't go to the shops. Therefore, we used ALL the chocolatey things we could see. This included: Time Outs, Wispa bars, Malteaser bars, Malteasers, Fudge, Milkystars! A very interesting combination. However Tanya used 200g of white chocolate and 200g of milk chocolate. (You'll find this by following her recipe).


Once you have weighed out all your ingredients, first and foremost you will want to preheat the oven at 200 degrees celsius! When that is done, add the butter and the caster sugar into a mixing bowl and mix together (ideally using an electric whisk, but we unfortunately couldn't find ours, so mixed it all by hand) until combined. It should be a lovely pale yellow colour, which looks light and fluffy.



You should be able to see the consistency in this photo (minus the egg you can see, that's the next step). So, once you have reached this stage, you will now want to crack your large egg into the mixture. Again, you must whisk this in until it is combined.


Now, you gradually have to add in the self-raising flour and mix it in. You mustn't add it in all at once else it will not work as well and you will make such a mess! I must warn you folks who, like me, are using a hand whisk - this is hard work and does take a while to do... It's a good workout though! You must continue gradually adding the flour and mixing it until everything is combined. You will know it is combined as it will look very dough-like, and a little biscuity/crumbly in texture (you really must watch Tanya's video to understand what I mean). If your mixture is looking dry at this point, now is the time to add a dash of milk and mix it in.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the last couple of stages, but I shall try my best to direct you!

Next, you must make sure your hands are lovely and clean! This is so important, as now you are going to be getting hands on with the dough and chocolate pieces. You are going to have to add the chocolate pieces into the mixture, making sure it is evenly spread through. The best way to ensure this is by grabbing the dough from the bottom (with the chocolate pieces in) and folding it through. You may not even need to add all of your chocolate - myself and Mia (my sister) didn't, so we ended up eating the rest! - just as long as the chocolate chunks are all evenly spread!

Once this is done, you will need to grab a palm-full of the cookie mixture and roll it in a ball. We did ours quite large, but I guess it's up to you how big you want your cookies to be. We then placed them on a baking tray, which we covered in butter to ensure the cookies didn't stick to the bottom (however, if you have parchment paper, this might be a better option). Make sure there is enough room between your 'cookie dough balls' as they will spread out as they bake.

We ended up using two baking trays, which had 4 dough balls on each. Be sure you use oven gloves or a thick towel to place the trays in the oven, as it is hot, hot, hot! (Anyone else remember Big Cook, Little Cook? I was too old to watch it, but my younger sister used to love it! I mean, it wasn't too bad for children's TV...)

Once in the oven, set the timer for 10 minutes. You may want to relax in this time, but no! There's no rest for the wicked! I highly recommend that you use this time to wash the dishes, as this saves you doing it later. Remember, you can treat yourself with those cookies afterwards!

When the 10 minutes is up, using oven gloves/thick towel, remove them from the oven (be sure that you turn the oven off after). Leave them to cool ideally on a cooling tray, but we didn't have one. If you don't have one either, just leave them on the baking tray. This process does take a little while longer, as you must wait for around 30-45 minutes for them to cool. Trust me, it is worth the wait.


Mine didn't turn out perfectly, they were slightly burnt and kind of under-cooked, but I don't really mind that! They tasted nice to me, and that's all that matters right? But this is why I suggest you follow Tanya, rather than me, so please check out her original recipe! If you followed mine, well, I hope they turned out okay for you, but I'm really sorry if not!

Let me know if you tried this recipe out and how it turned out! Hope you have fun making these cookies, my sister and I certainly did! It's an ideal opportunity to spend time with your family members. If you have any younger siblings, get them involved in the mixing processes! They'll have so much fun, and will also love you for letting them get involved with the baking.

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

New Hair!?

| On
Friday, August 29, 2014
After 2 years, I finally made the huge decision to chop off around 3-4 inches of my hair. Hearing the scissors cutting off the large chunks of hair made my skin crawl and I began to question myself - what the hell am I doing!? My rapunzel-like hair was gone in seconds. However, once my hairdresser got to styling and shaping my hair, I was relieved that I finally took the plunge.

It feels and looks so much healthier, and it's so good to have a change. I got her to shape my hair at the front and give me a little bit of a fringe, so that if I ever decide to wear my hair up, I can let bits of my hair fall in front of my face in a natural, care-free way.

You'd think that having my hair cut and styled differently would be a big enough of a change, but no. I went even more crazy... Some may say that I was in a bit of a 'yolo' (cringe) mood.

