It's Twitter Time

Hello there!

I love summer clothes & pink lemonade in the afternoon.

I am hopefully back for good to the wonderful world of blogging. I've taken some time out to try and get away with my new job and deal with the boy being on night shift. I've had to do a lot of juggling but I'm real happy with my new job! I've also spent time partying, spending time with friends, going out for meals with my parents and starting a new skin regime, I will have the porcelain skin that the drunk woman insisted I had on Monday at work.

I've been thinking about life a lot lately, and what direction I want to go in. I have some plans I am wanting to put into motion as soon as I have this saving down to an art. I'm hoping 2011 will be the year of great Adventures. We'll see!

In the mean time, it's about time I got hooked up to the real world! So...

"So this is love, So this is what makes life divine." - Cinderella

I am so sorry to my dear followers, for my insane lack of entries over the past few weeks. My life is incredibly hectic at the moment and all I want to do is chill in the evening. I don't even have the power to concentrate! And I like to have all my blog entries to have a delicious meaning or point so I've just had to leave them until I have a spare hour or so. Today, luckily, I have some time.

I want to share some beautiful images I found on Copious Couture, the other week. I want to say firstly, I have no idea if these were real photo shoots or just edited, also I take no credit for them. They're just lovely and I really want to share them with you all.

As any dedicated follower of Seventy Seven Broadway will know, I'm a total sucker for Disney and Fairytales so these pictures really intrigued me. They're cleverly done and include some celebrities recreating scenes from Disney Movies. I wish I was rich and famous because this is something I would love to do.

Firstly, J Lo and Marc Antony as Aladdin & Jasmine.
Can you see Agrabar down the corner?

& Whoopi Goldburg as the Genie.

Jessica Biel as Pocahontas, I love that John Smith's boat is in the background.

Julia Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinochio & Abigal Breslin as Fira from Disney Faires.
Two of my fav actresses.

Gisele Bundchen as Wendy, Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan

& Tina Fey as Tinker Bell.

Julianne Moore as Ariel

I'd love to be in this one. I love Ariel.

Randomly, David Beckham is Prince Philip.
I do like that it does look like Sleeping Beauty's castle in the background.

Zac Efron as Prince Philip & Vanessa Hudgens as Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Beyonce as Alice, Lyle Lovett as March Hare

& Oliver Platt as Mad Hatter.

Rachel Weiz as Snow White, doesn't she look perfect?

Scarlett Johanson as Cinderella.
I love how the castle is identical to the one in Disney World.

The final two are my favourites. I think it's because I love the Disney Princesses more than nearly all the other characters. They also rank up there with my favourite movies. Also Scarlett and Rachel just look perfect in the costumes and settings.

So who is your favourite Disney character and which celebrity do you think would look good as them? And which of these lovely photos is your favourite?

Hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday evening, I'm off to Ask for tea with the boy, before he heads to bed as he's back to Nightshift tomorrow! Much love x

“I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.” - Tammy Faye Bakker

Check it out, it's my selling part of my blog to try and raise some money for our Florida trip in November. I'll be adding to it quite often so follow follow follow!

I hope everyone is having a nice Tuesday, I was really upset that the weather wasn't half as nice today when it was my day off! Much love x

Film Review #8 'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'

"In Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Oscar®-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she’s needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter of the hilarious and heartwarming fable that has enchanted children around the world.

In the latest installment, Nanny McPhee appears at the door of a harried young mother, Mrs. Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war. But once she’s arrived, Nanny McPhee discovers that Mrs. Green’s children are fighting a war of their own against two spoiled city cousins who have just moved in and refuse to leave.

Relying on everything from a flying motorcycle and a statue that comes to life to a tree-climbing piglet and a baby elephant who turns up in the oddest places, Nanny McPhee uses her magic to teach her mischievous charges five new lessons." - Plot taken from uk.hollywood.com

I am in the middle of writing this weeks Sunday Self Secrets but it's taking longer than I thought, so here instead is a review of Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang which I saw with my mum last Wednesday. The first one is my mum's favourite feel good movie. Whenever she feels alone (which is a lot now we're all grown up and my dad works away from home) she sits and watches it then texts me and my sister to say she's watched it. So of course when I heard there was to be a sequel I asked my mum to come and visit so we could go and see it together. For me it's been a long time since I watched the first one so I couldn't remember much about what Nanny McPhee does but I still enjoyed it.

