I'm in the list again with a shy 12 votes - one from myself ;o) I'm never much for lists or groups but it's quite cool to be acknowledged. So if you'd like to vote for me or if you like to know who I have voted for, you can do that here and here.
East, west, North or South, Winter or Summer I want to thank you all for your support and kindness throughout 2009 and wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010.
At 35 I should have met the man I'm going to be with for the rest of my or his life. At 35 I should live in a nice house and have a fun job. At 35 I can't slob around anymore and move from here to there, I should be settled. And at 35 I have to accept that I'm definitely not going to be someone's mother.
Today I have reached that 'scary age' of 35.
And so far everything turned out the way I wanted it to turn out, it's not scary at all. During breakfast I told the Bo that I thought I was going to be really old at 35 but I haven't aged, I only have four grey hairs and no wrinkles. But that must run in the family as my 94 year old grandmother still doesn't show much wrinkles. We must be very lucky ... and I am, at 35, one lucky pig!
At last ... October is left for next year and a really stressful month has past. I didn't enjoy October much this year as it was just too busy and filled with annoyance. The main big annoyance is that Bo's assistant is leaving us as he can't stand the pressure any longer. He's leaving us without even having a new job so we're quite gutted and wonder if we can ever find a new assistant to replace him.
So if you know anyone who's under 30, preferable male and a skater or ex skater who's creative, intelligent, presentable, hardworking, handy and flexible who can stand to work odd hours, spend a lot of time in traffic jams discussing quantum theory, the old masters and doesn't mind to listen to weird experimental jazz who likes to eat a lot of McDonalds meals or KFC and who lives in the Eindhoven area with a driving license and likes treats that mostly come in pink and who has a good sense of humor ... you're our new employee. Please contact me, seriously people we're quite desperate.
And I had a lot of family drama (we're like the Forresters sometimes) and Citroën (spits on the ground) Berlingo related problems.
But there were also a lot of great things in October like two plastered rooms that I can move furniture into over Christmas. New styling/photography projects I've been asked for by some seriously talented people. I've made a new friend and I've met someone (his site is still a work in progress) who shares my weird taste in music and even sang a K3 song for me yesterday - how often does that happen?
What I do really like about October, as I don't want to diss one of my favorite months of the year, is the cold that's creeping in at night and the smell of fireplace when I open the kitchen door. I also like waking up in the morning to see that my bed socks have gone off and can't remember when I did that. I love the fluffy eiderdown that's been proclaimed by Boo and her obsession over it. And mostly I love the colors. Wishing for a better new month and a freaking awesome new assistant for the Bo.
The bedding in this picture are from old Cath Kidston and IKEA collections. The bed socks were made especially for me by Marné.
I just want to let you know that you can keep track of me over at Twitter. Yes, I've been caught by the bug too. It's like Crocs isn't it? In a couple of months everyone is using Twitter, including my mother in law and we'll be so fed up with it. But for now it's quite fun ;o)
I've been whooshing around and making the streets and roads of my local area unsafe!
I've been postponing getting a driving licence for the past 10 years. With all my traveling around in my late teens and early twenties I never got round to complete my driving lessons because I was never in a country long enough (or legally) to go through the whole progress. I've been relying on Boris for the last 10 years and my British provisional driving licence which is very illegal outside the UK. Boris never really minds being my personal chauffeur but with us living in Belgium these days and because I still have a lot of jobs to do, errands to run and people to meet in The Netherlands it's becoming some sort of a handicap.
So for the last 3 weeks I've been on this crash course of 20 hours driving split over 2 hours almost daily at one of our local driving schools. With these intense 20 hours of training I'm allowed to drive on my own and it allows me to take my exam within 18 months starting after 2 months. So I'll have 2 months to practice on my own and than I'll take my exam.
I'm really excited about this and I keep telling myself that at 34 I'm proud that I finally did this. I've been driving around in Carnival chaos traffic all day yesterday and did quite well. Today I want to go to the swimming pool, do grocery shopping, plant shopping and tub trug shopping - we're going to be so bankrupt with me having access to a car!
I've also been busy painting the sunroom and I've been really busy ordering Bo and Jos (our previous, previous, previous neighbor who keeps helping us fixing up houses. He asked if we could move to Spain the next time) around in the kitchen. There are actually 3 cupboards put up and a dishwasher. Nothing works but I'm already ecstatic as I know in 2 weeks everything will work and I'll be over the moon.
After all my shopping driving trips today I'll sand the sunroom and start to apply the first coat of paint. I've picked All White by Farrow & Ball - our new home sponsor. I sometimes wish this was real-life. We could have Cath Kidston sponsor us, Farrow & Ball, Dove, M&M's, Boden, Lotus Toilet paper. Think of it!
I'm really honored to be in the top 100 list of "The Homies" at Apartment Therapy. Thank you for those who put in a good word for me, you are sweethearts!!
The floor of the basement is drying really quickly, I'm going to move in furniture this week - whoooooo!
Just want to let you know. There's even more for sale and there's still 50% off on all Shinzi Katoh goodies.
I also want to highlight some really cool things some really cool people have been writing about me. I want to thank Holly for this amazing article on Simply Stated "THE REAL SIMPLE BLOG" whoooo ... the mother ship has called me home. And I want to thank Christie from Bemz for the lovely "meet the judges" she did on me. Good vibes to end the old year with.
Are you ready for 2009? I am, I have my first set of three white doors and next week I can start to unpack some boxes and give some of my stuff a new home .. yay!
I've decided to post an uncensored daily e-mail to Charlotte. Beware of the swearing and moaning.
Hi C,
How are you holding up there in the snow?
Snow ... !!
God it's really winter isn't it?
It's freezing cold in my house and one big ugly dirty mess. I think I'm almost at the end of where things end in a human being. The last 5 days have been crazy here. Digging holes, new natural gas, new electricity, new heating system, new fence, filling holes, cleaning dust, making coffee for all the men that walk in and out and it's just ME .... Bo's been working crazy hours from 5:30 to 22:00 and I alone have to run this crazy household and it's not making me prettier. I have a cowl sore the size of a big chocolate chip cookie in the corner of my mouth, my eyebrows need serious plucking, my hair needs a paint job and I need to be hooked up to a moveable radiator because I'm fucking cold. Last night, before I went to bed, I put all the stuff I was going to wear in the bed in the tumble dryer to get warm. I hope, and if the gods work with me, I'll be released out of this misery coming Tuesday when they open the holy pipes of natural gas in my home and I'll shout an Amen!!
