It's Been Awhile.

Well hello there!

I can't believe the last time I blogged was (*gasp*) June 3... 2013! What the what?

So much has happened since then... I:

• visited Helsinki (twice!), Maastricht, Rotterdam and last but not least, Hamburg (I totally fell in love with this ultra hip & super friendly city)
• saw a lot of great films and read some amazing books (have you read this one yet? If not... DO IT. NOW.)
• fell in love with Prague (hipster) cafés. There's so many cool cafés popping up all over the city - they're my new obsession! If you'd like to keep up with my café gallivanting, check out my Instagram. A word of warning: if you're not into latte art, don't even think of clicking on the latter link
• got into pilates, power yoga and working out in general. While I may never be a true gym rat, I'm totally enjoying keeping fit (I'm also currently trying to put together the perfect fitness wardrobe... not very wallet-friendly, let me tell ya!)

Why have I been gone for so long? I guess I just needed a (looong) break from blogging. I gotta admit, I don't read as many blogs as I used to. I still love the blogosphere, but I'm more careful with what I check out on a daily basis.

Having said that, I am super excited to be back. I already have a few posts lined up, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that at least some of you haven't given up on me. Till next time... or should I say, see you soon? :)

Basics

Lately I've been into basics - simple blue shirts, dark jeans and chic flats. Basics have (more or less) even taken over my Pinterest boards. And yeah, I've been into a sort of J.Crew/preppy-ish/Emmanuelle Alt-ish aesthetic for quite some time, but these days I'm a fan of a more pared down look. That's why I'm in love with last week's new purchases:

1. My first Ray-Bans! I've been dreaming of these sunglasses for a few years now and now they're finally mine!

2. Vagabond flats. Vagabond is my favourite (accessible) shoe brand. Leave it to the Swedes to make high-quality shoes that are simple, cool and elegant. Major love!

Have you bought any fun new things lately? Let me know!

P.S.: The weather in Prague has been really crappy lately, but this weekend I'm actually secretly happy that it's raining (shh!). I think I'll just stay at home with my new book (shh #2 - even English majors need a break from Virginia Woolf sometimes ;). Hope your weekend is relaxing and cozy!

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).

Betty & Me In Paris

Today's post is totally French-inspired. And no, I'm not in Paris at the moment (I wish I was, though!) - but I did feel a bit like a Parisian after my visit to Paul today. I always wonder if Paul truly is a Maison de Qualité Fondée en 1889 or if it's just a huge Czech patisserie chain & a clever marketing ploy. Seriously, does anyone else have Paul in their country? OK, I guess it doesn't matter because their stuff is pretty good (apart from the macaroons... I guess one really needs to go to Paris to get the real thing). Today I treated myself to a raisin snail and it was trop bien (today is also National Cheesy Post Day, didn't you know?). I'm such a sugarholic. Like I need something sweet after every meal. :(
Anyway! I thought I could combine my French-pastry-eating endeavours with a lovely French-themed video (which also features food!). I came across 'Betty in Paris' last week and immediately fell in love. If you love Paris, Amélie, macaroons and/or are a bit of a dreamer, you'll adore this video. It reminded me of my own visit to Paris in 2011 - as cliché as it may sound, it really was one of the best holidays ever. It's actually funny that I'm saying this because I was always one of those 'hmm, Paris... it's a bit overrated, isn't it?' people. Turns out I had to visit it twice in order to fall in love. And yeah, when I was in Paris 2 years ago, I really did feel like Betty (National CPD all over again...). 
'Betty in Paris' is part of the Olive Us series - the latter is made by Ben and Gabrielle Blair and features their six(!!!) kids. The Blair family is American and they've been living in Normandy for over a year. You can check out Gabrielle's blog, Design Mom, here. 

Betty In Paris from Olive Us on Vimeo.
Video via Prêt à Voyager

New World

Today I visited two palaces in the National Gallery (free this weekend :) and afterwards I decided to go for a walk in 'Nový Svět' ('New World' in English). Nový Svět is an area close to the Prague Castle - it's composed of narrow streets and picturesque houses. I'm such a sucker for old street lamps, cobblestones and cozy little houses, so I adore Nový Svět. I'm really proud of the photos I took as well - not because they are exceptional - my Photoshop skills are still non-existent - but because I managed to pry myself away from my phone & Instagram and actually took the above photos with my *gasp* CAMERA. I still love you, my dear IXUS...

I love how the streets were super empty and the street lamps were just being switched on. Really magical. Next week, I want to go back and actually visit the café you can see in the last picture. It's got a fireplace as well! 

2013 Resolutions

This will be a super duper quick one (I just took a shower, my hair is still wet and I've got a New Year's Eve party to go to... ahhh!!).

