A Day in Poetry X

I always thought she was a cool girl
I thought she was this kind of girl,
The one you look at in the street,
Think that it must be nice to be her

I always thought she was a nice girl
Nice with people,
Nice to chat with
The kind of girl everybody wanted to know

I always thought
She was a pretty girl
The kind of girl who brings out envy,
Who brings out jealousy

I always thought she was a cool girl
The one hanging out with everyone
The one getting invited to every party
The one who was part of everything

I always thought she was a smart girl
Always first row in class
Always the good grades
Always the pride

I always thought she was the girl a boy would fall in love with
For all of that reasons
Who would fall in love
With the nice, pretty, cool, smart girl

I never saw me as the nice, pretty, cool, smart girl
I was the uncool, shy, stupid, ugly girl with no boy to be loved by

And one day you found me
And that day you showed me
How delusional,
How stupid, for that, I have been
How wrong, all the way, I was

This nice, pretty, cool, smart girl,
Was not so nice, pretty, cool, or smart
I was just getting blind looking at her
Forgetting to look at my own reflexion
But you unveiled my blurry eyes
And that day, I became the nice, pretty, cool, smart,
And happy girl

No more delusional,
Just unveiled
By the delicate hand of a nice, pretty, cool, smart boy

xo

Amy

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January Favorite Bag: Amor Fati, M2Malletier

January has been a long month. I have started working on my thesis, and I can tell you it is drenching me. My question, the artification of high fashion, and how this field is going more and more towards art, is making me look at fashion magazines, fashion blogs, in a different way. While I was working this past month, I did stumble upon the picture of a bag. It shape, its very contemporary style, its material, its geometry, made me think that behind the creation of this bag, there must be a will to do something more than just fashion. It is this bag, the Amor Fati, by the brand M2Malletier. It is so peculiar, so different, it has so much character, when I saw it I thought "a favorite for life". The question of the artification of fashion does not leave my mind when I look at it. When you carry it, it is just like carrying a portable sculpture, just like having in your hand a statement, a proof that fashion is changing. M2Malletier, with this creation, does more than creating what I believe should be a it-bag, it does create an aesthetic statement. A will for something different. Beautiful, but different. 

xo

Amy

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Currently loving... Astral Jewelry

I tend to be pretty faithful to my old pieces when it comes to jewelry. I always wear the same bracelets, the same necklaces, the same rings and earrings. Not too adventurous, but mainly strongly in love with my old purchases and gifts. However, since Christmas, I am on the hunt for some specific pieces, namely astral themed jewels. Whether it is bracelets, earrings or necklaces, I am just very into this theme. Those shapes seem to be so delicate, so simple also, but so sophisticated. I don't know what it is, but northern stars, moon, all of those patterns can add to a missing delicacy in every look. Just adding some simplicity in beauty. I don't know if I am loving this theme because of the delicate aesthetic those pieces have, or because I always tend to have my head up in the stars.

xo

Amy

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Nostalgia

It is an old and common saying to say that novels, books, stories, are the best way to escape reality. To forget your problems and sadnesses for a moment. I have always been told that, and books have always been a safe shelter to me, in my darkest days. Since I am in Amsterdam, I do read even more than before. I need to kill time, and also to forget about my anxieties and constant sadness. So I read. Many different types of novels, as you gave witnessed with my book reviews. However, since few reads, I realized that this shelter was not so safe anymore. I found myself being nostalgic. Nostalgic about a life I will never have, nostalgic about the life of book's characters. Nostalgic about stories I will never live myself, solely through the pages of a bended book. How can we ever be nostalgic about eras we never lived, places we've never been to? How can we feel so much for somber we never met? All those questions turned in my head round and round those last few days, as I was reading The God of Small Things, and holding in my tears. Is my life too empty? I however feel like I feel far enough in reality, why I am then falling into the trap of those amazing writers? Why I am letting myself being drenched from the readings? Oh well, I get it. We always crave for what we can have. We always want to live a life that does not belong to us. We want to escape reality. 

xo

Amy

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Blogger Style: Saasha Burns

Living in Europe, you tend to live with the seasons. Crisped springs, hot summers, chilly autumns, cold winters. I love being able to live in a place where I can see the time unfold in front of me. But some days, especially now that I am back in the grey and cold Amsterdam, I crave for warmer days and lighter clothes. That is why at the minute I am very found of the style of the Australian blogger Saasha Burns. Also a little bit jealous. It seems like she has one wardrobe for all year round by living in this country. Not suffering of the cold, not having to layer several sweaters to survive outside. Just bikinis and short dresses. I envy her location on days like today (rain, grey sky, real feel -2°C in Amsterdam) but I am also a big fan of her look. It is never over the top, it is never too beach like, it is the perfect combination of a summer wardrobe and chic. A style that can fit not all places on earth, but that can let us dream, in the European winter, of bikinis, short dresses, and basket bags. A life under the sun. 

