The Best Healthy Cookies

I'm a bit of a sweet tooth fiend when it comes to the weekends, especially when chocolate biscuits are involved - wave a packet of McVitties dark chocolate digestives anywhere near me and I'll be salivating. In order to avoid the inevitable mid-day sugar crash though I decided that making my own sweet treats would probably be best and began searching for the perfect healthy cookie recipe. For a long time it was an almost impossible task but just as I was about to give up hope and resign myself to the fact that flavour and 'good for you' ingredients just couldn't coincide I discovered Ella's blog.

This Week: Lunch at Jamie's

It's been a while since I had the chance to snap some mouthwateringly tasty food, as for the last month I've been keeping to my new year's resolutions pretty well (save a few squares of Dairy Milk here and there!) and have been avoiding eating out too frequently. My tastebuds ended up getting the better of me last weekend though and I practically skipped through the door of Jamie's Italian with one thing on my mind - the Baked Chestnut Mushrooms, probably my favourite restaurant dish ever. If you've yet to try it, do. The non-alcoholic refresher cocktail is an absolute must too - think liquid sour skittles over ice, perfection.

This Week: Meet Up's & Halloumi Overload

It's been a while since I did a proper This Week post - let's blame my inability to remember to pull out the camera whenever I'm actually doing something, or the fact that eating food usually takes priority over snapping it. Yesterday though was Suzie's Meet Up in the Brighton Topshop Personal Shopping Space and I tagged along for the day to say hello and managed to meet a handful of the sweetest girls for a good chat over mini cupcakes.

Three New Year's Lifestyle Resolutions

Last January instead of making a list of resolutions as long as my arm that would no doubt be forgotten by the end of the month, I set myself three small and simple goals which, although may have wavered at some points - namely Christmas, Birthdays and any occasion that pizza was involved the night before, I feel like I've managed to keep up and even make a bit of a habit of overall. With that little success under my belt, this year I've decided to go one better and incorporate three slightly bigger changes into my daily life in hopes of aiming for a healthier and happier 2015.

Summing Up Vlogmas

Today we find ourselves facing the first Monday of 2015 and with that a sad realisation that the holidays are officially over and it's back to work and a normal routine that doesn't involve scoffing chocolate for breakfast every morning. For those still missing the festive feeling and with an hour on their hands for a bit of YouTube catch up, I've rounded up this year's Vlogmas four-parter below which, fingers crossed, should be enough to ease your Christmas cravings.

Christmas Q&A; With Suzie! | #ICovetChristmas

The lovely Suzie and I got together in front of the camera again last week and instead of the usual beauty chit chat, we thought we'd embrace that festive feeling and answer your Christmas questions! Expect some (possibly not so wonderful) singing, drooling over Xmas dinner foods and the great Christmas film debate: The Holiday or Love Actually? Enjoy!

Weekend Vlog: Christmas Markets & Crepes

Like it or not, Vlogmas is right around the corner and in preparation for a whole month of non-stop vlogging I thought it was about time to dust off the camera and get back into the swing of things with a few snippets from last weekend. It may not have been the most eventful two days but things are getting pretty festive around these parts so a visit to the first Christmas market of the year was in order. Large amounts of crepe were consumed, fairy lights awed at and Primark raided for novelty knitwear. All in all, a good weekend I'd say!

This Week: Feeling Festive in Guilford

The last three months of the year are always the best in my eyes. October is when Autumn really begins, November has Bonfire Night and fireworks and you can't even say December without thinking about Christmas. One of my favourite things to do on the weekends is wrap up warm and spend the afternoon wandering around new cities - anywhere with cobbled streets are a must, darting in and out of shops and trying to find the cosiest place with coffee and cake on the menu.

This Week: Brunch at The Creperie

Eating crepes, chatting about blogging and browsing make up counters all rank very highly on my list of favourite things to do, so when all three are combined and in the company of two of the loveliest girls; Suzie and Tanya, that makes for one perfect afternoon. Yesterday we tucked ourselves away downstairs at The Creperie in Brighton and chatted for so long it took us nearly an hour to actually get down to business and order. After a quick glance over the menu - which is enough to make your mouth water, we soon rectified that with a plate full of Nutella and Strawberry goodness.

