Mabrook to Egypt!

Before I begin posting about my past week, I decided to create a post solely on the highlight of this week - the successful revolution in Egypt! Now that I finally have a bit of time to post this =P....

I have been following the protests since Day 1 and was SO pleased when I heard the good news! Now, let's all just hope & pray that the rest of Egypt's future will be peaceful!

~Below are some of the pictures around the globe celebrating in victory =)~

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In Gaza City, Palestinian women wave an Egyptian flag from their car.

[Source]

In Qatar - Doha, a boy waves an Egyptian flag reading: 'I love Egypt, I love Qatar'.

[Source]

In London - Trafalgar Square, this planned Amnesty International protest turned into a celebration of freedom upon the breaking of good news.

[Source]

In San Francisco, a woman stands under an Egyptian flag rally celebrating the news.

[Source]

In Cairo's Tahrir Square, spectacular scenes of jubilation were seen.

[Source]

Chinese New Year of the Rabbit

My journey today consisted of the following =P

...follow my trail...

A cup of Earl Grey at Cafe Nero overlooking the celebrations at Trafalgar Square.

Inside China town - I cannot stand crowded places so I didn't venture further in.

Pretty Lanterns were hung everywhere!

Outside Patisserie Valerie, I spotted these beautiful decorations.

Last stop was at SNOG to get some guilt free dessert after a long walk.

The menu.

These are probably the best lanterns I've seen throughout the day. They're so girly & scream 'exciting' and 'sweet as a candy'.

I think it blends so well with the pink background ^.^

The yoghurt machine/dispenser.

I opted for the Snog Special (normal natural yoghurt) with mini pieces of white chocolate, and loads of granola.

Night by Emporio Armani

Let me start off this post (irrelevantly) with some delicious lychees I ate =P

If you haven't taste these yet, do not get the canned lychees! The fresh ones are a lot tastier.

Okay - so here goes my review on Emporio Armani's Night.

' What I think... ,

This is a discontinued product. Emporio Armani stopped making it a few years ago - I was really disappointed learning that because this is such an amazing mild perfume!

This is one of my favourite perfumes which I can wear on any occasion because its scent isn't too strong and it's so well balanced.

Plus, it's an Eau de Parfum - so it lasts for a long time!

This also happens to be the first fragrance I've ever tried from Emporio Armani...and did it take me by surprise!

The first few times I wore this, I wasn't so into the scent... But the more I wore it, the more I began to really like it. To this present day, it brings me so many dear & sweet memories that I want to stock up on this so it never runs out (but I think perfumes do expire, so that would be an unwise thing to do =P).

' Notes ... ,

This fragrance is so delicate and feminine. There's a blend of musk, soft jasmine, sandalwood, blackcurrent, cranberries. It's so soothing & blends so well with one's skin.

The lotion lasts all day!

An imprint carved on the perfume bottle.

I have a last unopened eau de parfum of Night - I haven't open this yet as I want to preserve the fragrance!

The opened bottle's fragrance no longer smells like it should =( ( but it has been years since I bought that! I should have used all of it...! )

Liking the simple innovative design. The bottle feels like it's made of light metal (perhaps tin?) and to spray on, you have to push down on the user friendly rubber shown below.

The last remaining bottles are still available online if any of you are interested to get it. The only thing I'd be against advising any of you on getting this is...I'm not sure if this will suit some people. Yes, it's a friendly fragrance & it's unique. But it took me a while until I began to like it and it grew on me!

What a delightful fragrance ^.^

~ A little something to cherish ~

Design Your Own - virtually!

If only I had the textile skills, I'd like to one day create unique pieces of items and express my creativity through them.

But for now, I'm still on the road to learning how to stitch a button (haha...!) so I thought these couple of sites are so fun to design your own things!

The only downside is, with personalised products, you might be paying a ridiculously high price!

Anyway, here are some fun sites I stumbled onto. I quickly created some designs in some of the sites so you can see how each is like =P

[All screenshots taken from the site I've written about in their paragraphs!]

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Grannies Inc

Grannies Inc is where you can design your own beanie, scarf, snood, headband & wrist warmer.

Though unique, the prices seem unreasonable... but see it for yourself and decide =P

Here's a simple pink & black scarf I created.

Belen Echandia

Belen Echandia allows you to create your own handbag....! Although, the price tags are way out of my price range =P - average is at £400 I'd say. I'd rather go for a designer bag than create my own unique bag at those prices!

Timberland

Timberland allows you to create your own unique pair of boots, complete with initials. You pick all the colours of the shoe - from the heel to the lining...

Again, the price tag is high, so for those of you who can fit into the 'Youths' shoe size (it goes upto size 5.5 I think! =P and I'm sure most of us can fit into (up to) those!), go for those instead as there is a huge difference in the price tag gap.

Take a look at my design ^.^ with some personalised initials.

Converse

Converse, like Timberland, allows you to create your very own pair of Converses...so those of you who are fans of Converse will love this. The price tag is reasonable compared to the Timberlands. This could potentially be a real treat for some of you =P

Shoes of Prey

This site is so pretty! Shoes of Prey allow you to design so many types of shoes. They have a range of colours, designs, heel heights, shoe types & fabrics.

Take a look at the design I made in a hurry - and it comes complete with a bow which I could attach!

Longchamp

Longchamp allows you to create 2 types of bags, in different sizes, colours, handle lengths, lining (colour) & complete with your initials.

Le Cabas is a lot more expensive than Le Pliage - probably due to its materials.

Here are 2 I created.

Case Mate

Case Mate allows you to design your own phone covers - those of you who are into phone art or personalisation might like this!

Skin It

Another site allowing you to create your own phone cover. Skin It appears to have more options than Case Mate. Compare the two and check which is better =P

Some Almond Biscotti for dessert, por favor.

' Almond Biscotti ... ,

You can find these in almost all the coffee shops. Although, I'm shocked at the large amounts of fat & calories contained in those! So I decided to try out a healthier version, which also turned out to be simple to make...

Recipe taken from here.

Made up of simple ingredients, this recipe is straight forward to follow. The baking takes quite a while, so patience is needed =P

[I baked these in a hurry and it's the first time I've ever tried to make these, so apologies for the look of them! >.<]

N.B. These aren't all the steps! I just selected a few steps to feature.

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Roasting the almonds to heighten their taste...

....now time to beat 3 eggs with the vanilla and almond extracts....

... 3/4 cup of sugar - not at all too much =P ...

...add it in with the flour...

...combining EVERYTHING...

...rolling it out & measuring...

...the first stage of baking...

...*Optional* - and whilst waiting for the second stage of baking, time to make the chocolate sauce...

(don't follow this step! As my chocolate sauce turned out to be a disaster haha...! )

...and the final product ....

...a mix of non-chocolate & chocolate coated biscottis!

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' ... Today's sunset from the heart of London ^.^ ... ,