Tag: lifestyle

February favourites 🎉🎶

3 Mar 2019

Hey lovelies 💕,

I loved to make this post last month so I’m doing it again this month. It’s nice to write about your favourites things every month. I ate delicious food with my friends this month. I was happy to finally have fun with my friends again as I didn’t see them in so many months. I really missed it. I will also let you know other things I did, which serie I enjoyed this month, what my favourite music was this month & some other good things of February 💗

My favourite music 🎶💞:

Ariana Grande – Thank u, next album

I basically only listened to the new album called Thank u, next of ARIANA GRANDE!!!! It’s so good. If you haven’t listened to it yet, do it! You won’t regret it. I have always liked her music but I consider myself definitely a fan of her now. I would love to go to her concert and meet her. She’s such a queen and I love her so much 👸. This album is so real, honest and so beautiful. My favourite songs are “Needy”, “Bloodline”, “Fake Smile”, “Thank u, next” and “Break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored.” I love all the songs, the lyrics and music so much but these are my favourites 🎶

My favourite serie I watched 📺:

Amar es para siempre

I watch this Spanish serie every day of the week in the evening with my mother. We love it. This serie is already so many years on television. Love is forever is the title in English. It’s about different families and things happen. Right now, I love the story of Lusita and Amelia which is a lesbian couple. They are so cute together 👭🌈. I love this story as it’s important for society to accept that love is love.

This serie is played in the 80s where in Spain society was still not so open for it so they have to hide all the time. I’m curious how the story will go. There’s also another story in this serie of a toxic relationship where a man called Gabriel is trying to make Natalia falling in love with him. She’s in love with his brother. It’s very complicated and Gabriel is really such a dangerous man. I hope she can escape and it will end well. We will see 🤗

My favourite movie I watched 🎬:

Valentine’s Day

I didn’t see this movie in a long time and I love it so much. It’s one of my favourite movies. It was the right time to see it this month 💗. I love the actors so much such as Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, Julia Roberts and Emma Roberts. Those are my favourites 💕. I also loved the songs in the movie so much such as “Today was a fairytale” and “Jump then fall” by Taylor Swift. I always listened to these songs when I was in love and I still love them. I also love the song “Stay here forever” from Jewel so much. I like all the stories in this movie so much. At the end you never know how things will go but we all deserve good love.

DVD of Valentine's Day

My favourite gifts/things I got 💕🎁:

Valentine’s Day gifts

I may not have a romantic Valentine but I have my mommy who always gives me presents on Valentine’s Day 🌹. She makes me happy and feel less lonely on this day. It’s a day to celebrate love in all it’s forms. I love her so much. She’s the most important person in my life. She bought me delicious chocolate, a lavender bath bomb, a cute card and a bag. I also got the magazine Happinez which is a nice magazine full of wisdom, self care and self love tips. She got it for free from a woman in the shop who didn’t want it hahah better for me 😂 I also gave some chocolate and presents to my best friend. She also gave me a card and a lovely present.

Receiving letters and a dress 💌👗:

I received a pen pal letter from my good friend Mollie which I met on Instagram. I love to receive letters so much. I also received a beautiful letter from one of my blogging best friends Chloe. I also bought a white dress from Daphne which I also met on Instagram. It was just €10 and I really love that dress. It’s perfect for this Spring and Summer time 🌞❤️ I love you all so much. Receiving something always makes me so happy.

My favourite trip we booked 🇪🇸✈️:

Flight tickets to Spain

My father booked the flight tickets for me and my mother to go to Spain in March 💕🌞🌎🌻. I can’t wait to go again as I have missed it so much. I’m already two months in The Netherlands. I can never stay too long in The Netherlands 😂 I really feel sad and lonely this time. Sunshine makes me feel happy and less anxious. I feel like I lack so much energy these days to do anything.

I need the sunshine ☀️🌊🏄‍♀️. I can’t wait to see my Spanish friends again and eat delicious tapas. I also am thinking of planning a trip to the beach and I would love to surf soon again. I just can’t wait to go away.

Quote of travelling with a map and airplane

My favourite food I have eaten 🍴:

Pancakes made by my daddy

Typical pancakes in The Netherlands are called pannenkoeken. I love the homemade pancakes made by my daddy so much! He always makes the best ones 😍🥞🍴✌️ They were so delicious mmm.

Lunch at Cups and Leafs in Haarlem with my bestie 💕

I finally saw my bestie after three months! 😍 I love Socialdeal. You can find on this website great discounts to eat in a restaurant. We had a delicious lunch at Cups and Leafs in Haarlem. It’s such a cute and cozy place. I love those kinds of lunch/tea places so much. We enjoyed a delicious tomato soup, a delicious bread with mozzarella, pesto, rucola and cherry tomatoes and a dessert. I had a chocolate dessert with biscuits and marshmallows and my bestie had a salt dessert. I had to take mine to home as I was so full 😂. For drinks we enjoyed a delicious sunny berry juice and I had a wildberries smoothie. It was all so delicious! I can’t wait to go again. I love you 💗

Drinking healthy smoothies, tomato soup and bread with mozzarella, pesto and rucola with my best friend in Cups of Leafs in Haarlem

Tapas night at Tapasbar El Pincho in Haarlem with my friends 🍴😋

I had such a great night on the 24th of February with my friends. My bestie and her girlfriend, two other good friends from my studies and one other friend I know came. I’m happy to finally meet up with a group of friends as it’s so much fun. We ate delicious Spanish tapas. This restaurant is so good as I already ate here two times and keep going back with my friends 😍🤗. We ate bread with tapanade and aioli, tortilla, jamón serrano, champignons, aubergine, vegetable croquettes, vegetables, olives, patatas bravas, and so much more. As dessert I had crema catalana which I love so much 💕 You could also choose pie with ice cream. Spanish vibes always 🇪🇸

Friends who love food are the best friends you can ask for 😍🍴We laughed and talked so much. I’m so grateful to have you all in my life. There was even a time my face hurt because of smiling and laughing so hard hahah that’s always a good sign of having fun. Friends forever 💗💃Love you all so much 😘

Tea and apple pie at the Restaurant Cruquius with my mother

I enjoyed a nice bike ride with my mother in our park 🚲. It was sunny and about 12 degrees 🌞. Flowers are already growing in our garden. Spring time is coming soon. I can’t wait for Spring to finally arrive! 🌸💐 I’m so done with the cold winter brrrrrr. We went to the restaurant Cruquius to drink a delicious mint tea & apple pie with cream! 😍😋 I have to go outside more and move more because it’s so good for your physical and mental health.

Other things I did 💻🍵:

Seeing my oldest brother and his wife – Family time 👪

I’m happy that I saw my oldest brother Rafael and Véronica twice this month. We live 10/15 minutes away by car from them. One time me and my mother went to their apartment to drink a delicious mint tea and eat some cookies. The other time they went to our home to drink a tea with me and my parents and ate apple pie. It was nice to see them again. They also brought delicious chocolate for Easter 🍫😋. I miss seeing my brothers. I wish to see my other brother, his wife and niece also soon. The last time we saw them was with Christmas 🎄.

Took a lavender bath 💗🛀

My mother bought me a bath bomb of lavender for Valentine’s Day. I used it for the bath. It was so amazing. I love the colour, the smell and it’s just so relaxing 😍.

Applying for internships/Summer job and facing my fear

I applied to do an internship in a 5 stars hotel in Spain in a village near to Valladolid. It would be for 6 months. I would earn €250. It’s such a beautiful hotel. I loved looking to all the pictures online. It was a monastery and is totally restaurated. It has a spa, inside swimming pool and outside too. It’s a luxe hotel and is famous because of the vine yards 🍷🍇. I thought why not give an internship a try. The only thing is that for me it’s also important that I have Summer holidays as it’s the only time of the year I’m happy to enjoy the beach, swim in the ocean, have time with my friends, going to concerts, go surfing and travelling. I will have to mention that.

I was so anxious to do the Skype interview three weeks ago. I woke up with high anxiety and took a medication benzo to have less anxiety. That helped a lot as I was feeling so nauseous and bad. I was close to crying. It went very well as usually when I’m anxious to do something stressful. There were two people from the hotel interviewing me. I answered all the questions. I talked about my studies and I also talked in English. The only bad thing is that they would have to give me accommodation and food as it’s too far from our home there. However, I feel more safe in my home so I don’t know if I will feel comfortable in the hotel. You also need a certificate from your university and since I’m not studying anymore that would be impossible to get. Maybe, they don’t consider it important anymore. I got an email back last week that they want to do a personal interview when I’m in Spain. I guess that’s a good sign. I’m also so anxious to do that as I haven’t done that before. I’m just happy and proud of myself of facing my anxiety rather than always hiding from my fears 💪

I also applied for another internship at a 5 stars hotel in Valladolid. That’s also a spa hotel. There you would earn €400 and they could even hire you when you finish your internship. I applied to do a Summer job too which is to help at a surf school and surf camp in the north of Spain in Cantabria. You would get accommodation and food in return of working a few hours. You can also go surfing which is what I really want to do soon. It’s been way too long! 🏄‍♀️🌊 I will wait for all the answers. All of these things will not make me rich haha 😂 but it’s worth the experience. What do you guys think? Let me know your thoughts.

