31 December 2014

May 2015 be ever in your favor ;)

Halloooo!!!

This blog post is basically a no brainer, isn't it? It's the 31st of December, everyone is in this higher level of mindset,... And because I am not really an alternative person, I am going to follow the majority of the population and go for the classic:

http://weheartit.com/alinas_secret
WeHeartIt
As every year, I'll spend New Year Eve with my family, inside, eating delicious food and play board games or watch a movie. No fancy dancing for me x)

You might have noticed that the lay out of my blog has changed. Well, after 6 months of my previous lay out, I wanted to change it up a bit. And hey, new year is the perfect time to do so... *ahum*. I don't really believe in the "new year= new me" nonses. I am not going to deny that I once did, but I am of the opinion now that if you really want to change or do thing differently in your life, you don't have to wait for the 1st of January to do so.

If you are looking for movie inspiration, I highly recommend New Year's Eve. Surprised? x) It doesn't come anywhere near the level of Love Actually, but it is a pretty easy film to watch on New Year's Eve. Don't get your hopes up though. What happens in this movie is unrealistically (x1000). But I have admit, that is what I like about it x)


On that note, I'd like to wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR !

May 2015 be ever in your favor ;)

Thanks for reading folks!
xo - Sara






30 December 2014

18 movies of Blogmas

Instead of 12 days of Christmas. Get it? Get it? Get it? :)

Halloooo!

If you know me, even if it is just a little bit, or if you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll have noticed that I am quite the movie lover. Any type of movie. And this is a list of movies I've seen during the 24 days of blogmas:

I've linked the blog posts where I talk about a film. Just klick on a title and it'll bring you to the right blog post :)


1) Love, Rosie


5) The Sword in the Stone


6) Frozen and 7) Tangled








11) Begin Again






14) Brave


15) What If

 

16) Girl with a Pearl Earring

17) Tamara Drewe (again)


18) Stuck in Love


On 25th December I saw the Holiday and Love Actually.

These are the movies I've mentionned on Twitter or in my blog posts, but it is possible that I've forgot to mention one or two. And I am also watching the behind the scene footage of the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring (for the billionth time) :)

If you can recommend a movie(s), please let me know! I am interested to hear them!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

24 December 2014

Blogmas day 24, 2014: Merry Christmas everyone!

Hallooooo!!

Just like other countries in Europe, we celeberate Christmas Eve, 24th December. But since I am not religious, my definition for Christmas is different. Christmas for me, personally, is about spending time with family, to eat dinner together, chat, laugh and be merry.

So that is what we did tonight. We ate delicious food and we gave each other presents. This year I was looking forward to giving my presents, because, if I may say so myself: my presents were awesome ^^ And I am so happy everyone liked them (at least, that is what they told me x))

But most important: it was a super cozy evening, with a lot of chatting and laughter. Merry family time :) Which is always nice, because I don't see my family that often anymore since I now live in London.

Here are a few of the presents I received:

An awesome mug with "Shut up, I'm reading" on, delicious tea (Orange Cinnamon), travel size parfum bottle, Biocura hand cream, a little christmas ornament and the book "Fantastic beast and where to find them" by Newt Scamander (by Joanne Rowling).

I received so many awesome, useful and beautiful presents this year, I can't thank my family enough! Thank you!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Eve and will have a lovely a Christmas day!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is also the last blog post for blogmas. I hope you liked it. I sure did, writing them :)


Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 23, 2014: Wrapping more presents whilst watching I Covet Thee vlogmas videos :)

Hallooooo!

One thing I truly enjoy doing during December is wrapping presents ^^ I've wrapped all the presents I bought in London, but my mum needed some help wrapping presents for the rest of the family. And this is where I step in :)

Just like last year, I was watching vlogmas videos of I Covet Thee, or Alix, whilst wrapping. It gets you in the proper Christmas spirit :)


This is vlogmas part one, but she also has a vlogmas part two in 2014. Last year, she did 4 vlogmas videos. Huray! Check her out if you like. This is the link to her YouTube channel. And this is the link to her blog. She's one of my favorite YouTubers :)

If you are interested in the final product of my wrapping session, please see the picture below. Every single present (except the presents for me) is wrapped by me :)

I am so looking forward to tomorrow night!!!

Thanks for reading :)
xo - Sara

22 December 2014

Blogmas day 22, 2014: Meeting in Brussels

Halloooooo!!

Today was a splendid day :) I woke up around noon, saw What If in the afternoon, unpacked my bag and headed to Brussels. I was meeting my friend from college there as it is been a very long since I last saw them all together.

