A Day Trip To Amsterdam

I spent most of last week in the Netherlands with Thomas, where we were house- and cat-sitting (which - just as an aside - proved that my cat allergy is cope-able and so we'll definitely be cat owners before the end of the year: hooray!) for friends while they were on honeymoon.

Our friends live in Erlecom, a tiny village just outside the town of Nijmegen (where Thomas lived when I first met him, and where I therefore spent many, many weekends during our long distance relationship). In between the cat-cuddles at home and the many awesome friend hang-outs in Nijmegen, we made time to take a day trip to Amsterdam.

I love Amsterdam and it's always a joy to wander the streets of this beautiful and characterful city. On this trip, our priority was a visit to Katten Kabinet, a marvellously eccentric gallery/museum on Herengracht. Set up by the wealthy and cat-loving owner of the building, it's essentially a gallery of cat art: sculpture, graphic design, sketches and paintings (including a Picasso and a Rembrandt). Oh, and there are also the owner's cats wandering around (or, on the afternoon we visited, curled up asleep). What really makes it worth a visit, though, is the unique opportunity to see a perfectly restored canal house interior - complete with wood panelling, ceiling frescoes and elaborate carvings - in an area that has tended to see original features removed for the sake of modernity. 

For dinner we struck lucky with a place I'd read about on Tigerlilly Quinn. Latei is a funky little neighbourhood cafe just next to Nieuwmarkt. Full of vintage and retro goodies (with everything on display also for sale), it's a diner by day but on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening it's taken over by the Kook Kollektief, who serve delicious (and cheap) food inspired by Indonesian and other Asian cuisine. We ate a huge portion of Gado Gado with a tasty beef curry for me and a vegan one for Thomas, plus a side of fried plantains. Stuffed with food, we rolled back to the station for our train home to Nijmegen.

This mirror was not at a Janet-friendly height - I'm standing on my tippermost toes here. I've also realised that you'd be forgiven for thinking Thomas only owns one shirt: I think he wears this checked one in 90% of the pictures that land on here. I promise, he does have other clothes. His wardrobe isn't currently sacrificed on the altar of my dress addiction. Yet.

What I wore: A madeover midi skirt

You know when you look in the mirror and think, "Yep, looking good," and then see a photograph and cringe? Yeah, I have that with this outfit. The photo shoot involved a good amount of swearing and tears (mostly on on Thomas's part) and, after about 100 shots, I'm still not happy with how any of them look. But I wanted to use them regardless because I was outside! Wearing summer clothes! This is very very exciting to someone who has been pining for the sun since about January 3rd.

This outfit features my bargain midi skirt (£3 from a charity shop), which is evidence of my long-held belief that you need to ignore size labels, especially when vintage or thrift shopping. The skirt is a Primark size 12, a store in which I usually need a 16 or 18, but I'm pretty well able to size things up by looking at them and I guessed it would just fit. A couple of snips to the elastic waistband when I got home, a quick cut and hem to shorten it, and I have a very cheap and well-fitting midi skirt.

This is also the first glance at my extended tattoo: I had more flowers added so that the whole piece now stretches from my elbow to my shoulder. So pretty!

And because I'm such a brilliant fashion blogger, I only realised when I saw the shots just how badly the sleeve of my t-shirt is stained with suncream from covering up my tattoo last summer. Oops. Off I trot to Zara to stock up on some more...

* Striped tee: Zara * Midi skirt (originally a maxi skirt): Primark via charity shop * 

* Sandals: Dune (old) * Tote bag: Ella Masters Studio * Belt: Peacocks (old) *
* Name necklace: Gift * Turquoise ring: Gift *

Thomas has just told me a really terrible joke, hence my look of pain here.

Lately...

ADMIRING these beautiful tulips, a gift from my old boss when he and his wife came to dinner last week.

COOKING a very successful vegan lasagne for the aforementioned dinner.  As a rather reluctant vegan, I love it when I come up with a recipe that tastes just as good as 'real' food!  And with deliciously gooey vegan brownies & soy ice cream for pud, it really was an excellent advertisement for vegan food, if I do say so myself.

