Why I'll never wax again

Just for your information, that picture is NOT a realistic portret of waxing. It really is more something like this:

Ok, so let me tell you about my one and only experience with waxing, right now I have a good laugh thinking about it but at the time itself it was NOT funny :p
Back in the day, when I had just turned 19 and was in my summer holidays I was in an experimenting mood. I was going to see my then Irish boyfriend in September, and naturally I wanted to look fabulous for him as I only got to see him every few months (which sucked by the way). Of course I also wanted to look good for sexy time, so the thought of having to shave Down Under every two days to keep things smooth and avoiding the awkward 'hair in mouth' situation during the whole you-know-what-I-mean time, got me thinking about waxing. I had never tried, as it seemed time consuming and I had seen on tv that it hurt, but the thought of being supersmooth for almost two weeks did sound good. So 19-year old me went off to the supermarket and got herself some Veet wax strips.

I went up to bathroom ready to get cracking. I knew it would probably hurt, but really, how bad could it be? One quick tug and the pain would be over in a second, right? I read the box first, the advice on it was to not do the bikini area when first trying out waxing. It said better do the legs. But stupid young me disregarded this information for unknown reasons and thoughy legs smeghs, it's the bikini area I want done! So I got out the waxstrips and sticked them on Down Under. I grabbed the edge, mentally prepared myself for unpleasantness and pulled.
I think I got about 2cm far before stopping and screaming and crying AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Luckily I was home alone, would have been weird to explain. The tiny little square I managed to pull off wasn't even all off and it was bleeding and red as a lobster. This was not what tv told me it would look like!! Tv LIED!
No need to say that I did not continue waxing the rest. I did have a perfectly smooth tiny patch for a while, but damn it is not worth it!
Ok maybe I should have tried the legs first, and I have heard doing it yourself is not the best idea, as inflicting pain on self is not easy to do. But no way I am trying that again. The person who invented those nasty things must have been an SM- lover, who would want to do that over and over again!!

And to getting it done:

Umm no thanks, only my gyneacologist gets to poke around down there and my boyfriend :p I may sound prudish, but having some random person spreading my legs and sticking those things all over does not sound very appealing and comfortable to me. Also, I do not believe AT ALL, that a professional will be able to make it not hurt like a motherf******.

Razor, sorry for ever doubting you, I love you and your painfree ways. Who cares if you have to redo it so often, it takes about two minutes to do and you won't be screaming, bleeding, all red or be embarassed by someone spreading things to get the wax there.

Nope, no more waxing for me!

What about you, any funny experiences to share about the female problem that is trying to be all smooth for sexy time?

Although men are starting to put some effort in it too, which I, if I may be so bold to say, do not mind at all! :p

I've come through

Even though there are still things in my life right now that make me sad and blue, I know that I'm strong enough to get over it, and feel better the next day. I know that because as a teenager I was really low, due to certain painful events, and I wasn't able to cope with it properly. It took me a long time to feel happy about myself and forget about the painful experiences, and getting my heart broken badly along the way to growing up didn't help.
But now I feel like I've pulled my act together and I've learned better ways of dealing with sad things. I've put the past in a box, not forgotten, but it has a place now and it doesn't bother me anymore.

I used to think life was really cruel, that other people seemed to get all the luck and I got all the crap, but when you look around properly you realise that really isn't so. There will always be people who are better or worse off then yourself, you should find the good in your own life. I once got a poster from a guy with a long quotation from Desiderata, and what it said really made sense to me, especially the end:

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.


And it really is a beautiful world. I've come to realise that lately, now that I'm truly entering grown-up life. Things won't always work out the way you want them to, you will get hurt, you will have sad moments, you might feel bad about yourself, but the key is to not focus on these things. They will pass, you won't feel sad forever. Happy moments will come along. And it's those that make life worth living, it's those you should think about instead of hanging on to things that will only make you bitter. As a young girl growing up, it's too difficult sometimes to see the good, you're still unable to look further in the future and emotions run wild and sometimes they're all over the place and you have no way to contain them. This is what often leads to bad ways of coping. Luckily, we do grow up, we learn to control our emotions and find ways to cope.

Although being a teenager was fun at times, I'm glad I've grown up and feel better in my skin and about life in general. No more sitting alone in a dark room feeling sad and pondering, time to get out, and if you're still there, get out now! Go outside, there are better things out there.
There is so much good in the world and so many beautiful things to see and amazing things to experience.

