Shoe Embassy, I'm your Belgian Ambassador!

When I visited London this fall, I discovered a new shoe brand at the heart of Camden Town.
I had been looking for the perfect oxfords for over a year, but couldn't find that one pair I really wanted. When I walked into the Shoe Embassy store at Camden Town, my heart skipped a beat! The most beautiful full leather pair of oxfords were screaming "Take me home with you...?!". I tried them on and, my gosh, they fit like a glove! But I just couldn't fit them into my suitcase anymore, what a disaster! The shop assistant saw that I was drooling over them and felt bad I couldn't take them, so she offered me a voucher to win back the delivery costs when I bought them at the online store. Guess what I did as soon as I got home? I ordered them, DUH!

Shoe Embassy totally stole my heart! I just love their whole collection (check out the men's as well!), their service and even the way they packed my order. As a marketing assistant, I'm a fool for little details, like when you order, you receive a lovely guide about how to treat your beloved shoes nicely. 

I haven't regretted my purchase and these Brick Lane shoes are the best buy ever! 
I have never bought such excellent quality and comfort for my feet for sooo little money. To my opinion, they should increase their prices to measure up with the quality they offer. 
I don't think there's a way to find them at a Belgian shop yet. Too bad, but you can always order online :-) at www.shoeembassy.com . They don't fit wide or small, they fit like they should to your true size.

I will definitely buy another pair soon, but first I put these on my Christmas list: the King's Road Chocolate Chip Low Ankle Boots for though cookies like me! Finger's crossed my boyfriend will get the hint...

La Maison Victor: DIY Fashion Fair

Two weekends ago, I went to visit the very first edition of the DIY Fashion Fair, by La Maison Victor. La Maison Victor is the newest DIY/Sewing magazine from Sanoma. Only four editions of the magazine were published and they're selling like candy! The DIY hype keeps standing and La Maison Victor sure knows how to keep people busy and interested by designing modern patterns and organizing a fair like this.

The DIY Fashion Fair had a few readings and workshops to offer next to some booths with fabrics, accessories, etc.
I attended readings about labeling clothing, fall/winter trends and body shape styling, where I found out I have the most wanted X (hourglass) shape.

It was hard to choose which workshops to attend, but I went with 'Textile Design' and 'Photography Styling'.
Textile Design was quite interesting and fun! Lotte Martens from 'Textile with a Concept' explained how to cut out a shape out of an eraser and then print it on a linen tote bag. Easy to do at home and even to keep the kids busy on a rainy afternoon. I would really recommend one of her workshops!
At the Photo Styling session I immediately tried out to capture my own designed bag on photo. The lighting was pretty bad, but with a VSCO touchup it turned out quite OK. 

After all those creative try-outs, I strolled around to see the other booths, couldn't help myself buying some fabric again, and found the magnificent Annamarieke. She had the most impressive collection of retro patterns, all well preserved and for sale! I didn't really had the time to dig into her collection, but I will certainly pay a visit to her shop soon! She also offers workshops, sewing supplies and fabrics.

I really think this was a fun day out! I do think, though, that it was smaller than people expected it to be. I was looking for a zipper for one of my new sewing projects, but could only find booths with fabrics and ribbon. The hostesses at the entrance weren't well informed about the event and the workshops as well. But of course, this was only the first edition of the event and it will probably expand, depending on success. 
This was a well organised event, well done!

Grown-Up Walrus Fun

I had a night out with a very old friend, Walrus. I hadn't seen her in months, so now I'm back at my hometown there's nothing holding us back from getting together more often.

We first went to a fashion sale from some friends. They cleaned out their closet and had the idea to sell their old clothes. I found a retro styled button-up black dress that's practically never worn. It fit perfectly and I paid 18 euros. My first second hand buy!

After the sale we went for something to drink and chatted a bit. We had lots to talk about. I had fun and it was great to see each other again.
And I'm so happy with my dress!

Bangkok: Shopping City

Day 23
I love Thai fashion!
We went shopping today. You can find things that are in style back home, but with a Thai twist. Very unique stuff too.
I bought a very nice shirt and saw a few dresses and blouses, but was on a tight budget. I also bought two amazing handmade pillows for our sofa for 900 Baht (around 20 euros).
Fashion shopping? Siam Center is the way to go! Prices from 20 to 150 euros a piece. Mix of small shops from young designers and bigger Thai clothing & accessory stores. You will not find H&M and Zara here, but why the hell would you want to shop here if you have the store at home???!!!
For electronics, MBK Center should be walhalla. We thought so too, but it was very dissapointing. Prices aren't that much cheaper than back home, so it would be much smarter to buy your device at your local store if you want warrenty :-)!

L. goes Africa

No Thai. Yes African! I finished my African style fabric pants!
I started cutting out the pattern for my coat too.
No sewing class for the following weeks, but lets hope I'll find some unique fabrics in Thailand...

Shawl Collar

My boyfriend and I went shopping. Because of the Autumn Shopping Days, a lot of stores were opened. 

