Wednesday, 30 January 2013

I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore




Sales is my favourite time of the year. Thank goodness it comes twice, unlike Christmas.





Got these amazing ruby ballet flats by Jil Sander off The Outnet a couple of weeks ago.



Given the fact that I wear my red-coloured flats almost more than my black ones, these may not last long. But they will sure get a pretty neat cost-per-wear.



Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Happy New Year



New Year's Eve this time found me in a completely different place than all the previous times. A casino near Iowa City in IA, USA.

Change is good. It's the push you need in order to take some distance from the hectic life that you're living and re-evaluate things. Yes, I'm talking about myself.

This past year I've been far more absent from this blog and the community around it, than I'd like to allow myself to be. I missed deadlines, post opportunities, fun events and moments with my blogger friends. Most of the time I was just too damn tired to even turn on the laptop when I came home at night. Just like the phrase I like to use from time to time in a pathetic effort to excuse myself, I'm so backblogged it's not even funny any more. 

But life is life, work is work and this blog is still just a hobby, just like it started out to be in the first place and just the way I want it to be. And that's why I won't give it up. Because I don't view it as something that needs to be done, but as something that I enjoy doing, whenever I have the time and energy.



That's why, as time passes, we have to learn how to say no to the not so important and irrelevant stuff, in order to have the resources, energy and inspiration to say yes to those things that really matter. And I guess that's my New Year's Resolution.

Happy New Year!

Saturday, 22 December 2012

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.

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

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.

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

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.




Wednesday, 21 November 2012

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!

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

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?

Sunday, 21 October 2012

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).

Sunday, 16 September 2012

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.