disco me to OBLIVION, baby!

Working hard

2012-02-04T20:57:00.001+01:00

Well hello, please, step into my office! I figured I'd show you guys what I'm working on, I'd say because I've been so absent from the blog, but in fact I haven't! I've posted at least once every two weeks for a while now, and in my book that's a pretty good job haha.

As I've said before, I'm working on a small webshop for my handmade jewelry! First pic is where I work, second is what I've worked on today (it's a really pretty white/gold bracelet with amazonite stones, so luscious!) and third, what finished products I currently have in stock. Consider this a little sneak peek, as I've delayed the opening for a few weeks. Why, you ask?

Well, I found a job! Wait, frankly, the job found me, haha. A few weeks ago one of my former bosses at the eye clinic I used to work at contacted me asking if I was interested in coming back! I was hesitant at first, because of my application for my dream job, but alas I haven't heard anything back so I took my chances and ran with it! So, I'm back at that familiar old desk, I've already seen a familiar face or two amongst the patients and I'm loving it! It feels like I never left at all!

So that's one new year's resolution to tick off! And to top this off, I passed the theoretical driver's test so I now have a learner's permit. Back in December I told myself I wanted to pass the exam by the end of January and since I would start working Feb. 1, I figured I had to stay true to my vow so my mom drove me to the exam center Jan. 31 and I passed with a whopping 47/50. It was dead easy!

Currently I'm looking for a second hand car to cruise around in, and I'm occasionally checking websites for apartments for rent, too. I'm totally excited for the future and I haven't felt like this in such a long time. Things are finally coming together for me and it feels guud. Now I just need a prince-like character on a white horse (or preferably, carrying a white cat because I LOVE CATS GUYS) to swoop me off my feet and life would be one million percent awesome.

Lastly, I want to thank you guys, my lovely readers! Without you guys, blogging would hardly be any fun at all! Kate Louise sent out this Versatile Blogger Award to a bunch of bloggers, including me! Woo!

Now I'm supposed to give 7 facts about myself (and share the award to 15 other bloggers but I have a lot of playing with glue waiting for me so I'm going to skip that, sorry for doing a half-ass job on this!)

One of my biggest childhood traumas is most definitely P.E. class. I specifically hated things that involve hanging/standing upside down and I think all in all I handed in about a 30 sick notes. The rest of the classes I just stood around doing nothing.
The only exam I ever failed was year 9 Chemistry, at 34%. Mainly because the computer I ordered arrived the day before the exam haha. I do suck at chemistry though.
I have really small toes.
As a kid I would sometimes sell drawings of Pikachu and Snorlax that I'd make, for about €0,50. Maybe I was destined to become an entrepreneur.
Some of my annoying habits include biting my lip, scratching the skin next to my nails and checking up on my nose piercing (it's nasty because it looks like I'm picking my nose haha).
I am deeply afraid of spiders, confined spaces and death (thank you Six Feet Under).
My favourite game on the Wii is Mario Kart because it's the same concept as Crash Team Racer but with better graphics. I also really like the tennis game.

So there you go! Thanks again Kate Louise, and to all my precious readers, see you next post!

Seven years.

2012-01-24T18:10:00.000+01:00

Top from Pull & Bear, Flares from Forever 21, Boots from AllSaints

Hey guys! I figured I'd so something different for a change and since people keep asking me to do a room tour, here's a new corner, haha.

Also, I combed out my curls! Weird right... It's been years since I've had relatively straight hair, so it's totally awkward for me to go out without my signature blonde mini 'fro, so I added some volume to the back of my head haha. My mom loves it and thinks I look older, I just feel it matches this 70s outfit better.

On another note, I had an interview for a desk clerk job last week, and I thought I was doing well, when one of the two women asked me if I'd see myself talking to, say, a lawyer or a judge. So I'm like "Yeah sure why not" super casually... And then she goes on about certain "dress codes" and "etiquette" and I'm all *IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING*?

Then she proceeded to ask if I could take out my nose piercing if I got the job. I politely refused.

I realize this is nowhere near being discriminated because of race, religious beliefs, age, sex or disability, because I had a needle jammed through my nostril by choice, and I could take my ring out if I wanted to. But when I walked out of the building, I felt seriously insulted and realized this is only a fraction of what victims of discrimination must feel like. For a 21-year old, I have quite a nice resume, I'm a smooth talker and I smile a lot. But all I was judged on is a little piece of metal through my nostril.

When I left and said something along the lines of "oh that darn nose of mine haha" they told me they hadn't decided if I would get the job or not. On my way home I had actually made up my mind. I don't want to work for a company where people see me as a second class citizen.

I was, and still am in awe. I mean, this is 2012, right?

Right now I have two open applications, one at my former job as a secretary at an eye clinic, which will probably be just for a short time, and one for my dream job. I applied for the latter over a week ago but the job opening is still online, so I really don't know what to expect of it. But I'll just keep hoping for it like the desperate sucker I am, haha.

And some follow up on the process that is my future webshop: I'm being delayed by some stuff that is stuck in customs and I hate it! I wish I could make millions of pretty little bracelets because I have some seriously pretty beads that are not being used and that just makes me sad haha. I've amazed myself at how good everything has turned out, I just have to figure out the best way to package things so they arrive safely yet aesthetically pleasing, haha. I'm so excited about this you guys, you can't even imagine!

Sorry for my pissed off rant, and see you next post!

Gently

2012-01-15T22:09:00.000+01:00

1) Nina Ricci's Nina L'Elixir Giftset, €54 on sale - Ici Paris XL

2) Burgundy lace high waisted shorts, €12 - Urban Outfitters

3) Suede loafers, €12 - New Look

4) Purple sheer top, €10,99 - Forever 21

5) Dark wash flares, buy one get one free - Forever 21

Hey guys! Figured it was time to show my purchases from Monday haha.

1) I love how after Christmas, in the sales, you can find gift sets for prices lower than the bottle alone haha.

2) First time I saw these shorts I was with my best friend and he remarked that they looked like giant underpants. I was eyeing them in white or black, so well, point taken haha. Second time around, I decided to try them on because they haunted my mind. Surprisingly, they fit beautifully! (High waisted styles usually don't work on my short torso.) I took the black pair to the cash desk but alas, only the white ones were on sale. And seeing I'm the whitest girl alive all through Summer, I didn't care much for the white ones.

Third time's a charm, when also the burgundy ones were on sale. I searched the entire store to find them for €24 and then the sales associate told me they were €12. You wouldn't believe how happy I was, haha.

3) As you may or may not know, my feet are orthopedic train wrecks and after getting free quality footwear from my job I swore never to wear PU shoes again (ok never say never, but you catch my drift). These little suede loafers (for extra wide feet - is that an insult?) fit me like a charm! I was so happy to find a pair of open flats that don't slip off my heels!

4) and 5) I initially thought Forever 21's sale would be nothing but a pile of junk thrown together but it was actually quite alright! When I saw that they were doing the buy one, get one free thing, I had a major kid-in-a-candy-store, *OMG WHERE DO I BEGIN* moment, but decided this was all I needed... For now. Might go back for some more flared denims. Haha.

In other news, I applied for my dream job the other day. Let's all cross our fingers in hopes that they will invite me for an interview and hire me! Because looord knows I need this!

Last but not least, I've been slaving my ass off on a pretty little webshop! I will be selling the stone necklaces and the beaded bracelets there, and I'm hoping to open by the end of the month. Yay! I'm really excited about this and I wish I could share some images but alas I don't have any stock at the moment (I sold a few necklaces and I'm waiting for new supplies)!

That's about all I have to talk about today, so I'll be off again to continue working on the webshop! Until next post!

48 Roses

2012-01-11T17:00:00.000+01:00

Hey guys! Can you guess what I've been doing with these beautiful semi-precious stones? Let me show you:

That's right! Making plain old necklaces! (If you were expecting some kind of bejeweled flying space pig, I'm sorry) I'm still perfecting my ways but I'm so excited about it that I just couldn't wait to show you.

Pretty, right? I know for a fact that if I saw this in store, I would snap it up right away! That's actually the reason why I made it, because I can't find anything similar in the shops (either really big rocks, too much glitter in the rocks, plastic rocks etc).

Now I'd like to ask the same question I asked you guys about the bracelet I made a few weeks ago: Would you buy this if these were offered online for about €6? (Shipping not included, but that wouldn't be too much I suppose, as I can ship these in padded envelopes.)

By the way, I've tested the bracelet I made by keeping it on my wrists from New Year's Eve to the 3rd of January, including one hell of a partaaay and 4 long showers, and it has held up really well!

If you'll excuse me now, I'm off to play with glue!
Until next post!

Old blood.

2012-01-09T17:12:00.003+01:00

Hey everyone, what's up? Keeping up with your newyear's resolutions? I know I am (most of 'em haha). I've been very focused on moving out and everything that surrounds it, I've applied for a new temp job (desk clerkin' is what I do best) and I've been cramming for my driver's license test! Theoretical that is, I should start looking for a car soon so I can start cruising around parking lots (read: anxiously screaming *OMG WHAT DO I DO NOW???* at every turn) with my dad.

I love how things are slowly coming together now, as you may or may not know I've gone through a bit of a rough patch the past half year. 2012 seemed to have brought a new beginning thus far! (Yeah that's me being ~~careful~~ cynical and pessimistic haha.)

Anyway, on to my shopped goods! These are actually from the day before New Years Eve, I went all the way to the city to pick up a bag that I had accidentally left at a coffee shop the day before when I was hanging out with my mate so I figured I'd do a quick shopping spree! I swung by H&M and snagged the suede bag for €20 (marked down from €50) and the velvet-y kimono for €15 (marked down from €40)! Total steal, if you ask me!

The kimono was actually lined with a stiff polyester fabric, which really took out the flowiness of it, so I figured I would just cut out the lining. And voila!

Also, notice my awesome cherryblossom tree light in the first pic! Isn't it awesome you guys? My mom got it for me as a Christmas present, I love it loads!

More buys are on the way, as I went sort of loco again today, haha. I bought the cutest pair of loafers, which I'm super excited about because usually open shoes just slide right off of my ankles, but not this pair! Woo!

Until next post!

The best of 2011

2012-01-02T02:10:00.003+01:00

bouncing up and down from caffeine overdoses and cute moments at the cash desk, dancing on the shop floor, gay bars, giggles and gossip during lunch breaks, betting for hamburgers, mcdonalds dates and testing the 3 martini hypothesis, awkward conversations on long walks to the bus stop, late night texting, a trip to London and the difficulty of following a straight road, skirts that are too short for sitting in the grass, running into Keith Buckley at Groezrock and seeing Circa Survive and Every Time I Die back to back, more late night texting, fishing popcorn out of my dress, being the whitest girl alive all through summer, hugging Henry my cat (rip buddy), Dance Gavin Dance in Brussels, post-work ice cream with old friends, getting wasted at a Cancer Bats concert and stealing a drum stick, numerous trips to Ikea, welcoming Fonzie to the family, the epileptic hamster dance, birthday dinners, quitting the job I stopped loving, counting down the last minutes at said job, getting ready for new beginnings and trying to turn life around.

I wish you all the bestest, most awesomest 2012. May you live as if December 21 is the last day of the universe!

I'm in bed nursing a slight hangover from last night's party - I had quite an awesome time, kicking off with Mario Kart (I totally lost my touch and kept losing over and over again) and sangria, going to my very first sip of whiskey before Chinese dinner, and ending with a beer that probably upset my stomach the most of all haha, in a bar. Also went to some random hipster party (they drew you an Illuminati eye on your hand for €15 as an entry stamp), don't remember much of that just that at one point they played Destiny's Child's Soldier, which was kinda funny.
We brought along a disposable camera so if the pictures turn out to be any good at all, I'll make sure to post'em here.

Anyway, I compiled my favourite outfits of the year!

My obvious aversion to knitwear, haha.

Florals! The dress on the left was one of my uniform picks from when I worked at AllSaints. I don't know if I'm going to be wearing it much anymore, as I always feel sort of frumpy in it.

My Cancer Bats sunglasses! I could easily count their concert on July 3 as one of my hightlights of the year, it was so awesome. Also, my denim jacket just keeps popping up, haha. I still love it to bits and I hope I'll never have to part with it.

Definitely started wearing skirts and dresses more often this past year, and the stack of bracelets just kept growing!

My pretty in-between-seasons coat, these shiny and incredibly uncomfortable skinnies and more jewelry! Also, MORE FLORALS!

Overall I wouldn't say my style has changed drastically over the past year. Maybe not at all, even. It's just a weird random mix of things I like, still! I'm definitely leaning more towards a boho-ish vibe now, I just wish I could wear flouncy maxi dresses and breezy kimonos all year long!

Also, my hair and make-up always looks the same, haha, my legs however, don't. I went on a massive binging spree over the Summer (if any of you remember, I had a really shitty time) and I'm still trying to get back to my old weight (because on my frame and posture, a little bit of extra weight means fat pads on my arms and knees - I gain weight in the wackiest places!).

Which brings me to my 2012 resolutions! I've never ever made resolutions before, but I'm trying my hand on a load of self-improvement and I feel like I should confront myself with these as much as I possibly can:

Get a new, better job
Get a driver's license
Pick up kickboxing
Improve my drawing skills so I can start thinking about becoming a freelance illustrator
Move out and get my own place
Eat better
Feel happier

I hope you all had a terrific night, and see you soon guys!

DIY post - Two weeks in Hawaii

2011-12-27T17:56:00.001+01:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone's had a good Christmas with lots of food and presents and funnnn! My Christmas was okay, I'm not really big on the holiday because we're just not really that close as a family so being together somehow always feels a little make believe to me.
Especially because there are a few loud eaters in the bunch. Like you wouldn't believe.

Anyway. A while back I felt like keeping busy making jewelry so I ordered some supplies on ebay and today the last bit arrived so I got right to it (which is so unlike me because I mentally prepare for everything haha) and made a beaded bracelet! I mostly followed this tutorial, but did my own thing here and there (mainly because the hole in the beads wasn't big enough to have the thread pass through twice).

Supplies! I used 1 meter of metallic embroidery thread, 50 cm of 1mm brown waxed cotton cord and a bunch of 2mm howlite turquoise beads.

Halfway through the process. I taped the whole thing down to a world atlas, which just so happens to be my favourite work top but a regular table will do too haha. I just find it helpful to tape it down because the whole thing's really fiddly and the less shit I have to fiddle with, the better.

And voila! The seemingly invisible end (well almost) product hanging in my cherry blossom tree light which I got for Christmas!
It was already dark so I had to find a creative way to photograph this in artificial light so I figured I would just put it up there rather than wait until tomorrow because I got too excited haha.

The bracelet's still a bit messy and I don't know how I'm going to finish the end (probably a bead to fit through the loop hole) but I'm quite happy with it! I already ordered some more beads and I have plenty of thread (gold and silver) and cord (all colours of the frikkin rainbow) left so I'll definitely be doing more.

I''m sort of thinking about selling these but considering the price of the supplies (semi-precious beads) and the time and effort put into them (SHIT'S FIDDLY GUYS), I don't think I could go lower than €8 ($10,50 or £6,70), and I'm not sure if that's an ok price for a tiny little (but very pretty!) lightweight bracelet like this one. (Click here for size reference.)

For the time being this is just a little brain child of mine (brain child with a name, but I don't want to jinx it!!!), and I'm going to test this prototype bracelet to see how much wear it can take, but I would appreciate some feedback on the price!

Adios guys, and HAPPY FUCKIN' NEW YEAR if I don't get to post any sooner!

The world forgetting by the world forgot

2011-12-16T18:15:00.001+01:00

It's a shitty picture galore today! It's actually the second time that I try to photograph this outfit but the light in my room is incredibly uncooperative this time of year, so the luminosity, focus, colours and ISO are ALL OVER THE PLACE. And I know the first and third picture are almost identical, but I forgot to put on shoes in the first haha.

Kimono from Forever 21

Top from H&M

Coated skinnies and boots from AllSaints

Necklace from Free People

Earrings from Ebay

Lookbook here

Unfortunately I only found out about this *Fixed ISO mode* on my camera after taking these pictures but that also means the next batch of photos will be better! I hope.

A little note on the title, "The world forgetting by the world forgot" is a line in a poem by Alexander Pope and is quoted in one of my favourite movies of all time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you haven't seen it (which I believe is pretty much impossible), go. Now. Seriously.

Some more trivia: Circa Survive's debut album Juturna is basically entirely inspired by the film.

Lastly I would like to share this INCREDIBLY PRECIOUS video of a ginormous Pikachu:

So, I guess that's about it for today. Enjoy your weekend guys!

EDIT: OMFG GUYS IT'S SNOWING!!!!!1!1

Three Dead Sisters

2011-12-09T19:42:00.000+01:00

So I bought this floral kimono thing from Forever 21 about a week and a half ago! I'd been looking for one for a while (do want moaaarrr for Spring/Summer, preferably one with fringes) and this one really appealed to me! It's slightly granny-ish but hey it's not like I wear this with a turtle neck and a pearl necklace guys. More like extra deep cleavage red lipstick. That sounds really bad written down like that.

Also, Fonzie was napping on my bed and despite him being highly uncooperative, I just couldn't crop him out of the photo. He's completely taken over that blanket with his winter fur shedding all over the thing, but that's alright he can have it because I have my eye on the beige Ursula plaid from Ikea. But for some odd reason it's not for sale in my local Ikea, *pissed off*, so I'm just going to wait it out a bit. I'm kind of over the whole floral thing* to be honest, I'd like to incorporate some darker items in my room, like a black desk chair, some dark wood items, I don't know.
Perhaps I should lay off of spending money on decor items as I'm hoping to move out in 2012 (seeing the world is ending anyway you know!!!!) and I'll probably want a whole new clean slate to have my inner interior designer go wild. One thing I will need in my life is one of those massive wardrobes with like little drawers for accessories and shit. I was at Ikea today, drooling over these closets the way men would probably drool over cars.

Hey wow I'm ranting, sorry guys. Have a neato weekend my loves!

*I just realised this is a really stupid thing to say as I've just bought a floral kimono jacket thingy. OH WHATEVZ RIGHT.

