bloomzy /

OOTD: Ski Holiday Chamonix

 
 (Kit from various ski stores around Chamonix & Argentière)
 
Now I bet you weren’t expecting me to look this good so early in the morning, were you? Joking aside, as I am currently on a skiing holiday in Chamonix I thought I’d share a fitting outfit post. I was kitted up the morning after we arrived in France, as I don’t actually own any ski gear. The decision to own any kind of sports equipment went out the window after I left high school.
I didn’t really have much choice with the boots and skis as I rented them. However I do love how the rental guy matched my boots and skis to my coat. He was a pretty funny guy who enjoyed my comments about how ski boots could be practical & flashy. We also had a laugh after he asked me whether I wanted “gloves or muffins” – a lost in translation moment. The French word for mittens is ‘moufle’ which kind of sounds like muffins, but only ever so slightly. I felt the need to share that little anecdote with you all…sorry.
Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be investing in any ski gear anytime soon.
bloomzy /

Where to Eat in London: The Hawksmoor

The Hawksmoor | Bar/Dinner | Spitalfields | Website
– reservations available –
I’m a pretty big foodie, if you hadn’t already guessed, so I wanted to post a bit about food in London.
This is my version of a Where to Eat in London – I have included the name, type of restaurant/cafe/store, the location of the place I visited, and a link to their website, as the bigger places have more than one location.
This is an ongoing series (you can find the series here) as my love for food and discovering new bars, restaurants etc. continues to blossom. This time I decided to feature only one restaurant as I loved it so much, and that is The Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar. I went for my birthday celebrations with a group of 6 friends, so we were given a booth, which was lovely and definitely added to the atmosphere of the place. All the waiters were lovely, especially the Japanese guy we chatted with about Tokyo and eating in London.
I had the cheeseburger, with triple cooked chips. I was a little worried when they didn’t ask me how I wanted my burger cooked but it turned up medium rare, which is what I would have chosen anyway. So I was more than happy, especially when I dug in – the meat was perfect and the pickled cucumber was a welcomed extra. The highlight of the meal though was the dessert. I had the peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel ice cream – honestly there could not be a more perfectly suited dessert for me. Hidden inside the shortbread was a layer of liquid chocolate waiting to ooze out, and the peanuts scattered around the plate were a nice added touch. The presentation of the burgers was the only thing that let The Hawksmoor down, but I can forgive them as I’ll definitely be back!
I wouldn’t have included this place if I didn’t love and recommend it.
So if you have the chance you should definitely check it out!
bloomzy /

Christmas Presents from Germany & Japan

Christmas gifts from Rae, in Germany

Christmas gifts from Miyuki, in Japan

Christmas came a little early for me last week.
I was lucky enough to receive not one, but two packages through the post.
One was from the lovely Rae of Love from Berlin who is an amazing person that I met through blogging.
The other package was from one of my best friends in Japan who I studied with a couple of years ago.
Both gifts were amazing, and so very cool in their own ways.
I loved how both seemed to represent a little bit of the culture too.
Rae sent me some German chocolate (we all know it’s the best), magazines and make-up.
I can’t wait to try out the eyeshadow palette, it’s so very seasonal and the colours are gorgeous!
She also knows me very well by including some gorgeous glittery nail polish, which I will have already applied by the time this post goes live. I can’t help it, I’m an addict! 
Miyuki often asks me what I would like and I said I would like to try some new Japanese beauty products.
She also knows that I’ve just moved into my first apartment so sent me a few home items to decorate and relax with.
The nail polish, once again was a delight to receive, especially the Majolica Majorca glass polish – review soon!!
I also loved the Dior products and make-up bag. They’ve already been stashed away in my handbag.
I feel so lucky to know such wonderful people and I am very thankful ♥
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Holiday in Provence 1

 
Photos around Provence, South of France

Here is the first of my photo diaries from my recent holiday in Provence, in the South of France.
I love France and Provence is somewhere I have visited a couple of times for it’s weather, scenery and good food.
So I wanted to show a little bit of Provence in the few photos I included this time.
We have; cakes, animals, coffee, architecture and…a pink bike, of course.
The cakes just looked so inviting, and I’m a big fan of French decaffeinated espressos because I can’t have caffeine and they’re still rich with flavour, compared to British decafe coffee anyway. The cute kitty was the ‘village cat’ that wandered around – I took that photo when we were sat having dinner. As for the dog, I don’t know who it belonged to as it was in a different town but he was really friendly – I was taking an outfit photo when he came over and photobombed me. It’s safe to say I forgave him. Hmm…I think the rest is self explanatory, except for the pink bicycle, which was just a prop to advertise for a nearby Pizzeria.
I haven’t done a photo diary for a little while, so I hope you still enjoy them!
bloomzy /