Thank you all for reading my February favourites post. I hope you all enjoy it. It’s nice to focus on all the positive things during a month rather than always staying with the bad things. It’s much easier to think negative than positive. What were your favourites of my list? Do you also love to eat in a restaurant as much as I do? 😋🍴What did you enjoy last month? Let me know. I will speak to you all in my next blog post.

Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

January favourites 💞

1 Feb 2019

Hey lovelies 💕,

I never did such a post before so I thought it’s the right time to do it. I got inspired by Chloe who mentioned it on one of her last blog posts. I also see it many times by other bloggers such as by my lovely friend Elsie. I think it’s fun to write a favourites post every time at the end of the month. Hopefully, I can stick with it. We will see ✌️ I will write about my favourites things this month such as some things I did, the things I bought, my favourite movies/series and television shows I’ve watched.

Most important things I did:

Three Kings day in Spain

I celebrated the Three Kings day also called Los Reyes Magos in Spain. I went to the parade on the 5th of January in Valladolid. It was beautiful to see. They also threw delicious sweets. I got some of them. At the end, there were fireworks which were so beautiful to see 🎆🎉 It’s typical to eat a roscon on the 6th of January which is a delicious sweet which you can see on the pictures. This day we got presents. I got the amazing CD of Alfred Garcia which I know from the Spanish talentshow Operación Triunfo.

Celebration of my friend’s birthday

I also celebrated the birthday of one of my good Spanish friends on the second of January. She was very happy with my presents 🎁. I bought her a make up set, perfume and a card with a polaroid picture of us. We ate delicious potatoes in 100 montaditos with our friends. The food is very cheap there and on Wednesdays everything is just only €1. We also went to the new Burger King and enjoyed a meal. I like to go to Burger King or McDonald’s but just once in a while because I know it isn’t good for your health.

Enjoying the first time snowing this year in The Netherlands

The first snow in The Netherlands was on the 22th of January. I made some amazing pictures which I also shared in my last blog post. I love snow. It makes the landscape so beautiful, magical and dreamy 😍❄️⛄ Nature is amazing.

Most important things I bought:

Stationery stuff and body lotion

I bought some stationery stuff last week in my favourite shop in The Netherlands which is the Action. I bought a cute sticker book with lots of amazing stickers. I love that so much. I also use it in my letters to pen pals, friends or family. I also bought a set of 12 postcards. I bought washi tape which I’m so addicted to buy. I bought one with a Valentine’s day print which covers lots of hearts. I bought stickers with a Summer theme which I like so much. It definitely sums up how much I love Summer. Lastly, I bought body lotion from Dove with smells like sea butter and vanilla. It’s so good to use this after showering or after having a bath.

Two vouchers to eat Mexican food in The Hague

I bought two vouchers through Social Deal to eat Mexican food at Havana in The Hague. That’s such a nice restaurant and also a bar where I went many times with my friend to dance. I’m looking forward to eat dinner there with one of my good friends 🌮💕. We didn’t see each other since October so it’s really time to catch up and meet up again. You can choose to eat fajitas, nachos, burritos, and have a delicious dessert such as churros, ice cream with chocolate sause and cream, or any other delicious dessert. I love Mexican food but I always ask to not give me anything spicy because my stomach can’t deal with that.

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Two vouchers to eat a delicious lunch at Cups and Leafs in Haarlem

Last weekend I also bought two vouchers via Social Deal to have a nice lunch with my best friend at Cups and Leafs. Cups and Leafs is a lovely tea and lunchroom in my home city Haarlem. I didn’t see my best friend since December. This deal is also three plates. The first plate is a soup, for the second one you can choose a bread with you want on it such as mozarella-pesto, chicken, just anything and have a dessert. I can’t wait to go and I will show you the pictures of the food and the nice time I had.

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A voucher to win a travel dream of €3000

While I was scrolling on Social Deal looking for places to eat I saw this deal. It was for free and you just had to click on it. I have now a voucher. In March they will announce the winner. You could win €3000 to use it for travelling or for anything you want. I would LOVE to win this! Who doesn’t love to win money?! I will of course use it for travelling as I want to see so much more of this beautiful world we live in. It will be difficult to win as there are thousands of people entering but you never know if you don’t try it. Wish me luck haha! 🤞🍀

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Movies:

A star is born

I finally saw the beautiful movie A star is born. I wish I’ve seen it sooner because it’s such a great movie. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are amazing actors. They also sing so beautiful. I’ve loved all the songs so much. I don’t want to spoil many details for the people who haven’t seen the movie. It’s about a difficult relationship where he is addicted. Addiction is a real illness and I really hope everyone gets the help they deserve. It’s horrible to see your loved one going through that. Lady gaga is just beginning her music career in the movie. I loved how natural we see her. The songs are beautiful especially the song “Shallow” which I already listened to so many times. That’s going to be one of my favourite songs ever.

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The persuit of happiness

I saw this beautiful movie with my parents two weeks ago. I loved this movie. There was this beautiful quote which I’m going to share right here below. I loved the relationship between Will Smith and his little son. It was beautiful to see. This movie was also heartbreaking because it makes you think about life. It’s hard to know and see that there are so many people and children living on the streets. This really needs to end. I hope that we can all make a change to make this world a better place to live in 🌍. I loved the life lessons I’ve learned while watching this movie. You will see that even if you loose everything in your life and you fail, you are going to stand up and can follow your dreams. If you work hard you can make your biggest and wildest dreams come true ✨.

Letters to Juilet

I already saw this movie some time ago but I wanted to watch it again with my lovely mother. It’s about a girl named Sophie who dreams of being a writer and travels to Verona in Italy where she meets the “Secretaries of Juilet”. There’s a place in Verona where everyone leaves their letters to lovers or exes. The “Secretaries of Juilet” write all these people back. Sophie found a letter which is 50 years old from Claire and write her back. Then Claire and her nephew come to Verona to go on a trip with Sophie who is engaged. Claire wants to find her Lorenzo, first love, after 50 years. I really loved this love story. You have to see it yourself. It’s amazing. I always cry watching romantic movies because I love them so much. I wish my life would be like a movie with a happy ending. I also like the songs in the movie which are from Colbie Caillat and my favourite song Love Story from Taylor Swift.

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Series and television shows I have watched:

Pretty Little Liars

It has been such a long time since I watched again Pretty Little Liars. I was left at the first episodes of season 5 so I started watching it from there. I watched whole season 5. I still need to watch season 6 and 7. I’m also very excited for the spin-off of Pretty Little Liars which is called The Perfectionists. Pretty Little Liars is a TV serie which is developed by I.Marlene King. The serie is based on the book series by Sara Shepard. The series is about 4 girls, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer who are investigating the disappearence of Alison. They begin to receive messages from someone mysterious who’s called “A” and threatens them all the time and wants to expose their deepest secrets. They have to found out who “A” is. The show is played in Rosewood. Sometimes I get so scared so I better not watch it again at night. It’s still a show about mistery and murder. If I heard something in my home I got scared after watching this serie hahah 😂.

First dates (UK)

I have been watching First Dates a lot with my parents. It’s every day of the week except during the weekend. We were watching last year First Dates from The Netherlands but know they only let us see the one from UK. It’s about couples who meet up and have a blind date together. They enjoy having a delicious dinner together and get to know each other. It’s very funny and nice to watch it. Sometimes they really like each other and sometimes it doesn’t end well hahaha 😂.

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Searching a dream house

I love to watch this show too with my parents. It’s every Friday. It’s about Dutch families who are searching their dream house in another country. It can be Africa, Spain, Portugal, Italy or anywhere else in the world. They let the family see three houses and then the family chooses one house which they are thinking to buy. I love it. You see such amazing countries, houses and cities. I would love to be able to one day buy my own dream house in Spain 😍🇪🇸.

Heel Holland Bakt (Whole Holland is baking)

Heel Holland Bakt is an amazing show we watch every Sunday. There is just one week left for the big final. It’s about 10 bakers who every Sunday bake. There are 3 excersises. They make such beautiful pies, cookies and just everything. I wish I could bake that well. The pies look and must be so delicious. Every week one concursant has to go away and one of them is considered the master baker. I think this show is also in more countries than just in Holland.

Thank you all for reading my blog post. I hope you enjoyed reading my January favourites. It was really fun to write. I hope to stick with this every month. What were your favourites from my list? What did you enjoy this month? Did you also watched anything of my list? Let me know. I will speak to you all in my next blog post.

Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

A to Z of my favourite things in life 💕

23 Jan 2019

Hey lovelies 💕,

I always wanted to make this blog post. I saw many bloggers doing this too. I’m going to make a list from A to Z of my favourite things which makes me happy in life. I hope you are going to like this post and be inspired by it. I’m only choosing one word or more for every letter because it’s difficult for me to choose only one hahaha 😂.

A – Art 🎨

I love art. The earth without art is just eh is one of my favourite quotes. It’s just so true. Art is beautiful. I love to go to museums and I really want to go more and enjoy paintings. I love every form of art such as paintings, photography, music, literature and dancing.

B – Books 📚

Omgggg hell yeah books are one of my favourite things in life. I want to read more this year and for the rest of my life. You learn so much of life and from the world by reading. If people hurt you, books will always be there for you. You cry, laugh and just feel every feeling while reading a good book.

