Shocks and Shoes

ASOS Sale – Accessory Lust List!

6:13:00 pm

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m assuming you know of ASOS’ Mid Season Sale. I recently went and had a look (is it any wonder I can’t complete any of my chores?), and found some really pretty stuff under (hold your breath) 15 £. This, as of the exchange rates at 4:35 P.M. on 11th October 2012, comes to approximately 1000 Indian Rupees!! You heard me right girls, gorgeous stuff at 1000 Rupees and under!!!

There are loads of stuff in that price range, but here are some of my picks:

1. Pack of Three Neon Love Rings (£2.5 ~ Rs.212)

My pick of the lot. Stack ‘em up or wear them separately, either way, instant glam assured. It doesn’t hurt that it says “Love You” :-).

2. Curve Metallic Keeper Super Skinny Belt (£3 ~ Rs.254)

Shiny, shiny. This belt will instantly take whatever you’re wearing several degrees higher. Super skinny. Super shiny. And at 3 pounds, super cheap.

3. Rainbow Aztec Seedbead Bangle (£3 ~ Rs.254)

Lots of colors popping there. Perfect to spice up a boring outfit.

4. Adjustable Cube Ring (£1.50 ~ Rs.127)

I never could resist anything in pink. And when it’s in an unusual shape like this one, who can say no?

P.S. Free Size!!

5. Oversized 70’s Sunglasses with Filigree Arm Detail (£4.50 ~ Rs.381)

Look every inch a movie star without paying like one!! You get these in other colors too, but this print caught my eye!

6. Studded Canvas Backpack (£14 ~ Rs.1186)

Heads up, biker chicks!! Soft cotton canvas bag with plenty of pockets and some cool studded detailing. Practicality never looked so good :-).

7. Hair Spikes with Hanging Chains (£6 ~ Rs.508)

Perfect for that edgy look, complete with spikes :-). You don’t find these everywhere!

8. Pieces Ol Necklace (£4 ~ Rs.339)

An elegant piece, ideal to add some sparkle to a simple outfit in neutral tones. Available in two colors.

9. Oasis Pink Round Strap Watch (£9 ~ Rs.762)

Bright. Pink. Sold.

10. Limited Edition 3 Pack Cameo Brooch Pack (£6 ~ Rs.508)

If all that edginess didn’t work for you, here’s a little vintage to add to your outfit. Pretty pieces to wear or gift :-).

So, those were my top ten from the ASOS’ Mid Season Sale. Enter MEGA10 at checkout to avail an extra 10% off!!

Have you checked out their sale? What is your top pick?

All Images: ASOS

Food

Recipe for the Week – Baked Carrot Pudding

12:53:00 pm

Personal

Weekly Goals Update – 7 October 2012

11:17:00 am

Personal

My new House Guests!!

4:17:00 pm

Celebration, Personal

Cub’s Birthday Post (and some kiddie party planning tips)!!

11:40:00 am

So as you guys know, Cub turned four!! Thank you all for your lovely wishes :-). So as I promised, here are some details of Cub’s party.

This is the first time we a proper party for him, usually it’s just us and a cake with candles and some gifts. Since he’s actually got some friends now, we decided to do more this time.

An important point was budget – I didn’t want a huge mega-bash for him. ‘Frugal yet Fun’ was my motto throughout. Here’s a breakdown of what I did, which might help if you ever want to plan a party for kids.

First off, I made a plan which listed everything.

1. Guests – How many kids? (and parents, if any; I left the parents out :-), but included siblings). Apparently, the thumb rule for number of guests is age of the birthday child + 1. I ignored this and there were around 10 kids at Cub’s party :-).

2. Theme – I wanted a theme, but he’s in a transition phase from trains to construction vehicles – he hasn’t let go of one and isn’t a 100% into the other. So I decided on a general ‘Birthday’ theme :-).

Getting supplies to match your theme is a bit of a challenge in India, so unless you have the time, talent and resources to go the DIY route, I’d suggest you stick to something common like:

Animals – Jungle, Farm
Cartoon characters - Dora the Explorer, Ben10, Chota Bheem, Mickey etc
Superheroes – Super/Spider/Bat man. (Iron Man/Green Lantern would be a challenge)
Cars
Princess

3. Invitations – I printed out these from the internet:

Of course, if you have a theme, go with it. There are some brilliant suggestions by Poonam here.

Online kids stores are a good place to try for supplies - First Cry, Disney, Hoopos are some options.

4. Party Supplies – I got candles, party blowouts, paper plates, paper cups, napkins and plastic forks from a local store, but ordered these party hats from FirstCry.com:

You can of course, go the whole hog and buy everything in matching sets online, especially if you have a theme. I opted for the store, because I got stuff cheaper there.

5. Decorations – Again, go with your theme. I reused some decorations we already had, including the Happy Birthday banner. All we bought were packs of balloons. Whatever your theme, balloons are a MUST. The kids had a lot of fun playing with them.

6. Food and Drink – An important point to remember here – do not overestimate kids’ appetites. And keep it as healthy as you can, with something unhealthy and yummy thrown in for balance. This is what we served:

Chicken nuggets (Can be substituted with potato smileys/wedges)
Chocolate Chip cookies
Homemade vegetable sandwiches
Small bananas
Fruit Juice
And of course, cake

I tried to keep a balance between sweet and savory. Try to avoid colas, they do nothing but harm kids’ bodies. Also, be sure to ask parents beforehand about any diet restrictions.

7. Party Games – Again, go with your theme. Since ours was simply ‘Birthday’, we opted for classic Birthday Party games:

For the Donkey game, I used the donkey and tail from here. Here’s how poor Eeyore looked after he was all printed and pinned up.

