My current obsessions

1. Game of Thrones (the TV show) Frankly, who isn't obsessed with Game of Thrones; I mean just LOOK at Jon Snow! Talk about gruff! I'm in the process of reacquainting myself with seasons 1 and 2, before moving onto season 3, which Cheryl kindly loaned to me. I know she's dying to gossip about season 3 with me, so I'm moving through 1 and 2 as quickly as possible! I'm even watching it as I type.

2. A Song of Fire and Ice (i.e. Game of Thrones, the books) - I'm currently a quarter of the way through the first book and can't put it down. The characters (particularly the female characters) are even more compelling in the books than they are in the series. Daenerys Targaryen and Lady Stark in particular are both far more complex characters in the books than they are in the series. I'll be posting a review of the book once I've finished it.

3. Wedding planning. Boy, it's proving harder than I ever imagined. Our particular problem is that we don't have a budget to work within (for various reasons), which makes planning almost impossible! The ceremony venue and registrar are booked though, as is the reception venue. My Pinterest boards are filling up nicely with ideas, and I already have most of it mapped out in my head. Just have to work out some way of paying for it all now!

4. My garden. We've lived in our little house for two years now, and as we've made the decision to remain until we can afford to buy somewhere of our own, I've decided that this summer I'm finally going to make something of the garden. I've always kept it tidy and mowed, but I've never really made it my own. I've decided to purchase some large planting pots and have various species of flowers in them. I adore tulips, so they are high on my list, and I'd also love some wildflowers, peonies and hydrangeas. I planted a white rose bush when we first moved in, which has somehow managed to thrive, despite my complete gardening ineptitude. A trip to the garden centre looks imminent.

5. Getting myself in shape. As most of my friends will know, in the last couple of years I've lost a huge amount of weight. This wasn't always easy, and took a great deal of self-denial and willpower. Over the last year that willpower has drained, and subsequently I've put around a stone of the weight I'd lost back on. My aim is that by the time Cheryl and I go to Dubai in September I'll be back in my bikini, and looking better than ever. I'm devising myself an eating and fitness plan to accompany this, and will be relying on my friends to prevent me from sabotaging myself (which I am prone to doing). I'm determined to be as healthy as I can be (whilst still enjoying life along the way!) I've been completely inspired by an online friend of mine, Laura Jane Williams, who has been working has ass off (literally) since the beginning of the year, and has lost 35lbs, gone from a size 16 to an 8/10 AND has run a 10k! Her dedication and commitment blows my mind, and I'm determined to follow in her (now very slender) footsteps! Some of the work gals and I have signed up for the Race for Life Pretty Muddy 5k in July (which you can sponsor us for here), so I'll be needing to get into shape for that. Well, any shape other than round, that is!

WEEKSTAGRAM // 26th March - 1st April

Quiet week this week...... Baked a Fruity Tea Loaf as a Mother's Day gift // Saw a beautiful combination of flowers on sale - tulips and hyacinths. Gave me some ideas for wedding flowers // The Mamma Mia Italian Food Market arrived in Cardiff and brought a touch of Italian tastiness to the capital // Cheryl and I had a wander around town and marveled at what passes for fashion these days! Feeling intensely old right now! // Started eating walnuts as a healthy lunchtime and post work out snack // Significant changes have been made to our wedding plans, including a change of date and change of reception venue. Aberdare Hall is currently the front runner for the reception venue. Meeting with the venue next week to discuss our ideas

Recipe // Fruity Tea Loaf

As today is Mother's Day I decided that rather than buying the usual flowers and chocolates for my mum, I would make her a cake. I chose this recipe as it's deliciously moist, and packed with all my favourite fruits. I used this BBC Good Food recipe, deviating slightly from the recipe by omitting the orange peel (as I'm not a fan), and adding a wider selection of fruits (semi-dried apple chunks, cranberries and dates). I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and my mum has asked me to bake another for her Bring and Buy sale next weekend.

Ingredients

300g mixture sultanas, raisins, dried cranberries, dried dates and sweetened apple
225ml hot tea
juice 1 orange
50g butter
100g light brown sugar
1 egg
225g self-raising flour
4 tbsp demerara sugar

Method (in words)

1. Place the dried fruits in a bowl and pour over the hot tea, orange juice and zest. Cover with cling film, then leave for at least 4 hrs or better still overnight.
2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base of a 2lb loaf tin. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then beat in the egg followed by the flour. Carefully stir through the fruit mixture. Spoon the mixture into the tin, then smooth over the surface with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle all over with a thick layer of demerara sugar.
3. Bake for 1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out, cut into slices and serve.