I learned to focus on the little things. When I feel blue, I might have myself a good cry for a moment, but then it's time to get up and dry my tears and laugh again.

What are the little things for me that make life great?

* Singing loudly in the shower, not caring who hears
* A nice evening at home with my family watching tv
* People who show real gratitude for me helping them at work
* My dogs happy and greeting me when I come home
* Wearing an outfit that makes me feel confident and attractive
* Laughing with friends and reminiscing crazy moments from the days in school
* Shopping with my mom
* Seeing a great movie
* Sitting in the garden under the parasol on a sunny day, just enjoying
* Getting a compliment
* Be amazed when seeing a beautiful place
* Hearing great stories of family members long gone
* Seeing cute babies
* Making new friends

There are so many more. If you had to list all the little things that put a smile on your face and make you feel good, that list might very well be very very long. Think about it, you might realise life is short, and not seeing for what it really is, is a true waste.
Strive to be happy!

Back!

Hi everyone

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I had four days off this weekend! It was really great, I really needed some relaxy time. And the weather was absolutely fabulous, especially Friday and Saturday, about 25 degrees! That's pretty great for April. I went on long walks with the dogs, went to the shops with my mom and discovered this lovely new store with cute vintage outfits! I really love everything vintage looking, I've always been interested in things from the past. I got this lovely black polka dot tight dress, the sleeveless 50's style dress. I must say my figure looks pretty great in it! And when you find a dress like that, you just can't not buy it :D I'm definately going back to that store.

Saturday I went to Gent with a friend, a really lovely Belgian city. If you're ever here, check it out, it's got this lovely old centre and great bars and restaurants. If you like trying out new drinks, there are bars with like a hundred different Belgian beers (we are the beer country after all, not Germany as some people think!! The best beer in the world (voted every year) has often been a Belgian one) and also bars with many many flavours of Jenever (a really nice spirit drink, schnapps-like). So in conclusion, Gent is a great night out. I went to college there, and everyone who visits it seems to really love it. Here are some pics to give you a general impression:

So well, I went to the cinema, to cool down a bit from the heat. I went to see Source code, that new film with Jake Gyllenhaal (what a man btw). I'll be sure to add a review, but I can tell you already it was definately worth seeing, although I'm still puzzled on the end. It's not a straight forward film, but I enjoyed it.

I spent a lot of time relaxing in the garden with a lovely glass of wine and a book. Sometimes what more does a girl need! So overall, a great long weekend was had :) Next weekend is three days, so a little longer weekend again, which is great!

Anyhow, hope you all had a good weekend as well! Back to working hard (or hardly working)!

Jersey Shore sans Alcohol: Can they survive?

Jersey Shore; known for its grenades, guidos, GTL, and yes, drunken binges. The drunk “situations” that occur are usually what initiates the fights, hair pulling and even the theft of your roommate’s mattress. All of these things have become trademarks of the unpredictable reality show, which millions have grown to love. What would happen if you took away their ability to drink? Would there be catfights, ‘Ronnie and Sam’ drama or ‘robberies’?

Thanks to Matteo Renzi, the mayor of Florence, we will be able to see just that. If the cast will be filming under his discretion, they will not be filmed in bars and clubs serving alcohol, they will not be filmed drunk in public places, the show will not in any way promote Florence as a drinking town. Essentially, the mayor is saying he doesn’t want their branded reckless behavior to slander their city.

How will this affect the show, viewers, etc.? Can Jersey Shore stand as a show promoting culture and good food? I guess we will just have to wait and see on the upcoming season of Jersey Shore which premieres next year.

Lindsay Lohan: VID (Very Important Diliquent)

Soon to be her fourth visit to jail since 2007, one would think Miss Lohan would get special VIP treatment for being a frequent guest. Or did she? After stealing (or mistakenly walking out with) a $2,500 necklace and violating her probation, she was ‘awarded’ 120 days behind bars with $75,000 bail after processing at the lockup.

Without ‘F--- you’ on her nails, an extra low V-neck to accentuate her famous cleavage or a skin colored mini dress, she seemed to respect the court system this time around, covering herself up from head to toe. She immediately posted bail following her exit from the courthouse in handcuffs, and she stands a free woman until her trial in June. Ironically, her charge is for violating the probation of one of her past DUIs, not the theft of the necklace. Judge Sautner reduced her theft charge to a misdemeanor, ultimately because she says the necklace ‘was worth less than $1,000 dollars. Despite the fact that some say this is “celebrity justice,” Lohan got a big break. If she was charged with a felony, she could have been facing up to three years in prison.

