Ani Golightly

Inspiration: Charlotte 'Chuck' Charles

2012-02-22T15:30:00.000Z

You may have been wondering where I have been...and i'm here to tell you...hibernating. The dark winter months make me fall into an abyss of hating my job, the city i live in, everything in general;which could only be remedied by a course of deep hibernation with doses of bubble baths and in-bed box set marathons (can someone please explain to me why I hadn't started on True Blood earlier!). I also think I need to go in a different direction with this blog, open up a bit and let you know a bit more about me. So hopefully in the upcoming posts as well as the usual tutorials and recipes we can get to know each other a bit more. But first, now I have climbed out of my TV I want to introduce you to one of my friends I got reacquainted with while I was in there.

Pushing Daisies was a short-lived visual dream. The whole show was so pretty to look at and Anna Friel's character 'Chuck' perfected quirky-cute way before Zooey Deschanel was on the scene. Chuck's style is all 1950's housewife...on a mission. Think cutesy floral swing dresses teamed with oversized sunglasses and headscarves. The wonderful thing about Chuck is she takes a vintage style but instead of the muted colours so common in the vintage-inspired items on the high street makes it bright! I love the gorgeous sunshine yellows she wears so often.

Chuck Pushing Daisies by anigolightly featuring cat eye sunglasses

Monsoon cotton cardigan
£38 - monsoon.co.uk

J.Crew flat shoes
$138 - jcrew.com

South sea pearl necklace
$40 - modcloth.com

Polka dot scarve
$7.99 - modcloth.com

Cat eye sunglasses
$12 - ocshades.com

Grosgrain Ribbon Bow Anywhere Clip
$45 - tarinatarantino.com

makeshift thanksgiving recipe! Pumpkin spice cupcakes

2011-11-24T15:25:00.000Z

Okay, okay so here are the excuses...i've been busy...i've got lazy-itus...i'm English what do i have to do with Thanksgiving?! This is a recipe I made for Halloween but didn't have time to put up but if you want to get a taste of pumpkin into your autumn flavours before all the Christmas recipes kick-in then I would say that Thanksgiving is your last chance. These Pumpkin Spice cupcakes are delicious and to describe them I would say it is a seasonal variation of a carrot cake.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

You will need:

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup butter (melted)

4 large eggs

425g of pureed pumpkin (can be bought in a can but is quite expensive or look up how to make pureed pumpkin online. It's easy!)

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees.

2. Line your cupcake pan with paper cases and set aside.

3. In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice and set aside.

4. Melt butter and leave to cool.

5. In a separate bowl or mixer mix together brown sugar, caster sugar, butter and eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

6. Add pumpkin puree and mix.

7. Fill cupcake cases up around halfway and bake until a tester comes out clean...approx 25 mins.

8. Put on a wire rack and leave to cool.

This recipe is best with a cooling cream cheese frosting alongside the warmth from the spiced cake.

Just Popping In To Say Hello!

2011-11-18T22:47:00.000Z

So I was off the radar for a while there. I had a month of spending every waking moment house-hunting followed by virgin media being absolutely terrible and leaving me with no internet for ages. I would love house hunting if i wasn't actually having to live in the places, who wouldn't love nosying around other people's houses. Unfortunately though I was going to have to live in one of the houses we were looking at and it was one of the most stressful months of my life. The amount of total dumps we saw was insane and included a flat that looked like a ski chalet from the outside and an 1980's idea of the future on the inside. But one day on a whim I called a rather unattractive rental advert on gumtree and when me and my boyfriend turned up to view it we couldn't believe our luck. It is a big change though, we moved from an ultra modern duplex apartment to a 3 story townhouse complete with awesome retro 60's leather sofas. Now I have an older style house I am so excited to to fill up the house with as much vintage junk I can find. So I went for the ultimate in tack and started with this beauty (excuse the bad picture my SLR is still packed)

J.H Lynch you beautiful legend of tack.

Grumbles

2011-09-22T09:00:00.001+01:00

Hat - Primark

Coat - Urban Oufitters

Dress - AWear (crinkles and fur provided by Grumbles)

Shoes - Clarks

While in Donegal we were lucky enough to have The Glebe Gallery as our neighbour. It is an Irish art gallery based in the grounds of a beautiful old house and home to a ginger cat called Grumbles who tries to jump into your teacup to get a taste of milk. I have to admit he might have been my favourite part, oh, i'm so ashamed of my uncultured self. After paying it a visit we had a trip to the seaside and a look at the mountains...safely from the car ahem. While driving around we found the most beautiful churches all over the place and even spied an abandoned church down a tiny little dirt track. It was amazing to see and so beautiful the pictures don't do it justice.

Mocha Bourbon Cake with an Irish Cream Glaze

2011-09-19T21:41:00.000+01:00

I don't want to toot my own horn but TOOT TOOT. It might not look like much; it isn't the prettiest of cakes and it doesn't have the wow factor if you were going to pull it out at a party but it has to been one of the most delicious cakes I have ever made. I thought it up when trying to decide on what sweet to bring to the cottage in Donegal. I wanted something not too fussy or complicated to eat but something warming where I could come home from a cold day in the country and cut off a slab to have with some tea. And of course I'm quite fond of mixing my favourite tipples with my favourite cakes.

Of course if you wanted to compliment my irish theme you don't have to use bourbon but use Irish whiskey instead or even rum with a rum glaze.

What you will need:

3 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

350grams of dark chocolate

1 1/2 cups butter

1 cup bourbon

1 1/3 cups strong brewed instant coffee

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 160C and grease your cake tin

2. In a bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.

3. Put a metal or glass bowl over a large saucepan of simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter together.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon, coffee and sugar.

5. Using an electric mixer stir the dry mixture into the chocolate mix in three parts. Scrape down the sides. Once smooth mix in the eggs and and vanilla.

