Autumn days

So my favourite time of year is finally upon me and I couldn't be happier. I love nothing more than the changing seasons and Autumn is one of the loveliest there is. Everywhere you look there are beautiful colours and I will happily put up with a few rainy days if it means I get to enjoy the falling leaves, darker evenings, toffee apples, bonfires, halloween, guilt free hot chocolates and a lot of duvet days. It also makes me feel closer to Christmas and that makes me very happy, but I will hold off and not mention it until at least bonfire night is over.

I always try and get out for a little walk everyday if I have the time as I really love being out in the fresh air and hate nothing more than being constantly cooped up, even if I just pop out for 10 minutes I feel immediately better. When out a few days ago I decided to take a few pictures of what I was wearing as everything around me looked so pretty and I saw the perfect opportunity so grabbed it.

I picked up these boots from Primark for £15 and I am so happy with them. They are a similar style to Timbaland boots which I am desperate for, but when I saw these I had to pick a pair up, they are such a bargain and are super comfortable.

My dress is from TK Max last season however it is the perfect transitional dress when it's cold but not cold enough for a big coat. My big scarf kept my nice and warm anyway so a coat wasn't needed. I have however found my new perfect winter coat and I've convinced myself that I need it although in reality I'm not so sure. You can never have too many coats though, and that's a rule i've decided to stick to.

Chocolate and Cinnamon Banana Cake

With The Great British Bake Off back on TV, I have been seriously inspired to do a lot more baking recently…this is great for my taste buds but not so great for my waist line. I love the bake off and how quintessentially british the show is, I have always been into baking, whether it be helping my mum when I was younger or looking through the pages of the vast baking books on the shelf.

I noticed that I had a bunch of bananas just sitting on the side getting browner and browner, I'm really picky with when I will eat them and the minute they start browning there is no chance: so I decided to make a banana cake, one of my all time favourites!

Chocolate and Cinnamon Banana Cake

Ingredients.

250grams Self Raising Flour

110grams Butter

225grams Caster Sugar

2 Large Eggs

3 Large Ripe Bananas

50grams Cocoa

1tsp Vanilla Extract

11/2tsp Cinnamon 

Method.

• Before I start any recipe I always make sure I have all my ingredients out and ready to go, along with everything I will need. For this recipe I used, a mixing bowel, scales, a potato masher, a loaf tin, a spatular, a wooden spoon and all my ingredients ready to go. 

• Start by preheating the oven to 180C or Gas mark 4. 

• In a large mixing bowel, mix together the sugar and the butter until light and fluffier in texture. I used a wooden spoon for this as my whisk has broken, however it is quicker and easier to use an electric whisk.

• Once the butter and sugar are combined add in the flour, cocoa, eggs, mashed banana, cinnamon and vanilla extract and combine. It doesn't matter if there are some lumps of banana in the mixture, I actually quite like it when there is but you can hardly tell once the cake has cooked.

• Grease a loaf tin ( I find that you don't need to line the tin as this cake always comes straight out if the tin has been greased however it's personal preference), and pour in the cake mixture.

• Place in the oven on a middle shelf and bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clear.

•  Take out the oven and leave to cool in the tin before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely, that's if you can wait that long before tucking in.

Perfect Holiday

Last week me and my family travelled down to North Devon to a little village called Croyde. It's such a lovely place to relax and unwind, minutes from the beach and full of pubs and little shops selling fudge, ice cream, clothes and lots of lovely trinkets. Being in the UK you can never guarantee the weather how we were so lucky and enjoyed sunshine all but one day all week. Camping holidays with my family are definitely one of my favourites if not my favourite type of holiday. Nothing beats spending quality time with them as they are all awesome, and them combined with BBQ's lot's of wine and Cider and the Atlantic Ocean makes me one very happy girl.

I thought I would just share a few snaps of the holiday, I love these pictures they really sum up how lovely it was.

Eve Hari

x

Time for Tea

It's always nice when you get the opportunity to see old friends, but it's even nicer when it's done over really scrumptious food and lots of tea. Last week my friend Sofia popped over to do just that. We were both craving some comfort food and I had often walked past Marmadukes in Sheffield but had never gone in so I suggested there.

