Hard days of studying

The new school year has been going on for a good few weeks now, and I started this year with absolute good positivism and motivation. However, 4 weeks in, I have lost it all. I even lost every bit of discipline and concentration I used to have, but I think I lost that when I got a laptop 3 years ago.

However, as last year I always started my essays too late, started reading texts too late and was always distracted, I decided that this year I would do it all different. I would start in time with the readings, write my essays on time so that I could actually proofread them and correct them etc. This did not happen, not even in my first week....

I don't know why, but somehow I can't manage to do it all on time. Sigh. It might substantially improve my grades if I'd start in time, and also would decrease my level of stress excessively.

But there's time to work on that.

What bugs me a lot more, is the fact that English is not my first language and I thus have a hard time reading some texts. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty good at English, but I don't understand everything as fast as others would, especially when reading texts.

An example is when reading texts and chapters for my International Relations and International Organization minor. The course I am following this semester is called Theories of International Relations. In itself I would be able to understand it, if everything were in Dutch. I would even understand it if it was in simpler English. But what I am reading is terminology from within the IR course and people. Furthermore, the writers use such long sentences. One sentence could be 6 lines, and in that one sentence 1000 things could be told and explained. But as I try to understand each word within the given context, it takes me so long to understand one part, then on to the next part, then when I have figured that out I can't remember what the first part was about again... And then I still have to read 45 pages....

An example of this is the following sentence:

“On the side of the absolutist powers, power-balancing during the 18th century did not rest on the idea that each political actor enjoyed a priori its own internationally recognized legitimacy and independence based on natural law, which was to be preserved by an alliance against any aggressor, nor was it the automatic, law-like and depersonalized function of anarchy, which mechanically stabilized a given and re-equilibrated an altered distribution of power and territory” (Teschke 26).

I mean.... WOW. Must be a very smart sentence, but it took me quite some time to understand it all.

So yeah that is what I struggle with a lot, and then my lack of concentration also comes in, as when I read the sentence for the first time, I give up, go to tumblr and twitter and all that, then 5 minutes later I start reading it again and might understand it, but again, I go do other things... so that is one sentence every 5 minutes. 

Sigh.

I hope you all have more luck studying :)

Love,

Irma

Quote: Teschke, Benno. "Theorizing the Westphalian System of States: International Relations from Absolutism to Capitalism." European Journal of International Relations 8: 1, 5-48. 2002.

Shopping Haul

Last Monday I went on a shopping spree in Amsterdam with my younger brother. I finally had a proper shopping session again, as I managed to save some money. Basically, we went to Amsterdam to go to Urban Outfitters; that was the initial reason to go to Amsterdam. It was also the first store we went to and where we spent the most money.
Here's what I bought at Urban Outfitters:

 Hat/cap - 29 euro

 

 Felt sunflower chain - 6 euro

Printed top - 7 euro

Printed see-through shirt - 29 euro

















But this isn't were the fun ended. My brother and I still had money to spend, so as we walked up the Kalverstraat, we passed by Pull and Bear. I am in love with that store since my first visit a few years ago in The Hague. It is good quality, pretty, stylish and rather cheap clothing. I wanted to buy everything, but couldn't, sadly. Monday I also saw the prettiest heels ever: a nude color pair of wedges, of 11 cm I think, with a platform of about 2 or 3 cm. And they were so light and easy to walk on, I was in love. But I couldn't buy them as I would not have enough money anymore for the stuff I did buy:

 Blazer - 29.99 euro

 Top - 12.99 euro

Leggings - 9.99

















And then I still had money left!! Hooray! Meanwhile my brother got tired of waiting, and I also was tired of the fitting rooms (already, after two stores haha), we just strolled through the Kalverstraat. As we approached The Body Shop, I told my brother I needed to get something real quick from there, so he went into the Vans store. He's not a fan of make up stores, which is understandable.
From The Body Shop I got myself a "essential brush collection", which included an eye shadow brush, a blusher brush and a foundation brush. I only wanted the foundation brush, for my BB cream, but that brush on itself was 14 euro, while the brush collection was 18 euro, and I had a 5 euro coupon. I could not not buy it, obviously.

 Brushes from top to bottom:
- Foundation Brush
- Blusher Brush
- Eye shadow Brush














And lastly, I bought a hair product and two body lotions at Kruidvat.

 Toni & Guy casual sea salt spray - 13 euro

Victoria's Secret Body lotions - ??

