Dr. Denim Sample Sale

When stopping by my friend Daniella's house I saw a sign which said "Dr. Denim Sale" and "starts 22nd of May". So on the 22nd of May I came back. Because usually Dr. Denim clothes are really expensive and I never know if its worth spending a lot of money on jeans because I tend to damage them and rip them pretty easily. 

I walked in and I noticed it was also a Herschel sale too. The Herschel backpacks are beautiful, they have so many cute prints, but they're so expensive that I've never even thought of getting one. I'm not really a backpack person. I did look at a few of the backpacks and I was almost convinced but then I saw a box full of Dr. Denim leggings and I was fixated with finding the right ones. There were so many different colours I wanted to get 3 pairs. In the end I only got one pair, and a t-shirt.

Both the items I got I love. I've already worn both of them so many times. When I got home I looked the clothes up online and I couldn't find the t-shirt's original price, but the blue and bleached out jeggings were sold at 49 pounds and I had gotten them for 15. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more sample sales of brands I like and will let all of you know by twitter if I see something good!

Benets

Benets is at the end of Brick Lane. Its a beige building with tables always outside. The signs on their windows say "ice-cream" and "pancakes" so of course I walked in. My friend Emily and I had just spent the whole afternoon on Brick Lane and we were so happy to finally sit down and relax.

This place has incredible ice-cream. I was contemplating getting crepes with extra ice-cream but I thought that was a little over the top. So instead, I asked to try a few of the ice-cream flavours. I ended up deciding on a mandarin sorbet. And let me tell you, it was amazing. The cups are 2.5 pounds but its worth it because you get to find out which flavour you want before, and they fill them up quite a lot. 

Other than the amazing ice-cream the location is pretty cool too. They have a few bikes hung to the ceiling and other small quirky details but it also reminds me of a stereotypical french bistro with wooden floors and tables and the colours brown and beige being reflected throughout the interior. Next time I go there I am getting crepes! 

Rokit

Rokit on Brick Lane takes up 3 shop windows. I've walked past it a lot because I went in there with my parents once and I didn't like it. With my flatmate Emily, I decided to try it out again. The first and last door lead to small vintage shops and the middle door has really modern clothes from small English clothing labels.

The vintage sections are really cheap, with the clothes divided really well by cut, length and type. All the cropped t-shirts are together, that way you don't have to spend ages in the shop looking for them. The women's wear spreads into the men's wear section a bit. There's at least one of everything in every colour you just have to be lucky enough for the colour you like to be your size but I guess that's always the case with vintage clothes.

The middle store is beautiful, its divided into mini boutiques where each small label has its specific section. All the clothes are hung in size and colour order. So you don't even have to sort through to find the thing you want. Everything has an interesting design or print. There was this one sweater I really wanted. But I think I'm going to try to survive without it because after all it does cost 40 pounds, and I don't really need it.

I thought it was really cool that the shop is divided because it helped me shop better in each individual one and I could focus more on what I needed to buy instead of what I thought I might wear. You can shop online at http://www.rokit.co.uk 

Elephant Parade

The Elephant Parade has been a European phenomenon that happened to invade Luxembourg this year (as well as the neighboring German town Trier). It is organized by the Asian Elephant Foundation and the whole charity started with an elephant named Mosha who damaged its front right foot, and needed a cast to help it get better. This cast was then painted, and the people looking after Mosha realized they could make full body moulds of elephants. To fundraise for the Asian Elephants European companies sponsor artists to make designs on the elephant moulds and create something new and different on the given form. These elephants are then sold at about 20,000 euros each, to support the elephants.

Now that this non-profit organization has become pretty famous Elephant Parade stores appear in each country hosting the new Elephants. Not only is this benefiting the elephants but also local artists get huge amounts of exposure and cities become more of a tourist destination.

I just happen to love elephants. This past weekend I even went to Germany to see the elephants in Trier. My friends think I’m obsessed just because I bought the book, and the magnets and a mini elephant, and I freak out whenever I see a new one. (Ok, maybe I’m a little obsessed) I even dragged my friend Gabi around too see some of  the ones in Luxembourg. Next year I’m hoping to spend a month of my time in Thailand to look after elephants, so maybe this is destiny telling me I need to have elephants in my life, or something like that. Maybe I just like them because they’re cute.

