I wanted to do something a little different this time. I know usually my posts can be quite lengthy and a lot of writing about my lifestyle, food, outfits, travel etc so this time I wanted to show more photos and less writing. So since summer is sadly coming to an end (i’ve had a long summer since I finished my dissertation but… then July past and now it’s September… how did that even happen?!)
Anyways, back to my point, I am creating a sort of short look-book of some of my summer looks for you to enjoy. From beach holiday outfits to city summer looks, so here goes.. enjoy 😀
Blazer: Bershka – Skinny Jeans: Zara – Sneakers: Stan Smith (Adidas)
Bag & Belt: Gucci
Shirt: H&M – Sneakers: McQueen
Mom Jeans: Topshop
Trousers: River Island (New)
Vest: Sandro
Tee: Tommy Hilfiger (New) – Trousers: Zara (Old)
Blazer: Zara (New from sale)
Tee: Moaninc – Sneakers: Superga
Shirt (Old) & Skirt (New): Zara
I hope you enjoyed these, as I just picked a few of my favourite looks and as you can tell I don’t really wear skirts 😛 It’s either dresses or trousers/shorts 😀
So in this post i’m going to share with you some of my summer holidays (with my boyfriend) which were actually end of June – beginning of July. I wanted to share with you a bit of what I did, places I went, food, outfits and experiences.
SPAIN
I went to Spain, to my boyfriends place in Jerez (near Seville) for 5 days and also headed to Marbella for a day, which was super fun! After that we went to my place in Trieste, Italy (near Venice) and then to Verona for 2 days as well, as I have relatives there too.
In Jerez, we relaxed a bit, did some shopping, went to the beach and spent a bit of time with my boyfriends family as well as (of course) had amazing food 😀
Dress: Equipment (Old)
[I didn’t take many pics on this part of the holiday as I wanted to disconnect a bit and not have my camera around with me 24/7]
Dress from Marbella
Dress: Zara (New from sale)
We then went to Marbella for a day, and went to a cute organic healthy restaurant which I had found online, called Rachel’s eco love restaurant before getting there. It was by a hotel too which had a cute pool and was surrounded by beautiful nature, which made it so pretty and colourful. I wore a Zara dress with my Alexander McQueen sneakers and Gucci bag. I then found this dreamy little shop full of cute straw bags, summer dresses and bracelets. I had also just received my final year grades from uni at that time and was super happy, so of course, before I knew it… I had bought another summer dress (which believe me, I did NOT need as my closet is full of them atm) but it was too cute not too and was in the mood to buy anything and everything.
Dress: Zara (New from sale)
Dress from Marbella
ITALY
I think most of the time there was spent eating amazing Italian food and of course the best kind… my grandma’s food. My house is right across from the beach so every morning we would go for coffee by the beach and then a lovely swim before all the kids would come and overcrowd it.
Since, it wasn’t a new city for my boyfriend and he already had seen all the pretty places and views the previous year, we just relaxed and really enjoyed the Italian weather, sea and food.
Linen Shorts: Uniqlo – Sunglasses: Valentino
created by dji camera
created by dji camera
created by dji camera
Verona was a 1 night stop before heading back to London, so we didn’t have much time to see everything but nevertheless, had an amazing time. We went around the centre, saw the famous Arena and had lunch right by it… which by the way was so lovely, slightly overpriced, however so delicious and worth it. We walked around a lot and around the old town. We stayed at one of my cousins flats, since she lives there, however, also has a flat she rents out to Airbnb, so she kindly saved the place for that night for us to stay in. She then took us to the most amazing gelato place, called San Zeno. All the flavours were natural and organic and tasted exactly like eating each individual ingredient and had loads of vegan friendly flavours too!
In the evening they took us to Lake Garda, which was a 20-30 min drive to have dinner and a nice evening walk. When we got there, there was a storm about to happen and the wind made the lake look like the sea on a windy day… i’ve never seen a lake like that and even though it was so windy, it was actually such a cool experience.
[Again sorry as we were there for such a short time didn’t take many pictures and just enjoyed my time there – also the gelato was too good and remembered to take a pic only at the last minute haha :P]
Oh and… that gelato place, [San Zeno], is one of the best in Italy… (It is in Italian but just proving my point :P) And if you happen to be in Verona… You’re welcome 😀
Outfits:
Blue linen shorts - Uniqlo
Blue dress with open sides - Zara (old but saw a similar style ina pinky shade in-store the other day)
Turquoise dress - Marbella (can't remember the store name sorry)
White swimsuit - Zara (old but they made a similar one in red this year)
In this post I wanted to share with you another watch brand that kindly sent me one of their watches I liked.
