miércoles, 9 de octubre de 2013

Go shawty, it's your birthday

Let's just skip the fact that I haven't posted anything on this blog for literally ages and pretend it never happened, deal? Ok, great.


So, Sunday was my birthday. The big 21. I guess our Americanized culture has lead us to believe it actually represents something here in Europe as well. But it doesn't, as my dad thoroughly repeated throughout the day. "Not 18 anymore! Now you are just merely adding years to an otherwise meaningless number". Thanks Dad. 


As none of my close friends (except for one) were here to celebrate with me this 'not-so-big' event in my life, it all remained within the family. 'Coincidentally', my parents had organized a lunch with all their friends on that same date, at home. Fortunately, all the friends coming were family friends so I didn't mind at all.


I had a wonderful time, and to be completely honest... my Dad was right. Being 21 feels exactly the same as being 20. Same face, same height... and well, after the feast we had that day, probably some more kilos. But let's just forget about that and get to the pictures, shall we?



 Here we all are, enjoying some tasty cakes (Perhaps a little too tasty... Damn it.)



A cake, with a 'meaningless number' on top




My gorgeous friend who came, Natalia




This was the first birthday I got to celebrate with my family since I left for uni, and it felt good.

I just felt really loved, and for that I want to thank everyone who made it special (this is starting to look too much like an acceptance speech).

As for the outfit, I kept it really simple. White sweater from H&M, paired with some black skinny jeans from Primark and my trusted black suede pointy ankle boots from Zara (that's a mouthful!). 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a full body picture of my outfit, so you will have to use these pictures and your imagination to picture the whole thing. Sorry!



xx

Elena



miércoles, 20 de febrero de 2013

Y mientras tanto, en la biblioteca...

A esto es lo que le llamo yo un día intenso de estudio. Últimamente me ha dado por los dibujitos, pero volveré, en inglés y con posts un poco más relacionados con el tema de este blog.


viernes, 23 de noviembre de 2012

Guilt-free morning

So let's talk food... Given the fact I have an entire album on my iPhoto dedicated to 'food', I thought I might as well do a post on food.

Having a 'rawfoodist' as a housemate unconsciously narrows down your meals to salads, and basically fresh stuff. And while we certainly all love our salads, sometimes we still want to give ourselves a little treat, but then again, without cheating too much... Right?

How many times have you woken up wishing you could have pancakes, but then you felt too guilty (and lazy!) to make them, and gave up? Well, not anymore. This recipe brings you all the good qualities of this typical American delight, while remaining healthy, simple and guilt-free.



For the pancakes, you'll need:

1 egg
1 banana

Yes, that's it.

Whisk it together, pour it into a hot pan (I would add a little bit of olive oil/butter so that your pancake mix wouldn't stick to the pan) and start making your pancakes like you normally would.

Add a little bit of cinnamon into the mixture to give it that extra flavour, and maybe top it all with a little bit of agave nectar. My mouth is watering only thinking about it. 

Now, I'm pretty sure you've spot that nice green smoothie on the picture...
Well, then be prepared to be blown away by this super tasty easy to do smoothie. I drink it everyday, and I must say, it definitely brightens up my mood during these cold dark winter mornings!

You'll need:

1 banana
1 pear
200 ml of rice milk or water (the rice milk will give the smoothie a sweeter taste)
1 table spoon of almond butter 
A good amount of parsley

Blend it, and voilà. How simple is that?

If you're interested in more recipes of this kind, be sure to check out nutritionist Teresa Fernández-Gil's book, website, everything. Most of my now go-to recipes come straight out of her book that my mum kindly gave to me. I hear she is now in the process of writing another book targeted to students... I literally can't wait to see it and try out every single recipe in it. 



Bon appétit! 


martes, 16 de octubre de 2012

Fall Fashion Trends

Finally, a fall fashion post. To be honest, before starting this blog, the only post that was clear in my mind was this one: "When I start my blog, the first thing I'm gonna do is a fall fashion post, for sure". Three weeks later, here it is. Better late than never, right?

So... the trends.

What trends are in this fall, is the question we have all been asking ourselves (and by all, I mean the people that sadly care about the trends each season *cough* me *cough*).

I am actually quite glad I have started to write this post a few weeks into fall. As the fashion freak that I am, before fall hadn't even started, I was already looking at the trends that several designers had been presenting in their runways last year: burgundy/oxford blood colours, baroque patterns, white dresses, leather, all-black outfits... Some of them were right, which is good, but also a lot of them were far from what you can now see in stores, and on the streets.

Since then, all the possible "fashion weeks" have been happening: London, Milan, New York... And the fashion trends for fall have definitely taken another dimension.

I could talk about all the fashion trends out there at the moment, but since I'm not wearing half of them, I figured it was maybe better to just do it about the trends that I truly love, and that I can actually wear on a day-to-day basis.

So here we go:

Yes, the burgundy or oxford blood trend is definitely one that is stuck with us for the rest of the season, whether you like it or not. Cardigans, pants, lips. The colour is everywhere. Not that I am complaining. I love the colour. In fact, I own a cardigan, some pants and a lipstick (what a coincidence). The only bad thing about trends, is that unfortunately, we all shop in the same stores, therefore, we are all somehow 'affected' by those trends... Oh well, let's celebrate originality.




Lovely Rachel Bilson had to be here somewhere...


