PHOTO ALBUM OF SEVILLA

Hot, colourful and vivid city in the south of Spain. It is zigzagged by narrow streets with small independent full of curiosities shops. If something caught your eye in one of them, grab it straight away as you might not find the shop the next day. Prepare yourselves for sign language as locals do not speak English or any other language but Spanish. Watch out for cyclists as they are the most important traffic participants. Always have your EU passport as it allows you free entrance to some museums and other objects. If you are a shopaholic, have in mind that Zara and Mango are Spanish brands, which means that it is way cheaper in these shops in Spain. I have to admit that I found Sevilla cosier and more impressive than Barcelona. Although both cities have a special creative and artistic atmosphere :) 

THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLA

PLAZA DE ESPANA

 

 

ROYAL PALACE

POPULAR COSTUME AND ART MUSEUM

 

BULLFIGHTING MUSEUM AND ARENA

GIFT GUIDE #2. SOUVENIR GIFTS FOR GIRLS.

This post was not planned at all so it appears here very unexpectedly. I was not prepared for it, therefore, I found only one suitable picture for it. That's a shame cos now I think it could have been useful for some of you. 

Before going on holiday to Lithuania I knew for sure that I would want to spend it in my Mom's homestead with her girlfriends. Yes, HER girlfriends. She has quite a bunch of them, they all have extremely different personalities and I am the only daughter for all of them :D, so I wanted to surprise them, spoil them a bit and pamper. I wanted the souvenir gifts to be unexpected, useful and pleasurable:

So, the list of gifts:

1. Plastic red baskets (Wilko, the link is to another colour).

2. Notebooks "Thoughts of An Absolute Genius" (Wilko). Every bottom of the page of this notebook has pictures of glasses like mine, so I thought this would be kind of personalised gift and would remind a little bit of me.

3. Fridge magnet with views of the region I live in (Waterstones).

4. Soap and Glory body scrub (Boots).

5. My favourite Thorntons chocolates.

6. And, of course, tea for girls Pukka Womankind.    

I wrapped everything in Paperchase tissue paper and secured the package with a sticker. It is a perfect gift for a cousin or grandmother :)

That is my recipe for a souvenir gift for girls :)

HOLIDAY @ HOME OF A CAT

This summer I spent two weeks in Blouse's fazenda. But before that I visited the capital city and Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania!

And here is the Dutchess herself:

Unlike Blouse, fazenda is not shabby at all. To tell the truth I thought it looked more like a little mansion with all amenities. It was surrounded by lots of flowers of different colours (that is the only way I can recognise flowers: red flower, blue flower, yellow flower...), statues and all kinds of objects in apple trees.

By the way, like a proper Mrs. Cat, Blouse has a servant my Mom, who is responsible for all interior and exterior design details. Just have a look what posh plates and bowls Mrs. Cat is eating from...

What did I do there? I was reading readings,

was sniffing roses that came to Blouse's fazenda from my grandparent's late homestead,

was staring at BBQ smoke,

all messed up in the mornings was walking on the grass,

was taking a picture of a snail cos my Mom told me to,

and had a walk in the up-to-my-knees forest! :D 

Shame my lazy days ended quicker than it came....



BEHIND THE SCENES:


rain,

wine,

green cheddar cheese,


yellow chicken kotlets,

sweet cherry I did not eat,

dried-up well,

sweet sleep,

creme brulee latte,

my feet in ice cold pool... 

BATHROOM DIARY #1. HAIR CARE

First post for the new series of posts "Bathroom Diary". Yeahhhh...

Through the last year I have tried quite a lot of body, face and hair care products. I love discovering new brands, products, scents, textures, etc. But new stuff does not always mean that it is better than something previously discovered. Searching and experimenting help me find products that really are good for my skin and hair. In this series of posts I am going to share products you will always find in my bathroom or those that I have recently tried, loved and repurchased. 

Let's get started! Hair care.

I am a brunette, my hair is long, wavy-curly, thick and I dye it approximately once a month with no-ammonia hair colourants.

