That awkward moment

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I'm sure most of you with a fashion blog and/or Instagram have had this experience, right? Doing your stuff.. shopping, having coffee,.. and then you realise you still want to have a couple of pictures taken of the outfit you're wearing. No big deal you would think, but then you can't find a nice quiet spot and there are lots of people walking around because it's a Saturday evening.

That was also the case this time, so I just decided to get some photos in the middle of the Christmas shopping market and wait for a quiet moment. And of course, right as my friend was ready to snap a few shots, people started walking past me for like 5 minutes!

The look on that guy's face pretty much says it all! Ah well, I don't care.. these things need to be done, right? ;-)

I was in Amsterdam for an interview with a student who was doing research for her thesis. Lots of rain and a strong wind, so I opted for a casual outfit. You know I'm all about being practical! :P

And just in case I don't run into a Christmas tree in the next week, I made sure I had a pic of me with this one in the coffee bar. :)

I didn't go shopping, but I couldn't resist having a pic of me taken with 'SALE' signs on both sides of me! :D

I also took a quick pic at home before I left, just in case there were no photo opportunities in Amsterdam. I have a feeling this will be my main type of outfit for the coming months when I go outside.

And this is me doing the dirty mirror selfie thing. I never realised how difficult it is to get a good selfie in a bathroom! ;-)


And yes, I also brought my video camera.. so finally some new clips!!

Casual in over-the-knee boots and.. super ugly curtains

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Last weekend, I was at a social gathering, meeting up with girls like me. ;-)

As not everyone at these gatherings wants to be photographed, we left the active area and went upstairs to an empty room (because it was freezing outside).

The first thing that should be quite obvious: those curtains are a bit dated. I don't think they will be on my interior decorating to-buy list when I move to my next house. :-P

As you can see, I don't always do summer dresses and short skirts! I wanted to go for a super casual outfit, but I did buy these awesome grey over-the-knee boots... and since I was wearing a grey cardigan, it seemed like a no-brainer to wear these boots!

Also, these heels are only 4 inches and not the usual 5 inches, so you know I was going casual. :-P

By the way, do any of you wear socks in boots? I do.. especially in winter times, but other girls at the social gathering were super surprised that I was doing that! Regardless, I will do anything for a bit of warmth. :)

So, what do you think of these boots? I think with jeans.. they look quite nice.

Whether I would wear them with a dress or skirt.. I don't know if I would have to courage!

This last shot was made with my smart-phone as I always try to have a few back-up shots in case something goes wrong. You can see that at the end of this impromptu photo-shoot.. it got a bit silly. :-P


We were having a great time during the evening, so I didn't really think of filming inside. Next post will have some new video clips.. promised! :)

Mellow with yellow

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Don't let the bright sunlight behind me fool you.. it's still friggin' freezin' cold outside! Definitely not the weather for the kind of outfits I'm wearing now. ;-)

As I mentioned in a previous post, whenever I do on-line shopping and my loot arrives, I grab my trusty tripod and camera.. and start clicking. When I'm by myself, it really is the only way to check if my purchase was truly a good one or not.

The black dot near my fingers? My remote control that I'm trying to hide, but which I'm obviously failing at! :-P

While I prefer to do my photos and video outside with natural light, I do like the whole feel of my camera and external flashes being pointed at me. It's like being in a small photo studio! :)

I usually set up the camera such that it takes 10 successive shots after I press the button on the remote. And yes, after 10 flashes.. I'm quite literally blinded by the light.

This time, I did not add any guitars to make things more interesting. Do you have any tips for other props I could use?

Tomorrow, it's Sinterklaas.. so let's see what kind of presents I will find in my shoe!! :-D


I don't really like doing videos inside the apartment.. as they might even be more boring than my outside videos.. at least there.. the scenery changes every now and then. So enjoy the most recent two!

Squiggly lines

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How is everyone doing? November is almost over and with December knocking on the door.. the festivities will start. Some of you already have had Halloween and/or Thanksgiving, but in the Netherlands.. the kick-off will be with the Dutch children's holiday of Sinterklaas. 

