I really enjoyed myself last weekend at the Mahou Tapeo. This year there were only a 38 participating restaurants, which was fewer than past years, but it was still excellent. I hope you enjoy my photos of the delicious tapas and the event below! Until next year!
Posted in Best of Madrid, Events, Restaurants
After seeing the fabulous ¨Mrs. Carter¨tour in Milan last weekend (recap to come shortly!) I knew I had to post on her fabulous and very reasonably priced swimwear line for H&M.
The suits are cute, sexy and fun and stay within H&M´s normal price range, which I think is great! The images are gorgeous, and they show young women what real curves are allllll about-no stick figure skinny models here!
Her billboards are plastered throughout Europe so I think the line has been highly advertised-better stop in and grab your suit before they sell out!
Summer is coming! I can´t wait and in anticipation, I pulled together some fun fabulous looks for my trip to the Canary Islands, since the weather was summery and beautiful there.
The key to beach dressing and looking fabulous is floaty, fun, bright, patterned and of course, keeping it casual. Floaty dresses, scarves, yellows, pinks, and greens, and even denim can work when done the right way.
Tips: Try to put fun combos together. Summer is all about that carefree attitude, so don´t take anything too seriously. Make sure not to look too coiffed or overdone. Dress up a basic outfit with chunky sunglasses, a bangle, or a hat. For hair, beachy waves or a messy braid are great. Blowout: not neccessary!
I hope you enjoy the pics of my friends and I and I hope they provide some inspiration for your summer looks on how to look fabulous on the beach!
Posted in Advice, Beauty, Dresses, Fashion, Hair, Shorts, Swimwear, Tops
Tagged beach fashion, Hats, shorts, sunglasses, swimsuits
One of my favorite events in Madrid is the Tapeo Mahou festival. Madrid offers several tapas tasting events, most of which included following a desired route to visit several bars and restaurants to taste their speciality tapa and enjoy a Mahou beer.
However, this event tops the charts for convenience, because participating restaurants set up stands at the Palacio de Deportes and everything is all in one location. You buy tickets and receive a map which includes all the names of the participating restaurants, their stand number and their offered tapa(s). Pick your favorites and visit those stands.
I´ve had an amazing time sampling the speciality tapas in the past and I can´t wait to stop in this weekend. Useful information:
May 9-12
From 12-430 pm and then from 8-midnight.
You must buy tickets for all, and the prices are:
Mahou Clasica or Sin: 2 fichas, 1 euro
Terico of Mixta, Light or Negra: 4 fichas (2 euros)
Tapas: 3 fichas (1.5 euros)
My hair is quite long now and I am always struggling with trying to think of fun, creative new things I can do to style it. I´ve always said I wanted my hair long again so I could do more things with it, but I too fall into the ¨braid, ponytail, hair down¨trap of always doing the same things with my hair.
I had a communion on Saturday and I wanted to add a little something to my ponytail without having a full on updo. I didn´t want it to look like I was trying too hard, so I created an easy twist with just bobby pins, a brush, and a little hairspray to set it. Here is a step by step to get your hair to look like this:
Step 1: Start with your hair straight, if you have curly hair, use a straightner to straighten it.
Step 2: Brush out your hair so there are no knots and it´s smooth.
Step 3: Bring your hair over one shoulder as if you were going to make a low ponytail. Instead of securing it with a band, twist the hair inward towards your ear.
Step 4: Once you´ve got it twisted, take a bobby pin and insert in towards the back of the twist. Continue inserting pins in the front and the back until it feels secure.
Step 5: Spray the crap out of it with hairspray so it holds tight. Keep an extra bobby pin or two in your purse just in case.
Tips: It´s better to do this on day old hair, meaning you´ve washed it the day before and not just before you are creating the twist. ¨Dirty¨hair always holds style better. Also, try to use bobby pins that are the same color as your hair so they are hidden better. I used blond bobby pins and you can´t really see them at all.
Happy Twisting!
Normally the words ¨edgy¨and ¨bridal¨are not found in the same sentence…but that´s pretty much the only way I can describe Vera Wang´s Spring 2014 Bridal Collection.
I personally never plan on wearing a giant white puffy dress if I do decide to have a wedding sometime, it´s just not my style. I can´t pretend to be a princess for one day, because it´s just not who I am. However, these ¨edgier¨looks, trimmed with black, do seem a bit more fun and exciting. Still a bit princes-ey for my taste…but they do give me a bit of funky inspiration!
I guess it could be as simple as adding your own set of black gloves to a white wedding dress! In any case, Vera Wang´s collection shocked me and I must say, I do like it. Below you can see my favorites from the collection.
