hei marlou / blog

2012-03-02T00:02:00.000+01:00

hei world,

i moved!
and am busy busy sorting out all the things i have here ; reading old letters (and posting about them on facebook, contacting the people who sent them), listening cd's i used to like in high school, finding - what used to be - my favorite pair of socks. (they might just become that again!)

everything went okay & i haven't missed Groningen one single second (yet).
i do miss Oslo though, funny enough. here is a little sneak peak from the lovely room i stayed in ; my friend Kaja, who i was staying with, had the Dutchiest (...) picture i've ever seen. actually her whole apartment was full of cute little things, which i'll definitely share with you later! together with more Oslo adventures.

good night!
love, Marlou

february » snow, whale bread, mail(, the decotape (re)discovery), moving & Oslo

2012-02-29T08:13:00.000+01:00

from Oslo with love (1)

2012-02-28T23:16:00.002+01:00

hei world,

i started every single one of the past few days in Oslo with (quite) a long breakfast.

friday morning with kremost (cream cheese, but MUCH better than the dutch ones), cucumber, tea & the book i'm reading ;
saturday morning with kremost, cucumber, tea & a translation that had to be done ;
sunday morning with the Swedish king & queen(, kremost, cucumber & paprika), blåbær yoghurt & Kaja ;
monday morning with ... definitely kremost, Kaja and ??? ;
tuesday morning with kremost, cucumber, tomato, orange juice, tea & goodbye talks with Kaja.

// i like kremost. //

and i like Oslo, which slowly starts to feel like a sort of "second home" (although i never lived there).
but ... i don't need a map anymore, i know the street names, tramstops & places to drink tea, to buy postcards, to walk & see the cutest houses, to dance, to just sit down and enjoy everything that's happening around you. this time it wasn't just me being showed around ; i also shared some of my favorite places with my Oslo friends. a bit funny, but i liked it.

another thing i like a lot (!) is the fact that now that it feels like "home" i don't need to wake up as early as possible anymore, i don't need to walk around until my feet hurt anymore, try to get "as much out of the day as possible" - i simply wake up & enjoy the morning light. eat breakfast. read a bit, write postcards... use the morning the way i like it best.

there was enough time for bigger adventures in the afternoon & evening, i discovered.

(...)

.............

* this is a long letter, more will follow later.
* i'm going to sleep my last night in this bed, my last night in this house. tomorrow i'll move back to this and this and this (ook wel "plattelandsgemeente" genoemd ; liefkozend als Wikipedia is), and i'm more excited than i'd ever imagined. (!) :D

bye, ii

2012-02-22T20:55:00.000+01:00

hei Groningen,

i'm leaving, i'm finally leaving.
our relationship hasn't always been the best, and you might remember the struggles we have had these past 3(,5) lovely years...but i hope you understand the fact i call it lovely years means something as well. and honestly - i'll miss you(, a lot).

i'll miss your canals ; in spring & summer, when i sit on the edge with my feet hanging down, eating ice cream from my favorite shop (which is quite far from there, so most of the time my ice cream has melted a bit before i finally sit down). the lovely houses, house boats, canoeing through (or ice skating on!) them, the tourists waving from one of the many tourist boats... the sounds of them taking pictures, the (useless) flashes they use. the first day the water is (a little bit) frozen... or when the autumn leaves cover the whole canal.

i'll miss het Noorderplantsoen ; i honestly love every single part of it. the Muziekkoepel because of the lovely midsummer & midwinter picknicks i've had there, our different spots to play kubb, the field next to Jantje zag eens pruimen hangen where i had the best picknicks, the bench where F. and i sat that one sunday morning when he held my hand for the first time, the pond because that's where i've seen the most fun concerts during Noorderzon, the other pond where i usually eat the first strawberries of the year, and the "musical stones" close to the playground, which i only discovered last autumn.

i'll miss the saturday market at Vismarkt, the Folkingestraat & Oude kijk in 't Jatstraat (my favorite streets, with most of my favorite shops), talking Norwegian (almost) every thursday evening, the smell of Groninger koek while biking to work, work (and looking at stamps from all over the world), the small walk to the supermarket, the longer walk to the city center (at night), the free basement concerts at Vera, my neighbour's cats greeting me when i get home, listening to my other neighbour playing piano. i'll miss having lunch at Mr. Mofongo's, drinking hot chocolate (and trying new cookies) at PS!, talking for hours (on the roof terrace) in de Spieghel, quickly doing a "city round" buying postcards, posting a Facebook status asking for people to do ... or ... with me & getting response within an hour. i'll miss spontaneous adventures.

