I am sure most of you know the sudden and unexpected craving for something sweet (yes, we are talking about food!). In that case it can’t get fast enough. My favourite recipe for satisfaction is really simple, quick and doesn’t need much ingredients: rice pudding with fresh fruit, berries, chocolate sprinkles or nuts.
Serves two:
one cup of pudding rice
two cups of milk
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
ground cinnamon
fresh fruit or berries, mint leaves
Put rice and milk in a deep pot and heat gently. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. Test the rice for tenderness before adding sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract (season to taste). Decorate with fruit or berries, mint leaves, nut or chocolate sprinkles – just take the taste you love!
Spring has finally arrived and the trees are in wonderful bloom. Pretty pastels are not only showing up in nature, but also on accessories such as shoes and bags. I like to combine simple blue jeans, a white shirt and matching accessories in sorbet shades. That way you can create a unique but easy and uncomplicated style. My favourite combinations:
1. Sunny Yellow: Unuetzer tassel loafer and yellow mini bag
2. Perfect Peach: Unuetzer ballerina and Mulberry snake embossed leather bag
3. Merry Mint: J. Crew snakeskin bow pumps and Lanvin pop happy bag
4. Lovely Lavender: J. Crew snakeskin pumps and mini Miu Miu viola bag
5. Baby Blue: Valentino kitten heel pumps and Salvatore Ferragamo shoulder bag
As a teenager, we spent hours knitting friendship bracelets. I am happy that they are fashionable again, even if you are around 30, and lots of new styles have been created. Since it is the month of love I decided to try a heart pattern. Take some candy-coloured embroidery floss and create your own heart friendship bracelet in a heartbeat! It is not very difficult, here the instructions from La Manufacture I followed.
Colourful and preppy cool casual chic – fashionable but comfortable. These are the unique characteristics of cult fashion brand J. Crew. At the heart of it Jenna Lyons, executive creative director and famous for her own street styles (always in J. Crew, of course). Her most recited quote “I like to wear lace pants and a button-down, and I thought maybe someone else would want to do it too“ puts the J. Crew philosophy in a nutshell.
J. Crew actually started with a catalog mailing in 1983 and introduced its first flagship store almost a decade later. From then on they continued the retail and online expansion accompanied by line extensions such as a bridal collection, J. Crew Factory and Madewell, which offers effortlessly cool pieces to part with denim. In 2012 J. Crew launched an online shop in several European countries for their overseas fans. We are so lucky!
image sources: Huffington Post, glassdoor, J. Crew
Pretty flowers
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day! Since it’s been on a weekday I had to work but my boyfriend and I found time to spend our lunch break taking a walk through the snowy historic centre of Munich. Of course, I enjoy getting flowers and chocolates, but the time spend together is much more valuable to me.
Valentine’s Day truffles
The historic centre of snowy Munich
Even though we dearly love our partners, friends and family, in our busy daily lives we often forget to demonstrate our true feelings to them. For me Valentine’s Day is a day to remember and appreciate all my loved ones and show them how much I care for them. Of course, there should not be just ONE fixed day to prove your love with chocolates and flowers, but sometimes we need a slight shove. And honestly, who does not get excited about a small present?
My favourites:
1. For best friends: Marc by Marc Jacobs lip earrings
2. Phillip Lim sweater
3. Passigatti heart scarf
4. Fills the room with a scent of romance: Diptyque scented candle rose duet
5. Needs no words: Avanessi love ring
6. Sweets for my sweet: Macarons from Ladurée Paris
7. Lovely cake stand and matching tea cup by Undergrowth Design London
8. Love letters notebook by Smythson
9. Elle McPherson Intimates lace and mesh bra and briefs
Something I really love about Asian food is the unique smell which gives me the immediate holiday-feeling. Since I am just dreaming of holidays on a beach in Thailand right now, I decided on an easy recipe for a green curry. I know, you need a lot of exotic ingredients, but you should find everything in an Asia shop.
What you need (recipe serves 4):
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 chillies
1 bunch of coriander
2 limes
a few kaffir lime leaves
a few Thai basil leaves
1 stick lemongrass
a small bunch of spring onions
a cup of bean sprouts
1/2 bin of coconut milk
soy sauce
sesame oil
peanut oil
rice noodles for 4 persons
additional prawns, chicken breasts, choose whatever you like!
1. Wash and trim the spring onions, the lemongrass, the chillies and put everything in the food processor. Peel the ginger and add it as well as the coriander, the Thai basil and the kaffir lime leaves.
2. Blitz everything to a paste.
3. Roast the paste gently in sesame oil and deglaze with coconut milk. Season with peanut oil and soy sauce. Add bean sprouts and lime juice. At last follow the package instructions on the rice noodles and sear prawns, chicken or whatever you have decided on. Serve everything in a bowl. Ready!
I just adore the richness and the elegance of the colour burgundy. The shade flatters most skin tones and there are many matching colours to choose from. Black or white still is the classic pairing, but my favourites are a fiery orange or camel and, since spring is ahead, a more subtle shade of nude. How do you combine burgundy?
Nude and Burgundy:
1. Burgundy hat by H&M
2. Nude Topshop knit pullover
3. Ted Baker floral silk scarve
4. Chloé marcie petite shoulder leather bag in pink nude
5. Valentino embellished leather pumps
6. T by Alexander Wang leather mini skirt
Camel and Burgundy:
1. Aigner burgundy nappa leather belt
2. Hallhuber blouse with bow in camel
3. 7 for all mankind skinny corduroy trousers
4. Michael Kors studded pumps
5. Mulberry tassel bag
6. Aigner iPhone5 case and organizer
Don’t you have a few pieces of vintage jewelry which you are still clinging to but they are just not fashionable anymore? I have an old brooch which fits that description. Therefore I decided to give it a more modern look by using an easy method. A bit of neon nail polish and it’s suddenly back in style! You can use this method with all different kinds of jewelry and colours, so have fun turning your vintage pieces into modern design pieces!
1. You need different nail polish colours of your choice (I used “Bright Orange” from MaxFactor, “43K” from Manhattan and “N006” from Flormar), a vintage brooch and nail polish remover.
2. Paint carefully individual stones with nail polish. Let dry and paint another layer for an opaque look.
3. Let dry for a few hours. Use nail polish remover to get rid of nail polish stains. Than it’s ready to wear!
To be honest, rings never belonged to my preferred kind of jewelry. I’ve always had small fingers which made it difficult to find pretty rings that fit (and didn’t make my hand look like a children’s hand). Therefore I decided that less really is more. Dainty rings emphasize feminine outfits and look much more elegant than statement jewelry. If you want to attract a bit more attention, stack them and put them on as many fingers as you like (I am in love with the rose gold version)! See the one I got for Christmas below, rose gold with little diamonds (from ANNA).
1. Small gold ring from Pandora
2. Dainty rings in many cute designs from catbird new york
3. My favourites: delicate with diamonds from ANNA
4. Maybe your next Valentine’s gift? Heart shaped tiny ring from Gorjana
5. Stackable rings from Gorjana
