Goodbye 2009

As much as I would love to make this post a recap of the last 12 months, I'm working with dodgy internet, and up till half an hour ago didn't expect to be able to get online at all.

Instead, I'd like to say THANK YOU, all of you, for the continued support and encouragement, both on my first blog (r.i.p.) and then, when I had to move over to this one.
It's hard to sum up what blogging has done for me, without sounding like a complete loser, so I won't,
I just want to make my gratitude known; for helping make 2009 a better year than I've had in a long while.

I will be back with an outfit post and my usual rubbish as soon as my internet allows me to make a more photo orientated post
(hopefully I can still comment on everyone's as I have a quiet night ahead of me)

Whatever you do for this New Years Eve,
Be Happy, Be safe and HAVE FUN



(image from vi.sualize.us)


See you on the other side

xxx

30.12 over knee

Hello, how are we all doing? Going mad in the sales? I'm still yet to venture in to them, though have been browsing online, sadly Christmas has depleted my funds even further than usual so I've not bought anything, but half the fun is the looking and dreaming.

Debuting my over-knee boots today, from Asos, they were a present from my parents.
It's quite strange to be wearing something so high on the leg, and I'm sure they are meant to be higher, but being tall kind of ruins the effect somewhat.







Still working on those new year resolutions, without much luck! As of today the house is a little bit quieter as brother has gone back to uni to celebrate the arrival of 2010 (scary!) with his friends.

xxx

28.12 the inbetween days

I might be in the minority here, but I LOVE the days between Christmas and New Year almost as much as the main event itself.
It's one of the few times a year I find myself full able to relax and take life at a slower pace, indulging in things I can never usually settle to do, like read during the day and not constantly have that feeling that there is something I MUST be doing.

I'm becoming less sore from falling, so walks are on the agenda before the snow returns. Looking out my window now I can see bright blue skies, and the air is crisp and clean.

When it comes to outfits I find myself opting for jeans and simples tees over my usual dresses and tights,
My makeup also becomes more neutral as for a rare few days I become more comfortable with how I look.







I've decided I'm going to stay in this New Year. My parents have friends over, who I know and like, so I will catch up with them and also watch the DVDs I was given for Christmas (The September Issue and Coco before Chanel). I'm not a big party person and find night time socialising exhausting,
Again, that might make me a bit...odd, but it's just how I am.

What will you be doing for NYE? Have you made your resolutions yet? I've not yet decided on mine, but have got a couple in mind.

xxx

26.12 aftermath

Hello!
I hope everyone survived Christmas and was spoiled rotten! I was, but details of that for another post!

We had a lovely quiet day, just Myself, Mum, Dad (slightly worse for wear!), Brother and Grandparents...and of course, Flash. Here are some photos of us all.


Outfit for the day.


What Flash wore.


My wonderful Grandparents.


Mum and Bro


Mum and I


Bro and I


Us, seconds before ;)


Myself and Dad

I think we have a very lazy day ahead of us here, I was the only one who didn't drink, so the only one likely to feel like doing anything other than laze on the sofa!
I would go for a nice long walk, but I'm bruised and sore after a fall on the ice Christmas Eve, so I think I will be sloth like too!

xxx

24.12 Wishing You a Merry Christmas

(photo from vi.sualize)

To my readers,
Wishing you the most wonderful Christmas
Thank you for the on-going kind words and comments, I truly value each one.
Have a fantastically festive time;
I hope Santa is kind to you
xxx

23.12 outfit

2 sleeps to go! Wow.
Many thanks from Mum and myself for her birthday wishes, she had a lovely day despite the dire weather conditions.

Speedy outfit post today, though it is actually what I wore yesterday.







With both my brother home, and dad off work until the new year and general holiday going ons, I'm not sure how many outfit posts there will be,
depends on the lighting in my bedroom more than anything (hit and miss at the best of times!)

Anyway,
off to get finished with those last minute details so Christmas Eve can be enjoyable and relaxing,
what have you got planned tomorrow?

xxx

22.12 Special

Happy Birthday Mum!
Have a truly special day. With lots of love
xxx


Three days to go! As promised, here is the recipe for shortbread, found on www.allrecipes.co.uk



Ingredients:

250g (9 oz) plain flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

225g (8 oz) butter

100g (4 oz) caster sugar

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 170 C / Gas mark 3.
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix to combine. Chill until dough is easy to handle, about 10 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to 5cm (1/4 in) thick. Cut into desired shapes and place on ungreased baking trays.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.


Have fun making it! I did.

And finally (I have no outfit to show from the past couple of days due to dressing to beat the cold and snow)
Check out my latest addition to my collection of muchlove jewellery





I can't get enough of Anna's gorgeous pieces.

xxx

20.12 slacker

Woah, I'm slacking, this is outfit was worn on Friday, although it's been so cold out it didn't last long before being covered up with leggings, cardigans and god knows what else.







I'm glad the recipe and photos went down so well, I will try and share what I bake more often,
who actually made them? What did you think? They proved a hit here, so much so, I'll be making more tomorrow when I do the rest of my Christmas baking. I must dig out my shortbread recipe
a) so I can make it, and b) so I can share it!

Five days to go now, the big day will be over before we can blink! Busy week ahead with last minute preperations and my Mum's Birthday on Tuesday.

Tonight I'm meeting up with friends to exchange gifts, I'm excited but worried they wont like what I've got them!

If only life were this simple eh?



Oh to be a cat!

19.12 Baking

Hello, and happy Friday,
I'm glad I've created some excitment for my giveaway...stay tuned for that!

