Recommended Blog: The Londoner

From now on I will regularly share the blogs I enjoy reading, so that you can start following these lovely bloggers too!

The Londoner

My first recommendation is The Londoner. Rose, a girl currently living in London, is the person behind this blog. As the name already suggests, a lot of her posts are in someway related to London. This is also the reason I started following her blog. I think I found her blog about a year ago when I was looking for people blogging from/about London. Rose always has some great tips when it comes to things to do in London! And although her restaurant suggestions are a little too expensive for me it is always fun to look at the gorgeous pictures she takes of the food.
I enjoy following The Londoner because Rose's writing style is really nice, it's laid back but professional as well. Furthermore she always includes great pictures, usually ones she took herself, in her posts. Of course Rose also leaves London once in a while, and then she will blog about her adventures elsewhere!

So if you love London and lifestyle blogs, have a look at www.thelondoner.me! (:

Are there any blogs you would like to recommend to me?

(P.S. I wanted to include a photo in this post but I couldn't save and upload any pictures from The Londoner, so I'm sorry it looks so boring!)

Tag: Been There, Done That!

I found this tag about travel on Beauty Before Breakfast, a Dutch beauty blog. I decided to copy the tag and translate it to English, because like Maud from Beauty Before Breakfast I really enjoy traveling! Here it goes:

Which countries of the world have you visited?
To be honest I haven't visited that many 'special'/extraordinary countries yet, with one or two exceptions. And I've only been on two continents: Europe and Africa (seeing as Moscow is in the European part of Russia). I've visited The Netherlands (duh), Germany, Belgium, England, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland (if driving through the country and only getting out of the car for breakfast at a gas station counts?), Morocco, Russia. I think that was about it, so quite a short list. But after this summer I'll be able to add two countries: Czech Republic and Greece!

Which destination is at the top of your list of places you would like to visit sometime?
Definitely the Scandinavian countries, I would especially love to make a trip through Sweden and Norway. I generally want to see more of Europe, because I believe there's so much to see beside it being a relatively small continent. And farther abroad I would love to visit New York (seems like an amazing city, so definitely one of my must-see cities) and Canada (the nature there seems gorgeous).

What is your ideal vacation?
I must say I love relaxing on the beach, doing nothing at all. But I always want to see something of the area I am in (unfortunately my parents seem to enjoy the relaxing more than exploring the area, but hey I can go on holidays alone now and do what I want). So my ideal vacation would be a combination of relaxation and traveling around, seeing different towns and visiting famous (and less famous!) sights.

Which place made such an impression on you that you want to visit it again?
London, obviously (my all time favourite city!). But that doesn't really count since, if all goes right, I will be living there in about 3 months time. But I definitely want to visit Morocco again and make a tour around the country, since now I only saw Marrakech and part of the Atlas mountains. I would love to go back to this area but I also want to see the rest of the country. Furthermore, I will definitely visit Spain again - again an obvious one because I am going to study Spanish at university.

Show your favourite vacation photograph. 
The one above this is one of my favourites, I took it in Marrakech. But I don't know what my all time favourite vacation photograph is, and I can't look for one now because I recently got a new computer so there are no photos on here (I got this one from my photobucket). But I promise I will post many photographs after coming back from Prague and Crete - so now you have something to look forward to!

Have you ever been sent to a nice destination for your work? If so, where?
Well I just got my first job, so, no I haven't. But after university I would love to become a journalist - or something related, and travel a lot for my work. So hopefully my answer to this question will be a lot more interesting in about 10 years time!

With who do you travel most?
My parents and brother, all holidays I've been on till now have been with them. I've also made a few trips with school (Spain, Moscow and Morocco). But this summer I will travel with Eline (to Prague) and Kim (to Crete), so I think it will change in the following years and I will start spending more holidays with friends instead of my parents.

With who would you like to go on holiday sometime? (this can be anyone: family member, friend, famous person...)
Well I hope I will end up with a boyfriend/husband who likes travelling ;) haha
But at the moment mostly with my best friends! Oh and I would like to go on a shopping holiday with Abena sometime because she's so fashionable.

