Snow White Blood Red

I, as well as a lot of other people, thought it was March, but apparently we were all very wrong. It seems we skipped spring, summer and autumn and went straight back to winter. I’m not very amused by the whole thing as I’m going to fly to London again this Friday and I would appreciate it if my flight wasn’t cancelled due to heavy snow fall. On a much brighter side, I’ve never really seen London covered in snow, so I’m looking forward to it in a way. If I could choose next week’s weather however, I’d go for sun, and lots of it please!

I’d have loved to take these photos outside, but the weather’s not exactly better in Germany (although I can see the sun right now), and it’s pretty cold. What do you think of the hair colour by the way? I didn’t dye it (yet), but I reaaally want red hair! Do you think I should dye it that colour, or should I leave it like it is?

The blouse is from H&M, the skirt from Jones & Jones for Topshop (I did a blog post about them last month) and everything else I either can’t remember or it’s self-made (like the ‘LONDON’ statue).

Oh, and one more thing: I need spring!!!

I Got My Red Dress On

The heading of this post is a line from Lana Del Rey’s song ‘Summertime Sadness’. I love this song, and the music video even more. It seemed fitting for this post, not only because of the red dress which is my new favourite dress, but because the song is about the summertime feeling and what happens when summer is over. Summer is my favourite time of the year and I don’t ever want it to end. The photos were also inspired by Lana Del Rey’s song. There’s this red light dancing in the corner of the music video which adds to the vintage feeling of it. As you can see, I used that too in my photos. I took them on a hill near the place where I grew up. A hill where I celebrated New Year’s Eve with my family and friends, where I came for picnics in the summer with my grandparents, and where I kissed my first boyfriend. The song ‘Summertime Sadness’ is just perfect for those memories and pictures.

The last few pictures were taken in Dresden, Germany, by a friend. They show me posing on stairs of a historical building and goofing around with my new phone case – which I love! I’ve been after this bunny ear case for about a year, and last week I finally found it..for £2! Yay!

Dress: my favourite vintage dress; Cardigan: H&M; Sunglasses: Chanel; Red bag: Cambridge Satchel Company; Bracelet: Chanel

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – The World Celebrates

Last weekend (Monday and Tuesday included in the United Kingdom as it was a Bank Holiday) the world was celebrating Her Majesty, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Of course it was mostly the Brits celebrating, but some people – like me – joined in on the fun, had their own Jubilee parties at home and watched the celebrations on TV, although they were in other countries.

I decorated our living room with Union Jack bunting, a miniature Clock Tower/Big Ben, my Lulu Guinness lips clutch and several other ‘Union Jacks’. I also invited some friends over for afternoon tea. It was nothing compared to the celebrations in London and all over Britain, but it was my way of showing how much I love the British Monarchy and Queenie, and it was so much fun. The celebrations in London were stunning! I’ve never seen anything like it. The concert in front of Buckingham Palace was my favourite part. I teared up at least a million times. I loved how Prince Charles called the Queen ‘mummy’ and told her how much she means to him. This was such a cute gesture! You could feel how proud Britain is of his Queen and I hope I can also soon say that I’m proud to be British (I feel so much more connected with Britain than Germany).

A lot of my London friends watched the River Pageant on big screens at street parties or tried to get a good spot to watch the Royals on the Thames.

I asked some people what makes them proud to be British and here are some of the answers I got:

“Us Brits have a great sense of humour I think. No other country has that. And of course the monarchy! Though a lot of people are unhappy with the monarchy I think it’s something to be proud of.”

“I like the mentality of British people.”

“I’m not British, but I love to live here (London). It’s true, the British are indeed very polite, which I love. People in my country don’t say ‘sorry’ or ‘thank you’ half as often.”

Red Classic Cambridge Satchel

I would lie if I said I needed a new bag, with over 20 lovely eye candy bags patiently waiting in my room to be used. But when I saw this great vintage style bag I simply couldn’t resist (wait, I have said that before about other bags…). Not only does it have a great ‘vintage red’ colour, but my initials in gold letters on it as well! It arrived at my house Tuesday morning, thanks to FedEx, and I’ve used it every day since then. I already got a lot of compliments on it and a friend of me even wanted to buy it from me. Well, she’ll have to order her own bag, because this cute bag is mine! I’ll make sure to take it with me when I go to its ‘birthplace’ Cambridge this summer. Cambridge satchels have been featured on many great blogs, like Fashionista, The Cherry Blossom Girl and, most recently, Style on The Couch.

