In to the Studio

Those of you who have been reading my blog may know by now that I'm in a band, Southern Sunrise.  We released our first EP last year and have spent a lot of time since moving to the Netherlands gigging our butts off. We wrote a few new songs recently and released our second single just before Christmas(?) so we decided it was about time that we put together a new EP.

Arjan used to be a roady for his friends's band Dewolff and they now own the Electrosaurus Southern Sound Studio in Utrecht where they all live, so Arjan booked some time with them to record our songs.
Just a day after getting back from our holidays in the UK, we packed our bags again and got the train North. I've mentioned Utrecht a lot recently with our stays there etc, it's a fantastic city so it was great to be able to spend some more time there again.

On the first day it rained. A lot. The studio (and a couple of the guys's homes) is right on the canal just above water level and there were reports of flooding in other parts of the city, so everyone was a little nervous until it stopped. We also recorded drums!

The studio records almost everything analogue on tape, this used to be how it was done by everybody before digital methods became readily available. A lot of purists still only record on tape and claim it gives a warmer sound than digital.

It's really great to work with a musician like Pablo, he was able to come up with so many new ideas to really change up the songs and take them from 'good' to 'awesome'. I'm so pleased with how the tracks progressed and grew whilst we were there. As the primary song writer (I do the lyrics and come up with a melody then Arjan works with me to translate that into something) it can sometimes be hard to have other people making changes to songs you've written because it's such a personal thing, but when you give it a try and know it's for the better, it makes it worth while.

Left to right: Remco (our keys player), Arjan, Pablo

Pablo is an incredible guitarist, he added some wonderful stuff to a couple of the songs.

I can't wait for you to hear the new material, I'm so proud of what we all managed to achieve in that short week. We also had a visit from the lovely Melissa who has shot a music video for our new single and done the cover art for the new EP! I've already seen a first edit of it and it's pretty cool. Keep reading the blog as I'll be doing an exclusive sneak peak (if I can convince Arjan to let me) in the near future!

Summer Loving: Part 2

After all the excitement in York and Wales with my family, it was time to head south to Chichester for our second wedding of the summer. This time it was our lovely friends, George and Leah, from Brighton tying the knot.
It was incredibly hot that day, Chichester is a beautiful city and it was heaving with people out enjoying the rare British sunshine. We made our way to the hotel and freshened up before leaving for the venue.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. It was wonderful to see old friends and it was a pleasure to do it at such a lovely place on such a brilliant occasion.
I remembered to charge my batteries this time, so here's a few pictures from the big day.

Leah was so beautiful in her dress, there were buttons running all the way down the back. 

Ice-cream van?! Uh yes please!

Arjan and Sam, the Best Man

Pimms by the jug during cocktail hour!

Somebody's a happy boy

George is a graphic designer and created all the invites etc himself, it looked amazing! 

They had a polaroid guest book! How cool is that?!

The dinner hall.

Sorry guys, we had to steal this polaroid, it's the only one of us two where Arjan isn't pulling a face!

After dinner the evening guests came as well and they had a brilliant band doing awesome covers of hits through the ages. I was too busy dancing to take any pictures.

The next day Arjan and I had a walk around Chichester and got to see what a wonderful little city it is. There are beautiful parks, an amazing cathedral and lots of little alleyways and nooks to explore, we had a really nice day and it was good to be able to relax before our flight back to the Netherlands the next day.

What the city looked like 914 years ago

What the city looks like now, that is the same hill that the fort stood upon 

Bishop's Palace Gardens for a sunset stroll

The Cathedral

So here's to Leah and George, I wish you a life together full of laughter and love.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Back in March I went home to celebrate my mums birthday, we visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and had a great day out, but when I got home I saw that all of my pictures had somehow disappeared! I was so annoyed, it is a brilliant place where you can walk among a lot of the animals in large enclosures and I'd gotten some really beautiful pictures. So when my mum suggested we take Arjan for a trip while we were there for my birthday I instantly said yes.

It was roasting hot on the day we went, which made a change from the biting wind that was present for our last visit, and most of the animals were out sunning themselves.
My mum, Arjan and I had a great time, we wandered around, stopped for a bit of lunch and had a fun day together.

Meerkats

Lion yaaaawn

Simba

Wallabies!

The ring-tailed lemurs had two new babies, they were so playful and energetic

This picture had no zoom at all, this guy was right next to me

This little burrowing owl was giving us the stink-eye

Raccoon dogs, oddly not related to raccoons at all

This squirrel monkey was sleeping in the most uncomfortable position

They had a Pringles tube filled with crickets to play with, some of them were getting really frustrated that they couldn't get them out easily!

These are Maru or Patagonian hares, there were loads of babies 

Baby camel peeking over!

Hot tigers take baths

If you are ever in the area, I strongly suggest you have a visit. Tickets aren't too expensive if you buy them in advance online and it's lovely outing for people of all ages.

Summer Wish List

I'm very aware that recently I've been doing a lot of photo heavy posts and there are still more to come from the rest of my holiday, so to break it up a bit I thought I'd do a post about my current wish list.

I am currently coveting crop top/skirt combos, the matching kind. I see them everywhere on pinterest and blogs and I WANT! I've got a 'generous' hour glass figure so I always just assumed that crop tops were not for me, nobody wants to have to see this muffin top. But upon closer inspection of this latest trend, I realised that with the right style and fit, I too could rock the midriff! I was catching up with pinterest earlier today and came across this wonderful set that is just the perfect balance of fitted, flattering and sexy.

found on Pinterest: http://www.kendieveryday.com/2014/06/not-dress.html
Top JOA
Skirt JOA

Throughout this summer I have been shielding my eyes from the sun with a pair of old, cheap sunglasses that are more scratch than lens now. I really like the simplicity of these Le Specs Ziggy Shades and I'm a sucker for a retro look round lens.

found on ASOS

Next up is something I've been interested in for a long time, but only recently became fully sold on. I've read about Lime Crime's Velvetine lip colours several times on various blogs, but it wasn't until my friend, Julia, raved about their lasting power and non-transferability(?) that I was fully convinced. I can't decide which colour I like more though: Suedeberry, Red Velvet or Wicked?

Next is something a little more practical, I recently bought my first big handbag (I've always been a little bag kinda gal) and love how much stuff I can keep in it! But, when I want to bring my camera along too, it is way too cumbersome if it's left in its own bag and I'm worried about damaging it if I put it in there loose. So, I would love to have a compartmented camera/handbag that is both safe and practical and doesn't leave me digging around blindly for something tiny lost at the bottom. I love the style and colour of this bag by Darby Mack Designs and it looks like it would be incredibly useful to have all those pockets!

Found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/174677111/womens-camera-bags-made-in-the-usa-by?ref=market

One thing my wardrobe is really lacking is a pair of mid-height heels that I can comfortably wear throughout a day. I have plain flats and sandals and winter boots, but no nice summery heel that I can dress down or up in. I love the current trend of chunky, wooden heeled sandals. They look durable and easy to style in any number of ways. I especially like these NANCY sandals by Topshop!

So, this is my list of things I will probably never own but desperately wish I did! Something I thought of adding to it is coconut oil, but I'll probably go pick up a jar for a couple of euros in the next few days, so it seemed unnecessary. I'm really interested in trying it as a skin and hair treatment. I've read several bloggers recently who are complete converts to its magical ways and as it's so cheap and supposedly multi-purpose I'm keen to try it for myself. I'll let you know if there's any news on that front!