Amsterdam Pt.1 xo

"All her would- haves are our opportunities" 
-Emma Thompson, speaking at the Anne Frank House.

Hey Hey Hey! Long time, no chit chat! Well I'm finally back with another post and this ones going to be a travel diary on the city who captured my heart in simply a mere few hours... Amsterdam!

Three weeks ago my sister and I hopped on a plane and flew away to Amsterdam for 5 days, courtesy of Mama and Papa bear. 

Our first stop of course, being the history fanatics that we are, was the Anne Frank House. Ever since I was in primary school and first heard her story, it's always been somewhere I wanted to visit. Of this, I do not have photographs, despite photography not being allowed it also did not feel right. I can't quite describe to you the feeling of being there in the Annexe, where Anne and 8 others lived in hiding for two years. It was a surreal and almost eerie feeling. The room in which she slept is the one that made the impression on me. The wall was still covered with the pictures of famous stars that she had pasted there too make it more homely. After all, at the end of the day Anne was just a girl. A teenage girl who longed for the outside world dreamed of the future and what it would hold when the war was finally over. It was one of the highlights of my visit and recommend it to anyone visiting Amsterdam, regardless of whether or not history is of interest to you.

That evening we decided to take things easy and took an open top canal cruise to get a different perspective of the city and also experience the famous Amsterdam Light Festival. It was cold and a bit wet but it was still a fab end to the first day. To see art portrayed through way of light and understand the artists vision so clearly was quite interesting. 

Beautiful Amsterdam lit up brightly.

The next day we headed out bright and early to see the Artis Zoo. After a quick pitstop at the cosy Cafe Koosje for fresh croissants and hot chocolate, we headed on our way. Artis Zoo is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands, and let me tell you now, I can see why it's been open so long. It was beautiful and natural. Yet perfectly landscaped and open. 

One of the highlights at the zoo for me was the seal tank. The way they glide through the way was powerful, yet effortless and truly graceful. They were incredibly mesmerising to watch and I had to eventually be coaxed away by my sister I could've watched them for hours.

That moment when...

Later on that afternoon we headed back into Central Amsterdam where we took a trip to the Amsterdam Dungeons and Madame Tussaud's where I clearly was having too much fun lol! Head over to my Insta page for more pics on the museum and what we got up to.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeNruuEnMTs/?taken-by=missjodette_

Until Pt.2, I will leave you with thus parting gift. A little something to make you giggle and realise, if you didn't already before, I have no shame! 

MissJ xxx

3 Quick and Easy Festive Treats

Have you friends coming over for a Christmas movie marathon? Or is it cold and wet outside and you've nothing planned for the day? Well fear not, I've got you covered with this blogpost ;) Here's 3 quick and easy festive treats that you can whip up in minutes and they taste as good as they look, trust me!

Treat No.1- Melted Snowmen Delights

You will need: Large Marshmallows, Black Icing, Icing Sugar, Orange Icing and Plain Digestive Biscuits.

1. Take your icing sugar and mix with desired amount of water adding the water slowly and mixing well in between. 

2. Smear icing on the digestive biscuits to make a 'blob' shape. This creates the melted snowman.

3. Place large marshmallows on top while the icing is still wet. Then repeat as many times as you like to make several snowmen. 

4. Place in freezer for 10-15 minutes until the icing is hard. 

5. Using the black icing, create eyes and a mouth on the marshmallow followed by 4 buttons and arms on the 'blob' of icing on the biscuit. 

6. TASTE TEST!! 

Treat No. 2- Festive Hot Chocolate

You will need: Milk, Cadbury's Hot Chocolate Powder, Squirty Cream, Candy Cane, Red Licorice and Gold Sprinkles to decorate.

1. Pour the desired amount of milk into a mug of your choice and place in microwave to heat for 2-3 minutes or until hot.

2. Take out of the microwave and be careful not to burn yourself! Add Cadbury's Hot Chocolate to taste, I use around 3 heaped spoons (I like mine extra chocolaty!)

3. Swirl a generous amount of cream to the top of your hot chocolate

4. Decorate with some gold sprinkles, a stick of red licorice and a candy cane to make it that little bit more festive! The perfect treat for a chat amongst friends!!

Treat No. 3- Reindeer Bites

You will need: Large Marshmallows, Bar of Chocolate to Melt, Pretzels, Red M&M's and White and Black Icing.

1. Break the chocolate into squares and put them in a microwave safe bowl. Then place the chocolate in the microwave until melted. 
*Be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will burn.

2. When the chocolate is melted, stick the marshmallows on cocktail sticks and dip them in, to cover completely in chocolate. Tap the stick gently on the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate.

