PROPERTY OBSESSED
22 July 2018
I’m obsessed with BRICKS. I discovered that when you’re done with a project, you need something else to focus on. From what I’ve been obsessing over those last few years, my next venture has to be house hunting. I’m aggressively saving money towards a deposit on a house and my mind is firmly set on reaching that goal soon because I’m sick of talking about it. I was feeling a bit unmotivated earlier but I’ve now decided I need to get into action!
The bf and I know what we want. And what we want is a toilet that functions properly. Haha, no seriously, the house we live in is fine: cheap rent and we got to decorate it the way we wanted it. The main problem is that with renting a very old house, we can’t fix ourselves what doesn’t work anymore. Also, we find that there is not enough light shining through the main living areas: it’s making us a little depressed during wintertime…
So, we both want to move out and get our own place.
In fact, we have known that for a while. We just haven’t made it our priority. I feel like we’re very close though:
- we know that only since January this year !! (I’m sick typing this as I’ve just realized that we would never have gotten a loan before even if we had had enough cash saved!), we can easily get a loan with both of our jobs (we asked the banks!) and;
- we only need to save just a little bit more money.
Like I did with my job hunting related post, I have this feeling that if I’m more clear about my goals and write them down, I will be more focused and actually reach them. That’s what I’m hoping I’ll achieve now that this post is live. It’s like the whole wide world knows about my plans and I can’t screw up…
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Pretty, isn’t it? Because THAT WAS IT. The house of our dreams. Unfortunately for us, it has now been sold.
It was almost perfect for us for all of these reasons:
THE RIGHT LOCATION
We are looking for a row house located right in the heart of our town. We need a place where we can just step outside to go and do our errands. Shops, cinema, banks, restaurants, … must be within reasonable walking/cycling distance from our doorstep. This narrows down our search quite a lot but we’re confident we’ll find it.
The house we will eventually buy has to be in a bad shape so we can do some work on it. We have crazy dreams of designing, knocking down walls, building extensions, sanding wooden floors… It also means the price should be quite low.
A WELL-LOCATED STAIRCASE
I know this might sound totally weird but a stylish staircase with a wooden banister are what we want. It has to be located on one side of the hallway when you come in so that there is no waste of any space nor light. Many row houses we look at online usually have this type of staircase going up to the first floor and up to the attic. The house we live in right now has the wrong type of staircase: dark, super steep and situated right in the middle of the house. It’s making the rooms’ layout totally awkward. Plus, it’s making the kitchen gloomy because of the walls blocking all the light coming from the windows. Also, it’s my ultimate dream to hang Christmas garlands on the handrail!
sources A LITTLE GARDEN
Oh my. We’ve debated this for a little while and decided we could not NOT have a little outdoor space for us and the cat to relax in. I’m really tired of staying indoors all the time and not have a little spot where I can sunbathe or have an alfresco dinner in. I want to plant flowers, have a little vegetable patch, maybe two or three chickens… Also, Gaston (our furry baby) needs some grass to get his teeth on!
A LOFT WE COULD CONVERT
Because we’re looking for a house we could renovate, the most idyllic thing would be that the house had a loft used as a storage attic. That way, we could redo all the insulation and install some huge roof windows. It’s my ultimate dream to install those long vertical windows in my future house. I don’t understand why people (at least here in Belgium), only buy the smallest ones in the range…
A WORKING FIREPLACE
Winters are very cold in our old rented house. Unfortunately, there are no working fireplaces in any of the main living rooms. We miss the smell of the burning wood and the cozy atmosphere a fire brings into a room as both our parents have fireplaces in their homes. It’s something we always said we needed in ours, either we would build a new one or have a functioning one already there. I also love the idea of having a mantel: you get to decorate it with stockings at Christmas time!
The major problem with the house we both loved is that the square footage was all wrong. The larger the house is, the higher the fees are. Even though the asking price was alright, we could not have bought it only because of the fees associated with the purchase.
Those are the major things we would love our future house to have: the right price, the right square footage (for us), a doer-upper with possibilities for a loft conversion or/and a room extension, a fireplace, a well-located staircase and most of all a pretty decent city garden. It’s not too much to ask for, isn’t it?
