Nothing's perfect; I'm hoping I'll do

Outfit:p
White silky t-shirt: c/o Ellos
Blue and white floral trousers - Next
Navy suede block heels - Barratts
Gold coloured cuff: Random shop in Brick Lane
Pastel floral necklace: Random shop in Brick Lane
Statement floral gold coloured earrings: Topshop

Jumping on the patterned trouser bandwagon again. I've actually had these since March - £16 in the Next mid-season sale - but only just gotten around to wearing them. I debated on whether to wear them to work but decided they needed a few outings in my spare time. Anyone else hate wearing their favourite things to work first? I feel once I wear them to work I can't wear them in my everyday life. I paired it with my Ellos t-shirt - told you it would have multipe wears - for a night out on the town my my favourite girls.  I got far too greedy and ended up suffering big time all weekend. Seriously am I that old now that my hangovers last for two days?! It didn't put me off that much as i'm now raring for another night out as I don't seem to do it much anymore. The perks of being a grown up I suppose. Luckily it's the boyfriends birthday at the weekend so we all have another excuse to go to the pub.

Busy week ahead thanks to the boyfriends birthday. I've got three cakes to bake and i've got to do a manic rush to Oxford Street to buy lots of lovely presents. Going to see the Olympic torch on Saturday in my town which the geek in me is very excited about, followed by a trip to my friends school fate. I still struggle with the fact one of my close friends is a school teacher - I don't feel old enough! I love it when weeks are fully packed.

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Put some new shoes on, and suddenly everything is right

I managed to save up for my very own pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes! I shocked myself! I didn't go without and I just put away £30 a month until I had enough - I didn't even notice the money. I adore them and despite what my family say, they are well worth the money. Now I just need somewhere special to wear them - I don't think a night up the town will quite do them justice!

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Recipe: Jamaican Ginger Cake

This recipe is taken from the Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Cookbook. I have slightly adapted it as I already had the ingredients in the fridge!

Ingredients:
100 grams of unsalted butter cubed plus extra for greasing the loaf tin
100 grams of dark soft brown sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
150 ml of milk
1 large egg
150 grams of plain flour
Fresh root ginger - the recipe states to use 2 tsp of ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp of bicarbonate of Soda
75 grams of fruit cake mix - the recipe states to just use raisins but we had a packet of fruit cake mix hanging around!

 001. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius / Gas Mark 2 / 300 degrees fahrenheit. Grease the loaf tin generously. Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan and heat gently until it has fully melted. Don't forget to stir!

 002. Add the milk and pour the mixture into a jug. Leave to cool for a few minutes. Then add the egg.

 003. Shift the flour, ginger, cinnamon and Bicarbonate of Soda into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the wet ingredients and carefully mix together. Then add the raisins - mine looks a bit pathetic as I forgot to take a picture and had to add a few more in ha!

004. Pour the cake mixture into the tin and cook for around an hour. I only cooked for 50 minutes as I have a fan oven. Pesky things! A clever way to test to see if it's cooked is to place a skewer into it and if it comes out clean it's all good to go!

 005. Place the cake on the wire rack and leave to cool before tucking in!

Admittedly it looks a tad burnt on top. Thanks again fan oven. But it was so moist inside and got a thumbs up from my boyfriend who would eat ginger cake like it's going out of fashion. I'd totally make this again - although not for a little while yet as it's no weightwatchers friendly!

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