How To: The Best Guacamole (Ever)

Ingredients, based on one Avocado, serves two: 

1/4 Red Onion (finely chopped)
1/2 Yellow Pepper (diced) 

Tsp of Olive Oil

Two squeezes of Lemon (or one tsp, ish) 

Sprinkle of salt

Tsp of Garlic Puree

One Avocado

Method:
Mash avocado, and mix it all up together. Depending on the firmness of your avocado either serve as is or whack it all in a blender for a little. That’s pretty much it. 

The wonderful thing about this guacamole is that it’s actually super cheap to make. Today's post comes to you from a week in my month where I am very, very poor however I did manage to make hummus and guac, from scratch, and serve by only spending 55p on pitta bread and 30p on a lemon. Who knew Lemon's were so expensive!?

I know that some of you will be looking through the ingredients list with a judgemental eye, but trust me. Don’t judge it till you’ve tried it; with the bitterness of the red onion countered with the sweet yellow pepper - it just works. 

I like my garlic, so some people may prefer to add 1/2 a teaspoon but use your noggin and adjust these things to your personal taste. 

Time for Tea!

Deep in the winding streets of seaside Brighton, is the most perfect hideaway for the tea-addict within you. Many seaside towns can be described as sleepy or quaint - Brighton doesn’t fall into either of those categories. Brighton has always been fashionable and now more than ever. 

The Bluebird Tea Company is a small shop nestled into the North Lanes. It was there that I met, the absolutely lovely, Hannah and her enthusiasm for all things Tea related. Hannah is a teabird, or a mixologist in the Brighton store. 

Everything about The Bluebird Tea Company screams out to me with notions of things that I love; small, independent businesses who are succeeding and kicking ass in the mean time. The Bluebird’s website tells us that ‘they have so far built the company from scratch with little outside help, from packaging design to packing tea, everything Bluebird is developed by Krisi & Mike’s own hands…’ and this is so evident when you’re in the store - the store feels like a comfortable, safe place where you can marvel at the hundreds of Tea flavours, have your mind boggled by the staff’s vast tea-knowledge and learn about the stories behind the creation of all the separate teas. 

If Lush (where I currently work) were a Tea company, we would be Bluebird. Ethical, eccentric and easy going… 

One of my favourite things that I’ve learned from their website, is that they’re called The Bluebird Tea Company after the dreamy idea that a cloudless blue sky day is called a Bluebird day. Having tried their tea and been in the company of the staff, for even just a short period of time, I can say that the vibe transcends their creation and trickles right down into store. 

The Bluebird Tea Company & Mixologists - spreading happiness, one cupful at a time! 

Initially, my friends and I visited Bluebird simply to get a tea to-go, but soon after perusing their in-store menu I was intrigued. Having spoken to Hannah for a short consultation she realised it was our first time at Bluebird and was more than happy to talk us through some of her favourite flavours. 

“What’s your fruitiest tea, I think I’m more of a REALLY fruity tea kind of person?” I asked. 

The loose leaf teas are all kept in giant metal canisters up on the wall behind the counter and some  of the names could well have come from the inventive minds at Lush HQ. One of my personal favourites and I think slightly illustrative of me, was a tea called Dozy Girl (lavender and rose infused tea that helps you settle off to sleep at night - as if I need help doing that!) 

Every time Hannah suggested something new, I couldn’t help but gasp with excitement and hurry to give the tea a good ol’ sniff. In the end, I settled on buying some sample packs which come in at around 20g/about six cups of tea, I reckon and they cost me £3 per sample - or something super similar. 

I went for… (see if you can sense a theme): 

Candy Floss:
‘Join us at the fair with this sweet and scrumptious Candy Floss white tea…’
Ingredients; Chinese White Tea, Hibiscus, Apple, Elderberry, Rosehip, Pineapple, Sprinkles (contains Soya Lecithin), Cornflowers, Stevia and Strawberry flavour. 

Three minutes, without milk. 

