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Drifting through life...

Monday 30 January 2012

Health Kick

Following a recent conversation with one of my friends, who pointed out very nicely that my Facebook page has more pictures of cake than it has of me, I have decided to opt for the healthier lifestyle.

For dinner today I decided to try to make some falafel burgers. I have had had a falafel panini from Starbucks before and really wanted to master making falafel myself (Starbucks is soooo expensive)!


The falafel burgers consisted of chickpea's, red onions, parsley, garlic, ground cumin, coriander, black pepper, green chillies, red chilli powder and salt. As you can probably tell by the ingredient's, the burgers were very flavoursome and there was a definite 'explosion of flavours'. 


After partially blending the ingredients together, I formed the burger shapes. I used 2tsp of sunflower oil (healthy) to fry each side of the burger for 2 minutes to give it a nice crispy texture.


I served the falafel burgers in pitta bread with a green leaf salad and a tomato salsa. They were gorgeous! The spiciness of the burgers really hit the back of your throat, but the cool leaf salad and the tomato salsa cooled it down ever so slightly. The combination of the flavours worked so well together that I will definitely be making these again.

What's your  favourite healthy recipe?


Sunday 29 January 2012

Hoarding

Having a bad habit of not throwing anything away means that I often forget all the gorgeous clothes that get neglected the second buy I new ones. Today I had a huge spring clean and was shocked by how many clothes I had forgotten about. 

I had packed away all the clothes that I wear to special occasions when university started again because this post-graduate course leaves very little room for a social life. The attire I wear for special occasions are Asian clothes which reflect my British-Asian background. I LOVE this part of my culture because the clothes are glamorous, bright and elegant. 

The following photographs show just a snippet of the amount of clothes I rediscovered today...


I love the way that the red belt is a contrast to the blue dress. The gold, blue and red belt really pull this whole outfit together.


This is one of my favourite outfits!


I never thought that orange and blue would go together but in this case they were a perfect combination.


This is a design at the bottom of one of my dresses; I love the rustic feel and look to the clothes.


I wore this to my 21st birthday party because I loved the detail on the neckline on the dress. 



I adore the subtle tie dye affect.


This is a perfect outfit for the summer; the bright colours and seashell like sequins make it perfect for a summer wedding on the beach...now I just need a summer wedding on the beach to go to...


This was the first outfit that my Dad chose for me and it was actually a BEAUTIFUL one! I love how the sequins start of small at the top of the dress and gradually expands as it gets  to the bottom.


This is another dress that I found today. It is a very simple dress but the neckline is heavily made up with metallic sequins. 

What have you done today?

Saturday 28 January 2012

Snapshot

'Pictures speak a thousand words' 

I am strong believer in the above quotation because photographs have the ability to capture the essence of a place, the feelings that you experience and forget in a fleeting moment, and memories that you can treasure forever. 

SO, when I set off for my London adventure, I decided that I was going to capture and share all those moments that were special to me. I travelled down to London this morning to spend the day with one of my friend's who had moved there to attend Music School. I love London; there is so much history and culture, so much to do, it never gets boring and it is always changing. It is one of my favourite places to visit because I find it enriches me and broadens my knowledge about British history. 

The following photographs are just a little insight into what I got up to today. 



We went to Convent Garden Market to have a smooch around and see if we could pick up any bargains. I love the different variety of stalls that are situated in there and the uniqueness of all the products.


I loved the cobbled pavements around the Convent Garden! They worked so well with the quaint cafes and restaurants that were located across the Convent Gardens and took me back in time to the Victorian Era.


I enjoyed a Belgian waffle with double chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce for my breakfast. It was such a lovely morning sitting in Convent Gardens, taking in the atmosphere, listening to the opera singer's performance and catching up with my friend.


This was just one of the jewellery stalls that I came across in London. It was so colourful that I HAD to stop and take a photograph to share with you. There were so many different types of jewellery that we spent ages browsing through it.


I am an architectural geek so I loved the towering buildings and the detailed stone work, 


People forget about the sacrifices that were made by millions of young men and women just a few decades ago so that we could have THIS freedom. I have always been interesting in WW1 and WW2 so this memorial really touched me. It is important that no one forgets what tore the world apart and created such catastrophic conflicts, but how many people do you think walk past this everyday without paying attention to it and not realising its symbolic meaning?


This was another little symbolic statue aimed at remembering those soldiers who died for us in the war. The picture does this no justice because it is so beautiful in real life!


'Lest we forget'

'

I LOVED how quirky this guy was. He was a street artist and would only smile if you gave him some money. After some failed attempts at trying to make him laugh (by repeatedly saying 'SMILE! Yoooou know you want to! I can seeeeeeee it! Here is cooooooooomes'), I gave up!


We had dinner at TGIF and then ordered a huge dessert EACH! I devoured my rich chocolate brownies with vanilla&cookie icecream and chocolate and toffee sauce! It is one of the best desserts I have ever had! I have never been to TGIF's and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the standard of the service.


This shot took my breath away! It shows London just as it is; bright, busy and beautiful!


What's your favourite place to visit?

Friday 27 January 2012

Delayed...

Reflect back on your past week and think about how many times you were delayed (whether it was going to work, getting home because of traffic or even queueing up for a Starbucks coffee), and try to remember how you felt. Angry? Frustrated? Annoyed? Exasperated? Irritated? As a species, the human population experiences extreme emotions when things do not go to plan. Next time, step back, breathe and take a moment to appreciate your surroundings.

