Gingerbread architecture at The Sweet Spot

Some days ago, at The Sweet Spot pastry lab, where all the magic happens, several bloggers got together to take their chances with haute patisserie. Just to get an idea, here's Claire's post at KOOLFly (yeah, my pics) and Stella's post at Shopping Therapy.


This is Zoe Vidali, the youngest of the mother-daughter duo behind the pastry shop:

She's making the most basic house design, one that you can also make at home with this recipe here, found at The Sweet Spot blog (in greek only I'm afraid).

Just imagine what an architect/pastry maker could make... Blows my mind!

Extra tip: If you're not big on the architecture from pastry thing, you can try a ready-made ixe cream cone and turn it into a Christmas tree, just with some green coloured royal icing and sprinkles.

Since gingerbread house making was a little out of our league, so we started off by decorating our own Christmas trees...

Well, you know me. If I decide to make something, I'm gonna make it good!

You can friend The Sweet Spot on FB to keep all these sweet things popping up on your stream or find them IRL, at Andrea Papandreou 39, Halandri.

Notebooks I gave away and liked

You have certainly bumped on them on the internet at some point.

Archie Grand notebooks have been all the rage for quite some time now. What I hadn't realised up until now was how many damn different styles there are.


I mean, there are 62 of them!



These above are just a tiny selection of favourites.
ARCHITECTS I MET AND LIKED? Yes please.

And here is the best part: The cool guys over at Archie Grand headquarters in Sweden have sent over these two SECRET AGENTS I MET AND LIKED babies seen in the pics above, to give away to you! Perfect timing, with that Skyfall craze (watched it, loved it) and all this Christmas thing coming up around the corner.

So if you too want a little early present from Santa Archie and Mr Bond, please do leave a comment below, saying which one of the 62 notebook designs is your favourite and adding your email address, so I can get in touch with you if you win. Note though, that I will only be giving away the SECRET AGENTS ones. And hurry up, as I will draw a winner next Monday, December 12th, at 10 in the morning.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Sorry for the delay, I've been travelling around a lot (namely, from Athens, Greece to Iowa City, IA) so my blog scheduling went out of the window. So without further ado, the winners are... [drumroll] ZlatkoGR and mr_switters! 

Congrats guys! Just check your inbox for details on how you will get your notebooks.

Thank you all for participating and stay in touch, more give-aways are coming in 2013.

Monochromatic at Golden Hall

Black and white stripy top, BLANCO. Black skirt, ZARA. Black bag, BERSHKA. Black leather obi belt, some shop in Volos. Black ballet shoes with ribbon ties, TOPSHOP. Rings, vintage.

Hair goodness from Moroccanoil

Hair goodies from Moroccanoil arrived and obviously the word is out on how overly attached I am to my hair.


So here's what the bag contained:

Oily Scalp Treatment. I also received the Dry Scalp Treatment, but that's not the case here... Watch how to use it here.

Frizz control. My hair is not frizzy per se, but who I am to say no to a little extra definition and smoothness, right? Watch how to use it here.

Curl control mousse. Now that went straight to my curly-haired friend Angela, so you'll be waiting to hear from her in the comments on how good it is. Watch how to use it here.

Big thanks to the cool girls over at V&O for sending this care pack over!

What Would Martin Do?

Tuesday night, outside the H&M flagship, down in Ermou st, Athens, for the presentation of the Maison Martin Margiela for H&M collection.

I didn't take pics of the crowd, but let me assure you, there was one. And it was a fashion-hungry crowd, comprised of press, bloggers, and quite a few 14-year-old girls who probably won the invite on a random online contest.

Oh, and there were celebs too. You know, the Greek kind.

Tamta sang. That was cool, I guess. I really liked the red Hitched Up Dress she wore, along with the Key Ring Necklace that was enhanced with the Key Ring Bracelet.

And then hell broke loose. Girls can be really tough if they have to.

I spent those crucial first minuted just observing the crowd and taking pics, as I really wasn't in the mood for elbowing, either giving or receiving.

Instead I observed. The tags were really interesting. Each piece is a remake of an original Maison Martin Margiela design from the past 23 years. Many of those girls weren't even born back then.

It's a fun trivia that the collaboration with H&M happened this year, on the 23rd anniversary since Martin Margiela showed his first personal collection. Especially since the famous white tag with the numbers 0-23, each representing a men's or women's line, has been around all those years. The whole thing reminds me of that movie.

