An August Weekend

 As if it's September tomorrow! Where has the time gone? Where has August gone?!

August seems to have passed in a blustery, rainy blur and the last weekend did not disappoint- more clouds and gloom!

 As it was the last weekend of summer we headed down to the Cardiff Bay Beach - which is a man made beach that's set up every year in the summer holidays. There's also fair ground rides/ stalls and candy floss. 

We also stumbled upon all these amazing birds . The owl was called Liberty and was so stunning to look at- his eyes were massive. There were also a Raven, kookaburra and a Vulture.  I was rather tempted to hold one but Birds kinda freak me out a little bit. 

There was also a shark- because...... I really don't know why but I thought it was pretty cool.

Okay- I realise I'm probably pretty sad for getting so excited about dead leaves! But Autumn! 

            

So, as it was rainy I decided to do a little but of baking!I made these yummy chocolate cookies! They were giant and were very filling but they were extremely chocolaty and extremely tasty!

I also brought these super cute scales from Asda only £10.00 - I got rather fed up of failing with everything I tried to bake- guessing on measurements doesn't not = great British bake off so I think of this purchase as a necessity.....

The best thing about this weekend was that it was a bank holiday weekend! This resulted in having a few glasses of wine on a Sunday night- I know crazy ! So cheers to Autumn beginning... yay!

Reasons to look forward to Autumn

I don't know about anyone else, but I am done with Summer.  Well, when I say summer I mean the complete washout that has been August.  Oh British summertime, you never fail to disappoint. 

Autumn is my favourite month and I always look forward to it!

I always used to associate it with a fresh start or a change. September brought on a new year in school or a new university. Now, it doesn't quite mean that any more but there are still many reasons why Autumn is the best season. 

 Autumn is beautiful 

There's nothing better than walking home on an autumn evening.  The nights are drawing in, the trees have tuned a yellowy , brown colour and there's a chill in the air but the sun is still present.  Plus who doesn't love stepping on the crunchy leaves and hearing that glorious scrunchy sound, it's so satisfying. 

Halloween

A holiday dedicated to horror and candy, is a good day in my books!I love horror films and dressing up is so much fun.  I just love all the decorations and costumes and there are always some horror films on!

Autumn Fashion

I love pairing a skirt and jumper with some thick woolly tights and boots.I also can not resit buying a new scarf every year, especially the ones from zara. They're always massive and could easily be a blanket too. It's the time of year where I only wear tartan, boots and scarves. 

Nights In. 

Onesies, slippers and a good film in front of the fire, autumn nights are so comfy. Autumn also brings with it good tele.  X factor begins, the Apprentice and Strictly come Dancing. There's nothing better than settling down in your pyjamas and just putting your feet up.

Pumpkin everything.

Pumpkin flavoured food  and drink is the ultimate Autumn indulgence.  Pumpkin spiced Lattes are my favourite and I'll make sure I get my fair share before they disappear for another year.  Pumpkin Pie is also a new favourite of mine, anything with cinnamon in and I'm there!

Christmas is on it's way

I'm sorry to bring Christmas up in August, to some people, to even mention Christmas at this time of year is absurd. But to me, Autumn is the beginning of Christmas, as soon as Halloween is done, I am full on Christmas Crazy. In the Autumn months I am still pretty excited I just try to keep this to myself to avoid the tuts and the eye rolling!

I am so ready for Autumn, and all it has to offer, cosy nights, pumpkin inspired treats, fireworks and the countdown to Christmas!

What do you look forward to at this time of year ? 

A new purchase!

I was very excited to make my way into town yesterday to pick up a new camera.  I have been eyeing up this camera every time I've been going into John Lewis, so yesterday was finally the day I threw caution to the wind and brought it.  

The camera I chose was the Olympus Pen E-PL7 in White. It's a nice compact size but still has quite a substantial weight to it so that it doesn't feel like a toy. I have never had a 'proper' camera before and the reason I chose this one (other than the fact the design is so pretty ) is because I  have read it's easy enough to use for beginners (which is me) but it still has advanced options to explore.  