6. Pour the very runny mixture (don't worry it is meant to be!) into your cake tin.

7. Bake in the oven until a tester comes out clean (about 1hr 30mins)

8. Allow the cake to cool completely before pouring on the glaze.

Irish Cream glaze

You will need:

2 cups icing sugar

2 tbsp of irish cream liqueur

1. Stir together the irish cream with the icing sugar until smooth. Add more irish cream liqueur/icing sugar until at your own desired consistency. Pour over cake and leave to dry (or eat quick in a delicious gooey mess).

Escape to Donegal

2011-09-10T09:00:00.001+01:00

So I've finally made it back on here after my one and a half holidays and 40 hour work week. I was lucky enough to spend 5 days in Donegal came back to work for two days (booooo) and then was whisked away to a magical place called Lusty Beg to stay in a lakeside cabin for my boyfriend's Mum's birthday...but more on that later. We stumbled on 'Annie's Cottage' after our other cottage was double booked and we were let down but hey look at it's name it must be a sign! It was so lovely having a lake in my back garden and so relaxing to look out the window and see all that beautiful scenery and catch up on my reading; still on Crime and Punishment if you were wondering how far i've got on the book list challenge. It is pretty intense so I am mixing it up with my favourite Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books. I was so excited to get away and I baked Mocha bourbon loaf cake with an irish cream glaze and cinnamon rolls to take away with us so recipes are coming soon for those. delish! Donegal is so beautiful so if you haven't been before I fully recommend it for a bit of a time out and it was a well needed escape from Belfast! Now though it is back work and house hunting which is all a bit stressful. Why is looking around houses so much fun until it comes to searching for one to live in!

Headscarf - Vintage

Breton top - Marks & Spencer

Jumpsuit - Sessun

Sandals - Urban Outfitters

Love List

2011-09-02T09:00:00.000+01:00

1. This is half love for the fantastic little The Velvet Bird blog and half for her dreamy new line of dresses. Both are absolutely lovely.

2. These The Life Aquatic Cupcakes by Crumbs & Doilies would be my dream birthday cakes.

3. Love these Belfast prints by local artist Flax Fox

4. I've recently invested in every flavour of Pukka teas for my tea shelf.

5. The YSL colouring book is so much fun!

6. Topshop mascara comes pretty close to looking like falsies and a steal at £8!

7. The Pashley Princess Soverign. what a beaut! please be mine.

8. I'm in love with this vintage nightgown dress

9. These chocolate peanut butter pretzel brownies look amazing- zing-zing!!!

10. I couldn't make it this time and the photos of the Belfast Velo Jaunt over on Fast Fashion make me so jealous of the fun these chaps had.

Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

2011-08-26T22:56:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow I'm off to this little cottage in Donegal for a few days. It has a lake in its front garden and all i plan on doing is lazing about, eating lots of food and messing around on the lake. So you wont hear from me for a few more days but i'll have some lovely little updates when I get back. xx

Fresh Meat

2011-08-16T22:22:00.000+01:00

So Whip It is a movie that I half watched once while mainly concentrating on talking girly rubbish and guzzling as much wine as possible. I don't even remember the plot other than Juliette Lewis is and always will be a complete beaut and something about roller skates. But when I saw the Belfast Roller Derby were having an in-take something clicked. Although I initially dismissed it seeing I hadn't worn skates since they were Fisher Price I thought now or never!

Going down to the in-take I was pretty terrified and wasn't sure whether I should even get out of the car. Roller Derby is a CONTACT sport and i hadn't been on any kind of sports team since....well if i'm honest I spent all my PE classes hiding behind the science block. The whole reason I had decided to do it is because I was hoping it would bring me out of my shell so I ignored the little voice in my head and got in there. The room was full of girls who looked a million times cooler than me and my social anxiety kicked in when I realised I was going to have to talk to strangers. But these girls were friendly, confident and tough! I strapped on my skates, knee pads, elbow pads, helmet...WOW this is going to hurt and eventually stood up. Of course I was like Bambi on ice for the whole of the session but everyone was; and I spent more time standing up than sprawled on the floor so that is always a bonus.

At the end the Belfast team showed us how it was really done. Having an awesome match in front of us. They skated the speed of light and were the toughest broads I had ever seen. Never have I been so determined to do something. Of course I'm going to have to learn how to skate first...and stop that is always an important one and being part of the team is a million miles off but I'm really excited to learn and find that confidence inside of me.

Ani's Guide to Oxford

2011-08-09T22:40:00.000+01:00

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I had meant to do this after my visit to Oxford a while ago so I'm a little late. I spent three years in Oxford while I was at University and loved it. It is a perfect, little city and I miss it so much. So before I start on my guide to Belfast I thought I would tell you about my favourite things about one of my favourite cities. This isn't going to be a typical guide, it is easy enough to find out about Oxford's many brilliant museums and gallleries but more about the things you don't find in a guide book.

Vintage Shopping

If you are an extreme thrifter and love a charity shop then Oxford is the place to be. Obviously it is quite an affluent town and the gems you can find in the charity shops reflect that. Between me and my friend Fee (unfortunately not a blogger) in University found many great items including Dior tights, a Burberry trench and awesome vintage shoes and satchels. The best places to look are theCowley Road but also check in the villages outside the centre such as Botley and Summertown.

Reign, Cowley Road

Reign is a lovely little vintage store in the middle of Oxford's most prominent student area the Cowley road. It caters well to both men and women and also has a great stock of vintage inspired jewellery. Clothes are all good quality and affordable.

Uncle Sam's, Little Clarendon Street

This place can be hit or miss but is worth a look if you are in the area. It stock vintage american clothing but tends to stick with jackets, shirts and t-shirts. Don't go in looking for something in particular. It can be a little pricey for some things but worth it for others. Like I said hit or miss!

