Photo Diary; Life in Paris

A few random photos from my time living in Paris.
This weekend is going to be a very relaxed one for me…hopefully.
I think I had this in mind when I was choosing which photos to post next. So for me I associate being relaxed with these photos, either because of the scenery or just how I felt at that time.
You’ll notice these photos are mainly of Parisian architecture, well that’s because I love it so much!
I love French/European architecture in general, so simple yet beautiful. Don’t you agree?

I decided to end the photo-set with a lovely homemade French meal. 
Good scenery and good food. A girl couldn’t ask for more.

Valentines Day Treats

This post and the above photos are to convince you that I can actually bake…did it work?
On Valentines Day I did the usual exchange of small gifts and a card with the fiancé. 
I say small because neither of us are really bothered by the ‘holiday’ – it’s nice, but I prefer to give him little gifts and show him I care all year round. I’m a serial gift-giver, seriously.

It also happened to fall on our ‘Tuesday Movie Night’ and since the crew usually consists of the guys and me, I decided to use my ‘Cherry & Green Tea Cake Mix’ to make little cupcakes for them all. I covered a few of them with regular icing, but the majority were treated to a special Matcha icing that I made with my green tea powder – I will never tire of finding different ways to cook with it.
There you have it. Nothing fancy, just simple and tasty.
And they were VERY tasty, if I do say so myself!

Photo Diary; Weekend in Leeds

Hilton Hotel, Leeds City Centre, Little Tokyo

For mine and my fiancé’s 3 year anniversary I decided to treat him to a weekend away.
Lucky for me The Hilton Hotel has some great offers on right now. Their Leeds hotel was just as lovely as any of their others I had previously visited. With a gym, swimming pool, spa, restaurant and bar you could stay inside all weekend! 
As tempting as that was, we did venture outside eventually…
I had a few places I wanted to visit, such as Harvey Nichols, Seasons, Topshop and Urban Outfitters.
Unfortunately neither Harvey Nichols nor Seasons had the Marc Jacobs phone case I have been searching for. I think I will definitely have to buy it online. However, Topshop and Urban Outfitters did have what I wanted. I shall post those later!
After some retail therapy we headed to Little Tokyo, a wonderful Japanese restaurant that Sami had previously introduced me to. Their food is delicious, especially their vegan options. I’m not a vegan myself, but I love vegetables and tofu.
It did snow quite a bit that weekend, and unfortunately it disrupted our stay a little, meaning we had to head home early so we didn’t get caught up in any delays on the train. Any Brits reading this will know of the chaos that snow causes to our transport every year.
Unfortunately the battery died in the camera, so there aren’t as many photos as I would have liked, sorry.

Photo Diary; Kawagoe, Japan

Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan 川越、埼玉県、日本

Whilst I was studying at university in Tokyo my class would often go on field trips.
Anthropology was easily my favourite class, and always had the best trips. The pictures above are from the time we went to Kawagoe, a city in Saitama, the prefecture just above Tokyo. 
The city is famous for its old-fashioned buildings, dating from the Edo period. ‘Candy Street’ is also a well known spot in Kawagoe, selling traditional Japanese sweets at low prices. One more thing that the city is famous for is sweet potato. You can find various incarnations of the food in most shops, my favourite was Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Instagram Weekly 3

This week I’ve been working on the blog, and re-designing, as you probably noticed.
Last weekend was my birthday so I was treated to Krispy Kreme – junk food is good for you on your birthday, that’s a fact…promise…
I’ve been enjoying ‘Adventure Time’ as recommended to me by a bunch of people, but Katie was the one who really persuaded me to watch it. I shall never look back! 
Finally after relaxing in my fluffy slippers, I headed off for the weekend with the fiancé. Lots of silly photos of us and myself (all wrapped up, trying to avoid the snow) were taken on the train, including that last one.

Birthday Gifts 2

Some gifts from friends

I shall certainly be smelling nice for the rest of the year (not that I don’t already), with some gorgeous items from Lush. 
Little Green Bag includes: Squeaky Green Shampoo & Jungle Solid Conditioner, Sugar Scrub, Sea Vegetable Soap and Each Peach and Two’s a Pair Massage Bar and Tin.
Buttercup includes: Butterball bath bomb and Honey I Washed the Kids soap.
Some old favourites of mine, and some new ones that I can’t wait to try!
The Tea gift set is from the wonderful Teapigs online store and included: Yerba Mate, Lemon & Ginger, Super Fruit and Mao Feng Green Tea. All amazing teas that I adore – can’t wait to relax with this!!
You all know my love for Matcha (powdered green tea) by now, well you can also buy it at Teapigs!
Finally, an absolutely amazing present.
This t-shirt is from my friend Zak, we lived together in Tokyo and went to the same university there. Whilst we were studying in Tokyo we often came up with strange, random things on our commutes. This is one of those things – yep, it’s me riding atop a sting ray yelling “キモチィィィ” (Japanese for ‘wonderful feeling’). He drew and designed it whilst we were in Tokyo, and this year he put it on a t-shirt for me.
Thank you to all my wonderful friends ♥

Birthday Gifts 1

Parisian Chic: A Style Guide, Marc by Marc Jacobs ‘Sloane’ Watch

It’s safe to say I was spoilt rotten on my birthday.
The fiancé took me for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then surprised me with these wonderful gifts.
The book is written by French model Ines de la Fressange. Inside she explains (from her experience in the fashion industry) how Parisian women stay chic, tips on living life with style and charm, how to mix basics and high fashion and more. The book also includes fashion photography and doodles by Ines herself, which are gorgeous. It makes me miss Paris!
Now the watch; well after the fiancé bought me a MBMJ bangle for Christmas my love for the brand grew significantly. I needed a new watch, and he said his choices were between this one and a Michael Kors watch I had seen. Personally, I think this one suits my style better, so I’m pleased he choose it.