Tuesday 31 December 2013

2013 Review


Heeeeey,

Well as 2013 comes to an end, I’ve been reflecting on what an amazing year it has been. I have learnt so much this year. I have started and ended this year, a completely different person. I’ve been through some of the darkest and happiest times of my life. I’ve fought to become a braver, happier person and I’ve rediscovered the old, real me. I would like to thank all of my amazing friends and family for being with me along the way and all of you lovely readers for enjoying my blog.

The best thing about writing this blog has been getting all the positive feedback from regular readers, that look forward to my posts. I’m really grateful and have loved every minute. I will definitely be continuing into the new year, with lots more posts, more photography and lots more horsey stuff too. 

My Highlights of 2013:

*Creating Heels&Horseshoes
*Seeing Mcfly (3 times), Mumford & Sons, Subfocus, Paloma Faith and The Script
*Holiday to Marbella
*Flying by myself 
*Seeing my beautiful twinny get married & the lovely Donzo getting engaged
*Photographing my first wedding
*Seeing a psychic medium
*Running 5k

Phew, what a lot of fun times! I can't wait to see what 2014 has to offer.

Happy New Year

Gemma xx

Friday 27 December 2013

Christmas wrapped up...


Heeeey,

Well firstly, and most importantly, I hope all you lovely readers had a magical christmas. Mine was enjoyable, but hectic. I didn’t spend any of it at home, but had a lovely time visiting friends and family instead. I received some amazing gifts and of course, ate way too much!





For those that can remember, in my previous post, I had written that a lot could be achieved in the remaining six weeks of the year. Originally I had planned to set myself a running goal, but unfortunately adding the short days and horrendous weather to my already hectic life, it just wasn't possible. Instead I decided to start healthy eating. It is something I’ve been quite successful with (minus christmas) and I feel good for doing it. I intend to maintain it into the new year. 


Whilst having a few days off to enjoy christmas, it has been a great opportunity to catch up with relatives that I don’t see often, and time to reflect on life. I’ve really missed writing more reflective posts and I feel like I’ve been more careful in what I’ve been writing on here. My blog was intended as a creative project, to share things with my friends and family, so that’s what it will continue to be, and let's face it, you can never keep everyone happy. 










































Now is my absolute favourite time of year. With christmas wrapped up, I like to really focus on the new year and what I’m going to achieve. For 2014... I have a plan! I’m going to smile more, discover more, travel more, make new friendships and most of all discover my true happiness. My life up until this point has felt like a massive journey, and I think that 2014 is my destination! No more wasted, pointless new years resolutions. I’m making aims and goals, and a 'to-do list' of what I need to do to achieve them. Of course, I will be taking you along for the ride too. 

Gemma xx

Wednesday 11 December 2013

HOW TO... bake healthy christmas cookies





Heeeey,

Welcome to my first festive themed post - HOW TO... bake healthy christmas cookies. I am going to be sharing lots of different, creative ideas with you all, in the run up to christmas. So if there is anything you would like to see on here, let me know in the comments.

So today's post is literally a beginners guide to making cookies. I am no master chef, so if I can make them, you definitely can too. They can be shaped and decorated however you fancy. I think they work great as a little nibble on the big day or wrapped up in a pretty box as a gift.

So lets get started:

You will need











Fry Light
200g ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
1tsp ground cinnamon
7 level tsp icing sugar
a few drop of food colouring





Serves: 20
Approx 50 cals each



How to

1) Pre- heat oven. I used 180°C which i think is equivalent to gas mark 4. Line 2 baking trays with parchment and spray with the fry light.

2) Roll out the pastry - it needs to be roughly the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out the pastry into shapes using a cutter (preferably christmas themed).

3) Transfer the cut out shapes onto the baking trays. Sieve over a teaspoon of icing sugar and cinnamon (optional). Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly risen and looking golden and delicious. 

4) Leave the cookies to cool. Once they are, mix the remaining icing sugar with a few drops of food colouring and a couple of drop of water, and drizzle this over the top.






























































At around 50 calories a biscuit, these healthy festive treats are too good to resist.

Yummy.

Gemma xx




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