SAMHAIN FASHION: THE GOTH

  Deep purple is a color of high spirituality and wisdom. I´m not sure I possess either quality, but I wanted the color in my Samhain collection. Even if only to pretend my capabilities are greater than in reality... =)

  Gothic style is undoubtedly beautiful and magnificent. Needless to say, it suits Samhain perfectly, and I wanted a piece of it in my collection too. But boy, what a challenging task to tone it down to fit everyday life while still preserving it´s spirit.

A basic dress with modern print on it. The dress itself is not festive, and it makes the whole just right to be worn at work. All the accessories are old, excessive, and I like them a lot. So I knew the dress would have to be more on the plain side to avoid a party look.

A bow on the head adds a touch of femininity and opulence, which is needed in goth.

The pattern I used to make this dress is the same one I used for my funeral- and Romania dresses. It´s a rare pleasure to find a good new pattern!

Strong makeup is a must. Samhain is such a dark time of year, in every aspect, that dark makeup is allowed, fine, and a nice change to the usual natural look. Here I applied shimmering medium grey eyeshadow all over the eyes, upper and lower lids and across the crease and fading towards eyebrows. Then to further deepen and "open up" them I applied shimmering dark purple to the outer third of the moving lid and out towards the brow bone, blending well. Blush is actually just a bronzer, didn´t want cheerful cheeks, merely sculpted ones. On the lips purple of course. 

  Overall an important marriage of the garment and accessories. Alone neither would meet the desired result, but together create a gratifying whole.

P.S.  This outfit actually replaces the goth from last year. The shirt proved to be too sweaty in the long run, and since I had enough pant-based outfits in this collection, I decided to switch to a dress. Thank goodness for evolution! =)

SAMHAIN FASHION: SCHOOL GIRL MEETS RINGU

  My love for classic looks extends all the way to school uniforms. They are a universal phenomenon, but not used in my country, which is probably why I am intrigued by them.

  But this latest outfit of mine is also strongly inspired by the Japanese horror movie Ringu. Mixing innocence with terror is effective.

There is more innocence than terror in my look, but after all this is a business outfit...

A blouse and mini skirt is the classic schoolgirl look. To make it wearable and practical for everyday use, I made the "blouse" of ordinary cotton jersey and slipped a pair of pants under the mini skirt. Colors black and white were essential in my head for this look for some reason, but I could not find a proper checkered fabric for the skirt in b&w, so I had to go with this one. It´s more modern and actually keeps the outfit from being too costume-ish.

My undone hair brings a bit of horror here...

The skirt is sewn right onto the hem of the shirt. So when I move and turn, it stays in place and does not twist around me nastily.

Well, at least it made my hair stand up!

  If you think this is blah, go ahead and watch Ringu here!

ENJOYING CHOCOLATE - THE HEALTHY WAY

  Hello, I´m Nella, and I´m a chocoholic. For me Yule is all about eating chocolate, no other goodie compares. But instead of gulping down milk and sugar loaded unhealthy pralines day in day out, I try to tame my taste buds with healthier options of the dark brown gold.

One example is this home made chocolate ice cream. Simple and cheap to make, is totally good for you being raw and sugar-free, and is amazingly like the real deal. Check out all three of my favorite pre-Christmas chocolate treats and recipes on my column Nelland Living!

POLE DANCING

  My friends and I had a little get together recently. Our gatherings take place only once a year with this group because we all live in different parts of the country. So when we do meet it´s all about girly fun! This time we tried out pole dancing.

Only one of us had tried pole dancing before, and that was only once, so we were all new to the sport.

We did easy beginner´s moves of course, but still it felt awesome to let my whole weight hang on only one of my arms while swirling down around the pole. You know, doing something completely new with my body, something I´m not familiar with. Cool!

By the end of the class we all got a slight hang of it and were able to rely on our strength and body more. That was awesome, and I felt like a hyped up little kid learning her physical limits!

Some of the positions were really tough to do. Like this one I couldn´t master at all!

  My muscles were sore for days and days after this one hour session. It hit the muscles I never use in my everyday life. Clearly pole dancing would benefit my physique balancing out the usage of muscles. But it also made my skin wear out and bruised my legs. But it was so much fun!!! If given the chance, I´d definitely do it again!

KALE & CRANBERRY SALAD

  This is a super delicious, and healthy, kale salad I had today for lunch:

Cranberries and orange rule the taste, followed by garlic and kale. I never imagined plain kale could be this delicious in a salad!

The recipe (serves 1):

First make the dressing by whisking together:
1/2 orange, juiced
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 small clove garlic, minced
pinch salt
pepper to taste
dash of soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil

Then pour half of it over:
100g kale, destemmed and finely chopped. Mix and squeeze the kale with your hands for a while to make it softer. (This is when I started drooling... =)

Finally add and toss in the rest of the ingredients:
1/2 orange, peeled and cubed
a snug 1/2 cup (1dl) dried cranberries
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced finely
1/2 parsnip, grated
1/2 shallot onion, finely sliced
3/4 cup cottage cheese

Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to two days.

This recipe is a slight variation to Mimi Kirk´s "Upscale Kale Salad" from her book. I basically just replaced nuts with cottage cheese and left out additional sweetener (agave or dates). That lady can make some darn tasty raw food dishes, and look fantastic doing so at 75!

PARSNIP COUSCOUS

  This is so good! The taste is mild but so satisfying, and it leaves me full but energetic. One of my favorite lunch finds recently.

Raw couscous made with parsnip and avocado! No nuts or seeds, so my stomach adores it too.

The recipe (serves 1):

1 small parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
a drizzle of lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 oz. (35g) rucola
1 pear, peeled and cubed
1 avocado, cubed

+ Run the parsnip in a food processor until the consistency reminds of rice. Pour into a bowl and add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Toss. Add the rucola, pear, and avocado, and mix well.

  The original recipe is from Erica Palmcrantz´s book, and it called for 2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds instead of the avocado I used. Good either way, but my stomach does not agree with seeds right now. =)

NOVEMBER RAIN

  This is why I dislike November:

It has been like this for weeks now. I reckon the last time I saw the sun was two weeks ago, and even then it was just for about five minutes.

This is from the other weekend. The weather is trying to draw all positivity and optimism out of me, much like dementors in Harry Potter.  =)

  But I must stay strong, drink my green smoothies, and memorize last summer´s never ending sunlight.
  Luckily this darkness is temporary (although feels forever now).