The December to do list

November 30, 2015


I was inspired for this post by Marianna (she's one of my favorite bloggers) and celebrating my 19th birthday in December as well as Christmas means that it's going to be an amazing month! (Except for the part where I study 24/7 and constantly shiver because for some strange reason I'm always cold and it's been like that for my whole life.) Let's get started!

❆ Write a wishlist for Santa (or my parents, sorry if you still believe in Santa)
Decorate the Christmas tree back home 
Learn how to bake Christmas cookies (or just cookies in general haha)
Go for a walk in the snow
Buy new, cozy scarves
Invite my best friend for a chat, a cup of tea and cookies 

May your days be merry & bright.

Clean out my wardrobe (it's like a spring cleaning thing but in winter) ❆ 
 Buy an advent calendar, because I always forget to get one until it's too late ❆ 
Buy my family Christmas presents ❆ 
 Burn Christmas candles (I love Cinnamon and Vanilla) ❆ 
Send out Christmas cards and wishes for the New Year ❆ 

 (pictures from Weheartit)


❆ Build a snowman ☃ (if it snows, of course)
❆ Photograph the Christmas decorations in the city
❆ Visit the Christmas fair
❆ Drink hot chocolate (Almond milk + cocoa powder + cinnamon, yum!)
❆ Listen to Christmas music

What's on your December to do list? 

Prepping for Christmas and a playlist

November 27, 2015


Me and my christmas tree have really bonded over the past couple of weeks. My dad thought it was ridiculous to already put up my Christmas tree at the end of October, but living on your own 5 days a week can get really lonely and that's my excuse for the tree in my room. I also kind of-maybe-perhaps love Christmas? I'm just a fan of the most cozy time of year and can we just talk about how romantic old Christmas love songs are? Maybe I'm too early to mention all of this on my blog, but it's nearly December so I'm allowed to be super excited for the whole Christmas thing.
· PREPPING ·

So, how do you prep your room for Christmas? The basics are (obviously) fairy lights, a tree (I have a fake one because I'd rather want the 'real' trees to live and stay alive for more than just one year), decorations for your tree, candy canes, candles (The gingerbread candle from Ikea is my favorite or festive cookies from Spaas), a Christmas-themed blanket, a star, greeting cards (to send to your friends and family), cute ribbons and:
· A CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST · 

This is a playlist I made for you to make you as excited as I am for the festivities! Click here for the playlist! Plus, tell me what your favorite Christmas song is!


I'm ready for cold winter nights

November 25, 2015

It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and being the Christmas-lover that I am, I asked for a Christmassy/cute pair of slippers and pj's (because you don't want to see the state of my older pj's, haha - they were also Christmas-themed fyi). I'm not allowed to wear them until the 8th of December (which is stupid, in my opinion), but that doesn't mean I can't show them to you! I got the 'outfit' from Women's Secret because they have the cutest stuff and after visiting their webshop for a hundred times, I finally decided to order something, despite the expensive shipping cost. The things I got were just too cute and I just had write about them on my blog. What do you want for your birthday (or for Christmas)?

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Also, did you notice the new header on my blog? The previous one was just temporary until I finally managed to create a better one, although I would love a header that's a bit more creative. I hope you like it though! Oh, maybe you also noticed the body font change? This font is more airy and I think it's better for reading longer articles.

Pj's and slippers: Women's Secret

Easy peasy vegan pancakes

November 23, 2015


If there's one thing I'm horrible at, it's probably baking pancakes. I can cook and bake a lot of things, but I somehow always miserably fail at baking pancakes. They taste really good, but usually don't look that pretty or tasty. I found a really simple pancake recipe on the Internet though and I really wanted to share it with you, so I hope you'll enjoy and let's get baking!

· INGREDIENTS ·

1,5 cups of oats
a banana
2 cups of soymilk (or other plant-based milk)
cinnamon (or cocoa powder)

→ this makes 6 small pancakes

· STEP-BY-STEP ·

Put the oats in your blender and blend them until they've turned into flour. In the meantime, heat up some oil in a cooking pan (or a pancake pan, if you happen to have one). When the oats are nicely blended up, add the soymilk and the banana. Also add some cinnamon, or cocoa powder, depends on how you like your pancakes and blend it up. There's your pancake batter! Pour it into your pan and get baking! These will take a bit longer to bake if you want small, but thick pancakes. 

· BON APPÉTIT! ·



The 8 things-to-do-before-bed list

November 21, 2015


Some of you might have already seen this to-do list in the Fashionatic Magazine, but I wanted to post this on my blog as well, because this helps me so much to fall asleep faster and have a better night's sleep in general. I hope this will be helpful for you to and please let me know what your tip is to sleep better!

