A cup of Jo makes me happy

I just wanted to share this wonderful blog with you guys: A cup of Jo. The author's name is Joanna Goddard, and she is a magazine writer for Glamour in NYC. Everytime I open the blog and read her postings I get this happy feeling. This blog truely makes me happy. And don't you just love her newborn baby son.

Relaxing and doing absolutely nothing

My vacation in Surinam so far has been a complete succes, since I am relaxing and doing nothing at all. Well except for eating lots of icecream, playing games with Diya, enjoying the beautiful Surinam countryside and reading some great books. You can really not do anything more since it has been 38 degrees celcius here everyday.

Yesterday I ate the best chicken burger I have ever eaten in my live, at this fastfood restaurant called Shaggy. The bruger has been grilled perfectly and comes with cucumber, pickles, and lettuce all served on a fresh bun. You can order a chickenburger and then Shag it up with fries and a drink. Total cost 11 SRD which is about 2,75 euros for the whole menu. Hilarious and very tasty. Diya loves it and so do I.

Unfortunately I will not be able to post a lot of pics since uploading them takes a couple of hours. But I promise to post them when I am back in Holland.

Surinam: hot and rainy and loving it!

After a long flight we finally arrived in Surinam, the country I was born. I love the way this country smells. The heat is overwhelming, and it has been raining a lot. And when I say a lot I do mean a lot. Roads have been flooded, and I admire people who can actually drive here with all this water coming down. I really do not mind the rain, I love it actually. Oh and the food is all yummie. Here are a view first impressions.My mum and Diya playing with a parrot. The parrot was actually whistling at my mum, like a construction worker.Yummie: my favourite ice-cream in the world: Fernandez Fudge.
My aunt's house in Surinam, where we are staying. All airconditioned, I could not do without. (GOD I sound so spoilt)The view from the terrace, Surinam is green. Lots and lots of rainforest.Diya helping out to feed the chickens, one of the turkeys had to be killed because she was sick. Diya did not enjoy that sight. (as you can imagine!)

Orange fever!

I wasn't planning to write anything about the World Championship Soccer in South Africa, which is going on right now. I thought if I'd just ignore it it would go away. But since the Dutch (Orange) Soccer Team is going to the half finals, I have to break the silence.

I am no soccer fan, never have been, and never will be. I even think that it is because I haven't watch any game, that the Orange team has won every game they played. Yep that must be it. So I should definitely keep it up.

What I do enjoy however is how this national sport brings together the Dutch, in cafe's, on the street, even in the supermarket, everybody is talking about the game. The streets have undergone an orange transformation, well not just the streets, the people, pets, cars, busses, trams and trains are all painted orange. I hope we will make it to the finals, and I'll do my best not to watch.

What I was wearing this week.

I am the last one to ever complain about warm weather, but this week has been ridiculously over the top. It was hot hot hot!!!! Even now as I am typing this blog sweat is dripping down my back, and it feels like I am melting.

Packing a suitcase in this weather feels like a cruel punishment, but I try to think of the 4 weeks vacation that we have plannend ahead instead. Tomorrow we are leaving to Surinam. I bought Diya a camera as a present, since she did so well in school this year. So be ready to see some cool pics from her of the Surinam sights.

I leave you with what I was wearing this week: looking forward to your comments!
Summer dress from the Haagse Mart (new find).
T-shirt from We, Zara shorts and shoes from Sasha.
Tanktop from We, Zara pants (new find) and flip flops. I think I will be wearing this outfit during the trip to Surinam, since it is soo comfortable.
Summer dress form the Haagse Mart (new find).

What I was wearing this week: summer outfits

It was hot hot hot this week, so I could finally get my summer outfits out of the closet. And get some new ones ofcourse. This is the result.Zara pants, We top and Zara cardigan. The shoes are from Geox and the belt is H&M.Zara summer dress, which I had to cut because it was really long.Dress by Yes or No, Zara legging, and the fedora I got at a market in Spain.Zara pants, zara top and Mango cardigan.Denim skirt and top from H&M. The flipflops are from Spain.

Yummie: Velvet Lounge (Antwerp, Belgium)

I love a good meal. And if I have to travel across borders for a great meal then I will. So when my sister and her husband asked me if I wanted to join them for a trip to this fabulous restaurant, Velvet Lounge, in Antwerp, I ofcourse said YES immediately.