Trailer Park Jesus

2011-12-05T15:08:00.001+01:00

Finally my precious leather jacket is here! It's been a long journey from placing the order 2 and a half weeks ago but it's been worth the wait!

'Charme Aviatress' Jacket from Muubaa

Lookbook

So I did these pictures two weeks ago after the package was delivered, I unpacked the jacket and in the course of the morning I found a few minor defects, however I was worried these defects would go from minor to holy fuck the sleeve just ripped off entirely! so I figured I would just e-mail customer service with my whining. Fortunately, they were super friendly and offered an exchange and a refund for the delivery back to them. Awesome!

A week later I found a 40% discount code. Boo! As I still did not have a jacket, I decided to try my luck and be one of those annoying customers that wants discount (having worked in retail, you grow a deep hate for these "the button fell off, gimme 10% off" sort of people) and much to my surprise this was no issue at all! Score! I felt like a total bitch for being so annoying haha but I guess this is just karma rewarding me for my patience with my former customers.

I actually intended on buying a second jacket too, but alas it was sold out in my size. And that would've been slightly decadent for someone with no job, haha.

Speaking of work, starting this week (*cough* tomorrow *cough*) vacay is over! I would love to start a new job in the new year so I have to make shit happen fast! I have muchos plans for 2012, I started journalling because failing my goals for the day is much harder in writing, and there is so much I have to get done! Not today though, I had the worst night (I was up till 4 and then had several really weird nightmares), had to get up at 8 to feed Fonzie, my cat, then at 10, the delivery man was here (I'm pretty sure he found my appearance, half asleep with undone exploded hair in an orange robe, pretty funny) with my jacket, and the alarm clock went off at 10:30. Oh hell no.

I slept till noon and felt like a total wreck, so I decided to drop applying for jobs for today as I was in no mood to go all "HIRE ME I'M AWESOME". No excuses for tomorrow though! So no late night Six Feet Under (I love the show even though on a less conscious level, all this confrontation with death is bringing me down man!) for me tonight, I'm going to bed early so tomorrow will be bright and yaaaay.

Wish me luck!

Bobby Elvis

2011-12-03T00:07:00.001+01:00

Since I'm feeling ever so uninspired due to chilly weather, I thought I'd switch it up a bit and show you what I'd rather be wearing:

If only it wasn't like, December, right? If the top half (oddly printed shirt with max cleavage + denim vest + loads of dangly necklaces) looks somewhat familiar to you and you happen to watch Sons of Anarchy, let me clarify:

Bobby Elvis (aka Robert Munson) in Sons of Anarchy (portrayed by Mark Boone Jr.)

Bat shit crazy style inspiration? Perhaps. Mega awesome outfit? Fuck yeah!

I was initially going to do a Polyvore collage but then I couldn't find the right shirt nor the right denim vest so I figured I would quickly draw the outfit.
All in all I think it took me about 7 hours. Haha. I must say, it's been a while since I've properly drawn (/painted/edited in Photoshop) something and I quite enjoyed it! The shoes were a total bitch though (so much detail in such little space!) but it totally came together, yay me!

Instantly added to my Spring/Summer wishlist: A denim vest and oddly printed silk/chiffon shirts, to wear with my coated cropped skinnies (which are extraordinarily uncomfortable, thank you AllSaints) and two toned brogues! I wish it was May already, for the Spring time, and so I could skip this awkward "I need a job BUT WHAT SHALL I DO?" phase I'm in right now. I have two more days of chillin' and then I have to get off that lazy ass of mine and do some job hunting. For reals.

Have a nice weekend guys!

Invigorate + GPOYC

2011-11-29T13:47:00.001+01:00

Figured it was time for a little update! I'd post the entire outfit shots with this new jacket, but alas I had to exchange it so I don't currently have it, which makes it sort of silly to post an outfit with it, you know?

So Saturday was my last day of being a Sales Advisor at AllSaints. We tried to do a countdown to the end of my shift as if it was New Years (I should have gotten fireworks for my 13 months of excellent -coughhhh- service dammit) but that proved a little difficult as none of our clocks synced up with the till clock haha.

Even though I've enjoyed my time there, met some awesome friends, learned a lot about myself etc etc, I'm relieved it's all over. The past few months have been so infused with drama and gossip and stress-induced tummy aches, it wasn't even worth the uniform/discount privileges anymore haha.

Right now I'm taking a week off EVERYTHING to just chill the fuck out from everything that has happened, and clear my head for a fresh start. I don't know where I'm going to end up (just not in retail plz!!!) but all I really want is to work in a creatively stimulating environment.

As some of you probably know, I once studied Graphic Design for 6 months. I'm now figuring out that my heart lies in Illustrative design although I don't draw as well as I should, and my negative fear of failure (read: I don't start projects because I feel they will fail anyway) is not just a bump in the road, it's a 50 meter gap in the road.

I guess no one really knows what the future holds for them. I'd like things to be at least a little more clear but alas. We'll see what next week will bring. For now, I'm just going to catch up on some more Project Runway season 9. Yay!

Before I go, however, have a picture of my cat, Fonzie!

Don't you just want to snuggle him FOR EVER?

Thick blood and cynical skin

2011-11-13T18:30:00.001+01:00

So in last post I told you about these aubergine purple 70s flares that I got instead of anything useful for Winter. Well, here they are!

Zara plaid shirt (about 3 years old though) // Every Time I Die shirt // River Island flares //AllSaints 'Maera' boots

I was hoping the text in the lookbook link would be customizable, in which case I would have made something witty of it but it isn't so you'll just have to do with the attention whoring, sorry about that. Anyway, I'm still trying to figure out how these purple flares would look best, as it's been since secondary school that I've worn anything other than skinny jeans. And I mean, they're purple. This did look better with my leather jacket and scarf but it seems kind of silly to wear those inside my bedroom, and going out in the back yard would possibly mean being attacked by several of our neighbours' cats.

Woe is me.

If anyone has any clues on what would look good with these pants, feel free to share! I haven't gotten past forest green and wine red. (Just please don't say white, grey or black cause honestly I have come up with those things myself haha.)

I'm watching Inland Empire as we speak, took a little break because even though I love David Lynch, 3 hours of "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS???" can be a bit much on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I hate that it's getting dark so early, it makes me even more lethargic than I already am. I suffer from this paradoxical inconvenience that, intellectually, I'm the most active around midnight, yet physically, my best hour is around 2 or 3 PM. Bummer right?

I never get things done and my to do list just keeps on growing. And don't even get me started on how hard it is to get all the ingredients for cookie baking past midnight!

Also, big thanks to Kate Louise for saying some really nice things about my style! What she mentioned is basically the kind of stuff I often worry about. (Read: "Do I try too hard? Do I look like a scene kid? Do I look like a male scene kid??")

Okay, break over, time for some more Inland Empire craziness. Enjoy your Sunday evening guys!

Daytona White

2011-11-09T18:03:00.002+01:00

Guys! What up? (You'd be annoyed by how many times a day I actually go WHAT UUUUP at everyone in real life, haha.)

I have some outfit pictures to share, yaaaay right!

AllSaints Theron Top, Petrel Brodie coated skinnies and Ismaris Boots

Vintage bag

H&M, Six, Asos and DIY jewelry.

So I have 3 more weeks to go on my job, which is quite exciting and also terrifying because I haven't even properly started looking for something new, uh-oh! What I've been doing except for job hunting? Watching Dexter and Sons of Anarchy (holy shit last night's SoA was awesome!!!!1!1), window shopping (and not buying a single thing except for these aubergine purple 70s flares, which you will see popping up on this blog soon!), long bus chats, playing with my cat Alfonso (Fonzy),...

Shitty picture (he kept hopping around like crazy) from when he was just a baby, he's about 6 months old now.

...And most of all, not blogging. It's kind of ironic how this seems to be my favourite subject to blog about, finding new excuses for my never ending writer's block. Maybe this just isn't for me, maybe I should take my pictures and rot off to flickr or something, haha. I don't know, every once in a while I do actually feel like typing shiz about things other than not blogging. Or maybe this is what this blog is supposed to be about, like an anti-blog, summing up reasons why it is silly to post your every thought online.

Catch my drift? Haha.

While we're on the topic of cats (GUYS I LOVE CATS I CAN'T HELP IT), our sweet old Henry hasn't returned yet and quite frankly I've given up hope of seeing him again. I miss him loads, and I can only wish he's in a happy place (and not kitty heaven).

In other news, I've been listening to a lot of Glassjaw lately, because Daryl Palumbo basically has the sexiest voice ever. Seriously, ever. I'm not joking.

Glassjaw - Daytona White

Told you I wasn't lying.

Skeletons of steel

2011-10-19T21:10:00.001+02:00

I've tidied my desk Sunday and being the amazingly awesome blogger that I am *insert sarcastic cough here*, I tried to make it my new outfit shooting spot!

This one's so "WEEEEEE I'm on a desk!!!!"

Cerulean cardigan - AllSaints

Top - H&M

Necklaces - H&M and DIY

Wyatt Ashby Skinnies - AllSaints

Maera boots - AllSaints

It wasn't a success! I wish my room was less narrow so I could do proper full length body shots but alas, sitting on my desk/lying on my bed/fragmented shots will still have to do.

I haven't been very inclined to shooting pictures for various reasons, number one obviously being (and I cannot stress this enough) I HATE WINTER and warm clothes (hence my stubborn, uninspired top + cardi combo even though it's massively cold outside), number two being the lack of natural light in my bedroom, an annually reoccurring issue!

In other news, Henry, my cat, has now been missing for over 4 weeks and right when we lost all hope of finding him, some guy e-mailed my mom saying he saw our little precious on his front lawn! So my mom keeps going back to that spot in hopes that little Henry will happen to pass by so we can bring him home. We did take in another kitten in the meantime, Fonz, short for Alfonso (haha), who is actually Henry's cousin or baby brother or whatever. /cat talk

Just 5 more weeks to go before I'm finally released from the shackles that is my job! Should start applying for something new asap, though I may sign up for an orientational course, seeing as I have little to no idea what I should do after I officially quit retail, for EVER. But really, it's weighing me down, I'm even getting major stress related stomach aches. Boo! It's sad that one rotten, megalomaniac apple can ruin the fun for all the fruity precious apples in the barrel, really.

I still want to take up kick boxing, in fact, I feel like throwing punches every time I play Gallows, haha. Alas I still can't find the courage to take the theoretical driver's test (or even study for it, for that matter). Also I finally have an awesome tattoo idea. I'm not going to jinx it, but if I'm still digging it by February (or next Autumn, if I'm really being a pussy), you'll see!

TV related, IS ANYONE ELSE AS SIKED ABOUT DEXTER AS I AM? The ending to Sunday's episode was so mind blowing, my face seriously looked like this D: Totally not the best imagery to go bed with, haha. (The ending of the show I mean, my face, despite the lack of war paint and dramatic facial expression, wasn't that bad.)

I'll probably watch the latest Sons of Anarchy tonight. Sweet baby Jesus I love the internet!

Adios, amigos!

GPOYC: Gratuitous Picture of Your Cat...

2011-10-06T23:51:00.000+02:00

... And Why I'm Such a Shitty Blogger!

First of all, let me start my apology with a picture of my precious cat, Henry. (Yeah, the name 'Cat' didn't cut it anymore because more and more cats started showing up in your back yard. Note to self: Don't leave the cat food outside.)

He's a crazy little dude, this one.

Now for the whole blogging thing. I know I don't have to make excuses or explain myself for my absence, but I feel like sharing today, so I'm just going to elaborate on why I haven't been feeling very motivated.

As you all probably know by now, I'm a lazy ol' fuck. That's reason numbero uno.

Numbero dos, is the fact that the real world and blog world are slowly colliding. I obviously knew throwing all this stuff online and somehow being slightly successful at it would have some sort of impact on my anonymity. Being recognized is kind of weird. So is having friends going "So, I found your blog!" because taking a shit ton of pictures of yourself and your clothes isn't the kind of activity people would think I enjoy. (More like setting things on fire.)

Numbero tres, my beloved little Henry has gone missing last week. My mom and I have located him and we're going to try and get him back from this crazy old cat lady. Granted, Henry wasn't officially our cat, but we love him like he's ours so the idea of him being in this smelly dump with 20 other cats tears my heart out.

Numbero quatro. I've quit my job. I'd been talking about this for months as shit started creeping up the fan in May, and a few weeks ago I just decided it was time to move on. I would get up in the morning feeling good, then arrive at work and be a miserable wreck. Not just because of the palpable tension in the air due to past drama, also because I just feel like I can do more than this. Sure I've learned a lot from this job, probably more valuable information than from my job as a secretary as an eye clinic (because who needs to know how cataract surgery works anyway?), but I think I've taken all I could possibly get out of it. There's no way to get higher up and even if there was, I'm unsure if I want to stay in retail for another 5-or-so years.
I am going to miss it though, shits and giggles and dancing with the co-workers, some of the customers even, and generally being around pretty clothes all day, haha.
Just a month and a half to go, and then I'll be free once again, huzzah. Until then, my hours have been cut back a little so I'll just enjoy myself watching The Big Bang Theory, In Treatment, Sons of Anarchy, Criminal Minds and Dexter. Jesus I swear I'm not as lame as it may come across, haha. I do have a social life I swear!!!!

Friday Favourites: Knitwear

2011-09-16T19:05:00.001+02:00

Let me just start by saying this: I hate autumn and winter. I hate the weather, the clothes, the dark, everything. I wish I could live on the southern hemisphere half of the year just so I would never, ever have to deal with it again. EVER.

Nonetheless, I live in Belgium, and living in Belgium means having to deal with Autumn basically all year around. Layers and knitwear are essentials, and guess what? I HATE BOTH!

I would rather parade around in a skirt and a silky top for ever, but alas! Nights are getting pretty chilly which means mornings are pretty fucking cold even in early September - You'll put on your coat and regret it in the afternoon, because OH RIGHT, it's still Summer in the rest of the world so the sun is still pretty bright and all.

I'm ranting, so let me break it down: I'm completely clueless of what to wear in cold weather. And what do I do when I'm in a fashion rut? I check net-a-porter.

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA Fine-knit cashmere cardigan // VINCE Belted knitted wool cardigan // ELIZABETH AND JAMES Fringed chunky-knit cardi-coat

AUBIN & WILLS Pinebrook striped open-knit cardigan // ACNE Zorah oversized wool sweater // ALICE + OLIVIA Textured open-knit cardigan

CRUMPET Madison double-breasted cashmere cardigan // TOMAS MAIER Draped cashmere cardigan // DONNA KARAN Fine-knit cashmere wrap cardigan

So most of these are way beyond my budget (if I would suddenly get a 50% pay raise I might just splurge on the fringed Elisabeth and James cardigan, but that's never gonna happen), but it's the idea that counts right? Cardigans (I didn't specifically look at cardigans, they just appeal to me more than jumpers do I suppose) in fine knits, lots of drape and texture, and quirky details. Slap on a plethora of jewelry and boom, I'm ready to roll!

And thus the darker seasons become slightly less appalling. Huzzah.

Other than getting frustrated about the weather, I also enjoyed two days off by sleeping loads, watching In Treatment and Sons of Anarchy (IT'S BACK YOU GUYS!!!!!!), drinking lots of soda with ice cubes (we never had an ice cube shape until I bought one at Ikea) and generally having a really lazy time. Awesome!

Enjoy your weekend lovelies!

Caught up in the heartless disorder + PLZ VOTE

2011-09-07T18:22:00.002+02:00

GUYS! Check what I did! I went outside to take pictures!

Lendra Coat - AllSaints

That's right, I have overcome (most of) my awkwardness and went outside the privacy of my bedroom in to the agoraphobic's nightmare of... My back yard. Baby steps people! Also, it was extremely windy, hence the bowing down to avoid hair flying all over the place, haha.

Anyway, I did all this with a purpose though. I entered this contest, Fashion by Feelings by we♥wool, basically a campaign to make people aware of the fact that wool is a renewable and natural fibre.

I love wool, not just for the cozy feeling but also because I'm allergic to acrylic, which kinda sucks because chain stores like H&M and Primark use this synthetic fibre ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

Down to business though! I would SERIOUSLY HONESTLY FRIKKIN LOVE YOU GUYS if you'd take the time to vote for me here:

It takes about 850 votes for me to got to number one so I realize this is a long shot (like, a really really really long shot), but part of my new philosophy is to go for it the minute I get it in my head! Hence the outdoor photo taking! Woo!

I hope you're all having a terrific week! I'm going to rush into the kitchen to marinate an aubergine in salted water and fix myself some goddamn dinner! X

Vultures

2011-08-31T21:01:00.000+02:00

So my closet's finally done, cleaned out to the max, all tidy and neat and what do I do?

I go shopping. Right.

➀ Free People via ebay

➁ H&M, €9,90 each

➂ Forever 21, €7,90

➃ Forever 21, €4,90 each

➄ Zara tee, €19,90

➅ Forever 21, €6,90

➀ Got this top in the mail this week, almost missed out on the mail man as I rushed out of bed, then found out I had to pay a €10 fee, went looking for money, etc etc. And all that at 8 in the morning on a day off! That's like midnight in my book. It's all been worth though, it's kinda big on me but luckily I can alter the elastic in the back. And then wear it sometime oh idk next Summer? THE WEATHER IS HORRIBLE IN HERE GUYS.

➁ Bra tops! I like wearing these over my regular bra (I appreciate the support of an underwire) because of the lace that's on most of the strap. The feather hair clip that I put with the pink bra is old, I got it at H&M last year. I don't think I've ever worn it, because I kinda think it looks like mold when it's in my hair. But then again, I'm known to go all "OMG WTF IS THIS MOLD???" all the time. So it's probably just me.

➂ FOREVER 21 HAS OPENED YOU GUYS OMG OMG OMG. Yesterday I was at work and people kept walking in with seriously bright yellow bags and I got so excited that I spent my lunch break checking out the store, even though I had already decided I was gonna go for a full spree today. Anyway, I already had an amethyst pendant on a silver necklace so I figured I should have a gold one, too.

