I'm almost 16 weeks along now. Let's throw in an update.  The bump is beginning to grow rapidly. That's probably because in a week's time the baby got significantly taller and heavier ( it grows about 2 to 3 centimeters a week! ). The bump seems to have grown it's current size overnight, because it wasn't there a couple of days ago... or at least not as obvious as it is now. But I don't mind... To me it becomes more and more 'real' now that it starts to show.
It also becomes more and more fun to be pregnant. Never thought I'd say that... Since about a week I start to feel better. I'm still nauseous at times, but not every day anymore. Which is a huge relief!

The baby's doing fine. His heartbeat, which we get to hear a lot ( on check-ups and at home! ) is fast, like a galloping pony. It's music to our ears, it means it's still alive and kicking in there.
And speaking of kicking... Since I lost some weight during the first months, I sometimes think I feel a slight brushing against the inside of my belly. Like the twitching of a muscle. I'm not one-hundred percent sure it's the baby kicking or moving around, but I'm pretty sure I've never felt it before!
But it won't be long now 'til I'm certain, because most mammas start feeling their baby between 16 and 20 weeks ( some sooner, some later ). I can't wait.
Also the important 20-week ultrasound is coming up. I hope we'll pass the test with enough fingers, toes, limbs and organs...

The next couple of months I'll be busy shooting a wedding, preparing one ( not my own - just sayin' ), getting back in the saddle sewing-wise, starting pregnancy yoga and a ton of things more. Which I really enjoy after laying in bed for 3 months straight!

Well... There's not much else to tell. So I'll leave it at that. Hope to update again soon! Have a nice one folks!

B a b y M i n e

It's been a while since I posted something on the blog, but my return brings a major announcement:
We're having a teeny, tiny us! A baby! I'm on the brink of motherhood and it feels amazing and scary at the same time.
We figured it was time for that next big step in our relationship. We're not that much into marriage and while Popcorn's career is flourishing, mine seems to be on permanent hold. A perfect time for parenthood with plenty of time for descend upbringing and attention.
We didn't expect to be expecting this soon, but we feel very blessed for our apparently healthy bodies and lifestyle.

Last saturday was the beginning of the second trimester. The first trimester was something special for sure... Finding out you're pregnant, being all happy about it the first day, being terribly sick the next.
I've spend the past three months either on the couch or in my bed, taking only necessary walks down to the fridge or the toilet. No-one ever told me creating a little human-being would be this hard.
Morning sickness has become a huge deal in our household.
But seeing that little person for the first time ( at 9 weeks ) on ultrasound was indescribable. We gazed like goons at the screen, marveling at it's minuscule head, hands, feet and backbone!  He's so pretty already.

I'm now almost 13 weeks along and still feeling sick, but as bad as being sick ( 24 hours a day! ) is... You somehow get used to it. I still don't go out that often. Staying in doing some minor chores is hard enough as it is, pausing every hour to puke... But I feel slightly more mobile and the lust for life returns to me a little bit every day.

Last weekend we bought a Bugaboo. We couldn't resist the urge to go over to this baby-stuff megastore and buy something. And we found ourselves making a fair deal with the sales-person and brought home the coolest possible carriage, the Denim version. We're awesome parents already!

I guess, now that I'm back to blogging, a fairly large amount of posts will of course be about babies, motherhood and the cool stuff you can buy or create yourself for your future little one. I'm sorry, it's the hormones. It turns even the most phlegmatic people into self-proclaimed softies. I tell myself it's okay to not become myself ever again if it helps me be good, kind and loving to my itty-bitty-baby.

Oh, by the way... I'm due january 19 2013 ( but I told my little womb-floating friend it's okay if he shows up sooner! ). We don't want to find out the gender, but I'm heavily convinced I'm carrying a baby-son.

Later my patient friends!

N e w Y o r k I l o v e y o u

All good things come to an end eventually... New York weeped with us as we packed our bags this morning. For the first time the rain poured down.
Because we had to check out early and leave early in the afternoon to catch our flight, we decided to just visit a museum.
Unfortunately MoMa was closed ( darn! ), so we went to the Met instead. We saw Rembrandt and Hopper and all things in between. I love the Met, but it's too crowded to really, really enjoy all the artwork.

We went back to Roma for lunch, where I got to eat the Eggplant Parmegiana one last time. We ordered two bottles of pinot grigio to hopefully fall asleep on the plane.
We hailed a taxi for the last time and summoned the guy to pick up our luggage at the hotel and bring us to Newark Airport.
One last time stuck in traffic, one last time New York craziness all around us, one last glance at those tall buildings... I hope we meet again in the future. Because... New York, I love you.

♥

T i m e s S q u a r e - R o c k e f e l l e r C e n t r e - G r e e n w i c h

 

After a killer breakfast ( a huge bagel with Scrambled Eggs, Cheddar, Bacon and a whole lot of grease ) we walked to Times Square. It's such a sight... We've been there before, but it never gets old. The lights, the noise, the tourists. Like!
We sat on the stairs for a bit until our senses hit overload. We went to Grand Slam and bought a NY Yankees original cap for one of Popcorn's colleagues. We had to restrain the urge to buy shirts, number plates and tea mugs with 'I ♥ New York' on it, but we went out without.