Unicorn, Ship Street

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Unicorn is Oxford's best hidden treasure. As you can see from the picture it is kind of crazy. Clothes are piled high and rammed on rails so tight you can barely pull them off without creating an avalanche. The clothes mountain is so massive only around three people can fit in at the same time. The clothes are amazing but the shop is ran by an older lady who seems like she doesn't actually want to sell any of the clothes. Nothing has a price on it as she makes the price up on the spot when you ask and if you find a shoe you like good luck on finding the other one! okay so it is a bit of a mission shopping in here but it really is a chance to find unique, good quality vintage clothes as most people in Oxford don't even know it exists.

Age Concern Retro Emporium, Cowley Road

This charity shop specialises in vintage homewares, books, fabrics and novelties. It has strange opening times ( I think only one or two days a week) so it is worth checking up before you go.

Eating

Red Star, Cowley Road

This is a Japanese restaurant, kind of like an independent Wagamama...but better! I recommend the ebi katsu or the gyoza.

The Covered Market, High Street

The covered market is a lovely farmers market in the centre of Oxford. In it you can find almost anything from Butchers and fishmongers to artisan cheeses, cakes and clothing. well worth a look even if it is for a bit of cheese tasting.

Ben's Cookies, The covered Market

It's all in the name! This is a little store inside of the covered market that sells freshly, baked on premises cookies. The best part is when you get there in time to get them hot out the oven. yum!

Oxford Thai, High Street

This place does some of the best Thai curries i've ever had but the best thing is the spicy thai crackers.

The Grand Cafe, High Street

Quite pricey but beautiful surroundings for afternoon tea or some cheeky cocktails later on.

G&D's, Cowley Road/ St Aldates/ Little Clarendon St

credit

This is a native to Oxford ice cream cafe chain. All locations are relaxed places to sit and they usually have a question on the wall where if you get the right answer you get a free scoop which is fun...although I never once managed to get the answer in all three years. The ice cream is amazing with flavours such as dime bar and superchocolate and embrace the crazy with brown bread, Lavender and Honey and Guinness.

Drinking and Dancing

Cafe Baba, Cowley Road
Best cocktails in Oxford in a lovely middle eastern style bar. It has an adorable patio out the back too which is perfect for after work drinks. Try the Brandy Alexander!

The Purple Turtle, Frewin Court

This basement bar is almost cave like. It is housed within the Oxford University student union so the drinkers can be errr individual. It isn't the fanciest bar in the world but is excellent fun for a night out.

The Turf Tavern, Bath Place

The Turf Tavern is a must see when you go to Oxford. I think it holds the title of Oxford's oldest pub and you can tell by the building and it's location. It is found down a narrow, winding alley in the centre of Oxford. It is pretty well hidden so make sure you know where you are going before you make the journey.

Something special

The Alice Shop, Saint Aldate's

I don't know if you knew this but the original Alice who the infamous wonderland story was inspired by lived in Oxford. The Alice shop is in the same store where she used to buy her sweets and you can find all the Alice in Wonderland merchandise you could ever dream of in here including early edition books, costumes, cards and jewellery.

Bootsie

2011-08-08T22:22:00.000+01:00

This is my new friend Bootsie. This weekend I went to volunteer at the ASSISI animal sanctuary. I live in an apartment so we aren't allowed pets and I miss cuddles with furry little creatures so decided to go help out and do some good. This time I just walked some dogs and next time I'm meeting the cats which I am soooo excited about! It's so nice to have a day when you just get to stick your scruffs on and not care about your make-up or hair and get outside.

Isn't it terrible what is happening in London at the moment? I lived in London for almost two years a good while ago now and it will always have a place in my heart. Seeing it damaged so badly is awful. I hope all of you who live there are keeping safe.

Love List

2011-07-18T19:54:00.000+01:00

1. Love these Jeffery Campbell Benched shoes.

2. Love the amazing inspiration to stop being silly with your money at And Then She Saved.

3. Love this very organised to-do board. Loved this so much I made one myself!

4. Love homemade Raspberry Gin and tonics

5. I already have a Diana camera but the Mini Diana camera is so cute and just seems so much more handy! Love it!

6. Love The Killing

7. Love The Honey Tree's cover of Edelweiss

8. Love the pretty undies over at Hopeless Lingerie

9. Love these vintage frames

10. Love this perfect Sunday afternoon movie.

To D.I.Y for - Floral headband

2011-07-14T20:41:00.000+01:00

Here is the tutorial for the floral headband I mentioned here. Floral headbands are all over the place at the moment but I'm on a budget as many of you are and no one wants to walk into a room where someone else is wearing the same thing, so making your own gives you the option to make it exactly as you want it. Fake flowers are really cheap to pick up and I got mine from a housewares store for £1 - £2 a bunch. The florist tape I got from my Mum who just so happens to be a florist but you can pick it up online for really cheap. This is so simple to make it's totally worth doing!

You will need:

Fake Flowers

Florist tape

Scissors

1. Pick up a few bunches of fake flowers. Obviously the colours and styles are up to you.

2. Use your scissors or pliers if you have them to cut stems off your bunches so each flower is separated. Don't worry about length because you can cut them to size as you go.

3. Use your florist's tape to wind round the stems and attach the flowers together stem by stem. Use lots of tape so it's secure. Position the flowers so they look good and slowly curve them round as you attach them on.

4. Once I reached the right length I used a small bit of wire to attach the two sides and would a good amount of tape round to secure it.

What I Wore

2011-07-12T18:49:00.000+01:00

Shirt - T.B.A

Dungarees - Vintage

Bag - Primark

Sandals - Urban Outfitters

Usually I would just resign myself to staying in on the 12th of July, the times I've worked on it have been pretty awful. But the sun was shining so we ran out to spend some time in the park before the parade made its way round again. I've had such a busy week with my new job assisting at fashion events and this time it was a particularly busy make-up artist awards and on top of that I've been slowly working through sorting our apartment out. There is so much I would love to do with my apartment but being a renter I'm too scared to do any massive changes. Anyone else feel like that?

