Study Time

Hi!

I've been studying for weeks now and has been like there is no end to it! But this friday I will finally have my last, phew! I'm kind of stressed out about my last two exams, because I haven't had much time to study for them. I sort of invested the majority of my time in another exam, that I desperately wanted to pass. So now, I have to get into my zone and work my ass off, and then hopefully I'll be fine! I try to make studying more fun by using colourful markers and lots of washi tape. Also, in the evening I reward myself with some candy, a nice drink and a movie to fall asleep next to. How do you survive exams? 

Oh, and after reading about this app called Little Moments, I decided to give it a go! I just use the free version, but you can also download extra fonts etc. It's really nice, you can use it as a photo editor, but there is a little something extra! You get a daily prompt every day, to take a picture of something. It might seem silly and simple, but you really end up with a nice collection of pictures quite quickly! I took this one in the "Three Things" theme! 

✎ Jade

HEMA Hair Dye - Natural Medium Brown

Bonjour!

I had my first exam yesterday, and as I was walking home I felt a sudden urge to do something impulsive. So, I decided to buy some hair dye and dye my hair brown! Now, to be honest, it wasn't completely impulsive because I had been planning on doing this for a while now, I just didn't know when it was gonna happen yet. I loved having red hair and might go back to it one day, but I was kind of sick of it right now. It kept fading every time I washed it. I really love the vibrant copper look, but what I ended up with most of the time was a faded icky colour that just wasn't what I wanted. 

I've been wanting to try dark brown hair for such a long time! I've had black hair, but that was a little to harsh and made me look quite pale. I've also tried a lighter brown, which was nice, but it washed me out a little and didn't have the *pop* I generally look for in a hair colour. So this time, I wanted to do it right!

Since I am still in the middle of exams and (a) don't have time to go to the salon and (b) hate how the salon costs so much, I decided to dye it myself. I bought HEMA's 'Natural Medium Brown' hair dye, because I've had good experiences with the HEMA dyes before. So, I just popped it on, waited 30 minutes and tadaa!

It turned out quite dark actually. I suppose it will wash out and become gradually lighter, and then the red will start shining through again. I read a lot about people who complain about the redness in their hair when dying on top of red hair (which I personally think is pretty) but this dye covered it pretty well. It looks a teensy bit more red around my roots, because those had grown out and were lighter than the rest of my hair. Also, it looks really different depending on the light. In the evening it's really dark, but in the sun it's a very warm chestnut colour! 

Oh also, going from red to dark, kind of makes me feel like Willow gone dark! 

But don't worry, I'm still my dear sweet self. One of things I love most about dying my hair is how different it makes everything look. Your clothes look different on you, you skin and eye colour seem different (I though the red hair made my blue eyes pop, but holy cow so does the brown, right?) etc! 

So anyway, if you're thinking of dying your hair brown, or it's already dyed and you need a touch up: this is a good product. For long hair, I wouldn't recommend it if you want to dye your entire hair with it because it's always safer to go to the salon. Also, you would need at least two boxes of dye and eventually it might end up being just as expensive as a trip to the salon. However, for touch-ups this dye is perfect! 

Last but not least, this hair makes me feel really French. I don't know why.

Au Revoir mes chéris!

Silent Songs

Hi!

Don't you just love watching music videos? I do, always have and always will! Back when I was a kid, I had these VHS tapes lying next to the TV, so that when I saw a good music video, I could pop it in quickly and tape it! Ah yes, I guess I was one of the last generations to experience the magical world without youtube. I still remember that tape. It was mostly full of Gorillaz, but I remember taping Year 3000 by Busted on it as well. Good times...

Anyway, I just found a wonderful Youtube Channel that strips away the music from the videos and it is really funny, and mostly, really awkward to look at! 

The Friends intro is one of their best -and most awkward- ones in my opinion:

And oddly, Pharrell succeeds in having his Happy video stripped of it's music and still being awesome. How does he do it?

Enjoy! 

✎ Jade

A Hobbit's Tale

Yesterday, I finally went to see the last Hobbit film. I thought it was really good, in my opinion the best one. And at the end of the film, when the credits started to roll, I cried. For real. I don't think I've ever cried in a movie theatre before. And -even though it was a good movie- I didn't cry because of the happy/sad (no spoilers) ending. I cried because it was over. I felt like my entire childhood flashed before my eyes. I suddenly remembered everything.

My first experience with The Lord of the Rings, was when my parents took me and my sister to see The Fellowship of the Ring. We saw it in a tiny movie theatre at the Belgian coast, where one old man sold the tickets, the popcorn and ran the movie by hand. I was enchanted. That week, we printed out the script, learned it by heart and acted it out. My dad still has an old video cassette lying around, on which you can see my mom as Aragorn (holding a ladle for a sword), my sister as the brave Frodo and Legolas, and me as Gimli (with a pillow under my shirt and an axe made out of paper and a broomstick). My dad taught me and my sister how to draw Lord of the Rings characters, and we would draw armies and fight each other. My cousin Sarah and I learned some Elvish and wrote entire stories which we then acted out. My grandmother got me The Ring.