I originally thought it was an all British cast much like what they tried to do with Harry Potter so I was surprised when Maggie Gyllenhaal walked onto the screen as Mrs Green, but I can say I was pleasantly surprised. You could tell she wasn't really British but she was fun, energetic and reminded me much of what my mother was like when I was growing up. She grated on me so much in The Dark Knight but she was great as Mrs Green, however she loses a point for being married to the beautiful Ewan Mcgregor. Emma Thomson was of course her usual excellent self as Nanny McPhee. She is so diverse and plays such excellent roles, I would definitely have to say she's one of my favourite British actresses. Rhys Ifans plays the bad guy, although he's more funny than bad, which is what he should be in a kids film. Ralph Fiennes makes a brief appearance playing a hard nut uncle. Now onto the kids, who are of course the whole hinge of Nanny McPhee films. I still can't decide if I liked them better than the kids in the original Nanny McPhee film. I did love Cyrill and Celia's back story and the youngest one Vincent was really sweet. Their acting was excellent. I always find it so surprising that every other child star in a film can act so much better than the kids in Harry Potter.

Overall the film was enjoyable, no doubt my mother will be adding it to her feel good films list when it's out on dvd and I'll end up watching it every time I'm home for Christmas. The only bad point for me was the fact I went to see it on an Orange Wednesday during a school holiday. It was an absolute nightmare with a kid talking right through it next to my mum (who said she loved that but I think it's due to her working in a preschool) and a kid behind me kicking my chair. Apart from that it was a light hearted, easy to watch childrens film. The story was easy to follow, the characters likeable but it was something a bit to young to fully enjoy. It was quite predictable, but then hey, what children's films aren't?

Best Moment: The end, both my mum and I got choaked up.
Best Line: 'Small C, Big P" - Nanny McPhee
Would Recommend For: Children, the young at heart
Rating: 5/10

“It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis” - Margaret Bonnano

The other day I received a surprise parcel in the post, that's always exciting, isn't it? I was happy to find it was a necklace from my best friend's store Jewellery Ever After. She's just started up her own shop making Disney inspired jewellery and this was my favourite necklace so far.

By now, anyone who has been with me from the beginning knows of my love for all things Alice in Wonderland inspired so this necklace is perfect. It's in brass which for me is excellent as I have no brass jewellery as of yet. Incase you can't see well it consists of an "Alice" charm with a tiny blue bow hanging from it. The chain itself measures aprox 20cms but as you can see from the picture it hangs perfectly below the collar bone.

There are more designs in her store and I know she' has more ideas in the works. I think these pieces are perfect if you can't afford Disney Couture but you want some fairytale esq anyway, they're only a fraction of the price! I know how much work she puts into her ideas and designs (I've helped when I've been visiting) and I can honestly say if I didn't even know here I'd probably be buying them anyway, since I can never afford Disney Couture unless it's a gift! She'll also be happy to customise an order to your liking.

You can buy Jewellery Ever After designs on Etsy & Folksy, so you can choose to pay in $$ or ££.

If anyone else would like me to promote their jewellery or any other creations, please feel free to send me an email. In the mean time please check out Jewellery Ever After and tell me what your favourite piece is!

Dish #5 Greek

Finally a day off and I feel I have so much to blog about! I've decided to do another recipe for my project tonight, we're up to dish five my Around the World in 80 Dishes project and I have another three to write about. Hope everyone is enjoying them so far. The other night the boy and I took a little trip to Greece to reminise about our first holiday together to Rhodes. Whenever we went to Rhodes town we lived on Pita Gyros as they were only 1E a pop, bargin when you're on a budget it (and trust me we were on a very very tight budget, about 30E to spend per day!). They worked out perfectly apart from the fact I accidently burnt the pitas, I know better for next time.

The gyro is derived from the Turkish kebab and it's traditionally served in pita bread with meat, chips, tomato, onion and tzatziki. The meat is of course the same as that of a donar kebab but when making it at home I just chopped small slices of meat and marinated them in a similar sauce. Usually it's pork or lamb but I used chicken since that is what we had in Greece. I have altered the recipe to make something quick and easy that I can prepare in advance and quickly pull together after work. Enjoy (we sure did!)

Dish number 5, Pita Gyros with chicken.


These would of looked so much more appetizing if I had made it so the pitas were still soft and didn't break when I stuffed them. Ideally I wish I'd used larger pitas but the boy and I usually tend not to spend excess on bread stuffs. Anyway, ingredients.