C – Cats & Cuéntame como pasó 🐈📺

I love cats. I used to be a dog person too because I was always carrying about the dogs in my neighbourhood in The Netherlands. However, I prefer cats now much more. They are so cute and fluffy 😍🐱😻 I don’t know if I would ever get a cat because I’m always travelling but I love to be around them. They are really cute except that random one cat who was biting me once 😂

I love the Spanish serie Cuéntame Como Pasó so much. The actors are amazing. I also learn so much of the Spanish history with the serie. I cry, I laugh and just feel every feeling when I watch it. It’s about a Spanish family and shows how they live during that time. I can’t wait to watch the new season.

D – Dress 👗

I love to wear dresses in the Spring and Summer time. It’s basically my favourite thing to wear around this time. In Spain I can use them more because it’s much more sunnier than in The Netherlands. My favourite dresses are ones with flowers, my favourite green dress or jumpsuit.

E – Eating 🍴

I love food so much. I like to eat with friends or family at home or in a restaurant. I like to enjoy eating rather than to eat because you have to eat. Who doesn’t love to eat good food? 😋 It’s such a nice pleasure.

F – Friends/family and flowers 👪💐

Family is so important for me as well as my friends. Life is beautiful but also though so we all need a little bit of help from our family or friends. It’s so important to have the right people in your life who will love you and be there for you 💕

I also love flowers so much. I love to see them blossom in the Summer months. Flowers are beautiful and they make me so damn happy 🌸🌻🌼 This picture is from the beautiful tulip park in Holland.

G – Grass 🌱

I love the smell of fresh grass and I love to sit on grass when it’s sunny. My favourite thing to do is laying in grass and watching the beautiful clouds go by. I also like to read a book on the grass.

H – Home and hearts 🏡💕

Home is where the heart is. I love home because it’s the place I feel the most safe. I love to live in a cozy home where I feel happy and at peace. I’m also blessed to have a home because I know there are many people living on the streets in this world. Thats just breaks my heart. We have to be happy of the things we have.

I also love hearts so much. They make me so happy. I always have stuff in my room covered with hearts. I also love to have clothes with hearts prints. I have to buy more of them.

I – Ice cream 🍧

Ice cream is one of my favourite things to eat in life. I love soft ice cream, italian ice cream and just everything about ice 🍦🍨. My favourite ice cream is italian ice cream and especially the chocolate, chocolate mint chip and coconut flavour. I also like to have a Mc Flurry at the McDonald’s. You can never eat enough ice and you can eat it whenever you want, not only in Summer. The picture below is from last Saturday when I enjoyed eating a delicious ice cream with discodip.

J – Juice🍹

I love when my mother makes natural orange juice or when we make together delicious fruit smoothies. It’s just the best. It’s healthy because it’s full of vitamins and also taste delicious.

K – Kiwi 🥝

I love eating kiwis so much. They are delicious and they are one of my favourite fruits. They are very healthy and full of vitamins too.

L – Love 💖

Love is really the most important thing in life. You can love your parents, your husband/wife, your boyfriend/girlfriend or any of your friends. Every form of love is beautiful. Love is the essence of life. Life without love would be a hell. We can never have enough kindness and love in this world. Love just makes everything better in life.

M – Music & movies 🎶🎬

Music is life. I can’t imagine life without music. Music is always there for you. Music is there for you when you are sad, happy or just when you want to feel inspired. I love going to live concerts and meeting my favourite artists. I’m so blessed I live in this world where there are amazing artists and such amazing music to listen to 🎹🎧.

I love to watch movies at home. It’s been such a long time since I went to the cinema. I have to go again because I miss it. The last time I went I felt a panic attack upcoming so that’s why I don’t go anymore. I love watching movies because it makes you learn so much about life and transport you to another world.

N – Nature 🌍

Nature is just the most beautiful thing in this world. Nature is all that lives on this earth such as the flowers, trees and animals. I also love the different landscapes such as the mountains and the beach. I’m so blessed to live on such a beautiful planet. I also know that we have to take care of our planet. I can’t wait to discover and enjoy more nature this year 😍🌳 It always makes me feel so happy and calm. Nature gives us so many lessons such as to be present and enjoy the moment. This picture below is from the time I was in Mallorca. My favourite island ever! 😍 I can’t wait to go back. I have already been there 3 times.

O – Ocean 🌊

The ocean and the beach is my favourite place on this earth. The ocean is my home. It makes me feel so peaceful and so happy. I can’t wait to go to the sea soon and enjoy some surfing lessons and swim in the ocean. It’s the place where I feel young, wild and free. I love the quote of the surfer Laird Hamilton which is this one: “The biggest sin in the world would be if I lost my love for the ocean.” This is definitely that one quote which let you see how much I love the ocean.

P – Pizza, pasta, photography & Pretty Little Liars 🍕📷💕

Pizza is my favourite food. I also love pasta so much. I love to eat this food so much. Who doesn’t love to eat a delicious pizza or delicious pasta? I always eat mini little pizzas at home. I also eat a lot of macoroni at home which my mother makes. She also makes a delicious natural tomato sause which makes it even better 😊

I also love photography. I have many cameras which includes a polaroid camera and a lomography camera. I want to make and share more pictures also on this blog to let you see my love for photography. My brother also loves photography for his whole life and has now his own wedding photography company with his wife.

One of my favourite series is Pretty Little Liars. I love to watch it even though sometimes I get scared. Who’s A haha 😂 This serie is about 5 girls where one of them Alison get missed and they are trying to solve this mistery. There’s a person called A who’s blackmailing and stalking them all the time. They have to find out who it’s but things get complicated and people get murdered. I love all the actors and it’s such a good serie. I’m almost at season 6 now.

Q – Quotes 📝

I love quotes so much. We all need a good quote to live by. I find so much inspiration in beautiful quotes. Sometimes I find them on social media, on Tumblr, in a book or while watching a movie. It feels good to read a quote when you feel sad and want to feel less alone. They also makes me happy and feel inspired ✨

R – Rainbow and roses 🌈🌹

I love to see a rainbow. I think it’s such a beautiful wonder of nature. There always come sunshine after rain which is just like life. After bad times good times will come.

I also love roses so much. They are my favourite flowers among with beautiful daisies 🌼 Roses are so pretty to see and also smell so well. My favourite rose is the red rose.

S – Sun, Summer, sunflowers, singing and surfing 🌞🌻🎤🏄😎

I had to think of so many things with the s. I already wrote ocean by the letter o so I didn’t use the sea here. I love the sun which gives us so many good vibes and warmth. Summer is my favourite season because of the sunshine and more daylight. Life is just so much prettier and better in Summer.

One of my other favourite flowers are also sunflowers. I love to ride along the sunflowers fields in Spain. In The Netherlands there’s less sunshine so they don’t grow that well as in Spain. Hopefully, one day I can make some beautiful pictures there and share them with all of you.

I love singing and surfing. They are one of my favourite hobbies. I used to sing in a choir in The Netherlands for 11 years. I really wish to sing more again. I also would love to go to a surf camp again in Spain this Summer. It’s been more than two years since I surfed. I also am craving that so much.

T – Tea and travelling 🍵✈️

Tea is my favourite hot drink. I always drink it even on hot Summer nights 😂🔥 I just love drinking tea so much. My favourite brand is Yogi Tea because it contains quotes full of wisdom and also tastes delicious.

I love travelling so much. It’s my favourite thing to do in life. You learn so much from travelling. You learn from other new cultures and languages. Besides, meeting new friends is also so great while travelling. Travelling makes you have an open mind and I’m always into a great adventure alone, with friends or with family 😍

U – Underwater & universe 🐬🐳✨🌜

I love the underwater world. I don’t know if I will have courage to dive one day but I like snorkeling. I did that in Mallorca some years ago. I was amazed of seeing the beautiful fishes. The underwater world is also scary because of the unknown and there also creepy animals in the ocean. I still love to remind myself of the beautiful animals and corals there are in there and also the ones who still aren’t discovered yet. I also love swimming. It makes you feel so relaxed and calm.

I love astrology and I also love the universe so much. I love the stars, the moon, the sun and all the planets. It’s amazing how we live on this blue planet. It feels like a miracle. I love those Summer nights where I’m watching the stars and just think of how beautiful life is. I love the mistery of it.

V – Vacation 🏖️🏕️🏝️

Who doesn’t love to go on a nice vacation?! I love holidays. I love going away to a place I don’t know anyone & where I have never been. It always make me feel excited. There’s so much to see and do in this world. The world is waiting for you so whenever you get a chance take that vacation and goooo have fun 💕

W – Writing and watermelon ✒️🍉

Writing is one of my biggest passions. That’s why I also began this blog. I love to write about topics I’m passionate about such as lifestyle, mental health, feminism, travelling, books, self care and self love. I also love to share more poetry in the future. I have always been a writer. I wrote in my diaries when I was younger. I still have some journals and I love scrapbooking. I also like to write handwritten letters. I also won some prizes while writing essays or poetry.

Watermelon is my favourite Summer fruit 😍🍉 I eat that so much in Spain during the hot Summer days. It’s so refreshing and so yummy.

