Happy New-ish Year

You may have noticed that I've not posted anything in a couple of months, I've had a lot on my plate recently and needed one less thing to think about for a while.
Since my last post, I've moved house, got a new job and acquired a furry, little addition to the Macleod-Pieters family.

Back in November, Arjan and I were staying in our friends's house in Hilversum, looking after their cats whilst they were on an adventurous honeymoon to America. Whilst there, we made the decision to use our time in the north to find jobs so that we could get a place of our own again. We'd had no luck finding jobs in the south, but in the areas around Amsterdam there is a lot more work available and much of that is english speaking. Within a couple of weeks Arjan had already been accepted into a training course for a social media job and I had had a couple of interviews. In the final week of our stay my mum came to visit us for a few days and in that time we found our perfect apartment that was ready to be moved into only a week after we were due to leave Hilversum, luckily we have some wonderful friends in Utrecht who, not only allowed us to camp out in their living room during that time, but also gave us furniture and helped us move into the new place!

We're now living in Bussum in a newly refurbished apartment just big enough for the two of us, it's adorable and we love it. Here's a few shots of the living room:

Cat grass is the savior of my houseplants! (and yes, that bowl has been licked clean) 

Arjan's new baby and "best birthday present ever", no pressure for next year...

A few days later, during a trip to Ikea (the first of many) I received a call I'd been waiting for. I'd had a couple of interviews with a Lush store in Amsterdam and was anxious to hear the results, Arjan's wage was supporting us, but only just and we were getting desperate for a second income. When I spoke with the manager that day, she said it had been close between me and one other girl but that they had just pulled out ahead and they were only able to hire one person. I was really disappointed, I felt like I'd nailed the interview and done well at the trial period, my confidence took a bit of a beating when I heard I'd not gotten the job.
Fast forward one incredibly pouty half hour and the phone rang again. It was the owner of a wine bar/bistro called Zies that I'd interviewed at back at the start of September, they had opened in October and were doing so well that they needed to hire more staff to spread the hours out. I was asked to come in the next day for a chat about what hours I could do and to meet the rest of the staff.
It was unreal how quickly everything turned around, one minute I was losing hope of ever gaining employment and the next, I was basically handed a job!
I did a trial shift at Zies the next week and was asked if I could start work the next day. I've now been working there as a kitchen assistant for 2 months and I'm loving it. The work is hard and the hours are long, but I'm learning so much and doing something I love.

The final recent change to our lives was the adoption of Anton, our new kitty. We'd decided we would adopt a cat the second we had our own place and could afford one, so when that time came just before Christmas we took a trip to a shelter in Amsterdam and cuddled ALL the kitties until we fell in love with one little gentleman in particular. We knew he was the one when he sauntered over, allowed me to pick him up and promptly melted into my arms. He is approx. 2 years old and he was a stray cat, living on whatever he could find on the streets until he was brought to the shelter. He's now living the high life in his own cosy palace, with all the feathery toys and tasty treats he could possibly want! He still has some cheeky habits that might take a while to be forgotten (we can't keep food on shelves in his reach as he's stolen a few unlikely items before, baked goods seem to be a favourite) and he's now decided that when it's breakfast time at whatever ungodly hour of the morning, it's ok to sit on our chests and claw our faces until we wake up, but he's the most adorable, cuddly guy ever so it's hard to be mad for too long. Plus he has 'pubes' in the shape of the Batman symbol which is just awesome.     

Now that we're fully settled in and have a vague rhythm to life, I'm going to try get back into blogging regularly, so keep an eye out for the next post. I hope your 2015 has started off well, I look forward to seeing what this year has in store!

Lush Loving

I think a beauty blogger who does not know of/love Lush products is an unusual one. With their handmade assortment of goodies it's hard not to fall head over heels the second you walk through the door of one of their stores and catch that heavenly scent rolling through the air.
I remember the first Lush product I ever got was a bath bomb (naturally!) absolutely heaving with glitter and the experience revolutionized bath time for me.

