Sal's Authentic NY Pizza, in Auckland

A few weekends ago I finally convinced my boyfriend, Andrei, to go to this amazing pizzeria in the city after about a year of trying!

Needless to say, it was love at first bite!

The pizzeria I'm talking about is an awesome American/Kiwi run family business called Sal's Authentic New York Pizza; and to have something like that in NZ is like you're finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

What we call pizza here is Dominos and Pizza Hut.
And after trying Sal's, Dominos and Pizza Hut were easily well forgotten.

Image provided by Sal's website

There are a few little spots provided around Auckland I.E. K'Rd, Takapuna, New Market, Commerce Street - which is the one we went to and it was packed!

Commerce Street store

Awesome birds eye view NY Wallpaper

We managed to get a table after ordering an 18' Meatball pizza for two people :P
Don't judge, I'd just finished work and I was starving!

And here's the gold....

I'm in love!

One slice was almost as big as my head!

leftovers :-)

The size of the pizza was outstanding! It's exactly what you see in the movies which Drei and I couldn't stop buzzing about.
The flavours, however, were another story. A deliciously good story.

I kid you not, y-know how with most pizza you can really taste only one or two flavours, whether it be the pepperoni or tomato paste, with this pizza you could taste EVERYTHING!
Everything from the mixed herb seasoning, to the cheese, tomato paste and the meatball it was simply heaven :-)
The base as well was fresh and crispy and not too oily, bonus!
And whats better as that you needed both hands to hold up the pizza and (movie ref again!) the cheese strung out like you see in the movies ahhhh it was too cool!!!! :D

Can you tell I'm impressed yet?
I've been to Sal's before and always had there Garlic Knots (to die for!), but there pizza is beyond incredible.
I tell ya, the Americans know their stuff! And it's so cool when you get that kind of food quality because you have stories like this that make what you do worth it all the more :-)

So Sal's, you guys are amazing. The service of you're staff at Commerce was excellent too, very friendly and genuine despite how hectic and late it was getting :-)

I recommend you read their story too so you can appreciate the love that goes into the pizza. It's all based on feeling and knowing you're food, something I think we all can relate too :-)

The man himself, Sal (right). Not afraid to get his hands dirty and connect with staff.

Drei and I managed two slices each before we were stuffed, a whole pizza like that could feed at least four people, so get a group together and go! It's well worth the experience and they have awesome combo meals that are worth the price you pay. Quality over quantity I always say!

So have any of tried Sal's or have had an amazing food experience like I did?
Or do you have any food secrets that are a hit every time?
I would love to hear them!

Thanks for reading :-)

XOXOX

Hollywood Glamour! MOTN & OOTN

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all are well?
It's finally Summer here in little New Zealand, and so far it has been impressive!
Sunshine all around but also a lot of people walking around looking like tomato's from not wearing there sunscreen!
I'll def be sure to do that when I head to the beach for some RNR tomorrow.

Otherwise, I finally have the latest pics of how I looked for my work place's Christmas party last week!
It was held at a very nice hotel in the city last Tuesday, the theme was Hollywood Glamour.

I instantly knew what I would be wearing which was my gorgeous figure hugging ASOS Rose-Gold dress  which I brought for me and my boyfriend Andrei's 5year Anniversary.
I instantly knew as well as to what makeup I would be wearing, stated in the pictures below of my OOTN & MOTN (Outfit Of The Night & Makeup Of The Night).....

Phase one: Natural and simple makeup application

Face

• The Body Shop 'All in One BB Cream' - 01
• Clinique City Stick Consealer - 10
• MAC Pro Longwear Foundation - NW20
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural powder
• MAC Peachy Keen blush

Subtle smokey eye - pic 1
Glamified winged liner and smoky eye - pic 2

 Eyes

• MAC Bare Study Paint Pot - all over lid and tear duct
• MAC Goldbit e/s - all over lid and tear duct
• MAC Satin Taupe e/s - through crease, 3/4 upper and lower lash line
• MAC Blanc Type e/s - under eyes and brow bone
• Collection 2000 black khol e.l - through rim of lower lash line
• MAC Black Track e/l gel - create winged liner look

Final product -  Hollywood Glam?

