Stars & stripes.

The past seven weeks a scarf is permanently glued to my neck. Unfortunately it's not a fashion statement but a bare necessity, since I spent the end of this 'summer' in colder regions. The latest addition to my modest scarf collection comes from a gas station. You never know where your next piece of clothing is coming from, I tell ya! I was actually drooling over this outfit from the beautiful Betty a couple days before. It must be faith or so I tell myself, soothing for my conscience.

These pictures were shot last week when Autumn was still kind to us, rain go away! I must warn you, posing for a blog is awkward. Expect a lot of goofy pictures, they make me feel more at ease. My number one pose: thumbs up! Maybe I'll make a random collage sometime, you'll feel the positivity coming your way ;).

I'm smitten with these quirky shoes. They remind me of old school hiking boots, so they speak to my inner biologist. Aren't they the perfect hybrid between fashion and biology? I love combining two realms that seem irreconcilable.

I'm actually really surprised that my first outfitpost doesn't include a single animal print! Don't get used to it.

Wearing: Scarf - gas station / Necklace - Deep Devotion / Top - H&M / Shirt - Primark / Jeans - Levis / Pumps: Van Haren.

Cheers
Silly Naomi, x.

PUMPKIN soup!

Autumn days are here!  I absolutely love the beautiful scenery and the coloring of the leaves. It even lets me forget (if only for a second) the awful cold temperatures that come along with it. 

So what better way of spending a lazy Sunday afternoon than enjoying the autumn view from inside your (warm) house while making a delicious PUMPKIN soup! As easy as can be, healthy, diet friendly and ECO-friendly since pumpkins are autumn vegetables! 

So here’s the recipe: 

What you NEED:

1.    Pumpkins ( off course! ), Use 1 and 1/2 

2.    Potatoes, 4 big ones (the more, the thicker the soup will be)

3.    According to flavor: onion, tomatoes, any vegetables you like (I didn’t  add complementary vegetables)  

4.    Bouillon

5.    Water, 2.5 L if you want a thicker soup (a lunch replacing soup), if not use 3-3.5L

6.    To add extra flavor at the end, some cream and/or parsley

What you DO: 

Chop all the vegetables in big chunks, as we will mix afterwards there’s no need of spending extra time cutting them in little pieces! Stove for about 2min with some olive oil. Add water and Bouillon. Let it simmer for about 30-45min. Mix, add some salt/pepper/cream/parsley/croutons according to preference. And as for the most important part of the entire recipe sit back, relax and ENJOY!  

Maximum result, minimum effort!

Pumpkins

The Ingredients

Et Voila

Greetings! 

Elke, x.

Fashion Shower on my ears!

As we all know, last Thursday was the official launch of Anna Dello Russo at H&M. This designer has a very unique style and we love her for that. She truly knows how to throw a fashion shower!

Lots of exciting fashionista’s headed to the big stores and I was one of them! But because of my internship, I didn’t had the time to go during the week. So, on Saturday I spent a day with the family in Brussels and oh my what a good day it was. We had some lunch, walked around, ate a typical Brussels waffle and ofcourse: a visit at the H&M-store! 

Speechless as I was by the look of their display window, I went to have a look inside and saw the ADR-corner. Her collection is all about gold, gold and some more gold! My friends know that this color is my absolute weakness! 

The actual necklace I had in mind, a big coral/gold one, wasn’t there anymore but my eyes fell immediately on these very blingbling snake-earrings! The design is wonderful and they’re not so heavy at all! Perfect to wear on a night out or even with a casual work-outfit, this is the perfect accessoire.

Enjoy the commercial, the song will be stuck in your head, that's a promise for sure! 

Sabrina, x.

Edinburgh Recap

For my first post I wanted to let you know what I’ve been doing lately. While I’m writing this up, I’m actually on the plane back home. It’s a bit difficult concentrating with a screaming toddler in the background, they always seem to find me. Cursed! 

The past six weeks I’ve spent my days in wonderful Scotland, more precisely in and around Edinburgh. When the university gave me the opportunity to conduct labwork abroad, I didn’t hesitate for a second. In short, I’m doing my thesis on the genetic diversity of invasive grey squirrels in Northern Italy. These cute American bastards are a real threat for the native European red squirrels. In Britain they’ve driven the red squirrels to near extinction. So it’s definitely necessary to take action! I like to think that my data will help a great deal ;).

Edinburgh is a really fun city if you’re into medieval horror stories, I surely am! Everywhere you can still feel the spirit of times long gone by. When you are ever visiting it’s an absolute must to go on a haunted or historical tour down to the depths of Edinburgh. A lot of people rotted away by the plague and hardly saw the daylight back then… If you are more in a shopping mood, be sure to stop by Princes street, the main shopping street with the usual H&M, Zara, River Island but also Topshop & Primark (goodbye dear friend). 

I lived with the Pugsley family, the most welcoming and friendly family I ever met. If you ever need a place to stay in Edinburgh, let me know! They’ve been housing travellers since the early 90’s so they have a lot of tips and exciting stories to share with you. I actually met a lot of people with interesting travel stories and I’m more inspired than ever to pursue my travel plans. So much to see and so little time (and money..). I was a bit worried beforehand, well worried a lot actually about the British ‘gastronomy’. Luckily my family did eat vegetables and unfried stuff, yaay! I even wanted to eat more beans. And yes, ofcourse I tried haggis and I must say : it’s not that bad! Apparently nowadays the stomach shells are out. 