Sea & Sand

Classy in Town

Old School Chic

xo

Amy

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Flirt, Alfonse Mucha

How frustrating can it be to be a university student. You become more and more knowledgeable, you always learn about new artists, new figures, new people, new eras you would like to be even more familiar with. But you have to make choices, take decisions. I had the opportunity when I was studying in my Bachelor degree to study Art Nouveau. I didn't choose this elective. At this time this was too unknown to me, not enough attractive to be my first choice. I am now seeing the end of the art history studies. I am not studying painting that much now, and the end of my master is near. In all of those years, I never had the chance to retake this missed opportunity of my first year, and today I regret to have not studied Art Nouveau. So I study it myself, the best that I can. And I stumbled upon this beautiful advertising by Alfonse Mucha, maybe one of the most important artist of this field and era. 

The grace of the woman, the cheekiness of the man, the flowers, the colors, the title - The Flirt! - all of that did catch my eye. There is such beauty in this medium, I feel nostalgic about this period of time solely for that. People were so serious about beauty and aesthetic. When I see today's adverts, I don't understand how low we are. But I guess this kind of art is what it is because it has this power to make us feel nostalgic. It is so beautiful because it is a testimony of a past we never knew, the testimony of a time we will idealize, a time we will never fully understand. We tend to think that life was like the flirt happening on this print, but maybe this print is just here to make us dream of this life. 

xo

Amy

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2017 Favorites

A year is over, a year where I had the opportunity to test and try new beauty products, new fashion trends, but also to read new books and watch movies I have never seen before. And when looking back on my year, I think about my issues, I think about my progress, and all that happened, but I tend to forget how much did happen on the blog. So this post is the perfect occasion for me to write a typical blogger's post: a favorite. I already did that for some seasons, but never on a year. It has been a rather hard work not ending up with the longest list ever, yet I finally made a selection and presenting to you my favorite things of 2017. 

Beauty 

Beauty wise I have tried to be more bold this year, to try new styles and to wear a different style of makeup. It did happen, yet only for few months, and then I got back to my routine. That is why the two favorites that I picked for thus category are rather basic products. First of all, & Other Stories Chubby Lip Crayon in Bouilloné Truffle. I talked about it when I wrote a post about this shop, and since the moment I bought it I cannot stop using it. The formulae and the color are both so perfect, when I want to go for a classy but not too bold look, this is the one. I never hesitate, it became my go to, and definitely is now one of my basic. 

The other product I picked up is actually a mascara, one everybody have been talking about for years now, I know, but I only gave it a chance this year. And I kind of regret the fact that I waited for so long. It is the Better than Sex mascara by Too Faced. Too Faced is a brand that I love for its liquid lipsticks first of all, but this mascara is definitely my favorite from the brand product now. My lashes look amazingly fluffy and long, it does give a lot of intensity to the eyes and really valorize your look. 

Fashion

Regarding fashion, I feel like I do not have much to say since my tastes do not evolve that much. This year again I have been a lot about sweaters - even in Summer, when it starts to get chiller at night, how happy I am to throw a light knitwear over my swimsuit - and handbags. This is for sure an old obsession, nothing new with that. Yet every year I became a bit more specific. For instance 2017 was all about dark knitwear and tiny handbags. I believe 2018 is following the same path as I can witness for now, but we will see. In fashion my obsessions tend to last for decades, not solely for a unique year.

Readings

2017 has been a very productive year reading wise. I have been a real bookworm, starting a new book as soon as I have finished the current one. This category has maybe been the hardest one when it came to pick only two favorites. I tried to remember as best as I can all the books that I read this year, and one of them immediately came to my mind. It is a book I read this Summer and already told you about, being The Enchanted April. This book was a piece of heaven. So calm, so smooth, so simple, yet so beautiful. I couldn't believe how in describing such simple events you could create such a beautiful novel. Not a favorite solely for last year, but for my whole life I guess.
My second favorite book of this year I also read this Summer, and actually told you about in the same post as in The Enchanted April. It was A Room with a View. Those two books as I already told you there were pretty similar in the sense that not much what happening, but beauty was everywhere. A book about the quest for happiness, a book about love and its trick. A beauty in words, another favorite for life.

Music

Music wise I am not that interesting, let this be said. I do not make any cool discoveries, I never am the one who let other discover amazing artists. I am actually the one who sticks to the same things for years. But since my boyfriend is a musician, thanks to him, I am sure to be always a little bit ahead of everybody else, and to become the cool girl who listens to artists nobody knows yet. Last summer, my boyfriend was listening on repeat to the same song, and after being fed up of him always having to play music whatever we are doing, I took the time to listen to the song, and let him make me listen to the album more carefully. As soon as I listened, I loved it. This artist is Andy Shauf, and let me tell you, you need to listen to his tunes. The album "The Party" is for sure my favorite one, but I know my boyfriend will soon force me to listen to another one of his work and make me once again discover amazing things.

