Listening with Laura - The first session

Well hello, ladies and gentlemen. Say hi to the brand new blogcategory 'Listening with Laura'. Exams are (almost) over and while I was 'cleaning up' the hard drive of my Macbook and sorting out songs on iTunes, I suddenly had the idea to put my favourite songs on my blog. You can say I love music (like a lot of people do), but it's not that I spend every minute of every day listening to music. There are days I don't listen to any music at all. But, when I listen to music, it has to be good music! I've already made some music-related posts (see them here), but now I want to do it on a regular base. I must warn you: I don't listen to commercial shit, I listen to (old) hip-hop, reggae, blues, dub, ska, soul, R&B, jazz, rap and worldmusic in general. Are you into some relaxed, 'feelgood' music where you can't stand still on? Please join me for the first session...

1. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Kaya
2. Dilated Peoples - Worst Comes To Worst
3. Staff Benda Bilili - Moto Moindo
4. Jazz Liberatorz - Ease My Mind
5. A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhime
6. Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Shashkin (Hefner remix)
7. The Specials - Ghost Town
8. Erykah Badu - Appletree
9. The Fugees - Fu-Gee-La
10. The Wailing Wailers - It Hurts To Be Alone
    

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5 things to do after the exams... (pt. 2)

 

Here's the second part of my plans for the upcoming relaxed, stress-free, nights-full-of-sleep 2 weeks...

1.  ORGANISE A SWAPPING-EVENT WITH FRIENDS. Fact: I have too much clothes I don't wear anymore, but I don't want to throw them away! I've once putted some some clothes and accessories on my Facebook and a lot of people reacted with "Oh I want that!", but at the end... I just sold a quarter of what was normally 'being sold'. That's why I want to swap! I think I have some friends who also want to swap some of their clothes (Katrien already went to the 'real' swapping-event in Ghent a month ago, read it here) so it could be a nice way to get some new 'old' clothes for free and make somebody else happy with my bad bargains... So, my ladyfriends: who's in?
2. DISCOVER GHENT A BIT MORE. I'm working on something with some friends, and it's about 'what to do in Ghent'. But I can't tell you much about it. Not because I want to keep it a secret or something, but it's still an idea and we haven't 'worked it out' yet.
3. DO NOTHING. I assume there are no words needed with this one...
4. KISS AND CUDDLE MY BOYFRIEND ALL DAY LONG. Yes: ALL! DAY! LONG! And for some days in a row, I hope! During these 5 weeks of studying I only saw him once a week and mostly that was just an evening and morning.
5. DO FUN THINGS. Like: shopping, watching movies in bed, sleep untill noon, going to London(!), do a girlsnight, catch up with friends and so on...

5 things to do after the exams... (pt. 1)

 

 

 

Here are 5 of my plans for the upcoming (FREE) weeks... 

1. GO TO THE CINEMA. There are some very nize movies out: Shame! A Dangerous Method! Ok, that's only two, but still. I'd very much like to watch them and on Saturday I'm already having a movie-date with a good friend of mine (Thomas), so I think this plan will definitely come true!
2. DRIVE. No, not the movie 'Drive' (although I really recommend it!), but drive with my car. I-need-to-have-my-driver's-license-this-year!
3. RE-DECORATE MY ROOM IN GHENT. I do have a lovely studio/room in Ghent, and I do like how it looks now... but a change can never do harm, right? I still want to make it a bit more 'cosier'... Will show you the result when it's finished!
4. MEET FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Exams = no social life. I like being on my own and I'd rather have 5 good friends than 50 acquaintances but being this lonely (as you are during the exams and when you're not studying at home)? No, no, no! I have my limits... I'm already meeting up with friends on Thursday, Saturday and somewhere next week and I'm also planning a trip to the sea-side to visit my family (and boyfriend, of course). Some quality-time with my mummy, dad and brother would be also very welcome!
5. MAKE OUTFIT-PICTURES. I hope I'll find some time (and courage) to go outside and ask mon amour or a friend to make some photos of me.

