Navy dresses and fun in the sun! (p2)

If any occasion should be needed as an excuse to wear cute outfits, I would like to use Easter as one, this year. I usually do the same thing every year : we have a huge brunch with the family, stay in all day and watch Ben Hur, The Passion of the Christ or some other Christ-related movie.
Lots of fun, truly, but this year, the sun screamed for a change!

Unfortunately my mom had to visit my grandmother (to take care of her), my in laws were on vacay and my halfsister's boyfriend is muslim, so there was no brunch to attend. I could have set one up with my boyfriend, but he isn't into the true spirit of Easter, which is Christ's resurrection, that's why I'd put that idea aside. I was watching the Urbi et Orbi quietly when I realized I couldn't do 'nothing' on such a special and sunny day. My best friend didn't have a brunch as well, that's why we decided to have the ultimate fun in the sun. An Easter picknick. We would go to a flowery field nearby the beach. bring some bread, wine and celebrate. It would be sober, simple and respectful. Amazing plan!

Turned out different though. I couldn't possibly dress in a modest way with weather above 75 degrees! And I didn't feel like sipping on just water either. Plans change in a second...

I decided to wear one of the navy dresses I wrote about (the military style), my bikini underneath, my Christian Louboutin N. Prive slingbacks (the first Loubs I ever got, back in 2007) and I was good to go. I brought some potato chips, nuts, iced tea, a smoothie, premixed Mojito and nailpolish. I didn't have any wine in the house and stores were closed in my area. Such a bummer.

But Saffira, the friend that I was going to have this picknick with, had the chance to pick up some Jillz and premade sandwiches at her local store, which was open. PERFECT!

Above you can see a picture of me during the start of our picknick. 

It was the first time I had Jillz, but it was actually kinda nice. Not as gross a beer as I'd expected it to be. I might even buy it again for another beachy day. The sandwiches were an exquisite choice of her as well. There were 5 sorts and of each sort, there were 2 sandwiches. So we got to taste all of them and still not overeat ourselves. I especially loved one with little chocolate pieces! (You see one missing in the following picture, because I ate it...*lol*)

If I look back, we didn't really have a proper Easter celebration, but we did have a great day! And even though I did realize the true meaning and I can't say I honored the day by drinking cocktails in a bathing suit, I haven't been a hypocrite either....  

This Easter is one I won't forget soon! Maybe not ever... And I didn't even have 1 chocolate egg!

Navy dresses and fun in the sun! (p1)

Honestly, I've been having a lot of fun lately wearing navy dresses. Why is that interesting? I have 2 navy dresses, which are a bit different from each other, that I'd bought last year, but couldn't wear till now. It doesn't have to do anything with a change of sizing, but with the weather. Last summer there were a couple of sunny days, but no real heat. And otherwise, it would be unexpected and I would be wearing jeans and blazers, because the day would start off windy.
Now this year is completely different and I LOVE it!
Finally short dresses can be worn, sunbathing is back in my dictionary and 'fun in the sun' my new title for almost every picture I take.

To show the dresses I was talking about, I'm posting 2 pictures where you can see the style and tiny differences. I wouldn't have bought them both if they were equal, so I'll explain what I liked..
On the left you can see I'm wearing this over a jeans, because the weather was a bit tricky. The dress had a very fitted upper part and from the stomache goes into the tulip fit. Usually tulip skirt are something I watch out for, because they can make your hips look massive sometimes. But this one is perfect! Almost body con, but still tulip-ish. I wore this Jane Norman dress with a Levi Bold Curve skinny jeans, white Blink pumps and BVLGARI sunglasses. My bracelet is Thomas Sabo with charms..





Jane norman is my go-to brand when I want something nice for a low price... I'm more likely to buy something there than at H&M or Zara. In the winter, they have great sweaters too and it's always quite feminine. That is a must for me. I just don't feel good. If you run into me, wearing a loose fitted sweater and boy pants, I'm probably depressed. And not even outside, so you couldn't run into me like that. *giggles*



The other dress is more military styled, in my opinion. It is a fitted style again and the same shade of navy, but the buttons give it a different look and you can't dress it down like the first dress. Also, it doesn't really look good with leggings/jeggings or jeans. It should be worn showing of your legs. It's shorter than the first dress I showed, but very flattering if you're curvy...

I don't think I could really pick a favorite. Could you?

TFS's Secret Santa; FAB OR FLOP?

If you're a member of TFS, the title will be quite clear to you, but if you're not, let me explain.

TFS stands for TheFashionSpot.com

A place online where shop-addicts, professional models, wannabe models, stylists, wannabe stylist, photographers, wannabe photographers and fans of certain cel

ebrities/designers & their styles get together. With 'wannabe' I do not mean they're faking it (till they're making it), but mainly that they're upcoming and not necessarily well known yet.