➃ More amethyst! I swear if they'd had another gemstone (or glass cut in the shape of a gemstone, whatever) I would have gone for that, but they didn't! Anything semi precious just seems to scream my name these days. I've been hunting ebay for some nice bracelets, and after a lot of failed attempts, I'm contemplating making my own... Hmmmz...

➄ I hardly ever really look for things at Zara (I know there's a massive Zara fad going on but I really don't like that store) but I saw this wolf tee on lookbook so I quickly went in the shop and much to my surprise, I found it! I honestly think €19,90 is a bit too much for a t-shirt but it's so cosy and I love the texture of the fabric so yeah. Still not too sure about the fit - fitting room pic included in link and please don't pay attention to my exploded hair and crossed eyes - as it's a medium and I'm an extra small. Hah.

The necklaces I threw on the tee are kinda old, the one with the amethyst is DIY and the one with the circle thingies is from H&M.

➅ A close up of the feather necklace that was featured in the wolf tee pic (I was too lazy to take it off the wall haha). I'm not sure whether I'll keep it the way it is or take off a feather or two to use in DIY necklace projects.

In other news, I've been watching a lot of In Treatment, I'm at week 6 or 7 I think. I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH YOU GUYS. I love the slow pace, and the fact I can polish my nails while watching it and not miss a single thing! Awesome!

Adios my friends x

Friday Favourites #1

2011-08-26T00:21:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: EMAROSA
MOOD: AWESOME

Guys! I was sort of bored so I started roaming some of my favourite web shops, in anticipation of the answer to my request for a credit card, and figured, hey! I could blog about this!

The title says Friday Favourites #1, but as well as you all know me by now, Friday could turn into Monday or Thursday, and 1 could stay 1 for-ever. But the intentions are there! Seriously!

Now, I'll apologize in advance, considering my obvious and less obvious affiliation with the two brands I picked - I seriously honestly don't do that on purpose! They just so happen to SELL SO MUCH AWESOME STUFF.

AllSaints

Anchor Jumper, Sedna Top, Embellished Python Dress & Maera Boot

Free People

Super slouch sheer legging, We The Free super washed graphic crop tee + Thunderbird over feather pendant, Ruffle legging, Tulip flare jean

It has come to my attention that working at a higher end clothing store has FUCKED with my perception of what is cheap and what isn't - especially because working "higher end" doesn't mean getting paid higher end, alas! Nowadays I'll be looking for a graphic tee, find one priced at €40 and be all "OH WHAT A BARGAIN"...

Seriously? I need detox, cold turkey, and fast! Maybe a trip to Primark will be my salvation, haha.

However, I've been digging through my closet and found some things with the tags still on them (tssssk shame on me) and they're mostly the cheapest items. You know, the kind of things you'll look at in the store, be like "meh it's fine", check the price tag, see that it's INSANELY cheap and just buy it anyway. It's silly. Especially if you're like me and obsessively hold on to things, haha.

Over the past few years I've been trying hard to pinpoint my style in a few words or images, you know, to refrain from buying shit I won't wear anyway, but alas, so far I have not come to a conclusion. It's probably one of those things that come over the years - A natural phenomenon, you could say.

There's exactly one piece in my closet that has survived two years and a few wardrobe sweeps: This blue printed maxi dress from H&M that I got in the sale for like €10. Maybe my theory on cheap things isn't all that accurate.

And so I'm ranting again! What do you prefer, fast fashion bargains or relatively timeless (not talking about the fucking LBD and vomit worthy white shirt) pieces?

PS: I was going to reassure you that it really is Friday as it has just passed midnight in Belgium, but then Rebecca Black's excuse of a song popped up in my head and I think I might just have to go and microwave myself. Awesome!

Sorceress

2011-08-18T20:16:00.002+02:00

MUSIC: CANCER BATS
MOOD: SWELL

Dress - H&M

Old sandals - New Look

Belt - Came with a dress

Woo! More updates! Yay me! I wore this little outfit for a bike ride to the all new H&M that opened last week. It's like 10 minutes away from my house which is pretty awesome, even though it only has a fraction of the collection - I only really buy jewelry and underwear there anymore! Okay and the occasional printed viscose dress, haha.

I picked this dress up about two weeks ago, I thought about chopping half of its length off so I'd have a nifty printed top, but decided against it when trying it with this belt that came with my floor length dress from AllSaints.

I don't know why I look so sad in the second picture btw, probably my fringe that's slightly slanting, or my eyeliner that I kind of messed up this morning, because seriously, it's the first time in a long while that I can say I'm fine and actually mean it wholeheartedly. I've been having to repeat myself to just about everyone, maybe my nostalgia is mistaken for melancholy. Idk.

As I was writing this, I learned of a tragic accident at Pukkelpop, a Belgian festival - one of the smaller tents that had 1000 people in it, collapsed due to a passing storm. Reports say 1 person died and several others are seriously injured. I immediately got in touch with my friend who was there (alone!), luckily she's on her way home. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy.

Brand focus: Free People

2011-08-16T21:53:00.005+02:00

MUSIC: THE BRONX

MOOD: GUUD

First off, I'd like to thank you all for your kind words on last post! I feel a lot better now, I've had some really nice conversations with friends and my mom (I love my mom!) and honestly, I think I'm rid of my demon (= horrible crush) for good so I'm all ready to move on! Also health related things are getting better. I've been wearing my old insoles until I get an appointment with an orthopedist, and I'm regaining sense in my big toes, yay!

So I've been trying to pick up the things I've been wanting to do, like tidying my room part 237. I went to Ikea today to check out some storage options and omfg every time I go to Ikea I realise I need new everything. The wardrobes are - and I don't say this often - TO DIE FOR. Unfortunately I'm stuck with a poor two door closet, which is packed. So packed that I brought two really big boxes I thought would fit under my bed (which they do, if I lift the bed - dammit!!) to store all the old stuff in.

I've probably mentioned this before, but I rarely throw away clothes. I like to think that one day, if I have children, my daughters will be super happy with all the free vintage stuff! I know I wish my mom would've kept more of her old things, I wore a very old pleated skirt of hers to my graduation party and had so much compliments about it. Le sigh!

Anyway, I got halfway through tidying the crap in my wardrobe when I decided I could use some cozy time on the bed, watching Weeds. Which is an awesome show btw, I'm guessing I'll get through seasons 4 to 7 in a week or two, so if you can recommend me some more shows like Dexter, Mad Men, Californication, Sons of Anarchy, True Blood etc etc... Bring it on!

Now on to the purpose of this post: Back in the days, when I used to work at Urban Outfitters, I came across this brand, Free People. The few items the Antwerp store carried were never really my thing - I remember this embellished frock with peacocks on it or something alike? Those dresses flew out of the racks, which left all of us baffled. However, upon checking their website, I immediately changed my opinion.

www.freepeople.com

Honestly, you guys. Does it get any better than this? I don't even like brown nor gold yet I am utterly drawn to everything you can see in these photos.

The downside to this all? Shipping to Europe is $35. Customs will snoop in your packages and charge you with all sorts of taxes and duties. WHY DON'T THEY HAVE A EUROPEAN STORE?

Seriously I would shop so hard their serves would go down. I even considered getting that feather maxi skirt, with the $35 shipping and the possible 20% tax which would make it around €80, which is a bit nuts. But to all you American shoppers: BOO! I'm jealous!

PS: Just FIY, this is (unfortunately, haha) not a sponsored post, I'm genuinely this enthusiastic about the brand.

Have a great week, lovelies!

Edit: As of August 23, I am affiliated with Free People, however I don't get free stuff (bummer right!!!! haha). Just thought I'd let you know because I srsly value honesty concerning the perks of blogging.

Fire, walk with me.

2011-08-10T18:43:00.003+02:00

Ombre breton top - AllSaints

Skirt - H&M

Bag - Episode

Jewelry - H&M, DIY, Six

So, long time no see! I haven't been feeling on top of my game lately, for many reasons, love related as well as health related. Now I don't want to get too far into the first bit, but the health bit, good god you guys. I've had flat feet for years and years now, and ever since last winter I've been struggling with my two big toes. I figured it was bad blood circulation that left them numb but I finally got to see the doctor this week and it's the fallen arches that don't only cause the numbness, but also the sore toe I get in ALL of my shoes, the fact my left leg retains more water than my right, the fact my right hip is totally fucked up and apparently I've got some claws for toes as well.

And all this time I thought my skinny jeans were the issue. I'm an orthopedic train wreck!

So far 2011 hasn't been doing me any good, with an extremely shitty start, yet a fairly happy intermission, and a lot of heart ache to wash the good away. I guess I'm one of those people that'll dwell on the negative shit for ages (I should really knock that off), because I did meet some lovely new friends, got so much farther in my job... But honestly I just want someone to cuddle and kiss like, ALL THE FUCKING TIME. I'm going around telling people I'm even willing to go on blind dates. Just so you get a sense of exactly how desperate I am, haha.

I guess I should start by going out more often. All I really do is sit around the house watching Twin Peaks and Project Runway (haaah that's bad I know), and go for work. Thing is, my favourite place to go out is a gay bar.

*facepalm*

I'll quit ranting now, I promise. Apologies for this incredibly uninteresting, incoherent mess of a post. I hope everyone's having a better week, and better weather for that matter!

Right between the eyes.

2011-07-17T20:02:00.008+02:00

MUSIC: STRAYLIGHT RUN

MOOD: LITERALLY AWESOME

Hey guys! The horrible, horrible throat ache seems to have subsided (I get an occasional stabby feeling in the ear when I swallow though), my nose is still a bit runny but other than that I'm feeling super!

So let's catch up a bit. Obviously I've been super ill, even contemplated on not going to work (I'm one of those fuckers that'll show up even with my nose spray and box of tissues in hand, making you feel like a lazy fuck for calling in sick when you had a common cold, haha), zomg!

In the meantime I've watched the entire second season of Sons of Anarchy, which had a bit of a slow start but holy shit it was guud. It kinda reminded me of why my Myspace name back in 2006 was Vicky Violence (true story), and why I seriously considered taking up kick boxing or something like that about a year ago. The only reasons why I didn't is 1) no clubs in my neighbourhood and 2) I don't want to get punched in the face. Apparently you don't get punched in the face, huge pro for me considering I sure as hell don't want to take out my nose piercing. Maybe I should look into it again, because I can feel my body needs some toning.

And I want to be able to eat even more food. Haha.

ANYWAY. On to the good stuff. Visual entertainment, woo!

Straylight Run - Hands In The Sky (Big Shot)

Denim jacket - H&M

Tie dye top - Asos (Mens)

Leggings - Lookbookstore.com

Shoes - New Look

I've been trying to figure out how to wear these leggings - which are ultimate badass - for literally a month. I went through my wardrobe again and again, and suddenly I realised I had this top lying around that didn't really fit me - I mean, what did I even expect, it's a mens' small. I made some adjustments to it so the waist would be slimmer, and boom! Fell in love with it! Here's a pic of the back of the thing:

No cutting or sewing involved! Hurray! That's how I like my DIYs, haha. I just used some safety pins to make the racer back even smaller, so my back's kinda bare (lots of bra action going on) but hey, for super hot days, I don't really mind. For not so hot days, I'll just wear my beloved denim jacket.

Oh and before I forget (because I did forget to take a detail pic haha)! Those sunglasses, are my ridiculously awesome Cancer Bats sunglasses, which I picked up at their gig two weeks ago (unlike the drumstick, I didn't steal them, promise!). They have white legs with "Cancer Bats" written on it (well durrhh they're not going to put Meatball Sandwich on 'em), but with all the hair I've got going on, you can only see "Cancer", which is kinda odd, cause I don't want people to think I support cancer. I mean, karma could SERIOUSLY bite me in the ass on that one.

Anyway, I'm ranting, so that is all for today! I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Adios amigos!

PS: Yes, that is a teddybear in sunglasses on my bed.

Keep going through the motions.

2011-07-06T21:47:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: CLOSURE IN MOSCOW

MOOD: ILL

Two weeks without an update! So let's catch up. What have I been doing lately? Well, work's taking up even more of my time these days as I've gone from 28h weeks to 32h, which I absolutely don't mind. The more money I can take the better, yay! And it's not like I do anything productive with my time off anyway, haha.

I got super ill last week and on Monday again, and this morning I woke up with the worst throat ache and I can feel it spreading to my right ear, and I'm currently losing my voice as I'm trying to sing along to Closure In Moscow's Breathing Underwater, haha.

I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me!

I also went to see the Cancer Bats on Sunday which was awesome. Bravely got into the mosh pit voluntarily (first time, as I usually stay glued to the stage or back away from the windmillers), didn't get punched around too much and only got one tiny little bruise on my leg. Being a girl is rad! (Read: Guys try not to punch you in the face.) Oh and I kinda stole a drum stick. Haha.

What have I not been doing? Well I missed out on that Forever21 event last week, basically because I would have had to leave after one hour because of motherfucking public transport. Boo!

And in the midst if all this, I wore clothes, too!

Hecia Cropped Shirt - AllSaints

Padma wedges - AllSaints

Bag - Lookbookstore.com

Drumstick making an appearance on the bed - Courtesy of Cancer Bats. Haah.

I think I'll be hitting the shower soon, get in bed early and watch True Blood! I didn't quite like the Season 4 premiere but I'm bored out of my skull and I've already watched 3 episodes of Mad Men today. You see, NOTHING PRODUCTIVE IN MY FREE TIME GUYS.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Forever 21

2011-06-21T23:48:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: CANCER BATS

MOOD: SLEEPY

So by now, Europeans have probably figured out that US retailer Forever 21 is expanding to Europe. Yay, at last! The online shop's already shipping the goodness over to us at €6, Birmingham and Dublin already have their brick and mortar stores, and, fuck yes, Antwerp's getting one too. And soon!

They're still being very vague about the opening date, but the Brussels store is having a little pre-party June 29! Registration is open till June 24, so if you'd like a shot at being present, register here! Invitees will be picked at random!

I for one am very much looking forward to the opening of the Antwerp store. Fuck yes, ever since I've been "photo skinning for the Sims 2" (HIGH FIVE IF YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS), I've been dying for a store in Belgium.

F21's perfectly covering my two favourite trends of the season: Tie-dye (who am I kidding, the love is eternal, not just seasonal!), and ikat/aztec/tribal-y prints!

And not to mention: An ENDLESS SUPPLY OF COVET-WORTHY JEWELRY.

I'm clearly a necklace-addict, haha.

YES PLZ.

More cities that are rumored to be expecting all this awesomeness soon(er or later): Paris, Milan, München, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht. Rejoice!

You and I will be weightless

2011-06-16T19:34:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW

MOOD: GUUD

Pleated midi skirt - courtesy of Lookbookstore.com

Slip dress - H&M

PU leather jacket - Only (old)

Peep toe heels - Deichmann (extremely old)

Hai guys! Back with an update, I'm on a roll these days! I don't know what the fuck is going on with my camera, ever since London (where it bumped into a million and one things) it's been having trouble focussing from a distance, which makes it even more difficult to shoot some decent pics. Sorry for that bros, I guess we'll all just have to live with it.

Anyway, on to the outfit. I've been looking for a skirt like this since the beginning of times! It's pleated, it's midi length, it's breezy and light, I mean, what's not to love? It's only €15 as well, added bonus points! I can totally see this work with a light floral cami and a denim jacket but for now I just wanted to wear this with the slip dress I got back in the winter sales and a (albeit fake) leather jacket. I feel like I jumped from a different era in this, it's pretty awesome!

I actually thought the camel colour wouldn't suit my skin tone at all (mockery including, but not limited to: milk bottle legs, the whitest girl alive, "omg you glow in the dark", and a classic: "lolz you're naked" when I'm wearing white) but it's really not too bad! Same goes for the length, as you probably know I'm not too tall (5'3" haha) and with some medium heels, I'm good to go. In fact, it pisses me off greatly when people say long skirts, midi or maxi, are only for tall girls. FUCK YOU GUYS, that's like saying skinny jeans are only for skinny chicks. It's all about shape, not size bro!

I have been up to pretty much nothing lately, Sunday I'll be seeing Deez Nuts (PARTY LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW), and July 3 I'll finally catch Cancer Bats! FUCK YES I'M SO EXCITED! While we're on the topic of music, I got my hands on City and Colour's latest album, Little Hell, and I'm not digging it much - some of the songs have Black Keys all over it. Weird.

I'm starting to get very in-cohesive so on this note, I wish you all a happy Thursday! See you all soon!

Fever Dreams

2011-06-14T22:49:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR
MOOD: OK

Hurray! I'm back! Well, my laptop's back from the store and fully functional! Honestly it's been out of the shop since Friday but I've been too busy watching the 4th season of Dexter all weekend! I did actually go out and see Black Swan the other day - better late than never, right! I'm not so much of a movie person (I have a very short attention span when it comes to tv and film), but if I have to choose I go for the weird stuff, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fight Club, Happiness, Memento, Repulsion... Also I really like ballet so I was bound to love it! Natalie Portman definitely deserved that Oscar.

Other than that, I've been doing some serious shopping! Yay!

➀ Bikini, €23 - H&M

➁ Cobra Tee, €80 - AllSaints

➂ Lourdes Lowe, €60 - AllSaints

➃ Nailpolish, €3 - Hema

➀ First things first, I have no idea what I need a bikini for, I'm not going on holiday, I don't live near a lake and god knows the swimming pool in my neighborhood's an utter disaster (fights, kids busting in changing room doors, pubescent boys yelling obscenities at girls and probably a whole lot of piss in the water). BUT! I figured, one day I would need a bikini, for those spontaneous trips to the beach, and I barely ever find a nice bathing suit so there you have it!

➁ I'm in love with the texture of this top! So you'll probably know by now that I'm an avid fan of tie dye, but it's the sheerness and the pattern of this knitted cotton/modal that really got my attention. I'm hoping this top will make it to the Antwerp store, so I can sneak it into my wardrobe, too!

➂ I have absolutely no problems wearing ultra short skirts, but I really don't like my legs in shorts... Which is nonsense really, my legs are fine (even though my thighs touch!!!1!1), so after the third time of trying these on, I decided to get them anyway. I like how they look so worn in, yay for artificial stainage!

