Top 5 songs - December

It's the end of December already, honestly feel like I haven't had that much time to discover new songs this month but I've enjoyed listening to these five a lot. Hope you've had a good Christmas/holiday :) Looking forward to 2017. I hope you are too! Happy New Year :)!

Thanks for stopping by xx


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Top 5 songs - November

It's the end of November already. I hope you've had a good one. I think it might have been my favourite month this year. November's been all about duvet days, blankets, hot chocolates, rainy days, golden coloured trees, frosty mornings, dance rehearsals, beautiful sunsets, good company and the slow build up to Christmas with the Christmas lights and Christmas market in town. December is going to be good too. I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway here's top five songs for this month :)

Thanks for stopping by xx


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My top 5 songs - October

Hello again :) Happy Sunday!

I've been really busy since term's started, but I still want to find a bit of time to write on this little blog of mine. So I'm going to start this little series of monthly posts where I'll be sharing my top 5 songs of the month. They won't necessarily be songs that have come out that particular month but rather songs I've enjoyed listening to - old and new.

So here's my top 5 for October:

I hope you enjoy the songs, thanks for stopping by xx



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York - England

A few weeks ago I went back to York. Having grown up abroad, away from the rest of my family, we'd always go back to York for Christmas or any other school holidays we had. It was a big trip. Going to York meant taking the Ferry from Belgium and that takes quite some time. I hadn't been on the Ferry in ages as I've been living in England for the last 2 years. But when I went back to visit my parents in August we took the Ferry all together like the good old days.

I love York. Even though I don't know it as well as a local of course, I have my favourite streets, favourite cafés, favourite shops and pubs. When I was little, I always used to notice the little things that made England different from Belgium, which I thought made England so much cooler. There were yellow lines near the pavement, the traffic lights would go orange before going green, the cars would drive on the other side of the road, I'd eat Cinnamon Toast (now called Curiously Cinnamon) for breakfast every morning, we'd always buy (a ridiculous amount of) all the typical English food that can't be found in Belgium, we'd go to the panto at Christmas which is something you don't have in Belgium and have a good old sunday roast on sundays.

If you've never been, York is a city in North Yorkshire, which was founded by the Romans and then Vikings took over for a while. They left some pretty cool stuff behind. York has one of the largest cathedrals in Northern Europe, which was built over 2 centuries and is a city that is enclosed by medieval walls. The cobbled streets in the city centre are very small and narrow and the crooked shops have tiny doors. The shambles is one of the most famous streets and one of my favourites. Its imperfections makes it all the more beautiful. As you walk along, you'll find lots of little streets some with the most unusual names - my favourite street name being "Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate". The main streets are full of antique shops, tea rooms, sweet shops, boutiques etc. But when I go into town there's always one thing I do when I'm back in York : I go to Betty's.

There are very few Betty's tea rooms in England but luckily there are two in York. I always go to the teeny tiny one called "Little Betty's". Although the tea/food is the same as the big one, the small one is beautifully located and if you have a window seat, you overlook the gorgeous street that is Stonegate. I no longer have to even look at the menu when I go. Hot chocolate and pikelets, every single time. The waiter/esses are all dressed in their chic uniforms, and there's always a stand where you can read the papers if you wish to, otherwise there's an open fire in winter and an unlimited choice of cake and biscuits to choose from. In its relaxed environment, it really is an ideal place for a lovely catch up with a friend or an afternoon tea with someone.

One other reason why I love York so much (other than the fact it's a beautiful place!), is that I get to visit my Granny, uncles, aunts, cousins and any other relative that lives there. Having my friends at home get picked up by their grandparents after school or visit their family for just the week-end is obviously something I couldn't do in Belgium. However, it made our stay that much more special every time we went to York.

If you've never been to York, I hope you get the chance to visit it one day. I'm sure you'll love it. I'll attached some pictures I took below.

As always, thanks for stopping by xx

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A letter to you

7 years.. crazy. I've changed so much since. I'm taller now, my hair is longer, I no longer have braces, and I wear contact lenses. I sometimes wonder if you'd recognise me now. You'd probably mistake me for someone else. I know who. I wonder if she really did look anything like me as a teenager. You weren't the only one who mistook me for her.

You know, I finished school, like you always hoped I would. "Don't do what I did" you'd always say. But you know what, not everyone finished school, but we're all ok. R & E are both starting courses in September and L wants to be a Geography teacher. I'm sure that wouldn't surprise you. I know you'd be proud of us all. I'm now at university in England. So I'm slowly learning to be independent. I've been learning to cook recently, something you were very good at - Mum gave me some of your secret tips. I also live in a flat, on the last floor, like you did. I wonder if you used to stare at the sunset like I do. Did you find that relaxing too?

I know your secret. We all know. I only found out a year ago. And you know what? It's ok. I love you and it doesn't change anything. I wish you knew that. It must have been difficult for you, I'm sorry about that. And I'm sorry about the pain you went through because of it.

I went home in June and guess what I found? I was going through old photo albums and I found your old cassettes where you recorded yourself singing to us. I didn't think they'd work but some still do and it felt so good to hear your voice again. You really loved us, I know you did. And I don't care what people say, you made us feel loved and that's all that matters. I think that's the best thing you can do for someone. Mum says you'd write those songs at 2am or something - whenever you felt like writing or playing.

I also found the last song you wrote. I was going through your stuff and I wasn't expecting to find anything I didn't know about, but there it was. It made me cry. I showed it to Mum. It's a beautiful song. Thank you. A melody that I sing to myself from time to time and lyrics I can't forget.

I hope you're still singing up there. I hope you're at peace with yourself. The man I knew was a good man.