If you are not familiar with What If, here's the trailer:


I enjoyed the movie, but I don't think it had to be 2hours long. 90minutes would have been enough to tell the story.

Then, Brussels, we had a drink outside at Cheese Cake on the Brouckère. As the Cheese Cake was too busy, we decided to go to Ninja House for as much sushi as you can eat. Like old times :) Nice chats, but as always, the evening was too short to hear every detail. And some of my friends still have to study for their exams and school is of course very important! But we need to meet again soon!

After a splended evening, we forgot to take a picture, so we asked a lady that passed by to take a picture with a random backdrop. But this is the result :) I miss these girls.

 So that was a very succesful Monday evening :) I hope you had a lovely evening as well!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

21 December 2014

Blogmas day 21, 2014: heading home for Christmas break!

Hallooooo!!

Today was pretty straight forward. My dad arrived at my house at 10:30. I packed my bag and cleaned my room and by 1pm we were on the road heading home.

Our train was to depart at 5:20pm, so we had plenty of time to go from Thornton Heath to Folkestone. We had (late) lunch in Ashford and by 4pm we were at the check in. An hour in advance! Luck wasn't really on our side. Due to cancellations of previous trains, all trains had a delay of 45 minutes. A 2hour wait it was.

By 6pm we were on the train. It was the first time that I crossed the North Sea in a car on a train. How cool is this!?



After Calais, we had a smooth trip home! And now I am in my own bed as I am writing this blog post. Happy to be back home and looking forward to all the family events :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 20, 2014: ELLE feminism issue and 3 movies

Halloooo!!

So today's ingredients were:







My sweet sented candle from Primark: Sweet Pineapple and Ginger. A copy of ELLE the Feminism December issue. Essie Allure nailpolish (although I've painted my nails whilst watching a movie, as usual :)) and a pink donut with a cup of tea :) Sometimes you do not need more in a day :)

The movies I saw today were: Leap Year, the Blind Side and Brave. I recommend every single one of those movies :) All 3 a very different genre, so depending on what you like :)

Leap Year: the classic romcom. It'll make you swoon with heartfelt moments and you laugh out loud. You also know how the movie is going to end from the moment Amy Adams's character meets Matthew Goode's character.



The Blind Side: It's based on a true story. It's about how the Tuohy family took in a homeless African-American teenager, Michael Oher, and ensure that he gets all the opportunities to succeed in life. Today, Michael Oher has a beautiful career in American football and has received many honors and trophies. When they start talking about American football in the movie, they pretty much lost me, but that is not all the story is about :)



Brave: It's a Disney movie of the 3th generation. What more is there to say? :) You can't go wrong with that. And it's inspiring.

                                       

Oh, and I also packed my bag to go home tomorrow to spend Christmas break with my family back home :) 

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

20 December 2014

Blogmas day 19, 2014: Too many books, too little time

Halloooo!!

Today is the day that I've been in London for exactly 20 weeks. And during my stay I have read quite a few books :) 16 to be exact. Well, I am counting the book I was reading when I arrived and the book I am currently still reading as one. And ok, the Chronicles of Narnia books are only 200 to 250 pages, so it was kind of easy to go through them pretty quickly. But a book is a book right?

If you spend an hour on a train every day, you read through a book fairly quickly. And if the book is so good that it convinces you to read before you go to sleep, you read a book with 430 pages in a week :)

Here is my list:
- Devils wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger (I was half through that book when I arrived in London)
- The Maze Runner, James Dashner
- Before I go to sleep, S.J. Watson
- The Scorch Trials, James Dashner
- The Death Cure, James Dashner
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Horse and his boy, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis
- The Chronicles of Narnia: the Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Cassandra Clare
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass, Cassandra Clare
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls, Cassandra Clare (currently reading)

- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (audio book)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (audio book)

Books, e-reader and iPod, all I need to read/hear books :)


You can tell I am pretty much into the teen franchises. And I doubt I'd be getting over that soon. Although I am in my early twenties. Hey, in my head I still feel like a 17 year old.

I doubt I'd ever reach the 16 books if I hadn't had the Chronicles of Narnia and the Mortal Instrument series. But no doubt I would have read more than I normally did when I was a college student. And my friend Molly has the same taste in books, so she's always a good source :)

The great part about my book list is the fact that I liked them all! There wasn't one book where I thought: "Meh" and stopped reading. Not to mention that I've encountered a lot of new words. Especially in the Mortal Instrument series. I started actively writing them down, but there were so many I had to stop. I just couldn't read through a chapter without picking up my pen and notebook. And it's not like I've memorized them all, I just recognize them which makes reading the story a lot easier. + When I looked up the word "Conundrum" I thought: "Who would ever use that word?" Well a few days later in the office, my boss said: "Well this is a conundrum." I had a though time not yelling: "I know that word!!!"

