Going to French Cafe

On the way to French Cafe I'd noticed peculiar felted creatures in Art Gallery windows and very funny chefs de cuisine...

Music: Emiliana Torrini

These songs I've been listening this week;-)
Jungle drum (album Me and Armini 2008)


Heartstopper(album Fisherman's Woman 2005)

Sunny Road(album Fisherman's Woman 2005)


Emilíana Torrini (born May 16, 1977) is an Icelandic singer.

Inspiration: Fashion photos

Marcelina Sowa & Suzanne Diaz in Vogue Paris October 2006 by Mark Segal

Louverture du Theatre by Katty Ukhanova in Deuxieme Classe F/W 2008

Sasha Pivovarova in Vogue UK January 2009 by Lachlan Bailey Elle Italia december 2008

Diet: Carrot cake by Leila Lindholm

I like to vary in cooking and I'm not afraid to try new things. Leila Lindholm's recipes never disappoint me and I can proudly announce that I own 2 of her books.

Who is Leila Lindholm whose motto is:"Cooking should be simple, exciting and playful. It should be neither expensive nor too complicated to prepare. And it should definitely not create any anxiety."? She is a Swedish girl with Moroccan background. In 1999 Leila was named "female chef of the year" in Sweden. Nowadays she is a hostess of cooking show on TV and an author to her cookbooks.

A recipe I present today is a Carrot cake from her latest cookbook "A piece of cake".
Ingredients for one cake
3 eco-eggs
3 dl(approx 1,3 cup) white sugar (brown sugar works as well, you can reduce amount from3 dl to 2 dl too )
3 dl all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 vegetable oil
4 1/2 dl(approx 1,9 cup) grated carrots

Butter and dried breadcrumbs for a 9x13 inch baking form with detachable bottom.
1. Preheat oven to 302 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs and white sugar.
3. Mix in all dry ingredients and blend the mass in to the eggs.
4. Stir in carrots and add vegetable oil.
5. Pour into prepared form .
6. Bake in the middle of preheated oven for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Let cool in pan.

Cream cheese lime frosting
60 g softened butter(I used 30 g)
4 dl(approx 1,7 cup) icing sugar(I used 2 dl)
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
skin peel of 1 lime(I used lemon)
100 g Philadelphia cream cheese
1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
2. Frost the cooled cake.

P.S. I used chopped hazel-nuts in my cake.

Make your Friday night delicious!

Where you could find me tonight..

Last week I got an invitation to visit an event for faithful customers of NK(Nordiska Kompaniet department store). Refreshments and chance to win a dress from NK Cocktail assortment were offered and at the same time they offered 20% discount on everything at the store today. Following brands were presented: Oasis, Warehouse, Coast, Nine West, Bertie and so on.
Frankly I never buy anything at NK Cocktail but I use to browse trough their articles and sometimes I find interesting pieces which I like but due to their unsatisfying quality I'm not ready for purchase.

Long story short...I went to this event not for shopping but for observation mostly and I wanted use a chance to win a dress..why not:-)
On the way to the store I noticed new shop windows which were styled in Christmas theme. Look!
Then after some sips of champagne I went proudly to the store to spot my favourites:
It was quite crowded there so I conclude that those brands are popular among people from Gothenburg

Angora + animal print=like it

Pretty gloves - the bow trend is still hot!

I love this beaded beltTrying to think out some convincing arguments for my husband to buy me this dress.
While I was trying on the dress I liked the winner of a dress was announced...to my surprise a girl who won a dress was one of the "friends" to shop assistants. It was not fair! By the way I didn't buy this dress because zipper was broken .

P.S. It was very funny to overhear a conversation between some Swedish ladies while they were sipping their beverages which complained over that all current assortment at NK departments store is only for special occasions like party and that there is no proper casual cloth to buy. It made me smile because I have completely opposite opinion. Taste differs as they say.

Tradition: "A women who doesn't wear perfume has no future"

To continue story about traditions of my own I want to share with one more especially when Christmas time is so close.

Coco Chanel said one day:"A women who doesn't wear perfume has no future." So traditionally I buy a new perfume on every Christmas or New Year eve. I have a new dress to meet my new year so why not complete it with a new beautiful bottle of fragrance.

I already have quite big perfume collection of 16 pieces and it is pretty hard for me to find something I like among not so broad assortment of fragrances here in Gothenburg.

