Tuesday, April 13, 2010

BRUSH KIT GRETONG !

Kumpulkan 75 BP secara kumulatif di bulan April dan dapatkan....... BRUSH KIT yang di desain oleh Jonas Wramell (Oriflame Global Beauty Artistic Director).......... senilai Rp. 329,000 secara GRATIS!
Belum jadi member ? ayoo gabung sekarang menjadi konsultan Oriflame bersama d'BC Network... hanya bermodalkan fotokopi KTP dan uang 39.900 rupiah, jadi deeh !Sudah jadi member ? ayoo kumpulkan 75BP muu :) katalog online ada lhoo...pokoknya gak rugi daah.. go Diamond !!

Interview: Maria Confer (Lulu Letty), cute drawings, handmade bows and red lips with a vintage style.

I could say lots of things about Maria: as a blogger, as the designer of lovely handmade bows, as a woman with a great style or as an drawer... but first of all, I consider Maria as a friend. And I want to say that because, when I started blogging, for me, was strange get in touch with a person that is miles and miles away from me, a person I haven't met in person. But Maria gives you the confidence and friendship with her kind comments and appreciations.

I can't remember when I started to follow Maria, but I read her blog every single day. I love her posts about DIY, music (she's got an excellent taste), outfits, drawings and outfits; and how she shares her life piece by piece with us.

So, I'm sure you all know some things about Maria, that vintage lover who makes lovely drawings of herself, dogs or gorgeous people... but...

Who's Maria Confer?
Q: Thank you so much, Maria, for letting me ask you this questions... first of all, could you please tell us who you are and a brief description of you? 
A: My name is Maria, I’m 28, I live in Michigan with my husband, Cole, and our two dogs, Wellington and Pipin.

Q:  What do you do? What do you like to dedicate? 
A: I’m mostly a blogger, than a drawer and than an Etsy shop owner. I love to dedicate my time to sewing, reading and relaxing with Cole.

Q: That sounds really good! Can you talk a little about your interests? 
A: Hmm, I feel like my interests are all pretty common. I love music, movies, art, books, photography and most importantly fashion.

 Some of Maria's drawings, I adore these lovely dogs!

Q: Tell us a book, an album and a movie without which you could not live. 
A: Tough question. For a book, I would have to say The Catcher in the Rye. I read it in high school during a really hard time in my life. It helped me realize that other people had screwed up lives too. Plus, I loved how much Holden cursed. ;) An album that’s really important to me is The Beatles, Please Please Me. It opened my eyes to amazing music, classic rock and the 60’s. A movie I can’t live without would be Clueless. It made such a huge impression on me when I was 14. It made me want to live a life of fashion.



Q: I think that film changed me too when I was a teenager... Would you share with us a memory that makes you smile? 
A: Meeting my husband for the first time as freshmen in college.

Q: Wow, that's really lovely, and I'm sure that Cole would blush if he reads this! Congratulations, Cole! ;) So, continuing with this... have you got any favorite quote? 
“That sounds like dancing!” from The Philadelphia Story.


Q: At what age did your get interested in the fashion world? 
A: Very young. I was about three years old when I used to put on my Mrs. Potato Head jewelry, lips, glasses and purse and walk around feeling fabulous.

Q: Could you explain us a bit what has been the evolution of your image?
A: It’s gone through many incarnations. From hippie to punk to extremely preppy to now a very classic vintage preppy style with a dash of menswear.


 Q: Punk? Wow, I really would love to see that! How would you describe your actual style? 
A: Classic preppy with a twist.

Q: What inspire you in choosing your clothes? Do you follow a pattern to match your clothes or just choose randomly?
A: I choose what I love and go from there. I try to find items that would transition smoothly into my wardrobe, but sometimes I take major risks and buy things I never would have thought I would love, like high waist anything.

Q: Where do you usually get your clothes? Do you customize or sew any garment to you? 
A: I usually buy my clothes from ModCloth, Urban Outfitters, eBay, Etsy and the Salvation Army. I’m only just starting to sew my own clothes and it’s a slow going process, but I love it.

