My Ultimate Baking Wishlist...

Seeing as I have been getting back into baking recently, and you can check out what I have made so far here. I have been scouring the internet looking for the perfect baking tools to assist me in my baking quest!

From top left to bottom right we have:

1. The Andrew James Electric Food Stand Mixer in Black: This is Amazon's most popular stand mixer, I myself am desperate to own a Kitchen aid, however I am aware that their price tag is way out of my reach at the moment. So I'm looking for an alternative, and at £79.99 this looks to be good value for money.

2. Andrew James 'Spare' Bowl for Mixer: Obviously needing this is dependent on me having the food mixer, but as most recipes call for several mixes and icings, I thought it might be handy to have two bowls. That way I don't have to pause in between to wash the bowl up so I can get on with my baking. This one costs £18.99

3. Andrew James Stainless Steel 5 Piece Mixing Bowl Set: I'm currently using some Poundland plastic mixing bowls, and whilst they do the trick, they are cracked (still working though) and they do get scratched a lot by my hand mixer. Having a stainless steel set would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about them cracking, also they come in various sizes, handy for baking. At £19.99 I think this set is definitely worth giving a go!

4. Andrew James Multifunctional Food Processor: I have a cheap Morisson's own food processor that is a constant source of annoyance for me, every single time I want to use it. It doesn't hold enough, and the blade never catches all the mixer. This processor looks neat enough, and comes with an army of attachments, and for £69.99 I think that it's a steal.

5. Andrew James Ice cream maker attachment for Stand Mixer: Another reason to buy the food mixer above, you can buy an ICE CREAM MAKER attachment. That makes me seriously happy as I love ice cream and would love to make my own proper stuff, this dreamy attachment can be yours for £29.99.

6. Masterclass 20cm Square Cake Tin: I've got loads of regular cake tins, but how cool would it be to make square cakes? Masterclass is a good brand of bake ware, and at £10.20, I'd love a couple of these to add to my tin collection!

7. 52pc Stainless Steel Piping Nozzle Set: Just think of all the cake decorating I could do with this set, the thought of it, literally makes me go giddy with excitement. 52pcs for £11.24 is a total bargain!

8. Silicone Rolling Mat: One thing I noticed when making my sausage rolls yesterday was how little fun it was to roll pastry directly onto my work surface, so one of these at £14.99 would really save my life.

9. Baking Beads: I bought some of these AGES ago and they have mysteriously gone walkabouts, so I need more of these in my life before I decided to make a tart, they're only £5.00.

10: Flat Baking Sheets: These would be perfect for when I am baking biscuits, and pastries to ensure they get an even bake, for £5.40 I think a couple of them could mosey on in to my collection, right?

11. Premier Housewares Cake Stand and Dome: How cute is this? I need a pretty serving plate for my cakes and this one is so beautiful. Yes, I don't strictly need this, but I WANT it, and it's only £17.14...

12: Savoy Disposable Piping Bags: Last and by no means least are some piping bags. I'm no stranger to a piping bag, but I'm forever having issues with mixture coming out of the top of them, probably because the ones available in Tesco are far too small. These one are large in size, and a professional quality, so I'm sure they'd be less hassle for only £2.35, right?

OBC #24: The Sibling Tag

Last week I actually filmed a video with my brother, Markus, however didn't manage to edit it and get it up in time for my Friday video. So I thought I would share it with you all this week!

Let me know in the comments if you have any siblings, and whether or not you get on?

OBC #16: Thankful Thursday #2

I'm going to keep this Thankful Thursday short as there is one major thing that I am thankful for this week. On Monday I celebrated the one year anniversary of my relationship with Tim! Only the second time I have ever reached this milestone in a relationship so it was pretty special to me.

Unfortunately Tim had to go to work that morning, but he left my card on my dressing table for when I woke up, and I have to say what he wrote in it brought a little tear to my eye...

Thankfully he only had to work a half day so he arrived home within plenty of time for us to have lunch together. Shortly after he got home the doorbell rang, to which he said, 'Can you get that?'. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head because Tim is always the first one to answer the door. I opened the door to be greeted by a sweet surprise.

Roses are obviously my favourite flower, and Tim managed to get me a bouquet of 12 roses. Although this was the first time I received roses from Tim, he actually ordered me a bouquet on Valentines Day only to have them refunded without explanation and never delivered. Alongside the roses was this beautiful card, which again made me tear up...

Seriously how sweet is this card? Although he was a pretty sweet guy when I met him so I'm not entirely sure how I've made him better!

