Happy Chinese New Year!! And almost bumping into Bill Nighy

Halloooo!!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! (one week too late. Aah well)

This might look like a very super long blog post, but 3/4 are photos, so not to worry :)

To start with Saturday 21st February
That's right, the month is almost over. On Saturday I went to Watford for a room viewing. Remember I told you that I'm looking for somewhere different to live? Well, I had high hopes for this one. But as soon as I walked into the house it was a no go. You can imagine my disappointment. Ah well, I've had a nice trip to Watford, so not all was lost. I even considered to take the shuttle bus to the Leavesden Studios, since I was in Watford anyway. But then I thought better of it and just took the first train back to London Euston. If I'd gone to the Harry Potter Studios no doubt that I would've bought something I really didn't need but wanted simply because it was wizarding world related.

Instead I went to Costa (surprise surprise) next to Premier Inn Euston for lunch. That Costa cafe was the very first cafe I had my very first giant cappucino on the very first day in the very first hour on my very first trip to London . Basically where it all started x) Let's dig up that old photograph ;)

Photo April 2009

Year of the Sheep. Or the Goat. Or whatever animal it is.
Sunday 22nd February (aka Oscar day) was Chinese New Year. China Town was traffic free and Trafalgar Square was packed with people. I've never seen so many people gathered on the square. Also my apologies for the quite crappy photos.

Camilla and I stayed to have a look at the ceremony and then go to China Town to grab some lunch. I had a pork bun, some delicious noodles and bubble tea of course :)

As part of a ritual for blessing and good fortune, the 'dragons' (They're not dragons, but I've forgotten what they're called... Anyone?) would go to every shop in China Town and eat lettuce that hung from the door frames. It was really interesting to see :)

traffic free

the lettuce

pork bun

It's kind of embarressing to say, but I'd actually never really wandered around China Town before. Walked through, yes, but actually looking around and considering eating chinese food? No. But, for everything is a first, right? :) And I liked the decorations :) For some reason it reminded me of my grand parents.

Whilst Camilla and I were eating our lunch, we saw the 'dragons' from the front row, as they passed right by us on their way to the next store or restaurant :)

And we had a lot of fun looking at all the different and strange flavours the Chinese come up with for their cookies x)

As it started to rain by 3 in the afternoon, we decided to call it a day and head home. I had plenty of work to do on my blog and video anyway. So by 4pm I was snuggled up in bed, working hard on my previous blog post to make sure it went live that evening :)

Almost bumping into Bill Nighy

As for the rest of the week, it was the same as usual :) Well, not entirely as usual. Monday after work, I walked from the office to London Victoria. As I wanted to avoid the crowd on Regent Street, I walked on Saville Row. On Saville Row, as I've told you before, is the Kingsman shop (Huntsman). When I passed I noticed they had a different window display going on. Apparently they've made suite for Laurence Olivier, Rex Harrison and Gregory Peck when they were nominated for an Oscar back in the day. So naturally I took pictures for the blog :) As I turned away from the store to start walking again, I almost bumped into, yes, Bill Nighy. Casual Monday evening.. x) So far I'd passed Helen McCrory and Alex Zane in the London streets. Now I can add Bill Nighy to the very short list :)

Movies I've watched

It was again a very slow week in the movie department. Mainly because I've been reading a lot more.

I've finished the Mortal Instrument book series, which was pretty though. It amazing how you can feel home sick to an imaginary world, to ficticious character simply because someone wrote specific words in an order on a few pages. Needless to say that I loved the book series and I was seriously tempted to just start the series again, but then I thought 'nah, I've plenty of other books that are waiting to be read'. So I'm currently reading Girl Online by Zoe Sugg. And I'm considering writing blog posts about it. And books in general. Like I've done for a few movies. Ah well, you'll see when something new goes online :)

Oh wait, I did see one movie: Song One, with Anne Hathaway and Johnny Flynn. Beautiful. So beautiful.

New words: bulk packed= not in a retail package; consolidating= combined

That's it for this week! Thanks for reading :)

xo - Sara

the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film goes to...