Lips

• The Body Shop Cranberry Joy lip balm - actually wore MAC Red lipstick on the night

Brushes

• Real Techniques by Sam Chapman - Core Collection and stippling brush
• The Body Shop Slanted brush and line softener - e/l application
• The Body Shop Blender brush - e/s app.
• Generic store brought brow brush

Hair

• Soft curls and ringlets created by GHD
• Hold done by Schwarzkopf Volume Power hairspray

Sexy brown leather pumps!

Outfit

• ASOS Rose Gold dress
• Brown Leather stilleto pumps by 'Siren' from Wild Pair
• Portmans sparkly black head band

My amazing ASOS gold dress which screams Hollywood Glamour!

The back view of my dress. Gives a pretty swell view of my tat :-)

The whole night was amazing!
It consisted of every single staff member being recognised for their amazing efforts achieved in the company the past year.
Staff that went above and beyond were awarded little Oscars too :P
There was a lovely buffet of food and a dance floor which me and some of my co-workers friends dance to Gangnam style too, so much fun!

Above all else, everyone was dressed to nines.
And yes, I was thrilled to be back in my LGD (Little Gold Dress) which makes me feel like a 1950's Glamour girl or even better, a Bond Girl ;-)


Reality check.
As much as I love a good night, I simply can't resist a good night in wearing my fave trackies and sweater :-)

Love my huge FILA sweater!

That's all from me for now, hope you enjoyed my latest and you'll hear from me soon!

XOXOX

M.I.A

Hi my lovelies!!!

Sorry I've been a tad M.I.A lately!

I've been so busy enjoying my new job and just life in general that I've totally forgotten that I had a blog!

Pretty sad.

Haha Chuck Norris, so cheesy :P

No matter, I have good news that I will be updating you soon with new outfits, purchases and an awesome work Christmas party that I'll be attending soon that I just can't wait to update you on.

I'll give you hint about the theme, it's Hollywood Glamour!

So I'm going all out with that :-) I've purchased a great new pair of 'jeggings' as well and I'll leave it at that as I don't wanna give too much away!

Another quick update, it's the first day of Summer here in NZ (FINALLY) and it was amazing! Sunny most of the day (were always having that one bad stroke of weather here in Auckland, typical buzz kill) but definitely enjoyable. Had a BBQ and made a nice fruit salad with watermelon, apples, kiwi, banana and drizzled it with lemon juice YUM!

It's also the first of December, which also mean's Christmas isn't far off!

I really can't believe where the year has gone, I still remember this New Years celebration like it was last week!

Anyone feeling the same?

Anyway, that's my quick update for now and you'll hear more from me soon :-)

In the mean time, feel free to read some of my old posts and comment if you like, and also a big WASSUP to my newest 'lovely followers' additions :-)

That's all folks, cheers for reading!

XOXOX

Baking, New Shoes & Pinterest

Kia Ora Everyone!

Just in case you're not a Kiwi, that means "Hello" and/or "Thank You" in Maori :-)

Before I go any further I would like to apologise for my absence and also welcome my newest followers!

Since my last post alot has happened!

One, I've finally landed a job (chicka chicka YEAH!).

Two, I baked today :-)

Three, have a new pair of shoes which I'm stoked about!

And four, I'm on Pinterest! (a tad late on the bandwagon, but hey I made it!). 

So to start my first post for October, even though the month is nearly over, will be with what I baked today.

I saw a picture of this on Pinterest:

FOOD PORN!

And can I say that I fell in LOVE with what I was seeing!

The name for this is Cinnamon & Sugar Pull-Apart bread; I Googled a recipe for this immediately and came across this website called 'Recipe Snob' - very appropriate name :-)

I found the recipe's method very easy to follow, I will advise, though, that you add at least double (X2) to what is shows on the ingredients as I didn't find mine to be enough.