Here’s the Elephant Parade website: http://www.elephantparade.com/index.php/home/

And here’s the store where you can buy elephants:  http://www.elephantparadewebshop.com/

Am Clubhaus Op Der Spora

Op der Spora is an incredible restaurant in Luxembourg. It’s a little hard to get to, because it’s in a forest and no buses go there. But the food is amazing. My friend once had her birthday dinner there, and since then my family and I go there at least once every time I’m back because their sushi is so good. They have a sushi chef and a normal chef because the restaurant serves European cuisine too. But it’s definitely not a fusion restaurant. The sushi is kept very far from all the other food.

One thing I love is that if you order sushi then they bring you free miso soup before, and hey, who doesn’t love free food? The staff is really nice too, and the place has a really good turnover, they probably fill every table twice per meal. They also do sushi to go, which we’ve taken advantage of a few times.

But best of all, it’s a really calm and warm place, even in winter. The fact that it’s surrounded by nature makes you feel even luckier to be there and sometimes getting away from the traffic of everyday life is good. Even if it’s just for an hour or two at lunch.

Here’s their website: http://www.amclubhaus.lu/

Brick Lane Coffee

Walking along Brick Lane at least once a week I've noticed the flashing lights of Brick Lane Coffee before, many times. I don't know why I never stopped before, I think every time I walked past I had a different destination. Anyway, this time my friend Charlotte and I went. I was really thirsty so I knew I had to get something to drink. 

I chose to get an Arizona ice tea because I know they actually quench my thirst unlike the blue lemonade I had earlier that day from a stall in Brick Lane market. We sat down on a couch side by side discussing what we were up to and talking about our flat for next year. I was really relaxed due to the perfect couch, the chill music and the good conversation. 

Everyone inside the coffee shop looked like some kind of an artist and I loved it. The man sitting across from us was drawing something, and seemed very focused. The venue is pretty small but there are several cute details that make it home-y and special. I really liked the drawings on the walls, the different mismatched seats and that everyone seemed to be doing something. I'm glad I finally walked in.

Here's their website: http://streetcoffee.co.uk/pages/bricklane.php

Blues and Jazz Rallye

Every year for a Saturday night in July there is a Jazz and Blues Rallye in Luxembourg. They put up huge stalls in the middle of the streets in the lower level of the town and the streets are flooded with people drinking beer happily listening to several different bands. It usually starts around 9pm and every stage has a minimum of 2 acts throughout the night.

In the past few years according to my dad the Jazz has been getting better and the Blues worse. But they best thing about it this year was that the weather was great; therefore more people were out to appreciate the free music.

I would have loved to stop for a bratwurst (hot dog) but by the time I felt like standing at a stall for one they were turning off their grills. I think what I enjoyed the most was that it really felt like summer and I rarely spend this much of my summer in Luxembourg. It was nice to take everything in and listen to something a little different from what I hear every day in bars and in the office. If only I had gotten that hot dog.

Here’s the website advertising the event: http://www.bluesjazzrallye.lu/fr/page-principale.html

Welcome to Luxembourg

My family moved to Luxembourg in 2004 and is still living in here. Luxembourg is a tiny country in between France, Belgium and Germany if you didn’t know. It’s not a well known country, but it does have a lot of good things. It’s a centre for banking because there are really low taxes compared to other countries so many major companies have branches here.

But on a touristic it’s known for the way the city is structured. There are several green valleys in the centre of the city because the river cut through the hills a lot time ago.  The rest of the city is on multiple plateaus. There are many small winding roads where cars find it difficult to pass, and cobble stone roads are one of the main features of the town. There’s a pedestrian area in the main shopping area of the town allowing the people to feel safer.

I think I only really appreciate Luxembourg when the weather is good and I can walk around through the winding roads because in winter the city looks really depressing and empty. Also I spent all my high school life wishing I could leave so I’ve only really gotten the chance to look around and enjoy this tiny town during this summer. After all, every city looks better with a little sunshine.