Strawberry Lemonade:
‘Bluebird’s best selling fantastically fruity infusion…’
Ingredients: Hibiscus, Rosehip, Apple, Lemon, Orange, Strawberry, Elderberry, Sunflower Petals and flavour.
Four minutes, without milk. 

And just when I thought I was done, Hannah offered another. 

Enchanted Narnia:
‘Turkish Delight brew with magical rose and creamy cocoa…’
Ingredients: Rosebuds, Cocoa Shells, Rose Petals, Lemongrass and Raspberry Leaves. 

Four minutes, without milk. 

A sucker for anything with a literary reference, an ode to my childhood and my love for Turkish Delight and I am sold! Having been home with my samples a while now, I think I’ll say Candy Floss is my current fave, which smells just like strawberry laces, although I’m intending to explore them all properly. I haven’t tried Enchanted Narnia yet, as I feel I might be saving the best till last. 

Sam and I had an iced Strawberry Lemonade in store, and it was lovely. Slightly reminiscent of the Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks US but all the better because it was from a tiny independent store in the heart of Brighton! 

Whilst Brighton is quite far from where I’m living at the moment, a lot further than I thought actually, Bluebird Tea are active online and will deliver, which I am more than excited for. I’m also looking forward to more seasonal tea from them - I missed out on trying February’s Love Potion which looked amazing, but I wait with baited breath to see what the summer brings! 

(Hopefully, more sunny trips to Brighton with great friends and amazing tea!) 

Thank you to Hannah for being so damn lovely and being as enthusiastic as we were (we love tea, she loved Lush, it was a win-win) and thank you to my girls Lucy and Sam for such a lovely day out!

Why I Love Talking On The Phone...

We all know I have a tendency to err on the side of the anxious every now and again and with that in mind, not many people understand why I like to talk on the phone. Truth is quite a lot of my stresses and anxieties stem from things I can’t control and the paranoia of the unknown - talking on the phone helps me tick off a few of those boxes that stress me out so much, so that I don’t need to worry. If this doesn’t make sense stick with me, because hopefully it’ll all become a little clearer. 

If a person is talking to me on the phone, it’s because they want to dedicate that time to me and they care about what I think enough to call to ask about it or to hash out some of life's many mysteries. 

If a person is talking to me on the phone and they’ve called me, rather than vice versa, it means to me that they care. The idea that this person, who’s name is flashing on my own phone screen, wants to talk to me is reassuring as hell. If they’re calling me back, then they care enough to call back, rather than just respond with a “You Called?” text message. 

I like talking on the phone because it’s so much more sincere and reassuring even if you’re talking nonsense. Hearing someone laugh is chicken soup for the soul. Just because they’ve typed out “Hahahaha, that’s so funny…” it doesn’t mean anything made them laugh at all; hearing someone’s actual laugh rumble in their chest is so reassuring because you know it’s real, you know they’re amused by something you said and enjoying your company. 

I like talking on the phone because it’s a much nicer way to get to know someone; ten text messages in as many hours tells me nothing, except that you’ve been busy today but not REALLY busy. A ten minute phone call at the end of the day speaks volumes. I’d much prefer that. 

It tells me that you want to talk to me before you go to sleep, maybe you’d just like to hear my voice, or simply just tell me something funny that happened to you that day because it’ll come across so much more effectively if you call rather than try and explain a had-to-be-there moment in a quickly tapped-out text of 140 characters. 

Sometimes, I need someone’s opinion on something and I need it now, people can’t always wait for them to get to a break in their scheduled TV watching for the night, check their phone and then get back to me. 

Someone who I love talking on the phone to, although we need to talk far more, is Sarah White. Sarah is so bubbly all the time that her excitement for life rubs off on me when we talk on the phone and we find ourselves gushing with laughter and sentences that run over each others because we’re happy just to be talking to each other and filling each other in with various new developments of our lives.

