What I’ve been up to #6

The last time I did a What I’ve Been Up To? September last year. That’s right, it’s been over 4 months since I last gave you an overview of what has been going on in my life. The reason is very simple: I’ve been busy, crazy busy. I don’t share much of what I’m up to online, but I spent every weekend and all my days off doing something, be it work, be it social, be it blogging. Especially the lead up to Christmas was insane and I was glad to start my vacation. That vacation is now almost over, meaning I’m about to return to the real world. Here’s what the latter quarter of 2016 looked like for me.

Curious to see what I’ve been up to all these months? Then keep on reading.
Care to have a more real time update? Follow me on Instagram: @indiequeen84

As per usual this will be a very random overview of what’s been going on. In early November my town’s Christmas lights came on and it is one of my favorite times of the year. It just makes everything very cozy.

I did plenty of make up looks too. On a random Sunday afternoon I decided to get glam with green, blue and gold eyeshadow. What’s not to love?

In November I read the third book in the Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud. These books are amazing and I don’t understand why they do not get more hype. That’s why I talk about them every chance I get.

#panp0rn. Say hello to my Bourjois Healthy Balance powder. I reviewed this last July and hit major pan by now. It is nearly gone: I am pretty much scraping off the edges to get some product to come out. Goes to show how much I like this powder.

Me and my family picked up are annual tradition of visiting the Winter Efteling. It was a tad busy but it was still an enjoyable day out with the fam.

I went for a very 90s inspired outfit some time in these past months as well. The dress is from New Look and a few years old. I paired it with my Asos concho boots and a brown toned lip. I believe this is MAC’s Whirl.

All in a day’s work. I spent a full weekend grading student assignments last November. They were glad to get their grades back so quickly. I was glad to get it over and done with. Grading can be tedious!

Navy. Velvet. Boots. I spotted these on Asos and fell in love. I originally wanted to buy the over the knee version of these, but deemed them a tad too pricey. So I opted for the much more practical and manageable ankle version instead.

Much of my days off I spend trying out new make up. Here I am trying out some of the Make Up Geek shadows I purchased last fall.

When I saw that Urban Decay would release a bright eyeshadow palette I was stoked. I bought it the minute I spotted it on the Selfridge’s website. I reviewed it for you here.

Veni. Vidi. Vici. Well not the last bit of course, but I did visit Rome in October. You can read all about the trip in this blog post.

And when in Rome, you of course have to shop. I mean, they have Sephora AND Kiko AND The Balm. I couldn’t pass up those goodies now couldn’t I? I did a haul for you as well.

Turtlenecks & high necked sweaters have been my jam all fall/ winter time. I wore this mustard yellow number with grey jeans and black booties. Plain and simple, but it works.

I had lunch in this boat with a good friend of mine. It has a good selection of hearthy foods and IPA beers. It’s called Vessel 11 and is located in Rotterdam.

Another pair of shoes I bought during the fall season. These may or may not have been featured in my fall fashion haul. They are by H&M and a tad uncomfortable, but I bought these mainly for looks to begin with.

Pop quizzes have become a regular thing these past months. Nearly every month I’ve been going to The Hague to have some drinks and participate in a music quiz. Sometimes it goes okay, sometimes I know absolutely nothing.

A belated birthday gift from one of my friends. I am Ravenclaw House in case you’re wondering.

To combat the darkness that is the weeks leading up to Christmas I bought myself some new fairly lights to brighten up those dark days.

New Year’s Eve feast. I went over to a friend’s place and we bought lots of delicious snacks to simply nibble on while counting down the last hours and minutes of 2016 and listened to the Top 2000 in the mean time.

Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake. I made this for an evening with friends and it was absolutely delicious. It has reminded me how much I love baking and cooking. There is nothing more satisfying than literally bearing the fruits of your labor. You can find the recipe here.

Christmas Day was spent with the ‘rents. Here we are about to start ‘gourmetten’. This is a tradition in many Dutch homes over the Christmas period as in mine. While eating we discovered that this set has been with us for nearly 24 years: my parents were gifted this set in 1992 for their 12.5 wedding anniversary.

I finally got around to seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Enjoyable movie, but I found the story lacked in the Fantastic Beasts department. In that sense the title is a little bit misleading. I hope to see more of Newt as he travels across the globe to write his manuscript in the next one.

The final days of the year I spent doing absolutely nothing. Well nothing… I blogged, I watched Youtube videos and Netflix, listened to the Top 2000 but I also did some reading. I read this book in 2 days flat. Read the first 250 – 300 pages on day 1, than the remainder the next day. Full review will be up next week when I post my December book review!

No matter how busy I get around the Holidays, I love getting into the Christmas spirit. So every year I deck out my living space in some much needed Christmas decor. By now I’ve cleared everything away, but if you want to see what it looked like, then click here.

How was your Holiday season?