Beauty And The Beast

This afternoon me, my mum and my sister went and saw Beauty and the Beast, Ive been so excited to watch this since I first saw the trailer and I was not disappointed! The casting was such a good fit, Emma Watson did an amazing job as portraying Belle and her singing was incredible. Chip was adorable and the other ornaments were kept the way in which we know them from the original. When I first saw what the new chip and Mrs Potts looked like with the soft colours I was a little bit worried that I wouldn't like the change, but I was nicely surprised that I loved them. They kept all the songs in and added some new ones which made it feel familiar but new. I loved the costume, each one was detailed and beautiful, Belle's yellow dress was classic and gorgeous, but her white dress that she wears for the final scene was by far my favourite! The beast looked realistic, they did an amazing job at creating the look of the beast. They kept to the original storyline but added in new little parts, which made it almost better. It was a completely feel good film, with a hero and a villain, a love interest, some sadness and a little bit of violence. They did an incredible job at creating this real life version of the classic film, I loved every second of it and can't wait to buy it on DVD to watch again and I know I will be singing these songs around the house.

.

8 Ways Im Losing Weight!

I leave for camp in 10 weeks and therefore I am in full swing at getting my self in shape. I have been living a healthy lifestyle for the last two years so I thought I would share my tips on how I'm losing weight.

1. Eating Healthy- I eat healthy 90% of the time however I don't deny myself a few treats here and there. My usual everyday meals are weetabix breakfast with a tiny bit of honey and raspberries,some fruit for a snack. salad for lunch and a naked bar and for dinner I will have meat and veggies. Eating healthy is 80% of what will help you to lose weight. 
2. Doing regular exercise- I will go to the gym six days a week and four days a week will do a half an hour mini workout in the evening as well. I do 20-30 of cardio, 25 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of interval training. I will always have one rest day a week and that will change depending on what I am doing that week. I always make the time to do exercise.
3. Drinking Water-I try to drink 6-8 glasses of water each day as not only does it help you to lose weight but it is also good for your skin and hair. It also makes me sleep better and overall feel better as I'm hydrated.
4. Sleep-Sleep is so so important, you should be having 7-8 hours sleep every night and its so important to stick to this. Not having enough sleep can lead to weight gain, so therefore I always workout what time I need to get up the next day to see what time I need to go to sleep so that I get enough sleep.
5. Drinking green tea-I love green tea and it has so many health benefits. It gets your metabolism going and also counts towards drinking plenty. I always start my day with a cup of green tea and end it with decaffeinated green tea (so that I don't be kept up by caffeine). Some of my favourites are salted caramel and mango and pineapple. 
6. Taking Physique pictures-I have started taking physique pictures at the gym once a month so I can see my progress and it helps to motivate me. I do also weigh myself once a week to see how Im getting on with my weight loss and generally I lose about 1-2 pounds a week, but I don't get downhearted if I have a week where I haven't lost anything, it just motivates me to work harder the following week.
7. Not eating after 9pm- Every "health blogger" recommends not eating after 9pm as you want all your food to digest before you go to bed, so I have made this a rule in my routine, however I will drink water or green tea after 9pm as I never want to let my body get dehydrated.
8. Not Snacking-I am a snacker, I could pick at different bits of food all day in-between my main three meals, however I felt like this was hindering my weight loss and therefore I have cut this massively, I will have one snack in the morning at college and one if I am working, however the rest of the time I will not snack in-between meals, from doing this I have seen a huge difference in my weight loss.
   
   
   

My Five Favourite Books

Me Before You-This is a beautiful story about a girl who goes to care for a man who is disabled, she makes him come out of his shell and start enjoying his days again. She then finds out he is planning on committing suicide, so she takes it upon herself to try and do everything to make him change his mind, as she has fallen deeply in love with him. In the end he doesn't change his mind, so she leaves her job, but in a turn of events go to be with him as he dies. The way this story is told makes you fall in love with every character and leaves you distraught. 

Charlotte Crosby Me, Me, Me-Charlotte Crosby is my women crush, so of course her book is one of my favourites.She discusses many parts of her life like Geordie shore, her love life and embarrassing and funny moments. When I read it I can imagine her saying it.