Well, just about as I was ready to call it a night, the lovely Anna of H&M asked "soooo, did you get anything?" and I replied "no, everything seems to be gone". "Racks are getting restocked with stuff abandoned at the fitting rooms as we speak, won't hurt to take a look" she replied. So I did.

Meet my new Maison Martin Margiela for H&M Circle Shirt, originally designed in 2002.

If you want to try and fight for a piece of fashion history replica, your chance is tomorrow, November 15th. Just make sure you do your homework first and you know what you're going for. I've done two separate posts with all the women's and all the men's pieces from the collection, on KOOLFly, complete with the pieces' names and prices, so head over there to plan ahead.

I still can't help but wonder though... What would Martin do?

Hello Kitty ♥ Vans

Yeah, so I'm a grown woman who loves Hello Kitty and buys  Vans.

If you're with me, here's the whole Hello Kitty x Vans collection (I have an eye for the red bow backpack).

Slatchel candy

Back in July (queue "how time passes" sigh) we were invited by Greek luggage company Lycsac to see their brand new line of products.




Slatchel is the name, because the are satchel bags by Lycsac and all.




They are made in Greece from plasticized fabric, keeping their price down compared to similar leather models and making them perfect for people who don't like to support the leather industry (I can think of a few, including Ms Thalia above).




Stephanie got the green-and-red-tartan Epatia model...




...while I opted for the Barbie-pink Arsinoe.


I find the fact they are named after Greek mythology female characters rather amusing (and I secretly hope there is a Pinelopi model in the future).




But even more fun is the fact that the most recent Union Jack premium satchel is named Elizabeth. If I ever encounter one dangling from a shoulder I will make sure to follow protocol and address it as Your Majesty.

Summer past

The curse of the person holding the camera is that they are never in the picture. This is a post celebrating the summer namedays & birthdays of my friends, in lieu of mine. Let autumn begin.

Samos International Film Festival

I'm still in Samos.

Good for me, as the 1st Samos International Film Festival - Between Two Continents is starting tomorrow and I will get to enjoy all kinds of amazing international film screenings on the beach, along with my friends.

My friend Pan Pan is also invited to play live on Saturday, so yay for that too.

Here's the amazing teaser video:



And here's the programme:

August 23th 

11.00 / Birds by Aristophanes / Teen Theatre // Samos Town

21.00 / Opening Ceremony // Pythagorion Beach

21.30 / Paradise / Panagiotis Fafoutis / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

00.00 / Opening party // Mezza Volta / Samos Town

August 24th

11.00 / Masterclass with Panagiotis Fafoutis // Garden Cafe / Samos Town

21.00 / The Building Manager / Pericles Hoursoglou / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

23.00 / Head-on / Fatih Akin / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

August 25th

11.00 / Masterclass with Pericles Hoursoglou // Garden Cafe / Samos Town

18.00 / Birds by Aristophanes / Teen Theatre // Samos Town

21.00 / La source des Femmes / Radu Mihaileanu / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

23.30 / Io sono l΄ amore / Luca Guadagnino / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

22.30 / Yiafka - Pan Pan / Concert // Karlovasi High School

August 26th 

21.00 / Closing Ceremony // Pythagorion Beach

21.30 / Soul Kitchen / Fatih Akin / Screening // Pythagorion Beach

00.00 / Closing Party // Escape Music Club / Samos Town

Feel like you didn't get enough holidays this summer and need an extra weekender in order to survive the upcoming season? Here's your chance.

For more info visit SIFF.gr and see the programme in Greek here. Facebook event here.

Blue + Yellow = Green

The fact that I'm not posting as much as I have planned to, due to vacation time, doesn't mean that I'm not sticking to the Fasting From Fast Fashion experiment. I've already put together many outfits and even shopped a bit, all without touching fast fashion items.

Living out of a suitcase sure helps.


Oh, and Spyros says hi.



No, Spyros is not fat, he's just hairy (that's what he has instructed me to say).


91 Bright Yellow and 93 Emerald by Korres


Light blue top, Attrattivo. Floral skirt, 80's vintage. Belt, Fornarina. Brown leather bag, Longchamp. Green sunglasses, RETROSUPERFUTURE. Tan leather and snakeskin print sandals, Bronx.

Big thanks to my sister for being the photographer this time.