Trust me, I'm a Doctor

Today I handed in the final hard-bound copies of my thesis - after a long process of handing in, examination and correcting - so I am now a doctor (academic, not medical)!

I am very pleased that it is all finally over and I no longer have to think about it - so hopefully I should have much more time and brain space to get back to writing here.

Thank you all for sticking with me these past few months (and years!) :D

If any of you are interested, I have also started up a science blog - Awe & Wonder Science Blog - it would be great if you could check it out, it's aimed at non-scientists so don't worry if you've never been a big fan of science, I aim to show you science is actually awesome (and everywhere).

My next big dilemma is finding a graduation outfit to wear with these awful robes :/ Suggestions are very welcome!!

Hope you are all well,

Love,

A Very British Summer - Iced Teas and Tea Cocktails with TeaPigs

Never fear tea fans, you can still enjoy your favourite beverage in the heat of the glorious British summer!

I was recently sent a selection of teas from Teapigs, who were looking for bloggers to help take tea beyond the classic hot drink and give it a bit of a summer makeover in the form of some iced tea and tea based cocktail ideas.

I was really interested  in this opportunity as I'm not your standard tea drinker - I'm not a big fan of regular tea, preferring herbal and fruit infusions, and I also don't really like drinking tea hot. I know, I'm odd. So anyway, iced teas and tea cocktails sounded right up my street.

It didn't take me long to come up with my ideas, but I was unfortunately delayed in posting this as it took a while for any summer weather to appear for me to take my pictures!

I was sent samples of their Darjeeling Earl Grey (Himalayan Darjeeling and Begamot), Chai Tea (Assam Tea, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger and Cassia), Chamomile Flowers (just Chamomile Flowers), Peppermint Leaves (just Peppermint Leaves) and Super Fruit (Blackcurrants, Cranberries, Blueberries and Elderberries).

Here are the conconctions I came up with;

Super Fruit Cooler

TeaPigs Super Fruit Cooler

The Super Fruit tea was lovely so I wanted to keep the initial recipe simple. This was very refreshing :)

• Super Fruit Tea Bag brewed in boiling water and left to cool
• Top up with lemonade, soda water or sparkling water.
• I added frozen raspberries instead of ice and a strawberry for garnish

Or, for a grown-up twist - Super Duper Fruit Cooler, as above with an added splash of Chambord! 

I'm pretty sure you could also harden the recipe up with a shot of vodka, or, if you're feeling especially crazy, substitute the lemonade/soda water/sparkling water for sparkling wine/champagne.

Super Duper Fruit Cooler

Chamomile and Elderflower Iced Tea

Chamomile Flower and Elderflower Iced Tea

 Chamomile and Elderflower seemed like a perfect classic combination for an iced tea to enjoy in the sunshine. I felt like this was the kind of drink that should be produced from a wicker picnic basket and enjoyed in a wildflower meadow, but that's probably just me being overly romantic.

• I made up a huge batch of this with 3 Chamomile Flower teabags brewed in boiling water and left to cool. One cool I poured it into a lovely glass bottle and topped up with some cold water before popping it into the fridge.
• To serve I topped up with sparkling elderflower, but you could use an elderflower cordial and lemondade/soda/sparkling water, or skip the elderflower altogether if you like.
• As with the Super Fruit cooler, you could add sparkling wine/champagne instead of lemonade/soda/sparkling water

Classic Iced Tea

Classic Iced Tea

This is a very simple recipe for a classic iced tea. What I really wanted to do was a Long Island Iced Tea with real tea but I didn't have all the ingredients - when I have the cash to buy them all I think I will have to give it a go.

• Darjeeling Earl Grey teabag brewed in boiling water and left to cool.
• Served with ice and lemon

If I had have had all the fixings for a Long Island Iced Tea with real tea it probably would have been something like this;

• Equal parts Vodka, Gin, Light Rum, Tequila, Triple Sec
• Lemon Juice
• Sugar Syrup
• Sweet and Sour Mix
• Topped up with Iced Darjeeling Earl Grey
• Served over ice with lemon

Mo-tea-to

Mo-tea-to

A twist on a mojito with the addition of mint tea instead of muddled mint leaves. I love mojitos and mint tea, so this was one of the first ideas I came up with - it would be equally as nice without the alcohol if you're not a drinker, or if it's too early in the day to justify it.

• Peppermint Leaves teabag brewed in boiling water and allowed to cool.
• 1 shot of vodka or light rum (I personally prefer vodka mojitos)
• 1 or 2 shots of Iced Peppermint Leaf tea
• Sugar to taste
• Topped up with lemonade/soda water, ice and mint leaves as garnish

This is another recipe where you can substitute the lemonade/soda water for sparkling wine/champagne if the mood takes you!