➃ The nailpolish is the closest substitute for my all time favourite colour, Almost Black by Catrice. It was this really dark purpley/red *almost black* and even though this replacement from Dutch chain store Hema is a bit more brownish and slightly paler, I'm still happy I found a similar colour.

I have some outfits to catch up on, hopefully I'll feel a bit better on my next day off - I've been feeling rather low on energy lately, and I know I'm always complaining that I'm tired and stuff but I really do need a frikkin holiday and put my bikini to use!

Bedtime for me now, adios everyone!

Well this sucks.

2011-06-05T21:10:00.002+02:00

I have some very shitty news to share! Since, idk, January my macbook's been acting up (the screen would freeze and then slowly fade to white, usually when I'm streaming video) and it seems like it's on its last legs now. I'm going to start transferring all 190 gigabytes of crap to my old PC (which happens to have only 100 gb space left), on which I can't seem to get internet connection, all whilst pinching the left side of my macbook's screen so it won't freeze.

This means I will probably be away from the internet for a while. This seriously blows because obviously I'm a very big fan of the www. I REALLY hope they'll fix it asap, but I'm worried that 1) they won't take it back even though it's still under legal warranty or 2) it'll take AGES before I can welcome my baby back to me.

If they refuse to take it back, I'll probably just have to buy a new one (I could go all *I'mma sue your asses!!!!* but that'll only take, oh idk, about two years?), and in that case, consider this post irrelevant. But obviously I'll only know that once I go to the store and if they do take it back, I won't have a computer to tell you about it.
If I'm still making sense.

Anyway, I will try and update this post once I know more, but that'll inquire either the family PC (ewww Windows, haha sorry MS users) or my cellphone. So yeah. Sorry guys. In the meantime, have a picture of my cat, who is called... Cat.

Yeah.

Cat says hi leave me the fuck alone.

Bye bye internetz. I'll miss you.

EDIT!! So I dropped by the store today and I was told I should be able to pick up my laptop by the end of the week! Yay! If I wouldn't have told you, no one would have noticed my abscence! Haha!

Buffalo Gals

2011-06-02T20:54:00.003+02:00

MUSIC: EVERY TIME I DIE

MOOD: AWESUM

As promised, an outfit post!

Blazer - Urban Outfitters (Renewal)

Every Time I Die shirt

Skinnies - AllSaints

Oxfords - New Look

Bag - Courtesy of Doortje Vintage

It's not often that you'll see me wearing a blazer. For some reason, I've grown to really dislike them. Probably because everyone and their mom seems to have one these days, which is such a hipster thing to say, but really! I've seen far too many frumpy, overly styled outfits with them, that I kinda just stopped wearing them about a year ago. This one, however, is a bit different. I like it because it's more boyish than the ever so common boyfriend blazer, yet still flattering with the cropped sleeves and the fitted shoulders.

The bag from Doortje Vintage, is as you can probably tell, vintage. Let me elaborate on why vintage bags are awesome:
- The leather! I really don't like the pleather shit H&M and alikes do, and real leather bags are often way beyond my budget, so second hand is the way to go!
- The styles! When I go into New Look or H&M, I'll always find something to moan about: The colour of the hardware, no zipper or flap (that's like an invitation to pickpockets!), an ugly strap etc etc etc.
- The inside! Okay so I admit, I miss a cellphone pouch BUT! COMPARTMENTS ARE LIKE SOLID GOLD. Everyone probably knows what it feels like to stand in front of your door, trying to find your key when it's raining, when you're carrying ice cream in your grocery bags, when you really have to pee. Without compartments, my bags turn into black holes that eat all my stuff. True story.
So, consider me converted! The joy when I unpacked this beauty, oh my! I was still half asleep as the mailman rung me out of bed (goddammit haha), but that couldn't suppress the fun. I don't think I'll be buying any more non-leather bags again (except if they're like, €10).

Anyway, I'm ranting. The shop also carries shoes, accessories (belts and earrings as far as the eye can see!) and also some really nifty non-vintage graphic tees and sweaters! So go check it out! Be sure to move fast because the true gems get sold in no time! I will keep checking back for the bag of my dreams, a black leather hobo-esque shoulder bag, with optional fringes.

Now, on to the last bit of my outfit, the top! I managed to finally grow a pair and cut into my Every Time I Die shirt, that turned out to be even bigger than expected and due to the thick nature of the fabric (heavyweight cotton, whoa!) the shoulders would poke out so I had to cut the sleeves off. And so I did. I was going to add a tutorial but then I messed up a few times myself, haha so I guess that's just the way it's supposed to go.

Observation of the day: I noticed over 400 unique visitors from Hong Kong today. 你好! 你好。! (I hope wikipedia isn't screwing me over with these translations haha.)

Hope everyone's been having a nice week! Adios!

Oh, up in smoke we go.

2011-05-29T22:25:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: JONNY CRAIG

MOOD: OKAY

Two weeks with no update, I'm such a lazy motherfucker! First things first, welcome to another batch of new followers, it's quite awesome to see the number growing like that! It seems like just yesterday when I first started Disco me to Oblivion when quite frankly, all this was oblivion, haha.

What have I been up to lately? Well, I've contemplated my future, quitting my job, moving out... But yet decided against all of it and here I am, same old, same old. But that's alright, for the time being, until I have another one of my breakdowns, I guess. Haha!

I also went to see Dance Gavin Dance in Brussels, which was quite awesome, however the audience was kinda dead. I mean, I didn't expect massive mosh pits and stage divers, but I did expect some pushing and pulling - the kind of shit that makes a concert interesting, you know, getting some adrenaline running! However, the only moving that occurred was some mediocre dancing, not even dancing like Gavin should, but just some shifting feet and waving arms.

I for one prefer to go loco, but that's kinda weird when you're the only one getting really into it. Maybe I should have gone there drunk. I bet the entire band was drunk.

ANYWAY, I'm ranting. I've also come to the conclusion that I really need a wardrobe detox. My closet's full of stuff I barely wear anymore, it's just taking up space! So before I go to working 32 hours a week, I need to do some cleanin'!

In order to have something to wear these days, I got me this top I fell in love with since I first saw it.

Vika (that's like ALMOST my name y'guys!!) Vest, €90 - AllSaints

Sorry for the relatively shitty picture, I was in a hurry because my ice cream was melting and the sun was setting so I had to snap a pic fast! And so, this pic really doesn't do it any justice. It's so purty and delicate, with the orchids and the cherry blossoms! The silk is so breezy and together with the shape of the top, it kinda feels like you're wearing nothing at all. NOTHING AT ALL! (Cookie if you're seeing Ned Flanders shaking what he's got in a ski suit!)

I will most likely (=not so likely) update soon with an outfit post, involving a really pretty bag from Doortje Vintage and my Every Time I Die band shirt that I cut up today. Woo!

Other awesome things today include: Watching Mad Men, making chocolate covered strawberries and hugging the cat. SUNDAYS ARE AWESOME YOU GUYS!

See you soon!

Little Hell, pt 2.

2011-05-12T19:34:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW

MOOD: FFFUUUUUU

Hey everyone, and a warm welcome to all new followers! I'm in a seriously sad mood and I have been since earlier this week, so I'm just gonna jump straight to the pictures of my London purchases instead of wallowing in self pity on a goddamn blog, haha.

Awesome blanket/cardigan from Primark for like £12. I refuse to call it a poncho because it's not a poncho and I hate ponchos with a passion.

Bag from Primark for £6 (I think). I was rushing to get to work earlier this week and tried jamming all my stuff in this thing but apparently it's a bit too small for daily use. Shame, cause I really like it, even if it's brown.

Beachwear crochet top that looks really ugly on a hanger, from Primark as well for about £8. It's currently tied at the side with buttons but I intend to sew it so it's wearable as a regular top over like a bandeau bra or whatever.

I obviously couldn't leave without spending some of my excess £££ at HMV. I could have gotten more, but that felt a bit redundant.

A crop (GASP) top, I liked the crochet and the fringe (crochet and fringe were key words in my London shopping experience, as you can tell) and it was only £8 so I was like OH YEAH WHY NOT. I guess I'll just have to grow a pair and get over my tummy issues.

Last but not least my favourite purchase in the bunch, this suede bag from Urban Outfitters. We actually went back to UO just to pick this baby up - Again, if it weren't for the excess pounds I wouldn't have bought it, but I'm so happy that I did! It's a perfect size and probably sturdy enough to carry my camera. (Probably, cause I haven't tried yet.) It was £35 or so, pretty doable for a suede bag, right?

Aight, that's about it. I'll leave you with this beautiful song by James Vincent McMorrow, who supported City and Colour during the London gig. His performance was beautiful so if you ever get the chance to catch him live, go for it, you SRSLY won't regret it.

Little Hell: Groezrock, and London pt I.

2011-05-05T18:00:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR
MOOD: CHEERFUL

Groezrock/London post has arrived! You know I'm one of those people that'll drag along their camera and then eventually end up ~~forgetting~~ being too lazy to take pictures. And I always regret it!

First things first. So Friday morning I got up at like 5:45 to pack those lingering bits like my toothbrush and make up, get my last shower (I tend to feel extremely dirty from the minute I walk into a port-o-potty) and leave for Groezrock! Yay! For those who don't know yet, it's an annual punk/hardcore/ska/whateverthehellnot festival, and it's only a few weeks back that I got to know what "Groez" means: Apparently it's some local dialect for pubes. Awesome.

It started to heat up pretty fast so I basically hid under a scarf for two days - Laugh all you want but I just don't dig a burnt scalp (happens all the time), it hurts like a motherfucker! I was enjoying two Monsters (you know, the energy drinks, loaded with sugary goodness) when my friend Steve randomly walked out on me and Alisée, so we were all WTF NOW, and then we saw he was actually stalking Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, which resulted into this:

Major squintage going on because we just so happened to be staring directly into the sun. And yes, I took the scarf off of my head to take this picture, haha. I asked him if he remembered us from their last Belgian gig and he did say we looked familiar but I didn't believe him for one second so I said "yeah you were probably too drunk to remember" and then he laughed and walked off - I found out later that ETID was actually signing, and that's what he was probably rushing to. Fuck haha. I still want to meet the rest of the band!

Saturday was a bit of a slow day, we saw a lot of bands but none of them really appealed to me. The weather continued to be super awesome, which was great. I expected to come home with a ridiculous tan, but as you can tell from the pictures in the post below, nothing changed, haha. The next day I met a friend of mine and I just so happened to be wearing a white shirt and he was all *LOL U HAVE NO SHIRT ON LOL* which was actually quite funny.

So that ^ sums up what I did with my Sunday, haha. I had planned on crashing in bed but instead I crashed in the grass / in his couch.

Monday morning me and Alisée embarked on our little speedy trip to London to see City and Colour! Yay! We saw Camden, got lost on our way to the Royal Albert Hall (it's surprisingly difficult to follow a straight road) and had a magical dinner at KFC.

The title of this blog post, "Little Hell", is the title of City and Colour's new album, out on June 7! Can't wait bro!

Our hotel, Earl's Court Gardens, had these little packets of coffee and MOO MILK (crazy ass awesomeness!) ready for us as we got there. The whole place was kinda old and weathered, the bed was rock hard but we had a great night rest nonetheless and the owner was super friendly - did I mention he sounded exactly like Apu from The Simpsons?

This is zoomed in to the max (55mm to be exact, I can't zoom in any further with my stinky kit lens) as we had Gallery spots. In case you're wondering, Dallas is the dude on the left, haha.

I know, the image is incredibly insignificant (and even then I blow it up so it's the same size as my pictures - allow me to be anal about the design of my website, haha), but enjoy the sound!

On Tuesday we went to Oxford Street. We started with Primark, hoping to avoid the crowd at an early hour. All hope was gone when we went up the escalator, to the shoes and accessory department. Holy shit you could barely move! Topshop was a major bummer, it was far too big and the layout of the shop was a total clusterfuck. We also went to Urban Outfitters, HMV, Burger King (ONION RINGS <333), Bik Bok and so on. The purchases, however, are for a second part to this post! It's not all that much but I just haven't really had the chance to take pictures yet. Wooo!

See you soon guys!

Mister, the sky's a contortionist

2011-05-01T20:11:00.004+02:00

MUSIC: THE BLOOD BROTHERS

MOOD: MEH

Post on Groezrock and London will follow soon, first I have all'o'this!

Petticoat - Courtesy of I Love Vintage

Floral top - ASOS

Peeptoe shoes - Deichmann

Belt - ebay

To celebrate their 5-year existence, I Love Vintage sent me this awesome skirt to promote their burlesque/50s/rock&roll clothing! I adore petticoats, sweetheart necklines and cinched waists (so much I will completely forget about my new no-more-cutesy-things rule!), I have since I was a little girl and I probably always will. So I obviously jumped on it right away! I can't wait to go out dancing in this, seriously!

For now I'm just chilling in my room, listening to the Blood Brothers with the window wide open (as a punishment to my noisy neighbours) whilst reminiscing the old days, back when I had a major girl crush on Zui Suicide and wore plastic heart earrings and big gold necklaces with like, boombox pendants (I SHOULD START WEARING THAT AGAIN).

Anyway - The shop carries some of the prettiest vintage bags you have ever seen - hence why a lot of them already have a "sold" tag on them, dammit! - as well as a lot of pretty dresses, cardigans, shoes and so on! And if you're not so much into vintage, that's okay too - there's a 'novintage' section for you to enjoy. Also, stay tunes for a new load of all things fluffy and tule! New petticoats and -pants will be appearing on the website soon!

So head over to the website, because quite frankly, you WILL love it!

PS: Sorry for the overload of text between brackets - I sure do that a lot don't I??

Enjoy what is left of your Sunday, you guys!

PPS: My photo is featured on Chictopia's main page for the next few hours! Yay!

Sam Malone

2011-04-27T22:55:00.002+02:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR
MOOD: SUPERDUPER

And the worst blogger awards goes to...

I'm wearing my new blanket-cardigan. That's right, a cardigan that is basically a blanket with arm holes. AWESOME.

Haha seriously what has been keeping me? For one, I started working more hours. Also, I had a week off up to yesterday, and it was a good one. Yay! Groezrock was very nice, I saw Every Time I Die again (and met Keith Buckley, again!), and Circa Survive after two previously failed attempts, finally! Also my super quick trip to London was awesome - City and Colour was amazing even though the audience were fucking rude, screaming between and through songs! Like wtf go do that during an Alexisonfire concert, but not City and Colour you fucking cunts!

We also ran around stores like madwomen, even though we didn't buy all that much. I only really spent money at Primark, Urban Outfitters and HMV haha. Camden was fun (all the food, so overwhelming) but the clothes weren't really my style - As you may or may not know, I have banned florals and cutesey lace dresses from my shopping list, so there really wasn't much to see for me, haha.

Pictures of purchases and more stories soon, right now I'm still recovering from the past week's lack of sleep. So much even that I overslept this morning! I normally get up at 6:50 to make it to work at 9:40. I woke up, noticed the sun shining brightly - a bit too early for that, no? - so I checked my cell phone and it was 8:15. I always leave home by 8:25, haha!
Nonetheless, I got there on time! Even with getting my hair soaked / blow drying / doing my make up! Awesome right! It's like I'm physically incapable of being late for work. Except for when my bus doesn't show.

Anyway, I'm ranting and you probably don't even care about all this crap. Pics soon (read: this weekend?), I promise!

What's left to catch but the fear of letting go

2011-04-04T21:26:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: EMAROSA

MOOD: TTLY AWESUUUUM

AllSaints - Padma Wedge

My feet are a little camera shy, haha. Anyway. I got me some new shoes! Yay! They're pretty awesome, the heel and the strap in the front are actually hairy (haha), I tried my best to show in the photos. Also, for 11cm heels, they're pretty comfortable. I worked on them for two and a half hours until my feet were officially pronounced dead. Hah.

In bad news, literally a day before I wanted to get my nose ring back, the wound's all nasty and infected again. FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU! Also, my hip's been bugging me again. Seems like the past week's been quite shitty - Exactly why I thought I'd treat myself today! I went out looking for the perfect mid-length skirt (alas, the search continues) but got home with some make up, a pretty little scarf and Twin Peaks on DVD! Finally! Ever since catching a few episodes last Summer, I've been wondering who the fuck did kill Laura Palmer, so I caved in.

Work's been quite stressful lately, though pressure's wearing off as I can start doing more hours mid-April! Fuck yes! More hours = More money! Mid-April also means Groezrock and London are getting closer. Any hints and tips on what the fuck to do on a bank holiday in London, do share! I love me some modern art/graphic design museums so if anyone knows a fine place, I would love to know and my gratitude will forever be yours!

I'm obviously rambling, so I'll just leave it at this and go and try not to watch another episode of True Blood online and drain our monthly internet bandwidth. Again. Hah.

I'm made of wax, Larry, what are you made of?

2011-03-23T17:57:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: A DAY TO REMEMBER

MOOD: FUZZY

Ahh, the weather's been so nice these past few days! Today's my second day off and yesterday I spent the day in bed, watching Criminal Minds and Californication with a bad throat ache and lots of snot dripping everywhere. But today I'm feeling better! I went out to enjoy the sunshine, and to look for new sunglasses. A nose piercing doesn't only make blowing your nose a lot harder, it's also a pain in the ass when it comes to sunglasses! I get super duper creeped out when the frame touches the stud, aaargh! As soon as this lingering cold is over though, I'm getting my nose ring back. Excited! I hope this time I won't grow excess scar tissue, cause, eww.

So I had been looking for the perfect sunnies for a while now, and whilst I was trying some pairs on at H&M (and obviously they were way too small for my big head) and I had a small epiphany: Men's sunglasses. Of course. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? Men have bigger heads right? = Bigger sunglasses. Fuck yeah!

Men's Sunglasses from New Look, €4

I know, they're blatantly fake Wayfarers (even though I once claimed I just DON'T wear Wayfarers, but then again, it's not like I foresaw a nose piercing in my future) but it's seriously the only type that suits my face and fringe (which is SUPER SHORT) these days.

