Limy breackfast

           As of today i'm entering my "breakfast" phase! to clear things : winter is my dinner phase, spring and summer are my breakfast phase :) wich mean the main focus is on breakfast and brunch food , and today i'll give you an easy citrusy flavored recipe :

Lime and lemon pancakes and syrup, you need to make the syrup the day before.

 Pancake recipe

for 6 pancakes :

1 egg
1 cup of  sifted flour
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lime juice
1 lime zest


preparing:

put all ingredients in a glass bowl, mix untill all combined, you dont need to work all the lumps .
grease a hot skillet , pour the mixture with a soup ladle, one pancake at the time,  let cook for 1 minutes on each side, or until the edges are brown.

serve hot with butter, fruits if wanted and syrup .

Lime Syrup:

for a small bottle

150g white sugar
2 tbsp honey
half a cup of water
half a cup of mixed lime juice and lemon juice
1 lime and 1 lemon skins

preparing: in a sauce pan mix all ingredients and wisk until the sugar is disolved. then put on a very low heat for about 20 to 30 minutes( or more until the syrup is thick enough for you ) remove the skins and let cool a bit before  pouring  it in the serving bottle. keep in the fridge and use it in the next few days .

         I'm not very good with mesuring and exact  details as i always forget to take notes when trying new recipes , so please taste and be very careful with cooking times( check if it needs less or more minutes to cook)

hope you'll enjoy this recipe ! tell me what you think if you try it .

have a lovely time

Imen xoxo

Weekend

     As you'll notice by time, weekends, specialy saturday, is sisters time for me. we  try to make the most of the time together, shopping, meeting other friends, eating yummy mostly unhealthy food as it's her cheat meal on weekends, and last coffee. the past one wasnt very "loaded" :) we went for a bite after some supplies shopping

she was laughing at me telling her to look away when i take her pictures :)

   we wanted to take a look at an accessory shop on our way but nothing was at our style and so overpriced

this cosy little place was suggested by one of her friends, and it wasnt disapointing, loved the style

i dont remember the name, but we'll sure go back there .

that's all folks :) hope you had a lovely saturday too! 

Imen xoxo

Rings candy

       I made a ring for my self few weeks ago , from left overs and stuff from last collections, and it turned out so cute that i got few requests and orders :) so here some new eye candy ( sold  )

     i'm working on a other colors, coral, green, black.. 

if you want to see more of my work, old or new designs, you're more than welcome to my facebook page :)

    hope you have a magical weekend .

    

   Imen xoxo.

Aswaq mini trip

last saturday we went, my sister and me, to the Aswaq, in the Medina, the very typical tunisian folkloric market, in other words my personal heaven.

the MEDINA hotel mosaics always fascinated me.

lovely handpainted  pottery .

 i wanted to shoot everything, but it was so crowded i couldnt stop and take pictures without getting the "just move lady!" look :)

After she finished shopping we went back to the modern part of the city :)

 
Alfatah mosque ceiling.

coffee and sweet bites at the Queen Bridge coffeeshop.

and some bokeh on the way home :)

hope you had a lovely weekend too, see you later 

Imen xoxo

Minimalist

      I started wearing the hijab about 7 years ago, and started to pay attention to what i wear and how i present myself.  my style before that was "wearing the first shirt and jean that comes to my hand, wich wasnt the best approach to modesty. then  the eternal question started to impose every morning: WHAT TO WEAR??and by looking around the perfect answer was : GO MINIMALISTIC CHIC! i realized, and i dont want to sound hipstery :p , i was into simple minimalistic styles even before that , and modesty was always my motto. I'm trying to recreate my wardrobe since then , to achieve a perfect minimalistic chic   style .  it's still a process as i own( and find it hard to let go) some flamboyant pieces . and i found a simple rule to help: keep the outfit to the minimal basics and play around with jewelry and accessories. 
         there's a brilliant article on how to take your wardrobe to the minimalistic level, it helpd me alot.
here is one look i 'm in love with : a basic 3 piece outfit with a catchy accessory

 creamy white wool sweater, white denim pants, navy coat, taupe wedge boots and grey bag.

hopefully more outfit posts will be up :) 

    enjoy your week and keep it simple !

