Nutella Briosche Bread | FoodieWednesday

Hello everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!

Today's Foodie Wednesday happens to be on Christmas day, 

how cool is that?

For this reason I decided to give you a Christmassy recipe that you can bake all year around as well:

it's the Nutella Briosche Bread (or at least that's how I call it!)

You will need:

300 g of flour
300 g of strong flour
1 yeast bag
35 g of sugar
2 eggs
45 g of butter
190 ml of milk
lemon peel
Nutella
Icing sugar

How to do this:

Put everything (except for the Nutella and the Icing Sugar)

in a mixer (or use a hand one)

Little note: the butter should be at room temperature,

or it won't mix properly

Blend everthing until it looks like a nice and smooth loaf.

Leave it there to rise for at least an hour.

After an hour, you're ready to work with your loaf.

Divide the loaf into 3 equal parts and start with the first one.

Use a rolling pin and spread the pastry out on the table.

Try to spread it in a circular shape, about 30 cm of diameter.

Spread the Nutella on top of the first layer of pastry

Then repeat the procedure for the other two parts of pastry you left behind.

At the end you'll have 3 layers of pastry with two layers of Nutella inside.

Start cutting a classic cross on your pastry, but avoid the very center of the circle.

You'll have now 4 sections. Divide it  now into 8, and then into 16.

Work with two slices at one time: roll each of them outward twice,

then join the far ends together.

Repeat the procedure for every slice and you'll get this star shape.

Leave it to rise until it becomes twice as big as it is now.

Bake it in the oven for 30 mins at  about 180°C.

Sprinkle some icing sugar on top of it and you're ready to eat it.

Yummy, isn't it?

Happy & Merry Christmas to you all

& Thank you for coming over!

Let me know if you tried this recipe, comment and send me pics :)

Skater Dresses | FashionMonday

Hello everyone & Happy FashionMonday!

It's just 2 days left until Christmas day, so I thought I would talk
about something to wear on that day (or for new Year's Eve): Skater Dresses!

I found out about this kind of dresses recently, and even though I
didn't find the perfect one for me yet,
I may have tried on some pieces and discovered
that this style actually fits me quite good.

What I like about skater dresses is that they fit almost every
body shape: it enhances your waistline, hiding at the
same time your butt (!) and your (possibly) large hips.

I think it covers up flaws in your hips area, not only if
you have large ones as I mentioned above, but also if you don't have
hips at all, because it creates the illusion of a very
femine hourglass figure, which I really like.

What I don't like about these dresses is that they mostly come in
a very short length, too short for tall women like me (I'm 175 cm/ 5.8 ft).

It's very hard to find longer skater dresses, at least it is where I live,
and it is sort of risky to buy them online since not every
website shows you the actual length of the dress in its description.

How to style them?

These dresses are extremely easy to style. They mostly come in plain
colours but you can find some with designs too.
In winter I would style them with a nice cardigan,
tights and a pair of oxfords for daytime, or a nice cropped blazer,
tights and ankle boots for the night time.

When the weather will be warmer I would style them
with a nice pair of flats and a shoulder bag for daytime
and with a precious pair of heeled sandals or wedges
and a clutch for a fancy night out.

How would YOU style skater dresses?

For Daytime: 

Red Label Skater Dress (£30)

For Nighttime: 

Lipsy Lace Skater Dress ($99.82 - now on sale for $69.87)

My Picks

As usual, here's the three skater dresses
that I would definitely buy if I could.

Affordable 

Carmen Lace Top Belted Skater Dress ($40.00)

Not-So-Affordable

Ginger Fizz Mesh-Up Pleated LBD Dress (£44.99)

Luxury

Ted Baker London Stretch Skater Dress ($ 275)

That's it for today guys! What will you wear on Christmas Day?
Are you going for a nice skater dress? Let me know in the comments below :)

Check out my Skater Dresses Collection on Polyvore <3

Also follow me on bloglovin'!!

Have a nice day y'all :)

My Christmas Decorations | SundayFunday

Hello everyone!

Sorry I've been away for the past week, it's been a busy one.

I'm back with this totally random and christmassy post for SundayFunday, and it's about my Christmas Decorations!

How lovely is this little Santa sleigh to hang on the Christmas Tree? I just love it!

It's made out of wood, and I bought it in a local shop in my town for 1,50 E.

Here you go with other decorations hanging on my tree:

A little pine cone

I decided to go for silver, red and white this year, and i totally LOVE this color combo.

And I particularly love my silver glitter caviar balls!

Little wooden tree

You can't miss a little Santa and a (big) 

glittery reindeer on your Christmas tree!

Little wooden heart, twin brother of the tree above

Where I live it is tradition to set up the nativity scene, and here's mine. I got to admit I didn't do it, it was my mom. I prefer to decorate the tree, as always, so this is her job!

