American Apparel Bodysuit

Dear Lovelies,

Why not....stop caring about what other people may possibly think about you? Being considerate of others is a great trait, but when it comes to personal style far too many women still think too much about what other people might think about their outfit choice which makes them unnecessarily timid and self-conscious.
Bodysuits or bodies are a great staple to have this season. Pair them with some ripped and washed jeans, or with some wide legged pants to balance out the bodycon top.

Bodysuit: American Apparel *here*

Pants: AQ/AQ *here*

Shoes: Windsor Smith *here*

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Recipe: Marble Cake with Cherries

Dear Lovelies,

It's been raining here for days and although I'm usually quite unimpressed with difficult weather conditions, I'm being a real couch potato for once this rainy Sunday.
My only adventure today was to bake a Marble Cake from scratch. Sounds horribly difficult? If I can do it - anyone can!

This is what you need:

♥ 400g Flour (3 1/3 cups)
♥ 250g brown Sugar (2 1/4 cups)
♥ 250ml Milk
♥ 250ml Sunflower Oil
♥ 4 Eggs
♥ 375g Cherries (out of a glass if not in season)
♥ 30g Cocoa (100%)
♥ 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
♥ 1 Vanilla Bean
♥ 1 block of baking chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan-forced) or 180 degrees (conventional) and smear some butter on a baking tray of your choice.
2. Mix all ingredients except for the cocoa and cherries in a bowl until you have a smooth dough.
3. Pour 2/3 of the dough into your baking tray and mix the cocoa into the last third of the dough.
4. Spread your cherries onto the dough - make sure they're as dry as possible.
5. Pour the cocoa dough on top and watch a Youtube tutorial like this one *here* on how to create a pattern (Something I still have to practice..)
6. Let your Marble Cake bake for approximately 60 minutes and test if it's ready by poking a skewer into the cake - when you pull the skewer out and there's no residue that means it's ready.
7. Allow cake to cool down. Melt a block of baking chocolate and spread on top.

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Phillip Lim for Target

Dear Lovelies,

Just like H&M does cooperations with designers in Europe, Target does the same in the USA. They have recently teamed up with Phillip Lim, but as Target USA and Target Australia are two different business entities this collaboration has never made it here.

Phillip Lim is an American designer with Thai/Chinese roots who founded the fashion label 3.1 Phillip Lim in 2005. Apart from his designer clothes it is probably his signature bag "Pashli" which is most popular across the globe.

The Pashli comes in three different sizes and depending on where you buy the bag it is realistic to say that prices start from $600 AUD upwards. I find that each bag is prettier than the others, made with the finest leather and shaped like a "W", click *here* to see my favourite Medium Pashli.

Phillip Lim designed a Mini Pashli for Target - of course not in real leather - and they sold out online within a few hours. If you're not blessed with an American friend who can get you one, you can still find them on ebay. Simply set your ebay to international listings and search for "phillip lim pashli target".

I love my Mini Pashli, it's a great size and you can surprisingly fit many things in there, it is versatile too. If you want to wear it casually then simply attach the shoulder strap.

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Essie - Lilacism

Dear Lovelies,

When we moved to Sydney last year in November I saw it for the first time - these beautifully bushy light purple trees which seemed to pop up out of nowhere.
I didn't pay much attention though as I was focused on searching for an apartment and a job - why would I be interested in trees anyway?
This year - the same spectacular happening: The Jacarandas are in full bloom!

Jacaranda - is a tree which has been introduced to most tropical and subtropical regions, so it is not native to Australia. Jacarandas start blooming in spring and are beautifully messy as their fallen blossoms form a colourful purple carpet. It unfortunately doesn't last long and every year before Christmas (early summer) they're gone.

I'm in love with this colour and so I went chasing the perfect light purple and found it in Essie "Lilacism". What I love about Essie is the comprehensive range of colours, it's always modern , on trend and the quality is great. Two layers are enough and even without wearing a top coat it takes a while before the ends chip.

What's your favourite nail polish?

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

What could turn a bright girl blue?

Dear Lovelies,

I am banned from wearing heels for the next 5 weeks!
Last weekend I fractured my left big toe and unfortunately a fracture is just as bad as a broken toe in terms of healing process.
No heels for 6 weeks in total but I already survived the first week so I'm counting the days!