Bloody hell, I have a strange man hovering my living room as I'm typing this ... I couldn't even remember Boris's name this morning when the heating man came at seven.
Seven!!!
Chat soon xox Yvonne
For those of you who wonder how my home is coming along.
I'm never really one who participates in competitions or who likes to gamble for money or stuff. I've never in my life been inside or near a casino, I sometimes buy a lottery ticket and fantasize who I'm going to give the money to when I win. I rather like to give than to receive and I love it when I make someone happy. Happy faces give me a trill instead of emptying a fruit machine.
But .... when I received my Cath Kidston order through Charlotte today (we cheated on postage) I went a bit loopy. I'm going to win that 500 quid if you like it!
For the first time in all my CK buying years (I think I alone made her rich) I received something free as a thank you. This beautiful bag I've been eyeing on an wanted to have but is sold out all the bloody time is packed with lovely stuff and was sent to me for free!! It made me cry, it really did. It's like adopting a stray cat you don't have a connection with but you really want to badly and than when she reaches out and licks your hand .... it's that feeling people!!!
So I opened a few boxes and found all my past CK catalogs. Got a notebook out, spread it all out on the table, answered all the questions and now I'm a bit CK drunk!
I have blisters on my feet, my achilles is now officially messed up and my abs are aching but all that for a fabulous weekend of getting together with blog friends.
On Friday night I went to the Decor8 Meet & Greet in Amsterdam where I got to meet Holly and a whole bunch of other great bloggers. At 20:00 people slowly started to drop in and by 21:00 we were with a group of 20 from The Netherlands, Australia and Sweden. It was a great lingo of Dutch, German, English and Swedish - Germduswedenglish. I got to talk to so many great designers and to the fun people of 101 magazine and got the opportunity to shower them with compliments how fantastic their magazine is.
It was special to meet Holy in person. As we do some back and forth e-mailing you never really get to know the person until you meet them and that wasn't a disappointment.
I also met Nina and I've missed her 5 minutes of fame so I hope I get to see that soon. We dropped her off at home and we got some time to do some chatting and complimenting the work of her boyfriend over at Omroep Brabant - yes we are OB hooligans.
Thank you for such a lovely evening. And add; there's good food at de Kroon.
On Sunday I went to Paris for the day to meet up with Kathleen of Liquid Sky Arts and PaPaYa. It's been 4 years since we last met in new York so it was time we got to see each other again. The Bo dropped me off in Brussels and from there I took the Thalys to Gare de Nord and one tube stop to Kathleen. We had a French breakfast in this cute cafe and walked down to the Seine because we both wanted to tour on a boat and see the Eiffel tower. That was basically our only mission: see the Eiffel tower, be on a boat.
We had ice-cream under the Eiffel tower and decided that we wanted to go up, all the way up!! As we stood in the lift to go to the first floor we both cried because it was such a special moment for the both of us as Kathleen told me that she asked her husband "if I die before I've been to the top of the Eiffel tower, you have to scatter my ashes there". The top was fantastic, because it was cloudy the clouds were so dramatic from up there and the wind and the cold ... just beautiful.
Because Paris is the most romantic city I couldn't resist posting this photo of two girls who wear glasses, met on the internet, cried in the Eiffel tower lift and are still friends after all these years.
I'll be in Amsterdam this Friday for a Decor8 meet & greet. If you want to meet me and all the others and of course the famous Holly, come along and have a drink with us.
You can read all the details over at Decor8. Bo will be there too, we can't unfortunately bring to Boo.
I just had such an amazing tension falling off of me.
For the last couple of years it bothered me how my neighbors made so much noise that in a way it would be unfair to myself if I were to make noise so I kept awfully quiet. The Bo and I would whisper if we had something to share that we didn't wanted to share with the rest of the hood and basically we walked on our toes all the time just because we didn't want to go down in history as noise makers.
Today for the first time I found myself all alone in this big house, I already feel insanely happy in, and turned on my iPod speakers really, really loud and sang out loud to Kate Nash's Merry Happy and I just felt so utterly happy that I had to share this with you.
Oh and if you download Merry Happy don't forget to turn it on really loud and to join Kate in the Doo Doo Doo Da Doo Doo Da Da Da Doo Doo Da Da Da Dooooooooooooo oooooooo Da Da Da Doo Doo
Thanks to all for checking if I'm still alive! Yes I am but I really do not have the creativity in this unsettled time to blog. I strive to have something important to say each time I blog but I just can't find anything to write about. I feel like a bucket full of dirty laundry and that's not me. By the end of next week I hope we know where we are going to move to - arrrggghhh!
So in the meantime I got tagged:
What time did you get up today? 8:00
Diamonds or pearls? Pearls.
Latest movie in a movie theater? Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix. Yes it has been too long!
Favorite TV series? Lost.
What did you have for breakfast? Two slices of German bread with cheese and a bottle of water.
What's your middle name? I don't have a middle name.
Favorite food? Indian curries, anything Italian and sushi.
Which food don't you like? I don't believe there's anything I don't like, that's really my problem LOL!
What's your favorite CD at the moment? Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim.
What car do you drive? I don't.
Favorite sandwich? A club sandwich.
Which human traits can't you stand? dishonesty and bad behavior and manners.
What are your favorite clothes? Sweat pants, vest and flip flops.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Tokyo - Japan.
What did you want to become as a child? I never wanted to become anything because I never seemed to worry about that. I remember thinking how it would be cool to become snow white because those dwarves were awfully cute.
Best childhood memory? Oh my dear I have so many! I've been having such a wonderful childhood. Maybe the memory of having lots of space to play and the freedom to explore the world and the outdoors without having petrified parents and without having such busy schedules these days and so many people around.
Ever been to Africa? A couple of times to Tunisia because my mother wanted to escape Christmases just after my father past away. I think we've skipped 3 christmases in total
Ever rolled anybody in toilet paper? No
Have you ever been in a car accident? I've been in two major accidents. The first one I was on my motorcycle and my engine stalled on the middle of the motorway and the car behind me drove straight in me. I broke and dislocated my shoulder bone and my nose and bruised a lot of body parts - ouch!. The second one I was on the backseat of my friends car when he lost power over the car and we made 3 full car rolls, crashed a tree and ended up in a pond - we all survived but I was pretty messed up in my face and bruised all over my body.
Favorite day of the week? Friday because I love the beginning of weekends and on Friday everyone seems to be in a good mood.
Favorite flower? Peonies and Hydrangeas
Favorite - Hot dog or Chinese food? Hot dog because I find Chinese food very saucy.
Do you own a bike? Yes, a Batavus Delivery Bike and love it!
