Goals for this Autumn

Listening to: Hard Feelings/Loveless - Lorde

Whilst i'm a little late to the party, it's now officially Autumn hooray! The leaves are starting to turn orange, there's a slight chill in the air, and i've whipped out the good old bobble hat and berry lip combo (i'm so basic, sue me). I actually even dragged my chummy to Costa today in the hope that the Christmas cups were out but we were left disappointed at the lack of, and we just had to treat ourselves to whipped cream hot chocolates...

September always feels like a good time of the year to start setting new goals. I think it's because from a young age we are so conditioned in the whole 'back to school', 'fresh new year' mentality that even once you're out of that system and have a job like myself, your nostalgia kicks in and all you can do is plan ahead.

So the recent nip in the air got me thinking - what do i want to do, or achieve, over the next few months? Let's make a list shall we...

1) Autumnal makeup

It's been blinking ages since i've treated myself to some new make-up. I'm so bad for literally just replacing something when it runs out, but never actually going out of my comfort zone and trying new bits and bobs. This Autumn i really want to give my make-up stash a revamp and get some new stable pieces that will see me through the colder months.

2) Get into podcasts

I mean - what is even is a podcast? is that the most dumb question ever? I swear its just radio... right? Anyway podcasts seem to be everywhere at the minute. I really like the idea of being able to listen to  a podcast during the morning commute. Just a little something to help me relax before the busy day ahead. Anyone got any recommendations?

3) Starbucks red cups

I mean did you even 'do Autumn' if you didn't buy a drink off the Starbucks autumn menu? *queue extra basic insta post...

4) All the cosy clothes

In all seriousness, i've noticed recently that i must have really poor circulation because i seem to always have cold hands for literally no reason. This definitely calls for wrapping up in extra cosy clothes as much as possible.

5) A present from me... to me?

Call me materialistic but i really want to spend some of my savings this winter and invest in a more expensive winter coat. Yea yea yea, it's silly and i should really just continue to save, but i see it as more of an investment rather than a splurge. Plus yo-to the damn-lo.

6) Enjoy the little things

I'm talking hot cuppas on a cold morning, matching pjs, and kicking-ass at work (or trying to kick-ass at work...)

7) Make kickass hot chocolates

I rarely drink hot chocolates, but when i do i always think 'mmm i should really drink these more often!' - This autumn i really want to go all out and learn to make delicious hot chocolates to enjoy with my sister in the flat. 

8) Get back into reading

Reading is always a tough one for me because honest to god, there just isn't enough hours in the day. Argh i feel terrible even saying those words but i mean it! I'd really really really like to make myself even the smallest challenge of reading a bit more in the next few months. I find it so hard to switch off from technology on a lazy evening, and there really isn't any excuse for not being able to put down my phone and pick up book instead. 

9) Invest in new cosy knits

Just like my makeup, some of my cosy knits have been in my wardrobe for yearsss and i swear they are practically falling apart. A few new stable knits is exactly what my wardrobe needs for a little revamp. 

10) Wake up 'slightly' earlier before work

I mean is this really going to happen? I'm not a morning person at all and i really rush to get ready before work every morning. Even if i woke up 10 minutes earlier i could just sit down in bed and enjoy my cuppa, rather than gulping it down before i run out of the flat... *bliss 

Happiness: 10 things

Listening to: I will take you home - Ed Sheeran

Hello! Autumn is creeping just around the corner and i'm finding myself constantly thinking about cosy clothes, what bobble hat i'm going to wear first, and what winter coat i'm going to treat myself to. Call me keen but i can't be the only one planning ahead for winter... right? 

In other news, happy belated hump day everyone! Yesterday was officially my one year work anniversary and i honestly can't believe where the time has gone. One whole year! I still feel like i'm fresh out of university but i really don't think i can say that anymore. To celebrate, I made more of my (if i say so myself) amazing chocolate cookies as a little treat for the whole team. Bless they were so pleased, i really should bake for them more often (or just bake more in general ya know). 

So... chocolate cookies, a couple (too many) g&t's, cuddles off Lola, and excessive amounts of pesto pasta - i think i'm onto a good one this week and it's only Wednesday! 

Here are 10 things that have been making me smile recently...

1) My saturday morning alarm including my dad, a cuppa and a chocolate biscuit. He really is a gem, even if i am the grumpiest sod in the morning when i've been woken up... 

2) Beanies irish cream instant coffee... a cup of this at work in the morning feels like such a treat. Is it bad that it fools me into thinking i'm drinking alcohol at work? hehehe.

3) Peacan nut and butterscotch waffles for sunday lunch? fuck it why not! I mean who needs a roast dinner anyway...

5) A certain little payday treat that may or may not involve a new Jo Malone perfume. I'm such a sucker for the Peony and Blush Suede fragrance but this time i've gone out of my comfort zone and bought one of their newly released scents called British Oak and Hazelnut. It smells amazing... the perfect woody scent for Autumn. 