X – Xmas & xoxo 🎄😘

Xmas also known as Christmas is my favourite time of the year. I love Christmas because of spending time with your family, eating delicious food and feeling that Christmas spirit.

I love xoxo because I always use it to send texts or here on my blog. It means kisses and hugs. I also love it because it reminds me of my other favourite serie which is Gossip Girl. It’s about a group of friends that live in New York City and involves a lot of drama and gossips “You know you love me. xoxo Gossip girl.”

Y – Yoga girl 🧘‍♀️

My biggest inspiration in life is Yoga Girl also known as Rachel Brathen. She’s a famous Swedish international yoga teacher who lives in Aruba with her husband Dennis and her little girl Lea Luna. I still am going to share a blog post I made about her soon. I love how authentic, vulnerable and honest she’s. I love her postcasts and everything she shares on the internet. I also want to take some yoga lessons again as I only did it twice and loved it. Hopefully one day I can go to a yoga retreat in her studio in Aruba 😍🇦🇼 That would definitely be a dream coming true. I also love that I’m in the Facebook community group. We are never alone. We can all be a Yoga Girl and inspire and help others 💕🙏.

Z – zzz 😴

I love sleeping. Sleeping is also so important for your health. If I don’t sleep enough I can’t function well. I get more anxious and feel bad. Sleeping feels peaceful as it makes you forget your problems for a while.

That was my list from A to Z of my happy and favourite things in life. Of course, there might be more things but I didn’t want to add more. This post is already long haha. I hope you all enjoyed it. Could you relate to my my list? What are your favourite things in life? Let me know in the comments. I will speak to you all in my next blog post.

Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

Reflection on 2018 & happy new year to you all! 🎉✨💕💫

3 Jan 2019

Hey lovelies 💕,

Happy new year to you all! ✨🎉 In this post I will talk about my 2018 and will show you how I celebrated New Year’s Eve. I’m glad I don’t have a cold amymore but just tonight I got my period so yeah that also sucks 😭 I’m glad I take medication for the cramps because otherwise I wouldn’t survive it. Besides, I’m also being anxious about my appointment of getting one of my wisdom teeth pulled out this week. I keep postponing the appointment. I know I have to do it but I’m so scared. H e l p. I also don’t want to do it in Holland. Here in Spain it’s much cheaper and the dentist understands my anxiety but I’m still so afraid and I just feel like I can’t cope. If anyone have some more tips to survive it I will be forever grateful 🙏💕 I can always take medication for anxiety if that’s enough to help me cope with it.

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We are already in 2019. A year has flown by. As usually I want to reflect on my year with this post and also write some important things for you all. Every year has its ups and downs. Every year consists of good things and bad things which happen to us. The most important thing is how we react to all these things. I know how hard it’s to stay positive in this sometimes dark world. I just keep believing that there are so many good things in the world and that there are indeed so many good people. You just have to find your tribe. I’m so glad I did.

I’m so happy with my blogging community, mental health community, Yoga Girl community and the goddess revolution community. I’m thankful that I joined these communities this year. They made me feel less alone and so much happier. If I’m in Holland I will maybe go to a meet up with some yoga girls. I also really wish that we will continue to all be friends and hopefully one day we will all meet ✨ I know the universe brought us all together for a reason which is to be connected with awesome people, share our struggles and feel supported.

I learned a lot this year. I learn every day from this world. This year I realized that there are truly lovely people who care about you and want you to be happy. I learned that it’s better to have a few good friends than a million of fake friends. The ones who love you will always be there for you no matter what. I learned that true love exists when I saw my brother getting married in August in Spain. I learned that this life is an adventure. Sometimes we win and sometimes we loose. We learn from every experience. I also learned that it’s okay if I’m not where I want to be in life. I still have a long way to go. I will find a career I love and will keep growing. It all takes time, pacience and trust in myself. I have to love myself, believe in myself and know that I can make my dreams come true such as working and living in Spain ✨

I also went to my first feminist strike in Valladolid, in Spain on International Women’s Day on the 8th of March with my mother. This was such an empowerful event. I never went to a demonstration before. I really wish 2019 will be the year that less women will be suffering from violence. I wish that women and men have the same human rights. Together we are starting a revolution. This is just the beginning. 2019 will be the year where women can be themselves, love themselves and love each other 💕

This year I also learned that music is the best thing in life 🎶 I would be lost without music. I went to so many amazing concerts such as the Operación Triunfo 2017 concert in Madrid with my friend Maria 💕 Operación Triunfo makes me so happy and full of life. I also enjoyed the concert of Pablo Alboran, Chenoa, Hombres G and Celtas Cortos with my mother in Valladolid. I also enjoyed so much the concert of Sofia Ellar with my friend Maria. I can’t wait to see her again. It was so lovely to meet Sofia and get a picture with her. She’s the best and I can’t wait to see her singing again 😍

This year I began to read again a lot which I loved to do so much when I was younger. I will continue reading this new year. I also kept writing and being creative. I hope to create more amazing content on this blog. Writing is amazing. I travelled to Madrid, Granada, Santander and Somo. I discovered Somo which is a beautiful surfing village in the north of Spain. In 2019 I really want to go to a surf camp again 🏄‍♀️🌊🌞. I didn’t go surfing for more than two years. I miss it so much. It’s also so good for my mental health. The sea is my home and cleans my soul. The beach is my favourite place on this earth. I can’t wait to travel to more amazing places and meet more amazing people.

Somo, Santander (September 2018)

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Granada, Andalucia (July 2018)

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La Rábita, Mediterranean Sea, Granada (July 2018)

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Madrid (March 2018)

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Maybe for some of you this year was a hard year. Maybe some of you have lost someone close to you. Maybe you just didn’t felt okay and were struggling. I’m here for you. It’s okay to grief. It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to feel sad. Feelings change and emotions change but it all takes time. Try to not be hard on yourself next year. Remember, I’ll will always be there for you 💕 I hope you will invest in self love and self care this new year because that’s the most important thing that matters. I also encourage you all to surround yourself with people who love you and who bring you only good vibes because you deserve that ✨.

I celebrated my New Year’s Eve in Valladolid, in Spain. I decided to not go out with my friends. I also didn’t go out last year. I used to party every year but I don’t feel in the mood anymore. I have to do what feels good to me. I went to the hairdressers in the afternoon to cut the dead ends, my bangs and they made curls in my hair. I love to look good for myself. I dressed up at home and did my make up. My mother and I went to the house of the mother of the wife of my brother. We celebrated all together New Year’s Eve: Rafael, my mother, Véronica, Véronica’s mother and her brother. We enjoyed eating delicious Spanish food.

We ate cheese, jamon serrano, chorizo, bread and chicken. I didn’t eat the fish because I don’t like fish so much haha 😂 At 12 o’clock we watched the television and ate the 12 grapes. We also had champagne 🥂. It’s a tradition in Spain to eat the 12 grapes. They say it brings luck. We watched television where we were hearing beautiful music and we played Spanish card games. I really loved it so much. I love playing games with my family. At 3.30 am my mother and I went home and we stayed in watching some television. We went to bed at 6 am pretty late but doesn’t matter because it’s a special night. I’m glad I didn’t go out because as soon as we were home I got my period haha. On New Year’s Day we just stayed in and chilled. I saw the movie Grease. I just love that movie & the music so much 😍 I also saw the movie Paper Towns which I love so much from John Green. I already saw this movie with my best friend one day and loved it.

l wish you all an amazing new year full of love, happiness and luck 🍀✨✌️ Stay strong & stay safe. We are all in this together 💪 I love you all so so so much ❤️. Thank you all for reading. How was your New Year’s Eve? Did you stay at home or did you went to a party? Which are your goals or dreams to achieve in 2019? I would love to know. I will speak to you all soon in my next blog post.

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Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

Merry Christmas to you all! 🎅🎄💕✨🎉

27 Dec 2018

Hey lovely bloggers 💕,

Merry Christmas to you all. Thank you for always holding space for me. You are all beautiful people. I wish you all happiness, luck and love this Christmas 🎄💖✨🌟.

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Today I want to talk about how I celebrated Christmas this year. Unfortunately, I’m having a cold. My noise is running. My throat hurts. I took some paracetamol and tea. Hopefully, this will help me. I’m also going to have my period in a few days and I’m going to travel this Thursday the 27th to Spain. It’s always with Christmas that I get sick and also always with travelling I get my period. I hate that so much 😭 I just accepted that it’s okay to feel this way also on Christmas. Not everything has to be perfect.

So my brothers, their wifes and my niece came in the afternoon the 24th. We celebrated Christmas Eve with them and my parents at our home. I always put my Santa Claus 🎅 dress on just to take some pictures haha. Before dinner we unwrapped all our presents. I got a star and a heart to put in the Christmas tree 🎄🌟. For my niece I bought a purple unicorn and my brother bought a mermaid for her. I loved it haha. I just want to be a mermaid and live in the sea and be happy and free 🌊. My parents got a beautiful photography book of pictures of the wedding of my brother.

