The Girl... the Crush... S1

The Girl? Jennifer Lopez. The Crush? The shameless sexiness of this woman.

Jennifer Lopez was the first girl crush that I can clearly recall. I'm sure you all remember the dress.


Yep, the green Versace dress the made the world sit up and notice Jennifer Lopez. But believe it or not, this was not a big deal to me, I was already convinced that J-Lo was the sexiest thing on the planet. The fact that she wore that dress was just a confirmation of everything I already thought of her.

I loved that she was comfortable in her own skin. Her body shape was different from what we were used to seeing (i.e. skinny, skinnier and skinniest) and she celebrated that. That made her sexy. Yes, the make up and the clothes helped, a lot, but her confidence sealed the deal for me. She was just flawless, always. She could even run around in big hair rollers and look like this:

Flawless I tell ya!

The thing I admired most about Jennifer was her drive. She had a keen business sense that made her a very wealthy woman. Things didn't just happen for her, she was prepared, disciplined and she worked hard. The clothing line, the perfume, the restaurant... When her star rose she was ready and she worked for all it was worth.

We haven't been seeing much of her lately. I wonder if she's just going to settle down into motherhood and disapear. I hope not...

All the beautiful women.

My last post about my girl crush on Miroslava Duma got me thinking about girl crushes in general. When does admiration turn into a crush? Where is the line? And when do you know you've crossed it?

I admire many women, for different reasons. I admire my mom of course. My mom raised five children on her own. With her strength of spirit, her compassion for others, her ability to forgive, her ability to LOVE and her humor she set for us a great example of how to LIVE life and LAUGH and ENJOY life with a grateful and loving heart.

Growing up I saw a lot of strong, beautiful women around me. My aunts were wonderfully strong and fabulous women. They all just seemed so in control of every aspect of their lives. I mean they were well dressed, well groomed, hard working women, who could whip up a fabulous meal from scratch in no time. They, along with my grand mother (who was a seamstress) planted the seeds of my love of clothes and my awareness of style. My shoe addiction, however, I blame on my mother. :-) My aunts carried LV bags and wore YSL Opium and to this day I still love LV and I always wear Opium, when I want to feel all grown up.

As a result of my upbringing I admire strong, clever women. Women, like Oprah Winfrey, Anna Wintour, Jennifer Lopez, Kat von D, Iman and the list goes on. Girl crushes are different. First of all, they don't seem to be because of any one particular reason. It could be their look, their style, their attitude or many other random reasons. In fact I think it's exactly that, a combination of randoms reasons why a woman catches my special attention and mere interest goes in to overdrive and I develop a girl crush.

I kinda like having girl crushes. I like the shallow, slightly "guilty pleasure"-esque obsession with what she's wearing, where she's going and who she's seeing. I guess there we have an explanation for the phenomenon that is reality tv. But I digress...

Just as my aunts did, my girl crushes influence my style in some form or another. So I'm dedicating this week to my girl crushes. That means 5 posts on my top 5 girl crushes.


P.S. Starting Monday that is, for now, it's weekend!

The Girl... the Crush...

The Girl? Miroslava Mikheeva Duma. The Crush? Her fabulous style! Miroslava first caught my attention last year when I saw this photo on Garance Doré.

First it's her calm confident stare into the lens, that grabs your attention and then you notice the suit. The contrast of the "older gentleman" vibe of the dubble-breasted jacket, with it's boxy shoulders and dark blue pin-stripe fabric, against her very, very young, girlie-fresh face. Your eyes go back to her face and then you see those glasses. The glasses pull the whole look together. They are the common factor, the link. They go with the suit; this is the sort of outfit you'd expect a congresman or a former president to wear. Case in point:

... and they go with her face:

On her they are totally trendy and "geek chic". Throw in the heels and low cut top and the whole look gets a sexy Manhattan Librarian twist that says: "I am not a little girl playing dress up. I am a sexy young woman and I know what I'm doing." And she pulls it all off so effortlessly, she had me at hello!

From that moment I was hooked. I had to know everything about this girl and as it turned out I am not the only one. She's been featured on so many blog's and forums over the past six months, she's become the new it girl, "one to watch".

Some say her style is still very immature compared to other style icons of the moment like, Giovanna Battaglia. Others say she hasn't found her style yet and she's all over the place. Me? I like that about her. Lot's of different looks, lot's of different styles. She clearly loves clothes, all kinds of clothes. From dresses and heels to hoodies and Uggs, she loves it all and she wears it all. And yet, as Garance said, "...everyday you see only her." She absolutely owns every look and she looks like she's having fun doing it.

Here are my favorite Mira looks and why I think they are special:

No. 1

It's the dress, those glasses, the Rolex, the chanel bag and the wind in her hair.

No. 2

The matching tones of the slip under the lace, the coat and the shoes paired with the black opaque tights and the privacy of the moment captured.

No. 3

The shoes, the leathers (real leathers, not those hideous leather-look leggings), the chain brooch, the shoes and the shoes. City girl on the go!

No. 4

The dress, the tiny belt and the shoes. Understated yet fresh and again, I need those shoes.

