Shopping, Cake And Macarons

        I have been doing very well cutting down on my spending. As much as I love shopping, it is great to see the old bank balance rising rather sharply.
       But two weeks ago on Saturday we decided to take a little trip to St Andrews. Mainly to see what Easter goodies the shop had to offer.
    Although the Easter stuff was not great (we didn't buy any), I did manage to find a few other things...

       I bought two items from the Gorjuss range (I seem to buy something from the Gorjuss range every time I'm there). First the Ruby purse because it has a cat on it and it shares the name with one of my kittens. And then the Poppy Wood clutch which is also pretty.
     From the same shop I bought a black cat pen holder (for my collection) and two cards. One featuring a cat dressed as an Easter bunny, the other with a duckling wearing a tutu on it.
       Then we went to a charity shop that just sells books, some modern and a lot of vintage. Both my Mum and I really like vintage books and this time we weren't disappointed.
     My Mum bought a few vintage Agatha Christie books, what's great about them is they have the lovely vintage illustrations on the covers. She had most of them years ago but got rid of them and regretted it.
       I came away with a very nice selection all of which my Mum was kind enough to buy for me. I got three Timbucktoo books by Roger Hargreaves. I grew up with the Mr Men and Little Miss books but I'd never heard of these.
    The three I picked were Sniff (rabbit), Baa (sheep) and Roar lion.
    I also got two vintage Beatrix Potter books. I used to have quite a big collection of Beatrix Potter stuff. But even when I had my collection none of the books were nearly as old as these. An added bonus is that they both have their dust jackets.

      
        Of course the trip would not have been complete without a visit to Bibi's Bakery. I picked one of the specials for that day which was pecan and white chocolate (which was delicious!), My Mum picked Victoria sponge (so my kittens could enjoy it too). And they did, especially Ruby, who has a big weakness for cake and icing. Of course we only let them have a little bit. But Ruby enjoyed carrying the cake case around in her mouth, then tearing it to shreds later on!

    
         I also had a big craving for a macaron. I opted for lemon while Mum chose strawberry. These macarons were quite expensive at £1.50 a pop. But I have to say they were very close to what a proper macaron should taste like (they were so good).

Goodies Galore Right To My Door

       I have been feeling rotten this week (I still do, I have an awful bug). And my Mum has been feeling even worse than me. What better way to cheer myself up with a spot of shopping, done from the comfort of my living room of course.
       Today  I had two very exciting deliveries, the first from ASOS. I decided  to treat myself to two things that I have had my eye on for a little while and to make it even better they were both in the sale.

     These gorgeous Zoe & Morgan Cat Paw stud earrings were reduced to £53.00. They are so much prettier in real life and they are very dainty. I would reccommend them to any cat lover. If you would like them, there are still a couple of pairs left.

    
     I grabbed another bargain with this quirky cat tee by Numph which was also in the sale. This T-shirt is also available in mustard.

        Later the postman brought me another exciting parcel. I was lucky enough to get a cushion from fellow Scot, Nikki McWilliams' etsy shop. My Mum bought me this Oreo cushion for half of the original price. When they are gone she won't be making any more, if you would like one there is still one available in her Folksy shop.

      While out shopping today, my Mum picked up a book for me that I keep meaning to get but hadn't gotten round to it yet. Home Cooking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale really is a great book. I have Lorraine's previous book and have watched both series and find that you really wanted to get into the kitchen after watching them. And the books are every bit as inspiring.

     If you are a little bit under the weather too, I hope you feel better soon. As for me I am off to enjoy a lovely Burns' Night supper (no not haggis).

More Sale Delights

       Yesterday  I decided to go into town to see for myself  what the sales had to offer. And I was not disappointed. Although my purse may not be so happy!
         My first stop was Lush and my luck was in, the half price sale was still on. I bought all single items, mainly Christmas items with a couple of Halloween thrown in. It was a great feeling going to the till and getting change from a £20.00 note for all this lovely stuff.

      My next stop was Paperchase. I love their Patisserie Pals range. I have the cake stand from the range. They had this gorgeous tin reduced from £7.50 to £3.50.  Then I spotted these very cute and quirky cookie cutter lights. These were a steal at half price, down from £15.00 to £7.50. I fell in love with them and they had to come home with me.