Afterwards, we all ate dinner. I felt sometimes stressed because my niece was acting bad. She didn’t want to listen all the time. Maybe she was just tired but her mother, the wife of my brother was angry at her. I know she’s right but the situation was pretty stressful. My niece was crying sometimes. Dinner was so delicious 😍 We ate potatoes with different sauces, a piece of meat, salad and stewed pears made by my lovely mother. As dessert we had delicious vanilla ice cream, fruits and the best thing: blackberry juice made by daddy 💕. We all loved it. Noanne said mmmm love it. After eating ice cream she always goes wild so she ran through the house so cray cray 😂 Then she got on the bank and was covered with blankets, pluches and got tired.

After dinner we drank some tea and then my brother, his wife and my niece left our home. We stayed talking a bit until 9.30 pm to go to the cathedral where I used to sing in the choir. My brother, his Spanish wife and my mother went to the Midnight Mass. I always find it important to go to church on Christmas Eve and pray. Christmas is about giving love to others and being there for others. I could feel myself being anxious so I took a medication to make sure I wouldn’t get more anxious. Going to see my choir always brings me so much memories. I told myself it’s okay to take medication to be calm and when I need it.

We arrived pretty early at the cathedral. We went to our seats. We could see the choir and we were not seated in the middle with all people. For me and also for my mother’s it’s perfect because we don’t like to sit with many people. My mother and I went to the toilets. They were all restaurated. There were 6 toilets for men and also for women. All clean and it looked beautiful.

The first person I saw was a girl which used to sing in my choir. She’s really nice and ask me how I was doing and since when I was in The Netherlands. I said that I was here since the end of September and that I was looking for a job in Spain. We talked a bit. She said that it was really nice to see me. It’s nice when someone says that to me 😊. Then I saw the sister of Lisa who died just three months ago. I already wrote about her so much on my blog. She gave me a strong hug which I loved. She asked me how I was doing and then I said well mmm. I asked her the same and we talked a bit. She told me I can always come with her one day to the choir to talk with them. It’s nice that she said that to me. I gave her another hug and said that she’s so sweet. She also told me that I have been such a strong support for their family. After talking to her I could already feel tears in my eyes. This story just touched me so much. I also have to say that the way she gave me those hugs were so warm and I really needed those hugs. We all need hugs & more love in this world ❤️. You never know what someone’s going through.

Then I went back to my seat and enjoyed the Midnight Mass. My choir sang so beautiful. It’s like angels are singing 😇🎶. It began at 10.30 pm and ended at 00.00. I was so happy that I just felt calm because of taking my medication for anxiety. When the Midnight Mass was ended I saw the mother of Lisa and the husband of Lisa. I walked to them and gave them both a hug. It was fine to see them again. They told me it was heartwarming what I wrote about Lisa in my blog. I’m happy that they liked what I wrote about her in my blog. I have to admit that I didn’t know Lisa that well. Stories of young people dying from cancer and just any horrible story touches my heart. I’m a highly sensitive person so I cry about everything. I can also feel others emotions easily. Sometimes feeling so deeply can make living in this world pretty overwhelming too. I’m trying to control my emotions more but sometimes I just can’t. I also wrote a Christmas card to her family with a own written poem and they wrote me one too. I’m looking forward to the Christmas card.

At the exit in the church I saw again the mother of Lisa and her husband and also the father. I also greeted him and we talked. The father asked me how I could speak Spanish. I said that I’m bilingual because my mother learned me Spanish since I was a baby. I also took Spanish lessons and had Spanish as a subject in my college. I also did my internship and exchange in Spain. I have always lived between two countries and have two homes 😂 I said that I also have good Spanish friends there 💕 We also talked about emotions. I said that Dutch people show emotions less and Spanish people are more caring and emotional. It’s also the temperament of Spaniards. Then I said goodbye and we went home.

On the first day of Christmas my parents and I unwrapped the box with presents 🎁 from the mother of my first love. My mother got a hairbrush and Christmas cocktail prickers. My father got something for cleaning and delicious tea with different flavors. On my presents she wrote: “Princess Christina.” I remember when I was together with my first love and she always said that to me in Switzerland👸 She’s so sweet 💕 I love her very much. Maybe, one day we will see them again. I got earrings, black panty socks and Mickey Mouse socks which I love so much 😍 They are so cute. I also got chocolate hearts and more chocolate for us all. I always got these chocolate hearts when I was together with my ex. They are so delicious. I also loved the card she wrote. It were all nice presents. In the afternoon we saw “First dates” from UK together with my parents. It’s a programme on tv where people have a blind date together. It’s really fun. We also saw “Heel Holland bakt”. That’s about a competition of baking. We love to watch it and the pies and sweets look so delicious.

Afterwards, I dressed up to go with my parents to the appartement of my brother and his wife. It’s just 15 minutes away by car. We ate delicious pasta with meat and vegetables, salad, bread and vanilla ice cream. We also drank some mint tea with some delicious sweets made by the wife of my brother. We were at their home at 7 pm and stayed a few hours. When we got home we saw again a programme on tv about baking. Later at night I saw “All you need is love” with my mother. It’s about couples who live far away from each other or families who didn’t see each other for a long time. They bring them all together so that they can enjoy Christmas together.

Today it’s boxing day in The Netherlands. Today we all just rested and I finished packing my suitcase for Thursday the 27th that I’m going to Spain 🇪🇸✈️ I’m also having a cold. I like the view from the airplane but I always get anxious while flying. I hate turbulence so I better take a medication for anxiety. Listening to a postcast of Yoga Girl or listening to music also helps me to calm down. I just need to have distractions. I also saw the movie It’s a wonderful life with my parents which I didn’t see before. I got emotional and cried because it was such a beautiful movie with so much meaning. At night I will see the liveshow of Christmas from the Spanish talentshow Operación Triunfo 🎤 I loved to see the finalists of this year singing with famous artists and also the finalists from last year. I love them ♥️.

Thank you all for reading this blog post. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas time. How was your Christmas? What did you got for gifts? What did you do? Let me know in the comments. I will speak to you all in my next blog post.

Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

Christmas tag 🎄🎅🎁⛄💕

23 Dec 2018

Hey lovelies 💕,

It’s time for a Christmas blog post as I didn’t wrote one this year haha too bad. I will make some Christmas blog posts this week so be prepared of it. I hope you will all like it. For today I will do a Christmas tag. I choose some questions which I found and which I’m going to answer. It was a fun post to write and brings me into the Christmas spirit 🎄🎅

1. What’s your favourite Christmas movie? 🎬

My favourite Christmas movie is Love Actually 😍 I love all these cute stories and I always have to cry. I love the song: “Christmas is all around us”. I also love the famous actors Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Alan Rickman (who plays Snape in Harry Potter series) and so many more. I also love the movie The Holiday so much which I just saw last weekend. I have to watch some new Christmas movies which I didn’t watch such as Elf and It’s a wonderful life. Everyone is talking about it. It make me curious.

2. Have you ever had a White Christmas? ❄️☃️

Yeahhhh I had and it was the most wonderful Christmas ever 💕 Christmas with snow is for me the perfect Christmas. I always celebrate Christmas in The Netherlands with my family. It was a few years ago that I was singing in my choir and that it was snowing so much. These last years it didn’t snow anymore. Just last weekend it was snowing a bit but unfortunately it’s already gone. Snow just makes me so happy because a snow landscape is soooo beautiful. I hate the cold but I love snow haha 😂. The only bad thing is that after Christmas we always go to Spain like this year on the 27th. If it snows I will have problems with our flight.

3. Where do you usually spend your holiday? 🎉

I always spend Christmas in The Netherlands with my family and New Year’s Eve and Three Kings day in Spain. I love to have two countries because I experience two different cultures and their traditions.

4. What is your favourite Christmas song? 🎶

My favourite Christmas song is definitely the popular song “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey. My favourite Christmas carol is “Walking in the air” from The Snowman. I always sang that with my choir.

5. Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve? 🎁

I celebrate Christmas with my parents, brothers and their wifes, my niece at our home. They are always coming the 24th in the afternoon. We ate together dinner and before dinner or after dinner we open the presents by the Christmas tree 🎄 We don’t have that many presents because we already celebrated Sinterklaas this month and I also will celebrate Three Kings Day in Spain. After dinner I often go to the church with my mother, brother and his wife to watch my choir sing. This is called the Midnight Mass as it’s at 10.30 pm and takes about almost two hours.

6. What holiday traditions are you looking forward to this year? ✨

I love to watch Christmas movies and I already watched some of them such as the movies Home Alone. I also already wrote and sent Christmas letters. I love to receive the handwritten letters. It means so much to me when someone takes the time to write me a letter rather than a message on Facebook or via Whatsapp. That isn’t personal. I also love to sing Christmas songs and carols. I will share one song soon on my blog yeahhh excited 🎄😍✨ I’m also happy that this year I’m doing the self love advent challenge of Melissa Wells on Instagram and it’s really fun to do. It’s important to love and take care of ourselves in this busy time. I also love to eat every day a chocolate from the advent calendar haha otherwise it’s no Christmas spirit for me.

7. Is your Christmas tree real or fake? 🎄

Our Christmas tree is always fake. I love real Christmas trees. They smell so good. My parents find it more useful to have a fake one and it’s also a beautiful big one which we use every year 💕.

