31/03 - Love E.B x

We actually had our egg hunt early this year as Ella is with her Dad today but it seemed more relevant to share it today. I don't know how it works/worked in your house but the Easter Bunny leaves something resembling a "calling card" where the children will likely find it, upon said card is the first clue. The clues are generally things like "where you keep the biscuits" or "where you watch TV" (that doesn't give the best impression of my child rearing does it? Lol) and they find the next clue in that place. Eventually they find the stash of eggs and as far as I can tell Ella is still invested in the magic but the beauty of a larger age gap is that once Ella knows the truth little Milo will keep it alive for us all. It's always a little sad when there are no believers in the family, don't you find?

I hope you all had lots of chocolate (though I'm not a huge fan myself) and a great Easter.. Tomorrow marks the start of Vlogril (vlogging every day in April) so you will all see a lot more of me over the coming month :)

Khi

Creme Egg Cupcakes

I have seen variations on gooey centred cupcakes all over Pinterest lately so I was dying to try my hand at some for the Easter holiday. Given that my cupcake pan is quite small I didn't think I could fit full sized creme eggs into them so I went for the mini 'twisted' variety you find in Hero's and I think they worked really well. A couple of notes there.. you really do need to freeze them overnight so that they don't melt too much within the cake.. I only had a few hours and as you can see from the photo at the end of this post it does have a gooey centre but you don't get the 'egg-like' effect you would if the fondant was intact upon biting into it. This still works well but I doubt anyone would recognise the filling so I would definitely make that amendment next time. 

I decided to use chocolate cupcakes and chocolate frosting, you can read my basic cupcake recipe here. For chocolate I just substitute 1oz of flour for cocoa powder and I've never successfully made a tasty chocolate topping so I cheated with Betty Crocker but you could opt for buttercream if you wish. 

I put about the same amount of batter into each case I would without the chocolates and didn't find that they overspilled at all (surprising) so that's another thing to remember when you're trying your own.. I'd expected to have an explosion with my first batch but they were fine. I did cover over the chocolate but I'm not sure it was necessary as the batter obviously rises and will cover over anyway as the chocolate inevitably melt a little. 

Et Voila! Done! Obviously large creme eggs would create a larger gooey centre but I'm not sure that they're necessary and size aside it would be awfully expensive! I'm aware that there is a brownie adaptation sweeping the blogosphere right now so providing I can extend the Easter theme over the 'Easter Holidays' (Spring Break here in the UK) I may just have a go at those too.

If you've tried something similar yourself and blogged it leave a link!

Khi

30/03 - No Jägers For Me!

I go out so rarely these days and am not quite the "party animal" I once was but when Laura and I go out we have our own brand of home early fun. We like to dance but are not big drinkers which some people can't get their heads around so we're often left dancing alone drinking water - hydration people! This evening was one such occasion but we had so much fun and let's face it you never wake up on a Sunday morning wishing you'd stayed out later the night before and you definitely don't wish you'd drank more so the way I see it we have the right idea - no matter how ancient we felt on soft drinks among teenagers chasing Jäger-Bombs all night.

Khi

29/03 - NEW New Girl!

How many if you were excited to see the return of New Girl this week?? I didn't even know it had returned until Lee informed me that we had it "to watch" - he's a keeper! My favourite character has to be Schmidt, I do love me some Zooey Deschanel but.. He had me at driving Mocassins!

In other news I am going out for Danielle's 20th birthday tomorrow night.. What does a 27 year old wear to such an event without feeling/looking 105 amongst the crowd? Luckily Laura is coming along too so I won't be the only "older one". They aren't even going out til 9.45.. My evening is usually reaching its peak about that time!!!

For now I will watch the rest of New Girl, eat another slice of pizza and try not to think about how this time tomorrow night I'll probably be feeling very nauseous indeed.

Khi

Meet Buddy!

Being the dutiful vlogger that I am there will of course be a video to follow but I couldn't keep these photos to myself for a moment longer, how cute is little Buddy?

