Red or White wine?

Red or white wine? White wine is definitely my preferred wine. When drinking white wine I really am a traditionalist, whenever I have fish I have a glass of white wine. However, I do have a glass when I have meat as well, which is traditionally supposed to be red. I find red wine far too bitter, dry and harsh. I have never enjoyed drinking red wine.  

I am definitely a cocktail girl. A good Martini, Cosmopolitan or Margarita are perfect for my night out. The prices for cocktails these days are far too expensive though. I understand that they need to include about two spirits (as more than 4 is illegal in England) it is still far too much for a dinner. When eating a paella I always enjoy a good Margarita, however when spending about £12 on a paella then £6 on a Margarita just brings the prices up to a ridiculous amount of money. It then always makes me feel guilty if someone is buying the food for me because I don’t feel like I can have a drink with my dinner. The prices for wine are so much cheaper, it is obscene. £3 for a glass of wine sounds so much better than the price of cocktails. 

Oh, just noticed my second glass of wine is empty, on to the next...

Too Good to go Unnoticed

I know that this season was a while ago, however I am far too proud to have it go unnoticed. As I am a student, I am very poor and I made these as Christmas presents. I Googled the recipe to make reindeer biscuits and was shocked to find that by using a gingerbread man cutter and turning the shapes upside down it would create a reindeer. Fantastic. 

Gingerbread men are extremely easy to make:

·        350g plain flour

·        1tsp bicarbonate of soda

·        2tsp ground ginger

·        1tsp ground cinnamon ( I always add in a little extra)

·        125g butter

·        175g light soft brown sugar

·        1 free-range egg

·        4 tbsp golden syrup

Recipes are to be found on Google of course. On Google these ingredients make 20, however for me I ended up making 28, so you can get a lot more out of dough than the internet says.

Using Sainsbury’s writing icing made the process a whole lot simpler than making my own. Okay, maybe it didn't create the best taste but I had a good amount of ginger and cinnamon to hide it.

Overall I think they were a definite, cheap success for Christmas presents.

Here is the recipe I followed :http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

My Guinea Pigs

She was lazy but fast, tiny but big, tired but excitable; these are the words that define my guinea pig. My lovely, happy guinea pig, Tilly. Today she unfortunately passed away. Even though I miss her she went peacefully, and I know she has already been greeted by her friend Milly.

It’s astonishing how humans can create such a strong bond with an animal. Guinea pigs only last for 4 – 6 years, but even in that short time my family and I grew extremely fond of Tilly and Milly. I was given them both as a 14th birthday present. When I went to choose them these two were the two that stood out to me the most. With Tilly’s extremely soft fur and Milly's tiny body, there was no way I could say no. 

  

The first vegetable that I fed them both was a green French bean, and after that they were hooked. Every day all they really wanted was beans, but not just any beans they always had the finest chopped beans. They were very spoilt. Lots of people choose to have their guinea pigs outside, however it didn't feel right putting mine outside, they seemed too far away and lonely. So they became indoor guinea pigs, which many people disagreed with. However I am very glad I went against the norm, as after a year we learnt that Milly had a heart murmur, basically a hole in her heart. This meant that every noise or shadow would make her jump which could have brought on a heart attack. Therefore being outside was not an option.

She was the skinniest little guinea pig, she was also a long haired guinea pig so you lost her body in the huge amount of fur. She had the funniest character, whenever we opened the fridge both guinea pigs would try to climb up the bars of their cage. Whereas Tilly would only go a couple of bars up, Milly would climb until she was standing and she would nibble away at the bars. The paint has come off from where she nibbled so much.

Tilly was more of a relaxed, chilled, go with the flow guinea pig, she would've definitely made a good hippy.  

Milly died at the age of 4, an amazing age for a guinea pig with a heart murmur. After that the vets were sure that Tilly would not survive as separation and loneliness for guinea pigs can kill them, as they just give up. However my little one was too tough for that, she lived on for another year and a half, my family helped a lot by talking to her. She was a heavy guinea pig as no one knew who was feeding her what. My Mum would come home from work and chat to her then give her a bean or lettuce, and then my Dad would cook in the evening and give her something else. She was a happy fat guinea pig. But unfortunately today was her day, and now she can rest in peace with Milly. I  shall never forget my first pets.

How Films Can Affect Your Dreams

Fear is a common emotion. We all have it inside of us. Unfortunately mine is overwhelmed by my dreams. Dreams of death and destruction in my world. People tell me it is just stress, but I’m not so sure. I feel unbelievably childish, knowing that I have dreams that frighten me. They wake me up at ridiculous times in the night and force my brain to believe that they are real. Therefore sleep for me isn't really a ‘thing to do’ on my list.

