Cupcakes

Recipe of the day, the vanilla cupcake with chocolate butter cream! I know, the recipes I give in here are not the craziest ones, but I'm not a big fan of those weird taste associations. So I keep it simple, vanilla and chocolate, this is a basic, and everybody love basics. Plus, it is easy and quick to realize it, the perfect recipe for someone just starting with bakery. Sugary treats, here we come!

Ingredients:
The cake:
110 g of soft butter
110 g of brown sugar
2 big eggs
1 tea spoon of vanilla extract
110 g of flour
1 tea spoon of baking powder
4 tea spoons of milk

Firstly, put your soft butter into a jar and work it with a wooden spoon in order to make it very soft and creamy. Add the sugar, the eggs and the vanilla extract. Mix it all and then add the floor, baking powder and milk, then mix it all energetically once again. The ingredients must form a smooth cake dough. With the help of two tea spoons take a little bit of dough and put it into paper molds. Then in the oven at 180° for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cupcakes have a nice color.

The butter cream:
150 g of soft butter
200 g of icing sugar
100 g of chocolate

So easy to bake that it hurts! Melt the chocolate in a jar, and soften the butter in another one before incorporating the icing sugar little by little. Add the chocolate - when it is cold - and then 30 minutes in the fridge!
Then you just have to decorate your cupcakes, and most of all, enjoy them!

xo

Amy

Read more »

Favorite Autumn Lipsticks

New season means new makeup, and when it comes to lips it is always funny to play with colors in Autumn, when our style changes and sweater make their apparition. So today I would like to share with you my selection of lipsticks for the Fall, variating with shades but also with applicator! As we know, Autumn is always about those dark colors, burgundy and deep red, however, even though they will be part of my short list I would also like to share with you some other lighter shades perfect for the colder times and not only reserved to Summer evenings. So here are my favorites.

Rouge Dior, "Poison Matte"

This lipstick is just the dream. The color might frighten the shyer ones, however this deep purple will perfectly match a simple dark outfit, a casual one, and make it chic in a second. The application is really nice, and feels surprisingly great on your lips. Yet, like for every deep dark color, you will have to applicate it several times a day in order to keep the right shade and not to wear lipstick stains all over your lips after brunch. Anyway, this is the lipstick for the sassy girls in will of showing their darker side.

Buy "Poison Matte"!

MAC, Lip Linner Pro-Longwear, "Morning Coffee"
MAC has always been one of my favorite brand, mainly for its fancy but cray collabs - with Charlotte Olympia, to own the collection was simply goals - however I always had this really bad feeling about their lipsticks, leaving your lips dry and uncomfortable. So I found the perfect solution, turn to the lip winners. The application allows a lot of precision, and the texture is way lighter and you barely feel it on your lips. Plus, this color is a real dream if we are feeling like wearing a grey turtle neck knit and a cat eye. Light and pink but still fancy and discreetly sexy.
Buy "Morning Coffee"!

Clinique, Rouge Impact, "Pink Style"
We could think that dusty pink is only right for bright summer days or to keep company to a strong smoky eyes, but actually not. This Clinique lipstick is goal when it comes to take it easier and make it lighter on autumnal days. The application feels very nice and with that color you won't have to color your lips too many times in the day. The perfect lipstick if you dare wear crazy Christmas jumpers or just if you feel like being less exuberant for this cold windy day.
Buy "Pink Style"!

Laura Mercier, Lip Pencil, " Deep Wine"
My love for lip liners and lip pencils used for full lips and not only contours is quite recent, but I feel like I'm going to go even further with the lip liner craziness. And Laura Mercier will for sure help me out with that. The brand has so many different shades, it almost makes me feel dizzy. But I found the perfect one for this Autumn, "Deep wine". Its name says it all, right? A deep red, almost purple, so pretty and so comfy as well! Maybe my favorite one between them all if I had to choose...
Buy "Deep Wine"!

xo

Amy

Read more »

Romance

The other day I found myself wearing dirty sweatpants with an old t-shirt belonging to my boyfriend, eating cereals in bed, watching Making a Murderer, while my beloved was only in boxers, eating pasta. And at some point, when I realized it, which is two days after, I couldn't help but wonder, where is romance in our relationship? I was afraid. Couldn't find it anymore. Of course we have some romantic dinners, we wear decent outfits and I wear sexy undies every night because I know we will have sex at some point for sure. However, this is not really matching my definition of romance. I'm not stupid enough to think that it is only about bouquet of roses and expensive date nights in fancy restaurants, but I still need a little bit of romance in the details. Even though a grand gesture is time to time also welcome. This can be a fancy dinner at home, a present for no reason, a love letter, I'm not complicated. Well, I am. Anyways, I was afraid. Can love go on without romance? This question scared me so much that I had to stop writing and only came back now to answer it. 

