My Yarn Braids

Here are pics from when I did yarn braids in the summer. Never again but I liked the look of it.

A lot of people thought it was my hair & that I loc'd up. Haha.. I let them in on the secret though.

Daily Fix of Hair

I really have a fascination with free form locs. I've decided that after I have my 5 kids (God willing) that I'm gonna loc my hair.

Ragamuffin style mi deh pon. BOOM!

source

source

Daily Fix of Hair

Antonia Thomas & Nathan Stewart-Jarrett of the show Misfits

Artiste Spotlight - Emeli Sande

Bursting onto the music scene in 2009, Emeli Sande is a lady with a memorable voice & not to mention, a serious education. Born in Scotland, this bi racial blonde beauty made sure to cop a degree in wait... Medicine and still had time to clutch a record deal.
Nice.

Her debut album "Our Version of Events" will be released in early 2012. I will most definitely be getting that.
Who isn't pumping her single "Heaven"? Get on it.
Her 2nd single "Daddy" is out and there is a music video for it. I fell in love with this track when I happened upon a vid of her on Youtube singing an acoustic version of it.
Peep the official music vid for Daddy & the acoustic bit.



Enjoy =)

Throwback Thursdays

Who remembers this?

Foodie Wednesdays: Guest Post by Jessica from Jessiker Bakes {Pumpkin Cupcakes}

Hello Candid Cinni followers! My name is Jessica of Jessiker Bakes and this is my guest post on Candid Cinni's blog. Every Wednesday we will be doing a foodie themed blog post to satisfy your sweet (and sometimes savoury) cravings! Everyone does love to eat, right? Great. This week, the week before Halloween, I thought I would post a delicious and very thematic treat that would be perfect for your Halloween get togethers and celebrations - Pumpkin Cupcakes! P.S. I LOVE celebrating Halloween it's such a colourful and creative holiday!

Give us your feedback so I can cater these guest posts to your desires!

Happy reading and even happier eating! 

- Jessica @ Jessiker Bakes

______________________________________________________________________________

It's the week before Halloween! When I lived in the BVI, the custom of Halloween was definitely a tradition to look forward to! Dressing up, door to door trick-or-treating; I certainly miss it! That part of Halloween isn't that active in Jamaica; however there are several Halloween parties...

Look! A Pumpkin Cupcake Patch!

These are so easy to make! Note - maybe a little time-consuming if you tried to cram a million things into one day, but definitely worth it! I tried my best to make them look like pumpkins...

Aren't they cute? Please say yes.

These are pretty yummy too! I used the cupcakes from Kellie Cupcakes for this recipe, plus my usual buttercream recipe.

I guess you could leave out the pumpkin indentations, but I just thought it made them resemble pumpkins even more.

What I loved the most about these was that you didn't need any extra ingredients from what you would usually use for cupcakes, except green food colouring and orange/yellow and red food colouring.

Happy Pumpkin Carving!! I do hope I get to carve one soon! Looks like a lot of fun!

What do you plan to do to celebrate Halloween?

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 + 1/8 cup white sugar

1/4 + 1/8 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cups buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, scraping down the sides and bottom after added. Then add the vanilla, and gently mix in the buttermilk/ sour cream/ yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tin, about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Buttercream Recipe 

Easy Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 1b. 10X powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk, half and half or cream

·         Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.

·         Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.

·         If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.

·         Then, just use icing colorsto tint the frosting the color of your choice.

Decoration

Separate the buttercream - majority in one bowl (about 3/4) the other in a next.

Mix equal parts yellow and red food colouring to the 3/4 buttercream. If you want a lighter orange, add more yellow. A darker orange, add more red.

Pipe unto cupcakes (you really don't have to do this; seems like a waste of piping to me), then smooth down. Roll the sides in sugar (optional). 

Colour the 1/4 buttercream with green food colouring then pipe on top of the orange frosting. Dip the tip into sugar. Use a toothpick to create the lines up the sides of the pumpkin cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Me Doth Wants

For the lil time I've been in the UK, I have noticed their attention for caring for the planet & consciously implementing a "green" lifestyle. More so than the US I might add.

I see recycling bins next to regualr waste bins and most shoppers with their own reusable shopping bag.
I'm very impressed.

I need reusable shopping bags or just one big one especially when I go grocery shopping. I dislike getting plastic bags (even though I reuse them as garbage bags) but I notice I accumulate a lot.


In comes, BAGGU.
I came across them via ourcitylights.org <--- AHmazing blog.

They have a wide selection of resuable shopping bags, different prints and colors alike.
The bags are cute enough to use as a regular day bag!

They also stock backpacks & kits that you can use to store knick-knacks.

the one I'm looking at

Check out the site. Really, really good!

Darn Fleas!

So there was an American Apparel Flea Market running from October 20-25th in London & I AM JUST FINDING OUT!

Sigh. I own nothing from them because they're so flippin' overpriced but I do like their stuff. I would have had to plan to go down there though cuz train tix are not cheap from Crewe to London town.

The crowds & lines sounded like a nightmare though. Not one for all of that. Then again, there will always be hordes of people for a massive sale especially for a brand like American Apparel.

Maybe next year? 

Candidly Speaking

I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite bloggers Ev'Yan.

Enjoy =)

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Ev`Yan & I blog over at sexloveliberation.com. I live with my husband & dog-child in Portland, Oregon.

When & why did you decide to start blogging?

I started my first blog in 2002, before blogging was a household name. Then in 2008, I started Apricot Tea, my personal, public diary where I wrote about my life as a newly wed & the outfits I wore daily. I did that for three years until I started my newest endeavor, Sex, Love, Liberation, which is a website that I created to speak openly about sex & self-exploration.

With every blog, I wanted to share little pieces of myself with the world. SLL has taken that desire to another level, one that enables me to share & guide others in the process.

How has your blog affected you?

It's challenged me to become a stronger person & to maintain a sense of awareness that often gets lost in the mundaneness of life. I am teaching others lessons of love & sex, but I'm also learning those same lessons. This is the best thing about SLL.

What do you hope to achieve with your blog?

I hope to help liberate others & give them a safe space to come to to speak about private matters. I also hope to ignite a fire within people to love themselves fully & recognize their greatness as beautiful, sensual beings.

So let's talk about hair.. are you natural and if so why did you go natural?

I've been natural for over a year now. After years & years of chemically straightening my hair, I realized just last year that I had never seen what my natural hair looked like (not since my baby pictures). The reality of this saddened me, & within a day or two I made the decision to buzz all of my hair off & start anew. 

It was the most liberating thing I've ever done.

4 words to describe your mane.

Soft. Bold. Delicate. Unapologetic.

Give us a lil bit about your hair regimen.

I just finally sealed a regimen that works for me, though I know it'll change once my hair gets longer. (Its length is currently at about 6 inches, though the shrinkage tells otherwise.)

I wash once a week with Dr Bronner's castile soap diluted with water; I co-wash with Trader Joe's Nourish Spa conditioner 2-3 times per week. I do my best to detangle my hair with my fingers in the shower while the conditioner is soaking. I find that my fingers are more forgiving than a wide-toothed comb.

After I rinse, I give my hair several shakes to get rid of access water (singing Shake it Up, by The Cars while I do) & apply my spritz mixture to my hair (aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, a tiny bit of vegetable glycerin, a dozen drops of lavender oil, & water).

Then I shake once more & apply a little of my homemade whipped shea butter mixture (by Naptural85) to seal.

I've recently discovered spray gel, which defines my curls & keeps the frizz tame. Right now, I'm using one by Tresemme, though I need to be careful not to use too much, as it dries my hair. That's the last thing I put on my hair before I walk out of the house.

Ev'Yan & her husband - Photo by Kylie Springman

5 things you're loving at the moment.

• The colors of the leaves as they turn from the season.
• A steaming cup of coffee with the perfect amount of creamer.
• Handmade things (my readers gave me a slew of gifts in exchange for my book).
• Portland; I was made to be in this city.
• How long my hair is getting! Sometimes I forget that it's actually growing.

Candidly speaking.. (anything else you would like to add.. quote, mantra you live by etc)

A quote worth remembering: "The more real you become, the more unreal you are to others."

Photo by Kylie Springman

Essential & stuff

Today after my lesson at Uni, I decided to stroll around the town centre.
I wanted to get some other oils into my regimen because I'm looking to switch it up.

Couple weeks by i had passed a health store called Holland & Barrett so I googled them (naturally) and saw that they were having a Buy One, Get One for a Penny Sale on select items.

Went in and got some Sweet Almond Oil

and also some Rosemary Oil

Not too proud of the price I paid since I'm on a budget but I liked the deal + I see this lasting me a good while. 

I mixed the two together & put into a spray bottle. Probably about 10-12 drops of the Rosemary to 2-3 tablespoons of the Almond Oil (I'm totally guessing).. I'm never good with exact measuring.

Shook it up and gave myself a good scalp massage =)

Soon to Come...

STAY TUNED!

Shots of Life

Take it all in, S.FL pre-departure part 1 with my girls.

<3 them so much!

Bestita & Wifey

nuh seh ntn

Yummy crepes that we got for free!

Ah she name ride or die 

<3 <3 

Danncceeee

Cuz well we can

Daily Fix of Hair

SOURCE


BOSS!!

New tings

After a month of being in the UK, I finally got a phone. I am now a proud member of team iPhone :) so I decided to try out the Blogger app.

Hopeless Place

People are buzzing about Rihanna's music video for her latest single "We Found Love"

I love it. Probably her best music video ever. Kudos to Melina for a well directed vid.

The car scene... Deja vu??

CHECK IT OUT!


Rihanna on WhoSay

Foodie Wednesdays: Guest Post by Jessica from Jessiker Bakes {Caramel Apple Cupcake}

Hello Candid Cinni followers!My name is Jessica of Jessiker Bakes and this is my guest post on Candid Cinni's blog. Every wednesday we will be doing a foodie themed blog post to satisfy your sweet (and sometimes savoury) cravings! Everyone does love to eat, right? Great. I thought the perfect starter guest post would be one I did last week; Caramel Apple Cupcake as it is themed to the fall season. It's the perfect recipe for someone who loves sweets, but doesn't want too much as this makes one cupcake! Give us your feedback so I can cater these guest posts to your desires!

Happy reading and even happier eating! 

- Jessica @ Jessiker Bakes

__________________________________________________________________________

There was the story of a girl who baked a lot.

A whole lot; over 300 cakes, cupcakes, and other yummy treats.

*skip a few pages in the book*

This girl had a lot of friends, who loved that she baked, but were very sad that she did not have a bakery because sometimes they only wanted one cupcake, but she couldn't bake just one cupcake for them. They were, however, very happy when she came to school with yummy treats and they could have their one cupcake and not be destitute to the terrible fortune that this girl had sometimes; several cupcakes around her and no one to eat them but her. This made her very happy while eating the cupcakes but sometimes, rarely sadly actually, afterwards. Okay truth be told she never felt bad about eating more than one cupcake in 10 seconds at a sitting.

Anyway. This girl came across a website called Chocolate Covered Katie and her problems were solved! Katie was a vegan, healthy baker, unlike the girl, but Katie had created a recipe for 1 cupcake! You see, the problem was that to bake 1 cupcake meant to try to split 1 egg for 6 cupcakes into 1/6th to make one cupcake, and to divide the entire recipe which would then render it recipeless!

She was so happy she was about to make the cupcake right then and there to test it out but then realized that it was night time and that she wanted to share it with ALL her friends and blog-readers (friends too!) so they could make one cupcake themself! And it would be "healthy"! Say, 120 calories per cup.

Caramel not included.

She decided to do a Caramel Apple Cupcake inspired by a cupcake post she had seen earlier that morning by The Girl Who Ate Everything since it was in theme of HALLOWEEN and FALL! and majority of her readers loved those seasons! Hehe.

She had so much fun and tweaked the recipe a wee bit and added the caramel-y part to make it even more sugar-coma inducing! Yummy!


She baked the cupcake, managed to save 1/8 of it after begging herself to stop eating it so quickly in the fridge for after breakfast. She is thinking about that piece right now. The cupcake was so yummy and cinnamon-y and she decided to do a blog post on it with full picture-by-picture details. Then she ran back to her fridge to eat the last piece!

The End.

Make one yourself and ENJOY PLEASE!

One Year Ago: Missing in Action 
Caramel Apple Cupcake
Original cupcake recipe adapted from (tweaked only slightly) from Chocolate Covered Katie

You'll need 3 tablespoons of flour.

1 1/16h tsp salt (aka a shake in a salt shaker).

1 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons of delicious brown sugar.

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

1 tablespoon oil or butter.

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (or less, I love cinnamon).

Mix it all together with a fork.

Wait something doesn't look right...

Oh yes! 1 tablespoon of milk

Mix together again. That looks better!

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of chopped apple and mix

Pour into a cupcake liner which is inside of a foil cupcake liner (the ones that can bake without the pan) and put it in a ramekin to keep the shape! Smooth the top of the batter (oops forgot to do this).

Or, if you're going to bake it in the oven just put the liner in a pan whole.

I didn't want to warm up my oven for one cupcake, so I put it into my handy dandy microwave.

Cook for 90 seconds.

Look it's GROWING! OMG!

Meanwhile, make some caramel in pan. I used a brain recipe and put two tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. You won't need all of it I promise! Let it heat up a bit, stirring until it becomes a little more sticky like regular caramel.

Remove from heat and stick it in your freezer to stop it from cooking (free Go-Gurt advertisement).

Your cupcake is finished! Let it cool a bit,

Then pour the caramel on top...oh yes...

Then put some chopped nuts on top (like pecans)...

Stick a Popsicle stick in it...

Voila!

Now devour.