I wouldn't stop talking about my trip to Dorset in the weeks building up to it and moaned for a week after because I was so sad to be back home. I'm going to stop sulking about not being in Dorset to bore you with loads of photos from my trip.

I stayed in a newly converted barn near Bridport which I booked through this site, I would highly recommend a stay at here because it was really idyllic. I will definitely be returning in the new year for a longer trip. I spent the weekend with my boyfriend (thanks for driving all weekend Martyn) and we explored as much of the Jurassic coast as we could during our short time there.

The past couple of weeks have been very hectic and I have to admit I'm looking forward to a lie in this week and a few Christmas blogging events close to home. I've been to London, Birmingham and Dorset in the space of two weeks, phew! I'm going to bore you with photos from my weekend in Dorset over the weekend but for now I'm sharing a few snaps from my trip to London and Birmingham.

I was originally going to pop to London just for an evening to attend the AX Party but I thought I would make a full day of it so headed to London early in the morning to make the most of my time there. I headed straight for Bond Street to do some shopping in Forever 21 and Selfridges where I treated myself to a few accessories and went a bit mad at the MAC makeup counter.

I spent most of my day at the wonderful Wallace Collection which Alex recommended to me. For those not in the know (like me before my visit) The Wallace Collection is a national museum which displays works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897. It's set in a lovely town house really close to Bond Street station and Selfridges so you could pop in for an hour or so when you're in London doing some Christmas shopping.

I'm so glad I took the time to visit because the house was breathtaking:




I was really excited to see three portraits of one of my favourite historical figures, the poet and actress Mary Robinson (Perdita). She was a family friend of the 2nd Marquess of Hertford and the Prince of Wales gave the family one of the portraits. She was quite the trendsetter in London, introducing a loose, flowing muslin style of gown based upon Greek statues that became known as the Perdita. She was the mistress of the Prince of Wales and in addition to poems, she wrote eight novels, three plays, feminist treatises, and an autobiographical manuscript. Very accomplished! I recommend reading Perdita by Mary Byrne if you want to find out more.


After hitting Patty & Bun for a tasty burger lunch with some London based friends I headed to the AX Party to see the wonderful AX Paris party dress collection and hangout with some of my favourite blogging ladies.





I was a little nervous about seeing Suede. They are one of my favourite bands along with the Manic Street Preachers. I was far too young to watch them back in the early 90s at the height of their fame and wondered if it would be best to never see them play live and not ruin the notions I had about them. They released a brilliant album called Bloodsports this year which I fell in love with so I decided to get tickets. Seeing them play new material made it feel like I wasn't wallowing in nostalgia and it was my favourite gig of the year so far. New songs like It Starts and Ends With You felt like classics and I enjoyed singing along to old favourites like Trash and So Young. Brett is really charismatic and it was nice to be at a gig where I wasn't surrounded by teenagers filming the whole thing on their phone.


You can see lots more photos from my trips to London and Birmingham over on my flickr account.

I headed down to Dorset with my boyfriend over the weekend and I was looking forward to using the kitchen and cooking some great food for both of us. It was a holiday though so I didn't want to be slaving over the stove all weekend so I made use of some time saving ingredients from M&S. ‘Cook With’ is a delicious range of inspiring, authentic ingredients, perfect for putting together delicious meals in minutes - just what I was looking for.

I wanted to make a nice winter warming dish and a tasty dessert so I decided to make a sausage tray bake and banoffee pie.


I made the banoffee pie first so it would have time to cool in the fridge and oh boy, it tasted so good. I used a whole jar of salted caramel and a bar of chocolate to make this so I knew it was going to be amazing.


I didn't have to bake a case or anything fiddly like that, it was a case of simply adding the toppings and a bit of mixing. To make the this banoffee pie which serves 10 (or a handful of greedy people) you will need:


To make it all you have to do is follow these four steps:

1. Spoon the salted caramel into the base
2. Add the sliced banana
3. In a separate bowl mix the mascarpone with the milk and icing sugar, and spread on top of the banana mixture
4. Grate or finely chop milk chocolate over the top, then serve.

Next up was the sausage tray bake, I loved this because there was only one pan to wash at the end and once it was in the oven I didn't really need to check up on it at all.


To make the tray bake you will need:

1. Preheat the oven to 200/Gas Mark 7 and then heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan and cook sausages until brown.
2. Put butternut squash with tbsp oil in a large roasting dish and cook in the oven for 10 minutes
3. Add the onions, peppers, sausages to the roasting dish.
4. Mix in the sauce and cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Using the Cook With range meant I had plenty of time to play with sparklers, watch DVDs and relax that night. I think the sausage tray bake and banoffee pit would be great if you're having friends and family over this week and letting some fireworks off in your garden.

The tasty food was provided by M&S at St David's in Cardiff.

Sports Luxe and sporty chic is one of those trends that keeps on coming back most seasons and I never really know how to incorporate it into my wardrobe. Sport Luxe is a trend that has filtered down from many catwalks and I suppose the easiest way to incorporate it would be with some jersey items, sporty shoes, varsity jackets and lose fit t-shirts. I think I dress pretty formally for most occasions in a dress, smart shoes and a big handbag so trying a more casual and minimal look was a big shock for me and took me out of my comfort zone. The trend looks great on celebs but would it work for me?