For the Animal Farm game, I made little slips of paper with pictures of animals (since some of the kids were too young to read) and the kids each took a slip and began making the corresponding animal sounds to locate their partner. I collected some animal pics from the internet and it looked like this:

P.S. You can download it if you want, I don’t mind :-).

For the prizes, I used inexpensive stuff like little plastic lunchboxes, pen stands and fun photo frames. Keep in mind that games like Animal Farm will have two winners. Also safe to keep a gift or two handy for ties :-).

Don’t forget the music!!! You’ll get loads of suggestions for kiddie music online, but here’s my top pick :-) :

I also put on a kiddie CD on DVD for the kids to watch while they ate.

8. Goodie Bags – Not necessarily theme dependent. We made the goodie bags out of newspaper and ribbon. We downloaded little ‘Thank you’ tags from the internet and filled our bags with these:

Little Play doh tubs ( I bought a Play Doh Party pack)
Paint Boxes
Chocolates
Bookmarks

Other good options are stationery, crayons, little wind up toys. Or you could give just one toy or book instead of a bag of little stuff. I learnt to make the newspaper bags from here.

9. Gifts – We’re the kind of people who open all the gifts after everyone’s left :-). Whatever you choose to do, make sure you have a designated space for the gifts and a time to open it up. Cub got a huge haul, with all kinds of stuff from this:

to this:

and loads of things in between :-). We gifted him blocks – ‘My First Lego Set’, ordered from First Cry. They have quite a lot of stuff and good service.

Cub is totally into legos and it is turning out to be a really good buy. I think we’ll get some add-on sets later; for now, this is a really good starter set and I would recommend it to anyone just starting out on legos.

Important points to remember:

1. Try to get someone to help; I did this all by myself, and I could’ve really used a helping hand.

2. Keep your camera charged the day before.

3. Start planning a month in advance. That way you can score the best deals and have enough time to receive your online shipments. Also, I used Evernote to help with all my planning.

4. Consider a little extra for everything. You don’t want to disappoint anyone :-).

5. Plan for more games than you think are necessary – it’s no fun for the kids to sit around doing nothing!!

So that was how Cub’s birthday party went!! It was a lot of fun – all the planning, organizing and shopping. But the best part was seeing the kids really enjoy themselves and get involved in the games – it really was worth it!! And here’s a pic of the delighted birthday boy about to cut his cake:

Personal

Weekly Goals Update – 30 September 2012

12:05:00 pm

Food

Recipe for the Week – Ice Cream Cake with Oreo Crust

5:52:00 pm

This post is sooo late; I actually made this for Eid and planned to post soon after!! Anyway, this recipe is actually derived from this Banana Split Ice Cream Cake recipe and the ganache is from here. Now lets check out my version!

This cake is really, really easy, though my instructions regarding the timings may appear complicated. Instead of listing out all the ingredients first, I’ll go layer by layer.

Note: You’ll need a springform pan for this. If you don’t have one, you can line the base of any pan with cling film so that it overflows out from the sides. When the cake is done, you just lift it out by the extra cling film.

For the Base/Crust:

20 Oreo cookies

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1. Crush the cookies in a mixer till they resemble breadcrumbs.

2. Mix them with butter until completely moistened.

3. Press into the base of a spring form tin and freeze for at least 15 minutes.

Note: Don’t press the base too hard or it’ll be difficult to cut once frozen.

For the Ice cream layers:

½ litre chocolate ice cream

½ litre vanilla ice cream

1. Place chocolate ice cream in the fridge for 30 minutes to soften.

2. Whisk well to make it smooth and spreadable.

3. Spread over the Oreo base completely, smoothing the top.

4. Cover with cling film and freeze for 1 hour.

5. Place vanilla ice cream in the fridge for 30 minutes to soften.

6. Whisk well to make it smooth and spreadable.

7. Spread over the frozen chocolate layer completely, smoothing the top.

8. Cover and freeze for at least 2 hours.

For the Ganache:

150 g dark chocolate, chopped

150 g cream

1. Bring cream to just a boil and then simmer.

2. Pour onto chocolate pieces in a bowl.

3. Let it sit a while and then stir till completely melted and smooth.

4. Spread the chocolate ganache over the top of the frozen vanilla layer, smoothing with a spatula.

5. Cover with cling film and freeze for 2 hours.

Before serving:

1. Invert the cake tin onto a plate.

2. Wrap a hot kitchen towel around the cake pan, hold it there for about 30 seconds or till the cake loosens and slides out.

3. Remove the bottom of the spring form and turn the cake right side up on your serving dish.

4. Freeze again for 10 – 15 minutes.

5. Cut using a hot, dry knife to get clean edges.

There, easy as pie, isn’t it?? It’s the perfect dessert to make ahead for a dinner party, so you can focus on your other dishes :-). I’m sorry I didn’t take too many pics, I remembered it only after doing the vanilla layer.

Notes:

1. Check the note about the base above.

2. You can make as many layers as you like, just remember to soften the ice cream in the fridge beforehand and to freeze well in between each layer.

3. You may add fruit or nuts or both.

4. Options for garnishing are unlimited.

See, this must be the most customizable dessert ever!!! And though it doesn’t need any skill of any sort, the end result looks like you’ve worked hard over it!!

So guys, do try this out and let me know how it went!!

Newer Posts

Older Posts

ASOS Sale – Accessory Lust List!

Recipe for the Week – Baked Carrot Pudding

Weekly Goals Update – 7 October 2012

My new House Guests!!

Cub’s Birthday Post (and some kiddie party planning tips)!!

Weekly Goals Update – 30 September 2012

Recipe for the Week – Ice Cream Cake with Oreo Crust

About me

Subscribe and Follow

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2017

ads

Popular Posts

Labels

Blog Archive