8. What’s your all-time favourite holiday treat/food/sweet? 🍫

I love Christmas chocolate wreaths. This is a typical tradition in The Netherlands. You put them in the tree and it looks nice and also taste delicious. Who doesn’t love a bit of chocolate? I also love Christmas stollen which is typical in Germany and here in Holland. In Spain the tradition is to eat Turrón which I like so much. Turrón is nougat confection typically made of honey, sugar and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into a rectangular tablet. You have them in a soft or hard version. I love the hard one with chocolate of course.

Christmas chocolate wreaths

Christmas stollen

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Turrón

9. Be honest, do you like giving or receiving gifts better?

I like to give presents but it takes me time to think of what to buy this person and wrap them all. This all makes it stressful. I love to give but receiving presents is much better and less stressful hahah 😂 I love to get presents and wrap them open. I love the surprise 🎁

10. What is the best Christmas present you have ever received? 🎁

I always get most presents with Sinterklaas then on Christmas. I love to get chocolate or warm pyjamas. The most amazing present I got for Christmas was from the mother of my first love 😂. We always send a box of presents and a Christmas card to his mother in Switzerland and she does the same. I got a Swarovski bracelet from her when we already broken up. I love Swarovski crystals so much 😍 I almost never wear this bracelet because I’m afraid to loose it. When I had a relationship my ex gave a beautiful golden necklace with a heart which was also from Swarovski. I’m sad that it got stolen on a party. I never found it back 😭

11. What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season? 🗽

NEW YORK CITY 😍🎄🗽 I already went one time to New York City when I got to speak at the United Nations for winning the Many Languages, One World Essay competition of 2015. I still need to write a blog post about this. It was a one in a lifetime experience. I f*cking love New Yorkso much. xoxo Gossip Girl vibes 💕 I always loved to see NYC in series and movies and thought if it would be as beautiful as in the movies. I was right. It was even more beautiful 😍 Christmas in NYC would be a dream coming true. I would love to go ice skating in Central Park and see the beautiful Rockefeller tree. One day this dream will come true ✨🌠🌟

12. Are you a pro present wrapper or do you fail miserably? 😜

I’m not a pro because I use sometimes too much tape but I also don’t fail that hard. I guess I’m in the middle haha.

13. Most memorable holiday moment? 💕

I think when I was singing in the choir many years ago. I always felt more in the Christmas spirit because of singing typical choir Christmas songs. I will post a video of me singing a carol this Christmas. I miss singing in the choir but I also wouldn’t want to go back because of some memories. However, I think I’m going to face my fear and go to the Midnight Mass on Christmas eve. I almost go every year with my mother, brother and his wife. It’s beautiful and also so emotional. I’m catholic but I’m not sure if I believe in god but I just know that there must be something. For me going to the church on Christmas eve is really important. I want to be able to pray and think of others during the holidays.

14. What made you realise the truth about Santa? 🎅

When one girl in primary school told me that Sinterklaas didn’t exist I had to cry and that moment I also begin to realize that everything was fake. Sinterklaas, Santa Claus and the Three kings were my parents. I was 10 years old I think. It makes me sad that kids have to believe in those lies and then find out eventually that it’s all fake. There’s just so much magic in believing that Santa Claus is real. I think that’s also why Christmas was more special and beautiful when I was a child. I miss that feeling of being care free and true happiness. Hopefully, I will find that feeling again ✨ I really need it.

15. What makes the holidays special for you? ❤️

For me the most important thing about Christmas is to give love and help others in need. I also love to spend time with my family. It’s what matters the most. I tear up of thinking how much I love my family. I would be lost without them 😭 Always honor and remember your roots 💕. I sent an Christmas e-card to my mother and donated €10 therefore to the Shelter charity organization which helps homeless people. I also think it’s so important to donate money to good charities and help these people. Especially with Christmas many people are alone, homeless or need any form of help. I encourage anyone to give something back this Christmas. Christmas isn’t all about presents, food and all that materialistic stuff. Christmas is about making other people happy and be there for people who need it the most 💕 Make a change and please donate ✨🙏 You will be so thankful and happy that you did.

Thank you all for reading this blog post. I hope you all enjoyed this Christmas blog post 🎄 I’m still going to post some posts with Christmas so you know it. I already wish you all a happy Christmas ✨ May all your dreams come true. Do you agree with my answers? What do you love about Christmas? Are you excited for Christmas? Let me know in the comments. I will speak to you all soon.

Much love 💕,

xoxo Christina

10 life lessons I’ve learned in 24 years 

19 May 2018

Hola lovely bloggers 💕,

My birthday is exactly in two weeks. I will be 25 years old on the first of June. A quarter of a century… Omg so old hahah. This blog post will about 10 life lessons I’ve learned in 24 years. I hope you can all somehow relate to my life lessons. These 10 life lessons are not in any rank. I find them all equally important.

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1. Not because you took longer than others you failed

I had to do my final exam of college of a subject called Legal Dimension of Europe which was about law in August last year. I did that exam in June too but failed for 0.5 point. I felt overwhelming sad and stressed. I thought I was never being able to graduate. My study was 4 years but I took two years longer because of anxiety and the break up of my first love which was when I was 19 years old. I had to do a lot of subjects these last two years which I skipped before. I made myself feeling so stressed because of those negative thoughts that I would never graduate. At the end, I passed that exam with an 8 in August and could graduate. I learned to never give up because at the end you will succeed. I learned that it doesn’t matter if you took longer than others. It doesn’t mean you failed.

2. Everything will happen in the right time

This is also a point which relate to my words on the first life lesso. There’s not a rule in life which says that you have to graduate at 20, have your first real job at 22, get married at 25 or have children at 26 for example. I learned that everything will happen on my own time. I still sometimes find myself thinking that I have to have my life together now. It’s all okay and everything will happen when it’s your time and when feel ready for it. You have your whole life to make anything happen. Just be patient and try not to stress so much about it.

3. It’s better to have a few real friends than a million of fake friends

I’m now living in Spain and haven’t seen my friends in The Netherlands for like 6 months. I also have some friends around the whole world who I haven’t seen for years. I know they will always be my friends. The distance doesn’t matter if the friendship is real. I learned that it’s way better to have a few good friends than many fake friends. I always wanted to have a lot friends but I realised it isn’t worth to have so many friends. I’m happy I loose contact with fake people because they weren’t my friends. A friend would never bully you, laugh about you or talk behind your back. I learned that you can count your real friends on two hands and that they will always understand you and be there for you no matter what.

4. Blogging made me realise that there are still good people in this world

Sometimes I was thinking about all those horrible things that bad people do in this world. I know there are lot of bad people out there but let’s never forget that there are still good people out there. You just have to find the rights ones. I’m so glad that since I began this blogging adventure last year in August I came in contact with so many amazing people. People who have beautiful values such as being honest, sensitive, vulnerable and real. I love that I made so many great friends online. I love this blogging community so much. I love to make friends with authentic and awesome people like you all are! ❤ Thank you for always holding space for me and for understanding my thoughts and emotions. It means the world to me.

5. Saving money is really important

I have been studying two years more than my actually studies were. I’m not so much as debt as other people I know. I only have a debt around €2500 – €3000. For me, it sounded very much but then my parents said than when I earn money I can pay it soon back. Of course, I would need a well paying job. I have savings on my bank account and I’m trying to save money that I get for example for my birthday. I’m realizing this year that saving money is really important. I know that when I’m going to work I will save some money on my savings account. I could save this money for taking driving lessons once. I’m really afraid to take driving lessons once but I really want to be able to drive. In June, I’m going to have conversations in English with a child and get €12 each hour so I will save this money. The point is that I find saving money sometimes really difficult because I love to travel, buy concert tickets, buy books, buy food and clothes. I hope I can save this year more and more.

6. Family will always be there for you

I love my family so much. We can get along so well even though in some subjects we may agree. That’s all okay. What’s important is that I realised that my family definitely will always be there for me, in good and bad times. I have had some people in my life who were fake friends and left me alone when I felt bad. My family will always support me and not leave me when life gets though.

7. Let all the toxic people go in your life

I’m happy that I let all those toxic people go in my life. I just don’t want to have people in my life who bully me, talk behind my back and laugh at my face. Those are not what friends do to you. It’s really good to let those toxic people go because you will feel so lighter and happier. I only want good people in my life such as my real friends and family who will always support me and help me. Toxic people will only create drama, gossips and make you feel bad about youself. Life is too short for all that drama.

8. Follow only people who make you feel good about yourself on social media

I deleted and blocked a lot of people on my social media accounts because I don’t want to have people who only cause drama and negativity in my life. It isn’t worth it. Social media can be a storm of drama and negativity but it’s important to use it the right way. Unfollow accounts which make you bad about yourself such as a top model who look a certain way. You may think that if you look that way you will be happy with youself when it isn’t true. I love to follow people who inspire me and make me feel good about myself such as a famous international yoga teacher called Yoga Girl also known as Rachel Brathen. I love to follow real authentic people who share the good and the bad in life, who are vulnerable and real. I dislike those accounts who only share the good. Life isn’t perfect and on social media many people only share the good and I just don’t like that because it isn’t real. We all have ups and downs in life. The most authentic people on social media are the ones who show that like Yoga Girl and stay true to theirselves. That’s what make people authentic.

