Coat – Anywho x Kobra, Sweater – Gmarket, Dress – COS, Shoes – Nine West

I know my way around the neighbourhood, and Guess is not an alley I usually go down. Of course, having the tendency of an alleycat when it comes to blogging, I gave it a good snooping session at the Vogue & Guess Jewellery event in February – a sniff here and a nibble there. Turns out it’s not all just bling + all-American girls + bedazzled enviable chest lumps. This is not me saying hey sparkle-overload, you’re awesome, but they do have the odd great item that shine among the bling. Ironically the ‘treasures’ – the simpler items – were hidden amidst the classic Guess forest. For me the only thing that can sparkle on the chest is when I’m a loser vampire in a badly written book.

Thank you Charlotte for inviting me down; and thank you Abi for the outfit shots!

Passionfruit cocktail + sparkling wine!

Beef Tartar with pickles, mushrooms, onions and capers

Octopus slices with roasted red peppers and olive oil dressing

Roasted Lamb chops with peppers in rosemary sauce

Baked Pike perch, BEST TASTING FISH EVER.

Meringue with Lychee & passionfruit | Watermelon + coconut shots

Rarely do I cross the bridge to the Praga district of east Warsaw – 1) because I basically never leave the house (except for food, evidently) and 2) because the east is considered a slightly dodgy part of town (i.e. chav village). Seeing bulletholes from WWII in buildings is common and growing up, my mother had set a you shall not pass command for that end. Turns out now the neighbourhood has been gentrified so much that it’s now being called ‘Soho’ of Warsaw. But because I’d still thought it was run-down and dangerous, when Ania invited us (Harel, her husband and myself) over to Porto Praga for lunch it was like I’d gotten in the car with a blindfold and handcuffs on. Although, you come up to me in a car and promise food,  hey I’ll tie my hands and shove myself in the trunk. Basically, this place should be a landmark. You melt in the atmosphere, the food melts in your mouth. The chef focuses on emphasizing the natural taste of the ingredients so the tastebuds aren’t punched down with an overwhelming sauce and never recover to taste the actual Pike perch. On hindsight (writing this post) I shouldn’t have taken photos because now I’m angry my stomach does not have a ‘save for later’ function. Such a MS DOS stomach I posses.

Put this place just after your hotel check-in on your to-do list if you’re planning to visit Warsaw.

Flora, partner in donut crime

Sweater – Monton, Shirt as skirt (a la Anywho)- mum’s Stefanel, Belt – Courtesy of JinYoo103684 , Shoes – Topshop, Bag – Lithuanian Market, Sunglasses – Urban Outfitters

Thank you Flora for the outfit shots!

Actually, that second to last row should have an equals sign in the middle, donuts = horse calves. The weather was illegally good today so it was only right to find an illegally great donut to accompany the almighty homicide of winter, and none other than the rose-jam-almond-shavings donuts from Chmielna street came to mind. Mother always said eating in the street is unladylike but one whiff of the donutshop and I was ready to peel off the sequins from Flora’s top (that she sewed on) just because they resembled almonds… what lady?

Not to worry, this is the last of the lot. You must be sick of colourful foreign logos popping up in the right corner – I’m only hoping you will put up with these occasional sponsor flurries with more pardon over fixed advertisements. And who am I trying to kid, these bills ain’t going to pay themselves. (Although, no bill-paying currency was yielded from this specific sponsorship) Glacéau Vitamin Water and Exposure PR were awesome to arrange a front-row seat for the PPQ show, so thank you. I won’t hold a grudge against the PPQ PR who couldn’t find me a seat though, because although I had to wedge at the end of the catwalk I found out it was one of the best locations for shooting…. despite playing ‘how low can you go‘ with the BFC camera above my head…

Glacéau vitaminwater is the official soft drink supplier to London Fashion Week – keeping fashionistas hydrated all week long. Facebook page;

Zuo Corp loookbook images from official website; Thank you Flora for taking me there!

All throughout the craze of ‘popup shops’ the past year or two I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen one that visually resembled a ‘pop up’. Just like when you flip a page of a popup book

– turn a corner and there’s a shop constructed in the middle of the street – then you turn that page and it’s gone. I don’t mean it like a lemonade stand, but a kind of ‘building’ that has a similar expiration as a popup. So, I’m compelled to blog about Zuo Corp, not only for the awesome work of Polish designer duo Dagmara Rosa & Bartek Michalec, but because this is the first time I’ve ever turned a corner and found a black box in the middle of the street, and a few weeks later I heard the black box was gone. Alright, I don’t approve that I chickened out from getting that coat which cost less than something I’d find in Topshop but surely I can flip another page soon and find them there, right?

On a separate note, I’m asked to announce that I may or may not be doing a cool project with Studio Total, a Swedish advertising agency with clients like H&M, IKEA, Gucci Europe. But I don’t like being elusive and telling people that I’m off to some über exclusive private event so I’ll leave it at that. Yay wasn’t that elusive.