Yankee Candle Wax Tarts

I own many candles. Tea lights, Yankee Candle jars, home-made candles, votives and Glade Christmas candles but I had never tried wax tarts. So one lunchtime when I fancied spending some pennies I ventured into House of Fraser and indulged in some Yankee Candle scents.

I picked up a tart burner that would fit in with my living room which featured a white ceramic (well I think it is) open flower which sits on a black metal base. The flower holds the tart and the tea light sits below to melt it. Simple.

I picked up four Yankee Candle wax tarts all together; Champaca Blossom (burning in the holder), Paradise Spice, Black Cherry and Lake Sunset. These are all quite sweet smells so if you are into musky ones I wouldn't suggest picking these up!

When I first lit the tea light and left it for the wax tart to melt I could really smell the fragrance. As I've continued to burn it (at different times) I feel the smell is getting a little more faint each time. I'm yet to get to the end so I can't say what is left in the holder but I do hope it all burns up so there is no scent contamination.

Although my first foray into wax tarts I have to say I quite enjoy them, so much so I've bought some more. That may just be because I am a hoarder...

The Yorkshire Hot Dog Co.

Whilst at the Bishop Auckland Food Festival we passed many stalls offering up some gorgeous hot foods and after a good look around we decided on a Yorkshire Hot Dog. There were four different versions you could get; a Yorkshire hot dog (just plain with onions), a fruity dog (topped with apple and cranberries),  cheese and chutney dogs (with cheese and chutney) and a chilli dog (topped with chilli, jalapeños, cheese and nachos). We settled on a Yorkshire hot dog, not wanting to be too adventurous.

The sausage itself was very nice, filled with flavour and surrounded by a fluffy bun. I, of course, covered mine in tonnes of ketchup which resulted in a mess. What can I say, I am a child... But I really did enjoy it so the mess is okay.

I believe the Yorkshire Hot Dog Co. visit quite a few markets throughout the year, they are on twitter and facebook if you want to have a look.

Bishop Auckland Food Festival 2014, County Durham

I love food but then again who doesn't! Now that I am in my own house I am on the look out for products made locally. I am all for buying at the supermarket but there is just something about discovering new sellers in your region that produce quality products. Recently I heard about the Bishop Auckland Food Festival, that ran over 26th and 27th April, which is about 40 minutes away from where I live. I was eager to make the trip to the festival to see what was on offer.

Photo overload coming up...

There were so many stalls offering a huge variety of different foods such as bread, meats, seasonings, oils, cakes and sweet treats. All the vendors were so friendly and they explained all that they could about their products, how they were made and answered any questions we had. You definitely feel at ease and not pressured to buy any products.

We picked up some items from; Flavour Magic, The Proof of the Pudding, Spicy Monkey, Geordie Banger Co. and Johnson's Toffee and Fudge.

The event was very well organised with two park and ride locations for ease of entry to the festival. When we arrived it was a case of getting off the bus and having a nosy around. It wasn't so big that you'd get lost or that you could miss anything, just the right size to spend a few hours having a wander around. In addition to the stalls, there was also cookery demonstrations by some well-known chefs (see my Simon Rimmer picture above!) and musical performances around the town by The Courgettes, three musical chefs.

I had a really good day out here and would definitely go back next year. I would recommend that you all put this in your calendars for next year.

The Comforter Bubble Bar Review - Lush

Ahh Lush. My favourite store. I hoard many bath products from here and the stash keeps getting bigger and bigger. One product I picked up that will definitely become a staple in my bathroom is the Comforter Bubble Bar.

The Comforter - £4.50

There are three reasons I picked up this product. First I love bubbles, second - the bar is PINK and third - it smells absolutely gorgeous! It is such a girly bubble bar as it smells of very sweet and sickly like red fruits and berries. It definitely has a hint of candy to it which makes me love it as I feel like I am bathing in a giant candy floss.

I only use a portion of this bubble bar and it creates lots of gorgeous bubbles as well as turning the bathwater pink! Just what I want on a night when I need to soak in the tub!

Have you tried this bubble bar before? Any suggestions of Lush products I should try?

Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil - The Body Shop

You've probably already read about The Body Shop's relatively new product - Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil. I'd heard about it through the twitter grapevine and wasn't really sure it was for me. I went in to store one day and a lovely staff member gave me a sample pot to try. From then I was hooked. I wanted to get my hands on this little bottle of goodness with its little squidgy pipette.

Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil

Firstly can I just start by saying that this bottle and pipette feel sooo expensive. The bottle itself is made of glass making it feel sleek and shiny as well as the pipette which makes me feel like a scientist. Okay, buzz about the bottle over...

The product itself is such an easy product to use and it provides great results. All you need is a good-sized drop of the serum-in-oil from the pipette into the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together and apply it to your face. At first, it felt a bit weird, a little greasy even but not so heavy that you feel you need to wash it off immediately. As this is supposed to be part of your nighttime skincare regime it is much easier to just leave this on to soak in.

I cleanse my face, tone, then use this, after I moisturise and then use my eye cream and I am ready for bed. As I say it does feel a little greasy but the benefits in the morning out way this little niggly feeling. I have combination skin, so putting oils on my face before bed is not something I would normally do but this stuff is so light and hydrating that it hasn't caused any breakouts whatsoever. In the morning I feel like my skin is hydrated, bright and plump. Just how it should be after my beauty sleep.

If you haven't tried this I suggest you do. I feel it really gives my skin a boost and I wouldn't be without it now. This product is £12.00 which may seem a little pricey but the amount you will use each night means you will be using this for AGES! To learn a bit more about this product go to The Body Shop's website here and have a read.

Strawberry Lemonade Nails - Nail Art

I wanted to get back into nail art so I decided that I would ease myself in gently using a white nail art pen and some gorgeous spring colours. As you can see the nail art I've done is not hard to do, just dots and stripes, but I actually think they look really good.



The colours I used for this were OPI - I Just Can't Cope-acabana and Avon Speed Dry - Strawberry. Both are gorgeous colours seperatly but together they are brilliant and remind me of strawberry lemonade. I'm going to try and get a bit more creative this summer with my nail art and hopefully show you my creations!

Recipe - Chicken Paella with Schwartz Flavour Shot

Recently I came across a new subscription box in which every month you get different food products. The Degustabox can contain snacks, drinks and ingredients. In the first box I received I had two types of the Schwartz Flavour Shots, one which was for a Spanish Paella. I had always thought I didn't like paella as it was made with seafood but inside the packaging was a recipe for chicken paella so I thought I'd have a go!

This recipe is Schwartz's, I've just made the effort to type it up for you!

1 Schwartz Spanish Paella Flavour Shot
1 Onion
100g (4oz) Chorizo, diced
450g (1lb) boneless chicken breasts, diced
325g (11oz) paella or risotto rice
1 litre (1 3/4 pints) water
1 red pepper, diced
100g (4oz) frozen peas

1. Prepare all your ingredients - dice the onions (or use frozen like me), the chorizo and the chicken.

2. Heat the pan and add your Schwartz Flavour Shot.

3. Add the onion and chorizo and gently fry for five minutes.

4. Add the chicken and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the rice, stir and fry for another minute.

6. Add the water, peppers and peas. Bring to the boil whilst stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.

This was a lovely spicy dish which I think would have been hard to achieve without the amazing flavour shot. I hope I can use the other shot that I got which is the Italian creamy herb tagliatellle.

The Living Room - styling our home

Since moving into our new house we've been working tirelessly to make it ours. The first two rooms were the bedroom and the living room. We are really happy with what we've achieved so I wanted to do a post to show it off! Here is what it looked like when we moved in...

Photo from Rightmove

We basically stripped the wallpaper, painted every surface, had the carpets cleaned (we are clean freaks!), changed the light fixtures (we have a dimmer!) and added our own furniture. Here is what it looks like now...

As you can see we've gone for a dark grey accent wall with white furniture but also some wooden furniture. With the light shades, we've added a pop of mustard colour which we hope to couple with some accent pillows to finish the room.

We decided to have a two-seater and a chair on one side of the room and the TV, unit and bookshelf on the other with the coffee table in the middle of the room. The TV is up on the wall which looks super cool and I think it helps keep the room looking spacious even though we have quite a bit in there. We've also got a small dining table coming from Baker and Stonehouse for the right corner as you enter the room but that probably won't be here until July as it is a 20 week lead time!

We've added many little things to the room like candles, flowers, DVDs and books to personalise our space. We have amazing double doors which open on to the garden in which we get the sun all day so the front room is always toasty. This means we need to get some blinds which we will probably be getting soon.

As I say, overall I am really pleased with what we've achieved as we think it looks really stylish and modern but still very comfy.