Q: Have you got any special obsession (like shoes, bows, skirts...)? 
A: Hair bows, hats, belts and Seychelles shoes.

 
Q: Why do you like the vintage clothes? Do you think that kind of clothes are special? 
A: I love vintage pieces because they’re usually one of a kind. Plus, they instantly transport you to another time.
Q: Any tips for people who wants to buy vintage clothes? 
A: Go to your local thrift/charity store and spend time searching through the racks. It’s amazing the awesome things you’ll find.

Q: When and why did you decide to start writing a blog? 
A: I started my blog in late fall 2008. It was a place for me to post my finished drawings. I only had one follower, my friend Jen. Then in late May 2009, I stumbled upon fashion blogging and everything changed. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed this huge community before.

Q: What do you want to express with your blog? Do you think it adds anything to the people who read it? 
A. I want to express my own take on fashion from my personal perspective. I know that not everyone is going to like it, but I have to stay true to myself. I think when people read my blog they get the sense of understanding my tastes and where I’m coming from.


 Q: What do you feel when someone says you are his/her inspiration? What would you say to those people?
A: I feel flabbergasted. It seriously amazes me every day that people actually read and enjoy my blog. It was a pipe dream to be where I am now and I pinch myself all the time that I’m lucky enough to have such supportive and lovely readers. So I say to them, Thank You So Much, I adore you!

Q: Tell us a tip for your readers (a tip for their lifes, for the fashion bloggers' world or whatever you want to say to them). 
A: Hmmm, my tip is to be yourself in both life and blogging. You may not get very many followers to start with, but soon people will realize how wonderful your unique perspective is and if they don’t, then it’s their loss.



All pictures were made by Cole, thank you so much!!

Thank you so much for that lovely tip and this interview, Maria! It was a pleasure making this! You're so adorable, and I hope one of these days we would take a lovely coffee together, talking about music, art and bows... who knows?

And thanks to all of you for reading this, did you like it? :)

Zarzuela de Mariscos (Spanish Seafood Stew)

  
    
Tradition says that a good bouillabaisse have at least five kinds of fish.  In Marseille, they might use seven kinds of fish, not including shellfish.  Regardless, a seafood stew is a good way to clean out the odds and ends of fish you might have in your freezer.  Of course, fresh fish is always the best ingredient in any dish, but how many of us live next to the dock or will visit the fish counter except on special occasions.  The next best thing is fish that is flash frozen on the ship within minutes of catch.  I buy individually frozen fish filets and steaks both for their quality, but more importantly because they will keep and be on hand any evening I feel like fish.  To that end, I try to stay stocked with mahi-mahi, tuna, swordfish, cod, tilapia and shrimp, taking advantage of supermarket sales that come along to stock up.  But, unlike lost socks that have lost their mate, lonely pieces of fish can still fund their way into a meal through a dish like seafood stew.  Last night, I chose a Spanish recipe.  Like French bouillabaisse, it relies on a base of fish stock, saffron, spices and aromatics.  However, many Spanish recipes add white wine, which is not so common surprisingly in French seafood recipes.  They also use ground almonds as a thickener.  This combined with a little paprika and red bell pepper give an Iberian feel to this dish.  When I made this dish, I added a potato, which the Spaniards might not do, although they and the Portugese do love their potatoes on the side of most dishes.  Serves 4.
     
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red or orange bell pepper, julienned
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, diced
1 pinch saffron
1 cup dry white wine
1 can basic tomato sauce
1 cup fish stock
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 swordfish steak, cubed
1 tilapia filet, cubed
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled
salt/pepper
2 tbsp parley, chopped
     
Directions:
In a medium sized pot, heat oil and then soften onion and bell pepper, about 5 minutes.  Add paprika, rosemary, bay leaf, garlic and saffron and saute for 1 minute to release some of their flavors. Add the white wine and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer, cooking for 10 minutes.  Add the fish stock, potato and almonds and cook for another 10 minutes.  Add the fish, cover and simmer another 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp and simmer a remaining few minutes until the shrimp are just cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve and sprinkle with parsley.
     