I love making lists (don't judge me :) so I thought I should make a New Year Resolution list (I was inspired by Lois's '28 before 29' list, which is way better than mine). I kept it short and sweet and really focused on things I TRULY want to accomplish or get done in 2013 (more on NaNoWriMo later... this is one of my biggest goals for 2013).

Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2013 (exciting!) - I know it will be a blast!

Lovely Cards

I loooove getting things in the mail! Seriously, I think I'm one of the few people who still send letters and postcards on a regular basis (although I have to admit, I haven't sent anything in a while.. and I'm not happy about it). This is what was waiting for me when I got home today - two lovely cards from two different countries. One from my friend Gígja from Iceland and another one from Simone from Taiwan, who also sent me really cute washi tapes (soo exciting!!! :). Thank you guys, you really made my day! 

Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Today I got my wish - snow! It's been snowing for a few hours now and Prague suddenly looks completely different. The Old Town especially looks really magical (except for Old Town Square.. I'll never be a fan of the Christmas market there, wayyy too touristy & crowded). I met up with my friend Jitka in the afternoon and we went to a cozy little cafe close to the Charles Bridge. Afterwards, I just had to snap some super touristy pics on said bridge. The pic of my friend and I was taken by a really funny man who first insisted on taking a picture with me ('the photo will be really nice if I'm in it') and then finally offered to take a pic of the two us. :D All in all, I had a really cozy day today! 

What have you been up to?

P.S.: So many blogs have really cool Christmas posts this year, so here are some Christmas-themed links for your enjoyment:

Christmas in Copenhagen.

Fun gift ideas by Maiju, whom I interviewed a while back. 

DIY Christmas tree.

Brittany from The House that Lars Built has asked her favourite Scandinavian bloggers to share their personal Christmas traditions in her 'My Scandinavian Christmas' column. Every day leading up to Christmas, a different blogger shares their story.

Cool Christmas giveaway.

A really touching Christmas ad.

Aaaand... a thrifty Christmas gift guide. 

Birthday

Today is my birthday (I'm 27... I feel ooooold). I just wanted to share the above pic of me back in the day - check out my hipster hair (and my emo expression.. ha)!

I spent the day with my family eating lots of good food.

AAAND... this video totally made my day! Joke, you rock.

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

Thursday Thoughts

I haven't really had the best week so far. I was quite hopeful about a job a while ago (things looked really promising!) but now I'm not that sure anymore. :-/ I've been feeling really unmotivated job-wise in the past few... months, I guess (I was going to say weeks, but 'months' is closer to truth). I guess all I can do is keep my chin up, keep trying & hope for the best! I just wanted to put these feelings out there because while blogs can make a person's life seem like a fairy-tale, everyone has their own struggles. Personally, I'd like this blog to mainly focus on positive elements - that can't always be the case though!

The above two photos sum up two things that have inspired me lately.

1. Just a photo I really like - found it in Dolce Vita magazine. This is one of my favourite Czech magazines, it's all about fashion, design and architecture.

2. Swedish lessons every Thursday! I looove going to the classes, the group is super relaxed and fun and our teacher rocks. And getting better at Swedish is really exciting! :)

xo

Top photo by Benedikt Renč for the November 2012 issue of Dolce Vita

I'm still here!

Sorry for being off the radar this week! My friend Joke is visiting Prague so I've been hanging out with her, eating lots of yummy food, going to really cool exhibitions and going crazy over Skyfall & Daniel Craig videos on Youtube... just having a really good time! It's really nice having her here. :) The funny thing is, Joke (at times) seems to know Prague better than me... Ha :D So much for being the local who should know everything about their own city! 

The pics above showcase our fabulous Prague adventures:

1. Me in Choco Café aka the 'Death by Chocolate' place. I think this is the first picture of me on the blog, so.. hi! Nice to meet you! :)

2. More Choco Café goodness! Joke went for the 72% white hot chocolate with banana and strawberries. I was more of a sissy and decided to get the cocoa. It was still really rich though!

3. The famous John Lennon wall.

4. Love locks.

5. Joke and I near the National Theatre. We both got our hair done that day - hence the smiles!

6. Breakfast at Café Louvre today. Salmon croissant, fruit salad and fresh mint tea. Not too shabby!

7. Really cool exhibition in the Rudolfinum Gallery (remember I mentioned that I wanted to go see it in my very first post?) which showcases contemporary British painting. Some of the details on the paintings were really crazy!

(All the photos were taken by Joke, except the last one. I haven't been taking that many pictures, I always seem to forget about the fact that I have my camera with me these days!).

I guess I won't really be posting till Sunday, but I promise that I will make it up to everyone next week. I already have some posts lined up. :)  Have a nice weekend (almost there!). 

Sunday Breakfast

What's your favourite (Sunday) breakfast? I love banana and nutella toast paired with a nice big mug of English breakfast tea (with milk!). Maybe not the healthiest option, but certainly the tastiest. :) Do you have any breakfast preferences or recommendations?