I've had my eye on some dungarees for summer ever since I saw Alexa Chung in them but have always been a bit put off as I wasn't sure how good they would look on someone who doesn't have her figure. But I saw these and thought I would just go for it and I haven't really taken them off since. They are so comfy and make a perfect lazing around in the park outfit. Also I teamed it with my new TBA shirt which I love, love, love! TBA is one of my favourite brands because of their lux fabrics and cute collars and this shirt is the ultimate in cute.

Ps. Check back again for a tutorial for the floral headband I made for these photos.

Thrift Finds

2011-07-11T00:57:00.000+01:00

This weekend I actually had a Saturday off and although I would have loved to spend it at the beach or on a walk in the park, Paul is busy writing because his band are recording next week so I had to occupy myself. There is a road not too far from my apartment that has about a billion charity shops on it and it used to be amazing for vintage clothes. Due to charity shops only sending their vintage to special 'vintage' stores and those cash for clothes shops they it isn't quite as good anymore (anyone else finding this problem in thrift stores?) but you can still get great vintage housewares on a good day. I managed to find some great records, Echo and the Bunnymen - Killing Moon which is an amazing song, A really random record of French songs...where I have to admit I just kind of liked the cover and an Elvis Christmas Album which I'm very much looking forward to listening to around the fire when the time comes. I also managed to pick up this black, pleated midi skirt which I hope to get into an outfit post soon once I can bully Paul into coming out with me again. I found two little maple leaf brooches at a funny one-off church sale too. It only had around 5 stalls at it and I found them on a stall dedicated to a brooch collection a lady was selling off. Paul is Canadian so I like to pick these up whenever I see them for him.

The 12th of July is coming up which I'm sure most of you know is a pretty big day for Northern Ireland...mostly for trouble. It's usually best just to stay in on the 12th as it's more hassle than it's worth trying to move around town and a lot of stuff is shut, so I plan on using the next few days to try and get some crafting done and doing all those little jobs I always manage to put off.

Inspiration: Lydia Deetz

2011-07-08T20:22:00.000+01:00

' Live people ignore the strange and unusual. I, Myself , am strange and unusual' - Lydia Deetz

If you were a child of the eighties i'm sure you also look back on films you watched and think why did my parents let me watch that! Even the children's films made you stare in disbelief or hide behind the sofa ( Never Ending Story or The Dark Crystal anyone?). Beetlejuice was always one of my favourite films when I was younger and I must have watched it a thousand times. I'm pretty sure I managed to wear through the tape on the VHS. You have to love Tim Burton's fascination with the morbid and this film is that fascination at it's best. On top of it being hilarious...and kinda scary it I have a bit of a style crush on Winona Ryder anyway (see here, Edward scissorhands, Heathers...wow I have to do one of these for Heathers.) and in this film as Lydia Deetz she embodies teen angst with her gothic style. With all that lace it would be easy to incorporate a bit of Lydia into your everyday style too; okay maybe not the lace veil but the little, red French Connection number below is perfect and would definitely be on my shopping list if I wasn't on a 'thrifting only' budget for the rest of the month.

Beetlejuice by anigolightly featuring pearl jewelry

Label Love

2011-07-03T23:20:00.000+01:00

The marketing geek inside of me has a crush on Marc Jacob's advertising campaigns. He always manages to encapsulate the quirky-cool style of his clothes in his campaigns. The photographs by Juergen Teller push the boundaries between high fashion and celebrity. My favourite thing about them is his choice of models, whether it's Winona Ryder, Victoria Beckham or the Fanning sisters I'm always surprised by his choices but at the same time they are perfect to represent his brand.

Easy Peasy Pesto Recipe

2011-06-29T15:06:00.000+01:00

Pesto is so easy I feel like it is a bit of a cheat posting it here as a 'recipe' but lately I've been so busy and it is the perfect thing to have in your fridge for a quick meal or snack. You can have it with pasta like I had here or spread it in your sandwiches or on toasted french bread as a snack. I doubled the recipe up here because it will last for a good few days and even longer if you put a good layer of olive oil on the top.

Pesto Recipe

You will need:

salt

1 bunch basil leaves

1 garlic clove

30g pine nuts

about 50ml olive oil

60g Parmesan cheese

1. Remove the stalks from the basil and chop the leaves roughly before putting it into the blender.

2. Add the garlic, pine nuts and a pinch of salt and blend adding the olive oil while you do. Then after a few seconds add the cheese and more oil until it is the right texture.

3. Once blended decant into your prettiest jar (or tupperware box) and layer a small amount of extra oil on top.

See told you it was easy!

South

2011-06-27T21:56:00.000+01:00

I spent the last weekend working my cupcake stall at Chilifest. I baked so many cakes and really don't want to use my oven for a good, long time now. Chilifest is so much fun, they have country music playing all day, chili eating competitions and everyone gets into the Rockabilly spirit and dresses up. I saw so many lovely vintage ladies that day, helped by the fact my stall was next to Vintage Rocks a hairdressing salon in Belfast that specializes in vintage styles and they were doing lovely up dos and curls all day! It has always been an ambition of mine to one day travel all through the deep south and being surrounded by all the music and smell of gumbo cooking all just confirmed my feelings. One day I really hope I get to.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Book List Challenge Update

2011-06-23T11:10:00.000+01:00

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Since last time I mentioned I was doing the book list challenge I have gotten through a couple more (as well as re-reading the first in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, they are some of my favourites and have read the books over and over because they don't get old to me!). I've read Jane Eyre which I can't even explain how much a love it. I fell head over heels for Mr Rochester. I also gave Emma by Jane Austen a go but only got a quarter of the way through because I simply wasn't enjoying it and it has kind of put me off reading any more Jane Austen novels. I just don't think I like her writing style. At the moment I'm half way through Wuthering Heights and finding it very strange, I know there is going to be a big twist at some point soon and I'm just waiting for it to happen.

Have any of you gotten any further with reading through the book list? Any recommendations for which book I should read next?

