Miscellaneous

Just a quick post before I go to bed...

As I did pretty much nothing apart from working the last few days, all I can come up with today are some snapshots of things in my life:

This is a nailpolish that I've had for some weeks but I hadn't tried it out until last week. I like it, it even works on my stubby fingers ;) However, I found out that taking those typical bloggers' nailpolish photos is not quite as easy as it looks. Who would have thought that posing with your hands is so difficult? I can definitely see no future for me as a hand model.

I also bought a new bed linen. I'm into polka dots at the moment, and combined with this lovely red colour, I just had to have it. Plus, it was less than 10€ only!

The last picture is taken from the Belle and Boo book "Bubbles before bed". It's a children's book with some lovely drawings and ideas for a little crafting, and I got it for my friend's birthday. Actually, she turns 33 (a little too old maybe for this kind of books ;) but she's a big fan of Belle and Boo, and I can only recommend their lovely products.

 

 

New friends

As I mentioned yesterday, I was quite tempted by all those shops on the Meir (big shopping street) in Antwerp. Here are the items that I took home:

On sale, with a peter pan collar and little red hearts - how could I resist? (shirt from Pimkie)

Mokassins (from New Look)

Black patent T-bar ballet flats (from UO) ♥

 

 

 

And here's the rest: black suede ballet flats (New Look), brown peter pan collar tank top (New Yorker), black purse (from ?)

I also bought some lovely tights (yes, even if spring's just around the corner I can't let go of my beloved tights). Three pairs of shoes - that's the best / worst I ever did on a day ;) The little black purse is actually tiny, just big enough to hold my mobile phone and a little money. I imagine it to come in quite handy on a night out.

't Stad

It's the start of spring and I got my first little sunburn while walking through Antwerp in Belgium. I spent the last three days there and couldn't have been luckier with the weather. I love this city! For the first time I had a bike there and I used it as much as I could to get past the old town and get to know (some of) the rest of it. Here are some impressions from my trip (old town only, sorry...):

I also went on a little shopping spree and was quite successful - I got three pairs of shoes and some other lovely things. I will post about them the other day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Three years ago I went to Ireland with the girls - and I fell in love with it immediately! We stayed in Galway and made trips to different places:

Aran Islands

 Even though the weather was a little rough, the wonderful landscape totally made up for it.

Connemara

 

 

Kylemore Abbey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While at Connemara, we even saw some seals! It was the sunniest day there and we drove around with our little hired car, trying to stay on the left side of the road (which is quite exciting in roundabouts - and there are a lot of roundabouts in this area...).

Cliffs of Moher

Whilst in Galway we stayed at Barnacles hostel on Quay Street. You'll find it in the very heart of Galway, close to all the pubs and shops. The rooms were ok, but growing older I'd probably rather stay in a little b&b the next time. I hope there will be a next time, preferably in March around St. Patrick's Day. I didn't like the parade too much, but the night before was the best, with crowds of people and traditional music in the pubs. By the way, the best way to prepare for such a big night out is a full English breakfast. I wouldn't have expected to like it, but it's yummie - and you'll be full for the rest of the day.

Top ten

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Busy bee

Eye candy

found here

"Karneval" is one of the best times in the year. People here even say that it's a season of its own. Actually it starts on November 11th, but the six days when it is actively celebrated are in February / March. This year, I almost exclusively spent it in Cologne where the biggest parties and parades take place. 

We were so lucky with the weather! The sun shone all day long on Monday which was crucial for the long parade that we watched - and it also helped cheer up the atmosphere (if it needed cheering up at all). They were the best days this year so far for three reasons:

• As I already mentioned, we were very lucky with the weather. Not only did the sun shine all day long, it wasn't even too cold either! (I remember last year's parade when it snowed and we drank mulled wine to keep warm.)
• I love fancy dress parties, and 'Karneval' is a 6 day fancy dress party! How awesome is that? I dressed up as a Bavarian girl (if only I could wear this dress more often!) and as an Irish leprechaun. I still had a little green hat from when I was in Ireland with the girls and we could experience St Patrick's day ourselves. Good opportunity to wear that again!
• The most important thing is that I could spend this wonderful time with the even more wonderful people close to my heart. My friends were there, and I stayed over at my brother's for the long weekend as he lives in Cologne - very handy. We had a great time together, and on Monday even our sister joined us. I don't see her very often because she goes to a university about 200km from where I live, and when she's got a weekend off she visits her boyfriend who lives even farther away. It was so nice to be with them again!

Those were the highlights of my 'Karneval', plus even though there was some alcohol involved there was no hangover for me the next mornings. Plus I saw two 'celebrities': One of them was Henning Krautmacher, the singer of a Cologne band, and the other one was professional football player Lukas Podolski who was on the parade and cast candy to the people watching the parade. One of the chocolate bars hit my eye but I won't complain, it didn't hurt too much and who else can say that they were blinded by a football star? ;)

Lukas Podolski at the parade - photo found here

Good night!

Just a quick post today as I've got a fun weekend before me and need the rest of the afternoon to rest and go to bed early. (This is absolutely necessary, for I spent last night with friends and champagne... and a long night it was!) But I'm sure there will be loads to write about when I'm back!

found here

Sweet tooth

I'll just take a minute to moan about having eaten too much chocolate tonight. I love chocolate and I couldn't resist those delicious little white chocolate eggs with some kind of advocaat filling. With the result that now I don't feel too well... Let's hope that this post reminds me not to stuff myself with those sweets again ;)