I went shopping for flat shoes yesterday and apart from a pair of cheap Ruby shoes I didn't find anything.
Obviously you'll see a few outfit posts with flats the next few weeks, which makes me quite sad, hence the titel 'what could turn a bright girl blue' - although I realise there's worse things - but not being able to wear heels is a good enough reason for me!

Who agrees??

 

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

 

In the Navi

Dear Lovelies,

Breton Stripes are nothing new in fashion and I bet most ladies own at least one stripy piece of clothing. It's been around for decades (first introduced by French Law in 1858 to locate overboard sailors) and to survive this long in the fast moving fashion world it has to be an extraordinary design and timeless.
Stripes, especially in navy-white or black-white are such an elegant staple to have and anything but boring. You can combine a few bright feature colours with it to make the outfit appear not too old-fashioned (red is obviously a classic, but pink is lovely too and so is orange and even green!)

I'd love to see your navy outfits!

 

Dress: Stella / Shoes: Novo / Bag: Michael Kors / Necklace: Zara

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

 

Flower Hairband

Dear Lovelies,

I know what you're thinking! Hippie! That's probably the first word that popped into your mind :-)
Not that this would be a bad thing if I was, but no, I'm not from the flower generation and I'm not a Hippie, but I'm in love with wearing my flower headband.

Originally I wanted to upload a DIY gallery of how to make one, but I decided I'm far too impatient to make one myself and also didn't want to fumble with glue etc.

Anyways. At one of our local markets (Glebe) is a stall owner and she sells beautiful handmade headbands. Flowers in different sizes and shapes - paradise! And to be honest - I probably couldn't have crafted it so nicely myself.

I think it's a nice piece to have for a music festival or a sunny day at the beach, but have a look at the pics and let me know what you think!

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Palm Beach

Dear Lovelies,

Australia's beautiful beaches are well and truly countless, so I can't really state that Palm Beach is no exemption to this rule.

It is still worth mentioning as it seems to be a different world and a lovely retreat for Sydney-siders if they just want to escape the city for a day.

Only 45 km out of Sydney, the land mass which is shaped like a palm tree (hence the name) is also gently called insular-peninsula by locals.

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Boyfriend Jeans

Dear Lovelies,

I've had these jeans now for nearly two years and haven't done a single blog post about them although they more than deserve it.
Not only do Boyfriend Jeans make you look 'cool' almost instantly and without effort, but most importantly they are super comfortable and a styling no-brainer.

But this post is not only about these jeans, the main star is my new baby - the Michael Kors Hamilton bag in Saffiano Leather and my new favourite colour Mandarine :-) Such a statement piece deserves all the attention hence the rest of the outfit is kept simple in neutral colours.

If you have an outfit wearing boyfriend jeans with flats I'd love to see it as I'm still not convinced I should wear flat shoes with them.

Blazer: Zara | Jeans: H&M | Shoes: Wittner | Bag: Michael Kors

With Love,

Coffeebeanlilly

Michael Kors Hamilton Tote

Dear Lovelies,

The Michael Kors Hamilton bag was love at first sight two years ago.

Back then it was one of the it-bags and everyone wanted one. Now, the reason why I didn't buy it back then is rather complicated.

When it comes to fashion I can be quite impulsive and let's admit it - a fashion victim from time to time (just like any other woman). You might buy something you're in love with one second and fall out of love with it the next. I told myself it's all about self control so I stepped back a little and waited a few months to see if this "fling" would pass.

It didn't, but life happened and instead of buying a Hamilton, I moved to the other side of the planet (Germany to Australia) and re-built my life from scratch. But call it fate or "real love" (I hope my hubby doesn't get jealous in case he sees me writing about a bag like this) when I had already put thoughts about the Hamilton into the furtherest corner of my mind and I had no intention to buy it - BOOM there it was: as beautiful as ever, I was still in love with the shape and size and seeing it in this colour I knew I finally had to buy it.

Here it is ladies: the Michael Kors Hamilton in Mandarin coloured Saffiano leather!

Saffiano Leather: The calf leather with a typical cross-hatch design, which is a special diagonal pattern, is believed to be Prada's signature leather. As treated leather it is machine processed at around 165 degrees which presses the pattern in it and finishes it with a wax treatment which gives the item a higher scratch-resistence than natural leather.

If you are interested in other Hamilton models, click *here*
If you want to buy the Mandarin coloured one straight off the Michael Kors online shop, click *here*

With Love, 

 Coffeebeanlilly