Dinner, Drinks & Drinks

With Husband & I's impending move to the southern hemisphere, it occurred to us that we'll be unable to take our rather well stocked bar that we have accumulated over the years with us. So with the slightly nauseating thought of having to get through over 20 bottles of alcohol on our own we had a few people over on the weekend to help us make a dent in it. Needless to say Husband took the chance to slow roast as much meat as possible and I forced copious amounts of cheese and cake onto our poor unsuspecting guests. Topped off with a magnum of champagne, ginger ale cocktails and shameful Glee karaoke, there were a few sore heads in the morning. I'm definitely going to miss entertaining in our cosy little flat!

French Sojourn

Is there anything better than a long weekend in Paris? Well, there is, but a weekend in Paris is still high up on my list. I took the chance in autumn to pop over to meet Husband while he was on a work trip & we managed to fit in a few days of eating, drinking, walking the streets & eating some more. Coming from a country where you have to fly for at least 4 hours to get anywhere, I think the UK takes for granted how amazing it is to be able to just hop on a train and then end up in another country a little while later. These are a few pictures of the wonderful food, sights and surroundings from the City of Light.

Cookies & Cream

I decided to indulge my chocoholic tendencies in a different way recently in the form of the humble old cookie. Of course, there was nothing humble about these monsters as they incorporated 3 types of chocolate and were more of a dessert than a cup-of-tea-&-biscuit kind of situation. I customised this recipe and would definitely recommend it as an easy chocolate fix that's ready to eat in 20 minutes.

Beamon Me Up, Scotty

I usually don't need an excuse to wear excessive bling or decorate myself in unnecessarily lavish earrings and necklaces. I would wear my Nan's huge multi-strand antique black beaded necklace everyday on the way to work on the tube if it didn't invite such suspicious looks. Now that Christmas is (scarily!) just around the corner it's the perfect time to pick up some of the amazingly gorgeous pieces from Erickson Beamon.

The designs are just the right combination of vintage and modern and they have the ability to bring any outfit together and make it feel festive and glamorous. The versatility of the pieces mean that they will look just as good with jeans and a T-shirt as they do with an evening gown. I also love that Erickson Beamon uses gold, silver and other bronze and rose tones in the same piece making them wearable with all your other jewellery at the same time (a current obsession I'm having) so you don't have to forgo wearing a certain piece if it doesn't match with other tones you're wearing. In other words, you don't have to stick to being strictly a "gold" or "silver" girl. I know what will definitely be on my list to Santa this year.

(photos: net-a-porter.com)

La Dolce Vita

It's cold, wet and generally miserable outside today so to cheer myself up I'm making a big tall glass of Campari & orange juice and imagining I'm somewhere hot and amazing off the coast of Italy. These are a few pics of some of the amazing food and spectacular places from our trip there in summer. I was so taken with the Italian's laid back lifestyle and nonchalant approach to life. They really have an appreciation for the simple things in life: good food, great wine and beautiful, picturesque surroundings. Those Italians really are too cool for school.

 

Lust: Celine Box Bag

The Celine box bag has been seen carried around on the arms of many a fashionista for most of the season now, but the style is just so classic and timeless that I think we'll be seeing it for many seasons to come.

The small compact size and sleek lines means the style will go with just about anything in your wardrobe and the neutral colours and muted tones means the box bag will see you through any season of the year. If you're not willing to part with the sizeable wad of cash that a Celine will set you back then there are so many affordable similar styles around at the moment.

Tre chic.

(photos: jak&jil)

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Since Husband purchased an espresso machine recently, it seems that we spend all weekend drinking coffee now! We couldn't help but notice that when you freshly brew a latte yourself, you automatically crave a flaky pastry to go alongside it. So when we had no delicious baked goods on Sunday I whipped up these simple (ie: cheat's) chocolate croissants with next to no ingredients. Simply wrap some dark chocolate in squares of puff pastry, brush with some egg whites and vanilla, pop in the oven til they puff up and turn golden and voila! Pan au chocolat anyone?

Lola's Cheat

Its no secret that I love to shove a cupcake in my mouth any chance I get, even if it means I have to spend an hour in the kitchen baking them myself. As proud as I am after I whip up a batch of red velvets or vanilla beauties, the finished result is never exactly the picture of perfection I dream it will be. Whether it's my side-loped oven or frosting that just wont get as fluffy as I want, there's always that tiny pang of disappointment when I realise they don't look as professional as I had envisioned.
My favourite cupcakes in London by far are the cult brand Lola's and now they've pulled a little trick out of their sleeve that makes producing professional-looking cupcakes at home a breeze. Its called Lola's Busy and all you have to do is pick the flavour of the cupcake base you want and they will provide all the extras so you can decorate them yourself! Just tell them what colours and sprinkles you like and a they will provide a do it yourself pack so you can ice and decorate them any way you want. This is a great idea if you want to impress guests with a professional looking treat that still has that "homemade" feel to it, or even a fun idea for a children's party that gets kids doing something creative. You can order these tool kits online or in store along with all the original heavenly cupcakes in the Lola's range.

Pale Days

This outfit is from a while back and now that the weather has suddenly turned, it already seems outdated. Even so, I'm still a big fan of a soft colour palate and mixed and matched pale tones. Wearing big clunky wedges like this also makes it easier and more flattering when you have a slightly over-sized or lose fitting outfit on. I think pale-ish colours head to toe are definitely only wearable when the sun is (kind of) out. This look certainly wouldn't fly in the midst of an autumn downpour or gale force winds! For the up-coming cooler months just add a hint of pale, like all the amazing neutral shades that are big right now, to lighten up the usual black on black on grey usual suspects that plague wardrobes during winter.