A Big Thank You

The other evening I was watching a programme called 'The Gift' that is currently viewing on BBC. It's a programme where people can reach out to someone they want to say thank you or sorry to. It really touched me and it made me think about all those I would like to say thank you to, those who have made me become the person I am today. Not only that but in the past few months I've been going through a lot of emotional stress alongside anxiety due to events which I talked about in this post and I've needed people around me more than ever before.

I thought I would trace back to my childhood and think about those who helped me with my first stepping stones in life.

I would love to say a huge thank you to;
- the teaching assistants at middle school who gave me somewhere to feel safe from bullies and belong, they also gave me a sense of purpose at school by giving me responsibilities and new friends.
- to the coaches at Stage Coach who helped me build confidence through performing. This helped me so much in standing up to those who put me down and ever since I have also been the biggest chatterbox!
- to the counsellor who helped me getting through recent events and supported me in my fight to get safety shutters on my bedroom window.
- to my friends who have stuck by me through thick and thin! You're amazing and I love you all to pieces.
- to my family, what could I do without you? You brought me into the world, given me amazing experiences, raised me in a happy and homely environment and supported me through everything!
- and to basically anyone who has opened up opportunities for me to be a part of.

I know this neither a fashion or beauty post but it's definitely something that I think everyone should do. Some of those who helped me through my life probably don't know how much they have meant to me and I wish for some day that they'll see this post and it'll make them smile.

I'd love to see other people write a post like this so I thought we could make this into a tag, simply with the title, A Big Thank You. I'll message some people who I'd like to see do this tag and if you want to do this on your blog then go ahead and send me your post links when it's up!

Easy No-Bake Wintery Treat

These are one of my favourite treats for this time of year, I discovered them years ago when I went skiing in Sweden, over there they are known as Chokladbollars which simply means chocolate balls.

They are a mix of some of my favourite ingredients, chocolate, coconut and coffee. They are such a comfort to eat and they go perfectly with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. These also work as a lovely little extra gift for your family or friends, just pop a few into a cellophane bag and tie up with some ribbon. 

Ingredients for 20 balls:

100g Butter
100g Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp Vanilla Sugar
450g Oats
2 Tbsp Coffee (mixed with cold water)
A bag of coconut flakes

Now time to put it all together:

Step 1 | Soften the butter and mix in the sugar in a food processor.

Step 2 | Add the cocoa powder, vanilla sugar, oats and coffee.

Step 3 | Blend until the oats are broken down so the mixture is less lumpy.

Step 4 | Roll the mixture into truffle sized balls.

Step 5 | Roll the balls in the coconut shavings and place on a tray.

Step 6 | Leave the balls to chill in a fridge for about 30mins and then they are ready to serve!

If you make any I'd love to see, just tag me either on Instagram or Twitter with @Alexandraahowe

Life is a roller coaster

The past couple of weeks I have had a bit of an emotional roller coaster, I went from a high note and then dropped down to a low note.

I'll start of with the high note, if you follow me on twitter you may have seen that in November I started working as a retail makeup artist at MAC. I applied for the job in September and after a loooooong recruitment process I got the job! I was over the moon. Since I was about 14 I've always loved the bright colours and creativeness of MAC and always wanted to be part of the brand.
I will probably start owning a lot more MAC cosmetics but I won't be biased when it comes to reviews on my blog and I'll still use my loved products from other brands, so don't worry about that.

From my Instagram @Alexandraahowe

Then just over a week ago I had a very unexpected situation occur. I'm currently a second year student so I now live in a house shared with some of my flat mates from halls. I had some criminals break into my bedroom at 6pm one evening. They smashed through my bedroom window with a huge rock from the garden. Luckily I wasn't harmed and nothing was stolen as I had my valuables with me in the kitchen at the time and all 6 of us were in the house so we all reacted before they could actually get into my room. Since the incident I've been a bit emotionally unstable, exhausted and haven't had the time or mentality to get blog posts up or be on social media as much.

I'm starting to get back to being myself again but it will take a while to be completely at ease, but working at MAC during the weekends has been helping get my mind off things. I've also just arrived back at home for the Christmas holidays which should also help me relax a little more.
Sorry that this isn't the most exciting post (apart from getting the job at MAC) but I just needed to get it off my chest and let you guys be all in the loop of things. I hope you're all well and my next post should be something a little more christmassy and fun!