Method (in pictures)

Have your ingredients to hand. I chose to use a wider variety of fruits in this cake than the recipe called for. You could also add nuts such as walnuts or pecans to give it a crunch. Preheat your oven the 160 degrees.

Pour the freshly squeezed orange juice and hot tea over the fruits, using a spoon to ensure all the fruit is covered.

Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak overnight. I left mine to soak for about 16 hours to make sure they were very moist.

Cream the butter and sugar. This will take a long time with an electric hand whisk, and you may find the mixture clumps together. If this happens, use a metal spoon to soften the butter a little by hand. Once the sugar and butter are well mixed and softened, whisk in the egg, followed by the flour. You will be left with a heavy dough-like consistency.

Add the fruit mixture to the dough mixture a little at a time. Make sure you add all the liquid from the bowl, as this will cake the cake its moist texture.

 Place in the centre of the oven and cook for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Once it has cooled, carefully lift the loaf out, remove the grease proof paper and place onto a cake rake to allow the bottom to dry out a little.

If stored in a sealed and dry container, it will keep for a week. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea! 

WEEKSTAGRAM // 19th March - 25th March

I had my hair cut and dyed for the first time since August 2013. I had an ombre colour put through, using 7 different colours from root to tip // Bought some lovely treats for my new hair do. The Garnier Ultimate Blends shampoo is amazing. It's a blend of Argan Oil and Camellia Oil which leaves hair feeling really smooth and glossy // This week was all about the 'no make-up selfies' to raise money for Cancer Research. This was my contribution // Had a lovely meal at my favourite Indian restaurant, Spice Island, for Lisa's birthday // Celebrated Soph's Hen Party at Minsky's Showbar, complete with drag queens, strippers and buff waiters! // Celebrated Jem joining the 30 Club, during her fabulous Alice in Wonderland themed party at 10 Feet Tall // Enjoyed a yummy mango and falafel wrap from Coffee a GoGo // Cheryl, Hayley, Claire, Elen and I signed up for the Pretty Muddy Race for Life 5k race in July. Best start training!

WEEKSTAGRAM // 11th March - 18th March

I realised just how many books I'd started, but hadn't yet finished. Making a concerted effort to get through these in the next few months // I got very excited about mine and Cheryl's forthcoming trip to Dubai in September - our Pinterest board is packed with ideas! // My work orchid started to flower, but it fell off the following day // Cheryl and I paid a visit to the National Museum to view some art. Some was better than others // Daffodils to brighten up the office // Found a new geek programming obsession on Netflix - Grimm. Somewhat in love with David Giuntoli now // Took and walk around Cathays Park and got snap happy with Cheryl's fancy SLR camera. Saving up for my own now! // Went to see Wicked with Karen and Zoe at the Wales Millennium Centre. Amazing show. I enthusiastically blogged about it! // Cal and I went to see the 6 Nations Wales v Scotland match at the Millennium Stadium, which resulted in an astounding 51 - 3 victory for Wales. We then watched the nail biting final showdown between Ireland and France, which resulted in a superb tournament victory for Ireland // I was tweeted back by Giles Coren, TV presenter, Times Columnist, Foodie, and (most importantly) friend of my girl crush Sue Perkins. Felt very close to fame that day (even despite knowing that he tweets pretty much everyone back!)

Not pictured: Cheryl, Kath, Cal, Zoe and I came 3rd in The Heath's weekly pub quiz. Not really sure how we fared worse than last week, considering we had more people // Did two consecutive days of exercise classes. Feeling the burn // Cheryl and I planned an Easter trip to Tenby (photo ops abound!) // Considering entering the Pretty Muddy Race for Life 5k in July. Any excuse to mud wrestle, really.

Wicked - A review of the UK touring production

For one short night, in the Wales Millennium Centre, I witnessed musical theatre magic. I'm still catching my breath a day later.