MAKING a simple flatpack Ikea Rast chest of drawers into something rather lovely for the bathroom, with the simple addition of some paint I had lying around in the shed and these fab knobs (hee hee, I said knobs) from Knobbles & Bobbles.

READING some really great comics and zines.  I ADORED Neil Slorance's Seven Days In Berlin, which I picked up from Plan B Books in Glasgow, and I also received Laura's This Is 30 yesterday, which is as brilliant as anyone familiar with her lovely blog would expect.

TRAVELLING to Glasgow on a sleeper train, which was a wonderful adventure, and then to my mum's in Leeds.  A sunny day trip to Otley, a lovely Easter Sunday lunch with the whole family, a peaceful walk through woodland while talking A Song of Ice & Fire with my brother, lots of home-cooked food thanks to my mum, four books read while sitting in 'my' armchair in the bay window of my mum's house... truly a wonderful Easter weekend.

BUYING a new car, which was bloody scary.  I feel like a proper grown-up now that I have a vehicle that doesn't rattle when going over bumps.  Also, thanks to a very fruitful shopping trip yesterday, a rather lovely floral skirt (a bargain at a fiver from H&M, seen here in my rather smudged and dirty mirror), a pretty green dress for my friend's wedding (another bargain - £20 down from £50), AND a £3 thrifted midi skirt. 

WALKING under the most beautiful blossom trees on the way to the pub with The Boy.

FEELING a surprising amount of pain and discomfort as my new tattoo heals.  It's the biggest piece I've got, and with about 12 years having passed since my previous inking, I think I'd forgotten how sore it can feel afterwards.  No photographs yet, though, as it still has colouring to be finished. 

But mostly, I have spent my Easter holidays completely forgetting about work!  Bliss.

Lately...

READING so much this month.  The new issues of both Bitch and Bust arrived within days of each other last week and both are really at the top of their game in terms of brilliant content.  I've also been racing through books, as mentioned in my March Reads post yesterday.

BUYING a very cool mid-century modern mirror from Vintage Utopia in Clarendon Park, Leicester, for the bargain price of £15.  Plus a new camera, hooray!  I've been using an ancient point-and-shoot for years, so it's going to be fun learning how to use a more complex model.  Question for camera owners: do you have a special camera bag, or just a bigger handbag?  I'm loathe to carry around more than just one bag, but I don't particularly want my camera getting bashed about in my satchel either.  Any recommendations?

RELEASING my first book-crossing book into the wild.  I picked up The Snow Child when I was in Nottingham last month and, after reading it, released it here in Leicester.

WATCHING lots of good films at our local indie cinema, Phoenix.  I am obsessed with this place, and for good reason: their programme is consistently excellent and oh, the joys of being in a cinema screen where everyone is silent and no-one is crunching popcorn!  If you have an independent cinema near you, I would wholeheartedly recommend supporting them.  We are lucky that Phoenix also has a nice cafe/bar with vegan food, and our date nights almost always end here.  

WEARING sunglasses and t-shirts.  And then a winter coat and boots.  And then my raincoat and wellies.  And now sunglasses again.  I do love spring (is there any better sight than daffodils nodding in the wind?), but the changeable weather can be difficult to dress for.

BOOKING an appointment for my next tattoo, yippee!  Also, lots of test drives as I am looking for a new (to me) car.

LEARNING yoga, after my GP suggested it might help with my stress-related jaw pain.  So far, it's causing me more stress because I'm so bad at it, but I do enjoy it.

EATING out far too much.  It's the bad influence of The Boy (ok, it's the novelty of having someone to eat out with).  But there are so many great options in Leicester, places where he has remarkably little trouble finding vegan food, that we feel we should take advantage.  That, and we're lazy and enjoy not having to cook .

