Cheers to Easter weekend

Happy Easter, lovely ladies:) Hope your weekend celebrations will be filled with chocolate bunnies:) What are your plans for the next three days? Balazs and I are hosting an Easter brunch on Sunday and Monday but we are already rocking the sugar high since my mom sent over a package full of Maltesers and Cadbury creme eggs:) Oh boy, they are good!  Anyhow, I'll see you all Wednesday morning, bright and early but in the meantime, here are a few Easter-links for your weekend-blog-hopping-fun. Enjoy! xo

Speaking of Maltesers, giggle:)

100 rules of dinner - brilliant!

Meditating while walking through a park? Yup!

NieNie...

All things moon:)

Yikes, 25 scary Easter bunnies of the past.

Very cool!

Now, I want to host a crawfish boil! (oh, yum).

NYC then and now.

Why we love beautiful things.

A love story!

That wedding dress tickles my fancy...

Those flowers in egg cups would look so pretty on the Easter table this weekend.

Salmon + avocado sandwich? Oh yes - yum!

Giggle, how to make a baby:)

Grown up Easter egg truffles.

I never knew that mint and grey make such a sassy pair. Did you?

WOW, stunning nursery makeover!

Clever and hilarious:)

What an incredible experience!

And here are a few extreme travel adventures...yowza!

P.S: Fancy a bit of chit-chat? Join me on Twitter, Facebook or even Pinterest.

(The beautiful peonies by a clock without hands)

This Week's Gems

I'm smitten with this dotty shirt. Spring-perfection!...

How charming is this clover ring? Perfect for spring and it might bring tons of luck as well. Win-win:)...

Fancy a dash of vintage coffee in your home? (Btw: Mengsel is having a 20% sale + free worldwide shipping all weekend long - yahoo!)...

Are you Easter ready? This 3 bunnies bracelet would add such a sweet touch to your festive outfit:)...

Totally smitten with the print on this dress. You?...

Coral is my mom's favourite stone and this vintage beauty would make the perfect birthday gift to a coral-loving-lady + it has magic powers:)...

How about a bit of colour-blocking this spring? Those skirts are perfect for it. Swoon!...

What an elegant little necklace. It would look super sassy with a white tee:)...

What a sweet idea for Easter party favors. I'd love to put homemade Easter cupcakes for each guest inside those boxes....

Lovelies, happy Friday:) What caught your eye this week? Any great finds or buys? xoxo

P.S: Fancy more gems?

Oma & Bella

Humbling! Have you heard about the documentary called Oma & Bella?

It looks very powerful and ever since I spotted it on Luise’s blog, I can’t wait to watch it.  It’s about two best friends, Regina and Bella who live together in a flat in Berlin and cook up a storm each day. The whole documentary was shot by Regina’s granddaughter who basically filmed the two older ladies cooking together as they were telling her stories about their childhood, surviving the Holocaust, camps and how they became the only ones from their families who survived the war. Can you imagine?

Also, ever since the documentary came out there was a huge demand for Oma (German for grandma) and Bella’s recipes, so the granddaughter, Alexa published a little cookbook with 36 recipes in English and in German. Genius! I just ordered one from here.

P.S: Newly published photographs taken in a German concentration camp (beware: some of them are shocking).
P.P.S: Also, The First 70!

(Top photo by The Wednesday Chef. OMA & BELLA Trailer by Alexa Karolinski)

exPress-o Originals: Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Bread

A while ago I heard that meditation has many forms and the traditional sitting down type is not for everyone or maybe not yet. I read somewhere that the best way to prepare yourself for it is by doing tasks where you can’t cut corners or rush the process. The type that requires certain amount of time at each step or it won’t come out right.

For me - it’s baking bread around noon, barefoot in our kitchen. It’s one of those things that as soon as the flour hits the counter, that overwhelming feeling of calmness, peace and happiness overtakes me. It’s the strangest phenomena. Have you ever felt like that while doing something? So, here is our new favourite bread recipe. It can have 100.100.000 different combinations, all depending on your taste. This is with homemade red pesto full of dried tomatoes, basil, Pecorino Romano cheese and pine nuts.

 Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Bread
(Adapted from Jennifer - Seasons and Suppers)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups unbleached bread flour
- 2 cups of wheat flour
- 2 tsp. fine salt or 1 Tbsp. coarse kosher salt
- 1 cup lukewarm water, about 95° F.
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. lukewarm milk
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
- 1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter
- 1 jar of homemade or store bought red pesto. Here is the pesto recipe I used.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour and the salt together and set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine the water and the milk and whisk in the yeast until it dissolves.  Add the mixture, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients. Mix by hand until the mixture is combined, about 2 minutes. Continue mixing the dough, adding more flour, as needed, until the dough becomes soft, smooth and tacky, but not sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes, then form the dough into a ball. Place the dough in a lightly oiled/buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature until doubles in size (about 60-90 minutes). 

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Dust each with a bit of flour and then, using a rolling pin, roll into a rectangle approximately 10 inches wide and 16 inches long. Spread generously the pesto onto each rectangle and starting with the shortest side, roll the dough up jelly-roll style and pinch the ends together. Next, grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Shaping: Using a sharp knife, cut both rolls of dough down the centre, lengthwise. Rotate each piece so that the two first cut sides are facing upward and place them side-by-side on the bottom of the loaf pan. Next place the two other cut sides but this time with the cut part facing down, so all the cup sides meet in the middle. Pinch together all the parts creating a whole.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake for 45-50 minutes total, but for the first 30 minutes of baking keep the loaf loosely covered  with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent the top from over-browning.  About 30 minutes into baking remove the aluminium foil and continue baking for the reminder of the time. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it for 1 hour before slicing and eating. Ta dah!

Darlings, would you try it? (It's perfect for Easter).

P.S: Plus: grape bread and the scrumptious bloomin' gooey cheese bread.
P.P.S: And a few other recipes you might like.

(Photos and layout by exPress-o)

Easing into...

If you're like me and need a bit of easing into this Thursday morning, those moody photographs by Ezgi Polat will surely do the trick! I've spent the last hour or so going through her portfolio and I'm so smitten. All the images were taken by an analogue camera, maybe that's what gives this unique vibe, it's like they all tell a story - I want to frame them all for my living room wall.

Btw: Ezgi's photography inspiration is her mom who introduced her to analogue cameras when she was  a little girl. So special!

Aren't those beautiful? Muah!

P.S: Remember La Práctica?

(Thanks, Monica)

What did you do at 25?

Are you feeling blue about your work sometimes? Feeling like it’s not “it” yet? I have something to cheer you up! On Monday Yahoo Finance published a fun little article about what extremely successful people were doing at age 25. It’s so refreshing to see the likes of Martha Stewart, Tina Fey, Ralph Lauren or even the British Harry Potter writer,  J.K. Rowling not having everything figured out at that age and still trying to find themselves. 

For example, Martha was a stockbroker turned stay-at-home-mom before starting her own catering business. Or Tina Fey started off being a child-care registrar at the Y.M.C.A

Six years ago I was a kindergarten teacher. How about you? 

(via My Cup Of Te)

exPress-o Originals: Floating Islands

Do you have a sweet tooth? If so, Floating Islands (or îles flottantes as the French call it) will rock your world and make your Easter preparations easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy:) It's a classic French comfort food that we often make for dinner parties in our home. The best part? It has only four ingredients and it takes about 15 minutes to whip up. It's one of those show-off recipes that look super complicated and posh, yet they are extremely easy, light and fun.

So if you fancy serving a  light, scrumptious meringues poached in custard after a filling Easter brunch, this recipe is yours!

Floating Islands
(makes 3 portions)

Ingredients:

- ½ litre of whole milk

- 3 eggs
- 6 tablespoons of icing sugar
- ½ vanilla pod

Boil the milk with the vanilla pod and keep it on low fire. Next, separate the whites from the yolks. In a bowl combine the egg whites with 3tbsp of icing sugar and mix into a firm foam. When ready, place gently tablespoon-size egg white dumplings into the hot milk and cook for 2-3 minutes (turn them over half way through). Next, remove all the dumplings into a plate and set aside.

Add 3 tbsp icing sugar to the yolks and mix it well. Add a bit of the hot milk into this mix and stir until smooth.

 

Remove the vanilla pod from the hot simmering milk and slowly pour the yolk-mix into it. Mix it well and while stirring constantly, cook it for an additional 2-3 minutes.  When ready, pour the custard into 3 serving bowls and add the little white dumplings. Let it cool off for a few minutes and ta dah!

Lovelies, what do you think? Fancy giving it a go? What are you making this Easter?

P.S: Also, Milano cookies with Nutella twist and goat cheese grape balls.
P.P.S: And a few other recipes you might like.

(Photos and layout by exPress-o)

Paul McCartney and Me

Remember when last week I mentioned that on Saturday I’m going to a flea market? Well, despite the really bad weather and the early wake-up call, the day ended on a super high note. Five minutes into our treasure hunt, I spotted this beauty (below).

