Food for thought

Marinated salmon with sweet potato mash                                        stuffed pumpkin

Thought I would share my latest culinary creations as I have to say they both tasted uh-mazing. Firstly, the salmon, a recipe I stole off my mum and adapted slightly to suit my student food cupboard;

You will need

• Salmon fillet
• 1/2 onion
• 1 inch ginger (grated or finely chopped)
• roughly a tablespoon soy sauce or fish sauce 
• 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice (this was my substitute for lemon grass!)
• tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce (I used this instead of actual chilli as I don't like things too hot)
• 1 clove of garlic (grated or finely chopped)
• a bit of butter 
• tinfoil

So, once you have gathered everything it is pretty simple, it basically all goes into a tinfoil parcel and popped into the oven at 170 for 20 minutes. For the mash I used 2 sweet potatoes, a bit of milk and butter and also ripped up a big pinch of chives into it. The salad was just from a packet, and, boom! a tasty and pretty healthy meal.

Next we have a yummy stuffed pumpkin, we followed this recipe, but pretty much ended up adding everything in our fridge! We were really pleased with how it came out as it was pretty much just experimentation.  

Meg x

Apocolips; Galaxy

So, I gave in to the hype, and I am so glad I did! As I approached the Rimmel stand in Boots, Christmas giftcard in hand, I saw that a lot of shades had already been completely snapped up, including a few I had my eyes on. However this meant that with my options narrowed I reached for Galaxy, a purple-y shade that I would not have otherwise picked. 

The first thing that impressed me was the packaging, the clear part at the bottom of the container means you actually get a true to life visual of what the product looks like, rather than faffing around with dirty testers etc etc. Then came the application, the doe foot applicator holds the product nicely, and one sweep over your lips leaves a super pigmented not-too-glossy lip colour behind. They feel incredibly light on your lips, almost balm-like. I am very pleased with how Galaxy looks on me but I will certainly be making another trip to pick up the colours I missed out on, and probably all the rest too!

Meg x

what I am loving...

Girl's night out task lists! A house mate recently turned 21, now we are all back we decided to have a night out to celebrate. As well as booze, music and cheesy dance moves the night is also going to consist of some pretty embarrassing challenges for everyone! We have put these fun little tasks on some textured paper made from elephant dung (oooh-er, a gift from Africa) backed them with cardboard and threaded them with some brightly coloured string. These will be hung around our necks on the night so we can tick them off as we go! Here are some examples;

• Get as many animal noises in a conversation with the opposite sex
• Drink a row of 4 shots
• Collect as many (unopened!) condoms as you can
• approach a person carrying 2 drinks on the way back from the bar, take a drink and say "thanks!" as you walk off
• collect a male's items of clothing

That is just a little selection!  Our night is definitely not going to be boring! Have you got any tips for a fun night out?

Meg x

A diary of Deafness

So, this week, subtitles. The first thing I would like to say is turning the sound up does not get rid of the need for them, though it is helpful, certainly if subtitles aren't available. I need subtitles not necessarily because I cant hear what's being said but more I cant decipher it, maybe because it just isn't very clear, or the character has an accent or a beard which makes it difficult to lip read.  Having watched the same film with and without subtitles it does surprise me how much I don't get when I don't use them. With that being said I had quite an annoying experience in relation to this not too long ago;

 The last twilight film came out and me and my friends went to go see it at the cinema, sans subtitles. It was all good and I liked the film but I knew that I had missed lots of things that were being said, and not just because I was swooning at Robert Pattinson either. So a different group of us then went to a subtitled show. We got our tickets and popcorn and settled down. Then, the film starts, without subtitles. We were a bit confused but thought maybe they would just catch up, they didn't. I went to go find a worker thinking maybe there was some problem. He initially didn't actually know the film was meant to be subtitled, it was only after we showed a screen shot of the website (we took it to remember our film time) and spoken to someone else did he apologise for the mistake and offer us a refund. I was grateful for the refund for my friends ( I didn't actually pay for my ticket in the first place, perks of being deaf!) and apology but it did annoy me that I wasn't informed when I bought my ticket, even if they didn't have any knowledge of it being advertised as a subtitled showing (which they should have) when we were asked to choose our seats we started discussing about being able to see the subtitles. I am now waiting to get it on DVD so I can watch it subtitled from the comfort of my sofa. I'm sure this was a genuine misunderstanding and I don't hold any grudges about it but I do think that some people aren't aware of how much help subtitles actually are to a Deaf person. 

Sorry for the moany post guys! 

Meg x

Revlon's red lip

In boots the other day I noticed that Revlon's balm stains were only £5, yes A FIVER! so ofc I picked one up, a new addition to my red lip collection which you can see here, I have also already reviewed these offerings from Revlon and compared them too clinique's chubby sticks here, so rather than boring you with details I will just leave you with swatches, enjoy!

Meg x

Salt spray and Leather

Unfortunately only the top part of my outfit I can actually account for, the jeans and shoes I honestly can't remember where they came from. I have a feeling the plimmie's are from Primark and the jeans possibly New look or Primark too! I nabbed this jacket quite a while ago in the glamorous sales, the leather sleeves give it a rock-girl edge and it also gives you a lovely shape when belted. Underneath I wore a t-shirt also from the sales but this time from warehouse, it is a lightweight feel with a relaxed shape and pocket on the breast. It is black and flecked with gold with gives it a little va-va-voom. 

