Aloha! So it's well know that I love Yankee Candles, but I've kinda cheated on them by buying some of these! Kringle Candles came about after the original owner of Yankee, Mike Kittredge and his son James, started the business in 2009. Unfortunately, it has just been announced that Kringle Candle's European arm of the business will be closing this week, but i managed to get my hands on these before they close (at 50% off may I add!) Thankfully, there has already been mention of a new European supplier so fingers crossed the rumours are true.

These daylight candles are like giant tealights. They burn for around 12 hours which is not too bad, especially considering I got these for £1.25 each! 

So the scents I picked up were:

Banana cream pie - Now I'm not too sure about this scent. I normally love anything banana scented (and flavoured for that matter). I'm hoping the scent will grow on me. It just smells a bit too sickly for me just now!

Lemon Meringue Pie - This one smells very similar to Banana Cream Pie. However I'm willing to give them both a shot. They might smell better once lit!

Black Sands - I love this one! It's a musky smell which reminds me of men's aftershave a little bit!

Baker's Vanilla - Who doesn't love a vanilla scented candle? It is quite a subtle vanilla though, so if you don't like them overpowering, this one might be for you!

Beachside - This one is also amazing! It smells like cocoa butter! It reminds me of sunshine and days on the beach! I think I'll be putting this one in the bathroom to burn when I'm having a soak in the bath! 

So that was my little haul from Kringle Candle. Let me know if you find any UK suppliers, I'd love to try some more scents! 

Have you tried Kringle Candle? Which scents do you love?

p.s I've got some wax melts on the way, also from Kringle so keep an eye out for those making an appearance on here! 

xx

Yankee Candle // Coming Soon

Hello! So last week I posted about the Yankee Candle scents which have newly been released in 2015. This post will show you what is still to come this year! 

The first scent to mention is Jelly Beans! I don't have a picture of this one yet but it will be available in time for Easter! If you really can't wait to get your hands on this, a little birdy told me that some Dobbies Garden Centres already have these on the shelves! 

Cafe Culture Range

- Pain au Raisin

-Tarte Tatin

- Cappuccino Truffle (This one will be mine! Coffee and Chocolate, what's not to love!?) 

These will be available in stores from April. 

Out of Africa Range

-Egyptian Musk

- Kilimanjaro Stars

- Serengeti Sunset

- Madagascan Orchid

These are described as "perfumes of musk, orchid and amber, reminiscent of an African Savannah. They sound like exactly the type of scents I love and I can't wait to have a little sniff of these when they hit my local store in July. 

Christmas Range

- Bundle Up

- Cosy by the Fire

- Berry Trifle (this sounds lush!)

- Winter Glow

Yankee never fail to disappoint with their Christmas candles, and by the sounds of it, this year will be no different! There is just something so lovely about lighting a candle on a cold, dark winter's night! These candles will be available in stores from October!

So that is what's coming soon from Yankee Candle! I personally can't wait to get my hands on Cappuccino Truffle, Kilimanjaro Starts and Berry Trifle. 

What scents are you looking forward to trying? 

xx

TheSundayPost

Aloha! It felt like this week was the longest week ever! That might have something to do with me being on the countdown to payday! 

1- It's been so bloody cold this week! Thankfully it got a bit warmer for the weekend!

2- On Monday night I managed to miss my tram stop and ended up in the Yankee Candle store. I managed to pick up these lovely little bargains! 

3- By Wednesday I managed to pick up the lovely cold that's been doing the rounds in my work. I was feeling totally run down all day which resulted in me having a day in bed on Thursday. That must have been exactly what I needed as I was feeling much better on Friday

4- On Saturday I did a little bit of baking! We were heading out to our friend's house for a bring a dish dinner party at night.

5- This was the result of my baking! Coffee kisses and cheese nibbles! Blog post coming up later on in the week!

