Birthday Celebrations..

Yesterday was my birthday and I had an amazing weekend celebrating it! On Friday morning I went to the hairdressers to get my hair dyed, I decided to go back to dip dye after a long time without it and absolutely love it! In the afternoon my parents and I travelled to Moddershall Oaks Spa in Stone, where we stayed for the night. I was treated to a HiBrow treatment in the afternoon and then had the most amazing three course meal in the evening.

/Necklace & Dress - Next/Bag - Accessorize/Shoes - Clarks/

My Beautiful Mum and I

Strawberry Field's Forever

Asparagus & Quails Egg

Duck & Game Crisps

After staying the night, we spent Saturday morning in the spa and generally just relaxed which was so nice after being so busy travelling to and from London every week! I also was treated to another treatment which was called an Elemis Face and Body Sensation. It was an hour treatment made up of a 30 minute hot stone massage and then a 30 minute facial. It was bliss being able to relax and have no cares in the world. I love Elemis products generally anyway as they smell so nice and really good for your skin. We then had lunch in the Spa Deli and left in the middle of the afternoon. I would definitely recommend Moddershall Oaks if you want somewhere to relax and just take some time out from everything. The food was amazing and so were the treatments. Here is a link to the website if you want to take a look: http://www.moddershalloaks.com.

Mum & I

Perfect View 

Beautiful Lake

My birthday was actually yesterday and I decided I wanted to go somewhere different rather than just staying around Nottingham. I visited the beautiful city of Lincoln where I had a lovely afternoon tea at the Old Palace Hotel and then took a walk around the city. The Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking and the views are amazing, we also did a spot of shopping and I bought a beautiful bracelet from Daniella Draper which has just opened in Lincoln. All her jewellery is handcrafted in Britain and gorgeous I wanted to buy it all! After a lovely day in Lincoln, we then arrived home and I went out for the evening with my work friends to Rub Smokehouse and some bars in Nottingham. The food is lovely and the menu has something for everyone,  I would definitely recommend going!

Yummy Afternoon Tea

Lincoln Cathedral

Overall I had the most amazing weekend for my birthday and after writing this I realise I did a lot!

Megan x

My Great News!

I have been applying for quite a lot of jobs recently as I am trying to find something in retail that will work alongside my degree. I am already a Waitress at the weekends, however wanted something extra to do on my days off from university. I applied for a job at Tiger which is opening a new store in Nottingham using the website Indeed.co.uk (this job site is so easy to use and is one of my favourites!), if you have not heard of Tiger they are like Ikea but without the furniture and sell fun and quirky items.

I received an email saying I had passed the paper sift and was invited to a recruitment evening. I really did not know what to expect and thought it could possibly be meeting other applicants and learning more about the brand. It was not until I got there that I realised it was an actual recruitment selection evening!

So, there were two stages - firstly we went in pairs and had to tell everyone about the other person. Then we swapped pairs and got given a Tiger item and had to describe to everyone. They just wanted to see our personalities come through as the brand is fun and unique. There were 30 of us there which was knocked down from 350 applicants! I was so proud of myself to even get to that stage but obviously wanted to go further. Half of the group were then knocked out leaving 16 of us that reached the second stage of the evening. We then had one to one interviews and  were told we would receive a call to say if we were successful.

I did think it went well and really surprised myself on how confident I was as I used to be so shy! I really believe university and my internship has really changed me as a person and made me so more confident about myself and what I can achieve.

I received a call today to say I got the job and I am literally so so happy and proud of myself! You just have to believe in yourself and also be yourself, and you'll get there!

If you have not heard of Tiger, here is their website to have a look at: http://www.tigerstores.co.uk

Megan x

Blog Update

I have had my blog for a while now and decided it needed an update! Photoshop has never been my strong point so always found it hard to create my own header, however since starting at Allumer (Internship) I have been able to pick up it up really easily! I used TheWonderForest Online for help which had a video with a step to step guide on how to create your own header. Here is the link: http://www.thewonderforest.com/2013/09/how-to-create-blog-header-that-looks.html.

It was so easy to use and I am glad I have now created my own as my blog looks fresh and more personal rather than using a font from the blogger template. I simply found a flower from google images and used this, I then used the eye dropper tool in Photoshop to make sure the '&' was the same colour as the flowers. I hope you like it as much as I do! Feel free to leave a comment below.

Megan x

Internship: Allumer Jewellery

So, I am currently doing an internship in London with a luxury jewellery brand called Allumer Jewellery. I have already been there 1 month and a half, and I'm loving it. I am their social media, marketing and PR intern, so manage on a daily basis the company's social media including Instagram and Twitter. I have learnt so much already from when the best time of the day to post and what interests the Allumer customer. As the company is quite small it's great that I can get so hands on! 

I found the internship at Fashion United online (fashionunited.co.uk) which post London internships as well as some abroad. It's so easy to use and you can apply really quickly. Fashion Workie (fashionworkie.com) is also good however I found it a bit harder to use as its a little bit jumbled. 

I will post more about my internship as time goes on! I am loving it and love being in London. 

