Author Archive | Rasa Pelham

Wedding preparations

By Rasa Pelham on July 30, 2014 in Let's Celebrate!, Updates

While preparing for our wedding I have been often told (well… ok, just couple of times) that there are so many things that can go wrong on the actual wedding day. They were concerned that I did not look stressed enough! In the matter of fact, I have been a little stressed, but not about things going wrong on the day, but more about the the logistics as it all seemed like a huge puzzle to me. This was my first ever wedding that I organised (with the help of friends and family of course)! Anyway, our day turned out just fine! Despite few teeny-weeny errors that worked out for the best, everything went swimmingly. One of the things I especially enjoyed is getting ready on the day with the bunch of girls including my mum. Here is how it went (as much as I remember)…

At about 6am we woke up (that is unlike me btw). By we, I mean me and my bestie Vicki. We slept in our wedding suite to be in the Mandolay hotel. It was very sunny and while in bed I screamed “I am getting married today!” multiple times. You see, I could not quite believe that, so I had to say that out load.
At 6:18am my photographer texted that he is going to be in the hotel at 8:30am. What? The wedding is only at 1pm, I guess he wanted to take the pics of all the preparations. At that point I have started working out the coffee machine so I could make well needed coffee for both me and Vicki (the first cup of coffee turned out to be water scented with coffee)
At 6:44am I have received a text from my Matron of Honour, Suzanne! It was a sticker saying “Keep Calm It’s Your Wedding Day!”, I got even more excited! I tried on lacy dressing gown and I have been ordered to pose for Vicki for some photos (she sneakily send some to Joni). Even more texts and Facebook messages received indicating today is THE DAY by this time!
At about 7:30am we went for breakfast, this is when our photographer joined us (a bit earlier than anticipated, but I don’t mind extra photos!). Here is one of our first pics. Very arty farty view of our hands! On previous day we had a manicure and painted our nails in Marigold colours, Vicki decided to match Nicolas (my new sister’s) nails that were orange.

At about 8:30am we headed down to Liz Earle store to get my make up done. While walking down the road me, Vicki and Ovo (our photographer) have been chatting and joking (one of the pros having friend photographer is that it does not make the taking pictures process too awkward).
At 9am Nicola (make up artist) has started her intricate work. She managed to make my eyes look a little bit like Hepburn Audrey’s just with the black pencil!

Meanwhile while Ovo was taking photos of the place (still chatting and joking), Vickie has been taking her own pics and texting them and corresponding with Joni and Nicola (The sister… I know I know this is confusing having two Nicola’s in the story). Joni texted that the chandeliers in the venue are already decorated with ivy (ahh, such a relief!) and Nicola is waiting in the hotel outside our room (felt a little bit sorry for her).

At around 10am make up is done! super pleased! Now back to the hotel as I have been notified that the whole crowd is waiting at the hotel!
As soon as we got back to the hotel we have been welcomed by huge girly crowd including Suzanne, Nicola, Anna (my dear friend who used to live next door to me), Nicola, Suzanne’s new born baby and her mum and most importantly my mum. I had to call the hairdresser as she was waiting in the car park. At first it has been overwhelming as everyone had their own idea where to start with preparation, however I asked to wait for my hair to be done first. Nicola have handed me a written letter from Joni (that helped to regain my focus). He wanted to write a last letter to me with my maiden name on it! It was a lovely poem that I have read out loud.

At around 10:30am everyone cooled down and started enjoying themselves (it must have been a bottle of fizz).

It has been really lovely to hear laughter and chats while Anna have been preparing for her violin and vocal performances for the ceremony. It was quite magical! Me, Ovo and Enza (hairdresser) have been joking how none of us have been involved in the wedding for a while… well, I found that quite funny :)

At 11:30am is dress fitting time! The dress that I have got from charity shop has always been slightly too small and the diet did not really help me to slim down around the bust area. I will talk about my dress some other time but for now I can only say that it took all the bridesmaids to pull it on, including Anna who was really worried that the dress might tear.

Few more fixes such as blowdrying and spraying my polka-dot tights with hairspray to stop static on a dress causing it to cling to my legs (something I have learned from working at the fashion shows in my fashion design past).

At around 12pm I was quite relieved to have my dress on so I pulled some silly faces! (I don’t think I took Ovo’s orders to pose for pics seriously)

At around 12:30am time to go! I was trying to pin a boutonniere on my dad’s suit lapel. Oh, dear! I was so clueless! Thankfully Suzanne was there to help.

