Sunny Monday greetings to you, my lovely readers! I’m back with my photo diary of last week. It was a really fun week, I went out every single night and left the house more than I have in ages. Quite the achievement for a massive introvert like me, haha! I got to spend a lot of time with friends and family, which is really nice to do every now and again. We went to the opera, scouting events, I went vintage shopping in Amsterdam, and visited Elfia, the fantasy fair. Let’s take a look!
It’s quite clear what Bran the explorer’s real goal is when he demands to free roam… Finding more food, always. You’d be amazed by how intelligent rats are, this little guy was able to jump up, open the flip-top on the food box and dive in in a matter of seconds. And to fill up his mouth to the brim before jumping out again and hiding in a corner to gobble everything up :)
Beautiful fresh flowers. I like to treat myself to a bunch every now and then when they’re on sale.
I filmed a new Beauty Beacons video that’ll be up later this week. Beauty Beacons videos require a certain feeling of motivation or inspiration to film as they take a lot of time to produce, and lately I’ve been feeling it more often again. I’m so happy you guys still enjoy these!
On Wednesday my friend and I headed to the National Opera to see Wagner’s Tannhäuser. It was a long one at 4 hours 15 minutes, but really beautiful. I love sitting on the balcony when we visit the opera, as I really enjoy watching the orchestra at work.
Starting the day right with oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, hemp seeds and chia seeds for breakfast. Yum yum!
This week’s cuddle pile takes place in a different location. I found them all stacked up in this old hat, which is usually Pádraig’s domain. The twins got in there with him for a good old cuddle sesh.
Still hitting the gym twice a week. I’ve been slowly upping my weights, which means I’m making progress. Slow but steady! :)
I hope you’re not annoyed by all the photos of my plants, but they just make me really happy. I planted my lavender and this flower on the balcony a few days back and they seems to be thriving, as well as my herbs on the other end which are growing bigger and bigger.
On Thursday evening I went over to the scouting to help pack up for the regional scouting competition that the kids were participating in. We also unwrapped our tie-dye shirts, which came out absolutely amazing.
Fully loaded and ready to go!
Bran is honing his food thievery skills.
You win some, you lose some :)
Friday was the day: I finally had a proper go at vintage/second hand shopping. I made a list of a bunch of vintage shops in Amsterdam that seemed good, took my brother along with me, and we headed into town. Both of us were very pleasantly surprised by what we found, and the experience in general. We discovered some really good stores and both found lots of items we liked. I only ended up buying one pair of woolen trousers because I didn’t really need anything, but next time I need a clothing item I’m definitely going to look in vintage shops first. I’ll be sure to make an Amsterdam vintage shopping guide when I’ve tried it a few more times!
Looking in the wedding dress section at one of the vintage shops was the worst idea ever. This was the first dress I pulled out, and I fell head over heels in love with it. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous, from the colour to the cut and the material. It was my size and only €95, and I was this close to buying it. Then I remembered it would be silly to buy a wedding dress before I’m even engaged, and I’d really regret missing out on wedding dress shopping with my friends later on if I bought this one now. So I settled for taking a photo instead.
When we got home I went to my parents’ house to pick up my costume, as we were bound for Elfia the next day. On the way there I got to ride into this beautiful sunset, haha :)
Still madly in love with my beautiful tea pot <3
Elfia! This is the 12th year I’m coming to this festival, and it’s always fantastic to be here. I do have to say I feel like things are getting worse on the organisational side, as there are more and more visitors each year. The lines for food and toilets were unacceptable this year, and I feel like there are fewer and pretty “mainstream” vendors and bands as well, which is a huge shame at a specialised fantasy fair. I’ll be coming back next year, but I do really hope they work on these things as I hate to see the quality of this amazing festival going down.
I brought home two bottles of Elfia mead: the rose-flavoured kind, and the new whiskey-flavoured kind. Both of these are delicious!
On Sunday I spent the majority of my morning at the gym. In the afternoon I decided to visit my explorer scouts, Robbert and a few of our friends at the regional scouting competition and to support the kids during the award show. I ended up staying much longer than I anticipated and joining a few people for dinner at a Greek restaurant. I haven’t been to many Greek restaurants in my life, but the food was really nice. There was a live band and we had a great time.
And that brings us to the end of my week! I hope you’ve had a great weekend. Talk to you soon!
