Wedding ideas – Secret Garden

October 5, 2016September 22, 2016Leave a comment

When we are little girls we often dream of our wedding day. We dream of walking through a wood and come across a secret garden and there, in the garden stands ‘prince charming’ the man or our dreams, the man you want to spend the rest of your life with

The Bouquet

No matter the shape of your bouquet the flowers will represent a mix of flowers that you picked on the way to your secret meeting place, hidden in the lush gardens.

The destination

Whether inside or outside the wedding hall and reception should reflect the wild nature of a garden. This includes many flowers or draping to give the effect of a hidden garden

Reception

Decorating ideas should include lots of different colours.

Table arrangements

Depending on your own personal style you can choose one large arrangement per table or 3 vases of flowers. It is always important to remember to keep your arrangements in odd numbers as these appear more appealing to the eyes.

Wedding of Jasmine Shah and Gautam Sudhakar at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC Saturday, June 4, 2011. (© 2011 Michael Connor / Connor Studios)

Bridal party

Choosing bridesmaid dresses for this theme can include light or dark colours of pink, purple, red, orange or green or any other floral pattern. A nice tough is flower garlands in their hair so they look like fairies in your secret garden of love

Fake it till you make it

October 3, 2016October 2, 2016Leave a comment

One of the most valuable sayings I’ve ever learned was ‘Fake it till you make it’. The first time I came across this phrase was in ‘Superflirt‘ a book by psychologist and relationship expert Tracy Cox. In her book she suggested that you should ‘fake’ being confident by acting confident. Its all about body language and the message you send to the world.

It comes from the idea that if we’re having a bad day, we will frown, slouch our shoulders, avoid eye contact and maybe even wear black or dark clothes to represent our mood, but if you walk tall, wear bright clothes and smile a lot you are most likely feeling confident about yourself and other people will notice this. What others think of us may not be important to you but it will determine how they approach us.

Don’t get me wrong, ‘faking’ it does not mean that you are fake or that you are no longer yourself. It requires a few small changes in the messages your body sends to the world. By faking it for a while, your body will get use to the changes and your mind will follow. Over time you will become the confident self-assured person you are ‘pretending’ to be.

Fake it till you make it is a principle that I have applied in my life personally and although I also sometimes have my down and out days. Acting more confident and self assured helps me to have the confidence to do things I might otherwise have not done.

Simple tips to boost your own confidence

Smile. Don’t fake the smile. Make it genuine. The kind that reaches from the corner of your lips all the way to your eyes.

Eye contact. Try and keep eye contact with the person you’re talking to. Also if you are intending to talk to someone, make direct eye contact and hold it there for a few seconds.

Get your head up. When you’re walking don’t stare at the ground, there is nothing but dirt there ( unless you’re walking somewhere dangerous of course :p). Pull your shoulders up and back. Stop slouching and you will already start feeling more confident.

How to pull off a Pink Wedding

September 30, 2016September 25, 2016Leave a comment

Bouquet

For a bride the bouquet is an important accessory. . Whether you choose a simple rose bouquet or a wild bunch of flowers, the type of flowers and colours you choose is often an extension of your own personality and flair

Low Table arrangements

Any good reception will need proper adornments. When choosing a table arrangement always remember that your quests will want to be able to talk to each other across the table and therefore don’t want to struggle to look past the arrangement in front of them. For table arrangements you can either do a low arrangement or a high arrangement

Extravagant Table arrangements.

Bridesmaids

Choosing a bridesmaid dress design is just as important as choosing your bridesmaids.When choosing a bridesmaids dress you can either choose the same color and style for all your bridesmaids or you can choose a whole palette of pink. Both these options look equally beautiful.

How to incorporate your colour into your food and drinks

Its not always easy or practical to make all your food pink but there are some options on how to add colour to your feast. Try using pink drinks or deserts. You could also add cute little table snacks like macrons or coloured popcorn.

Best shopping websites to use when living in Korea

September 30, 2016September 30, 2016Leave a comment

Not all of us are lucky enough to live in one of the bigger cities of Korea. Being westerners, its often hard to get clothes in our sizes since anatomically we’re bigger than the Koreans no matter your weight. The average Korean woman’s height is between 157.4 and 160.4 cm (5 ft 2 in -5 ft 3 in) while men are around 173 cm ( 5 ft 8.5 in) . As most Native English teachers in Korea are from the US, UK, Aus and New Zealand, the average female height is around 162cm and the average male around 173-178 cm.

Being taller means that your waist and hips are also bigger. Finding pants and underwear your size can be a nightmare, and when you’re staying in Korea for more than one contract and don’t have any family visiting soon, to bring along some jeans and bra’s, then your only option might be online shopping.

I do almost all my shopping online from clothes to food and even laptops. Occasionally I go to Seoul for dresses but even in Shinsegae they only hold dresses sized 0 – 2.

Where to get what?

