Avocado oil: The new olive oil?

So apparently Jamie Oliver is a fan of this stuff: extra virgin avocado oil. That's all you need to know - now go and buy!

No, just kidding. But I definitely want to try it. I love avocados and they're supposed to be very good for you so this makes sense. One 250ml bottle contains the oil of 20 avocados. 

They claim that it is the only extra virgin oil that can be used for high heat cooking. Their suggestions include:

- brush onto summer vegetables and bake at 200°C

- brush onto fish or prawns and grill / barbecue

- use in salad dressings.

To find out more about avocado oil, click here. 

I found this in the latest issue of Jamie magazine.

I just had to include this. The heart-shaped avocado is so sweet!

I'm guessing most people use olive oil for salads but what do you use for high heat cooking?

Junior Ray-Bans... and for me?

I just couldn't resist. I got my son another pair of Junior Ray-Bans! Aviators this time. Aren't they cute?

So now his mini collection looks like this. Not bad for a four-year old, huh?

For myself I prefer oversized sunglasses à la Victoria Beckham but then I see pictures like this: Penelope Cruz looking fab in Wayfarers. She and other celebrities make it look so easy but I haven't found any yet that really suit me.

Do you like Ray-Bans?

Luxury wardrobes

I just stumbled across Clos-ette, a company that specialises in designing luxury wardrobes. Clients include Eva Longoria Parker, Liv Tyler and Beyoncé... to name a few.

I wouldn't mind having a wardrobe like this... I'm particularly fascinated with the perfectly folded t-shirts arranged by colour. And I must get wooden hangers (hundreds of them) some day. This is surely part of the trick - look how much neater a wardrobe looks when the hangers are not an ugly mishmash (there's a better photo below).

I would love to have a little desk dedicated to jewellery.

I'm liking the phone detail - to make those emergency "what shall I wear?" calls to friends!

From the same person who founded Clos-ette is this book. I was so impressed with what she's done that I'm now thinking of getting it. Do you know it? Is it worth buying?

I'm Ready-To-Glow with Dior

My most recent purchase is this limited edition iridescent eyeshadow palette from Dior: #649 Ready-To Glow.

I took it with me on my recent trip and it turned out to be a useful all-in-one palette: apart from doing the obvious and using all the colours as eyeshadow, I used the dark colours as eyeliner, the pink and coral as a highlighter and the brown to fill in the eyebrows.

The colours - apart from the brown in the middle - are all very sheer and shimmery. I have to mix the colours together (usually with the brown), otherwise I only have a hint of almost colourless, frosty shimmer on the eyelids. I'm especially disappointed with the 'taupe' (top right hand corner); stronger pigmentation would have been nice.

Also, I'm just not impressed with the CD hologram on the case. Chanel's simple black case with the wonderful logo has so much more "oohh-ahhh" impact than this hi-tech blue.

FYI: this came with it.

How important is packaging to you? 

I know I'm in a foreign country when...

... I don't recognise the sweets...

... hot dogs are exotic (this was on the children's menu. My son refused to share, it was that tasty)...

... and I find interesting things like moose snacks at the airport! I'm guessing this is the Scandinavian answer to the beef jerky. Moose jerky, anyone?

What about you?

My trip to Norway (part 2)

Following on from yesterday's post about Oslo...

I don't think I've ever seen so many sculptures in one city. There were works of art everywhere in Oslo...

... and many, many more in the famous Vigeland Park. There was a fantastic playground, too, so if you have children, head there. Spot the bird on the statue's head!

We had another yummy lunch of fresh prawns in the park. Couldn't get enough of the stuff! This was labelled as a 'small course' - but it was more like a main course for at least two people!

A trip to Oslo would not be complete without seeing a Viking ship so we took a ferry to the museum...

... and we also went to the Munch Museum to see Edvard Munch's masterpiece, The Scream. Security was tight, probably because the painting was stolen in 2004 (and found two years later).

To be honest, I found his paintings a bit scary.

The picture hunting was supposedly a game for children but it was difficult! There were stickers (each showing a tiny detail of a painting) for eight different paintings - we had no idea which painting to look for in which hall or even how many per hall. The Scream was in Hall 4 (top right); you can see that the sticker only showed a bit of the background. And this was easy because I knew the painting! Of course I ended up doing all of it - there was an incentive, you see: a little present if you got the answers right! (turned out to be two postcards) It was an 'interactive' way of visiting a museum and I liked it! 

For dinner we went up to Ekerberg Restaurant where there was a spectacular view of the city and harbour. We decided to eat inside because the restaurant had proper food (on the terrasse they only had fast food). Sadly, it wasn't that good.

And what was worse... we wanted to have a drink on the terrasse afterwards and I tried to order a Bellini... but they didn't have any more peach nectar! Booooo! Still... it's worth going there for the view.

These were the highlights of the trip. I hope it was interesting for you! I'll be showing more photos in separate posts.

My trip to Norway (part 1)

Hi, I'm back! I told you I was going away for a couple of days... well, I was in Oslo! The sun was shining, the seafood was delicious and I had a really nice time. I wanted to share some of my photos... so here we go.

There was still Eurovision fever (hosted by Norway this year)... at the airport.

This is the Royal Palace. I was really surprised that there were no gates... just a couple of guards dotted around the place. You could walk right up to the building and touch it (not that I did). I guess Oslo is so safe that there is no need for Buckingham Palace-type security.

All of the locals were making the most of the amazing weather - grilling, picnicking and partying outside!

We had coffee and ice cream at the supposedly famous Grand Café. There was a moment of confusion when a group of people carrying the Swedish flag paraded past (remember we were in neighbouring Norway) - I still don't know what it was about! (let me know if you do!)

The highlight was dinner. We went to an amazing seafood restaurant called Solsiden. It's apparently only open in summer (at least at this location). The view was fantastic and the food was absolutely gorgeous. If you're ever in Oslo, you should definitely go there. We still managed dessert and a sip of Aquavit afterwards.

To be continued tomorrow!