On top of my flowers, Tim also got me a gift, which he was hesitant to give me, as he wasn't sure I would like it.

Of course as soon as I opened it I fell in love, he got me this beautiful heart shaped locket, and I can't wait to put a picture of us together inside of it! 

After spending our afternoon cuddling and talking about our favourite memories of when we first started going out, Tim was insistent that we go out for dinner. Despite the fact it was pouring with rain outside, he managed to convince me. He whisked me off to a local steak house and we had a lovely meal, accompanied by a large glass of wine!

All in all it was an amazing day, and a brilliant way to celebrate our love for each other, I hope to be sitting here at the same time next year, writing about our second year anniversary...

October Blogging Challenge #5: My Favourite Movies

Being that I studied Film and Television at University, you would think that I could reel off my top five films with ease. However I actually find it really difficult to pin down specific films that I love, because there are just so many. To help myself out I thought I would narrow it down a little, and seeing as it's October, it is the perfect opportunity for me to talk about some of my favourite Horror films (in no particular order).

The original Halloween was the film that really got me interested in watching horror's. It's an absolute classic Slasher movie featuring Jamie Lee Curtis. This movie isn't actually scary, although I'm sure it was when it was first released... The most unsettling part of this film is by far the music in it, I'm sure you've heard it even if you haven't seen the film, but it makes my skin crawl. This film was also remade by Rob Zombie, and to be honest I am a fan of the remake, I think it brings a new and interesting light to the story of Michael Myers. If you like slasher films then both are a must watch.

This is an altogether different kind of Slasher film, and it's certainly not your average clichéd teen horror movie. I don't want to give too much away about the storyline, because I really think you should go into it with a completely fresh mind. All I will say is the story is based around body modification, and there are some pretty interesting procedures involved. I first watched American Mary at a horror film festival, and I'm glad I did. Anyone who is even remotely interested in horror films needs to cast their peepers over this one!

The Evil Dead is a classic 1980's video nasty movie, and was pretty scary. It features some interesting visual effects including some stop motion gore which makes for interesting viewing. However I must say that the recent remake of this film was ridiculously creepy. I wouldn't say scary, more gorey and unsettling than scary. Either way teenagers trapped in a cabin in the woods and being hunted by evil demons and spirits is a classic recipe for a good horror.

Saw is a prominent franchise of our generation and I'm sure that all of you reading this have seen at least part of one of the films. I remember staying over at my uncles once and he showed me the first Saw film, and from then I was hooked. I think it's the perfect balance of mystery and gore that kept me hypnotised. I'll agree that the franchise got a little too drawn out, and certainly could have ended at the third or even fourth film, but that didn't stop me from watching every single one. I don't know about you, but I'm still absolutely terrified of that dummy...

If any of you know me, or have ever spoken to me about horror films, then you may have heard me 'bang on' about this next one. I saw Grave Encounters at the first horror film festival that I ever attended whilst at University, and I swear to God, I didn't sleep right for almost a month after watching it. Ten minutes in, you are sitting there thinking, 'this is just another rubbish ghost film and it's not going to go anywhere'. Then something changes, and the atmosphere shifts... This film has bucket loads of atmosphere. My boyfriend at the time came to see this with me and we squeezed each other's hands so hard that they were white when we left. All in all I've probably seen this film 6 or 7 times now, and I still have to hide behind a cushion every time I do watch it. If you like being scared then this is easily the best film for the job.

So there you have it, a list of horror films that I love. These are by no means the only horror films that are my favourites, as I said before I just have too many favourites to mention...

October Blogging Challenge #4: My Blog Name...

I'm sure that I have mentioned this a million times before in other blogging challenges, but the reason behind my blog name is reality, pretty boring.

My full name is Alyssia Rose Marie Slade. Not Rosemary, Rose Marie. For some reason my doctors surgery has me down as Rose Maria, I really should get that sorted out...

So I guess I could explain my name a little more fully, that might be interesting right?

Slade is a pretty straight forward surname, which according to a couple of websites comes from the Old English Slaed - a valley. Which I didn't know until right now...

My first name was chosen by my mum, so I've been told. According to her, at the time of her pregnancy, my uncle had a girlfriend called Alicia. Mum decided she liked it, but decided to spell my name Alyssia, the slightly less common version of the name. In case you are wondering how to pronounce my name (I get this a lot), it's pronounced 'ah-liss-ee-ah'. Looking on a baby names website, my name is derived from an old German word for 'Noble'. Not sure how far I'd agree with that for myself...