Yup, a vintage camera totally working, in mint condition and very similar to the one that Paul McCartney and Sean Connery had back in the day. I’m just learning all the little things about it but I can’t wait to make it a part of my daily routine:) Btw: I keep on thinking about who had it before me and why they got rid of it….Would you ever consider going back to old fashoined cameras? What’s your latest flea market find? Do share...

P.S: Remember this?
P.P.S: And a pictorial guide to avoiding camera loss:)

(Top three photos via Griottes and CCC. The last two by Balazs for exPress-o)

exPress-o Film Club: Another Earth

Have you seen the 2011 indie film called Another Earth? What did you think? Last week Balazs mentioned that he had a film saved for me that he thinks I’ll like. He watched it a few days earlier with the idea that it’s some type of super-natural-paranormal thriller yet it ended up to be almost the opposite - incredibly haunting yet very touching story of second chances, parallel lives and rediscovery. So, last night after being intrigued by Balazs’ description, I dived in and boy, oh boy what a film it was!  

It’s one of those stories that scares you yet makes you connect with the main characters on a very deep level. Brilliantly played by a relatively unknown actress, Brit Marling (someone to look out for) and William Mapother that I best know from Lost.

Just imagine your life changing in a matter of a second, a momentary lapse of judgement that affects you, devastates the lives of others, changes you and you end up feeling alienated. That’s what both of the main characters have to deal with besides the scary prospect that there might be another earth, an alternative reality that is a mirror-image of our own. Is that possible? Who knows… A must see for sure - a film where probably the biggest discovery of mankind is merely the backdrop of this emotional, human drama. Beautiful!

Bits and bobs:
- William also played in Mission Impossible 2 as Wallis and the very scary horror The Grudge.
- Here he talks about how he got the role and his feelings about the script.
- I have such a girl crush on Brit now.
- A brilliant interview with Mike Cahill and Brit. (Mike is the director of the film).
- Mike also directed a documentary called Boxers and Ballerinas back in 2004.
- If you want to follow Brit's daily happenings, you can follow her on Twitter.
- She is also on the April cover of Wmagazine. Beautiful!
- Btw: she is only four days older than me and she was born in Chicago:)
- The Sounds of My Voice looks like a great watch. Brit is not only starring in it but she also co-wrote it.
- Here she talks about her role in that film.
- One of my favourite quotes from the movie: "Listen to me. Keep your mind clear. And that's it. You will have peace of mind. My dear, don't worry. Learn to adjust yourself."
- If you liked last week's film club choice, you will love this one too. Promise:)

P.S: Plus, a few other films that I love right now.

(Photos via IMDb)

Easter Egg Trick

Is it just me or peeling eggs is one of those boring and rather frustrating tasks around Easter? It takes forever, shells are all over the place and the whole table is a mess. Well, I just learned a trick that will blow your mind and will save you tons of time this weekend.

Fancy knowing what is it? Well, instead of peeling your eggs simply cut them in half after boiling (with the shell still on) and then scoop each half out with a tablespoon. Ta dah!

One thing to remember is to first create a little crack with the knife (as seen on the first photo) and only then start cutting the egg. I cut like 10 eggs yesterday for our egg salad and it really worked like a charm with minimal mess. I'm hooked!

Would you try it? Are you making eggs for Easter?

P.S: Plus, a genius trick to separating eggs and a nifty little tip to poaching eggs.
P.P.S: Fancy more egg yumminess? How about en cocotte, an omelette perfection, grilled cheese eggs or maybe dippy eggs and soldiers:)

(Thanks Kami via Huffington Post. Photos/layout by exPress-o)

Guardians Of Russian Art

Have you ever wondered about the always present museum guards? You know those (mostly) older ladies sitting or strolling around the sculptures/paintings in their slippers, their cardigan hanging off their shoulders? I’ve always thought that they have the best seats to people-watching but I also thought that their job can get a bit monotone at times since they are mostly treated as an inherit part of the art-piece.  

Well, I couldn’t be more wrong. A brilliant photographer, Andy Freeberg wanted to explore the subject a bit more and since he thought guardians were very intriguing, he created an amazing series of photographs giving each guardian a voice. While taking their photos, they told him how much they enjoy being among Russia’s great art. One of the ladies even said that she often returns the Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery on her day-off to sit in front of a painting that reminds her of her childhood home. Another guard travels three hours each day to work, since at home she would just sit on her porch and complain about her illnesses, “as old women do.” She'd much rather be at the museum enjoying people watching, surrounded by the history of her country.  Ha, incredible!