3. Continue to cover as many marshmallows in chocolate as you wish, but work quickly so the chocolate doesn't re-harden. 

4. Cut a large orange in half and stick the cocktail sticks with the marshmallows, into the orange. Then place in freezer for 20 minutes for the chocolate to harden.

5. Cut the pretzels in half to make antlers. 

6. Once you take them out of the freezer stick the pretzel antlers on the top of the marshmallows using the black icing. Also, using the black icing, stick a red M&M's to the front of each marshmallow to make the red nose.

7. Finally,, using the white icing, give your reindeer eyes, then place back into the fridge for the icing to harden.

That's all for my 3 Quick and Easy Festive treats blog! What's your favorite treat this time of the year? xx   

Christmas Crafts

As a bit of Festive Fun, my sister and I decided to decorate ornaments for our Christmas Tree. With cute little Gingerbread Men and Snowflakes to work on we whipped out our best creative skills and put them to good use! Well sort of... So go ahead and click the link below to my YouTube video for a little giggle ;) Miss J xx

https://youtu.be/Fmlt_lQIMN4

Top Five Christmas Movies!

Everyone knows that Christmas is never complete without a festive movie marathon! 

When it's cold outside and you've nowhere to be, there is not a better way to pass time than curling up on the sofa in your PJ's with a tub of Quality Street and some Christmas Classics. Be it the good ole' tale of an ordinary man who became 'Santa Claus' one Christmas Eve, or a much loved family giggle like 'Elf'. 

So I have decided to m make a list of my Top Five Christmas Movies to share with you guys, take a look! (In no particular order)

1. Home Alone (1&2)

2. Fred Claus

3. Miracle on 34th Street

4. Elf

5. The 'Santa Clause' Movies

Merry Christmas ya Filthy Animal! ;)

Christmas Tree Decorating

IIIIIIT'S CHRISTMASSSSSSS!! 

That means it's time to deck the halls and trim the trees, which is exactly what I did in preparation for this blogpost in my "12 Blogs of Christmas". For weeks I counted down the days, even minutes, until it was finally time to put up the Christmas Tree and when that day arrived I was ready to get festive! ;)

 Firstly, to create the perfect Christmas mood for our evening of tree decorating, my sister and I popped on good ole' Home Alone (a personal favourite!) Then, we got decorating! 

I must admit, for the first hour it was a whole lot of posing, mid-hanging ornaments on the tree, to get the perfect artsy photo... As you can see below lol!

Eventually when the job was done and we got a chance to stand back and admire our handy work, the result was rather impressive, if i may say so myself! Don't you agree? 

Decorating the tree is by far one of the best parts of Christmas. What's your favorite ornament on your Christmas Tree? xxx

Five Fave Christmas Jams!

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear!" 

-Buddy The Elf

It's official! We are now in December which means that it is Christmas, which means that it is now "socially acceptable to play Christmas music". Although, in saying that, it's totally okay if you wanna play Christmas music on the 25th of June for the "six months till Christmas mark" which is so not what I do.. Pfft! 

So to celebrate the fact that it's now 10 days to Christmas I've made a list of my 5 fave songs to jam out to during the Christmas season. Without further a do, here are my FIVE FAVE CHRISTMAS JAMS!! (In no particular order ;) )

1. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee

2. Merry Christmas Everyone- Shakin' Stevens 

3. All I Want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey

3. Driving Home for Christmas- Chris Rea

5. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)- Michael Buble

What are your favourite Christmas tunes? xxx 

SLIMY BOO BROWNIES

As Halloween is rapidly approaching, I thought I would do a quick and easy 3 ingredient recipe for you guys to make during the SPOOKY season! Enjoy!To make the Boo Brownies, first pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees. Then place all your ingredients in a large baking bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined.

Next, what you want to do is take a 13inch pan and line it with some grease proof paper. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and place it in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, until the surface looks slightly crispy.

While you wait for these to cook, we can move on to making the SLIME to decorate. Take your icing sugar and add preferred amount to a bowl and gradually add water until it reaches the consistency you wish. I personally wanted mine to be a bit more runny so that I could drizzle it onto the BOO BROWNIES to give that desired SLIMY effect! After you have this done add a little bit of green food colouring to the mixture and stir well. VOILA! I give you the SLIME topping! 

Once you feel your brownies are done, remove from the oven and let cool completely before drizzling your slime on top.

I had so much fun making these brownies and I hope you do too! If you make them, be sure to send me pictures on Twitter and Instagram using the #slimyboobro