BATHING IN CULTURE

The holidays are over and life is 'normal' again: school, obligations, working out, all of it. I set one big New Year's resolution to take care of myself this year, and love myself more. This means taking care of my body, eating healthy, moving a lot, sleeping enough and also meeting new people and doing fun stuff with friends. But sometimes it's hard to just do it. Especially when studying is taking up a lot of time, and I don't want to spend the rest of it at the gym. And I'm still tired, which also doesn't help for snacking and eating a lot...

I don't mean this to be a depressing post at all, just an update as to why I haven't been posting as much. Also, I'm not a hundred per cent sure yet what I want this blog to be and I have to still figure out how to take outfit pictures regularly and find time to go to museums and other places. But I'll figure it out soon! I'll get back to the rhythm of life as I liked it in 2016, and I'll be here :)

I haven't posted in a while because I had some final exams the week before Christmas, and I left for Sacramento right after! I've been busy seeing family members I haven't seen in two years, and some new ones have been born since then too. I like family holidays, but after a while I want to go out and do something. I've gone running a couple of times, and we went shopping with the family, but yesterday we did the most fun thing since we got here: we-- my parents, my sister and myself-- got on some bikes and rode to downtown Sacramento, where we had a sushi lunch and then went to the Crocker Art Museum. After that, we went on to 'Old Sac' which is a part of town with an old-western feel. There's a beautiful yellow bridge there (Tower Bridge) which is lit up a bit when it gets dark.

I liked the Crocker a lot, and I might post some more pictures I took of the artworks there. In the meantime, here are some pictures of Sacramento. (They're not great quality: I only brought my iPhone to take photos..) It's still strange to have such a sunny December. At least the bikes reminded me of my hometown Amsterdam! :)

How was your Christmas? I hope it was happy and peaceful, whether sunny or white!
Pictures by me, taken in Sacramento (Old Sacramento, Tower Bridge, Crocker Art Museum).

I got these amazing new pinstripe pants in the mail this week, ordered through the H&M application. It still surprises me sometimes how fast those services are. Today I also got a pair of jeans in the mail which would take 10-25 days to deliver, but only took about nine days. All the way from Asia no less. Anyway, these pants are called 'costume joggers' on the H&M website and the description could not be more accurate. They're as comfortable as pyjama bottoms, but you could completely pull off a 'business' type of look with them, and I've sort of been leaning toward the latter as a style lately: a minimal, elegant businesswoman type of look. Although I'll mix in chunky sweaters and black boots, because I like those.

The bag is also new and was a sort of 'necessary purchase': last week I took a big bag with my laptop and books in it to school, and just as I was locking my bike, the bag's handle broke. I didn't have time to go home and I also didn't actually have another good bag that my laptop would fit in. Luckily, the university buildings in Amsterdam are right around the corner from Dam Square and Kalverstraat, so I popped into the Zara and got this handbag. Bonus: it's reversible, and the other side is made of a fluffy grey fabric, so it's basically two bags in one.

More stories: I love these Chelsea boots so much that I used to have another pair of which the heel broke after two years or so, but I just bought them again. The parka I'm wearing was a vintage find and the inside can be taken out so it serves as a spring and autumn coat. I may have a thing for multifunctional products. I mean, why have it one way when you can have it two ways, and choose?

Sweater: vintage | Pants: H&M | Chelsea boots: Clarks | Parka: vintage | Handbag: Zara

Do you have any multifunctional items in your closet? What are different ways you wear them?

The color combination of navy blue and black is most likely one of the most debated ones. But I've loved it ever since I took an interest in how I dressed. Sure, there is something that makes me feel very chic in an all-black outfit, but something about this dark shade of blue added to it makes it a little more accessible. More comfortable, maybe: less like I'm going out to some fancy dinner party, or less like I'm channeling Johnny Cash--though there is nothing wrong with that every once in a while.

This sweater is one of my favorites: partially because my boyfriend went back to an outlet mall to get it for me. Partially because I paid five times less than the original price for it, but didn't find out till later. Partially because it goes with anything. And mostly because it's soft and a little too big and perfect to drown in on the couch with a cup of tea and Netflix without feeling absolutely listless. It's wonderful to think about the stories and feelings that go with your clothes, to feel even better in them. The bracelet, too: I got it after bargaining at a market in Rome, and two days later it didn't close anymore, so it goes around my wrist like a snake. However, I've come to like it this way. Plus, it reminds me of Rome...

P.S. I touch my hair a lot.

Sweater: Gsus | Pants: C&A | Shoes: Dr. Martens | Coat: H&M
Bracelet: Rome street market | Lipstick: Hema

Pictures by Janne (radiatefashion.com)

What do you think about black and navy blue as a combination? I'd love to hear!

CONCEPT

A word that sounds as soft as pink is, goes as deep as black goes, weighs as little as white does. I wake up in my apartment, open my balcony doors and look out over the city I've chosen to live in. Smell fresh bakery products, look over the rooftops, feel a gentle sunlight on my skin. Then I tiptoe across the hardwoord floor, open my wardrobe, and pick my softest things-- the things that make me feel secure, lovely, feminine. This lace, those pleats, a touch of velvet and a piece of silk. It is not warm out: I coat myself in camel-tinted warmth, reaching almost to the floor, I match the colors of my face to the colors on my body-- black lines, pink lips-- and I spray myself with the scent of dark womanliness. A woman with secrets, parts of her mind you will never see. The effort to look as effortless as she does. The longing for a life she acts out, but doesn't fully feel as her own: that's what the clothes are for. I go down to the bakery for a freshly-baked croissant, go back to my apartment, by now flooded in an autumn sun, I uncoat and sit cross-legged back on the bed, finally, with my croissant and some fruits laid out on a white plate, on white sheets. I eat slowly, I savor, I clench my cup of tea. I feel pink, and black, and white. I feel woman.

(Zara skirt, Esprit sweater)

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