6- And finally, this weekend we've had Mikey's brother's cat staying with us as he is away on holiday! I've really enjoyed having a little bundle of fur to look after the past few days! She's with us until Tuesday night :)

Hope the week ahead is great for you all!

xx

Yankee Candle 2015 // New Scents

Hello! If you follow me on Instagram, you will know I have a serious obsession with Yankee candles. In fact make that any scented candles ever. Today I thought I'd do a little post about all the amazing scents which have just been launched by Yankee! 

Available Now

Source: yankeecandle.co.uk

Aloe Water - "Clean, refreshing water blends with thick, soothing aloe to create a wonderfully relaxing fragrance experience." 

Cassis - "Vibrantly stimulating… the lush aroma of blackcurrant berries with a fresh burst of tartness."

Shea Butter - "Pure contentment… indulge yourself in this creamy smooth scent with hints of beautiful fruit blossoms."

Red Raspberry - "Tangy sweet and full of nature’s goodness … there is nothing quite as delicious as ripe, rosy red raspberries."

Source: yankeecandle.co.uk

Pink Grapefruit - "Perfectly ripe, sunkissed fruit bursting with bright, tingly citrus to stir the senses."

Oud Oasis - "Rich and seductive, this prized incense helps set a luxuriously calming mood."

Frankincense - "This precious resin has long been sought for its delicate sweetness, peppery spiciness and balsamic wood undertones."

Moroccan Argan Oil - "With hints of patchouli and sandalwood, the exotic aroma of rare argan oil creates a uniquely inviting ambiance." 

I had a little nosy in my local yankee store at these new scents. Personally I'm not that keen on the first 3 scents listed, although I haven't smelt them whilst lit, so I won't write them off yet. The rest of them are lovely though, especially the Moroccan Argan Oil & Red Raspberry! I will definitely be adding them to my wishlist! 

Next week I'll be posting about the scents which are still to come this year! 

Have you bought any of the new scents? Which ones do you like the sound of?

xx

Style Diary: Wardrobe Recycling

Dress - £10 from Primark

Boots- €30 from Stradivarius 

Aloha! On Saturday it was my brother's birthday and we were going out for a meal so I needed something nice to wear! As it is January and payday seems to be taking forever to come around, I decided to put together an outfit using items I've not worn in a while! 

I bought this dress in the summer to wear to work. I've worn it quite a few times but not recently and I really like it. 

These lovely brown cowgirl boots are from a store called Stradivarius. I bought them on a trip to Barcelona about 3 years ago and I think I've worn them once! I don't know why it's taken me so long to get more use out of them coz I love them! 

I'm going to be doing a lot more wardrobe recycling over the next few months as I have a few large expenses coming up! Also I need to have a clear out if I want to buy anymore clothes haha! 

xx

Amsterdam: Part 2

Hello Everyone! So here is the final part of my travel diary from my trip to Amsterdam!

On our second day, we wanted to go visit a museum as Amsterdam is famous for them. On the way we stopped in this awesome little cafe for a spot of lunch! They had a wonderful log fire burning away and served organic, fresh food. I had a lovely mozzarella and pesto panini! 

We then visited the Amsterdam Museum. It took you through the history of the city, right up to the present day. It was very interesting and well worth a visit. 

Afterwards, we spent a few hours just wandering about, popping into bars and taking in the city.

The last time we were in Amsterdam, we visited this amazing tapas restaurant. I spent ages online before we went trying to find out the name and eventually discovered it was called Pata Negra. It is such a quirky wee place. Lots of tiny tables crammed together, writing scratched into the walls and graffiti all over the walls outside but the food is just amazing. A word of warning if you decide to visit this place, the menu is in Spanish and no English menu is available so bring your A game! 

We went for manchego cheese with bread, patatas bravas (fried potato with a garlic and chilli mayo), fried chorizo, spanish omelette and deep fried cheese croquettes. A total fried feast but my god was it worth it. This is without a doubt our favourite restaurant and I'd return time and time again just so we can eat here!