Their brand is called Jord (Insta: @Jord watches), and the watches are made from wood which I think is really cool and different, and the best thing is they look so elegant and don’t look like they’re made from wood at all! They also come inside the cutest little box, as you can see from the photos.
They come in many colours, shapes and sizes, however I had my eyes on one style (the style I got of course) in the light gold-ish colour and the black. I ended up going with the black one (available here) because the other 2 watches I own are light colours so I decided to switch it up and go for something dark which is nicer for winter too. And perfect to match the dark English sky which London gets most year… However, if it looks too dark,the same style comes in 3 other colours… they have lots to choose from!
Anyways, go check them out because they’re awesome and so different… and to be honest, I would just buy one for the cute box they come in! Keep an eye out on my Instagram; (@lauraacastelli), as I might be doing something exciting with them! 😀
I hope you liked this post as much as I enjoyed creating the content to share with you …also don’t be shy, leave a comment and make me happy 🙂
I hope everyone’s having a wonderful Friday and ready for the weekend!
I’m back with another post for you guys, something a little different, perfect for some weekend cooking! Since I’ve had more time on my hands due to finishing university, a couple of days ago my boyfriend and I decided to cook something fun.
We made our own Shakshuka, which is something we never made before, as it takes time. We followed a random recipe we found online and it was super straight forward and just….yummyyyy.
I mean just looking at the pics makes me crave it again ha… I am such a massive Shakshuka fan. I mean its mixed vegetables with herbs and spices and protein from the eggs; perfect combo if you ask me and also quite lightand overall just AMAZING.
We put olive oil and onion in a pan for a bit before then started added 2 finely chopped peppers; green and red and left it to cook for a bit. In the meantime we started adding garlic powder, ground coriander, some chilli, smoked paprika, black pepper and then added some chopped tomatoes and then 3/4 can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice. When the veggies look like they’ve been cooked enough with a spoon make a little space and at the same time crack the egg into the space. We put 3 eggs but put as many as you wish, leave it until the egg white starts cooking, pop some fresh mint and basil inside too and then pop it in the oven for around 15 mins more.
You can also top it with some cheese for example, goats cheese or feta. Due to not being able to eat lactose I didn’t and just had the guacamole we made on the side but my boyfriend said it tastes amazing with the soft cheese.
Hope you enjoyed this and get sometime to make Shakshuka too!
First things first, I finally finished my fashion management course at London College of Fashion and I’m S U P E R happy. As a ‘first post back’, I decided to share what I did the day I finished as it was such an amazing feeling and I felt so relaxed for the first time in a while. I know I haven’t been posting but I’m back with a lot of content to share with you guys.
I went to this cafe which i’d actually been to before, however, not with my boyfriend as the places I pick are normally too healthy for him… he likes his meat and big portions haha
The place is called Daisy Green in Marble Arch and they have many similar chain cafe’s with slightly different names. My boyfriend agreed to come and actually liked it. I love their food, as they’re all healthy but they still have ‘comfort’ food too. On top of that the place itself is really colourful and cute with lovely pink roses all around the outside. I got their Shakshuka which has 2 fried eggs hidden inside and my boyfriend got ‘the bondi’ which had poached eggs, a sausage and more as you can see in the pics. Both plates also had charcoal bread too. Definitely a place I would recommend and I definitely want to try its other ‘sister’ cafes around London!
Since i’ve been getting little sleep ahead of my dissertation deadline, I just wanted to wear something comfy so I wore my mom jeans (Topshop) as they’re really big on me, comfy and are easy to combine. I paired them with a blue striped shirt (H&M) with a denim jacket (Stradivarius) and white platform trainers (Alexander McQueen). I also added some pictures with a different blouse on top (Zara) which i tied up at the front, just to show you a different style.
Mom Jeans: Topshop
Mom Jeans: Topshop
Shirt: Zara (Old)
I hope you enjoyed the photos and the whole post and i’ll see you soon on my next one.
I’m really sorry for being so M.I.A lately but i’ve been traveling with my family and working on my dissertation as well as applying for jobs… so lets say i’ve been busy busy busy. 😦 it’s has really been non-stop lately, so bear with me.
In this post I’m going to share with you two cute outfits including how I like to style statement belts, which in my case is a Gucci one.
I wanted a casual every day outfit, and this belt is perfect to just throw in a little more sass to the outfit. I wore black jeans and a simple white tee… classic and my fave colour combo (ha i know, not that exciting, but it can never go wrong), paired with the belt and a leather jacket on one occasion and on the next to make it a bit more exciting I added a pink blazer.
