Easter in Belgium

Helloooo,

I got back yesterday from a weekend in Belgium. I took a train on Saturday and arrived in the beautiful city of Antwerp, with the sun shining and my Godfather waiting at the train station, ready to pick me up and drive me to their house.

My cousin got married in October, and has been in the process of building their new house for a while now, and it is almost done. I decided it would be great to spend a night at theirs to see what's it like. My cousins husband is an architect, so everything is very design oriented, minimalistic and modern, with a touch of coziness by the use of color and some decorations. Now that I study fashion, those kind of things became that much more interesting to me, as it is a form of fashion as well. They made sure that the guest room was done before I got there so I had a nice place to sleep.
The memories I have with my cousin, Annelies, is mostly childhood memories of us playing with dolls and putting on make-up. So, to see her married, in a new house, and completely independent is such a big difference from what I used to know her by when she was a young teen. Lovely!


We had an Easter party at my grandfathers' house the day after. We drove down there, and found a cozy parasol, a big table to lunch on, and great company waiting for us in the backyard. Soon enough everybody arrived and the party got started. The little children were playing board games, the young adults were playing drinking games. And the adults were telling the young adults to stop drinking that much. But soon enough things settled and we had jolly conversations about nothing and everything.
We had a filthy amount of food waiting for us, champagne glasses filled up to the top and heavenly dessert waiting for the brave one's, who could still find a little hole to fill up.

Everybody was of course curious on how Amsterdam is treating me, and I of course told them that I love my studies and the city and the people and everything! So they were happy to hear all was good. Before I knew it the day was over again, and the next day I was on the train back to Amsterdam already. Why do all good things come to an end...

Sun is shining...

The weather has been beyond amazing these past days in Amsterdam! Today it was 27 degrees. The skirts and dresses are out, and the stockings are sleeping in. Shades go on, not just to hide our faces anymore (thank God!).

Today I went to Christin's place for a rooftop BBQ. The view on top of her roof is so great, feels like you are on top of the world and the city is in your hands. The sun shining on our faces creates happiness all around us and makes me feel like I am on summer vacation already! We have about 7 weeks of school left, so we are not that far away anymore.

Even though us girls were clueless on how to start up a BBQ, we found a real man that could help us out and allow us to put that meat on fire! An overdose of food is an understatement- My stomach actually hurt from eating this much. Shame pon me.

Easter is right around the corner, and in my family it is a tradition to celebrate it together. This is my first year in The Netherlands, and before that I used to live in Poland so we would skip the Easter celebration because of the traveling distance. Yet, now that I live so close to Belgium I will take a train and enjoy a weekend in Belgium :) I haven't been there in several months now (last time I went to visit my aunt at the beach) so I'm curious and exited to see everyone again. It's been far too long! Not to even mention the delicious Belgian chocolate eggs that are waiting for me...

I'm not sure if I consider Belgium my home since I only have childhood memories from there. I adapt to new places quiet easily, even a hotel room is my home after a few days. Nevertheless, Belgium is a place, and will always be a place that means something special to me. So going back to my home country is great. I haven't seen some of my family members for too long, so it will be great to reunite and catch up. Especially now that I live on my own, it will be interesting to share stories amongst each other.

Recently my parents decided to move back to Belgium and leave Poland behind forever. It's a pity on one side because my family has always loved living in Poland... But on the other side, good things must come to an end too, but this will mean that I will live closer to my family now. Poland was such a good schooling for all of us, and my family really did adapt well in the Polish life style and enjoyed living there to the fullest. But I am a 100 % sure none of us will miss the -32 degrees cold winters and snow up to your knees! My parents already found a house, and are moving in this summer! I am already planning on a great house warming party ;)

For now, I need to get some (beauty)rest. It's been an active, long day and my eyes want to sache away. Tomorrow will be great weather again, so I will keep the sunshine smile on my face by starting off the day by biking to school with the fresh air and the morning sun- How lovely! :D

Goodnight!

Hamburg

I've been neglecting my blog like crazy! I honestly feel bad, so I need to get back on track. I just have been a tad lazy, but also really busy. A lot has happened in the past days and there is also a lot of fun stuff coming up in the near future.

I spent four days in Hamburg on a school trip with all the people from my course. We had to do some school work and went to a museum. Yet, quiet honestly we did not do a lot of school/fashion related things, which is a pity. All in all, Hamburg was a great city to visit. We stayed in a rather sketchy neighborhood of Hamburg, but it was close to all the clubs and bars, so it wasn't a deal breaker for us!





Either way, Regi and I decided to put our own fashion twist on the trip and have a funky photoshoot at the local amusement park! I bought this amazing black pleated skirt at an underground vintage store for 10 euros. It is 5 sizes too big, but I had to get it, as a fashion student I can make it work with a brioche and safety pins. Later on I will sew it to make it fit without the pins.

Other than that, we did some over the top make up and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside (and the dirty/shocked looks)!

Upcoming blog posts will be about the 80s party I never ended up going to, my visit to Belgium this weekend, a video clip I took part in and my parents moving back to Belgium! Stay tuned ;)

Home sweet home

I'm back from a great trip! Hamburg was so much fun, and I will upload pictures soon! We went around town, went on a boat trip, visited a museum, went shopping and clubbing. Hamburg was a great city, but for now, I need to rest (had a 10 hour trip back) and unpack. Zzzz...