P.S.: I'm still in awe of the film Laurence Anyways, which I saw yesterday. The director, Xavier Dolan, is only 23(!!) and has already directed three amazing films. I suggest watching all three! It seems that lately I've been on an 'amazing film' streak...

Washi Tape Obsession

I've got a brand new obsession - washi tapes aka masking tapes. I guess I'm 'kind of' late to this trend (cough cough :), but if it weren't for my friend Risa, I wouldn't have gotten so obsessed in the first place. She sent me my very first Paperchase washi tape (the blue one at the very bottom). And then I read a post on one of my favourite Czech blogs, which was talking about a really cool Czech washi tape e-shop. And the rest is history... Obviously my collection is still very humble, but hopefully it will grow in the not-too-distant future. :) The thing is, I'm not really a 'crafts' person. So what do I use the tapes for? Well, I love paper, stationery, notebooks... So far, I've used the tapes to decorate my Moleskine notebooks and also to spruce up some of the weekly entries. Also, washi tapes are really useful when it comes to wrapping presents. I'm sure you've seen loads of pictures of presents wrapped in simple brown paper and decorated with washi tape - it looks amazing! I plan on wrapping my Christmas presents that way this year. :)

What do you think, are you just as obsessed with washi tapes as I am? Or maybe you're even more obsessed (seriously, that video gives me major washi tape envy!)?

P.S.: Check out a really easy washi tape DIY from one of my favourite blogs (I know, I know, I seem to have many faves... I read a lot of blogs though! :).

Laundry Cafe

Today I met up with a friend in a really cool cafe - it's called Prádelna Café, 'prádelna' meaning laundry. You can see the laundry theme in the last photo. :) This place is fast becoming one of my favourite spots in Prague - it's non-smoking (I really, really hope the Czech Republic will adopt the non-smoking policy ASAP), has a cozy interior (obviously the pics don't do it justice), and serves delicious and healthy food that won't break the bank. Plus it's located in a really nice neighbourhood, Vinohrady. If you're ever in Prague, I highly recommend you check it out.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

I've never really been a huge Beatles fan. Sure, I like some of their songs, but I just never really got the whole Beatles craze. I was always more of a Bowie girl (and I still am :). I actually used to think the Beatles were a bit overrated (I know, I know: blasphemy!). And then on Saturday, after going to see the 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World' documentary, I saw the light. Seriously, if you still haven't seen this film, DO SO NOW. I guarantee you will love it, even if you're not a full-fledged Beatles fan. It's both funny and heartbreaking - at the end of the film there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It's not only a documentary about a musical phenomenon, but also about a man's journey to find the meaning of life. I love it.

Btw... the film is 208 minutes long. You heard right. That's 3 hours and a half. But it's so worth it!

Top photo from The Fire Wire

Halloween Musings

Happy Halloween!! I'm a weeee bit late, but better late than never, right? I just wanted to share these pics of different pumpkin displays I've been seeing all over Prague. It's so cool to see that the 'pumpkin trend' is catching on here (although I know for a fact that a lot of Czech people don't like Halloween & its 'American' connotations).
I've been into Halloween ever since my family moved to Canada when I was 11 years old (we lived in Montreal for 5 years). I loved how people went all out with their Halloween decorations - everyone just seemed so genuinely excited about this holiday. It was awesome! This year, however, I'm not really in the Halloween spirit. I'll go to one Halloween party on Saturday and, well, that about sums up my Halloween plans. A bit sad, really. I just feel like if I still lived in Canada, I'd feel way more excited... or maybe I'm just getting old(er)? Hmmm...

P.S.: Here are 3 things which made me happy last week:

1. Finding out that my super cool friend is coming to Prague soon!!!
2. Going to the midnight premiere of Skyfall. AMAZING! Daniel Craig, I love you. Judi Dench, I think I love you more!
3. Finding out about new blogs: check out my new favourites, Elephantine and A Rosie Outlook.

Oh and before I forget... soon I'll be posting something really exciting! I don't want to give away too much, so stay tuned! :)

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 :).

Stuck on the City

On Sunday I visited the Stuck on the City 'street art' exhibition at the Municipal Library of Prague. I was really excited about this exhibition because people have been raving about it and it's just been getting super good reviews. But I gotta say, I was a bit disappointed... I wasn't, for instance, aware of the fact that the exhibition constantly changes and that new artists contribute to it (this is why a few pieces were literally unfinished!). The best part was actually the kids' room, where children doodled on the walls. I wanted to share my pics though - I really like them! :)

Miss Fancy Pants

Love this Essie nailpolish from their Fall 2012 collection - the shade is called Miss Fancy Pants. It goes with every colour & lasts for days. I really have to stop buying nailpolish though (especially from Essie!), I'm getting way too addicted.