Also. Am I the only person that gets über melancholic with each start of a new season? Spring reminds me of my old job as a secretary at the eye clinic, of falling in love with my classmate, and drinking sangria in the local park.

I hope next Winter I'll be reminded of long walks in the snow to the bus stop, post work hamburgers and gay bars.

In completely unrelated news, I've noticed a lot of girls hitting on everything that moves lately. Maybe it's my PAWS-OFF-BITCHES mentality when it comes to my male friends, or the fact a lot of chicks have been hitting on me, (do I look gay?) I don't know but it's striking!

One month from now I'll be partying away on a Jägermeister-induced wave of awesomeness that is Groezrock, yay! Oh how I long for it to be just as awesome as last year!

A Day To Remember - I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?

Rant ends here! I hope everyone gets to enjoy the weather as well as we can here in Belgium!

Blue Dream

2011-03-17T22:45:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: DANCE GAVIN DANCE

MOOD: SUPER MOTHERFUCKING ILL

Gawd you guys; if it was aesthetically pleasing, I would add a few items to my What's In My Bag post, being nasal spray, half a pharmacy and a box of tissues. Yeah, a whole box. Yesterday was so awful, I worked a full day on fever and painkillers (of which one got stuck in my throat for like 10 minutes, FML!). I felt so awful for people having to deal with me and my snotty escapades I hid in the stock room in solitude, processing the delivery.

Today went a little better although I was happy to see my shift was over so I could hurry home and not have to worry about getting snot all over my face when blowing my nose, an action which has become a lot harder with my nose piercing (the stud gets caught up in my tissues ALL THE TIME). I want my nose ring back, and the fact the stud slipping out practically doesn't hurt me anymore, encourages me to go for it by the end of this month. Yay me!

On to other news, and the visual entertainment of today, I got this bag about a week ago at Urban Outfitters:

This baby was in sale for €12, I don't know what the original price was, probably around €54. They had the same type of bag a long time ago without the clip on top, which I liked even more than this one, but I didn't have a lot of money at the time so yeah. So this was pretty much meant to be! It's not like the bag I was looking for (I'm desperately seeking a vintage hobo bag, y'know with this typical half moon shape? Or the AllSaints Chepi Bag, that would do, too.) but I love it nonetheless. The zippers tear off my nailpolish though. But that's okay because they're a horrible shade of metallic blue right now. Metallic blue. I know. I don't know what I was thinking. This has nothing to do with the title of today's blog (and no I don't do weed either hahaha) by the way, it's this awesome disco/r&b/screamy song by Dance Gavin Dance. Their latest album is not awesome, but it's good. Did I mention I'm gonna get to see them in May? I just hope Jonny's not in jail being someone's bitch by then. Halfass replacement singers will not be tolerated.

Dance Gavin Dance - Blue Dream

3:03 to 3:26 pretty much sums up the mood I've been in the past few days (except for being ill and PMSing), yay!

I will now focus on resting so I will feel EVEN BETTER tomorrow. YEAH!

Adios amigos x

When the day seems lost from the start...

2011-03-14T15:59:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR

MOOD: AWESOME

And the blogger's block continues! Gosh I really don't know what to write about these days. Well, the writing's actually not too hard, but the visual entertainment... I just don't know what to post pictures of anymore!

In a desperate attempt to have something to blog about, I thought I'd tell you about the crap I drag along in my bag every day.

• My cellphone, a Nokia E5 (which still has the plastic sticker cover thingy on it, yeaaah!), despite the bad start, I've grown very fond of it. The past week or so, it seems to be glued to my hand 24/7. Which has little to do with the phone itself but more so with the texts I've been getting. Yay!

• My iPod, glued to my ears 24/7 when I'm on public transport. Just last week I think I broke something in my head by playing Cancer Bats a bit too loud. I ended up going "WHAT?" to everyone at work that day. Random fact: I've named my iPod Napoleon. Just for teh funz.

• Make-up bag. Along with the previous two items, essentials! I feel so lost without it, because well, let's just say I've grown so used to wearing lipstick, whether it's bright red or a subtle orangey tone, I feel so bare without it. Also, lipstick stops me from biting my lip. Nasty habit.

• Hand sanitizer! I'm not so much of an OCD neat freak, but let's just say public transport doesn't go hand in hand (hah) with hygiene.

• Tissues. For unexpected hormonal outbreaks (I admit, I'm a cry baby), snotty sneezes and OTHER PEOPLE'S RUNNY NOSES. SRSLY.

• Pens. Yeah.

• My key and key chain. When I go to concerts I hate to take a bag so I just stuff everything in my pockets. That's why I only carry the absolute necessary. (However a key chain that gives me 10% discount at the supermarket my mom works at isn't really all that necessary. But hey.)

• Hand moisturizer. Because all the sanitizer and moldy basements (don't ask) make your hands dry.

• Deodorant. Because I like to smell guud, obviously.

• My wallet. It's been with me since early 2009, which is rather surprising for something you get from Urban Outfitters. It's the perfect wallet though, it fits all the junk I stuff in it (maybe I should do a post on that as well, haha) and it's totally pretty, too. I often get compliments about it.

• Clothes pegs. You never know what they could come in handy for.

• Random ticket from my phone provider's office. I stopped by twice this week to get my plan altered and guess what? I'm still being overcharged. Nothing changed. DOUCHEBAGS. *shakes fist*

• Napkins. I'm a compulsive napkin thief. I'm one of those people who takes like 10 napkins when at Starbucks or McDonalds, because I always end up spilling when I don't have napkins. Which honestly sucks!

In other news, 6 more weeks until Groezrock and London, yay! If anyone has any tips for visiting London (I'll be there on Easter Monday and the day after, so I specifically need stuff to do on a bank holiday), do share!

To the anonymous comment on the previous post, about that thing I wrote about a few weeks ago: It's going very well, thanks for asking!

Have a great week you guys!

Hand over your heart, let's go home.

2011-03-01T17:34:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: CANCER BATS

MOOD: SMITTEN

Yay, the earrings I got off ebay came in the mail!

Feather Earrings from ebay seller lillyfeet, I paid somewhere around €5

I was sort of expecting them to be completely covered up by my hair when I'd put them on and indeed, this is actually the best shot out of, like, 35? (Excluding the ones in which I make retarded faces, of course. Ahem.)

Also I finally had the courage to get my hair cut. Long term readers will probably already know that I'll just nag about my hair for about a month before I actually go and do something about it. (Actually... That doesn't solely apply to my hair. Hah-haaah.)

Anyway, it looks pretty much the same except for the fact the hairdresser kinda sorta cut way too much fringe so my face looks really... Wide from the front. Oh well it'll grow back on in no time anyway, haha.

Other than that, my three day weekend consisted of listening to Cancer Bats (awesuuum), watching The Nanny (oh god I LOVED THAT SHOW as a kid!) and eating a shitload of COOKIES <3

Right now I'll enjoy the last day of my three day weekend by making me an awesome dinner. I see hamburgers and pizza in my near future so I'm gonna make me a nice salad. Yeaaah. How responsible of me!

Muchos luuuv!

The amount of love you wish to give is more than I can stand.

2011-02-24T23:14:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: STILL AWESOME

I would tell you all how bored I am, but when I get bored, I just stop being bored and be AWESOME instead. True story.

Unicorn dress - AllSaints

I'm such a one-store offender these days, I know! Even more repetitive is my eternal love for horse prints! As you might remember, I got this awesome silk top with flying horses all over it a while back. Well I just couldn't resist this silk dress with not only horses but zebras and UNICORNS, TOO. To top it off, they're wearing knight armors and jewels. Holy shit!

I did some digging in my closet a few days ago (sometimes it feels kinda like shopping, because of all the shit that's in there that I haven't seen in ages - my closet is like a different dimension) and found quite some nice things. I actually went in ~~for the kill~~ to get rid of some stuff seeing as my closet is overflowing (it looks like it's been projectile vomiting all over my room) these days. The conclusion? I just need a closet the size of my bedroom.

Now.

Maybe in the weekend I'll get around throwing some things out. Or not. Probably not.

/rant over.

Bye guys!

Sleep this away.

2011-02-21T18:30:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: CANCER BATS
MOOD: AWESOME

Hey everyone! I was planning to do this update yesterday but plans changed as I went to the WORST party in history on Saturday. It was all so much fun until about 2 AM (I vaguely remember laughing my ass off on the tram over nothing) and then everything pretty much turned to shit. Some dude poured beer over my head and I was so pissed (in both the British and the American meaning of the word) I punched him in the face.

Oops.

Anyway, as you can probably expect, I spent the next day, yesterday, in bed. Sleeping it off. Which is actually totally unrelated to today's blog's title, because Sleep This Away is an AWESOME song by Cancer Bats.

Cancer Bats - Sleep This Away

On to the whole point of this post: Outfit pictures! I bought this dress online a couple of weeks ago yet I'm still not sure whether or not I should keep it. When I first tried it on I spent a good 30 minutes trying to "fix it".

Levlon Dress in Midnight - AllSaints

The cowl neck is huge (could double as a hoodie for rainy days) and the sleeves add a lot of volume as well. Photographing this without making me look like a body builder was quite tricky though I swear, it doesn't look like that in real life! I hope...

It was €48, which, all in all, isn't a lot of money for a dress carrying this much fabric. I also really like the colour but guys! The fit! I'm so unsure! One day I love it and one day I'm like WTF VICKY WHAT WERE YOU THINKING.

Oh well. I'll just keep it for the time being.

I'm just going to hang on my bed a little and wait for my three-day weekend to come to an end. Hah. I'm such a workaholic.

Have a great week lovelies!

PS: Dear gawd I need a haircut hahaha.

PPS: For those who are wondering, yes I can smile!

OMFG YOU GUYS.

2011-02-18T01:34:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: COLD WAR KIDS
MOOD: FAN-FRIKKIN-TASTIC

I've been nagging about it for weeks, maybe even months and now it's finally here: A brand new layout. Yaaaay! It's cost me a lot of time and effort, and more than once I felt like driving my fist through my laptop's screen. But it's here!

Unlike the previous layout, which was unfinished (the header) and partly blatantly stolen (the sidebar) this one's all mine, and on top of that, I have a nifty, dynamic navigation bar that actually does something (haha) because yeah, I added pages with all sorts of useful information.

I tried to stay close to the old layout by leaving the lacey borders and some floral print for you to enjoy, and in case anyone still misses that old, kitschy, half ass layout, sorry bro you'll just have to live with this.

Enjoy the newness (and the probable errors) of the blog, while I go and rest my eyes.
Updates with pics and stuff will follow soon!

PS: Have this song I'm currently madly in love with. It gets me all warm and fuzzy inside, haaah!

Cold War Kids - Louder Than Ever

Jan. 23: We are the dead, reckoned and restless.

2011-01-23T18:13:00.003+01:00

MUSIC: CANCER BATS
MOOD: SMITTEN, STILL

The longer I maintain my blog and use lyrics from songs for my titles, the more I realize my taste in music is quite weird compared to my aesthetic. Granted, I like me some black nail polish, some leather here and there, but if you look at my room which is filled with cutesy sweet things, raging in a pit seems like the last thing I would do.

Cancer Bats - Golden Tanks

Everything from AllSaints (hahaha):

Desiree Top

Montfort Skull Necklace

Wyatt Ashby Denims

Damisi Boots

Well I assume it beats all-H&M outfits? Haha I can't help it you guys, this is what I actually wear on a day to day basis so yeah I guess you'll just have to live with it, just like I do! To be honest I walk out of shops empty handed a LOT these days, I can't seem to find anything nice enough to spend my money on. You see, the things I'd be buying now, are things I could wear once, maybe twice a week (considering the fact I work about 4 to 5 days a week, and Sunday is PJ day) so really. Why bother? AllSaints has become my shop haven, haha.

I did however, buy this neat jersey maxi skirt from New Look the other day. It was €5, even though the sales assistant refused to give it to me for the sale price at first, but I basically bitched my way into getting it for the correct price, haaah. My first Spring/Summer purchase, yay! I've got sunshine in my head!

I look quite sleepy in these pics btw, although I slept for like 12 hours straight, I still feel like I could use some nap time! Work, staying up late, early mornings and most of all, a shitty diet, it's all wearing me out! Also, my nose piercing is doing way better! Yay! If I'm lucky, I'll be going back to a nose ring in just three weeks. Awesome!

Other than that, I have little to tell you guys. However I would like to thank you all for the sweet comments! Even though I might not seem like I care (because I never reply - I suck, I know, it's just so time consuming and I'm so busy all the time), I really, really do!

I've been thinking about doing another Ask Me post, but since you all didn't have much to ask a few months ago, I doubt it'll be any useful, haha. Oh well, if you have any questions, just ask away. Once I have a few, I'll do a post about it, so just stay tuned I guess!

/rant over.

Have a superb Sunday lovelies! I'll be getting in my PJs soon, and hang in bed with some crisps and Sprite Zero, fuck yeah \m/

Jan. 20: Lady Danger

2011-01-20T20:49:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: WE ARE THE OCEAN
MOOD: SMITTEN AND TIRED

Hey all! I've been away for a while again, work is taking up a lot of my time lately, I even tried to do a blogpost this morning between the cereal and the coffee but in less than twenty minutes, it was basically impossible. I even tried to do outfit pictures with my new top but alas, I had to turn to Photobooth for this half ass shot:

Desiree Top, €28,50 AllSaints

Picture from the ASOS website. They sell it for >€80, lulz!

It doesn't fit me all too nicely (I'm too short haha), but it will once I attach some string to tie the waist in.

Also new in the marvelous Photoboothpic: The first time I spend so much money on make up! MAC's Lady Danger, a very matte lipstick in an orangey, bright red. It doesn't go well with my liner which is more of a pinkish red, so I'm going to have to splurge again I suppose, haha. And finally, as you can tell, I'm back to my old nose piercing. Aargh! I want my ring back! Unfortunately, what I thought to be an infection turned out to be a keloid. Yikes!

I'm having a major blogger's block right now so I guess I'll just leave it at this before I start ranting like a mad woman, haha.

I hope you're all having a nice week <3

Jan. 8: Kill it with kisses

2011-01-08T22:24:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
MOOD: SMITTEN

Work is so hectic right now! I'm used to my 24h weeks, which usually means I do 2 full days and 2 half days, but so far I've only had one day off this week, and I'll be working tomorrow as well! Though I'm not complaining, yesterday was a total pain (a co-worker pointed out to me that I looked like I was about to drool on the t-shirt I was folding in sleep mode) but today I just couldn't wipe the retarded smile off my face and I basically skipped and danced my way through work all day.

Oh well. On to the good stuff now!

So I told you guys I'd be updating with some pics that got stuck on my camera after a battery crash (in case you're thinking I'm a total dumbass right now: No I don't own an SD card reader haha) so here they are!

I used to wear these on a daily basis, and then I got kinda tired of it, but then I watched the second season of Dexter and basically fell in love with the idea of layering jewelry all over again due to Lila, I could punch her in the face for her annoying accent (I hate how she always puts emphasis on the last syllable of a word, FFS IT'S NOT DEXTAAAAAAAAAH IT'S JUST DEXTER. PERIOD.) but the clothes she wears are quite awesome.

Slip dress from H&M for €5 in the sale, yay!

Then this slip dress, probably the sexiest thing I own. I'm really not one to dress sexy, although at work I'm known to expose my bra a lot hahaha. I don't yet know how to wear it, IF I will wear it, but it was just too pretty and too cheap to let go of.

In other news, my nose piercing is still infected and it looks like it's about to give birth to an alien baby. Thankfully, it doesn't hurt!

I'm going to stop writing now because all I can think of is how badly I want to jump around, laughing like a retard because I'm so randomly happy. FUCK YES.

For what is left of it, have a great weekend guys.

Jan. 4: I'll die a sailor's wife

2011-01-04T20:20:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: WE ARE THE OCEAN

MOOD: GUUD

Hey again everyone! So one of my New Years resolutions was to try to update this blog more often! Fingers crossed that I'll keep this up for at least a while, haha. Anyway, I have a few new acquisitions to share with you!

Finally, a new phone! I have already encountered numerous problems and bugs so don't be surprised if I take it back next week, haha. It's the Nokia E5, it was €209 (too much for being such a pain in the ass) and it'll be my last Nokia. EVER. Also, Scarlett by Cacharel in the background, which I got for Christmas. I love the scent, it's... Quirky. The design of the bottle is marvelous as well, I love that I can leave this perfume lying around in the daylight and not bother too much about it, haha.

Tank from H&M, €6,95

I also attempted a pre-work shopping spree yesterday but it being the first day of sales in Belgium, it just got my blood pressure way high. It's amazing how sale signs turn (semi-) civilized people into animals. The search for River Island's red leather jacket ended in a pouty lip (SERIOUSLY why didn't I just buy it when I first saw it in September?!!), the playsuit from Urban Outfitters I wanted was only available in the nude-sih pink colour (which looks downright awful on my skin) and quite frankly, 90% of all sale items were total crap.

Even my meal at McDonalds couldn't make me feel better.

Anyway, I was walking through H&M when I saw this top. I had been eyeing it on the Dutch online shop for a while (goddamn H&M why can't us Belgians shop online, hmm?) because it looked so prettily oversized so I quickly grabbed it to try it on, together with this white, polka dotted chiffon-like dress that made me look like a nun, and it was way tight (oh holidays and your chocolate goodies?) so I went for a Medium in the end. So if you're interested in a loose fitted tank, get this one, two sizes up.

I also got this super sexy slip dress for €5 (€7 if you count the cashier's successful attempt at ripping me off), and I even took pictures of it and a close up of the bracelets I'm wearing in the previous picture (which includes this really cute skull bracelet from Asos, which I also got as a Christmas present) but alas, my camera's battery died on me and is recharging as we speak.

Oh hai guyz!

I did manage to creep this one in, why yes, a decent photo of my face with my nose piercing! This is probably the first frontal picture of myself that I actually like (for some odd reason I always look like a total mongoloid on frontal pics, while I really don't in real life... I hope), super yay! There's still a swollen patch of pinky/purple skin (ah gross I hope no one's eating) right above the wound, I hope that's normal...? Haha oh well, I'll drop by the shop if it doesn't clear up soon.