Conclusion: a succeeded shopping spree, resulting in going broke to Berlin tomorrow, but at least I am going with new clothes and beauty products.

Next week will be a travel post, about Berlin!
Love,
Irma

Summer's here!

Many of you might already have finished school for the year and have been enjoying the summer already, but my summer only started this Tuesday. Last Tuesday I had my last resit and had to hand in my last essay. Even though I have had some weeks off between my final exam and the resit, it still couldn't feel like summer, as I was worried about my grade and already (mentally) preparing myself for the resit. But now all that is over, however I do still worry about my grade...

Today is Thursday, which means I have had two days of summer holiday already. Yay! And I absolutely look forward to all the free time. Next week I will go home, to my parents, and will be there till the end of the summer, because of work. (work is not so yay, but money is haha).
But Monday I will go to Amsterdam with my younger brother, to shop at Urban Outfitters, and Forever 21, ZARA and all the other beautiful shops in Amsterdam.
Tuesday I have my first driving lesson, my aim is to get my license at the end of the summer.
And then the 11th I have a party at a friend's student house, the 12th is my birthday, I celebrate it the 13th, and then the 14th of July I am going to Berlin with my parents and younger brother. Then the 18th I am going back home and they'll go further into Germany with the caravan.
Then there's a few weeks of lots of working, I hope, celebrating my birthday with friends, and then the 11th of August I am going to Sziget Festival in Budapest. I can't wait already for the festival: so many amazing artists, the weather, the people, my friends <3

I am not too excited about working during the summer, but I do need the money. I have set myself the goal for saving for a Macbook Pro. I do not only need the money for that, but I still need to buy a backpack, a small mattress and maybe even a small tent, all three for the festival. Then also I need to buy food and drinks there... And I might want to save some money for next year of being a student.

Living the adult life is expensive.

However, I will still enjoy my summer, as I have great plans ahead of me.
What does your summer look like? Do you have any specific plans made yet?'

Love,
Irma <3

May favorites

Even though today's weather doesn't show that it is almost summer, I still can't belief it is June already. May has gone by so fast, it feels like yesterday I went to Manchester on May 1st. Today I am going to write about my May favorites. It is not many, because I have forgotten what I liked throughout May, but these things I know for sure were a great success and favorite throughout May.

1. Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash. This face wash is from the Body Shop, and costs 10 euro. I really, really, really love this face wash; of all the face washes and skin clearing lotions I have tried over the years, this one still works the best. This face wash is suitable for a blemished skin, and it promised to give you a clearer skin in 10 days only. And it is true. Your skin wont be spotless, but in 10 days it is visibly clearer, and you'll have less breakouts. I still don't have a spotless skin all the time, but I do have so many less breakouts, and even days where I do have a spotless skin. So I am really loving this facial wash. Oh, and I do also use the Tea Tree Facial Toner, which is 9 euro.

2. Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream. This one is also from the Body Shop and costs 8 euro. I went to the Body Shop only to buy new face wash, but came back with a little more than just that. The second skin care product had 50% off, so I  had to buy at least 2 products. Recently, I already thought of buying a BB cream, as my face has redness and I felt starting with foundation was too heavy. So in the Body Shop, the saleslady advised me about the BB creams they had, and I was pleasantly surprised they actually had my color. Usually, I am either too light or too dark for all the colors. Anyway, the woman showed me how to apply it, and the cream feels so good on my skin, it is weightless, and covers the redness so very well. Also, it holds really well. I had it still on my face when I went to tennis practice, and afterwards it was still on my face! yay! :)


3. H&M Nail polish 'Lollipop lullaby'. I have had this nail polish for a while now, but have worn it in May again since a long time, and fell in love with it (again). It is a blue/purple-ish color, and it holds so good! All H&M nail polishes do; they don't chip after one day, they cover greatly (even after one layer), and looks spotless on your nails. Loving it, an absolute must for summer!

4. The Body Shop Lip Butter. Okay it might seem like the Body Shop is sponsoring me, they are not. Sadly :((( I just went on a shopping spree there. This lip butter is amazing, though. It costs 5 euro, which is rather expensive for a lip butter, but it is from the Body Shop Foundation, and the money raised will be used for three causes: one for babies who need a better home and are given shelter in a special home (I think), another good cause I forgot, and the third is for the bees. Yes the bees. Bees are going extinct and need to be saved. Without bees a lot of your food and fruits will be lost! The lip butter is in the taste 'dragonfruit' and is absolutely amazing.