CURRENT PLAN
I made a plan to make it happen:
- aggressively save more money,
- visit some houses that could match our criteria,
- be more interested in renovation works and cost,
- find THE one,
- make an offer,
- move in!
Easy peasy.
Are you also house hunting? What do you look for in the properties you visit?
ESCAPING TO FINLAND
15 July 2018
This year, we escaped the harsh reality of life to go to Finland for our summer spring vacation. I’m sad it’s already behind us as we had a lovely time. We were very lucky to experience a heatwave while we were there. Locals told us that last year in May, there was still snow on the ground! Trees and flowers had just started blooming a couple of weeks before we arrived and the sea wasn’t too cold to dip in for a swim – if you had sauna first!
The bf and I really loved visiting the country. Even though we had a lot to think about – I just had been fired from my job – we still enjoyed the beautiful scenery Finland had to offer.
Here are all the reasons why I think you should also visit Finland this summer…
QUIET TIME
Before getting on the plane, we hadn’t prepared much in advance. We knew we were attending a wedding with our friends so they kindly booked an Airbnb for the 6 of us to stay. The spacious flat was located in a really beautiful area called Ullanlinna. There was a grocery store right around the corner and it took only 15-20 minutes to walk to the Esplanade, the lovely area that’s situated between the train station and the Market Square.
The best thing about the place we stayed at was its location. We were told we were staying in a great area and we understood why: it’s a street away from the sea! We enjoyed having a stroll along the water and ate quite a few ice creams from the Italian ice cream stand near the park. My favourite flavour was the mint chocolate chip one! It was exquisite!
Our place was also located near the Loÿly’s public sauna. It’s very luxurious and stylish, I really loved it. There are two saunas: a hot smoked one, and a basic one. Test both and you’ll see the difference for yourself – the hot smoke one was my favourite!
Helsinki is not packed with things to do but more like things to enjoy. Either it’s an ice cream by the sea or a hot chocolate at Fazer, there are many things to enjoy in the city. We had snacks at the Old Market Hall, walked from the Esplanade to the Market Square and looked at books in the lovely Academic Bookshop.
We visited both cathedrals, two special churches (a ‘silence’ church and another one built inside a big rock) and the National Museum as well as the Helsinki City Museum. I loved both of those two museums. If you’re not into museums and can’t really bother, I really recommend the latter as it’s free, it’s very interactive and fun – great for kids I guess – and it teaches you quite a few bits about the city history.
Also, I must say, the shopping is really good. All the famous scandi brands are represented, we enjoyed having a browse in the Academic bookshop with a frappucino in one hand and I loved walking past the beauty counters of Stockmann, the big department store. We even got two new moomin mugs for my collection!
AROUND HELSINKI
We visited Turku, Tampere, and Porvoo. All cities are less than two hours away from the capital. I don’t know if the weather played a huge part in this or not but I loooooooved those cities so much. Porvoo has the cutest wooden houses you have ever see. Turku felt very romantic. Tampere is called the Finnish Manchester because of the presence of many factories. There are universities located in Tampere and Turku which means there were many students when we visited: both cities felt very lively!
I loved Tampere’s industrial vibes. We visited an open-air museum that I thought was just amazing. I love visiting old houses and see how people used to live in the olden days so that the museum was just perfect for me. You can visit the interiors of former workers’ homes and having a nosey while they’re working at the factory nearby… You can read stories about fictional characters on the doors of each apartment you visit which tell you how the residents used their room – it was very interesting.
THE LAKES
Nothing is more revigorating than a little swim into the fresh water of a Finnish lake. If you get into the cold water especially after having a sauna, it’s one of the most incredible experiences!
We even grilled a few sausages on the barbecue and enjoyed the late sun-filled evening by reading a book on the jetty and taking a stroll in the surrounding woods.
Having a swim in the wilderness after the sauna was by far, the most magical moment we experienced. We were lucky to be invited by my friend’s family into their summer cottage and had many saunas with them. It was so so good. The lakes are probably what we loved most about Finland. The Lakes area (south-east of Finland) is just stunning and there are some lovely little towns, like Savonlinna, you can visit.