& most of all
i'll miss the people, my friends. i've met the most amazing people here, made the best of friends & my time in Groningen wouldn't even have been half as amazing without them.

i am glad for having so many good reasons to come visit you (very soon).

moi laiverd,
Marlou

.............

* here is a Groningen guide i've been working on for the past weeks. it contains my favorite places in different categories. it's interactive (!), so click on it to see what kind of place it is, read what i think about it & maybe even see a picture or two. please use it if you ever happen to get to Groningen and let me know what you enjoyed the most when you get back home again. it would make me very happy if people would actually use this :).

Groningen op z'n fijnst ♡ weergeven op een grotere kaart

to drink tea, hot chocolate & eat cake to eat lunch and/or dinner different kind of (lovely) shops
to go in the evening ; for beers, concerts or dancing just places (streets, parks) i enjoy the rest.

bye, i

2012-02-21T18:00:00.004+01:00

hei cutest neighbor kitties,

you've been my favorite neighbors ever.
(and i have had so much fun telling my friends i just cuddled my neighbor ("buurman" :)) before jumping on my bike, and that he was even following me to the end of the street - not telling he was a cat, hihi.)

thank you for all the times you came running towards me when i parked my bike or went out to just do some shopping. it was lovely walking together to(wards) the shop ; especially on the days you were happily meowing and nuzzling me. even waking up at 6 wasn't such a big deal when i knew you were waiting for me in front of my door.

i promise i'll walk by my house sometimes to come visit you.

love, lots of strokes & nuzzles,
Marlou

ps: i'm sorry for all the times you wanted to join me into my warm house & i had to leave you outside... i wish i could've taken you inside, but you know... you're not mine, so i couldn't. (i wish i could.)

2012-02-20T20:08:00.001+01:00

hei world,

don't you think it starts to feel a (little) bit like spring?
:)

i did think so for the first time yesterday, when i woke up with sunlight filling my room, touching my hair & toes, making me smile. when i walked to the big garbage thing on the other side of the road i didn't need a jacket and i could use just one pair of tights while biking (even though it was hailing ; which made my spring feeling leave for a little while).

this morning it was even a bit white outside (...), but later the sunlight touched my skin again & made me smile more. other things that made me smile today: going out for lunch with my parents, finally finding air mail envelopes in a shop (i've been looking for them so long i almost couldn't believe it!) & a book my mum brought me: 365 dagen onderweg ('365 days on the road') by Floortje Dessing, a Dutch travel journalist. "i guess that will be nice to read on the airport, right?" ♡

love,
Marlou

ps: right now i'm sitting on my floor ; my parents didn't just visit me for lunch, but also took with them most of my things home. i'll be sleeping in my sleeping bag for the next couple of nights... feels a bit like camping. (just without the grass tickling my toes when i get outside & walk through dew drops to go to the toilet... oh, summer. i need to go camping again.)

.............

* i passed the written part of Bergenstesten (!), the test which was the main reason i went to Oslo last month. this weekend i'll take the oral part.... fingers crossed. norwegian » og hei, hvis det er noen som vil drikke te eller noe i Oslo: gjerne si fra! :)
* this website has to be the best when it comes to learning words ; at least if you like plants as much as i do. you "plant" new seeds (words), wait for them to get ready, "harvest" them, and you of course have to "water" the plants from time to time too. i love it! it's so addicting - i really don't want to wilt them & at the same time i realise my french vocabulary already has been growing over these past 3 days, just by having fun! :)
* dutch » ik ging voor het eerst in maanden naar de "gewone bios", en zag Achtstegroepers huilen niet. ja, we haalden de gemiddelde leeftijd omlaag (vooral toen we praatten over het boek & de moeder achter ons "ja Jaapje, vroeger was dit nog een boek" zei besefte ik me dit - ik behoor tot de "boek-generatie"), maar hij was zo mooi. en zielig. en puur. en met de hele bios gezellig samen huilen is ook best fijn, kan ik je nu vertellen. (zakdoekjes mee dus!)

inside day(s)