Chai Aye Captain

Chai Aye Captain

This is probably my favourite, partly because I'm a big fan of spiced rum and also because I was very pleased with myself for thinking up the name. 

• Rum - I used Morgan's Spiced because it was what I had, but you could use any light or dark rum
• Add Chai teabag(s) and leave to infuse - I left this for a day, but it is just one teabag in a small glass - if you are using a whole bottle of rum and multiple teabags I suggest keeping an eye on it and tasting to check how well infused it is.
• I served this with coke over ice

Do you think you'll be trying any of these out? Or do you have a great iced tea or tea cocktail of your own?

Lots of Love,

Wax On. Wax Off?

I hate the rigmarole of hair removal.

I do it (some of the time) because I like being hair free and so I can break out my summer clothes and get some air on my skin*, but I hate the process.

I've tried so many different ways of shedding the fuzz ; shaving, depilatory creams, epilating, sugaring, waxing - pretty much any hair removal product available in Boots (I'd love to give Laser Hair Removal a go, but I don't have anywhere near enough £££ for that!).

In the cases of shaving and depilatory creams the regrowth is so quick (and itchy!) that it's barely worth bothering. Epillating is too painful and leaves my legs covered in little red dots (inflamed follicles I guess) that can take days to go away. So that leaves me with sugaring and waxing....

My problem is, I'm really bad at waxing. I don't know if it's just me, maybe I'm just a total wax-clutz, but it never goes well for me. I miss bits, I get wax everywhere, I always run out of strips, I take forever, the wax needs reheating constantly and when I do reheat it I always make it too hot.....Basically, a waxing disaster. Still, I persevere in the hope that I'll get better and also because, for the patches that I do manage to actually wax (patches are better than nothing), the results are still better than shaving or epilating.

So, in the brief period of warm weather we had a week or so ago, I decided to bite the bullet and get my wax on (and off, that's how it works). I got my wax and strips out, then I hit a barrier - our microwave suffered a small but fatal explosion a while back and we are no microwave-less.

No Microwave = No Molten Hot Wax = No burns, but also no waxing. Bugger.

It was this conundrum that led me to discover the Veet Easy Wax Electrical Roll-On Kit - a unit that heats and melts the wax so that you can just roll it on.
Brilliant! A solution to my lack of microwave but also my inability to get wax at the right temperature and the mess I usually end up making while waxing! As an extra bonus, Veet products were also half price in Boots last week, although sadly not any more.

As the weather took a downturn it has taken me a week now to test the thing out, but I finally got round to it today.

The kit contains the self-heating electrical unit, a stand, a plug, one wax roll-on, 12 strips, 3 post-depilatory wipes and some instructions. To use it, you insert the wax roll-on into the self-heating unit, attach the cable and plug in, then leave in the stand for 20 minutes to heat up.

Pros and Cons

The main things I liked and disliked about the Veet Easy Wax Electrical Roll-On

      + Self-heating (No Microwave needed)                               - 25 Minute heat-up time
      + Constant temperature (no reheating or burns)                - Only 12 strips included (not enough)
      + Cleaner than other wax (though I still made a mess)      - Not water washable (limited use on strips)

I actually had to wait around 25 minutes before the wax came out of the roll-on. It's quite a long time to wait and makes it a long process, but I'm never going to wax in a rush and don't have a microwave as another option, so it's just something I need to live with (not the worst thing in the world!).

Only having 12 strips included is optimistic at best, although you do get new strips with the wax refills. I still had to use all those included and a load I had stockpiled in the bathroom. In addition, this wax isn't water soluble so you can't wash the strips - you can reuse them a few times, but ultimately they need to be thrown away, which I'm not very happy about (I'm very much about waste reduction). Wax left on skin can be removed with the wipes included, or baby oil on a cotton pad - I used a lot of baby oil on cotton pads, even thought this is meant to be a clean system, I still managed to make mess :/

I had a look at the wax insert after it had cooled down, its not easy to tell how much wax I used but it doesn't seem like a lot. I did buy an extra arm & leg insert as well as a bikini and underarm insert which has a smaller roller for more precision application.

Overall, I'm happy with the Veet Easy Wax Electrical Roll-On. I might have thought harder before buying if I had known strips couldn't be washed and needed to be thrown away, but I have bought it now and do need it if I want to wax my legs.
If you have a microwave I would probably recommend you just stick with other microwavable waxes, although I guess this might be useful for taking away with you (as long as you're prepared to set aside a good chunk of holiday time to waxing!).