Where would you like to shop more if you could afford to? Just a shopping spree in London or New York would be lovely.
Bed time? Late between 1:00 and 2:00
Latest person to share dinner with? The Bo, we always have dinner together - or at least we try. We always sit down at the table and never in front of the TV and we discus our days.
What are you up to now? Writing this post and after that I'll have a shower, watch a bit of TV and go to bed.
Favorite color? Pink, red, blue and green with lots of white.
Claire got me all excited about this celebrity sighting thing so I'm going to play along.
About 3 years ago when we went to New York with the girls Giao and myself crossed paths with Ethan Hawke, his new (old?) lover and his kids. Giao and I were chatting, enjoying the sun and Central Park when Giao suddenly said "it's Ethan Hawke!!!" He was dead close we almost stood eye in eye. The first thing that popped in my mind was to run to Kathleen who walked just a couple of meters in front of us, and apparently missed crossing paths with Ethan, and tell her "there's Ethan Hawke!!". The next thing we should have filmed because Kathleen went nuts and ran after family Hawke, armed with camera, and took some paparazzo shots. A couple of hours later we met Rachel Ashwell in the park but we knew she was going to be there so that doesn't really count but I have this great shot of her anyway.
On my way back to The Netherlands, from that same trip, and only Dutch readers will know her I stood next to Loretta Schrijver waiting to collect our luggage. I so wanted to ask her if she could talk to the Bo on my mobile because he loves her but I didn't dare and kept it cool.
When I was about 14 I declared my love and my everlasting devotion to Donnie Wahlberg. I even picked my study year abroad to be in Boston because that way I was close to him - now isn't that romantic? Over the years I grew over it though!
Now at 33 I still have mad actor crushes and often dream about Edward Norton and Ewan McGregor. I've never dreamed about them at the same time but I honestly wouldn't mind. A dream filled with both Edward and Ewan is maybe even better than freshly shaven legs under clean cheats. It's like freshly shaven legs under clean sheets and my toenails clipped.
Just watch Ewan on Ellen ...
I think I've must have met so many other celebrities but to be honest I wouldn't even spot my own mother in a crowd. I'm not much of a people watcher. I love to window shop, watch trees, birds, buildings and other things that happen around me. Sometimes people call me arrogant because I haven't greeted them when they waved at me on the street. I just don't see them! Even if people honk I don't react because I always think they must honk for someone else.
Please play along because this is fun. Leave a comment with a link when yours is up.
I've been a really bad blogger and a bad blog friend. I've been so wrapped up with my own 'personal' things that I actually have forgotten that I keep a blog and that maybe the people who read my blog are interested in knowing what's up! Because there's a whole lot of what's up in my life at the mo.
A couple of posts ago I wrote that there is so much to tell that I don't know where to start well ... let's just start.
I told you we are moving, we still are only we're moving to Sweden. It's bloody scary people and for a while I was scared writing about it because there are always people who think negative and who want to play with your mind and tell you it's no good and you know what?, I can't deal with that stress. We have this plan, we believe there's a better future for us there and people should just be happy for us and that's it. That's also the reason why I've been so bottomless in writing this blog because I was bottling up this big thing and all I want to do is write about and and tell you how scary yet how exciting it is.
So the big word is out, we are moving to Sweden ... tomorrow?, no I think next year or in a couple of months. It all depends on finding the right house, selling this house and the Bo's business. But Eeeeeee, it's so exciting!! In two weeks we're going to view a property we love only it's big and neglected so it might be a bit risky. We're also learning Swedish because I want to be able to speak the language when we move there. I never really get how these people in TV shows like My Place Under The Sun do not speak the language when they move to Greece for example. They even buy houses using hand and feet ... they are buying a house or crying out loud!! I want to be able to read my gas bill. We have a two hour lesson a week from this amazing Swedish woman (hej Katarina) and we can already introduce ourselves and count to 1000 and tell you all about the Svensson family. But I don't think we'll get far with that information so we need more lessons.
We also have to get the Boo to the vet today for her rabies shot. It takes 4 to 12 months before they can see if the Boo made enough anti cells after the injection* so we really need to do it today if we decide to move early. And we feel sorry for her because she hates to go to the vet - I don't really get her problem because she's having a very handsome and sweet vet. It's also her seventh birthday coming Sunday (easter day) so we made her a special gift over the weekend.
Behold the BooBoo balcony or as we famously call it "Boos Balkong". We made this for her because she loves the windowsill but she doesn't really fit on it with her big flapy belly - boy it's so embarrassing but her belly actually flaps left to right if she runs. Now the running is something that doesn't happen often but believe me it's an ugly sight. The other day Bo overheard people calling her a big fat cat on the street. Poor Boo.
For Swedish readers (and for those who are interested) we are moving to the Vimmerby/Västervik area. Yay, we are moving to Pipi Longstocking's neighborhood. If you have any tips, things we should know, advice you want us to give, everything, anything is welcome.
I'll go back to blogging about my house, my new house (and country) and all the other things I love blogging about because I've missed it. I'll be still selling Box Letter Cushions and as from today I've opened my own "whip up your own box letter cushion shop" (I'll have this printed on t-shirts) so that you can design your own with the fabrics you love from my selection. There's also a lovely interview Mary Jo from Trust Your Style did over here.
Happy new week!
* it apparently only takes 4 weeks but Norway and Sweden are quite strict so they want blood samples of 4 months and up.
Late last night we returned home after a weekend reunion with friends in the UK. It was so much fun to see the faces of people I used to see almost everyday after not seeing them for almost ten years. Also strange that something that used to be so familiar and considered so normal still is although lives have changed. I loved it!
This is the lovely Worcester Cottage who made me feel at home for two of the four years I lived in the UK.
It's the home of Bo and Bob Wallace parents of Dean, Scott, Glenn, Russell and Sophie. It was Russell who became my friend and introduced me to his lovely family. Being in a country away from my own family the Wallace's sure provided me with all the things I missed and even more. I can honestly say that some of my most font memories took place in Worcester Cottage.
Although I explained Sophie that I never really blog about family or friends and how I hardly post photos of those special to me, I'll make an exception today because she so badly wanted to be on my blog.
Here are Glenn and Sophie in the kitchen of Worcester Cottage last Saturday night. They tried to portray the phrase 'Eat drink and be merry'. I think did they a good job.
Maybe I should blog about my favorite people more often because they surely are super fun. What do you think? ...
I have so much to tell that I don't know how to tell it. Do you recognize that? There's so much going on that I just don't know how to put it in order.
