I'm going to London and I'll be wearing...

H&M lace dress , €23 / Long sleeve tee, €7,95 / Boyfriend jacket, €63 / Fur coat, €200 / Tripp skinny fit jeans, €91 / Topshop black boots, €66 / ALDO wedge sneaker, €59 / ASOS high heel boots, €29 / Asos Straw Cap With Pom, €5,85 / H&M Autumn 2012 Collection

I'm sorry for the absence this week, I've been enjoying life a bit too much! Anyway, I'm leaving for London on Saturday, so I wanted to share what I'm taking with me in my suitcase. Because that's what bloggers do, apparently. Alas, s I'm writing this, I realise I forgot some of the stuff I wanted to wear at my student room in Leuven. Oh well, I'm already planning on some loads of shopping over there, so of course I made a little collage for that too:

Topshop cotton shirt, €27 / Karl Donoghue shearling coat, €720 / H&M leopard trousers, €12 / River Island ripped skinny jeans, €41 / Isabel Marant hidden wedge sneaker, €475 / Karen Millen black pumps, €145 / River Island high heel, €58

In short: Black & white, fur and sneakers. I've fallen in love with the Isabel Marant Bekket sneakers, but as I can't afford the real deal, I'm hoping to find a pair of cheaper lookalikes. I'm also secretly hoping there will still be some sales going on! 
Any stores I should definitely check out when I'm there?

PS: I'm preparing some scheduled posts for when I'm away, so I'm not entirely leaving you! ;)

Red, black & white

Yes, the world is still covered in snow, and yes, I'm still all giddy about it (notice my 'omg there's snow' face in almost every picture). Well, only for the 10 minutes these pictures were taken though: turns out these boots are the worst snow shoes ever, which led to quite a few 'eeeek!' moments on the way to our photo location! I did survive though, and I also survived all my exams, yay! The one I was fearing the most (Arabic, my main subject and the hardest of all) turned out just the way I expected: very difficult, and of course they asked all the words I'd forgotten (she could just have asked to translate those 3745 other words we had to study, but no...) Anyway, done with the study talk! I still have a week before I'm off to London, so I'm planning on lots of blogging, cooking, DIY-ing, working out, catching up with friends and anything that doesn't include sitting behind my desk! Can't wait.

London baby!

Yes, I'm going London in less than two weeks! I couldn't be more excited, my boyfriend and I have been talking about going for over a year (yeah, I know) and now it's finally happening. We'll be staying for a week, but we'll also visit Cambridge and Canterbury while we're there. And coincidence or not, two other lovely ladies will be visiting London when I'm there, Laura & Nikki! I'm hoping to run into them to go shopping catch up!
Anyway, since it's my first visit to London (can you believe??), all tips are welcome! We have 5 days to explore the city, so we will be able to do more than only the typical tourist spots (and no way you're getting me on the London Eye anyway, way too scary!), so I'm really interested in hearing about lovely places to visit and things to do! 
Now back to my books... 

Let It Snow

Of course I had to take pictures in the OMGSNOW, because that's what bloggers do I don't mind actually, I love the feeling and sound of fresh snow (hence the stupid grin on my face), that is, until I almost fell down a couple of minutes after these pictures were taken. Most of the snow on the streets is now gone or has turned mushy and brown :( I'm secretly hoping for more snow tonight, I stocked up my fridge so I don't have to leave the house for food or anything. I did go out for a little shopping today, my beloved Think Twice vintage shop was having their famous sales again, I got a black velvet blazer and a red boyfriend blazer, each one cost me only 2 euros! SCORE

Ripped jeans: the outfit

Here it is, my DIY jeans in its full glory! I wore this outfit to go sales shopping on Thursday. I didn't buy a lot actually, the sales were quite disappointing! I'll go back in a few days to see if prices have dropped a bit more - and it's some sort of habit of mine to do a bit of shopping after my exam. Luckily I only have 4 exams this semester or this could get expensive!
Not much to say about this outfit actually, except for this pompom cap I bought in the Asos sales and it's been on my head all the time lately. Well, I'm still studying so no washing my hair for days (except for shopping: pay some respect to the clothes :D) so all kinds of hats are  welcome these days. Only four days till my exams start, eeek!

DIY ripped jeans

One of my favourite DIY projects lately has been this ripped jeans. I love the look and I've been looking for a pair but they were all a bit too expensive or not exactly how I wanted it to look like. So I thought: this can't be too hard to make yourself, right? Turns out it's super easy, and I'll show you how to do it!