#movietime

Halloooo !!

As promised a little mid week blog post :)

As we all know Sunday 22nd February was the most anticipated night of the year. Well, in the movie industry. Or to be even more specific: in Hollywood.

Because I do not live on that side of the pont and my internet wasn't able to live stream the event (like I live in Narnia or something -.-) I didn't bother trying to stay awake, because what's the point to stay awake to read who won and who didn't if you can't follow the event live?

So sure enough, Monday morning the news papers, radio shows, social media,.. were overflowing with 'last night's' news. You'll know what I'm talking about.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I was pretty exicted to see who won, because there were some pretty great nominees. Jennifer Aniston, Julianne Moore, Steve Carell, Eddie Redmayne, etc. Some promising movies: Big Hero 6, Interstellar, Boyhood, soundtrack for Begin Again, etc.

Now I would be lying if I said that every single one of them deserved the Oscar they were nominated for. They probably do, but I wouldn't know, because I haven't seen all of the movies (yet). So it would be unfair of me to have an opinion on them.

Now, the one category I was most interested in was the Best Animated Feature Film. I admit, I've only seen 2 out of the 5 movies. And I am sure the other 3 are as splendid as the other 2, but I really really really wanted either Big Hero 6 or How to train your dragon 2 to win. And to my delight, Big Hero 6 had the honor to take the little golden statue back home. Although HTTYD2 would have deserved it just as much.

For those who are not familiar with Big Hero 6, allow me to enlighten you :)

Big Hero 6


2014
Directors: Don Hall, Chris Williams
Actors: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, etc.
Length: 102min= 1h 42min
Family proof
Genre: animation, adventure

The story is set in San Fransokyo, a fictitious city that resembles a great deal of San Francisco and Tokyo together. Now, if I may be honest, I am not really interested in the Asian culture. I'm not saying I dislike it, or hate it or anything. It's just not a culture I'm fascinated with. So that fact was actually something that kind of withheld me from seeing the movie.

How come that I eventually saw it anyway? Well, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision. And friends of mine and a colleague were super enthusiastic about it and I do trust their opinion :)

Hiro's (main character) big brother invents an inflatable robot that has a great resemblance to a giant marshmallow. Baymax, the robot in questions, his purpose is to help humans diagnose their injury and provide a remedy. That's the main reason why you'll fall in love with Baymax ^^ During the course of the movie a beautiful friendship develops between Hiro and Baymax. It'll even tear you up.

The plot is, like basically every Disney movie, to overcome the bad guy (or queen). So together with 4 other friends, Hiro and Baymax go to battle and try to save San Fransokyo. Now, the biggest difference with all the other Disney films is the fact that the characters don't burst out into songs about their thoughts and emotions. You might compare it to Toy Story or Monsters and Co, but those are from Disney Pixar. Like Frozen and Wreck-it Ralph, Big Hero 6 is just a Disney product (it's from the same brain that's behind Frozen and Wreck-it Ralph. If you didn't know already, now you do ;)). I haven't seen Wreck-it Ralph yet so I wouldn't know if the character sing in the movie, but we all know that Frozen is full of (sing along) songs. So that's what makes Big Hero 6 so special in my opinion. Some say it's even better than Frozen. And Frozen is already pretty up there, so that's saying alot :)

As every other Disney movie, this movie also shows us the terrible thing of losing loved ones and how to get back on your feet. Oh, and you'll notice that all the kids in the movie are geniuses :)

Of course the soundtrack is splendid. That combined with the amazing animation and storyline, you're basically guaranteed you're not going to keep it dry. But not to worry, it's not Lion King sad. I'm definitely 100% sure going to get this one on DVD!

So, that was my mid week blog post :) Hope you enjoyed it and your excited to see Big Hero 6 yourself (if you haven't already) If not, here are some videos to get you in the mood :)

Trailer

And a clip :)

Please let me know if you saw the movie and if you share my enthousiasme! Or not. That's up to you :)

Thanks for reading anyway!
xo - Sara

Local tourists: Madame Tussauds, Abbey Road, London Eye,...