And also to add more flour as the dough is incredibly sticky!

Here is my step by step procedure, going via the link by Recipe Snob:

 

Final outcome! And it pulls apart!



The outcome was amazing!

Although mine didn't turn out exactly like the websites did, I was still pretty happy :-)

They were delicious served with a side of ice cream and pulled apart as the name suggests, I recommend you give it a go!

This, along with many other treats, will be on my Christmas menu. I'll post about those later.

Part two of my October post is that I finally got a job!

It's at this amazing NZ shoe company called Overland Footwear :-)

And as part of me joining the team I am to represent the company by wearing their product.

As were heading heading into warmer months here in NZ, I chose these stylish and comfy red wedge heels!

The shoes are from one of the many brands we accommodate called Isabella Anselmi, which is named after the founders daughter.

I can't begin to say how comfy they are!

They have cushy padding, and are made with leather upper and lining (there is leather on the inside of the rainbow elastic so there is no rubbing).

I love the red colour too. My current shoe collection consists of earth tones E.G. Black, nude, white, brown... So adding the red really gives my collection a POP of colour! 

They would look great with any outfit too; which I'll be sure to update you on that soon and also the 'God-send' products the company sells....

I'm a huge shoe addict as well so working here is a dream but also very dangerous!

Last, but not least......

I HAVE FINALLY JOINED PINTEREST!

I've been on a month and bit now and I am ADDICTED!

It's so hard not to get carried away, there are so many things you like that people are pinning that you just have to as well!

You can check me out here. I pin anything and everything from food, home decor, fashion, makeup you name it!

You wont be disappointed and I follow all my followers back :-)

So that is all me for my first October post.

I'll be back again soon and I hope you enjoyed reading my life story LMAO!

XOXOX

Slutty Brownies!!!

Now that I have you're attention (ha ha!) I would like to share with you, my lovely followers, a recipe I came across yesterday for cookie dough, Oreo cookie and brownie batter mix erm....brownies aka Slutty Brownies!

You've probably heard the term before, seen the pictures, and drooled uncontrollably!

If you haven't, well my friend you are in for a treat!

Image provided by Google

Hungry yet?

I was so bored yesterday and I've been wanting to make these forever!

I had all the ingredients I needed in my cupboard so off I went into the unknown!

I'm making this sound like an epic journey! And I have every reason, I'm usually a terrible baker so I was terrified that these might turn out really crappy.

Anyway I picked my balls up and went for it!

Here's my ingredients that of course I didn't come up with but found on the Kevin & Amanda website HERE.

I noticed that used a choclate fudge brownie batter. Unfortuantely I didn't have that; but I did have a good brownie batter reciepe from Nestle:

100g butter, softened

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of baking cocoa

2 eggs

1tspVanilla extract

1/3 cup of plain flour

1tsp baking powder

• preheat oven to 160degrees
• melt butter for 30seconds and then stir in the baking cocoa thoroughly. Let it cool slightly then beat in the eggs, sugar and the vanilla extract.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add into the mixture and stir until thoroughly mixed then spread on top.

This recipe is insanely good and below are some pictures I took of my process:

Step one: Cookie dough to line the bottom.

I found that quite hard to do inside the dish, so what I did first was line the dish with the cooking paper and then take it out and spread the batter from what I got of the outline then placed it back into the dish.

Step two: Place on top the Oreo cookies.

Just a tip, place two layers of Oreo cookies, I felt one wasn't enough, and this dessert is all about layering!

Step three: I had left over cookie batter so I spread that on top of the oreo's.

Step four: Spread over the brownie batter mix and bake!

After 45 mins of baking on low 160degree heat, here's how mine turned out

Burnt just around the edges, moist and smelt absolutely fabulous!

LAYERS!

SCRUM-DIDDLY-UMTIOUS!



Oh mi gosh HELLO SEXY!