Little characters

Tiny sheeps

The actual nativity scene

The baby is still missing because we don't put it out there until Christmas day, it's tradition!

I really hope you liked this radom post on my Christmas decorations,

they make me feel so festive!

Let me know what you think, and have a wonderful last Advent Sunday :)

-3 till Christmas!

E.l.f. haul | BeautyFriday

Hello everyone!

My first beauty post for BeautyFriday, yay! 

I'm feeling very christmassy today because my Elf order just arrived and I'm here with a big haul for you guys. I just realized my "Elf obsession" comes back always on Christmas time, I'm not really sure why? I guess because of the amazing offers they put out during holiday season... they litterally teased me with this 50% off on everything.

Yes, I said 50%, and that means I purchased all this stuff with 27 Euros, shipping fee included. Isn't this amazing? But let's have a look on what I ordered:

Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink | Studio Concealer in beige | Mineral Lip Tint in Berry

50 pc Makeup Artist Palette | Mineral Foundation in Beige | Natural Lash Kit eyelashes in Black |

Liquid Eyeliner in Black | Basic Eyeshadow Brush

let's start with a focus on each thing I received:

False Eyelashes. Ok, we're in the holiday season... is there a better season to wear false eyelashes than this? I was actually running out of falsies and felt the urgent need to get a new pair.

These were already cheap, but with 50% off they were a total bargain and I couldn't resist.

They are quite long but they look quite natural anyway, I'm just a little bit concerned because of the wide band at the lashline. We'll see. (€1.70)

And here it is what I've been wanting the most!

I owned a very very old makeup palette that a friend gave to me years ago as a Christmas present, but it's now eccessively old and I was not sure anymore how safe it was for my skin to use it. So I needed a new one! Since I don't own a lot of blushes or bronzers (just a couple of them) I was actually looking for a palette with both eyeshadows and a good variety of blushes and bronzers... I think this is the perfect combination.

(€18.00)

When you open it you can take the blushes and bronzers section off and divide it from the eyeshadow section, and you can do the same with the eyeshadows. This looks very handy, since you have a smaller palette with everything and you can switch the section you need and hide the other one. I think that's brilliant, expecially for me since i don't have a lot of space to store bigger palettes like those that open up like a big fan or with loads of drawers.

There's a wide selection of bronzers and blushers colors, even though some of them may be more suitable on either very pale skintones or very dark. So that's maybe not the best thing for a single user like me but who knows... maybe next summer I'll spend a whole month in the Hawaaiis and I'll get such a great tan that I might need a darker bronzer? Just dreaming, I know, sorry. By the way, I can't really blame anyone but me about this, because it is the "Makeup Artist Palette", so it's supposed to be suitable for multiple skintones since makeup artists work with a various range of different people with different skintones.

Blushers go from a very pale pink (left), to a baby pink, a neon fuschia, a more natural mauve pink tone, and a peachy-orangey tone. I would say they are all quite matt,  it's not a heavy matt though.

The  bottom right color has a little more shimmer in it but it's quite subtle anyway.

As for eyeshadows there's a wide range of different colors: a lot of browns, purples and burgundy tones, a few pinks, greys and blues, and a couple of greens and highlighters.

Most of them have a satin or pearl finish, but a few of them are matt too.

Mineral foundation is something I usually use in summer. Last time I bought one was from Bottega Verde (an Italian brand), but they discontinued it so last summer I struggled finding another cheap one. So with 50% off I decided to buy this one from Elf which has great reviews around the web. (€ 6,00)

The concealer is in "beige" and it's a creamy stick one, that I'll use to cover up dark spots or blemishes, since it has quite a dry texture, even though it still has a creamy formula. (€4.50)

I may have done a little damage on the lip products side. I purchased the Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink: it's a glowy non-shimmery baby pink, quite pigmented considering it's a gloss! (€1,70)

The lip stain is in "red carpet" and it's a nice vibrant berry red, totally matt. (€ 4.50)

And eventually, this mineral lip tint, which has more like a classic lipstick-chapstick  creamy formula. It's in "berry" and it's an everyday shade, quite shiny and looks-like-your-lips-but-better kind of color. (€4.00)

The black eyeliner (€ 1,70) was a bit of a disappointment because the tip was flawed: it had a curve right on the point, therefore it's impossible to apply the product evenly on the lid. I already contacted Elf customer service and I'm waiting for their feedback. I hope the will send me another one, as they already did another  time with a flawed crease brush.

I guess I'll take some time to try all these products out and then I'll come back with a review.

What would you like a review on? Do you already own one or more of these products? Let me know!

Have a nice day <3

Valentina

Spaghetti With Mussels | FoodieWednesday

Hello everyone!

Here we go with the first recipe of FoodieWednesday and it's a delicious dish of Spaghetti with Mussels.