    
      While standing in the queue in Primark buying some rather mundane things, I spotted these Lip Smackers reduced to £1.00 each.  I really like these fizzy drink flavoured Smackers (I'm using Cherry Coke at the moment). So I went for Orange Fanta and Sprite.

       Then H&M, this item wasn't in the sale but I just had to have it. I was in the children's section to see what Hello Kitty items were on offer. I couldn't see anything of great interest. Until I saw this beautiful little cardigan which was a reddish orange colour with a white collar and it had a very cute little black cat on it.

       I have to confess that I do buy children's clothes if they have a black cat on them for my collection. So it goes without saying that I bought it and I think it was reasonably priced at £9.99.

           If all of this wasn't enough I then decided to make my way to TK Maxx. My Mum had mentioned to me that the last time she was in, they had Ruby cake sprinkles. She was going to buy them (she knows I'm a sucker for anything with my cats' names on). Even better if it's baking related. But in the end she didn't get them. So I thought I would go and see if they had any left because I knew I would love them. They did and I bought a tub for £2.99.

      Always on the hunt for a new cookbook to add to my growing collection, I went upstairs to see what they had to offer.  I came away with The Best Of Cadbury's Chocolate Cooking. A bargain at the same price as the sprinkles.

After all that it was time to make my way home. I am so pleased I had a good look around. I came away with some little gems.

Another Late Night Shopping Trip

We went into town again last night for late night shopping. Just to get a few little bits for Christmas and it was much busier than I expected.

    My first stop was Lush. I am running very low on Lush products and I wanted to make sure I have something nice for my Christmas bath (I must say not my only bath of the year!). So far I hadn't purchased any products from the Christmas range. It seems to me one minute it was October and now it's December, so I am not quite as organised as I usually am.
       These four items came home with me...

Abombinaball is a new bath ballistic for this Christmas which has a mix of peppermint, vanilla and orange.

Also a new introduction for this year is The Melting Snowman bath melt which has a deep marzipan fragrance.

Cinders, which I have used many times before, has a spicy and fruity scent.

I fell for this cute and quirky Santa knot wrap. Which they had used as bunting in the shop which was a great idea.

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My next stop was Past Times. I bought a cute little catnip tree for my lovely little kittens. I also bought a very girlie catnip mouse, especially for Violet. I bought it to cheer her up after her surgery next week (I will go into detail about that later).

     Next stop was Waterstone's. Having had a bee in my bonnet about brushing up on my French grammar and verbs for a while, I decided to see what they had to offer. A very helpful man pointed me in the right direction of the French books and showed me some of the options. This is the one I settled on...

     Next the sweet shop. I got some of my favourite Rhubarb & Custard sweets. I also purchased some Beeches Violet Creams. I wanted something to enjoy while poring over my new book (they are also nice because they remind me of my little Violet).

Halloween Happiness And Vintage Shoes

The Satuarday before last (20th August) my Mum and I went on a shopping trip. Our first stop was TK Maxx. And to my delight there was some Halloween stock upstairs. I bought three things, a witches' hat T-Lite holder, a wooden witch nutcracker and a mesh black cat.

We then moved on to the charity shops, I don't shop in them much but we were looking for a pair of green shoes for my Mum's Halloween costume (a pumpkin). We didn't find any but fate must have been on our side.

    My mum was a Bay City Rollers fan in the 70's and she always wanted a pair of the tartan shoes. She missed out on a pair a couple of months back in our local auction. They sold for £28.00 (she didn't leave a big enough bid on the books).

      In the first charity shop we went to, there sitting on the shelf in front of us was a pair of genuine vintage Bay City Rollers shoes. They are in fantastic condition, the right size and even nicer than the ones in the auction. And they were only £5.99! In another charity shop my Mum bought me a comprehensive book on John Galliano for £4.99.

   Later we went to Superdrug and I purchased a few Barry M products for my Halloween costume (I am thinking of being a witch). The products include black crackle nail polish and block orange nail polish to use underneath.

We had a great shopping trip today (the more I write in this blog you will see shopping is a big hobby of mine!). Hopefully there will be many more Halloween hauls to come this year, I will keep you informed.