Breakfast during the week

During the week, I wake up at 06.30 am, get dressed and go downstairs to pack my lunch and make breakfast and tea. While I'm eating my breakfast, I read several blogs on the Ipad which are usually American blogs. This means that I can read in the morning all the stories that happened the night before. It is a bit of relaxation before my busy days starts.


I usually have oatmeal in the morning. In the Netherlands there's a brand called Brinta which sells oatmeal that you mix with warm (non fat) milk, it's very easy and simple to make. Lately I also add some extra ingredients to spruce it up a bit: some chia seeds, coconut, a teaspoon of almond butter, a tablespoon of granola and a tablespoon of non fat yoghurt. And for fruit I have an apple on the side.


For me, this is the perfect breakfast because it doesn't take very long and it is nice and warm to start the day.

I'm off to work. It's about twenty minutes on my bike (did you know that the Dutch love their bikes and a lot of them ride on them on the way to work) which means that I get a morning workout and already burn a lot of the calories I consumed in the morning! I highly recommend riding on a bike to work if that's possible for you to do. For me, it's a great way to start the day!

Talk to you soon!

Dinner tonight: chicken with cheese and no carbs?

Tonight I didn't go to the gym. Because I'm running a 10 km this sunday and my muscles don't feel all that fine, I decided to stay at home tonight. This gave me the change to clean the house a bit, fold laundry and cook. This way I'm still doing a bit of exercising (we have a lot of stairs in our home!) instead of sitting on the coach and doing nothing.


S. is usually working four evenings a week, this gives me the change to try different reciped and ingredients that I know he doesn't like. Cheese for example, S. hates it and therefore we normally never have it at home. But we had our mothers over for Easter brunch and I bought cheese for them and we had some leftovers. So I grilled a chicken breast, put it in the oven with a different vegetables and topped it off with a bit of cheese. to give the vegetables a bit more taste, I added soya sauce and lemon juice. it was delicious...



I had no rice or pasta with it which gave the change of having two small slices of Easter bread for dessert. I put it in the oven for a few minutes because we don't have a toaster. The sugar caramalised the bread and I topped it with a little bit of butter. I was in heaven!


Just worked on the layout of my blog, again. it's getting better but I'm still not completely satisfied. Expect to see more changes along the way!

A different lifestyle

While enjoying a nice cup of tea, I thought it was time to give you a little update about what has been going on lately.


Our wedding is coming very soon now, just 6 more weeks and I will be mrs. S! We're getting married at a galerie in the city centre of The Hague, at one of the best locations I've ever been to! The ceremony will take place there and after that a small reception. We'll be with about 40 people so enough that S. and I will have enough time to mingle with everyone.

The honeymoon will be directly after the wedding reception is over! We're going for three weeks to the USA!!! First five days to New York City and then for two weeks to Florida!!! After that, we return to New York and will stay for two days in Brookyn before we go back to Amsterdam. I'm counting down the days as, I'm sure, you can understand! I've been looking on the internet and reading several blogs to get as much information about things to see and places where we have to eat! If you have a great suggestion, let me know!

To look fabulous in my wedding gown (can't show pictures just yet!), I've been working out like a crazy person! It started at the beginning of this year, at first it started out about looking good in The Dress. But then it quickly became about something else. I realised that I've been battling with my weigth since I was 21 years old. And since then it has fluctuated up and down. I have clothes in at least three different dress sizes and that's crazy, right? So I realised that it should not be about just losing the weigth but also to live a healthier life and maintain an active lifestyle.

So weekly, I work out about 4 to 5 times a week: running two or three times a week and going to the gym for about two times a week. Last month, I ran my first 10 km in a race and will participate in another race this weekend and run another 10 km and hopefully beat my first time which means that I have to be faster than 1 hour and 2 minutes. I'm really looking forward to it!

Regarding weigth, I lost almost 7 kilos, which is about 15 pounds, since the beginning of this year! Last year I also lost a lot of weigth but gained a few kilos back again but now my weigth hasn't been this low in about 12 years! I'd still like to loose 2 or 3 kilos and then I would have the same weigth as when I was 19 years old! Can you imagine, this means that throughout my twenties I was allways a bit overweigth! and now in my thirties I'm determined to remain or stay close to this weigth, which is about 70 kilos or about 154 pounds.

I would like to take you on this journey by talking and learning, both you and me, about the right kinds of food and experimenting a lot along the way!
I believe that variety in your food and life is essential to keep those pounds off! Of course, my home and interior is still very important to me so I gues it is going to be more about my lifestyle and how I live my life! I really like that idea and am super exited to let you all back into my life again!

Sorry to keep you waiting but I'm back now and looking forward to hear a lot from you!

Where I was all that time...

If you were wondering where I was all that time? I was out and about, preparing everything for the wedding (in ten weeks, eek!) turned 32 in February and getting in shape! I lost a lot of weight and last week I ran my very first 10 km! It took me 1 hour and 3 minutes and was so very proud!




Furthermore, I haven't done a lot around the house, just been out exercising at the gym and running along the beach. At home, I have done a lot of cooking and discovering a healthy way of cooking. There's more to life than pasta bolognaise, who knew!