After that we wanted to see the city from another point of view. Literally. We would've loved to climb either the Empire state of Chrysler building, but we couldn't figure out which one of them is off limit to visitors. So instead we opted for the easy alternative - Rockefeller center. We stood on top of the rock once before and it was only a couple of blocks away.
The view was even better than the first time, because of the weather. The clear sky made it possible to see into the distance and distinguish all sorts of NY attractions from afar. It wasn't even cold and windy up there!

After Rockefeller we went to Greenwich again. I think we've been to Greenwich every day of our stay. To walk, experience and to eat. We 'uptowners' like Greenwich best.
We went to Pizza Roma on Bleecker street and I guess I will go back to that place as often as I can for the rest of my life! The finest pinot Grigio and Italian delicacies can be found here. And the most AMAZING Eggplant parmigiana! Homemade! It almost made me cry happy tears.. And I'm not exaggerating.

After fueling up at Roma, we walked Bleecker Street... I gaped at designer boutiques, MAC and NARS stores and of course the sweet and savory goodies of Magnolia Bakery.

That night we ate at Soba again ( domo arigato goizaimasu! ) and got to bed soon after that. Because of our extensive walks, we got a little more tired every day... So by the end of monday all we wanted to do was to sit and watch New York life pass us by. We were spectators in a big theatrical show called day to day NY life. There's so much to be seen... even if you choose to sit in one place.

One more day to go before going home... Days fly by when having fun!

♥

C e n t r a l P a r k - G r e e n w i c h - C h e l s e a

The weather got better and better, so on sunday we decided to go to Central Park. We walked there, so we had to take a break once we got to the luscious green strip. We sat in the sun and watched New York City life. Our sundays usually consist of taking it slow and trying to overcome the stuff we did on saturday ( such as grocery shopping, shopping, drinking wine and staying up late ), but New Yorkers do things differently. They wake up early, get out of bed and into the shower and into their sports gear to run a mile or twenty.
We were a little ashamed of our untrained and slightly hedonistic appearance ( cute little tummies ) while we gazed at these people doing their best to stay healthy and fit in a city that's been taken over by fast and greasy food.

After tanning up a little, we walked to strawberry fields where we hailed John Lennon by singing Beatles' songs with longtime fans and hippies alike. It's a lovely place, although slightly over-visited by people just wanting to take a picture on the 'imagine' mosaic. But I love the idea behind this not-so-quiet-anymore tear-shaped place of worship. Yoko did a great job setting it up. Lennon will never be forgotten.

After that we marched the yellow gravel paths until we got hungry. We took a cab to Greenwich where we ate Italian food made by Indian people ( never a sensible thing to do...). We had Penne Siciliana, Spaghetti Marinara and of course Baked Ziti.
We walked through green Greenwich all the way to Chelsea piers. The weather was amazing, we didn't even wear our coats... The waterfront was breezy and cooled us down a bit. Until we spotted our first celeb...That brought the heat back up again! We ran into Nigel Barker... Nigel Barker folks! Wow. We get to see a lot of 'famous' people in the Netherlands ( famous Dutchies that is! ), but someone as big and international as this fashion photographer... Wow, again. New Yorkers don't even bother looking up anymore, because all they do is spot yet another celeb, but I thought it was noteworthy.

Walking from Lexington to Central Park to Greenwich and Chelsea gets to you, so instead of walking back ( which is insane! ), we took a cab. I can't remember where we ate that night or if we ate at all...
It was a great day. The weather definitely made everything sparkle even more... Last time we went to visit NY we only got rain.

New York has been treating us kind so far.

♥

B r o o k l y n - S o h o - C h i n a t o w n - L i t t l e I t a l y - G r e e n w i c h

As I told a couple of weeks ago, we weren't supposed to go to New York, but somehow it lured us into its mesmerizing spell and before we well knew it we booked us a flight to JFK.

We packed our suitcases on thursday and took off on friday. It was extremely windy, so our flight wasn't all that ( severe turbulence ), but after touchdown there was no denying anymore this weekend was going to be absolutely amazing.
Tired but full of wanderlust, we checked into W hotel on Lexington avenue and went out for dinner at Soba Nippon. This restaurant actually has Japanese owners and employees... Which is probably quite common in the big apple..., but surprised us, because we're familiar with Chinese and Korean people running Japanese restaurants in the Netherlands. So we got to say 'domo arigato' a lot...
Don't be turned down by their non-trendy entourage, the food is sublime.

After munching on seaweed and sashimi, the jet lag struck and we had to drag ourselves back to the hotel, where we instantly fell asleep.
Of course we woke up way too early, but we were then still full of energy and got out of bed anyway. The coffee over at Cosi rudely shook us even further awake ( half a liter of pure caffeine - or at least that's what it felt like ), but it was just what we needed because we had quite the hike ahead of us.

Be decided to pay a visit to Brooklyn and walk back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. We took a single metro ride to York street and walked towards the river. The walking trail led us through cosy Brooklyn neighborhoods. I never ever thought Brooklyn was as amazing as it is... No offense, but New Yorkers themselves make it seem like it's a worn down place where the people lacking Manhattan-money reside. Or at least that's what some movies told me.
I fell in love with it instantly and wished I could stay. We roamed the streets for a while and took the walk across the bridge. It was crowded, but an experience like no other. It's the set to a ton of love stories... But I might just romanticize every thing that happens on this particular bridge. I'm a sex-and-the-city-enthusiast.

After walking the bridge, we extended our walk and walked all the way to Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy. Soho is fast and trendy, fun alright, but I thought both Chinatown and Little Italy took it to a next level. Chinatown feels exactly like Beijing... Exactly! The fumes, the people, the shops... It took me right back to the Orient.
Next up was Little Italy. My fellow travelers have a thing for all things 'Bada bing', so we crashed on Mulberry street for lunch. We sat down at a semi-cool breezy cafe, drank wine and ate oysters. Life's good.

The wine made our achy feet feel like Hermes' and we nearly flew a couple of blocks up. Hectic Canal street made us change our minds eventually though and we hailed a cab to take us back to Lexington.
We took a quick nap, because that night we would wine and dine and jazz at the Blue Note.
We luckily made reservations when we were still in Holland, because we got the absolute best seats of the house! We sat right in front of the stage and thus the band playing that evening.
We went to see the Bad Plus, a Canadian trio jazzing our socks off. I'm quite new to the Jazz scene compared to my father in law who's been born 'jazz', but I love, love, love all of it.
The Bad Plus are badass, go check them out!
After the show we got us some Blue Note Merchandise to spread the holy word of Jazz amongst our friends.
That night we couldn't get to sleep, because we were too pumped up by the upbeat and kick-ass performance we saw earlier.

This was a good, good day. Brooklyn stole my heart, the wine was tasty and the Blue Note unforgettable.
This day set the standard to our trip...

♥

As a kid I loved to dress up in my grandma's old clothes and accessories. We spent whole afternoons mixing and matching all the items... Vintage dresses, pre-war heeled shoes, big sunglasses, leather gloves... But we've also dressed up countless times in commercial costumes... Like superheroes or red riding hood. I guess of all the things we could play with... we loved to play pretend most of all.

These amazingly gorgeous hand-painted paper mache masks would have done the trick too. We would sneak around the house pretending to be a fox. Or giggle abundantly pretending to wiggle in the mud as a little piglet. Or jump from the stairs and pretend to fly that few seconds we were airborne like a magpie or blackbird.
I would love to get some for my future children... How could they not love these. But until then they would make nice pieces of art hanging above my bed. Ugh,... I'm absolutely in love with them!

They can be found on Etsy and are made by Jevgeniamasks. They are 33 euros per mask... a descent price for something so special. Go check them out!
I would probably sew a suit to match the mask to complete the experience. Yay!

♥

Yesterday, me and Elle went on a road trip. In Holland to be exact... our own country of which we know very, very little. It's a funny thing how we cross borders and want to travel to the other side of the world, because we think there's so much to be discovered there. But there's almost as much to be seen here...

I've been to several places in the Netherlands, but always as a child... So I didn't explore more than the playground of a camping place or the swimming pool. So when we went to visit little fishermen's towns yesterday a whole world opened up to us.
Friesland is as exotic as, well... you name it... eh... the hinterland of Australia. They talk funny, eat funny things and like to do funny stuff. I loved every second of it.
And besides being fun, the weather in Friesland is amazing. We sat in the sun the whole darn day! Without our coats on...

We went to Stavoren...Which was smaller than we thought. Hindeloopen, which was much bigger than we thought... And Bolsward, which serves Tapas. They even serve tapas in Friesland kids!
We had a blast. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and sat in the sun until we got slightly tanned. Wherever you are... always bring a tan to show off.

Also it was my first long driving experience. Needless to say I'm a mess today. I did great I think, but I'm really, really tired now.

Check out Coeur Blonde. She will post an update of our journey to the North shortly.

Was your weekend as adventurous as mine?

Picture was taken in Hindeloopen.

♥

 


I love simple accessories with just a hint of neon, teeny sparkly details or cool retro prints... Statement pieces in your wardrobe which will give your look a boost.
I just came across these cute cotton canvas tote bags and this is exactly what I mean with 'statement piece'. How rad is it to walk around rocking a cactus on your bag!

The prints used on these bags are mostly vintage-y, retro-ish prints in black and white or that seventies color-theme... I'm not really good in explaining myself, but I bet you know what I mean...
The black and white ones are pretty neutral, could be worn with about anything... I'd like to wear the colorful ones with a simple grey shirt, dark blue denim and studded boots ( which I bought yesterday... uh-huh! ).
The retro colored bags make me think of hot summers back in the days... drinking from tupperware cups in the same color ( that brick-ish orange... ) and running around in hand-sewn onesies, while nibbling on homemade apple juice popsicles ( also made with them tupperware popsicle molds ).
I'm getting carried away here... But it's worth the purchase if it brings back those specific memories...

They're 13 dollars each and come in various prints... I'm sure there's one to your liking to be found there. Check out Idiopix on Etsy!

♥

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