I'm really excited about the products I'm working on for the Etsy shop. I think I've finally found something I love to make and love to sell. I have to think about a collaborate project I'm going to do. We're working hard on the attic because it needs to be done before next Friday because the carpet men need to get in. I'm also planning our big move, getting stuff done so that the house can go on the market and I'm trying to wade myself through all the mess that comes from the attic and is now living everywhere throughout the house. Did I ever mention I can't stand unorganized rooms ;o)
That's just some of the stuff.
I think as from next week I can show and tell you some but for now I just leave you with peaceful images of Boo napping and the new cushions I've made from my previous London loot because I actually could do with some peace.
Do not panic, this is the yvestown blog only I've done the trillionth redesign. This one is actually good because I'm working on my lists again and I found a nifty javascript to make listing fun. Boy it's almost quite sad how much I love lists. So that's new, so is the seasonal picture and the link to the shop. I've opened an Etsy shop and I'm going to put little odds and ends for sale in there over the next month. You can also buy the Skruvsta pattern in the Etsy shop. Talking about the Skruvsta pattern, how is everyone getting along? I haven't received any feedback and sold quite a bunch. I'm really curious because if it needs improvement I need to know. All your feedback is much appreciated.
We left for London on Wednesday morning because I got hold of two Spice Girls tickets and I wanted to shop at Cath Kidston.
The Spice Girls were absolutely insane, but in a good way. I loved it! The Bo never attended a 'girl band concert' and was quite overwhelmed when all the people in the crowd started to scream when David Beckham and the Beckham boys entered their VIP box. I thought the roof was caving in. Shortly after that the girls (uhm women) appeared on stage and the screaming went even louder. By the end of the concert the Bo's ears were ringing. I love him though, he's such a good husband for hopping along with me and attending Spice Girls concerts and Cath Kidston shops.
We were supposed to drive to Bicester and Whitfield to do some more shopping and to visit the parents of a friend but the wheel house of our car was playing tricks so we drove back home instead. We actually drove back in 5 hours!! That's a record for us!!
Each time after I've visited London I want to not move. I don't really understand my own problems anymore. I have a roomy home, quite a nice patio, I'm in walking distance of all the shops without having the actual hassle of people shopping in my street, I live in the greenest town of Europe, only 15 minutes away from two large Dutch cities and still I'm complaining while all those Londoners are living like pack rats. It's weird isn't it? I also really appreciate my own rooms more. Like last night when I found out that our shower cabin is actually the same size as the bathroom of the hotel room we stayed in.
I also always want to paint the outside of my house yellow or light blue and have a little gate when I've been to London. I think the day that we paint our house yellow we'll make it to the local paper. There'll be a big headline "house owners are losing their minds" people will pass our house and spit on our stoop, point fingers and try to convince the town's welfare committee to force us to repaint our house. And you know what? I'm not even making this up.
I'm going to work on my lists this weekend. It's quite a lot and I want to get everything up I love so I hope to be finished on Monday. Have a good weekend!
I'm such a liar! I couldn't lift myself to blog during Christmas because I was a. too stuffed with food. Honestly at one point I thought they might as well stick me in the oven because I have all the right ingredients for the perfect stuffing already inside of me. Ugh, why do we eat so much during those days? And b. all the food weighed me down so I couldn't get off the sofa without the help of a forklift truck and we don't have one.
We spent Christmas eve with my brother and his girlfriend and the first day of Christmas at my parents in law. On the second we stayed home called my mum and grandmother and watched all the DVD's we gave each other for Christmas. I also received books, board games, a rubber duck and a babushka snowman.
Marné sent me these cute favor box houses from Martha Stewart Crafts for our third Annual Christmas Swap. I used them for the Bo's nieces and nephews and stuffed them with mini mars and twix bars and little plastic animals. They were a hit!
The Ariadne At Home I'm featured in dropped on my floor mat yesterday morning and I cried, of course I did!! During my ugly cries I called the Bo to tell him how lovely it is and how super happy I am but he actually thought I was in pain in an ambulance.
The best thing about the feature is the big pink caption "I'm a real Cath Kidston fan" like yes, please rub it in. I love Roselle's interview, the pictures and how they used the green and pink all over the spread - my two favorite colors. It's really, really me don't you think?
You can download the PDF of the spread by clicking here. Don't forget to download Adobe Reader if you haven't already.
Oh and "Hallo" to the people that browsed here via Ariadne, welcome to my little blog!
Thanks for the fun feedback and comments on my previous post. It made me laugh and I feel a little bit better about my addiction. Addictions are things that make you go hmmmm ... with magazines I want to get that one picture, or that one article that makes me go hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm!!
The key question is; "where do you keep your magazines?".
A year ago I started to file them. I file both Country Livings, Country Homes & Interiors, Elle wonen and Domino in here
and I also started to file the renewed 101 Woonideeën. As for the other mags, I keep them around the house and recycle them when I get to that point I can part with them or I give them to my neighbor to read.
Than there's the ever growing "to go through" pile on the chair in the dining room.
I keep my Mac Book there for quick resource. I like to go to a website that comes with an article immediately, so I read and browse at the same time - oh dear, I think I'm giving too much info here. Oh and on top of the Mac is a new Jeu de Paumes book, Stockholm's Garden - I love, love, love it!!
Next we are off to the best place to read and that's the loo. I keep this little GreenGate basket up there and it holds our "Loo Literature" as we call it aka The NG and the Quest.
I recycle those and stock up each month. That way we keep in track with new curtain linings, placebos and the world changing climate.
Next month I'm going to swap magazines with Charlotte in New Zealand and Sara in Australia. And, as you can imagine, I'm dying here. I've never swapped that far away before. I'm also going to be in a magazine next month. It might ruin the whole experience for me though ... flipping through a magazine and see my own house "hey I know that kitchen, where have I seen that before?".
I think I'm the worst nightmare for most magazine editors because I'll read or flip through everything. Even if it's in Hebrew I'll have it. Being said so, they can't get away with publishing the same stuff at the same time because I'll know and I'll find out.
This month I was shocked in utter believe. Four of my favorite magazines run the same stuff but put it in different context.
First off is the Country Homes & Interiors (July 2007 issue) with this picture of a beautiful kitchen - very well styled, I love it
but in the Country Living UK a month before (June 2007 issue) there's the exact same kitchen, just differently styled
I nearly fell off my chair when Kristina sent me the BoligLiv (May/June issue) all the way from Denmark
to find out that the VT Wonen - a Dutch magazine - (June 2007 issue) are using the exact same pictures but just made a complete different story
I thought I lost it, they can't fool magazine junkies like me. I might as well bought one really fat magazine with all these pictures in it, just styled differently. "Look! this is what we can do with kitchen A and this is what we can do with outdoor shower B".