I purchased a Bleach London DIY Highlighting kit from Boots earlier on this week, which you might have seen from my 'Late August Haul' post. So, after having my hair-cut I thought, why the hell not just go for it! I roped my dad into dyeing my hair for me, as I really do not trust myself and he did an alright job. I mean, the roots are a bit funky at the moment, but thankfully I bought two kits, so I think I'll sort that out sometime soon. Despite that one problem though, I am now very, very blonde! It is a bit strange and hard to get used to at the minute, but I'm sure once it fades a tad (which I'm sorta hoping it does) I will love it.

For now though, this is my new hair. (I know it isn't perfect, and also, I am the least photogenic person I know, so please excuse the face! I just wanted you guys to see my new look!):


Let me know what you think! I'm still not 100% sure about it myself, but hey, it's just hair - it'll grow back, and it isn't the end of the world with the hair dye! The hairdresser can always sort it out if I'm really not keen on it. Hope you all had a wonderful day, and thank-you so much for reading!

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

WONDERLAND - Cinema, Pizza Hut & Bowling Trip Extravaganza

| On
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Today has been an exceptionally long day. Knowing it was 2 for 1 on cinema tickets using the Orange Wednesday code, we decided to go to the cinema; myself, my mum, my dad, my 7 year old sister - Mia, my 8 & 9 year old cousins - Kayleigh & Jack, and my auntie. As we were going with children, obviously we had to watch a kids film, and the only one on was 'The Unbeatables'. Unfortunately, this meant waking up extremely early to leave the house at 9am! (That for me is pretty early in the morning folks...)

The weather has been pretty horrible today, so actually, it was a perfect day to venture out with the fam to the cinema... I mean what else could I do on a rainy day? Erm... Your homework that you were meant to do during the whole of the summer holidays?



When we arrived at the cinema complex and booked our tickets, I don't know what happened to my famalam, but we turned into arcade machine maniacs! My mum and I delved onto the pub quiz machines, playing their version of my favourite quiz show 'The Chase', whilst my dad, as always, went straight for the stacker machine. Normally, I would agree with people and say that the stacker machine is a waste of money. However, my dad has won a Nintendo DSi and two £50 notes via these machines in the past, so my opinions of that machine have definitely changed. Although today, that machine was 100% a waste of money... He didn't win a thing!


We then watched the film, which I really wouldn't recommend if you are my age. However, if you have kids or know anyone that has, who enjoy football, then this would be a great film for them to see. My sister and cousins loved every minute of it. For me though, I found it a very random and not very put-together film... I just didn't really get it. Well... I did, but I dunno, it's a very odd tale indeed!

Anywho, after the film had finally finished, we pondered over to Pizza Hut, where we literally stuffed our faces! At the time, it was a really lovely meal, but thinking about everything I ate just makes me feel ill now! I'm still super duper full now! I think I may need a day to detox tomorrow... 

I shared half a large pizza with my mum - my half was the 'Chicken Supreme', which I totally recommend, it's super delicious. I also had a salad bowl, mainly filled with bell peppers, red onions, cous cous and cold pasta. I nabbed everyone elses chips as well... even though I was horrifically stuffed. Ohhh man, someone needs to stop me!!


Can we just take a moment to appreciate my aunties dessert though... I don't know what it's called, possibly a Banoffee Waffle? Something like that anyways.

And yes, that is honeycomb ice cream on the side there - mmm
Finally, we ended the day by having a game of bowling. I didn't play, because in order to have 7 people play, you need two lanes and that would have been an hour and a half wait! I still can't believe how busy it was in there, I guess everyone had the same idea as us! I don't mind though, I'm not really a keen bowler, so I was just happy to sit and watch.


Here's a sneaky glimpse of my outfit that I wore, just in case you guys are interested:


My jeans are from Topshop, my blouse/shirt is from H&M, and my jacket is my beloved bargain from Primark.

On a family day out, I could not just end my post without some sort of family photo:

Oh, what is my dad like!? And my sister for that matter, the poser!
I hope you all had a lovely day! What did you get up to? As always, thank-you for reading.

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

Late August Haul

| On
Monday, August 25, 2014

I went on a bit of a spending spree and picked up quite a few bits and bobs, I mean what kinda girl doesn't like to shop every now and then? Here's what I got:

Bleach London Beach Lights - £7 (Boots)
Although I am naturally blonde, my hair is getting darker by the minute and I hate it! I have been eyeing up Bleach London products for a while and the whole brand looks so cool - you can temporarily dye your hair at home in the coolest shades (think bubblegum pink, minty blue and even purple). However, I'm not going to be that adventurous just yet, but I'm totally tempted to try them out soon. For now though, I'll give the home highlights a try and will keep you guys updated!