Whilst showing my mum around Utrecht during her weekend visit, we popped into the Lush store to check out the new Halloween and Christmas collections. My nose was treated to many a whiff of deliciously sweet, spicy products that brought forth vivid memories of Christmas puddings, hot glasses of egg nog and cosy family celebrations. I am a complete sucker for anything 'Christmas scented'.
My mum, wonderful lady that she is, offered to treat me to something and it took me forever to decide which of the Christmas range I would go for, flitting backwards and forwards across the store having a sniff of this and a feel of that. I finally settled on the Bûche de Noël face and body cleanser, handmade with fresh ingredients including cranberries, satsumas, crushes almonds and brandy! It's nutty, sweet, rich and the hint of booziness gently tickles the back of your nose (fear not, if alcohol is not your thing, there is an alcohol free version of any Christmas products containing a tipple). I knew the smell reminded me of something (other than the generic Christmas smell) but it didn't hit me until today, if you're from Yorkshire you'll probably know what I'm on about, the smell is just like a 'Tipsy Imp' from Thomas The Baker! If I remember correctly, It's basically a boozy mince pie with a lovely sugary icing over the top instead of pastry, but they are divine whatever they are and they smell like this.  

The greeny-brown layer on the top is Nori seaweed, yes, like the sushi!

To use the face cleanser (I only use it for my face as my skin can be problematic and I like to make the product last a little longer by only using it on a smaller area) you pinch out a little lump, I generally go for something in the region of a small grape or large blueberry, and mix it in to a paste with a little water in the palm of your hand. Then take this and rub it over the area you wish to cleanse and finally rinse it off. I suggest doing this in the shower as you don't need to worry about lumpy bits flying everywhere! The cleanser contains cocoa butter and a variety of essential oils which get massaged into your skin as you scrub and leave it feeling moisturised and smooth afterwards. I've only used it a couple of times and already a little flare up of spots I had has started to retreat. Big, jolly 10 out of 10 for this one, folks!

Whilst queuing at the checkout to purchase the aforementioned cleanser I spotted the range of Toothy Tabs on a nearby shelf. I first experienced these a few months ago when Arjan's sister bought some of the 'Breath Of God' tabs and I was allowed to try some. They are basically little, solid pills of toothpaste but without preservatives and instead of a big plastic tube, they come in a tiny recycled cardboard box. The flavors are anything but conventional as well, ranging from sandal wood and fennel to mint and wasabi. You chew up the pill between your front teeth, wet your brush and carry on as normal. At first its a bit of an odd sensation, solid toothpaste that you chew?! But when you feel those squeaky-clean pearly-whites and notice how long the freshness lasts you will be hooked.
I opted for 'Chou Chou... I love you' which is a delightful blend of rose and lemon. It's reminiscent of good quality Turkish Delight and leaves the breath floral without smelling like Granny's perfume. Arjan is even enjoying them and, as someone who is always insistent on super-minty toothpastes, the pleasantly surprised look on his face when he first tried them was... well... pleasantly surprising!
I can honestly say I think we have been converted from toothpaste to Toothy Tabs and I plan on trying a different variety every time we need a new box!

In Stitches: Slouchy Beanie

Arjan modeling his new hat beautifully

Here you can see the decreasing K2togs forming a spiral pattern.

I've gotten back into knitting again, having taken a break over the summer. Last year I learnt how to knit a simple beanie on straight needles by, essentially, knitting a rectangle of pattern and then joining the edges to form the hat. This year I got some circular needles from my mum (cheers Loz!) and I decided to try out some things on them.
The first thing I thought of was a better beanie pattern! On the circular needles it is so easy, every row is a 'right-side' row and there are no seams on the finished product.

I started with casting on 80 stitches on my 6.5mm circular needles and began with a knit 2, purl 2 ribbing. Once the ribbing is as long as you want it, just knit, knit knit! You can work out where the 'end of a row' is by finding the tail end of the yarn and following the stitches up (I hope this makes some kind of sense) or to make life easier you can use a stitch marker of some kind!
When you've reached a length about 1 inch shorter than the top of your head (you can measure this by trying on your hat-in-progress and seeing if it's big enough) you need to start decreasing stitches.
You should have 80 to start with:
On the first round knit 8 then knit 2 tog (K2tog), repeat.
Then do a normal round of knitting all stitches.
Next knit 7 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 6 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 5 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 4 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 3 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 2 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
Knit 1 then K2tog, repeat.
Knit all stitches.
K2tog, repeat.

