30 May 2014

Yummie Coconut Balls

Every first Sunday of the month there is the Sunday Market in Westerpark, Amsterdam. Which is partly a so called farmers market and partly a place for small designers and artists to display and sell their items. I personally go there for the food and ambiance. Especially on a day when the sun is shining it's just a nice hangout spot with good music, food and drinks.

So May 4th it was the perfect day to make a stop at the Sunday Market.

After a quick stop at a stand with delicious Spanish hams, we walked by a stand which said " We <3 cocos". (translates to English; We love coconut). And coincidentally there is a weak coconut spot inside of me as well. After some research I found out that " We <3 Cocos" is a creation of Pieman.nl .
Pieman.nl is a bakery which bakes, amongst others, a various range of English pies.

I saw a display window with heaps of coconut balls. They all looked the same, but don't we all know ..... looks can be deceiving. So although they looked the same they are flavoured in 4 different ways. 1) plain coconut, 2) dark chocolate, 3) white chocolate, 4) ginger/pepper. We got the plain, dark chocolate & white chocolate versions.

The balls are made of raw coconut, with some sugar, vanilla and egg whites. So gluten free and they sure do taste DE-LI-CIOUS. It's of course sweet, but not too overwhelming and still  a bit chewy.
The one with the dark chocolate reminds me of a bounty bar but much better. Instead of chocolate covered coconut the chocolate is scattered around here and there. Which is perfect because it's all about the coconut with every now and then the taste of chocolate.

The white chocolate one doesn't really do it for me. I think it's even kinda funny tasting. Doesn't really ad anything to it.

Next time I am going to try the ginger-pepper one.

It's two thumbs up for the coconut balls / cocos balls from We <3 Cocos (Pieman.nl) .



21 March 2014

TMI Tag!

I haven't posted a blog in a while. It's been crazy busy the last couple of weeks. Trying to juggle between being a busy at the office working mom of a 2 year old and finding the time to update the blog. I definitely need to find a some sort of rhythm in balancing work, home and blogging. But it's hard cause I don't want to go out slacking one of these three.

But anyway, here I am and I thought it would be fun to do the TMI tag. It's been around on youtube for a while now and I thought it was a great way to get a bit more personal with each other. So here goes!

The TMI ~ TOO Much Information tag!

  1. What are you wearing? My comfy @ home wear. So a sweater from Mango and a simple black tregging from H&M
  2. Ever been in love? Yep! 
  3. Ever had a terrible break up? No not really. Of course I had my heart broken, but in the end it wasn't terrible
  4. How tall are you? 1.65
  5. How much do you weigh? That's a well kept secret between me and the scale :P
  6. Any tattoos? Nope!
  7. Any piercings? Only got my ears pierced
  8. OTP? Carry & Mr. Big
  9. Favourite show? Drop dead diva
  10. Favourite bands? I don't have a particular favourite band but at the moment I think it's Rudimental
  11. Something you miss? The Sun! It's been raining all day
  12. Favourite song? Wow... There are too many
  13. How old are you? Do I really want to share.... aaaah... 32
  14. Zodiac sign? Cancer
  15. Quality you look for in a partner? Sense of humor
  16. Favourite quote? Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon
  17. Favourite actor? Not necessarily cause of his acting skills but he definitely has other qualities.. Dwayne "The ROCK" Johnson... umpf...sigh...
  18. Favourite colour? Blue
  19. Loud music or soft? Depends on the mood... but most of the time.. as loud as it can get
  20. Where do you go when you're sad? Home
  21. How long does it take you to shower? Weekdays.. 10 minutes, weekend... as long as I like
  22. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? I'm a slow starter. So I get out of bed at least an hour before I have to leave. 
  23. Ever been in a physical fight? Hell no!
  24. Turn on? Modesty and a guy who can make me laugh
  25. Turn off? Wrong shoes!!!
  26. The reason I joined youtube? Haven't joined and don't think I will. But never say never
  27. Fears? Clowns and proper fully painted, Apocalypse like Indians.... So ashamed to say but it's true. They scare the sh*t out of me
  28. Last thing that made you cry? The passing of my aunt
  29. Last time you said you loved someone? 2 hours ago when I'd put my son to bed
  30. Meaning behind your blogging name? Easy...it's my personal style. The way I write, the posts I share, everything. So ... My style and personal
  31. Last book you read? Her name was Sarah from Tatiana de Rosnay
  32. The book you're currently reading? None
  33. Last show you watched? Keeping up with the Kardashian. 
  34. Last person you talked to? My boyfriend
  35. The relationship between you and the person you last texted? My mom
  36. Favourite food? Ah... so much... Italian, Dutch, Spanish Tapas and so much more... couldn't choose
  37. Place you want to visit? New York is still on my bucket list
  38. Last place you were?The grocery store
  39. Do you have a crush? Yes, on my beautiful son and my boyfriend of course
  40. Last time you kissed someone? My baby boy when I'd put him to bed
  41. Last time you were insulted? Don't think I've been insulted in a while
  42. Favourite flavour of sweet? I'm more of a savoury girl but if I must choose.... Pineapple
  43. What instrument do you play? When I was younger I played the flute and a bit of piano
  44. Favourite piece of jewelry? Anything I got from close family
  45. Last sport you played? uhm...uhm... uhm....
  46. Last song you sang? Partition from Beyonce.... Like the best Artist in the WORLD!!
  47. Favourite chat up line? Did it hurt when you fell down from heaven??....
  48. Have you ever used it? As if!!!!!
  49. Last time you ever hung out with anyone? Now... sitting together with my boyfriend... 
  50. Who should answer this questions next? Please do so if you feel like it

Those were the 50 questions from the TMI tag. Hope you liked the answers.

Till next time!!! XOXO

01 March 2014

Primark mini haul

So a couple of days ago I went off to the Primark. It seems that the Primark is popping up everywhere here in Holland. I like to snoop around every once in a while. See what they have in store. It's just a good store when you need/want something new but don't want to spent a fortune.

This time the case was I had a few hours to myself and I thought "haven't been there for a while, why not take a peek". And so I did... :) When I walk around I get nonchalant. It sort of has the " Ikea effect " on me. Everything is so cheap, you go like... "Oh... € 2,-??... aah.. why not... € 1,- ?? I will slap myself in the face when I'm at home and didn't get it..." . So when it's time to slide your plastic friend through the machine called the cash register... It's more like..." oh wow ... it's more than I expected..."

What did I end up with... Let me share that with you. It's not much. It was so busy and I hate busy, crowded stores, that I went on full speed through the store.
Coral coloured blouse.
Eco bag.

Infinity scarf
Beige / Black striped. 
Hot pink nail polish from the P.S. Love line.

Nude lipstick.
It looks pretty dark but on my lips it's definitely a nude one.
Hot pink coloured lipstick from the P.S.Love line.

Lip crayon from the P.S. Love line.

Liquid eye liner.

Already I am liking the eye liner pen. Normally I use a dipliner and sometimes struggling when I want to make a wing. With this eye liner pen I make wings as if I'm a pro. So yay for the eyeliner.

This is it for now!
Till next time. xoxo

17 February 2014

Tony's Chocolonely-Crazy about chocolate, serious about people.


When talking about chocolate I can not think of one person who thinks... Ugh... no thank you! In all honesty I am not the biggest chocolate eater but that's more because I am more of a savoury kinda girl than a sweet tooth. Still, a piece of chocolate is kinda hard to resist. So when some of my colleagues at work started working on a project for a chocolate maker a lot of people got exited thinking of the possible chocolate coming around with that. And yes.... every once in a while... we would get a box of mini chocolates for the office. Hooray...!!

That's how I got in touch with Tony's Chocolonely. The chocolate maker they were working with. I had heard of them but never realized it was actually a Dutch company and that it was a company with such a clear and noble statement. A 100% slave free chocolate world. I don't want to make a big sob story of this, but I think we all know that things aren't always as equally divided as it should be and people are still being exploited to the good of others. That's why I like companies as Tony's Chocolonely. Of course what they do is such a small part of the bigger issue, but you have to start somewhere. And if I can help a teeny tiny bit by buying a piece of chocolate, that's ok by me! Don't mind it one bit. So with the excuse.. " I really really need to do a food piece on my blog I went of to get me some chocolate... "....

There are 5 flavours. Milk, Pure, Milk with hazelnut, Milk with nougat and Milk with caramel and sea salt. The first two I had already tasted at work. Not really special. To me it tastes like any other milk or pure chocolate bar. However, I really do love anything with caramel and it's well known that caramel and sea salt are besties of each other. So yes... that one was on top of my list to taste. Do I like it.... mwah... still haven't decided. While eating it you immediately taste the salt and yes it does it's work with the caramel and I was thinking..... "It's a keeper!!" But then the after taste. To my taste I keep tasting the sea salt too long. I would have rather ended with a caramely flavour. But then again my boyfriend really liked this one. Which proofs... to each his own taste.

Milk with hazelnut. Another one on my "gots to have" list. Can't go wrong with this one. It's just a yummy chocolate bar. In an ideal world there would be whole hazelnuts in the bar, but as they say themselves... "Our chocolate bars are unequally divided because things aren't fair in the chocolate world", so I can understand that this whole statement would go up in smoke if they would put whole nuts at an equal 5mm apart from each other in the bar. Side note.... I think it would be heaven to have the combo, hazelnut - caramel.... sigh...

Milk with nougat. This one is surprisingly good. Not much of a nougat fan but really liked it in combo with the chocolate. Made it a bit chewy. Can not say much more about this one then... "It's a keeper."


The website of Tony's is http://www.tonyschocolonely.com/ . It is in Dutch but they are working
 on their English site. Hope they are going to launch that soon. For the Dutchies amongst us. The chocolate bars can be bought at many places. For instance through the website. I got mine at Albert Heijn.

Some statements from their website:
* We are on our way to 100% slave free chocolate.
* We buy our cocoa directly from the cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast
* We found it strange that all chocolate bars are divided into equal pieces while things aren't as equal in the cocoa industry. With dividing our chocolate bars in unequal pieces we want to make our chocolate fans clear that earnings are unequally divided in the cocoa industry.

Enjoy!!!

13 February 2014

Happy Valentine!

Happy Valentines day everybody! May you feel loved , not only today but for the rest of your life!!! 

                            XOXO

12 February 2014

Valentines outfit inspiration

Two days and counting... Got huge Valentines plans in the make? Going out with your alltime crush, the love of your life or simply just don't know what to wear. I scoured the internet again to find some inspiring outfits and here's what I've end up with.


Have fun!