We went to Portobello, a men's clothing shop at Leuven where I worked in my student days. 

My boyfriend is a very easy person when it comes to clothing. So easy, that it's hard for me to dress him sometimes...

He likes: black, grey and blue. I like: bright colors.

He likes: standard fits. I like: something different and original. 

Do you see why it's hard? I sometimes think he's dressed too boring. 

Anyway, when we were at the store I found him a beautiful shawl collar from PME Legend. He didn't want to try it on, but I made him do it. He was looking soooo sexy, but I couldn't convince him. After every shirt he tried on I asked him if he was sure he didn't want the sweater. He tried it on four times. 

He bought four shirts (two colorful), a chino pants 

and the shawl collar :-)

VICTORY!

Amsterdam

We went for a trip to Amsterdam yesterday.
My boyfriend had tickets to a concert of Good Riddance so we went for a day out. 
He had a few stops planned out. He wanted to go and take a look at the fixies from Pristine and he wanted to go to Cut Throat Barber to trim his 'beard' and cut his hair in a retro way. 
The barber was a guy from New Zealand who's dad was Dutch, so he ended up in Amsterdam to open his shop. My boyfriend wanted to give him carte blanche, but I said he could go a little Ryan Gosling (jumjum). 
His beard wasn't hard work, James the barber just had to groom it and it looked a whoooole lot better and sexy. Now I have my own black haired Ryan in the house. Damn.

After the barber we went for some pancakes at Pancakes! Amsterdam and for a stroll around  De 9 Straatjes. A very nice and cozy neighborhood with small shops where I bought a nice black & white vest at By Fabrio for 35 euros. 
My boyfriend was looking for a shop where they had Haglöfs jackets and found one on the internet that was very nearby. At least, that's what he said. We had to go for a looooong walk to the 'suburbs' of the city. He didn't buy a thing at the shop, by the way. 
After our town walk, where I grew butt muscles like you wouldn't believe, we went for dinner at Royal Thai, nearby De Melkweg, where we needed to be for the concert. 
After the concert we went for a frozen yogurt at Frozz with some friends we went to the concert with. 

My picture of Amsterdam: A hip and fancy city, quite cozy with all the canals and little bridges and people are very friendly.
What I noticed though, was that Amsterdam is often dirty. Shopkeepers don't bother to clean their shop every day, many restaurants look quite old and dirty on the outside, you can already smell public lavatories from miles away and garbage bags are lying on the street, teared apart. If you can look past these little things and open up for the warmth Amsterdam gives you when you talk to the people you will see that it has a lot to offer.

I had a really fun day with my Ryan Gosling and I will certainly visit Amsterdam again.
As I told you before, I love The Netherlands, and there are many cities yet to explore. 
I'll keep you posted on my travel guide around The Netherlands. 

Fever London Tote Bag

Remember my pair of Noiselle heels? I won them through an online competition. 
I rarely compete in these sort of share and like competitions, but in May I did it again. 

It was a Fever Wedding Belle competition. I had to comment on the question: "What would your ultimate honeymoon be?" I think I could have won a bridesmaid dress (would have been handy with all the weddings I was facing at that time... I had my eye on the Ivy Gown in Merlot.).
I can't remember what my answer was. I tried to look it up, but couldn't find it.
Anyway, the reason I need to dig my memory is that the competition was in May and someone had sent me a Facebook message the same month. The problem is that I recently (read: last Friday) discovered that my Facebook account has two inboxes instead of one. Apparently messages from people you don't know end up in the 'other' inbox without sending you a notification (or I clicked to remove). I had multiple unread messages in that inbox and one of them was from Lauren, working at Fever. I won a prize in the competition. I apologised for my late reaction and asked her if I could still redeem it. Today, my mailbox contained a flowered tote bag and a voucher for the online shop.
Me = happy :-) !

Barcelona Quick Shop Stop

As I have told you, I could sneak out to the nearby shopping center between office closing hours and our appointment with the Barcelona colleagues to go out for some food.

One of my colleagues told me about the accessory store 'Misako' a while ago. I was totally in love with multiple bags from the website, but it was 15 euros for delivery costs. I waited my time until we got our trip to Barcelona and I went to the shopping center in hope to find a Misako store there. I immediately walked over to the ground plan and I found the store. I almost ran to it, because I was in little time and I wanted to visit some other shops too. 
I found the perfect bag I was looking for and an extra belt with a nice flower buckle. I also bought some bracelets in sale to cheer up my colleague. She had been lying in bed all day at the hotel, because she was feeling really sick.
As I was walking around at the store, I bumped into the coolest hand luggage trolley ever! 
I lend the trolley I was using for this trip from a friend, because I didn't have one. So, I needed one, but unfortunately I couldn't take it with me. I would have checked it in as luggage, because I already had a trolley with me :-(. You all know I'm a true cat fan and so you will understand how disappointed I was because I couldn't take it with me.
I will buy it, someday! It's not on their website yet, but it will... Soon... And then it will be mine!