   At first, I thought that yes, without romance love would die. After all, a relationship cannot be restricted to ramen soups in bed and dirty sweatpants, right? Routine scared me, because I knew that when romance goes away it is replaced by routine, and then the end comes. So I started getting mental and asking my boyfriend to do as many romantic things as I could propose. At first he thought I was cute with my little presents for no reason, with my invitation to go to the restaurant, with my new undies, with my love declaration at midnight. But he didn't really change his behavior. So I started to freak out. I didn't want to be the only one keeping romance alive, I needed some help. And so I talked to him, telling him about my fear. "We never go to the restaurant, we never take the time to look nice when we are together, our couple is DYING!". He didn't really know what to answer, and so we went to bed without a word. During the whole night I hated myself. I just scared him to fulfill my little-girl-in-a-magical-world-with-princesses-and-princes-and-fairies-and-f***ing-unicors dream. Silly me. 

   The morning after we both went to study, and everything seemed to be fine but of course I knew I had scared him with my mental disease: the fear of loosing romance. Two days after that he called me, "Wanna come over tonight?". I went, and he was there, wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt. He didn't get my point. Maybe the other night he didn't even listen to me. I hold my tears and went to the living room. He had cook pesto pastas. Almost the same meal overtime I come over. We eat, I enjoy this time but cannot stop thinking about our romance collapsing in front of me while I was eating. We went to bed, had sex, cuddled, and then, out of nowhere, he opened a box of fancy chocolate and we started eating hem in bed while listening to Bon Iver and talking. That night I realized I was stupid. Love is love, romance is just a gesture, and thinking too much is the real thing that can kill your couple. I never enjoyed such a simple night as much as I did this day. 

xo

Amy

Read more »

A day... in Zurich

Going on a train on a day off, no plans, no maps, just deciding when you wake up at 12 am to go to Zurich just because you can. This were the kind of things my boyfriend and I used to do when we were still living in Basel. Just a day away, just the will to discover a place we didn't know. We did that in Bern, and one day we decided to go spend some time in Zurich, just for few hours. This year in Basel wasn't that easy, however it enabled me to discover Switzerland and most of its big cities. It was the kind of day I used to love while we were there. The kind of day we had for us two, where we were free to walk around without any goal, without any specific idea. Just the will to get lost somewhere we didn't know, just the will to escape the routine for a day. And Zurich was quite good at it. So here I am sharing with you the pictures I took on that day, and remembering with nostalgia this perfect day away with my lover.

The city center, with its shopping area and nice restaurants

Secret garden on the top of the city

Getting lost in the old city

View over Zurich

Peaceful side of this crazy city

xo

Amy

Read more »

Vogue Paris

Recently I've been trying to read new magazines, issues from different countries - learning Dutch while reading L'Officiel Netherlands for instance - but every time I open a new one I'm always disappointed. I've been a faithful reader a Vogue Paris for something like 7 years now, and even thought time to time I disliked the issue - too many naked women and too much trash fashion in Carine Roitfeld last issues for me - I always enjoyed the prettiness of this magazine. Vogue Paris is all about a flawless editorial, a perfect construction and an elegant sense of fashion. The fashion editorials, the make up section, the staging of accessories, even the adverts are put in a way to make out of this magazine pure prettiness and elegance, in the French Style. 

So yes, as I told you I found myself cheating on Vogue Paris since three months maybe. I was used to read L'Officiel Paris, but it is not as good as it used to be and I decided to stop purchasing it, too disappointed to spend 4,90€ on an issue I won't read. However I never really looked at Vogue from other countries. Just out of laziness maybe, or because I loved my routine. Anyway. Last September I was at the airport waiting for my flight which would bring me back home for a week. I didn't have any book with me, neither any magazine, and I wanted to read something. So I went to the duty free shop and purchased the famous Vogue U.S September Issue. You know, what is considers as the Graal of fashion magazines. I couldn't wait more. After having spent 13€ on it - this is not a joke - I sat and opened it. I had to wait for page 110 to finally get a summary. I didn't think the "800 pages of fashion" was actually 700 pages of adverts. Anyway, I stopped being negative and went through it. I won't relate my whole experience, let's summarize it: all that I saw was adverts - not even pretty ones, it is about high and low brands which to me doesn't make any sense since 99% of the stuffs staged in Vogue are not affordable - and some pages of beauty and two fashion editorials. What a disappointment my friend. This is the Graal, really? To me, as a faithful reader of Vogue Paris, I was shocked. The edition wasn't even pretty, the adverts neither, it wasn't aesthetic, it wasn't pretty, it was all about adverts - so money of course - and articles were lost within them. 

Another time I decided to go through Vogue UK while waiting at the airport. But after 10 pages I knew I wouldn't buy it. And I finally understood that Vogue Paris was unique. Nothing can really compare to this elegance, this chic simplicity and the articles - so nice to read! Fashion becomes literature in Vogue Paris. So instead of purchasing new magazines, I just read every issue of Vogue Paris to death, for a month, and only leave behind one issue when I know the new one is about to come my way. Parisian do it best this time. 

xo

Amy

Read more »