I like talking to my colleagues at work on the phone because we all know each other well enough that by putting a different tone of voice on, an otherwise normal phrase, it means something entirely different. It’s not always appropriate to say what you really mean in a crowded office/busy shop floor. That sentiment makes sense to me, but it’s quite hard to describe. I hope you know what I mean. 

I’ve learned from talking to my Dad on the phone what it sounds like when someone’s stepped out to have a cigarette and call you at the same time. There’s a very distinctive sound of a long drag on a cigarette, followed by a “Mm-yeah…” a quick forced exhale and then the rest of their carefully chosen sentence. I want to learn little things like that about more people. 

 I want to talk to people on the phone so much more, because I’ll know them so much better after. I’ll know what they sound like after a rough day at work, after they’ve been crying, or after they’ve just had some amazing news that they can’t wait to share. I want to hear them settling down onto the sofa with a glass of wine, or crawling into bed because I know they don’t mind winding down their day by talking the time away with me. 

If this whole idea seems entirely crazy to you, and calling someone seems a little behind on the times, then I do kind of understand. Why pick up the phone to call someone when you could have a speedy support session via text?

Obviously a phone call isn’t always appropriate - but when it is, call. 

Finding THE Jeans

Some people wait a life time, for a moment like this. I think Kelly Clarkson was singing about finding true love or something just as sentimental, but I know that some people wait a life time to find the perfect pair of jeans. My moment has come. 

As a human being on this planet, I’ve been wearing jeans for the majority of my life. That’s almost 23 years of various cuts and coloured denims, so I know a thing or two about picking out jeans. Sadly, I also know a thing or two about not being able to buy jeans from any stores on the high street due to my height. I’m 5’11; long torso long legs, and nowhere within my price range caters for that.

I recently wrote a lengthy diatribe about hating shopping for trousers/jeans in particular and how hard the high street have made it, but now - elated - I can safely say how happy I am to have found a style of jeans that I love and that fit me well. We all wear jeans - it’s a part of our culture. Bruce Springsteen’s artwork for Born In The USA is only half as brilliant as it is because of his jeans (and amazing ass…)

Anyway, back to the point in hand. This autumn, I bought a pair of jeans from Topshop because they were the only ones long enough in the whole of Southampton. Now, I’m realising how much I love them. Normally, because I wear jeans every single day (in work and at home) I wear through them pretty quickly, and although my Topshop jeans have faded, they’re still going mighty strong. 

So, ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce to you the jeans that shall henceforth be known as the “Lex” jeans, otherwise known as The Jamie Jeans - Tall - Size 10, Length 36’’ in black. Obviously in black. Thank the lord for Toyshop’s instore Tall Range.

I’m sure to another generation this is going to sound weird, but I feel like finding THE pair of jeans that makes you feel both sexy and comfy, casual and smart, dressed for the part and feeling like yourself is a right of passage. There’s a time in your life when you grasp the jeans on their hanger in the store changing room, that’s always a little too hot for your liking, and you look up to the denim Gods and whisper “…thank you…” as the lights in the changing room dim, a halo of light appears above you and you can hear the faint echo of the hallelujah chorus. 

 I will live in Jamie Jeans from now on, until I venture into another style from Topshop who now have my jean-loyalty, but overall I’ve found my match made in denim heaven. They’re tight in all the right places with rips in the knees so I don’t ever look too overdressed; they’re a welcome drink in the sahara wasteland of jeans made my designers who only cater to 32” legs. Trust me, those extra four inches make a world of difference.

I know it may seem strange to write about the sheer love of an item of clothing, but when those jeans make you feel like Kelly Kapowski in all the right ways, there’s nothing I can do but shout about it. All the love for those jeans.

Here's the link for my Topshop jeans if you fancied a look-see at the jeans that have got me all excited.
Here's also a couple of pictures of me and some of my best friends from University - I am wearing the jeans from heaven in these pictures, but apparently no full length pictures of me exist in the world.

(I do not own Bruce Springsteen's Cover Art or this delightful picture of Kelly Kapowski, images were sourced here and here.) 

