January | 2015 | Cider with Rosie

Who’s been in my sidebar this month? || January advertisers!

26.01

It’s such a treat to be kicking off this week with a round up of the wonderful blogs I’ve been reading this month, and that’ve been linked here on Cider with Rosie throughout January. There’s a blog for everyone linked just below- some are lifestyle focused, others concentrate on the creation and sharing of recipes, some centre around travel, and others touch on a little bit of everything and more besides! It’s been such a pleasure getting to know each of these blogs and bloggers in turn, and I’m so excited to be sharing them here today! So, get ready to add a whole heap of new blogs to your reading list…

Life is Worth the Fight
I feel as though I’ve ‘known’ Stacie for such a long time now (I came across her blog not all that long after setting up my own!) and so it’s such a pleasure to have her blog linked here once again! Life is Worth the Fight is such a lovely blog- a mixture of fun beauty posts, stories about her lovely family, and Stacie’s thoughts about her experience of waiting for a double heart and lung transplant. I love how incredibly honest her writing is, and never fail to come away inspired. Life is Worth the Fight just so happens to be the very best place to visit if you find yourself in need of a Lush product recommendation, too!
Favourite post of the past month? Valentine’s Lush haul.

A Simple Elegance
I’ve so enjoyed getting to know Arielle in the months since she first took up a place in my sidebar- and I know a fair few CwR readers have done too! Arielle lives on a beautiful Caribbean Island with her husband, and shares posts about their adventures and experiences of setting up a life abroad. I love how simple and beautiful everything Arielle shares on her blog is, and find each and every posts she writes to be so very personable and friendly. And oh my, her photos from the island on which she lives make me kind of wish Jason’s work would take us over to the Caribbean for a sabbatical, too! ;)
Favourite post of the past month? Apartment Sweet Apartment.

Mel Bakes Things
I’ve fallen clean in love with Mel’s blog over the past few months, and I’m telling you, she’s outdone herself on the recipe-front throughout January! Mel’s blog, as you might’ve guessed from its name, is a food-focused one, and is full of some of the most tempting recipes around! In January, Mel’s shared recipes for a salted caramel and coconut hot chocolate (just you WAIT until you see the photos!), oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, and cherry infused marshmallows to go into a black forest hot chocolate! I can’t recommend it highly enough- you’re going to just love it!
Favourite post of the past month? Salted caramel + coconut hot chocolate.

Silverspoon London
Oh, Angie’s blog is such a brilliantly fun one to follow! Silverspoon London is a luxury lifestyle blog, and documents all of Angie’s travels and adventures. It’s the type of blog I like to lose myself in…and maybe live vicariously through a little bit, too ;) I love how well-written all of Angie’s posts are- they’re so incredibly informative and her blog is the most incredible guide to dining out in London and the best of international travel too! Such an amazing blog to read for a little escapism from these dreary winter days, and for planning your next adventure…
Favourite post of the past month? A Tale of Two Anniversaries and Dinner at Fera, Claridges.

Life Outside London
I’m pretty sure Michelle is my soul-sister ;) Spaniel owner- check! Countryside dweller- check! More comfy in wellies than any other type of shoe?- check! Life Outside London is a lifestyle blog, full of stories and photographs from Michelle’s adventures down in Devon. It’s Michelle’s writing that I love the most- she makes me laugh out loud on a regular basis! Life Outside London is the sort of blog that you’ll get completely hooked on, whether it’s the book reviews, the recipes, or just the photos of Pete & Betty (two of the most gorgeous spaniels you ever did see!) that get you. Add to your reading list on the double!
Favourite post of the past month? Three go to Elberry Cove.

Alphabeth
I’m so, so glad to have been introduced to Beth’s blog over the past couple of weeks. Alphabet is first and foremost a blog about books, and is fast becoming my go-to site for reading recommendations! I love Beth’s ‘book haul’ posts, and find her passion and enthusiasm for what she reads rubs off on me every single time I visit her blog! Her writing too is just lovely, and aside from book recommendations Beth shares gorgeous lifestyle posts, snippets from her Instagram feed, and the odd ‘tag’ post too! It’s just such a lovely read, and one I’ll be returning to every time I’m in search of a recommendation of what book to pick up next!
Favourite post of the past month? A December/January Book and Poetry Haul.