Not only has this store gotten immense publicity from this entire incident, but Lindsay Lohan has probably made Kamofie & Co. Jewelry in Los Angeles more money than they could have ever expected. It’s bizarre how the media can work in a subversive way; someone steals from you, you end up benefitting. Only in Hollywood.

According to Nancy Dillon of the New York Daily News, “In addition to the jail time, the judge also ordered Lohan to perform 120 hours of community service at the county morgue and 360 hours at a women's center.” He wanted Lohan to see the hardships that women face in reality. But Lindsay Lohan doesn’t live in reality, she lives in the spotlight and her hungry career is nourished by her inability to stay out of trouble.



Luke Christopher- NEW ARTIST TO CHECK OUT

As you all know, my mission is to get real, genuine talent EXPOSED. I feel that substance in the entertainment industry is lacking, especially in music. Here's an artist that was just recommended to me by a very credible person, Jason Salvador.

Luke Christopher is a 17-year-old multi-talented individual who is a gifted singer, songwriter, producer and MC. He produces his own music and has created a studio out of his own home. Substance is clearly an understatement here... Check it out.

This is one of his latest videos, "The Social Network"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ_C8mqyNCM&feature=player_embedded

Prince Charming, where the f*** are you???

Do you still remember when you were a young girl, watching disney films, love seemed such a promising and quite easy thing. You figured one day, when you'd be a bit older, you'd fall in love with this amazing man, he'd ask you to marry and you'd have babies and he'd totally adore you and all would be great! As a teenager you already started realising slightly that it's not as easy as that, you would come to the conclusion that some guys are jerks and you would get your heart broken. But still hope remained, it was normal to go through a few heartbreaks before finding mr right! He'd come along soon enough, so you got over the jerks and went on your merry way to fall in love once again.

But for some he doesn't come along soon enough. Sometimes you have to wait years before you find someone again. Happened to me once in college, not fun, especially not when surrounded by people in really long relationships and throwing it in your face. You just wanna punch those annoying happy people! You're wondering where the f*** your prince Charming is, did his train get delayed or what?

I guess for some of us the rollercoasterride that is life is slighty bumpier and loopier than for others. But it will happen guys, don't despair !

So what do you all look for in a man (or a woman if any of you who read me are men). Do you think you have very high standards?
I do think I have a type, but to be honest that doesn't mean much, you can have the hots easily for a guy who looks a certain way but end up with a guy who looks totally the opposite.
I once met a man who said he always loved girls like me, pale, little freckly, with reddish hair, and he married a tanned woman with black hair and dark eyes. So having a type, doesn't mean you refuse to date other types.

What's my type? hmm..

Let's think, I usually get weak in the knees for guys with the following appearance:
- blue eyes (or green)
- curly hair
- dark hair
- relatively pale usually
- tall (but not giantesk)

And so far most guys I dated had all or some of those qualities. But honestly, I'm not that fussed :D As long as there's a spark (we're talking just looks here, of course personality is key) a guy might just as well be tanny, dark eyed and light haired.
The most important thing, something that isn't always very clear when you first go out with someone, is his/her personality. Sure, you get the general idea in the beginning, but people tend to hold back the annoying for later on unfortunately.
I know there's plenty of fish in the sea, but people hate hearing that, the sea is a bloody big place and how do you know what fish to pick? If only the holy grail appeared over someone's head if he's your mr perfect, looking would be a lot easier.

Maybe that hilarious facebook group is right: sometimes your knight in shining armour is just a retard in tin foil. It happens to all of us at some point.

But hey, as feminists would say, be your own knight! Hell yea. Elizabeth the First didn't need no knight either!

Ugh who am I kidding? I want loooooooove. Corny, romantic, barfingly perfect to others loooove

Pregnacy: It's the New Fad

Acadamy Award winner Benicio Del Toro is going to be a dad! Most notably known for his roles in Traffic and The Usual Suspects, the 44-year-old's rep announced the exciting news on April 11th. So who's the lucky lady? None other than Kimberly Stewart (wait... what?). Yes, the same socialite daughter of famed rockstar, Rod Stewart. "Benicio is the father and is very supportive. Although they are not a couple, they are looking forward to the arrival of the baby." Not a couple??? Wow. This brings the premarital Hollywood pregnancy situation to a whole new level. Mike Huckabee will have a ball with this one. But kudos to you, Benicio, for supporting your baby mama.