Bag & Belt: Gucci
I am obsessed with wearing blazers, they make your outfit so much cooler and have also recently purchased more to add to my wardrobe. Pink is so trendy at the moment along with more pale, pastel colours and I love it. It makes me happy and it’s so girly and just perfect. I also love baby blue blazers, white with thin black stripes, checked and pretty much all the pastel colours… just to give you a few blazer ideas, incase you were thinking of buying some. This one’s from Bershka but they’re literally EVERYWHERE; Zara, Topshop, H&M, Loavies, you name it and they’ll have cute ones for sure.
I also created a different outfit with the belt while I was on holiday. We were going to be sitting in the car for a few hours because we were visiting different places in the south of Spain so I didn’t feel like jeans but something comfy and I also wanted to wear the belt. So, I went through my boyfriends suitcase and stole a jumper and his bomber…which I absolutely love and is basically mine now… (jk, I wish). In fact I should probably buy my own, but what would be the point of having him if not for stealing his clothes… am I right?! Anyways I added the belt and a pair of platform sneakers… and voila 😀
I hope everyone’s had a great week so far… we’re not far from the weekend! 😀
A while ago I found this really cute jewellery brand; bare originals on Instagram and was lucky enough that they kindly sent me one of their necklaces.
I got their staple round necklace, available here, which I got personalised with my initial on it. I actually received it in the post on my birthday which was a nice surprise and I love it! I don’t really ever take it off (apart from when showering). I normally stick to silver/white gold jewellery only because I thought my skin tone looked better in it and the rings that have sentimental meaning to, which I never take off, happen to be white gold. Having said this lately I wanted to change a little as I started to get bored of only wearing silver and there has been a lot of gold jewellery that I seem to love, so I took this opportunity to try to mix it up a little and I’m so happy I did! For everyday I like to wear it on its own, nice and simple but when I feel like being a bit more dressy I like to layer it with another gold choker and even another mid length necklace in-between. It just so simple and versatile its so easy to play around with.
A lot of people have actually commented on it saying it looks really good on me, so it’s fair to say I’m happy I finally decided to change it around a bit.
Anyways, as I was saying above I adore the necklace they sent me and I’ve actually had a look at their latest collection too and there are some adorable and stylish pieces, which I might even treat myself to soon. One of the pieces I have my eyes on is their star choker. Have a look for yourself i think it’s so cute and has a nice sparkle to it to, which makes it more noticeable. Also the great thing is it’s only CA $20 which is around £12.
Anyways I hope you liked the photos and the necklace and remember to have a look at their other cute items too 🙂
Last week, (on Feb 23) I turned 21! So I thought I would write a little bit about what I did and who I spent my birthday with.
BUT first of all, omg I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M 21 ALREADY!! I still feel 19 to be honest…
I should really start getting on top of things and being a bit more responsible, I mean I finish uni in around 3 months… OH oh…Time to decide what I really want to do with my life?..
Ok, jokes aside – It has been a hell of a bumpy ride and a tough year. Final year at uni isn’t easy, along with some other events that occurred, some of which I previously talked about. However, throughout this year I have certainly realised that I am super blessed to be surrounded with people who truly care.
ANYWAYS back onto the birthday (3-day birthday) talk…
FEB 22nd
My boyfriend had organised a dinner for my birthday, as he wanted to take my family and I out to dinner and the night before my birthday was the only day everyone could make it. We went to the OXO Tower, which is a place he knows I love. I think the atmosphere is so nice there with the loveliest and most incredible of views looking onto the river Thames. In the evening you can see all the different lights from the bridge, boats and the city, which makes it truly gorgeous. The food was also amazing and even though it is a luxury restaurant I wouldn’t say its overpriced for what you get (ambience too).
My boyfriend then surprised me with an early birthday present as he wanted to give it to me with everyone there which was so special. He got me the Marmot Gucci bag you can see in the photos, which I had been wanting to get for a while… so you can only imagine the smile on my face when I opened it!
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FEB 23rd
Even though people tend to think, “oh you’re turning 21, you need to do something big”, to be completely honest I don’t get it. Yes, its big in America maybe because you can legally drink finally.. but in London… not a big deal. As I get older i’ve realised I much more enjoy spending time with family and closest friends, rather than partying with everyone I know…
Ok back on track now… sorry i get very easily side tracked as you can see..
I spent my actual birthday with my boyfriend. We went for brunch to my favourite place, Egg break in Notting hill and then did a bit of shopping in Knightsbridge and then went for crepes in this cute place I had never been to before in Covent garden called Mamies.
In the evening I went to my parents home to have a family dinner and birthday cake.
