David Downton Illustration

Today I discovered the fashion illustrator David Downton and his portfolio of portraits (from life) of some of the world’s most beautiful women, including Erin O’Connor, Paloma Picasso, Catherine Deneuve, Linda Evangelista, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Iman and Dita Von Teese.  View them here.

ZARA Street Style

Sourced from Zara

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Interiors interiors

Although we're housesitting at the moment and will be doing so for a wee while yet, living out of suitcase - footloose and fancy free, I still find myself musing over the perfect bedroom, one that oozes comfort, fresh air and calm... I still find myself musing over the perfect way to store my record collection.... and kitchens adorned with Catherine Holm enamelware.... and bathrooms with strategically placed Savon soap, and ways to store my collection of ceramics, teapcups and turquoise.
Sigh.

Lolita

In my search for a book cover for a craft project I'm starting this week, I found this collection of Lolita covers.

What is Lolita about?

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze.

After its publication, Nabokov's Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best-known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious girl. The novel was adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne.  Lolita is included on Time's list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It is fourth on the Modern Library's 1998 list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th century.

And god created woman...

I watched this Brigitte Bardot film last week and was surprised at how racy it was! And God Created Woman is Bardot's first film, directed by her then husband Roger Vadim. Bardot plays the central character, and to quote the trailer she is 'a curvaceous nymphet with a voracious sexual appetite'. In fact, it isn't what Bardot does in bed but what she might do that drives the three principal male characters into an erotic frenzy. The trailer is priceless and what a woman Bardot is - so much hair!

Watch the original 1956 trailer .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmqv88jWhyE

This one is a goodie!

Don't like spinach?  I encourage you to try this recipe - you might just change your tune!  Don't take too long in wilting the spinach - less than a minute will do! Find the recipe here at 101cookbooks. We had it with moroccan lamb and some israeli couscous - delish!

Photo taken from 101cookbooks.com

The time has come...

... to enjoy the hearty goodness of risotto, and I highly recommend this gorgeous recipe from the fabulous Heidi Swanson of 101Cookbooks.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/farro-and-millet-risotto-recipe.html

Ah... the Blondeness

Approaching the final week.... week 6

Well, this programme is actually quite time consuming!  With all the planning of meals, packing of multiple bags, pre-planning my wardrobe and generally feeling quite exhausted at times... I haven't had the inclination to update my progress here on WhiteLightningHeart.  I have found myself going over what I've eaten more than once in a day and I admit, I have become quite obsessed about really giving this my all.

For all my efforts I have been rewarded.  I'm feeling great!  I did a Sh'Bam class on Wednesday and noticed a huge improvement in my endurance. I now really see the benefits of weight training - its works and helps you lose weight.  And the strength I've gained is awesome! I'm actually not wanting the six weeks to end so I'm going to sign up to do it all over again! 

Look Better Naked :: Week Two

I've decided to summarise the rest of the programme into a weekly report as I suspect my blog entries will get fairly repetitive otherwise.

Week two started with a hiss and a roar.  I did a Body Combat class on Monday which I loved!  It's a great way to relieve all sorts of tension and you feel a little bit, well .... staunch!  Right hooks, undercuts - Rocky Balboa eat your heart out!

Tuesday's LBN session was good and even though it's only been a week, I could see my technique improving.  We've started doing a bit more cardio as well with some running on the treadmill.  Usually this is a struggle for me but I managed to complete the 12 minutes without stopping.

Come Wednesday and I felt a significant decline in my energy levels.  Admittedly I haven't been going to bed as early as I probably should for those early morning starts and it was beginning to catch up on me.  The Thursday morning 5am wakeup call was definitely a struggle but I enjoyed the training session - as painful as it was - which focussed on our legs with lots, and lots of squats and lunges.

As the day progressed I began to feel worse and worse for wear until I was hit from out of nowhere with some kind of nasty, debilitating bug.  The wait for the bus home was agonising and by the time I got home I felt as if rigamortis had set in.

It's now Tuesday of the following week and I am still unable to do anything.  I'm grumpy, bored and upset that I haven't been able to do any exercise for - OMG - 5 days!  This will no doubt set my programme back but I've managed to hang onto the nutritional aspect so fingers crossed the damage isn't too severe.  I am really missing the exercise which is a positive sign and can't wait to get over this damn bug and get back into it.