Am I the only one who hates the hairy Gucci loafers?

Hi old friend. Long time no write to say the least. You alright?

It's been an eventful year and so I kind of didn't have the time or the energy to write here anymore. I've focused on the job I luckily landed in January 2016 and the rest is history. It was also slightly stressful to always have to make the food you prepare look so god damn fabulous. Sometimes you just wanna fry up a couple of eggs, a whole pack of bacon and just stuff it in your face. It just isn't social media worthy, is it.

Anyhow, my urge for coming back here on this particular day is because there is something I need to get off my chest. Bitch-fest, completely unnecessary complaining about something I could simply ignore - call it what you want. These bloody slippers that every fashionista seem to be investing in this spring/summer, are driving me insane. I find them offensive. You already know which slipper I'm talking about; the Gucci Princeton leather slipper.

These can be yours for a slimming price of £715. Are you kidding me.

Speaking of the above, do you remember when these bad boys were all over our timelines being absolutely ridiculed, now known as the Donald Trump slippers? If we only would have known.

Luxe vs. budget x Stella McCartney

NET-A-PORTER - £3195

This striking sunset-orange maxi dress is from the Stella McCartney Resort-2016 collection. I've had my eye on it for a while now but the fact that it costs THREE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND NINETYFIVE POUNDS is just ridiculous. I could spend that kind of money on a bag with only a tad of bad conscience, but a dress? Not a chance. No matter how much or how little a dress costs, it will still end up with a red wine stain within 2 months anyway. See, I'm a restrained shopping realist.

SO - to the good news. I stumbled over this dress from Gina Tricot (Swedish retailer) on a blog somewhere and ordered it straight away. It's just as voluminous and fabulous as the original, at only a drop of the above price - £37! Also I'm sorry, I've started to use the word Fabulous as I'm re-watching the whole of Sex & The City.


Back to the FABULOUS dress. Looks familiar?

Unfortunately it seems like this dress is sold out, which kind of made this post irrelevant... Sorry!

Chilli & chill

Aaah what an amazing day. Woke up hungover but that was OK - kind of expected after insisting on Cafe Patron shots yesterday. I decided that I wanted to cook something in the slow cooker, so I strolled over to Morrissons to buy some breakfast and ingredients. 

I decided to to cook something that would be as if a chilli and pulled beef had a baby. A perfect little spicy meat baby. I used my father-in-laws famous chilli recipe as a guideline but I don't really like to cook after recipes (too impatient) so I ended up just throwing stuff in and improvising.

I thought at first that I shouldn't bore you with the recipe but then I realised that if I post it here I can look back next time to remind myself. So here's the shopping list Helena:

• Big chunk of meat - sear before placing in the slow cooker! Crucial.
• 2 onions
• 2 celery sticks
• 2 carrots
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 bird eye chillies
• A squeeze of BBQ sauce
• 1 tube tomato pure
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• A splash of balsamic vinegar
• LOTS of salt and pepper (I used smoked salt in this batch)
• Chilli powder & paprika
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 tin broad beans
• 1 tin kidney beans
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1 litre of water
• 1/3 of a bunch fresh coriander
• Dash of red wine

I think that's it. So basically - chop everything and place in the slow cooker, with the seared meat in the middle. Don't have a slow cooker? Lame!

As you can see it looks absolutely stunning. This i before I added all the sauces and spices by the way, I decided this was more photo friendly heheheheh...

So, what did I do the rest of the day? This:

Life. Is. Tough.

I tried to cosy up our roof terrace as well - how amazing is this?

Trending fashion

It's funny how money (read: lack of) changes how I live. When I'm broke I never browse for clothes online and I avoid shops at all costs to not get depressed by the fact that I literally can't even afford a pair of socks. I find myself looking in the cupboard for a potential dinner that I can scrap together, and I end up eating cous cous with pesto to keep the costs down. The general interest in eating healthy has gone out the window due to an echoing account.

But then comes payday. I eat roasted root veg, healthy slow cooked stews and tuna nicoise salads. And I BROWSE like no woman has browsed before. Saving items for later on all my favourite online shopping sites and going back and fourth between them for hours, to put together the perfect basket before pressing the order button.

I think you've guessed it already - I got paid. And the inspiration is back on track as per usual, so I thought I'd list my top fashion trends at the moment. Here goes...

The pinstripe

Pinstripe blazers, suits and coats are a safe bet for at least a couple of months ahead. Oversized blazers in particular. Don't be too dressy though - match your 2-piece suit with a pair of Converses rather than heels.

Also - I never thought I'd say (write) this - I've ALWAYS hated the culotte phenomenon. So unflattering, so unnecessary. A trend that would come and go as quick as a family guy episode starts and finishes. But the other day we had a client in the office who had a navy, pinstripe culotte jumpsuit on, paired with white sneakers and a leather jacket. She looked so god damn fabulous that I'm going to wear just this. Don't get me wrong though, culottes in general still don't have my stamp of approval.

 I could murder for this suit from Gestuz, BUT old season and nowhere to be found...

Culotte jumpsuit from Missguided.

The exposed shoulders

This is not really a shocker is it - the cold shoulders and the bardot tops are everywhere at the moment. Preferably in shirt-like cotton fabrics in a loose style, or more structured like below. I quite like this romantic trend, however I think it is already cooling down and will soon be yesterday's news.