May this be a wise lesson, do never become a magazine junky because you'll end up looking at the same stuff just as my mother tells me all the time - arrrgghhh I hate she's right!
I've done something today that I never do ... I sat in the sun!! Yes people, I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines. I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines with my feet in a bucket of water, I sat in the sun for an hour flipping magazines with my feet in a bucket of water in my UNDERWEAR!!!
Mind me but it wasn't really a lovely little sun with a nice summer's breeze, it was a sweltering heat wave kind of "I'm going to get toasted" sun. And I sat in it ... I still can't believe it.
Boo tried to copy me but couldn't stand the heat with so much fur and fat. The temperature read 37 °C (98 F) in the shade - IN THE SHADE!! It's just crazy and I sat in the sun!!
This is an achievement and I think I need to be awarded. I who hates sun, who hates sitting down doing nothing for an hour, who hates sitting in underwear, who hates ... well I actually loved the feet in the bucket of water and the flipping magazines.
Something else I like to share (because I got tagged twice and have been trying to ignore it - hehe) 8 random bits about me:
I'm super emotional and well up at very odd moments. Like when a marching band starts to play music or when people applaud for a save landing or when one of the teachers from my old Au Pair child celebrated her last day at the nursery. It's super embarrassing sometimes and utterly inconvenient.
I'm attracted to imperfect people.
I've been a big Oprah fan for a long time until she said "eat whole grain" as if it was a revelation. That made me not believe her anymore.
I still have movie star crushes.
I do not believe in heaven or hell but I do want to go to a place full of kittens, free shopping and fat free yummy food when I'm dead.
I like celebrity gossip and know everything there's to know about Brad and Angelina.
I shower every day and clean my bedding every other day.
I do not like summers and I actually think I suffer from summer depressions. When the leaves start to fall from the trees I get happy and energetic. I do believe in a struggle and I feel you have to struggle harder in autumn and winter.
Let's say that out of 10 e-mails I receive at least 8 of them contain the same question;
"how do you keep such a clean home with a husband?"
Well, I'm going to spill the beans today...
Yin
I have an extremely clean, tidy and organized husband and he doesn't want to be obstructive like (sorry I have to say this) most men do. He knows that what I'm doing and keeps me busy makes me happy and he doesn't want to interfere with me being happy. In general he doesn't like to behave as a man man much. He's not embarrassed to show his feminine side and I totally admire him for being like this. The Bo wouldn't function in a messy, unorganized home packed with kids and pets and dirty dishes. He needs to shower each day to feel good, he needs to dry the taps after his shower to feel good, he needs to change his outdoor shoes to his indoor shoes each time he goes in or out (it drives me crazy) to feel good. Living like this I could never go back to living with a caveman.
Yang
But (yes there's always a but because life isn't perfect like that is it?) in return, Bo is always rushing me and I feel at least 12 hours per day rushed by him. I need to shower fast, cook fast, pee fast, shop fast. He also needs a lot of attention and he's constantly silently asking for it. He's twitchy, jumpy and always going ... going ... going. Even when he sits down to paint he's moving around on his chair. He's extremely energetic, hardly ever sleeps and talks non-stop about things such as quantum theory. In a day he either breaks something, makes something really un washable dirty or he blows in my face when he laughs which I hate!
Conclusion
I'm trying to say that it's always something. We can't have the perfect mate. We need yin/yang, good/bad.
Each time when I wake up in the morning and I have to get out of the bed fast and brush my teeth fast, I'm happy I was introduced to him and that we work because that's all that matters.
"I think I need a cup of tea the world keeps turin, Oh what a day, what a day, what a day"
Do you know that line in the Erykah Badu song On & On? Well I felt like that about last week so it wasn't "Oh what a day" but rather "Oh what a week".
I've been away most of the week, fixing little silly things. Sorry to be so vague but when it comes to Bo's projects I can't tell much online - you know what I'm talking about, it's not his blog it's mine. It's sometimes really hard not to let myself go because there's so much more I want to write about but it's so off topic. I keep a homemaking blog not a political blog not a current affairs blog not a my sister is a cow for not telling me about an important meeting blog and most of all it's not a blog about a mad woman ranting.
It's a crazy world sometimes people, even for me. Some people might think that I wake up in the morning and everything is perfect. Let me assure you it's not. I do smell like death birds when I wake up and, for crying out loud, you should see my hair. It's actually possible for a little bird to nest up there. Things aren't always perfect and they don't have to be always perfect. And believing thinking that it always rewards me.
Like at the end of last week when I returned home from the awfulness and finding this lovely stack of pink and white in my postbox.
Sally and I planned to swap Moo cards ... and a whole bunch of other stuff. The Moo cards are actually so overshadowed by all the goodness Sally sent me. I couldn't resist to oooh and aaah out loud each time I opened yet another bundle wrapped perfectly and addressed with a little teaser sticker. Sally really is the queen of detail!! Beautiful!! Sally is opening her shop soon, read all about it here.
I just love how she used my two favorite colors, green & pink, all over this swap mixed with beautiful white.
Thank you Sally!
PS: those HORRIBLE IKEA LAMP comments made me giggle, thanks so much for being out there for me!!
Today Roselle from Ariadne at Home magazine came over to my house to interview me for the photo shoot they're going to publish.
My mother used to buy the Ariadne when I was a little girl. Back then it was a creative do it yourself magazine with lots of patterns in it and not so much about interiors. I remember fantasizing of having my own home and decorating it and to be in a magazine one day .... eeeeeee I'm going to be in the Ariadne. It's still very surreal.
I've been talking about myself, my house, my Bo and my Boo for 3 hours in which I almost chocked because I apparently can't talk, drink tea and have a cream cake at the same time. It's weird to be talking about myself for such a long time without being cocky. I think there's no one interested in me talking about myself for so long. If someone would do that to me I'd ask them to shut up. So I've decided that I like interviews.
Roselle asked about the reason I blog, she asked if it's a sort of exhibitionism. It's not in my case. To me it's sharing and trying to inspire other people to decorate their homes and make everything pretty. I also like blogging because I can't bottle all these creative things up inside me so in another way this blog is my creative depot.
I'm super excited about this and I'm probably going to cry when I hold a copy in my hand because, well I cry at Flintstone episodes. For those who can get a copy of Ariadne at Home, it's going to be published in August and for those who can't get a copy, I'll make sure to add some scans to my site.