Book	Author
1	Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen
2	The Lord of the Rings	JRR Tolkien
3	Jane Eyre	Charlotte Bronte
4	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	JK Rowling
5	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
6	The Bible	Various
7	Wuthering Heights	Emily Bronte
8	1984	George Orwell
9	Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)	Philip
10	Great Expectations	Charles Dickens
11	Little Women	Louisa M Alcott
12	Tess of the D’Urbervilles	Thomas Hardy
13	Catch 22	Joseph Heller
14	Romeo and Juliet	William Shakespeare
15	Rebecca	Daphne Du Maurier
16	The Hobbit	JRR Tolkien
17	Birdsong	Sebastian Faulk
18	Catcher in the Rye	JD Salinger
19	The Time Traveler’s Wife	Audrey Niffenegger
20	Middlemarch	George Eliot
21	Gone With The Wind	Margaret Mitchell
22	The Great Gatsby	F Scott Fitzgerald
23	War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy
24	The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy	Douglas Adams
25	Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
26	Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck
27	Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
28	The Wind in the Willows	Kenneth Grahame
29	Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy
30	David Copperfield	Charles Dickens
31	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain
32	Emma	Jane Austen
33	Persuasion	Jane Austen
34	The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe	CS Lewis
35	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini
36	Captain Corelli’s Mandolin	Louis De Bernieres
37	Memoirs of a Geisha	Arthur Golden
38	Winnie the Pooh	AA Milne
39	Animal Farm	George Orwell
40	The Da Vinci Code	Dan Brown
41	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42	A Prayer for Owen Meaney	John Irving
43	The Woman in White	Wilkie Collins
44	Anne of Green Gables	LM Montgomery
45	Far From The Madding Crowd	Thomas Hardy
46	The Handmaid’s Tale	Margaret Atwood
47	Lord of the Flies	William Golding
48	Atonement	Ian McEwan
49	Life of Pi	Yann Martel
50	Dune	Frank Herbert
51	Cold Comfort Farm	Stella Gibbons
52	Sense and Sensibility	Jane Austen
53	A Suitable Boy	Vikram Seth
54	The Shadow of the Wind	Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55	A Tale Of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
56	Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
57	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time	Mark Haddon
58	Love In The Time Of Cholera	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
59	Of Mice and Men	John Steinbeck
60	Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov
61	The Secret History	Donna Tartt
62	The Lovely Bones	Alice Sebold
63	Count of Monte Cristo	Alexandre Dumas
64	On The Road	Jack Kerouac
65	Jude the Obscure	Thomas Hardy
66	Bridget Jones’s Diary	Helen Fielding
67	Midnight’s Children	Salman Rushdie
68	Moby Dick	Herman Melville
69	Oliver Twist	Charles Dickens
70	Dracula	Bram Stoker
71	The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett
72	Notes From A Small Island	Bill Bryson
73	Ulysses	James Joyce
74	The Inferno	Dante
75	Swallows and Amazons	Arthur Ransom
76	Germinal	Emile Zol
77	Vanity Fair	William Makepeace Thackera
78	Possession	AS Byatt
79	A Christmas Carol	Charles Dickens
80	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchel
81	The Color Purple	Alice Walker
82	The Remains of the Day	Kazuo Ishiguro
83	Madame Bovary	Gustave Flaubert
84	A Fine Balance	Rohinton Mistry
85	Charlotte’s Web	EB White
86	The Five People You Meet In Heaven	Mitch Albom
87	Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
88	The Faraway Tree Collection	Enid Blyton
89	Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad
90	The Little Prince	Antoine De Saint-Exupery
91	The Wasp Factory	Iain Banks
92	Watership Down	Richard Adams
93	A Confederacy of Dunces	John Kennedy Toole
94	A Town Like Alice	Nevil Shute
95	The Three Musketeers	Alexandre Dumas
96	Hamlet	William Shakespeare
97	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Roald Dahl
98	Les Miserables	Victor Hugo
99	Bleak House	Charles Dickens
100	Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh

Time Out

2011-06-19T00:39:00.000+01:00

I haven't been on here in a while. Just sometimes the last thing you want is to look at/take pictures of yourself, I know everyone feels like that every now and then. I've been having a real lack of confidence and really just needed to re-group and spend my evenings watching tacky tv and doing laundry. In other words doing nothing at all!

I've become a little bit obsessed with The Selby he takes amazing photographs of the interiors of creative people's homes. I love a good bookshelf and his photos are full of them. I've always been a renter so i've never gotten to decorate my home properly but these photos feel my head full of ideas for the house I dont have yet. Click through to see more.

Tea for Two

2011-05-21T10:30:00.000+01:00

I bought my Mum afternoon tea for Christmas but between me working and her looking after William we hadn't found time to go until now. I love going for afternoon tea, it's so dainty and elegant and even though I try my best to portray those things through my little vintage tea dresses I really am a very clumsy, graceless girl no matter how hard I try. We went to the Merchant Hotel which is a beautiful building already and serves the yummiest food (wait until you see the dessert tier below!).

I'm not sure if i'm out of focus because my mum didn't know how to use my camera or because she was just focusing on what really matters...the cakes.

Tomorrow is my birthday which I will spend at my parents chilling out. But today I was surprised by my boyfriend as he is taking me shopping! Sooooo excited! I'm sure lots more outfit photos are coming soon!

Oxford Comma

2011-05-17T18:00:00.000+01:00

I got back yesterday from my trip to Oxford. I really love that city, it is so romantic to be able to walk around and everything be so beautiful. I don't have too many photos as I only brought my Diana camera with me and i am definitely a novice to lomography so we will have to see how that turns out... Although the weather kind of scuppered my boating plans I did still get to get around my old stomping ground and also pay a visit to my friend's new horse which was fun although a little scary, horses are just too big!! I'm off to Afternoon tea with my Mum today at the Merchant Hotel. I've been once before and it was amazing and I am so excited. I'm having almost as much fun just deciding on what I'm going to wear!