My dreams usually consist of someone I love very much dying. Logically these could be related to me leaving home for university, the feel of not being able to see anyone again. However these deaths are never quick, they are slow and painful and I can’t do anything to stop them. I can’t protect my loved ones when they are in need of immediate help; I just watch them, slowly wither away until they can’t breathe anymore. Sometimes I can feel the pain they go through, but I can’t wake up. I just stay in my dream, hurt. I just watch them wither away.

After watching the film Saw, my mind started to play up again and the deaths I was dreaming about became just like the Saw film. People being trapped and forced to panic and then die. The writer of Saw, Leigh Whannell and the director, James Wan, are two just incredibly twisted people. To include a psychopath who is basically a bully is just disgraceful. Aren't there enough perverted people in this world? But no, we think that it's sensible to give people ideas, to add something into their heads to make non-fiction become realty. What is the point? I understand that people enjoy films like this and gain a massive thrill, but seriously all it does its freak you out and make you worried to walk home alone in the dark. Where is the fun in that?

The Beauty of Flowers

I've always loved flowers, their beauty and the meanings behind them. My Mum has always loved lilies, how stunning they are when they open out and explode their beautiful sharp orange pollen and soft white exterior. A lily is said to mean purity and elegance. I've always been a large fan of tulips, they are always found in large colourful groups with tightly closed petals. Tulips have a meaning of happiness and love.

When I was younger I used to always help my Dad in the garden. One day he let me have a patch of my own to grow flowers that I wanted. It was absolutely full with many types of flowers, but I always had tulips. They would mainly flower in the spring, which was always a time to look forward to. Especially when I bought a variety pack so I never knew what the colours would be.

Even though I have always enjoyed real flowers I also love fake flowers. When I was little I used to love staring at the massive field of fake flowers in House of Fraser, and choosing which ones I would have. Since being at University I now have a selection of my own fake flowers. I was given a vintage, elegant, gorgeous jug by my boyfriend who later bought me fake flowers to put in it. Of course I chose them. There are so many in this jug I can’t even remember the names. However, I feel that it makes my room look really homey and adds a bit of colour. It is a lovely place to come back to after a lecture.

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Egg 'n' Spoon

The new Cadbury Dairy Milk Egg ‘n’ Spoon advert continues their witty humour with sounds and action. This advert consists of a young girl and her dad taking the egg out of the box and eating it. However it has been produced in an extremely clever way. Both protagonists create noises with objects, or by using their hands and bodies. These noises are used to create a top layer of music, whilst a 1960’s tune is being played on the radio as the base. These two noises have collaborated to twist modern and vintage together, relating to a wider audience. This has also been shown as there is a young girl as a protagonist and an older man as the dad. Also perhaps generating the notion of family and bonding.

The slogan at the end, ‘Free the Joy’ connects to their original slogan, ‘a GLASS and a HALF FULL of JOY’. This fun, enjoyable slogan emphasises what Cadbury’s is all about. Bearing in mind that we all dive into chocolate now and then for comfort, Cadbury’s slogan entices you to feel as though it is the best chocolate to encourage your mood.

Cadbury seems to be sticking close to the use of music throughout their adverts; first they used the gorilla and Phil Collin’s famous song ‘In the Air Tonight’ in 2007, then the ‘eyebrow dance’ in 2010, now ‘the egg ‘n’ spoon shake’ in 2014.

These adverts just sum up Cadbury in simple words: fun, witty, family orientated and quirky.

‘a GLASS and a HALF FULL of JOY’

Linda Loudermilk

When studying Fashion Communication and Promotion last year at my previous University, I was always told to look into different fashion designers, artists and bloggers. I seem to have picked this up as a habit now as I am constantly looking for people that I haven’t come across before. I had previously written an essay on Dame Vivienne Westwood about her ethical view on Fashion and her contribution to many different charities. It made me wonder if there were any other fashion designers out there who are eco-friendly.

When researching I found a woman named Linda Loudermilk. She was the first designer to have made a luxury+eco brand. This brand uses sustainable fabrics which are fabrics that have not been created by the use of pesticides or toxic processes. Also, when burnt, they do not create greenhouse gases to affect our environment. She uses bamboo, seaweed and corn to produce organic textiles to create her clothes.

This video shows her explaining how her eco-friendly green jeans are made:

Her inspirational attitude, drive and passion has influenced people to become aware of how cheap- end fabrics are harming our environment. Not only by how they’re made but where they end up.