The Hunger Games-I love the Hunger Games, the books and the film, however I read the books first and they are what made me fall in love with the hunger games. I was fully gripped the reading all three books and read them in two weeks, I loved them that much.

A Year Of Being Single- This book is about three friends who all break up from their partners and decide to make a pact to stay single for a whole year, to discover what they really want. One by one they all break their pact and in the end get what they truly want without even knowing it.

Miranda Hart Is It Just Me?-Miranda Hart is hilarious and therefore her book did not disappoint. She discusses many parts of life and her thoughts about them. She also discusses the show and how many ideas for that came about.

Whats in my bag?

Bag- This bag is from River Island and I got it for christmas and its gorgeous. Its a pink/ blush colour with gold and white accents. It has three compartments with the middle compartment being one you can zip up!

Purse- I also got my purse from River Island and I feel like it matches my bag so well! It has a back clasp compartment where I keep any notes and change. The front section is where I keep my cards and receipts!

Sunglasses-These sunglasses are from New look last year and were only about £6,because I don't trust myself with expensive sunglasses. They are a dupe for ray bans and I love them! I also get my sunglasses from primark as they always have a good selection.

Umbrella-I got my Ted Baker umbrella free with a Ted Baker bag that my sister bought me a couple of years ago, its a floral print in a mixture of pretty pastel colours. Living in England carrying an umbrella all year round is essential as you never know when its going to rain.

Makeup Bag-I recently got this Ted Baker mini makeup bag and I think it is so pretty. Inside it I keep a lip balm, a roll on perfume, tissues and a roll on deodorant. 

Hand Cream-I forever have dry hands so hand cream is an absolute essential for me.

Spray-Having a roll on perfume and deodorant is not enough for me I also like to have spray because Im so conscious about smelling nice. This one is 'a thousand wishes' from bath and body works and smells incredible. 

Gum-Of course I don't want to have horrible breath and also I really love how fresh gum makes your mouth feel.

Biscuits-This is not usually an essential for my bag however I got these free from when I have stayed in hotels recently and haven't taken out, however its always nice to have a little snack in case I get hungry, I should probably saw it for something healthy.

Gloves-Like I said I live in England, it is always cold and I hate being cold so keeping gloves in my bag is a must.

Selfie stick- Don't ask me why i have a selfie stick in my bag because I have no idea, but you never know when your gunna need one.

Random Things- I feel like over time everyone eventually gets random things that end up in the bottom of their bag, if you are someone that keeps their bag so tidy this never happens I applaud you! Some of the things that I have in the bottom of my bag are nail polish, receipts, train tickets, hair bobbles, paracetamol and pens!

Mint Chocolate Cake

Last month for my mums birthday I made a Chocolate Mint Cake and it was the tastiest thing Ive ever made. I made a three layered marble cake with chocolate mint buttercream and mint chocolate decorations. I thought I would blog the recipe so you can make it yourself, I promise you its worth the time to make it.

Ingredients
Cake:                       Buttercream:
350g unsalted butter        150g unsalted butter
350g Caster Sugar           250g Icing sugar
5 eggs                      50g Cocoa Powder    
Vanilla Extract             Mint extract to taste
Cocoa Powder to taste
350g Flour

Decoration:
Milk chocolate
White chocolate
Aero bubbles
After Eights
Wispa bites
Green food colouring
Gold glitter

1. I preheat the oven to 180c and greased and lined three round cake pans.
2. I then creamed the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. I then slowly added the eggs and flour. I then divided the batter into two separate bowls.
4. To one of the mixtures I added the vanilla extract. To the other I added the cocoa powder to taste.
5. In each of the cake tins I put an equal amount of each mixture and swirled it together.
6. I then put them in the oven for 15-20 mins, until golden brown and springy to touch.I then let it cool.
7. I then made my chocolate shards by melting white chocolate and milk chocolate separately. I then spread the milk chocolate onto baking parchment, I died the white chocolate a mint green and swirled that into the milk chocolate, I then left it to set in the fridge.
8. I then made my icing by creaming the icing sugar and butter together, then adding the cocoa powder. I then added the mint extract a little bit at a time until I got the flavour I wanted. I would say if you want a strong mint flavour your buttercream needs to taste very minty as when it is mixed with the cake, the mint flavour is not as strong.
9. Once the cake was cool I put my first layer on a cake board and spread it with a generous layer of icing, I then repeated for the next two layers.
10. I then covered the whole cake with the remainder of the icing, doing a crumb coat and chill first.
11. I then decorated whilst the icing was still wet. I broke my chocolate slab into shards and put some on the cake along with the wispa bites, aero bubbles and after eights.
12. I finished by sprinkling the whole cake with gold glitter.I then put it into the fridge to set.

