Street Art from around the World

Whenever I travel, whether it be in the UK or abroad I like to hunt out street art.

Little pieces of human expression. Some are big and bold, others tucked away in sneaky little places. Some political or some with a simple message.

Here is a round up of some of the pieces that have caught my eye on various adventures around the world.

New Orleans

Mermaids and eagles in the French Quarter/Mississippi river art

Budapest

Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar in central Budapest. Love this place!!

Peru

Lima - Peru

Prague

Love at the John Lennon Wall and an old Coca Cola mural in Prague

New York

Greenwich

Memphis

Vintage Cola advert on Beale Street

Does anyone else love seeking out street art on their travels? Let me know.

Thanks for reading, back soon. Nic x

Photo of the Week - 20th February

Happy Friday once again, hope your week was filled with plenty of Pancakes.

Here is my photo round up from the past week. Let me know which ones are your favourite.

Photo A

New Cactus babies from Ikea

Photo B

Valentines Day Prosecco

Photo C

CNY Red Velvet Cake

Photo D

CNY Celebrations

Thanks for reading, have a good weekend.

Back soon, Nic x

Red Velvet Cake

Who doesn't love a good bake sale eh? Any excuse for a piece of cake is fine by me.

As our office is celebrating Chinese New Year this week we decided to hold a charity bake sale to kick off the festivities.

In Chinese culture the colour red is supposed to symbolise luck so what better cake to make than a Red Velvet cake. In all honesty I have been looking for an excuse to bake one of these for while now.

I have added an easy how to guide below in-case this post inspires any of you to give it a try.

Firstly you will need the following ingredients:

For the cake

2 x Large Eggs

120g unsalted butter

300g white  caster sugar

50g cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring gel

1tsp vanilla extract

300g plain white flour

1 tsp salt

240ml Buttermilk

1 tsp bicarb of soda

For the cream cheese topping

100g unsalted butter

6600g icing sugar

250g cream cheese full fat

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.

Step 2

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl either with a spoon or electric mixer until the ingredients are light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and continue to mix until all the eggs are part of the mixture.

Step 3

Sieve the cocoa powder into the mix and add in the vanilla extract

Step 4

Sieve the flour into another bowl and add in the salt. Gradually add half the flour to the chocolate mixture and the add in half the buttermilk. Mix well and then add the other half of the flour and the last of the buttermilk.

Step 5

Add two tablespoons of red food colouring gel making sure it is mixed in well. I would buy two of the tubes you can find in the supermarkets as one if not enough.

Step 6

In a small mug combine the white wine vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda, then add to the mixture, stirring until combined.

Step 7

Split the mixture between the two lined sandwich tins and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Your cake is ready as soon as a toothpick or knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Step 8

For the icing, place the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar in a food mixer and beat until smooth (or do by hand, beating quickly until thick and smooth). Cover one layer of the cake with icing, then sandwich the two pieces of cake together. Cover the top and sides of the cake with icing then grate dark chocolate over the top for the final touch.

For the finishing touch I added my Chinese Dragon topper from Tesco.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone.

Thanks for reading, back soon.
Nic x

Chinese New Year

 

Gung Hay Fat Choy. Happy Chinese New Year everyone.

2015 is the year of the Goat and starts today on the 19th February. The sign of the goat is believed to bring a mood of peace, harmony and tranquility, and is a time for coming together to join forces. Happiness, success and good fortune are believed to follow.

This year my company is taking part in its own Chinese New Year celebrations, largely due to the fact we are part of a large Hong Kong based corporation.

We were given a box of decorations including lanterns, stuffed animal toys, chocolate pennies and many more decorations. We all decided to be a bit naughty too and order Chinese take away for lunch, that coupled with a bake sale it was great way to start the celebrations.

As I am off to China in September I am trying to embrace the culture and the traditions in preparation for my trip. For example I now know that the reason red is such a prominent colour in Chinese culture is that it is believed to bring good luck and warn off evil spirits.

I find these traditions fascinating and cant wait to learn more on my trip.

Let me know if any of you are celebrarting Chinese New Year in any form. It could even be just ordering from your local takeaway :)

Thanks for reading, back soon. 

Nic x

Photo of the Week - 13th February

Friday the 13th, unlucky for some. 

Not for me as I am off for a girly night tonight to see 50 Shades. Here's hoping its not cringe-worthingly bad, maybe the pre-cinema cocktails will help.

Anyway here are my photos from the past week. Let me know which one is your favourite.