When I ever go back, I definitely want to go hiking in the Highlands. During my one day tour to Loch Ness, how could I resist, I saw a lot of beautiful landscapes. I’ll probably combine it with volunteering for the Scottish wildcats. Less than a hundred individuals in the wild, people! If you want to know more, ofcourse you do: http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk/. The only downside to my adventure was the cold, cold weather. For me it was really goodbye summer and hello late autumn! Luckily I was spared from the rainstorms, there’s almost nothing I hate more than wet clothes. 

And now pictures!

Love them Scottish words

Curious Jaguar

Hungry Giant Panda

Never too old

Scottish countryside

and some more

Urquhart Castle

Loch Ness

The Royal Mile

View from Holyrood Park

Edinburgh

Arthur's Seat

Shotgun!

Edinburgh Castle

National museum of Scotland

Will the real Dolly please stand up?

Mind the head!

Real Scottish breakfast

My workplace

Cheers
Naomi, x.

Meet: DYL

Four completely different girls, two different studies, but when it comes to fashion, living and lifestyle our minds become as one. Fashion, looking up inspiring blogs, surfing online like real (lazy) Fashonista’s and browsing for things we can only dream of is part of our daily routine. Besides fashion we L.O.V.E living the life! Give us some yummy food, bubbly drinks or a relaxing day among friends with nothing but talking, laughing & taking pictures and we’re as happy as can be!

So we thought, why not gather all of our musings & ideas and combine them in one Blog. This way we can busy ourselves more with what we love to do and spread it to the world. So here you go ladies and gents, as of now we shall try to surprise you with outfit posts, fashion, nightlife, new must-see venues, adventures and many more!

Versatility is an important part of this blog, as there are four of us, we have quadratic more things to say! Not only do we differ in characteristics and styles, but also in hair color. Let’s introduce ourselves a bit more!

The Diva BRUNETTE

This one is thé absolute catloverrr, small or big, it doesn’t matter! As she admires animals so much, just open her closet and it will be obvious: animal print everywhere with lots of colors. Even the boyfriend is her number one big lovely cuddly bear.‘Tengo muchos zapatos’ being the first Spanish sentence she learned, says enough for this fashionista but also the language makes her heart beat faster. Some people even call her a freak in the shoe department, but we call it a truly nice addiction! The winter season is a definite no-go, just give her lots of warm sunshine with sandy beaches, beautiful nature and you make her the happiest girl on the planet. Move over Dora, because she’s the next world explorer, the more countries she visits, the more excited she gets. Chillin’ is her middle name because stress is just too exhausting! And please whatever you do, don’t feed her after midnight..

The Golden EBONY

This little BLACK haired girl has truly several addictions that fit nicely in her love for fashion. Shoes, bags and jewelry, in other words all the ingredients for an endless collection! Many styles she admires, every one of them she gets fascinated by. The color gold and some bling are a total must! In contrast to the Diva Brunette, she can’t get enough of dogs, if possible she would have a handful of them. “Dance like no one’s watching” goes hand in hand with her greatest passion of all, an elegant ballet or a fierce hiphop, goosebumps every single time! The cute smile and curls of the boyfriend, makes her heart melt every time. Food is not a complicated story with her, she either loves it or hates it. It may sound bananas but this one does NOT like chocolate! Family all over the world makes it besides spotting new cultures and cities more exciting to travel the globe.

The Vivacious GINGER

She absolutely adores flowers, can’t get enough of them! Whether they’re given to her by the boyfriend or simply decorating the streets, they always put a smile on her face. Although this redhead is a huge fan of ginger animals, she hates the fact that she’s one, major color challenge every time! Luckily vintage shops always know how to please her. Adventurous as ever, traveling and experiencing new places is indispensable. A good glass of wine, a big pint of beer, a sweet cocktail, basically anything containing alcohol is her cup of tea, along with some fine pasta dishes. She loves reading crime books late at night, but absolutely hates the I-am-to-afraid-to-go-to-sleep part afterwards! Most of all she cherishes those winter nights cuddling up with the boyfriend while secretly she wants to steal his heat.  Some may say she‘s stubborn to the bone, she of course always begs to differ! And finally she loves anything GREEN!

The Romantic BLONDE

All this one needs is a daily dose of art, culture, and some moving music but most of all dance. Mondern jazz & contemporary dance touch her soul the most. She also loves taking pictures, catching the overwhelming beauty of one moment and sharing it with others. Discovering other cultures and meeting new people is a top priority when travelling. No little one is safe from her big heart, because she would do anything to make children smile. Yet another animal lover, with stunning tigerrrs at the top of her list. For her fashion is all about soft natural colors and materials, layering (hello autumn & winter!), feminine silhouettes with a bohemian touch. You can always please her with sweet things: melocakes, Cuarenta y tres, candlelight dinner, little surprises,… Not to wonder why she is absolutely in love with Paris. This little perfectionist does stress too much sometimes but then she thinks about her lovely friends & family, and the world suddenly turns pink again!

We hope you enjoy reading our blog!

DYL, x. 

P.S.: You can follow us on www.facebook.com/Dressyourlife