"DE BLOK" Essentials

Haha my English readers probably have no idea what this title means! The two or three weeks before the exams start are called "de blok" in Belgium ("blokken" = studying your ass off in Dutch). Most of us are staying at home for two weeks, studying from 9AM till 10PM (or that's what I try  every day... and don't succeed most of the time), the feeling of isolation,... I'm exaggerating a bit, but I'm sure my fellow students will know what I'm talking about! Here are my "blok" essentials:

ON MY DESK

Hydration! I drink one of these 2L bottles water every day. And also the outside needs hydration: I'm addicted to this hand cream! It feels so soft and it smells great. Also pictured: Hand gel (I love cleanliness, especially on my hands!), ear plugs (my sister plays the piano so these are a really indispensable for me. And there's always noise coming from outside (birds, trucks, music etc.) so it's nice to have complete silence. Although it's really annoying when you have that one song stuck in your head...
Oh, and bobby pins don't need explanation, do they? I get distracted by absolutely anything, and don't let me start to examine my hair for split ends because that means I'm busy for at least one hour. Top bun and all my hair pinned back is the only solution!

ON MY BREAK

This sounds lame, but working out is a great way to relax (not literally) and clear your head after a whole day of studying. Today was my 8th day of Level 1 of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, and thankfully I'm not as sore anymore as in the beginning, haha! I've also started to write a diary again this year (after many failed attempts last year), hope I can keep it up. And of course, there's always Vogue and other fashion magazines to keep me company! Also: body lotion that smells like heaven! My poor legs could really use some, the combination of cold weather and not much daylight isn't really the best combination :D

IN A DRAWER FAR AWAY

Beware of these items because they're the most distracting ever! I hide my iPhone in my closet and put in on silent mode otherwise I would be checking facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest etc. all day long. Nail polish and other beauty stuff is also very dangerous: takes so much time! And planning your post-exam trip to London while you still have 4 exams coming up isn't the best idea either.

IN MY KITCHEN

The part you were all waiting for! Last week I was home alone, as my parents were on ski holiday (still jealous), so I had to cook most of my meals myself. I don't really mind actually, I love cooking! What you're looking at:
1. Spaghetti bolognaise, an all-time classic! I'm cheating a bit, as this was a portion my mum put in the freezer for me, but I'll definitely put my bolognaise recipe on the blog sometime if you're interested!
2. Chocolate chip cookies, made for New Year's Eve - I followed this recipe.
3. Homemade risotto! So good. I got this recipe from a friend, you can find it here in Dutch (I did add some parmesan and chickpeas at the end), let me know if any of you want it in English, I'd be happy to translate it for you.
4. Ok this isn't one of the meals I made last week (I did make a variation on it, with more leftover veggies), but it's one of my recent favourites: Pad Thai! This recipe.
5. Nothing tastes as good as homemade pancakes in the morning! This is the easiest recipe ever: you just need 1 cup of flour (I used self-raising because I like my pancakes fluffy), 1 cup of milk, 1 egg and a pinch of salt. Beat everything in a bowl until it has a smooth texture and start baking your pancakes. I think I got about 10 pancakes out of it, so enough for two days! I like mine with red fruits and honey.
6. A quick frittata I threw together for lunch with some leftover I found in my fridge: Onion, zucchini, eggs, ham, goat's cheese and some herbs de Provence, pepper and cayenne to top it off. Based loosely on this recipe but I always change the measurements so only check it if you don't know how to make a frittata! And don't be as stupid as me and forget to put your oven mits back on when you want to hold the pan to cut the frittata in pieces! I won't be making that mistake again :D

Hope you liked my recipes! I always tend to go for healthy, quick and mostly vegetarian when I'm cooking, especially during "de blok"! :D Do you have any favourite recipes? Please share! I'm always looking for new thing to try out - although my pinterest board is already loaded with tons of recipes I haven't tried. I never have the problem of not knowing what to cook, I rather don't know what to choose because I want to make so many things! 
Well, all this food talk has made me hungry, so I'm going to check if there's anything left in my fridge. Good night!

Faux fur pt. 2

What I'm wearing: handmade faux fur coat, Zara sweater, ebay skirt, H&M beanie, Asos heels

I promised you more outfit posts this year, so here's the first outfit of 2013! Keeping it casual: I'm still studying these days, so the comfier the better. I have to admit I don't always study in heels (I do sometimes, though: perfect way to get used to new shoes!) but the rest of this outfit is what I wore today. I've been wearing this beanie all the time lately, especially when I'm leaving the house and haven't washed my hair! Don't worry, I did wash it for these photos ;) Washing your hair when you're staying at home and pinning it back (I get distracted by everything, even my own hair) is kind of a waste to me. The same goes for make-up: just some day cream and moisturizer and I'm ready to party spend the day behind my desk. Well, *only* 20 days of studying and exams to go! YAY

Good luck to all you fellow students out there! I feel your pain ;)

PS: I might do a post with some of my healthy recipes for study times if you're interested, just let me know in the comments!

Happy New Year!

Let me start by wishing you a very happy New Year! May 2013 bring you happiness, love, success, fashion (duh) and everything you wish for! I just wanted to share a few photos of my New Year's Eve:

Food, friends and laughter: what more do you need <3
Hope you had a good one!