For all of you who are not familiar with Mike Huckabee, he was the one who called out Natalie Portman for being pregnant out of wedlock. After her Oscar win, Huckabee says the Black Swan star should have gotten "a wedding ring" instead of finding out "the perfect gift" of having a baby. Hollywood wasn't so happy. At least we know who won't be voting for him if he runs for president.

The lovely and amazing yet narrowcasted Kate Hudson: One of my favorite actresses, is pregnant with baby number two. Already mother to adorable Ryder, 6, from Black Crows lead singer Chris Robinson, she is now openly sporting her baby bumb for everyone to see. In a recent interview on Entertainment Tonight, she said she believed she was having a girl. When I heard the news, I couldn't believe Alex Rodriguez was going to be a father. Oh wait, just kidding, this baby is with Muse rocker Matthew Bellamy. Who is that? I didn't know either. Clearly, she has been out of the spotlight because I was almost positive she was still dating A-Rod, and they broke up last year. Anyhow, in the current issue of InStyle magazine, she quotes in regards to her boyfriend and father of her unborn child, "I love that Matthew knows how to express himself. He shows his love. He communicates." She was recently asked 'why she loves him' because no one knew who this mystery man was. She was recently seen in Rio de Janeiro kayaking and enjoying her pregnancy to the fullest. I'm rooting for you, Kate! I really do wish her the best.

Fantasy fair!

So I went to the fantasy fair this Saturday :) I mentioned my love for fantasy in my 'geekyness' post, and the yearly fantasy fair in Holland where I looove to go to. Most people dress up for it, so naturally I do too. Maybe it's silly, but sometimes you have to let out your inner child and have a bit of fun! It was quite a long drive to get there, but totally worth it. The weather was nice for this time of the year, quite sunny, about 20 degrees, so that really helps create an atmosphere. The fair is set on the grounds of a castle, and wow it's so beautiful there. So green and foresty, and water everywhere and little bridges, it's an idyllic garden and the perfect setting for a fantasy fair.

What can a person do there you wonder? Well there's lots! There's a whole bunch of stands all over the place, where you can buy random fantasy related trinkets, books, medieval drinks, paintings..etc There are also book signings, lectures, medieval fighting reenactments, workshops, costume contest, live folk music.. Things like that :)
And everywhere you see people with amazing costumes. I bought mine online, as I can't make anything myself unfortunately. I got a long blue medieval dress, and added some elf ears, and a head circled jewelry thing, to make it look elfy. I thought it looked pretty nice, although compared to some others (some people really go all out, and look like they stepped right out of the Tudors) mine felt inadequate :D But those really fancy costumes, corsets and all, cost a fortune to get made or bought online, and that's a bit over the top for just one day. Most people go for medieval style things, but some have these giant wings and paint their faces, which is really cool to see.

I know it's not for everyone, but I really had so much fun, and I'm secretly thinking of going to the one in Arcen (Germany) in September as well :p Why not eh! I'd love to wear one of those fancy costumes with a corset, as I'm totally in love with anything vintage, but I don't really know where to find that.
Oh and I had mead beer, which was sooo good! It's like beer with a sweet honey flavour, really nice. Medieval times must have been fun, well, not counting the whole plague bit.

I'll add some pictures on here tonight! Was hoping to add them here at work, but I didn't know the USB ports were all blocked, sigh! How can work not trust us :p

UPDATE: here they are! clicky for bigger :) Hope you like!

A movie review: Buried

During my long trainride home yesterday I decided to watch a film on my netbook. I have a whole bunch of films on there that I uploaded from a friend's computer. I saw Buried and I remembered my friend telling me it was good, but not your average film, as the whole film takes place under the ground in a coffin. I delayed watching it as I thought an hour and a half of someone in a coffin sounded really heavy and possibly dull. But yesterday I decided to give it a shot. And yes, it is a heavy film, but anything but dull. I may have spent most of the film with my hand in front of my mouth looking terrified and shocked, probably giving the people around me a good laugh, but I thought it was an amazing and unique film.

I'll give you a quick re-cap of the storyline. Paul Conroy is an American truckdriver who has been deployed to Iraq to drive around supplies. He and his convoy get attacked by a bunch of Iraqis, shooting everyone. Paul gets hit on the head and wakes up in hell. He finds himself in a wooden coffin under the ground. He only has a lighter and a phone and starts a race against time to try and call someone who might be able to help him out. Of course the poor man is totally panicking, especially when an Iraqi man calls him on the phone and tells him he wants money and a video of him in the coffin.