I promise to blog more and this time will tell you about the healthy and yummy recipes that I'm trying. Because it isn't about the crash diets, going to the gym for a few months and then stop. No, it's about doing it for the long run (literally!) and give yourself a new balanced and healthy life. I hope you're here with me to enjoy the ride. And don't worry, there's still going to be this around my home and a lot of chocolate and cookies to talk about. I'm finding a new way of life but don't touch my cookies!

From autumn to winter...

It happened before I knew what was going on. Three weeks ago, there were people who stood with their feet in the sea... And now everybody have to put on hats and gloves when they go outside!

I love the autumn and winter. For me it means that I can go inside, create a little nest and enjoy the cold evenings with a blanket, warm clothes and a cup of herb tea. I try to find a photo that represend my feeling about this subject. It took a while and then I found this photo on the Decor8 blog.



Soon it will be christmas and all the beautiful homes in blogland will looks amazing. I can't wait to see photo's of them all! Off course I will try to create an inspiring and beautiful surrounding for us at home. But first we are celebrating Sinterklaas in the Netherlands on December 5. After that then I will start decorating our home and I will show you the result by then.

And what about you, what are your decorating plans? Anything special in mind? Will it be comtemporary, traditional or something in between? I would love to hear and see your plans!

Another colour on the wall

During our holiday in the beginning of October, I painted an old church bench and the back wall. I posted about it and said that I wasn't completely happy with the result of the wall.


Iris gave me some great advise that I partially listened to and painted the wall again but now in a dark blue. It's better but hasn't got the 'Wow factor'. If it was up to me, I would love to paint it in a bright pink/ fuchsia colour but S. would go mad, ha ha!

So what to do... Are there any colours between blue and pink which will be a perfect compromise? Please help me because I don't know...

Old chair make over!

A while ago, I bought this great piece of fabric with cupcakes on it. It posted something about the fabric earlier. There was still some fabric left and decided to do something with it and upholster a chair or something. Now the coincidence was that we sold all of our dining rooms chairs because we bought the church bench. I used one of the dining room chairs in my study so now I really did need a new chair!

So I started to look on the internet and try to find the perfect chair to upholster. But unfortunately, for me there's no such thing as the perfect chair but I did find something that was good for me to practise on.


So I bought an old chair for EUR 1,50, bought paint that was inspired by Yvonne on the Yvestown blog and used the cupcake fabric. The end result is this:


Now, I love it offcourse and it stands proudly in my study! S. said that it will never go in our diningroom and that's just fine. This it a chair, specially for me. Although it would look great in a children's room too. But for now, I'm going to keep it for myself and enjoy it every time that I'm there, studying!


It's really a shame that S. doesn't like pink, otherwise there would be so much more in my favourite colour! Oh well...

Wood & wool x mas tree Maud

It has been very busy here. racing to work, then to the hospital and racing back home. So there hasn't been a lot of time to write something, I'm afraid. But luckily I have a day off and love to post something again to tell you what's been going on in our household!

Last week, I felt that I deserved something nice for myself and looked around on the internet. For some time now, I have been a fan of the work of Ingrid Jansen and her Wood & Wool stools. she also sells these christmas trees that are made from wood and I also wanted one but never bought one, until now... I saw this amazing tree that just had to mine! So I bought it and two days later it arrived and I am sooooooo happy with it!!


I haven't hung it yet but for now it stands proudly in the diningroom nearby our 'newly' old woodburner.


For christmas, I'm going to hang little ornaments in them and I think I'll leave it in the room and not only for the holiday season.


I'm really happy with it and recommend it to everyone because it's just something different but still recognizable.

The shops are starting to sell all kinds of christmas things. I talked to the woman who runs a flowershop nearby from where I live and she said that they are starting the preparations this weekend. Can't wait to see the end result! And what about you, have you already bought something for the holiday season?

Tas-Ka

Should you ever go to The Hague, for business, family visit or just a fun day of shopping, you must go to Taska!

Taska is a small shop, run by two Dutch girls Jantien and Hester. They sell their own line of interior design but also Japanese books of Paumes, childrens toys and books, cards, posters and so much more!


I go to the shop regurlary and so far have bought a house pillow:



And a wooden cutting board in the shape of a house!



Both of these items are not being used but more for display. I think that they are far too beautiful for anyone to use! The shop is not directly in the city centre but just outside. But try to go and see it because it is really worth the visit!

The joy of a gift

So sorry you guys for not posting something on my blog. It has been a hectic week because a dear family member is in hospital and I'm trying to be at her side every free minute I have. So it is going to be a bit more quiet overhere but I'll try to make as much time to write something nice because life isn't only about the bad stuff...

So here's something nice! About two weeks ago I won the fantastic give away from Iris on the Enigheid blog .


Now I never win anything but now I did! Iris made a fantastic pillow herself and I'm just in love with it! I also love the wallpaper where she wrapped the pillow in!


There was a very nice card from her as well which I saved and is standing on my fire place mantle.




Thank you very much Iris! it is nice to know that there are also good things in life!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!