After a relatively short drive we arrived in Antwerp on a rainy, lazy, saturday evening. The restaurant is located in the Antwerp harbour. When entering the Velvet Lounge you immediately feel relaxed and very welcome. The decor is one of luxury, dim lights, and soft chill music. The beautiful wooden floor caught my eye, and the round tables and seating booths make group seatings very cosy, comfortable and conversations easy.

Love these lamps.

OK now comes the really fun part: The cocktail card! It has the most delicious drinks on it. It'll make you want to taste every drink on it. (but you shouldn't ofcourse) As a non-drinker, I was tempted to try the Absolut Mango Mojito. A wonderful mix of Absolut Mango Wodka, crushed ice, sugar and fresh mint leaves. It was hmmmmmyummie. And after the drink I was a bundle of joy, my sister told me. (aren't I always?)

Varsha's Pina colada and Shiraz's mojito.

Let's talk food: as always I didn't order a starter because then I can't have dessert, and that is just not an option. I can recommend the scallops, which were beautifully served with buttery soft mashed potatoes, a more than yummie lobster ravioli and the most wonderful if-heaven-had-a-taste-it-would-taste-like-this-sauce. Every taste came with sounds of joy out of my mouth, the uhms and the aahs and the yummies were not spared.

Heavenly scallops, with the most tongue tingling you-just-want-to-have-more-sauce.

For dessert I had the chocolate explosion, which is exactly that: a true explosion of chocolate. A chocolate creme brulee, a chocolate mousse (which actually looked and tasted more like a brownie), some sort of chocolate pudding (which had a bubbly sauce on top, which was not so yummie), and the most tasty piece of chocolate cake served with fresh strawberries. This dessert was simply too much too handle, unfortunately I didn't have the courage to ask for the dessert to be put in a doggy bag. Yes I was shy.

Chocolate explosion for dessert. Big like. The colour of this table, not so much.

As for the service it was TOP class! We were really taken care of. We felt warmly welcomed after we were treated to a complementary amuse soupe. Our waiter was very attentive and even posed for a picture. When we asked for some extra sauce during dinner, we got it, no trouble at all. He did his absolute best with a big smile (and you know how important that is to me).

There was just one thing that I did not like: the colour of the tables. The round tables, which are conveniently removed after dinner for some dancing, had the most unflattering colour. That is the only bad thing I can say about this establishment. For a restaurant that is definitely not a crime.

So a big thumbs up for the Velvet Lounge: www.velvetlounge.be ENJOY!

Happy Father's Day!

Some favourites of mine

It's been a hectic week so far, Diya came down with some kind of virus, so I am taking care of her right now. Good news: Diya's school, the Dr. Willem Drees school, was named the most Healthy School of The Hague this week, and they were awarded 5000 euros for organising so many free sports activities. I am so proud, because I went to this school myself when I was Diya's age. Furthermore I have met some great inspiring people this week and I am very lucky to have so many lovely people around, that I can call my friends. Today I just want to share some beautiful things with you, which I found on the web.

A whole closet full of beautiful dresses: Lily's closet

Habitually chic reporting on the launch of Chloe's new perfume LOVE.

My favourite shoes:

My new everyday favourite, a great find at the local Market:


Great looks this week:
Cameron Diaz at the premiere of Knight and Day in Spain.Naomi Watts covered up sexy at the Tony Awards.
Sexy mum Jennifer Lopez. Her face looks different, as if she had something done. Did she? The look is sexy, just too bad the shoes don't match this dress.
The lovely America Ferrera nothing ugly about her.

What I was wearing this week.

This jacket is from Theme, and I've had it for more than 15 years. It's a great tailored English jacket. Today I tried it on again, and it actually still looks great. Shirt from Vero Moda, legging from Pieces, and shoes from Geox.This is actually a Zara summer dress (bought it in Spain years ago), which I always wear as a shirt. The leggings are from Pieces and the shoes from Sasha.I had a party on Saturday, I decided to wear my new Mango dress. The shoes are from the Cinderella Otazu limited edition collection (2009).Mango dress with a Zara summer blazer.This is what I wore for my meeting at Jackie Magazine. I forgot to ask them if they liked my outfit (argh). Zara jacket, Vero Moda shirt, Zara legging, and shoes from a little store in Spain.Leather jacket from Zara, H&M summer top, Zara jeans, shoes from Sasha.I wore this outfit on my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday mum!! Zara cardigan, black comfortable summer one piece from Spain, and Gold coloured sandals from Grendha.