What I Wore

2011-05-17T10:26:00.000+01:00

This was taken back in those few days of glorious sunshine we had...unfortunately back to cold and showers now. I've not been up to much just getting on with work and saving up for my birthday week. Now I know a birthday week isn't the most normal thing to do but i plan to fill it with all my favourite things. It's a busy week up ahead tomorrow I'm off to Oxford for a few days. It's one of my favourite cities and where I went to university. When I get back hopefully I will have a little time to write you a guide for if you ever happen to be there. It has the best vintage/charity shops and lots of yummy little cocktail bars and restaurants. When I get back I will be making the most of my few days off, working at a fashion show (always seem to be able to fill up my time off with work!) and then celebrating my actual birthday with my friends and family.

Ps. sorry this is a little late. what has blogger been up to?!

Summer bbq and night time fun

2011-05-01T12:44:00.000+01:00

What I wore:

Necklace - Tiffany

Dress - NV

Cardigan -Urban Outfitters

Sandals: Urban Outfitters

Yesterday was spent with my best friend and her husband having a mini barbecue to celebrate the warm day we had. There is something so much nicer about having your dinner and a few drinks outside. I ate way too much food and we ended the night with our favourite pastime a bit of singstar! I love this dress because of the nautical touch it has to it alongside my accidental shirley temple hair.

Honeycomb Frozen Yoghurt Recipe

2011-04-28T17:00:00.000+01:00

I can't even explain how yummy this is! I'm lactose intolerant so even though my lack of willpower ends up in dairy binges I try to keep milk, cream and cheese to a minimum. I've always found that i'm fine with yogurt which really should lead to loads of desert possibilities, but frozen yoghurt places often stick to plain, green tea and if you are lucky chocolate. I'm desperate for the range of ice cream flavours i used to have (hello cookies and cream anyone?!), so i got inspiration from Lola's Ice Creams & Sundaes to make this Honeycomb frozen yogurt. It turns out quite sweet so if you don't have so much of a sweet tooth I would probably add less sugar if you are making your frozen yogurt honeycomb flavour.

Honeycomb Frozen Yoghurt Recipe

You will need:

For the honeycomb -

250g caster sugar

125g golden syrup

1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

butter, for greasing

For the frozen yogurt-

125ml double cream

500ml greek yogurt

125g caster sugar

1. Line a baking sheet with greasproof paper and grease it with butter, set aside. Put the sugar and the golden syrup into a large pan and heat gently while stirring continuously.

2. Once dissolved turn up the heat and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave it to simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and it will rise to the top of the pan (I loved that part).

3. Pour into your tray and leave it to cool and harden. It can take up to an hour.

4. Take a rolling pin to it an smash it up into tiny places!

5. Now for the frozen yoghurt! Mix together the double cream, greek yoghurt and caster sugar. Try to get lots of air into it.

6. Pour in your honeycomb...the amount is to your taste. I didn't use all of the honeycomb, the rest can be used to top cakes or just sneakily munch on. Pour into a freezable container and leave for an hour. After that take out to stir every 1.30 - 2 hours and then put back in. I did that maybe 3 times and then left it over night to use at lunchtime the next day and it was perfect.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T20:18:00.000+01:00

A slightly late Happy Easter but an enthusiastic one anyway! My easter was spent at Paul's parents house, relaxing and getting on with my reading of Jane Eyre. I've eaten way too many easter eggs and fear that i might have to wear elasticated waistbands for a long time to come. I've got some exciting things coming up including a trip to my old stomping ground Oxford and *hopefully* a little stay in a countryside cottage as well as my birthday next month! So although I've got some excitement coming up I might be a bit quiet on the interesting news front because I'm saving up to buy lots of vintage dresses and trips on row boats in Oxford. I hope you aren't all regretting the easter chocolate binge too much.

Banana Bread Recipe

2011-04-23T17:00:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I needed to bring something to my mum's house and I thought banana bread would be perfect for a post-roast lunch supper with a big cup of tea. I can't say that banana would be something i usually would go for, but it just seems the perfect way to use up old bananas. I always have leftover bananas too because I have a total aversion to the smell of ripe bananas too and usually only can bare to eat them while they are still a bit green.

This banana bread was perfect though and really yummy, even for a banana smell hating person as myself. You can eat it the traditional way spread with butter or if you are feeling a bit naughty nutella goes so well with it.

Banana Bread

You will need:

4 small very ripe bananas

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

125g butter, melted

150g sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extra

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Start by roughly mashing your bananas in a bowl and preheating your oven to 170c.

2. In another separate bowl put your flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt.

3. Melt your butter either on the hob or in the microwave.

4. Pour the butter into the mixing bowl, add sugar and beat well before adding the eggs one at a time and mashed banana.

5. Stir in the vanilla extract and cinnamon and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, stirring well after each batch.

6. Pour into a loaf tin. You don't have to use a liner but it makes it so, so much easier! Pop in the oven for 1 hour 15 mins. Once ready leave in the pan to cool on your cooling rack, and once cooled serve in thick, delicious slices.

Spring Egg Hunt

2011-04-19T21:44:00.000+01:00

This weekend was so lovely! After a spot of baking and ice cream making (recipes coming soon) i made my way to my mum's house for a little fake easter weekend as i can't be there on the real thing. It was just so good to have a relaxing country weekend in the sun, playing with my cats and having a little easter egg hunt in the garden. She has so many fun animals too chickens, cats, goats and sometimes the odd duck, as i rent and live in an apartment it's fun to be able to hang out with some furry little friends for a while and I've been so busy lately it was nice to relax. Although there is something about my mum's house that makes me fall asleep every other hour.

I've been thinking about doing a little guide to introduce you to all the cool things in Belfast. I'm just trying to decide whether i'm going to do it all in one post or over a series of posts. It's a little city and is lacking in a lot of things but manages to gather up a load of really cute independent little stores and companies that make it such a interesting place.