• Write down your to-do list for the next day, this saves time in the morning and you're already prepped!

• The no-screen rule 30 minutes before heading to bed. So, no smartphones or laptops! This makes it easier for you to fall asleep.

• Lay out your outfit for the next day, this saves time, worries and stress in the morning!

• Read a book or a magazine, something that will make you feel sleepy. My favorite book to read is 'To kill a mockingbird' by Harper Lee.

• Stop thinking about work or school, those worries are for tomorrow.

• Don’t overthink things, this will only make you feel sad. As mentioned before, try to read something to take your mind off of your worries.

• Write down the things you’ve achieved that day.

• If you can, try to put your phone on ‘airplane’ mode.

My morning routine

November 18, 2015

I thought it would be fun to write a post about my morning routine, but I wanted to do it a bit different this time. I usually write about the products I use and which make-up I apply, but I never write about the other things I like to do in the morning. So, this is my morning routine, exactly how I do it every day!

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6:00 / My alarm clock starts ringing and although I strategically place my clock 2 meters away from my bed, I always manage to dive into bed again after shutting it down.

6:50 / I finally manage to get out of bed and start my probably not-so-productive day. The first thing I do in the morning is drink a glass of water so I'm awake and ready to start the day! I then head to my vanity/sink to wash my face and properly clean it, using the toner water from Lush (It works wonders for my skin if I'm having a bad skin day e.g. dry skin, red spots etc.).

7:00 / I comb out the knots in my hair and it takes an eternity to make my hair look decent. I apply my make-up and I like to keep my everyday look minimal because I'm just going to uni (and that's not really an occasion to dress up for, right?).



7:10 / By this time I'm fully awake and I should probably tidy my room, but I prefer watching a youtube video, catch up on Once Upon A Time or do some uni work. It depends on my mood that day.

7:40 / I change into some decent clothes (You really don't want to see what my pj's look like. They're old and super comfy but they're not that pretty anymore, haha!). I usually opt for a comfy pair of jeans and a warm sweater.

7:50 / I head to the kitchen and prepare my breakfast: oatmeal with banana or apple and cinnamon, green tea and some gingerbread.

8:20 / By the time I've finished eating my breakfast, done the dishes and drank my cup of tea, I have to head back to my room to prepare my bag for the day.

8:30 / Prepping my bag for uni is done and I'm ready to go jump on my bike and get out the house! I usually leave at 8:40 and that's my morning routine!

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I hope you enjoyed this and I would love to read yours! So, if you have a blog, then post your morning routine and let me know!

New Year's Eve festiveness

November 16, 2015


Christmas and New Year's Eve are, for most women and girls, the moment to show their fashion sense to the world and they like to go all out. I, on the other hand, prefer to dress it down for Christmas and wear something more special on New Year's Eve. Who doesn't love to start the new year looking their best? I created my New Year's Eve wishlist early this year because I always think about planning my outfit when it's too late to go shopping. If this happens to you too, then don't worry! I've got you covered! Every item (and more gorgeousness) can be found on Farfetch.

Side note: the items I picked (sadly) aren't animal friendly, so I'm using this to inspire you (and myself). I, personally, am going to try to recreate this look using cheaper brands and items that are made of faux-leather or non-woolen fabric. 

 This post is a collaboration with Farfetch.

Zalando Blogger Awards

November 15, 2015

I'm not very good at writing event reports, probably because I tend to forget everything. If I had to thank people at the end of a speech or an award show, I'd probably forget to mention my parents. So, thank god for not making me want to become an actress or singer or a popular blogger for that matter. Although I wouldn't mind reaching more people with my blog. You, my readers, are lovely though! *big, goofy smile*

If I had to describe this event in 5 words, I would probably say: meeting (other bloggers), creating (a fancy adorable clutch that I've mentioned too many times already), inspiration (from the bloggers who won the awards, congrats!), photobooth (I now want one for my birthday) and thankful. I'm thankful for meeting Valérie, who is my favorite lifestyle blogger and I'm so happy I got to meet her! She's so lovely and I we really got along well. She blogs on Moonlit Stories and you can read her event review here (it's way better than mine, haha) Also, I need to thank you guys for voting for me! Have a lovely evening!

(all photos by me, except for the last one)

I have a new obsession

November 12, 2015


It's official, I now have a new obsession: silly cute clutches. Of course I still love my beanies to death, but thanks to the Zalando Blogger Awards (a full in-depth post about the event will be on my blog really soon!) I need more clutches now, especially adorable ones like the one in the photo. That's not what this post is about though (okay, well maybe, kind of, a little bit), I wanted to show you my outfit for the Zalando Blogger Awards because I love this cute little dress! It's super comfy and really affordable (thank you, H&M - haha).