No. 5

The preppy shirt paired with the jean shorts. Easy, laid back, comfortable.

Expect to see more of Mira. I think it's more than a crush... I think it's love. :-)

Barça and the Moccha...

As promised some pics from my trip to Barcelona. We stayed at Fashion House, a lovely B&B on Carrer Bruc. In a beautiful building with original high ceilings and a lovely private terrace, where weather permitted, breakfast is served. The rooms were basic, but very clean and neat. Downside is, during the week there 's an afternoon gymnastics class on floor above, so an afternoon siesta is out of the question.

I've been to Barcelona quite a few times before, but this was the BF's first time so we visited all the usual tourist spots.

A "must see" in Barcelona is La Boqueria. I really like it. It's basically a market with lots fresh foods, meats, fish, fruit etc. The only "down side" is that it's just off the very touristy Rambla area, but since we were doing a bit of sight seeing anyways... we went to La Boqueria. We strolled around for a bit, the BF taking photo's of all the food stalls...

... and I eating all the food. :-) btw, this falafel really lived up to it's name. It was sooooo good!

Here's the BF being very artistic with his reflection...

... and me, making a new friend. (Can you spot the Chloé Tamaris?)

This wasn't the usual shopping trip I do with my girlfriends. The BF and I basically went to get away together for a bit and get some r&r. Which we did get for the most part, with the exception for a very unsuccessful morning excursion to the Disney Store. I was on the hunt for the "Fairest of them all" necklace, which they did not have. :-( We walked for what felt like the full length of the Avenida Diagonal to get to the store, only to find out that they didn't carry the jewellery line, just toys and other useless knick-knacks. The very word Diagonal still sends the BF into howls of sheer terror. Hahaha... We did however end that day well; from the Disney Store we took a taxi (we couldn't walk another step) straight to the beach, where we sipped rosé and ate tapas till sundown. Let's just say: all's well that ends well. We really enjoyed ourselves on this trip.

Closing words: FREE FANGRIA FOR EVERYVODY! ;-)

I'm back!

We arrived last night and had to drive back from Charleroi in the pouring rain. Let me tell you that Belgium's highways are not the best places to drive in fair weather let alone on a dark rainy night. At times it was down right scary. :( But we got home safely, so all's well.

Barcelona was great... as always and sooo neccessary! I'll post pics soon. Today I'm just chillin' a bit, getting used to being back and unpacking all the wonderful goodies I've acquired. :)

One more day to Barça!

I leave for Barcelona tomorrow. I'm so excited! I've already packed everything I want to carry with me and won't be needing between today and tomorrow.

I love travelling. I like to people watch at the airport. Check out their whole style from their outfits to their luggage. Stylish luggage is an important part of traveling for me. I always look for cute suitcases and they always get damaged in transit, because I'm too cheap to buy expensive luggage. :-p Plus I'd be concerned that someone might steal my expensive suitcase and it's presumed expensive contents.

So since my last travel bag was destroyed on the way back from London last year, I get to buy a new one this year. At first I was considering a knock off of this Rimowa in black.

But I ended up falling in love with this pink lovely instead.

I hope she holds up :-) I would however really love to have a leopard print suitcase as well. Something like this one that Rihanna sported last year.

And then there's Samsonite's Black Label Opto Collection. I love the low key classiness of this line, with it's quilted leather details and bright orange accents. They range from $90 t0 about $550, which is honestly the most I'm prepared to spend on luggage. :) Someday... maybe...

PS. I'm leaving my laptop at home since I'm not sure my hotel has internet access in the rooms and they haven't responded to my email asking if there is internet access. Besides, I'm supposed to be relaxing, so no blogging till I'm back.

Boy, oh boy, oh tomboy...

I'm going to be honest here. I've grown tired of skinny jeans and I'm longing for a more relaxed look for spring. Boyfriend jeans are looking very apealing right now. I'm loving their baggy, laid back vibe.... but... and there's always a "but"... I like to give looks an unexpected twist, a little contrast, some umph, some something. So, now I'm thinking how do I achieve that. It's so easy to go a bit tomboy with baggy jeans, add a t-shirt or hoodie and sneakers and you're basically done.


For me, going the opposite direction usually does the trick. So how do I keep baggy jeans looking ultra feminine and summery? Oh and for the record, I live in The Netherlands, so I'm not expecting "hot town, summer in the city" weather this or any other summer for that matter. Jeans will do me fine. But back to my dilema, how to wear my boyfriend jeans this summer...


I'm thinking: Big sexy hair (dsquared2 like big, curly, bouncy, goodness), white t-shirts or candy colored girlie tops and pretty sandals and slippers in bright colors. Add in my lovely red Chloé Tamaris and this look could really work! I'm going to try it out in Barcelona, where it's already above 20degrees and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. ;-)


On a side note, this post brought model Omahyra Mota Garcia to mind. You can not think or speak of tomboys and not think of Omahyra.




I just love her, always have! She's an absolute original. I mean edgy, bad assed, tatted to the nines and always, always stunning!



Secretly, I'm thinking Rihanna (or her stylist) have been taking notes from Omahyra... but that's just my opninion. Ha! Call me if you need to talk about it. :-p