I will admit, I am a novice with cameras, and I have no skills or expertise, but after I have spent a fair bit on  this, I have decided I will take the time to learn how to use the camera to it's full potential. 

 I can not wait to be able to take the camera on holiday with me next year and take some stunning pictures of New York and Orlando. Hopefully in time, when I have leant how to use it properly you will be able to see a fair difference in the quality of my pictures. Give it time, but watch this space! 

10 Tips for Freshers

First off, congratulations to everyone who got their results and are about to begin a new adventure at University. Unfortunately those days are behind me , but I thought I would draw on my experience and give you some advice on how to survive freshers week!

1. Take a Doorstop!

This seems like a rather trivial tip, but taking a doorstop means that your door is open  which means it is way easier to meet new people.  It's a lot less daunting going to knock on your new neighbours door when it's open, and instantly makes you more approachable.  Trust me, everyone will be in the same boat and everyone will feel awkward about meeting their new flatmates but leaving your door open means people can approach you and you're not going to miss out on anything. 

2.Be open-minded

You will meet many,many different people in freshers week and some may even become life long friends. Be open to talking to new people and going to opportunities where you can meet people. There will be so much going on in Freshers week, go to as much as possible, freshers only happens once a year, so do as much as you can which is a great way of meeting new people.

3.Make you're flat homely

There will be times when you'll miss home, it's inevitable and no matter how people act on the outside , I guarantee on the inside at some point they would've felt a tad homesick too, it's natural. By decking out your tiny room with pictures/soft toys/ornaments that remind you of home it's just more uplifting to come home to when you haven't had the best day. 

4.Bond with your flatmates

I'd say definitely make an effort with your flatmates even if you find a group of friends outside your flat.  At the end of the day , you have to live with these people for a year and you don't want those awkward conversations or silences when you have to go and cook in the communal kitchen. There's nothing worse then waiting for someone to finish cooking so you can sneak in and cook at 11pm!Bonding with your flatmates just makes thing a whole lot easier. 

5. Be prepared for fire alarms !

Another inevitable aspect of communal living. In freshers there will always be that person who decides that after stumbling home at 4am , they will cook potato waffles and beans and then forget about it.  This results in the loudest and rudest awakening and then being forced to plod outside whilst in your pyjamas. Think of it as a bonding activity, this will happen at some point and you will see the majority of the block in their nightwear. 

6.You will become nocturnal

At Freshers there is something going on every night whether it's a traffic light party, school disco or just a meet up at the student union. You will be very tired in the day and getting up before 11am becomes very hard but as soon as everyone meets for the pre drinks, you'll be wide awake. I would definitely take tea or coffee and also paracetamol ready for the inevitable hangovers. 

7.Take Fancy dress outfits

As I said there will be a majority of different themed nights and it is super fun getting dressed up with everyone!I would recommend taking a school shirt and tie because I think every freshers has a school disco night. Whatever fancy dress you have lying around, take. You will find a reason to wear it at some point in your university life!

8. Don't ditch your inductions

After your first night out with your new flatmates, going out and finding the room your meant to be at on campus at 9am will feel like the last thing you want to do . But go!Again, this will be a prime time on meeting all your new course mates and you don't want to start your course by being behind on assignments. 

9.You will get freshers Flu

This will happen !I'm sorry but it will. Freshers Flu is a thing and after freshers is over, it will hit you. Be prepared,take cold remedies and have a chill night with your flatmates who will also have freshers flu. 

10.Contact your flatmates on-line before freshers.

If you have a way of finding out who you will be living with before moving day, do it. You'll feel so much better knowing who you'll be living with and you can also plan with them what parties or events to get tickets for.  This will put your mind at rest as you know you'll have someone to go with. 

Freshers is a great start to your university life, it's crazy,fun, knackering, sometimes messy and overwhelming at times. Just remember everyone is in the same boat and everyone will probably feel exactly the same as you.  Just remember to enjoy it! 

3 Ingredient truffles

These gooey, creamy chocolate truffles are super simple to make and all you need is 3 ingredients!

