Few new things in my makeup bag March 2015

I had to do the cleanup of my cosmetic bag, some stuff was there for ages and because I never used it, it was time to say goodbye. But all occasions like that involve saying hello to new stuff.
So here it goes.

So Chisel Cheeks from Barry M- just trying it really, but already got in terms with reality, I will never master it like Kardashians (lol).
Redemption Palette Iconic 2 from Revolution (so far my favourite).
NYC lip crayon in South Ferry Berry (dries my lips, so won't stick with it).
Lash Princess form Essence (unfortunately smudges).
Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm with pink tint (so far so good).
On the photo is as well my long lost friend from Body Shop- the eyebrow palette, don't know if they are still selling it (I have it for ages). It's absolute fav, and so easy to use, just use slanted brush and it makes eyebrows worth having.

Birthday cake in the making :-)

So decision made, and because any recipe is just a suggestion I decided to mix and match.

My cake is going to be 2 tier thingy, bottom made of chocolate sponge and top of a poppy seed one. Where I came from poppy seed cakes are essentials for Christmas and Easter, so given my birthday is just a week from Easter - why not. Both cakes will be layered with white chocolate ganache and blackcurrant jam made by my friend. And maybe some of my raspberry curd (homemade of course).
So chocolate sponge:
6 eggs (separated)
150g caster sugar
115g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
40g melted butter (cooled)
pinch of soda bicarb
Vanilla (paste, extract or whatever you want)
All ingredients must be in a room temperature (not straight from the fridge- eggs, or boiling hot- butter).
Whip the egg whites till stiff, in separate bowl whip the yolks with sugar till creamy and light in colour, add melted butter top yolks and keep mixing. Add yolks with butter to whites and gently mix, add flour, cocoa and soda. Mix until smooth but still with lots of air. Prepare the baking tin, line it with paper or parchment. Put the mixture in a tin and bake @180C (gas mark 5) for about 30 min (or till stick comes dry). Then cut it into 3 layers. Et Voila.

Poppy seed sponge
5 eggs (separated)
150g caster sugar
2 tbs ground almonds
120g fine sponge flour
2 tbs corn or potato flour
1 tbs of baking powder (I give 1 heaped tsp of soda)
200g dry poppy seeds (blue ones)

Whip the whites till stiff, add the caster sugar, make sure its properly mixed. Add the egg yolks, keep mixing. Sieve the flours, powder and almonds, add poppy seeds, mix gently not to knock out the air from egg whites. Put in a baking tin (lined again) and bake for 45 min (or till stick comes dry) @180C (gas mark 5). When baked cut it into 3 layers again.

Then, spread jam on the chocolate cake, then put cream on it, and next layer.

And again, and again until you use all the cake layers, or cream, or it will get too high to fit in your fridge. Then spread cream on the top layer, decorate it the way you want and can. Enjoy.

ps. Poppy seed cake can be very dry,so it would do it good if you moisten it with alcohol of some sort (brandy is good) or lemon juice mixed with water and maybe some syrup.

pss. My ganache is definitely my take on recipe, as everywhere they say that you should melt chocolate in cream and the whip it when cool, with white chocolate it was always dieseaster. So I whip the cream until firm then add melted chocolate. At least it keeps its shape.

My Pin board March

T-shirts and skirt http://en.dawanda.com/
Dresses http://www.joules.com/
Bracelets and Bangles http://www.lexandcogifts.com/
Pouch bag http://www.luluguinness.com/purses/all-purses/london-by-night-zip-pouch

Little things that made me happy this week

Shopping!
But as Marilyn said "money won't make you happy, shopping will", so I went on a little shopping trip a got a few things.
My new foundation and makeup base.

Few scented candles.

Lovely long white shirt to wear with jeans.

Lovely new notebooks (Women can never have enough of those, right?!), and even lovelier picture frames see here http://emslifeinuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/tkmaxx-finds.html

And Spring!!!

Apart from that what else can made me happy? Feeling that I actually accomplished something, so I tackled the ironing basket and finished it all, made a roast dinner, and chicken soup from leftovers, and all of that in one afternoon. Spend some time with my family.And got some photos done so I can post them here.
When I read what I wrote I can see that my internal chaos is taking over. Fine, so be it. I can live with it, in fact I live with it for (ime) 35 years. In fact I recognise the pattern, when my "big" birthday is coming up I get this massive urge to change something. So I am changing things, setting myself new challenges. This year is to get back to blogging. I use to wrote a blog (in 2003) in a different place, in a different language. Whole word apart.

Why are we blogging and other things

 So why are we? for the same reason we are blaging :-P
or seriously, a lot of people take on fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogging because they read others blogs and think "I want to do that too, I want to get free stuff/go to fashion events/become celebrity too", as a result we have lots of good fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogs and even more not so good. The general idea behind the blog is that this stuff is going to be read. And as in any form of journalism we should respect  our readers. That is the reason mine will be constant work in progress, sometimes with longer breaks between posts as it will take some time to get them right. To make it the way I want and you might enjoy.
I do too read other's blogs, I really enjoy  that. When I have moment  break from running like headless chicken I love to read blogs (blogs, books,magazines, news- anything really, must be addicted to written word) and it makes lovely change from scientific journals- trust me on that.
My very favourite one is http://hannahgale.co.uk/ - she is funny and entertaining with amazing amount of common sense for someone her age :P. 
Second one I enjoy is completely different it is http://www.fashionfoiegras.com/
Another one is http://macademiangirl.com/   pure colour! Well worth a look especially if you miss spring and sunshine.
Where Hannah is Primark, Emily form FFG is High End Design. And where am I? Somewhere in between them. I still buy on High Street but prefer artisans and hand made stuff, things that are one of.
 Like this bag.