2014 January Favourites

My favourite things this January have been:

Candles

I love lighting lots of candles around the room after cleaning up to give the room a lovely scent. It's especially good when you're in a low mood from the weather and you want cheering up in the comfort of your own home. Just light some lovely scented candles and pop a DVD on and you're sorted! They're also so relaxing for when you want to wind down, meditate or write an essay after a stressful day. I am in love with my Merry Marshmallow Yankee candle that I was given for Christmas because it smells so sweet and mouth-watering and yet not sickly.

Hot chocolate

I love a warm hot chocolate when it's raining outside. In terms of coffee shops, although I am a massive Starbucks fan, I must say that Costa kicked their butt when it came to hot chocolate this winter! I treated myself to one of the Christmas specials hot chocolate with Arun and it was oh so tasty! I had the white hot chocolate which had cream and a strawberry syrup drizzled on top which was delicious. It also had little gold edible stars which I thought were super cute! I honestly wish they did it all year around and I also wish I tried all the other specials while they had them. I guess I'll just have to wait until next Chrimbo eh? If you ever pop down to the local garden centre Squires, they too do an amazing hot chocolate with cream, a flake andmarshmallows on top! If you haven't already guessed, I love marshmallows...

Films and popcorn

There is nothing in the world better than sitting in a cinema with a bag of sweet flavoured popcorn and watching an awesome movie in the warmth while it's chucking it down outside! There is something really satisfying about getting back at mother nature and having a great time without getting soaking wet outdoors. Also, I nearly always get a tango ice blast because it's the closest thing to a slush puppie near my house since they closed the old slush puppie machine down, much to my dismay. This month I watched: Paranormal Activity which was rubbish. The wolf of wall street which although I liked, I didn't think much about the ending and thus was left quite dissatisfied as it was really hyped up. Finally, I recently watched 12 years a slave which was spectacular and one of the best films I have seen in a long time. If you haven't yet watched it, I suggest you get up right this moment to book yourself a ticket and go watch it!! 

Socks

Nobody likes cold feet, because let's face it, when your feet are frozen so are you! When it's so cold outside there's nothing better than a little bit of feet-TLC. Treat your tootsies to a pair of fluffy socks to wear under your boots and wedges or when lounging around the house in your jim-jams. They also make great stocking presents and I genuinely ask for a pair every year from my mother because I know how handy they are and they come in useful all the time! They're even great outside of the cold season such as if you're hungover it's nice to have a bath, put a face mask on, drink mint tea and wear fluffy socks. Plus, some come with cute animals sewn on them. What's not to love?!  Primark and M&S tend to have a great range.

Pop tarts

The ultimate junk food treat. These calorific treats are so tasty that I don't even feel guilty after eating it! American outlets have the best flavours but you can now buy some at your local supermarkets such as Asda. I'm in love with chocolate fudge and confetti cupcake. Next I want to try out the strawberry sensation, strawberry milkshake and s'mores. Yes, I like strawberries. Slightly off topic but I also want to make my own s'mores because they look yummy!


Love O
x

My Romantic Getaway to Paris

For Arun's Christmas present,  I got him tickets to go to Paris for the weekend. We went last week and had the most lovely time so I had to share it with you guys! We went by Eurostar and we stayed at the Avalon hotel which was great because it's situated right by Gare du Nord and our room had a balcony. In that weekend we went everywhere in Paris. Literally! You name a place and we probably went there! The travel system is great, like London they have buses, underground trains and national rail which come really often and the maps are so easy to follow that it makes going to many places in a couple of days so much easier. 

The tourist destinations we visited were: 

• Montmartre (where Amelie is filmed) 
• Sacre Coeur which is right by Montmartre and has the most beautiful view of Paris I have ever seen.
• Le Louvre
• Notre Dame
• The love lock bridge which took us hours of walking to find!!
• Chatalete 
• The eiffel tower
• l'arc de triomphe

• we walked the stretch of the river seine from the Eiffel tower up to Pont de l'Archevêché (love lock bridge) which took us about an hour and then went shopping.

Whilst for shopping we went to:

• Chatelet les halles
• Marais
• Anvers
• St Paul- where we saw Hilary Swank!!
• Hotel de ville
• Centre pompidou

Just a few snippets of our fabulous weekend: 

Sacre Coeur is the best!