Here’s the tourist’s office’s website: http://www.lcto.lu/en/index

Blackbird Tea Rooms

At the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair there was also a Tea Room set up. The people running it were the people from Blackbird Tea Rooms from Brighton. They came all the way to London for the event. The waitresses were dressed in little polished outfits, and you had to wait in line to be seated. Each table had a perfect frilly table cloth and the bar was lined with different cakes. 

I studied the menu and finally decided to have my first English muffin. It was with ham, cheddar and tomato chutney. It came with a salad and I tried to eat most of the salad before touching the English muffin because I knew that if I ate the muffin first there was no way I was going to eat the salad. 

I drank a ginger beer which I really liked because it had that little kick that sometimes you need. The room the tea room was set up in had a long brown wooden bar, and a sofa for the people waiting. This was a side room of the Chelsea Town Hall. It was nice to be seated near the fireplace of the room because even if the fireplace wasn't on you could look at all the intricate detailing in sides of the fireplace. 

It took us quite a while to be served but we're glad we waited because everything was delicious. Here's their website: http://www.blackbirdtearooms.com/

Frock Me!

On the 19th of May I went to the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair in Chelsea Town Hall. When I was a kid I remembered going to this town hall to see many different things. I think there was one time I remember really well because I was surrounded by like pink and beige clothes, it was a Burberry sample sale. This time I recognized traits of the building but not much else. 

We paid our 2 pound entrance fee, and walked inside, astonished by the number of stands selling clothes from different eras. I'm very picky with vintage clothes, they need to actually be old and represent something from the past to me, instead of being something from a few years ago with a label I recognize. Both my friend and I were able to find something we liked that wasn't incredibly expensive. However there was this one princess chiffon dress which I would have loved to own but it was a little out of my price range (280 pounds). 

Everyone selling things was really friendly allowing us to try things on, and when we didn't have enough cash, to go to the machine across the street to get money for the item we wanted. We got to hold a phone-bag which was used in the film "An Education", and see clothes that could have been featured in the Marie Antoinette film. Overall, it was like a little fairy tale. The next Frock Me! event is on the 8th of September, but there is also one on the 20th of October too. 

Here's their website: http://www.frockmevintagefashion.com

Slate

Walking towards Old Street I convinced my friend to try a new coffee shop and not go to her usual one (Fix 126). We stopped at Slate, which is on Curtain Road as well. The grey exterior isn't very inviting but it didn't look empty and there were a lot of fresh baked goods on display near the bar. We both got coffee, and my friend spent about 15 minutes talking with the barista to try to figure what all the flavours of the cookies were. 

I instead decided to have dinner or what I like to call "late lunch" there, and I got a cheese and bacon sandwich on ciabatta bread. (It was incredible). We sat down at the nearest table, all the tables are different and so are the chairs. I tend to like this design aesthetic when done well because it makes you feel more relaxed and free to do and say what you want. 

The food was brought out to us on black slabs, kinda like a black board or a "slate" which I thought was a creative way of serving small dishes. Everyone inside was so friendly and kept smiling so it was nice to be there. I'll probably go back again, just for another one of those sandwiches. 

Here's their website: http://www.slatecoffeelondon.co.uk/

Beach in the East

Beach in the East is/was a really cool pop up store my friend found online. It was in a less busy street of Shoreditch and you had to follow a few signs to get to the actual store. The moment you step in though it seems like you really are at the beach. 

They had windsurfing sails tied to the ceiling, blow up beach toys near the entrance, and the whole store was set up in a fake swimming pool. The clothes were really displayed well because you could see the different colours of the clothes pop from the background colour of the pool. There was even a fake ladder that would have helped you get in the water if you needed to.

The clothes were a combination of jeans jackets designed very differently from your ordinary jeans jacket, and swimsuit in interesting bright prints. They had a pair of ripped jeans I would have killed for, but they were very very expensive. Kristin tried on a jeans jacket that was painted with what seemed like white lacquer paint, and it looked really good on her. However the cool design of the paint made it hard for her to move so it was the kind of jacket you needed to break in. 

Here's a link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Beachintheeast?directed_target_id=0