Forgetfulness and/or denial

I went shopping with Suzy today and we had a marvellously successful day, coming away with half the stock of H&M. In a funky shop called Apricot, where I found myself a long overdue new winter coat, I was perusing the clothes when a little boy appeared next to me. “Hello,” I said. He looked at me with big eyes and then returned my hello when prompted by his Mum. Indicating Suzy, who was standing next to me, he asked, “Is that your Mummy?”
“No, she’s my friend,” I said.
“Where’s your Mummy?”
“She’s at home – it’s ok,” I reassured him.

A little later I met him again in the changing room, where he stuck his head under the curtains to find Suzy an empty cubicle.

“Your Mummy’s at home?” he asked me.
“Yes, she is. How old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have a guess,” I said, playing for time as I tried to remember the answer myself.
“4?”
“No, higher,” I said, still somewhat unsure of my own age.

He was stumped, unable to imagine any age other than his own, and so I told him, “I’m 27″. Suzy promptly poked her head out of her cubicle and corrected me, “No, you’re not, you’re 28!”.

Damn it.

7 Days Winter 2009 mosaic

1. sarkasmo | melly_311 | philoschelle | *Out of my Mind* | Charlotte Hollands

11. Ernie E | Rachiee Roo | Jen*Howard | Matthew Walton | www.flickr.com/photos/tinarina/

The spring run starts on Saturday 20th March 2010

Pixiwoo made me do it

For a little while now I’ve been following the makeup tutorials from Pixiwoo on Youtube, also available at www.fashionface.tv. Professional makeup artists Samantha Chapman and her sister Nicola share techniques and show how to achieve various looks. I’d love to have a makeover, have someone do my makeup and so I tend to fall into a kind of zen state watching these videos.

I’ve always liked makeup. Mum used to be an Avon representative, so makeup was available fairly cheaply and I would read articles on how to apply it. Even from pretty young I’ve been fairly good with makeup, though there is photographic evidence that I used to get a bit carried away with the eyebrow pencil.

Watching the Pixiwoo videos has opened up a world of new techniques and products and in my zen state I have been swayed into thinking that maybe it would be worthwhile investing in some new products – something with a good brand name, something that costs more than £3.

The first was something I didn’t know existed until I watched the videos: a foundation brush. I’d always applied foundation with my fingers, so this is new to me. I’ve bought a MAC 190 brush and while putting the foundation on with it seems fairly easy, I have yet to master standing back from the mirror so I don’t keep wacking it with the brush handle.

So that was the first foray into something new and today I headed to the makeup counters at Fenwicks in Tunbridge Wells to get a couple more bits. Concealer is something of a staple that I don’t really have and so I asked for advice at the Bobbi Brown counter. I thought I’d just be sold X, Y or Z, but I was invited to take a seat and the makeup artist tried out various shades and two different types of concealer, telling me how to apply it and make it stay put. Then there was no hard sell, I simply chose the one I wanted and that was that. Oh, apart from feeling 100 years old, because the girl doing my makeup recognised me from school and turned out to be about 6 years younger than me. I’m not sure I’m happy being old enough to have someone 6 years younger than me and still looking like an adult. But I digress.

The kit holds a pot of concealer, with loose powder in the section below. There’s a mirror in the lid and a little powder puff is included for touching up, but I think a brush would be better, as the girl used when demonstrating it on me.

I also wanted to get a bronzer and the Bobbi Brown girl recommended that I ask for that at the MAC counter as they’d have better colours for me. Using bronzer is a new concept I’ve picked up from Pixiwoo. They use it in particular below the cheekbone, magically adding the definition that I’m definitely missing. Somehow it works subtly without being all Boy George about it. So the MAC girl found me a nice non-shimmery mineral powder and showed me how to apply it. Sold.

Man, this buying new stuff is fun and the makeup counters aren’t anything like as intimidating as they seem when you’re scurrying past them en route somewhere else. In fact I’ve got quite a taste for it now. I feel like I want to tour them all and get makeovers and be all glamorous. This from the person who works at home and so doesn’t bother getting dressed up for the office with makeup and jewelry during the week. Hell, it took me days to even get around to putting on the nail varnish I’d been wanting to wear.

What are you like – do you like getting dolled up, or is it a chore you avoid? Are you a brand snob, or does any old product suffice?

Cupcakes

This is another recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The brownies were great, but these chocolate and hazelnut cupcakes are marriage material. They’re also a doddle to make: even the fiddly bit turned out to not be fiddly.
You will need:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
40g butter, at room temperature
120ml whole milk
1 egg
Nutella

250g icing sugar, sifted
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
25ml whole milk
80g Nutella

Preheat the oven to 170ºC / 325ºF / Gas 3.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a bowl and handheld electric whisk if you wish you owned a KitchenAid mixer, but sadly have nowhere to keep one).

Beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture.

Beat well until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Add the egg and beat well.

Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, hollow out a small section in the centre of each one – I used an apple corer.

Fill each hole with a dollop of Nutella. I used two teaspoon handles to get the sticky Nutella off the spoon and into the hole.

For neatness I put the removed piece of cupcake back on top of the Nutella. However I would also recommend the alternative option: eating the crumbs.

For the icing: add the butter to the icing sugar.

Beat together on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.

Turn the mixer down to a slower spped. Slowly pour in the milk, then when it is all incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.

Continue beating until the icing is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten the longer you must wait for a finished cupcake the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

Warm the Nutella a little in the microwave to soften it.

Add the Nutella to the icing and stir in by hand until evenly mixed in.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon on the icing. You also could finish the cakes with a few whole hazelnuts on top.

Note: I found that the quantities for the icing made double what I needed, but these cupcakes are so moist and delicious that you’re going to want to make a second batch straight away anyway, so I’ve not altered the amounts from the book.

Crowded monkeys

This is how the monkey nuts look this morning: as if they’d like to be repotted. But repotting involves going outside (which is something I managed to avoid completely between Boxing Day and Suzy’s birthday on 16th January) and getting cold and grubby. So you see why I didn’t repot them last weekend as planned. And why I changed my blog approach today and decided to show you a “hey, they need repotting!” update, rather than a “hey, I repotted them!” update. What are the odds that the next photo will be of two dead monkey nut plants in a pot?