  

Us at sacre Coeur 

I had frog legs! They were actually quite tasty.

 

Lunch at Montmartre 

 

A Marilyn Monroe moment...

Saturday night dinner. Yummy!

Sunday morning breakfast

Guess where?!

Love lock bridge

Our lock

Le Louvre

Love O

x

Liebster Award [TAG]

Thank you for the nomination!

http://sowhatsfashionabout.blogspot.co.uk and here are my questions given to me:

1. What`s your favorite book?

I'm a major bookworm so choosing one book is way too hard to even contemplate! I love mortal instruments, A place called here, The book of yesterday, Remember me, Thank you for the memories, The Dark divine, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland  and The lovely bones.

2. Do you have any style icons? If yes, who are they?

I love to have my own style and wear what I feel represents me in an artistic way. To get a feel of fashion inspiration I love to tune into episodes of 90210 or TVD. My secret style guru's are a mixture between Coco Chanel, Shanae Grimes and Kate Moss. I also love a bit of Alexa Chung. 

3. If you could have a superpower, what would that be?

This is so hard! Being a shapeshifter would be cool. You could turn into anyone for a day; From a spi to Obama! The possibilities are endless. Being able to mind read or tell the future would be cool too but life would be a bit boring if you knew everything that was going to happen or everything everyone thought. There would be no more surprises. 

4. How would your ideal job look like?

It would be at a magazine company centered in London where I have my own desk, phone and a pot-plant with lovely collages all around me to chat to. Or behind a camera presenting a show where I get to meet new and interesting people everyday!

5. What`s your favorite TV show?

I'm a series addict! I love The Vampire Diaries, 90210 (Bring it back!), Girls and Eastenders. There are probably so many more that I can't think of...

6. What type of music do you generally listen to?

My iPhone has the weirdest mixture of music from heavy metal and indie to pop, jazz and classic. I'm a musical person and appreciate all music! :) 

7. What`s your favorite make up brand?

I love a bit of Sleek. Mac is a luxury and Rimmel is good value for money. Next on my list of things to try out? Benefit. 

8. Is there anything you would like to change/ improve on your blog?

I've been blogging for quite a while now so I'm not really sure. I'd like to blog more but I don't have that much time unfortunately with Uni and Cheerleading. I'd also like to post more OOTD's! 

9. What countries would you like to visit?

Everywhere!! Africa: (Morroco where my dad is from and Egypt in particular), India, Japan, Thailand, America and Spain! I really want to go on a cruise and travel on the Caribbean too!

10. Are you pro or against real fur?

I have two fur coats.. I'm pro fur as long as the animal is used for it's meat as well as the fur, as using up the fur is using a wasted by-product of what we eat. 

I nominate:

http://lauraslittlelocket.wordpress.com/

http://vanityfairest-x.blogspot.co.uk/

http://fashionforlunch.net/

http://blondeslovecupcakes.wordpress.com/

http://www.iampiscesw.com/

http://cleaneatingwithadirtymind.com/

http://charnellegeraldine.wordpress.com/

Love O

x

MY BIRTHDAY!! Presents & OOTD

For my birthday I had the most amazing day yet! The morning started with my mum coming into my room with lots of little birthday presents from slippers and underwear to a little bag, pens and money to go ice skating. She also brought me a spiced apple tea to warm me up. Yum. At around 11 am  a family friend came over to say happy birthday and brought a load of gifts including chocolate, Elizabeth Arden Perfume a fur coat and a Dior beauty bag. Shortly afterwards my boyfriend Arun came over with a mulberry bag and a birthday card in one hand and a stiletto made of chocolate in the other! Could my day get any better? Apparently it can indeed! 

At lunch we quickly grabbed a subway and then left for Guildford to go ice skating! I was terrible at it and it resulted on me falling and hitting my head on the ice... and pulling Arun down with me. Oops! We then went shopping in Guildford because they have a lovely shopping mall with pretty much everything from Primark to Topshop and even an American sweet shop.