So that's how mine turned out after 45mins :-)

The first three were straight out of the oven and the two you see above were from sitting over night so there not as gooey and chewy.

But that's not a problem, just put them in the microwave for 30seconds to 1min and serve with a side of ice cream and get ready to say '"COME TO MOMMA!".

They taste absolutely delicious, and I decided when I make another batch I'll add marshmallows in between the Oreo cookie layers.

You can get really creative with this and my biggest tip is the more layers the better as it adds more to the 'SLUT' appeal haha :D

Hope this post gave you some inspiration, I was surprised at how well these turned out for me and I can expect it'll do the same for you so definitely give it a go!

Cheers for reading and here's another picture of my brownies for good measure ;-)

XOXOX

Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar

Hi Everyone!

About a week ago I went into the city to hand around some of my C.V 's.
Unfortunately I am still unemployed.
No matter, I've been settling into unemployment quite well with all the housework and cooking I've been doing I'll be the perfect housewife!

JOKING! I am too much of a feminist for that :P But I do love a clean house and I do like to cook!

Back to story!
So As I was handing my C.V's out I recall that a new milk and cookie bar had opened up and some of my friends had paid a visit and LOVED it!
I instantly saw me having the time to blitz in the city as an opportunity to check out this milk and cookie bar cleverly named, Moustache. (I instantly thought milk moustache?)

I tell you one thing, it was not hard to find.

If you're a local in the Auckland area you'll probably already know where it is, but just in case here's a link to it's website just to be safe (MOUSTACHE).

I kid you not there was a line that was 4metres long!
So I thought 'what the hell' and waited patiently in line, not for that long though, and ordered a chocolate chip cookie which was almost as big as my head!
And to keep with the cookie theme, I ordered a cookies & cream milkshake, yum.

The problem that I have with milkshakes, though, it that the mix always tends to stick to the roof of my mouth, I do find that it kills the 'yummy factor' I wish to experience, but I didn't find that at all with this place!

Chocolate Chip Cookie $4, Cookies & Cream Milkshake $7.50. Enjoying consuming these delicious treats, priceless. For everything else, there's MasterCard XD (sorry I just had to add that in!)

Anyway, here's a few pictures I took inside of Moustache, it's a pretty cool place!



The awesome hanging milk bottles

Everything is made in front of you!

Some of the 4meter long line!

I loved the interior design of the place, like how there were lighted up milk bottles hanging above the counter and how the menu was displayed on a chalkboard and the the cookies were (for obvious reasons) displayed in large cookie jars, and behind the counter were old milk bottles and candy jars sitting on the shelves.

The place definitely gets you're taste buds going!

Everything is also made right in front of you, which I like :-)
The staff were so friendly, despite how busy it was!

The service was amazing, I wasn't left waiting long, and above everything else the quality of the produce exceeded my expectations, I'll definitely be going back!
The only thing that was a let down was how small the place was so there was no room for more seating, there were a few seats at the front, but otherwise the place is fantastic :-)

So friends, Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar is the place to be in the City of Sails aka Auckland City. And if you haven't already been there (for those locals) get there, you wont be disappointed!

Enjoy the rest of you're weekend everyone!

XOXOX

New-ish hair.... (Total Care Hair & Beauty)

A very good friend of mine, Daena, works at this amazing hair salon called Total Care Hair & Beauty based in Remuera, Auckland.

And for weeks she's been asking me to come in and get some highlights as part of her training at the salon. And each time she's asked me I've either been too tied up or had no money and I've always felt super bad for letting her down, but not this time!

Yesterday I finally had the time and money to go in and see her and get some highlights!

Total Care Hair & Beauty

When I got there I was amazed at how gorgeous the salon was! Daena told me that it used to be an old home; which is totally obvious from the outside but when you go in....

It is just as beautiful inside as it is out!
Whenever I'm going to try out a new hair salon I always look at how clean it is and this place fit my expectations well :-)

This was also the first time in 4years that I'd be putting dye in my hair!
So I wanted something close to how my hair is naturally highlighted but also something lighter for the Spring/Summer months ahead as my hair tends to go quite dark in the Autumn/Winter months.