Follow Your Sunshine
Follow Your Sunshine is another blog that was new to me in January, and I’m so excited to introduce you to it, too! Last year Polly emigrated to Doha, and is blogging all about her adventures in Qatar via her lovely blog! Her posts are so fascinating to read, ranging from hot tips about the best places to visit in Doha, where fellow British expats can find the goods from home, and about the high and low points of living so far away from home. I’ve absolutely loved reading back through Polly’s archives, and now you’re going to fall hard for this one! Follow along for a little winter sunshine ;)
Favourite post of the past month? 6 of my Favourite Childhood Memories.

Cecilia in the Rain
From one side of the world, to the other! Cecilia is originally from Sweden and now blogs from Scotland- and her blog is such a sweet one! Cecilia in the Rain is a lifestyle blog, with all sorts of posts that’ll capture your heart right from the off. Whether she’s sharing stunning photographs and fun tales from trips back to Sweden, or snippets of craft projects, or snapshots of Scotland, Cecilia’s posts are always so engaging and well put together. If you’re fond of effortlessly charming lifestyle blogs, then Cecilia in the Rain is one for you!
Favourite post of the past month? Back to my old stomping grounds.

This Particular
This Particular has been a regular read of mine for *months* now, and is one I know so many of you have fallen in love with recently too! On This Particular, Ala shares musings and goings on from her life in London, and does so in such a way that made me feel as though I knew her in person long before I actually had the pleasure of meeting her in real life. Her posts are always so engaging (Ala’s recommendations for where to eat in London never fail!), and I know when clicking through to This Particular I can always count on having a smile on my face by the time I’m done reading. Very highly recommended!
Favourite post of the past month? Franco Manca | East Dulwich.

A Little Lusciousness
It’s always such a pleasure to have Rosie’s beautiful blog linked in my sidebar- it’s such a lovely one to check in on each day! A Little Lusciousness is a food blog, first and foremost, and Rosie’s passion and enthusiasm for food, whether she’s cooking or just enjoying eating it, is so infectious! In the past month Rosie shared her thoughts on a meal she ate at pop-up restaurant The Little Yellow Door (she also runs a pop-up from her very own home!), ate some epic looking pizzas at Pizza Union, and enjoyed an idyllic weekend in a cabin in the woods for her anniversary! You’re going to just love this one, I know.
Favourite post of the past month? A Weekend in Churt.

A Dash of Ginger
I never fail to be impressed by Kirsty’s blog, and not to mention inspired too! A Dash of Ginger is a food blog, full of the most divine-looking recipes you could wish for! In the past month, Kirsty’s whipped up a roasted cauliflower salad (that I cannot wait to try!), cinnamon maple pecan granola (too too perfect for cold winter mornings) and, the stuff dreams are made of- coffee cake with Nutella frosting! I just love how beautifully styled Kirsty’s photos are, and find myself returning to A Dash of Ginger time and again for inspiration. I highly recommend adding it to your reading list!
Favourite post of the past month? Nutella frosted Coffee Cake.

Rhyme & Ribbons
Each month, I fall more and more in love with Rhyme & Ribbons. It’s just the loveliest read! Rhyme and Ribbons is a lifestyle blog, and one I find myself returning to time and again. This month Amanda’s shared an outfit that features the sweetest jumper around (complete with neon coral bobbles!), popped down to Brighton for the day with her other half Sam, and shared a recipe for a yellow cake with chocolate frosting that almost had me licking my computer screen. You’ll want to settle in for a good long read of this one, so make sure you’re settled down with a coffee, and then dive in!
Favourite post of the past month? By The Sea, oh I Know You’d Love It.

A few more beautiful blogs to read + fall in love with ::
Miranda’s Notebook || Favourite post? Burns Night Orange Marmalade Cake
The Awkward Blog || Favourite post? How not to plan a wedding
Get the Skinny || Favourite post? 6 Tips to Beat the Christmas Bloat
Kimi and Me || Favourite post? Hair Today
Coffee Sugar Lemonade || Favourite post? Life Affirmations for 2015
Uncia + Tigris || Favourite post? Couch to 5k – week 1 in review
Me & Orla || Favourite post? Scandinavian coconut biscuits with sea salt

To see you own blog featured here, head over to the Sponsor page and take up an advert! It’d be a pleasure to get to know you and your blog better :)

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10 things that’ve made me happy this week!

