What I Wore Wednesday: Hotter Shoes

I love shoes. I can remember playing shoe shop with my younger sister in my Grandma's closet as a little girl and I'm pretty sure my love of shoes is genetic. My great great grandfather supposedly owned a shoe factory in Riga so the love of shoes goes back many generations. The only thing I love more than gorgeous shoes is comfortable shoes.

For me comfortable shoes should still be stylish and when you find that perfect combo of comfort and style I'm a happy girl. Luckily Hotter Shoes does just that--comfortable shoes that come with a 100% happy guarantee. All their shoes have hidden ‘Comfort Concept’ elements inside- such as soles that bend, hidden cushioning and hidden elastic behind buckles but are still trend lead.  Comfortable, trendy shoes that are guaranteed? When #CollectiveBias asked if I'd like to visit my local Hotter store I had to check it out!

Hotter is a UK based company who champion British manufacturing and design. They produce a pair of shoes every 20 seconds and as well as 65 stores throughout the UK you can also shop online worldwide.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Glasgow so I was immediately drawn in by this summer picnic window display of super cute slip-ons, loafers and floral print canvas lace-ups.

Every year when the sun starts coming out I start dreaming of my perfect wedges. I love Hotter's Hannah Heels super soft suede pom pom detail and cushioning underfoot gives you extra comfort, whilst a hidden elasticated panel behind the adjustable buckle offers added stretch room. Wedges that are cute and comfy? Score!

Loafers and slip-ons are really in this season. I call them boat shoes because they make me think of tanned, glamourous people sailing around in the sunshine in crisp white outfits. Just me? I don't have any shoes similar to this style in my wardrobe so I decided to try on two different styles of slip-ons or boat shoes.

These super soft nubuck and leather Laura Shoes are gently cushioned and naturally breathable. I loved the bright blue contrasting with the lighter, softer tan and they were super comfortable!

How sweet are these pink Kate Shoes with leather lace bow and on-trend contrast stitching? I loved the rose shade of this leather boat shoe and a padded insole means your feet are cosseted, whilst a lightweight flexible sole will stand the test of the toughest days. 

I had a good think about my wardrobe and which shoes I'd probably get the most wear out of this summer. It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that I went with one of my most favourite colours--pink!

It probably didn't hurt I wore pink into the store!  I'm already picturing wearing my new boat shoes with everything from floaty sundresses to khaki capris.  How would you style these boat shoes?
 

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Christmas Bacardi Cocktails

 

Christmas is right around the corner. So much of what I associate with Christmas and the holidays revolves around smell and taste: roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mint, cinnamon and spice. So given that there's so much of the feeling of Christmas associated with taste, you'd think it's be easy to make Christmassy cocktails: and you'd be right! However, I wouldn't advise a turkey flavoured one.

I took a trip to our local Morrisons, which was looking suitably festive, with the aim of making two cocktails: a warm one for the cold winter nights and a cold one that could be served with Christmas dinner.

 The first thing I picked up, to be used in both cocktails, was the Bacardi!

So many of the smells and tastes associated with Christmas come from spices, so I headed to the spice aisle next and picked up some cinnamon sticks and some mulled wine spices. If you were feeling particularly adventurous you could try and make your own blend with cloves, cinnamon and dried fruit but if you're like me you'll have no time for that at this time of year and these sachets are just as good and twice as easy.

Some sugar: brown goes best with the hot drink.

Some fruit juices: cranberry and cloudy apple. Sweet and Christmassy.

 And since Christmas is all about being decadent and indulging yourself, some whipped cream.

Since it was a cold night I came straight home and started making the hot cocktail!

Hot Mulled Apple Bacardi (makes 4 servings)

For this I heated up 1 litre of the cloudy apple juice in a pan and, once it started to boil, added one mulled wine sachet, which is pretty much a Christmassy teabag! We like cinammon in this house, so I threw in two cinammon sticks too and the juice and zest of half an orange.

I let the apple juice simmer for a few minutes to infuse and craftily put 50ml of Bacardi into a mug.

Once the sachet and sticks had been in the simmering apple juice for 5 minutes I poured 1/4 of the liquid (roughly 250ml) on top of my Bacardi and gave it a stir.