My hair before. Naturally highlighted but a little dark, and slightly wind raped :P

So with the help of her trainer, Daena started putting the foils in my hair with shades that her trainer recommended which would look beautiful and flattering with the natural tones of my hair.

The gorgeous Miss Daena in action!!!

Foils done!

This thing looks like it's going to take off into space! It was used to help set the dye into my hair :-)

I was soo excited to see how my hair would loo!
After waiting for my foils to set with the big spaceship (LOL) it was time for the big reveal......right after getting my hair washed and having the aaaamazzzziiiinnnggg head massage!

And here's the results

Lighter and loving it!

I can happily say that I am stoked with my new hair colour! They listened to exactly what I was wanting and I probably went about 5 shades lighter with my hair.

Let me just add in, the above pic you can see a big white patch of hair.

Well I was born with that!

I was born with jet black hair and two white patches, then my hair gradually throughout the years went platinum blonde, golden blonde, honey blonde and then browny/blonde strange huh?!

Overall I am happy with the results and especially the service of the staff!

They were super friendly and knew exactly what to do.

The workplaces were clean and the atmosphere was very homely and comfortable I would easily recommend this place to anyone and give it 5 STARS!

So if you live in the Auckland area (or New Zealand for that matter) Total Care Hair & Beauty is the place to get a good hair experience and bang for you're buck!

They not only do hair but massages, spray tanning, waxing and much more!

Hope you like the results of my new hair for Spring/Summer!

Cheers for reading :-)

XOXOX

Current and Fave Recycled pieces

So I'm writing my latest post whilst watching Master Chef USA.
The chefs are in Puerto Rico and are making these amazing pork dishes GAH I'M SO HUNGRY WHY MUST THEY TEMPT ME SO :-(

Never mind I'm too excited to share my latest and greatest recycle finds with you all!

Today I paid a brief visit to my favourite recycled clothing store, Recycle Boutique.
For those of you who don't know, this place is my second home LOL.
They sell recycled clothing, accessory and shoe gems from designer to the unknown and I have found some pretty amazing things from this place which you can check out HERE, and HERE.

I've been wanting to brighten my wardrobe up a bit and the first thing that caught my eye in the store was this gorgeous 100% pure silk, gold sequined top by Witchery!

This top would've easily been $80+ in store but I picked it up for a reasonable price of NZD$25!!!
Aaaand pure silk how lucky could I get!

The top can be worked into a casual day look and a glam night look.
I'm wearing this with my fave Levi's jeans and my nude Christian Louboutin peep toe pumps which were also a great find from R.B :-)

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS TOP!

My Loubi's :D

Next on my current finds is this flowy cardi/jacket from brand Jacqui E.

The photo on the left doesn't do it any justice, it is gorgeous!

It's also something I would never buy either and it looks great on :-)
Despite being 6 sizes too big for me I love the fit as it will incorporate well into summer.
I've folded the sleeves up and paired it with my new Witchery top, it's looking pretty good.

Picked that baby up for NZD$28 :D

And last, but not least, is a purchase I made at the beginning of last month is this fab Sugar Skull Scarf!

This wasn't the first time I'd seen this scarf at R.B.
I'd never brought before but I thought I'd go for it this time and I'm so glad I did, this thing is huge!

It's also very warm and I picked it up for NZD$6 which was less than I hoped; something like this scarf would easily be worth $30!
I saw Ashley Simpson wear a scarf similar to this in '04 or '05 and I loved her style back then and still do :-)

Of course in this photo of her here she's wearing an Alexander McQueen Skull Scarf, unfortuantely the brand isn't portrayed on mine but it still is gorge :-)

So gals and guys I hope you liked what I brought cause I sure do :D
So do any of you go thrift shopping? What are you're best purchases? And what is you go to fashion staple?

Cheers for reading!!!

XOXOX