Book list Challenge

2011-04-15T11:02:00.000+01:00

Ever since seeing the BBC book list challenge I have been intent on trying to finish the list. You can see the list and take the test on facebook here. The BBC claims that 'most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books'. I am a little dubious about this as that seems incredibly low but at the same time their list seems to be made up of very safe choices and I know that many of the books I haven't read on there I hadn't because I had a assumed they would be too old fashioned and so not relevant to me or they were going to be difficult to read. I know i'm missing out on a lot of good books because of my stubbornness so I'm taking up the challenge and finishing the list.

So here is my list and i've hightlighted those that i have read but left out any i feel i need to read again and will continue working my way through; hopefully being able to tell you a little about the ones i recommend as i go along. I'm starting with Jayne Eyre.

PS. If you were to buy all those books in a shop it would cost you hundreds,which would be silly because you can get them all from your local library for free. I love libraries but they need help and the best way to show your support is simply just to use them.

	Book	Author
1	Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen
2	The Lord of the Rings	JRR Tolkien
3	Jane Eyre	Charlotte Bronte
4	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	JK Rowling
5	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
6	The Bible	Various
7	Wuthering Heights	Emily Bronte
8	1984	George Orwell
9	Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)	Philip
10	Great Expectations	Charles Dickens
11	Little Women	Louisa M Alcott
12	Tess of the D’Urbervilles	Thomas Hardy
13	Catch 22	Joseph Heller
14	Romeo and Juliet	William Shakespeare
15	Rebecca	Daphne Du Maurier
16	The Hobbit	JRR Tolkien
17	Birdsong	Sebastian Faulk
18	Catcher in the Rye	JD Salinger
19	The Time Traveler’s Wife	Audrey Niffenegger
20	Middlemarch	George Eliot
21	Gone With The Wind	Margaret Mitchell
22	The Great Gatsby	F Scott Fitzgerald
23	War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy
24	The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy	Douglas Adams
25	Crime and Punishment	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
26	Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck
27	Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
28	The Wind in the Willows	Kenneth Grahame
29	Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy
30	David Copperfield	Charles Dickens
31	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain
32	Emma	Jane Austen
33	Persuasion	Jane Austen
34	The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe	CS Lewis
35	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini
36	Captain Corelli’s Mandolin	Louis De Bernieres
37	Memoirs of a Geisha	Arthur Golden
38	Winnie the Pooh	AA Milne
39	Animal Farm	George Orwell
40	The Da Vinci Code	Dan Brown
41	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42	A Prayer for Owen Meaney	John Irving
43	The Woman in White	Wilkie Collins
44	Anne of Green Gables	LM Montgomery
45	Far From The Madding Crowd	Thomas Hardy
46	The Handmaid’s Tale	Margaret Atwood
47	Lord of the Flies	William Golding
48	Atonement	Ian McEwan
49	Life of Pi	Yann Martel
50	Dune	Frank Herbert
51	Cold Comfort Farm	Stella Gibbons
52	Sense and Sensibility	Jane Austen
53	A Suitable Boy	Vikram Seth
54	The Shadow of the Wind	Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55	A Tale Of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
56	Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
57	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time	Mark Haddon
58	Love In The Time Of Cholera	Gabriel Garcia Marquez
59	Of Mice and Men	John Steinbeck
60	Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov
61	The Secret History	Donna Tartt
62	The Lovely Bones	Alice Sebold
63	Count of Monte Cristo	Alexandre Dumas
64	On The Road	Jack Kerouac
65	Jude the Obscure	Thomas Hardy
66	Bridget Jones’s Diary	Helen Fielding
67	Midnight’s Children	Salman Rushdie
68	Moby Dick	Herman Melville
69	Oliver Twist	Charles Dickens
70	Dracula	Bram Stoker
71	The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett
72	Notes From A Small Island	Bill Bryson
73	Ulysses	James Joyce
74	The Inferno	Dante
75	Swallows and Amazons	Arthur Ransom
76	Germinal	Emile Zol
77	Vanity Fair	William Makepeace Thackera
78	Possession	AS Byatt
79	A Christmas Carol	Charles Dickens
80	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchel
81	The Color Purple	Alice Walker
82	The Remains of the Day	Kazuo Ishiguro
83	Madame Bovary	Gustave Flaubert
84	A Fine Balance	Rohinton Mistry
85	Charlotte’s Web	EB White
86	The Five People You Meet In Heaven	Mitch Albom
87	Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
88	The Faraway Tree Collection	Enid Blyton
89	Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad
90	The Little Prince	Antoine De Saint-Exupery
91	The Wasp Factory	Iain Banks
92	Watership Down	Richard Adams
93	A Confederacy of Dunces	John Kennedy Toole
94	A Town Like Alice	Nevil Shute
95	The Three Musketeers	Alexandre Dumas
96	Hamlet	William Shakespeare
97	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Roald Dahl
98	Les Miserables	Victor Hugo
99	Bleak House	Charles Dickens
100	Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh

Nadinoo S/S 2011

2011-04-11T21:03:00.000+01:00

I've spoken about them before but I had to show you Nadinoo's spring/summer collection. I'm loving the sailor collars and cropped shirts. I've been really loving the look of cropped tops with high waisted skirts and would love to give it a go in the summer....maybe give myself to tone up a bit first before gracing the world with my stomach. I'm lusting over these cutesy floral prints teamed with knotted t-shirts and brogues and wish some of these could end up in my summer wardrobe.

..........................................................................................................................

This weekend I had my friend Fiona who I lived with in University staying with me. I hadn't seen her in two years so it was so good to see her and catch-up. It made me realise how much I miss my friends in England and the fun times I had when I was a student. Oxford was such a lovely place to live in and I really miss it. I don't have too many pictures from the weekend but it involved lots of cocktails, dancing, shopping and cake. what could be better!

