Brussel Sprout Fig and Feta Ravioli Video

I am not a huge fan of pasta. It makes me feel bloated, full and lethargic. Because of this I have avoided eating pasta for some time now.  Another large problem I have with pasta is the mis-guided portion size that people think is normal.  An Italien friend once said that a portion of pasta must be no greater than the size of your own fist.  You can see where the Americans and other 'quantity over quality' cultures go wrong. 

Regardless of my thing against most pasta dishes, this one looked just too cute not to share.  This video is from the blog Naturally Ella,  This blog is full of gorgeous vegetarian dishes, beautiful food photography and lovely videos like this one.  Watch Ella make this feta, fig and brussel sprout ravioli.  The recipe is on her page. 

I hope you like it as much as I do. 

Fashion: White Top, Long Skirt

Whilst perusing Pinterest, a few pins were catching my eye. Then I realised there was a current theme:  a sophisticated mid length skirt with a white three quarter length white shirt.  

Bring on the sun, as this is what I would love to wear to work everyday. 

Style File: Phil leaving Valencia

I told you I would do another post of Phil.  I took these photos when we were at the metro station dropping Phillie off to go to the Airport to head home. I loved what she was wearing, so once again I made her stand and pose for my iphone to take some pictures.

Phil Wears: 

Shirt: Nice Things

Bag: YSL

Jenas: GAP

Boots: Mango

Phil bought this shirt while we were in Valencia.  It i from a gorgeous shop called Nice Things.  If you don't know of this shop or website, check it out now.   It's full of quite classic clothes but with quirky prints. 

James Franco releases his Gucci Documentary Trailer

Recipe: Coconut & Carrot Cake

The other week Laura and I made a Carrot and Coconut Paleo cake together (although Laura was more the chef and I sue- chef).  As most of my friends know Laura and I are major health advocates.  So rest assure, although this is still a cake, there are a few health bonus's to eating this baby. 

Super moist, googey and yummy.  What you can see inside the cake is coconut flakes, grated carrot, raisons, and walnuts.  This cake tasted like the regular carrot cake, but less sweet and with a different coconuty icing.  

Find Laura's recipe here.

Website: The Book Cover Archive

If you like design or/ and if you like books, check out this website now.  An amalgamation of many a fantastic book cover.

Blossom: Mercat de Colon

The old market in Valencia has been converted into a hub of posh cafe's and restaurants.  This is precisely where we always go now for a good meal and fantastic coffee.  The Mercat de Colon is situated near the nice shops and old buildings.  There is beautiful architecture wherever you look. 

As our mum is also out in Valencia at the moment visiting with four other women, Laura and I decided to meet her and the ladies for lunch at the Mercat de Colon.  We went to our usual lunch spot which is called Blossom. The atmosphere was great, the sun was shining, lady chat was flowing across the table, but the food did take quite a while to arrive.  However, when it did arrive, we understood why.  There are no shortcuts in that kitchen; everything is made fresh.  As a result the food tasted amazing.

Mum had the fresh tagilatelle with tomatos, garlic and basil. 

Four of the other women had a saffron prawn (gambas) risotto.

One lady had spinach and ricotta ravioli with a fresh tomato, garli and olive sauce.

Laura and I had our favorite black sesame seared Tuna steak with a tangerine lettuce salad and a sesame, ginger and garlic dressing.

The lunch was fantastic and definitely worth another visit.  Here are some images of the Mercat de Colon. 

Style File: Laura in Valencia

As you may know Laura and I are in Valencia.  The other day we went for a stroll over to a friends house.  Luckily for us, it is nice and warm here in sunny Spain.  Off we skipped in our shorts, t-shirts and for Laura, dungerees. 

I love dungarees.  There is something so juvenile and quirky about them. Perhaps we feel cool when we are wearing dungarees because it is the garment we wore when we were invincible little five year olds.  

This particular pair of dungarees was bought on Ebay a few years ago.  Yes it was a bit of a gamble to bid on such an unlikely article of clothing.  Firstly- how do you know they will fit?  The answer is that you don't.  Both Laura and I have to roll up these dungarees because they are far too long.  Furthermore, dungarees were not all the rage when Laura was buying them like they are at the moment.  I did think Laura was a little bit mad when she was buying them- all I was hoping was that she would channel Alexa Chung rather than the Rugrats.  I'll let you decide whether she was successful or not in pulling off that look. 

Laura wears:

Dunngarees: Ebay

Cropped grey strappy top: Cotton On

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Beaded Flip Flops: Kenyan Duka

Bangle: Valencian mini store

Watch: Longines

One of my favourite details about these dungarees is the random little orange butterfly on the back. It just makes them a bit different from the standard ones Topshop are now pumping out. 

Street Style: Aya Monteverde

Aya Monteverde is a random girl caught on camera by the Vogue Street style photographer. These photos came from the street style blog that Vogue.com have going. Like with the Sartorialist's photo's, I think this photo captures the person. Aya has such a great personal style but also has a really beautiful face. I thought that her street style photos were worth sharing as she reminded me that style is personal and that when we dress we must stick to our roots and dress how ever we feel most comfortable; even if that is a poo coloured beanie or the leopard print leggings we were told were so 2008.  If we feel really comfortable and confident, it will always look good. 