Khi

Caged Children & Celebrity Look-a-likes

 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

28/03 - Fluffy Face Time

My parents new puppy arrived today and isn't he the cutest thing you ever did see? My brother face timed his first little patter around the living room and we're all very excited to meet little Buddy tomorrow!

 

 In other news I have decided to migrate these diary posts over to a second blog, I have a working title and am hoping to have everything up and running for the start on the new month but if anyone has a great idea for a name I'm open to suggestion! Miss BB Follow my blog with Bloglovin

27/03 - Birthday Girl!!!

No it's not me, my friend Danielle celebrated her 20th birthday today and just the thought makes me feel about 105! Her Easter-esque cupcakes went down well, as did her rather bizarre mix of gifts but I was sure to include a Wonderbra, what with it being national cleavage day and all.

In other news I saw the above in McDonalds today, DN stands for Doncaster.. I have now seen it all.. And it was Ella's parents evening. I can't believe she will be 8 this year, her teacher only had good things to say about her, which was lovely and I embarrassed her royally talking about who she calls her "BFFs" (she was kicking me under the table) so my parenting is done for the day ;)

 Miss BB

26/03 - 3 Day Week

Most of you will be excited about Easter as it promises two short working weeks and an uber long weekend but Bank Holidays aren't anything special for my since I don't work Mondays anyway. This week of course we have the anomaly that is Good Friday so I too benefit from the extra day and to celebrate I thought I'd share a picture if these cakes I made for Danielle's birthday tomorrow! I'll post a how-to at the weekend but they're a variation on the Cream Egg cupcakes I've seen all over Pinterest recently. I'm not a big fan of frosting and gooey centres myself so I'm looking forward to taking them to work for the verdict but Lee assures me they're delicious! 

Miss BB

25/03 - Advertise on MissBB

I've never done this before so April will be a bit of a trial. I'm aware that a lot of bloggers are now offering a 'blogger rate' to advertise your site on theirs so after several twitter discussions over the past few weeks I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring and offer something myself. The ad would need to fit into a 300x150 oblong (they don't have to be exact, I can resize but if they're way out they will look squished/stretched) and will reside in my side bar for the entire month. I will draw up a post introducing the collective blogs to my readers so if you'd like to include a short description I can include that there. Like I say I'm new to this so this may be the one and only time you see something like this posted but I will see what the response is like and go from there. I will charge £5 per ad and this isn't just for bloggers but YouTubers too! If you're interested email me at missbudgetbeauty@hotmail.co.uk by Friday 29th March so I have time to get the ads up for the new month!

Miss BB

*NOTE* This is a special rate for fellow bloggers and does not reflect my regular advertising rates

24/03 - Tell Me What You Think

We're almost at the end of our 1st quarter so I thought I'd take stock and ask you for some feedback. This year I resolved to post 3 videos per week over on my YouTube channel, 7 posts here on my blog and an additional daily diary post. So far I've missed 1 video which I think is pretty good going but I'm interested to hear what you think of the schedule and what you'd like to see more or less of? Do you mind my diary posts in amongst my beauty posts? Should I set up a separate blog for them?

I think it's really important to listen to what you guys want, I wouldn't be here without you after all so all comments are welcome!

Miss BB

23/03 - Out Sick

I haven't felt quite right all day today. You know that feeling you have just before you're up all night with food poisoning it some such ailment? I feel as though I will be struck down with something horrendous any moment now but.. Not yet. Needless to say I have not yet completed day 3 of the Shred and am so disappointed as physically I don't ache too much and I could do it but I just feel awful! I've taken a Zantac and am hoping that will settle my tummy before bed but if you have some great home remedy I'm all ears! If I'm honest I never really feel 100% and I generally put it down to the food I eat.. I always feel better for eating better and it usually takes for it to get this bad for me to make the (temporary) change. I'm sure I have an abnormally sensitive digestive system, does anyone else feel this way? Miss BB