While in the car with my dad I remember being out of air. A combination of nervousness and a very tight dress caused me slight distress, but I managed with deep slow breaths. I think the scariest thing was too see all the crowd waiting for my entrance, it was hard to hold my tears!

Rasa xoxo

Super easy fresh strawberry ice-cream

By Rasa Pelham on July 28, 2014 in Summery, Sweet Treats

While in Italy I fall in love with strawberry ice-cream, otherwise called gelato alla fragola. You might think this is very basic, but actually it taste really refreshing as it taste of real strawberry! Sadly, I often find the shop bought strawberry ice-cream taste like candy powder. This strawberry ice-cream might not be traditional Italian, but it is really easy to make as it requires little effort. Unlike other ice-cream I made it doesn’t contain any egg and there is no need to keep mixing it while freezing!

FRESH STRAWBERRY ICE-CREAM

500ml whipping cream
1 can condensed milk (397g)
400g-700g fresh strawberries

1. Whip the cream and carefully combine it with condensed milk and pureed strawberries (can also be finely shopped).2. Once the ice-cream mixture is combined pour it into plastic container and freeze it for at least 4 hours. 3. Serve ice-cream in your favourite cups or glass jars ;-).

I have recently discovered that aged balsamic vinegar goes really well with ice-cream. I dare you to try it!

Enjoy!

Rasa xoxo

Our honeymoon in Tuscany

By Rasa Pelham on July 25, 2014 in Summery, Travel, Updates

It has been almost a week since we are back, but it feels like we are still on the honeymoon (this is probably to do with the hot weather here in Bedford). We have really enjoyed our time in Tuscany while eating (lots of delicious food including gelato everyday!!!), wine tasting, swimming in the hot springs (more about this later), sightseeing, participating in cooking classes and playing cards (Joni got me addicted to that) and many more. This is just a preview of our special time in Italy.

I think the only think I could not quite capture with the camera is the fireflies at night. We saw them one night and it was quite magical! It was our first time seeing flying little lights so hoping to see them again in the future :-).

Wishing you a warm weekend ;-)

Rasa xoxo

P.S really big thanks for my new sister, Nicola, for lending us a DSLR camera (so much better than my iPhone!!!)

Our Big day!

By Rasa Pelham on July 24, 2014 in Let's Celebrate!, Summery, Updates

I am back and I cannot wait until I share everything with you!!! So much to tell, but I will have to post one thing at the time. I will start with our wedding day if you don’t mind (there will be more details to follow).

So if you have not guessed it already, our wedding was marigold themed (plus other random but well matched colours). I am not too sure how this came round and at what stage I started loving marigolds, but it worked out so well. In fact Joni’s dad have thought that I am having marigold fever at some point :-D.

Oh, and I did not mentioned that Joni has an identical twin Tim!

So this is my current family line up (manly side): my husband Joni and my brothers Rimas, Raimondas, Vilius and Kristupas.

Our wedding have been hosted at Gate Street Barn, such a pretty rural location! The caterers have been really amazing! Kalm kitchen managed to make our day really stress free :-).

Another of Kalm Kitchen cool ideas! They have made us pick 8 guests to be the carvers at our tables.

Joni have been so excited about the idea that he wrote a poem for our carvers. This one is for Joni’s Dad…

Huge thanks to my new mum and our friend Kathryn for making such an amazing cake! Kathryn admitted that this was her first ‘naked’ cake ever.

Thanks for everyone involved, this turned out an amazing day for us!! Pictures here are taken by Ovo Gharoro.

See ya!

Rasa xoxo

The time out

By Rasa Pelham on July 5, 2014 in Updates

As you got to know from previous posts, me and Joni are getting MARRIED in two days! Super excited!

I will take this opportunity to say a short goodbye for now, but not for too long! I will be coming back in few weeks after a honeymoon with more project ideas and delish recipes ;-).

Bye for now!

Rasa xoxo

Invites to our wedding

By Rasa Pelham on July 3, 2014 in Updates

I finally have been able to share with you the design for out wedding invites. Aren’t they amazing? My dear friend Vicki have painted them, really pleased with the overall look.

Speak to you soon!

Rasa :-)

Things I look forward to in July

By Rasa Pelham on June 30, 2014 in Updates

I can’t believe the wedding month is round the corner! Only one week left until the big day! Here is what I am looking forward to in July :-D.

