Birthday Dinner Date // Amuz Restaurant, Jakarta

It was my birthday on Thursday (let's just keep age out of this please) and to celebrate the Mr. booked us in for dinner at Amuz, a french fine-dining restaurant in the CBD of Jakarta. Since we've only been here a couple of weeks he asked around amongst his business associates for their recommendations as to which was the best restaurant in Jakarta, and this was the place that came up again and again. Isn't he a good egg!

I decided to wear a new dress I'd picked up from Zara just before leaving Korea. I paired it with a statement tortoise and crystal necklace that I simply love! Then some simple black heels and a black collarless blazer because everywhere here is freezing inside.

Dinner was exquisite; we had their six course degustation menu and like a good blogger I actually remembered to snap most of the courses before tucking in. Harder than you may think, especially when faced with such gorgeously presented and delicious looking dishes!

OOTN  //  Dress - Zara (not on the website but purchased this season)  /  Necklace - Bauble Bar  /  

Before any food - Happy. After a couple of courses - Happier. Now you know the way to my heart.

OUTFIT DETAILS

Dress // Zara (Not on the website but purchased from the current season)

Necklace //  Bauble Bar

Shoes //  ASOS - No longer on the site, sorry.

Bag //  Rebecca Minkoff Mini MAC via Shopbop

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

x x x

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One week // V Day and The Mystery Box

With just a week to go until I head out to Dubai to see my fiancé, after eight weeks apart, I'm seriously excited! The weekend has been filled pre-holiday chores and errands, and apart from meeting up with one of my friends for coffee and a little shopping, I haven't done a great deal else that was very interesting. So, I thought I'd show you a few snaps of my Valentine's Day instead.

Since the Mr is a few thousand miles away, I spent the evening alone, trying not to eat every last Hershey's kiss and chocolate truffle! I was moderately successful, but only because I got distracted by something else though. The Mr sent me a couple of photos (see below) of a mysterious white Shopbop box which he said is special belated Valentine's/sorry-you've-been-on-your-own-so-long-I-know-it's-sucked gift that's awaiting my arrival in Dubai! Eeeek, exciting!

Trying my best not to eat the lot.

I don't actually remember how exactly the petname came about, but my fiancé is known as 'Bear' to me. And, over the
years I've grown a strong affinity for bears of all kinds. This little guy is to add to my growing family of teddy bears :)

Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Gel  //  The Body Shop  //  Smells divine but makes me want to eat candy!

The mystery box

The goods wrapped up inside...and that's all the clues I have!

Of course, I've spent the last few days telling him my curiosity really cannot stand it and asking him to pleeeeaase tell me or at least give me some clues but he's not giving anything away. Soooo, any guesses people??

Naturally, the combination of being reunited with him, taking a vacation and a surprise gift has my excitement levels through the roof! I can barely sleep at night and I'm spending the majority of my downtime on the internet researching things to see/do in Dubai. I've already had a few very helpful suggestions from some blogger friends but any more suggestions that you have would be very welcome. 

xxx

PS: If you blogged about your Valentine's Day feel free to share a link, I'd like to see what you lovelies got up to!

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More Coffee // More Cosy

Man alive, time seems to be flying! Don't you feel like it was just summer a few weeks ago?! And now here we are approaching Christmas at a rapid pace. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but I'm a bit scared by how fast time seems to be slipping away from me. It never helps the feeling when I check in on my blog and realize it's been five days since my last post :( Apologies.

The weekend was a mish mash of this and that, lots of time spent getting odd jobs done and a smattering of shopping. I picked up this cosy cardigan (I'm majorly obsessed with 'cosy' right now, if you hadn't noticed!) from H&M and it's going to be hard to take it off. It's one of those finds that I just know I'll wear until it's death. It's knitted and offers a lot of warmth without being bulky, the sleeves are long (something I love for that added cosy factor), it hangs loosely but in the most flattering way and it can be dressed up or down in a hundred different ways. It's a versatile piece which, I think, looks much more expensive than it actually was.

Like my weekend, the following photos are a bit of a mish mash. The weather wasn't playing ball so I only got a couple of pictures of my outfit, courtesy of my iPhone. We retreated back inside Starbucks (always got some spare time for a bit of Christmas in a cup) and hid from the rain, with the 'real' camera never even making it out of the bag. You'll still get the idea though :)

Cardigan  //  Bag  //  Black Fur Stole - similar here  //  Boots - similar here

Some of you with very keen eyes might have noticed my nail polish, it's a combination of two new colours I picked from the James Bond Skyfall collection. I've taken some snaps (decent ones on a decent camera - promise!) to show you the colours, both of which I really love. I'll show you them in my next post - Wednesday's the aim, here's hoping I can keep track of time a little better until then!

xxx

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Rockin' My Nightie & Khaki On A Grey Sunday

Yesterday was the first day since arriving back in Korea that my fiancee and I got time to just relax. No jobs, no unpacking (that's all done, finally!) and no work. The weather was grey and blustery, so nursing a little bit of a hangover, we decided to go for a casual late brunch and a drive around our new neighbourhood to get to know it a little better.

I wore a new t-shirt and jacket that I got a few days ago in Forever 21. I was supposed to be shopping for apartment stuff but I couldn't help having a browse, I missed F21 whilst I was in England!

The jacket is very lightweight and is made of 100% cotton - rather surprisingly for F21 - who are usually purveyors of polyester!! I know it's going to be something I'll be slinging on over lots of different things as the weather continues to get warmer.