I've hit the sales

 

Say hello to one very happy lady! Yes, me. I did some sale-shopping at Zara on Thursday and Friday and I've spend €76,86 instead of €188,75. You read it right: I saved €111,89! Well, what did I bought? 1. A loose, grey pants 2. A blazer/waistcoat in a lot of colors - perfect to spice up a casual outfit 3. A dark green loose top (I don't mind when the size is L - I like to wear loose things with skinny jeans) 4. A grey T-shirt 5. A blue shirt - a must-have in every wardrobe!

I'll try to make some pictures of this stuff when I'm wearing it. An outfitpost, quoi.

Booties alert!

 

Ok, I admit; I'm a sucker for shoes. But not 'just' shoes, no, booties/ankle boots in particular.  I've already made A LOT of posts about shoes (see them here), and here's another one... You'll probably know I'm still madly in love with the Isabel Marant Dicker Boots - but they're just a bit above my budget. So that's why I searched for some 'alternatives'...

1. Mango. They were on sale a few days ago (from €69.95 to €34.95), but unfortunately I saw it (of course) too late, so my size was already sold out (in the onlineshop). That's why my mum went looking for them in the two Mango-shops in Brussels, but they had my size neither. I hope they'll remake them again, 'cause I like them very very much!
2. Mango. Same version, another color! I can't give you the link where to find them, 'cause they're now completely sold out (in both colors).
3. Topshop. They're the least similar to the IM-boots, but still very loveable (in my opinion)! I'll definitely have a look at them when I'm in London. £75, you can find them here.
4. Asos. I think this pair is the best 'copycat', no? A round tip, not to high at the ankle, a low heel, the stitched seams... The price is also very reasonable: £65. You can find them here.
5. Asos. Another very good 'copycat'... by DV Dolce Vita. £105 and they're yours! You can find them here.
6. Asos. And they have the same in taupe! Same link as the one above.

Lovely lashes

Still searchin' for the perfect mascara? Hypnôse Doll Eyes, it is! From almost non-existing lashes to a a Bambi-look (without sticking) - and no, I'm not exaggerating. A bit expensive, but definitely worth it!

Paper & Chain

Let me introduce you to Paper & Chain. Jewellery with 3 keywords: simple, elegant and affordable. The girls behind these beautiful pieces are Ismay and Naomi. 2 beautiful British girls with sense of style, that is. What I like about their jewellery? The price tag, of course. But more important: the design, the simplicity (but at the same time: the special details), 'the-every-day-wear'-factor and the fact that you can wear it, but also your mum - it's just timeless! I thinks these jewellery can give just thàt little extra to an outfit. I can already imagine myself wearing it... Btw: the shippingcosts to Belgium are £3.50 - not so much, huh? And to give another hint (my whole blog exists about hints): wouldn't this be a perfect gift for Valentine?

 

Life so far...

My boyfriend turned 21 last Friday (January 14th) and we celebrated it together in Ghent. I decorated my studio with some balloons, we ordered pizza's and at 12PM I gave him his present(s) (a shoulderbag and a scarf). His presence and an evening/night without studying was a very good combination. And again: happy birthday honey!

 

 

 Thanks to Katrien I discovered the very fun and cool webshop Photojojo. A shop where you can buy all kinds of photography-accessories, from lenses to frames. Since my camera is like my second boyfriend, I'd also like to pamper him a bit like I do with my real boyfriend... ;-) These two lenses would be perfect to make him a bit more perfect than he already is (the camera, not the boyfriend - I don't want to change a thing to the real bf)! The first lens is The Fisheye Lens. You have to put it onto your normal lens to see everything in fish-perspective! The second lens is The Dreamy Diana Lens, for very dreamy and artsy fartsy pictures! You all know by now I'm going to London in 3 weeks, so having one of these lenses (or the two of them, hint hint) with me to my favourite city would be soooo nice! "Mommy?"

