I'm mooooving.

Alright I think - think - I've sorted out my issues with Wordpress, so now I'm over there instead! I feel kind of like a traitor towards Blogger, not going to lie, but I've heard so many good things about WP I might as well give it a go. Same URL - http://leadwiththehips.co.uk - but my Bloglovin page is different, and you'll have to re-follow me (please re-follow me).

I hate the layout, but I'm going to have to get on board with it. I'll fork out for the upgrade when it's payday ...

3 things #9.

I'm 2 hours and 13 minutes late with this post, I'm sorry! Apparently I actually need to put uni work before other things sometimes, deadlines to meet and all that. Anyway, here's a vaguely V day themed post for you, seeing as it's technically past midnight. Enjoy your day - eat lots of yummy food please.

1) Freeze whipped cream in a heart shape and pop it in your hot chocolate. Fab if you're a wimp with hot drinks like me, and need them cooling down fast.

2) Pretty Valentine's day make up. It's a well known fact that men don't like it when you pile on the make up, so do them a favour today. Soft fluttery lashes and slightly glossy pink lips. Add some pink blusher too, apparently it makes you look turned on and apparently (can't think why) men like that.

3) Want, need, don't know where it's from. Look at the hearts, so pretty!

Chocolate Kisses.

I figured the name of these biscuits was appropriate for the second most important upcoming holiday, Valentine's day. Pancake day being much more exciting, obviously. I don't know why they're called chocolate kisses, but that's what the recipe book (this one, if you're interested) tells me. I've made these bad boys about 30 times, they disappear in a matter of hours every time - whenever I get my scales out my boyfriend's ears prick up and I hear 'are you making chocolate kisses?' I have adapted the recipe to suit my tastes - they're now much softer, cakier, chocolatey-er and most vitally, bigger than they should be. I'm going to give you the adapted version, because why would you not want them softer, cakier, chocolatey-er and bigger?

Look at the BUTTERCREAM.

Ingredients

• 115g Stork
• 80g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp cocoa dissolved in 3tbsp boiling water
• 225g self-raising flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• As many chocolate chips as you feel is appropriate

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 170c, and line a baking sheet (or two) with baking paper.

2) Get a big bowl, and beat together the butter and sugar, same as all other baking, yadda yadda yadda.

3) Add in the egg, milk and cocoa mush (this mush will look incredibly appealing, don't eat it. It's not very nice). Beat them together, but not too vigorously or you'll only end up covered in the stuff.

4) Add in the flour and baking powder, and mix together. You want a sticky dough which will get all over your hands, but that will hold its shape. If it's too wet add a little more flour, if it's too dry add more milk. Little at a time people, little at a time.

5) Finally, stir in all your chocolate chips.

6) Drop vaguely spherical blobs of it onto the baking tray. The recipe says it makes 24, but I disagree. I get 20 nice big ones. Bear in mind they'll expand as they bake, so give them a bit of room. 

7) Whack your biscuits in the oven for 12 minutes - turn them round at the 6 minute mark if you have an oven as uneven and temperamental as mine.

8) Take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes or so before transferring to the wire rack. They'll be extremely soft when you first take them out, so don't be tempted to handle them 'til they've cooled a little or they'll only fall apart. Like I said, they're cakey.

9) When they're cooled, sandwich them together with an unhealthy amount of chocolate buttercream (see below for recipe). You might have leftovers, but this only means you haven't used enough buttercream.

10) Eat them. I recommend pulling them apart, licking the buttercream off and eating the biscuits. My boyfriend prefers the 'cram them in as fast as possible' approach.

Buttercream Ingredients

• 200g icing sugar
• 100g softened butter (not gonna lie, I just use Stork)
• 2 tbsp of cocoa

Method 

1) Beat the butter until it's soft and creamy, it'll make it a lot easier to incorporate the icing sugar. 

2) Add the icing sugar and cocoa, and mix. You'll probably get it all over yourself (or you could wear an apron. See below) but just go with it. It'll also look like it's not going to incorporate but it'll get there eventually!