Children will put their shoes near the fireplace (similar to Christmas stockings) and hopefully, the next day.. they will find a present in their shoe. The questions for me would be.. I have so many pairs of shoes.. which pair will I choose? And is it possible to ask for shoes in my shoes? :-P

Anyway, the dress I'm wearing in these holiday pics do not contain any straight lines, even though Einstein will have you believe that every movement can be considered a straight line through space-time. And that it's the space-time itself which is curved.

Hmmm.. one moment I'm talking about dresses and suddenly, I'm thinking about the theory of relativity. Must be the physicist in me. :-P

So, about the dress.. I really love these kind of cute dresses with these lace details. And black and white patterns might be a simple colour scheme.. but I think those patterns really work for me.

I paired them with cute peep-toes, the heels not so high this time.. because I had to do a lot of walking. And 5 inch heels stop being elegant after a couple of kilometres/miles. ;-)

I'm looking outside and I'm seeing rain, rain and more rain. I do hope it will stop, so that I can do some photo and video shoots in my fall and winter outfits. I have so many jeans/boots outfits I want to show!


Fortunately, the weather in France was perfect every day, so of course.. I have some clips with me moving and walking around. Enjoy your Sunday!

Red trench coat

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There are days where the words go straight from my brain through my fingers typing on the keyboard to the computer screen. This evening though is not one of those days.. as I'm really really tired. I had to work a lot this weekend as well.. and of course, the horrible events of last week were still going through my mind.

But I guess the best thing to do is to consider myselves lucky and blessed to be here. And to be doing what I love.. which is (amongst other things) fashion!

Some looks can be considered a classic and I think wearing a trench coat definitely fits in that category. Most trench coats come in black, beige or tan.. but when I was young, I vividly remember seeing a young woman walking in a red trench coat with patterned tights and red pumps. That colourful image was etched into my memory!

I've had these Steve Madden heels for years now and finding patterned tights wasn't particularly hard either, but a good-looking and well-fitting trench coat in the right colour red? That's a real challenge! :-P

To be honest (and I'm always honest :-P), I'd probably dress this outfit down by wearing boots and a skirt or dress that actually peeks out under the trench coat.

For this photo-shoot, I thought I'd have a bit of fun though!

Like I said, I have had these red 5 inch Steve Madden heels for over 4 years and I'm still in love with them. Not suitable for hours of shopping and sight-seeing, but great for indoor parties, dinners and formal events! :)

Do you think they're still stylish and fashionable to wear?

Anyway, are you still holding on to pumps and skirts/dresses? Or have you already switched to jeans and trousers and Uggs? ;-)


I made a video of this outfit and you will notice that I did not just wear patterned tights! :-P

I have no title for this

I want to go to bed and wake up tomorrow.. and hear that this was all just a nightmare because I watched a bad movie.

So many innocent lives.. people who went to see a football match, to enjoy a concert, to have something to eat and drink. They will never go back to those who loved them.

Can't believe how someone could take someone's life like that in cold blood.

I am scared for a lot of things: which country will be next? Which city will be next? Are we able to protect ourselves?

I am also worried: can our democracy hold? Or will we give into fear of populists?

Will Europe be and stay united as one? United against terror? United against those who were celebrating this in the banlieues?

United against those whose beliefs and laws are fundamentally incompatible with values based on liberté, égalité et fraternité?

But also,.. will Europe stay united for those refugees who truly need help? And who had nothing to do with this?

Posting photos of my latest outfits and shoes seems so shallow and pointless on a terrible and horrific night like this.

My thoughts are with those in the City of Lights.

Je pense à vous tous!

Literally rocking (in) a dress

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Alright, it is fair to say that anything resembling an after-summer is over. This fall is being all wet 'n windy.. and a cute cardigan ain't gonna cut it any more to keep me warm. It means that my outdoor outfits will consist of jeans and boots or.. skirts with leggings.. or anything that sounds like it can handle the winter! ;)

However, I am a person who thinks about the next spring. And the nice thing about these weeks.. lots of summer dresses are on sale. I usually don't follow trends too closely, so if I find a 10 or 20 € summer dress I like now... I will still like it in 5 months.