After dinner we were stuffed so we went for a little wander before heading back to Freddy's Bar. The Amsterdam light festival was on during our visit so I decided to snap some pictures of some of the light displays!

Our flight back to Edinburgh wasn't until 9pm on our final day so we had plenty of time to kill after checking out of our hotel! Here you can see me inside a giant clog, and some police horses which were patrolling Dam Square (security was stepped up a lot after our first day as a result of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris). We did a little bit of shopping and had lunch in a burger restaurant. Then we headed to a huge cigar shop which my other half found so he could purchase some cigars and enjoy one in their smoking lounge. Once we had crammed all this into our day, it was time to head to the airport and fly back home :( 

Thanks to easy jet we also got an extra hour in Amsterdam airport :P 

So that was my trip to Amsterdam! We've said we would love to make it a yearly visit so fingers crossed this will be possible. It is one of my favourite places to go and I'm sure we will be back as soon as we can! 

xx

TheSundayPost

Hello Everyone! As usual, here is what I've been up to this week!

The majority of this week has been spent at work! This was my last week before classes start up again so I was working full time to make some pennies for Mexico. I got to wear my brand new coatigan which I featured in my Amsterdam Haul post!

On Monday, I started back on my diet! I started hot yoga on Monday which was an interesting experience. It is in a room heated to 40 degrees celcius so you sweat like a pig! It definitely made me feel a lot calmer so that's gotta be a good thing! I also cooked this amazing chicken and mushroom pie. You can find the recipe for it here

Friday ended up being a bit of a cheat day! I slept in for work so I had no time for breakfast which resulted in me buying a bacon roll from the canteen! Then the free krispy kreme doughnuts arrived with the stationary order just in time for my lunch hour! I then ended up munching a bag of these after work as well! It was worth it :P 

Yesterday was my little brother's 18th birthday! We headed out to Pizza Express for a lovely meal to celebrate as he was going out with his friends at night! Seems like it was just yesterday he was a little boy playing with his tool set! You know you are getting old when you start saying things like that haha! 

So that has been my week this week! Next week I am back to uni so no doubt it's going to be a rather stressful one! Have a great week.

xx

Amsterdam: Part 1

If you follow me on twitter, you may be aware that last week I took a little trip to Amsterdam! I booked it as a birthday present for my other half away back in June! Here is what we got up to on our trip!

We arrived in Amsterdam rather late on the Tuesday night thanks to Easyjet changing our flight time from 11am to 7pm! We were staying the NH Grand Krasnapolsky hotel right in Dam Square. It was a beautiful hotel. Our room was newly refurbished to a very high standard! The bed was so comfy I could have slept for the whole trip but that would have been a waste!

We arrived too late to go out for a meal so we got some famous dutch chips with mayonnaise to take out! 

The next morning we headed down to breakfast. The breakfast was served in the most beautiful room I've ever seen (see last photo). We enjoyed some eggs benedict followed by poffertjes (dutch pancakes)

After breakfast we decided to take a walk down to the zoo! 

The zoo had an amazing butterfly pavilion  where you could walk about whilst they fluttered around you. 

On the way home from the zoo we stopped in this quirky little bar for a drink, then grabbed a waffle at a bakery. 

After a quick change, we went to this awesome cocktail bar called tails & spirits. They did these amazing cocktails, including the Zombie which is so strong they only serve 2 per person! 

After a few drinks we headed on to an Italian restaurant called Vasso. We had researched the place and knew we wanted to try it. I had the Salmon Tagliatelle which was probably the best pasta dish I've ever had. It was so flavoursome! I then had lemon sorbet and strawberries for desert. The sorbet was creamier than your usual sorbet. It was devine!

We then headed off to Freddy's Bar. My other half collects and occasionally smokes cigars and he really wanted to try this bar which has an indoor smoking room. It was such a cool place to just relax with a glass of vino!

So that was day 1 in Amsterdam! Part 2 is coming up soon! 

xx

FoodieFriday: Chicken and Mushroom Pie!

