Summer essentials (incl. iced espresso, the Greek way)

Greece was amazing. I got the sunshine, technology break (well... a not so radical one ;)) and time to catch up with friends that I needed. Not to mention finally having access to proper iced coffee... I carefully observed how it's made so I can tell you how it's done --check it out at the end of the post ;)

John P shirt (a Greek brand), h&m shorts (old), & other stories crossbody bag (bought in the sale!), leather shoes bought in Spain 

A guide to packing like a minimalist + my travelling hero pieces

In view of the summer holidays, and because I consider myself a bit of a packing magician, I thought I would share a short guide for fitting everything you need into your seemingly tiny carry-on case. Not only will you avoid spending on baggage allowance rather than your actual trip (or your clothes budget, you know), you will also -by necessity- end up with a more compact, edited selection of clothes to build your looks from, which will make it much easier to get dressed!

&other stories sunhat (on sale now) and my old favourites: my dress-up-or-down zara jumpsuit and my tommy hilfiger denim biker

Status Update: Things I've Fallen In Love With

Forgive the radio silence for the past month while I...

-celebrated my birthday (v. important!)
-finished and handed in my master's thesis
-applied, got and started a fashion-related(!) internship in London.
Did I mention London? I'm so excited!

I've had no time to sit and write until now BUT I'm as determined as ever to keep up with regular posting, so keep checking this space!

To catch you up, I thought I would round up a few of the things I've (re)discovered and become to some degree obsessed with over the past month.

Why I Focus on Vegan Food (& Why Labeling Things Is Not What Matters)

Maybe you've noticed that, in the past few months, I have been posting almost (if not entirely) vegan recipes. Or maybe you've noticed nothing at all, which is cool; I don't really intend you to see the food I talk about as vegan -just delicious food you can make too.

If you know me in real life, by this point we've probably already had the discussion on why I call myself a vegan these days (and what that means)...

chili stew with avocado dip (all vegan) courtesy of JO and my roomie

Un Café con Hielo (Por Favor)

We had a heatwave in Amsterdam last week -crazy, huh? 

I'm hoping this means only decent weather from now on... so I can wear all the summery things I love: Sandals, shoes that would *definitely* get ruined in the rain (OK, I actually sprayed them with waterproof spray because you never know), backless tops and airy cardigans and cropped jeans and... yeah. 

The only problem remaining now is educating Amsterdam cafés to the concept of iced coffee! I'm tired of getting a milkshake instead of what sounds pretty self-evident to me, so I've decided to share how I make my favourite summer (coffee) drink along with what I wore to go argue with the baristas at the local café -come along!

My Kingsday Stall & 5 Tips for Wardrobe Decluttering

Happy belated Kingsday! For the non-Dutchies amongst you, Kingsday is a crazy Dutch national holiday where everyone wears orange, sells their things on the street and parties in celebration of the King's birthday.

Rather than entering the topic of whether I think celebrating monarchy is weird (to say the least), I wanted to share an (unusually maximalist) snapshot of my Kingsday pop-up stall!

our improvised Kingsday stall

This was my first year selling things on Kingsday (yes, I'm slowly becoming Dutch...) and it was really fun! Everyone is out on the street and you sit in the sun and drink wine and chat to people and next thing you know six hours have gone by and hey, you've even made some pocket money -with the additional benefit of decluttering your wardrobe.

I thought it was so cool how my old, unwanted clothes found new, (hopefully loving) owners. If that's not the perfect way to do a spring clean, then I don't know what is.

Beauty and all that

I haven´t really talked beauty since mentioning the graphic eyeliner look that I experimented with over Christmas -truth is, when it comes to beauty I tend to stick to the few things that I know, because the world of makeup/beauty seems vast and confusing to me...

That said, I have been trying to explore a little bit more -nothing crazy or over the top, just small twists to get me out of my routine -or make new ones! ;) Read on to see what I've been trying out over the past few weeks...

happy child with different hair

Style moods

Today I thought I would do a round-up of my latest selfies style fixations and the things that I've been wearing &thinking about lately...

a few of my favourite things: black lace bra (oysho), white V neck tee and long cardigan (both weekday)...

The perfect...

Today's outfit is about one of my biggest (fashion-related) afflictions -which at the same time is, as these things usually are, one of the things that make me who I am.

Sky's the limit

Here's an unusual post for you, in which 

a- there are actual, blogger style pictures of me
(thanks Yana -check out her blog!-, and thanks sun for making a guest appearance) 

b- I'm wearing, like, a really short skirt. Omg.