2012-02-17T17:51:00.010+01:00

hei world,

today i'm wearing pants that fit in the category "clothing i don't wear anywhere else than inside and to the supermarket" (...) when i'm wearing these pants it means i'm doing inside stuff - working on projects, writing letters / postcards, cleaning... or - like now : packing my things, moving(, and making envelopes out of all the "useless" paper i find, like this map of Luxembourg ❤). i can't believe i actually started putting things in boxes. my room is getting so empty :(

if i don't have plans at all i usually go for a walk in the middle of the "inside day". today is grey & a bit rainy though, so i had to find something else ; i went to the shop, bought Maltesers (and a tiramisu dessert for later today), put on my playlist i won't stop singing along to & made the best hot cacao you can make at home (i think). it's easy:

1 » make a cup of hot cacao (the simple way ; with a sachet and hot water or milk)
2 » add cinnamon ; as much as you like
3 » add Maltesers (i think it's better to put them in one by one - and eat when they haven't melted yet)

how do you surprise yourself when having an inside day?

love,
Marlou

.............

* for a little more love, watch this. the 0:53 man is my favorite, but they're all lovely. do you hear your language?
* it's very funny to let a Malteser fall down into the hot chocolate ; i'm such a child, sometimes. :)

❤ ❤ ❤

2012-02-14T20:40:00.004+01:00

source

hei world,

happy day of love! i celebrated with looking at these lovely heart shaped wonders, hot chocolate & a delicious cookie.
and i worked - which means i sorted quite some valentine's mail (!). my favorite was this one pink envelope with self-drawn hearts & a kiss (!) on it, which was adressed to ♡. just ♡ - so lovely.

besides that it's been just a normal day ;
i'm not such a valentine's person. my favorite love memories are from - simple - days. it's a much bigger surprise then, i think (and one day of love a year simply isn't enough). maybe we can share our favorite moments of love? i can start.

it was january, two years ago & very cold. i went to the shop a 5-minute walk from my home, and when i got in i saw this one boy was at work again. even though i'd just lived in that city a couple of days i already said 'hei' to him before - i guess i'm a fast "hei-sayer" ; as soon as someone smiles, i'll say hello. he said 'hei (du)' back, & smiled.
by the time i had found my groceries and reached the counter he was sitting there. i remember not knowing where to look, not knowing what to say... so i said 'hei', 'nei takk' (no bag, thanks), 'ja takk' (yes, the bill please) & 'ha det' (bye) as fast as i could, almost forgot my wallet and walked towards the door... but someone suddenly tapped my shoulder - i was a little scared, turned around & saw it was him. 'kan ikke jeg få nummeret ditt?' (can't i get your number?)

(he left his counter, there was a line of - not too happy looking (some smiled, though) - people waiting for him to get back & i was so surprised i only said stupid things - but it was worth it. and the fact it was so so cold didn't matter anymore.)

:)

my favorite valentine's day also was two years ago, by the way.
a friend & i signed up for this "double date" / cooking kind of something : we had to bring a dessert to boys we didn't know (yet), while they served the rest of the dinner. this is what happened. (that picture still puts a huge smile on my face)

love,
Marlou

.............

* you can go here to see more hearts in nature.
* and i really hope you'll share some love stories with me. (you can also write me at heimarlou@gmail.com )

"the Dutch have been elevated to a state of euphoria as skating fever grips the nation"

2012-02-11T18:51:00.003+01:00

hei world,

last week's dream came true: i ice skated on the canals. (!)

i don't know what words to use to describe it, but i felt like living a small fairy tale when i was climbing down this small stairs, touching the ice for the first time & sitting on a tiny boat getting my ice skates on. the canal is so much bigger when you're actually standing on it! and the houseboats even cuter.

we skated almost 3 kilometer, quite a bit around the city center. in the end it got too dark and tricky to continue... we had to go under quite some bridges (which was so much fun! one time i had to almost sit on my heels to not hit my head) & you never know how thick the ice is down there... so we got off the ice, grapped a hot chocolate and walked home instead. yesterday, i read an article about it not being possible skating around the city center yet, because under this one bridge - the bridge a couple of meters after the places where we decided to stop! - the ice wasn't thick enough. phewww!

it was lovely.
and you know what i enjoyed the most? ice skating through fresh snow on the canal ❤ it reminded me a little bit of being the first one snowboarding down a slope, creating the very first way down. so awesome.

here are some pictures my friends shared on facebook, since i didn't dare bringing my camera onto the ice & only have taken the two Instagram ones on top... it looks too amazing to not show you, don't you think?

i'm glad i haven't moved yet.

love,
Marlou

.............