My lovely Arun then dropped me back home where I got changed for dinner and clubbing. I wore a new skirt I LOVE which I bought in the h&m sales for only £7. It goes with so much I wore too and I've already worn it both as a day wear and evening wear! It teamed it with a cute lace crop top I have and my h&m lack stiletto style ankle boots which were also a present from Arun.

Finally when Arun got back to mine, him, my mum and I went to a lovely tapas restaurant in Twickenham by the river. It's such a beautiful restaurant and the waiters are lovely. They overheard it's my birthday so they brought me a birthday cake which was nice of them too and the food was delicious. We ordered two tapas dishes each and shared them all and ordered two different salads on the side. Everything was so tasty and gobbled up untill each dish was clean! 

After eating, we all went into The George (a pub) which was only a five minute walk from where we were dining and had a Sambuka shot each and a cocktail for about an hour. At 11 my mum went home and our friends started to come. We had such a crazy and hectic night, with one man doing sexually explicit dance moves on his own and then me being chatted up by a sleezy, old and half-drunk man the minute my boyfriend went to the bathroom! Just before 1 we all went into The Cabbage Patch and carried on partying until the doors shut, when we finally took a taxi and got home into our cosy beds.

PS You may notice from the pictures but I dyed my hair black. Thankfully it's lightened so much since I first dyed it two weeks ago!

Love O

x

Most of my birthday presents from my Mulberry and a Michael Kors clutch to chocolate galore.

COOK: How to make Mozzarella Dippers

Mozzarella Dippers Recipe : Easy

This recipe is so so easy it's unreal! All you need is:

• Bread
• Mozzarella
• Oil
• a pinch of salt
• herbs (optional)

First, cut the crust off the bread. Then cut slices of cheese to fit the bread. Cut as much or as little cheese as you like, I did quite a bit because I like my dippers extra cheesy! 

Place the cheese on top of slice of bread and roll it so that it looks like a spring roll. Alternatively, fold the bread in half and have flatter mozzarella dippers like I did as it's quicker and easier and allows you to use more cheese. For more flavour you can put herbs such as oregano and a pinch of salt in the dipper before you roll it. 

Place a dash of oil in the frying pan. I used olive oil as it's a healthier option. Put the pan on top heat and wait until the oil has heated up and then slowly put your dippers in. When they turn golden-brown they are ready to eat!

 

They make a great starter or party snack for when you have friends over. Each slice of bread makes a mozzarella dipper so depending on how many people you are serving you can use more or less bread; I'd use two slices of bread per person as that makes two dippers each.

Love O

x

FASHION: How To Wear a White Shirt

Tailored

Think Coco Chanel. You want a monochrome themed outfit which is tailored and fitted. This look is smart yet quirky and is great for any minimalist. Add a cute bow and an over-sized blazer like Fearne Cotton for a more macho and serious look. Using leather shorts like Caroline Flack creates a look that oozes sex appeal (but not in an over the top way as your chest is covered) whilst adding a fitted blazer adds sophistication to the look. This is a great outfit for a night out! Alternatively you can go for an equally smart but more feminine look by adding a tailored skirt whilst only wearing light colours. It's a great look for the summer as it's so effortless yet chic.

Cute and Casual

Everyone loves a girlie-girl. I love this look for the summer because it's so fresh and chic yet so easy to wear! You can add a cute and ditsy floral print skirt or shorts like Fearne and wear converses, sandals or pumps during the day and add heels for an easy day to night look. I love how Olivia Palermo makes her outfit super cute by adding a black bow and chucks on a light knitted cardigan adding texture to her look.

Make a Statement 

The best way to jazz up a plain shirt is to add a statement necklace to it. You can get them in so many different colours, styles and sizes to suit your fashion taste and go with everything you wear. I have so many it's unreal! They're also a great way to turn your outfit from a day time look to a night time look. One way you can wear them is on top of your shirt with your button done up with your collar hiding the chain. Contrarily, you can wear it under your shirt and undo your buttons up to your chest so you can see the necklace peeping from underneath.

Layering

This is a great tip for the autumn and winter because it will look stylish yet be warm. The secret? Wear your white shirt under a dress, jumper, playsuit or even a shirt like style queen Alexa Chung. The extra layer will keep you toasty warm and the collar is so cute and preppy. This is perfect for work or school because it looks stylish but smart.

Love O
x