23.01

I feel like this week’s been one of those ‘just hang on in there!’ kind of weeks, what with Monday being ‘blue Monday’ and the freezing cold and the dark mornings and the darker evenings. I’m beginning to feel impatient for spring to arrive…just like at the end of summer I was impatient for autumn, and then at the end of autumn I was impatient for winter! ;) I mean, the frost is beautiful and all, but I am getting kind of tired of needing to wear three pairs of socks at once! We don’t actually have a single thing planned for this weekend, though I’m sure the days will fill up in the way they inevitably do. This afternoon I’m heading to Weybridge for a dress fitting (and maybe to pick out wedding shoes and a veil too) and then am meeting my friend for a little hot chocolate and shopping date later on this evening. And now, it’s time to go walk that spaniel! Here’s what’s made this week a lovely one…

1. Managing to get my layering juuuust right for a trip to London on Thursday. Not so many I was roasting on the tube, and not so few I wanted to cry every time the wind blew. Isn’t that the stuff dreams are made of? ;)

2. Watching the Vogue 73 question interviews. They’re kind of awkward, but I love them anyway. (SJP is the best).

3. Starting the day with natural yoghurt, granola, and fresh raspberries. Oh, and pomegranate seeds too.

4. Crabtree & Evelyn ‘La Source’ handcream. The stuff works wonders, I tell you!

5. Spinach! Chopped, wilted, creamed- I’ve eaten the best part of a 450 gram bag this week, and will be turning into PopEye any day now.

6. Watching the pond freeze over and thaw, freeze over and thaw. The patterns in the ice are too beautiful.

7. Shopping in the men’s department of H&M. Anyone else find shopping for their other half way more fun than shopping for themselves? (p.s. Our WhatsApp conversation currently is a whole lot of ‘what do you think of this shirt?’ plus photos, followed by either a ‘meh’ or a ‘yeh’ ;)

8. A sparkly dark blue manicure that lasted almost five whole days without chipping! Unheard of!

9. Listening to the songs of my teenage years, thanks to Spotify! Every Avenue circa 2008, anyone?

10. Starting to learn how to meditate! I’ve always hated the lying-on-the-floor ‘relaxation’ time at the end of my Pilates and Body Balance classes, so decided to do a bit of reading up about how to meditate and try that during the relaxation part of class instead. I’ve only done it a couple of time so far, but it feels pretty lovely! I’ll let you know if and when I become totally zen and a master-meditator, okay? ;)

Three posts I’ve loved reading this week :: Blair’s insanely amazing dungaree/overall outfit || Ellie’s fun film photos || & Izy’s sticky toffee pudding pancake recipe! (I mean, come ON!)

What’s made you happy this week? :)

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Six months more.

22.01

Last weekend, when these photos were taken, marked exactly six months until Jason and I get married. I’m not usually a countdown kind of person, but now that we’re this side of January and the wedding feels so very close, it feels right to be counting down the months until the day itself.

I’ve kept the majority of our wedding planning off this space, on the whole. I didn’t really intend to do so. When we first got engaged, I thought I’d like to document the process largely on YouTube, but also via my blog too. Series were started, playlists made, Pinterest boards set up (okay okay, I’d maybe already had a wedding board up and running long before I even got engaged…). But so far, it feels as though the most of our wedding has been planned in bursts of productivity and enthusiasm- bursts that last for one or two days, and are only long enough for us to find whatever band/hotel/suits we’re looking for, and then disappear as quickly as they arrived. They don’t last long enough for me to manage any sort of documentation here, that’s for sure! I think also, part of the reason I’ve not found myself wanting to post much about the planning process here is because really, the wedding isn’t really where our focus lies. We both are so incredibly excited about the day itself, and I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about walking down the aisle, but the larger part of me is really just looking forward to being a wife. As great as those ‘walking down the aisle’ butterflies are, the ones I get thinking about the first moment I hear Jason say the words as ‘my wife’ are even greater.

