Daytime Look
Dress - H & M
Kimono - Kate Moss for Topshop
Bikini - H&M
Sandals - New Look
Sunglasses - Forever 21
Necklace - Six
Bracelets - Accessorize
This video below is from my YouTube channel! Feel free to take a look!
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Portugal Look Book - Day 2
Daytime
Top - Urban Outfitters
Shorts - Ragged Priest
Sandals - New Look
Sunglasses - Forever 21
Day two! In the morning all of us grabbed a cab to one of Albufeira's gypsy markets. After researching a little the morning before, I came across this market which was not to far away from where we were staying. It was a Tuesday market that took place every fortnight and since this was the only Tuesday that we would be able to visit it, we went. An opening led us to a winding path which had market stalls on either side. There was a lot to see. Unavoidable to the eye, 'designer' bag stalls were there, with 'too good to be true' prices. My favourite, €10 euros for the latest sold out Chanel handbag. What a bargain! I avoided these stalls and was pleased to find many others that sold traditional Portuguese pottery and ponchos. I found a bowl with a hand painted Portuguese rooster that I bought as a gift for my mum to match her rooster coasters. Here, I also found a table cloth I hoped my granny and granddad would like, also with the Portuguese rooster and in the colours of the Portuguese flag.
The heat became immensely hot as we hit 13.00. The following days I tended to avoid going outside for too long between 12.00 and 14.00, because of the heat and the dangers it may have on my skin. We grabbed a cab down to the beach where the sea breeze was welcome at this hot hour! After grabbing some lunch, a cinnamon and vanilla ice-cream pancake in my case, a group of us stayed to enjoy the beach a little more. We sat on the beach; oh how I missed the feeling of walking on warm sand and the smell of the salty sea! It was the perfect place to forget about your troubles. A happy couple playing frisbee, others quietly tanning and more swimming in the shallow part of the sea; it was holiday for everyone!
An exhausting and terribly hot walk home, I drank my weight in water, applied some aftersun and went for a well deserved siesta!
Evening
Top - Topshop
Trousers - Topshop
Wedged Heels - Jane Norman
Watch - Casio
It was this evening that a group of us first ventured out to 'The Strip', Albufeira's nightlife hotspot. Luckily, it was only a short ten minute walk from the Portuguese villa so there was no need to order a taxi or walk too far. I did not know what to expect, so I wondered if it would be filled with elite night clubs or overcrowded bars. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a long road of never ended terraces, all slightly different from the other. Sport bars, karaoke bars, and my favourite, cocktail bars! Each presented us with an eager barman or lady persuading us that their bar was far better than all of the others, by enticing us with 'free shots' and 'happy hour prices' just for us! This was to be expected in this essessively touristic attraction.
Eventually we found a bar which had a large terrace, full people happy to be on holiday, large outdoor heaters and at each table a large colourful cocktail! We each received our free apple sour shot and I ordered a Pina Colada cocktail. One of the BEST Pina Colada cocktail that I have ever had. Countless long straws, a pineapple on the side and sparklers.. what was not to like! We ventured done The Strip for a few more hours, getting to know the place and the sort of people we would meet while there.
We danced the night away and met four Dutch girls who we had a lot of fun with. At ridiculous o' clock we walked home after the boys grabbed themselves a kebab. As a vegetarian I did not see the appeal, however they seemed to enjoy it! It was lovely to get into bed and exciting to think about what Portugal had in store next!
This video below is from my YouTube channel! Feel free to take a look!
Monday, 2 June 2014
Portugal Look Book - Day 1
Daytime Look
Top - Topshop
Shorts - Zara
Shell Necklace - Six
Sunglasses - Forever 21
Sandals - New Look
Day one, welcome to Portugal! It was a lovely unexpected feeling walking outside to a light breeze on a 26 degrees Monday morning. Monday mornings trigger the dark, cold and early school morning after staying up late trying to perfect an essay due the next day. Instead of dressing up in a pair of jeans, UGG boots and a jumper, I put together this very relaxed and free outfit. Effortless for the trouble-free day ahead! First thing I did was put on my bikini and rush to our little swimming pool in our back garden, where we have numerous sun loungers to relax on. I brought a book that I have been longing to read, 'The Devil Wears Prada', written by Lauren Weisberger. I am a huge fan of the film staring one of my favourite actresses, Emily Blunt, thus wanted to give the book a read. The past year it has been hard to read for leisure as school has been extremely busy so this was the perfect time. After a short read the girls and I decided it was best if we went a did the first big shop of the holiday, to make sure enough essentials were bought and less of the 'not so' essential purchases were left to last! It was this shopping trip that I found out how inexpensive the taxis are in Albufira. To take five of us a quarter of an hour to the Aldi and back cost us around €15. If this was London it would be double that amount, perhaps even triple! Our taxi driver, whom we became a dedicated customer of, was very friendly and helpful in showing us the area we were.
30 eggs, 18 litres of water and 7 loafs of bread later, we made in home to a very hungry household. Tomato sauce and pasta was on the menu tonight! I resumed reading my book until I decided it was time to take a nap; the heat and traveling was taking its toll! This nap became my daily siesta that I became dependent on for the late nights. What was normal to wake up at 6.30am became 11am and what was normal to go to bed at 10pm became 2am. No chance of anyone was going out tonight though. Still exhausted from the journey, the guys had their Corona and the girls each had a glass of Vodka and Coke accompanied by some crisps. A relaxing evening with some music.
