SJP x 73

Today's (or more like last week's aka I only got around to posting about it today) major interior envy: Sarah Jessica Parker's West Village brownstone. Haven't you always wanted to know what her place looks like? Well now's your chance (and don't tell me I'm the only nosey person around here ;)! In this unconventional Vogue interview, you can catch a glimpse of SJP's super cool house. I was pleasantly surprised by the lived-in feel of the interior - from the super cool green velvet sofa (I never would have thought this would be a good combo, but I think I need one... NOW) to her light-up globes, this place is right up my alley. 
I also loved the crazy 73-question interview that Vogue did with SJP as part of the "house tour". Fun, super-fast and inspiring. Here are a few interesting tidbits from the interview:
SJP's favourite movie is The Way We Were.
Vietnam is a country she would like to visit the most.
A book that she read in school and that positively shaped her was To Kill a Mockingbird.
Apparently, we should all be following @thewordoftheday.
Her favorite drink is Coca-Cola.
Watch the video for more (and tell me which part of her house you liked the most! :). 

Signs of Spring

These are my personal signs of spring. What are yours?

Plus, here's what's been keeping me busy lately:

Revenge. I love this show! Nolan Ross (played by Gabriel Mann) is my favourite character. Awkward, snarky, sarcastic AND a (really young) billionaire. Sexy. :)

Music by Mumford & Sons. Bliss. They played a gig in Prague yesterday and I'm super bummed it was sold out. Everyone's raving about it now.

Excited for some amazing concerts - I'll be seeing Lana Del Rey and Ellie Goulding in April and The XX in May. Music awesomeness awaits!

My style crush isn't a girl... or a guy. It's the coolest dog ever. Can I have all of his outfits, please?

I'm still obsessed with my Galaxy SIII Mini phone & Instagram! Here's my Instagram account.

Trying to read as many books as possible and failing miserably. I really haven't been reading that much lately and I'm not too happy about it. I need to step my game up because I want to finish NaNoWriMo this year!

P.S.: Sorry for the sporadic posting lately... I spend way too much time on the computer, so I'm trying to do other things when I'm not working (still failing miserably... but hopefully I'll get there).

Christmas Feeling

Holla! I'm beginning to get that Christmas feeling... Not really when I'm out and about though, a lot of the Christmas decorations in the centre of Prague are (sadly) quite tacky. Plus everyone is going CRAZY with all the shopping. These days I really don't like going to big shopping centres or supermarkets (and let me tell you, I usually don't mind indulging in a bit of shopping) because of the huge crowds. But in general, I really love Christmas. For me, it's all about the 'cozy' feeling (there's a perfect Dutch word which describes this: gezelligheid). Cheesy, but true.

This is why I'm feeling the Christmas spirit these days:

On Monday I received a parcel from Canada and this is what was inside it! My friend Jason sent over all of these things - what a cool dude! :) I really wasn't expecting any of this, it made me super happy. I mean, books, chocolates AND Spongebob.. what could be better? PLUS check out that wrapping technique! Thank you so much, Jason (& my friend Anja who helped pick out the chocolates)! I guess this is my first Christmas present. :)

Christmas goodies! OK, the 'kruidnoten' aren't technically associated with Christmas - they're eaten at Sinterklaas, a Dutch holiday which takes place in the beginning of December. I got them from my friend Joke who clearly knows just how much I miss the Netherlands. She brought over a Dutch goodie bag when she was here in Prague a few weeks ago - maybe I should do a post on all the cool stuff as well. ;)

Plus it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (bad pun, I know :) in our apartment.

Are you already feeling the Christmas spirit? Or are you still in denial (like I was up until a few days ago)? x

Reading List

I've already mentioned the fact that I love books in yesterday's post. Today, though, I'd like to share books which are on my reading list as well as books which I've started reading (aaaand just like that I just realized I'm reading 5 books at once! :D hopefully this post will serve as a reminder that I need to FINISH THE PILE ON THE RIGHT before starting the one on the left).

My Reading List (on the left, from the bottom):

• 'Alone in Berlin' by Hans Fallada: After reading an interview where Angelika Taschen mentioned that this is her favourite book EVER, I really wanted to read it myself. I'm waiting for an opportune moment because it's meant to be really depressing & sad (it is no wonder given the subject is German resistance during World War II).
• 'Kafka on the Shore' by Haruki Murakami: I always wanted to read something by Murakami, so I picked this book up. Really excited for this one, I've never read a Japanese novel. 
• 'Let the Right One In' by John Ajvide Lindqvist: I'm dying to watch the film, but I thought I should read the book first. The story centers on the relationship between a Swedish boy and a centuries-old vampire child (safe to say, this is no Twilight). 
• 'The Stranger's Child' by Alan Hollinghurst: Picked this one up when I was dying to read something 'new' - it was on the bestseller list and seemed interesting. I read about 2 pages and had to stop... I guess it's not my cup of tea, but I'll give it another shot at some point.

Books I've Started Reading (on the right, from the bottom):

• 'The Last Nude' by Ellis Avery: A fictionalized account of the relationship between painter Tamara de Lempicka and her lover Rafaela. The book seemed really promising at first but now I just can't get into it anymore... 
• 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' by Antonia Fraser: I'm really into historical biographies by Antonia Fraser - she turns seemingly dull stories into page-turners. My favourite Antonia Fraser biography is this one. 
• 'Phantom' by Jo Nesbø: This is the latest novel by Norwegian crime writer  Jo Nesbø. He's really popular here in the Czech Republic (and the rest of the world ;) so I thought I might give him a try. Almost done with this one! It was quite good too.  
• 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' by Mark Haddon: This is a really clever and touching story of a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome who tries to solve a crime involving a dead poodle. Almost done as well! Loved this one. 
• 'Peaches for Monsieur le Curé' by Joanne Harris: As soon as this book came out, I wanted to buy it - I'm a big fan of Harris's previous novel 'The Lollipop Shoes' (the sequel to 'Chocolat', which, I admit, I never read.. I guess the Johnny Depp version was just that amazing :). Just started reading this one, so hopefully it'll be as good as her other stuff. 

OK, compiling that list took longer than I had anticipated! Hopefully I will now finish all the books on the right, reading five books at once is kind of ridiculous (plus it leads to major plot forgetfulness).
If you're wondering why all the books are in English, it's not because I have something against my mother tongue. :) I've just been reading English books for as long as I can remember (maybe that's why I have a BA degree in English & Media?). Reading English books just comes naturally to me... it feels 'right'.

I'd love to hear what others are reading right now. Do you have any book recommendations? I'm always happy to hear them (maybe that explains the huge pile of books :).

My Ideal Bookshelf

I'm so excited for 'My Ideal Bookshelf' to come out! I found out about this new publication thanks to Swiss Miss. This book, which is illustrated by Jane Mount, showcases one hundred leading cultural figures and lets us have a peek into their bookshelves. I'm a book hoarder so this book is totally on my bday/Christmas wishlist. I'm really looking forward to reading contributions by Judd Apatow or Patti Smith (and.. James Franco, I gotta admit! :). The illustrations also look pretty awesome - check out a time lapse video of Jane Mount painting some of the books.

'My Ideal Bookshelf' comes out on November 13.

Photo from My Ideal Bookshelf, via Swiss Miss

Relaxing evening

 

'Mother used to say that it meant Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but I do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me.'

-Mark Haddon, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'