I miss you xxx

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Little holiday in Bath

Hello again,

It's been a crazy few days. Crazy but fun. As I always spend July with my cousin, Emmanuelle, this year was no different. Although this year there was no adult to check what stupid thing we'd get up to this time. Good.

We've both been living in different cities this year and hadn't had time to visit each other until now. Of course we still see each other when we come home for Christmas or sometimes during other holidays but during term time it's quite hard as we're both so busy. Although we Skype every week, there was still so much I wanted her to know about what my life had been like this year. So she came to Bath on Sunday and we tried to fit as much as we could in our few days together. It was intense.

She arrived at lunch time and although we could have done a lot in the afternoon, we spent the rest of the day just talking. She knows everything. And she gets me like no one else does. Although she's my cousin from my mum' side (our mums are sisters), we're still related on our fathers' side (as they are cousins). NO INCESTUOUS relationships! Just two British cousins who fell in love with two French girls (who happened to be sisters). Does that make more sense now? On top of that our parents both moved abroad so we both ended up going to Belgian schools, speaking French to our mums, and English to our Dads. And as we're only 6 months apart, we've been through everything together. So there you have it - a few lines to explain how we're related and how we've become so close.

After our long catch up, we spent the next 3 days doing lots of different things in Bath :)

1st full day together: We walked 15 km in total, something that is not exactly an everyday thing for us. We first walked up hill to some fields so I could show her a view of Bath and there we stopped for a picnic. On our way back we walked along the canal and then after a little rest (maybe even a nap) we went to the boating station and rented a rowing boat. It was such a beautiful afternoon and so relaxing. We managed surprisingly well too - no one fell in the water! Then we headed back to my flat and cooked dinner before running outside just in time to take pictures of the sunset. The only time you'll ever see us running. I then showed her the royal crescent - unfortunately the sunset was going so quickly you can't see it in the picture below!

2nd day: We started the day by making pancakes - yummy. Then we visited the famous Roman baths. You'd think that after living in Bath for a whole year and having free entry, I would have done it by now but no, that was the first time for me too. I can't believe how hot the water is.. I mean we're in England! Pretty impressive! In the evening we went out for cocktails in one of my favourite bars to end the day perfectly.

3rd day: After my cousin showed me how to make the best chicken/noodle soup (yes - we really did make soup in summer ), we went shopping. Although we only bought a few things we couldn't resist going into the MAC shop and staring at the Chanel window display and appreciating how beautiful it was. There's something so dreamy about lipstick stands. The NARS stand looked very nice too. Even though we knew we weren't going to spend any money there, it was still nice to admire all the good products they had. Although it was forecast to rain, it was actually sunny and so it only seemed right to stop for an ice-cream. We sat on a bench by the Abbey to eat it, while also listening to some talented guy playing all sorts of instruments. It was nice and relaxing until a pigeon scared my cousin by surprise and I'm pretty sure her scream made my heart stop for a second. Her fear of pigeon was soon replaced by ducks as we went up to the University and sat by the lake. I really enjoyed showing her where I have spent most of my time this year. We then spent our last evening singing and rapping - as you do.

Even though our little adventures happened in a place I now know quite well, it still felt like a little holiday as I was visiting things for the first time. There were so many beautiful places to visit and I still have a lot more to show her next time! We kept bumping into so many cute couples everywhere we went - while we were rowing, in town, in parks (watching the sunset- oh how romantic) but we're single AF so might do all of those things with your bestie right? :p

Hope you've enjoyed reading about our 3 days in Bath,

Thanks for stopping by xx

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Uni

It's that time again where I feel like writing. Life's been pretty exciting this year. Been living independently (as I'd like to think), but that means I've turn into this daughter who specifically created a Mum and Dad group chat on Facebook so as to ask questions like "Is this cooked enough? Can I wash these tops together or will the colour fade or ruin the other top? How do I turn the heating on?" etc. I'm learning...step by step. This whole "adult thing" is pretty exhausting. Can I rewind the clock a bit? No, no, no - it's fine. I - can - do - this. I mean you only have to cook, pay bills, fix things, do your laundry, study/work, have a social life, think about your future: all at the same time... easy, right? *deep breath*. And while on top of all that some people find the time to be in a relationship, I'm here binge watching "Orange is the new black". Who's winning? Tough one, huh?
You might be wondering where I've been or what I've been doing as it's been a while since I last posted something (I'm going to pretend people are reading this blog and are interest to know anyway). Well, uni.  Uni is the answer. And it's been pretty crazy and fun. I met one of my best friends there, Jess. You know those people you instantly click with and just get you - she's one of them. Oh and I'm living with her and some other awesome people I met this year - it feels like a real-life version of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and if that's not life goals, I don't know what is. Unlike last year where I was mainly surrounded by people twice my age (ok, not all of them were that old but some were, alright? :p) and tiny little humans learning the alphabet (who were all very nice don't get me wrong!), this year I've been surrounded by people my age, and it feels amazing. I mean not like hangovers feel amazing, but the fun you have before makes it worth it. Also been asked out on dates a few times (yay- I MIGHT not die alone). Although I've developed a little crush on a guy and since, I've been saying no to any guy who tries to get close to me, 'cause I'm a b*tch like that. Sorryyy. Basically, unless that guy I have a crush on messages me again, I AM going to die alone, judging on how I'm handling the whole dating thing. Anyway, I've also joined the dance society at Uni and that's been fun. Shows, glitter, tutus, crazy make-up, and good friends - what else can you ask for really? You might be wondering when I actually study - kind of the whole reason I went to uni *cough* *cough*- and to be honest most of my studying happens the week before my deadlines and it all gets rather stressful at that point to say the least. I've somehow managed. How? One of the miracles of life haha. So yeah, this year's been good so far and I'm feeling very lucky. Sending some of that luck your way.
That'll be it for today, will write again soon.
As always, thanks for stopping by xx

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