I never thought a movie that takes places in a dark coffin from the first second to the last would be this exciting. It's heartclenchingly good, you spend the entire film freaking out along with Paul, annoyed at the unhelpful people on the phone, and praying he makes it out.
Ryan Reynolds, who plays Paul Conroy, was a big suprise to me. I remember him as a silly actor who played in annoying comedies, but wow did he prove me wrong in this film. He plays the role of his life, displaying a whole range of emotions going from total panic to screaming at people over the phone in anger and frustration.

The camera work is brilliant, one moment you're there in the claustrophic box with Paul, the other you're watching from afar as he lies there surrounded by darkness. There are even moments when the screen is just utterly black, just hearing Paul's panicking breath, which really adds to the horror of the situation.

And the ending of the film! Well, I won't tell you, but I can say that I was biting my nails and freaking out, wanting to shout out at the screen..it was the most gutwrenching and suspenseful last five minutes of a film I've ever seen. I was left staring with mouth open at the end. I just had to write a review about this film, because it made a huge impact on me.

I realise this kind of minimalistic film is not for everyone, but if you enjoy suspense and sitting at the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next give this film a try.

It's really a gem of a film, really really surprised me.

¡Àndale!

I finally found out where I'm going on holiday this year! I'm going to Almeria, the very south of Spain. You can see it right there on the map. Why Almeria you say? Well, at the end of secondary school me and my group of friends said we should go on a trip together. That unfortunately never happened, you know how those type of spur of the moment plans tend to go, but we recently mentioned it and said let's do it now! We talked for a bit about where we could go, and we thought about our friend Romina (also from secondary school) who is now married and living in Almeria since a few years. We haven't seen her since we were 18, so we though wouldn't it be great if we could surprise her and show up there!

We all thought it was a fabulous idea. To make for a great surprise, we thought we would contact her husband (who's Welsh. yes she's Belgian, he's Welsh, and they live in Spain, complicated stuff). So they told me to contact him, as I'm the whole English linguist person. And I did, and he was all for it, and now we're looking for a hotel and/or a car. YAY!
Finally some plans are forming! We're planning to go end of September, as in summer it would just be unbearably hot there. September will be a nice 25-30 degrees, which is hot, but not "I'm melting, o what a world what a world!" hot.

I have never been that low in Spain, so I'm quite excited to see what it's like. No way I'm going to lie by the beach/pool all day and just do nothing, that's totally not my thing. Also, I'd burn to a crisp. I want to go exploring and see everything! And take lots of pictures, which I will then of course share with all of you! Except the crazy drunken ones. Unless you insist :p

One thing I will definately need to bring is sunblock, factor 50 or more! Now before you say:"How will you tan if you put on that high a factor?" I CANT TAN! Nope not at all.
First I go:

And after that I go back to being as pale as ever. I blame it on the hair. I have skintype nr 1, or the 'celtic skintype', which means I can forget about ever tanning and I'm not allowed to go under a sunbed due to big risk of skincancer. Oh well, pale is the new tan! And a redhead with a tan would look kinda silly anyway.

I don't like Mondays

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm swamped today at work! In the weekend I've been enjoying the sun, and figured I'd post at work as usual, but my collegue is on leave, leaving me with everything!

There's been a million calls, a million passport and visa applications, unexplainable bills, a missing person, and to top it all of the alarm is messed up and keeps beeping every 30 seconds. Fun!

I haven't been able to relax and read all your blogs once! I'm getting seriously behind on the stories.

What a crappy Monday! I'm going to be absolutely knackered tonight. Also I forgot to bring my laptop charger :( noooo will be a long boring trainride of two hours. Working life is hard! When people say college is the best time of your life, they are pretty much right. So much free time! All I have now is the weekend and 20 days off a year, which is pretty low compared to several months in college. Life as an adult sure is hard. But at least I have money.

If you're still in college, enjoy it while it lasts! It will be over before you know it, and then it's working until you're retired. And the way things are going, we'll probably be working till 70. Fun! I might be a little less enthousiastic over the phone by then.

Oh night out was fun by the way, although I forgot how insanely smokey the bars in Gent are, and I didn't get to dance :( Friends of friend kept taking us to boring bars. How dissapointing!