I know it's not very christmassy or winter-y but I love seafood all year around so I happened to be cooking this dish and wanted to share it with you.

Here's what you need for 3 servings:

100 g of frozen mussels without shell

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

1 spoon of parsley

Half a glass of tomato sauce

280 g of Spaghetti

sea salt

Prepare a pan with a little bit of olive oil and one clove of garlic cut into two, and put it on low heat. Leave it there for a couple of minutes. When it starts bubbling over, add the frozen mussels and let them sear for five minutes. Meanwhile boil a pot of water and weigh the spaghetti. I suggest breaking them into two, so they will cook easily and evenly. When the water boils, add sea salt and drop the spaghetti in; let them cook for about 10 minutes (more or less, always try them!). 

In the meantime you would check the mussels and if they dry up too much, just add half a glass of water, as simple as that. A couple of minutes later add the parsley and the tomato sauce with a pinch of salt and blend everything together nicely with a spoon.

Let the mussels sit until the spaghetti are ready, then strain them, put it back on the empty pot and add the mussels' sauce. Blend everything and you're ready to serve (and eat!).

Here's the video recipe for you, I hope you like it!

Let me know if you try this recipe, comment here, tweet me your pics or instagram me with the hashtag #FoodieWednesday :)

Oxford Shoes | FashionMonday

Hello everyone!

I wanted to start this FashionMonday series (and the blog, since this is my first ever post) with shoes!

Women love shoes, and so do I, so I thought… why not starting with that one accessory that leaves our wallets empty the most?

As far as shoes are concerned, one of my favourite trends are Brogues, or Oxford Shoes. Actually, there might be a little bit of confusion going around the name of this kind of shoe: the model would be “brogues” (which comes from gaélic) , and “oxford” would refer to the way they are laced up. Anyway nowadays most people seem to refer to them simply calling them “Oxfords”.

Little note: in Italy we even call them “English shoes” :)

Office Black Patent Kentucky Lace Up, £62

Brogues are those low-heeled shoes, usually in leather, with decorative perforations on the front and/or along visible edges.

Traditionally they would be men’s shoes and many women’s models keep that manly shape as well. Therefore not everyone is enthusiastic or like this kind of shoes mostly because of its not-very-feminine look.

Personally I love Brogues and I have been raving about them ever since they became a trend. I think it’s been a while now, since this trend is now become a sort of evergreen, a staple in our wardrobe and every fall/winter season they keep being produced and sold by a lot of fashion brands, both affordable and high-end ones.

They are coming out in many different colors these last seasons, but their most common one is black. Grey, brown, taupe and camel are quite common too, but I think Brown is the one color that look a lot like men’s shoes when it comes to brogues, so don’t go for this color if you are not very much into that style.

They also comes in two-colors style (called “Spectators Shoes”), like these one from The Office. Definitely a more fun way to wear Brogues! 

Spectators Brogues, The Office Toola Brogues – 60 £

How to style them?

Personally, I think Oxfords look at their best with jeans or black trousers. It is true that they have a sort of manly look, which I love, and therefore I think they should not be styled with excessive manly clothes in order to avoid that “she’s dressed like a man” look (except if that’s what you really want to achieve, than go for it!). So I would not consider wearing them with blazers or boyfriend-fit jeans or trousers, but I would rather put them together with a nice pair of skinny jeans or a nice black skater skirt with tights.

If you’re not very much into the classic Brogues because you think they look too manly, just look for a gorly pair. There are a lot of those, usually with a finer sole and creamy colors. Sometimes they also come with flower prints or other nice decorations like these ones from John Rocha:

John Rocha Designer cream lace trimmed brogues, 35 £ (now on sale: 10.50£!)

Or these ones from Stuart Weitzman, with perforated clear insert:

Stuart Weitzman, Dandyperf Perforated Oxford, $375

My Picks

Here you go with a little gallery of my favourite pairs, divided in three price-oriented groups.

Little note: Since Oxfords seem to have become a sort of staple in shoes fashion, I would consider spending a little more, hence buying a higher quality pair with a nice leather so that they would last me longer in years. I’m sure we will see these shoes still for many other years around!

Affordable

Asos Match Brogues, 81.67$/45£ (now on sale 57$/31.50£!)

Not-so-affordable

 Luisa Via Roma STUDDED CALFSKIN OXFORD

SHOES $324 / 208£ (Now on sale for 162$/104£)

Luxury

Church’s “Catherine”Brogues, 370£

I currently own a black nabuk pair of Oxfords I bought a couple of years ago in Switzerland (here's a similar pair).They’re from Deichmann and they were very cheap but they’re getting really old now, so… I guess I’ll see you soon for an Oxfords/Brogues haul post? : )

What do you think of these shoes? How would you style them?

Have a nice day <3

Note: Check my Polyvore Oxfords collection here. Follow and leave a comment or a <3!