Hello! This week I started my diet again after a long break from it! The other night I was really craving a nice hearty meal after a busy day at work, so I decided to make this delicious chicken and mushroom pie! With only 550 calories for half the pie, this is a great meal to make when you need a bit of extra fuel! 

Ingredients: 

1 leek, chopped thinly

150g button mushrooms, sliced 

75g peas (frozen is fine)

2 rashers smoked bacon, cut into small squares

2 roast chicken breasts, tear into medium sized pieces

500ml chicken stock

25g plain flour

2tbsp reduced fat creme fraiche

3 sheets filo pastry

Method:

-Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees celcius.

- Heat a small amount of sunflower oil in a frying pan and add the bacon and mushrooms. Cook for 3-4 minutes. 

- Add the leaks and chicken, cook for a further 1 minute.

- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture then add the chicken stock slowly whilst stirring.

- Add the peas to the frying pan and simmer for 4 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the creme fraiche.

- Transfer the mixture to a medium sized pie dish.

- Roughly place the filo pastry sheets over the mixture (the more crinkles the better), making sure to oil each sheet with a pastry brush as you go.

- Put the pie in the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes until your pastry is golden and crispy!

Voila! Your pie is ready to serve and enjoy! 

This does make quite a large amount so feel free to make it for 4 people and have some sides!

Let me know if you decide to make it! I'd love to see your results!

xx

Amsterdam Haul

Hello Everyone! I thought I'd show you a few of the purchases I made whilst in Amsterdam last week! 

Checked Cardigan - €29.99 from Bershka

I instantly fell in love with this as soon as I saw it! I wanted to buy an item of clothing from a brand which I cannot buy in Scotland so this was perfect! It will keep me nice and cosy at my desk!

Amber Romance and Mango Temptation Body Spray's - €14 each from Victoria's Secret

Love Spell Eau de Toilette - €14 from Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is another brand I can't get my hand's on in Scotland! I've heard lots of good things about their beauty products so I took the plunge and grabbed these in duty free! They had a 3 for €30 deal on so these were a bargain! I also grabbed 2 pairs of undies whilst there!

Cat clothes hooks- €2 each from Flying Tiger (Dutch version of Tiger)

I've been looking for some hooks for my bathroom door so I can hang up my towels on the back of the door! When I spotted these I just had to have them! They are also the perfect colour for my bathroom! They came in lime green and red too! You might be able to pick these up in Tiger stores in the UK too!

So, along with a lot of cheese, these are my little presents to myself from Amsterdam! 

I have to say, the shopping in Amsterdam is pretty good! If I didn't only have hand luggage, I'm sure I would have come back with a lot more! 

xx

A little slice of December

This post is a little later than usual, but here is my roundup of December!

1- The start of the month saw lots of Uni deadlines! This meant I spent the majority of my time in the library! I was so happy when the Christmas Break came around. Unfortunately it is now over, and it's time to get back to it for my last semester ever! 

2- After all my deadlines, I went out to celebrate with a group of my close uni friends! It was a great night! 

3- Before I knew it, it was Christmas day! I was so lucky to receive lots of lovely gifts! You can find my post on what I got for Christmas HERE

4- Of course, the Christmas break meant lots of lazy days spent snuggled up with Smudge! Here he is hogging the covers! 

So that was December. I would say it is my favourite month, once the uni deadlines are out the way! It was such a quick month and before I knew it, we were into 2015! 

What did you get up to in December? 

xx

TheSundayPost

Hello Everyone! After a week or so off, I am back with a SundayPost! This week has been a good 'un! 

This week I had a week off work for our trip to Amsterdam! I booked it way back in June as a birthday present for my other half! I won't go into too much detail about the trip as I plan on writing a full post about it and the places we visited! 

This was the first night. We arrived rather late (thanks easyjet) so we grabbed some chips and mayo! These are famous in Holland and they are delicious! 

We also visited a little cocktail bar called Tails & Spirits. I'd go as far as saying it was the best cocktail bar I've visited!