Friends will be friends

It's so hard to find a really good friend, the kind of friend who you can have a blast with but who also be there to pick up the phone and listen to your distress or who will go drinking with you when you really really need a drink.
You learn very quickly that some friend are not willing to go through much trouble for you. Like an Irish quotation I once read in a pub, to some people, "friends in need are a bloody nuisance".
Unfortunately many friends I've had were not the supportive kind. Especially as a teenager, which was a rather difficult phase in life for me, friends were mostly just there for the fun. Support went as far as a pat on the back and saying "you'll be ok", or "well that's awful, but you'll get over it!". I guess many people have difficulties in knowing what to say to help friends feel better, they just get awkward and mumble something and RUN AWAY! Monthy Python and the Holy Grail-style.
I think I understand now though, a lot of people just don't know what to say or how to help when someone is going through something they don't understand or can't relate to at all.

Luckily, some friends know exactly what to do, and those are the keepers, the ones you can count on and won't make you feel like you're a bit mad in the head and you really should get over it already and please not talk about it.
I've got a great friend right now, who is always there to pick up the phone, who threatens to hack off mean people's thingies off with her archeological instruments if they're not nice to me, and who is more than willing for an alcoholic night when needed!
In fact, we're having one tonight! Hooray! Looking forward to it very much, been having a few tough weeks, so I really need to let my hair down a bit! We're going to a well-known bar in Gent, my college city, with a few other people, for drinking and dancing. I loooove dancing! If the music isn't crap anyway. No techno crap! Will be wearing my pretty going-out dress, the one that magically makes my boobs look twice as large, hooray for that!

Of course I also have other good friends :), like my old friend who although slightly out of touch now, used to cheer me up by just making me laugh my ass off over the phone. He had no idea how to deal with emotions, so he made up for it by being hilarious. Worked great for me! Talking about sad things just makes you even more sad really, laughing is the cure!

I hope I get to meet more friends like that, they're priceless.

Enjoy your weekend!

Bucket list

The whole blogworld seems to be doing these lately, so I thought I shouldn't be left behind and join in the bucket list parade. Also I'm going mad here at work doing the accounts and I can't think of anything profound to write about, also my head hurts :p so trivial post it is! I'll try and keep the list within the range of the possible. How about ten things I'd like to achieve by the time I'm thirty. Which is 6.3 more years, loads of time.

1. Go on a trip to Australia for lots of exploring and see wild kangaroes! Also meet up at last with my Australian friend in Perth

2. Find a place to take singing classes and take it up again, as I used to really love going as a teen

3. Move out of parents house, either alone or with someone (the latter is preferable, all alone is all alone really, unless I get a cat or something.. but a cat doesn't help with the rent or other things :D!)

4. Have a great someone to spend life with

5. Adopt a pet of my very own, preferably a dog as I grew up with dogs and love them, but a kitty to sleep on my lap would be great too. Let's say I get both! Even better.

6. Visit Saint Petersburg in Russia, which is said to be beautiful, and speak in Russian to lots of Russian people. Hopefully I will not have forgotten all the Russian I studied by then.

7.Save up for a nice house with a decent garden for hopefully late twenties

8.Get proposed to (I'm counting on you, the men in the world, to make this happen)

9.Find a lovely house after saving up, in which I will put a giant book closet, Beauty and the Beast style, filled with all my books.

10.Have a baby

Alright this is the list, I know lots of cliché settling down items, but I guess I'm just overly romantic that way. No clue if it will turn out that way, previous future fantasies have definately not always become reality. But that's the way of life. Like John Lennon once said: Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

Oh, and speaking of bucket lists, the movie "the bucket list" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson is great! Very funny, sad and touching all at the same time, gem of a film. If you're into non-commercial films, check it out, you might really enjoy it.

The child within

If you were born in the late 80's like me, you did most of your growing up during the 90's. Thanks to my great memory I can recall lots of childhood memories, so I thought today I'd share some, as I don't have any deep blogging ideas at the moment. But random can be fun too!




As a child I looooved to watch cartoons and disney films. That tv madness has continued throughout my life and I still looove tv. I'm not going to bore you with Belgian cartoons I watched, as most of you are from the US you wouldn't know most of them. Except maybe the Simpsons, hugely popular while I was in primary school. Thanks to the Simpsons I had a good basic knowledge of English when I had English classes for the first time. It is where my profound love for the English language started. "Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart, I dooooo." Yup I watched it a looooot :p Ah tv, the great educator.