//Allumer's Allumette Bell Necklace//

Check out Allumer's social media and website:

www.allumer.co.uk

Twitter: allumerjewelry

Facebook: Allumer Jewellery

Instagram: allumerjewellery

Megan x

Easy Cornflake Tart Recipe

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while been so busy in London as I am currently doing an internship at Allumer Jewellery (will talk about this on my next post).

Ever since I left school I have been wanting to find a cornflake tart recipe as I used to love it! Recently my friend on Facebook shared one from Cakes 'n' Bakes so decided to give it a try. It was really easy to follow and has worked out pretty well.

//Ingredients//

For the pastry:
100g butter
225g plain flour
1 egg (beaten)

I did think it was a little strange not to have sugar in the pastry however the filling is sweet so it is not needed.

For the filling:
110g golden syrup
80g butter
30g sugar
100g cornflakes
110g jam e.g. strawberry

Firstly, you need to make the pastry which is really easy. Put the flour and butter chunks in a mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then add the beaten egg and mix together, my pastry was slightly dry so I added a little drop of milk to bind it together. Now you need to leave it to chill so wrap it the pastry in cling film and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Once the pastry has chilled, grease a baking tray and roll the pastry out to a thin layer then line the tray with the pastry. I am not the best pastry liner so do not worry if the pastry rips as you can easily cover it with some extra pastry! A good tip is to get a small ball of pastry and use it to push the pastry into all the corners of the tray (courtesy of Mary Berry!) 

Crimp the edges and prick the pastry all over.

Now you need to bake the pastry blind. This allows the pastry to cook before the filling is added so no soggy bottom occurs. I used old rice I found in the cupboard but you can also use proper baking beans or nearly out of date pulses in the cupboard. Take a piece of greaseproof paper and put it over the pastry, then put the rice on top.

The recipe I used said to cook the pastry blind for 20 minutes. I ended up giving it 25 minutes, then took the rice and paper off, and cooked for another 5 minutes to brown the pastry. 

Meanwhile, while the pastry is cooking, put the sugar, syrup and butter in a pan and heat until the butter has melted. Next mix the cornflakes into the sugary mixture and leave to one side. I couldn't resist having a little try! 

Once the pastry has baked, spread a thin layer of jam onto the pastry and then put the cornflake mixture on top. All you need to do now is give the tart another 5 minutes in the oven for the cornflake mixture to set.

Let it cool slightly before eating as the jam and cornflakes will be extremely hot. Now enjoy!

Hope you found this recipe helpful.

Megan x

PARIS

I have literally been totally consumed with Uni for the last few months and totally forgot to tell you all about my trip to Paris! It was absolutely amazing and spent time with some lovely people. I travelled on the Eurostar from St Pancaras which was a nice experience as it was so relaxed and meant I could start exploring straight away without feeling too tired! I did lots of things including visiting the famous Love Lock Bridge, Eiffel Tower and of course did lots of shopping. Lots of walking was involved, I am really not a fan of walking but it was so nice to be able to see the beautiful city by foot enabling me to take lots of pictures.

When I arrived. my friends and I explored the city, did a spot of shopping, and had some food and cocktails. The second day was packed full exploring, we visited the Love Lock Bridge, Notre Dame, Louvre and even had cake in the famous Angelina, where Coco Chanel used to have tea. We also did some shopping down the Champs-Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe. In the evening as if it was not a packed full day already, we went up to to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing to see Paris in the dark with all the lights on and I got to see how far I had actually walked!

//Notre Dame//                                //Love Lock Bridge//                                     //Louvre//                                         

//Angelina//

//Eiffel Tower//

On the second day which was the last full day (sigh) we visited a beautiful concept store called Merci and then went to the Centre Pompidou to see the Jeff Koons exhibition. We also visited the Hermes store which was amazing, it used to be a swimming pool and has been converted into a store. It was absolutely beautiful and pristine inside. Then as if I had not done enough shopping, my friends and I went to Galleries Lafayette which is 6 floors of shopping heaven, from beauty and clothes to luggage. I bought myself a little leather make up bag which I love!

//Merci Concept Store//

                                                                                                                              //Galleries Lafayette//
                                                                                                              

//Centre Pompidou - Jeff Koons Exhibition//

//Hermes Store//

The last day was dedicated to visiting Premiere Vision, which is a trade show for the fashion industry showing the trend predictions for the following year. It was really interesting to visit and helped me with my modules at University.

Overall I had the most amazing time and would definitely love to go back one day!

Megan x

UNI TRAVELS: PARIS

University has given me another amazing opportunity to travel, this time to Paris. I am so excited to go! I have been before when I was about 12 for a school trip but didn't really make the most of my time there (obviously it's hard on a planned trip). Going with university allows me to have freedom to visit Paris with my friends and see what I want to see. As part of the trip we are going to Premiere Vision which is a massive event in fashion where all the buyers etc visit to see the latest and upcoming fabrics and leathers. I cannot wait to explore the city and of course shop! I will be posting all about my travels when I return.

Megan x