Ooooooh and look out for the Ariadne at Home Kids Special. It's coming out in just two days!! Meeting Pippi Longstockings in Sweden? That would be a dream come true.
If you're interested and if you want to understand the rest of this post, it's wise to read this on Wikipedia.
The Dutch only really celebrate carnaval in the southern parts of The Netherlands, where I was born and raised. But because I have a mother from Suriname and a father from Amsterdam it was not a festivity we were taught to celebrate. My sister caught the bug much later when she was a teenager but I've never been a carnaval lover much myself. For instance, I hate the music (they have special carnaval music and it's horrible) and I don't like what it turned into; a drinking feast and a how many people can I jump feast. But I do like the whole hoopla of the parade and the announcing of the Prince. I also like the dressing up part of carnaval.
This picture is the prove that I celebrated carnaval at least once in my existence. I was dressed up like Winnie Mandela, Marijn was Rambo, Linda someone from Kiss and Audrey was Heidi ... LOL!!
The Bo and I are still not celebrating carnaval. We just watched the parade and now we're back home getting warm. I planted some peonies and lupinus today and I'm going to make some sushi after finishing this post. Life is sweet in our humble home while, literally, just around the corner they're getting drunk and off with someone else's wife! What a bizarre contrast.
I'm extremely scared of frogs, have been my whole life. I can't remember when or how it started. I even moved house because there were so many ponds in the neighborhood. I won't add people to my Flickr contact list if they have pictures of frogs. Period!!
I keep this picture of Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes in my organizer because throwing it away or taking it out is not an option.
I used to be a thumb sucker for 21 years and a chain smoker for 15 years. I gave the thumb sucking up about 11 years ago and the smoking 4 years ago. It seems I passed my urge to suck or drag ... HA!!
Oh this one is embarrassing ... when I get out of bed in the morning the first thing I like to do is sit on the toilet while I talk to my mum on the telephone. She hates that I call her from the toilet and I don't blame her.
I run a load of laundry almost every day and we are just with two people. I buy laundry detergent and fabric softener in bulk because I'm scared whenever a disaster might break out I can't do the laundry.
I'm very emotional. I cry many happy and sad tears and I can't control it. One time I cried over an episode of The Flintstones. Fred and Wilma took an orphan in their home for Christmas and it was just too much.
I'm going to tag everyone who wants to play along. Don't forget to drop a little message so I know when yours are up.
For most of my life I've been hating it to have a birthday in December. You should know that the Dutch celebrate two gift exchange holidays in one month. On the 5th (one day before my birthday) Sinterklaas and between the 24th and 26th Christmas. As a child I used to be buried under presents in December but the best gift - having friends on my birthday - never happened. I used to have early January or late November parties instead. It used to be a month of mixed emotions and I've always been depressed about it. Until I started to let it go a couple of birthdays ago and I'm loving it. I now have a new found "I don't care if you don't come round and have cake" mentality and I love it. I feel free at last!!
So it was a surprise for me how thoughtful and giving people were this birthday. I even received guests for cake. My parents in law were really generous this year and I bought a dollhouse with the money they gave me. I also bought stuff for the dollhouse with the money my mother gave me. Honestly I'd give everything back to just have both of them on my birthday but that's just not possible with a globetrotter like my mum and people that have issues like my parents in law.
Blog friends were generous too this year. Marné sent me lots of goodies seen in previous posts (I used it all for Christmas decorations). She also sent me the two snowmen in the top picture, magazines and POPTARTS!!!
Kathleen sent me this beautiful handmade pin, I'm now wearing to keep my pashminas snug. Visit the Liquid Shop for more beautiful goodies and wrapping. She also sent me this fabulous suitcase.
It's good to know that I have found friends that consider me adequate to play with toys for ages 3 & up. That gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
For the past few days I've been following the news on the missing of the Kim Family. Although I don't know them I sincerely feel for them and all my blog friends who do know them. I want to let you guys know that James and Kati made it to the Dutch news yesterday and wish them all the best in finding and returning James.
Today is also my birthday, I'm 32 and so far it's been a good day. There's no running water, a toilet un flushed, a face unwashed. I'm going to the gym to get a shower LOL!! But I've received the best disco ball glitter ring from the Bo ever.
I come from a family of large age differences. My father was 45 when I was born and my brother 13. We all grew up quite individually in a large home with each a private spacious room in where we would hermit and horde things to do. I never played downstairs in the living areas because to my mother these areas were for adults, I now agree with her. We shared lovely family dinners, outings and parties - my folks were really party people, I love viewing slides of my father and mother dancing in the dining room - but we never were really on track of each others social lives because by the time my sister had her first snog I was playing happily with Barbie or My Little Pony. It was fascinating though as a child to have older siblings and mixing up with an adult crowd.
I've kept living in large spacious houses in deserted places all over the world for the rest of my life and I've been living quite happily in the middle of nowhere. I am a social person but I love to walk away from it whenever I want to. I've never been a group girl either and I don't really work well in a team. I do like to joke around and have fun outside work hours but when I'm working I'm doing my job and I don't want to be bothered with social ramblings. I've also never been a part of a group of friends. I rather have few friends I can individually do things with, like when I was a child. I'm a loner and proud of it!!
So when the Bo and I decided to leave our country home three years ago to set house in the middle of a town because the Bo was getting a bit panicked to leave me alone when he went on business trips (there were no neighbors left, right, back and front just 270 pigs and a whole bunch of piglets) friends and family were quite concerned.
This is our house. We're in the middle with the green door and the geraniums. It's a barn conversion form 1890-someting and divided in three homes in 1924. I left out the house of my right neighbors because they're remodeling the outside and it looks like terror. We work well with the neighbors according the outside of the building. It was my idea to get matching awnings and to paint the whole lot in the same color. I only couldn't get my head round on the dark navy doors. It looks like a black hole in middle of all the whites. So our door is light green just as it is in the back.
The first two and a half years were great because I was busy renovating, decorating, shopping, painting, planning, cooking, cleaning and running after everyone telling them what to do. I didn't have time to actually observe my new surroundings and to adjust to town life.
I really dislike the word "Do" in a sentence like "Let's do lunch" or "I don't do kids". But I just couldn't find a better title to start this post as "I don't do neighbors", I really, really don't. I thought I could but I'm really crap at it.
The house is old so I hear everything and I hate it. I dislike the sound of crying babies, people hammering (god forbid we did a lot of hammering in our days of hammering) and I hate tap noises. Running tap noises are the most horrible noises on this planet. I don't want to know when my neighbors are doing the washing up or when they shower. It annoys me that whenever I don't hear taps for a while I get concerned that they don't shower enough and that I have smelly, stinking neighbors. I also get annoyed by cars. Our little stoop makes a great parking place, the stoops left and right apparently don't work. Isn't a rule that whenever you visit someone you park on their stoops not on their neighbor's stoop?