Lots of bloggers, lots of different thoughts about fashion, weight and life. However, weight talk is hardly allowed. The point is the website brings a lot of people from over the world together to discuss and share their views.

Also, you can't just register. You have to receive an invitation. Just a security issue, to make sure everyone on TFS really brings something to the website. Whether or not every member makes actual changes in fashion is a mystery.

Since a couple of years though, when we're anxiously awaiting the Holidays, there is a thing called 'Secret Santa'. It is hosted by one person, that get

s everyone else a partner. Or like we call it 'an elf'. Everyone that wants to join, gets to put some information public about their personality and wishes. The host of Secret Santa will make 'pairs'. You, as participant, will get an elf that you will have to follow on TFS. You'll have to find out the person's likes, in order to sent the person a proper gift. Everyone HAS an elf and IS an elf. That way everyone should receive a gift from another member. It is quite safe, since you can request a member from another country. The santa, that buys the gift for the elf, should only make him/herself known after the gift is received by the elf. You can include

your name with a card or wait for your elf to confirm delivery and tell him/her online you

were his/her santa.

It is a lot of fun, but unfortunately, since everyone on TFS is allowed to join AND because sometimes things go wrong, not everyone receives a gift...

Utter disappointment of course.

When I joined for the first time, I got my elf a bunch of little cute gifts. Not too expensive, but not effortless either. You can see the gifts on the picture she took after receiving it. Only the christmas ornament is missing in the picture. She had put it in her Christmas tree already.

My elf was really happy with what I'd sent her and it made me very excited for what I would receive from my Santa..... I was a first timer and 17 years old, if I remember correctly, so you can imagine how I was thinking and wondering about it.

My gift never came. When january came to an end, the list of participants was posted so everyone could see who his/her santa had been. I contacted mine and she lived in Holland, like myself, but she had a skin problem and that's why, according to her message, she had not sent me anything. She promised to sent me something that following month, but never did. I was not alone. More participating TFS members had not received something. Some people never logged on to TFS, some never posted a reason, some claimed the postal services had screwed up. I thought of that as hard to believe. Since you'll probably insure a foreign package and then get refunded. From whatever would be refunded, you could send out a new gift, right? I decided to not join for the following years....

But when all the Halloween preparations were being made last year, somewhere between october or november 2010, I bumped into the Secret Santa thread on TFS.

I searched for the topics about the previous years and saw how I had missed out on a lot of fun. I decided to give it another go.

The person who was my Santa, was super quick in sending me gifts. She had read about my first experience and wanted to make this time a happy one for me. She was very successful. You can see the gifts she'd sent me, pictured on the left. A box shaped like a pink cupcake with a flower on top, a pink Chanel nailpolish, a written note with cats on it & a bracelet.

Perfect! I thanked her and thought this year's Secret Santa couldn't have gone better.

My elf was from the UK and I had written an article that paid off well, so I bought her an array of gifts. This time, luxury items were included. For example, I bought some limited edition Holiday make up from a high end brand. One day before I wanted to sent it out (the package was packed and labeled already) I logged on to TFS and then it started;

My elf had contacted the hostess of Secret Santa and decided to not participate any longer. She would not sent her elf a gift due to circumstances, so I had to switch elves and be her elf's santa instead. I was so glad that I hadn't sent it out yet, but my new elf was completely different and also from another country. I thought I'd better buy her some extra stuff to match her personality, instead of just forwarding the package to her.

I added for example 2 books that I'd thought she would like. And soon I sent out the package, well insured. Drama!

She never received the package and postal services gave me such a hard time to proof it. Only after threathening them with lawyers, they finally admitted to have lost the package and would refund me. But the refunding took forever. And not having a full time job made it difficult to buy something new. However when the refund finally came through, I went shopping directly. But when I sent out the package, I got it back after 3 days, due to poor labeling. While I'm writing this, the gifts are placed in a bag that's hanging on my bed. I will now change the theme into 'easter' and sent it out, again, well insured, in a week. I hope this time my elf will receive my gift. But I do know now that some people, that first year when I entered Secret Santa, might have sent out something as well, that just didn't ever arrive. I've seen it myself now..

This story is of course to be continued..... Hopefully with the update that my elf (or easter bunny) has finally received her gift.

Like father, like youngster (ZVZP)

Autumn 2009 and I get a call;

I am to be thought of as one of 3 others that look a little like Dutch soccer wife 'Yolanthe Cabau - Kasbergen' and we're needed as 'extra's on the show. Well, I don't think I resemble her even a little, but looks like a cute job so I accept.