22/03 - Achey Breaky

To say I am feeling the effects of "the shred" today would be an understatement. The legs you see above can barely move without me yelping but after a long soak in the tub their pain is eased slightly. Aches aside we powered through today and as much as it hurt it actually got better as out muscles warned up - something I will try to remember on those days when I really think I can't do it. I still haven't taken my "before" pictures but absolutely must do it tomorrow, the results I've seen not only randomly searching only but popping up in my twitter/Instagram timeline recently are amazing so if it's anywhere near as effective for me I want to show you, don't I? Saying that I did just have a pizza.. But I did say my diet would be mostly unchanged lol. Anyway I must go get the Deep Heat now in the hope it will cure me for another session tomorrow. A couple of you said you might join us in the 30 day challenge so do let me know if you take it up, I hear day 4 is the killer but I think I got to 10 when I last attempted it.. We'll see! 

Miss BB

21/03 - 30 Day Shred (Day 1)

You may remember my first attempt at this last year, well I'm taking another stab at it and this time I have an accomplice. Danielle (my work friend) has resolved to do the daily workout with me, we go to the gym (fairly) regularly as it is so the plan is to replace the treadmill with Jillian Michaels famous routine. We started today but I'm going to take some before pictures tomorrow to measure my (hopeful) progress and you can expect to hear lots about my aches and pains over the next month. I don't intend to alter my diet much so it will be an interesting experiment to see whether exercise alone can give you real results before your summer holidays! Miss BB

20/03 - First of Spring

Did I tell you yesterday about my horrendous back ache? I'm sure I didn't. After carrying a sleepy Milo around on Monday I was crippled with pain yesterday and I would be remiss if I didn't mention my miracle cure. Deep Heat is nothing new but seriously I am healed overnight, amazing stuff! I woke up feeling 100% better only to discover it was the first official day of spring.. Coincidence? It's still bitterly cold outside but we now have the promise of it warming up, flowers blooming and a generally sunnier outlook for the next few months. Who thinks we'll actually feel some heat this Spring/Summer? Show of hands... No, me either! 

Miss BB

19/03 - Puppy

I don't tend to talk too much about the family outside my home here on my blog but you may have seen brief mention in the past of our dogs, Spike & Remy. We'd had them since I was a child and over the last 6 months we lost them both, Remy just days ago. As any of you with dogs will know, they're like part of the family and it's a very sad time when they're no longer around but in the midst of their grief my parents have bought a new puppy! They'd spoken before about how soon to get another and losing Remy was a shock so I think going to see some babies was in part to make them feel better but they spotted the little cutie above and he's coming home a week on Thursday! I will blog again that weekend once he's settled and has a name but he's a Border/Lakeland terrier cross. Name suggestions welcome 

 Miss BB

18/03 - Wedding Dresses

Today was a bit special as I went to see my best friends wedding dress. She's getting married in October and she went try it on as she hasn't seen it since she chose it last may. Wedding dress shops are so exciting but the staff make or break the experience (as with all retail) and today the assistant just generally couldn't be bothered.

I guess the magical world of weddings would get old if you were around them everyday but surely when you sign up to a job like that you should be prepared to put on your happy face all the time for your customers who are supposedly planning the happiest day of their lives.

 

But that's all by the by, her dress was beautiful and she looked lovely and that's the important thing, isn't it? Milo was more interested in this rack of jumpers he found in New Look..

