My Monica Vinader Personalised Charm

At home, with my family, we don't really give each other presents at Christmas time, because we celebrate St Nicolas in the Netherlands instead, but I was still very spoiled and got a couple of lovely presents friends!

One of the presents I got was a gorgeous personalised silver charm by Monica Vinader. Shame on me but I'd never really heard of this brand before. Turns out that Monica, a Spanish born, UK jewellery designer is very popular amongst the celebs with an ever-growing stylish following including Cameron Diaz, Claudia Shiffer, Keira Knightly and Elle MacPherson.

"From a strong desire to wear jewellery in all the varied moments of life, Monica Vinader brings us pieces that balance elegance and luxury with practical and simple designs. Silver and 18 Carat Gold is hand set with semi precious stones, bespoke cut and faceted to showcase their personality. The jewellery reflects the designer's passion for the shapes and colours found in nature, her search for the timelessness of the simple form."

Monica Vinader is a regular these days in glossy magazines such as Vogue, Harpers, Elle and Grazia and now lucky little me owns a beautiful personalised charm by the brand!

My flatmate got me a small round pendant in sterling silver that she got engraved for me! You can wear the pendant on a necklace, bracelet or combine it with a Monica Vinader chain adding more pendants or stones as you please, this way designing your own necklace (link)

I love my 'Roxy Rocks' charm! I'm pairing it here with my Tiffany & Co bracelet!

Had you heard of Monica Vinader before? 

There are definitely a few items on her site that I'd love to make my own....

Jewellery Trend: The Statement Necklace

One popular jewellery trend of 2012 has definitely been the statement necklace. Chic and bold; statement necklaces are extremely popular because they can transform any simple outfit into something more special. Statement necklaces can be beaded, embellished, layered, twisted, feathered or geometric. The trend has featured in designer shops to the high street, all in different shapes, sizes and styles. You can wear a statement necklace with several different outfits to create many eye-catching looks. For example a statement necklace can instantly transform a LBD for a party while a casual t-shirt can be accessorised with a dramatic piece to add some flair to your day look.

Being a fan of this trend, a few weeks back this little beauty from Zara definitely caught my eye!

ZARA Cobalt blue stone with metal & ribbon woven statement necklace. Now sold out but you can still buy it on eBay it seems! (link)

The blue, green and orange in the necklace really brighten up any simple outfit! What do you think of the statement necklace trend, is this something you have been wearing? If you are worried about how to pull this trend of then just remember to keep rest of your outfit simple and and let the necklace make a statement all of its own!

Mint winters day OOTD & new cross bracelet

For those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you would have already seen my picture post of two bargains I picked up in the H&M sale last week. I was quickly popping into my local store buy some socks (of all necessities) and got distracted by the sales racks where I found this lovely cropped mint knitted jumper for only £15! Even though it's now winter and you might see mint as more of a spring colour I see no reason why to shy away from brightening my winter days with colourful outfits. This is me in my new jumper on Sunday, where I combined the mint jumper with my favourite bright pink winter wooly snood scarf.

Do you like this colourful look for winter?

To keep warm I paired it with my super snug tan UGG boots!

I have also been meaning to show you this new fine side cross bracelet that I got from ASOS a few weeks back. It is from their ASOS collection and you can get it in silver, gold and rose gold. It looks more gold in this photo but mine is the rose gold one.

Get it here for only £6 (link)

I was back home (yet again!) this weekend to celebrate St Nicolas with my family. It is my favourite Dutch tradition because it is an evening full of laughs, presents and the most yummy St Nicolas treats!

I definitely indulged in a fair amount of Speculaas this weekend....

Dutch Speculaas Chunks - you can find my recipe here (link). The gym is definitely calling my name this week after my indulgent but fun family weekend but hell it was worth it ;)

Can money buy happiness?

Haha I love this quote ;) It's a bit silly but also true, well in my case anyway. I will confess that shopping in New York made me a very happy girl! There are just so many amazing shops; varying from high street brands, designer shops, department stores to boutiques and even great little street stand shops where they sell the most funky jewellery.

For example check out these awesome two wrap around bracelets I got from a NYC street stand....

On the left a pinky nude leather long strap with a gold chain stitched on that wraps three times around the wrist. You can simply wrap it and click together or knot/twist them like I have done here. On the right is a grey leather strap with little gold studs that you tie (like a shoelace) before connecting together. The lady sold these in so many amazing colours, from bright neons to purple and blues. However in the end I settled on a grey one for me and I got a friend a bright blue one as a birthday gift. The bracelet in the middle is my Cinderela B Neon Luxe bracelet, as seen here (link).

So maybe sometimes money can buy you happiness? ;) Happy hump day everyone! Xoxo

 

What I got for my birthday...

So a lot of you asked me what was in the little blue box that I featured in my French Manicure Shellac Nails post a few weeks back....well here it is, the new beautiful addition to my Tiffany & Co collection! 

Tiffany & Co Bead Bracelet (10mm beads, link) I love it so much!

