Online Shopping // Conversation Pieces

It's been a long time since I came across an online shop wheren I could not decide what items I liked best. This store is just amazing and above that their shippingfees are reasonable! I love that they have about every basic a woman needs in her wardrobe. I've listed my favorites above, but you can check out the whole collection yourself here!

This is a non-sponsored post

It's party time, folks!

A storm is brewing outside, we just watched I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and this evening I would get my exam results. Quite the sinister evening if you ask me, haha! A few minutes ago my phone rang, a friend had gotten her results so I went online to check if mine were up too. Opening Gmail is never more stressfull than on a day like this, haha! I got the confirmation mail and clicked the link to open my report card. There it was, the magical percentage every student wants to see: 100% study efficiency aka, you passed all your exams, congratulations and enjoy your three month vacation. Halleluja.

So maybe a little something about the outfit... I found this black Pieces tote at work the other day and immediately loved it. It's lightweight and has both a shoulder strap and handles which I think is perfect for travelling! I'm thinking about turning it into my camera bag later this week so I can safely store my camera in there when it gets too heavy. Extra plus? It was 50% off. 

I have the next two days off and plan on spending them in bed, on the couch and maybe we could go out to Antwerp for an afternoon. I would very much like to test out my new lens in the city and get used to it more before I leave for the US next week. Still can't believe I'm finally flying over the pond.

Hope you all had a wonderfull wednesday!

XO Nikki

Coral lovin' had me a blast

Summer just started and what better way to celebrate than with a raspberry-banana smoothie and a new dress from Zara? I was in need of something bright and fun to wear on my upcoming citytrips and so I went by the stores in hopes to find a pretty, colourfull addition for my wardrobe. This pretty coral-pinkish number caught my eye. It has a low cut front AND back and has these open cut sleeves that I really love. Due to the open neckline it slips off the shoulders very easily, but that's nothing a bit of anti-slip tape can't fix! I wouldn't want to end up like Tara Reid or La Lohan! When I got home I immediately tried out a few combo's and I never thought It would mix into my wardrobe so well. Cobalt, mint, black, yellow, white... everything works!  I also finally gave in and bought two coloured belts to pair with my dresses. I choose yellow and coral as these colours are on trend this season. Oh, and I also found a coral scarf at work for 50% off. Score!


How is life treating you? My days are filled with work and my evenings are spend with Kenneth. I didn't get to see him that much during the exams so we are enjoying some quality time together now. I have quite some catching up to do and will start that tonight. For now I'm going to chase my youngest sister who just sprayed a half bottle perfume on me. I'll get her! And hopefully my bus to work too...

See ya!

Nikki

Sponsor The Ginger Diaries in July

The upcoming week I'll be accepting sponsors for the month of July. If you are interested in working with The Ginger Diaries or have any questions, you can reach my mailbox at gohomemydear@gmail.com.  I also offer ad swaps for people who follow my blog (pereferably with 100+ followers) and I have 7 spots available for July. If you already are a sponsor and would like to continue the ad swap, please shoot me an email as well! 

Nikki

A Day In: Antwerp

My latest photograhy "things": overexposure and out of focus subjects

I wrapped up the schoolyear yesterday and those who follow me on twitter know I have landed a temporary full time job for the next two weeks. Starting today. Gosh, did that hurt in the morning, haha! I love the job though and I got to meet all the new co-workers that joined our team since my last day in May. The sales are coming up and we are starting with a pre-sale this friday, so I don't have to tell you how hectic it was. There was no time for an afternoon break, but at the end of the day, I did get to go home 15 minutes before closing time. Just enough time to stop by Zara... . More about that later! 

I wish I had an outfit to share with you today, but I just haven't found the time nor the photographer to go out for photos and I used up everything that was in my concepts. Instead I'm giving you a glimpse into the wonderfull city that has become my second home: Antwerp. Enjoy! And yes, that is a sundae with warm white chocolate sauce and brownies! 

Much Love,

Nikki

By The Lily Pond

Can you believe how sharp these photos came out at full zoom capacity? Crazy! 

I am so happy, happy, happy! The exams are almost over, and I already have more work to do! I have been working as a student in a local outdoor shop for the past 2.5 years. Last week I got a call from my boss to tell me I get to work 4 extra days before I go on vacation in July! This call made me squal with excitement. My first thought was "Hello Anthropologie!" but then Kenneth said something even more exciting: Why don't you get that lens you wanted? A few months ago my eye fell on the Nikkor 50-300mm F4.5-5.6 VR Lens. Dang it, did that lens sound like a dream... Untill I saw the pricetag. I started making a savings programme so I would be able to get this lens while still enjoying all the fun and save for the future. I should have been able to get the lens by July next year, but I was still bummed out that it meant I was going to New York this year with nothing but a portrait lens, while a decent zoom would be the best thing to have when travelling. I seriously got the photography microbe since I got my D3100 and the portrait lens! After that call, I did some recalculation and on friday after school my mom drove me to the photography store to pick up my newest family member. Yes, I think of my camera as my baby. Eat me for that. 

After deep purple tulips and white roses, water lilies must be my favorite flowers! There's a lily pond in the woods near my house. We often go and take pictures by said pond (as seen here, here and here) and I always try to get a few snaps of the pretty lilies, but alas, they drift too far away. Bummer! No suprise the first place I went to test out my new lens was the lily pond! I love how the pictures turned out and I've been getting compliments on them on my personal Facebook, so I decided to share them here too.

My best friend during the exams: Smoothies!