17/03 - Sunday Servers

As some of you may know my site has been up and down this week (annoying) so this post is a few hours late but I've been assured that I've been moved to a different server now and normal service should resume within 24hrs. The problem was (apparently) an external hack attacking my server and in order to protect the sites using it they limited access for any users they couldn't verify. This was immensely frustrating as not only was I not in control, it seemed my hosting company wasn't either so moving to a new server is good news! That might have been the dullest paragraph I've ever written. I'm sure your blog roll's have been inundated with St Patrick themed posts today but not from me, I may be mc-by-marriage but there's very little of interest goes on here to celebrate the Irish occasion so I thought instead I would share my slouchy Sunday ootd. Jumper - Primark, Jeans H&M. These are officially my favourite jeans ever!!! See you tomorrow (or later today really) 

Miss BB

16/03 - Date Night

We don't often get a child free night to spend on our own, the kids usually go to Grandmas when we have plans but this week we decided to make plans with each other. We went for dinner at Chiquitos (love!) and then to the cinema to see The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (pretty good) and generally had a good time babyless out of the house. In truth we don't do much together away from the shops (meadowhall is our second home) so it was a nice change!

In other news, YouTube have been advertising a new channel layout this week and I decided to check it out.. Unfortunately there's no takesies backsies and I hate it :( I'm hoping it will grow on me but it's a lot like the new(ish) facebook layout which I'm still not keen on. I guess you don't visit the channel page often but as a first impression for new viewers I'm not super happy with it as is. Check it out online here Miss BB

15/03 - Red Nose Day

So what did you all do for RND? I must admit, I'm not one to join in this this kind of thing, I avoid sponsored activities, don't buy raffle tickets and rarely watch the show itself. Tonight, however, I donated for the first time. A nominal sum but as I was browsing the online shops and channel hopping I caught Rob Brydon talking to a girl about Milo's age who had Malaria. Poorly as she was she looked like the happiest kid and for me that method of "guilting" is far more effective that "look how sad these people are, they have nothing!". It was more "look at this girl, she has everything to live for and is so brave despite her condition". I know it's a controversial one, the country seems divided between those wondering why everyone isn't giving and those who resent sending money outside of the UK, I belong to neither party but would encourage everyone to give something if you can. It could be £1 (you can click in the box an type in a figure) and you can pay online via PayPal.. It couldn't be simpler and what else would you have spent that on? Chocolate? It's the kids that get me every time.. If the shoe were on the other foot I could deal with it myself but watching my children diseased and dying.. Trite as it sounds, we don't know how lucky we are to have been born in the country! To donate visit this link! Miss BB

14/03 - The End of Google Reader?

I'm still hearing conflicting information regarding the removal of this much used google function but to be on the safe side I thought I'd use today's diary post to remind you that you can follow my blog in a variety of different ways! Since jumping from blogger to Wordpress I read all of my favourites on my bloglovin app and there's a reason I gave them pride if place in my sidebar.. I genuinely think it's the best site for the purpose. Of course there are many alternatives, scroll down on the right and you'll see them, you can even register for email alerts if you don't fancy signing up to anything new. Another option is to like my facebook page, I publish all of my blog posts and videos over there as well as my twitter feed so you won't miss a single conscious thought that way! If you're a fellow blogger leave your links below so we can all take a peek and those using google reader can start to rebuild their reading list! Miss BB

13/03 - Train Delays

 

I am currently sitting at the bar in Manchester train station with Laura because our train has been cancelled *sob*. We went to the Benefit event at the Lowry and I wasn't sure what to expect but we had so much fun. The food was amazing, the entertainment was.. Amazing. I can't wait to get the vlog up and show you. For now there's not much to show or tell as my phone has died and I'm riding the wifi clod at the bar (thank god) to write this post. Tomorrow I will have more info and be generally more interesting but that's it for today! 

Miss BB

12/03 - A Peek Inside My Beauty Closet

Don't you love reorganising? I do, and when my site was down and I had some time on my hands I decided to totally revamp by closet. I am lucky enough to have two shoe closets and I am now using one for my "everyday" makeup and my hair and body supplies.

 

Some of you may remember my beauty closet tour last year when I vowed to get through my stash before purchasing more. Well lots of you have asked for an update so I may just do one now. Of course being a beauty blogger it's tough to keep the stocks low as I have a steady flow of items for review but what I don't live I now try to give to friends that might and use up what I do. I've definitely improved and empties videos really help, every time I use something up I pop it in the box.. Quite satisfying really!