 Imen xoxo

Natural

       This is certainly not a beauty blog, but i'm a lady, and beauty is a big part of my life, so it's a big part of my blog too !

       i started giving attention to what i put on my skin about a year ago, a close family member suffered from cancer. i realised that i did not care about what i use on daily basis and if it's realy doing me good, so i started taking off complex and very long named ingredients from my skin care, it wasnt easy as most of my beauty/care product are either from the drugstore or reasonably priced brands, and both are far from being "clean" and less chimicaly complex. i started searching for simple, more natural alternatives, and Thank God for Pinterest ! i found lots and lots of easy recipes.

         As you will notice with time, i'm a very lazy person, i hate routine and i forget most of my daily tasks if i dont write them down , so to not mess with my skin's well being i keep a simple 3,4 steps skincare : cleanse,exfoliate (twice a week), tone and moisturise.

 
                    

Cleanser.

   when i first read about the Oil Cleansing Method i said "WHAT? oil to cleanse??" , but i kept reading about it, and searched for testimonials, and most of it was very positive, so i decided to give it a try , and i'm hooked! been cleansing my face almost daily , every night, for a year now, and my skin cant feel any better!. i have a combination skin , it break out usuly in that time of the month , for the last 6 months or so, i get less pimples and it last only 2 to 3 days, i have less black heads, a less oily Tzone and less dry cheeks.

   you'll find lots of recipes for oil cleansers online , mine is tested only on my skin so it might not work for you, i suggest you try it for 1 to 2 weeks.

Lavender oil cleanser:

  1 part lavender infused olive oil
  1 part casto oil

if you have oily skin try 1 part olive oil and 2 part castor oil
for dry skin 2 part olive oil and 1 part castor oil

you can try other oils, jojoba, sweet almond..

                  
 Exfoliation. 

     I've read somewhere that chemical and enzimes exfoliator are banned in some places of the world as they're extreamly harmful for the environment, imagine what they're doing to your skin!!

    i exfoliate twice a week because it's good for blood circulation and skin texture, i use the Coffee ground recipe:

      2 tbsp used coffe ground ( the used one is softer ), 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil. 

mix and put in a tight container. the honey works as a preservatif also, so this is good for a month.

Use it on a makeup free skin, preferably in a hot bath or shower , when the pores are open.

               

    Toner.

       some ladies skip this part , i say dont, it's very important to balance the PH of your skin after cleansing, specialy whe the water in your part of the world is rough . it's easy and simple , 

spray it on your skin and pat it gently.

        Rose and vinegar toner : 1/4 orange blossom hydrosol,  ¼ rose hydrosol , 1/4 apple cider vinegar and ¼ distilled water. i use it as a toner or soft cleanser when i feel that i need it during the day.

i just realised how long is this blog post ! so i'll be leaving the Facial Mask and Moisturiser for the next post :)

   hope i've been helpful ! enjoy your weekend and if you try some or all of my recipes please tell me what you think, also if you got your own recipes i'll be glad if you share them with me .

    Imen xxx

Warming Up

   Hello lovelies, i promised  myself i'll start crafting and beading again this year. i stopped for another wotk that consumed me and almost killed my joy of crafting, but it's almost done now and to warm my fingers up for beading and peyote work ( and hopefully master new techniques) i did something for my self.

   

        I tried the beaded chain before but it went loose fro some reason, so i tried a new knot to prevent that, i'll wear them for sometime to test it, if it's as tough as it should be i'll make more of them to sell! i try to get the best quality supplies and material, but i have to test them before i sell them :), dont worry i dont test the ones i sell .

   

 hope you enjoy your weekend ! see you next week :)

       Imen xoxo