5. 'Sterrenmunt' Tea. Yeah so I don't really know what the translation is of this in English. It is a Pickwick tea taste, and it is so YUMMY! It is fresh and minty and makes me really happy to drink. It consists of anise, peppermint, and licorice taste.

6. Sex and the City. I know it ended back in 2004, and that many people have discussed and criticized it already, but I JUST LOVE IT. I was 3 when it aired in the USA, 9 when it ended, and when it got played over and over again on Dutch TV I was still to young to understand it. A few months ago I started watching it, as I was scarce on series to watch. I fell in love after watching the first episode. What a great show, with great characters, great men, the best romances, the best fashion, and all in the best city of the world. Sigh. I cried during the last episode. I feel so sad there are no more episodes. Thankfully I have two more movies to watch, so it isn't over just yet.

I hope June doesn't goes by as fast as May does, and I hope you have enjoyed this post!

Love,
Irma

I am still alive!

Hey there guys!
I haven't written in a while. I apologize to myself because I promised myself to write weekly, yet it has only happened 2 times, so far. And now it is March already which means I haven't written at least 7 times??

So here's a post to let you all know I am still alive, breathing, running and sleeping and all. :)
Here's a quick update on my life:
I got all my credits for the first semester, of which I am quite proud. Not that I worked that hard, but still. I passed all three courses, of which I wasn't that sure I could do at first, so I proved to myself that I am capable of more than I think. So if I even work a little harder this semester and I will get even better grades! Yay good grades! Also I started working out more (aka more running in the weekends etc), and eating a lot more healthier. I am also trying to control what I eat and how much I eat of it. That has become a huge problem over the past few months, which I really hated. And because I gave in every time, I started to feel stupid, ugly and just fat. But I am neither of those, you know. And I know I can resist the cravings because I have done before. From the start of Monday, I will only buy healthy things, eat normal portions of them, and if I do decide to buy some unhealthy food, I will control myself and won't eat everything at once.

And something I am really looking forward to is the summer. Two friends and I are going to Sziget Festival in Budapest! I can't wait! Calvin Harris, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, Tom Odell, Lily Allen and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are a few of the (yet) announced acts, and there will be announced so many more and I am just so excited. Not only that, my friends and I are also planning a trip to Sweden! I have never been to Sweden but really really wanted to go, so I hope this could become reality too!

I also think you should know that I am really enjoying Pharrell Williams' new album G.I.R.L.S. It is such a good record, with really good songs and the entire album makes me happy. Not only that, I heard George Ezra's song 'Budapest' on the radio today and fell in love. After downloading his EP 'Did You Hear The Rain?' I am even more in love. Such good songs, also songs that make me feel happy, and what a voice. Loving it.

For now, this is all. As I said before, I don't live a truly exciting life haha.

Love,
Irma

Jamie Campbell Bower and more

Hello there friends,

As you might have read in my first (and previous) blogpost, a 2014 goal was to write every week. It failed. I was supposed to write the week before but didn't simply because I forgot and when I thought of writing, I was being a lazy ass and didn't write. I apologize. Here's a blogpost though haha.

Another 2014 goal was to visit at least 3 concerts this year. 1 out of 3 is done! Monday January 20th, I went to the Maroon 5 concert in Amsterdam, and I absolutely loved it! The support acts were PJ Morton and Robin Thicke and they both were really good! Robin Thicke is a great performer! Of course, I loved see Maroon 5 perform the best, because well... Adam Levine. He is one sexy man, isn't he? Sigh *drools*. During the first few songs he started unbuttoning his blouse, and my friend and I were both screaming because what is better than a shirtless Adam? Well nothing. So when he unbuttoned his blouse, it showed that he was wearing a shirt underneath it. Bummer. Ah well, the shirt did show his arm muscles <3 <3 haha :P The second concert of this year will be The1975, performing in Paradiso Amsterdam in March. I can't wait already!!! I am not that much of a fan (okay maybe I am. I have been sort of stalking them for the past weeks. And you have to admit Matty's sexy looks and voice), but still am so excited! I expect a really cute, 'cozy', fun gig!

Adam Levine in Amsterdam

Oh look at his muscles!

Now, let's talk Jamie Campbell Bower. He is one handsome, sexy, attractive, elegant, charming male. Seriously, I am in love with him. It all started when I watched The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones for the first time. I think I have been shortly charmed by his appearance before, not sure though. Anyway, whilst watching this utterly charming movie, I fell in love with him. Well, basically with Jace (his character), but then I started creeping on him and fell in love. Turns out I actually saw 2 other movies of him before: Winter in Wartime (Oorlogswinter, a Dutch movie. He played Jack, an English soldier) and of course Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Jamie played Anthony Hope). Obviously, I watched these movies again just to adore mr. Bower. Not only that, I watched tons and tons of interviews of him, and downloaded video's where he sang and I just really adore him. I don't know what it is haha. My male celeb crush, I suppose :P

mr. Bower.

One last thing before I go to bed (it is almost midnight!): IT IS SNOWING! YAY. I am happy now but it was hella cold out there waiting for my bus tonight. Could have also been because I wore converse shoes which are not really suited for winter times. I love snow the most because it looks so pretty and wintery and makes me want to lie in bed all day and watch winter movies. Snow does something to you, doesn't it? (Apart from freezing your toes off). Making snowmen and having a snowball fight is also a good thing about snow and winter time. I made two pictures but Safari is being an annoying internet browser at the moment so I can't upload them.

Goodnight for now, and I will post soon again!
xx Irma

2014 Goals

Hello there friends,

The other day I watched this video on youtube, where Oli White sets himself 10 goals for 2014. Inspired by this, I decided to write my first ever blog post about my 10 goals for 2014!

1. Write at least one post every week. Now this already sort of failed, because we are already in week 3 of 2014 and this is my first blog post, but from this post on I am going to try to write at least one post a week.

2. I want to visit at least 3 foreign countries this year. In May this year I am going to Manchester so that is one, and in the summer I am thinking of visiting Scandinavia, or maybe London, or maybe Paris? Berlin? Brussels? I really don't know haha

3. I want to run 100 km this year. That seems like a lot. Why do I want to run 100 km this year? I run 3 km a week! Wait... 3x52 is... 156. Okay this could work :)

4. Have 50 followers/readers/how do you call people who read your blog and follow it? This sounds like a lot to me. I mean, I have never had a blog... well that is a lie. I have had a blog, yet never wrote anything on it. So I have had readers, but they read it because I asked them to. I want 50 people who follow this blog and read it with joy and all other good things. Or don't read it with joy. Fine by me haha

5. Get to know the ins and outs of the beauty world. Lately, I have been addicted to video's from Zoe (Zoella), Louise (SprinkleofGlitter) and Tanya (Tanyaburr) on youtube, and their make-up is just so well done and they really know how to apply everything and what colors match and they even know which brush to use for which make-up thingy... I mean, all I use now is mascara and eyebrow shadow. So I want to know how to apply everything and be actually able to apply everything pretty :p

6.  Pass my first year as a uni student, in one year. What a nice goal for 2014. This means I have to pass all my exams and well, most of the essays. This is going to be so, so hard (especially considering the fact that I have an exam this Monday and that I should be studying right now).

7. Visit at least 2 festivals. I really, really want to go to Lowlands this year, but it is rather expensive (100+ euros and I have to work quite long for that money). Or maybe Pinkpop, which is also expensive. Then there's also Parkpop, which is free. Mark the date, everybody: June 29, Parkpop Den Haag/The Hague

8. Also, I would like to visit at least 3 concerts this year. I can almost check off one already because on Januari 20th, my friends and me are going to see Maroon 5 and I am so excited! I would also love to see The1975 play live but I''ll see if that is possible haha

9.  I really don't know any goals anymore. Oh wait. On Januari 1st I decided not to make new years resolutions but to make a new years bucketlist, which kind of failed because I haven't made one. But whilst I was thinking of making a bucketlist, I decided I wanted to read 100 books this year. After a small calculation, that meant I had to read at least 2 books a week which is impossible (I really do like reading and read pretty fast but 2 a week is simply impossible), I decided to read 60 books this year.

10. Last goal and it is... Caring less about other people's opinion. If they even have an opinion about me. Because most of the time I think people have an opinion about me whilst in fact, they have not and I am imagining it. So if I care less about their opinion I can enjoy my life more, can't I?

So here are my 10 goals for 2014, it took me some time to think about, and I got a few from Oli's video, and I really hope I will stick to them. Not even hope, I WILL stick to them.

Bye friends, enjoy your weekend! :)
xx Irma