Monki comes to Carnaby
I actually started writing a random piece at the beginning of February on Monki, but never got round to completing it. When I realised this morning that they were opening a flagship store in London on Friday, I decided it was time to finish it! I realise that I am a little behind the times, but I am so super excited about this brand! Owned by H&M, the designs have a similiar practicality but with some adorable prints and extra details. Their accessories are pretty much unbeatable: chunky rings, statement necklaces and brilliant tote bags. The below quote is taken from their website, and you can see some images of their Finland store here. I’m so excited to be in London next month so I can pick up some great pieces. In particular I want to grab a bunch of their knitwear items: all 100% acrylic and a total bargain. I love waffle knit!
“Our stores are walk-in closets filled with treasures! To step into one of them is to step into a part of the Monki World: the strange Forgotten Forest, the bio-hazardous City of Oil and Steel or the magical Sea of Scallops.”
L – R: Crista Trousers: €25, Imitation Leather Boots: €55, Lisetta Top: €15
L – R: Leto Dress: €35, Imitation Leather Bag: €35, SallyDress: €35
Marina Knit, 100% Acrylic: €30
Monki will be opening it’s doors at 37 Carnaby Street, London W1V 1PD, on Friday 24th February 2012. The first 100 customers will receive a £10 voucher!
Marc Jacobs on Handbagfairy
I hope everyone enjoyed their Pancake Day! I gave in and had a double whammy – pancakes for dinner AND dessert! Gee whizz! For dinner we had dosas, with all the trimmings, and then for dessert I whipped up a batch of banana pancakes with a swirl of strawberry jam in, topped with a strawberry and cherry sauce. What did you guys have?
This is how I ate the last remaining pancake for breakfast: mixed berry soya yoghurt and some chopped cherries. Oh, and a swirl of peanut butter in the yoggy!
My newest post for The Handbag Fairy is now up! If you could have a read, comment and re-post that would be amazing!
It’s Pancake Day!
Pancake Day is actually one of my least favourite days of the year. When I was younger I would barricade myself into my bedroom while my family made pancakes downstairs; the smell would turn my stomach! I think it also stems from my Dad offering me a crepe when I was really unwell, which only heightened my detest for the things. Scotch pancakes and American-style pancakes are the only varieties that I will eat, and they are pretty darn good!
I know I am alone in my hatred for pancakes, so here are some inspiring recipes if you’re not sure what to whip up this evening!
Look at the size of these flippin pancakes!! How are they vegan!? Deb also has recipes for carrot cake pancakes (yum!) and buckwheat pancakes.
You could try these jam swirled pancakes from Joy the Baker:
For a basic pancake recipe you could try out Naomi’s recipe:
How about some pumpkin pancakes from Nicky? Or some green monster pancakes!
Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish
These strawberry and coconut grain free pancakes look delicious! As do these carob spelt pancakes!
If you’re out and about in Brighton, you can pay a visit to Aloka, Wai Kika Moo Kau or Terre a Terre who are all offering vegan pancakes! We’ll be staying in and dishing up some dosa’s for our dinner!
Whoa, baby, ain’t I good to you.
So, you all know how much I love Valentine’s Day – right? Well, as a belated ‘surprise’ for Mr T, I made him an Afternoon Cream Tea! The spread included heart-shaped mini carrot cakes, cucumber sandwiches, cheezly straws, heart-shaped vanilla sponges with strawberry icing and a love-heart on top, and heart -shaped scones. All vegan, and washed down with these super cute retro bottles of curiosity cola and ginger beer. Extra love to Doolallytat for the adorable love heart sticks!
I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Mine has been pretty relaxing, and sped by in a bit of a blur. I’m feeling a little under the weather so haven’t really been able to enjoy the beautiful sunshine that we had today, but I did manage to nip out briefly in my ‘leather’ jacket which made me super happy.
Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.
March is going to be one expensive month; between me and Mr T’s 10 year anniversary, which will involve dinner at one of our favourite restaurants and a weekend away in London, dinner with past & present colleagues, VegFest and meeting up with the amazing To Happy Vegans and Naomi, Mothers Day, a friends’ bands album launch, my best-friend coming to visit, and finally Mr T’s birthday at the beginning of April – I am on a serious spending curb! Not even a curb, more of a, ‘no-spending-unless-it-involves-any-of-the-above’!
It’s not even the end of February but I am already in ‘window-shopping’ mode. I want. I want. I want. But I cannot have. Le sigh.
But really, I have nothing to moan about. I am genuinely excited about all of the above things, and I will indulge a little while we are in London, and of course there will be shopping involved when Laia comes to stay, and I’ll pick up some bargains at VegFest. Maybe I can subtly collect a huge amount of samples, and live off these for the rest of the month? Cubes of soya meat mixed with flax crackers? Delish! Who needs to buy pricey snacks when you have a coat-pocket filled with half-inch chunks of nakd bars? Kerching! Maybe I could glue them all together with some frosting and create a birthday cake out of them?*
Laura writes one my favourite blogs, Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish, and she has written some fantastic pieces on budgeting and saving the pennies, whilst still enjoying the food that you love and having fun! I love the guidelines she has laid out here for her Big Budget Challenge. I also love this post on defining what are your staple foods – the foods that you eat pretty much everyday and can’t live without. Once you can clearly see what your essentials are, you can research ways of reducing the money you spend on them by buying locally or in bulk.