For those uninitiated readers, Wicked (based upon the Gregory Maguire novel of the same name) is the untold story of the witches of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (The Good Witch of the North), preceding the events of The Wizard of Oz. We learn how despite their vast differences in opinion and personality, Elphaba and Glinda become friends whilst studying at Shiz University. The story follows the two young women as they are molded and forged by the trials and challenges they face; including a love rivalry, battle against the Wizard's corrupt regime, and Elphaba's eventual downfall. The musical plays with our perceived understanding of the original story, and challenges the audience to rethink their own preconceptions and prejudices. It's about looking at things another way. It challenges our understanding of good vs evil, beauty vs ugliness, and right vs wrong.

I've seen Wicked twice before, in London, with the exceptional Kerry Ellis playing the lead role of Elphaba, Helen Dallimore as Glinda, and the drop dead gorgeous Adam Garcia as Fiyero. I thought I would be hard pressed to find another company as perfect as that. Oh boy, was I proven wrong! I was electrified the entire way through!

The costumes, props, and sets are better than I remember. Obviously some changes have been made to allow for the show to tour, but none of the wonder and spectacle is lost. I dream of one day owning one of the Ozian costumes - they are a glorious confection in emerald! The flying monkeys, which haunted my childhood nightmares, writhe and clamor across the stage in a terrifying chaos of noise. There are several scenes which younger audience members might find a little scary, particularly the visceral No Good Deed, which moved me to tears. Elphaba's pain and feeling of futility oozes from every intonation and gesture.


Emily Tierney opens the show as the wonderfully blonde, beautiful and beloved Glinda. She skillfully balances Glinda innocent self-absorption with an undeniably good heart. Her hilariously breathy rendition of Popular had me in stitches, and her seemingly boundless energy was infectious. I especially loved her nod to Evita during Thank Goodness! Keep an eye out for it. You gotta love musical in-jokes!

Liam Doyle was superb as the handsome prince Fiyero; exuding a charm worthy Zac Efron's star turn as Link Larkin in Hairspray. Madam Morrible is played to perfection by Marilyn Cutts, of Fascinating Aida fame. And a special shout out to Carina Gillespie and George Ure as Nessarose and Boq. Their stories are truly heartbreaking, and are played with a great deal of heart and sensitivity.

However, it's Nikki Davis Jones as the eponymous Wicked Witch, who steals the show! Her performance of Defying Gravity made my heart simultaneously beat like a train, and stop completely! I was still shaking from it well into the start of Act 2; it affected me in such a primal way. Her voice contains such incredible power (man, can she belt out a spine chilling high D flat!) but also has a soulfulness and heartache which comes from deep inside who Elphaba really is. She's now (alongside Kerry Ellis) my all time favourite Elphaba.

If you only see one show this year, please make it this production of Wicked. If there are any tickets left, I'm definitely going to be going again!

Emily Tierney as Glinda and Nikki Davis Jones as Elphaba

WEEKSTAGRAM // 3rd March - 10th March

I finally caught up with (apparently) the rest of woman kind and bought a 'magic lipstick'. It works with the alkali levels in your lips to create an individualised colour. Seriously, if this exists, what's the point of having any other lipstick!? // I took Cheryl to her first Zumba class - she came out slightly worse for wear // For Pancake Day Cheryl and I treated ourselves to a pancake lunch at Cinnamon Sticks // I then went home and cooked more pancakes. I ate 9 in total that day. Don't judge // Started a new skincare routine. Better be good - that pot of Clinique cost me £21 // Baked a cake for my nephew's birthday party - made a mess of my mum's kitchen in the process // The finished cake. Tasted pretty darn good // Me and the birthday boy. I can't believe he's 5 already! // Met my cousin's little girl, Lydia, for the first time. I admit, I felt a slight twang of broodiness.... // Wandering around Cefn Mably Farm Park reminded me of a) how much I miss living in the countryside, b) how friggin' cute falabellas and goats are, and c) how little townies know about the countryside. One woman confused a goose for a swan. I mean, seriously??! // We had such high hopes for the Wales v England 6 Nations clash, but it all ended in tears. Luckily cider and karaoke made up for the crushing defeat. 

Not pictured: Cheryl, Kath and I came 2nd in The Heath's weekly pub quiz (with hardly any cheating involved) // Conducted my first ever data collection. It went pretty well // Spent most of Monday 10th recovering from an horrendous hangover - detox starting immediately // Reconnected with a few old Edinburgh buddies.