Brownies and Bling - Mother's Day Treats

As I type this my house smells like Wonka's chocolate factory. It is incredible. The little Wrens have friends coming for tea, so I am baking brownies. For the kids, you understand, because I'm just selfless like that. I may have made a rather enormous batch. Well it is 'Stuff-Mother's-face-full-of-chocolate-Day' on Sunday and apart from the odd very sporadic weekend loaf by Mr Wren I am the only baker in this house so I need to make sure we (I) are chocolate-filled.

Here is that recipe - any Mother in her right mind would be thrilled to receive a box of these on Sunday. Heck, any Mother in her wrong mind would too!

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Striking a Balance - Clarins Lotus Oil and Caudalie Beauty Elixir Review

Earlier this month I posted about my extensive skincare purchasing (here). The new routine is going pretty well - double cleanse at night, double tone, serum and moisturiser on a good night - and I'm loving playing with the new products. My main problems still are the odd spot and how to deal with them/ calm them and ultimately, prevent them as my skin has been feeling terribly unbalanced. Step forward two stars of the routine who already seem to be making a huge difference in this area.

First up is Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil. It may seem

In Your Face Cancer - my take on the nomakeupselfie

So, I did it. You probably did it. And as a direct result Cancer Research UK has raised over £2 million so far. I have read, seen and heard a lot of people criticising the campaign - suggesting it is flippant, saying that the last thing a woman with cancer cares about is her appearance so what has going without make-up got to do with supporting women suffering from cancer? There have been words like 'narcissism' thrown about, that the women posting these pictures are 'missing the point'. I think they're wrong. And here's why.

Roasted roots and skater boots

Last night's dinner was delish. I originally got it from the Goop winter detox recipes and have been making it lots. I'm not on a detox, I just want to eat this. All the time. It's so simple - just a pile of roasted root vegetables (I used

Pastel Sunday - Outfit Of The Day

Necklace - Alex Monroe, Nails - Essie 'Play Date'

It's another glorious Spring day and quite honestly, I should be outside enjoying the sunshine so this is going to be a quick Outfit Of The Day post. Pastel perfection today. Macaron hues galore!

Routine Improvements - Skincare Overhaul

My skin is all over the place at the moment. I seriously have no idea how it's going to behave from one day to the next. It's oily one day and so I'm getting breakouts (I am 36, for God's sake!!), but the next day it's feeling tight with dry patches. I am trying to deal with some pigmentation issues, I'm still going into daily battle with the ageing process and it just looks dull. So dull. Clearly it has become apparent that my current skincare routine is not working for me and so the time has come for a complete overhaul. And I mean complete.

Back Row L-R Darphin Intral Toner, Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector, Ren Clarifying Toner, Ren Clarifying Clay Cleanser, Alpha H Liquid Gold, Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil; Front Row L-R Darphin Hydraskin Light day cream, YSL Forever Eye Cream, Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm, Rodial Dragon's Blood Night Cream.

I have replaced pretty much everything

The Wren Cooks Key Lime Pie

In my last post, I wrote of how my Mum was the inspiration for this blog. She named her much longed for home in France Nyth Y Dryw which is Welsh for The Wren's Nest. Not long after she died, my Dad gave me her Nyth Y Dryw note book in which she had jotted down some of her favourite recipes. It is such a precious gift - full of her scribblings and sketches. On Sunday, in between sobbing sessions I thumbed through it and decided to knock up one of our family's favourites. In tribute number two to Mum, I give you Wendy's Key Lime Pie.

My Mum....a tribute

Today is a tough day. Two years ago, on March 9th 2012 my beloved, beautiful Mum died very suddenly. I miss her every minute of every day, but every year this date looms in the diary and it's so hard to know how best to get through it.

On feeling beautiful...

I am constantly telling my little girl how beautiful she is. I do it without thinking. And I think it's so important that she feels that she is beautiful, but I do sometimes worry about it. So much so that I find myself consciously adding on extra compliments to the endless chimes of "gosh, you're pretty" for fear of her growing up thinking that it's all she has to offer the world.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Mr. Wren's birthday. I'm not going to tell you how old he is, because it's a year younger than me and that's just plain depressing. I gave him

Weekend in London - A Very Happy St David's Day

Not the obvious place for a Welsh woman to spend St David's Day, this weekend we were visiting my gorgeous Sister-In-Law and Brother-In-Law at their new home in London. It is only a ten minute walk to the beautiful Kew Gardens