Friday, February 27, 2009

Things that make me happy

1. TGIF

2. These Zara Balmain knock-offs:

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I finally got them after stalking the Zara store in South Coast Plaza for the past 3 weeks! And while the magpie in me admires the original ones on the runway, I feel that my money would be better spent on a certain pair of lace-up boots by a certain female Belgian designer ;)
So this inspired version will do nicely..and honestly this pair of shoes is really well-made and I can't stop fingering the studs and sparkles. Can't wait to wear this out with something white, grey or nude...or maybe all of the above ;)

Edited to add: I've received quite a few queries about these Zara heels, so this is what I know.
They retail for USD$169, not inclusive of sales tax. The article number for this design is 1369201040, so it's worth a shot calling your nearest Zara and quote this number to see if they have this pair and your size, in stock. Lastly, for anyone in the Orange County area, there were still 2 pairs left in a size 39, at the Zara in South Coast Plaza as of Friday, February 27th. Good luck!

3. Cooking carrot cake
No, not the sweet carrot cake that most of the world knows as a dessert.

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I'm referring to the Singaporean version, which is a savory dish known as fried carrot cake or colloquially referred to as "Chai tow kway"(菜头粿). Its main ingredient is flour and radish, which is combined together and steamed to create the cake. The steamed carrot cake is served in dim sum in huge slabs, but in Singapore, we stir fry it together with eggs, sweet dark sauce, chilli sauce and pickled radish to make fried carrot cake!

KL and I discovered that the secret to getting the authentic Singaporean taste really laid in getting the right sweet dark sauce and chilli sauce. For the dark sauce, we used kecap manis, which we finally located in an Asian supermarket. As for the chilli sauce, we combined 2 types of sambal (spicy shrimp paste) sauce, one for the heat, one for the garlicky flavour.

This is my favourite breakfast dish (KL's too in fact!) and we are just darn proud of ourselves for being able to recreate it in the US! ;)


21 comments:

Shelly's Style Shop said...

I LOVE those shoes! What a great buy!

xoxo, Shelly

Dominica said...

Oh My !
Those shoes are to die for !
Can't believe they're from Zara !
Don't tell and say anyone who wants to know you got them from a little obscure Paris boutique !! (I won't tell - it will be our secret !)
;-))

Closet Cupcake said...

How much were the Zara ones, if you don't mind me asking? I just got the Aldo ones, but yours look much cuter!

Francheska L said...

omg I just died!
those shoes are absolutely the most amazing things I have seen! They actually look exactly like the balmain ones!
I gotta get myself to Zara asap :)
x

L in progress said...

i also need those zara shoes!!

Beauty Standard Blog said...

The Zara heels are stunning! They've got nothing on the Balmain ones..

Fashion Is Poison said...

omg! i got those zara knock offs, too!! zara = <3!!

ps- i changed my url :)

Gracie said...

those shoes are amazing! the embellishment is wonderful :)

Egle Z. said...

I really need to drag my bum to Zara. Those shoes are great. I gave you an award! Check it out ;)
xxx

Sophia said...

AH! Those Zara knockoffs are insane, a mirror image of those Balmain beauties. You totally deserve them after 3 weeks of patient stalking. I wonder if the Zara in Boston would still have them?

Darragh said...

que the hymns, i just had a revelation from looking at those awesome shoes. bad ass.

Jessie77 said...

looks so tasty...making me hungry!!

kaitlyn said...

those zara shoes are sweeeet. i'm going to hunt them down tomorrow, it's official. i dig your blog!

Mom Fashion World said...

those killer shoes, i love them!
visit my site,

http://momfashionworld.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

That's a great buy compare to the Balmain version. and the food look yummy..

Mimi said...

Omg I love your shoes.Seems like every one has them.They are so Balmain-like :D

Vanna said...

Your breakfast looks delicious, almost as delicious as those shoes! Can't wait to see you put those into an outfit.

I hope you've been doing well!

phamzy said...

the balmain knock offs is amazing...gorgeous studded sandals. whew!

i am a new blogger, exchange links?

Beauty Standard Blog said...

Oh thank you! That was really sweet, you def. made my day with that comment.

ps. just letting you know i changed the blog's url to http://beautystandard.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

that looks yummy!
love your shoes btw (and your blog).

Anonymous said...

Zara is no longer making those shoes. Bebe has them now. They are selling out fast though. I had to get mine from ebay since i'm a 5. http://tinyurl.com/dn4czr