What I’ve been up to #3

Eight more sleeps till summer vacation! Eight more sleeps till summer vacation! That’s the mantra that’s been going through my head these past few days. Friday next week will be my last working day before the summer hols and it couldn’t come quick enough. The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least. Fun, interesting and definitely quick to go by, but chaotic and busy too. The picture below pretty much sums up the way I felt the day I took it.

Rainbow & thunder clouds @ Leiden

But that doesn’t mean my life isn’t going well at the moment. On the contrary. It’s just the final weeks before summer break are always the busiest for teachers. As you’re trying to round up all the loose ends before summer, students are panicking about grades and suddenly everyone wants to see you/ speak with you etc. There have been days where I simply rushed from meeting to meeting from 9 – 5 with little time to do anything else in between. Days where I get up at 6 AM and am not home until 7.30 PM are now rule rather than exception. On top of that I also followed a course for work, which made things extra difficult to plan as 3 full days were blocked. In short, I can’t wait for summer break to start!

First though, there’s my b-day today, a party with students tonight, a blogger event on Friday, my b-day party on Sunday, our personnel outing next week and last but not least, I’m doing my best friend’s sister’s make up on her wedding day. So yep, that means that apart from hard work, there’s also a lot of fun to be had. Here’s the fun I’ve had in the past few months in no particular order.

I created this fun, bright make up look with the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland palette. I absolutely loved how it turned out. I’ve been enjoying playing around with make up again more and more. Elaborate eye looks, even on days off, I like taking out the makeup and just play around.

Record time! Every year on King’s Day, at the end of April, I scour my local second hand market searching for records. It’s the only time in the year that I seem to buy records anymore, because I like mine old and second hand. I got some Prince (RIP), Terence Trend D’Arby, Billy Joel, Level 42 (I just liked the cover tbh), 10CC, Don McLean and Martha and the Vandellas.

A very exciting thing happened at the end of May: a new make up store opened in my town. Make Up by Tatou sells all those brands that are otherwise difficult to get in Holland. Think Barry M, Milani, Beauty UK, W7, LA Girl and many more. Their selection is really good and I like being able to see the make up before I buy it.

Concert 1 of 3 in this overview. I saw Jack Garratt just after I returned from London. This is no him. This is his support act. Who was so amazing, he was granted the one and only picture I took that night. The main show was stellar. If you combine good music, passion, drive and a bit of humor, you have a Jack Garratt show in a nutshell.

I went to London in May if you don’t already know. I wrote a full blog post about the trip, so please click here if you’d like to read that. All I want to say about this picture: can I go back right now?

Apart from playing around with make up, I am really into rearranging my make up at the moment. Seriously, one dull moment and I start to reorganize eyeshadow palettes. This was the result of one such session: all larger palettes together in one drawer.

Concert 2 of 3: Radiohead. Yes. I went to see Radiohead. Yes, it was the opening night of their tour. No, they didn’t play Creep. Yes, it was amazing.

For fun, I decided to enter the NYX Face Awards. It was the first time they were being held in The Netherlands. As it was a spur of the moment decision as I only found out about the contest 3 days before it would end, I didn’t have any expectations. Obviously, I didn’t make it to the next round, but I still had fun creating a vampy 1920s look.

On one of the nicer days we’ve had so far, I decided to take a stroll around town. In the back you can see the astronomy tower of Leiden University.

I placed and ELF order! If you are curious what make up bits I buy here and there that aren’t enough for a haul or unboxing: those I post on Instagram. I hadn’t tried ELF make up in years. And since so many US bloggers are raving about some of their newer launches, I decided to try them for myself.

Concert 3 of 3: Astronautalis. Who?! An indie rap artist from Minneapolis. It was my first rap concert ever. Held in what looked like a basement in a little whole in the wall place, I think it was the right place for such a show. I was blown away.

More make up collection reshuffling. As I placed a huge order at a Dutch online beauty shop, I decided to create some space. I think this looks different yet again, as I moved some things around just last weekend.

Yes I’m that dork that wears a Harry Potter t-shirt. It’s from Primark if you were wondering and I bought it from the flagship store on Oxford Street.

Last but not least: a The Body Shop sale haul. I love The Body Shop’s sale. They always do the best discounts and bring back limited edition lines that were my favorite. And I just couldn’t resist picking up some bits from the new limited edition Pinata Colada.

That’s it! That’s what I’ve been doing lately. Lots of concerts, lots of friends, lots of get togethers, lots of work, lots of music, lots of make up and a bit of shopping.

Enjoy the rest of your day!