9. Always follow your heart and your dreams

I learned an important lesson as I’m 24 years old right now. This lesson is that you always have to follow your dreams even though you may fail. If you never try, you never know if you will make your dream come true. I’m a strong believer that following your dreams in life is really important and it makes your life purposeful. When I entered the contest to win a trip to New York City and speak at the United Nations I never knew I could win this contest. I won with writing an essay in Spanish about equality of women and men. If I never entered the contest I would never know if I could win. I was so happy to win. My dream was to go to New York City and speaking at the United Nations was just an amazing dream that came true. Always follow your heart and dreams. Deep down in your heart you know what you want but sometimes you are just too scared to take that first step forward to make your wildest and biggest dreams come true. I encourage you to do it because you never know what can happen. It will change your life and you will happy you took that first step forward. Keep on dreaming and dream big! 💕🌠

10. Travell as much as you can, as far as you can and as long as you can

Education will learn you many things but travelling will learn you things about life you don’t learn at school or in college. Travelling makes me come in contact with different cultures and languages. I love travelling and I will never stop travelling. New York City is the place I visited which was the most far away from my home in The Netherlands and Spain. I hope to visit it again and I hope to travel more and even more far away such Australia and South America. Never stop travelling. I’m so happy with all the friends I met. I have friends all over the world and I can’t wait to see them all again. Travelling will make your soul richer with every experience and will definitely make you come out of your comfortzone. You will not regret it. Go travel the world. The world is waiting for you to discover every place of it 🌍

I hope you all liked these 10 life lessons I’ve learned in 24 years. Let me know if you agree or relate to any of these lessons. I will speak to you all in my next blog post! Thank you all for reading.

Much love 😘,

xoxo Christina

10 reasons why I love December 😍🎄

4 Dec 2017

Hello lovely bloggers 💕,

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YEAHHHH ASDFGHJKL it’s December and I’m so happy that it’s finally December! It’s my favourite month of the year. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? I find December so special because it’s all about celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve with your loved ones and spread love and happiness in the world. This sometimes dark world needs that so much. Especially during that time we have to give more love to those who need it the most.

I’m gonna share now my 10 reasons why I love December so much! 😀 I hope you all agree and if you wanna add something, just write a comment below 🙂 I would love to hear the things you love about this special month: DECEMBER.

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  1. Christmas lights

I think this is one of my favourite things of December. Everywhere you go you see Christmas lights. It’s getting darker and winter is coming. However, all those lights really light up my life and increase my happiness. I love it so much. I have lights in my room too. It’s just makes everything more cozy. I find it so nice to go shopping, to go to a restaurant or go outside and see all those Christmas lights around me. Christmas lights are everywhere. Gotta love it! ❤

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  1. Christmas songs and movies 

I’m so in love with Christmas movies. I love to watch Christmas movies and drink a hot  chocolate with cream or a cup of tea. My favourite Christmas movie is Love Actually. It’s a beautiful movie and all about Christmas and love. My favourite things in life! ❤ I also love the actors. It’s just such a cute movie. I also like the song “Christmas is all around us” in this movie. It’s just so funny! If you never watched this movie, you definitely should watch it 🙂 I also love the movies Home Alone and The Holiday. What’s your favourite Christmas movie? I would love to know. I also love to hear Christmas songs. They makes me feel so happy. My favourite songs are “All I  want for Christmas is you” – Mariah Carey and “Last Christmas” – Wham! 

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  1. Christmas decorations

I love Christmas and its decorations so much. My mother is really obsessed about it too  haha. We have our home in Spain and in The Netherlands always decorated. I really like to  chill in the living room with the Christmas tree and its lights on. It just creates such a  nice and cozy feeling. Its the perfect ambiance. I also love the Christmas decorations  outside and just anywhere you go. It really increase that Christmas spirit.

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  1. Celebrations with your family and friends

This is an important reason why I love December so much. I love to have celebrations with my family and good friends. I love to celebrate Christmas with my family. This is  just such a beautiful time to spend extra time with your loved ones. I didn’t see some good  friends for almost a half year and one of my brothers a year ago because I live in Spain right now. This is the perfect time to see each other again and spread the love. I always celebrate Christmas in The Netherlands at home with my family. I always celebrate New Year’s Eve in Spain with my family. In Spain it’s a tradition to eat 12 grapes at 12 o’clock on NYE. We watch this tradition on the Spanish television. Afterwards, I always go out and celebrate New Year’s Eve with my good friends here in Spain.c45e97fb688cb6b3c83047cf35e0f60e.jpg

  1. Christmas cards

I love to write Christmas cards. I always write a lot of Christmas cards haha this year I wrote again 45 Christmas cards, which includes my dear family and good friends. I love to get Christmas cards. I love handwritten letters in general so much. It means the world to get them. This year I also draw some Christmas cards on my own. I hang all those Christmas cards in my room. Here’s a picture of some cards I draw and wrote this year.

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  1. Presents

I’m not in favor of luxery gifts such as really expensive gifts because it makes me feel spoiled. I find that Christmas sometimes is only about spending much money on expensive gifts and luxery food. I’m always thinking about the people who don’t have that much to spend or children in war. I prefer small gifts and things I really need. Maybe, I’m gonna make a blog post about the gifts I will get this Christmas. I really love to get presents but just little things and cheap things. They makes me so happy! 🙂 Some gift wishes for me this year are a calendar for my room from New York City and a cinema light box. I really want a cinema light box since so long. It will look amazing in my room here in Spain. It’s a box with letters and lights. I also want a bucketlist calendar for my room which looks really cool with quotes and everyday there will be an awesome thing that you can do. I’m so excited for the presents which I will get this year under the Christmas tree!

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  1. Food/drinks

I love the food and drinks in December. I don’t love to eat so much that I get nauseous. I just love to eat little things and enough. In Spain, many people eat way tooo much omg like I don’t know how they will not throw up ugghh xD. I don’t like too much, just enough is good for me 🙂 I love the cookies, sweets and chocolate. My favourite drinks during the cold months is definitely tea and hot chocolate. I love the brand name yogi tea where you can find a quote full of happiness and wisdom ❤ I also love a hot choolate so much. I make them at home with cream and marshmallows mmm ❤ This is my favourite cup of hot chocolate with xoxo. That reminds me of one of my favourite series Gossip Girl haha.

Here’s a picture of a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows which I made a few days ago in my favourite cup xoxo.

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I also love to have my favourite Christmas blanket and advent calendar! I got this calendar from my mommy. It’s always a tradition for me to eat a chocolate every day until Christmas. Every day it’s a different form and has something to do with Christmas 🎄🎅 December begins for me with the advent calendar! I love it haha. It really makes me feel like a child again, so happy and excited 😍😂 . What’s your favourite Christmas tradition? 💭

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  1. Christmas spirit

I think I never mentioned this on my blog before but I’m catholic. Many people forget that  Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus. I used to sing in a choir for 11 years. I always had to sing on Christmas eve and at night. It was really so beautiful to sing all those wonderful Christmas carols. I believe in god and I believe that there’s something more. Sometimes I find it hard to believe because there is so much cruelty and war in this world. There are still good people out there even though it sometimes is a dark world. For me, the Christmas spirit isn’t getting the most luxery gifts or eat so much that you will explode. The Christmas spirit is all about giving love to your loved ones and be there for all the people in need.

5 years ago my first love broke up with me and I felt horrible. I felt so sad. I still get sad sometimes with Christmas because it reminds me of that time. I’m forever blessed to have an amazing family and good friends who are always there for me to cheer me up and make me happy. There are many people who feel lonely and sad with Christmas. There are many people suffering with a mental illness, like myself with anxiety, or any other illness or even commit suicide around this time. I would like to think of that people and be there for somebody in need. I always think of the refugees and people who are suffering during a war too. This makes me realise how grateful I have to be for all the things I have in my life. It’s a time of reflection and giving thanks to all the things you have in your life while others don’t have that. We should never take that for granted.

“Serious Request is a family of annual multiday, multimedia fundraising events for International Red Cross initiatives, typically hosted by radio stations in the week before Christmas. During the Dutch 3FM Serious Request, three popular Radio DJs are locked up for six days in a small temporary radio studio (the “Glass House”), placed in a main square in a different city each year. Living on a juice-only fast, the DJs make a interactive, themed broadcast around the clock, while regular programming on the station is suspended. Funds are raised in a few different ways. While the DJs are in residence, they play songs requested by listeners and visitors, in return for their donations. Straightforward donations are made into the project’s bankaccount, and by physical vistors depositing cash and cheques into the house’s letterbox.”

I love this event in The Netherlands so much. Every year it’s a different project. I always ask for a song and donate money. I find it important to donate money to a charity especially around Christmas because I know there are a lot of people who need help and support. I hope you all think of something and help those people in need. They need your support and love! ❤

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  1. Snow

I’m always celebrating Christmas in The Netherlands. It doesn’t snow in the winters months like years before. I don’t like the cold but I love the snow haha pretty strange xD I love a snow landscape so much. I used to take a lot of pictures because it looks just so wonderful and beautiful and omg I’m in just so in love with winter wonderland. The best Christmas feeling is waking up on Christmas day with snow! The best Christmas feeling is a white Christmas! ❤ I really hope that this Christmas it will snow again in The Netherlands. Let’s pray for the best hahah! Who else love snow on Christmas day?

