HtCC: Jason Wu for Target

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Hayley

L: Blouse, $35 | Skirt, $30 | Straw Bag, $40
R: Cardigan, $40 | Shirt Dress, $40

I feel like I say this on the blog every time I do one of these sort of posts – but designer collaborations are something which I usually feel quite blah about. The quality, the style – most of the time, they don’t feel like they do the designer any good. Which is strange, because of all the collaborative pieces I own, theres only one brand that I felt did badly – Mulberry for Target.

Which is why I present this post with a little amount of reservation. Jason Wu is a designer not much older than many of you reading this, and is known for the many outfits Michelle Obama had worn. I think that all of these elements are why Target have done a collaboration with him. It’s a gorgeously springy type collection, which, quite honestly, I’m annoyed we never get anything this cute in stores.

L: Blouse, $35 | Skirt, $30 | Lace Clutch, $30
R: Dress, $60

L: Dress, $40
R: Blouse, $27 | Skirt, $30

According to various news stories, the opening day saw hundreds of people queueing up early – its strange how news stories act as if its totally normal to queue for hours for the latest Apple product, but queuing for fashion? Bitches be crazy, yo.

Alex is in Boston at the start of next week, so I’m hoping I can place an order so he can bring it back with him…take a bigger suitcase, darling, I need dresses!

You can see the rest of the collection over at target.com but you’ll have to find your own dress mule ;)

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If Not For My Glasses

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Hayley

I’ve been a glasses wearer since I was 7. Back then, I only needed them to see the blackboard, but as I got older, I wore them more and more, finally wearing them pretty much full time when I moved to Bristol the first time.

Its not that I hate wearing glasses. I don’t really mind them too much, having spent over 20 years wearing them. But I hate how I look in glasses in photographs – which is why I’ll wear contacts if I’m going to an event where I know I’ll be photographed, and why I end up taking them off for my outfit photos.

On Friday night, I went out for the first time in quite a while, and had quite a fun time with some friends from work. All was fine until we went to the Slug and Lettuce and as we were waiting at the bar, some drunk blokes tried to take my glasses off my face. Wtf?! I freaked out, and ended up leaving early, but its been on my mind all weekend about how I tend to hide behind my glasses quite a lot these days.

Maybe its time to lose the big frames, and have less to hide behind?

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Fat Friday

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Hayley

It’s my colleague Louise’s birthday next Thursday, but we are going out tonight for dinner at Aqua. To start the celebrations, I decided to make a cheesecake – but one with a brownie base. I used the brownies recipe that I posted previously (a big favourite in the office, and one of my favourite things to bake because its seriously easy. I cheat a bit, and use a big metal mixing bowl on the hob (low low low heat) to melt the butter and chocolate, then just chuck everything else in on top.) then this Nigella recipe for no bake cheesecake. We’ve not cut into the cheesecake yet (I’ll update the post at the bottom when I do) but I’m quite worried that it hasn’t set properly. Argh. Stupid American recipes. WHY WOULD YOU MEASURE THINGS IN CUPS? (S’alright. I’ve complained at the Americans in the office. It did give me a good chance to use my fab Joseph Joseph set* as well – this 6 item set is £12, but the 8 item set* with the additional items being things that aren’t really that useful is about £35. Crazy.)

The items in the above photos though, well, those are mini fairy cakes. I KNOW THEY ARE AMAZING. This recipe from Nigella’s How to Eat* book is seriously easy. Here’s my version of the method:

Ingredients

125g self-raising flour
125g unsalted butter, soft
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
milk

Method
Throw all the ingredients in a food processor except the milk. Leave to blend for a few mins until its all mixed together, then drip in a few teaspoons of milk, so it becomes more of a cake batter consistency. Put into cases, bake at 200°C for about 10/15 mins (until they look nicely brown, and a skewer comes out clean)

For the mini cakes though, I had a few packs of petit four cases* (new bad habit when I go shopping – picking up cake cases because they’re pretty. I have about a thousand cake cases now) and bought this cake tin* which the cases fitted into perfectly. I put my cake mix into my icing bag to put into the cases which was a great idea! I picked up some writing icing this morning on the way to work, because I didn’t have enough butter to do buttercream, and wrote the message on with frozen hands when I first got in! Everyone has been decorating their own cakes before they eat them – a good activity for a Friday!

I may be caked out already, and we’ve not even had the cheesecake…help!

edit The cheesecake was a bit sloppy, but lush – creamy and rich but the brownie balanced it well :)

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