In London~~ stay tuned!

Day 1 in the airport to London
mission: TopShop n' find out all the major shopping streets.

Gray/mustard tartan Poncho coat, tweed bermuda pants, black turtle neck, black tights, Kelsie brown lace up wedge, Hobo International messenger bag.



The first day that I already found out all the high end departments stores, Moschino, Chanel, Hermes, Stella McCartney, Max Mara, Burberry (It is omnipresent in every corner of London. ^^)...etc. location.

Topshop beaded short n' Kate Moss for topshop necklace. (NOW under my possess.)

Day 2 in London
Misson: Find out all the landmarks... London eye, Tower bridge, Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminister Abby, House of Parliament, .....





 
No, it is NOT THAT cold if I can wear SHORTS in London. ^O^



Apple store is even bigger than in California...



BIg Ben!




Tower Bridge.

I want buy something "local" so off I go to Carnaby st. after done today's mission. 
I found "Aqua"!  

Left: ALLSAINTS SPITALFIELDS (Brocade leather tailcoat in SMOKE) 
Right: Aqua Couture (bodice dress in orange/pink) (My possess)



Some metal necklaces.. Love the free style urban looks. (My possess)



Dinner at close-by restaurant... Cha Cha Moon. 
The taste is not bad at all and all at a very reasonable price. 






This little Alley lies small shops (vintage store) and some nice restaurants.



Anthropologies here in London has quite different merchandise from SF.


I also found this very cool store, AllSaints SpitalFields!!! 

There window displays all kinds of sewing machines that I thought it is a fabric or cloth shop from afar!!



Boots are all so urban slouchy look. 






Nice pieces of baubles. 






Day 3 in London
Mission: British Museum



It is only 7 AM and we walked to find a diner for our English breakfast. 


My ODJ.


1. Top:
Isabel Murant pull over
AllSaints SpitalFields smoke brocade tail leather jacket
Marc Jacobs beige coat 


2. Bottom:
Preen leather/polyester pants w/ studs ....(PS, my rear is really chill because it is only polyester at back..^O^)


3. Accessory:
metal necklace w/ pence, Swarovski, feather (bought at Aqua but I need to find the designer's name)
distressed bag
Boss gray scarf
y-3 hat


4. Shoes:
Givenchy 09' boots w/ chain



Kids are all so nosy....they are probably suffered from being bored (waiting for the gallery to be open) and jet lag.....so do I. 



I really adore the tail of this AllSaints leather jacket.... so much of "Shakespeare looking"!



It is not even 9 AM when we arrived British Museum that I decided to read Fairy story to Niel and Abby whilst we wait for the gallery open at 10 AM. 


You know, we only in the British Museum for hour and half, kids became tired and bored that we decided to ditch out touring! :P



This is then what happened around 2:30 PM that everyone seems to be defeated by jet lag. We went home for an hour nap after lunch.~~ I said, only an hour!! ^O^



Outside the natural history museum. 
We almost walked every corner in London... ^O^



They even have Melissa shoes for children available. 



There are so many different styles of rain boots, flat tall boots and as well as Melissa's rubber shoes. 



We all ride on Ferry Wheel in the evening.... DH and I were so sleepy that we hoped that we can sleep right inside the capsule!! :P






London's night view is amazing!!


Ah... I think I am too tired now...that I should go to bed cause' we'd catch plane for Italy. 
See you.


xoxo Rachel

The Weekend & Party Shoes...

Our American friends wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving so they decided to host a little get together for everyone.  Basically it's just an excuse to eat, drink and be merry so it felt alot like Christmas Day.  I tried Pumpkin Pie and Green Bean Casserole for the first time and absolutely LOVED both of them!  I am converted and think that we should adopt this holiday...even though it's got nothing to do with the history of our country...but anyway...

After I featured the Dior Earth Reflections eyeshadow palette on here, I was asked to do a FOTD with it so here it is.  I won't go into details about every product I used but I teamed the Dior eye with Mac Angel Lipstick and the Dior Addict Maximiser Lip Gloss.  I didn't want to go over the top with my make-up since it was a casual gathering.

As you can see, it really creates a very wearable, daytime eye that is defined but very subtle.  I just kind of let my hair do it's own thing which is generally better than straightening it because it retains more volume this way.

I just used the pale gold colour all over the lid, followed by the light taupe in the socketline, intensifying it with the darker taupe shade.  I used the ivory shade as a highlight in the inner corners.  You could easily go darker than this but I chose to keep it light and natural.  I just finished it off with Mac Black Russian eyeliner and a couple of coats of Maxfactor Flase Lash Effect Mascara.

Given that the Thanksgiving meal was at our friend's new place, the dress code was inevitably casual and preferably something with an elasticated waist to deal with all that food!  My friends were laughing at what I called my 'casualwear' because it's covered in embellishments.  I don't think I know how to dress down!  I just wore my H&M studded leggings, my grey chiffon top from Warehouse, my pearl-embellished H&M cardigan and my New Look boots...

I'm a little bit obsessed with these leggings because the rectangular metal studs down the sides are so cool and add a really nice detail to your outfit.  Loads of people have commented on them so far.  They are fantastic quality and don't go baggy at the knee etc.  The best thing is, they are long in the leg so they don't edge up your legs when you wear them.  They were only £14.99 so i tried to look for another pair last time I was in H&M but I couldn't find any more pairs in my size :(

They are always situated in the bits where they hang all the 'Divided' range so you may have to have a proper rake around for them.  They're always mixed in with the plain leggings...so there's a tip for ya!  

Since my outfit and makeup was very neutral, I decided to wear a really bright nail varnish...that being Mavala's Spicy Red...a gorgeous and very festive (almost metallic) red.  I was sent this recently and although it's not the type of colour I would normally wear, I actually really love it.  It was applied in a hurry, 10 minutes before we left the house so you'll have to excuse any messy bits.  What I can say is that it dried SUPER quick and stayed immaculate for two days after just one coat.  Small chips have begun to appear but that's to be expected after no base coat, only one coat and no protective top coat!

I tried my hand at making my first ever home made apple pie and it turned out to be a big success!  I even made my own pastry so I was well chuffed with myself! I kinda ran out of shortcrust pastry for the 'lid' of the pie so it doesn't reach as far as it should at the edges but it all tastes the same when you put it in your mouth! It may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing apple pie but it tasted good!  Not bad for my first go at it!  The kitchen was filled with a gorgeous scent of apples, cinnamon and nutmeg after I baked it...mmmmmm!

Ok, so judging by my current collection (fixation), it's no secret that I like to adorn my tootsies with pretty, decorative shoes.

I love shoe shopping but something that I take special magpie enjoyment from is shopping for 'party' shoes...shoes for special occcasions in the festive season when you want something that makes you go...wow!  I am drawn to shiny things and any shoes that have pretty embellishments are impossible for me to pass by without the obligatory "oooh-ing" and "ahhhing".

These are some shoes that have caught my eye during some VERY innocent internet 'window' shopping...if you have an aversion to blinged out shoes, please look away now...let the sparkle commence...

Is it wrong that I want them ALL?????