My main childhood toy, before teenagehood, was of course Barbie. I'm sure many of you also have fond memories of playing with your barbies. I used to invite my friends over and we'd all play in the attic and act out stories. My friends were often frustrated with me because of my flair for the drama. Acting out perfect lives bored me, I needed me some action and drama and bloodshed! I still have memories of playing single mother, in love, but my o my the boyfriend was also the boyfriend of all the single mothers of the street, a man who lusted after easy prey. Or I'd make my friends be poor and let their children be taken away by the child services! Or I'd accidentally get my friend's barbie in a car crash or have their poor child drown. Yup I liked some crazyness. I didn't have any Kens, so I used my brother's action mans as husband or evil seductors. Unfortunately the actions mans tended to have an unusual look, one had a gun stuck in his hand, one was a military dude, one was a ninja. One of my friends was totally freaked out by ninja action man, because the eyes moved, she felt like he was possessed. Totally hilarious, I used to chase her with it.
I also had a baby doll with her eyes permanently closed, so I played the baby was blind. Fun!
The last barbie I bought was at 12, there were suddenly all these new types of barbies and I just had to have some before at 13 barbies were deemed uncool and playing with them when in secondary school was not done :D I also remember that in the later barbie years the stories me and friends were acting out started getting a little sexual, very funny to remember, I guess it was the hormones and the curiosity appearing. Hey, better to act out sex with barbies than what then actually already doing it as many young teens nowadays. At least we were still kids.

My favourite music in the 90's? I must admit it was:

Yup, I looooved the Spice Girls, all the girls did at 11-12 years of age. We performed rehearsed danceacts on the playground, I was Baby Spice. I wanted to be Ginger Spice, but everyone said I should be Baby because I was all sweet and sugary and poneytaily too. Sigh! Labels even at that age!
I'm sure loads of you secretly loved the Spice Girls too. "I tell you what I want, what I really really want.." Go on, you know the rest ;)

As a young teenager the computer era suddenly came into existence. Yes, I'm old enough to have known non-computer days! Wow. I think I was about 12 when my parents got our first computer.
I spent many many many hours on it playing:

And when I say many hours, I really do mean many many many. Me and my friend spent an entire summer going back and forth to each other's house playing the sims. I still remember our parents saying "It's sunny outside, go play outside." "NO, siiiiims!!"
Yes, very addictive. What isn't fun about playing God and be in charge of fake humans. Making them have jobs, children, lovelifes..until everything was perfect. Now, as perfect stories tend to bore me, I sometimes had the idea of "what would happen if I let him swim and take away the ladder.. or remove the door and let him fire a toy rocket..or prevent the child service lady from getting the screaming baby by removing all doors.." mwhaha

I recently saw they made a whole new sims, the Sims Medieval. It said it was totally different, with quests and everything. You're in charge of a monarch at first and you need to build up a kingdom and do quests, and the more you do the more new characters you unlock and can be in charge of, OOoooOO. Suddenly my inner child was awakened, I just had to play it. Unfortunately games costs a fortune now, so I did the evil deed of illegally downloading the game. After a lot of confusion trying to figure out the crack, I made it work! Only got to play it for very short due to the need to get to bed early, but it's looking fun! I'll probably get bored of it in a few weeks, just as what happened when I had another childhood fallback when the Sims 2 came out, but right now I can't wait to get home to play it! weee

"Scandal on Steroids... Well in this case.. Viagra"

Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is under a lot of "heat" right now, as former model Patrizia D'Addario claims she was paid by Berlusconi to attend his private parties (aka 'sexcapades'). She was apparently one of the 32 women involved in the scandolous act. In a response to the allegations, Berlusconi retorts with, ''Behind Patrizia D'Addario is someone who is out to get me and she (Patrizia) has been paid well, they have a deliberate campaign against me." Despite the fact that the 42-year-old 'vixen' supposedly has video and audio from the parties, he still stays strong to his word. There is not much in this 74-year-old's favor though, especially now that a businessman in Bari, Giampaolo Tarantini, is being investigated for being associated with the alleged prostitutions. Giampaolo is accused of delivering the goods (AKA the women) to Berlusconi's house, but he says he simply reimbursed them for their time and travel. Also, two months ago, his wife divorced him, claiming that his attraction to younger women was unhealthy for their relationship. She brought to light incidents like her husband attending an 18-year-old's birthday party in Naples, when he didn't even attend his own children's. Well isn't that convenient for this story. Either Mr. Prime Minister is lying through his teeth, or D'Addario is taking advantage of all of these factors, and making herself a strong case. However, the fact that the Prime Minister is suggesting she is getting paid off to create a stir could hold strong because as we all know, things like this have been done before. Surprisingly (speaking sarcasm), D'Addario denies all allegations made against her (fueling the fire, of course, making for a GREAT story). Essentially, no one is fessing up to ANYTHING.

