Packing

Packing is an art form all on it's own. There are so many things to consider that not many of us get it right. There's the weight of the collective items, how you will wear (or not wear?!) them, how much space you need to leave for the return journey, not to mention trying to plan for every single eventuality which may occur on your holiday.

However, after all these years of flying back and forth, I believe that I have a system that works. It's simple and cut-throat, but effective.

Firstly, I start by estimating how many outfits I will be needing. I'm going to Spain for 5 nights so have taken enough clothes for 6 occasions. However, I will have use of a washing machine if I need to re-wear anything.

I started with tops. I picked 1 which is a more statement piece, 1 cream blouse and 3 white tops - including a shirt, tank top and blouse. All can be either dressed up or down.

Next I picked out 3 pieces for the bottom half. A white, linen skirt (to match with the statement top and any of the white), a pair of neutral/grey tailored shorts (to go with everything bar the statement blouse) and my brightly coloured, chiffon maxi skirt (to go with the white tank top).



Then I thought about shoes. This is where most of the bulk in your suitcase comes from so I'm attempting to only take two pairs (one of which I'll wear to the airport). A pair of colour-pop heels (packed in a dust bag) and a pair of tan sandals. One for day, one for night. Taking only two pairs may be a bit ambitious but I plan to bring back a pair from home so I need to leave space for them.



Lastly, since I know that the weather will be mainly warm, I'm only going to take one jacket. This will be my trusty black blazer. It goes with everything (relatively), packs small and is practical for day or night.

Accessory-wise, I'm packing extra light. My Mulberry for day (packed in it's dustbag). A vintage, cream, beaded clutch for night.



Shoes and clutch in protective bags

Extras include: PJs, toiletries, bikini, underwear

Clockwise from top: Mac cream foundation, Bobbie Brown cream eye liner, Dior brown khol eye liner, Coloursport eye brow pen, Oriflame lip liner, Oriflame red lipstick, Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream, lip balm, L'Occitane face cream, Clarins pink blossom lipstick, Dior black mascara, Bare Minerals face powder, Dior J'adore eau de parfum, Maybelline dream mousse blush in mauve. Not pictured - bronzer and all make-up brushes.

I never travel without:
1. Hand cream
2. Moisteriser to use on the plane
3. Hand sanitizer
4. A pashmina/scarf for when the cabin gets chilly
5. Mobile phone and charger
6. Sunglasses
7. Paracetamol
8. Tissues
9. Hair bobble
10. Wallet
11. Lip balm

Statement Sandals

Bar the end of last week, the last couple of months have been relatively sunny in London. That means that the winter clothes (and shoes) get pushed to the back of the wardrobe and the summer clothes come forward. Goodbye heavy, black boots. Hello strappy sandals.

I already had a couple of pairs of sandals from Zara from last summer (seen here) but felt I needed a more neutral pair. These have tan leather straps, gold hardware and a yellow/brown stone on the front so they will go with a lot of my outfits.

I found these in River Island for £25 and used my £10 gift card which I got for my birthday back in November to get them cheaper. I fly to Spain on Wednesday for 5 days to visit my family and friends so I'm sure they'll be the base for most of my outfits.

Nail colour - Essie in 558 Flirt

Here are some more statement sandals which have caught my eye.

Simple in shape but I love the orange suede pop of colour. Perfect with a crisp, white sun dress. K Jacques St Tropez, £170. Available at Net-a-porter.com.

A bit of bling never goes a-miss. Glam up battered denim shorts and a billowing shirt. Musa, £285. Available at Net-a-porter.com.

Flowery and fun, wear with wide leg jeans and a simple T. Topshop, £28.

Jewels and a bow, one of my favourite pairs of sandals this season. Wear them with a pretty summer dress. Zara, £49.99.

Gran's Cheesecake

So for those of you out there who didn't know "Gran", she was not only the best, most loving Grandmother but also a genius in the kitchen. A classic home cook who didn't focus on fancy presentation but on taste instead.

This is one of our family's favourite recipes of hers, one that we mention nearly every time we get together (that's how good it is). Simple to make but rich, creamy and oh-so-bad for you but oh-so-good at the same time. I have no idea where the recipe originally came from, it's quite possibly one she adapted herself but it's been handed down two generations now and I intend to keep passing it on.

If you decide to make it, which I insist is worth it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.









Gran's Cheesecake

Ingredients:

175g digestive biscuits
75g butter
75g demerara sugar
225g full-fat soft cheese
30g caster sugar
150ml double cream
150ml thick Greek yoghurt
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
175g fruit
4 tbsp red currant jelly (optional)

Method:

Crush biscuits and mix with melted butter and sugar.
Press into base of 8", loose-bottomed tin. (I didn't have one of these and instead lined an old biscuit tin in grease-proof paper. I wouldn't recommend this method as it was super difficult to get the cheesecake out.)
Put soft cheese, caster sugar, double cream, Greek yoghurt and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk.
Turn onto biscuit base and level.
Leave in fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.
Cut fruit and arrange on top.
Melt jelly on low heat and brush on to fruit to glaze.
Leave in fridge for 1 hour before serving.