I'm wearing it every day at the moment with my other T&C bracelets.  Thanks mum and dad!! ♥

Here a selection of other presents that I got from my truly wonderful and generous friends...My friends know me too well.... a good bottle of bubbly always makes me a happy girl :)

I've got quite the delicious collection now after my party!! I love birthday cards ♥ These will remain on the mantlepiece for a while!Set of silver, gold and rose gold bangles 'LOVE' them hehe!

The Bill's Cookbook 'Cook, Eat, Smile'. I can't wait to try some of these recipes....

Seriously, how mouthwatering do these Halloumi burgers look, nom nom! 

A very cool 'Eat - Sleep - Shop' Guide to London!

Makeup!!!

A gorgeous Thomas Sabo charm bracelet with a little red stiletto charm and an anchor charm as a memory to our holiday on The Yacht Week! I can't wait to get some more charms to add to this bracelet :)

My favourite new mug...Roxy Lady haha ;)

Pretty circle necklace! Perfect for every day casual wear. 

So as you can see I was very spoiled again this year...what a lucky girl I am. Thanks everyone! :) xoxo

Cinderela B - chunky gold & pearl bracelet

Who knew gold and pearl could be such a perfect combination?

This is a new bracelet I recently got from Cinderela B

Cinderela B is a luxury designer jewellery label founded in 2006 by British designer Rachel Jackson. She is based in the vibrant and creative area of Spitalfields, London where every piece of her jewellery is handmade. The label has two seperate collections; the vintage couture range and a main line collection. Both collection designs include birds, bees and butterflies and are fashion-forward, original and made with high quality materials.

This is the Luxe Neon Bracelet in Mother of Pearl

It is made using semi-precious mother of pearl and you can chose for the chunky chain to be gold or silver plated. I love the combination of the chunky and edgy chain with the elegant and delicate pearls.

I have been wearing it lots either matched with other gold and pearl bracelets or even with my much loved silver Tiffany & Co bracelets or my Michael Kors watch.

The Mother of Pearl Luxe Neon Bracelet is priced at £22and is available to buy from Cinderela B (link)

A ray of sunshine! #

A few weekends ago we were blessed with bright blue skies, balmy temperatures and lots of sunshine in the UK. London already is a fantastic city to live in but let me tell you it becomes an entirely different place when it is hot and sunny! The sun just seems to brings out the best in everyone; it becomes the happiest place on the planet. People will be out in their summer dresses or shorts with sandals, soaking up the sun in the many beautiful parks, having picnics or sitting on the terraces of many great cafes followed by drinking Pimm’s in the pub and alfresco dinning or rooftop BBQ’s!!

I think because we are not often blessed with that kind of weather here it makes us appreciate the sunshine and heat so much more that everyone is just super HAPPY!! In a nutshell, you can’t beat London on a summers day!

When it’s such lovely weather I always feel like wearing lots of colour to reflect my sunny mood; I thought this bright yellow dress fit the bill perfectly; I felt a bit like a ray of sunshine ;)

Dress: bought this about 3 years ago in New Zealand at Principals
Shoes: Nude flat sandals from ZARA, got these a couple of month's ago. Super comfy!
Jacket: Denim Jacket by Bershka (as seen here)

Gold & Turqoise clover necklace by Regina Pierallini (link)

Sunglasses by RayBan
Watch by Michael Kors

I started this glorious day with breakfast in the sun at Gusto in Notting Hill, which is a lovely little Italian cafe/restaurant just down the road from my house! It's so nice to have a fantastic local place where you can go for a coffee, sit outside and enjoy delicious food and super friendly service.

My delicious organic yoghurt with home made granola, banana and honey!

On my nails (and toes) I am wearing my favourite nail polish this summer
Bourjois 10 Days Nail Enamel in Macaron #25 (as seen here)

Sunshine makes me SO happy :)

And as I am writing this post as it is raining outside....c'mon please bring back summer?! xoxo

New sunnies: Tortoise RayBan Wayfarers #

For a while now I have been lusting after some RayBan Wayfarer sunglasses and with summer coming up I wanted to bite the bullet and splurge on some new sunnies. I found my perfect pair online at  SmartBuy Glasses.

RayBan Tortoise (RB4105) Folding Wayfarers (link)

Denim Jacket by Bershka

Gold scarf by LK Bennett

Earrings by Regina Pierallini (link)

I just love them!! I have always been a fan of the Wayfarers shape but I found that the RayBans original frames have quite a  predominant slant to them which doesn’t really suit my face shape. That’s why I am so happy I discovered the folding Wayfarer style because they are a very similar shape to the originals but without the heavy slant.  The soft tortoise design is also a nice change from the standard black I think.

The  lenses are also polarized which means they reduce glare reflected at some angles off shiny non-metallic surfaces such as water, aka perfect for my upcoming sailing holiday in Croatia this summer :)

These sunnies are really light weight and you might be wondering 'folding' sunglasses, what does that mean? Well it means they fold down so you can store them easily in your back pocket or handbag - very convenient for travel I think!

Do you like my new glasses and are you eyeing up any new sunnies this summer? xoxo