Today I am wearing

A boyfriend blazer from Mango, a Breton top from Uniqlo (similar to the one on the picture), flare jeans from Uniqlo, my Furla black bag, a turquoise necklace from Urban Outffiter (similar to the one on the picture), a Zara belt, Mark&Spencer ankle boots (similar to the one on the picture).

Fraser Hart (UK)

This ring is my great-grand-mother ring, which is from somewhere between  1930 and 1950. It is an absolutely gorgeous ring, very art-deco!

I love it and use to wear it every day until 2 years ago, when the stone fell off it. I then never really found the time to fix it, also this ring being a family jewel, I didn't want to give it to just anyone…

But Sunday, my boyfriend surprised me with the nicest birthday gift! He got the ring fixed at Fraser Hart (Westfield-London store). They did an outstanding job! The stone has been reset, the ring re-sized and I cannot find a trace of their work on it!

So if like me you have some piece of jewelry precious to your heart, which needs a little repair, go see them!

Today I am wearing

My beanie from Comptoir des Cotonniers (similar to the one on the picture), a H&M scarf (similar to the one on the picture), a Forever 21 cable jumper (similar to the one on the picture), my cross bracelet,  my Tissot watch, my black Hunters, a H&M grey skirt, and M&S black tights (similar to the one on the picture).

Gal Meets Glam (US)

Happy Valentine’s day people!

I hope you are all celebrating your love for someone or something and that like me you are stuffing yourself with chocolates.

As today is all about love, I want to share with you my latest WWW crush: lovely Julia’s blog Gal meets Glam.

Reasons you need to have a look at it:
Her clothes are fun and cute
Her pictures are amazing
She is super gorgeous
She has plenty of nice ideas about anything girls like (make-up, outfits, recipes…)

Spread the love peeps!

The Sunday Asparagus Recipe

I know it is already Tuesday but I have to share this yumminess my boyfriend cooked this past weekend! He found it in a book I bought him: 100 Sauces, by Linda Doeser.

Ham & asparagus rolls in Sun-dried tomato sauce

What you need:

6 asparagus
12 slices of cooked ham
50 g of grated Parmesan
25 g of butter
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 shallots chopped
500 g plum tomatoes peeled and chopped
12 sun-dried tomatoes chopped
1 celery stick chopped
2 tbsp of sun-dried tomato paste
brown sugar
1 tbsp of basil chopped
55 g of black olives sliced
100 ml of water
salt and pepper

What to do:

Melt the butter with the oil in a sauce pan. add the shallots and celery and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, sun-dried tomato paste, sugar to taste, basil, olives and water and season to taste with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until thickened.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Divide the asparagus spears equally among the slices of ham. Roll up the ham and put the rolls, seam-side down, into a large ovenproof dish.
Pour the tomato sauce over the ham rolls, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Today I am wearing

A H&M shirt, Uniqlo flare jeans, Mark&Spencer boots (similar to the ones on the picture), a H&M belt, a TopShop coat, a Urban Outfitters necklace (similar to the one on the picture), a scarf (similar to the one on the picture), and a Furla bag.

You have 5 minutes?

A few minutes to spare? Well thanks to Youtube I can keep you busy!

As I mentioned in previous posts, I am trying to keep exercising more than once every other week this year. So far I have been doing good! A month and 8 days into 2013, I have slowly but surely developed a workout routine!

What I really figured out is that even 5 minutes can make the difference and you will feel it the day after. So here are my favorites!

For your arms

For your belly

For your lower body

These can literally fit between your two favorites TV shows!

ASOS

Chances are, this blog post will be irrelevant for 99% of the people reading it, but I want to address myself to the 1% who has never order anything from ASOS…

To my biggest surprise, I recently discovered that multiple of my female colleagues have never dared ordering anything from there! Yesterday, I was wearing this navy blue dress and was asked a few times where I got it from, answering “From Asos” I have been replied: “Oh yeah… I heard about it but I've never looked at the website…” or even worst: “What is it?”.

So dear 1%, do me a favor, next pay day if you fancy a little bit of retail therapy go there! This website would reconcile anyone with online shopping. It offers loads of filters (shape, size, price, colors, brand, fabrics) and every item can be seen worn by a model in a video, so you can have a better idea of the fabric and shape.

Size-wise here is a tip, I am a size 8/10UK-2/4 US-36/38 FR, a little closer to a 8/2/36 than a 10/4/38. On ASOS, for any “normal” fit I would go for a 8/2/36, for anything tight (pencil skirts for instance) I would go for a 10/4/38.

Enjoy the endless option ASOS has to offer!

Shopping around the world - Department Stores

Exactly two years ago, I moved to London. Before hand, I lived in the US (Missouri, believe it or not) for a year and a half, and I spent the first years of my life in France... 

What I always found challenging when going to a different country is to find points of reference. Some things as simple as shopping for shampoo can become a nightmare when you don’t know the country, or even worst, the language.

I thought I would do a small around-the-world shopping guide, based on my experiences. In order to make it as relevant as possible I will compare the different places I have been to, so you know exactly what to expect! My comparisons are based on the products offered, the quality, brands, price range.

Today’s section will be about department stores! And here are my shopping equations:

Harrods (London, UK) = Bergdorf (NYC,USA)

Selfridges (London, UK) = Le Bon Marche (Paris, FR) = SaksFifth Avenue (USA)

Bloomingdales (USA) = Les Galleries Lafayette (FR) = John Lewis (UK)

Macy’s (USA) = Printemps (FR) = Houseof Fraser (UK)

JCPenney (USA) = Debenhams (UK)

Target (USA) = Monoprix (FR) = Mark & Spencer (UK)

I apologize if I don’t have an equivalent for every country, either there is none or I just need to travel more! 

I will do this type of article about different store type (beauty stores, clothes, furniture,…) again in the future. Please let me know if there is any type you want me to cover specifically.

Have a lovely week!