This Week: A Rainy Afternoon at Ginger Two

As with birthdays, a rainy Saturday morning is one of the few exceptions where cake for breakfast is just about acceptable and after having our plans to snap some outfit photos in one of my favourite places in the South, Winchester, scuppered by the miserable weather we hopped into the cosy cafe Ginger Two for a much needed warm up.

This Week: Tea, Scones & Glamglow

Lunch with my lovely friend Nicola usually means two things: 1) there will be cake involved and 2) we're guaranteed to sit and talk about beauty products for a good three or four hours. Perfect recipe for an afternoon if you ask me. After making a date to visit our local Vintage Tea Room only to turn up and find it closed we headed for the fail safe Tenth Hole in Southsea which I've come to regard as an actual cake Heaven - they have everything. On this occasion though the Mars Bar Cheesecake wasn't on the cards and we went for the classic scones with jam and cream which were so tasty (and huge, might I add) we were full to the brim for the rest of the day.

This Week: In Bruges

Another week, another amazing city! I'm beginning to feel just slightly like a jet setter.. although eight hours on a coach and a rather woozy ferry ride didn't feel too luxurious at the time. A few little breaks that have been in the pipeline for a long time all seemed to have fallen within the same two months and honestly, I'm absolutely exhausted! Last year Darren organised a trip for us to see the Belgium F1 Grand Prix, which I have a sneaking suspicion was more for his benefit than mine, not that I was complaining when Jenson Button drove past us in a convertible - hands up who loves the JB ladies! Not only did we get to spend a few fun (although rather soggy) days at the track, we also got to explore Belgium itself a little.

This Week: Cake at the Seaside

Before I start waffling on about cake, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all those who commented or tweeted me about yesterday's post. You truly warmed my heart and I feel so lucky to have such wonderful, understanding readers who have left me feeling refreshed, full of positivity and ready to start a new chapter of I Covet Thee. For those worried that it meant my blogging days were coming to an end, have no fear, I'll be here talking about junk food, make up and how much I've unwisely spent at Space NK for a long time to come!

A Few Words About Blogging

Now, I like to keep this space on the internet as professional as possible. Beauty, style and whatever else inspires me - yes, but get me talking about anything too personal and it all starts to get a bit uncomfortable. Sure, I've taken you along with me to the odd lunch date or two, will always feel obliged to share whenever a particularly mouthwatering desert/cake/burger (or all of the above) makes it's way onto my plate and even let you see me swanning around the house with wet hair and no make up while having the odd moan about life last time Vlogmas rolled around, but usually that's about as personal as it gets.

This Week: A Birthday Trip to London

I've had quite the busy time this week (makes a change from my usual pyjama's on at 4pm schedule) and got whisked away to London for a long weekend which involved a good trawl of the shops - a haul could possibly be making it's way to you very soon, an amazing opportunity to go to Wimbledon to watch Andy Murray play on Centre Court and uh, not to mention probably the highest levels of giddy excitement I've experienced since I was thirteen after Darren surprised me with tickets to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Undoubtedly one of the best experiences my inner child and I have ever had.

This Week: Gluten & Dairy Free Pancakes

After making the decision to eliminate gluten and dairy from the majority of my diet two months ago it's been quite the struggle to stay strict with my eating habits, especially when it came to cutting out all the sweet treats I was used to gorging on daily, packed full of things I really didn't need to be putting into my body.

This Week: A Trip to Bournemouth

Last weekend Darren and I packed up our overnight bags (or entire suitcase for me) and headed down to Bournemouth to celebrate our anniversary. We stayed in a hotel right on the sea front and were lucky enough to be there for probably the hottest day of the year, or it at least felt that way in my jeans and black top - I will never learn to dress weather appropriately. We took a walk along the pier, hit up the 2p machines in the Arcade and I was even treated to something special from, yup you've guessed it - Space NK. I decided to bring the camera along too and managed to vlog a few snippets of the weekend - flashbacks of Vlogmas anyone!?