This is actually only half the ingredients as a large bulk of the ingredients needed are all herbs and spices which I will list later. The other ingredients that are pictured here are potatoes for the chips. You can of course use frozen if you're really in a rush. Pita breads, like I mentioned before I really wish I had bought larger ones and I plan to do so next time. One onion, one lemon, some black pepper and some greek yoghurt. The last three items are for the tzatzki like dressing but again for quickness you could use actual tzatzki or if you really want to you could just use mayo it tastes just as good. Not pictured is the fact I used chicken. I don't remember why I didn't photo the chicken but I know I used 3 chicken breasts to make the amount for two people. You can go more authentic and use lamb or pork cut into strips I really don't think it makes a difference to the recipe because of the marinate I used. You could even use beef if you wanted.

As I mentioned before even though there isn't many main ingredients to make gyros but to make the marinate you need a few more. I was lucky and had all of these in the cupboard so I didn't have to go out and buy anything. Herbs and Spices tend to be quite cheap and last for a while. Aldi and Lidl usually have them for about 49p a pot for some of the more common ones like basil, paprika ect and they also sell grinder ones for about 99p, that's where I got my garlic from. For the base of the marinate I used extra virgin olive oil. The herbs I used were mixed and extra rosemary. The spices I used were cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper, chilli powder & paprika. I also added some salt, pepper and dry garlic. So let's get cooking!

Firstly, pour a generous amount of oil into a bowl and stir in the herbs and spices mentioned in the ingredients. Give it a good stir until everything is mixed together.

Add the chicken and cover in the marinate. Then put in the fridge for a few hours to ensure the marinate has soaked through the chicken giving it good flavouring throughout.

Next peel the potatoes and chop into chip shape. Put them into a pan with water and bring to the boil. Cook them until they've started to go soft. Then drain them.

Take the marinated chicken out the fridge and place on a tin foil covered tray. Put the chips onto another tin foil covered tray and place them both in the oven.

Chop some onions into thin strips. Then add some oil to a frying pan and add the onions. Fry on a low heat until they're soft and translucent.

Remove the chicken from the over just before it's done and add to the frying pan. Mix around until the spices cover both the onion and the chicken.

Leave the chicken and onion on very low heat and start preparing the dressing. Mix a few spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt with some lemon juice and black pepper.

Heat the pita breads. I used our George because the chips were still in the oven on high heat and we don't have a toaster.

Finally assemble the gyro. I spread the dressing onto the pitta then added a spoonful of the chicken and onions and topped with chips. Then serve.

If you'd like to offer a country for me to create a recipe from or even a recipe you think I should try, please feel free on my project page for Around the World in 80 Dishes. Everything I plan on cooking has elements of authentic and traditional recipes with my own personal twist.

Give Away #1 WINNER!

CONGRATULATIONS TO

Sarah @ My Little Life!

I'll be contacting you shortly for your address, you've one some sweet goodies!
The winner was selected by a number generator at random.org.
Thank you to everyone who entered, I'll have another one coming soon no doubt!


Well done again, Sarah! x

March 2010 Snapshot

I've decided to this at the end of each months. It's taken from the lovely Daisy over at Cherries and Cupcakes. It's basically a summery of things that have interested or taken some of my time in each month and will include a photo I've taken or had taken of me during the month. I think it's a lovely idea for something to look back on at the end of the year to see how much I've changed over the past months.

Photo taken North Yorkshire Moors, 13/03/10

Listening...30h!3, Lady Gaga, Owl City

Reading...The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Watching...Lost, Gossip Girl, Flashforward

Buying...New towels, new bag & a new purse.

Wanting... Some new clothes :(

Trying...To juggle two jobs at once, hard stuff.

Loving..my Alice in Wonderland themed birthday, my best friend, Disney Couture Jewellery.

Planning...Disney World in Nov.

Making....lots of different dishes for my Around the World in 80 Dishes project.

Writing...Nothing good at the moment.

Cooking...again, lots of different dishes for my project, the best was the Fish & Chips.

Inspired by...Alice in Wonderland craze, spring fashions

What have you all enjoyed about March? Perhaps it was the sun finally making an appearance for a short time, or maybe it was the start of the mid season sales. Let me know what was special about March to you!

Just a reminder about my give away, it ends on the 5th April!