For the first time ever today I had the problem of my hair being too clean-feeling and flyaway. So I reached for this forgotten about salt spray by Umberto Giannini, sprayed it sparingly through my dry hair (though it is meant to be used on wet) and scrunched it as it dried. It didn't leave my hair dry or stiff, which I was worried about, but just gave it some much needed texture, will definitely be using it again!

Jacket: glamorousuk Top: warehouse 

Kate Moss matte lipstick; 101 soft pink

After hearing everyone and their dog raving about Kate Moss's contribution to Rimmel's matte lipstick collection I decided to give it a go. I picked up shade 101- soft pink whilst browsing in Boots. The last matte offering I tried from Rimmel was Red Fever, which you can see in this post. Although I like the lipstick I didn't love the matte texture as I found it extremely drying. However, this lipstick was not like that at all! It had a lovely creamy formula and was extremely easy to apply straight from the bullet. This is my first foray into light shades of lipsticks and I am very impressed. I do not have any eye make up on in this photo yet rather than feeling naked, like I normally do without mascara-laden lashes, I felt like my lips were enough. Yet I could also see this being the perfect colour to pair with a smokey eye as it is not too in your face. I am definitely going to have to go back and look at purchasing some other shades!

Once again I also have a make-up related comp to share with you, who doesn't love benefit right?! enter here

Meg x

What I am loving...

My Gossip Girl DVD box set! I don't really own many DVDs at all, let alone box sets. I prefer to just nip down to blockbusters and rent it if there is a film I feel like watching. However, for Christmas I got the full Gossip Girl set and I am just addicted. I have always loved gossip girl, I know it's bit too dramatic and american for some people's taste but when I was younger I just couldn't get enough. I was rubbish at keeping up to date with it though, I would miss programmes then forget what has happened before etc etc. Now I just snuggle in my pjs with some Ben and Jerry's in hand and waste a night watching months worth of programmes. It also helps that not only are the whole cast gorgeous (Chace Crawford, swoon!) but they all have impeccably stocked wardrobes for me to drool over (though some outfits are rather questionable). 

So that's what I have been loving this week and I am now going to leave you with the gorgeous guys and gals of the show, should be something for everyone!

A day out with mummy

So the other day I donned on some of my new clothes for, yes you guessed it, a day out with mummy (though my step dad did come along later). We saw Les Miserables at the cinema (UH-mazing) then had a lovely dinner at Bella Italia.

Jumper: River island Dress (worn as skirt/collar): Dahlia Boots: Barrats bag: charity shop

(sorry for the quality, taken on my phone as camera was broken!) Firstly, excuse the face, mum was making me laugh so it turned out quite unattractive looking. Secondly, I love all my clothes in this picture. I'll start with the jumper, This was a present from my mum and I think it was some limited edition range in River island, because I cannot find it anywhere now. Anyway it is super snuggly, I find the print adorable and I just love the colours. I think the girlie-ness of it clashes perfectly with my Dahlia dress, This was a bargain at £20 in the sale and sold out ridiculously fast. It is a leather-look material with laser cut detailing on the hem and a gold sparkly collar. I could definitely see myself rocking it on a night out but after trying this outfit I also want to find many more jumpers to pair it with during the day, I just love how the collar peaks out, would instantly change any plain jumper into something more glamorous. My boots are heeled chelsea boots from Barrats and they are my 'everyday heel' shoes as although they  rubbed a bit at the beginning they are now so comfy. If I want to just smarted up a casual outfit, these will be my shoes of choice, 'spesh in winter as my footsies are nice and covered. My bag is just an old charity shop find, nothing special there!

While we are on the subject of fashion I should mention that Lashes of London are giving you a chance to win £200 to spend on their amazing clothes! enter here 

Meg x

A diary of Deafness

So my first post in this feature, I thought a good way to start would be to explain why I am deaf. A lot of people ask me if I was born deaf and I never really know what to say, 'cause I wasn't, yet I have been deaf my whole life. Basically I was born very premature,  at 25 1/2 weeks old to be exact, here is me in all my tiny glory;

So yeah, there was lots of stuff wrong with me but my ears weren't actually one of them. However, all the stuff that the (amazing) doctors did to keep me alive affected my ears and made me go deaf. It also left me with a scar on my leg from a feeding tube gone wrong but that's another story! 

I did get bullied whilst I was growing up but I wouldn't say it was any more than any other kid who unfortunately goes through the same. They would pick on my hearing aids and my lisp but I think a lot of it was just curiosity but also I suppose a 'fear of the unknown'  is the only way I can describe it, though it makes me sound a bit douchey, but I hope you get my drift. 

The unusual thing came when it was actually a teaching assistant that was bullying me. I don't mean obviously name calling etc but little things that would make me upset, and the t.a was very aware of my feelings. This went on for quite a while because in the words of my mum, I am loyal to a fault, so I didn't actually want to tell anyone about how she was making me feel. Though when you are a kid you are not very good at hiding things, I began to be 'ill' in the mornings in the hope I wouldn't have to go to school and would also ask how many days until the weekend. Never the less it got sorted, I got a new lovely t.a and I was a happy little kiddy again! :)

I am going to stop my rambling now, save it for next week! hope this little personal injection into my blog will be received well!

Meg x