In the sense of shampoo my hair had been very capricious. It would have loved to be washed with different shampoo every time, but unfortunately... I kept on trying to accustom it to one brand, but after one and a half bottles my hair used to defeat me and I used to sigh and go back to drugstores in search of a new shampoo. So I was tormenting myself for probably my all life and not really noticing that until I tried Neutrogena T/Gel Therapeutic shampoo. Now, I would not describe its texture as gel, it reminded me more of jelly. When you squeeze it on to your palm it does not stick to it and before it reaches your head, half of it usually ends up in the bathtub (I am so clumsy). Looks like my hair is quite enjoying this entertainment and does not mind this product as I have already repurchased it six times. I noticed that when I had started using Neutrogena T/Gel Therapeutic shampoo, my hair did not grease that quickly, my scalp was not itchy anymore (apparently it was very dry and sensitive) and my hair looked shiny. By the way, despite its strange texture, it has a pretty nasty scent that reminds me of leather bag or coat. I know, it is really strange. 

After shampooing my hair, I always use conditioner. To be honest I have not discovered yet a conditioner that could be easily purchased in drugstores, but me and my hair absolutely love the ones you get together with L'Oreal Casting Creme colourants. It smells so nice and does the job perfectly.

After I rinse conditioner, I dry my hair with a towel and I always distribute some argan oil on the ends of my hair. Personally I always repurchase Avon Moroccan Argan Oil Leave-in Treatment, but any other will do here.

Time to time I pamper my hair with masks. If they work or not I find out from my hairdresser as she always comments on the state of my hair. The irreplaceable mask for my hair is The Body Shop Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter. This butter is for dry hair and I use it every time I feel my hair needs it. 

For the time of the year when I lose more hair than usually, I use Lush Roots hair mask. I simply massage this mask into my scalp, put a shower cap on and in 30 mins or so I rinse it off. The main ingredients of this mask are three different kinds of mint that stimulate your scalp and hair follicles which helps your hair grow quicker and stronger. By the way, if your head gets cold and tingly, that's alright. It's just mints working :)

That is it about my current hair care routine :)

FRAN MENESES TRAVEL-JOURNAL. A POST THAT TURNED ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE

Today I received a beautiful travel-journal written by Fran Meneses and have already finished reading it. Sounds epic, but it's a very small book, so that's ok :) This travel-journal is about Fran's and her friend Monse's trip to Paris and London. Fran is Spanish who lives in Berlin with her husband and two cats. She is an illustrator, blogger and youtuber, and she tells her story mainly through her drawings. It's such a beautiful little book with tips, recommendations and emotions that I can't even tell. It reminds me why I love travelling on my own so much. Fran writes about spliting with her friend during the trip on some occasions because they wanted to see different things and on one occasion she even had to change her plan to see an exhibition she was excited about, just because her friend did not want to go to Montmartre on her own! So selfish of her friend and so nice of Fran, but no one would have stopped me from doing my thing :) She also writes about being homesick and trying to adapt in a new country. She meets Estee from Essie Button who had moved from Canada to England years ago. They spent a beautiful day together, sharing their thoughts and experiences on the matter and I absolutely agree with Estee - everything's gonna be fine :) Life is beautiful! 

  

Do you guys write your own travel journals? I do. But mine is not even close to Fran's. My journal is more like a diary. Every time I fill it in, I feel it's too boring, my writing is rubbish, everything is very bad, including my handwriting. But I never give up and just keep doing it. I know that when I read it in half a year, every word will be worth of a gold. It's funny how many things you forget in such a short period of time. Last year I travelled a bit with my Mom. Well, she actually came to England to visit me and I asked her to fill my diary in with her thoughts. It's so interesting to read about the same trip through the perspective of another person, especially when the person is from another generation. It is fun, but I just love travelling on my own. So many people cannot understand that and find it shockingly astonishing, but that's the way I am and this is what my personality needs.

My travel journal. I got it from Paperchase a year ago.

 

 So these are some of the reasons why I travel on my own:

• I do not have to compromise on where to stay (£££) or how to get to places of interest (I can walk all day and this is what I do);
• I go to museums, exhibitions, parks, and other places of my own choice;
• I can spend as much time as I like on choosing postcards in souvenir shops or simply browsing at quirky shops. Or take as many shots as I want until I am satisfied with the one and no one is rushing me because someone is hungry or tired;
• I am responsible only for myself and I do not have to babysit someone else (trust me, there are people like that).   

