Hope everyone had a fab break over Christmas, and saw in the New Year in style. I hosted a mini impromptu buffet and games night for family, so mine ended up being a fun-filled NYE and a nice way to celebrate the lack of 2012 apocalypse. I also made use of my new giant mixing bowl and edible lustres when I made these pretty chocolate orange cupcakes. The recipe was taken from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book and the orange zest flavour really came through.
I have since been considering New Year’s resolutions. They’ve never really been my thing, as I don’t have any “vices” as such, and attempting to keep to a resolution that has no real substance is just pointless. However, it is nice to think of “resolutions” as an opportunity to be positive, and in the past few years I have considered what I’d ideally like to achieve by the end of the year. Last year, for example, I wasn’t particularly happy in my job and wanted to rectify that. I now have a new job, and love it!
It’s all about being healthy and happy, and I felt that the following would sum up what I’d like to have achieved over the coming year:
- Be more proactive with saving money. I.e. stop spending so much, and actually put it away, in chunks, every month.
- Continue my gradual and healthy weight loss. This has been very very gradual so far, but I’m comfortable with that.
- Improve my fitness and flexibility. I always want to do this, but exercise in general bores me. A challenging one then…
- Continue to expand my baking repertoire. Friends, family and colleagues will all benefit from that one.
- And maybe, take a dressmaking course. Something I’ve been meaning to do for ages. Let’s see if I get round to it in 2013.
English Rose from Manchester's Blog 