These are great for an indulgent treat or you can even make them as little gift for someone.

All you will need for this recipe is :

Chocolate of your choice (I went with 300g of Milk)

Double Cream (300ml)

Cocoa Powder

That's it!

All you need to do is take your cream pour it in a bowl and pop it in a microwave for 30 seconds. Then take your chocolate, break it up and add this to the cream, the heated cream will gradually melt the chocolate. 

Pop the cream back into the microwave for another 20 seconds if you need to melt the chocolate further. 

When your chocolate is fully melted into the cream, pop your bowl into the fridge for a good couple of hours or until the mixture is firm. 

When this has firmed it turns into a chocolate ganache witch is your truffle centre. 

Get your cocoa powder and just pour some out on a plate. 

Next get a spoon and scoop out a spoonful of your ganache. With your hand roll the ganache until it becomes a nice round shape.(this can get quite messy- if the mixture becomes too sticky just pop in back in the fridge for 5 mins).

 When you have rolled the ganche, roll it in the cocoa powder. I used normal chocolate powder and also some Whittards white chocolate powder to create a different colour truffle. Once you have dusted each truffle in cocoa powder pop them in the fridge again for about 30 mins just to firm up again.

And there you have it. Perfectly yummy and simple truffles. You can change this up as much as you want, use white chocolate  or dust your truffles in crushed biscuit or even go crazy and dip your truffles in another coat of chocolate to create a hard shell around the soft ganache. 

Hope you enjoy making these delicious little treats. 

Why we love shoes

Shoes, you can never have too many shoes! Whether you just see them as a necessity or whether you see them as a luxury. Shoes carry you through your day......literally. 

I recently watched a documentary about Christian Louboutin, and aside from the fact that his collection of shoes are utterly gorgeous he also talked about why he makes shoes and how he is so successful,

 
"it comes from a deep understanding of women, and of their feet, and of what gives them the greatest pleasure." - Christian Louboutin. 

So why we do we all love Shoes so much ? 

1.Shoes can transform an outfit

Shoes can make the dullest of outfits change to something more special, whether it's a splash of colour or a classic heel. They really do finish off an outfit, that's why us girls will forever be asking each other what shoe will you be wearing? 

2. Confidence.

A Great pair of shoes can really boost your self esteem and confidence and they can even change your posture and the way you walk.  Don't get me wrong there's nothing more comforting than putting on a warm pair of Uggs in the winter, but when you have a brand new pair of heels, which you save up for a special occasion, they make you feel good. Heels change the way you walk,  they can make you walk with your head held high.

3.Change your night 

If the films have taught us anything - Shoes can change our lives. Cinderella - one sparkling glass slipper bags her a castle and a prince. In the Wizard of Oz, - Dorothy's red shoes enable her to get home by clicking them three times. Okay, so maybe in reality, shoes can make or break your night by either proving to be the comfiest pair of heels you've ever worn or proving to be a huge mistake when you return home,holding your shoes as you have blisters all over your feet. But we still like to live by the wisdom that Cinderella taught us, go and buy those shoes, they could change your life!

4.You can collect them.

There will always be a new pair of shoes to buy, there will always be different styles and colours. We may (only occassionaly) buy the odd pair and never wear them but that's the beauty of shoes.  There are far too many beautiful pairs out there. How are we meant to decide ?

Yes, we realise that sometimes we don't wear the most practical pair of shoes and we'll then whinge about how blistered our feet are, but that's the pain we will go for to wear a good pair of shoes.
 Let me know your favourite pair of shoes in the comments below. 

Making a new house a home!

I recently moved out into a flat in Cardiff Bay and whilst I've moved out previously, to various student houses, during my time in university, this was my first 'proper' place I've moved to.  

It's difficult first moving out, in my mind I want the ideal flat instantly, with perfect décor and matching ornaments.  In reality getting that image in your head to become reality takes a lot of time, and you have to settle with the fact that when you move into a new place, getting it to look 'perfect' is a gradual process.

