I ♥ Urban Outfitters

I was down central London after work to get a few presents for my niece who's turning the sweet age of 1 next monday (they grow so fast!). Whilst browsing a long the high street, I popped in to Urban Outfitter seeing as the summer sales are out in full swing. I came across these lovely pair of summer sandles. They are perfect for summer and even goes really well with skinny jeans. I love the little chris cross detailing on the front, it gives that kind of vintage/bo-ho look to it. I love them :)

The Haul

[1] Urban Outffiter leopard print cross logo tee [2] Gap plain loose fit vest top [3] Gap plain white short sleeve cotton top [4] Soap & Glory hand food hand cream [5] John Frieda luxury volume spray [6] Pantene repair and protect serum [7] Chanel Paris perfume (Sample)

These were purchased through the course of the week. I absolutely love my new urban outfitter tee, is just what I have been looking for. A lot of retail stores are on summer sale at the moment, the 2 Gap items that I purchased were almost half the price off, bargain! I am obsessed over the Soap & Glory hand cream, it smells so lovely. The John Frieda spray claims that it revolumize your hair throughout the day.. can't wait to test it out. My hair is so smooth and soft since using the Pantene repair and protect serum. So happy to have gotten a sample of the Chanel perfume, smells so rich!

Wearing My Heart On My Finger

So, I was rummaging through my jewellery collection  the other day and realized that I have a huge amount of rings stashed away that haven't worn for a while. So I've polished and dusted them all clean and they can finally see sunlight!

I love them all! Most of them are from Top Shop and Accessorize all ranging from £5-£20.

Cooking Is An Art, But You Can Eat It Too.

Cooking has never really been on the top of my agenda to learn. I personally think that everyone can cook.  Its whether you have that special hand/palette that is needed. In recent years, I've been training my tastes buds by trying out different cuisines. I live in London, the multicultural city of the world, a city filled with restaurants and bars.  My boyfriend has been a great influence in the culinary world. When he cooks, which is very often, he always teaches me everything that I need to know. After meeting him, food has been a major influence in my life. It is almost like the third person in our relationship haha.  I've been lucky enough to have dine at some of the finest restaurant in London. I'm not a fussy eater, which is probably why I adore food. So much so, I've actually considered going in to the food critic career route. But that story is for another day... ahem. 

I think it's time to tighten the purse strings and abolish dinning out from my diary. I need to dine in more since eating out cost so much money. I hope Lorraine will be my saving grace. Granted, it won't be easy cooking 7 days a week and to be honest, I'll probably won't completely abolish dinning out, because lets face it.. laziness kicks in once in a while! But I will try my best to rustle up some good and healthy dishes both sweet and savoury. And If at first I don't succeed, well lets just say that I have my boyfriend's number on speed dial.

The one dish that I am most looking forward to making is, my all time favourite, the creme de la creme of desserts ... Macarooons - I will, I must, I HAVE to master this. 

Any recipes that you lovely people would like to share, feel free to leave a message below :) all recipes are welcomed.

Through The Looking Glass

After much deliberation and countless times ooh'ing and ahhh'ing about this lens, I have finally plucked up the courage to spend some dollars on this beauty. The  Canon 50mm F1.8 II  lens produces stunning macro photos with amazing depth of field. Macro photography has always been a favourite of mine. Really excited to test this bad boy out!

The Taste of London Food Festival @ Regents Park

No food festivals would be complete without a bag of macaroons. If you love food as much as I do, then you will understand how excited I was to have FINALLY attended The Taste of London Food festival. I booked tickets for the grand opening since it was my day off from work. All the celebrity chefs were out and about to promote their restaurants.  I even got the chance to meet a few and they were all so lovely. Despite the rain in the morning, it didn't dampen my mood. After all, I had a whole day filled with food.. how could you not be happy? I got to mingle with foodies from all over the city. I drank endless amounts of free (sampled) booze and ate some of the best foods from michelin star restaurants It was a foodies heaven. I even got the chance to sample some of Heston Blumenthal bizarre desserts - how does smoke salmon with ice-cream sound like to you, good? Probably not. but it was lovely! Anyways, I didn't get to take much photos as I was too busy eating, haha. But here's how the day went..

Yauatcha @ Taste of London Festival

Fino @ Taste of London Festival

Waitrose Cooking School @ Taste of London Festival

Sampling Heston Blumenthal's Desserts - Chocolate & Rosemary Ice-cream & Salted Popcorn Ice-cream @ Taste of London Festival

Heston's Garden @ Taste of London Festival 

Asian Produce @ Taste of London Festival

Delicious Starters @ Taste of London Festival

Independent Companies @ Taste of London Festival

Sample Dishes @ Taste of London Festival 

Chocolate Heaven @ Taste of London Festival

There were so many food stands available at the festival. We weaved in and out from each stand, from one restaurant to the next, trying out so many kinds of food. We bought £30 worth of crowns (crowns is the currency used at the festival. £1 = 2 crowns), which was more than enough for two. On average, it was 10-12 crowns per dish.. a bit pricey for the portions, but all the dishes we had were all so lovely.

The best part of this festival was that I got to meet a few celebrity chefs. Funny how they look so much smaller in person than they do on television. I even got to meet one of my culinary idols - Alexis Gauthier. He is such a lovely man, took the time out to speak to me and my boyfriend and told him that I have reservations at his restaurants for next week, he even took my name down. Lovely man!

Me & Alexis Gauthier @ Taste of London Festival. My idol :) 

Michel Roux @ Taste of London Festival. What a brilliant chef! 

Gary Rhode @ Taste of London Festival. Such a lovely guy! :)

A great day out for food lovers of all kinds! I'll be looking forward to visiting some of these big name restaurants in the near future. In particular, Gary Rhodes 24 and Roux by Michel Roux.

Bring on Taste of London Festival 2012!!