one cool cat

Cat Vest, Miss Selfridge

Aran Jumper, Asos

High Shine Leggings, American Apparel (via Asos)

Ballet Pumps, New Look

This is just what I wore at the weekend, obviously it's a bit chilly to just be wearing vest tops at the moment so I put my new aran jumper on top, oh and then my Jack Wills Gilet and yep I was STILL cold. It's nearly the end of May, what's going on!?

Actually had a bit of an awkward moment in H&M wearing this outfit where I bumped into another girl wearing a cream aran jumper and navy Jack Wills Gilet. Cue awkward look and both of us walking off in opposite directions haha! Obviously a popular outfit choice for 20-something students.

My beautiful cat Tilly sadly passed away last week so when I saw this vest top the next day I knew I had to have it as a little homage to her <3

My favourite picture of my little princess 

week in photos #5

my favourite smoothie, yummy sweet chilli chicken salad, rainbow before zumba 

me and alex, discovering local footpaths, catching up on hart of dixie

love getting parcels, alex stole my more, favourite popcorn for babysitting

ootd, like my makeup, glittery nails

love cherry beer, made a vat of chilli, finished season 4

My instagram name has changed along with my blog name, follow me @lifeofemilyalice

asos and miss selfridge haul

Aran Jumper, Asos

High Shine Leggings, American Apparel (through Asos)

Cat Glasses Vest, Miss Selfridge

Pastel Skull Vest, Miss Selfridge

Just a few things I've bought this week. I'm absolutely in love with the jumper, I know it's nearly summer (not that you'd know it from the weather) but I've been wanting an Aran jumper for years but never been able to find one that fit right. I saw this one in the Asos sale down from £35 to £14 and thought why not - I can always return it. The smallest size they had was a size 14 but I like it baggy, it has a really nice weight to it too. Will definitely get lots of wear from it when winter comes around!

I've been umming and ahhing about getting these high shine leggings for months. I keep seeing Lily in them and love how she wears them but I wasn't sure if they'd be very flattering on me, not to mention what size I'd be in them. Anyway I took the plunge and I'm sooo glad I did, they're the most comfortable leggings I've ever worn - I just don't want to take them off! They're like a second, super smooth skin. Plus, I see they're sold out on asos now so I'm glad I got them when I did and I'll probably be getting a second pair when they're back stock!

The vest tops were just £10 in the Miss Selfridge Sale. I picked them up thinking they'd be good with shorts for the festival season.

I'm thinking of doing an outfit post soon, if I'm feeling brave enough!

The Life of Emily-Alice

Just a quick post to explain why I've changed the name of my blog - from Glitter Sequins and Pearls to The Life of Emily-Alice.
It's pretty simple really, I just feel like this name explains better what I want my blog to be about - my life :) 
<3
I have plans to post a lot more often in future so watch this space.

week in photos #4

yummy salmon with pesto crust and asparagus, feeling summery

my favourite breakfast, freaky looking mushrooms

carrot cupcakes, vintage style pinny

Not a lot has happened this week, just work at the nursery as usual and plenty of madmen viewing in between. Alex and all my friends are pretty stressed at the moment, finishing their degrees so my social life has gone a bit quiet for the time being. I've been keeping busy training for my 10k run in September and generally trying to stick to a healthy diet (cupcakes and chocolate porridge aside).

How's your week been?

Scrumptious Carrot Cupcakes Recipe

Cupcakes are my favourite thing to bake, I think they're so pretty with their little swirl of icing on top <3


However I can get stuck in a bit of a cupcake rut, my go-to flavours are vanilla and chocolate and lovely as they are it's nice to be a bit more adventurous sometimes. I love carrot cake but only if the icing is just right. I don't like a completely cream cheese topping (I'm a buttercream addict) but I think a little bit of cream cheese does go with the carrot flavour so I saw this as a challenge. I think this recipe is pretty bang-on if I do say so myself! The sponge came out really moist, helped by the squidgy sultanas.

Okay so after my post yesterday about weightloss, I realise cupcakes aren't the best thing to be eating but I managed to only have one  two, and the rest were donated to some hungry boys! I worked them out to be around 330 calories each but I made them with butter, using a margarine in the sponge would make them a little healthier. Oh and there's 0.3 portions of fruit and veg in each one whoopee! So if you eat 3.3 of them.... :)

Ingredients (makes 12):

(For the Cupcakes)

115g softened butter or margarine

115g soft light brown sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

175g grated carrot

50g sultanas

125g plain flour, sifted

1tsp ground mixed spice

1 1/2tsp baking powder

(For the Icing)

75g softened butter

75g mascarpone cheese

250g icing sugar, sifted

Ground cinnamon (to taste)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 c and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases

2. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla essence.