Jason and I both grew up in families that didn’t fit the conventional 2.4 mould…though whose does, really? My family has always been small and tight-knit, Jason’s large and welcoming. Our childhood experiences are vastly different in so many ways, and yet despite their differences, they’ve given us both an identical craving for stability, and routine, and the comfort of sure-footedness. A nagging desire to put down roots, and a love for home comforts. I never stop feeling surprised by how much happiness a Sunday spent walking the dog miles and miles through the mud then stopping by our favourite local restaurant for lunch can bring me.

I have a really vivid memory of sitting in a coffee shop with my Grandma about 18 months before she died, and her telling me about how, when she was a new Mum, there weren’t so many little cafes and coffee shops that made it so easy to pop out of the house with her babies. I asked her, ‘Did you ever feel bored, or frustrated being at home?’, and she replied ‘Never. You’ve got your home, and your husband, and your beautiful children- what more could you ask for?’

I made a note of that conversation at the time, in the back of an old notebook, because I knew one day it’d really mean something to me.

And now, in this six month countdown to the rest of my life, it means absolutely everything.

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Netflix + Mr Selfridge :: Part II.

20.01

After our whistle-stop tour of ‘Mr Selfridge’s London’ came to an end, we left our tour bus behind at Selfridges and rode up, up, up on the escalators until we reached The Corner restaurant and champagne bar on the second floor. We were in pursuit of afternoon tea, and even though breakfast hadn’t been all that many hours previous, by the time we settled down to eat I was pretty ravenous. What is it about a day in the city that makes you twice as hungry as normal?

The Corner restaurant was beautiful, in that wonderful everyday-luxury way that Selfridges has perfected. The bar was all antiqued mirrors and gold with rows and rows of spirits in the most inviting-looking glass bottles, and the huge windows the wrap around the restaurant let in this dreamy, perfect-for-photographs hazy light.

What I wore :: Trench coat || Hat || Trousers || Ballet flats || Blouse

^^ This one was snapped by Doug, who Netflix had brought in to take photos during the trip. I had absolutely zero idea it was being or had been taken- apparently my ‘I’m taking a photo’ face is a serious one! ^^

Afternoon tea was so delicious- the scones with lemon curd especially were the firm favourite by general consensus! The caramelised banana bread was pretty immense too though, if I’m telling the truth. The conversations over tea spanned everything from the differences between the blogging and YouTube industries and communities, to what it’s like to live so far north in Norway that the sun never rises in winter, and how there’s no signature national cuisine in the Netherlands (according to Bastian, a stylist from Amsterdam!). It was a peaceful moment during the trip, that afternoon tea.

After we’d eaten our fill of finger sandwiches and scones and pastry and drunk enough tea to tide us over the rest of the afternoon, we peeled off in twos and threes for a couple of hours shopping in store. On the agenda for Miss Milly and I was a stop by the Ladieswear department (were I bought a dress that’s so light I won’t be able to wear it for months, and now makes me long for spring every time I open my wardrobe), then to the shoe section for a little wedding shoe try-on, and finally to the chocolate department, because why on earth not?!

The final part of our day was spent at The Savoy, learning about regency clothing from none other than fashion expert Caryn Franklin! The producer of Mr Selfridge and actor Tom Goodman-Hill (who plays Mr Groves, in the series) stopped by too to answer a few questions, and explained that the female actresses have been more and more happy as the series have progressed, since they’re able to shed the stiff corsets and dresses as the fashions and styles of the era move on! We had chance to try on some of the beautiful 1920s pieces of the type that feature in the series- all wide brimmed felt hats (not that I hadn’t had my fill of wide brimmed felt hats already that day! ;), and gauzy beaded wraps and thick wool jackets for the men.

Honestly and truly, Mr Selfridge is worth watching if for the beautiful outfits alone!

Dinner that night at The Savoy was the icing on the cake, and we journeyed back to Brown’s very happy, very sleepy, and *very* full! I’ve never been so happy to see a beautifully turned down bed, and was in my pyjamas within about thirty seconds of my bedroom door clicking closed behind me.

The hugest of ‘thank yous’ to Netflix for such a wonderful trip. It was the biggest treat! And if I wasn’t already a Netflix disciple, I totally would be now! ;)

The only problem I have now is…what to catch up on next? (Recommendations gratefully received, of course!)

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Posted in afternoon tea, DAY TRIPS, LONDON, PRESS TRIP, RESTAURANT, WINTER