Feeling left behind

When I was 16, I had my entire life mapped out by the time I hit 25. I was going to be a well travelled individual, jump on the property ladder, work as a journalist, have a ring on my left hand and own a wardrobe filled to the brim with designer goodies. Well I hit 25 earlier this year and life hasn't quite gone where I thought it'd go. 

After years of interning I managed to get my dream job and can finally proudly call myself a bone fide journalist - something I thought would never happen. I've also managed to bag that Mulberry after months of hardcore saving. But the others? I'm not even close to ticking them off the list so does this mean i've somehow failed at life?

After having a mini meltdown earlier on in the year when my friends started becoming grown up and investing in property, I had the realisation that success in life isn't straight forward. I was beginning to feel left behind and wondering if my stubbornness not to become a grown up was holding me back. Was it about time I embraced being in my mid twenties and start behaving how society said I should?

Life is not a race so stop comparing yourself to others. You might look on in envy to your friends and wish you were keeping up with the Jones' but I can promise you they're looking at you wishing exactly the same thing. They might have own a house but you get to buy that Chanel lipstick whenever you want as you live at home. They might have a high flying career and earn more than you could ever dream off but you get a jiffy bag full of chocolate sent to you at work. They might be getting married but you can tell your boyfriend to go home so you can binge watch The Tudors. They might only wear designer shoes but you can feel smug as you've managed to find some bargains in TK Maxx.

I may not have a house to call my own, spent a year travelling around the world being 'cultured' or own those coveted Christian Louboutins but to be honest i'm pretty darn happy with the way life is going. Nothing fun is ever straight forward right? And I am still only 25.

Your time will come so stop trying to rush it. Life is too short.

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Recipe: Carrot Cake

The recipe was loosely taken from BBC Good Food.

I can take or leave chocolate, crisps or sweets but cake? Cake I can eat all day, every day. Hence why I try not to bake it so I don't eat it all but last week I decided that I rather missed baking and whipped this up as a birthday treat for my boyfriend's dad. I was so pleased how it turned out!

Ingredients:
300ml of sunflower oil
4 eggs
280g of soft light brown sugar
170g of self-rasing flour
170g of wholemeal flour
4 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda
280g of coarsely grated carrots
100g of chopped walnuts

For the icing:
Make it easy for yourself and buy the Betty Crocker ready made cream cheese icing. It's like heaven in a tub. You'll need two tubs and some walnuts to decorate.

Method:
Heat the oven to 180 degrees and generously grease three shallow cake tins with butter.

Whisk together the oil and beaten eggs in a bowl and leave to one side. Add the sugar, flours, spices and bicarbonate soda into a large mixing bowl. Make sure you mix together thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Finally add the remaining grated carrots, walnuts and egg mixture to the dry ingredients and give it a good stir.

Divide the mixture equally between the three cake tins and pop in the oven. Mine cooked with 30 minutes but always keep an eye on it as it depends on your oven. Sometimes it can take up to an hour.

Once the cakes have cooled, slice off the top - quickly scoff them so the evidence disappears - and smear on the icing before placing them on top of each other. Decorate with the walnuts however you wish.

Admire your handy work and tuck in to a big slice in front of the telly.

Like always, please do tweet me if you happen to make this! Happy Baking!

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Giveaway: Foodie Festival

I have three pairs of tickets to give away to three lucky readers thanks to the generosity of the guys at the Foodie Festival - you can choose to attend on 28th, 29th or 30th of November. You'll be able to get into the Christmas spirit early with lots of festive food on offer - there's even a life size gingerbread house serving warm ginger beer and roasted ginger marshmallows. Feed your sweet tooth with delicious eggnog tarts, marzipan bonbons and macaroons at the Pudding Hall or browse the cheese village for treats to take home. 2012 GBBO winner John Whaite will be offering up his tips to make you a Christmas baking goddess. It's all going on at the Truman Brewery, London. I'm personally looking forward to treating myself to a few retro 'pops' at the vintage Soda Bar, a cool 50's themed bar.

All you have to do is complete what it says on the rafflecopter widget and you're in with a chance.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck everyone! I'll announce the winners on Twitter on 1st November so keep an eye out.

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