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  1. Lettings things go and new beginnings

I’m also one of those people who make a list of resolutions for the new year and then doesn’t accomplish almost half of it hahah xD. Who else does this? I think every day is a new day to accomplish things and do the things you love. However, the ending of the year always reminds me of letting go all the bad things that happened this year and think of all the things I have learned. I think I’m going to make a blog post about this one too. This one would be about some resolutions for the new year and things I ‘ve learned this year.

A new year is coming and we have to keep everything we have learned this year. It’s all wisdom. I don’t like that sentence of New Year, New Me. I still feel the same when it’s January the first hahah. Every year I learn new things and experience new things in life which makes me grow. That’s what I believe. We can change our life every day and it doesn’t have to be just with this new year arriving. A  year has ended and we are ready for all the new experiences. It’s a time of letting all the bad things go and for new beginnings. I really like that. It makes me happy to let all the bad things go and let all the love for new beginnings and happiness fill my heart <3.

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I hope you all liked reading this blog post. I found it very nice to write this one. Be prepared for more amazing Christmas/New Year related blog posts. I will already say to all of you: Have an amazing holiday season with your loved ones! ❤

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Love you all so much ❤ ❤ ❤

Xoxo Christina

My brother is getting married! 💑💍👰😍💞

19 Nov 2017

Hey lovely bloggers 💞,

I have some exciting news to share omggg. My oldest brother Rafael (39 years old) is getting married next year in August with his beautiful Spanish girlfriend called Veronica. They know each other because of me hahah. I matched them together. The wedding will be in Spain which is sooooo amazing! 🎉😍💕🌈👰💑💍 

Spanish weddings are really different than the weddings I went in The Netherlands. There are much bigger and more people come. There will be 80 people. In Spain people are catholic and many people marry in a church. Afterwards, all the people who are invited are going to eat together and dance 💃🎶🎤.

My other brother called Edward married a few years ago with Elke when I was in Spain doing my exchange semester. I came back to The Netherlands for the wedding. It was so beautiful and emotional, damn. I cried my eyes out. I even sang at the wedding. I was so anxious but I did it well. I sang the first couplet of When I came down to the river to pray and afterwards we sang all together with a few people. Two years ago Elke got pregnant so I’m a happy aunt! My little niece Noanne is two years old now. I can’t wait to see them again. I didn’t see them now for one year because I was doing my internship in Spain and am living in Spain now. I’m going back to the Netherlands to spend Christmas time with my whole family. I really can’t wait, happy vibes! 🎄💞😍 

Rafael, me, Edward at the wedding of Edward and Elke

Edward, Elke and Noanne live in Geldrop, in the south of The Netherlands near to Eindhoven. Rafael and Veronica went this weekend to visit them. Rafael proposed during a love photoshoot Veronica and gave her the ring. Edward and Elke are wedding photographers and they take beautiful pictures. You can see their website which is called Azcona fotografie. Rafael booked the hotel NH in Eindhoven to spend this weekend there with Veronica after proposing her.

Asdfghjkl I’m so excited for their wedding next year!!!! 👰💑💖 My lovely niece Noanne will also come. She will be three years old by then. I just love weddings so much. It’s just so beautiful to be there on their special day with all the people you love. They are going to marry not in the church but in the beautiful castle of Fuensaldaña, a village near to Valladolid. Valladolid is the place where I’m living and where my mother was born. The castle is sooo beautiful. The ceremony will be there and then afterwards we will eat all together in a restaurant with delicious Spanish food. I hope I will sing again at their wedding, who knows 🎶💃

At the castle of Fuensaldaña with me, my mother, mother of Veronica, Rafael and Veronica

The beautiful castle in Fuensaldaña💞

It’s going to be such a wonderful day. I can’t wait to buy a beautiful dress and go to the hairdresser and all stuff hahaha 😂👗For the wedding of my brother Edward I got a beautiful purple dress from a friend. This time I would love to buy a dress but not too expensive. There are so many shops in Valladolid and I still have plenty of time to look for a beautiful one so no stress hahaha 😂.

I wish my brother and his girlfriend a life full of happiness, love and luck! 🍀 May all your dreams come true. I wish you many more years 💖🌈✌

Much love to you all 💞,

xoxo Christina

Sometimes I really miss my childhood 😢💕👸🌈🌠

24 Oct 2017

Hey lovely bloggers 💕,

I wanna talk in this blog post about how I miss my childhood sometimes. I think many bloggers can relate to this aswell, if of course you had a good childhood. Not everybody has that privilige especially kids in underdeveloped countries which I find so sad 😢. I remember one time that I made a box with toys and gave it to a church and they send it to those kids. They were so happy. They even wrote a card back to me. That just made my day! 💕

This is little me, don’t know how old, maybe 5/6. I was dressing up as a beautiful princess haha 👑👸 I always liked to play that. I would still do that for a theme party. It’s just so fun. I really like to dress up. I can’t wait to celebrate Halloween this Saturday with my friends here in Spain and dress up like a witch like I do ever year 😂.

Sometimes I really do miss being this little. If I think of it I cry a bit. This was the time that I could be myself without a damn care in the world. This was the time that I could wake up at Christmas day and just be sooooo full of excitment. You know that feeling?! That’s just so beautiful. I still love Christmas so much but while having anxiety I find it sometimes stressing to be surrounded by all my family and get asked questions about what I’m doing with my life, career and all that stuff. I just don’t know what to say then. Back then nobody asked those questions. Life was just so simple. I really miss that. I could be happy with little things. As you grow older into an adult it all has to be big things such having a great job, a great partner and so on. Life is made about all those little things. 

This picture was made during Sinterklaas. I always made these crazy moves with my hand haha 😂 This is a feast which we celebrate on the 5th of December. He brings presents to the kids. It’s so lovely that we all believed in this. We all believed in Sinterklaas, Santa Claus and The three kings when it wasn’t true. I was really shocked when I knew my parents were the ones who gave me presents. It was that time that I started not to believe the things people were telling me. I felt like everything was a lie. I was 8 years old. It’s just so magical to believe in all of this as a little child. 

That time I turned five years old. I love that the table is covered with images of beer hahaha xD. 

Everything was fun when I was little. I didn’t had periods pain. I played a lot and met great friends in primary school. I was really happy this time. It was at high school that I got bullied and things just changed. It was then that I knew the world wasn’t so colourful as I imagined. It was dark sometimes and sometimes really dark. I got a boyfriend when I was 17 and then at 19 he broke up with me and my whole life felt apart. I’m going to write about that love story in another blog post. It all felt apart in just in one second.

I miss this time where I could be innocent. I miss this time because I felt safe and loved in this wold. I didn’t knew anything yet about the dangers of the world. I just felt so happy and free like everything is fun and could smile and laugh the whole day. I miss this time because my heart was full of love and not broken. I miss this time because I wasn’t afraid of anything. I didn’t know the concept of fear in life. I was climbing on the trees and I didn’t think of falling out of the tree. That thought just didn’t came into my mind. If I would do that now, I would think of being careful and only do it if it will be 100% safe to do because I don’t wanna get hurt. When you are a child you just don’t think of all that stuff. 

What I really do miss is not being able to just not think about one second and not to worry all the time. Now I’m 24, and I worry so much. I guess I believed in too many fairytales. We all have so much to do in life and have to rush to do all those stuff. Adults seem to not be able to enjoy the present moment anymore and just sit still and do yoga and meditate. Those are such great tools to get that present moment and peaceful feeling back.

This picture was made during a holiday in Spain. I love the swing and still play on that sometimes. I just such a carefree feeling. 

This picture was also made in Spain in the Basque country. I was supporting these people hahaha 😂

I have grown up with scars in my heart with being bullied in high school, having my heart broken and my father who almost died when I was 11 years old. This all caused me so much anxiety and sadness in life. After all, I’m thankful that this happened to me. It was all so hard but it shaped me. After my first love left me I couldn’t be happy and now after almost 5 years I’m able to be happy again. I now I won’t be this little innocent girl anymore but I have learnt from this all.

I learnt that life isn’t a fairytale but that it’s still so beautiful. We can make it beautiful. Its important to have deep and meaningful relationships with your family and friends. I learnt that we can add colour into our lives. I learnt that your family will always love you no matter how old you are. Your family will always be there for you 💖

Those are my two older brothers. I love them till infinity and beyond. The middle: Rafael is 39 and the left one called Edward is 35. Edward is married and has a beautiful two years old daughter so yeahhh I’m already aunt! 💕💖😍 Rafael has a Spanish girlfriend now for two years. 

I learnt that its normal to get nostalgic and sometimes wanna go back in time but its the past. We have to let it all go and move on. The future will be bright, it really will be 🌠 I learnt that we still have that child in our hearts. It’s still there but we have to set it free and be creative. I know the dangers of the world and am more careful but I still believe in the good people. I may be a real princess one day, who knows haha. What I really know is that I will be a dreamer & hippie for life. My heart will always be full of love and light because I so believe that even though the world can be seem really dark, there’s always a light that is shining out there 💫

This is me also in Spain, Basque country in the garden of my lovely Spanish family 😍

Much love,

Christina xoxo