Pug Talk

On October 12^th 2015, my 21^st birthday, my boyfriend and his parents bought me the greatest gift of all time.  A little baby boy pug puppy.  And there hasn’t been a day since that my life hasn’t been delightful with my baby, Hulk.  Since that day when I took him home – there has been a number of things that I have come to realise are just part of  normal day life when you become a pug owner.  In fact,  they probably apply to all dogs actually.  But here's ten things that I now know, now that I own a pug…

1.   You will never be alone ever again.  Like, ever.  And if you do happen to be away from your pug – it’s because you’ve had absolutely no choice but to leave them with someone that you trust with your baby.  I can guarantee however, that you won’t stop thinking about them the whole time you’re away.

2.   Say goodbye to your personal space.  Seriously.  It’s none existent now.  Pugs have no sense of personal space, so if they feel like walking over your face to get to their toy on the other side of you whilst you’re lying in bed, then that’s what they’re going to do.  They have no shame, you’ll see everything up close and personal.

3.   Dogs are expensive.  Not just pugs, I mean all dogs.  Especially during the first six months when you need to take them to get their vaccines, wormers, flea treatments, microchip and then maybe even to get them neutered (which I’m still undecided about for Hulk.)  And then you’ll be reminded every three to six months of any treatments that they need thereafter.  And that’s without mentioning the amount you need to spend to kit them out before they even come home with bedding, toys, bowls, leads etc.  And then you’ve got the food on top of that – which might take a while to find a brand that they enjoy enough to carry on eating after a week or two.  And there is even pet insurance to take into consideration – which was one of the first things that I did because I know that pugs are prone to having problems with their eyes, nose and breathing difficulties.  So yeah, expensive.  Make sure you have the pennies to give your fur baby everything that they need and deserve.

4.   They will make you feel incredibly happy near enough all of the time - even when they’re being bad.  I mean, who can stay mad at that little squished up face?!

You want to get down from there sir?

5.   The first few weeks will be exhausting for you, your pup and anyone else who is helping out with the fur baby.  They will be scared and will be trying to get used to their new surroundings – so you need to be patient as they adapt.  So if that means being woken up every two hours each night for a cuddle and a trip to the garden for a piddle, then so be it.  You’re also going to need a lot of wipes and kitchen roll to mop up their messes when they don’t feel like using the puppy pads.  Just saying.

6.   They like to chew – so make sure that you have plenty for them to work their way through all of the time!   If you don’t, say goodbye to all of your nice stuff. 

7.   You need to make sure that you have the time to care for your pup.  I’m very, very lucky as when I’m at uni, work and on placement – my parents are happy to look after my little fur baby.  If it wasn’t for them being available to help during the hours I’m away (my dad works from home and my mum looks after my younger siblings), then I really wouldn’t be in a position to have my pup.  When I am at home, I make sure that I’m free to take him out for walks and give him the attention he needs (he likes to play all the time).  Regardless of if I’ve got other things to do, the pup has to come first. 

8.   They probably won’t use their bed as a bed.  More like a toy stash, digging pit or chew toy.  Just a heads up.

9.   You will be bursting with love for them from the moment that you take them home.  Bursting I tell you!

10. Regardless of how long you’re gone, 10 minutes, 6 hours, 3 days – there will never be a time when they are not happy and excited to see you – ever!  A trip to the bathroom (if you are lucky enough to get to go alone) will always result in a waggly tail waiting on your return.  True love.

Have you got a little fur baby?  I want to see the pictures below!

Until the next one,

Lauren x

Soap and Glory 3 in 1 Daily Vitamin C Facial Wash

After finally coming to an end of my Dark Angels face cleanser (you can read my thoughts on it below!), I thought it was time to try out the Soap and Glory Clarity facial wash that I received back in January after subscribing for a free sample.  I’d never tried any of the Soap and Glory face care products before – I’ve only ever ventured as far as the body sprays (AMAZING) and the Sugar Crush body scrub and body butter… one of the most delicious scents I have come across to date!  So after having read only good things about their face care range online and through other bloggers sites, I was really keen to try it out for myself.

I was instantly attracted to the product when I first took it out of the envelope because of the colour.  It’s a gorgeous aqua blue with pink beads – making it stand out visually in comparison to the facial washes that I’ve used recently. The texture of this face wash is what really stood out for me in use – as it feels more like a gel before you rub it in.  Then when you begin to wash it onto your face, it becomes a really thick and foamy consistency all over – which I really liked.  When you’re rubbing it into the skin, it gives a tingly sensation over the areas of use – which again was a quality I enjoyed because I like to be able to tell that my skincare products are actually doing something when I use them.

Clarity doesn’t take much effort to wash off either, which I think is due to the lack of beads, and the consistency of the product.  Although this wash doesn’t give me the same “fresh skin” feeling as my usual preferences (anything that gives a major scrub) – this wash actually leaves my skin feeling a really natural type of clean, as well as giving me a nice and soft face which makes applying my make up in the morning that little bit easier.

I’ll be completely honest, had I not been sent the free sample in the post – this wouldn’t have been a product that I would be interested in.  Simply because before now I: 

1. Had never used any of the Soap and Glory face care range before

2. I like my facial care products to be really exfoliating.  

However, after having been given the opportunity to try before I buy, and the fact that I currently have loads of vouchers for Soap and Glory products for Boots – I reckon that this little number may make a permanent feature in my toiletry bag!

What’s your favourite Soap and Glory product?

Until the next one,

Lauren x 

Chocolate Brownies

A few weeks ago now, when I still had the baking bug, I whipped together a batch of chocolate brownie cupcakes!  I used a recipe I found on the BBC Good Food website that I’ve listed below for you to refer to.  I made some changes when following the recipe, which I found to work pretty well – but you guys might feel better following the pros.  Either way, let me know how you get on below, mine turned out pretty good!

·         185g unsalted butter

·         185g best dark chocolate

·         85g plain flour

·         40g cocoa powder

·         50g white chocolate

·         50g milk chocolate

·         3 large egg

·         275g golden caster sugar

First, I preheated the oven to 180C.  I then mashed up the butter into randomly cut blocks in a large bowl and chucked in the dark chocolate that I had broken up into squares.  I then put the bowl into the microwave for around 3 three minutes – taking it out every thirty seconds to check and stir.  Once full melted, I put it to the side and left it to cool.

Next, I weighed out the flour and cocoa powder and put the two into a medium sized bowl.  The online recipe said to sieve the two before mixing them together, but when my mum pointed out that she never sieves anything (and her baking is amazing) – I decided to skip this step.  I’d probably just make a mess anyways.

The next step was to break up the chocolate bars – which I found to be a hell of a lot easier than what the online method made out to be.  I pretty much just broke the bars up into the squares, and then broke the squares up further into random chunks and mixed it all together.  This resulted in a lot of random sized chunks, which I wasn’t super fussy about because let’s be honest – who doesn’t like big chunks of chocolate in their brownies?

This next part was messy, thankfully though my mum has an electric hand mixer and so it didn’t take nearly as long as I had anticipated.  I cracked the eggs into another large bowl, and tipped the caster sugar in with it.  I then used the mixer on the highest speed for around about three minutes, until it turned to a nice thick and creamy mixture.  This probably doubled in size and the colour became a lot paler – like the online method stated. 

It was then time to pour the chocolate and butter mix in with the egg and caster sugar, which didn’t take very long at all.  I used a wooden spoon to mix it all together, and added in the flour and cocoa powder to the mix.  I added this in little by little, folding it through so that the mixture came to a thick and sticky consistency.  When this was ready, I then chucked in the bowl of chocolate chunks and gave it another stir.

The brownie mix was then ready to pop into the oven – and so I poured a little bit of the mixture into each cupcake case, leaving enough room for them to raise a little.  Around about 25 cases later, the brownie cupcakes were ready to pop into the oven and to be left for 20-30 minutes until they became nice and spongey.  When ready, take them out of the oven and leave for about 10 minutes until cool!  And voila – you’ve got some super tasty brownie cupcakes ready to be munched on!

Does anyone else make their brownies into cupcakes?

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1223/bestever-brownies - in case you prefer to follow the pros.

Until the next one,

Lauren x