Now you know more than you probably needed to about my hair removal regime - just be glad I didn't take any before pictures (or after actually, I may need to have another go to 're-touch').
I hope you are all well,
Thanks for reading :)

Love

*Disclaimer: I'm not putting any judgement down on women or saying they have to remove body hair in order to wear skirts, shorts, vests etc - it's a personal choice, but I choose to remove.

My 'accidental' Lulu Guinness sunglasses

Just over a week ago I decided to go and get my eyes tested for the first time in as long as I can remember (I'm guessing at least 10 years). Having spent the last 8 years studying, and the past 4 staring at a computer almost every day, it seemed like it was about time - plus I found a voucher online for a half-price eye test at Boots Opticians.

Turns out I'm slightly short sighted.

In fairness, the selection of glasses in Boots wasn't overly excited, and the selection of sunglasses was especially limited. I tried on loads of pairs of glasses before I actually found a pair I actually liked and was pleased that they weren't too expensive. Then it was on to the sunglasses.

The lady helping me pointed out the Boots own sunglasses (cheaper) but my eyes had already fallen on these ones but didn't know they were Lulu Guinness. I was pretty smitten from first sight but once I tried them on, I was in love! At that point price was barely an issue for me, I tried on some similar ones in other ranges, but they simply didn't compare. I knew they were fairly pricey, but had kind of expected to spend a fair amount on glasses - I'm just grateful Boots do 2 for 1 on glasses/sunglasses (you don't have to go to Specsavers for that, although their range of glasses is better overall).

It genuinely wasn't until today when I picked them up and saw the (huge) case they came in that I realised they were Lulu Guinness. I was pleasantly surprised actually. I'm not exactly one to go out in search of designer labels and don't have much affection for designer brands in general, but Lulu Guinness is a label I do like - I'd love to own one of her lip clutches, especially the new black studded one. Thankfully the sunglasses cost considerably less than one of those though.

I am very pleased with the sunglasses, even if the label was a complete surprise to me.

Just for good measure, here's me in the glasses I got as well.

I'm hoping it's just the angle of the photo, but I think my face looks a little chubbier than normal here :/

The lipstick in all these pictures is Lime Crime Velvetine in Red Velvet - I completely adore it and am wearing it all the time, even when it's a bit over the top :p

I hope you're all well and are enjoying the glorious weather,
Love

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans

Life might happen while you're making other plans, but blogging certainly doesn't. Once again, I am very sorry for my recent - unplanned - absence.

April has been a really mixed-up and pretty busy month for me and for Pete.

Despite starting to apply for jobs back in September or October  last year, before I even finished my thesis, I am still jobless. Lack of a job, lack of available funds and having to attend the Job Centre for help has all been getting me down quite a lot.
I've had a couple of what seemed like quite good job prospects. I had one interview that went well but I didn't get the job in the end as other applicants had more appropriate experience. Another good possibility has recently been taken off the cards due to lack of funding. Along with losing these possibilities, we've had to give-up on the prospect of moving - either out of our flat or even to a new city - at least for the time being. That's been hard as the prospect of moving was quite a big part of what was keeping me going.
All of this combined hasn't helped in keeping me hopeful or motivated to do, well, anything really.

I have had to try and keep my motivation up as best as possible though, as April was also a pretty important month - I had my PhD Viva - the big, final, oral examination on your thesis where two academics quiz you on what you did and why. It was an absolutely awful prospect, even the thought of preparing was scary, the day itself was terrifying  - absolutely stomach-churning, wobbly-knees, cold-sweats terrifying. Technically, I could have failed and come away from 4 years of study with nothing!
Thankfully it all went well. I was sat in the room with my examiners for nearly three and a half hours discussing my work, but they seemed to like it and I managed to answer all their questions pretty well. So, having got through that, with the exception of a few corrections, for all intents and purposes I am now a Doctor!

Since my viva I've been keeping on with job applications and making a start on my corrections, but, despite the great news of passing my PhD, I haven't exactly been feeling great because of everything else on my mind.

In amongst all the planning moves, changing plans, applying for random jobs and tightening budgets, things might actually be starting to look up - Pete has just got himself a new, full time job, starting on Monday. It will mean him being away Monday to Friday for the next few months but means we'll have more money coming in and we won't be going to the Job Centre anymore.
For me, I've just got to keep working on my corrections and applying for jobs but also try and keep my mood up. Hopefully I can manage to get back to posting more regularly again.

