Monthly Review: February 2015

The shortest month of the year is over. But boy, did I do lots of fun stuff this month! At this moment I'm on vacation in Florida and I'm hoping to catch up on reading and seeing movies on our flights and beach time! Let's get on to the lists, again they're a bit short. But it doesn't matter.

Books I've read:
1. Benjamin Alire Sáenz - Aristotle and Dante Discover the secrets of the universe
2. Victoria Schwab - The Unbound (The Archived, #2)
3. Marissa Meyer - Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)

Books read in 2015: 5

Movies I've seen:
1. Dark Skies (2014)

Movies seen in 2015: 2

The fun stuff I did:

1. I went to the Blog Society bloggers event.
2. Wouter and I went to Food & Soul festival.
3. I went out for drinks with the Dutchies.
4. I had a dinner date with Ellen and Lydia.
5. We met our future neighbors.
6. We went to Sniffies birthday party
7. I did a box hop in Alkmaar and had lunch at Echt Alkmaar with friends afterwards.
8. Wouter and I celebrated Valentines Day by going out for breakfast at the Yogurt Barn and De Foodhallen for lunch.
9. I went to see my newest cousin Sarah.
10. Mirjam and I sold our old stuff on a flee market and made lots of money.
11. We had our annual wine and dine date with Maikel and Liset.
12. We went to see Noortje, the new dog of my parents in law, cute!
13. At the end of the month we went to Florida for a 17 day vacation.

Travel: Summer Vacation TBR

On vacation I always read a lot. I read on the plane, on the beach, at the pool, in bed etc. I love reading from 'real' books, but since I like to travel light, I always bring my e-reader. I picked a few books that have been waiting on my e-reader for a while. I like to switch genres, so I picked out 2 light summer reads by Jenny Han, 1 distopian young adult novel, 1 middle age fantasy book, an adult thriller and an adult high fantasy book. This is my summer vacation TBR (To Be Read):

Jenny Han - The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer, #1)
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Jenny Han - To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

Susan Beth Pfeffer - Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors, #1)
Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Relic (Pendergast, #1)
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum's dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human... But the museum's directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who-or what-is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?

Brandon Sanderson - The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more?

Rick Riordan - Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus, #5)
Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.

Travel: Florida here we come!

When you're reading this, we are on our way to Florida in The United States! I've worked very hard to make sure there will be daily blog posts online here, until we're back home! So make sure you'll check back here every day for yummy recipes, outfits, travel tips, hotspots and more! I'll try to keep you updated on my Facebook page and on Instagram as much as possible.

You can expect lots of vacation photos and hotspots all around Florida when we're back home. I'm so excited! Let's hope our housesitters will keep the plants alive when we're gone, lol!

Dailystills: March 2015

It's time for another month of Dailystills! I've had lots of fun doing February, you'll see my overview later on the blog. This month Shannon made another awesome list:

Are you joining us in March? Let us know on Instagram :) My IG account: @daintydreamblog and Shannon: @shanimal_. You're allowed to save this photo and share it on Instagram too, enjoy!

Not sure how Dailystills works? Let me explain..

♥ Grab your camera or phone.
♥ Look at the monthly list to find the prompt for the day. The number corresponds to the date of the month.
♥ Take a photo using the prompt as inspiration. So for February the prompt for day 1 is ‘Traveling'. So take a photo when you're traveling to work or school, your favorite photo from one of your travels, you name it!
♥ Now you’ve taken a picture, it’s time to share it on Instagram. Use the hashtag #dailystills so we can all see and like it! Note: There are also people who share their Dailystills on Facebook, Twitter or their blog. So no worries when you don't use Instagram, just share them wherever you like :)

Travel: Summer vacation capsule wardrobe

Like for my daily wardrobe, I made a capsule wardrobe for my 17 day vacation in Florida and why not share it with you guys! Maybe it'll come in handy when you're going on a vacation yourself! Start with reading my tips for traveling light before you start making your own capsule wardrobe.

The Basics - Foundation
Start with picking items that will be the foundation for your wardrobe, neutral colors. I'm a lover of black and grey, so that's what you'll find in my basic items. I also added some denim and white. I choose 7 tops, which I can layer. 1 jacket, 2 dresses that can be worn casual or classy. 3 long trousers, but not to warm and 2 shorts.

1. White singlet (H&M)
2. Black singlet (H&M)
3. Black shorts (The Sting)
4. Light denim shorts (G-Star)
5. Dark blue chino (Only)
6. Black legging (H&M)
7. Loose peg trousers (Only)
8. Grey maxi dress (Only)
9. Black long cardigan (H&M)
10. Denim blouse with studs (Forever21)
11. Leather Jacket (Goosecraft)
12. Little black dress (Asos)
13. Denim sleeveless jacket with studs (G-Star)
14. White t-shirt with lace (H&M)
15. Black and grey shirt (H&M)

Interest - Colors and patterns
When I'm done with the basics I added two colors, mint and coral. I went through my wardrobe and picked out everything with those colors in it and from there I decided which items will go with me to Florida.

1. Coral dress (Vero Moda)
2. Mint singlet (The Sting)
3. Coral singlet (The Sting)
4. Patterned coral blouse with glitter (Vero Moda)
5. Short patterned mint dress (Forever21)
6. Black and white patterned shorts (The Sting)

Footwear
I never want to bring lots of shoes, because they're heavy and take up lots of space in your suitcase. So I decided to bring one pair of fashionable running shoes, so I can wear those on days we have to walk a lot and I can wear them on runs. Because I'll be running on vacation too! So, multiple purposes for these shoes! I'll also wear them on the plane, so I won't need the space in my suitcase.

1. LunarGlide 6 (Nike)
2. Black flip flops (Reef)
3. Beige shoes (Toms)
4. Black sandals (Invito)

I also made some combinations for you, so can see what you can do with these items:

I really hope this will help with making your own capsule wardrobe for your vacation, you really don't need lots of stuff, because you'll probably wear only half of it or less. It's also fun and helpful to make some combinations up front and photograph them with your phone. Then you can scroll through possible outfits when you're still in bed!

Digital Project Life: Week 08 2015

Left page, monday 'till friday.

Right page, the weekend.

The full spread.

Recipe: Spinach and goat cheese omelette

Last saturday I wanted try something new for lunch. So I checked my fridge and I've found a bag of spinach and some leftover goat cheese. We always have eggs, so I decided to make this omelette. And it tasted super good, so I had to share the recipe with you!

What you need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 4 hands of spinach leaves
• 4 eggs
• 90 grams goat cheese
• Black pepper
• Sea salt
• 1 tbsp hemp seeds
• 1 tbsp garden cress

Directions:

1. Add oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring once or twice, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Place spinach on top, cover and let wilt, about 30 seconds. Stir to combine.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and pour over the onion and spinach mixture. Crumble the goat cheese on top, pushing it a bit into the egg. Sprinkle some black pepper and salt over it and put it on a low-heat. Cover your skillet with a lid for about 5 minutes.
3. Very carefully turn your omelette (I used a second skillet, because I was afraid to break the omelette and it worked!). Make sure it's golden brown on both sides, before you slide it onto a big plate.
4. Top your omelette with the hemp seeds and garden cress.