The 'Retail Feet' Fixer-Upper

Unless you’ve worked retail at Christmas you’ll never know real emotional and physical exhaustion.  Okay, maybe that’s a touch dramatic (how unlike me) but if you’ve worked a retail orientated Christmas, then you know I’m not far off. The average person walks approximately four miles per day. The average person does not work in retail. 

^The amazing Lush Southampton lot, at our Christmas Staff Meal. One week before Christmas, we're trying not to look so mental.

It’s the aching feet-legs-arms-back and the feeling of being so tired that even your hair hurts. You’ve been smiling at Christmas Shoppers for the last 8 (9, 10, 11…) hours and you never want to smile again, let alone help someone who has no idea what they’re talking about, but is convinced that they do. 

I understand I’m not selling working in retail over the seasonal period very well, but there are upsides. Last year for example, a lady came into Lush with a Christmas list that her daughter had given her. But it wasn’t just your regular list, there were no product names; she’d drawn all the products she wanted and coloured them in the right colours and everything - for a seven year old, she did very well. 

Anyway - seeing as I work for Lush all year round, not just at Christmas, I’m fully aware of what retail feet feel like which is why I’ve planned out the perfect Lush based foot-fixer-upper for anyone who needs it. 

I would suggest doing this once you’ve completed your week and you don’t need to worry about getting things ready for your next day at work. 

1. Tidy up your room a little, I know this is a strange step in a foot-fixer-upper but I’m telling you - you’ll feel much better relaxing in a relatively tidy room than you will a messy one. Change your sheets as well, because climbing into fresh sheets after this routine will be the cherry on the top of a wonderful, wonderful cake. 
2. Grab yourself your warm beverage of choice; coffee, tea, hot chocolate, warm squash (or maybe something stronger, dependant on how hellish your week has been) and slip into your home clothes otherwise known as baggies, slouchies, tracks or pyjamas.
   
3. Foot Soak & Fancy Free, foot soak from Lush. Pop the whole crumbly circle into a bowl of hot-to-warm water and soak your feet in the water. The epsom salts in the water, along with the tagetes will help to soothe your aching feet, take down any hot swelling and soften the skin around your toes and heels. Irish Moss Powder is a magic ingredient when it comes to revitalising tired feet. Foot Soak also contains lavender and chamomile is not only calming and soothing for your feet, the scents will also help to chill you out, settle your mind and help you drift off to sleep tonight. You can do this for as long as you like, I like to do it until all the salt has dissolved or until the water is room temperature; stick Netflix on - you deserve to take your time!
   
4. Once you’re done with your soak, put your water aside for a minute, and reach for your Pumice Power bar. Zesty Orange Oils and pumice will help to boost circulation in your feet, as well as refresh and cleanse the skin. Whilst your feet are still wet, work the Pumice Power in gentle circles around your heels and the balls of your feet - the soak will have helped to soften all that tough skin caused by standing on your feet all day and the Pumice Power will help to slough some of it away. Once you’re done, rinse your feet in your left over Foot Soak Water.
   
5. Once you’ve soothed, softened and scrubbed your feet it’s time to really bring them back to life. Lightly dry them on a clean, fluffy towel and then it’s time for Christingle. Christingle is new to the Lush Winter collection this year and whilst it’s getting many a mixed review, I can’t help but gush about it. Everything from the colour, to the scent, to the… well, tingle! Christingle is a body conditioner, similar to the super moisturising qualities of Ro’s Argan or African Paradise but a bit more festive! Packed full of peppermint and spearmint oils, with a healthy dose of menthol crystals, not to mention a generous helping of grapefruit oils this conditioner is invigorating, reviving and stimulating; perfect for zombie feet. Slather it on and leave for a few minutes; as long as you want really, but I’d say somewhere between 5-10 minutes before rinsing again.
   