 

On Friday, Jazz - one of my best friends - left Belgium to make a roadtrip trough South-Africa (her mother country) with her boyfriend H. We haven't seen each other much last year (both boyfriends, both busy) but she's still the girl I can tell everything to and be myself with. Her 6 months in South-Africa will be very adventurous (they're gonna swim with sharks and do the world's biggest bungeejump), but also very romantic probably! I'm sure she's gonna have the time of her life... and I'll travel with her in thoughts! These are some pictures from 1,5 years ago...

 

 When Belmodo.tv made a post about beanies I immediatly checked out the site they were talking about; LN Beanies! Beautiful scarves, mittens, headbands and of course beanies - all handmade! I'm sure I'll buy one of those scarves and beanies in the near future, but what really got my attention was this: the bikinis! Very cute triangle bikinis in all kinds of colors and last but not least: handmade. Triangle bikinis are always the most flattering (at least for my body), but the fact that they're crochet (and handmade(!) - god, I love handmade things) gives it that extra touch! They're a bit bohemian, a bit hippie-like... I still have to fit it but the picture of this girl is very convincing, if you ask me!

I'm not leaving London without a long, warm coat. Preferably not in black or grey and similar to these... Voila. I found these pictures on Ellen's Tumblr.

"I won! I won! I won!" I've joined Afrodite's Urbanears giveaway and now this beauty is coming my way! Woo-hoo! You can see the movie I made on her blog + she wrote a sweet text about it. Thank you, Afrodite, you made my day!

Back to basics

I think I'm going for basics this year... I've figured out that I don't own a lot of 'key-items' (such as a simple T-shirt in 3 basic colours, a striped tee, beautiful black boots, a beige pants, a neutral loose jumper, a beige blazer and so on...) so I decided I should better invest in these things first before I buy any other fancy piece of clothing (such as a colourful harem pants, a lumberjack shirt, a hippie-inspired blouse and so on... ;-)). Let's go back to the essence! And let's go back to my history books now! Sigh...

Tattoo?

© weheartit.com, fuckyeahtinytattoos.tumblr.com and nyheter24.se/modette/angelicablick

It seems like the whole blogophere is completely 'into' tattoos, but I don't care... I already made two posts about tattoos (see here and here) and now I'm here with another one. There are a few things you just have to do in life and one thing is: getting a tattoo. I'm young, my body's still in quite a good shape and I just like a beautiful tattoo. Two conditions: it has to be little and I have to be able to cover it (I'm studying for teacher, you know...).

There are a few designs that always come back: the infinity-sign and a triangle (1, 3, 5, 8 & 10). They're just so simple but so beautiful, me like very much! I also love a good sentence ('handwritten' or placed in a circle, like 6 or 11), but I'm afraid I will get tired of it soon. So if I ever put a sentence on my body, it better be a good one! Other things I like: an tiny anchor (2), a lock (4), earth (9) and the red feather in picture n° 7. I'm actually very fond of that last one; a red feather on my back would look very nice, in my opinion. And a red tattoo seems so cool and unusual! But tell me; do you ever want to get a tatto? Or do you already have one? And which one of my choices do you like the most?

My mummy probably goes crazy when she reads this, but mum: it's just something I think of to do in a year or two, not in the near future ;-)!

Happy New Year

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you a very happy, loving and adventurous 2012! I spend New Year's Eve at the house of a friend (the boy with the gun) of my boyfriend. We did the usual stuff you do on New Year's Eve; we ate, drank and laughed a lot, watched the fireworks, danced on harcore (that's actually not so very usual, haha) and took a lot of photos. And time flew by... it was 6.30 AM when my boyfriend and I went to sleep. And a very welcome intermission in these hard times of studying. Enjoy this new year and remember: on December 21 the world might end, but maybe it's also a new beginning ;-)!

 

Oh btw; this is the dress I wore... It's from Pull & Bear (my mom bought it for me when she was in Milan) and I wore it with tights from Pull & Bear (visible in the picture with the dog) and with these shoes from New Look. A total burgundy outfit, quoi. You like? At this moment the dress is on sale for -50%, get it here.