South Wales

This year, or should I say last year, my friends and I decided that we could not be bothered with the pressure of doing something amazing for New Year, so thought about the plan of just getting away to a log cabin. A whole weekend devoted to eating, drinking and celebrating was a pure delight and rest.

This is in the town of Tenby, near Carmenthen where we stayed. The shops next to this cliff edge looked idyllic - as they were all painted soft pastel colours, neatly built down cobbled streets. I did my fair share of window shopping and copious repetitive impressions of Gavin & Stacey.
Of course, if you listened to the news at all you would of heard that South Wales was quite a badly hit place in the New Year storms - although it didn't actually feel like it was that bad. Especially after seeing this rainbow pop up after a shower of rain.

When we were walking along Carmenthen beach to a rock pool area, one of my friends saw this little seal pup plodding around the stones and we couldn't believe our luck. A wild baby seal! What a treat! After a while he played up to the cameras by rolling around in the sand, using his flippers to be all coy.

It was a sweet little getaway that helped me relax - but also brought out my competitive side! We played a lot of board games, one of which was 'the Logo game'. For those of you who don't know what it is. You NEED it. It's on-par with the success of Articulate.

I was surprised by how much information I have stored about brands in my mind, even stuff I thought I didn't care about. The fact I managed to guess how much peanut butter is eaten every day (300 million) remains a mystery. I felt like Rachel and Monica in that episode when they answer Ross's questions, which they famously betted their flat on against Chandler and Joey. " He's a... TRANSPONSTER"... ''That's not even a word!" - Like them I just kept shouting random things!

But now it's a New Year, I've decided to conjure up some new goals that I hope to achieve:

• Get a job. A real one.
• Graduate. Obviously.
• Save money. Properly.
• Purchase a new work-wardrobe. Sell the huge amount of unwanted stuff.
• Force myself to enjoy some sort of exercise.
• Finally get rid of my useless Blackberry. Hello iPhone.
• Go on holiday!

I think that's about it?

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Presents and pecan pie

I thought I would share some of the thoughtful gifts I got this Christmas. Because let's face it, that's pretty much what everyone is doing, just playing with their presents. I finally got myself a copy of 'Luella's guide to English Style' which has been imperative to my fashion forecasting work I just handed in.

Finally got my hand on some Cath Kidston mixing bowls which all slot nicely together like russian dolls.
An Estee Lauder red lipstick to replace the lost lipstick of a few months back! I don't think I go a day without wearing some sort of lipstick. Unless it's a really bad day.

Quite hilariously too I got given this American cooking book - which actually has some fab recipes, (once you get used to the measurements being in 'cups', and everything drowning in butter). Once such example was 'Imperial Inkeepers Pecan Pie'. I can't help but pronounce it like 'pee-kaan'.

It tastes amazing and it's now my new favourite thing to make. Even made the pastry from scratch. Impressive stuff I know!

Now to ponder the thought of starting a diet in January...

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Sticky toffee pudding

Yesterday I had possibly the best sticky toffee pudding ever. Hell, even the best pudding. It was the most warming, gooeist, yummiest dishlicious pud I've had in a long time.

And it was made by none other that my own Mother! She nabbed the recipe from Delia's cookery book from the 80s or 90s (not positive which one) but there is no way any other sticky toffee pudding could beat this recipe.

By chance though, after settling down and watching 'The Roasts of Christmas Past', I noticed the very same recipe bubbling in the oven in true 90s fashion. Sweet.

I should of really taken a photo to complete the transition and show you just how GOOD it was, but these 'vintage' ones will have to do.

The documentary however is a good comical look at the past 60 years of the 'TV cooking' phenomenon. From the pioneering Marguerite Patten's make do and mend recipes, Fanny Cradock's glamourous and questionable delights to Delia herself on the simple how-to's, its a clever indication of the relationship between Britain's two favourite things - food and television.

Finally, back to 2011 now - I recently involved myself in a live webchat with Nigella Lawson with Stylist magazine and she luckily answered my question about student cooking. I asked what was the cheapest meal, she replied:

'Hi Harriet, when I was a student, I was the Queen of Onion Soup. I bought a huge sack of onions from the market and endlessly feeding huge crowds of people without spending much money...'

I believe I can say we are now officially best friends...

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Singing Christmas tree

Literally no other way to make you feel more festive than taking a trip to Longleat Safari Park. The beautiful grounds are decorated with England's first singing Christmas tree, surrounded by gift stalls and the usual array of over-excited children.

Needless to say we stood around like them, often joining in for a little jig and giggle as the tree sung, quite literally the best selection of Christmas tunes. Nothing sounds better sung from a tree than the Home Alone theme. Fact. Don't believe me? Watch it here.

Having a cup of hot chocolate in the Orangey was also a real treat. Warming you up after spending so much time outside with all the animals. Managing to fit it all in one day was quite a skill looking back.

Now to continue the countdown towards Christmas. I've been hand-making/decorating a lot of presents this year. I'll be sure to show you how you can make your gift have a more personal touch to it.

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Loosing my mind in third year

Sometimes I like to decorate the eggs in the fridge for no reason at all...

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Working 9 til 5

Firstly - a bit of apology on the lack of posts this month.

I am definitely understanding the true meaning of third year thanks to the overwhelming amount of work.

It seems all I am doing at the moment is sleep - library - food, in whatever order I choose! But I have got a few things to be looking forward to this Christmas to make up for all the hard work.

This weekend I'm off to Longleat - yes the safari park with the monkeys - for some well deserved giggles and good food with friends.

For New Year we are also escaping again to a little cabin in the South of Wales to have a right laugh in our onesies and drink copious amounts of Wine.

But for now - I have to continue my hunch over the Mac to get all this work completed for hand in which is only a couple of weeks away. One of the things I've been creating is a blog - funny I know as I enjoy this one - but do take a look if you are interested. It's called 'Keep calm and just graduate'... I've also been developing a beautiful sketchbook and reliving the fun I used to have in college, basically cutting and sticking, but predicting a trend for 2013. Looks fab so I"ll photocopy some page for you to see in due course.

Speaking of college I managed to un-earth an image I sketched about 5 years ago. Shame I don't sketch half as much as I used to. It used to be a way for me to relax and occupy myself when I was younger, now I find I don't have the time! Maybe something for the Christmas holidays I can look forward to again?

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Daddy bands are back

Yay! Well it seems like that big bands of the 70s and 80s are making a comeback, thanks to the success of the boybands of the late few years.

The rumours are true, Black Sabbath are re-uniting after 33 years to headline Download festival, along with a load of gigs and a new studio album! They held a very exciting countdown on 11/11/11 which was to celebrate the first album since 1978!

It's hard to believe their most successful song 'Paranoid' was from so long ago and defied what Heavy Metal is meant to be.

On the subject of re-forming, Duran Duran are also making a comeback! Their new song 'Girl Panic' has a fantastic new video. Leading supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford play the part of the Simon Le Bon and others, being interviewed about the 30 year gap. Watch the models cause havoc around the newly opened Savoy Hotel with a delectable 80s vibe, fast drumbeat and power love lyrics so synonymous with the Duran sound.

The Daddy bands are back!

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