I hope that makes sense. 

The stuff in my journal.

As I have mentioned above, same as Fran I live far away from my native country. I moved to England from Lithuania nearly four years ago and I am glad I did it. I never was homesick or anything like that and I never had this feeling in my life. I remember when I entered university and moved to our capital city, my friends used to whine how much they miss their home and they used to go back to their home towns as often as they could. Whereas, I used to go home as less frequent as possible because I never fell the need to. It's the same story now. I do not miss my country and I probably would never go there if I did not feel the responsibility to see my friends and family there. Probably every town in England has Eastern European Food Store, but I shop there only couple of times a year. And that is not because I miss some specific foods, I just love discovering what's new on the market. The reason why I do not shop in Eastern European Food Stores is that I want to adapt to the country I live in as best as I can. I also want to know as much about the country I live in as I can and trust me, even simple thing like grocery shopping in local supermarket can tell you a lot about it. I should probably make a separate post about my grocery favourites :)

Oh dear. This post did not turn up as I planned it. It had to be praise of Fran Maneses talents only, but it turned out into something more personal :) Hope you do not mind :) 

If this is the first time you heard  about Fran, you should definitely check her blog! And if you would like to get her book, you can do it here! :) 

VANITY FAIR OR DUPES FOR EXPENSIVE HANDBAGS

Today I've come up with the idea to find cheap versions for expensive handbags. I browsed online stores of most popular clothing brands, like Zara, Next, Mango, River Island, New Look, etc. I was looking only for similar styles, I did not focus on genuine leather products as it is not relevant to everyone. Also I am not sure about exact sizes, but I think the sizes of original bag and version bag are pretty close. Links to the products are on their images. 

Look what I managed to find:

1. CHANEL Black Lambskin Double Face 2.55 Silver Hardware Classic Flap, around £1975 ($2999)

and

Rebecca Minkoff MINI AFFAIR - Across body bag - black (£170)

2. CELINE Small Belt Bag in Navy Blue Natural Calfskin, around £1950 ($2950)
and
 MANGO Big Knot Bag, £29.99

3. Marc by Marc Jacobs Natasha New Q Cross-Body Bag - Black, £325

and

 H&M Clutch Bag, £14.99

 

4. Max and Co Multi-zip leather shoulder bag, £225 
  and
ASOS Leather Boxy Cross Body Bag, £40
 

5. Rebecca Minkoff Finn Crossbody, around £130 ($195)
and
 ALDO Shoulder bag with Fringe Detail, £35

6. KARL LAGERFELD Karl Shopper - Black, £245
  and
ZARA REVERSIBLE CONTRAST SHOPPER, £29.99

7. KAREN MILLEN The Melrose Mini Fringed Bucket Bag - Black, £180

and

RIVER ISLAND Black fringed duffle bag, £37

8. DKNY Gansevoort Quilted Backpack - Black, £270
  and
River Island Quilted RI Mini Rucksack, £20
 

WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY BAG

I guess I am not going to surprise anyone by saying that my favourite bag is a rucksack. Every time I have it on my shoulders I feel ready for anything: there is no brainer where to keep or how to bring home my purchases; it has lots of pockets for bits and bobs; and it also keeps my back warm when it is windy in winter. But just as the weather got warmer I felt the need of a smaller and handier handbag. Especially when there is no need for my back to be warmed and my purchases seem to become smaller and lighter. So I browsed tons of websites and found a cross-body handbag I really loved. 

One of the main criteria for me when purchasing a handbag is that the umbrella would fit in it (after all it's England and it rains here) and the rest is just the matter of taste. I made a slideshow about my other handbag essentials and am sharing it with you: 


         

All the things that keep migrating from bag to bag are:

• Groceries bag by Nieko Rimto (you can still get a similar one here),
• I think every lady knows what's in the tint (now gents know too :),
• Lilac and light blue pouches are from River Island and are used for small bits and bobs to keep. I find this way is easier for me to find everything instead of going through tons of small pockets in my bags,
• The wallet is from New Look (you can still get the same model in grey, black and new blue here). If you want to know what's inside my wallet, click on this link. 
• Sunnies are my new Polaroids. Find out more about Polaroids here.