Life, and other things on my mind

Hi there! It’s time for another one of my five favourites. This time: things I like to do most when I don’t have to do things I don’t like that much

• Hanging out with boyfriend. Something I haven’t been doing much at all lately. Boyfriend is away for almost two weeks already, which I think is a ridiculously long time. I want him back here, right now would be good.
• Reading books, which, by lack of the previous point I have been doing a lot in the last week. I’m really enjoying the discovery of heaven, against all expectations!
• Watching girly TV. I’ve done a five favourites post on TV shows a while ago and next to those there’s many, many more that I watch. Occasionally I also like a movie or two.
• Enjoying the beautiful weather in my parents’ garden/boyfriend’s roof terrace. Basically doing anything there. Listening to some music, just sitting and doing nothing, reading a book, drinking coffee (or a beer in the late afternoon)… Anything!
• Cooking/baking. Although I don’t always feel like doing this I do enjoy it while I’m at it. Too bad there’s never a recipe for a one person cake, those things will cause overweight if I’m not careful!

This weeks five favourites it about cities. The five cities I like most, most of them I’ve visited but I just couldn’t leave out New York City. I would really, really love to go there some day, or maybe even live there for a little while. So with that I start this weeks list.

New York City. Like I said, I’ve never been there but if you got me a ticket I would be on my way before even finishing this post. I would absolutely LOVE to visit the city some day. And I will. But first I need to graduate and find myself a decent job. After that; NYC, here I come!

Paris. I’ve been to Paris twice before and I think it’s a beautiful city! I’m gonna go there again soon to visit some friends and I’m really looking forward to that The one thing I still want to do there is climb the Eiffel tower. I haven’t done this yet since there’s always a gigantic line there and I think that’s a waste of time. Too bad really, I would love to see the city from the top of the Eiffel tower for just this once!

Rome. I went to Rome in my last year of high school. It was a school trip, including teachers. This means we had three people with us who had all kinds of knowledge about the city and the history of it. This was great! We got to hear and see so much more about all the things in the city compared to when you would go there on your own. Which I will by the way, go there on my own. I just want to see the city again, it’s already been 5 years since my last visit!

The Hague. I wrote a post on my visit to The Hague with my boyfriend not that long ago. I hadn’t been there before but I think it’s a lovely city. I was seriously considering moving there some day. Who knows, I might just do it. Great city and very close to the beach. What else can we want in life?

Riga. I’ve been there on a holiday last summer and, although it’s not the place you’d think of first it’s a beautiful city. It’s not really that big, which is a good thing I think. There’s lots of parks and green areas for you to enjoy. I’d say go there!

Wow, this one was easy! I’ve already got 5. What is your favourite city? Why this one? Do share!

This weeks five favourites is about books and boy, that’s a hard choice! I pretend to read a lot but compared to many other people I really don’t. Even so, I have read quite some books in the past and here’s five of them I really liked:

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Who hasn’t heard of him, read his books or watched the movies? I own all of his books and I love them! I’ve seen part of the first movie once but I didn’t really like that. Probably because I have a good imagination of things. When a book starts I immediately “see” the environment and people in my head and nothing throughout the story can change that. Not even a detailed explaination of a house or person. Of course my immagination of the scenery in Harry Potter isn’t even close to the one in the movie and I didn’t want that to disturb what’s already in my head. So I decided not to watch the movies, no problem, books are usually better anyway!

Lisbeth Sallander, main character of the Millenium books

Millenium Trillogy by Stieg Larsson. Again, books that are quite famous I guess. They are about a man who owns a magazine and a girl who seems to be quite violent from time to time, for which she has her own reasons to be found out about later in the books. The first book is about a quest to find the daugher of a wealthy man who dissapeared many years ago. The second and third book tell one story about a murder of a man and woman who try to reveal a large trafficking scandal.

The Undomestic Goddes by Sophie Kinsella. Great book, though I guess the male population of the world wouldn’t agree with me here since it’s chicklit. The book is about a succesfull business woman who loses her job and ends up as a housekeeper in the middle of nowhere. She can’t cook, or clean for that matter but manages to pull it off. That, AND looking after a child that is.

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha. This is a book I found online while browsing http://www.bookdepository.com/ I put it on my wishlist and later on got it as a Christmas gift. It’s about a woman who’s son is killed when he was young. They caught the killer and he is on death row. At some point the mother decides she forgives the killer and writes him a letter. More letters follow and they develop some sort of friendship.

Kwetsbaar by Tatiana de Rosnay. This book is about the mother of a boy who had a car accident and is in a coma. The driver of the car didn’t stop after the accident so nobody knows who did this horrible thing. The mother starts a search for the perpetrator to find out how someone could do something like this and then flee, without taking responsibility.

All of these books are recommended for you to read, if you haven’t already done so. Happy reading my friends!

It’s about time for another one of my five favourites. I promised you to post one each week and so far I’ve done only one and that was four weeks ago. This time it’s all about TV. I’m gonna share with you my five favourite TVshows. This one is pretty hard though, there are so many! There is Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, How I Met Your Mother, the Big Bang Theory and I could go on like this for quite a while. I’m gonna give it a try. My five favourite TV shows are, in no particular order:

1. Sex and the City. I guess all of you know what it is about. Those who don’t: shame on you! I envy Carries shoe collection so very much, I would be SO grateful to even have a very small part of it! Guess all of you girls out there agree with me here.
2. Gossip Girl. I’ve read the books before the show was even broadcasted and I loved it! The TV show is great as well. It’s about teenagers living in the upper east side of New York and their problems, involving of course jealousy and social status.
3. The Big Bang Theory. Like I said before, I’m a bit of a nerd, which is why I like this show. It’s about four scientists and their (lack of) social skills.
4. Lipstick Jungle. Great show from the makers of Sex and the City about three women with a successful career. I’d say watch is some time and you’ll see!
5. Misstresses. Brittish show that follows the lives of four women. They deal with all the classic problems, adultery, work problems, and single motherhood. Great story!

So, that’s it for now, I’m gonna watch Private Practice. Catch you later!

1. Potato chips. Very bad habit but I think I could eat them at any time of the day. The Lay’s oven baked cheese and union are my favorite but mostly I’ll eat whatever is around.
2. Noodle soup. Discovered this about a year ago and I absolutely love it! I think I’m kinda addicted to this. The packages seem to vanish from my cupboard in no time. Either it’s me eating lot’s of them or it’s the noodle monster stealing them out of my cupboard. Kinda wish it was the second one but I’m afraid it’s just me being addicted.
3. Chocolate. Like every self respecting girl I love chocolate. A piece of chocolate to go with my coffee, chocolate sprinkles in my bread for lunch, chocolate ice cream for desert, chocolate cake at any time… basically anything that contains chocolate will suit me!
4. Mushrooms. I think they fit in almost every meal and they taste great! They make a great combination with pasta in tomato sauce, salty pancakes, risotto, and I can go on like this for hours (if I can think of that many dishes that is). I’ll spare you all the rambling, just try it yourself!
5. Cheese. Like a real Dutch person, I like cheese. I don’t like the younger cheeses all that much, but the older they get the better they taste. Great on a piece of bread or just to eat while drinking a nice glass of wine (the French way).

Not on the list: apples! There’s an apple lying on my desk at work for a week already and I just can’t get myself to eating it. It’s already beginning to go bad and I’m afraid I’ll have to throw it out in some days.

So, that’s it for my first 5 favorites post. Hope you like it and don’t be shy with posting favorites categories!