Of course, I did want to have a couple of photographs of my newly acquired dresses now. And then the challenge becomes to make them interesting, because a white door isn't exactly the most exciting thing ever. :P

So I thought this would be nice opportunity to pose with a couple of my guitars. Above.. my acoustic Spanish guitar. Not a day goes by without me strumming it. :)

During my high school and university days, I've been in several rock or metal bands. Especially during my high school days, everybody and their dog played 'normal' guitar.. so I had to play drums or bass.

This is a photo of me with my 5 string bass guitar.. and like all my guitars, I have to tune them first! :P

In my last band during my time at university, I played electric guitar (not in any of these pics) and most of the stuff we played were covers of Metallica, Pantera, Dream Theater, Cake, Nirvana and even the Cow & Chicken theme song! :P

Yes, you can definitely tell that I grew up during the 80's and 90's when it comes to music! ;-)


I have no videos of this dress fitting session, so I took some extra footage of my time at the castle in my asymmetrical dress and leopard print peep-toe stiletto heels. If you look carefully, you can see how I stumble.. enjoy!

Photo shoot on top of the mountain during sunset

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So.. what's one to do when you've done a lot of sight-seeing in the afternoon and evening.. and the sun is about to set in less than 15 minutes? And you still want to have pictures and videos of your outfit of the day?

Well, easy!! You hop in the car.. drive up the mountain and start taking some pictures and videos on the side of the road while avoiding the traffic. :-P

Just to illustrate how quickly the sun actually descended behind the mountains: the time between the picture above and the picture below was not more than 10 minutes!

We took quite a number of pics, but most of them ended up looking a bit samey-samey, so instead.. I decided to just post these two. You know, to balance out the previous post with lots of pictures of Carcassonne. ;-)

By the way, earlier this year.. I was testing a similar white dress with multi-coloured flower patterns. I did not keep it though because, as you can see..  it was really really tight. :-P

So, whadya think? Did I pick the right dress for my holiday? Oh.. and how about these pink peep-toes.. aren't they awesome?! :-D


There was still some light on the mountain, so before complete darkness set in, we did manage to film some video clips of this cute dress! Enjoy! :)

Visiting the medieval fortress of Carcassonne

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While fall has now really taken over the Netherlands and temperatures are dropping quickly (even if the sun sometimes fights back like last Sunday), I think back to August when I visited the medieval fortress in Carcassonne, also known as the Cité de Carcassonne.

Gotta fill 'r up first! :P

The nice thing about being in the South of France is that a lot of interesting things are all within an hour's drive. Just make sure you've got enough fuel! :-P

Of course, sometimes you have to get out of the car and read the road signs to ensure that you're still heading in the right direction! :P

As you can see, it was quite sunny, so I had to find the shade to actually take a pic of me without sunglasses. Otherwise I would be frowning all the time!

For the ones who didn't want to walk, you could hop on a cart and let a pair of horses pull you around. I, of course, opted for walking around.. because why not?! ;-)

The whole fortress is super impressive.. and I was not alone. Every year, millions of tourists visit this place as it's one the few preserved medieval fortresses in Europe. I felt soooo tiny!

I'm not an archer, so nobody has to be afraid of me.

Do you know what this things are called? Merlons! And from there.. I had a great view over the rest of Carcassonne. See, you learned something new today! :-P

The Cité wasn't just fortifications though.. there is a whole inner city complete with bars, bakeries, tourist shops and everything. Apparently, the medieval part still has a handful of actual inhabitants! Imagine living in a place where millions come to visit every year.. I'd go crazy!

As it was becoming noon, we decided that we had seen enough. So it was time for some resting on the bench and letting those legs catch some sun!

You shall not pass! :-P

This is the bridge that leads to the gate of the Cité. I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get this shot without any other tourists on it. I should get some kind of achievement prize for that, right? :-P

After this interesting and exhausting visit (I walked about 8 kilometres that day), I was glad to be back in the car going back to our holiday villa! I hope you didn't mind that this blog-post had so many photos!