Shops

To live in Amsterdam is great thing for shopping, and I have been lucky to discover pretty cool shops there. The first one is not that original, but really did catch my eye in Amsterdam. It is the Swedish brand & Other Stories. I love this store for its makeup range and its accessories and jewelry mainly, but the clothing is also carrying this northern style everybody is about now, and in 2017 it became one of my favorite shop. 

Specific to Amsterdam, I also do have a favorite, being the shop Anna + Nina. This shop is lovely because it is a mix of everything, from clothing to home accessories. They do have an amazing jewelry collection as well, and it became my favorite local shopping place. 

Places

I have visited some new places this past year, and basically I moved to a different country. Yet I have realized that my favorite place was home. I love the place where I live, and whenever I am away I miss it. I miss the comfort of knowing everything about my town, I miss the comfort of my bed, my room, of my habit. My favorite place on earth for sure, and not only in 2017, it is simply the year where I realized that.
But to point to something more concrete than the feeling of home I would definitely say the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam. It really is a small Amsterdam, very similar in its constructions and architecture, yet how much more calm and chill this place is in comparison. We visited it last December to see the Christmas market, and I couldn't have dreamt of a cuter place to drink hot chocolate and buy advent candles. A city I definitely want to go back to soon.

Moments

This category is a different. Even if my blog is a lot about fashion, beauty and lifestyle, I also tell you about my own journey, sharing a lot of my personal life and of my pains and joys. This year, as I told you on the first of 2018, has not been that easy for me. It has been made of a lot of hard times, yet this does not make me forget about my favorite moments of 2018. I would like to highlight one moment in particular. Last summer, I spent three days and one night at my boyfriend's house. When went to visit the place where he lived before, and even if we did quite amazing things together this year, in amazing places, for me those three days were so very special. A moment that seems so simple but that will stay within me forever.

xo

Amy

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The Smart Trousers

The Christmas break was really needed for me. To go back home, spent some time in family, with my boyfriend, at home, to just relax and try to forget all the stress of my life for a moment. That is also why I haven't been really accurate with my blog, not publishing when I should have. I was just busy doing other things, and couldn't be bothered with any work when I could actually be spending time with my loved ones. Yet the holiday cannot last forever, and it is time for me to get back on track. But to stay in the festive spirit - my Christmas tree is still up - I want today to talk about a clothing piece that has been a real ally for me during the holiday: the smart trousers. I am a big fan of jeans, I live in them to be honest. They are so easy to throw on and to wear that I cannot be bothered wearing something else. Yet sometimes you get fed up of your own habits, and during the holiday I couldn't stand my jeans anymore. I spent a lot of time in Christmas pyjamas, yes, but well, it would't have been really fancy to wear PJ's bottom on Christmas day, so I went for the smart trousers. I bought few pairs some years ago, and never really wore them. I actually have forgot about them, but also about how easy to wear and comfy they are. You can wear them with a smart top, a shirt, a sweater, a t-shirt, even a sweatshirt, it will always look awesome. Looking smart while staying comfy, a pure luxury. In 2018 I do want to upgrade my bottom pieces game, and this type of trousers will definitely be a go to for me. I cannot wait for the warmer days - no light checked pants in Amsterdam during Winter guys - to dare wear checked trousers with white shirts and ballerinas. A trend as old as fashion, yet it is never too late to adopt it!

xo

Amy

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Two Thousands Eighteen

Every year has its thorns and has its beauty. Every year, we go through the best and the worst, we face new challenges, we accept new failures, we enjoy every small victories. Every year is different, and at the end of each we always take some time to reflect on the good and the bad. 2017 has flew by. I did not see it happen, and Ia cannot believe it is already over. I can see the good that happened during this 12 months, but I cannot help noticing everything that I missed, everything that I did wrong. Obviously, this is good, because I should take lesson from that, and good resolutions for not to make the same mistakes next year. Well, this is all a lie, we know that. I don't k ow anybody who respected his or hers new year's resolutions. So this year again, I won't take any concrete resolution. It is so useless to me, somebody overwhelmed so easily. My only resolution will be to start being less negative, maybe to ask myself less questions and to live a happier life. I know, what a goal for somebody who says takes no resolutions. But how do we end the year if we do not bring a little bit of light in our life? I don't like the 31st of December. Yet maybe we should start living each day like this one, meaning that we should start taking good resolutions at the end of each day of the year, and here maybe will come a happier life. 

Happy new year to you all, may all your wishes for the future come true, may all the love you deserve come to you. 

xo 

Amy

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