LJ's For Jeans Spring Lookbook (shot, modelled and edited by moi)

SO. A bit of backstory. 40 hours a week I am Assistant Manager of an independent jeans shop on the South Coast. Our main brands are Levi's, Wrangler and Lee, which we always sell at less than the recommended price (so cheaper than department stores, asos etc), and the business has been going for the last 3 decades!

I have recently taken on the task of keeping us current, becoming a sort of social media manager alongside my usual roles. So twitter and facebook, first and foremost, and eventually a website as I get to grips with simple web design!

 Over the weekend I decided we should have our very own lookbook. I dragged my lovely boyfriend along for the ride, with some of our new season pieces, and journeyed to some woodland down the road. After costume changes in the car (is this legal?) I put together a whole bunch of shots of the two of us "modelling" (the boy was much more a natural than I) and came home to immediately edit them! Not bad for a days work!

I'd like to share with you a few of the shots-so you can see a bit of what I've done, and also ogle some amazing denims from the 3 original denim brands.

If you would like to see the whole thing, it is available on facebook here or if you'd like to follow us on twitter you'll find us at @ljsforjeans (which may or may not include a behind the scenes shot of the boy trying to get changed in the car...) If anyone liked the page that would be amazing-I'm doing this all off my own back, so some evidence to show my boss that I haven't just been "messing around on the internet" would be a real boost for me (and in my wildest dreams, my paypacket) Thanks for taking a look!

In Love With Fashion Wishlist

The folks over at In Love With Fashion are currently hosting a £200 voucher giveaway. All you have to do is create a wishlist of items from them, which lets face it, isn't a hard thing to do!

This is my entry below, I created a few dream outfits that would take me into spring. I really need that polka dot dress to be mine! I have enough tattoos of my own that I probably don't need the faux ones, but...THEY SO PRETTY!

InLoveWithFashion Wishlist by hannahvictoriaa

Details of the competition can be found here on the etailpr blog and you can begin by checking out the In Love With Fashion website www.inlovewithfashion.com

Have fun!

Novice Slow Cook Moroccan/Brit Chicken Casserole

Me and the boy recently spent a long weekend away at my Papi's house in a Devon village (views of his garden above). Whenever I go there I tend to come back with a different mindset. It's completely relaxing, and the food is just top notch. My dad and stepmum eat very well-always organic, local where possible. Whilst I was there they also described to me the benefits of a slow cooker (amongst other things) so as soon as I was back, I popped to Argos and got the Cookworks 6.5 litre Slow Cooker for a mere £19.99
I googled many recipes, many of which still seemed to be quite complicated, and required pre-cooking and exotic ingredients I'd never heard of. Horror! I bought it because I literally wanted to bung some food in and have a delicious meal a few hours later, using meat and veg.



Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs, 2 red onions, Half a butternut squash, 7 medium carrots, handful of dried dates, salt, pepper, cumin, honey, half pint water, tablespoon of flour.

So that is what I did. I didn't follow a recipe, I just used common sense. I chopped the onions, carrots and butternut squash (thank you M&S for selling it pre-peeled) and bunged them in, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I rubbed 4 chicken thighs with honey and cumin, and placed them on top with some dates (I watched a lot of Moroccan themed TV at my dad, hence the cumin also).



I added some boiling water by eye (probably a little too much, I would now say you only need about half a pint) and a tablespoon of plain flour. A pinch more cumin, a bit of a swirl around, then the real experiment could begin! I opted to cook on low for 7 hours (7 torturous hours, once the smell started circulating) and voila! I had made enough for a serving for myself, for the boy, and some leftover to freeze for a rainy day, and also some liquid leftover to use as stock for the next meal! How purse friendly of me.



Taste wise, it was pretty good. It was a bit too watery this first time round, a lesson learnt for the next round!

Anyone else out there have a slow cook recipe to share? Link me, I'd love to know more! Also, sad old me doesn't have any followers yet even though I get several comments! What am I missing here, what would you like to see that's different? Let me know, and if you do a foodie blog link me to that too, I mainly follow fashion blogs right now, so need some recommendations!

Steal Her Style-Aubrey Plaza

Actress Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim, Safety Not Guaranteed, Parks and Recreation) has very recently stolen my heart. I shan't lie about the reason. A close friend told me that Ms Plaza reminded her of me. Someone that's a bit like me? I was instantly smitten.
You may have read the interview with her in the March Issue of ASOS magazine where she confesses her obsession for sunglasses and repeat buys of grey Current/Elliott T-shirts. She comes across as having simple, classic tastes, but if you look up photos or videos of her, it's clear she's not afraid of bright colours or novelty moustache items. Winning combination if you ask me!

Aubrey Plaza Steal Her Style by hannahvictoriaa

Catch Aubrey in Parks and Recreation, starting Marcg 6th on BBC4, at 10pm.

Camembert Croissant Overload

One of my favourite blogs is The Londoner. Read it if you dare-you'll be hungry within seconds. The other week, a post entitled "Sweet Baby Cheesus" was put up, and it came with a disclosure to "look away now". If only I had heeded this warning! I wouldn't know that my cause of death will from now on most likely be a heart attack, after my arteries get clogged with camembert and pastry. Oh pastry. This is another delicious use for the Jus' Roll croissant pastry I blogged about a few days ago. And it's bloody marvelous.






I did adapt the recipe to my own tastes/cupboard stores. I used redcurrant jelly as opposed to apricot jam, merely because I had some in the fridge. I also sliced the top off my camembert and stuck some rosemary in before plonking the top back on. But the long and short is that you unroll the croissant pastry pack, take off a triangle from each end, then spread the remaining long piece with jam/jelly, and wrap up a camembert. A delightful pastry present. Then bake for 10-15 mins!
I also went a bit eighties style, and dipped bread into the cheese, and then double dipped it into a bowl of nuts and dried fruit. Oddly tasty!
I cannot recommend you try this dish enough/check out other recipes from The Londoner. At your own risk of course!

Twit Twoo-Leather, Spikes and Owls

Leather Sleeve Knit-The Ragged Priest (via Topshop Oxford Circus), Owl Trousers-Zara, plus Converse.

When you've got fuck off massive spikes poking out your arms like a weapon, you must pair them with the girliest item you own. In my case, pale peachy pink trousers with fluffy little owls all over them.

Sweet and Savoury Jus' Roll Croissants

I am such a fan of cheating at baking. The Jus' Roll Croissant pastry is without a doubt one of the best inventions ever. Unable to decide on sweet or savoury I made both. You get 6 croissants per can, so I spread four of them with Marmite, and added slices of cheese. The other two recieved a generous coating of chocolate spread (the swirly milk and white kind), and a small handful of mixed fruit and nuts. Then, as the name suggests, you jus' roll 'em up into that delicious spiral of dough, and bake them at 180, for 10-15 minutes. Et voila!





Me and the boy wolfed them down in about 5 minutes flat.





Guaranteed empty plate, every time.

What would you put in yours? I am of course wanting to try and put bacon in.