Croque Monsieur

It's only a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. But calling it a Croque Monsieur turns it into something a bit more chic (think cafés and Paris)! And you know what, it tasted so good (even if it was slightly over-toasted). Do you make this at home? (The key is to use Gruyère, it seems.)

Prada love

It was love at first sight. I saw this pair of beige-blush heels and I just had to have them!

I love the girly ribbon detail, the colour (nude shoes are my favourite), and the fact that the heels are not too high. Just looking at these shoes makes me happy!

And I found a silk top (on sale) and a cute belt... also from Prada. 

Have you done any Prada shopping lately?
Or: what's on your Prada wishlist?

It's in the bag!

It's my turn today! This is the "It's in the bag" blog crawl! It's perfect for me - you know how much I love handbags!

I'm actually going to show you my evening purse. Chanel, of course!

It's the classic flap bag in black. I'd wanted it for years and I finally got it about a year and a half ago as a wedding anniversary gift! I still admire it when I take it out of the equally wonderful Chanel box and I take good care of it.

Celebrities are often seeing with this bag during the day but for me - as much as I hate to criticize anything Chanel and I would never ever tell my husband this! - it is too small. I cannot fit everything in there. Also, using it less often makes it more special. I have a bigger Chanel bag that I use on a daily basis.

Because it's for evening, I take as little as possible, and I have narrowed this down to:
- my keys in the red Louis Vuitton key case, which you have seen before here
- money and a credit card in a little I heart London purse from Accessorize - they have the cutest stuff!
- Chanel face powder
- a Shu Uemura retractable powder brush
- Chanel lipstick, Rouge Allure Laque 74 Dynastie (see swatch here)
- L'Occitane hand cream
- toothpick - I think having food stuck between the teeth is embarrassing (for me and for others) so I always, always check in the bathroom mirror after a meal
- hair claw from H&M
- oh, and chewing gum, which I forgot
- and my iPhone, which I used to take this photo.

Not much, is it? But you have to squeeze everything in.
Still, it's a Chanel and it's one of my favourite bags!

In case you missed it yesterday: Inspired Design.
Coming up next: Photography Getaway.
Thanks to Ashley for organising this fun blog crawl!

Dr Brandt's Anti-Oxidant Water Booster

This was one of those purchases... I read about it (well, just saw it in the Space NK catalogue) and thought it would change my life so I rushed out to get it. It's supposed to be one of those quick miracle products: one dropper of this stuff is equivalent to 15 cups of decaffeinated green tea. "Maintains younger looking skin" and "helps fight free radicals".

When I bought it last autumn there were only two flavours: blueberry and original. (Now they have pomegranate as well, it seems.) At Space NK they let me try both (a couple of drops in a glass of water). I thought the original (green tea) tasted too "grassy" so I got blueberry.

Well, first of all, I don't like the flavour. I can drink it mixed with orange juice but I don't like to because I don't like the thought of ruining a perfectly good glass of orange juice with some weird and fake blueberry flavour. It certainly doesn't taste good in tea and it's too obvious in water.

And the other problem is that I simply forget to use it.

I obviously won't be repurchasing. And I'm now rather pessimistic about short-cuts like this because they usually don't work anyway, right? Has anyone tried this product and loved it?

More info here, if you're interested.

Happy 2011!

Happy new year! Can you believe it's 2011? I hope you all had a great holiday.

I had so much champagne, I'm addicted - ok, so this isn't much of a surprise but I tried blanc de blancs champagne for the first time and fell in love! 100% chardonnay (made with one grape, not with the usual three) and it is so light and refreshing. I will be trying all blanc de blancs that I can get my hands on! At the top of my list is this one by Ruinart...

We entertained a lot in our new home. I was very pleased that we got to use our new fine bone china - yes, I have spent the last two months buying plates! I never thought it could be fun but I've discovered that I can get quite excited about this. I have yet to buy these (for soup / pasta): they cost about 50 EUR / 45 GBP / 70 USD each (ouch!) and I need at least eight...

I also cooked quite a bit and it went well, thank goodness! There is always something nerve-wracking about cooking for guests... what if it goes wrong?! But when it's a success, it is very satisfying. I've decided I want to cook more, so I am looking forward to working my way through the new Jamie Oliver cookbook, 30-Minute Meals! Love the layout, it makes sense to me! Here is a random example.

Oh, I found a brand new NARS blush (deep throat) that I'd bought back in September! Still in its packaging and completely untouched. I think this is the ultimate proof that I have too much make-up...

And how many of you are thinking of dieting / detoxing? I've already bought my new fitness DVD (not yet opened. Soon, I swear).