Who or what would you take to an uninhabited island?
I wouldn't like to go to an uninhabited island, because I enjoy having people around me. So I would take a bunch of friends and food and drinks so we can survive!

Have you ever been on holidays in The Netherlands? If so, where?
Yes, especially when we lived in Germany we spent quite a few holidays in the Netherlands. I've been to places like Texel (one of our islands) and Drenthe, and more.

Would you rather go to a fun park or a zoo?
It really depends on my mood! I don't really like thrill rides (unless they don't have scary loopings haha) so I only like fun parks when they have a lot of rides I do enjoy (such as the Efteling here in The Netherlands). I really like the zoo, I love taking photographs of all the animals! Although I understand that it is of course a lot more special to see these animals in their natural habitats.

Would you rather go on a skiing or sun holiday? 
Sun, definitely! I can't ski (have never tried) and I don't like the cold weather. I don't come from a family that goes on winter skiing holidays so it's just not my thing. Give me sun, the beach, a  swimming pool and some magazines and books and I'll enjoy myself!

What is your best holiday memory?
I really enjoyed the two weeks we spent relaxing on Sicily in 2009. It was my first all-inclusive holiday and I especially enjoyed all the food haha. Both the pools and the beach were great so we spent all of our days just relaxing. I also really enjoyed the trip we took to the Etna and Taormina. But I would have liked to see more of the island, so I do want to go back some time! My best 'holiday' memory from a school trip was the trip to Morocco - so different from everywhere I had gone before. That whole trip was just a new and great experience for me.

What is your least favourite holiday memory?
When we went to the Po delta in Italy (close to Venice) in 2010 we had to leave 3 days early because there was a severe storm with lots of rain. Our house was at a low point and the water ended up coming inside and at that point my parents decided it was time to go. Of course it was a good decision, the whole ground flour was wet (I think it was 5 - 10 cm of water) and everything smelled, but at that point I was really sad and I cried on the way back home (I still had plans for the last few days of the holiday and I can't stand changes to my plans!).

Which countries are you visiting during your holidays this year?
In July I will be going to Prague, Czech Republic, and in August I will be going to Agios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece. So two new countries for me! My parents might also squeeze in a weekend in Germany, but I'm not sure if that will work out.

Where would you never go on holidays?
There are not really places I would never like to go to... Although I am really scared of some animals (spiders aaah) which are currently holding me back of visiting some places, but I hope I can overcome this fear because there are some places I would love to visit (South America, Australia!).

So now you know a little bit more about my travelling (hasn't been much yet, but I'm still young!). I have quite a few plans for the future, the main one being that I really want to go on an Interrail trip around Europe somewhere in the near future (maybe next year or the year after).

I pass this tag on to all of you, so feel free to copy it!

Get ready for summer!

Summer is coming closer and closer, but are you ready for this amazing season yet? Here are some tips to prepare yourself for a great summer!

1. Enjoy the first sunny days, because you never know how the rest of the summer will be, especially if you live in a country like The Netherlands. Put on your bikini, don't forget to put on sunscreen, and spend about 10 minutes in the sun. On the next days you can build up and lie in the sun longer, so that you will get a bit of a tan. But watch out that you don't burn because first of all it's not healthy and you don't want to walk around looking like a tomato! Don't forget to treat your skin with some aftersun after a day in the garden or at the beach, even if you haven't burnt.

2. Fill your freezer with ice cream, because you never know when you will be craving some. Of course you can buy magnums and cornetto's, but in summer ice made from water and fruit juice instead of milk is often much more refreshing. It is also healthier, because it does not contain as many calories and fat.

3. Look up the dates of some (free) music festivals in your area, and put them in your agenda. Festivals have a nice atmosphere and are a perfect way of spending a summer day! Even free festivals even have popular artists performing, so you don't need a lot of money. My favourite free festivals are Parkpop in The Hague (in June) and Appelpop in Tiel (in September).

4. Prepare your body for summer. Don't like that bit of fat on your stomach that reminds you of Christmas? Start doing sports now, and you'll already have quite a bit trained off by July. If you don't do any sports yet, running is a good way to improve your condition and lose some weight. I started running about a year ago, and I still go twice a week. I like going running because it not only made me lose about 10 kilo's, it also helps me clear my mind and makes me happy! Don't forget to buy a new bikini and treat your body to a scrub (mix some sea salt with olive oil) to make your skin look nice.