We felt very lucky to have visited Finland in the heatwave that May was in. The saunas by the lakes were our most favourite experience, we really felt reconnected with our bodies and enjoyed our time totally surrounded by the absolutely exquisite beauty the Finnish nature has to offer.
Have you ever visited Finland before? I would love to know what you got up to while you were there. I didn’t write about all the things that we did and saw so ask away if you need more info about something in particular.
FEELING A LITTLE STUCK
11 July 2018
I was driving home from Brussels this evening and I thought ‘what the heck? just write those thoughts down and press publish‘. It’s Monday evening and now, I’m home all by myself. The cat is curled up against my legs and I’m drinking tea from my favourite cup.
BLOGGING
If you read my last posts, you’ll know that I’m trying to blog more regularly and to do so, I planned a few posts in advance. I had a little brainstorm, came up with a few ideas and I started writing.
The post that was planned to go up last week was one about my trip to Finland. I started writing it three weeks ago but everything went wrong! I didn’t know what photos to pick, whether to go with a focus (‘5 reasons you should go to Finland‘) or not, then I didn’t like my editing… Well, I typed up some words and then deleted them all…
What a mess.
Anyway, I’m writing this instead. The truth is, I question myself sometimes. Ok, yes, a lot. Since leaving my job a couple of months ago, I found myself with a lot of free time and decided my hobbies should have a more important part in my life. I made a secret plan to grow my blog and Instagram by becoming more regular and more creative with my photography. I’ve decided to do my thing at my own pace and not care about what people think. I guess I don’t really practice what I preach…
I want everything to look as I imagined straightaway: perfect photos, beautiful words, amazing ideas and brilliant content… I want immediate results. But surprise!, thinking like this actually prevents me from doing anything at all. I end up not posting anything and it’s actually the opposite of what I actually wanted to happen! I’m neither posting anything nor taking any photo…
I’ve done it before: a few years ago, we moved into a house that needed a bit of decorating work. I really wanted to document everything on the blog in a creative manner but it didn’t go the way I wanted it and I became quickly disappointed. I ended up not posting much.
I’m determined to change that about me. I guess I need to be more organized and get on with it.
WORK
I feel very content now that I’m out of a job that was making me miserable. I’m just a little bit bored. I do some little freelance work right now to keep me a little bit busy but I obviously don’t work like I used to. I’m starting with my new boss in August. I’m kind of excited but in the meantime, I’m in a weird position. I’m not on holiday, so I don’t really relax properly, but I’m not working fulltime either. It’s bizarre. My days are really unstructured and it makes me think I lack a serious routine. I’m not complaining at all but I feel like I should change something… I don’t know what yet.
LIFE
Life is good. Really good. The bf and I have big ideas and great plans but I feel like we’re also stuck. We just don’t do anything. It’s like we’re waiting for something else outside of our little bubble to make all of our dreams come true. It’s not a good way of thinking.
Overall I feel a little demotivated. When I was job hunting, I was totally focused on one thing and I knew what to do in order to find a new position. Life is not supposed to be like that I guess, chasing one goal after another. I don’t know, maybe what I feel now is temporary. I’m not unhappy, neither sad nor depressed. I’m just meh.
How do you feel right now? What do you do when you’re stuck in a rut?
JUNE’S LITTLE LOVES
29 June 2018
What a month it has been! It was not all sunshine and mojitos on the patio as I would have liked it to be, but it was definitely filled with warmth and love: we celebrated my bf’s 30th birthday and I got a job! We’ve been super lucky with the weather this past week here in Belgium, so I’m enjoying sweating in the heat and, I must say, working on my tan – even though I got a little sunburn the other day, oops!
This month, I’m joining Morgana over on her blog Coffee, Work, Sleep, Repeat to share my June’s little loves!
READ
Do you remember that lovely book I was reading months and months ago? Hmmm.. Probably not. It’s A Little Princess by Frances H. Burnett. Yup, I’m still reading it. It’s really a lovely story, I don’t know why it’s taking me so long. I only read it in bed because I don’t want to damage it carrying it around in my bag or anything so I’ve only gone through one or two pages in the evenings before snoozing off. I’m super slow finishing it. The bf told me he read somewhere it was better not to do anything else other than sleep (and sex) in the bedroom so, I don’t know, should I change my habits? I’ve been so used to read a book before getting to sleep that it would be very weird not to do it anymore… What do you think?
