Christmas: For your Mum who always seems to have the right advice and makes the tastiest mince pies

- luxury PJs for cold winter nights and new sheepskin slippers to go with them

- a gorgeous log stand to go next to the new log fire she's always wanted

- high quality brushes for her chalk paint obsession

- a sweet calendar for her desk

- a statement necklace to wear on Christmas day

- new Yoga wear for her weekly session

Christmas: For your sister who has the same daft sense of humour and taste in festive films

- A gorgeous cake stand and bell jar for displaying her cupcakes {for as long as they last}
- Flowers delivered in the post to cheer her up
- Glitter hair ties so when she's at work she still feels nice
- Simple gold jewellery for when she wants to mix it up
- Leather gloves because we live in Scotland
- an initial catch all tray and pretty earrings to drop in it
- a blarf {blanket scarf} because who doesn't need a giant blanket that you can wear outside
- art for her house

Eat: Peal Barley and Chorizo Risotto

This is an easy, delicious and fairly budget friendly midweek supper. Delicious enough to serve up to friends and comforting enough to curl up with on the sofa in front of your favourite box set. The recipe uses pearl barley instead of your usual risotto rice and it gives the risotto a little bit more bite and a nuttier flavour too. Even better, at less than 60p a bag {from Morrisons at least!} it brings the cost of making a midweek risotto right down into my budget suppers corner. If that wasn't enough to make you give it a try, Pearl Barley is full of the good stuff. It contains plenty of fibre, potassium and other vitamins and it's low GI keeping you fuller for longer.  Give it a try and you won't miss your usual risotto rice, I promise! Winner winner {risotto} dinner.

Stockbridge Market

This weekend has been back to back glorious Autumn days that have reminded me why Autumn is maybe my favourite season. Enough chill in the air to pull on thick jumper but crisp and dry so need to brace yourself for the weather! The clear blue skies were just too tempting and it seemed the perfect day to visit the lovely Stockbridge market on the other side of town. 

This little farmer's market is lovely and on down in Stockbridge every week. It's a bustling mix of hot food stands, vintage nicknacks, coffees, cheeses, butchers...you get the idea! It's one of my favourite ways to spend an hour or so on a Sunday.

This week they were participating in the Edinburgh Restaurant Festival too which meant we had plenty of options to choose from for lunch! 3 courses for £8 was just too tempting and we tucked in with gusto!

Eat: Pesto baked cod

This post might be a little bit like teaching your granny to suck eggs. This recipe is that simple. That said, it is delicious and worth sharing. You're going to need:

sweet potato

kale

tomatoes on the vine

cod

pesto

Upholstery class

Also known as making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Earlier this year I went through a bit of a rough patch. Things weren't quite as I had imagined they would be, to say the least. One of the wisest snippets of advice I got was to focus on making myself happy and to do something I had always wanted to do but never found the time for. The indulgence of doing something solely for me, putting aside concerns that I should work later or worrying about someone else, was pretty novel. I think it's an easy trap to fall into thinking that doing things for yourself can just wait while you finish off a myriad of other jobs.

Eat: Chilli non Carne

This is a lovely and horribly easy recipe that fills the mid-September evening trifecta: comfort food {without the expanding waistline}, purse friendly {still 10 days from payday? Use whatever is in the fridge!} and utterly scrummy.

Autumn update

autumn update by bridget-s featuring a topshop top

The leaves are falling off trees, there is a distinct chill in the air and today, a rather ominous amount of mist. And I have to say...I love it. I love when Autumn rolls around. As much as I love sunshine and long days outdoors, there's something about the {romantic] notion of Autumn in my head. Cooler days, crunchy leaves and ever darkening nights. Cozying up by the fire, drinking red wine and layering up. Chunky knits, tights and boots. I'm much more at home dressing for Autumn and definitely have my eye on these items come payday. That coat and bag in particular are calling my name...

Love B x

Life lessons as learnt through spiralizing

I'm back. It's been a while. Let's not talk about it?

Now, life lessons. Stick with me on this one...

The kitchen

The kitchen by bridget-s on Polyvore

So there were plenty of stored Kitchen pictures to choose from. Clearly I like open shelves, light colours, white subway tiles and natural wood but I also love the personality that comes from little colourful details - like the vintage sign, the patterned tray and the fresh herbs. I like that these kitchens all felt clean and airy without being sterile. I spend a lot of time in our kitchen so I want it to be a place I enjoy and all of the pictures I had pinned all seemed home-y without being twee.

B

Bathroom

Bathroom

We've lived in our flat for the past 3 - nearly 4 years - and we're itching to buy our own place. We've been lucky in that our landlord has been supportive of us redecorating our flat but it's still not quite the same. For me, this means I'm spending hours pouring over properties {that we aren't in a position to buy yet}. Slightly less tortuous, and probably more productive, is the time spent on pinterest working out what I would and wouldn't like in our home. I thought I'd share some of the clear ideas that have come through for different rooms.

With bathrooms, it's all about the roll top bath {I would kill for a proper working bath right now!}. Greys and whites give a calm, spa-like feel, whilst pops of colour from the green would still make a big impact. Wire baskets for storage and some feminine touches in the vintage mirror and the gold accents would finish it off perfectly. Hopefully the wire accents and the masculine colours from the floor and walls would stop it from being overly feminine!

What do you think?

x

Moments that mattered...