Day 2: London

Actually I have a little bit to report on last night’s dinner. I went to an Argentinian place called Gauchos. Apparently there are 19 of them in the UK and one in Amsterdam. All their beef comes from Argentina, which is well-known for the superiority of this product. I set aside my concerns for sustainability and the costs of shipping the beef over here. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Rib eye steak with green peppercorn sauce, humitas (a delicious slightly sweet corn mixture spooned into corn husks nicely tied on each end) and fresh spinach. A glass of Malbec. I sat at the bar which had a perfect view of the open kitchen. These guys were so good at grilling steak that they hardly had to look at it to know that it was ready—and perfectly cooked. (I took pictures on my IPhone but can’t get them to load on this PC. I'll do it when I return.)

So today. Lots of walking—about 8 miles so far. I first walked down to one of Jamie Oliver’s two retail stores and cooking class locations. It is way off the tourist maps down in Clapham, maybe two and a half miles from where I’m staying. It is painted pink, with some of the signs in Jamie’s inimitable ‘big love’ friendly and accessible language. He was not there. I was only able to get a couple of photographs before a salesperson told me that photos weren’t allowed inside the store. I did buy a Jamie magazine. What does this guy not have? A class was going to start at 12:00 noon. I was invited to stay and watch. But I decided to move along on my walking journey.

After putting some band aids on the back of my heels, I set off to my local tube station to ride to the Notting Hill stop for a nice walk to Books for Cooks, a splendid cookbook store which I had been wanting to visit for ages. With only a few missteps, I got there just in time to be told that the cafe in the back had run out of food. Never mind, I could hold out a little longer. I carefully looked over the books. I was especially interested in some of the Brits who were new to me: Jason Atherton, Skye Gyngell, Aaron Cruze, and Celia Brooks Brown among others. I didn’t buy any for the same reasons as yesterday but I sure do hope that their books eventually make it over the Atlantic. They look great.
















I walked back to the Notting Hill tube via Portobello, just minding my own business, when I spotted the Hummingbird Bakery CafĂ©. I knew the name from the cookbook which Marie Clare found at Anthropologie down on Fourth Street in Berkeley and which I bought her for her birthday. I believe that her first blog featured cupcakes from that cookbook. Well I stopped in and bought myself a gorgeous and generous piece of Red Velvet Cake. So good. I ate almost all of it (I wrapped up the rest in a napkin for Katherine Fulton to taste after her day of work). I would have saved some for Marie Clare. But really, it would not have been very tasty in ten days time. Sorry, Marie Clare.

minggu yang menyenangkan

Hallo hallo hallo my beloved folks.
How are youuuuuh? how was your day? i'm fine, i'm good, i'm sekseh *sampah!*
Anyway, minggu ini gue lagi menghadapi US alias eh alias ujian sekolah yang artinya, minggu depan saya sudah selesai sekolahnya. ahahaha. *chicken dance*
Nah nah, ini sudah hari selasa, berarti besok terakhir US-nya. wuhuuuuuu!
Senang sekali rasanya akan segera menemui dan bercinta dengan liburan. yeaaah!

apakah yang akan gue lakukan di liburan yang panjaaaang ini?
gue bakal nyiapin diri buat kuliah, tentu bersaha menembus kampus impian di Depok sana, atau scholarship ke luar, mau les bahasa inggris kilat, mau nulis novel, mau serius kerjain tulisan artikel, mau mendalami apa cita-cita gue, mau ngumpulin duit, mau ke bali, mau ngurusin BADAN. itu paling susah. ahahaha.
YAAAAA, gue mesti ngurusin badan!!
perihalnya, celana jeans gue enggak muat semua gara-gara gue enggak ngerem diri gue buat ngadepin ujian. ahaha. jadi enggak nyaman pake baju. *telanjang aja apa ya? hueeeks*
jadilaaaah gue mengutuk diri gue sendiri akan kebodohan gue membiarkan gue bak gajah sekarang ini.

nah nah nah, doakan saya yaaa! semoga lulus sekolah dan lulus UI yaaah. amiin.

by the way, sudah beli Hai magazine yang baru? yang terbit Senin 12 April?
sudahkah?