* this is a cd i've been listening to quite a bit these days.
* and i also saw a movie i enjoyed a lot: It's kind of a funny story. the title might let you think it's nothing special, but believe me... it is. it's a lovely combination of drama & comedy - i loved the hidden jokes, all the cute little details, the drawings (Craig's drawings!), the edits... the story, even though it's a serious topic. go watch it :)

2012-02-08T16:44:00.001+01:00

hei world,

i've been thinking about blogging... or more specifially: about how to blog.
a couple of days ago i wrote i will continue in dutch, since i can't express myself the way i want in english. well, that hasn't changed, but i did think it over & realized i blog because i want to colour the world. i want to share the small little lovely things i discover in life. tell about the places i see, the people i meet, the food i eat, the movies i watch, the sounds i hear...

share it with the world.
& therefore: share it in english(, and i'm sure i'll get better in expressing myself when time goes by).

this will be the place where i share my online letters.
writing letters is my very favorite thing to do when i'm alone, and i hope blogging like this will become a second favorite. of course i will include small surprises & i will decorate the envelopes like i use to. will you write me back?

love,
Marlou

.............

* on the Instagram picture you see the last letter i wrote ; on monday evening. i love how the envelope turned out.
* remember i told you about this cute place called Annecy? i will spend the whole month of may there, learning french. (!)

Grunninger to do list

2012-02-07T18:26:00.003+01:00

ik wil nog...
- naar het Noorderplantsoen
- en het Stadspark
- tosto's eten bij de Mr. Mofongo
- van die leuke getekende Groningen-kaarten kopen
- en iets leuks van de Toy Toy (wat ik mezelf nooit gunde)
- Grunninger koek kopen
- appeltaart eten bij Granny's
- en chocomel drinken bij PS!
- naar de Spieghel
- en de Kult (en dan boven op 't balkonnetje perensap drinken)
- langs de grachten lopen
- en door de prinsentuin
- m'n Bagels & Beans tegoedbon opmaken
- naar de Images
- en naar Schiermonnikoog (???)
- een plattegrond halen bij de VVV en al mijn lievelingsplekjes erop aangeven
- en al mijn lievelingsmensen zoveel mogelijk zien. (!)

på norsk, takk:
jeg laget en liten liste av ting jeg vil gjøre i denne byen før jeg flytter herfra om noen få uker. den inneholder blant annet turer i ulike parker og langs kanalene, tedrikking, lunsj- og kakespising, kinobesøk, og - aller viktigst! - det å treffe og klemme på mine fine venner her så ofte som mulig.

"smile, so we can make a good first impression"

2012-02-05T14:40:00.003+01:00

one small thing i think i need to say: from now on i'll write in dutch again, with a norwegian translation on the bottom & an english translate button on the right. writing in english simply doesn't feel "right" for me, and since most of my readers speak either dutch or norwegian i guess this should be fine. just so you know. :)

in januari keek ik films - en dat hield ik bij in een apart plekje op mijn blog, zoals de oplettende lezer (of enthousiaste klikker) vast heeft ontdekt. per maand wil ik ze een beetje toelichten, dus bij deze, deel 1:

Kiki's delivery service (Japan, 1989 » trailer)
zo'n film waarvan ik me afvroeg waarom ik 'm niet eerder heb gezien(, net als een groot deel van de overige Miyazaki-films) en die dus heerlijk was. Kiki is een schatje, net als haar poes, en je wordt er gewoon vrolijk van. van het verhaal, de tekeningen, dat ze dit in 1989 al konden maken...

Reprise (Noorwegen, 2006 » trailer)
over twee vrienden die allebei een boek schrijven, over "boy nights" en jongenspraat. vrienden voor het leven, enzo. hij stond al langer op het lijstje van films die ik wilde zien, maar nadat ik deze blogpost las (die je overigens echt zou moeten vertalen als je dit interessant vindt!) wist ik dat 'm snel moest zien. en ja, het klopt. Reprise draait alleen om jongens, en meisjes zijn gewoon niet tof genoeg. niet tof genoeg om met hun gezicht in beeld te mogen komen, om eerlijk (en dus ronduit lomp) te zijn, om te huilen om een jongen die alles behalve het beste met haar voor had. ik ben niet zo iemand die heel erg voor vrouwenrechten pleit - maar ik ben blij dat ze er zijn, en schrok hier wel een beetje van. zegmaar. (maar verder: toffe film, en fijn Noors)