February Favourites

I have discovered so many new things in the last month that I love and I thought I would share these with you!

Camp Rock 2
I only just recently watched this for the first time but absolutely loved it! I think the songs have gotten so much better from the first one, the story line is so good ( I won't spoil it for you if you've never seen it) and Shane(Joe Jonas) is so good looking! I even now have the soundtrack in my car and on my phone I loved it that much, I would definitely recommend! 

Belvita Chocolate Chip Soft Bakes
Before I gave up chocolate for lent I was absolutely obsessed with these, they are incredible! They are soft grain breakfast biscuits in lots of different flavours like plain and berry, but chocolate is of course my favourite! They are so delicious and I can't wait to have some once lent is over, I'm definitely missing these the most.

Friends With Better Lives
This is a series on Netflix about six friends who all have very different lives, two are married with a child, two are engaged and the other two are single and it is simply about their lives and showing how different they all live. It is very funny and entertaining, the only downside is there is only one season, but so worth the watch.

Very Good Girls
This is a film you can find on Netflix about two best friends that fall for the same guy. Its an underrated film in my eyes as I loved it, I enjoyed it that much I watched it twice in two nights! 

Nandos Garlic Sauce
I love nandos so i love being able to make my own nandos at home and I have been loving putting this Nandos garlic sauce on top of chicken and melted cheese with sweet potatoes and corn on the cob! Its so yummy, give it a go!

Liz Earle Cleanse And Polish
This is a brand new product that I have only been using for the last couple of weeks however it has been working a treat! It takes your makeup off so quickly and easily, it also has a really nice smell. I bought it off John Lewis and it was only £15 and comes with a decent sized tube and two cloths.

Checkered Vans

I love my trainer collection and my checkered vans are for sure my favourite. I get so much wear out of them and love wearing with them with simple outfits as they really add an edge to an outfit. I definitely want to find more vans with patterns on to build up my collection!

Would You Rather..

This week I thought I would answer some would you rather questions in a bid for you to get to know me better, so here goes..

Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early? 10 minutes late for sure, I had waiting around and I'm usually always late anyways

Would you rather lose all of your money and valuables or all of the pictures you have ever taken?Money, I'm such a sentimental person so losing my pictures would be devastating

Would you rather be famous when you are alive and forgotten when you die or unknown when you are alive but famous after you die? Famous when I am alive as thats what would benefit me the most, especially as I want to be an actress

Would you rather your shirts be always two sizes too big or one size too small? Too big as you can for sure make that work out well for you

Would you rather the general public think you are a horrible person but your family be very proud of you or your family think you are a horrible person but the general public be very proud of you? My family be proud of me as I take pride in what my family think of me but have learnt to not care what others think of me

Would you rather have an easy job working for someone else or work for yourself but work incredibly hard? Work incredibly hard for myself, does that even need an explanation?

Would you rather be the first person to explore a planet or be the inventor of a drug that cures a deadly disease? Cure a deadly disease, i have no use to explore a planet but curing a disease would be the most heart warming achievement 

Would you rather have a horrible short term memory or a horrible long term memory? Definitely a horrible short term memory, I have a good memory now and I love thinking back on memories from the past

Would you rather be completely invisible for one day or be able to fly for one day? This is a hard question as I obviously want to do both, however i think flying for a day would be amazing as you could fly around the whole world and see everything in one day!

Would you rather be locked in a room that is constantly dark for a week or a room that is constantly bright for a week? Dark for sure, then I could just sleep for the whole week

Would you rather have a horrible job, but be able to retire comfortably in 10 years or have your dream job, but have to work until the day you die? Have my dream job because if I'm living the dream why would I want to give it up?