FEELING remarkably well, actually.  Thanks to some great advice from friends and readers after February's post about my ill-health, my IBS has been better than it has for months.  I also got some new medication to ease the pain in my jaw, which seems to be working, and it's been wonderful to have some completely painkiller-free days.  Even better, it's also recommended as a treatment for IBS (randomly!) so I'm sure that's also helping my digestive system settle itself.

PLANNING a meet-up with Laura this Saturday - I'm looking forward to finally meeting after years reading each other's blogs.

Day 2: Spring is here!

Photo via weheartit

This spring, I am looking forward to...

... spending this weekend with my lovely boy at his home in Nijmegen (in the Netherlands);
... the weather finally warming up - please?  Soon would be nice?
... finishing the make-over of my living room - photos coming soon;
... a visit from my dad;
... and a visit to my mum;
... seeing my friends Hannah and Darren, who are visiting Leicester from Norfolk soon;
... tackling the stack of books which is building up on my bedside table: next up, a choice between Christopher Brookmyre, Marian Keyes and Jeanette Winterson.  I'm nothing if not catholic in my tastes;
... my trip to Berlin with The Boy at half term;
... counting down to my birthday in June.

Lately...

You may have worked out the pattern by now: a few weeks with no Boy = plenty of new blog posts from me.  A visit to or from him = absolute silence for a week.  Sorry about that.  But The Boy has returned whence he came, and I'm back in my usual routine (until the beginning of April, at least).  So, what have I been up to? 

 

 

DREAMING about an end to this endless snow and rain. It doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon, with more freezing temperatures forecast for later this week. Remember this time last year, when we had an unseasonal heatwave? I would give anything for the same thing to happen again, and soon.

BUYING my dream boots. Seriously, for the the last three years I have been searching for the holy grail of ankle boots; the pair that would make me give up my ballet pump habit. I had a very clear picture in my head: the right shade of tan, not too high on the ankle, not too high a heel, not too round nor too pointy a toe. When I found the absolutely perfect pair in the Debenhams sale I actually did a little dance, right there on the shop floor. Finally, my feet can stay warm and dry in the rain!

WEARING my hair up, a lot. The messy topknot has been a lifesaver as I try to grow my bob out.

EATING stupid amounts of cake at work.  We seem to go from one charity bake sale to another and it just seems, y'know, polite to contribute. I was also planning on making some macarons this afternoon, but I don't have enough icing sugar and I can't be arsed to leave the house again. On balance, this is probably a good thing.

READING the brilliant chapter-by-chapter summaries of Fifty Shades Of Grey by Jenny Trout on her blog.  They're saving me from ever having to read the book itself, and judging by the recaps, anyone who has read them deserves a medal for putting up with such rubbish.

WATCHING Born To Be Different, the Channel 4 series which has followed children with disabilities for the past ten years.  I also love One Born Every Minute, which is guaranteed to move me to tears every episode.

MAKING more cushion covers for the grand makeover of my living room.

FEELING hopelessly, stupidly, ridiculously in love :)  It's making me a bad blogger, a bad friend, a bad daughter, a bad teacher... but I just cannot bring myself to care.  Instead, I'm trying to just enjoy this feeling, and this time.  I'm sure the 'falling in love, staring into each other's eyes and generally being cheesy losers' phase won't last, so I want to make the most of it while I can!

PLANNING visits to and from The Boy, of course! We have managed to work out a schedule that means we're never apart for longer than three weeks during his time abroad, which is brilliant.

Music Monday: Midlake

"As the spring is made alive the winter dies," goes the opening line to this lovely Midlake song.  One of the things I appreciate about living in the UK is the changing of the seasons, and as much as I love autumn/winter (opaque tights and woolly hats! hot chocolate! reading by the fire!), spring is a wonderful time of year.  Watching nature respond to warmer and slowly lengthening days - daffodils nodding their cheerful yellow heads in the breeze, birds chirping and building nests - it's hard to feel miserable.  Walking in the glorious sunshine yesterday, on top of a moor in the Peak District, I kept on singing this song to myself, a way of saying goodbye to the dying season and hello to spring.