Other than that, you guys, I have not so much to share!

Adios!

Jan. 1: A trip down memory lane, part deux.

2011-01-01T19:58:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: OKAY

You guys! I hope your New Years Eve didn't suck as bad as mine did! Everything from the pre-dinner rants to the post-dinner urghs and aahs of having simply too much to eat was so much fun but as soon as we left the house it was like there were Sergeant Buzzkills everywhere! Kids were throwing cherry bombs at people during the fire work (which started 10 minutes late and thus midnight kinda just passed by like "Oh hey guys it's midnight... Happy New Year I guess?") drunken people kept harassing me and my friend after we left the "party"(we actually ended up at a fucking tavern where only the owners and their grandchildren were having a drink, wtf guys?) so alas I was in bed by 3 AM.

It was a total bummer and I can honestly say I will never celebrate New Years with this particular group of people, which I love, but simply don't share the same ideas about ringing in a new year with!

Okay I'll stop the nagging now (cause I'm getting angry again haha) and proceed to what this blog post really is about: A photodump of my favourite outfits of the past year!

Feb. 8 and Jan. 13

Alright the first picture is actually totally horrible I swear to god I don't really look like that in real life! Haha. Anyway, as you can tell I've never been a fan of truely wintery outfits. I'd rather just wear lightweight tops with a cardigan (or two cardigans) and thus bundle up in layers. In retrospect, I haven't really worn the dress on the right all that often, even though I still love it dearly! I busted the zipper after wearing it once in the Spring (don't you just hate it when fabric gets stuck in the zipper?) and I kind of forgot about it because it was so unbelievably hard to get in and out of the dress with the zipper being half undone, haha. This particular dress was actually on my list of dresses to wear for New Years, but when I put it on again I came to the conclusion it was a bit too casual/kiddylike to be wearing with tights and brogues (because there's no way in hell I'm wearing heels when going out haha).

May 13 & Jun. 27

I had a long break from serious blogging when in doubt about school and the path life was taking (basically because I was constantly in PJs haha) but then summer was here and the need to wear pretty outfits had taken over. The black maxi dress is a serious pain in the ass to wear because it's too long and shapeless for my frame so I have to wear it with a belt and a jacket in order for me to not look like a giant piece of cloth. Might have to figure something out before Spring is back! I do however, love how long my hair is in the left pic. Jesus I wish it would be that length again! I'm definitely going to try and grow it out for Summer, yet I'm keeping the straight bangs like in the right pic. The bag I'm wearing there is practically dying by the way, I bought it a few years back at Bershka and last Summer it made a true comeback! I'm actually sad about it ripping apart!

Aug. 3 & Aug. 30

These two outfits were typical for my fucked up hip situation. The truly loyal reader might remember that I had an inflamed tendon in my hip for which I had a shit ton of sessions of physiotherapy - well I wore nothing but leggings during that month and a half, haha. Also, I can't wait to wear my denim jacket again!

Sep. 15 & Dec. 2

I went through a little wardrobe crisis when I started my job, and I still sort of do. It's hard to find a balance between my "current" cutesy wardrobe and the London cool AllSaints does. I'm always joking that I need two closets, one for my "old" clothes and everything I got from AllSaints, haha, because really, the two are pretty much impossible to mix (except for the basic pieces, obviously)!

Overall, my style hasn't really changed all too much over the course of the year, unless you count make up, hair and trivia! I got a fresh hair cut (straight bangs) and started exploring the world of make up. My favourite look is most definitely the 50s pin-up thing with the liquid eye liner cat eyes and the red lips, it's pretty much my day to day look now. Also, I got my nose pierced, and as of last Tuesday, the stud has been replaced for a ring, yay me! Stay tuned for pics (even though the wound is slightly reddish right now, uh-oh)!

Again, you guys, have a wonderful 2011! Stay kewl!

Dec. 29: The Best of 2010

2010-12-29T17:34:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: HEAD AUTOMATICA

MOOD: GUUD

bouncing up and down from caffeine overdoses, learning how to draw, shmacking those who deserve a good shmacking, stranding in the middle of nowhere with smurf liquor before a party involving deep discussions on pokémon and communism, skipping school and getting hammered in the park followed by naptime on a bench at the tram stop, groezrock and getting into a two person tent with eight people after a jägermeister-induced mosh with my friends and a fabulous glassjaw concert, dragging our drunken friend to a taxi after missing the bus home, the zoo, rockfest and dubious tent stories and having jonny craig fall over on top of us, blackstarfest and even more dubious tent stories, hanging around with friends with tiny bladders and lots of booze, heat waves and drastic haircuts, drunken strolls down the city with balloons, chasing bunnies, a very long yet very fun trip to liège, seeing every time i die and sharing experiences in wardrobe malfunctioning with keith buckley in between two songs, applying for and being hired for a great job, getting a needle jammed through my nostril, halloween parties and getting tackled by a giant bunny, meeting alexisonfire and random talks about the best and worst of town names, getting tickets to city and colour and planning the trip to london, cocktails named swimming pool and post-work pizza, way too many ribs, more bunny chasing and hopefully, an awesome NYE party.

Overall, it's been a good year for me. This string of moments makes me look kind of like an alcoholic haha but fear not, I don't drink that often, but it seems that the moments in which I do indulge, turn out to be some of the best memories I have.

I wish you all the very very best for 2011 you guys <3 As Emarosa would say: A toast to the future kids!

Dec. 20: We're all lost and begging to be found

2010-12-20T18:45:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: ISLES & GLACIERS

MOOD: FUZZY

Two blog posts in two days, pretty awesome right? Today I'm back with an outfit post for which I really worked my Photoshop magic!

Isles and Glaciers - Hills Like White Elephants

Maxi Cardigan and Jeans from AllSaints

Tanktop and ring from H&M

Boots from New Look

Okay so I felt kinda bad for always using the same old backdrop (i.e. my bed) but honestly, I'm just way too fucking lazy to take my camera and my tripod on my bike to the local park. Also, riding the bike in this cardigan would be seriously difficult. Walking these boots in the snow would be mortal.

Anyway I'm just enjoying the full length of my cardigan as long as I can, because I'll probably take it to be tailored (read: shortened haha) sometime this week. I still don't quite know where to go, though I think there was a little shop in the street my school was, might just have to go there again (oh the memories!), and pick up a sandwich from that insanely guud sandwich bar while I'm there. Haha.

Oh and, if you read the post below, you might notice I found a necklace for my semi-precious stone (which I think isn't even semi-precious haha but whatever) pendant! It's plain silver and not antique silver, but I love the combination with my bird necklace.

Other than that, I'm already in PJs after running around in the snow, chasing these two little cuties!

Jonny

Roberto

Just a few months back they ran away like scary motherfuckers as soon as we opened the door to our backyard but now they actually come running towards me and my mom! (The difference food makes, haha.) We're profoundly in love with these little furballs, I just hope our neighbours (read: the rightful owners of these bunbuns) won't move away cause seriously, I'll cry my eyes out. The joy they bring, you can't imagine.

Also I recently downloaded Florence + The Machine's album because Dog Days Are Over keeps playing in the store. I quite like it, which is unique because I usually hate female vocals with a passion!

And that's pretty much all I had to say I believe. Have a great week you guys!

Dec. 19: Sleep Underground

2010-12-19T16:25:00.002+01:00

MUSIC: CIRCA SURVIVE

MOOD: AWESOME

God you guys I suck at blogging don't I? I don't really know what prevented me from doing my thing on Blogger, maybe it's the shitty light in my room (or the mess that covers my room) that's not really inviting for picture taking, but otherwise, I did have enough spare time, as all I've been doing lately is working and watching Dexter.

omnomnomnomnom Michael C. Hall <3

The trained eye will probably be able to tell: I borrowed my dad's 35 mm lens and I luvz it. It's weird not being able to zoom (and for outfit picture taking purpose, very annoying because my room is too narrow for full body pictures without a zoom out option haha) but the performance in badly lit rooms is awesome.

My itty bitty perfume collection! I have way more samples than bottles (I only have Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker and Armani Diamonds, though I'm getting Cacharel's Scarlett for Christmas, hehe), because I simply can't spend so much money on something so... Trivial? I don't know, it's a shame I always get used to the scent really quickly. Would switching around every day work? Tell me and I might just buy a perfume for every day of the week haha.

Circa Survive - Sleep Underground

This song is insanely beautiful, Circa Survive seems to be totally back on track after Blue Sky Noise, which was nice and catchy but a little too catchy, it kind of felt like a pop album because there was something generic about their new sound.

I barely ever wear jewelry in the Winter so I tucked everything into boxes, these pieces are the only ones I have "on display" right now. The purple stone is a pendant I got from my parents, I'm still looking for a plain long but thin necklace to hang it on, preferably an antique silver kind of colour. Mission impossible!

Also, I got this awesome maxi cardigan.

Dagda Maxi Cardigan in Cinder from AllSaints

(When you wear it the other way around, with the long part in the front I mean, it doubles as a snuggie! Hahaha!)

Long time readers will probably already know that I love all things maxi so now I have an extra piece, for those don't-feel-like-wearing-a-dress-or-skirt days! Also I had been dying to get a maxi skirt for winter but it's just so impractical, I'm happy I found something else to feed my need to feel like a princess. Some kind of dark morbid princess but it's still long and floaty enough to make me happy walking in it. I do have to have it tailored though, so perhaps if anyone knows a good place to get this thing shortened in Antwerp (oh what a long shot haha!) do share!

Last but not least, I've been looking into Primark's Spring collection, I sure do hope these items hit the one and only Belgian store because that'd mean I'd have to convince my mate to spend 3 hours on public transport with me again, hahaha. Goddammit I need a driver's license. Most of the items in these shots will hit the store in late January and some in late March. (Just go twice haha.)

I really like the styling and the backdrop in all these shots, but what I love most is the first outfit. The dress (yah unfortunately it's not a skirt and top combo, I guess you can't have it all) it super pretty and the shoes! Gah they look so nice, I might just have to try them on even though my heel always slips out of open shoes.

The lacey top, a dress with a beach on it and a bag that looks like it could have been from Urban Outfitters (though being from UO, it would be Utterly Overpriced). Awesome!

I can't wait for Summer to be here, I'm dying to wear all of my pretty dresses again!

I hope all of you are having a superb Sunday, I've been chasing bunnies, watching Dexter and doing a whole lot of blissful nothing all day.

Cheers!

Dec. 2: American Womanhood

2010-12-02T18:08:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: GUUD

Winter's making a big ass come back, yesterday it was -7°C with a Siberian wind that made going outside feel like walking in a giant freezer, oh my! It's been said that the temperature in the wind had dropped to -15°C, no shit! Work was quite a bummer really, the heater was in no way strong enough to compete with the freezing cold and now my back's all sore from standing in a chilly environment (I'd say it was like 10°C in the store) all day! Luckily, I froze to death in style.

Glassjaw - Convectuoso

Everything AllSaints except for the lacey bandeau bra that pokes out a bit, that's from H&M.

(And those jeans are really a dark indigo/blue colour, not black!)

I look kinda pregnant in the second pic, haha but no worries, it's the combination of the angle, the pose and the cut of this super pretty top. A top that has HORSES on it. Man, I fell in love as soon as I saw it. With the purple and the pink it's got just enough My Little Pony-swag. I should have done a picture of the back, it's got this drapey bit in the neck which is quite cool.

Speaking of cool, I did layer this with another top and a second cardi to fight the cold in secrecy.

Fresh snow has piled up on the old last night, and it seems like Winter will stay with us for another week. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas you guys! But for now, I'm once again enjoying my day off with Hank Moody (in case you haven't noticed I'm a huge Californication fan), Sprite Zero and my all-time favourite cookies! They're like Pim's but cheaper and way better cause they have the white chocolate layer instead of the dark chocolate Pim's now have. <3

In site news, the new layout I was planning to do kinda got demoted to the end of my to do list, right after cleaning my room (never gonna happen) and counting my shoes. Though I doubt anyone really cares haha.

Happy Thursday you guys!

Nov. 30: Forced to fight

2010-11-30T22:03:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: YAYZ

Yay! Yesterday I was at my mate's house and all of a sudden the whole town was covered in a little layer of snow! These first days of winter, I love it! Hot coco, cuddling up in scarves, skating instead of walking (okay that actually scares the shit out of me but it still has its charm)... As soon as the white snow turns into a brownish, muddy mixture I yet again long for Spring though.

Last week was payday, so I kinda splurged!

Everything AllSaints

Sedna Dress in Amethyst Spray, Wyatt Ashby in Indigo, Stallion Yahvi Top

Slightly different from my wishlist (very very slightly haha) but apparently the Stone Spray colour (which is way closer to a whiteish grey in real life) washes me out completely. Awesome! Okay I did sort of look like a smurf (read: it brought out the blue in my skintone) and we all know I have the length...

And to stay in the mood of this frightful weather, I dug up these old pics that I took somewhere in January (or December even?), did some cropping and some editing and voila! Good enough to last ~~until I get the chance to~~ until I stop being too lazy to do some new snowscapes!

Have an awesome week you guys, and to those who've been covered in snow as well lately: Enjoy some super fun winter times! (And try not to fall flat on your ass too much!)

Nov. 21: Yay!

2010-11-21T17:44:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR

MOOD: FANFUCKINGTASTIC

AAAH! I have such awesome news to share! Last week I learned that City and Colour will be playing 4 gigs next year, 3 in the US and 1 in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Me and Alisée immediately jumped on the pre-presale which had VIP tickets and the best seats. However, technical errors and logistic issues held us back from our precious tickets, so we had to settle for regular tickets in the presale, yet we failed to place an order again! I was at work when my dad texted me he wasn't able to get them, and when I read that during lunch break, I assumed they were sold out so texted my friend the bad news.

Then, my mom dropped by the store as she was shopping in the neighbourhood and she told me my dad was having technical problems. Suddenly I realised, DEAR GOD IT MIGHT NOT BE SOLD OUT! So I took my ten minute break, called my friend and there you go.

WE'RE GOING TO LONDON IN APRIL TO SEE CITY AND COLOUR!

There were only lousy seats left but honestly I don't care, I was so disappointed to find out we couldn't go that I almost cried. Seriously! It'll be such a different experience to the kind of concert I usually go to, I mean, seats? Not standing front row? No stage diving? Huh?

Haha on that note, I might go and see Bring Me The Horizon and Deez Nuts (in my least favourite city in Belgium hahaha) in January depending on my work schedule (January is sales month in Belgium, so a very busy month for those working in retail), I also got tickets for Dance Gavin Dance in May, and I'm definitely going to Groezrock again this year on April 22 and 23, for Every Time I Die! In fact, City and Colour is the day after I get back from Groez. It'll be a painful week (read: way too little sleep) but an awesome one!

In fashion related news, here's a little wish list:

Everything AllSaints (of course)

Sedna dress in Stone spray, Ettin Ashby in Indigo, Stallion Yahvi Top

I'd fallen head over heels in love with the print on that top as soon as I saw it. It's so nineties trash meets '10 chic, I need it in my life! Unfortunately I need money first haha.

So here I am, lying on my bed with some Sprite Zero, in my jammies, watching Californcation and doing nothing at all. How are you enjoying your Sunday?

Nov. 16: Such fragile moments we've shared.

2010-11-16T16:08:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR

MOOD: FANTASTIC

Lacey waistcoat from Urban Outfitters for only €10,99

My god you guys. I probably have mentioned it before, but I really do need a driver's license. I'm 20 and still haven't even touched the wheel once, omfg. Public transport is beginning to be a bitch, with smelly people, freaky people (read: middle aged men trying to touch your knee), obese people (read: if you're twice as wide as your average bus seat, please don't come and sit next to, or better, on top of me), etc etc etc.

So that's pretty much what I go through at least 3 days a week. In my little home town there's literally nothing to do (although they claim to have an awesome shopping boulevard but in fact it's just a town square with a church, a café and a hair dresser with one or two shops that go bankrupt every year) and considering the fact I cut ties with all people from secondary school, I have no business here. So I go to the city, by bus.

Anyway. I still have no new phone, damn Nokia stopped producing the E63 so I'll have to pay an extra €100 for the E5, although it is BUTT UGLY. Oh well, at least it has decent Wifi. I hope.

Nokia E5, about €230 in most shops.

So if anyone has an opinion about this type (other than "goddamn that's an ugly phone" haha), please do share! This is actually my fourth choice and I'm beginning to get desperate!

Other than phone hunting, I have been shopping just a wee bit. The waistcoat you can see is an item I've been ogling for months, as it is the perfect layering piece for the incredibly warm and evenly lame drum & bass parties I get dragged along to. It was originally €42 (Urban Outfitters = crazy ass motherfuckers), then €27 and eventually, €10,99. Fuck yeah.

Also, I finally got me a winter coat! It's pretty much a basic black wool coat, but it's not double breasted, and it has awesome shoulder pads haha. Looks totally awesome with my military boots.

Anyway, this mish mash of information is all I had to share with you today. I hope it wasn't all too boring to read through haha.

Nov. 10: The number no good things can come of.

2010-11-10T21:02:00.000+01:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: GUUD

Hey there again, readers! Today was cold and dreary, it was extremely hard to get out of bed and do these pictures! I've been short on sleep for a while because of doing absolutely nothing till like 1 AM in the morning and having to get up at 7, and it's starting to show (read: bags under eyes), hence the pose haha.

Everything from AllSaints

I love the muted colours of this dress and cardigan, they match perfectly and there's something about the soft tan and the slate grey that make this ensemble so much more day appropriate than it would be if it were all black. Also, not only the cardigan has pockets, the dress does too, which is always a pro for me.

Today I went out in a slightly different outfit however, returning my new cell phone, the Nokia C3 which is complete and utter shit. Seriously, if you consider buying this phone for the wifi, don't do it because the wifi doesn't work 60% of the time and Nokia doesn't seem to be looking for a solution. Alas I forgot to bring my recharger (so dumb!) so I'll have to go back Friday, pay an extra €40 and go for the Nokia E63. If anyone feels strongly about this phone, do tell! I hate reading a million reviews haha.