The Lord of the Rings was a huge part of my childhood. And seeing those credits roll, hearing the music play, and realising this was it, made me feel quite emotional. Damn Billy Boyd for his singing voice! 

I will cherish these memories forever, and maybe one day, when I have children of my own, I will watch these movies with them. But which should they see first? The Hobbit films? The Lord of the Rings? Aargh! Much time to think about this. Much time... I'm sharing these memories here, because I think there are many people who feel the same way about the ending of it all. But never forget, these memories are mine. My own. My preciousss....

Jade (a.k.a. Leanor, badass warrior elf who, aside from being really cool, had a teenage crush on Haldir and Faramir)

Instagram Challenge, day 7

Hello all!

For day 7, the last day, show your favourite item! It can be anything, from a diamond necklace to a dirty napkin. Just as long as it hold value to you! 

This was the last day of the challenge, and we hope you enjoyed joining us and/or looking at our pictures! Even though the hashtag is #ExploringTheWorld, we haven't told you to hop on the train and go take pictures of the Taj Mahal -though that would've been cool- but instead asked you to explore your own surroundings, the world around you. We think dreaming of big adventures is very important and healthy for the soul, but sometimes we aim so high that we tend to feel like we're not living our lives the way we should. And that is just stupid, because hanging out with your friends or watching a great movie surrounded by chocolates is also living -and enjoying- your life. We should appreciate the little things, which can really make life incredibly fun.

So think about this past week. Go to your favourite spot, work on your resolutions, enjoy being lazy (hibernation, right?), embrace your messy hair, go for a walk and look at all the beautiful things that surround you, and then go eat something really yummy with your favourite item by your side. Now, ain't that a good day?

Last but not least, even though we didn't say it was a competition, we really enjoyed seeing Anne's pictures and would like to give her these earrings! Thank you for joining the challenge! We hope you had fun with it, and hope that you like the gift! Pm us on Facebook so we can figure out how to get them delivered to you!

Lots of love,
Tall and tiny

The Gift: 

Our Day 7 entries: 

The Female Body Throughout the Years

Hi!

You know, every now and then one of these pops up on your Facebook, inside the magazine you were reading or even in the newspaper: 

"Perfect length for women is 1m58"

"Men don't like women with tattoos"

"C-cup most popular"

I mean, sometimes these things are scientifically examined, because the difference between your waist and your hips could say something about your fertility etc. but most of these articles are just pure crap. They interview about 50 men, then post the results online and before you know it, everyone is sharing this incredibly important news through their social media. As far as I care: there isn't one perfect body. There are many. There are those who totally dig huge women (by that I mean incredibly tall as well as very fat) and there are others who prefer tiny stick figured girls. My second point is: why do they always ask men's opinions? Why not include lesbians? Might be interesting to see if there are differences (which, as I've said before, can only be scientifically proven if you use a lot of people to test this theory with). And my third point: who gives a fuck? I mean, seriously, I find that all these articles that tell us how to be the perfect man or woman for our partners are just twisted. You should be yourself, be confident and live your life the way you want to live it. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't have the perfect genetics because it doesn't matter! 

Okay, now that this is off my chest, I wanted to share these pictures with you, in which you can see the so called perfect woman throughout the years. Interesting to see how every generation has their own model. 

Also, I found this video on youtube:

After seeing these pictures and the video, I started thinking: "Would there be an equivalent for the male body?" and started to google it. It was interesting, because I came across a lot of websites explaining guys -step by step- how to 'get ripped' and found a lot of 'perfect men' pictures of ridiculously muscular and oiled up guys. So, we can conclude that there are also high expectations the other way 'round. However, I -so far- haven't found a similar chart showing us the 'male body throughout the years' nor a video like this. I did find this, though I don't think it's as strong as the video above, and whereas the above video got 21.696 likes so far, this one only got 324.

So I guess there is not the same kind of awareness about this issue that (also) affects our male counterparts, which kind of sucks for guys, doesn't it? I think women's bodies are definitely more in the spotlight when it comes to this kind of mockery and silly advise, but we should also keep in mind that it works both ways.

Be yourself x

✎ Jade

Instagram Challenge, day 6

Hello! 

We are nearing the end of the challenge! Day 6 of our #TNTExploringTheWorld challenge: make a pic of yummy food! We don't think it needs more of an explanation, does it? Jade had a lovely meal with a lot of cheese in it. Her boyfriend hates cheese and wasn't at home, so this was her chance to eat a lot of it! And elvi made some nice bread with cheese, egg and pesto! What yummy food did you eat? Show us on Instagram! Enjoy the picture taking, and of course, the eating of the yum yum food. 

Tall and tiny