The Lucy Diaries: Midweek Instagram (09/05/12)

1. Cosmo will Mollie from The Saturdays ❤ 2. OPI Nails in Atomic Orange 3. Puppy Patrick all wrapped up 4. Bedtime reading - love this book series! 5. Bath time 6. Mumma bought me back a BUCKET of milk + white chocolate Maltesers - help me! 7. Le maquillage 8. Outfit of the day - denim jacket, Topshop dress/tunic, skull scarf, leggings + Topshop boots 9. Tuesday afternoon reading to cheer me up 10. Strawberries ❤

Hello lovelies, I hope you're all having a lovely week so far. It seems strange writing this post what with the Bank Holiday weekend! This weeks a total jumble. I didn't really do too much this weekend, just babysit my brother + dog ha. Tried out lots of cooking for my future student life at University. Speaking of which I made my final offers yesterday - eek! Fingers crossed it all goes well and I get in. Better get revising for my exams right now if I'm honest...
I haven't got too much planned for the rest of this week. Hitting the gym tomorrow for the first time in just over a week, cannot wait. Illness and the Bank Holiday has totally messed up my regime so I'm very keen to get back on track!
This Saturday my boyfriend has a 'surprise' lined up for me... hmmm... I'm hoping it's something good and not just something that pleases him - *sigh* boys....

I'll let you all know how that goes....
Anyway, speak soon and hopefully there'll be a few more posts from me over the next week. Have a lovely rest of your week.

Lucy xxx

The Lucy Diaries: Cheesy Chilli Beef Nachos [RECIPE]

Who doesn't love Mexican food? Tacos, enchiladas, chilli con carne... oh and a cheeky Margarita to help wash it all down!
Today I wanted to try something new on The Lucy Diaries. So, I am going to show you how to make my incredibly highly praised 'Cheesy Chilli Beef Nachos'. They really are delicious but I must warn you of the giant food baby that will be expected immediately after licking your plates clean (and he/she will grow at a very rapid rate so this should only ever really be a treat meal!). It's incredibly easy to do, if you know how to make chilli con carne or even a bolognese sauce, you're halfway there.

To make your Nachos you will need:

• 500g minced beef
• A large onion
• Two cloves of garlic
• A tin of tomatoes (400g)
• Red kidney beans (410g)
• Chilli Con Carne mix (though if you want to be more authentic or your own personal chilli recipe includes an actual chilli/chilli flakes you are more than welcome to use that alternative)
• Cheddar cheese
• Guacamole
• Salsa
• Crème fraîche or soured cream (soured cream is better in my opinion but crème fraîche works just as well)

 1. Chop your onion and garlic

 2. In a large pan/wok (I prefer a wok as the pan gets hotter faster making it a much speedier process, thus nachos on your plate sooner!), add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to your pan and gently fry your onions and garlic until the onions become clear.

 3. Add your mince. Break it up and keep stirring so you brown all of the meat.

 4. Once all of the meat has browned, add your chopped tomatoes.

 5. Pour your kidney beans into a sieve over the sink, draining the excess juices. Then carefully transfer the drained kidney beans into your pan and give it a good stir.

 6. Pour in the chilli mix/chopped chilli/chill flakes (depending on what you're using), making sure it's well mixed into the rest of the mixture. Now your meat is done, take it off the heat and let the sauce reduce. Stir occasionally if you need to but it should become a thick meaty mixture!

 7. Now the fun part! I must add, this is my younger brothers portion with a VERY large appetite! You don't even want to know how measly the portion I had was....
Arrange your tortilla chips onto a plate and add a dollop of the meat sauce into the middle. Top with grated cheese and pop it in the microwave until it's melted (usually between 45 seconds-1 minute, the heat from the meat should help). Now top with spoonfuls of guacamole, salsa and crème fraîche/soured cream...

And here is the finished product! Tuck in and if you happen to have some Tequila and lime lying around, feel free to add a Margarita to your meal.

Let me know if you try this out or if you'd like to see more recipe's like this in the future.

Lucy xxx

The Lucy Diaries: Midweek Instagram (02/05/12)

1. Obsessed with Marina and The Diamonds new album, particularly Teen Idle 2. Trying on a Mary Katrantzou inspired dress in Primark, gorgeous! 3. Feeling feminine and fancy in a pink collared shirt dress 4. Finally found the Primark dress I wanted in a lovely coral/pink :) 5. Told the hot guy at Starbucks that my name was Britney ;) 6. Beyoncé + Britney! 7. Sparkly purple OPI nails 8. Wild Saturday night in watching Moulin Rouge 9. Umpteenth Liz Earle purchase 10. Chocolate cake I baked for my beautiful best friend, Izzy's (or BelRse as she's known on here) birthday 11. Cheeky Topshop goodies! 12. More OPI from my Mumma - such a nice surprise!

Hey everyone, hope you're having a good week so far. I'm currently nursing very sore battered and blistered feet from my new Topshop boots :( Not such a good idea to do one of my trek's in them when it was my first time wearing them out.... Also got a rather upset stomach at the moment, so once I get some work done I'll curl up in bed with a hot water bottle and watch The Apprentice (can I just say, I'm still gutted Duane got fired a few weeks ago, he was brilliant!).
Anyway, hope you're all having a fabulous week.

Love Lucy xxx

Topshop ACHEIVE Boots

(apologies for the baggy leggings - not a good look!) ACHEIVE Elastic Side Boots

After seven months of doing 6 mile treks every day in my beloved £15 Primark boots, it has come to the end of the road due to a giant hole in the soles which have not been particularly useful with the current rainy days we've been having in the UK. Cue immediately drenched socks and soggy feet - not nice for a full day of college!

Anyway, new shoes were therefore a necessity so I spotted these boots on the Topshop website and knew I had to grab them straight away. At £75 however, I was hesitant. In an ideal world I would have bought the AMBUSH boots from Topshop's AW11 collection and my feet would look fabulous forever but I think these are a great alternative. They do have a slight heel on them and although I'm a bit like Bambi in heels, I can happily tell you that they are very comfortable to walk in, so fingers crossed I'll be able to walk miles every day in them!
They're a very flattering cut and shape I find and will definitely be great transition boots going into Summer (whenever it arrives). I think they'll look great with anything: hot pants; floaty skirts; pretty summer dresses and playsuits. Alternatively, in the Autumn and Winter I will no doubt be teaming these boots with my wardrobe staple - leggings! Jeans or tights will go perfectly with them too, as they're such versatile boots. Of course, at their extortionate price I would like to claim that these are in fact an investment buy! There's no way I'll be able to afford boots like these come AW12 when I'll be living as a University student, clutching onto my pennies for dear life!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week so far. This morning I had my French AS Oral retake which I hope went ok... I had a bit of déjà vu however as we had pretty much the exact same conversation as last year! We discussed Lady Gaga's influence on young people's lives... my favourite topic! Fingers crossed I did ok otherwise. Now I have less than a month until the rest of my A-Level exams so no doubt I'll be a busy bee revising hard for them, hoping I'll have done enough to get into Uni.
What are your plans for the rest of the week? And let me know your thoughts about the boots in the comments!

Love Lucy xxx