This video below is from my YouTube channel! Feel free to take a look!
Saturday, 7 December 2013
"Natural Beauty" opening and "Fantastico" exhibition - Groningen Museum
Yesterday I attended the opening for the "Natural beauty" exhibition at the Groningen Museum, in The Netherlands. I received an invitation from my art teacher at school and was very excited when I was given it! The invitation said I was allowed to bring a plus one, so of course I brought my mum! It also allowed us to walk around another exhibition which is on at the moment, called Fantastico.
The weather was traitorous yesterday, so I ran from the bus all the way to museum! When I got there I was very happy because it was warm and dry and I could not wait to see the exhibitions! My full outfit will be at the end of the blog post!
Throughout this blog post I am not posting any photos directly of the art because it is an exhibition you have to pay for. There are only photos of my mum and I and parts that are outside of the exhibition front door.
We got there a little before the Natural Beauty exhibition opened, so my mum and I went to see the "Fantasica" exhibition, which I very much enjoyed! The art that was displayed was by an artist from Madrid called Jaime Hayon, who has been claimed to be one of the most acclaimed designer of his generation. I was so excited about the exhibition when I left it that I purchased the official "Fantastica" souvenir book to look at when I got home!
The exhibition was a mix of canvas paintings, ceramics, life size sculptures and interior design. It gave me a elegant feeling because of the skilled craftsmanship of the work but also a feeling that I had entered a world flu of childlike like dreams. The art work was very quirky and fun, and reminded me of some of my work and ideas. It was full of pastel colours and each from had a different colour wall. Not just the art, but also how the work was displayed deserves a roux of applause. If you are in the area, or this exhibition comes to you, I highly advice it!
The exhibition "Natural Beauty" is sponsored by Unicef, a global organisation that supports children's rights and helps protect them. Lots of children that were taking part in the Unicef section of the exhibition were there. Some children presented their support for Unicef and the exhibition which was interested to listen to. The museum offered places for the children to draw and had nibbles and refreshments. My mum and I had no idea what this exhibition was going to be like until we walked in. It was a mix of renaissance art and impressionism, something my mum and I enjoy which was a lovely sup prise! I was lucky enough to see work by Monet so I was very pleased! If you are in the area, this exhibition is a nice quick activity to do!
What I wore
❯ Trousers from Topshop
❯ Black peplum top from Topshop
❯ Chelsea Boots from Topshop
❯ Necklace from Accessorize
❯ Black hand bag from River Island
❯ Jacket is second hand
Healthy Banana Bites - Recipe
When I came down for breakfast, I saw that our bananas had become overripe! I like eating bananas the most when they are between green and yellow so I was not to excited to eat them, however I really do not like wasting food. I had to think of something to do!
I browsed through some cooking blogs and came across other people who had the same problem. I found a delicious recipe on "Alida's Kitchen" here's the link if you are interested: http://alidaskitchen.com/2013/02/17/healthy-banana-cookies/) however did not have all the ingredients and materials, and when I was making them I encountered problems with the method I was following so while I was baking I changed the method to suit me. When I had finished making them I also thought they looked more like little bite size snacks, so I have changed the name to "Healthy Banana Bites"! I hope you enjoy them!
You Will need:
3 ripe bananas
2 cups of oats
1 cup of pitted dates
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1 tea spoon of cinnamon
1 tea spoon of honey
Step by step on what to do:
Step 2: Preheat your oven to 180ºC. We have an electric oven so I preheated it to the temperate above 180ºC, which is 200ºC.
Step 3: Cover a baking tray with baking paper and set it aside until later.
Step 4: Put all of your dates and the coconut oil (if it is hard like mine) into a blender, and blend until they are no longer big chunks.
Step 5: Add the bananas, oats, cinnamon and honey (and coconut oil if it is runny) to the blender and mix until there are no big chunks.
NOTE: You may need to use a spoon to move around the mixture if it stops mixing.
Step 6: Scoop out the mixture into a bowl and mix with a spoon so the ingredients are evening distributed.
Step 7: With a spoon, scoop out the mixture and form round bite size biscuits. They will not change shape in the oven so make sure they are quite tight together. This mixture was able to make 12 for me.
Step 8: Put the tray into the oven and cook for 20 minutes in a normal oven and 22 minutes in a electric oven, until they are golden brown.
Step 9: When you think they look ready, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool down until they are cold enough to touch (this was ten minutes for me). Do not worry if some have a puddle or a caramel around them! These ones had a little more honey or coconut oil in them which oozed out and cooked. All you need to do is take it off the banana bite when cooled.
Step 10: Take the banana bites and place them onto a cooling rack so they can completely cool down. Step 11: EAT! I had three when I had my midmorning cup of tea earlier today, but you can eat them whenever you like! I would not advice keeping for more than three days, so eat them quickly!
Let me know what you think of your finished result and post a picture on my Facebook page (here's the link to the page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-monicaaliceeShow-monicaaliceeBlog/213132752109503?ref=hl) so I can see how yours turned out! Bon appetite! xoxo
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