Bar Rafaeli...

Beautiful new shot of Bar in France's Marie Claire May issue... no one looks better in a bathing suit!

Ocean at Home

We all know my love for the beach, beach themed decoration (without being cheesy!) and clothing in ocean colors. As a late Mother's Day gift I decided to pick up a few goodies and make a nice little eye-catching decoration for my mother. Tadaaaa!

It's fairly easy and cheap to accomplish. Buy floating candles (these here are scented, blueberry and, of course, ocean breeze), get a big round vase, preferably no bulgy shape and arrange shells and stones from the beach on the bottom. Add water, then cautiously put the candles in (don't get them wet, they might get tough to lite) and pick some flowers right by the end of the stem so they can float in the water. I will try and take pics at night, it looks beautiful because the flames are mirrored in the glass.

Edit: here are the by night pictures (sorry for the bad quality - only had my cell cam available)

woody woodbracelet :)

On a trip to my hometown in North Germany I discovered a cute store with handmade accessories from India. Normally I'm not an accessory-heavy girl, but these two wood bracelets caught my eye... and priced at 3 Euros each I had to get them! They look great with my black leggings, cream cardigan and purple tunic outfit.

shoesys

it's time for some new shoes! here are my picks from the latest trends....

SANDALSI love the fresh colors on these Pierre Dumas "Nadine" sandals, $49

cute signature Marc by Marc Jacobs flip flops, $60

taking animal print to a whole new level, Slim Havaianas $24, also available in dark brown


GLADIATOR STYLEmore ocean colors and a zipper on these Matt Bernson Nouer III sandals, $170

gladiator with a twist: Industry gladiator style sandals, $105


Images via Piperlime

dress to the max

Maxi dresses: Yay or nay? One of my colleagues in Miami used to wear them ALL the time and I always thought she looked great...well, I guess that's natural for a former model, with a felt height of about 7 feet ;) I'm only 5'6"/ 169cm, do you think I can pull off one of these gorgeous maxi dresses?

printed chiffon maxi dress with antique metal stud and bead trim by F 21


very much bright Miami style maxi dress by Alice + Olivia

100% soft silk dress by Mango

I have a nice maxi skirt that skims the floor, got it about 5 years ago at Zara and still love it. But back then, it would only take me being on the street for 15mins until someone felt the need to tell me my skirt's touching the ground. Duh!

Feeling Bubbly

After trying on a cute and colorful strapless bubble dress at Zara I decided to look for some more bubblyness.Dolce & Gabbana bubble dress

Charlotte Russe layered bubble dress

Select floral bubble dress

Lauren Conrad in a BCBG Max Azria bubble dress with 3D detailing, very neat!

and in case you're feeling flowery too, here's a cute flower dress by H&M

Happy shopping!

German engineering at its best

Ok, I have to admit, I do have a little bit of boy in me (my parents never bought me a barbie, instead, I played with cars)... I want!! White is the coolest color on a car. This model would go really well with my new white Zara clothes ;)

The new Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI

Spring Smiles

Spring, here I come! Now, if would just please stop raining like there's no tomorrow.... Today is Monday. And yes, I got up and went shopping.... benefit of being a student :D I love to shop, but I hate going to H&M on a Saturday afternoon (no Sunday shopping hours in Europe!), it looks like a fashion war in there, or Zara with clothes piled up in dusty cabins, people sweating because the store is packed and they have to wait in line for a dressing room for half an hour! No, definitely not my favorite shopping experience. Then again, I was really shocked as to how big the spectrum of the friendliness scale of salespeople was today, on my quiet Monday noon shopping spree. At Zara, the saleslady at the register didn't even bother saying hello (not even after I said it to her) let alone look up at me. When I asked another salesperson to get a tunic in my size from the stock room, she didn't even pay attention to me and when she finally came back with it, she almost gave it to one of the other 2 people in the store at that moment. Wow. At H&M, however, the lady in the dressing room was so sweet, she even explained to me that they did have the zebra dress from the posters at some point and that it was only a few of them. We ended up chatting about other nice dresses and it really made me think, does Zara not find it necessary to hire some friendly people that do not look like they are punished when doing their job?! I can't imagine that H&M's paying much better... Smiles don't cost anything! :)

Anyways, I am in love with the H&M dress I got. I tried it on with my black Topshop leggins and it looked awesome and I can't wait to wear it without leggins when it's warm again. I prefer dresses with straps, you can just wear a black bra underneath this one and don't have to go through the whole pulling-the-top-part up mission that comes along with tube dresses.

dress: H&M

Then I also got this cute beachy shirt (yes, all shades of blue are my favorite, it just reminds me of being at the beach, by the ocean), which is a bit on the long and wide side, perfect with leggins or dark blue skinny jeans. Wouldn't necessarily wear the white denim leggins I got for only 25 Euros with that shirt though. But when I saw them, I had to get them: white jeans are a must-have for this summer. They always look fresh and put you in a relaxed mood.

comfy shirt & denim leggins with ankle zipper: Zara

Current Cravings

Here are some of my current cravings, some affordable, some rather not.white mosaic tunic top by Topshop, it has really interesting detailing in the back, too

short sleeve creamwhite blouse with ruffled neck by Topshop

This is a pac-a-parker! You can fold it up in a tiny bag. Love the tiger print. It comes in all sorts of solid bright colors as well. Buy it at Topshop.

ocean colors! my favorite. tunic/ dress by Forever 21.

H&M soft slightly elastic tank tops! Only 5.90 Euros. Available in rose, marine, white, turqouise... perfect basic material!

black Giuseppe Zanotti shoesdark brown Giuseppe Zanotti strappy shoes with copper metal heel, $895 - I saw some similar ones at Zara a few weeks ago, but when I went back to get them because I kept thinking about them, they were gone :( If anyone wants to buy me these, they have them at Barneys and here. I love clear umbrellas! I first saw them all over Tokyo, where it rains frequently, especially in September (which was the time of the year that I visited Japan). Of course I had to bring one with me to add some fun to rainy days where everyone just walks around in either grandma-ish designed or kiddie-like neon brellas! Unfortunately it broke (maybe I should not have gone for the cheapest model) and I haven't been able to find a nice replacement since. This one retails for about £15.00, I might have to place an order at Topshop!

The Balenciaga Motor Cycle Bag ♥

Despite me not being much of a fan of this person, I still really love this purse! I love how it adds such a splash of summer color to the outfit. Here are some more celebrities with their pretty, pretty expensive, Balenciaga motor cycle bags. I love Nicky Hilton's fresh color combo. Lauren shows us that you can wear it day and night, it always looks cool =)At over $1000/ they're just a little bit out of my price range. Does anyone know where to find a more affordable version of it? I found one for $145 here but in my opinion the color is a bit too faded, it doesn't pop like the purple one Lauren has. If you can afford it, get the real deal here.