Kirschblüten - Hanami (Duitsland, 2008 » trailer)
zo goed, en vooral ook fijn. mooi, lief, verdrietig, leuk. Berlijn en Tokyo in één film, Mount Fuji... het Japan-deel is vooral tof, en dan vooral de stukjes waar Rudi het point it-boekje (wat ik ook heb!) gebruikt... ontdekt dat het werkt. en butoh, dansen met de schaduw. ja, aanrader!

en ik zag One Day en the Future, maar die spraken me niet zo aan. niet dat ze slecht of stom waren, en dat die uren weggegooid zijn, maar gewoon...niet zo mijn ding. in One Day kon ik "het verhaal" niet vinden - de personages leerde ik niet kennen, en dus was het inlevingsgehalte laag. wel is de vakantie naar Frankrijk ongeveer de doorslag geweest voor dat ik eigenlijk wel gewoon een cursus frans in Frankrijk wil doen - en niet persé in Montréal.

the Future was mooi - mooi gefilmd vooral, en mooie muziek, en ik vind het leuk dat zowel Sophie als Jason krulletjes hebben... maar verder: wáárom moet een kat praten? en waarom met zo'n naar stemmetje?

wat is de mooiste / fijnste / indrukwekkendste film die jij hebt gezien in januari?

på norsk, takk:
på denne solrike (men kalde!) søndagen tenkte jeg å fortelle noe om filmene jeg har sett i januar, som man forresten kan finne her. jeg synes ikke 'One Day' og 'the Future' var så spennende, men de andre som jeg så anbefales veldig. og hei, gjerne kom med filmtips dere også! hva er den fineste filmen du har sett i januar?

Kiki's budservice (Japan, 1989 » trailer): handler om en liten heks som leverer varer rundt omkring i byen. veldig søt - både jenta, katten og selve filmen. og så er den jo laget av Miyazaki, som jeg liker utrolig godt.
Reprise (Norge, 2006 » trailer): bestemte jeg meg for å se etter å ha lest dette innlegget. jeg elsket den, men synes også Heidi har rett i det hun skriver om jentene i filmen, og det er trist. samtidig bør vi jenter rett og slett vite at vi er kule - det er ingen film som skal fortelle oss det motsatte.
Kirschblüten - Hanami (Tyskland, 2008 » trailer): foregår først i Berlin og så i Tokyo, som vel vil si at det er masssse fint som vises i filmen. samtidig er den vond og trist, men utrolig vakker også.

hello winter, i'm glad to finally see you again

2012-02-03T17:51:00.004+01:00

so far i walked through the snow, made a snowball (but didn't throw it), smiled (a lot) and warmed up inside with a hot chocolate. this weekend i'll hopefully go crosscountry skiing or ice skating (or both), and i cross my fingers for one of my dreams to come true next week: if the ice is thick enough, i'll go ice skate on the canals.

happy winter ❤

january » (snail) mail, Oslo, the comics museum & good food

2012-01-31T19:35:00.006+01:00

according to Instagram:

words for strangers

2012-01-30T11:52:00.003+01:00

a couple of days ago i received a package in the mail from Hermine. it included a short (but lovely) letter about her project called words for strangers, information about her current exhibition - about letter writing - in Ghent, "a piece of the museum" and - ofcourse - the words for strangers tags. on 4 of them she already wrote words, but it's up to me to fill the other half & to make the world a bit better by spreading them around.

visit the words for strangers-blog to find out more about this project - and follow the adventures of the little tags around the world. i'm very excited to be part of it - bedankt Hermine, dat ik mee mag doen.

»» to be continued.

"words and pictures are ying yang"

2012-01-25T22:12:00.005+01:00

my day off was spent at the Dutch comics museum, which was so much more fun than expected! we walked around for almost 3 hours, drew faces - happy faces, sad faces, very sad / happy faces..., read lots of comics, enjoyed all the drawing books and little notes next to them. we walked into oktoknopie's living room (♡ !!!!!), and had (a little too much) fun with the funhouse mirror....

je rêve

2012-01-24T23:08:00.009+01:00

maybe i should tell a little more about my adventures, which actually still are dreams...

i officially quit my apartment (no dream!) & i think i'm almost sure about what will come next (!) - i'll hopefully move to Brussels and take a master in journalism, which will be quite of a challenge even though it's in dutch. my french skills aren't better than the result of 6 years of classes in high school. i can sing along with some songs (like this one, this one, this one and this one), could take over quite a big part of Audrey Tautou's role in Amélie and can order a beignet de pomme and baguette avec fromage...

...
that's it, really.
and that's why i (kind of almost) decided to spend the whole month of may here, in a small city next to this lovely lake in the middle of the Alpes region, Annecy - i already fell a bit in love with it:

source

fingers crossed! & until then i'd be very happy if you could share your favorite french singers / bands / songs and movies with me. i recently discovered this lady, and have been listening to her album 24/7.

in Oslo, i...

2012-01-23T21:52:00.009+01:00

didn't only eat and write an exam, but also

enjoyed real winter - with snow, quite cold temperatures (at least below zero), a blue sky & sun

tried finding (and found) little, hidden surprises on the streets

shared my couchsurf-host with an Australian girl with a cupcake beanie

found a little less hidden surprises on the streets

laughed at the fact that there was one lost Norwegian army jacket at the flea market

played games (at the place where i ate the cheesecake, Colonel Mustard)

bought cute little things (i already wish i brought more of) at some of my favorite stores - Søstrene Grenes, Tiger and a new one i discovered, Sprell. / next time i really need more space than just hand luggage, so i can at least take a little bit of Indiska and Monki home with me as well. :)

in Oslo, i had such a lovely time. with both old and new people - people i went to school with 4 years ago, never met before or knew because of blogging (it's a lovely thing, i think - suddenly talking to them in real life, laughing and having them showing me their favorite places) & i fell in love with riding trams. i seriously did.

so happy i'll be back there in less than one month.

"do i tell my friends about Iceland or will i keep it as my own little secret?" - a website, a chocolate bar, an exhibition & a documentary

2012-01-21T23:58:00.003+01:00

here is a small first collection of lovely things i discovered / saw / bumped into lately. the first of many, i hope.

steep.it » an online tea timer, which might not sound (and be) so very interesting, but definitely is fun, cute & practical at times. at least i was positively surprised when i saw it last sunday, and have been using it all the time (at least when i was close to my computer while drinking tea).

Melkebart (means: milk moustache) » a new kind of Freia chocolate, which doesn't only taste good (like Kinder, or - for Norwegians - Freia påskeegg), but has different kind of mustaches on every single package! i so far have a bandit- and decorative one - can't wait to collect more.

Won Seoung Won ~ Constructed myths » a photo exhibition in Groningen (until february 5th), about digital manipulation (and dreams of a 7 year old Korean girl). it reminded me of Escher in a way - quite weird at some points, but managed to make me smile a lot. so colorful & cute!

Iceland Airwaves ~~doc~~rockumentary » a must see for all (Icelandic) music / festival lovers. i totally loved being part of it last year, and guess this video made me decide i need to go back again this year. the video might explain why... ♡

havregrynskugler / "healthy" in-between snack

2012-01-20T18:50:00.004+01:00

let's just continue with food for a bit. i made this oatmeal balls for a fika me and some friends had this afternoon. you only need cacao powder, powdered sugar, milk and oatflakes (in the one bowl) and coconut (in the other). the amounts depend on how much - and how "strong" - you want it, really. enjoy!

Oslo in food / mat, kakao & kake

2012-01-18T14:32:00.004+01:00

since i enjoy seeing what people eat - at home, but mostly on holiday - i decided to put together this little post. you can look at it as a kind of Oslo guide at the same time, on where to eat lovely food & fika.

thursday lunch » as soon as i arrived in Oslo i got myself some Go'Morgen yoghurt with müsli - my very favorite. i'm still waiting for the day we have such packages in the Netherlands, with (foldable) spoon.

thursday dinner » salmon with lots of vegetables and rice, prepared by my couchsurf-host.

friday breakfast » knekkebrød with cheese, orange juice and Aftenposten. like the old days.

friday lunch » bakt potet ♡ which might be the only food-thing i really miss when i'm not in Norway. it's basically just a baked potato with f.ex. mushrooms, ham and corn in between. so simple! i don't understand why there's no places serving it over here (or why i never make it myself...). anyway, this one was eaten at Tullin's café - in front of Holbergs plass tramstop (Tullinsgate 2) - i'm (almost) sure they have the best ones.

saturday fika » a huge bowl of hot chocolate, for only 30 NOK - the perfect reward i thought, after 6 hours of writing my Norwegian exam (which was the reason i was in Oslo). i drank it at Kaffebrenneriet, which is a chain they have all over Oslo. at Thereses gate, where i was, it has a little cute balcony!

sunday breakfast » cornflakes, raisins, milk and - again - Aftenposten.