5. Invite all of your friends to a 'start of summer' party in your garden! Prepare some nice finger food (wraps, vegetables with dip, bread, etc.), or, if you're not so good with cooking, ask everybody to bring in a dish. Decorate the garden, put drinks on the table, turn on some music and the party can start!

6. It's time to buy new clothes! You don't want to walk around in your dark-coloured winter clothes in summer, so go shopping and buy some new dresses, skirts and shorts. Don't forget to also buy a bikini or bathing suit, flipflops or sandals and sunglasses.

7. Research your holiday destination. It's always fun to look at what you can do there and decide what you would really like to see. If you're nearly going, you can also make a packing list based on what you want to do on holidays.

8. Not going on holidays this summer? Don't worry, you can have an awesome summer at home as well! It's not very hard to make it fun. All you need is some friends and waterballoons. I'm sure you'll have fun! Or bake some cupcakes with your friends, it'll be fun even if they don't turn out very nice. And there are so many other things to do: go to the beach, the swimmingpool, go on a bike tour to discover parts of your area that you've never seen, go shopping, etc. Do research on what you can do in your area before the summer holidays really start!

9. Put new music on your iPod. Look for happy songs, that fit with summer. Then take your music to the beach or listen to it in the garden. Music that fits your summer mood makes this season even better than it already is!

10. Already know that you'll have big projects to do for school over summer, like me? Try to work on them as much as you can before the holidays, so that you don't have too much left. And when the holidays are there, make sure you work on them at least once or twice a week. I know you need a lot of motivation to do this, but in the end it's rewarding because you'll get a good grade!

Are you looking forward to summer?

New stuff

A week ago I said I would show you the presents I got from Kim and I still hadn't posted a picture! But here it is:

Aren't the sheep and the bear so cute? And I love the smell of the candle, it smells of vanilla.

I also bought some new tops in the holidays:

The left one is from Desigual, and the two on the right are from Zara. I also got another top from Zara, but it's in the washing machine now. I was pretty surprised that I found such nice tops at Zara, because I normally never shop there.

I also bought some other things, for example in preparation for the Morocco trip (we are leaving on Friday! =D): a new suitcase (but a soft one, like a 'weekendtas' but with wheels... don't know the English word), a backpack, a windbreaker sweater/jacket and some plain tops. Maybe I'll take some pictures when I'm packing and post them on here.
And I also went to Waterstone's (English bookstore in Amsterdam, it is amazing!) and got Jane Eyre and The Great Gatsby. Yes I am going to study literature for fun! :]

I can't wait till I have holidays again! How were your holidays, or haven't they started yet?

Holidays

Picture from http://pemimo.tumblr.com/page/29

Finally the holidays have started, I really need them! I spent this weekend with a friend, Kim. She came to celebrate my birthday (which is in 2 weeks). Yesterday we went shopping and had a nice dinner at Vapiano and today we just played on the Wii. She also gave me some nice presents: a little figure of a sheep with a flower in its mouth, a candle that smells like vanilla and a special stone that I can hang on a necklace. I also bought some things for myself: a face mask and a long, white tanktop. I think I'll take some pictures of the presents tomorrow, so you can see them!

The rest of my holidays will be quite busy, because I need to do quite a lot of school work. I also need to do some shopping for Morocco.

To do list for school (so I can see what I have to do and you can see how busy I am haha):
- Work on World Literature Essay 1 (English)
- Think of idea for World Literature Essay 2 (English)

- Start on Individual Oral Presentation (English)
- Finish reading Atonement (English)
- Math exercises

- Read in Joe Speedboot (Dutch)
- Start studying biology

- Study for Spanish test

- Email geography essay to teacher

I think that was about it, and I also need to organise my school stuff a bit... my papers are all over the place. I am going to spend this evening relaxing in the bath with a face mask on, so I can start working hard tomorrow!

Oh and I just put the picture there because I think it's really cute, don't you? :]