Film Review #7 'Kick Ass'

"Adapted from Mark Millar's hyper-violent comic book of the same name, director Matthew Vaughn's (Layer Cake) vigilante superhero film tells the tale of an average New York teenager who decides to don a costume and fight crime. Comic book geek Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) may not have good coordination or special powers, but that doesn't mean he isn't a fully capable crime fighter. After purchasing a flashy wet suit on the Internet, Dave starts busting up baddies with nothing but brute force. He calls himself Kick-Ass, and he can take a beating as good as he can dish one out. Before long, Kick-Ass has become a local sensation, and others are following his lead. Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) are a father-daughter crime-fighting duo who have set their sights on local mob heavy Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong). They're doing a decent job of dismantling Frank's sizable underworld empire when Kick-Ass gets drawn into the fray. But Frank's men play rough, and his son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is about to become Kick-Ass' very first arch nemesis. When Chris assumes the persona of Red Mist, the stage is set for a superhero showdown that could spell the end of Kick-Ass once and for all." - Plot taken from Fandango

I alway wait with baited breath for the works rota to see if I have a Wednesday night off, because if I do it means we'll take advantage of Orange Wednesdays to go to the cinema. Even though it's always full with idiots and young kids (last nigth was a prime example) I struggle forking out the £7 odd to go on other days. Not that I can't afford it but because I don't want to pay £7 to sit in the dark for a few hours. I can do that in a power cut! So having a Wednesday off is a real treat especially since there are so many films I want to see right now. And after managing to convince the boy to wait until Wednesday this week, we finally got to see Kick Ass, and as cheesy as it sounds it was pretty Kick Ass.

From the director who brought you Stardust and Layer Cake, Kick Ass is a superhero film with a difference, the super hero isn't exactly super. Dave Lizewski is just a normal teenager who always wondered why ordinary people didn't become super heros and he of course becomes one. Next ensues twenty funny minutes of him trying to become one but then the movie takes a more serious and interesting turn. Dave, now known as Kick Ass, an internet star gets caught up in some real vigilante justice in the form of Big Daddy and Hit Girl who are trying to take down the NY mob run by Frank D'Amico. D'Amico caused the death of Big Daddy's wife and he's slowly been taking out the whole mob along with his 11 year old daughter. Once Kick Ass is caught up in it, everything starts going wrong for everyone and by the end of the film I was confused to whether I should be happy or sad! Not that my confusion made me feel like it was a bad movie, quite the contrary actually. Oh yeah and there was the hot girl, there is always the hot girl the hero has to get.

So moving onto what I thought of it rather than ruining the whole film for everyone, as I mentioned before I thought the film was awesome. The violence was quite bloody and graphic but since it only showed you a split second of it and the blood looking incredibly fake (along the lines of Watchmen and Sin City) it didn't phase me much (I did hide if I suspected something gory was going to happen!). It was almost every super hero film rolled into one, mixed in with Tarentino's Kill Bill, which no one can dispute is a pretty awesome mix. I laughed out loud quite often and I also welled up for a moment, I enjoyed the action, the story and the subtle superhero refernces (because I'm a geek). I felt the story worked well, I did at some points think "where is this going?" but the end was nicely wrapped up but with what felt like the opening for a sequel (or perhaps that was intentional as most superhero films leave themselves open for a sequel?). The humour was a step up from that found in Stardust but similarly they both masquerade as films that could appeal to younger audiences (I'm not saying children because Kick Ass is definitely not for children) but they're both more catered to adults.

The characters were excellent, but I think what made the characters so good was the acting. The girl who played Hit Girl, Chloe Moretz, was awesome and her chemestry with Nicholas Cage was really funny but sweet. They were an odd pair. The guy who played Kick Ass, newcomer Aaron Johnson was so much fun to watch and also quite adorable. Christopher Mintz-Palasse better known as Mclovin' did make a believable stuck up son desperate for daddy's affection, I didn't think he made a very good Red Mist though, but I'll admit that could of been the whole point.

All in all I can't wait to get Kick Ass on DVD to watch it again. It was so much fun just to watch and felt much more fresh than the bog standard Superman, Spiderman ect (I'm not saying Iron Man because I cannot wait to see the sequel!).

Best Moment: Hit Girl trying to save Big Daddy & Kick Ass, so sad but so awesome at the same time.
Best Line: "you just contact the mayor's office, he has a special signal he shines in the sky! it's in the shape of a giant cock" - Hit Girl
Would Recommend For: Superhero movie fans, comic book lovers, anyone who enjoyed Watchmen, Sin City or Stardust.
Rating: 8/10