Thanks for bearing with me,

Fitspiration and Body-Shaming

This isn't something I'd ever given any thought too before last night when I was messing around on Pinterest putting together a Bad-Ass Body Motivation board.

I have gained a fair bit of weight over the past six months, through the combination of doing little other than sitting down to write my thesis, stress and comfort eating, followed by Christmas indulgences and now, comfort eating because it's cold! Getting back into exercise, shedding the extra pounds and getting back into decent shape was one of my primary goals on completing my thesis - unfortunately I have struggled getting off my butt and actually doing anything about it so far. Hence the inspirational pin-board.

It was while searching for fitspiration pins that I came across a whole raft of #stopfitspiration images, which really surprised me. It seems that, for the people promoting #stopfitspiration, fitspiration is more-or-less the same as thinspiration - promoting unhealthy body image aspirations that are ultimately harmful and addressing the problem in entirely the wrong way. #stopfitspiration-ers take the view that you should love yourself before you change yourself, not work on changing yourself to help you love yourself. Whilst I will acknowledge that that is an admirable stand-point, I honestly don't think it's practical for most people and I also don't think that wanting to improve your body and your health through increased fitness is actually that unhealthy (unless of course you take it too extremes, which I'm not advocating).

So, in your opinion, is fitspiration - or, in proper English, encouraging exercise and fitness - just another form of body-shaming? Is promoting a healthy lifestyle and improved fitness really a bad thing and sending the message that the way you are/look now is deficient or wrong?
Maybe it comes down to the way you look at it - is fitspiration about encouraging exercise to change the way people look or encouraging exercise to improve people's fitness and health?

As far as I'm concerned, it isn't. I see the promotion of fitness as a promotion of health, and there's no way that can be bad, right? From my point of view, it isn't about saying that any body shape or anything about the way you look is wrong, it's about saying that everyone benefits from being fit, any changes in the way your body looks are just a side effect - if you're fitter, you'll feel better no matter what your shape, size or style.

I'd really love to hear your thought on this as it still baffles me a bit,

My Favourite Magazines: The Simple Things

Over the past year or so I have really got into magazines - not Fashion magazines, I have no time for that dross, but craft magazines and slightly different lifestyle magazines.

When I came across The Simple Things I was intrigued by it's stripped down take on the lifestyle magazine, about enjoying the simple things - simple food, the outdoors, family & friends, collecting, tradition and seasonality - rather than the numerous, overly consumerist, high-end, designer, glossy lifestyle magazines that promote shiny, polished, expensive perfection that I really don't think is a genuine route to fulfilment or happiness.

My interest also stemmed from where I was in my life at the time - really wrestling with my PhD and feeling lost and discontented with life - and a growing realisation that I needed to focus more on the beautiful, simple things in everyday life; which is exactly what I feel this magazine celebrates.

I love all of their regular features; tasting notes and articles on good, honest food - bread, cheese, chocolate, features on food traditions from around the world - from the Full English to Churros to Merenda (mid-afternoon Nutella on bread for Italian children), personal, intimate guides to great, interesting cities by people who really know them, seasonal garden observations and activities and loads more on interiors, collectors, days out, tea and books. I like that encourages you to take a step back, to look at  the things that most of us take for granted and really appreciate them and take joy from them instead - I think everyone needs to do that at least every once in a while.
I will also always love a lifestyle magazine that features real, muddy dogs as part of that lifestyle!

Although, now I think about it, I hold the writers and editors at least partly responsible for my recent weight as their articles definitely led to my nearly month long obsession with croque monsieur and my (fantastically successful) experiment with toffee apple crumble - both simple and both brilliant.

It's a really great magazine to properly chill out with - the autumn and winter editions have been lovely to snuggle up with and always make me feel warm (especially the bonfire night edition that featured hot chocolate with pink peppercorn syrup). Hopefully the spring editions won't have to keep me warm for too much longer as I'm still holding out hope that the sun will be bringing some warmth soon and I'll be able to get outside and put the gardening features to good use!

If you're also sick of the same old nasty lifestyle magazines and believe that there is more to life, and that the little things matter, check out The Simple Things - I think you'll like it.

Love

Sugar & Vice

A few weeks ago I discovered Sugar & Vice, a great company designing and creating awesome laser-cut acrylic and wood jewellery.

I'm a big fan of acrylic jewellery anyway and I kinda knew I was going to love their stuff as soon as I saw their Twitter profile picture of their Magpie Necklace! Looking through their website it was really hard to not seriously splurge, but I managed to limit myself to just the necklace (which I bought myself as a reward for having handed in my thesis).

