DIY Halloween Decorations

If you're celebrating Halloween this weekend, you have to make some of these little guys!

They're so, so easy to make & make a nice change from the old carved pumpkins everyone else will have out.
All you need is a baby pumpkin, vampire fangs and two sewing pins.
Carve a gap for his teeth and pull out the flesh.
Slot the teeth into the gap, and pin his beady little eyes in!
Dot a few of them around the house, or gathered in a little corner somewhere.
Sit back and watch as your guests squeal with delight!

Happy Halloween! 

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You may have landed on this blogpost by chance or because one of your friends has sent you here.

Yesterday, you would have seen a furious rant about a restaurant behaving dangerously in London's West End.
A long rambling letter written in the middle of the night, after a horrendous evening.

However, any of you who read my blog post will know that I promised to remove it on 3 conditions:

They update the menu to include dangerous allergens, they re-train staff to deal with life threatening situations & they apologise.

My main concern was that it would happen to somebody else.

I have just received an email from the head of the restaurant group agreeing to these conditions, so as far as I'm concerned the matter is closed.

So many of you have shown your support & I'm really grateful.

Who says Twitter can't be used for good, after all?!

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Pinterest

I'm pretty sure that Pinterest is the holy grail of the internet.
I'm serious.
This website is what the internet was made for.
I love it more than Facebook & Twitter combined.
Whenever I explain it to people, I tell them it's a visual pinboard of dreams! Somewhere to store all those little bits that make you say 'Ooooh' so that you don't completely forget them the second you look away from your computer.
Effectively it's a bookmarking service, that everyone shares.
If my friend thinks something's cool, she'll pin it, I'll see her pin and if I think it's cool, I'll repin it & so on.
Other than that, it's really just another way to show your personality online, I suppose.
It's quite voyeuristic, dipping into other peoples hopes & dreams.
Here's how it works...

You start on a page, full of things pinned by the people you follow-

You scroll through these, like, comment & repin as you see fit. 

(The more likes, comments & repins you get, the more your pins will be seen, and you'll get more followers.) 

You can also wonder through the 'everything' boards. 

This is what I like.

A visual explosion of what the world thinks is cool. A fab place for fashion inspiration, interior design tips & recipe ideas. 

The boards you curate are kept on your profile.
And you can even create group boards, which your friends can add to, too. This is great for planning a party or even a wedding.

I have 9 boards which I fill with everything I love.
A while ago I blogged about my dreamhome, using pictures I'd gathered from Pinterest.

I also tend towards food porn:

Words of wisdom:

Styling ideas:

Party ideas:

and cute fluffy things I would very much like to have in my life: 

Currently, Pinterest is invitation only.
If you don't yet have an account I am more than happy to send you an invie.
Leave your email address in the comments & I'll zip one over to you.
If you are on Pinterest, come follow me & leave a link to your boards in the comments, so I can follow you back!

UPDATE: 

I'm sorry to say I can no longer keep up with the demand for invitations! 

Pinterest now has over 5 million members, so try asking your friends & family. 

Lots of love, Rose x

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The UK Chilli Stand Off

This weekend I went to a fab foodie party.
The 1st ever UK Chilli Stand-Off.
Hosted in a vast old warehouse in Shoreditch, 9 of Britain's top kitchens did battle to win the hearts & tastebuds of the judges (us!). 

Chefs from The Fat Duck, Chilango, Leon, Lucky Chip, Gizzi Erskine, All Star Lanes, Dock Kitchen and Carl Clarke of Disco Bistro (who you'll remember from my Laundrette experience) lined up their chili cauldrons, stood back, and watched as we gorged ourselves on hot, spicy pork.

Unfortunately I missed the award ceremony but my personal favourite, Carl Clarke won with a beautifully tender, well balanced chili.
I've just bought myself a shiny new crock-pot so shall spend a few days trying to replicate his winning recipe!
If you're a London based foodie, you might want to follow the organisers on Twitter. They do these sort of events all the time.
In fact, I've heard rumor of an alpine themed, roof-top party tomorrow night.
Vin chaud all round!


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Nanoblur Review

Now, as you know, I don't often write about beauty products.
I don't want you to think that this is because I don't love them or buy them.
I'm a bit of a girly girl, I don't have buckets of make up around the house, but I do have my staples.
To be honest for something to wiggle it's way into my makeup bag, it's got to be pretty special.
The truth is, taking photos of myself and saying "Don't I look pretty, here's how you can look like me..." just makes me incredibly uncomfortable!
I don't presume to think you want to look anything like me, but honestly, I think I've stumbled across something you can't live without.
It's the newest 'miracle cream' from across the pond.
It's called Nanoblur promises to make you look 10 years younger in 10 seconds.
Now, this isn't quite true. It wont give you a facelift, tummy tuck & boob job. What it will do is quite 'blur' your imperfections.
My friends & I call it Photoshop in a bottle.

I wont bother giving you a science lesson, because we'll both be bored. 

All you need to know is, it effectively airbrushes away your pores & fine lines, leaving your face looking like Mario Testino has had his way with it!

A pretty good-sized tube is about £20 from Boots.
Go about your beauty routine as normal, and just smooth it on over your foundation.
Boys, if you're still with me... it's a unisex product & will work wonders for you too! (It's not tinted & no-one will ever know you're wearing it.)

And yes, I am wearing a OnePiece.
Who says beauty bloggers have to be glamorous?


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Big Apple Hot Dogs

If you're anything like me, you're loving this beautiful, cold, crisp weather.
It's the perfect Autumn; cold enough to wear your coat, dry enough to wear nice shoes.
Besides kicking leaves in the park, there's one thing that gets my winter blood pumping, a big, hearty hot-dog!
Big Apple Hotdogs is the place to grab a hotdog in London.
With names like The Big Dog, The Pimp Steak, The Big Frank & the all new Dark Diggler… you know you're in for a treat!

Free range pork & secret recipe onions do wonders for this humble street food.
Deliciously moist & packed with the meaty flavour, this really is the best hot dog in London.

If you fancy trying them for yourself, wiggle into your best winter woolies & head on down to 239 Old Street, London, EC1V 9EY.
Abiye is the stand owner and he moves around now and then.
It's worth checking out the website or following them on Twitter to see where they'll be.

Don't forget your loyalty card!
If there's one thing I love more than food, it's free food!


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Home on the range

This weekend, I headed home to Somerset for some family time. 

The weather was cold, crisp & clear, the house was full to bursting with people I adore and I spent 80% of the weekend outside, and the rest of it snuggled by the fire. 

Pure bliss. 

Mummy's new baby alpaca, Mary.
She is sooo incredibly soft, I just want to shmoosh her all day long (Mary the alpaca.. not my mother)!

When cooking breakfast for an army of hungry friends & relatives, I recommend this little trick.
Take a muffin tray and pop a little knob of butter in each hollow, crack an egg on top, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and bung the whole lot in the oven.
When you pull them out, you'll have beautifully cooked eggs, ready for the masses.

My puppy dowg, Custard!

Honestly, is there anything better than a rugged man holding a baby... in a teddy bear costume?!

Spoilt little muffin!

On Sunday we went apple picking on the Longleat estate.

For our troubles we were rewarded with hand pressed cider, local sausages & every type of apple pudding you can fathom!

My monstrous delicious niece Ruby.

Delicious niece #2, Niamh.
I bought their squirrel hats from Zara Kids.
I may have also bought myself one...

It was by far the best weekend I've had in a long time & I cried all the way home!
Will I ever grow out of missing my mum?


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