Bombay Bicycle Club // So Long, See You Tomorrow CD - £6.99 (HMV)
I have been a fan of Bombay Bicycle Club for a while now. Their music is very chilled, edgy and cool, and I guess many consider it 'indie'. I have ordered tickets to see them live in December, so thought it apt to purchase their CD asap, so I can learn all the words before the concert. If you like stuff that typically isn't found in the charts and has a chilled out yet funky vibe, I totally recommend that you check Bombay Bicycle Club out, if you haven't already heard of them!

Blue Star Print Boxy Sweater - £23 (Next)
So, if you live in the UK, you will have noticed how chilly the weather has become. That is because, sadly, summer is coming to an end... I know I put sadly but I'm actually quite looking forward to the Autumn! This may seem strange to some, but I prefer the fashion - I love layering up clothes, wearing different prints and textures, and let's be honest, it's pretty tough to be stylish in the summer. The majority of the time I just wanted to walk around naked... It's just too hot! (Was that too much information? ...Probably). I bought this cute item from Next because it is so unbelievably soft, and would be perfect to wear to Sixth Form. Also, the fit is quite flattering too, it just falls perfectly!

Topshop MOTO JAMIE High Waisted Ankle Grazer - £42 (Topshop)
Not the cheapest of jeans, but sadly I have to spend a bit more as Topshop jeans seem to be the only ones to fit me perfectly. I only really have black skinnies, so I invested in some normal denim ones with rips at the knee. I love the ripped jeans style, and it adds a touch of edginess to any outfit, making your job a little bit easier!


Jersey Slubby Tee - £16 (Topshop)
This top is so comfy and so easy to wear, it is another great find for Sixth Form. It is also a great staple piece and can be worn with either my new jeans, my black skinnies, or leggings. I love how it has a V-neckline, as I normally just stick to a round neck, so it is something a little bit different to what I usually go for in that respect. Saying that though, I do have a lot of 'slubby'/slouchy style tops, but it's what I find the most comfortable to wear on long, stressful days. It is also very soft, so if you are like me and have to suffer hard-working days at Sixth Form/college/uni, definitely give this style a go!


Asymmetric Checked Skort - £34 (Topshop)
Is it a skirt? Are they shorts? Nope my friends, it's a skort! A hybrid of my two favourite items of clothing, and isn't this one gorgeous? Especially in the coming Autumn/Winter months. This is the first skort I've ever owned believe it or not (... Aside from those awful ones they used to sell in Tammy Girl when I was like 8, oops), and I think it would look lovely paired with tights, Chelsea boots and my new bargain of a jacket which you can see me wearing here. What do you think? I adore it!

Cuffed Leg Lounge Bottoms - £7 (Primark)
This is the last buy of the day, a pair of lounge bottoms for when I'm just chilling out at home. My favourite thing to do after a day out and about, is to put on a comfy pair of bottoms, so this was really worth every penny. In fact, I'm wearing them right now as I'm typing out this post to you funnily enough! If you're like me and love to chill out in some comfy clothes, Primark is the place to be right now people! Literally, all of their lounge wear (well, the majority of it anyway) is so nice and cute at the moment, look out for ones like these though as they also come with a pocket!

I also ought to add that from my mini shopping trip a couple of days before, I purchased a blue cotton V-neck button-up shirt for £7.99 and a beige chiffon button-up shirt with a pocket for £14.99, both in H&M. Unfortunately, I can't find them anywhere on the website, but hopefully you can find something similar!

That's it for my late August/end of Summer haul! I really hope you liked this post, it's something a little different to the usual, but let me know if you enjoy reading these kinds of posts so I know whether to carry on doing them. As always, thank-you so much for reading!

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

OOTD || Saturday 23rd August 2014

| On
Sunday, August 24, 2014
I bagged myself a bit of a bargain on Friday when I was in town, finding a gem in Primark. The gem being this lovely beige jacket at only £23! Crazy, eh? It's the jacket I've literally been dreaming about and lusting over, in my mind I thought I'd only find a coat like this in Topshop (which, let's be honest, would have cost triple the amount). So, when I found this jacket in Primark, I was gobsmacked and I just had to buy!

On the day I wore this outfit, I was only doing the weekly food shop with my mum and sister, however I wanted to dress up a tad because I just had to wear the jacket!

Bow hairband - H&M
Beige jacket - Primark
Dress - Topshop
Satchel - Topshop
Chunky sandals - New Look
Tights - Primark

Sorry guys, I tried to link as many of the items as I could, but sadly, pretty much all of them aren't online! However, all of the Primark items and the H&M hairband should still be in store, so don't be disheartened and keep an eye out next time you're in town.