I'm super happy with my new bag though, because it has the perfect size. It's not too big and not too small, because everything I need fits right in. 
You really have to check the website and let me know if you want to order something. Maybe we can order together so we can split the shipping costs ;-) !

Urbanist

Are you familiar with the term: crowdfunding?

I was, but I never thought of sponsoring a project like that.

My boyfriend send me a link to such a project that needed funding. 

'Urbanist' is a US startup company of Christinia. She was in need of a good pair of cycling chamois panties and started to develop a little collection on her own.

The Brigitte

The Brigitte is great for spin class and daily commutes.

She's promised to be flattering and comfortable with a chamois insert thick enough to protect your va-jay-jay on your bike. And girls, we all know the feeling, don't we?

The Bettie

The Bettie is damn sexy if you ask me.

This chamois panties should be used for short distances (like biking from Sangria to Sangria during summer).
If you and your guy are wasted enough by the end of the evening, he still can take off your pants without you shaming yourself. 

I always admired young entrepreneurs with a great idea, but putting the money into it? I would have never done this in the past, I think. So I did a good deed and I did something that's out of my comfort zone: Investing my money where I'm not 100% sure I will get it back in some sort of way. 

I took a jump and I invested in a project that I think has a very good chance in succeeding. 

If you are a spinning fan or a cyclist, than take a look at this project and back it together with us on Kickstarter!

Me and my boyfriend funded $105,00.

New Top

When summer holidays started, I began to work on a summer top.
Yesterday I finally had the time to finish it! I matched this with just a regular jeans and orange all stars.
The result:

20

My brother became 20 years old today.
I got him a present from David & Goliath a while ago and finally I could hand it over to him.
He was happy and was looking terrific in his new T-shirt!
He's the best brother in the world and I love him!
Happy B-day!

Still a Size S

I received my first package from Zalando today.
I bought a light bustier summer dress in sale to take with me to Thailand. 
When I took it out of the box my colleagues were like "Ow, that's kind of a tiny dress. Looks like it's made for kids!". I thought "Ohoooh!".
I tried the dress on in the bathroom immediately and FIEUW, I'm still a size small!
Celebrating with a tiramisu!

Old New Watch

I was desperately looking for my old watch and my mommy found it again! She's the best!
I'm following the flower trend as of now with my old new Oilily watch. Retro style :-)

Retro Skirt

I finished my sister's retro skirt.
Happy :-)
Up next: Summer dress for myself and a skirt to match my new Chie Mihara's. I need to find some fabric first.

Let's Get Nuts With Noiselle

After 1,5 week of testing my Noiselles (I skipped one day, because they didn't match my clothes), I am now officially putting money aside for a second pair!
They fit great! You can wear them for hours! I went to work with them and I went to two weddings this weekend!

Noiselle 'Napea Green' Kiss Heel

I would truly recommend these shoes to all girls and women! 
For those who aren't well trained wearing heels: Choose the 'kiss heel'. It makes the shoe more steady than a slim heel. I tried them on at Ellen's shop and they looked even better on my feet than I first thought and they are more comfortable than the other heels. 
You can buy a pair at the webshop or make an appointment to visit Ellen's local shop at Beringen. The price: from 230 euros you can have your own pair. Some of you may think that's too expensive for 'just a shoe'. Well, to you: continue buying cheap and shitty shoes from plastic and your feet will look "fantastic" in a couple of years! More work for my sister :-) ! 

Shoe Addict?

I think I'm officially a shoe addict now...
I bought my 4th pair of shoes this summer... Actually, I didn't bought them. I still had a voucher from a pair of shoes from last year that I had to return because they were faulty. Because the shop had a final sale (they're closing after summer), I got these pair for half price. So, money won, not spend :-) !
I am so smart!
It's a pair of Chie Miharas by the way. Lovely shoes!
I'm gonna miss this shop :-( !

Fancy Tights

My colleague came in this morning and asked me: "Are you wearing white tights?"
No, just my legs.
Funny, yet awkward situation...
I will be wearing more dresses from now on, get some color.

Mademoiselle Avec des Noiselles - Status: Test Started

I picked up my Noiselles today!
As of now I am: 

Une Mademoiselle avec des Noiselles!

Super excited! 
It's too soon to determine if they're as comfortable as everyone says.
I will wear them for the next few days!
Fingers crossed, because I spotted some other colours at the shop too...

Shooeee Lucky

I'm sooo lucky today, or better: shoeeee lucky!
I just won a pair of Noiselle pumps :-) !

Noiselle, a Belgian brand of quality women's shoes, published a competition on Instagram and Twitter to win a pair of beautiful pumps! One picture should have explained why YOU needed an extra pair of pumps. The most original post won, and so I did!



Noiselle claims to design high quality leather shoes that fit perfectly and where you can dance the night away with!
I can collect my prize on Wednesday and I will try them on immediately for a test run.
More on Wednesday!

Here's my winning picture: