Love of my life

Guess who ...

As a child I was a real “doll-like” girl (i.e. all I did was play with my dolls). I had a whole bunch of them, something like ten or so. Some were nice and beautiful - I’m thinking Corolle - others were rather ugly and cheap. But I loved them all because, you know, one shouldn’t judge by appearances. (Yep, I already knew it at that time).

My favourite one was Olli, a rag doll and probably the most ugly one of them all. Before she became mine she had lived with another child and when I got her she was kind of worn out. Still it was doll-love at first sight. From the moment I first saw Olli I wanted to take her with me everywhere (which I wasn’t allowed to, unfortunately). Until the age of thirteen or so she was my “child” and after that she was mainly just lying around in my room. (It was too hard to say goodbye, you know. After all, she was (is, actually) the doll-love of my life.)

At the moment Olli is at my sister’s who is going to patch her up so that she can become a part of my adult life too, as decoration in the living room for example. I’ll be proud to introduce Olli to you once she’s back from the “rehabilitation”.

She might even get a friend as I discovered “Laloushka” - a Polish brand that specialises in (fashionista) rag dolls. (It’s actually reading about it that made me reminiscence to my doll-childhood.) There are some very special (and wanted) examples in the collection: the Fashion designers. I guess those dolls are made for people like me: adults whose inner child must be unleashed from time to time.

P.S. Which Laloushka do you prefer? I definitely want the Coco Chanel doll.

more info: http://laloushka.pl/

Paris at the Antwerp Opera

For years I’ve been thinking and dreaming about visiting Paris with Le Boyfriend. So far, one way or another, we haven’t been able to get to the city of love (or of light if you want). I’m keeping my fingers crossed for us to make the city trip this year, but also not trying to keep my hopes up too high because of ... Well because of the unparisness of the past years.

Luckily there are ways to feel a Parisian vibe in Antwerp, more specifically at Gustav, the former opera cafe. The food there is really good (especially the vol-au-vent), but the atmosphere that the place breathes is even better – just not to say that it is the best thing about it. As if you’re in Paris, even though this restaurant is located in the centre of Antwerp. Have a look at the pictures and see for yourself.

P.S. When in Antwerp and looking for a place to eat, go to Gustav and taste the delicious food for yourself.

Van Ertbornstraat 2, 2018 Antwerpen

+32 3 225 55 28

http://www.brasseriegustav.be/ &  http://vlaamseopera.be/nl/#!/naar-de-opera/de-opera-ervaring/voor-na%23ppt_143609029

Party in black

dress: Zara, chemise: Subject

Less is more. That's the idea behind this party outfit (a not-so-little black dress) that I wore last Saturday to go to a family-birthday party. 

Single at Valentine's day

Lazy V-movie night outfit
(pyjama trousers - women'secret, cardigan - Mango)

It was impossible to ignore: Valentine's day. For me there were no romantic festivities to attend to. In fact I spent the day working and in the evening, I watched "Valentine's Day" ... all by myself while Mister Perfect went to the sport club. It was as if I were single again. 

P.S. To be honest I was not "all" by myself: some heart-shaped chocolates were keeping me company. Who (or what) did you celebrate V-day with?

Dinner (wa)s served

Last weekend we had some friends over for dinner. Dinner parties always bring along some stress because it means I have to cook. For dessert there is no problem: baking sweets (cookies, a cake ...) is one of my specialties (when it comes to cooking). Putting together and preparing a decent meal on the other hand shouldn’t be taken for granted. Especially when you know that I tend to forget the essential ingredients - I'm thinking: pizza without cheese, cookie dough without eggs ...

Anyway, this was Saturday night's menu:

For starters there were plenty of snacks (home-made ovensnacks, crisps, crack-a-nuts, olives, crackers, etc.) that were served with a special bottle of cava that we had saved for the occasion (see picture below). 

After a few hours of snacking we went straight to the main course. Here le Boyfriend helped me out with the meat (pork tenderloin) and cambozola cheese sauce (which I don’t really like because of its typical bitter taste, but everybody else seems to adore). The side-dish, an improvised ratatouille, was entirely prepared by me. As everybody ate their portion I guess it did taste good.

For dessert we had split the tasks: I baked some delicious Tessa Kiros vanilla / chocolate cookies and my roomie took care of the tiramisu, which he made with caramelized biscuits (speculoos).

cookies and chocolates
to provide the "diners" with sweet dreams

In the end it was an evening full of food and I have to say it all (even my “creations”) tasted good. So good that I’m already looking forward to the next dinner party with friends!

FYI: the recipes
Ratatouille: this recipe of the famous Belgian cook "Jeroen Meus" was my source of inspiration, but I did not follow all of his instructions.
Cambozola sauce: here you find a good description of how to make it yourself.
Pork tenderloin: crispy-crust it in a steel pan (about 2 minutes) and add some salt and pepper before baking it in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Cookies: et voilà, Tessa Kiros' recipe.

P.S. As good food photography is difficult (i.e. if you want appetizing pictures) I didn't take photos of our menu.

Starring ...

... on my wrist since yesterday: these nice bracelets from "Les Interchangeables", a French brand that customizes all kind of accessories and clothes with Swarovski crystals.  The precious pieces of jewellery are made of stretch silk so that you can make them fit your wrist perfectly.

 

As I'm all into stars (have a look here and here) I opted for this "starring" design, but there are plenty of other creations available. Visit R.V.33 agency and Les Interchangeables for more information.

P.S. Which one of those above do you prefer?

Winter rose

Despite of the weather (freezing and snow) here in Belgium I'm already getting more spring/summer colours in the house. So far I have opted for rose, 

winter rose if you want to call it that.

I was baffled when I saw the result of ten minutes unfolding tissue papers: those very nice (in my opinion) flowers arose. (flower kit @ Hema)

Have a (rose) seat

Hello

Please let me introduce to you the new Elle Basi.

After three years of chit-chatting, tea-drinking girls on the cover it was time for change. I thought: what's better than the girl behind the blog watching over it all the time on the cover? 

That's how I ended up with the "thing" you can now see on top of this site. Anyway, not only the looks have changed; blogcontent will change too. I'm thinking: more outfits, more foodstuff, more fashion and more blogging overall.

P.S. Do you like the new (old-school) design?

Time sparkles by

A Luxury Watch:
 you can even read day, date and "moon".

Especially with this Rodania watch on my wrist. You probably won't believe it, but it actually was one of the samples (other than perfumes and beauty products) that I found in the goodie bag of the A Luxury Approach blogger event. 

Vooral met deze Rodania horloge. Ongelooflijk maar waar: het was een van de testproducten die ik tussen de vele andere (i.e. staaltjes parfum, body lotion, etc.) vond in de goodie bag van het A Luxury Approach blogger event.