Okay that's about all I have to say I think. Have a "great" Remembrance Day tomorrow. I don't know how far the holiday reaches, but I for one have a day off and I'm gonna enjoy it by staying in in my PJs all day long <3

Nov. 7: Flashing lights and racing hearts

2010-11-07T17:06:00.001+01:00

MUSIC: ALEXISONFIRE

MOOD: YAY

You guys! Sorry for the negligence! Although negligence is the wrong word here, I have tried a few times to write something decent, do some pictures etc but nothing seemed to turn out right. I guess I've been having a bit of a blogger's block (awesome alliteration) lately.

Anyway, life is still being awesome. Work is super duper. Halloween was epic until a giant rabbit tackled me and I fell on my hip (aww!), which was actually quite ironic considering I was dressed as a leopard. (I needed a last minute costume so I went to Claire's and got me this little kit with gloves, a tail and a headband with ears, threw on some leopard printed clothes and drew on whiskers with my trusty eyeliner) New friends were made, sangria and vodka was mixed and a lot of pizza was eaten.

Also, I saw Alexisonfire for the second time! The setlist wasn't all too awesome, basically because 14 out of the 18 (!!) songs they played were from Crisis and Old Crows/Young Cardinals, which happen to be my least favourite albums (read: I really don't like OC/YC). The meet and greet was neat though, had a nice little chat with everyone, yet how Chris managed to stay out of our pictures is a huge mystery.

Me and Dallas, I cut off my best friend because I can recall he said he looked like shit in the photo so I assume he wouldn't want to be on my blog like that haha.

Me and my friend with Ratbeard, George and Wade (dammit Chris), I look like a frikkin midget here hahaha.

The poster (Dallas drew me a fucked up smiley face and Wade even did a little -probably accidental- heart) we got with the meet and greet package. Didn't quite know where to store it so decided to tack it to the wall. I feel 13 years old again. Should I kiss the poster before I go to bed? Hahaha.

In other news, yay for lasting lipstick! While I was looking for a Halloween costume I decided to jump into the Yves Rocher store which was having 50% discounts on a hell of a lot of items, and I picked up a very nice lip liner and lipstick for like €10.

The box next to my new make up goodies is a little gift I got from my favourite aunt, whom prior to last week's visit, I hadn't seen in over a year. I fell in love with it because it's got a hummingbird on top and as most of you probably know, I can't resist things with birds on it!

In fashion related news, I'm afraid I don't have much to share right now as I've been utterly uncreative with my wardrobe lately. I will however show you the newest additions to my wardrobe:

Everything from AllSaints

Bex Dress, Cerulean Cardigan in Slate, Brogue Dress

Damisi Boot, Sprite Boot

Can you guess what store I work at? Hahaha. Again sorry for the lack of outfits, I intended to take some pictures today but my camera's battery died on me, sorriez.

Have a great week everyone!

Oct 22: We dance amongst our sins

2010-10-23T00:56:00.002+02:00

MUSIC: DEAD AND DIVINE

MOOD: SUPERB

Life's been treating me well lately! My new job's quite awesome, it took me a while (a full two days haha) to get into it but I'm really enjoying it. The atmosphere is great, so much better than back in the days I worked at Urban Outfitters. That sure had its good days but fuck some people there were frustrated!

Anyway, today I had one of my many days off (oh the joy of working part time!) and my mate got his chest piece's outline done! Watching the horror and the blood kinda made me want to get started on my sleeve. I've been thinking about a proper tattoo (and by proper I mean something of a significant size, I'm sorry if I offend anyone but some script on the wrist or a star behind your ear are permanent doodles, not tattoos imo) for a few years now and I really think a half sleeve is the way to go.

But today, to compensate, and because I felt really sorry for my bleeding friend, I got my nose pierced.

Yay me for not getting cold feet! (The piercing shop was literally three doors from the tattoo shop, and also about 10 doors away from the store I work at, haha! Shinfo: The guy who tattooed my friend tattooed my manager a few days ago - What a small world!) I even stunned myself with how calm I was, needles usually freak me out. A lot.

The needle driving through the cartilage was quite a strange sensation. It was painful, but not *OMFG I'M GONNA DIE* painful, and immediately afterwards, I cried a river from my left eye (which is a normal reaction, I was told) and then half of my face got numb. Hah.

It's still a bit sore now, and I can't wait for 10 weeks to pass so I can put a ring through it. Yay!

Meaningful posts coming, someday!

Have a great weekend <3

Oct. 16: Dine with wolves

2010-10-16T15:43:00.002+02:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: AWESOME

Hello everyone, and welcome new followers! Still no new layout as you can tell, but no worries the design is somewhat completed, just have to make the html work. In other news, if you've read my previous post you might remember that I had applied for a job and was waiting for them to call me about whether or not I got an interview? Well, I did get one and it was yesterday, it went pretty good. And guess what, this morning I received a call back - I can start Tuesday. Yay! I'll work part time at an awesome clothing store in Antwerp!

The past week's been full of lazy PJ days, so I have no pictures to share except for this awesome drawing of me by Liam McMahon!

Long time readers and Lookbook fans might recognize the outfit photos this was based on, click here! Also, my bangs have undergone some tweaking (I can see again!), Every Time I Die is coming to Groezrock (FUCK YEAH) and I'm on Twitter!

Have a great weekend you guys! <3
More entertaining blog posts soon, I hope!

Oct. 7: In dog's blood we will all drown.

2010-10-07T18:04:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: ALEXISONFIRE

MOOD: GOOD

I'm slowly getting super duper excited about seeing Alexisonfire in November! (Even though Artist Arena, the organisation that handles the tickets, still owes me €23.) I was kind of bummed out after listening to their iTunes Originals shizzle, because No Transitory, possibly my favourite song of all time, got totally butt fucked. Seriously, wtf were they thinking covering a perfect song?
The new song however, doesn't fuck butt but kicks butt! (Jesus I'm lame today.)

Alexisonfire - Dog's Blood

In other news, I have applied for a job, yay me! I don't want to jinx things, but once I know more, whether or not I'll get an interview, I'll write all about it.
For visual entertainment, and probably what you came here for in the first place; Have some pictures of what I wore two days ago!

Blazer and bag from Zara / Sweater from H&M / Jeans from Mango / Lace up booties from Urban Outfitters

Why yes, something else than a cute dress, overknee socks and brogues, haha. Even better - I'm wearing pants. I hardly ever wear this blazer because I always feel it makes me appear shorter than I already am? I don't know, but the shoulder details look kinda cool, with the padding and the little embellishments.

Also, I'm working on a new layout for this blog. I'm trying to maintain the cuteness but make it slightly more minimalistic and this time, do a matching sidebar (for those who haven't been reading for that long: the sidebar is a leftover of the template I used). This layout took me about two weeks I think so I'm hoping a new one will be ready sometime next month haha.

In the meantime, bear with me if I seem to be a little bit absent. Html makes my skin crawl so in the process of doing a new layout, I might feel like drilling my fist through my laptop's screen, which is not the kind of sentiment you'd wish for when you're blogging.

Muchos lovin' you guys!

Oct. 3: Prey on the faint of heart

2010-10-03T17:52:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: EVERY TIME I DIE

MOOD: GUUUUUD

Another week of negligence, I guess I've been busy attending parties, eating left over cake (don't worry it's ice cream cake so it won't leave me food poisoned) and still walking on clouds from last week's Every Time I Die concert.
In a few weeks, I'll see Alexisonfire! They're headlining so I really hope they'll play lots of older songs, but the VIP tickets make up for a lot. I'm just hoping the place won't be crawling with 15-year olds screaming they want to nail Dallas.

Anyway, on to the goodies! Monday morning (well it's was 1 PM but the mail man going loco on the door bell awoke me so to me it was still morning) this baby, my birthday dress, from Dixi arrived in the mail for me:

And I love it! The colour is a bit less grey and a bit more icey blue/green, a beautiful shade for Winter if you ask me! The materials used are so soft, the tule is probably the smoothest tule I've ever laid hands on. I also really dig the hook and eye fastening in the front as I'm always fighting side- and back zippers haha.

It literally took me days to choose which dress to get, for obvious reasons:

So much pretties! Also up for sale is a selection of vintage knits (instant coziness, they just don't make them like they used to), gorgeous rings, and a lot of cutesy little dresses.

And because she's so lovely, Amy the shop owner is offering you all (and me haha) a discount code! Use DISCOMEMEETSDIXI10 for 10% off any order over £20, throughout October! Hurry, cause these gems can run fast!

Have a great Sunday you guys <3

Sep. 28: Pursuing endless love to endless depths.

2010-09-28T19:45:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: EVERY TIME I DIE

MOOD: ON CLOUD 9

w00000t you guys! Yesterday was my 20th birthday, had a good day, but what really matters, is the day before. I told you I was going to see Every Time I Die the 26th. Well, it was awesome.

I endured All Shall Perish, standing right next to the speakers with my friends, second row. It was boring, and not only because I didn't know (read: liked) any of the songs, but also because if you stand somewhere at the side, you miss out on all the fun.
For Every Time I Die, against my friends' advice, I got myself a spot front row, right in the middle. I looked around and I saw nothing but guys, well on their way to getting incoherently drunk. Oh fuck.

Much to my surprise, it was quite alright! Only a few people stage dived, I got a few pushes and elbows in the back, no biggie! I had space to dance like a crazy motherfucker. Awesomesauce!
But the best part of it all, was in between songs. Keith was reaching between his legs (wtf) and made a remark about the hole in his pants. Mind you, I always wear my ripped up pair of skinnies to concerts because I don't want to spoil my new pair.
So I just yelled his name, I was surprised he even heard me and said "Me too man, big gaping holes!" and then we high fived and he said we'd talk about it later. Hahaha.
Call me a crazy fangirl, but I'm pretty sure he was pointing at me when he sang "I am not done with you" during After One Quarter of a Revolution, and when he complimented the front row for being awesome.

Every Time I Die - After One Quarter of a Revolution

Sad thing is they only played 30 minutes, way too short if you ask me, and I'm not sure what was going on behind me, but I've heard the overall atmosphere was slightly too peaceful and quiet. Boo! Lazy immobile fuck heads give Belgians a bad name!

After enduring Terror, we kinda just hung out a bit, circulating through the venue, trying to find any member of the band. After about half an hour we got bored of it (I was out of money so I couldn't afford any more beer) and went to sit outside. I was slightly disappointed, because I would have loved a post-concert chat. Literally seconds later, Keith came outside so I kind of just jumped on him haha. He asked me how my pants were, and we had a lovely conversation.
And then we took a picture. (Because well, PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.)

And then he went to eat a hot dog and I skipped away with my friend, happy.
This shit's golden. <3

Sept. 20: On to the answers...

2010-09-20T17:45:00.029+02:00

MUSIC: HEAD AUTOMATICA

MOOD: BORED

Hey everyone, and welcome new followers!

First off some name dropping: Thank you Clotilde, Gwyneth and Linnéa for featuring me or one of my photos on their blogs! Check them out! n__n

It's been another wacky few days! I'm not getting too much into it because it involves the same things as ever: Screaming, phone, "boyfriend". I don't even try talking about it with anyone anymore because the closest thing to a reply I expect is a bitch slap.
I wouldn't blame them, really. This shit's fucked up.

Anyway, straight on to the point of this post: The answers to your questions!

Dial V for Vintage asked:
- "What's your favourite beverage?"
I love McDonalds' diet coke with lots of ice. I don't know how they do it but somehow the coke I get there is so much better than when I pour myself a glass at home.
In the category alcoholic beverages, I go for sangria. No headaches, no upset stomach, just good stuff at a really cheap price.

- "What are your favourite make up products?"
I never leave the house without mascara. But unless it's just a quick trip to the supermarket or the doctor or whatever, I use liquid eyeliner for a cat eye sort of look! I don't know how I lived without it for so long, as a pencil really never did the job, and if you're having difficulties putting it on neatly, try applying eye pencil before using the liquid eyeliner!
A good red lipstick goes a long way, too. (Or a bad one, I'm always reapplying!)

Gosh eyeliner - Yves Rocher mascara - Catrice lipstick 100 Lasting Passion - Essence liquid eyeliner

- "If you had to wear one outfit for a year straight, what would that be?"
Being the practical mind that I am, I would go for something with a lot of layers so it could be wearable in all seasons. Yeah, a tights + overknee socks + dress + brogues combo, probably. But which dress? I have no idea. Maybe my polka dotted one. Or my grey pleated one. Hmmm...

Meg asked:
- "I'm in love with your hair! How do you style it? *__*"
Thank you! It's a whole process really. For starters, I wash my hair before I go to bed. In the morning, I'll just get the whole thing wet again, wait for 30 minutes (you could skip this, but for me it helps to tame frizzyness), seperate my fringe from the rest of my hair and blow dry with a diffuser until it's dry. I also straighten my bangs, and I use two products, one for volume and one for hold, that I get from the hair dresser.

Passant asked:
- "PLZ tell me is that your natural hair color? It's so shiny I love it, how do you keep it healthy like that?"
All natural, in fact, I've never even considered dying my hair another colour. I wash my hair about 3 times a week using either Head & Shoulders for Men (I just like the smell haha I don't even have dandruff) or John Frieda's Frizz Ease shampoo (though that just makes my hair frizzier), and only brush it before I wash it. Also, I never use hair spray or mousse, they both dry your hair out completely, which makes your hair look very dull and causes split ends.
When it comes to hair care products, my rule of thumb is less is more really.

Anonymous asked:
- "Where did you study graphic design? What was your school like?"
St Lucas in Antwerp! The atmosphere in the school was very relaxed. In studio classes, it was normal to listen to music, escape for some coffee, or even answer your phone (although I always found that to be slightly rude). I had awesome and less awesome professors, super class mates and not so super class mates.
I didn't really learn much graphic design, mostly due to my own stubbornness, but I got a lot better at drawing! I used to suck so bad haha. I would love to get back into it next year, but I would go to a different school. I just don't agree with the teaching methods at St Lucas - we basically only learned from our mistakes, and those of other students! I don't mind some trial and error, but they really took it to a whole new level.

This was part of the notorious Zebra Assignment. We had to do 6 of these advertisements, spread over 3 months. Needless to say, we all hated zebras with a passion by the end of those 3 months.

Forever Petite asked:
- "How do you edit your photos, levels and colour balance?"
Well for starters, I shoot in RAW, which gives you ultimate control. I edit the whitebalance, take out a lot of the black (especially when I take pictures in my bedroom, which is very dark), take out the noise if I have to... From then on, it all really depends on the colours in the picture, the atmosphere I want to create, etc. There are a million ways to create one effect. Play around with the blending modes (for example: copy and paste your photo, make the copied layer black and white and change the blending mode to 'screen'), play with the opacity, etc. Also there are a lot of tutorials and even premade actions out there, from the washed out effect to a seventies feel!

Anonymous asked:
- "How did you make that crumble? Oh it looks so delicious haha."
It comes out of a frikkin package! Insanely awesome right! If you can't find something alike in the store, or just prefer to make your own, here's Nigella Lawson's version!

Bobbie asked:
-"I'm new to your blog but I love your style! How much was your satchel from the *home is for the heartless* look?"
Welcome, and thanks! :D It's been over a year since I bought it from a random Asian ebay store, but I think it was about €21 including shipping. Also it was advertised as "tan" but it really is poopy brown!

The public's favourites (I always get comments about these when I wear them!), brogues from New Look and my satchel from eBay.

And that's it for today! I'd also like to assure everyone that I read and appreciate every comment that I get! In the future, I'll probably gather up your questions and steadily work on a post like this.

I would close off with a "Have a great Monday everyone!" but again, I'd only really expect a bitch slap haha.

Sep. 15: Home is for the heartless.

2010-09-15T19:09:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: PARKWAY DRIVE

MOOD: SMITTEN ♥

This should be the moment that I go "omfg you guys Circa Survive was epic!" but unfortunately, my mate, who gave me a ticket for my birthday and who was supposed to take care of room reservations (we weren't going to be able to get back to Antwerp after the gig so we were supposed to spend the night in Amsterdam), decided not to take care of room reservations. So, for the second time in a few months, I miss out on Circa Survive due to mere negligence. I'm sad.

So I decided to cheer myself up a bit and I went shopping yesteday. We had a shopping spree planned for our second day in Amsterdam anyway so I thought OH SCREW THIS and got on the bus downtown.

Well, I walked into River Island (holy crap what a tacky store!) saw this dress, fell in love, saw the price tag, had my heart broken, tried it on anyway and went bankrupt.

It was €40, not too bad for a dress so full of little details but still a big bite out of my current budget. I'm in the process of mentally preparing for a job (jesus I sound like a lazy fuck) so I currently have no income whatsoever and rely on my savings to splurge.

Well, you only live once right. Which brings me to a different topic! Food! I'm having major munchies lately, and last week I made some jumbleberry crumble, and ate it in bed. OH THE LIFE I HAVE <3

(Yes I made the stupid mistake to paint my toe nails bright blue, and yes I have plaid PJ pants!)

I just couldn't resist having a few bites before doing the picture haha. It was so guuuuuud, hurray for crumble mix packs and frozen fruits! The pack said it contained crummies for 6 to 8 servings. I ate more than half of that spread over two days, haha!

Remember, questions can be asked in the 'Ask me anything' post below! Only one of you took advantage of the opportunity, tssk! (All fine by me, but I just know some anon will show up after and complain that I never reply to questions/don't interact with my readers enough. JUST SAYIN'.)

All rants aside, happy frikkin wednesday you guys!

Sep. 8: Ask me anything!

2010-09-08T15:21:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: CIRCA SURVIVE

MOOD: LAZY

Some of you might have noticed that I don't always reply to questions asked in a comment. Well that's basically because I never know where to reply, some people leave anonymous comments, others only have a blogger profile and no blog, etc. I'm not a stuck up bitch that feels too good to reply to questions, trust me, haha.

It may come as a surprise, but I'm not too involved in this whole blogging world. I barely follow blogs myself, and the ones I really like are in my blog roll.

