Monthly Archives: October 2012

There must be a Sofia anonymous group I can join?

by Ashley Posted on October 28, 2012

The Virgin Suicides. Yes, another one by Sofia Coppola… I just can’t help it. I love this dreamy film with Kirsten Dunst about fading memories, mystery, growing up, love, melancholy & life in general (originally it’s a book – which reminds me: I should read it asap). With all of it’s pretty colours and shots, it ~inspired~ me (ahem) to make this collage. I don’t want to write a lot about it and give too much away though. You should just go and see it for yourself! It also has a lot of pretty music. You will love it, trust me.

Click here if you want to see the trailer.

Have a lovely sunday :)

Posted in cinema, girl stuff, pretty tunes, sofia anonymous | 7 Comments

Visiting Kim in Ghent

by Ashley Posted on October 24, 2012


Last saturday I woke up in Ghent, where I was visiting one of my best friends.

(Here is a picture of her)

I normally wouldn’t use the word “wonderful”, but I think this calls for an exception. It was a wonderful weekend, filled with dancing, drinking coffees, wandering aimlessly around Ghent, late night Sex and the City re-runs, serious talks and also a lot of laughs.

She told me she was “really happy now”.

Kim, I’m so proud of you.

Posted in daily musings, travel | 16 Comments

Yesterday

by Ashley Posted on October 13, 2012

Yesterday, Tara made me remember how much I like to photograph.

She posed for me (no, not in a “draw me like one of your french girls” kind of way).

She gave me food (delicious potato soup- hey, she’s Irish).

Showed me her “new” home.

And she played me her pretty music.

She also made me leave her house with a camera full of amazing pictures. She’s way too modest to actually admit this herself, but she was born to be in front of the camera. Every picture I take of her I absolutely LOVE. Makes it so hard to choose! I’ll probably share some of them in the future (or if you’re really curious you can take a look at my instagram for a little sneak peek).

Posted in born in wrong era, daily musings, I love hippies, photography | 19 Comments

Instagram, Willy Wonka & my life

by Ashley Posted on October 10, 2012

I’m sure you already know this, but just in case you haven’t heard: everyone is allowed to have feelings and I am a woman, so I have them a lot, ok? About everything! Yes, even about something as futile as Instagram. Mixed feelings to be exact. On the one hand I think it’s a ridiculous way to be even more self-absorbed than on facebook. A collection of a hundred instagram pictures of your daily food intake and some awkward mirror shots? HOW GREAT! I think this picture sums it up perfectly, thank you Wonka. But, let’s not be a party-pooper. On the other hand I also have very warm fuzzy feelings for instagram. It’s really fun to have a little diary on you phone, filled with cute pictures of your life. And hey, did you know: you too can now have a glamourous life! Instagram makes everything look like it costs a million bucks and instantely turns everyone into a supermodel.

I also like to think of Instagram as a great go to for the lazy blog masses. It’s a perfect way to let your visitors know about your day or week, without doing any extra work. Well, sort of. Because I’m a perfectionist, and it usually takes me about two hours to decide which pictures should be next to each other. But otherwise, it can be very quick! You may consider this post a demonstration of said fact.

Drinking coffee with my boyfriend in town – Not knowing what to wear and always ending up in the same old boring outfit – Haarlem, “my town” for the past 3 years, time flies! – Breakfast in bed with a latte caramel and yoghurt with swedish cereal, yum!

On monday I met up with Annemerel in The Hague to shoot some pictures, shop and drink tea. It was a lot of fun! Also spotted some important politicians, but of course I tried to act ~cool~ so I refrained myself from acting all fangirly, THANK GOD – Yesterday I felt like dressing up preppy. My boyfriend always laughs at me when I say this, but I’m sort of bummed out that I was never able to wear a schooluniform. I watch too much Gilmore Girls…

My current desktop background. I love the Virgin Suicides! Really need to do a post on that one, hmm… – This weekend I went over to Nathalie for some WINE and dine. We now have this theory that we should start the day with one glass, and then all will be fine ;-)

Whenever I look out of our window, I see this beautiful orange tree. I never really loved fall, but this year I’m really feeling it. – Probably my favorite outfit at the moment. Did only wear it once in two weeks, so I’m doing good people.

Oh, and yes, I’m just throwing it out there: I decided to quit school, it just wasn’t for me. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’m glad with this decision. To prevent myself from dying with boredom, I try to fill my days with lot’s of fun stuff to keep me busy and of course I’m already thinking about which step I want to take next. Today I’m going to Utrecht to find out more about a Master I am interested in. If I’m lucky I will be able to start school again in february. Only 3 months to kill… musn’t be a problem ;-)

Posted in daily musings, girl stuff, Instagr.am, stupid pictures, university | 22 Comments

About being invested in fictional ~love~

by Ashley Posted on October 8, 2012

In this post I shall open up about my embarrassing investment in fictional couples and discuss this concept a bit further, so if:

a) you are a sane person (or)
b) you want to be able to still think of ME as a sane person

you should probably skip this post (here are some cute kittens for you to look at). If you’ve decided to read on: welcome. Now, let’s talk.

It all started when a disturbing piece of news reached my delicate ears: one of the male lead-characters in one of my favorite British detectives decided to leave the show and do something less productive with his life (I’ll admit I’m a bit biased, but come on). Yes, I’m talking about Tom Ward a.k.a “heartthrob Harry” Cunningham of the hit-show Silent Witness. For more than ten years he played this character and for five of them, the writers built up a storyline around him and the female-lead Nikki. Of course the show was not about them, but eh, for me it kind of was. And now he is just gone. All this without even shooting a final episode! I’ve already lost my reputation by referencing a Celine Dion song in one of my previous posts, so I’ll just go ahead and say it: I’m sad! FIVE YEARS PEOPLE. And we did not even get a kiss! Sigh.