Hallooooo

My oh my, another week has come and gone! Although I was pretty exhausted after last weekend, time is passing fast :)

So, how come that my last blog post only went live on Monday? I'd mentioned that my weekend was pretty busy and here is the explanation :) But first check out the video I made :) I know, it's been a while!!

Amal, one of my friends from college, came to visit me this weekend. Since it was her first time in London, we covered all the basics. So if you read my blog regularly I'm afraid you'll read a lot of the same things I've covered already before. But please do read on, maybe you'll find something new anyway :)

99 comedy club and tourists by night
Amal, one of my friends from college, came to visit me :) Friday 13th February by 5 pm she arrived in St Pancras. As we had to be on Leicester Square by 7:30pm, we wanted to look for some food nearby. Since we had plenty of time, I suggested to get off a tube stop earlier so she could see Covent Garden as well.  So first stop: Covent Garden. Next stop was a pub on the way from Covent Garden to Leicester Square. You can't go to London and not have eaten Fish and Chips. And what better place to eat Fish and Chips (besides in Brighton) than in a pub? :) By 7:30pm we made our way to Leicester Square to collect our tickets for the comedy show that started at 8:30pm.

99 comedy club is a club (uhu) on Leicester Square. I bet most of you who've seen Leicester Square would have missed it. All you can see from the square is a door. The night club (venue where the show took place) is basically underground. The show itself was pretty awesome. 3 stand up comedians each gave a 20min gig. It went from funny to funnier x) The last guy actually made my cry with laughter :)

The show finished at 10:30pm and the M&M store was still open so naturally we went in there. It was so nice and quiet! Best time to go for some M&M's I'd say :) After M&M, Piccadilly Circus, of course. Unfortunately Piccadilly tube station was closed, so we had to walk in the rain to Green Park to take the Victoria Line to Victoria station. It was quite late already so by the time we finally made it home it was passed midnight!! As we wanted to cover as much as possible, it is safe to say we didn't get that much sleep, because...

London Eye, Madame Tussaud, Notting Hill and Abbey Road
... We wanted to be at the London Eye by 10am! That's when the first tourists can go on the giant ferris wheel and being Valentine's weekend and the first weekend of half term, I just didn't want to take any risks. We arrived slightly later than planned because we made a stop at Krispy Kreme to buy breakfast. We took the Circle line to Westminster to gape at the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben) :) Next stop was the ticket office for the London eye tickets. We went straight to the 4D experience and than, when we finally found cash money to buy coffees, we sat down to eat our Krispy Kreme breakfast. You can't go wrong with a Krispy Kreme donut ^^ And I am sooo glad Amal insisted on a coffee, because it wasn't that necessary for me anymore. I just wanted to eat my donut. But the coffee was the icing on the cake. Delicious :)

The line for the London Eye was not too short, but as expected the wait wasn't too bad and before we actually knew it we were on this 'crazy' ride for the next 20minutes. When I think back at the last time I was on the London Eye 3 years ago, my orientation has changed so much. I could place all the buildings so much better in my head and show Amal everything she needed to see :) Next to the London Eye there is also a Sea Life attraction, which might interest you, Tine (penguins!).

After the London Eye, we went to Notting Hill. Amal loves the movie and well, I do too :) I just discovered today that there is an actually Travel Book shop in Notting Hill and they've actually used that location in the movie. So I'll have to go back for a closer look on that one :) After we spotted a real Banksy, we bought falafels at one of the stands and Amal had a nice chat with the falafel men as she understands Arabic and they were communicating in Arabic :) Whilst eating our lunch we walked to Charlie Cafe's, but when we were there the cafe was closed. Such a bummer :( So on the way to the tube station we had a Bubble Tea and then we where on our way to Madame Tussauds. Whoop whoop!