For instance I was very curious about Tom Ford White Patchouli ("Opens energetically sparkling notes of bergamot blended with delicate white peony and spicy coriander accents make an instant play for attention.The alluring and modern heart unfolds in sequence: rich rose absolute, carnal night blooming jasmine, and the stimulating ambrette seed.Precious patchouli orpur infuses the finish with exotic depth. Its stimulating sensual pull is enriched by a medley of blonde woods and the soft eastern aroma of incense.") but it doesn't sale here.

Then I thought about Spring Flower by Creed("A spring time perfume that already hints at summer with its fruity green cantaloupe note. Melon, peach, flowers, and sun-kissed skin. Delicate and subtle when the vintage is right (Creed fragrances depend on vintage harvests). It was created in 1951 by Olivier Creed for lovely actress Audrey Hepburn") but it is quite pricey for me this year, maybe later in spring as my birthday gift;-).

So with no hope and clock ticking I tried on me Bulgari Jasmin Noir("The fragrance opens with notes of green sap and gardenia. The heart of the scent includes sambac jasmine absolute and satin almond notes, while its base includes precious woods, tonka bean absolute and licorice.") during my shopping in Tuesday this week and I felt in love. So now I have to make a descision whether to buy it at NK now or at Strawberry with lower price but waiting couple of weeks.

I'll be glad to read about your traditions - please share, don't hesitate;-)

Dream outfit: Once in November

On the left:

Brown hat

Brown leather bag

Gucci 3/4 length black dress

Allison ankle boots

On the right:

Missoni inlay jersey hat

Versus large leather bag

Normaluisa short brown silk dress

Ann Demeulemeester brown boots

Outfit of the day: Shopping at Freeport designer outlet in Kungsbacka

Today in the evening I went for shopping at Freeport outlet. For this activity I dressed in casual style:

Coat(mix of parkas and trench coat) - Greenstone.

Scarf - one of my knitting projects made of alpaca by instruction of Vogue knitting magazine.

Jeans middle-wasted wide leg - Massimo Dutti

Long sleeve top - In Wear essentials

Functional shoes - MBT

Perfume "Lovely" - by SJP.

P.S. I'm in desperate need for bigger mirror and bright lamp.

Things I bought at Acne outlet, tight black trousers and two tops.

On my nails: Blue Satin

Blue Satin is one of my most favorite shades of palette among Chanel nail polishes. You need just one layer of the Blue Satin to get dark navy blue almost black nuance. It dries quickly too.

.." Blue is calming. It can be strong and steadfast or light and friendly. Almost everyone likes some shade of the color blue. "..

..."Put some blue in your life when you want:
- calm and relaxation to counteract chaos or agitation
- to open the flow of communication
- to broaden your perspective in learning new information
- solitude and peace "...

P.S. As you can see it is not so easy to make a photo of this dark nail polish.

Buzz: H&M spring/summer 2009 collection

I have double feelings towards H&M.
-Why?
Firstly I do not think that their products are worth their price. Absolutely opposite. Quality of their garments is so poor that their "low" prices after some reconsideration are not so low. Are we so rich that we can buy a dress for 50-100 euro which never survives washing machine or ironing or wearing? Maybe it is just me, but I really tried to like their stuff, but whether their garment are poorly constructed and never fit your body(large in bust area but tight on your bottom or opposite) or colour fades, pellets creates and so on. Secondly despite the fact that H&M designers are pretty talented they plagiarize the high fashion - double moral alert - we fight against plagiary concerning bags for instance but H&M and some other brands do it in front of your noses.
Here are some pictures from H&M spring/summer collection 2009...beautiful as always on the pictures, but in reality?! Judge yourself.

P.S. The latest gossip about H&M says that next collaboration with famous designer will be with Matthew Williamson and his line for H&M will launch some day in April 2009.

I have only bought a dress from collaboration of H&M and Madonna, mostly because I was bored and Madonna for H&M campaign was the only fun activity in the little town I was living in spring 2007.

SALE: For you who live in Gothenburg

Boutique "Kastelgatan" - Gothenburg Kastellgatan 14 - invites you for shopping of Twist&Tango autumn/winter collection 2008 on SAMPLE SALE.

Thursday 27 November at: 7-20

Friday 28 November at: 10-19

Saturday 29 November at: 10-16

.."Twist & Tango is represented in more than 200 stores around Sweden, and retailed in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, Spain, USA, Japan and Dubai."..