sunday fika » i finally went to Oslo's hot chocolate bar, Cocoa on the go go (Birkelunden tramstop). cute place and perfect for a cold sunday like it was. my hot chocolate had a taste of caramel, and i ate a kokosbolle next to it. mmm, so good! (and, another good thing: it's right next to the lovely Birkelunden sunday fleamarket.)

sunday lunch » i brought some boller (buns) - bought at Narvesen on the way - to Kjersti's, who warmed them up, smeared jam on them & served a perfect lunch.

monday fika / "lunch" » at Colonel Mustard (Darres gate 2) - which indeed is based on Cluedo, and has loooots of board games - i decided to take cake in stead of a real lunch, which was a good decision. this is cheesecake with strawberries on top, served with a lemon-kind-of ice cream ♡ but - i have to admit all the real food that passed by both looked & smelled extremely good as well.

of course i ate more (delicious) dinner - like taco's, pizza and Shepards pie, more Go'Morgen yoghurt, had some of my favorite Norwegian chocolate, and drank more hot chocolate and tea, at:

this lovely French-like place, with lots of cheese and olives, but also place to sit and have a drink. i don't know the name, but it's at Thereses gate - close to Stensgata tramstop.
Café Laundromat (Underhaugsveien 2, Bislett tramstop) - a restaurant, bar, laundromat and library in one (yes, like in Reykjavík!). and it's cozy - especially the little balcony.
Kaffefuglen (Universitetsgata 2, but at Pilestredet (really logical...)) - tiny, but cozy, place in the University area, which means cheap! or well - normal prices for a Dutch girl like me. i had quite a big cup of tea for 25 NOK, which is around €3.

home

2012-01-17T19:00:00.001+01:00

det har gått 334 dager

2012-01-12T01:23:00.002+01:00

after almost one year i'm finally going back to Norway (with just hand luggage...). i'm mostly going to take this Norwegian language test, but will take every single possibility to have fun, explore and enjoy.

see you in a week! eller kanskje før det :)

i want to turn my CAN'TS into CANS & my DREAMS into PLANS

2012-01-09T10:18:00.005+01:00

after i read this quote somewhere i realized it was exactly how i want my 2012 to be, and so far i've done quite a good job following it - i guess. i wasted much less time on the internet (resulting in 100+ bloglovin' posts a couple of times this week...), watched movies & wrote letters instead, thought about new adventures & even decided on the master program i'm going to take! i think. more about that later (though the french speaking people might discover a little down here - if my skills still are what they used to be).

but the very best of all: after the super busy period at work around Christmas time i'm very happy to realize it's still possible to have a social life next to working 20h a week. as you see i only skipped 2 events this week - which were more like plans anyway.

ps: mijn woordentumblr is nu volgbaar op Bloglovin!

2012

2012-01-04T18:36:00.004+01:00

this year has so far been very nice to me.
i drank orange juice on a roof terrace in Utrecht (it wasn't too cold & the sun was setting, the view was lovely and meeting up with friends i don't see that often is one of my favorite things to do), watched & enjoyed my 2nd Miyazaki movie - Kiki's delivery service ♡ (please watch with Japanese sound, though), wrote and read and worked.

more exciting news:

i'll be packing my bag(s) for Oslo this time next week! 5 lovely days with one important exam and (hopefully) lots of nice coffee dates and snow (!) will follow, and it will be my first solo couchsurf experience as well ;
in the end of next month i'll move out of my room - out of this city - on to new adventures ;
about the adventures: i have sent out internship letters & school applications. i've got my mind set on (ofcourse) Norway, Iceland, South Korea and Belgium, but time will tell where i'll end up really. so exciting!

how have your first 2012 days been?
what is the nicest that happened to you so far? what did you discover?

"Writing is combining lonelyness and good company"

2012-01-02T11:07:00.005+01:00

as you might have noticed, i really enjoy getting the best out of envelopes. why should they be white and boring if it's so easy to make them look nice? all you need is an envelope & nice paper. last week i worked on my "happy 2012!"-letters, and the envelopes looked like this:

i used pages from different magazines and wrapping paper - the butterfly one. you simply paste the paper onto the envelope, and cut it the exact size. that's it.

so, happy envelope wrapping!
(i'll probably show you what was in there later, since not everything has arrived yet :))

goodbye, 2011

2012-01-01T10:49:00.005+01:00

Where did you live?
Groningen

Where did you travel?
Oslo, Paris, Slovenia / Ljubljana, Zagreb (for a day), Ghent (and Bruges) & Iceland.

