Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Brunch à Le Grainne Cafe



Salut mes beautés intelligentes! The other day I went out to brunch with a friend at a traditional french cafe located in one of the oldest buildings in Chelsea, and the food was AMAZING! It had a different ambience with its large corner windows, tin ceilings and tin walls - very reminiscent of a cafe in Paris (although I have never been). The service was also great, I highly recommend this place if you're ever in the area.


I've been experimenting with new colors and patterns lately, and I realized I don't own a lot of grey pieces, except this one grey dress! It's the best feeling re-discovering hidden gems in your closet, haha :D





Photo Credits: Thailine





Grey Dress - H & M(old)
Long Sleeved Shirt - H & M (mens) see here
Necklace - Aldo
Sneakers - Aldo
Yellow Satchel - Accessorize 

Stay Smart; Stay Beautiful,
-Onivie


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Jelly Thumbprint Biscuits


Salut mes beautés intelligentes! 

The other day I made some jelly biscuits and had them with my favorite tea at the moment - Iced Blackberry Mojito tea (bought mine at Teavana, but it's also available at Starbucks!), and together they served as a very refreshing midday snack. Thought I'd document the procedure I used, and share it with you guys. Ok, here goes.. :)


Level: Easy
Yield: 50 Biscuits (if you do not want this many, use only half of the proportions. 8 ounces become 4 ounces and so forth :) ) 
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Inactive: 2 Hours
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 ounces of Butter
  • 2/3 cup of Sugar
  • 2 Egg Yolks
  • 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
  • Your favorite jam flavour! (I used apricot, raspberry and strawberry! It was a challenge picking just one, haha :D)
  • 1 tablespoon of Powdered Sugar (optional)


PROCEDURE

Step 1:

Cream the butter and sugar. To do this, put the butter in a mixing bowl, and then add the sugar. You can use a mixer, or a wooden spoon if you choose to do it manually (I did mine manually, it was a great "workout" :D ). Mix until the two are properly combined (the mixture does not have to be fluffy since we are making biscuits)

Step 2:

Add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Mix properly until everything is well blended.

Step 3:

Add in the flour, mix mix mix! Again, you can do this with a wooden spoon or a mixer (see here) if you have one.

Step 4:

Now that the dough has come together well (it should look something like this), sprinkle a little flour on a clean counter or chopping board, and place the dough on the board.

Step 5:

Press the dough into the shape of a disk (not too flat, look here). Wrap it in plastic and put it in a fridge for 1 hr 30 mins  - 2 hours (you can leave the dough to cool overnight if you don't have the time to bake it right away).

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Preheat oven to 350 degree F

Step 6:

Now that your dough is cool, begin rolling it (with your palms - see here) into 1 1/4 inch balls (see here), and place them on a biscuit/cookie sheet over a biscuit/cookie baking pan. Make sure to leave enough space between each ball, as seen here.

Step 7:

Press a light indentation into the top of each roll. You can use your finger for this step, it should look like this.

Step 8:

Fill up the middle of each ball with your selected jam. You can do this using a teaspoon (I used a baking pipe bag. In my opinion that makes it easier, but a teaspoon should suffice).

Step 9:

Bake for 20 minutes, until the jelly starts to bubble and the edges are golden brown.

Step 10:

Take out of oven, leave to cool, sprinkle some powdered sugar (optional) and enjoy!

My apologies for not taking pictures of the steps I took(these were made in a hurry). I hope the referenced pictures bring clarity to your baking. :)


Bon Appétit,
-Onivie

Monday, July 7, 2014

Vintage Flowers


"Because someone has looked into my eyes and has found the stars. And it is a terribly exotic, exhilarating and frightening feeling" - Lattice of Love Stories (and other life happenings)

Salut mes beautés intelligentes! Hope you all had a relaxing 4th of July weekend(I know I did). This outfit is slightly based on my previous post, as I picked up the cropped vintage top from the new Urban Outfitters down at Herald Square(you seriously have to check out this store!). I'm such a sucker for vintage clothing, accessories, and oddly enough, floral patterns/fabric that remind me of vintage furniture(as I have on here :D). The detailing on this blouse did just that. I opted for a black bell skirt to highlight the colors on the blouse, and a red satchel bag to tie in the look. Although I do not own own red heels (at least not yet haha), I think they'd be a great alternative to pair with this outfit.








Photo Credit: My lovely sister, Bernadette 

Vintage Cropped Top: Urban Outfitters
High-Waisted Bell Skirt: H & M
Black Heels: Payless
Red Satchel: H & M (old)
Watch & Earrings: Aldo
Bracelets: Made in Nigeria
Gold Necklace: H & M

Stay Smart; Stay Beautiful,
-Onivie




Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Minimal - A Day in the City (New Urban Outfitters)!

Inspired by these streets - "If you can dream it, you can be it." 


Salut mes beautés intelligentes! Hope everyone's summer has been great so far. I'm presently in New York City, and have been a little busy adjusting to this new place. There's so much to do, and I don't think I have ever been surrounded by this many people. Initially I felt quite overwhelmed (honestly, I still do haha) but I think the madness is starting to grow on me. If you have any recommendations on what to do in the city, please do tell! :D


The other day I decided to go exploring before class, and took a few pictures as I did. I was feeling a little under the weather and thus went for very comfortable pieces - ones that made me feel like I was in PJs, lol. Although, I've noticed that I am bit of a minimalist when it comes to design, art and of course, style.







 The best Strawberry Banana smoothie I've ever had. Anddd it had just strawberries, bananas and ice, which is hard to come by these days. Unless it's homemade of course :)


I stopped by a local garment store and immediately felt at home. It reminded me of the days I dreaded following my mom to the market as a teenager. The only stores I enjoyed visiting, however, were the garment stores and their laces looked just like these. I remember referring to materials that resembled the brown and gold bundle in the picture below as "Senegalese Lace",  I wonder if they're  globally called that.



Then.. I walked into the new Urban Outfitters and took a few pictures of some items I loved! I was unusually ecstatic to be in the store. Have you ever walked into a store and felt like it just understood you and catered to your EVERY need? Sigh. That's how I felt, lol.

 I loved that this had a bit of an Ethiopian influence to it. Actually, I think it IS Ethiopian! (Urban Outfitters)

 Urban Outfitters.
Their new store is amazing. It has a cafe, reading area, salon, makeup center etc.. I could have literally spent my entire day there lol.

 These suitcases are EVERYTHING - Urban Outfitters

 How CUTE are these? - Urban Outfitters









The Forest Feast - Thought it had a brilliant design for a vegan recipe book. No, still not going vegan just yet. :)








 And then my camera battery ran down..



Grey Blouse - Urban Outfitters
Black Joggers - H & M
Black Purse - H & M (old)
Brown Oxfords (stolen from my sis :D) - Payless 
Beaded Necklace and Earrings - Made in Nigeria

Stay Smart; Stay Beautiful,
-Onivie