Although we have baby and tap noises and a parking lot (I should charge for) we have friendly neighbors and it's not their fault that they are our neighbors.
I'm really happy in this cute little house but I wish I could pick my middle up and place it somewhere remote - like Alaska for example.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR UPLIFTING COMMENTS. AS I NOW FEEL FREE TO WRITE WATHEVER I FEEL LIKE WRITING I ALSO WANT TO WRITE THIS IN CAPITALS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO AT FLICKR AND I THINK THAT'S SILLY. BECAUSE CAPITALS DO NOT ONLY STAND FOR SHOUTING BUT FOR SAYING SOMETHING WHOLEHEARTEDLY!!
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It's that time of the month again that I need to discus "She With The Lovely Goods" and that's not my period it's my hero Cath Kidston.
I'm not really much of a person who idolizes people. I would for example never run to a celebrity and start bombarding them with questions. I'd be too embarrassed, I rather keep it cool. I also never really had a role model or someone who I wanted to be. I did have a serious crush on Julie Andrews when I was a child and I did sleep with a record of The Sound of Music in my bed. But that either said something about my exquisite taste in music or the fact that my parents thought I was going to be a lesbian.
Just recently (or rather three years ago) I started this crazy Cath Kidston obsession. Maybe it's for the fact of making it up for what I missed in my childhood. It was my mother who was obsessed by Laura Ashley and turned everything Laura Ashley in our home. I must have been the only kid in town who was able to call a name by just viewing a fabric sample - any Laura Ashley fabric sample.
My mother was kind enough to let us decorate our own bedrooms as long as we picked something Laura Ashley. I remembered my brother getting out of it as he were a man and we (my sister and I) were just little girls. My brother is 13 years older. I picked "Emma". And now years later it's so fascinating that Emma was one of Vanessa Bell's designs and reprinted by Laura Ashley. So my liking in Bloomsbury started very early.
Anyway, while browsing Cath Kidston on Google, I found this:
Can you picture the chaos in my house and in my head?
"I'm speechless ... I need one ... of course I need one. I can get one in the same print as my kitchen wallpaper ... I can ask one for my birthday ... Oh crap, I was going to ask a new notebook ... hmmm, I could ask for a new CATH KIDSTON MOBILE and a notebook!! ... sod the notebook I need this phone!! ... blimey, it will so match my teacup ... arrrrgggh".
For those of you who've never seen "The Red Address" aka Cath Kidston's Gloucestershire home, you can find pictures here.
I could never do that, having more than one home. I don't know how they do that people with too much money. I would get totally annoyed. I would definitely want something that isn't in my Gloucestershire home but in my Barbados home. And than we have to fly back to get that thing I want and the Bo will be all annoyed and he'll be moaning on the plane how annoying I am that I want that thing and arrrrgggh ... I so never want to win more than a million because I couldn't deal with that stress. My brother's solution to this problem: "you should buy everything in pairs" yes people we do discuss these things where I come from.
During the past few months I've been thinking a lot about my little blog. I've been seriously thinking of giving it up just because I sometimes feel I can express my true feelings, concerns and emotions. For example when I write about Katie Holmes's stretch marks or how George Clooney looks like a cup of cappuccino I get upsetting email. It limits my writing freedom. Nowadays when I'm composing a post I keep cropping bits out and I end up with something like "this is what I've done and this is what I've made, byeeeee". It's just so boring and it really bores me too (the one writing this blog).
I don't know how you feel about this but I find it difficult to discuss topics like this with my offline friends. So I'm fortunate that through this blog I've turned a few of my online friends in my offline friends, friends I can discus such topics with. So after a good phone call with my best blog friend, a set date to meet in London with another blog friend and receiving things like this
in my post box (thank you dear Lisa for the magazines and dear Nina for the lovely Finnish goodies) it makes it all better. I've met so many wonderful and inspiring people through this blog that it would be a shame to let all that go. I'm really happy to know you all!!
So I'll keep my little blog and I'll enjoy updating it. But from now on I'll discuss whatever I like in this blog. So if you get upset because I like to discuss famous people's stretch marks, people that look like cappuccinos or anything else that might offend you please don't visit again. There's nothing more important in this world as a good healthy dose of self mockery.
Oh dear I've been up to so much. I've been busy getting everything back in my computer. I've been playing the Sims 2 with my new mean graphic card. Oh it's heaven, I can't stop building, smooching edges and decorating. I can't wait for the new expansion pack either.
I also went shopping in London last week with my friend Ellen. We did have a lovely day and did do some serious shopping at Cath (did you noticed she dropped her int. shipping a bit?) It was a little power shop because we only had 4 hours. OF COURSE we missed our plane back so I had to buy new tickets. The Bo had to pick us up in the middle of the night someplace else and had to drive Ellen back to her car at the airport near us, where we were supposed to land at 19:00. Stupid girls!!! We we had a blast and the weather was extremely good to us.
I've also been in bed with a cold and did some catching up on DVD watching. Today I felt a bit better and went out with the Bo to the garden center where we bought plants and pumpkins.
I've been getting my hands dirty on carving and making these small polka dots lanterns. I have some more pictures in my Flickr album.
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I also want to say Hi to some of the new readers. I'm not really a person to email you all personally and thank you. But I really appreciate your visits and your comments. They make my day. Thank you!!
The reason for my absence and for not emailing and replying to email is that my motherboard died last monday!! It's just so weird that just a year ago the server yvestown is on crashed. Is September a computer dangerous month at my house? The good thing about last year's crash is that I started to back-up so nothing was lost this time, only my favorites folder is missing but I'll get that back on Monday.
I've been really sick off it, I'm so used to having access to the World Wide Web that living without it now is not an option. It gave me a good chance to do silly little jobs I never seem to get around to like painting plant pots and buying artificial pears LOL!!
Thanks for all the compliments on my SKRUVSTA cover. For those who mailed me and for those who are interested, I'm working on a small tutorial plus some tips & tricks on how to make an easy slipcover. I think I'm going to use a footstool, or is that too simple? I don't know, please let me know what you think.
Now something not so different, now I get to think of it, I love to wrap. Not just gift wrapping, I love all sorts of wrapping. Books, securing teapots from breaking in the mail and I even love to stuff the Bo's bills in envelopes.