I also wanted to say a great big THANK YOU for the kind words and support regarding my letter to my 16 year old self,
words can't explain how much that means to me.

It is now ONE WEEK today till Christmas (eek) and having been awake since some un-earthly hour, I found myself at a loose end with an overwhelming urge to bake.

So I did, the first of my holiday baking (still to come, shortbread, puff pastry christmas trees and peppermint creams)
Today I bring to you, Cornish Fairings.
Not typically associated with Christmas, but these cookies are made with ginger and mixed spice and that makes them perfect for this time of year. They come out wonderfully chewy and quite a lot like gingerbread; just much easier to make, I think this recipe took me half an hour from start to finish!









(why yes, the first tray did overbake a little!)

The recipe I used is from the Christmas edition of the Somerfield Magazine (small UK supermarket chain)
The recipe makes around 18 cookies.

You'll need:
225g (8oz) Plain Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
2tsp Bircarbonate of Soda
2tsp Ground Mixed Spice (or, if you dont have that, cinnamon)
2tsp Ground Ginger
100g (3.5oz) Butter
100g (3.5oz) Caster Sugar
60ml (4tbsp) Golden Syrup

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200*c, 400*F, gas mark 6 (you might want to set it lower if you have a fan oven).

2. Sieve together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and spices.

3. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the sugar.

4. Pour in the golden syrup. Mix well until you get a fairly stiff consitency (at first mine was a little dry, so I added a touch more syrup)

5. With floured hands, roll the mixture in to about 18 walnut sized balls. Place these on a greased baking tray allowing space for each cookie to spread.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes (mine took just under 10) until golden brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes (until they are hard enough to move) and transfer to a cooling rack.

The cookies will keep in an airtight tin for up to five days.

Enjoy!
xxx

18.12 tease

Good Morning lovelies,
in the spirit of Christmas, I'm teaming up with a fabulous cookware site to offer my USA/CANADA readers a fantastic giveaway...
however, before I start the fun, I wanted to build up some suspense (aren't I so kind?!) by bringing you a little sneak preview of what is in store.

I'm also doing you a HUGE favour, as this site is a real treasure trove for those last minute gift shopping needs!

With everything from funky aprons to Rachel Ray cookware here are my top three picks.



Sushi apron $19.95



Owl oven mitt $7.95



Rachel Ray mini muffin pan (which I could give my right arm for, so cute!) $19.95

Go and have a look at the site,
indulge yourself and see if you can guess which fab product I'll be giving away.

www.cookware.com

...stay tuned for a review, too.


(UK readers, don't feel deprived, there will be a UK only giveaway for you asap!)


Also, please check out Red Boots Blog,
she does a fantastic and touching series of letters written by readers to their 16 year old self.
It's a wonderful idea, and incredibly theraputic to do,
you can see mine here, read others or write/submit your own.

16.12 outfits

9 days to go!

Quick post today, words not really needed, just what I wore yesterday and what I'm wearing today:









I hope it has been a good week for you so far
xxx

14.12 getting festive

Happy Monday! 11 days till Christmas, who's ready?
(I'm not!)
How was your weekend? Good, I hope. We now have our decorations up at home, so I thought I'd kick off this post by showing you my mini tree and glittery reindeer.





Actually, the reindeer stays up year round because I've become quite fond of it, in it's sparkly, tacky glory.

I also wanted to show off my new jewellery storage (thanks Mum!), how cute is this?



Not much to update on here, and I'm STILL behind on tags/awards (I promise they'll be done before the new year!)

Outfit wise, nothing exciting going on, today is all about as many layers as possible



(not pictured, socks, thermal vest and thick cardigan!)

Is anyone making handmade gifts this year? If so, what have you made/plan to make?
I've made a few of mine, mainly jewellery,
but have just put together these little treat bags for my parents (from Flash) and a few friends.



Snowballs (a.k.a caramel bonbon sweets)



Reindeer Poo (a.k.a chocolate raisins)

That's it for now, hopefully I'll have some better outfits/more interesting happenings to update on next time.


With love,
xxx

11.12 bit of everything

Friday again? And only two weeks till Christmas, I can't keep up with this! I hope everyone has had an awesome week.

Thanks for the good luck vibes for shopping yesterday, it wasn't actually as busy as I'd feared,
but that's not to say it wasn't chaotic and stressful! Lots of coffee breaks were essential, but Mum got everything she needed (including a gorgeous velvet dress for her work christmas party..I'm jealous) and it was, as ever, wonderful to spend the time with her!

First things first I have two new necklaces for sale.
Usual "rules":
- e-mail me at adaisychaindream@googlemail.com with any questions/to purchase
- prices are inclusive of shipping (first class UK/airmail)
- I accept paypal only (though if you are UK and don't have paypal I can accept cheque etc)



This is a bit of a bad photo, but antique glass drink me bottle, and vintage rabbit charm with (slightly creepy) red crystal eyes, on 16 inch gold plated chain.
£6.50 UK/£7 Europe/£7.50 elsewhere.

*taken*


Metal red telephone box (so British) on 16 inch silver plated chain, although if you prefer this could be switched to a gold plated chain. This is quite a heavy pendant.
£6.50UK/£7 Europe/£7.50 elsewhere. Perfect for those obsessed with London!
*taken*



Look how long my hair has got! Isn't that insane? I've not had it cut in waaaay too long, but will be in the new year, not that I quite know what to do with it. I'm open to any suggestions!

And finally, what I'm wearing today!







Phew!

I've also noticed I've been getting quite a few questions in my comments, which I will try to answer asap,
as well as catching up on tags awards!

Happy Friday, have a fab weekend xxx