What I Wore - to Casablanca

2011-04-07T11:16:00.000+01:00

So last night I went to a screening of Casablanca as part of the Belfast Film Festival. They picked Harlem Cafe as the venue which turned into Rick's Cafe for the night. It was meant to be an optional dress up night and there were some very convincing Nazis but I just had a 5 min rummage around my wardrobe in a panic and decided on this outfit. It was great too because I got to take my newly repaired dress out for a spin. It was probably my best ever find at £16 in the sale of the renewal clothes in Urban Outfitters. I got asked by the photographer for my photo who i regretfully said yes too. I always look horribly embarrassed in any kind of style spotter photos. You can see my embarrassed little face below, i'm trying to embrace it.

I had never actually seen Casablanca before (shock horror) and loved it. I'll definitely need to watch it again though in a place where there is less distraction for someone with a short attention span like me.

]

Headpiece - Urban Outfitters

Dress - Vintage YSL

Belt - Vintage

Lips - Mac Russian Red

Inspiration

2011-04-05T23:52:00.000+01:00

''I'm Audrey Horne and I get what I want'

David Lynch's Twin Peaks was an iconic and cult hit for many reasons and is an inspiration on its own but the most intriguing character for me is Audrey Horne. Audrey Horne played by the stunning Sherilyn Fenn is the perfect good girl gone bad. Audrey abandoned the 90's fashions to adopt a 1950's style complete with perfectly set curls, high-waisted, knee-length tartan skirts, soft knitted tops and brogues. She personifies good girl style with flashes of her mischievous, sultry, rebellion coming through.

Here is what I would buy in the shops right now taking inspiration from Audrey Horne. I've also updated the look for summer. I know we aren't quite there yet but i'm so excited for a bit of summer fun I couldn't wait. Bigger update on what i've been up to coming soon.

Audrey Horne Twin Peaks by anigolightly featuring leather shoes

All butter not-quite heart shortbreads.

2011-03-16T20:48:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a pack of shortbread from a supermarket and was so disappointed. I was hoping for lovely buttery, crumbly shortbread and ended up with something more like a nice biscuit. bad form mr.supermarket! Now I can't help but feel that good old M&S makes some of the best shortbread you can buy in shops but this recipe is a good, lighter alternative if you feel like baking at home. I made this up out of a few different recipes after searching online. I still wouldn't say it was perfect and didn't hold it's shape as much as i had hoped (they were meant to be hearts) but i was quite satisfied by this slightly fluffier alternative to the dense shortbreads you get in shops. Perfect to have with your tea when you get in from work.

Shortbread Not-quite Hearts

You will need:

500g butter

200g caster sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

500g plain flour

Preheat your oven to 180C, weigh out your butter and cut into cubes for easier mixing.

Cream butter and sugar together, scraping the sides down regularly...

...until light and fluffy.

Take two teaspoons of good quality (it makes all the difference) vanilla extract and mix in well.

Add flour and mix well.

Take your mix and roll it on a floured workspace until approx 1cm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your shape and then place on greased baking trays to be placed in the oven for 10-12 mins

Once cooked leave on tray until cool to touch and then place on cooling racks until completely cooled. While your waiting pop the kettle on ready for a cup once they are ready.

Love at First Sight

2011-03-05T01:36:00.000Z

Oh how I wish I wasn't so susceptible to marketing.

What I Wore

2011-03-03T21:48:00.000Z

Today was spent doing a kind of treasure hunt thing. We traveled through loads of really cute villages and all along the coast. I'm soooo tired now but it was such a nice day it was good to get out and enjoy it instead of staying in and sewing/baking/doing French homework like I have been doing all winter. We didn't even get to finish it because we were so tuckered out, I'm pretty sure that might be because of the little monster making things a million times slower. He made it so much more fun though so I forgive him. I tried to embrace the spring sun today although I'm not really sure about the tights, I thought they looked all nice and antique-y but now I think they just kind of look like terrible fake tan from far away. Ideally I would wear this outfit with my brown wooden heels with leather straps but I knew there would be lots of walking so I went for my old trusty comfy moccasins instead.

Cardigan - F&F

Necklace - I've had it for years

Blouse - Vintage

High waisted shorts - New Look

Belt - Urban Outfitters

Tights - Urban Outfitters

Moccasins - Clarks

Inspiration

2011-03-01T23:05:00.000Z

It was love at first sight for me seeing The Virgin Suicides. Not only is it a romanticized teenage angst story starring one of my favourite hollywood starlets/fashionistas, it is visually beautiful. My love for this film had my young, teenage self determined that my first born would be called Lux. Now i'm pretty sure I wont put said first born through being called Lux but this movie had a great impact on me and is definitely a great inspiration. I love the effortlessly simple dresses and sandals, delicate prints, lace and muted colour tones.

Pretty Rose Cupcakes

2011-02-26T16:16:00.000Z

These cupcakes are the sweetest, yummiest things. They smell beautiful as well as having a distinctive, floral flavour. For these ones i chose a sticky fondant frosting instead of a buttercream as I wanted to compliment the light taste instead of making the cake too heavy.

Rosewater Cupcakes

You will need

3/4 cup s/r flour

1/2 + 2 tbsp plain flour

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk (full fat milk is fine if you cant find buttermilk...or there are certain ways of making your own replacement which you can look up online)

1 tbsp rosewater

Makes 12

1. Preheat an oven to 175C and combine flours in a bowl and set to the side.

2. In your bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy (Remember to scrape down sides well)

3. add eggs and mix well.

4. Add flour in 3 additions alternating with your buttermilk.

5. Add your rose water and mix well, remembering to scrape down the sides.

6. Scoop into your cupcakes cases, filling approx 1/2 way. This is so you have enough room once cooked to pour in your fondant.

7. Bake for 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Leave in the pan to cool for 10 mins and then place on a cooling rack.

for the Rosewater fondant.

2 cups icing sugar (and extra if needed)

Milk (as needed)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp rosewater

1. Put your icing sugar in the bowl and add your vanilla and rosewater.

2. Add milk a few spoonfuls at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Don't make it too thick as it needs to be runny enough to be poured.

3. Pour on top of your cupcakes until it reaches the top of the case.

I have used sugared rose petals here but if you wanted to top them with sprinkles or even crush pistachios it would work just as well!