(If all has gone well) You should end up with 8 stitches at this point, you now want to cut a good tail of yarn and join all of these stitches together by passing the tail through all of them, using a tapestry needle. You can then turn the hat inside out, tie a good knot in the end of the tail and trim it/weave in the end. And voila! You can admire your newly created slouchy beanie!

I hope this has made some vague kind of sense, it may be that only people with at least a basic knowledge of knitting can muddle through and work out what I'm trying to get at, but hey ho! Give it a try and comment if you find a problem.

Outfit: Autumn Knit Wear

Sunglasses - market in Brighton
Scarf - Self-knitted
Jumper - H&M
Skirt - H&M
Boots - Urban Outfitters 

I love Autumn outfits, they're so cosy and comfortable and layering gives you so many more options. I got this jumper in the sales a few weeks ago and I've been wearing it so much recently. It's the perfect weight, heavy enough but loosely knit so if it's a bit warmer it isn't too thick worn on its own.
I'm also pretty proud of my scarf so I've been wearing it a lot too, sometimes even when it's not really weather appropriate, which has resulted in some over-heating situations.

Back to Black

I’ve always loved dying my hair, never one for drastic hair cuts, it’s my way of changing things up for a while. I quickly get bored though and move onto something different, so no colour has ever lasted more than a box or two.

Suprisingly, I’ve had my hair red for almost a whole year now! But after a bleaching incident that shall never be repeated, I fancied something a little less high maintenance. I searched Pinterest for inspiration and found myself leaning towards shimmering blacks with a hint of blue. I’ve done something similar in the past so knew it would work and got onto the internet to see which brand of dye had the best option. I quickly narrowed it down to the Garnier Nutrisse Ultra Marines, no other brand had such a strong blue tone.

Sadly, it proved almost impossible to find. None of the drug stores in the Netherlands had it and so I had to order from Superdrug and have my mum send it on to me. 

It all went swimmingly and I was really pleased with the results, until Arjan spotted the red patches at the back... 

So a correctional hair-dressers appointment later and I'm all fixed up. The colour I've ended up with is a lot less blue than the Nutrisse, but now that it's even all over, when I need to do my roots I will get another box of that to freshen it up. 

In Stitches: Socks

I've recently gotten back into knitting whilst watching telly. I think I was spurred into it by the sudden change in weather that we had a couple of weeks ago (although we're now getting an indian summer) and I picked up a couple of pieces I'd started earlier in the year.
As a relatively inexperienced knitter, I didn't stray far from simple beany hats, scarves and... well that's pretty much it, but then I got a little more confident and decided I wanted to try something a little more testing. When I first found my mother-in-law's double pointed needles I was a little terrified at the prospect of so many pokey bits at once, but my mum suggested looking up a sock tutorial and giving it a go.
I perused the web for something simple enough and not completely daunting and came across this tutorial called Silver's Sock Class. I had a read through and was pleasantly surprised at how clearly everything was laid out, there were pictures, colour coordinated stitch numbers and needle by needle instructions.
I decided that Arjan would be the lucky owner of sock test run #1 and let him pick out some yarn for it. He went with an alternating white/grey/black and, with needles in hand, I went boldly into the unknown!

The first few rounds were hell, I won't lie. I was being stabbed left, right and centre and had an almost overwhelming urge to throw the whole thing across the room and cry. But I soldiered on and after a while began to get the hang of manoeuvring this point here and turning that point there to obtain the minimum wounds.
Now don't ask me what yarn weight I was using, I still have no idea how to work that out if I don't have the packaging in front of me, so I went with the sock weight instructions as I would rather the sock were a little too big than a little too small.
I don't remember how long it took me to complete sock #1, but I remember being fairly obsessive with it as I was terrified of putting it down and not being able to find where I was again.
When it was finished I was amazed at how sock like it was! There were no unsightly holes, lumps or bumps and more importantly, like Cinderella with her glass slipper, it fit Arjan perfectly!