I'd love to hear what you think of my outfit and I hope you all had a lovely day!

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

WONDERLAND - The Caffeine Club

| On
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Yesterday, I had a wonderful time having a girly shopping trip with my friend. We literally shopped till we dropped, and decided that at 5 o'clock we needed to refuel. So, we took a trip to The Caffeine Club, a place in which I had never been to before, but oh boy, will I be going again! That place is the hub of food porn I swear... Yup, I went there. I was overwhelmed by the menu... There was SO MUCH CHOICE! In the end, my friend and I ordered a plate of nachos to share and Nutella hot chocolates (!?). The nachos were not your ordinary nachos though, oh no. These nachos you physically had to dig for under a delicious mountain of salsa, melted cheese and jalapenos! It was a dream... a yummy, delightful dream.
Credit goes to my friend, Kas, for this photo!

(Just in case you were wondering who that is in the picture, that is indeed my friend Kas)

Now, a trip with a friend can never end without a couple of snapchats...


I must say, looking at all these scrummy pictures has made me get food envy... Of myself, so weird haha! Sorry if you now have food envy too! But it does look good, am I right? It certainly tasted amazing!

Hope you all have had a lovely, delightful day!

Cheerio x

P.S: Sorry if the picture quality isn't up to scratch, it's because I had to take them on my phone, or they were taken on my friends phone!


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

WONDERLAND - OOTD & A Yummy Trip

| On
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Hello m'lovelies, this blog post may not be that spectacular. I may be a tad bit stressed because I just spent an hour writing this post, but the weather took a bad turn which in turn slowed down my internet, and the worst possible thing happened. I. Lost. All. My. Work.

Now, you might be sat there thinking 'Chelsey, why didn't you save your work you numpty' - oh trust me, I bloody well tried! I guess I shouldn't dwell on the past... Stupid goddam internet, losing all my goddam work that I spent a whole goddam hour on... and get cracking again...

Before all this stress, I did have a lovely day with my famalam (that's family to all you unfamiliar to my weird terms). Previously this week, quite a lot of exciting things have happened; my mums birthday (Wednesday) and my AS level results (Thursday), so we thought why not celebrate by treating ourselves to something delicious. Therefore, instead of eating out in Morrisons Cafe after our weekly food shop, we decided to be a bit more adventurous and go to the Seco Lounge in the Royal William Yard, Plymouth.

For this somewhat 'special' occasion, I thought I'd dress up just a tad - here's what I wore:


Sunglasses - River Island (in the sale)
Necklace - H&M (again, in the sale - sorry)
Sweet-heart neckline jumpsuit - Fearne Cotton for Littlewoods (another sale item, what can I say? Girl loves her sales!)
Denim jacket - Hollister
Chunky sandals - New Look

Here are some, really quite awful but I'm learning, splendid shots of the Royal William Yard in all it's glory. Do not be fooled by the blue skies though, it was rather chilly - typical British weather, it's always so deceiving:


Okay guys, get ready for some super scrummy food pics:

I ordered myself a 'Sherbet Lemonade', something new that I'd never had before. However, I had tasted this before... in sweet form. It tasted exactly like the lemon sherbet sweets - extremely sour, but also refreshing. It definitely made me more awake this morning/early afternoon.
My lunch: 'Lounge Eggs' - this consisted of two poached eggs on two English muffins, covered in hollandaise sauce and served with mushrooms. Yup, I scoffed the whole thing #noregrets (and yes, I did just hashtag and ironically, I'm kind of regretting it...)
Duhhh, of course I had to get dessert. I got the 'Raspberry Frangipane Tart' served with vanilla ice cream, and oh. my. god. Just yum.

Overall, the Seco Lounge was a delightful experience! The atmosphere was so chilled, despite the bustle of the busy environment. It was so chilled and relaxed in fact, that the staff didn't wear a uniform! Now, this wasn't a problem for me, however it was hard to distinguish who worked there or not, especially as it was so busy. The food was lush, and there was so much variety! It took us ages to choose (which is not a bad thing, it just shows how good the menu is) - even my grandad had a tough time to decide which meal he was going to have, and that's saying something as he is such a fussy eater!

I urge anyone - if you are in the Plymouth area - to visit the Seco Lounge, as it isn't too bad for price and is worth every penny! However, if the Seco Lounge (for some absurd reason) doesn't tickle your fancy, please go to the Royal William Yard for a stroll around, it's absolutely beautiful and there are loads and loads of other dining options. For example, there is a fresh bakery where you can sit down and eat, Wagamamas (we all know what that is, surely), a River Cottage canteen (serving local food, mainly fishy), there's an Italian and a French restaurant also... Ooo and Las Iguanas - I think that is what it is called. Trust me, there are a lot of options!