1. OUR WEDDING of course! There are still a lot of things left to do for the day, but hoping my to-do list will soon be ticked off just on time ;-). Here is how my house looks like right now with all the wedding prep stuff.2.HONEYMOON, as we are going to Tuscany! I have visited Italy before with my friends and loved it, so really excited to revisit here with Joni :-). 3. MOVING OUT. As mentioned previously we are moving to Bedford which I really looking forward to. My house in London is being rented out to a lovely lady ;-). Here is how my house has been marketed on Winkworth. Feeling so envious of that wide lens camera :-(. 4. NEW CAMERA. Yep, have decided that this is the end of the era for iPhone pics. I have learned a lot on photography just by taking phone pics for the blog. However I am really ready for DSLR I think, don’t you?

Have a lovely week!

Rasa xoxo

Make your own wrap dress

By Rasa Pelham on June 27, 2014 in Projects, Sewing, Summery

Do you remember the days when wrap dresses were so in? Well, I used to love them so much as they are so comfortable! I am sure society would not mind their come back. Click here for full DIY instructions.

Have a fun weekend!

Rasa xoxo

Sunny Bedford, here we come!

By Rasa Pelham on June 25, 2014 in Travel

For those who don’t know, we will be moving to Bedford very soon. After spending sunny weekend here, I am getting really excited about this! Here it is the preview of the area we are moving to ;-).

Happy Thursday ;-)

Rasa xoxo

Joni’s birthday cupcakes

By Rasa Pelham on June 23, 2014 in Sweet Treats

Last friday Joni turned 30 and we have been celebrating this the whole weekend! I made cupcakes… and not just any cupcakes, I tried to make it reeeeeaaaly MANLY ones ;-). First of all I have used beer, in fact I got many type of beers, but Joni is still very loyal to his favourite London Pride beer. However I have used Guinness for its chocolaty notes.CHOCOLATE BEER CUPCAKES WITH VANILLA BEAN CREAM TOPPING

60g butter, softened
250g soft brown sugar
1 egg
240ml Stout (such as Guinness)
60g cocoa powder
125g flour
1 tsp baking powder

(for the topping)

360ml whipping cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
1-2 vanilla pods scrapped off
bunch of blackberries (optional)

1. Make the cake mixture by creaming butter with sugar and combining with the rest of the ingredients.

2.Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin pan and bake in preheated 180C oven for 15-20min

3. Meanwhile make the cream topping. Whisk whipping cream together with vanilla seeds and icing sugar until it becomes stiff. 4. Pipe the cream topping onto baked cupcakes. Optionally top with blackberries as well.

I really love these starred black candles, they go perfectly with the theme :-).

Have a lovely week :)

Rasa xoxo

Tips on buying a sewing machine on a budget

By Rasa Pelham on June 20, 2014 in Budget £, Sewing

I went through quite many sewing machines in my lifetime so far and I think I have learned few tricks when buying new one. I got my first one when I was only 9 years old and it still works! So I decided to share few tips that I have learned along the way…

TIP No. 1: Buy old fashioned sewing machine. Why? Because they last much much longer (unless you drop it on the floor like me yesterday). In fact they can last for eternity! The thing is that they are so basic that is so easy to fix. And the parts are also very basic, so you can easily replace that broken needle or that lost foot. I bought my VICEROY for £35, then I fixed it for £15. £45 isn’t bad, is it? And I completely in love with the look! The only issue is that it only sew straight line, but it does it very well. Oh…and also, don’t buy too old fashioned machine that has no motor, unless you have lots of hand (or foot) power! Or you are like my friend Ali, who is completely purists when it comes to this matter. Really loved her letter to her electric sewing machine she once wrote:

“Dearest electric sewing machine.

I am leaving you. Our relationship has been strained now for many months now and there is simply no joy left in our relationship.
I shall confess to you now, as I believe in honesty and do not wish for you to hear this through a third party, such as those sneaky dress pins.
It is for the old hand crank that I am deserting you.
I know he is old, but he is full of charm and does things for me that you either can’t or wont ever do.
Where you tend to run away with my stitches at the least provocation, he stays on the straight and narrow, going at my pace, we work our way through the fabrics of this world together.
Where you are loud and driven, to the point of forging ahead, unconcerned for the subtle curves of our carefully pinned out coarse, his gentle progress is marked by a comforting clickedy clack of days gone by. He sways through the bends and beats, with me. We do not fight but have learned each others timing.
His reliability is worth so much more than you multiply stitch settings and I have never wanted to drop him out a fifty story window as I have often contemplated send you.