6) Much needed time spent with the family. I'm really feeling the pressure at work recently and last week it was lovely to chill out and spend time with my parents and really take my mind off things, even just for a little bit. Family really do keep you sane. 

7) The perfect breakfast spread before work. I'm not going to lie, but breakfast is something I rush at my desk every morning. I'm usually sat scrolling through my emails or some important document shoving fruit and yoghurt into my gob. With my parents here wednesday morning, we decided to have a sit down breakfast before they set off on their long drive down south. I'm talking fruit, yoghurt, croissants the lot <3 It was heavenly. I really don't know why we don't make more of an effort to have a sit down breakfast more often? 

8) A 'Night Gorgeous' text message that restored even the tiniest little bit of faith that some men can be good eggs *queue fuzzy feelings.

9) Exercising, treating myself after and not feeling one bit of damn guilt. I'm definitely one of those 'i work out so i can eat cake' kinda girls, who's with me? 

10) Thinking about the bigger decisions. This can be daunting but it can also be really exciting! There's something so liberating about taking control of your life and going after what you want. 

- Milster

Milster Made: Gooey Chocolate Cookies

Listening to: Love like this (acoustic version) - Kodaline

Happy Saturday chummies! How are we all doing? I've travelled down to Norwich this weekend to spend time at home. It's warm, sunny and to be honest i've had the laziest afternoon doing pretty nothing. But that's what Saturdays are for right? I reckon its better to be lazy on a Saturday because that way you can do something productive on Sunday, and for some weird reason that makes me feel like i've got more out of my weekend... Does anyone else think that?

Anyhoo! I did help my mama bake, *I say help bake, but really i just licked the bowl afterwards...* some banana bread, and I hands down made the best gooey chocolate cookies ever! Who doesn't love a delicious cookie? Tanya Burr inspired the recipe I used, although I did adapt it a little by adding peanut butter #guilty. But if you don't like peanut butter, you can easily swap it with something else - say caramel chocolate or daim bars? The recipe includes...

Ingredients (makes roughly 11-12 large cookies):

• 200g butter
• 250g light muscovado sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 275g self-raising flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• A small amount of milk 
• A large bar of white, milk 
• 100g peanut butter

Set the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Then cream together your butter, sugar and egg

Add all the dry ingredients (flour and cocoa powder). The mixture will be really dry, but don't panic, just add a small amount of milk (personal judgement needed here). 

Break up the chocolate bars - After breaking, I decided to cut the chocolate pieces even smaller, but this part is just personal preference! Then throw the chocolate into the cookie mixture. 

Scoop and mix in the peanut butter *mmmm...

Add the vanilla essence.

Line 2 baking trays with foil. Place rounded handfuls of cookie mixture onto the baking trays a couple of inches apart, you should be able to make about 11-12 large *blobs* so to say. 

Place the cookies into the oven for 12 minutes - The trick here is almost to 'under cook' them so the cookies are guaranteed to be super gooey when they come out, but they will harden as they cool. 

Lick the bowl and viola you're done! 

I hope you enjoy them as much as i did - so super easy to make and the ultimate guilty treat. What do you like to bake? would love to read your recipes...

... Now i think i'll go get myself another cookie and watch series 3 of Suits *bliss. 

- Milster 

Rainy Day Snapshot.

 Listening to: Cosmic Love (MTV Unplugged version) - Florence + The Machine

So... British 'Summer' eh? who are we kidding, it seems to be raining ALL the time up North. It's not that i didn't expect this, but like any other true Brit, i can complain when the weather is shit right? But rainy day's aren't all bad, they are the perfect opportunity to make yourself the priority. Chill out, put your pjs on, get Netflix going, just set aside the day to check in with yourself and check out elsewhere. 

This is the first post in a series of 'Snapshots' that i'd like to include on Milster. Hopefully with a little bit of reflection and rambling, you'll get to know me a little better. So enjoy! Here's my rainy day snapshot... 

E A T I N G || Homemade brunch, all day, everyday. 

D R I N K I N G || Salted caramel flavoured green tea. I usually don't agree with flavoured, flavoured teas - if that makes sense? I draw the line at Green, Peppermint or Camomile... but as soon as it gets to say Pineapple Green Tea, that's it, i'm out. BUT salted caramel?! This i can get on board with <3 

R E A D I N G || Get your sh*t together - Sarah Knight. Something about her thoughts on the 'power of negative thinking' has really stuck with me in the last couple of weeks.

L O V I N G || Waking up to my step-cat Lola asleep on my bed. Honestly my heart melts. 

W E A R I N G || Christmas polar bear matching pjs *embarrassing... But no seriously, i've just bought a new pair of leather loafers to wear to work and i'm obsessed. They make me feel about 10 years old again, giggidy. 

P L A N N I N G || Holidays! the best kind of planning. 