Goody Bag Extravaganza

Yesterday evening was full of events, torrential rain and freebies.

Firstly, myself and intern Philippa headed for the Gina Conway opening on the King's Road, Chelsea. It was a really lovely event where they were offering complimentary blow dries, manicures and massages as well as amazonian models serving delicious cocktails and appetizers. A brilliant string band was playing in the background.

I met a vibrant woman called Ayesha Mustafa who is an ethical fashion designer and founder of Fashion Compassion. More about her in future posts.




The gorgeous Philippa having her hair curled





Upon exiting, we got given this fabulous goody bag filled with full-sized Aveda products, perfume, popcorn and offers for styling treatments.



Next it was on to the Ugg customization launch at Selfridges. But not before running past the L'Occitane store where they were handing out free samples.

After shave balm (one for the boyfriend) and face cream

Our last stop, the shoe galleries at Selfridges. Although the Ugg area is small, they managed to pack an awful lot in there. A DJ booth, guests, sales assistants and handsome waiters serving champagne and Vitamin water. The new customization concept is that (for a fee), Ugg will spray onto your new purchase a design of your choice which come in a rainbow of colours - meaning you will have your own unique pair (perhaps a good things in the sea of Uggs that is the British high street).

We didn't stay long since it was getting late but the goody bag sure was generous.

Sheepskin care kit, Vitamin water, Versace perfume, BareMinerals make-up, Grazia and voucher for £30 off and Ugg purchase

Acne Shopping Evening

I attended the Acne shopping evening yesterday with fellow intern Christian and his lovely friend Ness.

We really didn't know what to expect but after last week's Kurt Geiger event, I had high expectations for Acne. We arrived at 7pm, when the event was supposed to begin and I have to say, it didn't look like anything was going on. We walked in and no one was there to greet us, there was a table of empty glasses and a man sitting at a piano. After having a little browse, we were told there were other floors with more clothes. So we went exploring, although as far as we could see, it was just a regular shopping space, nothing special. We wandered back down to the ground floor again and the champagne was finally poured and the pianist was playing. The event advertised "live entertainment" but I think a piano player, however good he was, is background music, not live entertainment. Ok maybe it is a sort of entertainment but in a shopping space, it is backing music in my opinion. Only then were we told that there was 10% discount but I actually reckon this was a rather poor discount (Kurt Geiger was 25%). Let's be honest, if you can afford the price at 10% off, then you can afford the full price. So there was no incentive to purchase. They were also not happy about having photos taken. Errr, you're saying no to free advertising? Well, ok, suit yourselves.

An hour later and there was still only about 10 people there (over 4 floors) which wasn't very atmospheric. We decided to leave at this point (no goody bag on exit, no person to say thank you for coming) - totally disappointing. The only positive was the kind Danish girl on the shoe floor.

We ended up spending the rest of the evening crashing a sophisticated gallery opening which was decidedly more fun.

Get The Look: Festival Style

This is the end result for our 3-minute broadcast video project. It had to be topical so we decided to base our film around the imminent festival season. We also wanted to be a little bit different so did a short make-up tutorial followed by a couple of vox pops which is just about all that fitted into 3 minutes. Although not perfect, we worked really hard on it and are reasonably pleased with the result.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe recommended by another blogger and since my hard working final project group deserved a treat, I decided to try them out.

I have to say, it is a very simple recipe to follow and as far as I'm concerned, pretty full-proof too. There is nowhere where you could mess up or add something in too early or late. It's basically mix it all up in a bowl and put it in the oven. Minimum effort, maximum results. Perfect.

The end result is half-way between a brownie and a cookie which is delicious and rich and would be great crumbled into ice cream (your own version of cookie dough).

To try them for yourself, the recipe is here. I used slightly less of each quantity and it still made 55 (even though the recipe says the full amount makes 48).

Thoughts on Friday

In an attempt to buy the most fantastic gift ever for my boyfriend for our 5th anniversary coming up on the 1st June, I actually ended up buying a gift for myself. Here's the story.

It's not easy to buy presents for a man. They don't really want anything and when they do, it's usually super expensive and has an Apple logo on it. Unfortunately I can't conform to that so I have to think a little more outside the box.