So this is goodbye and farewell. Good bloody riddance!
Your runaway bride,
Cloud”

TIP No. 2: Choose reliable brands. In my opinion BERNINA’s are the besties (sadly most expensive). But I have owned BROTHER previously and they were quite affordable and reliable. The only issue with them that they are quite laud! So sewing at night would be out of question ;-).

TIP No. 3: Go for second hand sewing machine. I bought my VICEROY from eBay. I so often see people ditching sewing after buying wonderful sewing machines and then selling it off. Its definitely worth to have a look ;-).

Hopefully that helps to start your journey in sewing!

Rasa xoxo

Quick and easy way to make Lithuanian pasta (skryliai)

By Rasa Pelham on June 18, 2014 in Lithuanian, Lunch or Dinner

If you like fresh pasta, then this is for you! Its so easy to make, can be cooked on the spot (only flour and egg needed) and it’s so delicious! Traditionally skryliai are served with sour cream sauce together with fried lardons, however it works well with any other pasta sauces or toppings.

SKRYLIAI

250g plain flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
water as needed

1. Mix flour with salt and egg. Gradually add water while kneading until it forms a solid dough. For best results leave the dough to rest for 15 min or so before rolling it out. 2. Roll the dough out. 3. Cross cut the dough to little diamond shapes ;-).

4. Cook pasta in boiling, slightly salted water for 5min.

5. Drain the pasta and serve it with your favourite sauce and topping. Here I have topped it with stir fried vegetables and some parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!!

Rasa xoxo

Going to the highest place

By Rasa Pelham on June 16, 2014 in Love London, Travel

Last weekend we had an opportunity to visit one of the highest hills in London (well, almost!). That is Pole Hill on the border of Greater London and Essex. My old friend Alex thought that it would be great to do a little cycle trip while I am spending my last weeks in London before moving to Bedford with Joni. I must admit I was feeling lazy at first, but I am happy we did it. The view of London City (from so far away) is unimaginably pretty!

Have a lovely week!

Rasa xoxo

Pickled radish spread

By Rasa Pelham on June 13, 2014 in Preserves, Savoury Delights

It is not exactly pickling or preserving season, but I totally had to do that with my homegrown radishes. This spread is perfect for a quick toast, a cracker or cheddar cheese. I even tried it as a salad dressing, that was really yum!PICKLED RADISH SPREAD

2 handfuls of radish
1 cucumber
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
chives (or other of your favourite herbs)

1. Grate the radishes, cucumber and garlic. 2. In separate bowl or glass mix sugar with vinegar and oil. Pour it over the radishes.

3. Add salt to taste and sprinkle some chives on top (I added chive flowers to complete the prettiness!). 4. Jar it or eat it straight out, decision is yours ;-)

Rasa xoxo

How to extend the dress length

By Rasa Pelham on June 11, 2014 in Seamstress alterations, Sewing

Sometimes some dresses comes just too short! My friend’s Anna’s dress is really lovely, but it hardly covered her “butt” :-D. It’s not easy to extend the dress length and often requires some creativity. Here is my solution for Anna’s dress.

1. I bought a similar fabric to the dress fabric (slightly heaver, but I think that worked out really well). I placed the dress on pattern cutting paper and roughly traced the the angle of expansion in the dress. 2. I drew the top line from traced angle equaling the dress lining width and repeated the same angle on other side. I drew 1 cm allowance around. 3. I then cut the pattern piece and pinned it onto the folded fabric (to get two pieces for front and back). 4. The cut out fabric then have been pinned together (front and back) ready to be stitched. 5. Once the pieces are stitched together on both sides (I used french seam) then top and bottom edges can be hemmed. 6. Attach the extension onto the dress lining and stitch it down (I found using hand-stitch is best at this stage).

Never get rid of pretty dress again ;-)

Rasa xoxo

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Author Archive | Rasa Pelham

Wedding preparations

Super easy fresh strawberry ice-cream

Our honeymoon in Tuscany

Our Big day!

The time out

Invites to our wedding

Things I look forward to in July

Make your own wrap dress

Sunny Bedford, here we come!

Joni’s birthday cupcakes

Tips on buying a sewing machine on a budget

Quick and easy way to make Lithuanian pasta (skryliai)

Going to the highest place

Pickled radish spread

How to extend the dress length