  

Lastly I thought I'd show you my actual shoe closet, I've thrown out all the tattered old pairs I never wear anymore and condensing my options have helped show me which styles I'm missing so I'm not always buying the same thing! Well that's it for today, I'm veerry sleeeepy and still have to jump in the tub. Laura and I have an event in Manchester tomorrow night which I'm only half looking forward to 'cause I just know how tired I'm going to be the next day! Miss BB

11/02 - Welcome Back

You may or may not have realised that my site was down for most of last night and today, very frustrating and given that Monday is my set "blogging day" it also means that my posts will be fewer this week. Rest assured however, I will be here with my inane daily updates so even if I have nothing relevant to talk about.. I'll still talk! I actually rearranged my wardrobe and beauty storage today (I had a lot of time in my hands) so I may just show you a little if that tomorrow but for those who've been tweeting me about my server issues.. Welcome Back! 

Miss BB

10/03 - Thanks For Borning Me Day!

When Ella was little she once said "if you didn't want to play with me, why did you born me?" - the phrase stuck and is now somewhat of a running joke regarding the children and their many wants and needs. I thought that needed explaining for those who take my writing too literally at times, we have renamed Mother's Day! Few women describe childbirth as easy so I won't give you the same old line about hours of labour and painful recoveries but I think we mothers really earned our day of thanks and mine was lovely. It's nice to be appreciated and as much as they appreciate me I appreciate my two beautiful children and my husband who is at times both Father and Mother to them when my second (blogging) life gets in the way! I hope all you parents out there had a great Sunday with your families! Miss BB

09/02 - OOTD Blogger Meet Up

I will blog about the event itself tomorrow but I thought I'd quickly share today's outfit before I collapse into bed. This week has wiped me out and today.. Zzzzz. Laura and I completely neglected to take any photos of each other before or during the event so I got Lee to snap these pictures at the end if the day. I am big on basics and black is a staple in my wardrobe so this black on black ensemble is something I'd wear often. The "cold shoulder" top is from Romwe, the ripped jeans (which I'm completely in love with) are brand new from H&M and the boots are Primark. I have a big clothing haul coming up on my YouTube channel this week as I've been splurging a little online and these jeans are one of the many things I couldn't resist during the H&M code-fest last week, I even bought them in stone wash! It was a great day and so much fun to meet other bloggers and YouTubers, I'm hoping we can meet up with some again soon as it does feel lonely up north sometimes! 

 Miss BB

08/03 - Face Mask Friday (kind of)

So this is not technically a face mask Friday post cause I'm still wearing said mask and cannot yet review it but I'm very impressed thus far so consider this a teaser for next week. It's a new 2 step blemish treatment from Montagne Jeunesse (if I got that right from memory I want a round of applause.. If not let's all move on) that I spotted in Asda earlier and since I have a monster breakout on my cheek and one just erupting on my chin it couldn't have popped up at a better time. I will be at the FABB event tomorrow in Leeds so I'd rather not look like I'm growing a twin on the side of my fave and am testing much faith in the tingly stuff I currently have slathered on it.. It feels interesting! Another little note is that my very first business cards arrived today, pretty cool and I will review the service soon as I managed to get 50 free (+p&p) and they came in 4 days so I'm well happy as I wasn't expecting to get them in time for tomorrow - I'm too tight to pay for express postage. Oh and how could I forget?? My replacement disco pants arrived!! They fit like a bleedin' dream.. Size SIX! Gotta love ASOS for their vanity sizing but I'd have preferred to have had ones that fit first time! So for anyone out there wondering what size to choose, I'm 2 sizes smaller and a friend of mine who took my original pair is at least a size down so order small! 

 Miss BB

07/03 - Too Old To Disco???