Top from Ellery.

The front slit trousers

Yes! I'm excited about this one. These type of trousers look good either as full length or ankle grazers, and they really highlight your shoes so make sure to wear a nice pair. The black ones below are actually leggings and are from Cheap Monday (£50). The dusty pink ones are made out of linen and are also on their way home to me - now on sale on ASOS for £21. Grab em while you can.

The unzipped sleeves

Just like the ankles are to be on show at the moment, so should your wrists. This trend is also completely free - just unzip the sleeves on your biker jacket and you're good to go.

The exaggerated volumes

Oversize, oversize, oversize. Kim K made sure that the last couple of years were all about super sexy body con dresses with an exposed cleavage. And now we're ready to move on - both skin-tight dresses as well as Kim Kardashian West are yesterday's news. Go for the exaggerated dresses, sleeves, tops and skirts this summer - the bigger the better.

 Denim dress from Asos own brand Asos WHITE - £65.

Pink silk dress from Anthropologie - £118.

Swedish Meatballs & Pickled Cucumber

45 meatballs haha! Guess what I'm having for lunch EVERY DAY next week...

So.... I've been watching Masterchef Australia recently. A lot. Often. Constantly. I've never really cared for cooking food (only eating it) but recently I've been a tad more interested in how to do things properly.

I've always enjoyed cooking healthy, quick and slightly weird food that I personally like. The kind of food that I wouldn't like to serve others as it wouldn't wow anyone? The voice in my head while preparing a meal sounds a lot like Joey in Friends when he eats that weird cake; custard? Good! Jam? Good! Meat? GOOD. This mentality equals weird combinations. And I don't use any fancy 6-hour recipes - actually I don't like to cook after recipes full stop.

It sounds like I'm eating really funky stuff but to describe my style of cooking in a few words; cook everything on the highest heat possible - oven or stove (burnt food if possible - LOVE burnt food), substitute the carbs with roasted vegetables or couscous, top with mixed seeds and LOADS of sea salt. Also, where applicable - half a bottle of ketchup. I put seeds on everything because I love the crunchy texture. Maybe that's why I like burnt food as well? Nah - I just love the charcoal taste haha. On this topic - every time I use the toaster I turn it up to full blast, so I've had Lloyd screaming HELIINA from the kitchen several times, aggravated by his black piece of toast :')

Back to where I started off - I'm starting to dig the cooking thing. I've recently made pulled beef, slow cooked chilli con carne, home-made curry from scratch, and yesterday I made home-made meatballs and mash, pickled cucumber, onion gravy and lingonberry jam. A Swedish comfort food classic, guess I'm a little bit home sick. I also went to IKEA earlier this week which inspired me so that's why I spent about 3 hours preparing and cooking the below. I haven't decided yet if that makes me sad or not...

I'm not going to pester you with a recipe as I assume you all use google on a daily basis, I just wanted to brag a little bit. That's what social media and blogs are for right? Thanks for listening. Good talk.

It might not look much to you. But this is progress I promise.

Tom Dixon Lighting

Let's talk about lights, lamps and pendants. British designer Tom Dixon is one of my favourites when it comes to lighting. I love the elegant, modern, art deco feel his pieces has to them and I am indeed a sucker for white and gold when it comes to interior design.

I'm not gonna lie - I can't afford any of his stuff (unless found somewhere in a second hand shop in the middle of nowhere where the owner as well as browsing customers are unaware of the fact that there's a Tom Dixon piece in the corner going for £10) - but one can always dream. And one can always work towards one day being able to afford these sexy beasts.

My favourites;

Plain Round Pendant Light

£255 - here!

Melt Mini Copper

£370  - here!

Mirror Ball Gold 50cm

£515 - here!

And the grand finale...

Plane Chandelier

£4,500 - here!

Birthday Bash

I just realised I haven't posted anything here of my birthday, which was on the 27th March so almost a month ago haha... I'm a great blogger.

I don't think I will ever grow out of that feeling of waking up in the morning on your birthday (and Christmas for that matter) with butterflies in your stomach. And you lie there, listening for subtle sounds from the kitchen where someone is preparing your breakfast in bed and is just about to walk in with a tray singing happy birthday... But then you realise you don't live with your mum anymore and your passed-out corpse of a boyfriend is lying next to you snoring :')

This year I might not have been woken up with breakfast in bed, but Lloyd surprised me with an all Swedish breakfast with stuff he'd secretly bought from a Scandinavian shop here in London called Stockholm. We had meatballs, proper cheese, beetroot salad, Swedish bread and pickled gherkin. YUM. He's aware of my love for breakfast.

In the evening we headed to a pub in Twickenham called The Prince Blucher were there was food, prosecco and cake. The cake.. Let's talk about the cake. This is why Lloyd is the perfect guy for me:

A Big Mac cake. I mean it wasn't made out of meat (WHEN is McDonalds going to admit that there is 0% meat in their burgers?) etc, it was actually a cake. Also I'm not sure what signals this cake sends out about me as a person...

After that followed cafe patron (in plural), litres of wine, dancing on the table with a lamp on my head, finished off with some twerking, and then we headed to our flat to continue the dancing. One of the best birthdays I've had in years, thank you everyone for being there!! XX