Bag – Bally

IFA Berlin with Samsung

Announcing the newest member of the Club des Chefs

Michel Troisgras

Davide Olandi

Doina of The Golden Diamonds

Davide Olandi, Michel Troisgras, Elena Arzak and Christopher Kostow

And a fridge about the size of my first London flat.

Wearing: Bag – Bally. Top – Uniqlo. Jeans – James Jeans. Boots – Acne Jensen.

I will be the first to admit that I am exactly who they call a bad worker, someone who blames her tools for flaws in skill. I burn tea because the “kettle is old”, or, my scrambled eggs are on fire, because the stove just doesn’t… understand me. Also, I suck at blogging because my laptop is SO DAMN SLIPPERY. Yes, they call me the creative one. Lest we forget, the more you complain, the more you squirm to find a tool that will do your job better (or entirely for you). This particular ‘bad worker’ goes to IFA Berlin (trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances) and comes across a particular Samsung oven that won’t burn cookies to ash – an oven that gets you – and discovers features that will allow her to bake a perfect batch of peanut butter cookies, but also a sloppy lasagna on another shelf – all at the same time – and screams WHAT? NO WAY, SHUT THE FRIDGE DOOR. Now imagine, what a good worker brings to this equation – innovators and diligent thinkers. Like Michelin starred chefs, seven of whom Samsung have appointed into a superhero club (Club des Chefs) and borrowed the passion and expertise to produce a revolutionary new line of kitchen appliances (namely, the Chef Collection). Samsung took a couple of us out to Berlin to experience this first hand, which included a cooking demonstration in the Samsung Premium Lounge by four of the chefs themselves. The good workers bustled about, marrying cod with chorizo, negotiating temperature with the oven (the one that gets you). In the meantime, the bad worker blamed my fork for slow eating and resorted to shovelling in as much Michellin-blessed food with my hands. It was kitchen magic, a keen partnership of master and machine – finished with a fairy-dust sprinkle of crispy shiitake mushroom shreds.

A big thank-you to Samsung for a deliciously refreshing experience!

Samsonite Cosmolite

Quilted jacket – Barbour. Shearling vest – Muubaa. Bag – Couronne.

Coat – Mango. White Jeans – AG Jeans. Shoes – Isabel Marant. Scarf – Zara.

Coat – Mango. Boots – Margiela for H&M. Bag – Mansur Gavriel. Scarf – Acne (Similar).

Coat – Mango (blazer version). Boots – Margiela for H&M. Bag – Mansur Gavriel. Scarf – Acne (Similar).

Two weeks in Seoul boiled down to a mere 30 photos – yeah, either I’ve had my chronic indecisiveness miraculously cured, or someone broke into the flat during the night and magically edited down the lot. If it’s the latter I also wish they touched me before sneaking out. All kidding aside, once I’d dealt with the two-freaking-thousand files that choked up the ‘SEOUL 2014’ folder, I found myself at a bind, because even with a more manageable bunch my time in Seoul was just too big, dynamic, entertaining, nostalgic, and exotic to ‘boil down’ into one sweeping summary.

Over the two weeks, I reconnected with friends and relatives I hadn’t seen in about seven years, and visited my grandmother who fed me the same type of fried fish she used to hide inside my spoonful of rice when I was little; then my Caucasian husband arrived midway through, and together the city was suddenly an exotic new ground with every corner fascinating. All in all I found: the people supremely enjoyable, the fashion essential, and the food unbearably sexy. Tradition and modernity co-exist in great harmony, which is something I particularly adored this time round – especially how the young people embrace and pride in the heritage…

I do realize I’m technically tooting my own people’s horn here and may not be the best person to lend impartial image of the city but then again you’re not here for impartial reviews, are you?! Because in the next post I’m going to rave about honey pancakes and outline why it’s the bestest thing in the world  and you’re not allowed to ask what about donuts and macarons. 

A huge thanks to Samsonite (x Fashiolista) for the great adventure – do check out how I packed for Seoul, the first 24 hours, and more photos from the trip in the visual diary on Fashiolista.

Bracelet – Swarovski ‘Interval’

Coat – Anywho x Brics. Leather trousers – Hoss Intropia. Sneakers – New Balance 574. Bangle- Swarovski ‘Interval’. Rings – ASOS. Bag – Couronne. Cashmere sweater – Boden. Scarf – Acne Canada scarf

Just a quickie before I head out for a day of chores, or as I’d like to say, excuse to drink five hazelnut lattes and stumble home feeling like a cow/squirrel by the end of the day. I’m hoping to finish my Christmas shopping this week so that I’m not forever remembered as that girl that keeps getting into rumbles with desperate middle-aged men in aisle 5 for the last tree-shaped candle. Although, I do usually look forward to February 13th because that rumble is usually for the last heart-shaped chocolate with desperate 20-somethings and seeing how I’m married that’s the most action I get in months. Oh I’m kidding. Sob.

Also, do check out a wee guest post I did for Wink, a blog by Nathalie Colin, the Creative Director of Swarovski, on matching jewellery with belt. Here’s a preview…:

Look 1: Belt by JinYoo103684, Earrings: Swarovski ‘Tody’

Look 2: Belt – ASOS. Necklace – Swarovski ‘Nice’.

Look 3: Scarf – Acne ‘Canada’. Bangle – Swarovski ‘Interval’. Belt – Next. Rings – ASOS. Bracelets – Bouton.

Outfit photos thanks to the help of Ellen!

Start London (Part of FarFetch boutique network), 42-44 Rivington Street, City of London EC2A 3BN

Right, I will now embark on a mini quest with the objective of sussing out cool shops/boutiques in London; if I can’t get my rear lumps to a gym this Olympics of a year then I might as well power-jog (or bus it, whatever) to places where I can actively practice the art of wallet-ry restraint and tone my forearm with the beast that bears the name of Canon.

Where else than START London to commence on such majestic quest? On my pre-Christmas visit I buckled for this little Charles Anastase polkadot number and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try it on, for what good is restraint when there is no direct challenge, non? I stepped out onto the dressing room landing to scrutinize myself in the mirror – the too-tight sleeves embossing polkadot craters on my arms (think it was two sizes smaller, come to think of it) –  clearly not a pretty sight as the shop advisers all scurried away to attend to a very un-straight shoes-display. As I was twirling, drunk with denial, the mirror suddenly wedged open and Mr Philip Start clambered out from what apparently was a stock room, and for a second I saw myself as a dapper man in an especially well-tailored suit (hello, Mr Start) and peed a little. Guess that was my own special inaugural starter pistol for the quest, so to speak.