There are still a few books on my to read list, so this image is quite accurate :)

For those of you who say: "I ain't no time for that!" Well, if you are a college/high school student, I hear you. You have to attend classes all day and when you get home, you have to do your homework. Yes, homework doesn't end when you graduate high school... But otherwise, if you are not required working from home or finish a project after hours, it is just a matter of choosing reading above watching television/movies or spending time on the internet :) Not always easy though, I am guilty of that as well :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

19 December 2014

Blogmas day 18, 2014: Tamara Drewe and the Three Musketeers

Hallooooo!!

Today was another day indoors. The main task of today was to tidy my room. I always assume that it is going to take hours and hours, but in fact, it only took me about an hour. (and yes I've tidied thorough)

After that I made myself a well deserved hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. The Costa cup is to bring a Christmas feel to it, as my christmas mugs are still in Belgium :) And thanks to my delicious sented candle Sweet Pineapple and Ginger (from Primark), my Christmassy vibe was complete.

Other than tiding my room, I read in the Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls and I watched Tamara Drewe and The Three Musketeers to fill in the day. I'd like to say that this book (the Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls) is the perfect example of the saying: never judge a book by its cover :)

Tamara Drewe is a feel good British comedy. It's the classic rom com, but set in England, which gives it a completely different vibe than all the cliche American rom coms we know and love. Safe to say I laught my ass off x)


I'd recommend this movie :)

Second movie of the day was the Three Musketeers. Instead of a dark and dirty 17th century costume drama, you get an upbeat, funny and action packed movie, set in the 17th century. Might not be historically accurate, but that doesn't matter :) It's enjoyable.


I also recommend this movie :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

17 December 2014

Blogmas day 17, 2014: Change of the Guards and an incredibly comfy chair

Halloooo!

As I had to go into town today for some shopping (no, no Christmas presents, mostly orders from friends and family of stuff you can't buy in Belgium), I passed Buckingham Palace on my way to Piccadilly. I've passed that palace countless times and I have never seen the Change of the Guards. And let me tell you, it is an event.

At 11:15 the Guards with the bands arrive. At 11:30 the official Change takes place and by 12:00 the official ceremony ends. In the meantime a huge amount of people is gathered around the fountain and in front of the gates. And that was a Wednesday, I do not want to see the place during a weekend. The 'road' is kept clear. And at times you are not allowed to cross the road, so you just have be patient until the Guars have passed.

The whole thing takes up over an hour. The preparations, the actual Guard ceremony and then the clearing. Insane. This event takes place every other day during winter. But in summer this goes down every single day. Man, to keep those tourists happy.

It is not like I saw a lot of the actual change. First of all because my view was blocked by many tourists. And second of all I had no idea what to look for: a lot people marching and standing still. But there are a lot of guards and I couldn't help but wonder how one becomes a guard and why someone would choose that profession.

A lot of people
When I finally made it to Green Park I was well on my way and I was able to purchase everything on my list. After that was done, I treated myself on a hot chocolate and sat down in St James's Church, before someone "kicked" me out. Never happend before, but I guess it was because there was a free concert at 1:10pm and they want to prevent others to bring in beverages and limit the risk at a mess. The lady who asked me to leave looked very sorry, eventhough it wasn't that big of a deal :)

Instead I went to Leicester Square to read, which after 20min was too cold, so I went to Waterstones instead and found the most comfortable chair in the history of chairs. Unbelievable how comfy that chair was! As I wanted to get home before rush hour I was home by 5pm where I gladly finished reading my book. Those last 100 pages of a book are always soooooooo good you just want to keep and keep reading x) And I started reading the fifth book in the series immediatly after :) I just love it when a book series is this good.

So that was my Wednesday 17th December :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

16 December 2014

Blogmas day 16, 2014: IMDb, YouTube and Wikipedia

Hallooooooo!

Today I had to take care of a few practical stuff. Sending emails, making calls, doing research, cooking, cleaning, the laundry, etc. Not much time to go into town and enjoy the lovely weather. Instead, in between and after I finished off my to do list, I surrendered to the internet.

I watched funny moments compilations of certain actors and actresses, interviews about movies and watched trailers of movies to come in 2015 and trailers of movies that I've missed in the past few years. Ended up doing research on Vlad the Impaler, watched a documentary about him and saw a documentary if vampires really existed and if they still exists. Watched also a documentary about scandalous women in the Victorian age and the fact women had no rights what so ever back then and I saw a documentary about Bloody Mary as well.