P.S: Also, scratching the surface.
P.P.S: Emotions on the street.

(via Sho & Tell via Freunde von Freunden)

On The Loose...

Hmm, have you ever wondered what your pets would do if they had absolute freedom? Well, if you have a hard time imagining what’s inside your rascal’s head, Ron can help with his hilariously-sweet photographs of dogs on the loose. I’m the first one to admit that my Buffer would surely lick the pastry shop window and Monty wouldn’t pass on a rocket-ride! (He is like a wee puppy at 10 years old).

Aren’t those images witty and sweet? Do you have a pet? (Dog, cat, gold fish, snake or maybe a parrot?). Muah

P.S: Remember them?
P.P.S: And this cool-noodle :)

(via Dogster)

FILMography!

Are you a film nut or enjoy scouting different movie locations from time to time? If so, you'll get totally hooked on Christopher's tumblr. I surely did! This brilliant cinephile has an on-going art project where he matches scenes from different films with their real-life-present-day locations. Above you can find a few of my favourites! Aren't they awesome?

P.S: You can see more here.
P.P.S: Then and now and the awesome PopSpots NYC!

(via Griottes - Photos from top: Annie Hall (my favourite one - it's totally spot on, isn't it?), Black Swan, You've Got Mail, Hitch, Friends with Benefits, The Adjustment Bureau, When Harry Met Sally, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Morning Glory, Rosemary's Baby, Live and Let Die and Elf)

Easter Braids

Fancy a cute Easter brunch hairdo? I'm simply head over heels with Rubi's mini crown braid. Doesn't it look all spring-y and sassy? Well, I've been practicing it over the weekend and when I met my friend this morning for an early coffee, she got pretty smitten with it too.

So if you fancy giving it a go, here is the full how to:

Would you try it? Muah!

P.S: And this little do.
P.P.S: Plus, more hair goodness.

(Photos by Valerie Dray)

Giveaway Winner

Drum rolls, please!!! The winner of the I Adorn U cuff Giveaway is Anna. Congrats!! xoxo

P.S: Loves, thank you all for playing.

Cheers to a spring weekend

Yikes, Easter is just over a week away! Is it just me or this year is flying by so fast? What are your plans for the next two days, loves? Tomorrow morning I'm getting up bright and early to meet a few friends for a morning of treasure hunt at our local flea market. Hoping to score some goodies:) Darlings, have a cozy and sunny next two days and as always here are a few lovely links for your blog-hopping-fun. Enjoy!

Six brain hacks to motivate yourself to get things done:)

Yikes! Would you dare?

The cutest vases. Which colour do you like best?

Tomorrow...

Roast fresh ham (for Easter).

Ha! Spring in a box:)

A beautiful Easter centrepiece (with tulips).

Oh la la:)

I want to make those Easter eggs. Aren't they stunning?

Peacock.

Looking for adorable Easter cards? Here are a few that you might like:)

Oh boy, that Swiss-chard lasagne looks incredible!

Did you know this about bees?

Best friends...

Taste off - I so want to do this (just with wine)...

Great housewarming party kit!

Oh boy, wish I could be in the Philippines just about now. Have you been there?

A few cool ways to let someone know that you like them:)

Plus, there are only 2 more days left to enter our beautiful jewelry GIVEAWAY! Don't miss it:)

Darlings, see you Monday morning. xo

P.S: Fancy a bit of chit-chat? Join me on Twitter, Facebook or even Pinterest.

(Photo of tulips by Arthur Chang)

This Week's Gems

Blue for spring, what you think?...

Fancy a dash of spring-goodness? Those cherry blossom sachets would do the trick for sure!...

Egg cup totally made for Easter:)...

Wishbone necklace? Yes, please!...

A sweet pop of neon...

Fancy some salt or pepper?...

For happy feet:)...

Sailboat pocket square for your dapper husband:)...(Perfect for Easter)...

This print would make a great gift to any bun-loving-stripe-wearing girl around:)...

Speaking of silk scarves, this one is calling for spring:)...

Vase perfection...

I just got this rosemary, thyme and mint herbal oil from a friend this week. Can't wait to try it over the weekend. Have you tried it?....

Happy Friday, lovelies. What tickles your fancy this week? Any great buys of finds?

P.S: Don't miss our snazzy cuff GIVEAWAY!
P.P.S: Fancy more gems? How about those?