School's Out!!!

All in all, I've had a pretty lovely week and here's what I've been getting up to...

As I don't have children you'd think that the school holidays would barely register with me, however as most of my friends are teachers I LOVE the school holidays as it means I have loads of friends to play out with!!!

On Monday my friend Rachel, happily for me, decided to spend her first afternoon of freedom lunching and shopping with me in Hebden Bridge, where she helped me choose this lovely scarf from a local boutique.

Teepee Love

Have you ever been to a wedding in a teepee? I mean a wedding that took place in a teepee, not attended a wedding wearing a teepee. Well until Saturday I hadn't done either but now I have been to a wedding that took place in a teepee (wearing a teepee to a wedding is still on my bucket list...) and it was, quite frankly, magical.

Spiced Fruit Smoothie Ices

The sun's out, your flip flops are on and it's time to chill out in the garden. I don't know about you, but the ice lollies I used to have when I was little now seem so tooth-rottingly sweet and just so... blue.

Ever one to try and sneak one of my 5 a day into something that feels more like a treat, I've devised a distinctly more grown-up (and infinitely more healthy) version of the retro-favourite Fab lolly.

Comprising of nothing more than fat free Greek yoghurt, fruit, herbs or spices and a drop of agave nectar, you can enjoy with out a second thought about the impact on your bikini body (not that I spend a great deal of time thinking about this anyway...).

Tuesday Night Supper Club

I always think that Tuesday are just a bit... meh. So my solution to the whole "not the beginning of the week not the end of the week" ennui is to have friends round for an informal supper.

Our neighbours have an amazing garden where they grow so much fruit and veg that they are virtually self sufficient. As a result when they have a glut of anything we get some of the extras - I was presented with this punnet of home-grown blackcurrants when my guests arrived. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with them yet but no doubt I'll share it with you when I do!!

The Great Bella Bake-Off

I love cake (love da cake), but Mr. F's not fussed so I don't bake that often as I have to eat it all myself, and let's face it - there's only so many cupcakes a girl can get through on her own.

Anyway, Mr. F has found a (virtually) calorie-way of fulfilling my baking cravings - I make cake and he takes it in to work!

He recently moved floors in his office and to curry favour with his new colleagues he asked me to do a bumper bake for him to take in.

So I dusted off my mixer, did a monster Tesco shop and got stuck in.

As with any kind of cooking, good preparation is the key to stress-free success. I like to get out all of my ingredients and tools and line them up so that I know that I have everything I need. I also make sure that the dishwasher is empty and put away each ingredient as I finish with it so that when I'm done the kitchen's virtually already tidied up.

Make Up Brush 101

They say "a bad workman blames his tools", which is something I've never really agreed with. I mean, a master carpenter's not going to do a brilliant job with a blunt chisel. On the other hand a fancy KitchenAid mixer alone isn't going to help you knock out Nigella-worthy cakes.

But the right tools, coupled with a bit of know-how, can take you a long way whether you're making meringues or painting your face.

I am a bit of a make-up and make-up tool obsessive and have a different brush for every type of product - powder, bronzer, blusher, highlighter, eyeshadow (lots of different sizes!), concealer, eyeliner, lips, eyebrow, eyeliner - and I even have a separate brush-roll and brushes for when I go away!! However, I do know that this is a bit over the top, so I've put together a little list of what is actually necessary in your make-up kit.

Ladies that Lunch

Since you met my littlest sister last year (Playing Hooky post), our regular Leeds lunch meet-ups have been upgraded to include a bottle of fizz and shopping. This time we thought we'd go step further and get our nails done as well!

We went to Pastille Beauty Bar, which is a really cute nail & brow/lash salon in Granary Wharf.

The Tour De Yorkshire

It's pretty much a once in a lifetime event when international cycle race, the Tour De France (clue's in the name), whizzes through your little town in West Yorkshire so when it does it's appropriate to mark the occasion properly.

Our friends who were coming to celebrate with us are rather sporty (Iron Man, anyone?) so as road closures were in place they decided to cycle the tough 21 miles over to us the day before.

Le Tour Eve

The bunting is up at la maison du Forcella and we're eagerly awaiting our guests who are cycling (of course!) across from Lancashire to watch the Tour de France come through Hebden Bridge tomorrow afternoon.

I thought that I'd have a wander into the town centre to see what was going on on the eve of this exciting occasion, and this is what I found!

Naturally there were some cyclists - these professional 
looking gents kindly posed for a photo!

Le Bridge

Hebden Bridge is well known for its creative culture and artistic community, and this creative energy was certainly evident when I wandered in this morning to take some photos for the post I plan to do next week featuring the Tour De France (don't worry - the sports content in the post will be minimal).