Photo credits to Amal ! :)

We had timed tickets for Madame Tussauds for 6pm so we had about an hour and 15min to kill. Since we were only a few tube stops from St John's Wood, we went to Abbey Road and Abbey Road Studios. Very touristic, but most tourists who are in London for the first time on a city trip don't make it that far out of city centre :) When we approached the road we heard cars honking at the tourists who tried to recreate the famous album cover of the Beatles x)

By 5:30pm we returned to Madame Tussauds on the lucky chance that maybe we could get in earlier and sure enough :) It was so much fun. I had my picture taken with Benedict Cumberbatch, Sean Connery, Colin Firth, Katniss Everdeen, Kate Winslet, Iron Man, Nic Fury and Hawkey. Casual Saturday evening x) I really want to compare the pictures I took now with the pictures of my first visit 6 years ago :) If you're curious about these pictures, I'm not gonna post them online. Just so you know :)

Mum, dad, this one's for you x)

After Madame Tussauds we had Nando's for dinner and then we went on our way home.

Breakfast Club and sight seeing
Our day started bright and early. I wanted to be on time at the Breakfast Club, so we didn't have to wait in line. Unfortunately we were a bit late, so a 15min wait was inevitable. The waiting wasn't too bad actually. We had a lot to look at and entertain ourselves with :) But then we were seated, coffees were ordered and the heavy decision was to be made: "what am I going to eat for breakfast?" Amal seatled for the pancakes with the berries and I choose for toast with avocado, bacon and pouched egg. Njam! Delicious :)

Spitalfield market is just around the corner so after breakfast that was our next stop. Believe it or not, but I meant to go back there ever since I went there with my parents back in November. I had my mind set on some gloves and books of course :) And yes, I did not leave that market without some purchases :) My gloves, which I'm obsessed with. I've worn them every day of the week. And no less than 3 books. 3 books for £10. Ain't that a bargain :D

From Spitalfield market we walked to Leadenhall Market so Amal could see the Leaky Cauldron entrance. From there we walked to London Bridge to see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On our way there we passed the Monument so she saw that as well.

From Monument we took the tube to St-James's Parkt to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace. And from there is was a short walk to Green Park tube station to Oxford Circus. Amal needed a dress for a wedding she was to attend. Safe to say we didn't find anything...

At 5:15pm we were meeting Celine, a girl from college who's currently studying in London, to catch an early dinner. Celine knows this amazing resaurant (Steak&Co) where they serve delicious steaks (duh) and pasta. Although the food was alright, the service wasn't exactly what it was supposed to be. We had to wait about 15min for our bill and then we had to wait again to actually pay. That 20min wait made Amal running late to catch her Eurostar train. Service was added automatically to the bill, but to be honest, I really didn't want to pay that one.

Anyway, Amal and I rushed to St Pancras. Amal still had 20min to go through check in and board the train, so we made in the end. But if the service in that place would have been ok, we probably wouldn't have to run as fast as we did... But, Amal got on the train on time and had a safe journey back home :) Huray!

So that was my very exciting weekend. I hope you didn't fall a sleep half way through this very very long blog post :)

Because it can be difficult to get an idea of where we've all been, here's a map. All the red dots are the sight seeing areas. We did a lot of walking :)

Oh yeah before I forget:
Movies I've watched.
This week was quite a slow week in the movie departement. I saw Tamara Drewe (yet again), Fever Pitch (again) and From the Rough. Ahah! A new movie :) And a beautiful one as well. It's based on a true story and it involves golf.

And on popular demand: new words! :)
Bleak: unhappy; flummoxed: confused and distracted; exasperation: frustrated, annoyance

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Going home for the weekend with the wrong train ticket...

Halloooooo!!

My apologies for the delays. I have had quite the weekend, but more on that later this week :) What was I up to last weekend?