Our final night! There was a light festival on whilst we were there so there were lots of pretty lights to be seen! 

We came home with lots of cheese! These are pesto cheese, old dutch gouda and smoked cheese. Very tasty!

This weekend was the final weekend before the diet starts! We decided to treat ourselves to a very lazy weekend and lots of good food! It was great! 

Now it's back to work tomorrow (not good after 12 days off), and the diet begins! I've got my homemade soup ready to go in the morning! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

xx

The Me Time Tag

Hey Everyone! I've seen this tag floating about the blogosphere lately and thought I would get involved! I love a bit of me-time, so here are my answers to the questions below!

What do you read or watch during me-time?

I usually read a book on my kindle or a magazine. My favourites are look and heat magazine! I love catching up on my favourite youtubers' videos too! Lately I've been loving watching the Saccone-Joly's and Zoella! 

What do you wear during me-time?

My PJ's of course! I love wearing the legging type PJ's as I find them the most comfy! I received some Ugg slippers for my christmas so I'm sure I will get plenty of wear out of them! As soon as I get home on a night I get my slippers on!

What are your me-time beauty products?

Anything from Lush! I've got a big box of bath bombs beside my bath which I like to keep stocked up! I received some bath things for Christmas so that will top the box up a bit! I'm also partial to a wee face mask from time to time! 

Current Favourite nail polish?

I have to admit, I don't really paint my nails that often! I constantly chip them then spend my day picking the polish off! If I do have anything on my nails, it has to be gel so I don't chip it! I do love Rimmel nail polishes though, and I have a little collection of them.

What do you eat or drink during me-time?

Hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream is a favourite of mine! I also love a little cider or disaronno on the rocks! To eat, I love chocolate (who doesn't) and I also love crisps! Sweet Chilli Sensations are my all time favourite! No healthy snacks in my house haha!

Current favourite candle?

Oh god, I don't even know where to begin with this one! I have a serious Yankee candle buying problem! I would have to say my all time favourite scent is Baby Powder! My other half bought me 5 of the wax tarts for christmas and I've just treated myself to the large jar! 

Do you ever have outdoor me-time?

Yeah, I love going for long walks in the countryside, either with or without company! My favourite place to go is up to the reservoir near my parents house! I spent a lot of my childhood there, walking with my family and it's really beautiful! 

Would you ever go and see a movie alone?

Probably not to be honest! I've never really had to as I've always managed to rope someone along with me. I see going to the cinema as a social thing where you can share popcorn and laugh together at the movie!

Anything else to add? What else do you like to do during me-time?

My favourite thing to do during me-time is put my favourite spotify playlist on, light some candles and get writing some blog posts! Or do some online shopping haha! 

Please feel free to copy and paste this tag to your blog! Let me know if you decide to do it. I'd love to read your answers! 

xxx

Hello 2015!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful NYE! 

I thought I would do a little post on my resolutions for the year ahead! 

1. To start saving for a mortgage deposit - We've been renting a flat for over 2 years now. Don't get me wrong, I love our wee flat but I think it's time for us to find something to call our own! Of course, I'm fully expecting it to take me a few years to save up, especially because I have a spending problem!

2. To lose 2 stone by May - In May we are heading to Mexico as a treat for finishing uni. I've put a lot of weight on over the festive period and although I've been heavier, it would be nice to look slimmer in my holiday photos, especially as I'm spending a lot of money to get there! I'm planning on starting Hot Yoga classes and going back on my diet on the 12th January!

3. To be more organised! - In 2014 there were many instances where I had huge breaks from blogging because I had let masses of work pile up! I'd like to stop leaving all my uni work to the last minute so that this doesn't happen this year!

4. To secure a full time job after uni - I'd really like to stay working where I am just now, but I would need to be offered full time work! Hopefully this will happen in the near future! 

That is everything I've come up with so far! I'm sure I will end up adding to them during the year! What are your new year's resolutions?