But wait, you can't have a TRULY successful scandal without a little bit of namedropping. Not just any names, but people like George Clooney and Cristiano Ronaldo as being a part of the fun. Apparently, Clooney was named as a witness because he was seen at one of the parties with his girlfriend. Clooney responds to this by saying, "It seems odd since I've only met Berlusconi once and that was in an attempt to get aid into Darfur." Smart, George. Very smart to use a third world country in your defense. I believe him, though. TEAM CLOONEY! Cristiano Ronaldo, however, has yet to make any claims about the situation.

A shot of happiness

Yes, that there is me! On the beach in Oostende, enjoying a beautiful summer night. It's one of my favorite pics with me in it, because it's a shot of me in a happy carefree moment. My boyfriend took the shot then, two years ago nearly. My life was pretty perfect at that moment and it shows in how happy I'm skipping across the sand with the wind in my hair. It's great how pictures can capture a perfect moment. That's why I love photography, I'm not an expert at it, but I love going through old photo albums and remembering all those moments caught on camera. Moments that will never come back again, but thanks to those pictures always remembered.

So right now I'm going to show you a little collection of some of my favourite great moments pictures (that are on my computer, I'm too lazy for childhood photo scanning right now :p hey it's weekend, at least I'm posting something :p) As the pictures are a bit big, you'll have to click on them to see them in full :)

That's a pretty old picture of me as a teenager, just 17 I was. My mom took it, I remember the garden had lots of flowers that year, and outdoors shots are always so much prettier. And I do love flowers, later I want a big garden with lots of them. I was wearing one of my favourite outfits, I got that outfit for a special occasion (my brother's confirmation I think) and I just loved the romantic feel of it. I like that sort of thing. And well I always thought it was a lovely shot of me as a romantic naive dreamy teenager.

This is a picture I took myself of my beautiful Ireland. I took this in Renvyle, Connemara, which is deep in the countryside of western Ireland. At that moment I was at the beach, sun was going down, and the view just took my breath away. Ireland has some lovely beaches, not hot and Caribbean like , but with islands in the distance, mountains in the background, silvery sand and so quiet and peaceful. I think this picture shows that feeling.

Paris by night. In 2009 I went to Paris with my boyfriend, and it was so perfect and romantic, although freezing cold. February is not the right time to go to Paris people :p Although it's nice to keep each other warm :) Saw some beautiful things and got a beautiful ring under the Eifel tower for Valentine's day. Pretty amazing. Will always remember it.

Here's one on a trip to Italy two years ago nearly in summer. We happened to stumble on an archeological site whilst driving around, and this weird tunnel-like spot really intrigued me. It felt like I was suddenly in a fantasy place on a dark quest. It was really special. I love this shot of me being all ooooOOooh this is cool. Although Rome and Florence were stunning cities, and loved seeing them for real, this was kinda my favorite spot of the whole trip :)

That's it for today. Hope you liked my random pics, and enjoy your Sunday!

Perfect Couples Season 1 Episode 10 - Perfect Exes - March 31, 2011

The invitation of the bride to her old guys stir a few controversy in Perfect Couples Season 1 Episode 10 - Perfect Exes last Thursday, March 31, 2011. And guess what, her groom made a special appearances in front of them but showing a few doubt about the decision of his partner. Aside from that, he lately discover the entire thing which bring an extra twist on him.

For more, here's the synopsis of the last Thursday evening episode of another NBC's comedy series that gave us a funny moments as the couple are now busy preparing for their upcoming wedding celebration.

"Vance (David Walton) bonded with the ex-boyfriends of Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) as he found out that she invited them to attend their very special day. But he start to worry because he might be become one of these guys soon. In the other side, Rex (Hayes MacArthur) found out that Leigh (Olivia Munn) kept her ex-boyfriends file and tried to check each of these important details about them. Julia (Christine Woods) as well Dave (Kyle Bornheimer) tied up in some loose ends as they helped Vance and Amy in preparation for their wedding."

These are the most exciting part of the story that awaits you and if you missed to catch it recently on NBC, visit the official website of the show for replay announcements. You can watch the promotional YouTube video of the show for preview or see the available reviews and recaps for more.

Join us every week as we continue to bring you the highlights and next upcoming episodes of Perfect Couples after of this break.