Antiques in Sweden

Mine and my mum's favourite shop here in Sweden is an antique shop called "Squares & Stripes". They sell the most amazing and beautiful things. Anything from old suitcases, vintage beer cans, lamps, wedding dresses, jewellery.. You really feel an atmosphere of memories as soon as you walk through the door. Old photographs, clothes, china, books and toys - all these lovely things that people have just left, waiting for a new owner to appreciate them. I could spend hours looking through all the things. Some of the clothes dated back to the 1940's, including a beautiful, silk wedding dress I saw. Other customers look at me so funny when I am walking around, in amazement, really taking in everything that's around me. I don't know, I just love antiquing!

I asked the owner if I could snap a few shots with my camera - she was lovely, and said it was fine. The shop is huge. There's an outdoor area, a loft and 3 large rooms filled with things so I obviously couldn't take pictures of everything. Maybe it all looks like junk, but personally, I love looking in vintage stores so I really hope you enjoy these photos that I did take!

I M O G E N G R A C E x

Jumpsuits, rings and sunny days

Happy Wednesday all! 

Today I had to go into the city to take a big test so I could finally get my grade in "Swedish as a second language". I think it went alright, but sitting there for 4 hours was quite depressing since it is such sunny and warm weather today! But anyway, I had to do a reading exam, then a writing - on the writing, I had to write an argument essay which I always enjoy .. maybe that says something about me?! Haha!

Today, I wore a jumpsuit from H&M .. in fact, I bought it a couple of months ago for only £7! I have worn it so much, as I tend to dress it down with some black pumps or converse, or dress it up with a belt and dark lipstick so it really does suit for anything. It is so comfortable when the weather is warm (but with a cool breeze) and the fabric is just so soft and lovely, Usually, I find H&M clothes' quality not the best, but I really can't complain about this piece. The colour is what I would call an "army" green. It looks great with a gold chained necklace, some black boots, bangles, a clutch, endless posibilites. 

After my test, I drove my to parents house to eat some lunch. They have a huge garden so I grabbed my camera and got my mum to take a few shots! 

I got this handbag just from a bag shop, so it's real leather. I can fit so much into it and it looks lovely with everything! (Excuse my water bottle peeping up at the side!) 

Aren't these rings so adorable?! I bought them from Accessorize at Manchester Airport, They have some really lovely stuff there, things I don't usually see in the shop otherwise. Definitely worth taking a look! 

These black pumps are from the Primark in Leeds - funny story - I bought these the day one of my siblings was graduating. I had been wearing heels all day and I couldn't bear it anymore! I went to Primark, bought these babies and had happy feet the rest of the day! (Think it's time to invest in a new pair though!)

Hope you're all having a brilliant Wednesday!

I M O G E N G R A C E x

Victoria Sandwich Cake

Yesterday I didn't have to go into work, so I decided to stay home and do some baking! For me, baking is therapy.. and the delicious treats at the end of it is just a huge bonus!
I had never made Victoria Sandwich Cake before, so I really wanted to give it a go.

If you are also interested in making one, here's my recipe: (I used a mixer, but you can also mix by hand of course!)




1.  Turn on oven. I usually have mine at about 180 degrees. I weighed 4 eggs. A little trick my Granny used to tell me - whatever your eggs weigh, use the same amount of margarine, flour and sugar, as it balances out the mixture!

2. I put my eggs and sugar in the mixture with a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

3. I slowly worked in my flour. (Check if your flour contains baking powder because this is important in order to make your cake rise)

4. I cut up my margarine into small chunks and I worked this into the mixture last.

5. Make sure all ingredients are properly worked into one another, and the mixture is well beated.

6. Grease two cake tins. (One should be deeper than the other!)

7. Divide mixture into the two tins and put them in the oven!

8. Keep an eye on the mixture, they shouldn't be in the oven for more than half an hour. Remember: the deeper cake tin's mixture will take longer to bake than the smaller one,

9. When they are both finised, let them cool! Do NOT put anything on them until they have cooled down completely.

10. Prepare butter icing: Put hot water into the sink, and put some butter in a bowl to float in the water. The butter should not melt completely but just soften up. Add icing sugar and beat. It should become creamy, not runny! You know when it's ready when it tastes more of icing sugar than butter. Spread onto the "thicker" cake & remember to go all the way to the edge.

11. Add strawberry jam on top of the butter icing.

12. Carefully place the thinner cake on top to create a "sandwich" effect.

13. Sprinkle with icing sugar and ENJOY!



If you have any other cake ideas then let me know .. I'm always looking for cake-spirtation! And if you try out this recipe, then leave a comment!

I M O G E N G R A C E x

More Pictures from Stockholm!

I thought I would continue from the last post, as I realised just how many lovely photographs I had, which really show just how gorgeous Stockholm is. If you ever come to Scandinavia, don't just go to Oslo or Copenhagen but go to Sweden's capital! There is so much history, and even though it is a large city, it seems so quiet and ... dare I say, safe?!

On my last post, me and Oscar were at "Hallwylska Museet" in case you were wondering the proper name.

In the pictures below, we were to see the amazing "Vasa" ship. A ship that sank was under the water for 330 years until somebody discovered it.  And it is still in (almost) perfect condition. The ship was so huge, I couldn't get a full picture of the whole thing so the photos really don't do it justice.
I had taken soo many pictures, so I only chose a few.. didn't want it to get boring!

I'm wearing

Pink, floral kimono - Swedish shop, Kappahl
A strappy black top, ASOS

High waisted blue shorts, H&M
Converse

Handbag, H&M

The next day, we visited the Royal Palace, the history museum and the Alfred Nobel museum. The Royal Palace was beautiful, and we payed for the tour, so we got to see the Royal jewellery. 

An amazing iron throne at the Royal Palace gift shop.. 

Anyone else a huge Game of Thrones fan?!

There were so many beautiful carages at the Palace. This one made me think of Cinderella, I just completely fell in love with it! 

Chapel at the Royal Palace

                                                            Me being very mature!

The history museum had loads of wax figures doing "roles" to show differences in the periods of time.  It was so realistic and there was so much to see. It showed evolution and the development with transport, clothes, weapons, etc. 

I hope I have inspired you to go to Stockholm! I have over 1000 pictures on my camera from this trip alone, so I didn't want to upload too many onto the blog.. Go and see the beauty yourself!

I'm wearing
Yellow crop top
& Floral shorts - H&M
Sandals - QUIZ

I M O G E N G R A C E x