3. Stir in the carrots and raisins.

4. Sift in the flour, mixed spice and baking powder and fold until they are mixed in.

5. Spoon the mixture into the cases and put into the oven for around 20 minutes or until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean. Put on a wire rack and leave to cool completely otherwise your icing will melt.

6. To make the icing beat the mascarpone and butter together then slowly add your sifted icing sugar. Be careful as the icing sugar always goes everywhere for me :) Add cinnamon until you are happy with it (good excuse to keep trying the icing!)

7. Get a piping bag and star shaped nozzle and put it into a big glass or jug, folding the bag over the edge. 

8. Fill your piping bag and pipe a swirl onto the cupcakes.

9. Sprinkle with a dusting of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Counting Calories - my weightloss so far

With the summer months approaching, I think the words 'bikini body' are on most women's minds. I always enjoying reading blog posts about peoples' weightloss efforts so I thought I'd share mine so far and my plan for the next few months. 

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I'll tell you a secret, I have a bit of an obsession with calorie counting. I'm not interested in any fad diets, I know calorie counting works for me. It was April 2009 when I first started watching my calorie intake and I lost 1 1/2 stones before starting university in the September. 

Me at my lightest, just before I went to uni.

Then I did what lots of students seem to do - piled the weight on. Drinking, takeaways, study snacks and a sedentary lifestyle saw me put 3 stone on. Yep - 3 stone! I don't mind telling you I was the top end of a size 16, whereas I had been a 10-12. My wardrobe was full of tiny clothes that I didn't fit into and I felt hideous. 

Me at my heaviest

But I knew what I had to do so I started counting the calories again, 18 months later I've lost more than 2 1/2 stone and I'm *nearly* back to my pre-uni weight. I'm a comfortable size 12 and sometimes a 10. I could've done it a lot faster than that but to be honest I wasn't trying that hard, I've never felt like I was on a diet - just keeping a mindful eye over my calorie intake and making sure that the general trend was down and not up!

Me now - although this dress is pretty flattering

Now, with bralets and knicker shorts being a huge trend this summer (!) I know I need to get down to business if I want to look and feel my best - and forever after that. I want to be size 8 and at the bottom of the healthy bmi for my height which involves me losing just under 2 stone. I'm a healthy weight now so I'm doing this for me and my confidence, not for health reasons although I know that being lighter will really help my running goals too. 

Calorie counting just makes sense to me. There are different websites that will do it for you or you can do it yourself. If you find out how many calories you need to consume to maintain the weight you are at right now then you can work out how many you need to lose 1 or 2lbs per week depending on how fast you want to lose it. For me, to lose 2lbs a week now I only need 1150 calories which isn't very many but any exercise I do earns me more calories - it's a great incentive. If you want that treat, you need to earn it first. For example, when I do the 5k parkrun on a Saturday morning I earn roughly 750 calories from walking there, running it and walking back, that's almost a Big Mac and Medium Fries (although I can think of healthier treats)! It's all common sense but having a food diary and counting every last calorie really stops you from being in denial about what you're eating. 

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Do you like reading this kind of blog post? Do you think I should post with updates on how I'm doing? It's a difficult topic for me to share but if I can inspire one person to lose the weight and feel happier about themselves it'd be worth it. 

week in photos #3

when will it stop raining, poorly kitty :( , frozen yoghurt 

feeling snuggly, new iphone case yay, having a disney day 

pink fizzy while getting ready, ready to go out, classic mirror pose 

his and hers trainers, post-race bacon butty, need to swat up 

off to the pub, watching our friends' band play in the local, try again at third year

follow me @glittersequinsandpearls

I'm not blogging as much as I want too. Feel like I'm waiting til I buy my new camera which I want soooo badly but need to wait a little longer. 

My cat is really poorly :( She lives with my parents so this was taken when I visited last week and we took her to the vets. Mum's taken her again since and she's had some sort of stroke and her back legs aren't working. If she doesn't get better this week that might be it :'( I begged and begged my parents for a cat about 7 years ago and she was the result - a 2 year old rescue kitty. We have a love hate relationship - I love her and she hates me because I'm always trying to cuddle her! Fingers crossed she makes a recovery.

I have to make scary module choices for next year over the next few weeks. I haven't been studying this year because my third year got off to a crap start so I'm having another go. Can't decide how I feel about it! On the one hand it'll be nice to be a student again and not have to work a minimum wage job to pay the rent but on the other hand I don't know if my brain is up to it! 

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend,