Double Chocolate Valentine's Cupcakes

If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that my love of chocolate will never die. Particularly my love of chocolate cakes. And as Valentine's Day is a time for celebrating with the cakes people you love, I thought I'd have a go at baking my own indulgent treat.

Why I'm Happily Single This Valentine's

We're getting to that time of year again. No, not Pancake Day or Easter unfortunately. Valentine's Day. As I write this we are four days away and it seems like with each year I get older, the pressure to conform to the holiday or do something special increases. As does the amount of people putting others down for celebrating it. (Can't we just let people enjoy things?) Everywhere we look we're bombarded by offers and ideas from different companies trying to capitalise on love. What seemingly just started as a commercial holiday aimed at making money off couples has now expanded to try and squeeze as much as they can out of us, single or not. (But I challenge you to find a holiday that isn't like that.) Still, I feel like there's still this underlying idea that as a single woman on Valentine's Day I should be bitter towards happy couples and feel lonely. And I honestly couldn't feel more the opposite. If anything, I've been thinking about just how happy I am being single. Not just for this one day in particular but at this stage in my life right now. Though I will be going out for a meal with my girlfriends and having a "Galentine's Day", I don't feel the need to do anything to take my mind off the fact that I'm single for the day because quite frankly, I couldn't care less. (Still, if Tom Hardy wants to show up with a puppy at my door, I wouldn't say no).

Treat Yourself This Valentine's*

If you read my previous post about Valentine's Day, you'll have hopefully picked up a few ideas on how to spend the day whether it be with a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, friends, dog, cat or alone. In this post I thought I'd give you a few gift ideas for you to either treat yourself or someone else you love. Because we all like to be treated once in a while, god knows we deserve it.

Valentine's Day Ideas + Thornton's Giveaway*

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, for a lot of us it's time to start thinking about how and with who we're going to be spending the day. I can't go on any social network or website without being reminded of the impending occasion. Personally, I'll be wining and dining with my best friend followed by an evening on snuggling with the dog. Whether you're spending it alone, with friends, pets or indeed a loved one, here's just a few ideas for how you can spend your day. Though I'll be honest, a lot of these ideas are aimed at my fellow singletons. I also have a great giveaway at the end of this post with thanks to the lovely people over at Thornton's.