Photo A

Last Sunday's amazing roast at the Queens Head in Islington

Photo B

Blue skies and a wintry tree

Photo C

Gingerbread and tea time

Photo D

Cute new dog socks, because I just had to

Hope everyone has a lovely valentines day whether that be with a partner or your best friends. Here's to prosecco, chocolate and indulgence.

Thanks for reading, back soon.

Nic x

p.s. if you fancy having a read at my first DIY post, click here

DIY - Rope Lamp

A different kind of post this week and my first ever DIY blog post.

I am a big fan of the lovely Caroline over at Burkatron and often feel inspired by her many DIY projects.

However this little DIY project  I came across on Pinterest and it was so easy and cost less than a tenner.

On this post I will be showing you how to turn a plain old boring lamp into this nautical rope lamp.

I picked up this plain cream lamp from Wilkinsons at the weekend for £6, along with some garden twine and pva glue. All in all I spent a total of £8.

Simple huh?

Starting at the top I applied a generous layer of pva and started wrapping the twine around and around. Don't worry if you get glue on the twine as this will dry clear and you wont notice any difference.

You will see from the picture below I did this in two stages due to the shape of the base. I found it was best to work from the smaller part and work outwards. This way the twine stuck easier. For the middle parts I just turned the lamp base upside down and applied the same method.

If you don't mind getting a bit messy this DIY lamp project is quick, cheap and easy and hopefully the finished product looks better than the original.

I did two of these in just over an hour on a Sunday afternoon and they are now sitting pretty on my bedside table.

Have any of you got any DIY projects you care to share? Let me know.

Thanks for reading, back soon x

Ni Hao to China

It's that time of year again where I suffer from this terrible affliction called Wanderlust. The burning desire to head off somewhere new in the world.

Ever since I first packed up my rucksack and headed off on my first solo travel trip 4 years ago, I have tried my hardest to ensure that every year since I have travelled somewhere new.

Starting back in 2011 I said 'Sawadee Ka' to South East Asia, in 2012 it was 'Namaste' to India, 2013 I greeted the deep south of the USA with a 'Hey Y'all' and last year it was 'Hola' to Peru.

This year I am embarking to the East once again and saying 'Ni Hao' to China.

I first travelled to China back in 2011 on a work trip to visit our factories in Shanghai and Hangzhou and I really cannot wait to dive back into the culture and this time get an experience of a very different side of China.

Once again I will be travelling with G Adventures, my trusted go-to travel company and I know I can rely on G to give me plenty of memories and laughs along the way.

Come September, I will be flying to Beijing to embark on a 12 day tour from Beijing to Hong Kong. You can have a look at the itinerary here. Once the tour ends I will be spending an extra 4 days in Hong Kong, hoping to delve further into what the country has to offer.

The things I am most looking forward to are:

* Walking along the Great Wall of China and ticking off my 3rd 'Wonder of the World'

* Getting up close to the Terracotta Warriors

* Marvelling at the Shanghai skyline from the bund

* Eating some amazing Dim Sum

* Experiencing a Chinese overnight train

* Bike riding in Yangshao and climbing up to Moon Hill

* Hopefully a bit of Chinese Karaoke at some point

I would love to hear if any of you have travelled to China and any tips you may have and whilst September is still a while away, I will be taming my Wanderlust with a trip to Amsterdam next month with my boyfriend, so keep your eyes peeled for a blog post on that in the next few weeks.

Thanks for reading, back soon. Nic x

Gone Walkabout

You can't beat a sunny but cold walk on a Sunday morning. It's the perfect way to blow off the cobwebs, get some fresh air and work up an appetite for a Sunday roast.

Living in Nottingham I have a very famous forest right on my doorstep. Sherwood Forest is most famous for its association with Robin Hood and only a 30 minute drive from my house, so it is the perfect place for walking.

Last Sunday my boyfriend and I headed to the forest, grabbed a hot cappucino from the woodland cafe and set off with the camera for a chilly walk in the woods.

I actually quite like wrapping up all warm in thick socks, my huge tartan scarf from Zara and breathing in that foresty smell. I also reacquainted myself with my old Quecha walking boots that carried me up and down Machu Pichu last year and are super comfy.

It was great to see so many other people out enjoying the sunshine especially running into all the dogs walkers along the way. I have serious Dog lust at the moment and would one day love to have one of my own.

No filters or photo-shopping were required with the photos, as my camera really captured the orange and green of the forest perfectly. There was even a little bit of snow still on the ground from the recent snow flurry we had.

After a good two hour walk I was so ready to tuck into a big sunday roast dinner.

All in all it was a perfect Sunday.

Thanks for reading x