Also, thank you so much to my friendo for taking these photos, you're supah talented! (I can't believe I just said 'supah) I love these photos so much and I hope you do too! Have a lovely day! PS: I wore heels with this dress during the event but my toes are still really sore so I paired it with my comfy Doc Martens.

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Dress: H&M // shoes: Doc Martens // clutch: Even&Odd 

A little project I've been working on

November 9, 2015

You probably noticed my absence on my blog these last few days. Or well, absence, I was gone for five days which probably doesn't sound like a lot to most of you, but it does to me. I like to sit down and work on my blog for some time every day, but with uni and life getting in the way, it's been pretty hectic lately and almost impossible to work on my blog. Unless I neglect schoolwork and focus on one thing, blogging. (I'm obviously not going to do that.)

I just wanted to tell you that I'm working on a super exciting little project that will hopefully work out alright, because I think it would be awesome if I can get it to work. I've been writing a magazine/newsletter for my blog and I'm planning on publishing a new edition every season. Not every single month, because I simply don't have the time to be creative 24/7. But, I'm writing the newsletter (it's more like a magazine though) for people who don't have the time to scroll through blogs every single day or they're just not familiar with the whole blogging world.

If you frequently visit my blog and read my lifestyle articles, you might recognize a couple posts. There are some new pieces in the magazine though, and there will be a lot more in the Winter edition, but for now, I hope you'll enjoy the introduction/autumn magazine! :) 

You can already subscribe (it's free, I promise) for the autumn edition that will be published this Wednesday 11/11! :) See the link in the sidebar (bottom).


5 Things: Me-time

November 4, 2015


I have written a lot of lifestyle articles these last couple weeks and I hope you don't mind, but the weather and lighting in Belgium has been so awful lately and it's really hard to take outfit photos when it's cloudy and rainy. I also have an exam this Monday so I guess you can say I'm pretty busy. I've got so much more work to do for uni compared to last year (I switched from studying Journalism in college to Communication Science at uni) and I wish I had more time for my blog, but my studies are my priority and blogging comes last.

My life has been hectic and finding some time for myself can be really hard, but I try to have at least 30 minutes of me-time every day. Whether it's reading a book, writing in my journal or having a cup of tea with gingerbread it doesn't matter, as long as I can relax and take my mind off uni. These are my five favorite things to do during my me-time. What's your favorite thing to do during your daily dose of me-time?

1) Read a book
Romantic comedies are my favorite books to read, they're so light-hearted and it's super easy to get sucked into the story and forget everything around you. Or Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic' series, they always make me laugh. I'm currently reading 'To kill a mockingbird" and I'm loving it! What are you currently reading?

2) Watch a series
I've been watching 'Once upon a time' a lot lately because I'm a Disney-fan (who isn't? Haha) and I just love watching unrealistic, completely fictional series and movies.

3) Listen to Jazz (or any kind of relaxing music)
I'm a Jazz-lover and proud of it. I know that some people absolutely hate Jazz, but we all have a different taste, right? If you prefer listening to classical music or maybe Pop music allows you to relax then that's totally fine!

4) Write in a journal
I like to just write down the things I learned about myself that day. I might sound crazy, but I think it's important to get to know yourself and what you stand for. Or just the little things that make you happy, make you sad, annoy you etc.

For instance: I'm scared to lose control and my mum used to tell me I'm a bit of a control-freak and I always denied it until now. Those are the things I write down, but I also jot down things I need to tell myself more often. E.g. "You can do this, trust yourself." Whenever I feel bad, I grab my journal and read the things I wrote down to cheer me up.

5) Do absolutely nothing
It's totally fine to do absolutely nothing and not being productive is okay, sometimes you need to let go and tell yourself that you need this me-time. Just lie down on your bed wrapped in a blanket and close your eyes. 

The products on the photos are the ones I love to use whilst reading a book (Caudalie radiance serum because it's my favorite product - like ever, and I need to buy a new one) or watching a series. Just things that allow me to relax. Just fyi.
 

Cozy November inspiration

November 1, 2015

 HAPPY WORLD VEGAN DAY

It's the 1st of November today which means we're celebrating World Vegan Day! Each year, 56 billion animals are slaughtered for human consumption. So, I'm asking you to try to eat vegan for just one day and take a moment to think about what these animals are going through. Murdering kind-hearted animals with feelings and a family is wrong in many ways and I could keep writing about veganism and why animals deserve their rights, but I know that people hate it when I talk about it, so I'll end my speech here. :)

What am I expecting from November? I'm excited for the Zalando Blogger Awards, I'm hoping I'll have more time for myself because I've studied non-stop lately and I'm exhausted. So, I need so start planning more (and better) so I can work more on my blog and have a social life besides uni. What are you expecting from November?

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