Pay Day Purchase: Andy Warhol iPhone 4 Case

I’ve been searching for a while for just the right cover for my iPhone 4S I got before Christmas and when I saw this Andy Warhol case in the Apple store this week it practically said my name! I’m not sure if I’ve explained about my passionate love affair with New York City previously, but to reiterate it is quite literally my FAVOURITE place on the planet. I love absolutely everything about it and that combined with my love for old black and white photographs meant this cover was made for little old moi.

I got it at the Apple store (here) for about £35.00. Perhaps a little pricey but it’s pretty sturdy and protective so a good investment in my opinion!

Record of the Day: Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes

Say Anything (as I've previously disclosed) is one of my favourite movies and it contains one of my all time favourite scenes. It's pretty iconic for those who know Cameron Crowe and 80s cinema in general - when Lloyd is standing outside Diane's bedroom holding the boombox over his head with THIS song playing. This was the first time I really became aware of Peter Gabriel's music (although I had stolen my parents Genesis vinyls at a young age...) and I fell in love. With Lloyd and the song. Here's THAT song to a little montaaage of the movie (which if you haven't seen I suggest you don't do anything else until you have).

Record of the Day: Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (from the album So, 1986 - GREAT album!!!)

Scrummy Sundays: Rice Puddings!

Sunday is by far my favourite day of the week, especially when I'm at home in the countryside. Nothing is open (in the country anyway) so you don't feel guilty for staying in all day and, particularly in the winter, it's a perfect excuse to make something yummy and curl up with the pup in front of the fire. And today's yummy treat came in the form of rice pudding! Not the old school food kind but my kind - creamy and delish. I have 5 people in my family and conveniently we all like ours differently so here's how I make mine three different ways: Plain, with jam and (my personal favourite obviously) with raisins and RUM!

1. If you're making with raisins and run soak 80g raisins in 2 tablespoons of dark for about 20 mins.
2. Boil 100g of white basmati rice and half a teaspoon of salt in about 350 ml of water for about 8 or 9 mins.
3. Stir in 100g of granulated sugar, 500ml of milk and 200ml of single (or double if you're feeling fancy!) to the rice. I know it seems like A LOT of liquid but it'll boil down. Simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring often.
4. When the liquid is almost gone and the rice is super soft, stir in 1 beaten egg and cook for another minute.
5. Take the pan of the heat and add 1 and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract.

You can serve it plain like that (how my dad likes it, with a pinch of cinnamon)...












Or school dinner style with a spoon of strawberry (my brothers' personal preference) jam...

Or you can serve it the way my mother and I (and all other women I've asked) prefer it. After leaving the raisins to soak, pour them in the pudding with any left over rum and heat for another 2 minutes. Perfect for a winter eve :)

Record of the Day: Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness

It may be because it’s the week of luuurve or perhaps I’ve been watching too much sappy TV (omg for this week’s episode of Cougar Town) but I thought I’d share one of my most loved songs about L.O.V.E. This song has been covered a million times and sampled a few times but absolutely nothing competes with the original. Otis has the most gorgeous voice, full of soul, and this song puts me in the best mood.

Record of the Day: Otis Redding – Try A Little Tenderness.

Record of The Day: Boyce Avenue - Find Me

I've had a bit of a love affair with Boyce Avenue for going on four years now. For those of you uneducated people, Boyce Avenue are a YouTube band - they have been uploading since 2007 and are the second most searched band on YouTube. Mainly they do covers of everything and anything, but they also write original music of their own which is just YUM. They have over a million subscribers  on YouTube and fb and their most watched video (a cover of We Found Love) has over 15 million hits! This is all even more marvellous because they're not signed to a record label at all and have managed to use the Internet to develop an international fan base which has allowed them to tour the world multiple times (I've seen them myself twice already - like OMG they were amazing, I was screaming like a 12 year old at a Beiber concert). They managed to sell 1.2 million records on iTunes just by using social media, which I think is pretty damn impressive - they should probably give some people at my office some pointers... They began their own record label, 3 Peace Records, and now release their material through that. In 2010, they joined together with Universal Republic to release their first major studio album, which they had financed and recorded entirely themselves before signing. They left Universal Republic last year to continue managing themselves and are constantly touring and posting new videos for their fans.

I feel that they're important to show that sometimes all you need is a really great voice and really great songs for people to pay attention. With over 500 million views on their channel, there must be something to be said for just playing great music in your living room with your brothers. There's often a lot of smoke and mirrors involving in the making of pop music but these guys remind me what pop music is really all about. I have some pretty serious respect for these guys for not following the stereotype and really giving me the feeling that they're in this because they love music more than anything - which is pretty much all I could ask for.

The first video I've added is a little video background on the band. Just to warn you, if you go to their channel you will definitely end up flicking through their hundreds of videos so make sure you have some free time on your hands ;) The second video is my record of the day, an original Boyce Avenue song. At the bottom of the blog I've included my Boyce Avenue Spotify playlist with all their best musical gems - go have a listen. They're literally awesome in every way and I love them. <3

The Boyce Avenue Story:

Record of the Day: Boyce Avenue - Find Me (from the album, All We Have Left, 2010 - Universal Republic)

Boyce Avenue - HTTP Spotify Link

Boyce Avenue - Spotify Link

Record of My Day: Beyonce - End of Time

It is a travesty of the most extreme that Beyonce's album 4 was not nominated for any Grammys this year. It hurts my brain that an album like Loud (no offence Rhianna...) would be nominated and they could overlook 4. And blah blah, everyone loves Adele, and yes it's marvellous she's got the voice back (although am I the only one who thinks there was more emotion in her songs when she was using the belting raspy voice that incidentally destroyed her throat?) BUT come on now. Just so you know, I'm about to get a bit excited. Beyonce is the queen of all. Seriously, in my eyes she can literally do no wrong. Not only is she one of the greatest performs and singers in the world (and possibly ever) but she's not a drug addict nor does she have any major issues (parental, childhood, romantic or otherwise related), she is graceful and poised (take note Adele...) whilst still be the definitely of FIERCE and FABULOUS and is generally an example and role model to all women. She has it all, the career, the man, the new babe and she absolutely goes to show that if you work hard enough and have the right positive attitude you really can have it all. I often attempt to channel Beyonce when I need to particularly fabulous (more than my normal level of fabulosity obvs).

This particular performance is of my favourite song from the album from Glastonbury last year. Oh.My.God. If you haven't watched the full hour and half performance (it's on YouTube so there's no excuse - I've now seen it 12 times) then I suggest you buy something yummy, make sure no ones in the house so it has your undivided attention and WATCH. I want that sparkly jacket more than anything. Also go listen to 4 (spotify playlist at the end of the blog). Perfection.

My record of the day: Beyonce - End of Time (from her fourth studio album 4, 2011 - Columbia Records)

Beyonce - 4 - HTTP link to Spotify

Beyonce - 4 - Spotify playlist

Record of My Day: Miranda Lambert - Nobody's Fool

Warning: if you click play you will be listening to country music. I'm totally ADDICTED to country music it's ridiculous and in particular Miranda Lambert. I wish country more than anything was more popular in UK and I feel I will eventually be forced to move over to the US of A where I will wear wranglers and boots without fear of being chastised and meet a male country lover who will wear a cowboy hat and call me darlin'. Yep.

So the record of my day is called Nobody's Fool by Miranda Lambert from her fourth studio album Four The Record (2011). The song wasn't even a single but it's my favourite on the album for some reason - plus it's written by the country and bluegrass singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton who I just LOVE (go listen to The SteelDrivers if you wanna listen to him...) Miranda's other three albums are also worth a listen if you feel so inclined...