Wrong ticket
On Friday evening after work, I took the Eurostar to European mainland. Everything went very smoothly up until I was sat at Costa (my usual) to have dinner. Whilst chillen and sitting there, I thought: "Let me just check my tickets. Make sure I have the right ones with me". I am going back to Belgium in May and I have these train tickets printed out already as well and I save them in the same folder. So you know, imagine I'd taken the May tickets instead of the February tickets... I guess my face was worth a million when I saw the date on my train tickets. May...  That instant stomach drop, heart beat going up, first sights of panic in my head and, me being me (a major weeper (quote from the Holiday)) the first prickles of tears in my eyes. First reaction: call dad. I had my phone in hand, dailed his number, let it ring one time, then thought better of it. "Just stay calm, I'm sure you'll find someone nice enough who will let you print out your train tickets. I mean, plenty of stores in St Pancras!" Okay, no panic, everything was going to be just fine. But my dad being my dad, he'd already seen that I'd tried to call him and he called me back instantly. And actually a good thing he did. Whilst I was thinking about the stores in St Pancras, he suggested I should just go to a Eurostar desk and just explain what happened. Logical, right?:) Meanwhile I was eating my dinner at top speed, so I could find somewhere to collect my correct tickets as soon as possible. Thank god I asked for a paper cup instead of a normal cup for my hot chocolate (after my disastrous experience in a Costa in Brighton, I try to avoid normal cups. If you're in for a laugh, here's the blog post :)) With my paper cup in hand, I was off to the Eurostar desk. It was 5:10pm and my train left at 5:57pm. My original plan was to go through check in around 5:30pm and enjoy a lovely dinner before that. So at 5:15pm I approached a Eurostar employee and explained that I had the wrong train tickets on me. He asked for my reference number, which I had on my smartphone (huray). Quick check of surname and my correct tickets rolled out of the machine. I kept apologizing, but he simply said: "it happens all the time. No worries. As long as you haven't forgotten you're supposed to travel today" :) At the same time they called everyone to check in as soon as possible, because of the many travellers. So because I had the wrong ticket, I had to go to the check in area earlier so I had plenty of time to check in. Everything happens for a reason some might say? :)

After a very easy and drowsy train ride, I arrived in Brussels safe and sound :)

Movietime on the Eurostar
Monday morning I had a train back at 7am. Why didn't you leave Sunday evening, you may ask? Well, Sunday was my granddad's 85th birthday party and I didn't want to leave early simply to catch my train. And well, Monday morning was cheaper than Sunday evening as well. So it was a win-win.

The alarm clock went off at 4:30am, so you can imagine what a long day Monday it was for me. On the train ride I watch the movie The Tale of Despereaux (another Emma Watson movie I can cross off my list). It's a really adorable story about a brave little mouse with gigantic ears.

This was my view in the train:

It was kind of unsurreal for me. I left home at 5am in the morning and by 8am I was back in London, in time to go straight to the office.

As for the rest of the week, everything went as usual. The one really exciting thing that happened was buying a Brita water filter can and a new cafeterie. And believe me, I was (and still am) o v e r the moon!! :) I also brought back my Grumpy mug from Disney, so I have my coffee each morning in the proper mug now:)

Friday evening my friend, Amal, arrived in London St Pancras, but that is for the next blog post :)

Movies I've watched:
If you need movie inspiration, this week I've watched PS I love you, Leap Year, Laggies, Like Crazy, Chasing Liberty and of course The Tale of Despereaux

Thanks for reading!!
xo - Sara

Kingsman: the Secret Service, Big Hero 6 and Harry Potter Book Night

Halloooooo!!

As I am writing this blog post, I am sitting on my old bed back home in Belgium. That's right, I am home for the weekend :) But what happened during this very 'exciting' week?

Saw again a bunch of movies, got my internet connection back, saw the Kingsman shop and attended a Harry Potter Book Night.