I got the July copy of Red Magazine and I enjoyed going through the pages, especially on the Saturday mornings we were having a nice breakfast. I lurked into the books recommendations column and found my next read: How do you like me now? by Holly Bourne. Have you read it yet? It looks like I would love it. It’s about a girl that vaguely resembles me: nearly 30, friends that are getting married and having babies, in a cycle of self-doubt and unhappiness… Well, okay, it’s not exactly me. But it looks like it’s about the new Bridget Jones, so I’m going to order it ASAP.
WATCHED
NETFLIX
So many things… First things first, we’ve been watching Friends again! We’ve seen the episodes so many times but still, we love it, it’s so comforting and still remarkably very funny. We also watched Safe as everyone was recommending it. We saw all episodes in the space of three days if I remember right. I really wanted to see what was going to happen next as soon as each of the episodes ended. My opinion on the show is that Dexter wasn’t very believable as a British guy. I also couldn’t stop thinking he was going to kill someone… Overall it was a bit meh but still enjoyable.
YOUTUBE
I’ve just discovered and recently been obsessed with Hunter & Heels. It’s a family/lifestyle channel starring Lauren, a mum of three, who looks so sweet and kind. I’ve enjoyed watching her make up tutorials because I love Bobbi Brown and because I think she’s so stylish! She’s totally my summer crush! Do you follow her or watch her videos?
MADE
BAKING
I baked two beautiful cakes for M’s birthday. It was a lot of work but it tasted really good. I had wanted to do a Milk and Cookies cake with cookie dough filling. I found a recipe online that didn’t include eggs yolks in it at all so it wasn’t going to get us all sick with salmonella. You can never be too careful! I might share my adapted version of the recipe, would you be interested?
BLOGGING
I made an effort with my photos and blogging skills. I set myself some goals like ‘post every day on Instagram’ (already failed that one!), ‘publish a post a week’ and ‘improve my photography’. It hasn’t gone like I had imagined so far because I’m still into the ‘planning and discovering tips and tricks’ stage…
Anyway, I play with my sister’s camera settings: exposure, depth of field and all of that. It’s a bit tricky and it takes me forever to get some good shots, I probably take hundreds of photos to get just one right! It’s good practise though and well, I’m learning.
WORE
I really have been into wearing stripes and polka dots… But to be honest, my wardrobe is super sad-looking: I got rid of my old clothes and I don’t have much money to spend on new ones right now even though I’m dying to get some new summery pieces…
One thing I’ve have been doing every week since getting fired is to paint my nails. It’s weird, isn’t it? I didn’t use to do that before, it was more of a random thing for me. Now, I’m hoping this habit is going to stick because it’s a great way to take care of myself. It makes me feel a little bit more polished. At the moment, I’m into nude colours, I wear mostly Essie’s limo-scene and fiji.
My go-to makeup right now is Tanya Burr’s My Paradise eyeshadows palette. The shadows look very summery and fresh. It’s not high-quality makeup, but it’s cheap and it does the trick. Plus, it’s super handy to travel with as you’re never going to smash it… like I did with BB Shimmer Brick… *insert crying here*
HEARD
I’ve listened to A LOT of podcasts this month. Here are two that I particularly enjoyed: Stopping the glorification of busy – it resonated with me a lot since I experienced a tiny burn out last month… Jen Carrington was a guest of Sara Tasker on Hashtag Authentic; and Show up as if you’re already where you already want to be – Jen Carrington’s Make It Happen’s episode is super inspiring because she gives great tips on not just ‘faking it til you make it‘ but on actually getting into the right mindset, something I’m trying to do more recently.
I’ve also heard some great news this month: a particularly romantic engagement story and the yes! I got from my new employer when she told me she was hiring me! Hurrah!