So I thought I would give you some tips that helped me make the flat homely, I'm still not completely happy with the decor, and ideally  I would like to take a very long trip around Ikea but like I said these things I'll just have to buy gradually.

Wall Stickers

These are such an effective way of brightening up a wall and making your space personal.  They are super easy to apply to the walls and leave minimal damage to the wall.  I got mine from a company called Vunk Wall Stickers.  They have so many different designs on the website.  I chose the Bird cage sticker which I previously mentioned on my Summer Wish List Post.  This is now on my kitchen wall and I love it, the colours are grey and blue which perfectly suit my décor in the kitchen and even match my fake flowers and little bird salt and pepper shakers on the table.  I also got this New York Sticker which is actually a quote from a Taylor Swift song, and since we are going to New York next year I though it would be  a perfect little addition to our living room.

Plants
Plants, fake or real add so much to a room.  They just seem to lift them by adding some life and colour.  I've already mentioned our little collection of cacti, in my previous post but we also have a fake shrub plant in one of these cream pots from Ikea.There's also nothing better than having a fresh bunch of flowers in the house. 

Picture Frames
Obviously it's a good idea to frame pictures of friends and families but lately I have also loved framing postcards.  These are some vintage style postcards I picked up in a market whilst in Rome and they're too nice not to be put on display.  You can also get some really nice postcards in paper chase which is where I got this elephant one. 

Have things that make you happy

Whether it's a memory from a holiday,a special picture or a musical instrument.  Have things around you which make you smile.  For me this is Disney.  I have alot of Disney inspired ornaments and that's simply because I love it.  When in Florida  I could really go crazy and buy every home ware product available, but I have to restrain myself.  I brought these vintage style plastic plates, with no idea how I was going to make a use of them, as they are probably aimed at children. However, I have made them into ornaments for my kitchen and I love it, they do really make me happy. I also have this elephant which I really love, It's from one of the rides in Magic Kingdom and whenever I look at it, it  reminds me of Disney world! I have also snuck my massive Simba into the living room, much to my boyfriends disapproval. 

Candles. 
Candles are so relaxing especially on a cold winter evening.  At the moment we buy loads of Yankee Candle Tarts and melt them on our Yankee candle burner.  Whenever we get bored of a flavour we can just switch them over, and the lovely thing about our burner is that it moulds the tart into a heart shape, so we currently have a bowl of heart shaped waxes.

As I said there is so much more that I want to do with the flat but for the moment I will settle with dreaming on Pinterest. You can follow me on Pinterest here:
 https://uk.pinterest.com/Amysergeant22/.
 Hope you like my homely tips, let me know some of yours in the comments :) 

What I'm loving at the moment!

I thought I'd do a short little post today about some of the things I'm obsessing over at the moment


Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub .Yes it's another lush product! But look how pretty it is! I got this in a little box set from my boyfriend Joe. I came home from work on a rainy miserable Monday and he surprised me with this and a box of macaroons!This is a sea salt scrub and the scent is really refreshing and light.  The glittery and shimmery look to it kinda reminds me of that magic gel in hunger games that heals.

Colouring book- Millie Marotta's Animal Kingdom- I just think this book is so gorgeous, I find it so relaxing to settle down with a film and colour in these beautiful designs.

Brandon Flowers-The Desired effect. I love Brandon Flowers, I think his voice is amazing! All the songs on here have a killers vibe to them and they're all really upbeat, my favourite song from the album in 'I can Change'

Galaxy Cookies and Cream- need I say more. I'm not sure if this is a special edition because I haven't seen it in many places but it's really yummy! It's a shame they only do them in the small sizes.

Impractical Jokers- Comedy Central. This TV programme is so addictive . It's basically 4 life long friends who have to play pranks on the general public, like stealing food from people's plates at a buffet or giving presentations to a group of students. It's a hidden camera show, and it's just so so funny. 

Cacti- We have built up quite a little collection now.The perfect little house plants, they don't need much attention and they last ages!

Hope you enjoyed my little post about some of my recent favourites.Let me know yours below :)