Gmarket

Since coming to Korea, Gmarket has been my ‘go-to’ for almost everything. Every second month I buy frozen chicken breast from here, its much cheaper per Kg than any other shop in Korea. We’ve bought a gaming laptop, which works perfectly, bicycles, chairs, tables, a microwave, a small oven and even a fog machine for Halloween. I’ve bought clothes here once or twice but because of the size difference between Koreans and Westerners most dresses are too small or too big. I have some friends that bought clothes at Gmarket and they were very happy with their purchases. You can also get shoes but the international brands are the best options since their sizes are standard. Gmarket has sellers from inside as well as outside of Korea. You can pay with your credit card or with a bank transfer.

iHerb

I have only recently discovered the advantages of iHerb. They sell anything from groceries to beauty products and weight training supplements. They deliver within a week, mostly 3-4 days, but sometimes a little more. They have cheap oats and honey ( honey is quite expensive in Korea). You also build up a credit, every time you buy something, that you can use on one of your orders later on. The only restrictions they have are on supplements. You can’t import more than 6 bottles of supplements in one order. Shipping costs are pretty cheap. You can pay with your credit card or check card. The don’t accept Korean issued check cards.

Amazon

You can also get virtually anything from Amazon. The only problems are that the shipping costs are sometimes more than the actual product and not all the companies ship to Korea. Amazon is also great for getting things like board games to keep you entertained here in Korea. You can pay with pay-pal, credit card, or even your Korean check card.

Victoria’s Secret.

For all your lingerie needs. But they also sell comfy lounge pants and UGG’s if you need any of these. The only problem here is that it can take up to 5 weeks for your items to arrive. If you’re willing to wait however you can get some pretty good deals if you buy the 5/something deals. Shipping is usually around $40-45. You can pay with your credit or check card. When using paypal, make sure that your address is set to Korea otherwise it WILL go to your home address in the US or UK

What the book

What the book is a local shop with a branch in Itaewon, Seoul. They have a wide variety of new and used English books. If you’re unable to go all the way to Itaewon you can always buy the books online. They can even order books for you that’s not in stock. You can pay with a transfer or credit card.

High Street Market

High Street Market is also located in Iteawon, Seoul. They sell a wide variety of western foods including meats and cereals from back home. They even have a selection of liqueur. You can buy from their website but when ordering foods that need to be kept cold you have to pay for the extra ice packs yourself. You can only pay by using a bank transfer.

Asos

I have read online that Asos delivers to Korea. I have ordered one dress, but still waiting for it to be delivered. If you know the quality then it is a great option but personally I don’t have any experience with this brand. I’ll let you know ASAP. Shipping was only $4 for the one garment. I’m really full of shit when it comes to quality. If something is $40 it should not look like a $10 garment. You can use your credit or check card to pay.

Nasty Gal

One of my current favourite shops. They have clothes in US sizes but the delivery takes around 4-5 weeks unless you pay for fast delivery. Pay with your credit or check card.

There are many other websites that you can use here in Korea but these are just the ones that I use and have experience with and they are therefore the ones that I recommend.

On a final note, Korea has an import restriction of 150,000 won meaning that if you order online from websites outside of Korea and your order is more than 150 000 won then you may pay import duties.

5 Quick lunch Sandwich ideas.

September 29, 2016September 21, 201610 Comments

Tuna and cucumber sandwich

Instead of the normal tuna and mayo sandwich you can add cubes of cucumber for a sweet and crunchy texture. Click here for a Korean twist to this recipe

Greek yogurt chicken salad sandwich

It takes you longer to say the name of this sandwich than to prepare it..wink wink.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups leftover rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup diced apple
1/2 cup grapes, halved
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 slices bread/4 buns
4 leaves Boston bibb lettuce

RECIPE HERE

Tuna melt

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Ingredients:

Tuna, 2 cans, drained
Onion, medium size, chopped
Celery, 1/2 a stalk, chopped
Garlic (1 clove), minced
Parsley, 1 tablespoon, chopped
Mayonnaise, 3-4 tablespoons
Olive Oil, 3 tablespoons, divided
Mozzarella, 1/3 cup, shredded
Bread, sliced
Butter, softened
Salt and Pepper to taste

RECIPE HERE

Chicken bacon avocado Sandwich

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Ingredients

Mustard Mayo (Kneaders Sauce Copycat)
1/2 cup real mayo
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 tsp yellow mustard

Sandwich Ingredients (for 2 large sandwiches):
6 oz chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken, hand pulled
4 strips cooked bacon
2 slices provolone cheese
2 large lettuce leaves
4-6 slices tomato
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
Salt & pepper
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
Fresh focaccia bread (or artisan bread)

RECIPE HERE

Banana chocolate stuffed French toast

For those of us with a sweet tooth, this is just the thing yummmmm…

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INGREDIENTS:

4 slices Texas toast (I prefer Texas toast over regular bread because it’s thicker)
about 8 tablespoons chocolate peanut butter, divided (Nutella may be substituted)
1 medium banana, sliced into thin rounds
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened cashewmilk)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
about 2 tablesoons unsalted butter, for griddling

RECIPE HERE

I hope you have fun experimenting with your lunch sandwiches 🙂

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