Out of town

I am leaving for Hamburg this Sunday, and will come back on Wednesday. I'm going on a school trip with my whole course (fashion management). We will go there to look for trends, look at the shops and just see the city and spend time together. We also have an assignment to work in groups and complete this assignment as you spend your days in the city.
We arranged a room for 6 people, so it's going to be a fun party ;) We are staying right in the party district of the town, only too bad that we are not there for a full weekend. But knowing the 5 other girls that will be in the room, this won't stop us from going out!

We are going by bus, so it's going to be one hell of a ride. We leave at 10 and arrive at 4. Well either way,I will take my laptop to Hamburg, so I will blog from there on! I have never been to Hamburg, so I'm very curious to see what's it like!

I've got another confession to make...

www.postsecret.com is one of my favorite websites. This websites allowes anyone to send a secret ( majority is in paper form) to their address. These secrets can be humorous, sad, ironic, etc. I always tend to find something that makes me stand still and think...

Relaxation after frustration

This weekend, Regina, Jake, and I went to The Hague. We went on a spontaneous city trip to explore and get away from Amsterdam for the weekend. Regina's family has a house right by the beach, so we went and got some fresh spring air :)

The difference between Amsterdam and The Hague isn't enormous, but still you get a different vibe. Amsterdam is very touristic, which I quiet enjoy since people from across the world come and visit the city I study in. Yet, it is nice to be in a city where it is less touristic, and not have the awkward family pictures or the standing by a random tree pictures being taken around you. It is also just nice to change settings from time to time, see something new.

We went around town, did some shopping, some sight seeing and beer drinking. We also enjoyed the stuffed fridge Regina´s dad left us! Unthinkable food options for poor, little college kids became an option now, like biological eggs or soya milk. We had a food fest all day, every day. Love it!

I also met up with Isaaq, someone I got to know in Amsterdam, but his home town is The Hague. He showed me a bit of the street culture there. We went to the park by the central station where the boys were skateboarding, and the girls were sitting down with gold hoop earrings and pilled on make-up, admiring the tricks from the boys. Music coming from their phones and girls giggling away, bubble gum popping... All in all the location didn't matter that much because Isaaq and his friends can free-style no matter what surrounding. They were free-styling to any beat given, pulling words out of God knows where and making it rhyme, go with the beat, and have a meaning... All at the same time. All moment is moment, no pausing, no grasping for air, no stuttering. That´s impressive. One drops a beat, one joins the beat, and the other one freestyles. I've never experienced such "rhythm and poetry" come so spontaneous and pure. You never know when the freestyle bomb will hit, but when it hits, it hits hard. I was sitting there, enjoying the freestyles, yet feeling quit out of place, thus not uncomfortable. I thought about joining in and dropping a killer line or two(uhuuummm)... But my common sense stopped me (thankfully!).

Now, I am back in Amsterdam... Sigh. Suicide Monday coming up. I miss The Hague already

Pictures by Jake

Let there be laughter!

The other day, Regina and I had to go to a fitting. This one company is looking for girls and boys with different sizes who are interested in being a fitting model for them. We went straight from school to the fitting by bike.

We man up, and enter the building with a Word-document poster on it " BodyOffice fitting on floor 1". Sketchy. As we walk up and follow the amateur posters, we find the office and ring the bell. A lady with a kind face and little alternative lip ring opens up the door and welcomes us. We see a huge (empty) office and some technical drawings, swatches, designs etc. Soon after being seated with a glass of water, another lady comes. I end my awkward phone call (you know the call you make, which you never really have time for, but when it's an awkward moment it is the perfect time!). She explains us about the payment, what the company is about, and what we can expect from it. The brand does fittings from anything like Tommy Hilfiger to McGregory, so they seem pretty legit. Plus, the girl that was about to measure every inch of our body goes to the same school as we do. She took every possible measurement (like elbow width) and wrote it down on an individual profile sheet, and will call us back within a week. Excitement!

After that Regi and I decided to go to the Green House, right around the corner. We wanted to get our shits-n-giggles on after a day of work. The Green House is the real deal. Anyone from Cypress Hill, to Eminem, to Borat, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, 50 cent, Mike Tyson, Nelly, and many many more have been there. We decided to go all out and ask for whatever makes the face muscles work. And oh-my, did they work.

A few inhales and exhales later, we were long gone. In a world of happiness, love and non-violence there was only laughter...and soon we were introduced to thirst. Coke and chocolate milk from the heavens above were obeyed like no other. Whispers and thoughts that we were the only one's in this place that found laughter and happiness so close to us drove us mad! The decor brought to life, butterflies covered our eyes. 15 year old boys walking in, straight from school with their bags and having to show their ID, and leaving empty handed was the most hilarious situation on earth! Minutes seemed like hours and then all the sudden, Regi raises her whisper voice, breaks the silence and says " Claudia, there is light out there, let's go." We have totally forgotten about the light, all we saw was shimmer and shadows. We geared up, because we heard and saw it raining like crazy. We step foot outside, and felt judged. Everybody is looking at us- But why?!

We find our bikes, and take off our rain-gear, as it ends up to be totally dry outside, and we cycle home... But then hunger stops us, and leads us to New York Pizza. We sit and watch lame Married With Children and enjoy our pizza to the fullest. We gear up again, for no reason and start biking once again. We make our last stop at Febo. Febo, for you non-Dutchies, is a fast food place where you put a coin in the wall, and a little window opens with a yummy fried treat. We scramble all our money together, and sit down on the bench outside and indulge.

We reach home and soon enter the snooze and let there be night and day...

Regi and I are team-spontaneous. So watch out, this is to be continued. O.