Public transport has been the bane of my life for as long as I can remember, so it was no surprise when my 30 minute train journey turned into 90 minutes because of delays. There was an underlying feeling of tension and strain within the crowded train but I was adamant that I was going to make the best of a bad situation. I spent the journey chatting to a lovely lady from Liverpool called Joyce who had travelled 3 hours to visit her boyfriend of 10 months. We spent the journey sharing life experiences, jokes, and she fed us chocolate!


This evening (when I finally made it back home), I went out and had a long overdue catch up with one of my friend's over dinner. Life always seems to get in the way and there is always so much going on that it is hard to synchronise schedules to meet up with friends so I always treasure these moments. We spent the evening reminiscing about the past, looking into the future and sharing what we were doing at this point in our lives. Socialising always revolved around food in my group of friends so we headed to Pizza Hut for some dessert and indulged in some cookie dough.



The train delay and the delayed catch up with my friend would normally have put me in a negative mood but today I was able to appreciate that; not everything always has to go to plan and you cannot control everything, so embrace all the twists and turns in life because without mystery where's all the fun....?


How's your day been today?

Thursday 26 January 2012

Inspiration

The season of the sun, the sea and the dresses is nearly upon us, and the major influence for my wardrobe has been Zooey Deschanel. I have always been a fan of the quirky actress but her most recent project, New Girl, has made me fall in love with her all over again. Her elegant, chic style and effortless beauty combines together to make her one hell of a fashion icon.

Here are a few pictures that have influenced me the most...



I love how this baby pink dress has been  teamed up with the rustic heart necklace. The contrast between the delicate dress and the harshness of the necklace really pulls the outfit together. 


This metallic gold dress is structured like a typical  1950's prom dress and this is one trend that has survived the turmoil of the fashion world. The trend for the summer is going to be floral prints with dresses nipped in at the waist and I cannot wait till I can invest in one of these dresses; they are so versatile because I will be able to wear them to work, for a picnic in the park or just a lunch date with some of my girlfriends. 


I adore this picture of Zooey! This is another old picture that has passed the test of time and takes my breath away EVERY time. This dress is so simple yet so bewitching at the same time. Lace is not a look that everyone can pull off but if you have the confidence (like Zooey clearly does) you can wear anything. There are already a variety of different lace dresses in stores across the UK so come summer I will definitely be buying one that I can dress up for special occasions and dress down for the day.


I love the playfulness of this picture and how the dress is portrayed. The white dress with the belt nipping in around the waist looks fantastic against the aqua coloured bike. That has always been my favourite colour combination for the summer and I intend to wear it again this summer. This is such a beautiful picture because there is very little going on. There are no accessories; just a flowing white dress, long tumbling hair and a big smile.

Who is your inspiration?

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Indulgence

I was pleasantly surprised today when my friends suggested a spontaneous shopping trip after our lectures finished. As much as I love planning out my days in my beautiful new diary, I love impromptu trips to places even more. We headed into the tiny (and very vacant) shopping centre close to our university expecting nothing more than a few hours of divulging into conversation about the events of the past few days and smooching around the shops.

So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a gorgeous pair of gold hoop earrings with blue beads circling them and turquoise stones embedded within them. The contrast of the different colours and simplicity of the design took my breath away! I expected to pay nothing less than £10 for them but, due to the SALE that Topshop had combined with my student discount, I bought them for £2.25! The picture below does very little justice to the earrings; in direct sunshine the light is scattered from the gems giving the illusion of twinkling stars dancing across the dainty stones. I will be wearing these in the summer with a simple white or baby pink dress to enhance the beauty of the earring.

Another bargain that I couldn't resist purchasing was a faux fur scarf from New Look. The soft texture and the colour sold it to me within seconds of me entering the shop (and the fact that it was £6 instead of £10 didn't hurt either). It is a perfect little accessory to accompany me to my trip to London on the weekend. There is still a piercing coldness in the air but I know that the combination of the faux fur and the quilt detailing inside the scarf will protect me from the frosty conditions. 

What has your most recent bargain been?

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Enchantment

I woke up this morning to such dim, dull and drab weather that I came to the decision that I needed some colour in my life. Having only a few minutes before I had to make a run for my train, I decided that the fastest and most effective way to do this was splash some colour on my nails in the form of nail polish. I used a NYC deep red nail polish that came alive against my dark blue skinny jeans and grey coat. I have always believed that nail polish is the best way to make an effort whether you're going for a glamorous, chic, vintage or  laid back look. The subtleness and simplicity of it in contrast to the busy and fast moving everyday life has the opposite effect; the nail polish is a flash of colour, a shock of brightness and a moment of enchantment.

This jolt of colour had a positive knock on effect to the rest of my day. The train journey to university would otherwise have been a long, drawn out journey that I would have had to ensure because of the murky morning BUT I sat on the train taking in the beautiful scenery and marvelling at the constant changes of Mother Nature.



How was your day today?

Monday 23 January 2012

Bliss!

Life has a habit of creeping up and passing by before you have a chance to appreciate those little moments that fill you with joy, elevate your soul and make you 'YOU'!

I am going to take the simple task of recording those moments of utter simplicity that enhance and enlighten my day and share them with you. Life has so many burdens, so much trouble and so much stress; it is easy to forget that real moments of happiness.

Today, I spent the day at home (kids: skiving off university is bad!) to catch up with an endless list of errands. It was a long, laborious day but sitting down with the family in the evening and devouring a chocolate fudge brownie with whipped cream and berries was such a blissful moment that it took away the darkness and gloom I had felt sifting through my bills.

What was your moment of pure bliss today?