Interview stories

As I realized some time ago, transitioning from being a carefree bachelor’s student to a young professional that applies to jobs internships is not always easy… And I’m not just talking about being on time and budgeting for things other than beer and partying (I’ve always been more of a wine and Grey’s Anatomy kind of person anyway ;) The fact is, when you go to a liberal university you can wear pretty much whatever you like; a privilege one only fully appreciates in retrospect, when you suddenly realize that you have nothing resembling work attire, and crop tops aren’t gonna cut it at a job interview.

Not too long ago, I was caught in the same situation: an interview to go to but no suit, pencil skirt, sheer tights, or anything like that. Luckily the interview was not for a very formal environment, so I could still be a version of myself –here’s what I ended up wearing.

Ankle boots &other stories, jeans weekday, vintage shirt (marbles), zara sweater and old wool scarf.

Signature style

I've been thinking about 'signature' style... Personally, I like to experiment with how I dress, so I don't really have a specific style or a 'uniform'. What I think is really nice, though, is having that one 'signature item' you (almost always) wear, so it becomes your thing. Kind of like Miranda Presley's white Hermès scarves in the Devil Wears Prada book ;)

&other stories gloves, essie 'Park Avenue' nail polish , all else vintage/unknown

Status update

Soo. Here's what's been up in my life lately...

I spent the winter holidays in Greece. Hung out with my mom, totally avoided work, met up with friends and generally got the rest and relaxation I needed.

Fancy dress

Sooo, this is what I should've worn on New Year's Eve...if I'd bothered to get out of my pyjamas that is, which I didn't. Instead I improvised dinner for my mom, which was really nice! So I'm showing you what I wore on Christmas instead -we went out for dinner by the way, I didn't just hang out on the couch in this ;)

happy wearing weekday top, vintage trousers and old &other stories shoes

Happy Holiday(partie)s!

Sorry for the long overdue post -blame it on the holiday relaxation that finally kicked in! Today's post is short and sweet (and a little funny) - just an idea for the holidays. It also gives me the opportunity to wish you all Merry Christmas partying all the way from Athens! ;)

I'm wearing essie's "spin the bottle" nail polish -thought I'd let you know cause I love it!

My Ultimate Gift Guide

In view of the time of the year (the C-word, haha) that is fast approaching and in order to hopefully make gift-buying a little easier, here's some *relatively* fool-proof ideas. I would love to receive each thing on this list, which is not to say that this is my Santa list. I've tried to include lots of things that most people (aka not just crazy fashion obsessed girls like me) will like and that are easy to get right. And I left out stuff that even I would struggle to get for myself (like the perfect pair of jeans), or more specific things like 'a pair of cool flashy vintage earrings', which only someone who knows the receiver really well can get right -in which case, they probably don't need this list ;) 

You might say this list is boring. It's definitely on the 'safe' side. But when it comes to gifts, it's all about making the other person happy, not taking the craziest risk, so here are some of my ideas on how to do that.

& Other Stories gift set, €35

Party Like It's 1999 (&how to survive being ill at your own party)

So, those of you who know me know how rare it is to find me throwing a party... Aside from the fact that I'm decidedly asocial and feel like going to bed after two glasses of wine, I simply can't be bothered with all the fuss that throwing a party comes with: Buying industrial quantities of alcohol and snacks, writing lists and making sure you haven't forgotten to invite anyone (drama!), and then of course dealing with the inevitable demolition of your appartment* on top of a pounding headache the day after... You could say I have my reasons for sticking to going to other people's parties -or you could just call me lazy :)

wearing (my mom's old) hermès top, weekday skirt (remember I told you I would wear it lots?), h&m knee socks, adidas sneakers, weekday fluffy cardigan for the cold  shivers

Antwerp!

I went to Antwerp last Saturday to visit the Fashion Museum's current exhibition. I arrived just as they were closing (insert grumpy face here)... And the shops followed suit. I honestly don't know what I was thinking going so late in the afternoon, but I decided to make my little walk around the city a nice one anyways. Next time I go I will probably have more to say about all the boutiques full of amazing fashion I can't afford and the museum itself, of course, but for now I have a little photo diary of my walk around Antwerp at sunset... It's definitely an interesting mix between that olden-times, small-town, almost villagey cozy feel and the cutting-edge fashion and creativity -not to mention the hip-sters- it houses. Enjoy!

Arriving at the Central Station...

Fashion update, part one

I've been gone a long time from the blog and -somewhat to my surprise, I have to say-, in that time, I seem to have updated my wardrobe quite a bit over the summer. After a bit of a move clearout (meaning new additions haven't actually increased the number of my possessions by much), some new things found their way to me...

&other stories sandals, ralph lauren vintage jeans, weekday sweater and just campagne bag

Life update

I took a rather long break from this blog, so here's a short(ish) list to sum up what's been going on.

I (still) look like this -wearing vintage ralph lauren jeans and weekday Tshirt