AND LASTLY…
With everything that happened with my job and all, I’ve realized that blogging is important for me. I can write things down and get some perspective. It also helps me be more creative because I have to think about what to post and what pictures I need to take to illustrate my point. I even get out of the house to practice my photography skills so, that’s a plus. While I was job hunting, I really thought about how my ideal working life would be and neglecting my hobbies and self-care is something that shall not happen ever again.
What are your plans for July? The bf and I are off to the beach for a week and I plan to rest, do a little bit of work for a friend and get the house in shape before my first day into my new office in August. I’m excited about it all actually, I really want to get cracking now that I found a nicer boss – it’s like I’m at my first ever job, starting all over again! Happy July lovelies! x
THE ROOM TOUR YOU NEVER SAW
17 June 2018
This post has been in my “drafts” forever so you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ll recap for you…
BACKGROUND INFO
Three years ago, we left our little flat in Brussels to live in a small city in the eastern part of the country. (I’m from Belgium in case you are wondering…) It was a big change because we moved into a HOUSE that has many many rooms.
The house needed a bit of work as I hated the kitchen and most of the rooms’ paint colours. We had to deep clean everything because everything was filthy: the previous occupants had so much stuff it was hard for them to keep everything tidy. We changed the flooring in both bedrooms, in the kitchen, and in the office. We completely redid the kitchen by ourselves… If you want to see some photos, you can find all the posts I wrote about the work we did here.
THE OFFICE “BEFORE”
First things first, I feel like I need to tell you the truth… We don’t use this room as an office anymore. As it’s the first room when you enter the house, we use it to store our bikes and our cat’s litter box. We drop off our bags, our coats and store our shoes in there as well, so its main function now is to be an “entryway”…
The “before” photos look pretty bad because of the orange walls… It was hurting my eyes so much! Some plastering work needed to be done around the windows and the flooring was in a really bad shape as well as being super ugly. Also, we were storing lots of things in there while we were redoing other parts of the house.
We store our shoes in the wooden cabinet. I got it off second hand and need to sand it down but I haven’t got around to doing it yet. It’s a bit too orangey-looking for my taste… We layed down the flooring ourselves with left over wood planks my father-in-law had in his garage. I’m not a fan of the colour but it’s good quality and it was free so we couldn’t pass it up.
WHITE, BEIGE AND WOOD TONES
At the time, I was in a hurry to get this room done because I was writing my end of the year paper and I wanted to have my dedicated workspace. Since I had discovered Made.com, I wanted to buy “real furniture” instead of going to Ikea. I had spotted a few pieces that I thought would go well with my colour scheme “white, beige and wood tones”. Moving into this house was my perfect opportunity to buy new pieces of furniture so I went crazy and ordered a bookcase, a new office chair, and some lamps.
I found the cute lampshade at Maisons du Monde, we bought the print at the Tate Modern shop on our last trip to London and the world map corkboard is from Notonthehighstreet.com. If money was not an issue, I would have gone a little overboard with the accessories and office supplies. Unfortunately, I’m too reasonable in that area and I have not overstyled the shelves with super pretty boxes and trinkets… but I’d love the room to look more glamourous!
DIY DESK
We actually built the desk ourselves to save us some money. At first, my idea was to buy two trestles from Habitat because I loved the look but I then I thought it was too expensive. We ended buying a nice and thick wooden board and built the trestles ourselves. I painted the trestles white and left the wood as is. It fits perfectly against that wall and it’s super easy to move. What I love most about it, it’s that we have plenty of space for our legs!
Overall, I’m happy at how everything turned out. It’s a shame we don’t use this room as an office anymore because the light is really nice in there. Alas, we’ve discovered that an office/entryway is not practical for us. I would probably do it another way if I were to start decorating this room again and if I had a bigger budget. I love so many things!
MAY’S LITTLE LOVES
3 June 2018
It’s been a strange couple of months over here since my last Little Loves post. I was having a hard time at work and completely neglected myself as I was drowning in work. The worst is that I wasn’t even working properly and I was stuck in a very unhealthy routine. Eventually, at the beginning of May, I had a realization and as a result, I quit/was fired.