The t-shirt is long, loose and slinky which is probably because it's actually supposed to be nightwear (sshhhhhh!) but I decided I like it too much to confine it to my bedroom! Don't tell anyone and I'll just keep hoping I don't get seen by anyone who knows it's a nightie!

Turquoise Ring & Bracelets - Accessorize

Khaki Jacket - Forever 21. Black Oversized Tote Handbag - Bally

Diamante Encrusted Ballerina Pumps - Zara

Mini Coconut Meringue - Little bites of heaven to me :)

Good day wear, no?! 'In Love' nightdress t-shirt - Forever 21. Sunglasses (not for sun but to hide tired eyes) - Gucci.

Since the apartment is just about finished now I've got much more time for blogging again so I'll show you a few photos of things I've been up to and my new place later this week.

In the meantime....how did you spend your weekend?  Leave a link if you wrote a post about it, I love seeing what everyone did. Also, please click to follow me on Bloglovin and 'like' my Facebook page, I only have a few Facebook Friends :(

xxx

EDIT: I'm told my GFC box isn't working again. If you would like to follow me
...click HERE!

I Wore: Candy Colours for The Great British Day Out

Can you see that smug look on my face?? That's because I'm right in the middle of one of my favourite possible days - a good old British day out.Oh...and I just spent £5 on traditional English sweeties!

Although I've been lucky enough to see a lot of truly spectacular places and take in some of the worlds best landscapes there's still no place quite like home for me. I grew up taking regular day trips to different areas of the English countryside, it brings back such great memories when I visit them again. My Dad and I ventured out this week to the Yorkshire Dales taking time to stop off at an old favourite, 'Sweet Memories', a sweet shop in a small town called Thirsk. Once we had the provisions for the day (not the most nutritious!) we went on to visit an old abbey then finally to the seaside where we met up with my brother who is at university nearby.

Perhaps subconsciously channelling my childhood, I opted to wear a girlie combination of a bird print dress and Spring pastels; my new baby...the pale pink Miu Miu, a matching soft cashmere scarf and a pastel green cardigan. To stop it getting too sickly sweet (bad pun intended...sorry folks!) I wore knee high suede boots and my studded wrap watch.

Bag - Miu Miu. Bird print dress - H&M. Scarf - Jobis.

Studded wrap watch - La Mer. Feather necklace - F21. Bracelets - Accessorize.

Better Late Than Never...Lippmann, Cupcakes & Other Lovely Stuff

I know I petty much missed the Happy Valentine's Day Bandwagon but it's better late than never right?!

So how was it? I hope that it was full of love and happiness with the special person in your life. And for those of you that don't have a special person at the moment, I hope you made the most of the opportunity to go to a bar and know, without any awkward questioning or an ounce of doubt, that every guy in there was most definitely single!

I spent mine at home since I have a fiancee who is away in Australia....boooo! He sent me some lovely gifts though including a cute little Koala Bear toy (yep, there's a big kid right here!) and a new nail polish - Deborah Lippmann 'Across The Universe'. I was toying with not mentioning that since I noticed my blog seems to be increasingly looking like a nail polish blog! It isn't though...really...I promise!

  

I drank some beautiful sparkling rose wine, enjoyed half of an M&S Dine In For Two (how sad does that sound?!!) and then finished off my romantic evening with myself by indulging in one of the total fail brown coloured Red Velvet cupcakes I made. 

They actually taste delicious, seriously, seriously good! I guess the English red food coloring just isn't as strong as the American stuff though?!

If you care to see if you have more luck the recipe I used is from the scrumptious (be warned though, you'll probably end up baking something and then eating the whole darn lot!) Bakerella.com!

xxx

 

English Tea Date - The Longline Blouse and Topshop Blazer

Can you see my happiness and giddiness in those photos? Well you might think I'm all excited over my new shirt dress and the awesome blazer I'd totally forgotten about and had just dug out of my wardrobe but...you'd be wrong.

There's only one thing that gets me feeling so cheery and that's cupcakes. Pathetic. But true!

I had a lunch date with a friend, the plan being to head to a place called 'Sunshine Bakery', a small cafe that just so happens to be the National Cupcake winner! I think lunch dates call for casual but chic outfits. I put on a new shirt dress I picked up a few days ago and after developing a love for my beige blazer I remembered this pale grey blazer I had left here in England when I moved to Korea. Coming back home to my old wardrobe after over two years away feels like Christmas. So many things I'd forgotten I had! So I paired them together with my casual staple, leggings and the new cowboy boots.

Stone longline blouse - Dorothy Perkins - Link!

Accessorising - Rolex watch, Swarovski heart bracelet, Accessorize ring.

Stone Longline Blouse - Dorothy Perkins - Link!  Pale Grey Blazer - Topshop

 

I really like my new blouse, it's simple and sleek. The material is light, feminine and doesn't feel cheap. I always hate when the material lets something down. The tie on the waist helps to show off your figure in a flattering way. I particularly like it though because of the gold buttons which lift it from a run of the mill shirt dress (well, for shorter people it could be) to something that looks a lot more expensive than it really is.

The cafe was very small and kitsch. I chose a 'Superfoods' salad with smoked salmon, purely to balance the guilt of the cupcake to follow. Of course, being English, it's almost compulsory to have a pot of tea with your cake.

 

 

 

Everything was yummy, yummy, yum! It was a true English afternoon. If you're ever in Leeds (slim chance I guess but you never know) give it a try!

So, what have are you up to this weekend? Enjoying the break I hope.

xxx