On set we get more information. The show is relaunched and was popular in the 80s. At that time famous Dutch people would be the actual participants, but in this time of internet and media (you could look up who's who online instead of guessing), random people could participate in the game. The Dutch name of the show is 'Zo vader, zo puberzoon'. It translates to 'Like father, like youngster/teen'.

The game has 1 parent, a mother of father, and four youngsters/teens of which one is the actual son or daughter of the parent. 3 famous Dutch folks get to play it on set; meaning they attend the show and ask questions. They try to figure

out which kid is from the parent. Every time the parent asnwers to one of the questions, the kids hear music so they can't adjust their answer to the parent's. It's up to the 3 players, the audience and people at home to guess who is truly related. At the end of the show all 4 teens explain who they really are.

I got told at the studio that I will be promoting a New York trip in a flight attendants outfit in one episode, and will show myself as video girl in a corrupt cop outfit. The rap video type of girl, who isn't scared of roleplay. Every week there is a surprise guest on the show. On our episodes we had Joris Linssen, who also does a well known programme at the airport and Nicolette van Dam on the other. She also does programmes that involve interviewing random people on the streets.

The other girls were really nice by the way and now I saw they searched for a particular look which was most of all 'exotic'. We practiced the flight attendants part and it went really well. There was a lot of waiting involved, so we took some pictures, that I'm attaching.

Because there were no errors or extra takes, the staff decided to not have us practice the video girl part. I was almost 'thrown' on stage, not knowing what exactly to do. LOL.

I just showed off my outfit and that was it. I'm glad I didn't start dancing or anything, for it would have looked a bit odd. My heels were high in comparison to the other girls (named Shari & Cheimaa) so I tried to look 'shorter'. That wasn't successful. When I saw it on TV, it didn't look too charming standing next to them, but it was a great experience anyway.

The corrupt cop 'Ivana Bribe', that I was playing, was actually sexier dressed. Or 'tackier', if you will. It showed a lot of cleavage, which is why I wore a top underneath. It had a band around the neck, which looked quite X-Rated and the make up artist thought so as well, so she took it off, for me.

In this picture I'm with my friend Saffira that had come along with me to the studio. Even though the other girls were friendly, I was happy that she accompanied me, because we had to wait for hours...

At the end we took pictures with Paul De Leeuw, who is famous in Holland for controversial TV.

Would you re-do your 18th birthday if you could?

Looking through my old photos, I found a batch of pictures from my 18th birthday. Nothing went as planned, that is why I remember it particularly well and decided to write something about it.

I was supposed to celebrate it with my late father in the USA, but he got really sick, so there had to be made last minute changes. As logical as the decision was, I also felt disappointed. I guess that happens when you're young and are anxiously awaiting something that certainly won't happen anymore.

My mom had to order a cake that would be ready 24hrs later and I hardly had time left to plan a party.

But when I woke up, there was this cute little Betty Boop cake, which suited me perfectly, since I'm crazy for Betty Boop.

My invited friends seemed a bit let down, because they had higher expectations, but for me, it was a dream coming true. Jessica Rabbit, Betty Boop & Penelope Pitstop are amongst my favorite cartoons. Being quite insecure back then, this was a turning point for me. Honestly, perhaps if this had happened one year before, I might have felt different, but this was my day. I didn't care about their opinions and ate 2 or 3 big pieces of cake. Yummie!

Also important is, my sister, who lived quite far from us, was on her way to me to celebrate my birthday. I have 2 halfsisters from my mom's side and with one of them, I've got a unique situation.

Her name is Saray and she is 7 years older than I am. She is next to me in this picture, both holding gifts we got, at her former house.

I was born on her birthday on june 16th, 1989. She hated it back then, because I'd spoiled her big celebration, but now we love it. Because people can't understand how two halfsisters, that are Gemini's, yet not twins, could be born on the same day. It's a fun fact now.

Of course it was her birthday as well and she managed to include me in her gathering.

There were decorations, flowers and while I hadn't expect it; a lot of gifts. Apparently they had bought me presents in advance, for when I would return to Holland and weren't left empty handed. I remember that very well, because I felt like no one had forgotten me, even though I was supposed to not even be present.

Going to bed that night, I was extremely happy. Not because I was spoiled, but because I felt like I couldn't have had a better 18th birthday. Not even if I'd been living it up on vacation with my late dad. Because I would have missed out on the presence of all my other loved ones. I would never consider, if some fairy would give me the chance, re-doing my 18th birthday. It was perfect. However, I would love to re-live it sometime!

Question for those who might read this; how was your 18th birthday? any special memories or feelings attached to it?