Kingsman: the Secret Service. After almost a year's wait
Saturday was a happy day. Not that I planned it much in advance :) Friday 29th January the movie Kingsman: the Secret Service hit theatres. As it's almost been a year since I saw the trailer for the first time, I could not not see it :)

I had to go to Croydon anyway 'cause I had to stop by the bank. Yes, I had to do some grown up stuff. That's what comes with the whole I-'ve-got-a-job thing. By 1pm my errand to the bank was done, so I went straight to Vue Croydon. Unfortunately the next performance was at 3pm. 2 hours to kill. And what better way to kill some time than to go to HMV? Yes, very very very dangerous for me. As expected I walked out with another DVD to complete my still growing collection. I've been looking for Stuck in Love for quite a while now, so I was over the moon when I finally found it ^^ Next stop was Primark where I found this awesome Monday appropriate t-shirt x)

Finally, 3pm arrived and I was more than ready to finally witness this piece of awesomeness. Because I am used to go to the theatre on a Sunday morning, I had to adjust a bit. The theatre was more packed (opening weekend as well) and not only with elderly people or children, but also with everything in between. I was unfortunate to be seated before 2 very loud men. I mean, I get it. I make noises as well whilst watching a movie. You sometimes can't help it. And when it is funny, I'll laugh out loud. But to laugh so loud that it blanks out the next sentence the actor says, in a cinema? That might be a bit too loud... + all the crackling noises of all the doritos and crisp bags= annoying. But luckily Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson and the rest of the cast made sure that I didn't mind the majority of the time :) And yes I am a huge Colin Firth fan. But being a fan of an actor doesn't automatically mean you have a crush. Just to be clear, mum.

As for my opinion of the movie, it met my expectations. I'd heard a few comments already from my colleagues who went to a screening in November, so I knew that the church scene was a bit "oooeeeeh". Some might even consider "too much" and the ending a bit "meh, too not realistic". But I was careful to not let anyone spoil it for me :) I laughed out loud, as it is genuinely funny (and yes, I finally finally finally understood some of the English jokes! As a foreigner it's not easy to get the punch line of a joke). I had to look away and surpress an 'ieeeeuwww' sound as some parts were a bit grubby. And my jaw dropped once, big time. I couldn't even believe it happened! If you want to know what I'm talking about, you'll have to see it ;) But I highly recommend it! Tine, Sam, mum and dad, especially to you :)

To make things even more awesome, I realised on Tuesday evening that I pass Saville Row almost every day when I walk to the train station after work. (Saville Row is famous as the road to be if you're looking for a bespoke suit). So, why not take a look? I walked up Saville Row, remembering a few shots from the movie, walking up the road and suddenly finding myself in front of the very store that was used as Kingsman shop in the movie. What a way to end a Tuesday :)

Thanks to my amazing job, on Friday I had to make a goodie bag with Kingsman premiums for Colin Firth and Taron Egerton :) If you see them with a Kingsman branded t-shirt, bag, umbrella or other items, these are most likely designed and made by us and pick out by me out of the cupboard! x)

Unplanned movie and Westfield Stratford shopping
Sunday was a bit of a last minute decision. Last Sunday I'd originally planned to see Big Hero 6, but I couldn't be bother to get out of my bed in time so I skipped it. I wasn't that keen on seeing the movie anyway eventhough few of my friends said "It's AMAZING" and one of my colleagues at work shares the same opinion. When someone says a movie's AMAZING I'm less likely to see it, because I'd get my hopes up and then I'm scared to be disappointed. But then when I see it and really like it, I turn around and go tell other people to see it because it's AMAZING. I'm doing exactly what I don't like other people doing. Hmm, something to work on :D And in the case of Big Hero 6, it's set in San Fransokyo and I'm not really set on the Asian culture anyway. Not that I dislike it, but I'm just not that facinate with it. But this Sunday, I was up for it. Some might call me crazy or super motivated, but I kind of like to go to the cinema on Sunday morning. I get the feeling I have a super productive day and the only people that go to the cinema that early are the ones with little children :)

So, Sunday morning 8:45 I was out of the house. The first performance of Big Hero 6 started at 10am and I wanted to grab some breakfast at Costa in Croydon.

Unlike Saturday afternoon, the theatre was pretty much empty, expect for the families :) One little guy ran to his dad to sit on his lap saying "it is getting a bit scary". Although I can't deny that the 'villain' of the story does look a bit scary, I can imagine what it must look like for a 6year old :)

It's a very sweet story and Baymax (the giant squishy marshmellow guy) is just too cute. You really want him as your best buddy. And the movie made me wonder how it would be like to be a genius. To be able to invent awesome stuff, simply because you have the knowledge of the science. Aah well, is not going to happen any time soon.