OOTD: Holiday in Provence, France 2

(T-shirt, Shorts & Sandals: Topshop, Bag: Primark, Necklace: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Sunglasses: New Look)

Here is the second helping of my outfit shots from my recent holiday.
This time taken in a wonderful small village in the mountains, outside a lovely restaurant we actually ended up going to a few days later. I loved the look of the place so I wanted to do a quick outfit shot in front of it.
Obviously this was a casual outfit, just something comfortable for a day of walking, browsing markets and sipping on decafe espressos. I wore my favourite grey t-shirt…ok I only have one, but if I did have more this would be my favourite because the material is wonderfully comfortable, soft and light. I also paired it with my Marc by Marc Jacobs wishbone necklace, which is just the right amount of ‘rock’ without taking too much from the outfit.
I look so teeny-tiny on these photos, and as much as I would like to think it’s a combination of the slope I’m standing on and the fiance’s height, lets just face it, I’m a shorty.

Apologies for the quality of the above photos, these were taken on my iPhone not camera.
bloomzy /

French Beauty & Skin Care Haul

Some French beauty products that I picked up on holiday

Whenever I go away on holiday I always spend about 90% of my money on gifts.
However this time after the fiancé kept pestering me to ‘treat [myself]’ I decided that for once I would.
I knew I wanted to buy a few French beauty products and luckily for me the well-known ones, which we also have at home, are slightly cheaper in France. Also they carry some brands that haven’t made it to the UK yet.
French pharmacies are amazing, and much better than British ones, in my opinion.
Even the smallest of pharmacies carry lots of well-known beauty brands, and their new products.
So I paid a quick visit to the pharmacy and spent a good 30mins trying to decided what I wanted to pick up.
I finally decided on a few things:
+ Avène Eau Thermale – Micellar Lotion (make-up remover)
+ Avène Eau Thermale – Eau Thermale (thermal water spray)
+ Evian Brumisateur (facial spray)
+ Caudalíe Eau de Raisin (grape water)
+ Belle à Croquer Rosée de Concombre – Sérum Plaisir des Yeux (Cucumber Eye Serum)
+ Avène Eau Thermale Crème Nutritive Compensatrice Riche (extremely rich compensating cream)
+ Avène Eau Thermale Micellar Lotion – Travel size
+ Avène Eau Thermale Lait Corporel Hydratant (moisturising body lotion)

As you can see I went a bit crazy with the facial sprays.
I’d been wanting to try out Evian’s for a while, and then I was drawn in by Avène’s & Caudalíe’s too.
I plan to try them all out and then do reviews, then later maybe do a comparison post featuring them all.
The Belle à Croquer Cucumber Eye Serum was a last minute item that sounded nice (I love the smell of cucumber, and I remember always putting cucumber on my eyes at sleepovers etc.), so I thought I’d give it a try.
I will try to review all the items as I use them, but feel free to let me know if there is one you’d like to see sooner than the others, and if there’s a general consensus I will put that one at the top of my list.
bloomzy /

OOTD: Holiday in Provence, France 1

(Blouse: Glamorous*, Jeans: Primark, Shoes: Urban Outfitters, Bracelet: Marc by Marc Jacobs)

I’m back from my holiday in Provence, in the South of France and I thought I would make a comeback with an ‘outfit of the day’ post. Unfortunately I didn’t take as many outfit shots as I had wished, but I did take a few so I will slowly update with them over the next week or so.
This outfit was for an evening meal at a lovely restaurant we visited last time we were there.
Luckily in the evenings the temperature was slightly more bearable, so I was able to wear jeans.
Even then it was around 32c, which was surprising – maybe I slowly acclimatised, I don’t know.
The blouse is from Glamorous. It’s such a fine material that it was perfect in the heat.
I did pop a white vest top on underneath though as it is very sheer. I just wanted something casual-formal, so I paired it with the jeans and my gold panther court heels, which added a little bit of a flare to it…at least I thought so.