What did you do that you never did before?
i made balloon animals, "stole money" (because i helped this boy to have enough cash & buy the Einar Stray cd, but realised too late he gave me 4000ISK too much back), saw a dubble raindow, saw vulcanoes, saw a geysir erupting, really enjoyed going to the swimming pool, bathed in a thermal pool, managed to stay in a sauna as long as i was supposed to, talked Icelandic in public (or at least tried to), attented a workcamp, ate liquorice chocolate (and loved it!), sang live karaoke, graduated from university, crocheted something more fancy than "just a hat", got an article published, made items for an online tv show, saw a snake, got stamps in my passport when crossing the border by train.

What did you discover?
Skins, New Girl(!), the super cheap possibility to take trains in Belgium, The curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time, masking tape, Instagram, Wordfeud, bagels, pear juice.

What are you proud of?
that i finally took both a photography and journalism course, a published article i wrote, my bachelor thesis, (paid) assignments related to my bachelor, decision not to study right now.

What do you wish you did more of?
snowboarding, attending (theme) parties, fika, writing.

happy new year!

ps: ik schreef een beetje meer over 2011 op mijn (Nederlandse) schrijftumblr, waar ik sowieso meer wil schrijven & delen. dus, voor iedereen die dat leuk vindt: tot daar (en hier)!

rudolph in da house

2011-12-26T14:24:00.011+01:00

☆ ☆ ☆

2011-12-25T20:53:00.004+01:00

almost christmas!

2011-12-20T22:34:00.008+01:00

at least that's what my recent iphone pictures & the amount of mail to sort at work tell me. i'm still waiting for the real Christmas feeling myself...

Sankta Lucia

2011-12-15T20:31:00.007+01:00

a christmas carol continues / scrooge

2011-12-13T15:37:00.006+01:00

things i really liked about the Scrooge festival:

how the actors basically just walked around - on the exact same places as where we, visitors, walked & the small plays happening there as well (like firemen saving a young lady from her burning house). they really could happen everywhere, at every time.

how there was laundry wherever you looked. it would be so amazing if this still was the most common way to dry laundry in the Netherlands, but sadly it's not (at all).

that you could see who was part of the play just by looking at their shoes & pants.

how much into their role they were - like those prostitutes ("hé kippetje, als u begint te beven daar beneden, mag u ook gerust hier boven in mijn warme nestje kruipen").

and, ofcourse

the fact you could take a little bit England from the 1850's home.

& voor alle Nederlanders die denken "ah, shit, had ik dat maar eerder geweten..." : komende zaterdag en zondag is in Deventer het Dickens Festijn, wat (denk ik) iets soortgelijks is.

"no warmth could warm, no wintry wheater chill him"

2011-12-11T22:54:00.008+01:00

today i spent a couple of hours in the 1850's, when visiting the Scrooge festival. indeed, totally based on Dickens' story. it was like walking in a theatre play or so - with lots of small plays happening everywhere around you: there were autopsists looking for "dead people", a man told me i should watch out for the plague, and the dentist (with really ugly teeth) told me mine looked alright(, but his still better - eww!). there were prostitutes, firemen, rich people, poor people, and my favourite: the man with geese. other favourites: laundry everywhere (♥ ♥), and fire baskets.

here is a small preview of the pictures i took - more will follow:

the 1st Dutch stamp was issued in 1852.

2011-12-09T16:05:00.008+01:00

i'm a sucker for lovely (colorful) stamps, so couldn't resist ordering those when i saw them on the website. why use boring ones (with a purple queen), when you can use stamps like this?

or this year's December ones? they have never been this cute before, i think.

together with 3 sheets of December stamps, you'll get a 2012 organizer which is just as lovely, but sadly a little too small for my planning. i do love their small facts on the bottom of every page though, so i decided to use one of them as a title for every snail mail-related post i write.

strikje / bow

2011-12-06T23:27:00.013+01:00

5 hours in a train & a couple more at my parents' seemed enough to crochet a bow headband, mostly according to this tutorial. i don't have buttons on the headband though - simply made a completely round one. so easy / cute.

hoera hoera hoera

2011-12-04T22:21:00.032+01:00

dit weekend vierden we Sinterklaas & naast de geweldige kadootjes die ik kreeg gaf ik mezelf dit online plekje. ik hoop dat jullie net zoveel zin hebben in dit nieuwe avontuur als ik, want als het aan mij ligt wordt het geweldig.

i finally made my dream come true & can't wait to really start sharing adventures on here. stay tuned, lovely readers. (and yes, there will be more english!)