Well, that is it from me. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Have you ever been to one of the 'Lounges' that are dotted across the UK? If so, how was your experience? Also, I would love to hear if you have any suggestions on good places to eat around the South West area. Thank-you so much for reading :)

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

AS Level Exam Results

| On
Thursday, August 14, 2014
This morning I awoke a nervous wreck. This surprised me as, although I agreed with my friends about being nervous previously, I wasn't actually too bothered about it. I've been stressing out about other things such as body image - but that's another topic altogether!

I was so nervous about finding out my results today, that unlike the rest of my friends, I waited until I arrived home to open them. I was so absolutely certain that I failed at least two of my exams due to the fact I didn't manage to complete some of the papers - my time keeping during sitting the exams this year was pretty terrible!

However, it turns out that I needn't have got myself so worked up about the results! I got an A in Psychology, an A in Media Studies (which really shocked me, as I completely messed up the 36 mark question and was unable to complete it), a B in English Literature and also a B in English Language. I am so over the moon with these results, as I know that the exams were being marked quite harshly this year. I am going to continue the hard work next year, and I'm going to try to carry on with all four subjects WITHOUT dropping any. It's going to be stressful, but I'm going to be so prepared for it!

Did any of you guys receive your results today? Let me know how you all did, I hope you're just as happy with your results as I was!

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey

WONDERLAND - Boardmasters?

| On
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
As some of you may or may not know, on Sunday (10th August 2014), myself and a few of my friends decided we'd venture out of our boring hometown for a night and go to Boardmasters Festival in Newquay. It wasn't quite an adventurous holiday away or anything like that, as Newquay is practically on our doorsteps, but still, to us it could be 1000 miles away as it is so much better than our rubbish lil' town!

Anyways, we weren't even there to experience Newquay (let's be honest, we could do that any day!) we were there to see Bastille, George Ezra and all the other various acts that would be performing on Sunday night of Boardmasters. So, after lot's of double checking and stressful planning via WhatsApp with 'the crew', we booked to stay in a campsite just outside of Newquay.

We arrived pretty early, set up our four man tent, and the weather was lush with just a bit of wind - pffft storm my arse - when we received pretty bad news... Boardmasters had been cancelled. What made this even more of a downer was the fact that this was the first time it had been cancelled in THIRTY THREE YEARS!? Literally, just our luck. None of us could believe it, I mean it wasn't even raining, and if it did, it was only a little shower - not a storm!? One of our friends who had stayed there for the whole weekend kept us in the loop and informed us that the stages had been ruined due to the storm that happened the night before. Yup, we were pretty gutted, at least we can get refunds though!

So, instead of what we had originally planned to do, we decided to stay in the tent for a bit (we may have got a little merry...) and travel out to Newquay. We didn't get up to much there, apart from walk around and freeze our arses off, well, that last bit may have just been me... Oops. Maybe that's due to what little I wore (and please be aware that this is a joke picture, myself and all of my friends took a picture in exactally the same pose for 'lols'):

Unfortunately, that's the only picture I have where you can see my outfit *cringe*. I wouldn't normally wear something like this, however, I thought I was going to a festival... Wearing wellies around Newquay town centre was pretty interesting to say the least!

For any of you wondering, this is what I'm wearing (I will try to link as many of the items as possible, but some of the bits are pretty old - sorry!):

Earrings - Topshop
Bum bag - a granny bag shop located somewhere in Paigton high-street
Knee-high socks - Primark
Wellies - Primark

And here is a picture of my really sober face - so so cringey - I hardly EVER take selfies:

Apologies for the bad lighting, I was using my iPhone 4 inside a tent, although I can't say I'm really complaining - this picture is so embarrasing. The only reason I'm allowing it to be used in this post is because, sadly, it's the only 'decent' photo I have that shows my festival make-up (even though I didn't go to one this weekend).

For any of you wondering what was on my face, here you go m'lovlies:

Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation
Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer
W7 Brow Bar (applied with a RealTechniques angled brush)
L'oréal Super Liner Eyeliner
Rimmel London Scandel Eyes Mascara
Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon in Red Sunrise
(I also dotted on some Neon face paints in pink and green)

Rightio, that's it from me! Hope you all had a lovely weekend, let me know what you got up to! Did any of you manage to visit Boardmasters before it got cancelled? Hope you enjoyed this blog post, expect more to come. I pinky promise I'll try to be more consistent!

Cheerio x


Twitter: @xo_chelseey