I absolutely love it! Magpies are probably one of my favourite birds, I think they're absolutely beautiful and so is this necklace. I'm really sad I haven't been able to wear it yet as it's been so cold and I've been so wrapped up it would just be wasted!

As I'm super-broke at the moment, the thought of buying anything more from Sugar & Vice (or anywhere else for that matter) is nothing more than a fantasy at the moment - but that doesn't stop a girl making a wish list (or wish collage in this case).

Photos from Sugar & Vice website

Clockwise from Top Left:

Skull Drop Earrings - £12

Keyhole Necklace - £10

Block Knuckleduster Ring - £11

Stag in Disguise Necklace - £15

Metallic Matryoshka Necklace - £16

Sideshow Freak Necklace - £14

Skull Cameo Necklace - £12

They have a great range of designs and I think most people would find something that catches their eye - from skulls, to unicorns, hearts, food, Russian Dolls, Roller Derby and Heavy Metal. I would really recommend checking out their website, especially as over the Easter weekend they have 15% off everything! It's not a discount code, just a discount on all their items - I really wish I had the surplus cash to justify a purchase but at the moment I'd be giving up a day or two of food :/

Hope you are all well and enjoying the long weekend,

Love

Lure of the Dark Side

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook may have noticed one particular topic that has been dominating my thoughts lately - the colour of my hair.

Ok, so me changing my hair colour isn't really that big a deal, it's not like I haven't chopped and changed colour regularly over the past few years and I have been just plain blonde for quite a while now. The problem is that now I have submitted my thesis and am looking for a big, proper, grown-up job, I can't really go indulging my desire to have funky coloured hair (as hard as it is to resist).

Me - Blonde or Black? I haven't found this particularly helpful as I like my hair in all these pictures!

I first started going blonde three years ago, and I have loved it, but I am increasingly feeling the pull to go back to black. However, in the three years of being blonde there have only been a very few occasions when I have actually achieved the shade of blonde I have wanted - pretty much platinum - without any nasty yellow variation at the roots. Also, after three years of bleaching, with the addition of re-colouring, stripping and toning, my hair is in pretty poor condition :( Which are the main reasons why I'm considering the change.

I put together this little collage of two of my big hair inspirations - Dita Von Teese for Dark and Gwen Stefani for Blonde. Ultimately I think it comes down to the fact that, while I think I'd prefer to have Gwen's hair, I've never properly achieved it and it's slowly wrecking my hair. Given that, it seems like dark might be the way forward, and using Dita as inspiration seems like some pretty decent motivation.

All Pictures from Pinterest. Each Section, clockwise from Top Left
Dita 1, 2, 3, 4
Gwen 1, 2, 3, 4

Also, I figure I know a lot more about hair colouring and bleaching now than I did when I last went dark to blonde, so if I do want to change back sometime in the future (which is, let's face it, is quite likely) - but my hair probably deserves a bit of a break. I think I have, eventually, come to my conclusion, but I do wonder what other people think, actually, genuinely think - I just don't buy these "Well you look fine either way" responses, I want to know your preference! I'll keep you updated on what I do, but at the moment I'm thinking of heading to Boots tomorrow to buy dye and an intensive conditioner. Hope you are well, Love,

Blog Design

A few days ago I came across a video tutorial on the basics of awesome blog design by Something Swanky,  and I'm so glad I did.

As you can probably see I've already started playing around with some of what I learnt and have added a new header and menu bar - (not all of it is fully functional yet as some of it is for new content I haven't created yet!). I'm going to try and not go too overboard with graphics and constantly changing my design, but there are so many options that I'm getting a little carried away with all the possibilities and trying to create the perfect look for what I want my blog to be (it's kind of a good thing I don't have a job at the moment!).

Now most blogs I read already look absolutely amazing and professional, so I may be the last one to the blog design party - but I thought I'd share some of the tools I've learnt about so that you can have a play too if you aren't already.

• Awesome and informative tutorial video by Something Swanky, who also has a beautiful mixture of baking and other blog design tips :)

• PicMonkey - great user-friendly photo and image editing software with an awesome range of fonts, colours and overlays

• Image Maps - an online tool for mapping links onto an image, I used this to create the links in my new header - it does all the html for those of us who aren't fully html literate (I'm learning, but I'm not great)

I hope you like the new look, and that I don't annoy you all too much with graphic overload! I have plenty to be posting about now I've got past my week of job interviews (I didn't get the job, but have another very promising opportunity on the horizon, so I'm not too upset about it).

Hope you all have a great weekend, despite the weather,

Love