So if anyone out there has a question to ask me, whether it's about my shoe size or how many cousins I have, ask away! I'll be happy to reply in a blog post later on.

And for visual entertainment, I'll post these little drawings I have made over the past few... months?

My Hollow Girls, this is kinda old (dates from that Girls in Glasses t-shirt fad god I really hated that.)

Epic duck has probably been on here before. (Obviously crooked beak is not so obvious irl.)

An owl that turned out looking a lot like the O RLY owl.

That's it for today. I'll just continue being lazy now. Have a good one y'guys!

Sep. 5: Black and gold.

2010-09-05T16:54:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: CITY AND COLOUR

MOOD: AWESOME

Hey everyone, and welcome new followers! It's been quite a week, full of fun (trip to Liège with Alisée), scary shit (hearing voices in the house after watching the pilot episode of Twin Peaks) and erm, more scary shit (two lesbian girls filming me on the train, what the fuck?) and luuuv.

So, Liège was first and foremost, VERY FAR AWAY. All in all I think we spent about 7 and a half hours on trains and busses, hahaha. But it was never boring, I had a really good salmon sandwich (it occurred to me that moment that my life seems to revolve around food) and of course, we went to Primark.

Some simple black brogues for €11. Makes life (read: choosing what shoes to wear) so much easier.

Ever since seeing this picture of Nicole Richie wearing a pretty lace camisole I've been trying to find one similiar, and this is quite a good substitute for €9.

Flower hairband for €1,50, another box to check on my little wish list.

And last but not least, these cuties for €5 each. Yay.

Why Primark decided to open their only Belgian store in dingy Liège, we'll never know, but we went there anyway and crossing the language border is like going on a mini vacay so I'm not complaining.

Also, the weather's been so delightful the past few days. Unfortunately I have a massive cold and I really don't feel like getting out of my PJs so I stay inside the privacy of my bedroom, with the window wide open.

Someone asked me to do a post about my room but it's currently such a mess so I'll spare you the pictures until I get around tidying and cleaning the place. My mom always says my room is like a shoe store after a hurricane haha.

To close off, have this beautiful performance by City and Colour:

City and Colour - Sometimes (Bravo! Live Concert Hall)

Enjoy your Sunday you guys!

Aug. 30: all your fears are mine.

2010-08-30T19:51:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: THE SOUND OF ANIMALS FIGHTING

MOOD: ALRIGHT

I'm getting old. I mentioned I was going to a party Saturday, well, not only was I constantly yawning and more up for a cup of coffee than a red bull, some random kid called me ma'am. No jokes. I knew the crowd would be fairly young, that's usually the case on d&b/dubstep parties (I don't really go there by choice, in case you're wondering) but damn. Half of the boys in there didn't even have their voice drop. (The grammar in this sentence bothers me and I've actually stared at it for minutes on end trying to figure out the proper way to say this, but wtf total mind block.)

In a month I'll be 20. I'm trying to make changes for myself, I really want to get into a sport (preferably something that involves punching and kicking things) because I feel very, very lazy lately. And I'm slowly starting to look for a job. Maybe one day I'll return to graphic design but for now, nah. Not yet.

Yeah, August and I'm wearing a scarf. I'm extremely fed up with the weather. Also, physiotherapy gets me sleepy so don't mind the absent gaze going on haha. I have two more sessions of utter horror to attend and then my hip should be as good as new.

Happy Monday y'guys!

Aug. 26: Get out.

2010-08-26T18:15:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: CIRCA SURVIVE

MOOD: ~~PISSED OFF~~ GOOD

I'm so, so looking forward to seeing Circa Survive! I love my best friend for giving me tickets for my birthday. A few months back we wanted to go see them in erm, Cologne I think it was, but we never got around getting the train tickets and shit. So them coming to Amsterdam (whether or not it's closer, I don't know) is AWESOME.

I keep listening to Get Out at the moment, fits the mood I'm in right.

Circa Survive - Get Out

But my all time favourite has to be Semi Constructive Criticism. If they don't play it, I will make it my business to steal Anthony Green's shoe.

Anyway, I wanted to share this photo of the pretty little waist belt that came in the mail yesterday!

Red waist belt from a very friendly ebay seller here!

I had come to a point that I didn't care about price or design anymore, I just wanted a frikkin' red belt that fit me haha. I paid about €8,50 including shipping, so I guess that's not too bad.

Is it freaky that I'm actually looking forward to wearing my jacket again? Right now the weather is so weird I just don't know what to wear when I go outside. Yesterday I was on the bus and there was this girl with nothing but shorts and a tube top with slippers. It was raining and I'm pretty sure it wasn't over 21°C.

I guess I'm not the only one confused about the weather.

I'm all for a heatwave in September (yes please!) but right now, this odd mix between Fall and Summer, I don't like it. Too much humidity.

I'll be going to a party Saturday and dammit, I just don't know what to wear. I would love to wear a dress or a skirt but then I can't wear the only shoes that don't kill my feet after a night of standing (read: my Converses). Hmmphr.

Aug. 26: Too far to stop

2010-08-26T15:50:00.002+02:00

MUSIC: EMAROSA

MOOD: LIKE A LIVING PIECE OF IRONY

For a second I wanted to delete at least a part of the blogpost prior to this one, because it's all over. Yeah, major dumpage has been going on yesterday. It's funny, I have my iTunes on random and I keep searching for songs that don't remind me of him.

Just some advice for all of you that spend a lot of time traveling to and from your boyfriend: Don't play your favourite music in the train/car/bus/jet/boat/whatever, unless you want to have to avoid it all when it's over.
Is it bad that that is the one thing that's bothering me most right now? I guess it's because I've been through this exact same thing before. Exact same thing. Same guy, yeah.
*facepalm*

Anyway, on to the fun bits. I did a little wishlist!

Red cardigan with hearts - New Look

Navy cardigan - New Look

Red flower headband - Topshop

White tea-length skirt - Some random Asian webshop

Feather earrings - Google (sorry haha)

This little cutie keeps showing up in our backyard so I thought I'd just include him (her?) in my list haha. I named it Jonny (like Jonny Craig), because it's ginger and has major talent (read: being incredibly cute).

My dad took this picture and mailed it to me while I was being miserable in my room, how sweet is that? (I did edit the colours a bit just so it would match my blog's aesthetic y'know haha)

I need a pet bunny now.

PS: Thanks to Eva for giving me the Stylish Blogger Award, due to circumstances involving screaming on the phone and such, it kinda slipped my mind.

Aug. 24: Somewhere between the penance and the patience.

2010-08-24T14:54:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: CLOSURE IN MOSCOW

MOOD: WELL, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN PENANCE AND PATIENCE.

I have absolutely nothing to blog about, so I thought I'd show you what exactly it is that's been keeping me from blogging.

Yes, along with 3 million other bloggers, I'm a fan of 500 Days of Summer. In my defense, I only really watched it because it has Matthew Gray Gubler. But somewhere along the way I really really started to enjoy that film. It's probably the part where Summer says she's "not looking for anything serious" that convinced me.

Oh and, nomnomnomnomnom fast food in the couch.

This could count as the worst outfit pic in the history of this blog haha, but I'm just trying to fill some webspace here. Can you tell I get extremely uncomfortable when someone else is taking my picture?

The complete absence of bright blue walls, a massive tv, a couch and at least 3 guitars, someone else taking my picture? You're right, it's not my bedroom. It's home.

A few days ago I started to get really tired of my music so I turned to last.fm for some new stuff and so discovered Closure In Moscow. Am I totally way behind on things if I tell you I had never even heard of them? Well, I love this song.

Closure in Moscow - We Want Guarantees, Not Hunger Pains

It sounds like a mix of old Dance Gavin Dance and old Saosin. Nice. Which reminds me, I'm completely stoked about Jonny Craig reuniting with DGD. Awesome, I'm hoping for an album similar to Downtown Battle Mountain, but I'm thinking it'll be an Emarosa part deux. Oh well, something to look forward to!

And in MORE news, I'm gonna go see Circa Survive! My awesome best friend Steve arranged a very early birthday present. We're going to Amsterdam on September 13 <3 So this is what the last quarter of 2010 looks like:

SEPT. 13 - Circa Survive in Amsterdam

SEPT. 26 - Every Time I Die in Antwerp

NOV. 2 - Alexisonfire (VIP tickets!) in Brussels

Awesomesauce! Have a rad week you guys.

Aug. 16: A sinner at gunpoint.

2010-08-16T18:44:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: GLASSJAW

MOOD: GOOD

Lookbook seems to be bug-free again, hurray. I was glad to read in the comments that there are people that agree with me on the weight issue they have going on.

About the outfit, I'm addicted to these socks! I probably wouldn't wear them out often with a skirt as short and tight as this (I felt a wee bit uncomfortable to be honest) so I'm looking for a skirt that is a little thicker and longer. Anyway, I wanted to wear this City and Colour top but aftr being in the washer for so many times (this was my absolute favourite tee a year and a half ago) it kind of shrunk and lost its shape a bit. Result? A boxy t-shirt with an awkward length. Tucking in is really the only answer.

So now it looks like there's a deer hiding in my skirt haha.

I started to notice that I only really like to make outfits with my new clothes (don't you just love coming home and trying everything on again?) so I'm trying to be at least a bit creative with my old clothes, too. The cardigan is something I bought back in the days I worked at Urban Outfitters (Nov. 2008!), those days were golden really. Employee discount pwns. The cardigan has this deep, rich bordeaux colour. I was eyeing the grey version at first, but now I'm happy those were sold out. Every excuse is good to break out of your comfort zone.

Also, I'm aware of the fact I need to cut my fringe. Again. Good thing my mom has a steady hand, because I don't. You know, everyone always says I looks exactly like my mother but I never really saw it. But the older I get, the more I see it. It's kind of freaky! Like looking into the future.

I doubt anyone's even reading this, but in case you are, and you like Glassjaw (or any kind of post hardcore really) you should listen to their new single.

YEAH, OMG MUCH. NEW GLASSJAW MATERIAL.

Glassjaw - All Good Junkies Go To Heaven

I'm incredibly happy I had the chance to see them live at Groezrock in April, though another concert in a smaller venue (preferably a low stage hehe) would be even more awesome. Oh the insane money I'd pay.

Aug. 12: the thunder that i stole from your windowsill.

2010-08-12T20:37:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: VANNA

MOOD: GOOD

I measured my waist the other day, when I was yet again searching ebay for a nice red belt (eyeing one as we speak) and much to my surprise, I have quite a tiny waist. I didn't lose any weight but it seems like volume has been shifting over the past few months. Is it the final moments of puberty? Is it a change in eating habits I'm completely oblivious to? We'll never know.

So I'm guessing this whole *my waist is completely straight and I hate it* thing is in my head. So I wore this dress without the red belt I don't have yet. Mildly deriving the attention to my legs though; I love how overknees give an outfit a bit of a twist. And oddly enough, they make my legs look really thin.

In case anyone's wondering, the dress and overknees are from H&M, the booties from Urban Outfitters.

Lookbook's being a total fuckhead lately, so no hype widget today. I tried uploading this pic and it seemed to work just fine but then it kept vanishing and shit, it got on my nerves. It's been like this for a week now, very annoying.
Besides from the site being one huge bug, I don't know if I like LB much anymore. Too many 14-year old wannabe hipsters that come from their tumblrs full of galaxy pics to worship the skinniest girls there and then moan in the Secrets thread that they want to have an eating disorder too.
WHAT THE FUCK?
It fuels my need for trolling. Not good.

For funz, I joined Chictopia. It's fun actually, the site's quite hard to navigate but the general atmosphere is so much more positive.

I'm in physiotherapy for my hip now, and well basically the treatment to my inflamed tendon is RUBBING THE ACHEY BIT FOR 15 MINUTES STRAIGHT. Eight more sessions to go, god I wish it was over already.
No pain, no gain.

Aug. 10: New dresses = Yay!

2010-08-10T17:31:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: PARKWAY DRIVE

MOOD: BORED

Hurray! The search has ended!

H&M, €19,95

When I tried this on in the dressing room, it looked hideous on me. I don't have a very defined waist so this made me look like a brick. Undoing 3 buttons and wearing a top with a sweetheart neckline makes it a bit less sack-like, but I'm still looking for a nice red waist belt. I already roamed ebay and found next to nothing, so I might just have to take the train to Liège and visit Primark. I'm assuming they have a fair selection of elastic waist belts, I just hope to find one that doesn't fall to my belly button when I exhale haha. (Obviously this search works as a sneaky excuse to explore Primark.)

So only an hour after arrival in Aachen, I was pretty much done walking around the shops. I can be a quick shopper if I want to, you see. But then I saw New Yorker's store window, which had surprisingly nice things! I usually skip the store when I'm in Antwerp, but oh the things I've tried on! Such prettiez in sale for such little money!

Because of my extreme pickiness I only bought this one dress though.

New Yorker, €4,95

I said I wouldn't buy any florals (fail haha) but this dress was just too pretty (and too cheap) to say no to. I'm probably alone in this, but I ADORE peplum dresses. It doesn't look too crisp in the picture (this was pre unleashing my awesome ironing skills) but I can tell you it looks oh so very cute in real life. Once it comes out of the washer I'll try and do an outfit pic because this really doesn't do it any justice.

In other news, is any other Safari user having difficulties inserting photos in their posts on blogger? I had to do this manually because the Add picture > From URL thing wouldn't let me add them.

Ever since my Mac had to update a few days ago, the scroll pad seems to have gotten super sensitive, hell I can't even use Photoshop without accidentally zooming in and out all the time.

Sigh.

I doubt there are any metalcore fans that don't know Parkway Drive (where have they not performed?) but I'll put this here anyway:

Parkway Drive - Deadweight

Aug. 3: Silence, silence.

2010-08-03T18:44:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: RADIOHEAD

MOOD: SUPERB

I suck at blogging, don't I? Here's a visual recap of my week.

The weather's been shit, seriously. It's rainy, cold, windy and occasionally stormy. F U, I want summer back. I'm not ready for fall outfits yet.

My parents came back from their holiday! As a little souvenir, they brought me this cutesy porcelain box. They got me another one of these last year which is rectangular instead of hear-shaped. They also got me the "semi precious" stone I asked, I just need a chain to hang it on. It's surprisingly difficult to find a plain silver necklace.

This, my dear readers, is my right hip. It's been bothering me for a few months now, so I decided to finally go see a doctor. So now I've been bouncing back and forth, still have to revisit my GP because the radiologist didn't seem to be willing to tell me what the hell I have to do to get rid of the pain haha.

But as long as I won't have to wear orthopedic shoes, I'll be fine.

w00t! I got me and two friends VIP tickets to see Alexisonfire November 2! The regular tickets are €13, the VIP tickets are €30, which is in my opinion still next to nothing for a concert. Mind you, I've paid €42 to see Placebo from 300 meters away. Major bummer that was.

VIP ticket includes a meet and greet with the band, a manually autographed poster and early entrance to the venue (which means there's a 99% chance I'll be front row yet again, HELL YEAH!).

I really do hope they'll play a lot of their old songs. Last year all we got from their self-titled album was Water Wings. I want Polaroids of Polar Bears dammit!

And to complete this post, this lovely song from Radiohead.

Radiohead - No Surprises

Jul. 24: 12 hours, 630 miles.

2010-07-24T21:34:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: DANCE GAVIN DANCE (WHEN IT STILL HAD JONNY)

MOOD: GOOD

Okay so now I've had all new thingies from Jul. 22's post, except for the lacey top/bralette thing (which I still have adjust because it's a size L) and the leopard wedges. Have a close up of the top I'm wearing in the above picture:

I got it to make up for that awesome shirt Zara once had that I missed out on, it was red and black and really big (I probably would have drowned in it) but really pretty, too. Prettier than this one from Bershka to be honest, but hey, I only paid €5,99. And I love the fit, especially the sleeves! Very flattering, though I'm still trying to figure out what to wear this with, as this outfit is a bit, idk, boring? Bland? I don't like to dress all black. Nor do I like wearing big necklaces (they just bash onto everything haha).

I got some strawberries at yesterday's "European" market, so I decided to make me some proper dessert. It was gone in no time, seriously. Ice cream and whipped cream = Instant munchies. Whenever I'm putting whipped cream on something, I get oh, so very tempted to eat it straight out of the bottle, haha.

And now I'm hungry again, haha.

Jul. 24: Do want.

2010-07-24T15:24:00.000+02:00

MUSIC: EVERY TIME I DIE

MOOD: GOOD

H&M - €19,90

Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme! Gaahh I've gone up and down 5 H&Ms a few times now and I can't find this dress for the life of me! Also I highly doubt it'll fit me properly because the elastic bit is so low and my natural waist is way higher... That and being a 5'2" dwarf doesn't help either. But dammit I'd like to at least try it on, who knows it might look awesome anyway. The sleeves, the dots, the buttons, the apparent fact it's got pockets!!!1!1

Have you spotted the dress of my dreams?

Jul. 23: Stay true.

2010-07-23T23:07:00.001+02:00

MUSIC: DEEZ NUTS

MOOD: SLEEPY

Yet another outfit photo, super yay! I wore this when it was still hot outside, today it was rather chilly so I threw on some pants instead of the skirt and my denim jacket, which wasn't enough to spend the afternoon at the river side with Schweppes peach instead of the usual sangria because I felt a bit queazy in the stomach haha.

Also had noodles, explored the "European Market" (which, ironically, had an Indonesian food stand, yay geography) where I saw the most delicious looking candy I had ever seen. So, British readers, is your candy really that good? Because I really do feel like going back tomorrow and eat until I get a tooth ache!

In other news, I really can't stop listening to Deez Nuts: A combination of hardcore and rap. Yeah, rap.

Deez Nuts - Stay True

Very much out of my usual genre, I know, but this song is just super catchy haha.

Okay that's pretty much all I had to say for now, I think I'll just hit the shower, enjoy an episode of Criminal Minds and sleep. Tomorrow might possibly be a long day of cleaning the house. Bummer.

PS: Thank you to all readers, and especially those who take the time to comment, it's nice to know people are actually enjoying the stuff I throw online! n__n