As I said we like things cinammonny in this house, so as a festive garnish I served with a cinnamon stick in the drink and topped with whipped cream.

Straight away the drink is so warming; firstly it's obviously hot but the warmth you get from the spices could heat you up by itself.

For the cold cocktail I went for a sweet and minty martini: The Candy Cane!

Stick a generous handful of ice in a cocktail shaker (and some in a martini glass to chill it)

Frost the rim of the martini glass by wetting it and turning upside down into a saucer of white sugar.

Add 50ml cranberry juice, 37.5ml Bacardi and 25ml Creme de Menthe Blanc* to the shaker and shake for 7 seconds. (Top trick to shaking cocktails, if you can't be bothered counting you can judge by feeling the side of the shaker, once it's fully mixed the side will get colder as the ice deteriorates.)

Strain into frosted martini glass and serve. It tastes like a candy cane, sweet and pepperminty!

*Creme de menthe blanc isn't necessarily the easiest spirit to find but there are alternatives. Normal creme de menthe would work but the green colouring kind of spoils the look. You could substitute for peppermint vodka. How do you make that?

Pack of these:

In a bottle of this:

Leave over night then strain!

The cocktails are really different but still both Christmassy. I can see the hot mulled apple cocktail being something we could enjoy on cold nights throughout the whole of December and I'm looking forward to trying the Candy Cane on my family at Christmas dinner.

What is your favourite Christmas cocktail?

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What I Wore Wednesday: Watermelon Mojitos

The weather this week has been amazing! We've had a week long heatwave with loads of sunshine and temperatures in the high 70's. It's put me in a such a happy and sunny mood and I totally I jumped at the chance when Collective Bias™ invited us to create some Bacardi cocktails! Maybe it's just me but summer and cocktails go hand in hand!

I wasn't quite sure what cocktails I wanted to make at first but after grabbing some Bacardi I spied some limes. I know that Bacardi rum and lime go really well so the first thing I snapped up was a big bag of limes. NotBlondeHusband also loves lime so I knew I was headed in the right direction.

Next I went for some fresh fruit, coconut milk and some whipped cream. In my head I was mentally checking off my favourite rum cocktails Piña Coladas and Daquiris! Growing up we always got virgin daiquiris with whipped cream on top as a special treat when we went out to dinner growing up and I still love them now. My absolute favourite is a half/half Piña Colada and Strawberry Daquiri I had on our honeymoon called a Miami Vice. I have no idea what Tubbs and Crockett has to do with it but it's AMAZING!

I went back for some ice and mint so NotBlondeHusband could have the option on a mojito and we were good to go! After getting home and going through all my options I decided to through all caution to the wind and try something I didn't even think of and had never tried before: Watermelon Mojito Popsicles!

I'd seen boozy popsicles popping up on Pinterest but I've never actually made or had one before. I love frozen cocktails so it seemed like something I'd really like and perfect for a hot day. I found a few different recipes online and then created my own version!

Watermelon Mojito Popsicles

400g (2 1/2 cups) cubed watermelon
4 limes (juiced)
5 TBSP simple mint syrup (recipe to follow)
140ml (5 oz) Bacardi rum

Blend the watermelon in a food processor or blender and then push through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of any seeds and chunky bits.

Shake the watermelon juice with the fresh lime juice, rum and simple mint syrup in a cocktail shaker. 

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze overnight!

Simple Mint Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 water
25g fresh mint

Pour the water and sugar into a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Usually this will be just before the water starts to simmer.

Take the mixture off the heat and stick into a large pan of cold water until it reaches room temperature.

Add the mint leaves and muddle (bash it a bit) and leave for 20 minutes.

Strain off the mint leaves and pour into an air-tight container to store in your fridge.

Yum! Perfect after a long hot day. So I know you're thinking umm well that's all great and tasty but isn't this What I Wore Wednesday? Well I only went and gave myself a Watermelon Mojito Manicure, too! I feel like Lisa Turtle at the Murder Mystery Mansion; remember she matched her dress to her drink?(sorry for those who aren't into Saved by the Bell)

Do you have a signature cocktail/mocktail? Do food or drink ever inspire your outfits?







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