I think mine would be something along the lines of:
♥ Soya milk
♥ Houmous
♥ Salad bags/ spinach
♥ Oats
♥ Apples
♥ Clementines
♥ Variety of veg: peppers, courgetts, squash, onion, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots
♥ Chickpeas
♥ Tofu
♥ Soya yoghurt
♥ Peanut butter
♥ Bread: Mr T loves his loaf, and we both love pitta bread
♥ Various grains and lentils, including rice, cous cous and risotto rice
♥ Soya mince
I don’t spend any money on books, CDs or DVDs. I buy the occasional magazine: Waitrose Kitchen once a month, I have Elle delivered and paid for through my Nectar points, and I buy maybe 2 magazines during the month. I do spend money on clothes and mostly essentials in terms of cosmetics (make up, shampoo, moisturiser etc). Going out and food are my main weaknesses: we tend to go out at least 2 out of the 3 evenings of the weekend, and more often than not we will go out during the week as well. In terms of the food bill we don’t go too crazy with the weekly shop but I know we are both guilty of buying extra things throughout the week which all add up. I spend a fair amount on snacks like Trek bars, bear granola etc which could probably be replaced by home-made versions.
Ok, so here a few changes that I plan to make:
- I have about 75 sachets of porridge. I should use these before buying new breakfast items.
- Have breakfast at work, because soya milk is provided by the company (WIN!)
- Make home-made snacks.
- Look for special offers on fruit (unless this means buying crappy fruit…)
- Buy more veg from Taj.
- Plan meals for the week and make extra for the freezer (though really, we do this already…)
- Eat everything in the freezer. Including those weird leaves in the ice drawer.
- Organise more evenings in at the weekends, rather than £4 per pint nights-out.
- Absolutely no shopping until Laia gets here. It’s always better shopping with her, anyway.
- List a few things on ebay: I did have a clear out last November so I’m not sure I have too many items to list, but every penny counts, right!
How do you guys budget your spending? Do you have any great tips on making the most of what you have without missing out on your favourite essentials?
*Mr T, I’m kidding – you will, of course, receive your favourite carrot cake. And it will not be made out of any double dipped merchandise. Promise.
My feelings regenerate at twice the speed of a normal man.
Without being too sickeningly over-the-top, I received pretty much the best Valentine’s Day gifts ever. Thoughtful but also hilarious, he knows me too well.
Not only are the roses absolutely beautiful, they are from Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. If any of you guys follow me on twitter you will know that we are completely obsessed by the US Office at the moment, and this is a reference to it. I also received a Dwight Schrute themed card in the morning ♥
Aah so flippin brilliant.
OK, so enough of the soppy stuff. I hope everyone is enjoying Valentines’ Day, and even if you hate it: make a list of all the things that you love, and it should make you smile.
For example: Trek bars, Meatloaf, houmous, Sylvia Plath, Rasputin, The Flatliners, red wine and Berlin would be on my list.
Kate Spade on Handbagfairy
I mentioned a little project in my previous post – and now I’m very happy to give you a few more details! I’ve just started writing for a website called Handbagfairy - a brilliant site where you can search through dozens of designers’ wares, at various budget-friendly prices – and catch up with the latest news in fashion, accessories and beauty. My first article has now been published and you can find it in full here!
I Remembered Everything
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’”
Sylvia Plath
27 October 1932 – 11 February 1963
Hopeful, considering
I’ve been writing a fair amount lately, both for myself and for a new project which I will give more details about in the next few days. Today I’m going to try and hunt down a pair of ankle boots to keep me a little warmer in this strange, delayed winter. Preferably flat or a very small, chunky heel; I go through phases with heels, and currently I’m very much in a flat frame of mind.
Last night I wrote until quite late and then snuggled up in bed with Mr T and we watched a couple more episodes of the US Office. I went to sleep so happy, with Mr T curled around one side and Rasputin tucked under my arm, purring away. I was also so happy because Pam and Jim finally kissed. Perfection.
I’m really hoping that the highstreet treats me well today, as my budget is small but my toes are cold. I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday ♥
Changes and some raw development
Over the years I’ve seen my taste in foods change so much. The people who I’ve met, the countries that I’ve visited and the blogs and articles that I’ve read have all shaped the diet that I have now – and I like to think that the food choices that I make at the moment are the healthiest that I have made in years.
I get excited by new recipes – recipes which are unusual, inspiring and which are good for my body. I am intrigued by raw foods in the same way that I am intrigued when a new vegan products lands on the market; the excitement that it’s vegan, how has it been made vegan, and does it taste similar to its original inspiration? How is it made, does it bring something new to my day, does it add a new dimension to how I see food? I’m not sure I am ready to invest in a dehydrator, but I am enjoying buying more raw foods; crackers and sweet treats, and seeing the benefit of raw veggies.
I’m certainly not going to start giving up the nourishing soups which I so love on a cold day, coffee which is an absolute must, or a bowl of spiced oats in the morning, but I am quite interested in mixing up at least my lunchtime and snacktimes with some raw goodness.
Raw Food Passion have some really exciting recipes, and for something sweet I like to dribble over Karolina Eleonóra’s recipes at Love Raw. Averie at Love Veggies and Yoga has some fantastic recipes, both raw and cooked, and the super stylish Sarahfae at Addicted to Veggies makes raw food recipes which are simple and inspiring. Celia Eddy combines the most adorable illustrations, wonderful photography and delicious recipes which always brighten up my day.
I’ve been adding more raw nuts to my diet, and finally realising that the term ‘good fat’ does exist and can be truly wonderful for your body. For the first time in many years I am becoming really excited by cooking and planning out meals. I look forward to eating a wholesome, healthy plate of food in the evening, and following it with a sweet treat. I used to try and fight my naturally sweet tooth – that inner craving which pops up an hour after I’ve finished dinner. Now I embrace it, knowing that it’s important to listen to my body.
Do you follow a raw diet? Would you consider adding a few more raw items to your daily menu? Can you recommend any more blogs and recipes?