Rose was my grandmother's middle name, so it's nice to know I'm keeping a name in the family. I could have ended up with her first name 'cecily' which my sister ended up with as a middle name!

Similarly to Rose, my other middle name Marie is also a family name. This however is my mothers middle name, which I think is such a nice thing to share with my mother. On the baby name's website Marie apparently means 'Star of the sea', which I am most certainly not. In fact I have a phobia of swimming in the sea...

So why did I decide to name my blog, Alyssiarose? Well to be honest, I wanted my blog to be somewhere that I could write about anything to do with me and my life, so why not name it after myself. Alyssiarose is somewhat of an alter-ego for me, someone confident and beautiful that I strive to be. OK, that sounds kind of dumb...

October Blogging Challenge #3: September Favourites

Today's prompt was supposed to be an OOTD (outfit of the day) post, however seeing as I didn't really wear anything interesting today I thought I would instead post up this weeks Youtube video. For the first time ever I decided to do a favourites video which you can check out below. I have also added a list of all things talked about below, just in case you don't want to watch the video!

My favourites this month are:

• Garnier Ultimate Blends, Marvellous Transformer Shampoo with Argan and Camellia oils
• Bourjous 123 CC cream
• Collection Lasting Perfection 16 hour concealer
• Rimmel Wonder'full mascara in black
• Sweet Lilac Tangle Teezer
• Switched at Birth (TV Show)
• Once Upon a Time (TV Show)
• CSI (TV Show)
• Little Big Planet (PS3)
• 2014/15 Planner from WHSmith

October Blogging Challenge #2: Thankful Thursday

Welcome to my first (and possibly only) Thankful Thursday post. Here's what I am thankful for this week.

Chocolate Desserts: I've been feeling a little down lately, and as such have been eating a lot of things that I shouldn't. My favourite of which has become chocolate melt in the middle puddings... So far I've had plain chocolate, chocolate orange and even a salted caramel one, seriously yummy.

Naps: Recently I haven't been sleeping well, and as such when I get home I have been taking a nap, I honestly don't know how I would cope without that extra hours napping!

Youtubers: As mentioned above, I haven't been feeling at my best recently. One of the things that has been keeping me sane, is watching videos from my favourite Youtubers. Helon Melonlady, Niki and Sammy, Jacksepticeye, Pewdiepie and Bubzvlogz. You should check them out, they always make me smile!

My Boyfriend: Tim has seriously been my rock at the moment. He knows how to take care of me and asks for nothing in return. I never thought I could have such a wonderful relationship with someone, especially after past ones. Once I get through my rough patch, I'm going to make it up to him. He is my prince, and I love him so much.

Apologies for getting a bit soppy at the end there, sorry to anyone who had to reach for a sick bucket!

October Blogging Challenge #1: My Goals for October

I thought it was about time that I picked this blog up and started working on it. Since moving in with my Boyfriend in March I have been struggling to find a routine that fits everything I love into any spare time that I have, but I am trying. Of course I thought the perfect way to get back into blogging was with a blog challenge. There's nothing like posting every day for a month to get you back into the swing of things. This challenge was created by Gracie of Girl Meets Life, so don't forget to check out her blog.

So the first prompt is all about my goals for the month. I thought I would pick five as I like that number) and I didn't want them all to be blogging related because I have a lot of other things that I wish to achieve.

1. Complete this challenge: This is a pretty obvious one, but nonetheless a worthy goal for me considering my recent posting history.
2. Keep Up my Youtube Channel: If you didn't see my recent post, I have put up a Youtube video every week for 6 whole weeks! I hope to continue doing this for the foreseeable future, maybe even expanding to several videos a week... I post a new video every Friday so make sure you go and check it out!
3. Pick up my diet again: Yes I have been slacking for the last 3 weeks diet-wise. I have been ill, and there are a few personal reasons, but I plan to start that back up again shortly.
4. Read one book: This seems like a simple goal, but actually recently I have lacked any motivation to read. Considering I have a million books to read, I really need to get into the habit of reading at least one a month.
5. Handle my Gerbils: If you read my blog regularly then you may know that I have two gerbils which I got shortly after moving in with Tim. As of yet I have been unsuccessful in handling them. They trust me and will happily sniff my hand, but as of yet they will not let me hold them. So I plan to work on that this month!

I'm hoping to complete at least three of these goals, and if I complete all five then I have promised myself an end of month treat!

Let me know if you are taking part in this challenge as I would love to read your posts, and you can follow the challenge on Twitter using #octbloggingchallenge