A N T I C I P A T I N G || The new year. I've got a lot of big decisions to make over the next couple of months and there's hopefully going to be lots to look forward to.

C R A V I N G || I ALWAYS crave sweet treats around 3/4pm at work. Just something, anything to get me through the last hour or two. 

L I S T E N I N G   T O || Florence + The Machine... especially the MTV Unplugged covers. One word, lit. 

W O N D E R I N G || Am i really going to get up half an hour earlier before work tomorrow...?

W A T C H I N G || Suits! I used to watch this years ago but tapped out around series 3. I've picked up again where I left off and now i'm hooked! I promise this has nothing to do with the fact that Meghan Markle is now dating Prince Harry.........

L E A R N I N G || Lets face it, some things just damn well are too good to be true. 

S E A R C H I N G   F O R || Well if the title of this post is anything to go by, i hate to say it but i will be searching for a new coat for Autumn soon...

C O O K I N G || Pasta Arrabbiata <3

C H O O S I N G || Should i go down to Norwich this weekend? or next? 

T R Y I N G || to save money and epically failing as per. 

- Milster

Thoughts every twenty-something working 'adult' has on a daily basis.

Are you a twenty-something 'adult' with a new job like me? You see, I graduated from Newcastle Uni this time last year and so I like to think i'm still pretty new to this whole working world malarkey. I suppose i'm trying to juggle the whole 50% reckless student persona, with 50% of me dedicated to successful 'adulting'. Does anyone else still do this?

Anyway I thought i'd give you a look into Milster's brain through the hours of 9-5:30, monday through friday. I might be a little crazy but I can't be the only one who thinks like this on a daily basis....... right?

1) Did someone say a work event with free prosecco?! I should probably go, because ya know, it would be rude not to. Gotta represent the team and all.

2) Life is far too stressful. I should go on holiday, but with what money?

3) Argh god another one of my friends has posted a stupid holiday photo up on facebook. Yea yea you're having fun in the sun, we get it.

4) I can literally feel myself gaining weight, god I need to stop eating... Oh yay look someone brought in cake for the team!!!

5) No but seriously, stop eating Millie, fat is not the new black...

6) My available balance is HOW MUCH?!

7) Why am i here again?

8) "Remember to add value each and everyday you are there". Argh shut up Dad.

9) Anyone want tea? *Entire team raises their hands* fml.

10) Summer is here and i'm still searching for my bikini body... if found, please report to me.

11) Gigi Hadid is literally my spirit animal. God I wish I was her.

12) Oh crap I'm on the dailymail and my boss just walked behind me, do you think she saw?

13) Meh i don't care, i'm paid pennies, I will dailymail alllll day if i want to.... actually, i'm not a bad bitch I should probably get some work done before my manager notices.

14) I wonder if someone monitors my internet history?

15) I need to pee. I must've drank about 6 litres of water today.

16) Is it too late for coffee? Or too early for wine?

17) The struggle is real. The real is struggle.

18) Holy shit everyone around me dresses so much cooler than me. I need to get some new clothes. Hopefully my card won't get declined like last time... awkward.

19) Today is Monday, tomorrow is not friday, the day after that is not friday, and even the day after that isn't Friday. I might as well jump off a bridge now.

20) I went out last night and therefore I should be responsible and save my pennies tonight - *Goes to Topshop, buys the whole store*

21) I'm literally doing your job, why are you not paying me more?

22) I can feel myself ageing.

- Milster

ps, how cute is our office pooch?! like butter wouldn't melt...

Hello, it's me...

Hello, 

it's me, 

i've been wondering if after all these years...

... ok i'll stop. Singing isn't my strong point.

Welcome chummy. Is it odd that I feel like i've got a little bit of stage fright? New blog, first post, what to say, what to think...

I'm Millie, your 23 year old fully functioning, sometimes semi-functioning but i'll lead onto this, 'adult'. I work in Marketing and currently live in Newcastle with my sister, and step-cat Lola (I say step-cat because we are only looking after her on a temporary basis.)

I guess all I should ask is... how are you? 

My week got off to a pretty rubbish start. What's the saying... bad luck comes in three's? If anything has gone wrong for you this week, you just need to read on about my life and that will put everything into perspective. Trust me. 

Firstly, I locked myself out my house, and I did what all normal 23 year old girls would do in a crisis situation... and I called my mum in tears. I had to learn the hard way that emergency locksmiths are very, very expensive (who know eh?). Next came the ASDA trip... you can only imagine how delighted I was to discover at the till, only after i'd bleeped through all my food and packed it away, that i'd left my purse in the office. yay. Finally, my #FridayFeeling quickly disappeared when I got to work and realised i'd left my purse at home. FFS! Can you actually believe it? I'm so clumsy it's ridiculous. 

Is it just me or does anyone else go through waves of bad luck? I've mentioned to the girls recently that this wave i'm currently in just seems to be getting more and more ridiculous. Let's just hope this week pans out a little better hey?

- Milster