I had never been in before however it had always caught my eye whenever I had walked past due to the Yorkshire tea mugs I always saw people drinking out of. And being the Yorkshire Tea snob that I am this actually made me want to try it out. Me and Sofia were not disappointed, the place was lovely and was exactly what we were after. We both ordered the Homity pie which was delicious and you could choose between a selection of Deli salads to have as a side. The staff were all lovely and the atmosphere was so friendly and welcoming as well as a fantastic selection of food that all looked incredible. 

We were both full after the pie and I'm not sure how, but we managed to resist the selection of cakes that were on offer, however I am going back to work my way through every single one of them.

Happy Days

It's not often I get the opportunity for a change of scenery away from city life, however this weekend me and a few of my old school friends decided to head down to the south coast for a little mini break. The weather was perfect and to be by the sea is ultimately one of my favourite places to be. I dream of owning my own little seaside retreat one day in Cornwall, oh a girl can dream. 

We were staying in Southampton at my friends university house, however on the Saturday we all got up bright and early and drove across to Brighton, non of us had ever been before so this added to our excitement.

Once there we pretty much did everything we had planned. We had tea and scones at a really cute little tea rooms in The Lanes that was full of old fashioned seaside posters and the most delicious array of cakes. Once we were suitably full we spent the morning looking in quirky shops and just taking in the buzz of Brighton its self. 

Whilst exploring we came across a large second hand shop full of one of a kind retro pieces and old fashioned furniture. We all had fun trying on hats and fur coats, but we had the most fun in a photo booth we found tucked away in a corner. This photo is my favourite thing that I took away from the weekend as I will keep this forever.

After we were well and truly shopped out we made our way onto Brighton Pier, where I won a giant elephant, as I never win anything I was rather proud of it and insisted on carrying this round with me for the rest of the day. This was fine however it's trunk kept nudging people in the back so I spent a lot of the afternoon apologising to people on it's behalf.

We spent ages walking around deciding what we should have for lunch but settled on fish and chips, nothing beats them when by the sea however you do suddenly become very aware of the seagulls when you have food in your hands.

I just wanted to share a few more pictures from this day as I honestly had so much fun and am already planning when I can go back.

Lots of Love
Eve

Hello Mr Blue Skies

The weather without a doubt has been so awful over the last few months I was forgetting what nice weather actually looked like. I love being outdoors and I hate being stuck inside when I don't want to be, I have to get out at least once a day even if it is just to pop to the shops. Fresh air and lovely weather is like medicine, it instantly makes me happy or helps me clear my head if I have a lot to think about.

Recently the weather has been lovely even bordering on warm when the sun shines on you so I took this opportunity to get out as much as I could. I went home for a week last week to do lots of exciting things but it was so nice to spend some quality time with my family who I can't help but miss now I have moved away (an hour up the road). My mum and her partner also came to visit me and we drove out to a gorgeous part of the peak district, it always stuns me how beautiful the English countryside can really be. I thought I would share some pictures of my recent trips and I think they speak for themselves.

Happy 2014

Happy 2014 everyone :), I'm still in shock with how quickly the past year has gone and it only seems like yesterday I was saying hello to 2013. 

This year has been an exciting year for me; I moved out of my mums house, spent as much time as I could with family and friends and travelled to places I had never been before. It's most certainly been a goodun :) and I plan to make 2014 even better with lots of great things to look forward to.

I'm not massive on making New Years resolutions but in the week after christmas I had a good think of a few things I want to keep in mind over this next year. I think that resolutions in the New Year arn't always taken that seriously, however I believe the New Year is a great time for wiping a slate clean or just using it as a time to make those changes you have been wanting to do.

This is my little list of 2014 resolutions.

1. Take more pictures.

2. Step out of my comfort zone.

3. Say YES to things I might not have done before.

4.Spend as much time as I can with friends and family.

5. Stop caring so much about things that really do not matter.

6.Get fitter.

7. Enjoy everyday.

8. Rid myself of negativity and to stop wasting time on people that give me nothing back.

9. Most importantly, just be happy.

I would love to hear if you have made any resolutions :)