(sorry about some of the pics, I didn’t feel like bringing a camera around on my birthday)
FEB 24th
I spent this day celebrating my birthday with my closest friends, having brunch because I can’t get enough of brunch food. However, I realised my favourite brunch places don’t take bookings especially on the weekend and didn’t want to queue before so I ended up cooking brunch in my new flat. Honestly, it was the best decision I made because we had no time limit, it was so chilled and got the chance to properly talk with everyone.
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Even though I didn’t do anything crazy for my birthday, I enjoyed every single minute of it more than any other and I couldn’t have been happier!
I hope you enjoyed this post and i’m sorry for making it SO long but I really wanted to share everything with you guys! (and still want to in the future!)
Sorry I haven’t been posting for quite a while but I had to take a break from blogging to focus on my exams in January, as well as working at fashion week both in January and February. I now have my dissertation to focus on and a part-time internship that I will be starting in March, however I will be posting regularly again now.
SO…I’v been loving the teddy bear trend lately, and was looking for a jumper or jacket for a long time but never got round to actually buying one. I then randomly came across this one while I was looking at menswear in Harvey Nichols with my boyfriend. I didn’t even think twice to buy it even though it was mens as I absolutely loved it. It’s baby pink and looks and feels like a teddy bear… what more can a girl want 😀
You can find this hoodie on Mki’s online store here or in-store at Harvey Nichols.
I also got sent some samples from this amazing skin care brand called Optiat. They use coffee granules for their products and scrubs and I find them amazing. Oh and they are also cruelty-free, vegan and hand-made in the UK, really trying to stick to natural products over here! I love coffee and I love using masks and scrubs often so this was perfect for me. They smell amazing and they have a variety of different products for different needs and skin types. I was so excited to try them and I definitely think my expectations were met which is why I will be buying more of their full scrubs when i’m next at whole foods or planet organic. After using the scrubs my skin felt amazing.. like.. a baby’s bum :P, for a number of days. The coffee really does the job!
Honestly I REALLY enjoyed all the different samples. They all worked wonders for my skin! BUT, if I really had to recommend one, it would probably be ‘Hit The Sheets’ as I adore the smell of Vanilla. Theres something so calming about it too.
I hope you liked this post and give this brand a try! I will start to post more regularly again now. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to see anything in particular.
Hope everyone’s having a lovely start to the weekend!
I’m back after a nice much needed christmas and new years break. I hope everyones had a well deserved break and is having a wonderful start to 2018!
I decided to write something a bit more personal for the first post of 2018, so hopefully you will still like it. My sister was diagnosed with cancer end of September and has been under intense chemo therapy, and will start radio therapy beginning of February. I know this isn’t exactly what you might want to be reading as a first post after the holidays but I really wanted to write this as she has now finished chemo, along with some good news and her treatment going well which is an amazing start to 2018 already. Although she still has other treatment, chemo therapy is what made her really weak and nauseous, so we’re al glad its over. Along with that i’m back to my usual routine which I love (apart from studying) but waking up, starting my day well, happy and motivated to have a great day, study, go to the gym and be productive.
One thing I want to start in 2018 is to make time for myself, whether it’s reading something non uni related, taking a bath or journaling. It’s something I always forget and it’s so important to remember to do, as life can get super stressful and we can easily forget to take a step back, relax and realise what makes us happy.
I found a brand, through Instagram, BySarahLondon, selling all natural and certified-organic skincare using only the best of plant-based ingredients. I’ve always wanted to use more natural skincare as I love eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle but due to always being so busy I forget what I put on my skin which plays a big role with being healthy too. By Sarah London is a brand started by Sarah when her sister Lauren was recovering from leukaemia which is similar to my sisters type, blood cancer, which really made me want to try their products more. I have been trying their facial oil and lip balm over the best 2-3 weeks and I can honestly say they feel so good. It feels so light and natural on your skin, yet does the job better than products which have 1000 of chemicals I can’t even pronounce inside. I have their 10ml bottle which is the perfect size as I have it in my make up bag which is always on me. Plus, 2 drops of the oil is all you need, well, its what I use anyways and my skin can get really dry during winter, especially around the nose area and forehead. Along with those really dry areas, my lips are worse, they get so dry and sore, so this little lip balm has literally been a lifesaver! It has a perfect texture and is absolutely lovely.
Taking care of your skin and what you put on it is as important as what you put inside your body, which a lot of people tend to forget. I would really recommend trying these natural skincare products, I promise you, your skin will only thank you!
I do have exams in the next few weeks so I might not be as regular with posting again, but bare with me and I will be back with more lovely posts for everyone.
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