Loafers. Yes, replace your ballerinas and take out those loafers that you had abandoned at the back of your closet. You're gonna need them. Loafers are a huge trend this fall, and let's hope it continues so that it reaches the warmer months. I love them, but it's pretty hard to wear them when  the temperature outside it's 10 degrees Celsius or less. I would suggest to buy some of those skin toned tights/socks (yes, granma style), or wear them with some cute black tights, or any other colour you like. If you're gonna opt for a less covering option for your feet, at least try to cover your skin as much as you can, or else you will freeze to death! (talking from experience here)


In love with these Zara loafers.


Crop the bottom of your pants like this. It will look stunning.


Black loaders. Perfect to combine with your LBD and some black tights.

Leather sleeves. I'm pretty sure you've seen it everywhere, in every store, right? I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not at first, but seeing it more and more often, I now think it's something that I am definitely gonna incorporate to my closet at some point. The only problem is, again, everyone is wearing it. Yep. That's the problem that comes with the lack of originality the majority of us have. 
I personally love the combination of leather and khaki.


You also have the possibility to combine leather and denim. It doesn't look bad, but I personally wouldn't wear it myself. 


And of course, military jackets, parkas, etc. I personally find that colour extremely flattering, and very easy to combine. The only thing is that as much as the whole military pattern is very in right now, I just feel that dressing like I'm part of the army is not the best thing to wear on an everyday basis, but that is just my personal opinion. I've also seen loads of people wearing it, and I don't think it looks bad. But, I guess I just prefer the good old khaki parka. 

Jacket from Topshop




Perfect combination: khaki and black.


Khaki and gray. Equally amazing combination.


And of course, Rachel Bilson had to be here somewhere, again.


Ankle boots. Love them. They look amazing if they have a heel (which most of them do), but if you are like me, and you can't wear heels because of your height, do not worry! We can totally rock them too. I think they are a fall statement piece, the same with any kind of boots. You can wear them with cropped pants/trousers, dresses, skirts, anything. But I have to say, that I personally love the ankle boot and cropped pants/trousers combination. Just throwing it out there. 


These are the ones that I own - Zara. For some reason I bought a smaller size, and they hurt like hell. But they are the first pair of ankle boots that I own, and I am going to wear them no matter what!


Cropped trousers



Like I said: pair them with ankle boots. 


And tadaaa! These are not exactly cropped trousers, but you get the concept, right?


Black boots. Unfortunately, something that I did not see coming. I say unfortunately, because otherwise I wouldn't have thrown away the ones that I had already. Ok, who am I kidding. They were hideous anyway. Black boots are definitely another item key to your wardrobe this fall and probably this winter as well. So hold on to them. They look great with absolutely anything, so they'll be worth your money, trust me. 



No fashion blog is really a fashion blog, without a picture of lovely Olivia Palermo



Leather jackets are definitely something that is going to stay, whatever trends are in any year. I can't say enough good things about them. They pair well with everything, and they are simply amazing. 



And last but not least: big chunky sweaters, jackets, whatever you want. Another statement piece that never fails to disappoint every fall or winter. The varieties are millions, and you can even recycle them from year to year. I'm pretty sure that if you look through your mum's old closet, you'll definitely find some 70s sweater. Take it, and incorporate it into your outfits. The bigger and the coziest, the better! Enjoy the colder months and snuggle into one of those. You'll see the difference. There are million ways to style them, but here are some ideas: 







I'm pretty sure (I know), that there are many other trends that I am leaving out, but I wanted to give you a quick overview on the ones that I am incorporating in my closet and in my outfits at the moment. There will be more, but for now these are the ones that I love the most. 

Until next time,

Elena. 



martes, 25 de septiembre de 2012

One palette. One look.

So, after "introducing" the blog with that nonsense post I did a few days ago, I figured it was about time to do a decent blogpost... just for the sake of this whole blog (how many times have I repeated the word 'blog' again?).

Anyway. Let's start once and for all.

I guess depending on where you live, fall starts at a different time. For me, I feel like it started when I came back from sunny, warm Spain. The moment you feel like the weather asks you to take the cosy sweaters out of your closet, it probably is because fall is just around the corner.

Luckily, when we talk about fall, we are not only talking about the season. Fall means layers (of course), but it also means the transition from summer to winter, in which yes, colours are not as bright, but haven't faded yet.

Fall means scarfs, boots, tights, ballerinas... It is the only season in which wearing sandals with a winter hat may not seem as strange (please.... don't do it).

We all make the transition when "our" weather asks us to. Some made the transition a long time ago, when the majority of us were peacefully sunbathing at the beach. Others, however, are now making it *cough* *cough*, while others are still enjoying their last (yes, last) moments of summer.

So yes, although fall is a versatile season for fashion, it still has certain conditions. But makeup? What about makeup? We don't need a cold weather to rock a smokey eye, right?

Good thing is, as well as fashion, makeup also has certain colours and looks that pair well with certain seasons. However, contrary to fashion, it does not depend that much on the weather. Hence we are the ones who decide whether we want to opt for a darker fall look or keep rocking the summer au naturel look.

As much as I like not wearing makeup during the summer, or at least opting for a minimal makeup when necessary, I also enjoy giving more depth to my eyes and my look in general. It puts me in the mood for fall and I guess cold weather?

OK, who am I kidding? I'm never going to be in a good mood for any kind of cold weather. I like my sun and my 20 degrees (minimum!).

But oh well, I might as well just get used to it.

And in the spirit of welcoming the new season, what better way than to get inspired by a fall makeup look?




I would like to thank my gorgeous friend Clara, who kindly agreed to film this video, despite the cold that she had at the time!

Also, I would like to point out the fact that I really, really thought I was gentle when applying makeup to someone that wasn't me... Well, turns out 'gentle' is probably not the right word, is it?