I guess you all know what I am talking about. Once you are lost on the internet you can wander for hours. Not always a bad thing though. It safe to say I learned a few bits and pieces about Dracula, Mary Tudor and the women's rights in the Victorian age :)

It is also very safe to say that I am once again very very very excited about certain movies that'll hit theatres in 2015 :) To give a few examples: 

Kingsmen: Secret Service


Pan


Cinderella


Testament of Youth
 

 Minions



the Theory of Everything


Inside Out


Seventh Son
Pitch Perfect 2
the Maze Runner: Scorch Trials
the Duff
Cake
Into the Woods
Avengers: Age of Ultron

And a few (read: more) other movies :) Thanks to IMDb, YouTube and Wikipedia I have spend a day browsing and learning. And I am convinced I am not the only one ;)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 15, 2014: the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Halloooooo !!!

Today was the day I've been looking forward to since the first of December. Today I saw the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.

For the occasion I went to Odeon Leicester Sq to witness the last part of the trilogy on the premiere screen. That is right. Of all the premieres that I saw on Leicester sq I finally set foot inside the theatre. And because it was off peak (mon-fri before 5pm) AND Odeon Premiere Club Film Fan Monday (25% discount) I was able to go for a reasonably 'good' price. (Still waaay too expensive, but cheaper than I thought it would be).


Since I've read the book and knew how it was going to end and Peter Jackson being Peter Jackson, I was 100% sure that I was going to cry. And the movie delivered. The cast, the music (Howard Shore, duh), the directing. I am looking forward to see the extended dvd edition.

I've heard some moderate opinions before I saw the movie and read a few reviews after I saw it. Whilst some are not pleased at all (with being hugely disappointed as an understatement), others are very very very enthusiastic and some just hover somewhere in between.

I do agree with some of the negative comments and thoughts, but about some reservations I have my opinion as well. Let me give a few examples.

1) The fact that it is such an action packed movie is an issue for quite a few people. the Battle of the Five Armies... Come on. What did you expect?

2) The fact that the Battle of the Five Armies is just one chapter in the Hobbit and a whole movie in the trilogy. Some parts work better on screen and some work better on paper. Battle sequences work better in movies and character thoughts work better on paper. In the book Bilbo passes out during the battle and wakes up after the battle is over and basically missing out on a part of it. Now that would be anticlimactic, wouldn't it?

3) Was it necessary to make 3 movies? Probably not. Two movies would have worked just fine. But I am glad they didn't just stick to the book though. If they had only used the material the book provides, I think it might have ended up beeing a really boring movie. What works on paper doesn't always work on screen.

4) Comments on the 'badly written' Tauriel-Kili love story and is a love story necessary if you want to tell a good story? Maybe not. I didn't miss a love story in the book anyway. But the movie has to reach another audience as well and a love story always helps + it gives an extra story line. And I am kind of glad they added a bad ass female character to the story. Tolkien approved or not.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

5) The death of Smaug was anticlimactic. I disagree. I was genuinely worried they would milk out Smaug's destruction of Lake Town and keep it going and going and going. But I am so glad they did what they did. Just like in the book: bam, he's dead, before you even realise it, without beating around the bush. 

6) Too many doors are left open at the end. Agree. No funeral, no coronation, no explanation. You just skip from Bilbo and Gandalf to Bilbo saying goodbye to the dwarves and then to the road back to Bag End. Wait, whut? Exactly.

These are just 6 examples of things I agree with and things I do not agree with. And I could keep going on and on :)

But I'd like to add: cut Peter Jackson some slack. He didn't want to direct this movie in the first place as he thought he'd be competing with himself. And that is exactly what he ended up doing. The expectations after LOTR were insanely high. So imagine yourself in such a position. Exactly. Not a happy place to be. I think he did a terrific job. And in fact, because of the Hobbit trilogy I can't wait to read the appendices of LOTR and the Silmarillion :)

If someone said to me tomorrow: "you have to see the Hobbit again" I'd be happy to! :)


Thanks for reading
xo - Sara

15 December 2014

Blogmas day 14, 2014: editing away part 2

Hallooooo !!!

So today I finally got around to edit the video I had planned to edit last week. You can watch the video here. This is the blog post that belongs with it: Christmas time in London with Tine and Sam. My sister and her boyfriend came to visit me two weeks ago ^^ 

Anyway, this was today's view:



Thanks for reading
xo - Sara

14 December 2014

Christmas time in London with Tine and Sam

Halloooooo !!!

