What I’ve been up to #5

The end of summer is almost here and since my summer vacation especially was filled with tons of fun stuff, I am posting an overview of some of the things I did rather more quickly than I usually do. If you would like a more regular peek at what I am up to, then follow me on Instagram (@indiequeen84). I try to upload a picture every day.

 Click on through to find out what I did apart from doing my make up!

These past few weeks have been great for me make up wise. I’ve been very much enjoying doing my make up, despite the hot weather. I really wanted to have plenty of looks ready to go for reviews of some eyeshadow palettes that I bought. As of this week it has become too dark to take pictures before heading out to work and that truly limits me in when I can take pictures.

Over summer, my friend Alison came over to visit from England. We went on several day trips and outings. One of them was Blijdorp or Rotterdam Zoo. I hadn’t been to this place since I was a kid so it was fun to have a mooch around on a seriously nice day.

Antwerp was on both of our lists of ‘to visit’ places. Since it’s just 2 hours away by train, it was a bit shameful that I had never been there before. At least not properly. We visited more churches than we could count, one more opulent than the next. This one in particular had this gloomy outdoor crypt that was located right in people’s backyards.

Of course! How could I forget? The Harry Potter script was released to very mixed reviews. Call me biased, but I am on the ‘Love it’ side of the spectrum. You can read my review here.

Lovely Leiden, how I love thee!

Right at the tail end of my vacation I visited Lowlands music festival with some colleagues. We had a backstage tour and went to a special viewing deck right when Chase + Status were on. Look at that crowd going crazy.

And then it was time to go back to school… eh work. But I still use my old school bag every day! Let me know if you’d like me to do an updated what’s in my bag.

No! I’m not pregnant, but my sister in law is. We ended the vacation on another high note to the great news that I am becoming an auntie. I suddenly felt a lot more grown up haha.

Already during my vacation, but also afterwards it’s been time to hit the gym. Apart from traveling and doing fun stuff, I also spent some time to build up a workout routine again. I’ve been hitting the gym/ dance class 4 times a week again and I’m feeling great!

Just last week I went out to a new place in town called Stadsbrouwhuis Leiden. They are brewing their own beer currently, but I went there with a friend to catch up and to have a bite to eat. I saw they had a selection of ciders and me loving cider more than beer, I went with a good old Bulmer’s.

More make up! I’ve really been trying to update my collection some more and try out some newish products. Here I had been swatching some new NYX Soft Matte lip creams to try out.

And I saw a movie. It has been a while since I went to the cinema. I think the last movie I saw was Captain America: Civil War. So I decided to pick up the pace and went to see Suicide Squad. A bit lacking in the plot department but it was definitely a fun movie to watch.

You may have already seen these shoes in last week’s Week in Outfits post. I got so many comments on these shoes when I wore them that I had to capture them separately. Yes, they are creepers and yes they are mint green.

Book haul! I seem to be buying a few books every month these days. This was last month’s haul. I also pre-ordered some new books that have since arrived at my door step: Sarah J. Maas Empire of Storms and Jonathan Strouds Lockwood & Co’s The Creeping Shadow.

In case you missed it, my biggest trip this summer was Budapest. I had never been to the Hungarian city before and I had heard great things about it. I wrote a full travel report here.

More Budapest pictures! This is at the top of Gellart Hill. No matter what people say: don’t walk up there. There is a bus that takes you right to the edge of the park where you have the vista points. A hike down hill is so much easier than up hill.

Also in Budapest I found this Art Deco establishment called Centrál Káféház. It was a tip from a friend and I loved the late breakfast I had while I was there.

Last but not least, I indulged my Harry Potter obsession some more and visited the Harry Potter exhibition in Brussels. It was just announced this week that it will also come to Holland. So if you missed it or couldn’t travel to Brussels, then see if you can visit that.

What have you been up to?