After racking my brains I though of getting him a vintage watch. Really classy, the kind the have to wind up everyday. Perhaps not suitable for casual wear but it'd look great with a suit for a smarter occasion. I went straight for Ebay where I found hundreds to choose from and decided to bid on one in particular. 1960s Titoni, gold plated with a tiny crystal set just above the 6. We have set our budget for under £50 because it's only an anniversary so when I got said watch for £42, I was chuffed. However, after receiving it in the post this morning, I realised that it is a little petite in size. Beautiful for a women's watch but not exactly very masculine. And I actually fell in love with it. It's so me - classic but with a little bit of sparkle - or how I like to think of myself as, anyway. I've decided to keep it and I am still on the hunt to find the perfect anniversary present. Any suggestions are welcome.





Lastly I'd like to leave you with a link to Elina's blog where she's posted some photos during the "making of" our final project - a 3 minute broadcast video. Click here to have a look (I'm the one in the trench).

Kurt Geiger Shopping Event

I attended the Kurt Geiger and Grazia shopping event in Covent Garden last night. An evening of champagne, canapés, shoes, beauty and hair treatments and spending lots of money (not necessarily me).

It was a really nice event organised and carried out smoothly, with dozens of assistants on hand to help you try on the 150+ pairs of shoes they had on offer. Of course you didn't have to buy, there were plenty of other things to keep you occupied. Headmasters were blow-drying, up-doing, straightening and curling hair and Benefit were making you over (all for free of course). I got caught up in the excitement of it all so forgot to take photos but I've photographed the generous goody bag you were given on exit.

Benefit Bad Gal Blue mascara, OPI nail polish in Conquistadorable Colour, OPI toe separaters, Grazia magazine and a voucher for half price off any cutting and styling at Headmasters. Oh and there was a bottle of Vitamin Water that I drunk earlier today.

I couldn't resist trying on a pair of shoes (well it was 25% off) and although I'm not sure quite how it happened, I walked out with this pair of nude court heels. The only thing is is that they are actually higher than they look and aren't the easiest to walk/wobble in. Oh dear. Perhaps they will have to go back.

Organisation

I'm trying (not too successfully at the moment) to re-organise our flat. We still have books and DVDs in boxes from when we moved in 7 months ago. I am on the hunt for an antique book case but since I don't have a car, it makes it difficult to find places that have them.

My wardrobe is also needing a make-over. I bought some non-slip, skinny hangers the other day so they have done that job but I no longer have enough space for all my shoes. I need to find some kind of storage to fit into my wardrobe that will house them all. I'm currently resorting to displaying my more summery shoes (which I'm now wearing more frequently) along the floor in my bedroom.



It seems like every flat surface in this apartment is covered in clutter. The top of the chest of drawers, which I've selfishly claimed was littered with receipts, jewellery, stamps, shells - you name it - so I bought this simple ceramic bowl to try to claim back some space.



Magazines are another dilema. You buy them every month but each month you have to find a new home for them. All the ones I've bought since we moved in are stacked underneath our coffee table for now but I'm hoping they'll be re-housed to the forthcoming bookcase. (I have hundreds of magazines in boxes stored away but we won't talk about those.)



Lastly, there is a little corner in my hall way which contains the internet router, home phone and base and extension lead. That's right, ugly cable central. So I'm also on the hunt for a small table to go there but since it's such a small space, it's not the easiest of feats. (I'm ashamed to show you a photo of this little corner)

I may not be happy with my apartments current aesthetic but fresh flowers always help. And I'm working on it.

Dune Press Day A/W 11

I've just got back from Dune's press day to see their A/W collection held at One Marylebone. I wasn't sure what to expect (and press days can often be literally just showing the collection and no added extras) but was pleasantly surprised at the presentation. The collection was displayed really nicely - pearl strings hanging from the ceiling, antique furniture, soft lighting, an ice sculpture - they were serving champagne, wine and soft drinks and some teeny-tiny, homemade baked treats were displayed on three-tiered cake stands. My favourite part was that they had a photo booth. Although a little sad to have my photo taken on my own, it was a must to show you the lovely souvenir.

They also gave you a goody bag on the way out which included a couple of nice surprises. Firstly a copy of the Dune, Pied A Tere and Bertie look books which I'll be going through before I go to bed tonight. Secondly, a tan suede Dune purse and Label. M Peppermint Treatment for hair. And lastly, a little bag of sweeties. Definitely cannot complain. The only slightly disappointing thing is that my gifted purse doesn't stay closed properly but that's my only complaint.





Love the perspex heel



On my wishlist for the winter

I have my eye on the patent black pair

Perhaps a Victorian inspired shoe is more for the fashion risk-taker but I love the colour of the suede





Love the black suede pair



Perfect slouchy clutch



Another for the wish list



These cuties were my favourite of all. Simple but playful at the same time.



The final thing on my wish list. These would look even better after a season of weathering.