After the stress of completing sock #1, I started sock #2 but then decided I needed a break to recuperate.... and didn't pick up my needles again for the next 6 months.
As previously mentioned, I decided to start knitting again a couple of weeks ago and, fearing that I had forgotten how to knit, I picked up an unfinished circle scarf with a simple knit 3, purl 3 pattern to ease myself back into it.
Upon the completion of the scarf (which may well feature in a post sometime soon) I knew it was time to pick up the tiny ring of ribbing that was the start of sock #2's ankle.
It went swimmingly! There were only a couple of incidents when I sat questioning the universe why I had done this to myself, but they were fleeting and before I knew it, I was grafting the toe of sock #2!
Nervously, I took both socks in hand and held them heel to heel and lo and behold, they were the same size!!

I had done the impossible (for me anyway) and created, with my own two hands, a pair of socks! I am so proud of myself, I feel like I could knit socks for an army!
Because I used thicker yarn, these are lovely, chunky, toasty socks and I think I'll buy some of those little sticky-pad-things for the sole so they're like slipper socks. Anyway, here they are modelled beautifully by their new owner!

Ankle ribbing 

Here you can see the diagonal line of decreasing stitches for the toe 

Bouncing Back

Today I wanted to write a bit about some struggles I've been facing recently and how I've been trying to overcome them. Everybody has their own hurdles in life and I find one of the best ways to get over them is by hearing/reading about other peoples experiences, it helps you to realize you are not going through this alone! So sorry for the long post, but it will help me to share this and hopefully it can help someone else too.

Those of you who know me, or have been reading my blog for a while, will know that I've been living in the Netherlands for just over a year now. Arjan and I moved here after he graduated from university to try to make something of our band, the music industry is much better for new bands in the Netherlands than in the UK. We originally planned to live at his parents's house for one or two months, enough time to find jobs and get our own place again. Or so we thought.
We both searched for jobs non-stop at the beginning, focusing on the city Maastricht as we wanted to move there. We assumed that, because of the multi-lingual university situated in the city, there would be english speaking jobs available, either in student bars or facilities near the campus, but after a good time looking and a few visits to recruitment agencies, it became apparent that they were few and far between. Any that were available were true 'professional' jobs and seeing as I dropped out of my university course and have no degree, there weren't any I was suitable for.
Arjan graduated with a degree in song-writing, useful to the progress and successful management of our band, but not to most prospective employers.
There was a lot of disappointment through this time, we were surprised at how much more difficult this process was than we thought it would be and I can't speak for Arjan, but my confidence and determination took a severe beating.

After a while, we decided to focus on the band, we wrote some more songs, booked gigs almost every weekend and worked towards recording a second EP. It was a release to have something else to concentrate on for a while and not have the pressure of job-hunting constantly on my mind. It also gave me an excuse to visit home more regularly than I normally would have been able to. My parents both work full time and my brothers aren't particularly house-trained, so I would go home for a week and give the house a thorough scrubbing, feed everyone and stock the freezers with quick dinners. My mum paid me for the help and I enjoyed being back for a time.

It was very easy to settle in to that kind of life; weekly gigs, blogging, helping Arjan's Oma and trips home tricked me into feeling productive, but in reality we spent most of our days doing nothing.
A couple of years ago I slid into a deep depression, I couldn't attend my classes, I could barely leave the house and I felt like I couldn't talk to my family about it. Earlier in the year, without anything to keep me busy and give me a rhythm, I could feel myself steadily dropping into that horribly familiar feeling. Luckily, my mum and I are closer than we've ever been and since moving here, we have been having great, long phone calls where we can get any troubles off our chests and have a good rant to each other. It's been a real help to me and it's entirely possible that I would have given up and moved back home long before without them.  

