6 June 2016

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!

5 June 2016

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?

4 June 2016

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 GestuzBUT 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.