Of course, I also made a small video of me in the Cité de Carcassonne.. so enjoy!! :-D

White dress with black strappy stripes: the case of the crashed camera

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Another week of relative inactivity, but now.. because of a positive reason. One of my students graduated and the place of the ceremony was not in the Netherlands as usual.. but in Italy! So the last couple of days, I was enjoying architecture, lots of good food and science.. all in Bologna! :)

No time for fancy dresses and heels, so I'm just posting another outfit I wore during my holidays last summer. A cute white dress with a couple of black stripes and I thought it would be nice to have those striped patterns matched with some black strappy heels.

So, this post only has three pictures.. and the reason is that the battery of my camera died while I was transferring the pictures to my computer. The camera crashed and these particular files were lost! :(

Did this ever happen to you? Next time, I will just take the memory card out of the camera and put it directly in the card reader.. much safer!

As you can see, I'm actually holding my phone in my hand for the poses, so I did not have any extra back-up shots. Perhaps I shouldn't pose that much? :-P

Back to the dress, I do love clothes with black and white patterns in them. You've already seen quite a few different versions.. and during this holiday there will be a couple more. I sincerely hope you won't get bored too much! :)

Next outfit, I will try to find some more colour than just the red colour of my nails! :-P


Yet another short video of the outfit. I will be totally honest.. I love these strappy heels, but they are not made for long walks. :-P

Cooking in the kitchen: jeans shorts and nude wedges

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It's time for the weekend, so that means throwing the work laptop in the corner and chill and cook something simple! :)

This is a shorter post, but that's because I usually don't take photos when cooking something simple as preparing a frozen fish meal in the oven. The summer is really gone, but inside the house.. one can always wear jeans shorts. :-P

What you don't see in the pictures is the actual cooking of vegetables and potatoes. Yes, I do think of all the vitamins. ;-)

Being someone who has done almost 30 years of martial arts.. I can't help but posing with kitchen tools as if they were weapons. Scared yet? :-P

And of course, while waiting for the food to be done.. it's always a good moment to have a quick taste of the wine. :)

Yes, I do miss the summer! :)

In the video, I demonstrate the very complicated procedure of putting frozen fish in the oven. :-P

A day and evening in Amsterdam

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Right,.. so I had all these plans for this past week: more editing on my photos and videos of my holiday in France, testing outfits at home for up-coming photo/video shoots, checking out all my social media feeds, checking out what's happening on all the blogs I follow.. and leaving comments as I love to do. :)

And then.. I got ill! :(

Posing on the Dam Square with the famous clothing mall "De Bijenkorf"

It wasn't really the flu.. but it was more severe than the average cold, so I stayed in bed these last few days.. while my body was in full recover-mode. Today, I feel better, so I thought I should update my blog.

And today's post is about my trip to Amsterdam where I met up with my friend Amanda from the UK. Like I write in my previous Amsterdam post, I'm not from Amsterdam.. so I also feel like a tourist. :)



Doing a bit of business in front of the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange. :-P

Whenever I do the touristy thing in Amsterdam, I dress down. I just wear jeans with a top. Some comfortable booties and a leather jacket... and I'm all set!

We just walked around while I was giving a modest guided tour to Amanda. Of course, we also sat down and had some drinks.. and that's always a good moment for a selfie. :-P

Do you recognise some of the companies on the stock ticker?

The evening before we headed out into the city of Amsterdam, Amanda and I also had a few drinks in the hotel bar. For me, it doesn't matter if it's a quick meet-and-greet or not... any excuse for a pretty dress and heels? I'll take it! ;-)

Anyway, I had a great time those two days! Meeting up with friends I've met online is always nice.

Amanda and me in front of Amsterdam Central train station

That's it for today. I'm feeling great and I will be checking out all your blogs! Thanks for your visit! :)


Just a few quick clips of me walking in Amsterdam... enjoy!