6. So, now you have revitalised feet and a clear mind. Pop all your pamper bits to one side and slide into bed (assuming that you’ve already brushed your teeth and washed your face!) I’m sure you wont need any help drifting off, but if you do I can’t recommend Sigur Ros or Helios more for the perfect falling asleep playlist. Check them out on Spotify and drift off into a cloudy, sleepy heaven.
   
   Hopefully we’ll all wake up in the morning feeling a bit more chipper and after a few (well-earned) days off feel ready to tackle another week of mayhem or January Sales. 

For all of those out in the retail world during this end of the year - I feel you. But it’s almost over and I can just about see the non-Christmas lights and the end of the seasonal tunnel of hell. 

See you on the other side - Happy Christmas. 

Handmade Gifts are Better

My first year out of education I was never going to be able to afford gifts for everyone who deserved them in my life, so I decided that this was going to be the year that I would properly commit to hand making little gifts so people would know I was thinking about them over the holiday period. Granted, some may see my efforts as a little pre-school but it’s the thought that counts and the careful time taken over making someone else smile. 

I knew I wanted to do something with oranges but I wasn’t sure what. After trawling Pinterest, youtube and various blogs I was thoroughly disheartened by my lack of creative know-how, so I decided to cobble together something entirely of my own creation. I finally came to the conclusion that I could make hanging tree decorations; most people I know have a tree up in their house and if they don’t they could always hang something on a cupboard door knob, or on a mantlepiece. 

I picked out some large oranges from Sainsburies, sliced them finely and laid them out on some kitchen roll for about half an hour - they were extra juicy and in any other instance this would have made for perfect oranges but I needed them less juicy.
After drying as much juice out of them as I could, I placed them all on a baking tray and left in them in the oven for about three hours at 90 degrees. I really didn’t think it was going to take this long, but it really did. I went down to check multiple times, but they were only just done when I finally took them out. 

After they were out of the oven and cool, I left them overnight to dry out that last little bit and be really ready to craft with. 

I’d bought 5 meters of the ribbon I liked, and it was fairly cheap, but this was by far the most fiddly bit of the whole christmas-craft-fest. I tied the ribbon into many little bows and once I was happy with the shape of the bow, I ran a couple of stitches through the main knot to stop it coming undone. 

I can’t really sew at all, but because I used thread that matched the ribbon it didn’t really matter that much. Once I’d made around 15 bows, I picked out the best looking 15 oranges and matched them up. A little drop of craft glue on the back of each bow secured it to the orange. I was originally going to sew the bows to the oranges, but I was a little worried about the oranges stability, after all they are just oranges. 

So, now I had 15 dried oranges with cute bows glued on. These were cute as they were, but I wanted to make them at least slightly functional, so this is where the jute twine and luggage tags come into action. 

I removed the original string from the tags and went about cutting about a fingers length of the jute twine off the roll. I looped it and stuck it down onto the back of the tag with some regular sellotape. 

Now I had 15 slightly kitsch hanging tags. 

Mounting the oranges in the same way that I did the bows, I fixed each orange to the upper end of the card leaving some space at the bottom. I didn’t really have much faith in the glue, but it actually worked wonders. It was a fairly cheap ‘Tacky Glue’ from a local Fabric Land. If I were to buy it again however, I would definitely opt for the clear-dry glue as opposed to the one I bought which dried white. It wasn’t a major spanner in the works it just meant that I had to work a little neater than I really had time to. 

Whilst I was trying to make them look perfect and really take lots of care and attention, I needed to get them finished in a short period of time. That’s the one problem about Christmas-crafting, I always come up with designs and delusions of grandeur with absolutely no funding or time to execute them. This years handmade gifts were quite cheap which helped. 

Once the oranges had set onto the tags enough, I left this until the next day, I wrote names on the opposite ends. I thought this was a cute addition because it personalised the gift nicely and (hopefully) showed that I put a little thought into my efforts. 

Once the ink on that was dry, we all know how gel pens smudge, I individually wrapped each tag in red or green tissue paper adorned with even more Paperchase stickers* and a To…/From… note. 