Aya wears:

Hat: Carhartt

Coat: Comptoir des Cotonniers

Shoes: Nike x Liberty trainers

Jumper: Topshop

Leggings: ZARA

Bag: Monocle

Flowers: Colombia Road Flower Market

Eyeshadow: Chanel

Mascara: Chanel

Suno collaborates with Uniqlo

Suno, the Americam New York designer, is collaborating with the Japanese high street brand Uniqlo. Suno is much loved by celebs such as Rachel McAdams, Michelle Obama, Rachel Bilson and Heidie Klum. What better a way to emulate these ladies style than by wearing the designer they wear. 

The designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty have created a range of printed summer dresses, striped tops and floral patterned jeans.  The collection has been dubbed "Japanese Americana" - pieces not dissimilar to Suno's mainline spring/summer 2013 offering.  Erin Beatty said "We wanted to create something sweet, straightforward and easy."

The collection lands in stores and online on May 20, with prices ranging from $19.90 (£12.99), to $39.90 (£25.99).  Here are a few of the pieces we are set to see.

Style File: Phillie in Valencia

At the moment I am in Valencia, taking a Spanish course to upgrade my (currently dismal) Spanish speaking abilities.  With no return flight booked yet,  I do not know how long my trip out here is going to be, but I do know, for the first few days in Valencia, I had a real holiday. My gorgeous friend Phillie flew on the same flight as my twin sister and I.  You may have met Phillie on my blog before. She is a girl who knows how to dress.  As I have previously stated, her style is very classic and well put together. She is also my hair-spiration (she has hair that rivals Kate Middleton).

Whilst we were in Valencia, I took a number of photos of her outfits.  They were too gorgeous not to!  Here is what Phil wore out to dinner last Saturday night.

Jeans: GAP

Top: ZARA

Handbag: Bally

Necklace: Thailand

Watch: Follie Follie

Shoes: Converse

Recipe: Purple Dish of Red Cabbage

This may look like a pile of purple-ness, however it is actually a really yummy red cabbage side dish.  It is crunchy, sweet, peppery, a little bit spicy, delicious and also very healthy.  In the small chance that you want to try and make this purple side dish here is the recipe. 

U s e: 

Half a red cabbage

A lump of ginger

A few (about 5) asparagus stems

A squeeze of lemon juice

A lump of coconut oil

A dash of coconut water

A handful of mint

A handful of raisons

Season with salt and pepper

A sprinkle of chillie flakes

God Was Here

I know religion is a sensitive subject, or rather, a personal subject.  People often like to share with you what they believe and some like to persuade you to follow their beliefs. It is for this reason why people dont like to discuss religion among company that do not share or may not share the same belief system as their own.  This is  also the reason why I was hesitant to big up this website: God Was Here.

This website is not making a mockery of any beliefe system.  All the website is doing is tracking people's tweets with the word God in them- I think it's quite clever really.

The website consists of different God widgets.  Each widget displays the most recent relevant tweets, as well as the number of tweets that correspond to that widget.  Here are a few:

Minted v Skinted: The White Sleeveless blazer

We all love a bargin, so here is a little bargin for you! ...provided you want to buy a sleeveless white blazer.

This blazer is from the luxurious, dead-trendy clean grunge brand Rag & Bone.  The cut is beautiful, the fabrics are expensive and the design is intricate.  Just look at the perfect stitching, the textured leather and the shape on the shoulder. *sigh*  

Unfortunately the majority of us cannot afford £370 jacket which we would wear on special occasions in the fear of spilling balsamic vinegar down it.  So I present to you the more bank-friendly version from ZARA. 

 

Interior: Animal Heads

I want an animal head on my wall.   I never thought I would say/ write that but there you go. The thing is is that I dont want any old animal head on my wall.  That would be cruel, ugly and wrong.  I want an Antrhopologie animal head on my wall.

Ram

Elephant

Fox

Giraffe 

Design: Paul Smith Rose Perfume

I have the perfume Paul Smith Rose.  It smells divine.  The bottle is gorgeous, but the thing that I really like about this perfume is the packaging.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't buy this perfume for the box, however, it is the thing that drew me to test the perfume in the first place.   They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover- or, in this case, judge a perfume by its packaging. I cannot bring myself to throw this box away.  So before I do just that, I thought I would take some pictures and share with you why this box is so sexy- yes sexy.

Three things I love about this packaging: 

1)  The Paul Smith scribble font.

2) the bold black 'Paul Smith Rose' font

3) The actual rose drawing

4) How the rose image goes over the top and side of the box but still lines up. 

This could potentially be the geekiest post I have done.  But who doesnt like a good bit of packaging.  This box justifies why brand image is so important, and why a good bit of design does sell something. Besides the box, this perfume smells amazing.  Check it out at any Boots, House of Fraser or perfume shop.