Two weeks ago my sister and Sam came to visit me in London ^^ I had to work on Friday, they went to the Harry Potter studio tour and we met after work. On Saterday we did a tour through London from Hyde Park to the Natural History Museum to Piccadilly and Leicester Square.

 
Friday after work
Friday evening I met Sam and Tine in front of King's Cross where I met them last time as well. As it was Black Friday, the tube station in King's Cross was super busy, so we decided to walk to Covent Garden. We wanted to see the Christmas lights. Well, I did anyway x) After an hour walk (and without getting lost!) we arrived to witness the beauty of Christmas lights.




























Dinner at Pizza Express was also a huge succes :)

Winter wonderland and Natural History Museum
On Saturday I had a tour planned through London so we could see as much as possible before 6p.m. when my sister and Sam to be at St Pancras to catch the Eurostar back home.

Starting the day bright and early, I wanted them to experience the lovely food at the Breakfast Club. Unlucky us, there was a line outside the Breakfast Club in Soho and it was only 9:30am! Costa is was.

After breakfast we headed to Marble Arch and Hyde Park to see Winter Wonderland. Unfortunately it was more like a theme park instead of a Christmas market. But we saw it anyway :)

From Hyde Park it was only straight ahead to reach the Natural History Museum. But before we left the park, we had an encounter with the most adorable squirell in history of men I'd like to believe x)


Literally too cute ^^

After that half hour stop, we finally made it to the Natural History Museum where we visisted the top floor. Earthquakes, Vulcanoes, minerals, etc. Super interesting :) I also wondered whether movies were shot in this beautiful building. Little did I know I was going to see the movie Paddington 4 days later and my question would be answered x)


From the Natural History Museum we took the metro to Piccadilly for some late lunch and to do some Christmas shopping at Waterstones and Cath Kidston :)

After Cath Kidston we went up Regent Street with the intention to go to Hamley's, but the crowd infront and inside the store was insanely busy, so we walked straight to Hummingbird bakery for some goodness :)

With little inspiration to go, I let Sam and Tine to Leicester Sq where we could sit on some benches to eat our delicious cupcakes. I was surprised when I saw a mini Christmas market was situated on Leicester Square. And I was wondering how they were going to manage the Hobbit premiere that was the following Monday. (You can find the answer in my very first Blogmas post: The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies Premiere :))

By 6p.m it was time to head back to St Pancras station as my sister and Sam had to catch the Eurostar back home. In good tradition, my sister and I have to have a picture together but of course we forget about it until the last minute she has to leave. Sam lovely volunteered to take the picture (last time Molly took them) and took 4 pictures, just to be sure. Well, they are all 4 out of focus x)


So that was a very succesfull weekend with Tine and Sam :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

13 December 2014

Blogmas day 13, 2014: Taking clumsiness to the next level in Brighton

Halloooo!!

I finally made it to Brighton again! I've been meaning to go for months and I've been postponing this trip every single time. Even this morning when the alarm went off I thought: meh, I can go another day. By the time I got up, I regretted it and left the house asap :)


By 1p.m I arrived in the beautiful city of Brighton. And the weather was on my side too.

I walked on the beach and the pier. I ate fish and chips and I took the time to sit on the beach, enjoy the sun and to read.


View on the pier


I finally saw the Royal Pavilion as well. I have to say, not knowing a thing about the Royal Pavilion, it was pretty random to see such a building in Brighton. In the UK even. But is was beautiful :)


Royal Pavilion
As it was freezing I wanted to find a cozy little cafe to buy myself a hot chocolate. But in all the cute cafes, all the tables were occupied, so the good old Costa it was. And there I took clumsiness to the next level.

I spilled a bit of hot chocolat on my tray whilst I was walking to my table. Nothing too major. A very friendly employee offered me a new tray and replaced the other one. After I took off my coat and sat down, I dumped against the table and well. It is safe to say that 1/3 of my hot chocolate was spilled on the table, my phone, iPod, camera, hat, chair and wall. Me being me I couldn't help but to curse in Dutch so basically they understood what had happened before they saw the mess on the table. A guy handed me some napkins and the same employee who helped me 5minutes before saw what I did and came to my rescue (again). She even got me a new hot chocolate! I kept apologizing again and again and again. But she reassured me: "I've seen worse". But I think it is so incredibly sweet they got me a new hot chocolat even though it was because of my own clumsiness I spilled most of it.

Anyway, after I was warmed up, I braces myself again for the cold to walk through the lanes on my way to the train station. What was super crowded an hour before was now pretty calm.




When I got to the station I didn't had to wait for a train to London Victoria :) What a stress free lovely day that was! Well, except for the whole Costa hot chocolate fiasco.

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

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