Kids here in The Netherlands cover their high school books in paper jackets because most of the books are borrowed and need to be returned to the book depot at the end of term. So they need to be secure, that's why we wrap them. It's a job most teenagers hate. I offer my service for free to all the teenagers in my world (and unfortunately the count is dropping tragically) I use vintage wallpapers, fun wrapping paper, glitters, bookplates and all sorts of good stuff and by the time these kids go to school they have the most secure and fun looking book jackets in The Netherlands. I'll post some pictures soon!
This is a picture of a wrapping project I've been working on today, it's for Leslie because we're having a little magazine swap.
I'm also working on the Cath Kidston issue. I'm working on something really great but I can't yet spill the beans. I also spoke someone at Cath Kidston today and she probably thinks that the shipping amounts aren't correct. She spontaneously burst into loud laughter when I told her that flying is cheaper ... bless her lovely Cath Kidston goodies.
I'm never really excited about the summer sales and how prices are low, I'm more excited about the summer sale because I know it means new stuff after the sale. Mostly I am excited about the Cath Kidston goods. I'm always hoping for the 2004 collection and her box files because those are my favorites. I can't say that I haven't been shopping around a bit in her current sale because that would be a lie. And a good thing that is that I'm done with my shopping because today I checked back and I found myself totally, utterly in shock and super ... super disappointed in Cath Kidston.
This is what I found.
Look at a random page of Cath Kidston's new layout and look at a random page of the GreenGate layout. I'm shocked, it's almost the same but the Cath Kidston people done a really poorly job. And to make matters EVEN worse she made her overseas shipping fees astronomically high.
I can't believe this!
With the new shipping fees it's actually cheaper, for most people in the EU, to buy a plane ticket to shop at her London shop rather than to order online. That's crazy!!
I'm not having this! I'm never really one for getting angry of things like this but I'm bloody well in love with Cath Kidston and I can't just stop buying her stuff because she's being a twat!!
I've decided that I'm going to mail the people at Cath Kidston and tell them about my disappointment and how I want things back the way they were. It's not that shipping fees ever been cheap for people living outside the UK but they were reasonable. This isn't!!
Please leave a comment if you feel the same disappointment and if you want to back me up, I'd really appreciate that!!
It's so weird how a picture can say so much. After watching these new utility room pictures for a couple of days I just can't get over the fact that the room isn't really me or better us. The rug is fantastic and so are the lanterns but after I took them out of the room it already made better sense to me. It's too much fuss. So this room isn't done after all. Bah!!!
I just want to show you this picture I posted on Flickr yesterday. You should read the comments. It's such a bizarre sight. I find it a shame though because I really loved this display of candles and it made such a pretty sight at night when they were lit. Also my tablecloth is ruined :(
On Friday I'm planning on being a little daredevil and to shoot some pictures at my favorite market flower stand. People here are always really nosy and they want to know why you're taking pictures and when I tell them that I'm going to write about them they of course want to read it and I don't know if I want to share my writings with the local market flower sales people. But I've been bragging about it so much to so many people that now is the time to show you where I get all the fine goods. So stay tuned and check back to find out if I really did it!
After months of thinking about it, then trying it, failing it and trying it again it seems that everything is set up the way I want it to be and that as from today I'm using Movable Type to publish my blog.
I notice most husbands are the technical brain behind the blog but I don't have such husband. He can make absolutely beautiful things and he's lovely, funny and interesting but he can't fix me a nice blog. I need to do it all by myself and with the help of my pseudo computer husband Jo, who's a woman too. Thanks Jo for being my second set of brains!!
A couple of things have changed, I now have categories, I've made an archive page and I've moved all my favorite blog links to the links page. I've uploaded all my old blogger entries to Movable Type but lost all comments - such a shame because I love comments!!
I sure love my new publishing home.
Cheers!
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Oh and Jes is opening her new shop, you might like to take a peek.
1. Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally? I have so many minutes to myself so it's not really a luxury. What can one do in five minutes? I like flossing my teeth really thoroughly. I also like browsing eBay, flipping magazines and drinking tea.
2. Five bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it? I'd buy a "feel good" DVD or a home decorating magazine.
3. Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already? Two crochet Ikea cushions, one of two rather plump chairs that I've been moving round the house but can't find a nice spot for, Bo's collection of English bolts, his radio controlled airplanes and all the stuff in the attic that needs to go anyway (counts for a 101)
4. Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house? A pot stove my parents in law gave us (and they never give us anything so we treasure this wholeheartedly), the time capsules I make (I store things that are special through time in capsules. For example: a paper of Dec 31 1999, family photos, Dutch guilders and all sorts of other things), photos of course, my computer and all of my books.
5. Five words you love? Lovely, encyclopedia, stuff, fabulous and coleslaw (because it almost sounds Dutch and it cracks me up)
I'm not really one for saying that because I love winters but there isn't winter over here but some sort of combination of all four seasons and it's driving me nuts. These days when I go out I constantly end up soaked. So I've locked myself up trying to find projects that need to be done but are always put aside.
I've been organizing my ribbon stash, painting some little pieces of furniture, my friend Jo and I figured out how to install Movable Type but after puzzling for hours and endless phone calls later (please don't shout at me Jo) I've decided to stick with Blogger because everything seems to be working fine for me, I've made a new masthead and I've been cleaning a lot. My house is now the cleanest house on the block, maybe even in town!
I'm really excited about Gifty. I just received my swap mate's info and I can't wait to get some goodies packed up. I also have some fun stuff to share but I'm going to do that later this week because I promised the Bo to reorganize the books - honestly - clubbing in Rio, horseback riding in Nepal, diving the great barrier reef!!!
I can make up a million and one excuses for being a bad blogger but I'm just being honest if I tell you that I didn't feel like reading or posting. Sometimes it's just getting too much and nothing inspires or motivates me.
2005 was a blur ... it went by so fast. Tomorrow it's already the last day of 2005 and to me it was just a month ago that we were forced to have a drink at one of our neighbors. The Bo and I are going to stay indoors this year and turn off all the lights so that we don't have to make nice conversation with people we don't even like - oi!! we're so bad. Honestly that time is really gone that I liked to go clubbing after midnight on new year's eve. My dear, all the pushing and shoving ... I can't do it anymore ... I've become an old boring fart - Ha!!
Ah well, I believe 2006 is going to be great because I believe in even numbers ;o) I'm going to spend a lot of time focusing on myself and my surroundings. I've made a mood board for things I want to create in the new year interior and exterior wise. I want to work on my boot room, sewing loft and garden and these are just a few images I collected throughout the year to guide me.
