It's a bleah morning

Image from 2threads

Sometimes I wish everyone still dressed like this. How much fun that would be!


Image from the NYTimes

And if all dogs wore raincoats like these, the world would be a better place.

Pret-a-Portea at The Berkeley

To continue the cute food trend, here are some pictures of a lovely tea I went to over the weekend at The Berkeley. This tea was cleverly inspired by the Spring/Summer '09 collections of designers like Lanvin, Josh Goot, Oscar de la Renta, Balmain and Alexander McQueen. A marriage between fashion and high tea? Sign me up, baby.



Tea in matching Paul Smith tableware



Starting off with some sandwiches


The main event - what to start off with?


Crab-cake on watermelon



Alexander McQueen marzipan handbags - one of my favourites


Michael Kors-inspired chocolate cake. Tasty!


Christian Louboutin coconut cake. I was slightly disappointed it wasn't in the shape of the shoe. Not my favourite either because I don't like coconut.


Herve Leger swimsuit on the left, and Oscar de la Renta dress on the right.

If they ever do an Autumn-Winter collection, I'm so going back.

Cupcake cuteness

It all started with these adorable puccho cupcakes. My friend had this photo posted in her Facebook album, and I was determined to see more of them. A little sleuthing led me to the very talented owner's Flickr photostream, and lo, there was even more, and not just limited to Japanese candy. There's even an entire set dedicated to cupcakes. I am in cupcake heaven. Here are a few more:





And then, if you search cupcakes in Flickr, you also get fantastic works of art like this:

From abbietabbie

Drool.

Spotted blueberry & clotted cream cake for summer

The longer days and warmer weather have heralded a rather packed social calendar, which means baking has taken a very big step back. I have tons of recipes bookmarked and ready to be tried, but it looks like I'll have to wait for the weather to get colder to send me scurrying back into the warmth of the kitchen.

I did however manage to bake one cake in June for a friend's birthday/farewell party. Since she was leaving London, I decided to make a traditional English cake - Victorian sponge, but with a slight twist. Simply by folding in blueberries into the batter, you get a lovely, moist and utterly tasty cake perfect for summer.

Recipe is from BBC GoodFood.

Sundays are for lazy days

Paris Paris Paris

In a random food place somewhere in Passy

I went to Paris last Thurs for a long weekend break to meet up with a friend from Singapore who's there for work and to eat and shop to my heart's content. And what an eating and shopping marathon we embarked on. I left London with a half-empty suitcase and I returned with it bulging with goodies. My summer wardrobe is sorted; I don't need to shop for the rest of this year.

ShooStories: Lady Dragon

#34

The Shoo: Peach Lady Dragons
Circa: June 2009
Where: my-wardrobe.com

The Story: I first saw the Melissa and Vivienne Westwood collaboration last year while wandering around Liberty. They were cute, but as I had my eye on another pair of shoes, I didn't think too much about them. It wasn't until last month when I saw a tweet about them when I remembered them. This time round, something happened. It must have been the heart-shape, the peep-toe and the delicious candy colours, but on impulse, I went over to my-wardrobe.com (which the tweet informed me was one of the few places you could still grab a pair) and quickly clicked and bought a pair.

Can I just say I absolutely love the customer service from my-wardrobe.com? They were super-quick with email communication and they arrived so quickly. The shoes were ordered late afternoon on Thurs, and they arrived the next day all prettily wrapped up. So quick were they in arriving that I had to change my already made outfit plans and wear them out to a birthday party on Friday night (where a girl complimented me on the shoes while waiting for the train) and to the Royal Ascot on Saturday. I can't wait for the next occasion to wear them.

Swarovski USB keys

I went to Paris for a long weekend to catch up with a friend who was there for work, and also of course to eat and participate in les soldes. While there, I came across these squee-worthy Swarovski USB keys. They come in three colours - black, pink and white. The only downside? They don't come cheap: US$180 or 150 euro each. Ouch.