Happy birthday Maman!

I have the best mum there could be.
I'm so lucky.

Happy birthday mum!

This time last year...

... we were in Switzerland.

I really wish I could be there again right now.
Hopefully it won't be too long until we are back.

Summer's back!

Today's sun and warmth made me forget all about the liters of rain we've had recently. It was just perfect.

Yey! - I love summer.


P.S. I suddenly got this urge to do some origami on the weekend... and started making colourful 'waterbombs' (Am not planning on using them as such, even though the weather would allow it. Am instead thinking of hanging them by the window... still need to make lots if I want to do that though, so let's see if the urge subsists a few more days).

Soft sounds and lights

I was extremely tempted to turn the heater on tonight.. it's been rainy and cold all day, and I just was tired of this ugly damp feeling that's everywhere. But it's June. Almost July! There's no way I'm going to turn the heater on in June!! So I lit up some candles. I guess they do produce a little heat -not enough to make the thermometer in the living room go up any degrees though- but psychologically it makes all the difference. And with this CD I bought today (discovered here), it turned out to be a lovely evening after all.

Happy bunting

Here are, as promised, a few photos of the present I made for Matilda's birthday. It was a lot of fun to put together and I could totally see myself making some more. The only tricky bit is that all the seams are in the bias of the fabric and hence tend to crinkle a bit. Still, it all ended really well.
If you want to give it a go, here is a great tutorial to show you how.

Blah...

I've been sick all day. And Mart is away...

It's been another one of these days with beautiful sun and crazy rain alternating pretty much constantly. I did nothing but sleep, try to eat and drink a little, witness the weather go crazy and watch one or two episodes of Private Practice. Why can't it be as good as Grey's Anatomy...? I miss Grey's...

Anyway. It's the first time in my working life that I have to stay home because I'm sick. And I'm not planning on doing it often: it's not fun!

Rain and sun

The weather has been pretty crazy over here lately: it cannot make its mind. One minute it's raining cats and dogs, the next it's beautifully sunny. And back to rain and cold. And sun. And rain.
Lucky I have a handbag big enough to fit an umbrella, sunglasses, my stripey cotton scarf and a little cover for my bicycle seat (very handy when it's totally wet and you don't want to have a wet bum at the supermarket) - that way I'm prepared for any weather!

I can't say I love this type of weather, especially when it lasts for days, but it does have two very good points:
1. the parks, fields and plants get all the water they could wish for and hence look beautifully green
2. when the sun does peak through the clouds it makes me feel tremendously happy. It reminds me that I should not take things for granted. It's good to be reminded of that from time to time... :-)

Happy birthday Matilda!

The adorable little Matilda turned three today. I'm going to bring her her presents later on this week - i'll show you photos then.

Light yellow

You know these banana lollies?
Well they exactly match the nail polish I put on today...

And they are pretty yummy!

Bits of white in our apartment

I absolutely love looking at photos of beautiful white Scandinavian apartments with perfect furniture, fantastic light and just the right amount of little touches of colour.
Our place doesn't look like that one bit (hello clutter and mismatched items!) but I don't mind. I still love our apartment.

And I keep telling myself that if we moved into a nice big white space and selected some of the (many!) objects we currently have, we could also have a beautiful light and airy apartment!


P.S. the broach comes from the Brick Lane markets in London. Which animal do you reckon it is? Every time I wear it I get different opinions...!

Sushi, cocktails and cakes

We spent our Sunday just over the border, in Aachen (Germany).
Such great food, drinks and laughs... and not many photos to prove it. :-)

It was sad to see Michelle and Ben go yesterday...

Cycling around the Belgian and Dutch countryside with three red-heads

Weekend!

We have a long weekend again this week... 3 days. Yey!
And Ben (Mart's brother) and his girlfriend are over from Australia. Double-Yey!

Charcoal

Often I wish that iPhoto had an option to sort your photos by colour like google does... (see here and here for examples).
I am such a sucker for nice colour arrangements... And whether it's nature or nurture, I know I get this from my mum... look at this pinterest gallery of hers. She's the best at it!

I'm not sure charcoal actually counts as a colour, especially after seeing all the beautiful hues in the links above, but that's what I could come up with tonight with one glance at the photos I had in front of me in my iPhoto...



Oh, and just in case you were wondering, here is what is playing in our living room at the moment.
I have a few of her songs on the playlist I've made to go running and have heard them a lot lately. My brain must have made some connections between the Belinda Carlisle receptors and the running ones because my legs are feeling quite restless right now!

Ave Ceasar

Since the hairdresser turned my hair into a sixties-looking mess I've had it up almost all of the time. And so while I'm waiting for it to grow back, I'm re-discovering headbands to spice it up a little...
This one is a bit 'ave ceasar-ish', but I like it.

Beauties

We have these on our dinner table at the moment... and I can't help but marvel every single time I look at them.

Urchin ring

I had bought this ring here when we were in Sydney a few years ago. I wasn't wearing it anymore because the bit that goes around the finger, which was made of elastic and beads, was a bit loose and the ring would come off too easily. But I fixed it with a metal ring which I glued under the 'urchin' bit, and now I can wear it again.

Me = happy!

Happy birthday Mathieu!

My brother is turning 25.
We sent him a bit of a crazy present this year: a peg.

But a special one. ;-)

Orange - strawberry

A nice fluffy fresh juice for breakfast...

Back in the days...

Today we are seeing friends from 6 years ago, when we were all studying together... Pretty exciting!