Kingsday Freemarket Sale 2015

We have been pretty absent again recently, but this time we had a very valid reason: Kingsday preparations!

Just like the previous three years, we were present at the free market in our hometown to sell our jewelry (and pretty much half of Lisa's wardrobe). We expected a cold, rainy day, but it actually turned out to be a wonderfully sunny!

 

We woke up at 5 to get ready for our big move - getting a full clothes rack, a table, three chairs, and about four heavy bags of jewelry and related materials to the free market area - and to find a proper spot for us to settle. We found the perfect spot, exactly where we had our stand three years ago! After setting up, we covered ourselves in cardigans and shawls, waiting for coffee, and bracing ourselves for the coming cold and rain. We're not exactly morning people to begin with, so at events like these we always have some difficulty starting up.

But then the sun came up, and the sky was blue. Two adorable kids sold us coffee from a wheelbarrow. Lisa's boyfriend got us some breakfast, and Ivanna got us cotton candy.

And that's when the day really started to become fun! We always love having face-to-face contact with our customers, so we love market sales like this. The coming and going of family and friends is also a lot of fun, and the general vibe in the town is always great on days like these.

It's totally worth the hard labour and short nights ;) We'll be back next year!

Love,

Lisa & Ivanna

Letter Writers Alliance

In this era of digital communication it has become quite rare to read handwritten letters. However, I clearly remember from my childhood that sending and receiving letters from buddies was actually very exciting. I would really like to make and maintain contacts through real, personal letters again. That's why I have just become a member of the 'Letter Writers Alliance'!

A while ago I was a little bit bored (no, very bored) and I felt like I was not really experiencing anything new. So I downloaded Google Earth on my PC so that I could act like I was exploring the world while I was actually sitting behind my desk.

I spent some time 'driving' around in different states of the US and Canada to get an idea of how people live there. An then the idea struck me: I wanted to have contact with people who live on the other side of the world. And to make it extra personal, I wanted to write letters!

Lisa told me she once joined the project 'Postcrossing', which allows you to receive postcards from random places in the world. I really like this idea, but I wanted to write letters. In that way you can really get to know someone and add photos and stuff.

I searched for it on the internet, hoping to find people with the same thoughts. And that is when I found the Letter Writers Alliance. The LWA was started by Kathy Zadrozny and Donovan Beeson in 2007. They believe that a handwritten letter is 'a rare an wondrous item' and want to keep the art of letter writing alive. It's just the two of them who run the organisation and they are very dedicated to their mission.

You can join the LWA by becoming a member; you can get a lifetime membership for only 5 dollars. Then you will receive an envelope from Kathy and Donovan (this may take a while, depending on where you live - it took two weeks for the letter to be sent from Chicago to the Netherlands), containing a welcome note, login information, a membership card and a badge. Once you're a member you can get exclusive stationary and cards (check out their website, it's very cool!) and a pen pal.

I just received my envelope! I think the envelope itself looks very cute and I was very curious to open it. Inside there was the note, the membership card and the badge, as you can see below. They also added a free postcard. I'm really looking forward to get started and send my first letter to my future pen pal:)

xx

Ivanna

Lisa in England - Day 6 (+ Vlog + Shoplog)

This is the last day of our wonderful trip to England. A journal, vlog, and shoplog!

Since we spent a lot of time traveling on this last day, we didn't have much time to do anything but that, and drinking coffee. So no pretty pictures today, unfortunately :( We did make a nice video of our journey back, which you can watch here:

You may have already noticed that we visited quite a lot of shops. So we thought it would be nice to put together a little shoplog as well :)

We only visited a Lush store twice - I'm so proud of myself! :p But seriously, I'm a huge fan of their products, and they're quite a bit less pricey in England than they are here, so whenever I get a chance to go to England, I stock up on all my favourites. The three jars (Sympathy For The Skin, Big, and Angels On Bare Skin) are my absolute favourites, and the round shampoo bar (Copperhead) is well on its way of becoming one. The chunky brick on the right (Movis) is a facial cleanser, and also pretty nice!

Since my boyfriend and I are both former English students, we both have a sweet spot for books. The gigantic stack at the top is my boyfriend's (although we kind of bought I Am Legend and The Graveyard Book together..), which makes my "stack" all the more modest. I love the number and diversity of bookshops in Oxford and London, by the way!

On Day 4, we visited Forbidden Planet, a sci-fi /fantasy shop. I never really see myself as a sci-fi fan, but I was fangirling all over the place for the two hours we were there.  We only bought Doctor Who stuff, because we're both really into it, and this show has the best merchandise. I'm a tad bit jealous of my boyfriend's sonic screwdriver (which lights up, makes sound, and is actually a screwdriver!). We  also got ourselves a poseable Weeping Angel statue, a pair of mugs, and I even got myself a badge :p

Of course, we couldn't come home without a few souvenirs for the families, so we stocked up on mugs, trays, toys, books, and snowglobes.

And since we liked the Banksy poster for my brother so much, we decided to get one ourselves as well.

So, that was it. We hoped you enjoyed the vlogs (if you haven't seen them yet, you can find them here) and journals; we certainly enjoyed making them! We would love to hear what you liked about them, or what you would like to see differently, so please let us know!

xx Lisa (& Ivanna)

Lisa in England - Day 5 (+ Vlog)

A journal and vlog on the fifth day of our trip to England. On this day, we visited Hyde Park and the Camden Markets.

Tuesday was an extra special day, because this was the whole reason we spend a holiday in England anyway: our 10 year anniversary! It was my favourite day too, because we had already crossed all the must-sees off our list, so we had all the time in the world to just roam around the city.

We started off with a delicious breakfast at Maroush Bakery instead of having breakfast at the hotel. Mainly because we just wanted to treat ourselves on our special day, but also because the instant coffee at the hotel was downright depressing. Really, I highly recommend the hotel, especially if your on a budget, but I also urge you to visit Maroush for breakfast ;)

We didn't have to do anything, but that didn't mean we had no plan at all. Since I had never been to Hyde Park before, I really wanted to go there, and I especially wanted to see the Peter Pan statue. And take the obligatory Peter Pan selfie.

Next, we took the tube to the Camden Markets, to stroll around between to little shops and stands. I had already been there once myself, but my boyfriend hadn't, so I wanted to show him how awesome it is. If you ever go to London for shopping, you should definitely go here instead of just visiting Primark and Topshop!

Afterwards, we had dinner at Nando's again. I am almost ashamed to admit it, but it's just so pleasantly low-key, and it was close to our hotel, so after dinner we could get into bed and romantically watch Doctor Who together ;)

Didn't feel like reading? No problem at all! You can also watch our video right here:

So, did we miss anything important on our trip? What would you have done on a special day like this?

xx 

Lisa