A few months ago Arjan was told by a family friend that one of the postal services was looking for local delivery people, so he emailed in and shortly after, was assigned a route through the village. I decided to help him and twice a week we're brought crates of post that we have to organize and then deliver. It's in no way something you could live off of, but it's keeping us busy and giving us a little money. I've also found that having that regularity in my life has made me much less afraid at the prospect of a proper job again.

You've probably noticed that Utrecht has been featuring in a lot of my recent posts, we've been staying with friends there quite regularly over the last few months and have fallen in love with the city, not long ago we resolved to find jobs and move there, so we started the hunt once more. Utrecht is a large city with another big, multi-lingual university and you hear a lot of english speakers on the streets, it's also in close proximity to Amsterdam, so once again we assumed that there would be a lot of english speakings jobs available. Although my dutch has progressed a lot over the last year and I can understand about 60-70% of conversations (when not held at lightening speed), I'm still not great at speaking it, I get confused about what words should go where and I'm embarrassed to try incase I get it wrong (I envy people who will just give it a go no matter how ridiculously wrong they may get it).
We spent days walking around, handing CVs out to anyone with signs in the windows, emailing companies and going to recruitment agencies. But once again, nothing came of it. We didn't let this rattle us though, being in Utrecht and having (temporary) independence reminded us why we were doing it and kept us determined.

One day we were just going to the cash machine down the road from where we were staying and we saw a place with the windows covered and huge posters asking for waiting staff, chefs and kitchen help. I have always loved cooking and have thought about working in a professional kitchen many times so this seemed like the perfect chance.
To my complete surprise I received a reply to my email that wasn't a no! I spoke a bit with the owner of the business and eventually arranged an interview during the time I was next in Utrecht. I am a naturally pessimistic person, so even with an interview I was convinced that it would go horribly or that they would just flat-out reject me for not having previous experience in a kitchen or something like that. I was a nervous wreck on the way there that morning, my heart was in my throat I couldn't eat for the butterflies in my stomach and I had Arjan rehearse over and over what points I should discuss with them. But it went brilliantly! I left with a huge smile on my face and felt almost certain that I had gotten the job. I was told I would need to wait a couple of weeks for a reply and so I did, happily. But a couple of days after the two week mark and I had still had no word from them. I left it a couple more days then sent an email, just enquiring how everything was going and if they had made a decision yet. It took a while to get a reply and when it came, all they said was that there were still a few more interviews and I'd hear after the weekend. But once again I was left waiting for much longer and I started doubting myself.
Then another email came, saying they weren't sure yet what they could give me in hours but would like to call to discuss it later in the week. I was hopeful again, it wasn't a no yet and they were clearly considering me.
But time passed and I sat waiting for a call that never came. Instead I got a final email, apologizing for stringing it out and that I hadn't got the job. In the end it came down to a piece of equipment, a wood-fired oven that they would have in the kitchen and required people with experience to use it.
After such a roller-coaster, I felt deflated and empty. I'd been so sure at the start but it wasn't to be.
I messaged my mum and a few Utrecht friends letting them know what had happened, then after a few minutes of wallowing in sadness I thought about why I'd been looking for a job in the first place and started coming up with a plan B. I asked my friends for suggestions and got straight back into searching the internet for any possibilities.

After a disappointment like this, the most important thing is to find the positives in the situation (cheesy, I know, but it's true). I may not have gotten the job, but it took such a long time to hear back because that whole time they were considering me. My interview went well enough that even though I have no experience in a professional kitchen, they were thinking about hiring me. It doesn't seem like much, but its given me the confidence to go out and try to get more interviews and maybe I won't be quite so nervous next time.
My friends have been brilliant in helping me with this as well, speaking to people who may be hiring, suggesting different possibilities to look into, keeping me positive about everything.

I'm still looking for a job but I'm feeling happier about the whole thing now.

I suppose to summarize this post, what I'm trying to say is: if job-hunting is getting you down, try not to take rejections personally, seek out positive things that you have accomplished and maybe ask for some feedback from interviews (what went well, what could be worked on). Being proactive will keep you positive and a good support network of family and friends to keep your spirits high is best of all.