I realise I’m probably a bit more invested in this fictional relationship than I should. Maybe it means my mother dropped me on the head when I was a baby or that I shouldn’t have been allowed to watch soap operas as a kid. But is it wrong? Fact is, getting invested in fictional relationships is one of my many guilty pleasures. I did it with Ron and Hermione, I cried when Jim & Pam FINALLY got married (Jim looking into the camera just after they got married on the boat – TEARS ALL OVER), I’m still rooting for Chuck and Blair, I pined for Bob and Charlotte and I really wanted Luke and Lorelai to be together. Why do I “invest” in these relationships? Because it is fun! One problem though, is that it’s only fun for as long as it lasts. When an actor decides to leave a show or when a book comes to an end, the stories are gone and you’re the one left with all the feelings you “invested”.

Fortunately for “us people”, there is something like the internet! After finding out about Harry and doing a quick google-session, I came to the conclusion that I’m not the only one with these kind of feelings. If you have a favorite pairing, just try searching them on youtube. Chances are there is a video out there with a compilation of their “best moments”, all accompanied by a very dramatic soundtrack (turns out “Far Away” by Nickelback is a favorite of many and most of Miley Cyrus’ songs are PERFECT for this). Watch and marvel! Apparantly there are even people who decide to write (or rewrite) about their favorite fictional couples themselves. Thousands of stories about this magical world, all written by fans. I’ll admit I once spent a whole afternoon reading a Harry Potter fanfiction about Draco and Hermoine, which was suprisingly good (and perfectly PG13)! Because I should note that I DO draw the line at weird fanfiction or drawings. No disturbing sex scenes s’il vous plaît! If I wanted that I would just buy 30 shades of grey. I’m weird, but not THAT weird. (Yes, that does exist, my innocent grashopper. After all, it’s still the internet. If you want nightmares, take a look at this.) (hey, I warned you)

Oh well. I’ll probably miss my favorite couple when the new season of Silent Witness starts and yes, I’ll be a bit sad and therefore will replay this youtube video a few times, but I’ll be fine. As long as I don’t cry myself to sleep over it every night, I don’t consider it to be an unhealthy thing nor a “wrong investment”. It may suprise you after reading this post, but I am realistic enough to acknowledge my loss and move on ;-) (eventually)

Did your mother drop you as a baby? I.e. do you have a fictional couple in which you “invest”?

Posted in daily musings, dramaqueen, nonsensical references, pop pop pop, tv | 9 Comments

Picture party! Sverige (part I)

by Ashley Posted on October 2, 2012

Am I sad about the fact that I didn’t blog as much during my stay in Sweden? No, I’m certainly not. Sure, it would have been nice to have a daily play by play of those fun six months, but it just didn’t work for me at the time. I was busy having fun! That, plus I was writing my thesis and I just didn’t feel like spending more time behind my laptop if necessary.

Fortunately I do have a LOT (!) of pictures and a few of you said you would like to see them, so this is for you! :) I’ll start with a few pictures of my room (and the view) & next week I’ll probably share some pictures I took of Lund and the university. I’m also really excited to share the pictures I took during my trips to Stockholm and Tallinn! But that’s for another time :)

(Yesterday I had dinner with a few friends I met in Sweden (all dutchies as well) and for our next meet-up I’m actually planning to make a cheesy slideshow with all of our pictures. I’m still looking for the perfect background-music. Leave it up to me to make it even more cheesy ;-))

Posted in daily musings, stupid pictures, sweden | 14 Comments

You taketh a sister, a camera and an outfit (sort of) and this is what you get.

by Ashley Posted on October 1, 2012

If I had to describe my personal style, I would use the words simple, comfortable and eehhh affordable (I also try to always look classy, but that’s more of a goal than something I actually achieve I guess). I like browsing fashionblogs for inspiration, but most of the time the girls are wearing stuff which make me feel like a slob for not wanting to go around in 9 inch heels everyday. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t have the money for a designerbag. I have to eat! If you do have the money and perseverance to walk around like that, I applaud you, but for me it’s just not an option. I like to be comfy and I love my food.

That’s why I really love this outfit! I have been recycling it for the past two weeks (everytime with a different dress or skirt/sweater combo) and I’m still not getting bored with it. I’m actually wearing a summer dress (H&M) with a simple black sweater on top of it (Primark/Penny’s). My thights are just regular ones, and my ankle boots… they are D I V I N E (and only 25 euros at a dutch store called Van Haren). I wear them with almost everything! My coat is also from H&M, I picked it up during the autumn sale last year. It’s a bit too chilly to wear in real winter cold, but perfect for this transitioning-period into fall.

All in all, it is a super simple (affordable) outfit, and also super comfi! I can’t guarantee you that you won’t be stopped by Trinny and Susannah, but I think it’s perfect for a day of shopping (I actually bribed my sister with coffee and cake to take these pictures of me during a shoppingtrip, here is the proof:)

I also think that you could also easily wear it to go to class (although I would probably pick a different skirt/dress, but to each it’s own of course). Hell, you could probably even go dancing in it! And yes, it is a bit dark (black black black!), but that doesn’t bother me at all. Just wear your hair down, maybe add some lipstick and you are good to go :-)

You may wonder: why share? It isn’t that fabulous, does this really need a post of it’s own? Well, I for one LOVE seeing what other people are wearing, especially if it’s something that is very easy to copy. And of course I don’t know if this is something you WANT to copy, but I sure do know it is easy ;-)

Posted in "fashion"bloggah, girl stuff, nonsensical references, stupid pictures | 9 Comments