For anyone who's interested, Big Hero 6 is created by the same creators that made Frozen :)

After the movie I had time to process it on my way into town, 'cause I agreed to meet up with Camilla, a girl from the Design team. A Sunday afternoon shopping at Westfield Stratford shopping centre. It was a nice change for the weekend :)

Harry Potter Book Night
I'd been looking forward to Thursday 5th February for about a bit over 2 weeks and this week it was finally there. The Harry Potter Book Night is an initiative of Bloomsbury, the company that publishes the Harry Potter series. The original goal of the event was to introduce a new generation to Harry Potter and celebrate the wonderful wizarding world that Joanna Rowling has created. The target group were schools, families and community groups. But a few staff members at Waterstones Oxford Street Plaza were like: "hey, we wanna go too, but not to hang out with 10yr olds. Let organize an 18+ event and just celebrate the fact that most of us grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione." An amazing idea that attracted more than 100 HP fans :) So Thursday evening 5th February, Harry Potter and Joanna Rowling were celebrated all over the UK.

Super nervous and on the edge of an anxiety attack, I went to the store at 7:15pm on Thursday evening. I even concidered not going at all, as I genuinly hate that feeling you get when you're about the meet with someone or have to go somewhere that is unfamiliar. It was like I completely forgot how to talk to people, how to introduce myself. Didn't feel anything at all like someone in her early twenties, but more like an 11 year old who's new in the group. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who came by themselves and soon enough I was sorted into a house (Slytherin, hell yeah) and in a group (C) and started chatting to a few girls.

By 8pm it was introduction time and one of the Waterstones staff members read a page out of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The part where Harry is at Olivander's to buy his wand. Being all adults in one room, it is safe to say there where quite a few laughs. Something you definitely wouldn't get at a kids event, if you know what I mean x) Once the activities were explained, the game began :)

By 9:30pm the event came to an end and the winners were announced. Slytherin won!!! x)

Here are a few pictures of the evening. I didn't take any myself since I was too busy being social x) These picture are taken by the staff members of the Waterstones Oxford Street Plaza. Thanks to their efford and motivation this amazing evening was possible.

Amazing decorations

Amazing details

Thanks to these gusy this amazing evening was possible :) Thanks!

This is what Joanna had to say about all the positive messages of the HP Book Night :)

And to think it all started when my mum read the Philosopher's Stone 13 years ago, trying to explain how one gets on platform 9 3/4, me, totally not interested. But on the 1th January 2002 we went to the cinema to see the first movie and later that month I picked up the Philospher's Stone myself and that's how it all began. So thanks mum, for introducing me to Harry Potter :)

For some reason I kept this 13yr old movie ticket x)

Movies watched this week
If you're looking for some movie inspiration, these movies I watched and liked this week: Chalet Girl, Monsters University, Big Hero 6, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Kingsman: the Secret Service and In Time.

That's it for this week :) My apologies for the long blog post. Congrats if you made it this far!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Visitors from Belgium (and Sweden!) and terrified of a non horror movie

Halloooo!!

Again, with a little delay, but here is this week's blog post!

I had a stroll in Canary Wharf on Saturday, movie marathon on Sunday and some visitors on Monday and Tuesday!

Canary Wharf walk (Isle of Dogs, to be correct)
I wanted to take a look in the neighbourhood. I had a viewing on Wednesday there, so I just wanted to explore the area. It was interesting. Taking the overground, walking around Mudchute station area, on the Isle of Dogs. I was very close to the view on Greenwich University as well. But I was exhausted by the time I reached the overground, so instead of staying a little while longer and walking to the Thames, I just took the overground back to Canary Wharf station and go back home.