I don't know about you guys, but during my exam period I always get really hungy. That would be a good thing if I'd chose healthy snacks, but truth be told, the cookie jar always has a lot more sexappeal than the fruit basket. My solution: smoothies. They're fun to make, delicious, healthy and energizing. What more do we need!?

All you have to do is peel the fruits, chop, add the milk and shake it all away! Our Kitchen Aid machine is doing overtime these days, haha. I found a bunch of tasty looking variations on the E-nets that I love to share in the next little list:

Frozen Raspberry Lemonade Smooties 
Blueberry, Mulberry & Strawberry Smoothie
Banana Almond Smoothie
Strawberry & Mango Soy Milk Smoothie

Have a Tasty Thursday!

Pattern mixing: Stripes and Leopard

Dress Oasis (via Asos), H&M flats and scarf, Carpisa bag

I believe I'm in love. I'm in love with this dress. A few weeks back I saw it pinned on Pinterest, and gosh, did it look perfect! Convinced that it must have been a pretty expensive little number, I was extremely suprised to find it in the ASOS sale! My shoppingban is not over yet, but I still had quite the bit left of my $60 giftcard, and decided to splurge. Best idea ever. This dress has 3/4 sleeves, a nice length and a pretty feminine shape. The fact that it's striped is just another plus.

I have been having a lot of fun styling it. It's a basic item, a wardrobe essential, and it truely matches 90% of all that's in my closet. I got this leopard scarf at H&M a few months back. I don't think I've worn it on the blog before but I love using it to give my outfits that little extra push. As I'm not too comfortable pattern mixing tops and bottoms yet, this is an fun way to warm up for the idea. I must say I'm loving it!

Eventhough this is not at all a bold combo (Knowing what gets worn in the blogging world this can count as conservative), one of my classmates did say it was a daring combination and that I was really brave for wearing it. I smiled a bit uncomfortable, and then she quickly added: but I love it! And smiled back. Classes are over for now, but after summer, I think I'll suprise her with a full pattern mixed outfit! ... If I dare.

♥♥♥

Nikki

PS: Annie from The Other Side of Gray got inspired by my Mint & Neon outfit for her Copycat Monday series this week! You can check it out here. Thanks so much Annie! You made my day! ;-)

It runs in the family

H&M top, F21 skirt and belt, Teva sandals, Six necklace

*Yawn*. I just came back home after my third exam in three days. I'm exhausted, but found the energy to vacuum my bedroom and clean up the mess I made the past few days. My desk was a "studential" distaster: cheets of paper, books, empty coffee mugs and candy wraps everywhere! Now I'm ready for a night of relaxation, before I start studying Economics in the morning. The exam is on Saturday, so that means I have a full day to study the mesmirizing small summary (only 11 papers, yay!). Glorious!

About the title of this post... I found a little note in my mailbox the other day. In between all the spam and account updates there was an email with my last name in the subject line. Weird! I opened it, and got overly excited when I found out who it was from. It was from one of my nieces, who had stumbled upon my blog that morning and who has been blogging since the early days of 2007. You know that feeling when you find out something totally unexpected and fun? Like when you are 5 and your mom tells you you're going to Disneyland? That's the feeling I got! What's even better is that there's actually three of us now! I have another niece, also from my dads side, who's  a photographer. I believe it's safe to say: blogging runs in our family! Cool!

Much love,

Nikki

The perfect duo: Mint and neon

I have to tell you a little story that's behind this outfit! Last week I woke up terribly late (11:15am, whoops!)), strumpled out of bed and "hurried" downstairs for quick breakfast. I had a lot of Social Law things to study that day. When I came downstairs my dad was beeing all anxcious and weird. 

"Get dressed! You are leaving in 15 minutes."

"What!? where am I going?" 

"You are going shopping with your mom because we both think you need it."

(Do parents really say this!?)

"But I NEED to study! and I don't need anything...!"

"I bet you do..."

"Well... maybe a pair of mint jeans?"

And so it happened. 15 minutes later I was on the bus, on my way to moms workplace. We grabbed a quick lunch and hurried to Zara. That's why I now have this cute pair of ankle cut mint Zara jeans that go with about everything in my wardrobe and are very much on trend. I love them and can't stop wearing them! I have tons of remixing ideas in my mind and Pinterest only makes my obsession with them worse, haha. Mom also picked out this neon top. It coral, it's neon and it's lace. That's a winner in my book! 

Also, have you noticed the switching angles and fun close-ups in these photos? My friend jolien took them and isn't she a natural!? I must say we had to fight quite the few bugs and mosquitoes to get these photos but I think they came out brilliant! I used other photos of this shoot for the pages of my blog so you can check them out too if you like! 

Much Love,

Nikki

3 years of us

The prompicture I promised! :D 

Today marks our three year anniversary! Where's the day I was this seventeen year old girl standing in front of the theathre biting my nails out of nervousness and trying to look my very best? Haha. I still remember the moment we became a couple like it was only a recent memory. We had had our first date one week earlier and we had just been chatting over the internet. My mom and sister had been on a paralympics trip (my sister has autism) to Poland and we had to go and pick them up. I was listening to this awefully suitable song by the backstreetboys (hey don't judge, you liked them too!) in the car when I got the text message that would change my teenage world forever. 

This boy has made me love and laugh, he has made me feel like I was on top of the world, he cheered me up and he showed me the world (literally). He's my rockstar, and eventhough things aren't always moonshine and romance, I couldn't not imagine not wishing that pretty face goodnight every night. I love you Kenneth ♥ Here's to us!

Nikki