Saturday 3 November 2012

Bling Factor

In my quest for a fashionable and reasonably priced "chronograph" watch, I finally found this beauty from Guess Watches. Actually I had already seen one of my friends wearing it a few days back in golden. Such shine and bling! I couldn't take my eyes off of it :) It was just perfect with the chronograph look, the bling factor and the fine detailing.


I checked out a couple of other brands stocked at Lifestyle Collection before getting this one from the Guess Glisten range. But since this watch was at the back of my mind all this time, there wasn't an inch of doubt when I got it. Mine is a two toned one in rose gold and silver.

This watch can be worn everyday,  at work or even while dressing up for a party or gathering. The best part is that it can be paired with almost any type of outfit. It adds just enough glamour to a rather sophisticated outfit and lifts up the overall look from elegant to exciting and alluring.

For a casual stroll in the city, I have paired a red shirt with blue jeans. The shirt has intrinsic lace details at the front. A sleek rust coloured belt adds balance and gives a more edgy and modernistic feel.



Watch: Guess Watches
Jeans: Levi's
Shirt & Belt: Yellow

Thursday 1 November 2012

DIY: CupCraze!

OK I know they are everywhere, and almost everyone is making them. Still I decided to give it a shot and see for myself what's the hype all about? Yes I am talking about the over whelming cupcake craze that has taken over our beloved city with a bang and refuses to let go. Here I am sharing my first hand experience of making cupcakes for a one dish get together. Despite all the hype they were pretty simple and easy to make. And since its summer vacations try to get the kids involved. Its going to be a fun activity and they would love to help and decorate them.


Here's a list of ingredients: 


1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Preheat oven to 180 C
Beat the butter and sugar with an electric beater or hand mixer until light and fluffy 
Add the eggs one by one and also the vanilla essence
In another bowl mix the flour, baking powder, and one pinch of salt
Now add the flour mixture and milk to the eggs mixture. Do it batches, first the flour then milk then mix
Repeat until all the flour is mixed and you have nice batter
Line baking tray with paper cupcake liners
Fill the cupcake liners with batter and bake for about 20 minutes 






Frosting: 
For frosting I melted some chocolate with butter, cream and icing sugar. To mix them evenly I used a whisk. Now I am not an expert or a pro and obviously didn't have any other instruments like those decorating or piping tips (Wiltons etc.) at home, so I just grabbed a knife and spread the icing on the cupcakes. They seemed fine, though not like the pretty ones you see at the shops! For kids you can have colored bunties, jello-s etc. to make them interesting. 


For those who are not choco freaks there is a simple lemon frosting which you can do. Mix 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of lemon juice into half a cup of icing sugar and simply pour over. It will harden a bit, leaving a nice sheen and give a nice fresh lemony flavour to the cupcakes.