Another year older, another year I feel I'm "too old" for many blogging trends I covet on my much younger counterparts. The disco pant is one such trend. I'm no fashion blogger, I like what I like and it usually takes me a while to come around to a new style but the disco pant had me Immediately. Unfortunately I just couldn't see myself in them, they are basic(ish) and from what I can tell are super flattering but how many bona fide adults are actually wearing them? At 27 years old am I too old to disco? This week I decided not and ordered a pair from ASOS, they arrived in my size and were absolutely huge so I'm currently awaiting a smaller alternative but rest assured this is not the last you've heard from me on the subject. Whether I'll pluck up the courage to wear my shiny spandex to the park or god forbid.. The SCHOOL RUN.. Is another thing but I refuse to be too old for anything.. I've decided I shall arrive in to my 90s in a cloud of glitter eyeshadow and hot pink lipstick! 

Miss BB

06/03 - Cake!

 

A friend at work brought in cake today (recipe here) so that's a good day already, right? Well it was a long one so that cake was washed down with a large glass of wine once I got home and now it's finally bedtime! We're watching a show about "the poor kids of America" right now and it's stuff like this that really kicks you in to touch and reminds you when you think you're having a bad day.. You have no idea! I don't know how I dare complain about anything when people are living in such worse conditions but ignorance is bliss as they say so I will switch off, get in the bath and thank my lucky stars I have what I have! 

Miss BB

05/03 - Custom iPhone Case

Today's diary post comes to you as a review. I received this custom phone case from caseapp.co.uk yesterday morning and have been wrestling with the idea of reviewing it since. As a blogger I am sent things on occasion and when I perhaps have less than glowing comments it's always a dilemma.. to review or not to review. I decided since my irks with this are slight I would go ahead as it's a very cool service and I'm generally happy with it.. but then I got it for free, I had to consider if I'd still be so happy if I'd paid £24 for it! The answer? No! but Why? Quality!  I am an eBay girl at heart and never pay more than a few pounds for a phone case so regardless of the picture on the back if I was paying £24 for one I'd expect it to feel like it was worth that and this (in my opinion) doesn't. It felt flimsier than the one I had on already which cost a fraction of the price and there's something about it that just doesn't feel as nice (rhyming? really?) so I can't in good conscience tell you that this is an amazing product, however.. I have done some research and caseapp seem very competitive, some companies are charging upwards of £40 for the same service so although I think this could be better they are still one of the cheaper alternatives out there. I will say also that having revisited the site today the cases seem to start at £19 and I'm not sure why mine was higher but that's something to note if you're considering a purchase. I chose a chevron monogram I made on a paint program as I've seen similar styles on US sites so often but they're so expensive here in the UK.. another thing to note.. this was still cheaper than the eBay monogrammed alternatives. One last thing I'm kicking myself over is the colour of the case, I didn't realise until I went back online today that you could choose the colour and the white doesn't look great with my black iPhone but hey ho.. you live you learn - pay attention!

Overall I'm really happy with the design and once it's on the phone the quality doesn't matter so much I guess, I just think if I'd spent that money I'd have been a little disappointed but maybe I've just been lucky in the past with the cheap one's I've bought being made well. Lastly if they did start making iPad mini cases I'd seriously consider a purchase as they're so tough to find now as it is and the ones available are priced pretty steep given the limited availability.. plus I'd love it to match my phone (geek) so although I didn't feel I could totally talk them up there's actually nothing wrong with the service, the case came quickly and you can put whatever design you like on the back, including a collage of instagram pictures - just a thought!

Available online here

Miss BB

04/03 - New Hair

D-day! I took some before pictures ahead of my friend arriving to colour my hair and was appalled at the state of my roots.. I had no idea how bad they were!! We decided to go for an overall darker shade with a couple of highlights through the front and just to blend and I really like the way it turned out. I had expected it to be more drastic but she managed to make a subtle change that made a massive difference to my roots and will hopefully enable me to grow it out without the regrowth being as terrible as it was. I will of course post more pictures when I've taken some 'afters' in decent light but here's what I have for now, I know some of you were waiting to see how it turned out.

And here's the video (when it uploads)

Miss BB