I’m Going To Paris! | Loepsie’s Life

Happy Monday! We have officially entered the week in which I turn 25. A quarter of a century! In the past I used to dread my birthdays, but this year I can honestly say I’m really excited. I feel grateful for making it 25 years in life, and I’m happy with where I am right now. There are also some really exciting things happening this week, making it a wonderful time altogether. I’m going to be hosting a party again for the first time in years, but the most exciting thing is… I’m going to spend a night at the Efteling hotel! They actually invited me to stay over and visit the park for two days in a row. If you guys know anything about me you’ll know how ridiculously excited I am about such a dream collaboration with what I’ve been calling my favourite place on earth for years. I’ll be vlogging the trip so you’ll get to join Robbert and me in all the fun. I can’t wait! But first, let’s take a look at what I did last week.

Starting the workday with a fresh, home made soy matcha latte. It’s been a while since I had one of these and I started craving it after watching a video where someone was having one. I should really get drinking this back into my routine, they’re so healthy and delicious!

Weighing day for the ratties. This chunky guy right here has been on a diet for a few months now, and we’re making great progress. We’re still not there, I’d like to get him in the 500’s ideally, but this is already so much better than the weight he started out at. Yay!

Still sticking to my new year’s resolution: buddha bowl for lunch. I prepared a whole loaf of tempeh on Monday, along with a pot of quinoa and had those as the base of my meals all week.

The succulents are still alive and seem to be doing well! I’m not entirely sure how often I should water them and how much water they need when I do, but I’ll figure it out :)

Yummy spicy eggplant soup for dinner. There’ll be a recipe up for this later this week!

Robbert decided to order a printer, and I pressed him to pick a small, compact one because we don’t really have any place to put a printer. The next day this got delivered… I couldn’t stop laughing. Luckily there was a much smaller box inside :)

We ended up having to install it on the windowsill, and I tried to decorate it so that it wouldn’t be so obvious. I do think it looks alright there, even though it’s a bit of a strange place for a printer.

I finally picked out some photos for the gallery wall! I had them printed, and this is what it looks like. I’m absolutely in love with this area now. Sometimes I just stand here and look at all the photos that hold all these great memories. Love it!

I also replaced the photo in this little frame, with this one I took in Ireland a while back. It’s one of those 3D frames so I also put a few rocks in that I picked up on this beach. This is such a touristy item now but I love it, haha!

When I was out to pick up the photos, I also picked up this super fancy Valentine’s day cake for Robbert. We didn’t really celebrate Valentine’s day this year as there’s so much going on around my birthday next week (and it was D&D night, haha) but I did want to get this for the two of us to enjoy. Oh my gosh was this good!

The rattie troubles continue. Thursday morning I noticed Penpingion wasn’t quite himself, he was sneezing much more than usual and I felt like he had trouble eating. I called the vet and made an appointment for later that day. This is the first time I took a rat to the vet by myself and I had to walk there. Even though it’s a short walk I was worried he’d get cold, so I popped this microwavable warmer cat thing in the transport box and covered the whole thing in a winter coat. We made it there just fine, the vet listened to his lungs and luckily it didn’t sound like there was anything there. We decided to put him on antibiotics anyway, since the sneezing did get worse and he was acting a bit off the night before as well. He’s back to his usual ways now!

Collective begging for treats :)

Speaking of treats, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was on offer at the supermarket this week so I got a tub of the vegan Chunky Monkey flavour. I’m not a big fan of banana flavour but I have to say, this is really nice. I’m so glad they introduced the vegan ice cream in the Netherlands.

On Friday, Robbert left for Malmö with a friend for the weekend. My friend came over here and we had another go at booking our birthday trip to Paris. We did it this time! We have a train ride and a hotel all ready to go in April. I dug up this bracelet that I bought last time I was in Paris, in 2011 with my mom. I’m really excited to go back!

We had sweet potato soup and chatted all night long.

The next morning I woke up with a sudden urge to organise and clean the entire house. I finally picked up some of the last things that were still lying around from the move and Christmas, so everything has a place now. I’m really happy with how the booshelves came out!

I also re-did these shelves and cubbies in the kitchen, and cleared the counters.

Nothing like the feeling of a clean home! It really is starting to feel like home now. I always take a long time adjusting to a new place and having it truly feel like a home, but I’m slowly getting there.

Sunday was a beautiful day so I went on a little walk around the neighbourhood.

In the afternoon my dad and brother came over and we all headed into central Amsterdam together, to see Trollfest/Arkona/Heidevolk/Korpiklaani in the Melkweg. We used to visit concerts like these a lot when I was a teen and it’s been a long time since we last went, so it was really fun to do again.

And that was my week! I hope you’ve had a wonderful one as well. See you soon!