The simple fact is that today's wall to wall sunshine has made me crave a lollipop. Not one to take the easy option, I decided to create my own.
So here's my little recipe for yummy strawberry yogurt lollies. Of course, if you're feeling indulgent you can swap the yogurt for double cream!
All you need is:
1 x 400g punnet of strawberries
1 x 500g carton of natural yogurt
250g caster sugar
All you need to do is:
- Hull & halve the strawberries
- Pop the strawberries, yogurt & caster sugar in a blender & whizz until smooth
- Pass the mixture through a sieve
- Pour into lolly moulds- There should be enough mixture to fill 2 x 8 hole moulds (my mould was courtesy of Poundstretcher, a bargain at just 99p)
- Leave the lollies in the freezer to set for 4 hours then enjoy!
I'm sure you'll all heave a sigh of relief to know that I've chosen my outfit for the impending wedding party!
Now, for those of you who know me well, you'll be expecting me to tell you about the entirely new outfit & accessories that I've purchased, but alas in these times of reduced spending, I've gone all thrifty. This is not a word not usually associated with me when it comes to wardrobe decisions, however in these austere times, a changer of tack has been required.
So a decision has been made & I must say I'm rather enjoying hunting out a bargain these days. I've always been an avid Ebay buyer & seller as well as, I think we can say, a compulsive internet shopper, but I've never been one for camping out on the high street for the first day of the sales. How times have changed...
On Wednesday I happened to pop into Croydon, purely for banking purposes. Somehow on the way back to the car park I was drawn into Zara & as soon as I entered the store I noticed that the clothes were not beautifully displayed in ranges as is the norm, but that the racks were crammed with current, last season & it has to be said, some archaic garments. Staff were plentiful & the whole store seemed to be a hive of activity & luckily almost customer free. It didn't take much to work out that the summer sale was on the horizon, although nothing had yet been marked up as being on sale.
After scouring the shop for anything of interest (of course firmly focused on a wedding outfit & nothing else), I headed for the fitting room with my armful of garments. I proceeded to try & glean some sale information from the staff member there. I could see her mind ticking over whether to tell me when the sale was actually starting & of course she more or less denied all knowledge of there being an impending sale!
So I made a mental note of where the items I was interested in were situated & left the store, not before asking another member of staff when the sale was starting. She parted with the information with ease & Thursday was etched on my brain.
Although I had a long to do list planned for Thursday morning, I somehow found myself in the car at 10am & en route to Croydon again. So with military precision, in the now bustling store, I picked out the clothes I'd had my eye on (all but one item was still there), bypassed the fitting room queue feeling smug that I didn't need to queue up & paid for my items. To top off a fruitful trip, I also managed to get a lovely current season botanical floral printed navy silk & jersey tunic at a reduced price, which had accidentally been marked up at sale price!
To get to the subject of this post (sorry about the inane rambling to get to this point), Zara came up trumps in providing me with a dress, a sale item to boot, for the July wedding party we're going to. As soon as I saw it I knew I already had a suitable bag & shoes to complete the outfit. So here it is...
Here's a sneaky peek of the other things I picked up as well...
I've been doing a bit of shoe research recently, all in the name of sourcing a wedding outfit & I've stumbled across some mighty fine wedges. So here they are...
One if the big trends for Spring/Summer 2011 is the 1970's. As a mid 70's baby my memory is blighted by forest green braided outfits combined with a dash of hand knitted everything!
However I can safely say that the 70's reincarnation this Summer is a much more sophisticated affair. Platform shoes & a wide brimmed hat are de rigueur. Trouser suits, all-in-ones, button-through skirts are all must-haves. Maxis, whether printed or in Halston-esque fluid jersey are on-trend. Fringing & lattice work are key. Space-dyed knits are everywhere.
Colours are earthy. Think terracotta, ochre & chocolate mixed with turquoise & purple.
Accessories are key. In particular tan accessories are must-have items. Fringed bags, platforms & brimmed hats, as I mentioned earlier, & agate stone jewellery are also perfect.
Here are a few of my favourite 70's inspired SS11 catwalk looks. Plus I've thrown in a few complimentary jewellery suggestions from our current range here at Cherry & Joy. Catwalk images courtesy of style.com.
