BOARDCHICK-COOL

I'm about to hit the slopes in a month and a half and I can't wait! Since I'm not really a good skier I have to look good to compensate the lack of talent. But, I don't want to stand out to much either. How to look good while wearing (oversized) ski pants, big ski boots, even bigger hand gloves, a warm but functional jacket and a beanie (OK, this one is actually quite fashionable)? Oh, and do not forget the thermal underwear.

I try to go for the boardchick-cool (like surf-chick but in the snow, and by the way I don't do snowboarding since I'm already quite happy to manage skiing somewhat). Of course real board- or ski chicks also have their gear to show off but since I've got to go with rentals I won't go there. Try to look fashionable using accessories like (mirror) sunnies and ubercool beanies. And don't forget to dress nice underneath your functional ski jacket since you're most likely to get involved in some après-skiing too (no lack of talent here). At least I will. And than I always have my handsome man who is a great skier and looks good too (you've got to hate the cool kids).

Man, how cool would it be to have an all Chanel attire? To cool for school.Well, not being able to buy this kind of stuff I'm going to spend the next month and a half watching skiing videos over here www.iloveskiing.org and try to pick up some cool techniques to show off on the pistes ;-)

Are you going skiing this year?

IF THE SHOE FITS….

Last Saturday my friend asked me if I wanted to go shopping with/ for her. I couldn't resist; I love shopping!! I can do it all day, everyday if I didn't have a job to go to. 

I promised myself just to look around, inhale some inspiration and spend only a small amount of money on things I really do "need". 

We dragged ourselves trough the city all afternoon and I hardly bought anything. The last shop we went to was Mango and there they were……. the wedges I had major crush on for the last couple of months. They were sold out everywhere, even online and in other countries. Yes, that's how far I go for shoes! 

I slowly walked to the table they were standing on. I lifted up one shoe and looked under it, OH MY GOD, they were my size… I thought what might happen in the next 5 minutes I won't buy them, exclamation point! I took out my boots, put the soft leather wedges on and they fit perfectly. Even though it was my size and I finally had them on my feet I was doubting. I could use my minor budget better for groceries or my high insurance bills but when my friend stared down and said "I love them, they look so pretty on you". Then I realized maybe the reason Cinderella was so happy the shoe fit wasn't because of the prince, it was because of the shoes. SOLD!

WANDERLUST

Are you familiar with this term? Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world. It captures exactly how I feel in just one word. I always say that when I grow up I want to be a globe-trotter. Men, I wish this could be my profession. To me, traveling is the ideal way of living. No tight schedules, no obligations, not longing for weekends because every day would be filled with fun activities and checking out all the beauty our planet has to offer. And therefor also not realistic. One could never life the rest of their lives like this, but it's OK to dream right? And maybe, just maybe, one day I will go for another one of those long trips. Exploring the world with nothing with me but what fits the backpack (not much).

It is kind of interesting to think of the reason I'm feeling this wanderlust lately. Is it the fact I'm getting closer and closer to being thirty? An in-between quarter life crisis vs thirty dilemma? Is it FOMO?  Or maybe it's just those long, dark, cold and neverending winter days. I don't know. All I know is I really want to escape the office and go out there. So much to see, so little time. Checking off al the stuff on my bucketlist is nearly possible but therefor much worth to try. Thinking of the fact I won't get to see all of these world wonders, so you like, even makes me feel anxious. And kind of jealous when other people do. If only I could win the jackpot... I would hop on that plane in heartbeat! No doubt.

ROOM FOR THOUGHT

I want to share a cool app with you. It is called: ROOM for thought. It is an app you can only use on your smartphone. Once a day a reminder pops up and when you open it a 10 second countdown starts and you have to get ready to take a picture. You have one shot to get it right because these photo's can not be deleted/replaced/done over. It tends to be a bit stressful sometimes ;-) Of course you could make a selfie everyday but it's more appealing to take a thing, moment, location, loved one that's iconic for that day or moment. As they say "Once a day ROOM for thought gives you 10 seconds to relax. To do nothing for a moment." They also have Instagram-like filters and the possibility for a comment to spice up the photo-post. Everyone is always rushing all day long, so how nice is it to just stand still for 10 seconds?

I found out about the app in December 2012 and really liked the idea, so I downloaded it. I started on the 1st of January 2013 and have been doing it ever since. Sometimes I missed the reminder and deadline so I don't have 365 photo's, but it's a quite good summary of my past year. I know you could also do this yourselves and don't really need an app for it. I mean, we're all addicted to Instagram right? But this is different because you don't choose the moment, the moment chooses you and you probably end up making pictures of things you normally don't see, not really. And that's on of the reasons I like it so much.

A small selection of my photo's in 2013: 1st of January 2013, Amstel Station during rush hour, drinking beers at De Biertuin, New York Mets game, pre-festival chaos at home, airplane situation, Miami beach, boat trip from hell to Formentera and the view while walking home from work on a beautiful winter night.

The ROOM for thought app can be downloaded in the App store.