The bf and I had planned to spend two weeks in Finland as we were going to attend a friend’s wedding (on the same day as Harry & Meghan’s). I wasn’t in the best mood to enjoy everything as I often dreamt and thought of my work problems but I still enormously enjoyed my time over there. The wedding was absolutely perfect – simple, beautiful and elegant – and we had the best time! We were also very lucky with the weather for this time of the year – so warm and sunny – and I was delighted to eat ice creams every other day! As my Aussie friend smartly mentioned, who could have thought we would see an ice cream melt in Finland?!
Morgana, over at Coffee, Work, Sleep, Repeat, has decided to host this linky once a month instead of on a weekly basis so I’m happily joining her again with my May’s Little Loves. Let’s get down to it, shall we?
READ
I read two books this month – it had been too long! That’s what you are supposed to do when you’re on holiday, right? I went with a classic and an old time favourite.
I was deep into Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I had read it before, like 15 years ago!, but didn’t remember exactly how it ended. It’s the story of a young woman who marries a rich English man who has a dark and mysterious past: his first wife was found dead after a storm had unleashed its fury at sea. The new Mr. de Winter arrives at Manderley, where her husband and his first wife had lived happy years before the tragedy, and she soon becomes haunted by the ghost of the perfect Rebecca… It was such a thrilling book. I definitely recommend it! It’s well written and it was quite hard to put down.
The second book I read was Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding. It’s one of my ultimate favourite books. I must have read it like 4 times already, along with the second book. It’s a bit old now and not everything about it is relevant anymore. I raised my eyebrows at a few things Bridget wrote in her diary but I still – and will forever – love how imperfect she is! No matter what embarrassing situations she finds herself in, she never loses hope and always find her way back to being content with herself, always trying to do her best and forgiving herself for her mistakes. Also the Colin Firth and Hugh Grant’s references are hilarious when you think about how the books were adapted for the big screen! Have you read one of them? What did you think?WATCHED
I watched The Dressmaker while we were in Finland. I was so surprised at how funny it was. Kate Winslet is just so beautiful, I loved her to pieces in this movie! The plot is set in rural Australia, in a small town Kate Winslet comes back to after 20 years of absence. Beautiful dresses and some dark secrets are revealed as Tilly (Kate Winslet) tries to find out about her past…
On Netflix, we’re into The Crown right now. We also discovered an Australian show on there called The Letdown. It was so funny! It’s about a new mum who is having a hard time coping with her new baby and who feels totally unsupported by her husband and her parent’s group. Celeste Barber – you now the Instagram icon who makes fun of celebrities? – plays in it and she’s hilarious!
Of course, we’re also watching The Handmaid’s Tale every week -I looooove it!
HEARD
My friend saying I do on her wedding day. Well, it was all in Finnish so I’m not sure… I was all emotional as always, I love weddings! I also listened to my favourite Aussie friends speaking and I realized I had missed they beautiful accent…
MADE
The bf and I made a few trips to the lake after sauna. We experienced the magic of having a proper sauna in Finland and I never want to forget the feeling of dipping into the cold water after having sweat so much because of the high temperature. It’s THE BEST feeling!
WORE
I wore a lovely skirt at the wedding we attended and a new pair of stylish heels. The shoes cost more than the whole outfit because I wanted to invest in a good pair that I could always wear again. As you don’t wear the same outfit at every wedding… I think it was super smart of me 😉
AND LASTLY…
I had to go back to work after my holiday to discuss what I was going to do now that my contract was terminated. I was afraid my boss was going to be mean again but I was actually pleasantly surprised as he acted very professional and everything ended out well for me: pay for the three-months notice period and no work to do any more for him. I really felt relieved because I absolutely was dreading going back there every day. Now, I’m all set to find another position. I’ve been job hunting since the day I was fired but haven’t had any luck so far. If I don’t find another internship before the end of July, I’ll have to look out for available paralegal positions. I’m still unsure about it all but as the future is so uncertain, but I’ve decided I would try to be unemotionally attached to the process of job hunting and then choose what makes me happy from all the things that will come my way! If I don’t feel it, then I won’t do it – it’s my new motto!
Happy June to everyone! I hope the weather is going to be warmer and sunnier…
I have added this post to Morgana’s #LittleLoves over on her blog Coffee, Work, Sleep, Repeat.
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