It has been a LONG time since I last wrote. Since way back in July, there have been plenty moments where I considered starting again having genuinely missed writing. There were also plenty or moments where I dismissed it - too much to do, not enough to write about, a total writer's block on where to start. I wasn't sure I had enough to add to the conversation or anything to say that anyone would want to read but, as always happens with a new year, I've thought about the things I do {or don't do enough of} that make me happy and this little corner of the internet - full of waffle - is one of them.

Reading one of my favourite blogs, this little competition seemed the ideal time to start again. So here it is, without further ado - some of the moments that mattered in 2013. Sit back, it's a big one and there are a LOT of photos.

Wise old owl...

Check out this sweet little nightlight that is currently standing guard over my bedside table. He's an adorable little ceramic character and a 'stand in' graduation gift from my Mum as the beautiful lamp my parents bought me hasn't arrived yet. I think he would make for a lovely gift - certainly he holds his own {in my mind} when compared with the rather more expensive ceramic night lights you can buy at the moment.

The best bit? He's 99p from B&M homes. I think I might have to run out to my nearest one and stock up on him for gifts....

Love B x

Eat: Strawberry Pavlova

I'm pretty convinced I could live off strawberries through the summer months. All of a sudden, they're available in abundance so we've been devouring them at an absurd rate {a box a day...no jokes}. I'm normally perfectly happy to just work my way through a punnet as is - no need for cream, chocolate or any other additions - but a casual Sunday lunch with friends seemed like an opportunity to jazz them up a bit.

Birthday cake

I just had to share this beaut of a birthday cake that my sister made for my little cousins. What child wouldn't love a huge chocolate cake, covered in smarties and kitkats? Heck, what adult wouldn't? The bunting was put together in my kitchen over a cup of tea and a natter with Mum just using things I had lying around the house.

Super simple really, but so effective!

Love B x

Eat: Banana Pancakes

With both a holiday and my graduation coming up, my mind is rather vainly on my waistline. If the thoughts of graduation photos weren't acting to spur on me along on the diet front, the idea of slipping into a bikini sure is.

The Aries in me wants to follow in the TOWIE cast's footsteps and declare 'no carbs before Marbs' but what that really means is 'no carbs until Friday night when I convince myself that weekend calories don't count'. Oh well! Instead, I'm trying to make healthier choices as much of the time as possible - the house is packed up with fruit and veg, there are tins of soup in the cupboard and more lean protein in the fridge than you can shake a stick at yet there is one bone of contention. Snacks. S is a mean snacker - whether it's hummus and toast or biscuits - and whilst he seems to never gain a pound, I can't say I've been so lucky. Yet snacking - and particularly, pudding - continues to call my name, especially when we're curled up on the sofa together and S is snacking away.

At this point, you are possibly wondering what on earth a pre-holiday/graduation 'diet' has to do with a giant stack of pancakes. Prepare to be pleased my friends.

Banana pancakes - one of my favourites. Yet these consist of only 2 ingredients - eggs and bananas. There's no flour, no added sugar, nothing. I had googled them earlier today, certain that I had read something about diet-friendly pancakes and this is the website that came up. Count.me.in. I mashed up 2 bananas, beat together 3 eggs and gave the two a good whisk and voila. Now, they maybe could've done with a dash of cinnamon {which I didn't have in the house} but when plated up with strawberries and the tiniest drizzle of honey they are divine. Save to say, I devoured this 'example' pancake seconds after I took the photo.

I think S may have a fight on his hands to prise any away from my diet driven hands.

Love B x

Summer days

Ooo, it's been a little bit of a break from blogging - happened a lot this year! Guess that's what happens when you're busy busy! Anyway, looking forwards, we have finally booked our summer holiday and I could not be more excited to get away for a week in the sunshine. These are a few bits and pieces on my wishlist as my summer wardrobe is pretty non-existant {I never feel it's justifiable given the 5 days of sunshine we get in Scotland...}. We'll only have hand luggage so I'll be trying to keep everything interchangeable and well matched to make dressing up or down nice and simple! That said, there is always room for a killer red dress. Plus, how cute are these pjs? No harm in trying to look nice when we sit out on the balcony for breakfast in the morning! The bikini too - probably slightly out of my budget but you can't go wrong with a simple black bikini.

Oh I am so ridiculously excited!

B

x

H&M home...

Well played H&M Home. There are at least half a dozen goodies on the website that I would very much like to get my hands on. Those fish plates, in particular, are fab. I love the shower curtain too but is that a step too far when you already own two budgies {literally}. I don't want to step over into crazy bird lady territory. Given that it is all reasonably priced, much akin to their clothing range, I could certainly see me picking up a few bits and pieces. Polka dot grey table cloth anyone?

The jar, I have to point out, isn't from H&M. Instead it's from Matalan's really quite good home range. I could help but notice its distinct similarity to the Anthropologie numbers. That said, I think it's bigger and it is certainly cheaper. Granted, the chalkboard isn't quite as fancily shaped but it is much of a muchness. Think a little visit to Matalan might be in my near future...Same goes for paying for that basket of H&M home goodies that I've got up.

B

Make: Procrastination Organisation

Right now I'd like to be doing anything other than the mountain of reading that is lurking far too close for comfort. I've tidied and washed and put off for pretty much as long so I'm really just eeking it out now - I'm really have to start. So I did some crafty stuff instead. And then blogged about it.

Make: Gifting...

I think this will become a pretty staple gift in our home so apologies in advance to any of you who read this and then receive one yourself!

It was a friend's birthday the other day and not wanting to go round empty handed I popped into Anthropologie in town. I could spend a small fortune in that shop but I exercised restraint {ahem} and came away with just one of their monogrammed mugs {well and some other bits and pieces but they're all gifts too. Honest!}