A little lemonaid for making the perfect Lorina substitute!

So, as with makeup, I feel a little bit like a fraud giving anyone advice on cooking/recipes/whatever. However, this is a thing I made and made well. You need not heed my advice but I'll leave it here just in case.

Ingredients

2.5 cups lemon juice

2.5 cups sugar

1 cup cranberry juice

1 cup sparkling water

1. Juice enough lemons for two and a half cups worth.

2. Bring sugar and one cup of tap water to boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool.

3. Add lemons, cranberry juice and sparkling water. It's genuinely that simple!

Serve with cute cupcakes as below or bottle and add a ribbon for a cute gift! The lemonade should survive pretty well for a few days if refrigerated. 

Christmas Gift Guide (kind of) - Part I - This one goes out to all the Lovers in the room.

So, basically I wanted to do a gift guide but I'm loathe to say "for her" or "for girls" etc etc. I think dictating typically "female" things is kind of wrong. So, instead, this is stuff I've seen and think is cute. I like these things and would give or receive all of them happily. They are largely female orientated with a lot of beauty products etc but those things aren't my only concerns in life so I've also included some things that anyone could enjoy. Not all of these things are readily available anymore but substitutes could easily be found.

I've broken these gifts down by categories I assigned to them and I'll do one category per post. The first is super-cute gifts that have meaning and you would give to a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/love/wife/husband etc.

1.

This ring by Lumo is still available from their site at $55. You have yours and your person's name put on it. It's simple, beautiful and so cute! I always think that the nicest gifts are personal or personalised..

2. 

On a similar note, this love birds necklace is, once again, lovely and sweet but slightly less expensive at $24.50

3. 

The last of these jewellery ideas is the most expensive. An amazing collaboration between the brilliant brains behind Tatty Devine and the ever-adorable Rob Ryan for Selfridges. You can buy items from the line here. My favourites are already sold out (as are the above) but other pieces are still available. Prices start at £95.

4. 

This LP frame is from Tiger at four euro and a similar one for six euro is for sale in Ikea. I think a really sweet idea is to buy one of these for an album that means something to the two of you. So, for me, I'd get the Nirvana Unplugged LP or Doolittle by the Pixies for Daniel as the first gift I ever bought him was the DVD of the Unplugged session and our first song was La La Love You off Doolittle.

5. 

This book (clearly available on Amazon) can be picked up for around ten pounds but prices of books always vary. It is one of the sweetest things I've ever read. In fact, I'm such a sap I tear up every time I read it. I love, love, love Rob Ryan - made obvious by the fact that he appears twice on this list (as does Tatty Devine - his collaboration team for the jewellery above). 

So, those are my first gift suggestions. These are really ones to give from the heart and are less about spending lots of money but I've given items across a range of prices to suit lots of different tastes.

On a last note, for this category I think experiences are great gifts - holidays together, days out etc. Handmade stuff is always nice. Love letters are like my favourite thing to get ever. And you can rarely go wrong with flowers - white roses in Winter just work. 

Queen of Hearts

Ah, the love, betrayal, scandal and, of course, costumes! CW's Reign is fast becoming one of my favourite shows! A bit of a guilty pleasure, it's entertaining but also so visually stunning! I love that they have taken a stylised approach to the Tudor past rather than aiming at accuracy. I'd prefer obviously stylised historicising to something that pretends to be accurate. And let's be honest, accuracy would be wayyy too costly - Renaissance materials and techniques don't come cheap. Besides, the drama wouldn't be half as entertaining if the costumes weren't this theatrical!

Lay your eyes on the clothes, become addicted to the show and let Mary become queen of your heart too!

#teamfrary

And can we talk about the opening sequence? AMAZING.

Midi-rings, magnificent rings.

LOVING midi-rings at the moment. Seriously. These came as a pack of three from Topshop in copper, gold and silver for around seven euro. They fit into almost any outfit and the colours are gorgeous. All on one hand, one at a time, or across two - it just works!

The Lost Outfit Post.

I had forgotten that this even existed...an advent calender in the background and the amount of clothes stolen from my mother suggest it was while I was home for Christmas...christ, nearly a year on!

H&M pour Isabel Marant pour moi!

Ahhh! So, here are the two pieces I bought plus the lovely bag they came in. If you haven't guessed, I was  utterly excited! Upon approaching the shop, I began to skip and smile delightedly. I grabbed my pieces - this tank and these joggers. The pants, embarrassingly, are for an eleven to twelve year old...but they were half the price of the adult ones so I guess being short has its upsides! When I went to the counter, the woman next to me had bought over a grand worth of Marant garments. I was pretty jealous but I was way more excited about my purchases worth one twentieth of hers - I think I'll keep my enthusiasm over her wealth! The rest of my day ran so smoothly and, it sounds stupid but I attribute it to starting the day off so well...

ARGHHHH. EXCITEMENT.

Clutching at awesomeness.

How great is this clutch? I bought it to go with my grad outfit. Ah, grad outfits - what an ordeal! The perfect dress didn't materialise - I could find nothing minimal, black/white/both (dress code) and not overly girly. Then I thought about jumpsuits but fit and material got in the way. In the end I just went with my favourite skinny pants from Zara, a vintage cream blazer which is a real show-stopper and an opaque cami from Topshop. As I'd only bought a new top for the occasion, I decided to treat myself to a solid accessory as well. This Topshop bag is so perfect - neutral enough to go with anything yet shiny and awesome enough to be a pop. And also a nod to pieces by designers such as Stella McCartney. 

I thought I'd do a wee shoot with it to showcase its loveliness for y'all. What do you think?