3) Taste it (very important step) and decide if it needs more cocoa or not.

My handmade apron. Proudest thing I've ever done.

Serious case of blog stress.

Okay guys, you might have to bear with me for a few days. I made the ridiculous decision to try and move my blog over to Wordpress (apparently you get more traffic, and I'm an attention whore) and it's causing me a whole load of grief. My domain name's playing up, all the formatting in my posts has decided it's going to do whatever it likes, and I hate - HATE - the themes available. They're making me surrender all creative control and I'm not happy about it.

Please cross your fingers for me, and send good vibes.

Weakness for perfume - Intro and D&G L'Imperatrice.

Okay, so I have two big weaknesses (aside from the obvious cake, chocolate, cheese, pizza ... food). The first is nail polishes. And the second is slightly more detrimental to my bank account: perfumes. In my teens I was a faithful Armani Code girl - still a firm favourite nowadays - but the real obsession started at duty free about 2 years ago, where I bought three. My collection now consists of 11, and I don't even want to think about how much it's worth. I feel as though I should insure it.

My high tech photography background (my furry blanket).

L-R (plus descriptions, because due to my ridiculous arranging I can't actually do it L-R): big rectangle bottle - Coco by Chanel; Small gold circular bottle - DKNY Golden Delicious; long gold bottle - J'adore by Dior; little navy bottle - Armani Code; little purple and gold bottle - Thierry Mugler Alien; circular clear bottle - Armani Acqua di Gioia; clear rectangle bottle - D&G L'Imperatrice; clear bottle with big-ass flowers on top - Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh; purple bottle with one big-ass flower on top - Marc Jacobs Lola; spotty ladybird-esque bottle - Marc Jacobs Dot; gradient bottle - Hugo Boss Orange Sunset.

I don't think I'm especially fussy when it comes to perfume, though at the same time I don't want anyone to buy it for me unless I've specified one. I'm not loyal to any particular style of perfume, but I know I don't like overly musky or floral scents. I think I have a few sexy, fruity (sexy fruit, that well known fragrance category) types but in general I like to wander around Boots and have a good sniff, covering my arm with different perfumes.

I'm going to write a quick review and description of each of my perfumes, starting with my current favourite. None of that 'this is a heady, floral oriental scent' - what does that even mean?! - but something which is hopefully a bit more accessible.

D&G - L'Imperatrice

This beauty is the newest addition to my collection. In my defence, it was only £31 (Duty free, what can I say? It is, however, only 35 quid at Debenhams at the minute. And you get double points) and I had wanted it for ages. AT LEAST a year.

Boots says:

'D&G 3 L'Impératrice opens with top notes of rhubarb, red currant and juicy kiwi accord. Fresh watermelon accord in the heart of the fragrance creates a mouth-watering concoction that is then offset by the drama of pink cyclamen for an exhilarating fragrance sensation. The musky notes, sandalwood and grapefruit wood in the base notes are boisterous, brilliant and incredibly addictive.'

And as far as pretentious descriptions go, that one's not too bad. It's a very fresh perfume - definitely fruity, and slightly sweet (but not in a sickly way, it's not Britney Spears). It's got depth to it though, and although it does adjust and develop into a more sultry scent as the day passes, you can always smell those initial fruity notes. I can smell it on myself for about 4 hours after I've applied it, which is really not bad at all for such a light perfume. Every so often I'll get a quick whiff of it and it still smells gorgeous, but it's by no means overwhelming or headache-inducing.

It's a bargain too - £35-ish for 100ml is probably the best value out of all the fragrances I own. The bottle is a bit simple and understated, but to be honest my perfume shelf needs a bit of subtlety, have you seen how fabulous the Marc Jacobs bottles are? It gets absolutely fab reviews on Makeupalley.com, and those ladies are extremely tough to please. It is a pretty popular one as far as I'm aware, so if you're looking for a unique, individual scent this one probably won't be it. And unfortunately it doesn't come in a smaller bottle but as far as perfumes go it's quite cheap anyway, so go and give it a sniff!