Overall, I was really pleased with the way the tags turned out, I made them in the hope that people might hang them on their trees and I know having given some out early to people at work that most of them made it onto their trees. Success! 

Although it may take a little extra forethought and effort, I really think handmade gifts are a lot nicer to receive. It shows the effort gone into it and it’s always nice to know that the person who made it cares enough for you to make something for you, or to spend time on you (not just necessarily money.) 

Hope you’re all having a wonderful Christmas holiday period. 

*If you don’t get this reference, it’s because I wrote a post recently about wrapping up my gifts and showering them all with really cute Christmas stickers from Paperchase. We know I love Paperchase.

The Need For Good Underwear.

It is a need, after all, not a want. I really do need to wear nice underwear and mainly for no one aside for myself. Cora Harrington from The Lingerie Addict agrees that women who want to wear wonderful lingerie can be doing it for themselves and don’t necessarily have to be doing it to impress a man even though every other article online reads “Buying the right underwear to impress your man…”

“Everyone who wants it deserves gorgeous lingerie” - Cora Harrington, The Lingerie Addict. 

One of the many reasons I love nice underwear is that it’s almost like a little sexy-secret that only you know about (unless you choose to show someone else you saucy minxes) You might be hiding in your work uniform, but underneath you’re rocking a badass matching set. One of my favourite blogs/ Instagrams at the moment is The Lingerie Files - check them out for beautiful, beautiful pictures of amazing lingerie that make you want to give your whole wardrobe an overhaul. I love The Lingerie Files because they believe that underwear can (sometimes) be outerwear and that lingerie is all about making you feel more confident and sexy in yourself.
When you wake up on the wrong side of bed and you have to be somewhere in an hour, a good selection of underwear can make the day a whole lot better. If you feel happy and sexy, hopefully it’ll shine through.

Nothing feels less sexy than your ancient bra strap finally giving up the ghost and snapping. Or the elastic in your favourite panties giving out so much that you can barely keep them up; throw them out, invest in something amazing. As useful as the handful of Primark pants for £5 is, they're sure as hell not going to make you happy in the long run. I'm not saying cheap isn't good, but some pieces of lingerie deserve to be treated like the fashion items they are. 

The Lingerie Files also has this cute image explaining ‘lingerie terms’ for those who are just figuring out what they like. 

This image belongs to The Lingerie Files. 

When I was younger and I started wearing real underwear, as opposed to days-of-the-week pants, I shopped in New Look, Tammy Girl (way back then) and M&Co - remember them? After that came the La Senza phase, and to this day, two of my favourite bras that I own are from La Senza but over the last few years everything I’ve seen in La Senza has become a little too neon-and-leopard print for me. 

Victoria’s Secret has recently opened in my local shopping centre, which is West Quay in Southampton, and reminded me how much I loved the brand. I shopped at VS when I was in NYC and then again when I was reunited in Las Vegas; since then VS have branched out in the UK and seem to be popping up everywhere.
My favourite slip/babydoll that I own is black (obviously) and silky - that was a Vegas VS purchase and now that they’re open so close by I can see myself spending a little too much in their VS/Pink store. 

My next purchase is going to have to be a satin Kimono from VS as I get too hot in a full blown dressing gowns and the one I’ve got my eye on is nicely balanced between sexy and simple. 

With the more decadent lingerie, there’s an air of putting on a costume that I quite like - meaning you can be whoever you want to be, and your tastes might change from costume to costume. At the same time, because ‘underwear’ is such a vast term, you can really explore things you’ve never worn before and find out what you really like, especially before you start buying underwear to impress someone else… 

Of course I’m not damning the idea of buying underwear with someone else in mind, I’m just saying it’s important to make yourself feel special first. Good underwear is emotionally good for you; it makes you feel happy, sexy and strong. To all those people out there who are buying lingerie for their significant others this Christmas, good luck and happy shopping. Buying someone else underwear without them knowing takes balls, and I’m so glad that you’re doing it.