What do you think? Do you like the dresses? Do you think they are wedding appropiate? Would you wear them!
So here I am, Friday afternoon, walking out the door to teach my last two private English classes off the day when I recieve the dreaded message every English teacher grows to hate: ¨sorry we are cancelling today¨. The 24 hour rule does not apply in this country. So, I walked back upstairs and begrudgingly began doing laundry, thinking about how the 46 euros I had just lost out on was a pair of new wedge shoes.
This, certainly a ´down´, would now affect one of my favorite spring ´ups´-shoe shopping! So, in a tribute to being up high and on top this spring, here are some fabulous wedges I love. Unfortunately, thanks to my cancellation, none will be seen on my feet…atleast not this weekend!
Enjoy…and for those of you who have an extra couple of euros in their pocket…go out and buy some wedges for spring!
With the annual girls beach trip looming in the near future, I knew I needed to pick up a few spring/summer essentials. I really haven´t felt much like shopping for spring as it´s been pretty cold and rainy here in Madrid but I finally decided it was time and hit up the giant Lefties on Gran Via.
Goal in mind: swimsuit, some shirts, possibly some sandals, anything cute and beachy
Budget: 80 euros.
I am happy to report back that not only did I stay within budget, I got EVERYTHING I wanted and more. The most important thing I wanted was the swimsuit. I like spending less money on swimsuits and having more of them. I know the quality isn´t great, but i actually really like buying new ones every summer. It´s a fun change up. Plus I am a beach lover, for example this August I will be at the beach alllll summer and I want to have lots of options.
My swimsuit ( 16 euros)
Yay! My new swimsuit
Then I got a cute pair of chunky black wedges. They looked great with cuffed jeans when I tried them on in the store, and I have no doubt they will also look fab with a dress or shorts.
My chunky black wedges (26 euros)
Afterwards I got a couple solid linen/cotton blend tanks. I adore linen and I think it´s a comfortable, light summer fabric. Each summer I like to buy a few new solid color tanks, especially white ones, as they fade and tend to be overworn. Plus these can be worn with anything as they are super basic, and be tucked in or out.
Tanks (6 euros each)
I also got this white tank with a cool Indian print. It will look fab with some denim shorts.
Indian Print Tank (8 euros each)
Finally my fun purchase of the day. I have been wanting a light, comfortable pair of patterned pants for awhile now and I finally found the perfect pair. They are extremely versatile and can be worn with heels, flats, tanks, tees, etc. I also think they will be very comfortable for plane travel, which I do excessively in the summer.
Patterned Pants (18 euros)
Total price: approx 80 euros, within budget!
Hope you guys like my low cost spring/summer finds and I hope they inspire you to get shopping and buy yourself some new spring updates!
Posted in Fashion, Pants, Swimwear, Tops
Tagged Lefties, New Spring Purchases, Spring Fashions
I am not the hugest fan of the shop C&A here in Spain. It reminds me of JC Penny and it´s not a bad place to shop, it´s just not particularly my style. However, I have to say that when I saw Cindy Crawford as the spokesperson for the spring C&A line, I stopped to look!
After researching, I realized that there is actually a Cindy Crawford COLLECTION. Here are a few images below. For more you can stop into the store of course. What do you guys think? Do you like the clothes? Would you wear them?
I am so tired of the typical complaint, ¨my phone died¨…¨I have no battery…¨ It´s practically the story of my life and of many others, now that smart phones are common. It happens constantly whether you have an Iphone, a blackberry, or in my case a Samsung Galaxy SIII. Especially if you are on the go ALLLL the time like I am.
My lovely friend Rachel alerted me to this fabulous new discovery that I honestly feel is life changing. It´s called Everpurse, and it´s basically a small purse that charges your phone. No cables needed-you simply slip the phone into the purse (more of a clutch sized bag, pretty small) and it automtically connects to a charging dock at the bottom of the purse. Later, you put your purse onto a charging pad to juice it up. The bag has the capacity to charge your phone from dying to full battery TWO times until the purse itself has to be recharged.
This purse works with the following phones: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, or Samsung Galaxy SIII. (sorry blackberry gals!)
The bag comes with a crossbody strap or you can use is as a clutch. It´s also small enough that you slip it into a larger bag as well. However this invention does not come cheap. The bags start at 189 USD. Eek! Pricey…but for some, it could be worth it! To purchase, check out the Everpurse website.
Emerald Croc Pattern Leather 319 USD
Ruby Red Fabric 189 USD
Sapphire Leather 249 USD
