Hello friends!

How are you doing? I’m back with a quick update on what I’ve been up to lately!

Doing:

We headed down to London at the end of October to see Father John Misty perform – it was a great concert! We also hung out in Hackney beforehand and enjoyed a stroll along the canal which was very nice.

Whenever I work at home or on my blog, Bells comes and hangs out on my lap and purrs. =^..^= She is a lovely cat, if you ignore the fact that she sometimes tries to bite or swipe you when she’s in a mood. But on the whole, I like her better than most humans.

We also went to Sheffield this past weekend to see a production of Rebecca (based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier) which was fantastic! If you get the chance to see it – do! I’m not usually a big theatre fan – I find plays too often hit and miss and frequently boring, but this was on a whole other level.

Eating:

While in London I found The Breakfast Club for a yummy American diner style brunch – this set me up for the whole day and was delicious! I’d definitely recommend checking one of their branches out if you’re in London – they have an especially good range of veggie options. 

 THIS amazing red velvet cheesecake cake was one of my choices at the November Cake Club event. Cake Club is a fun charity event that I attend in Nottingham a few times a year – ticket money goes towards local charities, and everyone gets to eat cake! Everything was SO amazing this month! (If you’d like to make a red velvet cheesecake cake like this one, try this recipe).

Finally – the BEST thing I ate this month was an amazing box of baked goods from Borders Bakeshop! The cakes-by-post are via the talented Gem of Cupcake Crazy Gem, and each box contains marshmallows, truffles, brownies and bars – each week themed around a different flavour, like pumpkin (!), oreo (!!), nutella (!!!) or cookie dough (!!!!). 

They’re absolutely perfect for those weeks when you deserve a homebaked treat but can’t bring yourself to make them yourself! Boxes are £14.95, plus £2.50 p+p and they arrive super quickly.

To order, just visit the Borders Bakeshop Instagram – this week’s flavour is malteser and toblerone and Gem is taking orders now!

Baking:

What have I been baking? Cookies, cookies, and a great big cake failure!

The above gingerbread layer cake with *weeps* cream cheese frosting that I made for Cake Club turned out a little different in reality than in mind, sadly. An issue with my frosting meant it was too runny and there were other issues too! Still, it tasted nice!

Reading: 

I requested The Heart Goes Last from my local library just as it came out, and managed to get it to read before anyone else – hurrah! I really enjoyed The Heart Goes Last – I wasn’t expecting it to be as funny and surreal as it was!

Have you read it?

I also read Tell the Wolves I’m Home – another novel I really enjoyed which deals with grief, secrets, family and what it feels like to be a fourteen year old girl – this book really brought that feeling back!

What have you been up to lately? Any books I should read? Have you entered my giveaway to win a Lumie daylight alarm clock yet?

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