Outfit Details

Dress: Hollister  Boneyard Beach Dress with white underskirt

Shoes: Ballet flats

Bag: Cambridge Satchel Company

Ring: 18k gold with tiny pearl

My Vintage Red Lulu Guinness Lips Clutch

As those of you who follow me on Twitter or have read my Burlington Arcade Lulu Guinness store post know, I bought a lips clutch a few weeks ago. I was really excited to finally get it. It’s Lulu’s signature bag and if you love her as much as I do, you simply have to get one. They’re available in various variations, colours and materials and they’re so cute, like eye candy! Red is my favourite colour (well, red and pink), so naturally I wanted a red one. The little word ‘vintage’ won me over. I wanted the vintage red lips clutch.

I was so happy and excited, I was protecting it like a mum would protect her newborn all the way home from Central London. It’s now sitting next to my bed, waiting to be used on a cocktail evening or birthday.

I’m wearing my lips clutch necklace by Jaymie which I love almost as much as the real lips clutch.

I  also want to introduce a new category, called ‘Lips Clutch Travel’. I travel a lot and have decided to take my lips clutch with me each time and take a photo of it in front of , for example, a famous sight or something which is typical for that country or city. First is Dresden, Germany, as this is where I’m right now. The photo will be posted next week!

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome…to Cabaret!

The last time I’ve acted in a stage play (or probably ‘Musical’ is a better word here), was 2 years ago, and ooh, how I’ve missed it! The hurricane of applause you get at the end of each show is worth everything: every tiring rehearsal, every little ‘What am I doing here?!’ thought, every time I got stage fright minutes and seconds before I went on stage with the others. It shows you that all of that was not for nothing and that the audience enjoyed the show. It’s like a huge wave of relief. I don’t play a lead character, which I’m, in fact, glad for, as they are so stressed out before each show that they’re near tears. I’m very happy, costume-wise, because I feel comfortable in my costume and it looks really cool, like some Cabaret girl from the 20s (which is, I guess, what it’s supposed to look like…).

We’re all backstage 3 hours before each show starts to get our hair and make-up done and the last person is ready about 5 minutes before it starts. We’re a team of about 90 people (first and second cast) and you have no idea what happens backstage in those 3 hours. Everyone runs around like a headless chicken, looking for someone or something who/which isn’t there! It’s mayhem, I tell you!

In the words of the ‘conferencier’:

“Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! Fremder, étranger, stranger. Glücklich zu sehen, je suis enchanté, Happy to see you, bleibe, reste, stay!” xx

Butterfly, Fly Away

I like to think that it’s almost spring again, with flowers (and love) awakening, a mix of beautiful pastels and pale shades of pink, red, blue and green, and the first butterflies of the year. In spring, I like to sit by a lake or in a park and listen to music. I imagine spring in the Jardin du Château de Versailles to be a wonderful experience, now and back in the time of Marie Antoinette. I went there in May, but it was very hot, like summer, so most of the flowers didn’t look very beautiful anymore. However, I don’t need to go as far as Versailles to see a beautiful garden full of the prettiest butterflies. I have one only 2 hours away from me which is open the whole year, even in winter. My friend loves butterflies and she has a conservatory with lots of exotic ones.

Recipe: Pink Vanilla Macarons

What you need:

Egg white of 3 eggs, sugar, salt, ground almonds, powdered sugar, butter, food colouring, vanilla sugar, vanilla flavour

You start by sifting the powdered sugar and the ground almonds and mix them together. Stir the egg white and add a pinch of salt and about 30g of sugar. Then whip the egg white until it’s almost stiff.

Now gently fold the powdered sugar/almond mixture in until it’s a thick mixture and add the vanilla flavour and the food colouring (I chose red food colouring which makes the macarons look pink).

Pipe the mixture (with a piping bag) in circles onto the baking trays with baking paper. Don’t make the circles too big! Leave them to dry for about an hour. Then put the baking trays in the oven and let it bake at 140 degrees for 15 mins.

Leave them to cool down and put them in a closable box for 24 hours.

For the buttercream, you have to mix soft butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, red food colouring and some vanilla flavour together, put it between the two macaron halves and place one on top of the other.

And…you have 20 cute pink vanilla macarons!

Blogger Drawing: Lois Waller of Bunnipunch

Lois’ fashion blog ‘Bunnipunch‘ shows us the newest collections and news of designers, photos of Paris and London Fashion Week, and gives us an insight into her amazing wardrobe.

Lois with her cute Lulu Guinness Black Cherry Small Doll Face Wanda:

Fashion Post – Tweed dress

Outfit Details:

Tweed Dress: New Yorker

White coat: Camden Market

Bolero jacket: Orsay

Necklace: Camden Market

Scarf: handmade

Tights: H&M

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