On the way home, I stopped by Westminster, simply to see the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben). It felt like it'd been a while since I last saw her. And all of the sudden it hit me, real hard. I am living in freaking London. I did it. There is no time limit. It's not like I have to go home in 3 months, because my internship came to an end. No, I can actually stay here for as long as I have job in the UK. That was a moment of sudden crazy realization.

It wasn't that late when I came home, so I watched two movies:

Easy A

I love this movie. Simply because Emma Stone and Stanley Tucci are sublime :) I am missing this movie in my DVD collection!

Fever Pitch

Now, I might not be the biggest football fan, but I seriously liked this movie. First of all, Colin Firth is staring in it and Mark Strong as well. They work together so well. I might not have seen Before I go to sleep, but I have seen Kingsman and well... :D And second: Paul, the main character, is passionate about football. And I think it is amazing and beautiful when someone is so passionate about something. There are limits of course, but still. I love it.

Sunday movie day
So, Saturday evening my internet was cut off, so what did you think I'd do? Come on, three guesses :) That's right, movie marathon :) I had planned to go to Croydon, but I just couldn't be bothered. So instead I made myself a cup of coffee and some breakfast and watched Tamara Drewe red carpet special.

Cath Kidston heavy x)

No Tamara Drewe red carpet special, but here again, the trailer of Tamara Drewe ^^

As you all might know, this is one of my favorite movies ^^ And thanks to the Red Carpet special, I learned that the movie is actually based on a comic book! Like Iron Man, Spiderman, etc, but then not superhero. So cool :) I'm going to do some more research on this movie.

The Breakfast Club

A classic. You kind of have to see it, I think. The end scene and song are so famous, you can not not see it.

The Spectacular Now

Heard a lot of positive comments on this one as well. And though it is a beautiful story with a beautiful message, it didn't capture me from start to finish. I saw it 'til the end, but half way through I pauzed it to do my laundry, bake pancakes and make some lunch, so...

 The Lovely Bones

This movie on the other hand captured me from start to finish. It's a Peter Jackson movie, written by Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and Peter himself, so you are basically garanteed an amazing movie. That combined with the cast: Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon,... What could go wrong, right? Well, the story combined with all of the above could go wrong. It is so brilliant that it is terrifying. Of course, there are some points I do not entirely agree with, but overall, brilliant. The subject is far from light and Stanley's performance is so convincing it scared the sh*t out of me. I mean, this image does not just disappears from your eyelids just like that. Well deserved Oscar nomination for his performance though.

Click on the picture if you like to read a film review on Clothes on Film

Might also be due to the fact that they made him look just like my idea of what a serial killer looks like. Very stereotype you might think, but that's what my brain imagines when you say: serial killer to me. It's not a movie I am going to watch again any time soon though. Also, mum, dad, do not watch this movie. It's a parent's worst nightmare.

We bought a zoo

In an attempt to end the day on a more positive note, I watched "We bought a zoo" again. Based on a true story. Cast is splendid. And even if you don't like Matt Damon, you might want to see the movie, just for the soundtrack. Jonsi has provided the majority of it and it is soooo be-a-utiful! Credits go to my cousin, Lies, who recommended the movie a long time ago :)

Sarah and Axel in London
Visitors from Belgium (and Sweden)!! I met up with Sarah and Axel on Monday after work for some burgers at the Shakespeare, a pub across London Victoria Station. Delicious burgers, btw, if anyone is looking for inspiration :) After dinner we went to Westminster, because Axel had never seen the Big Ben and the London Eye before and you can't leave London without seeing those two :) From there we walked all the way to Wellington Arch. By then I was exhausted and I still had an hour to travel before I could lay down in my bed. I had to work on Tuesday you know.

Classic pic in front of Big Ben :) Credits to Axel!

On Tuesday I received a message from Sarah that Axel wasn't feeling well, so we met up just the two of us.  Food was delicious, conversation was good. We had a proper catch up :) Dinner was at Hung Tao on Queen's Way. Afterwards a Starbucks and then back home because I had to work on Wednesday.

I am going to end it here for this week :) This post is long enough now ^^

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara