A not so Little List of Socks.

Have I ever mentioned I like socks? I don't think so. But the thing is, I really do. I really really like socks. I could probably ramble on forever about how amazing socks are (they keep your feet warm, they can be really weird without anyone noticing, you get two at a time, etc.) but I'm just going to share some of the ones I've been drooling over the past few weeks :)

These pairs are all from Ozone Socks and I really really love them. I think I've spent almost four hours on their website since I discovered it. (about ten days ago) And you know what the best part is? They offer a Single Sock Service! I doubt I'd ever let any of their socks out of my sight long enough to abandon me, but it's still pretty handy!

These are my absolute favorites! But they do ask me the question I've been asking myself a lot lately: green or blue?

(This goes on to me regretting not having bought a skirt in blue, but only in green about three years ago)

These ask me annoying questions too.

With these I tend to prefer the pinkish one, but I'll probably end up buying both because I can't decide in the end :)

And with these I just thank God they don't come in green...

The following are from Topshop. They have this everlasting Special Offer going on (three pairs for eight Pounds), so the last time I was in London I bought three pairs: one with flowers, one with a bear and one with little deer. They're still among my favorites, but they've got some pretty cool new ones...

These are pretty...

These are cute...

And these are just incredibly awesome. I want to meet the genius who though of koala geek socks and form a cult around him/her.

I think I have to buy some socks soon...

Mythology Monday: the Hare and the Moon

This is a myth from South-Africa that explains the mortality of man and why hares have split lips (with no particular priority).


The Moon looked down on the earth and saw humans living on it's surface. The sight of them pleased the Moon and she wanted to grant them the gift of immortality, so she could always look upon them. Therefore she asked her companion the Hare to bring a message to the people: "As I die and am born again, so will you die and be born again".

But as the Hare traveled from the Moon to the earth, it got confused about the Moon's message, and when it came to the earth it said to mankind: "As I die and am never born again, so will you die and never be born again".
After delivering this message, the Hare came back to the Moon and told her what it had told the people. The Moon got so angry with the Hare for what it had done, that she picked up an axe, threw it at the Hare and split it's lip.

Though the Hare and the Moon have made up since then, I don't know if I can forgive him that easily...

Risotto recipe

I can't believe it's been more than a week since my last post! I do feel a bit swamped at the moment though... Lost of reading to do and my mother just had surgery on her foot so. It's nothing life-threatening, but she can't walk further than the bathroom for a while... Which means I have to do most of the cooking! (My dad can only make things that start with a p: pasta, pizza, pancakes and potatoes :P) I don't really mind though, because I can make anything I want now :)

Yesterday I made a mushroom risotto inspired by a recipe I found in the newspaper which was by Edwin Florès. I changed a lot of things though and it was delicious :)

This is what you'll need for three persons:

• 1 onion
• olive oil
• 300 g arborio rice
• a dash of white wine
• 400 g assorted mushrooms (I used a mix of oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, common mushrooms and some other things I don't know the names of but tasted very good)
• 1 l mushroom stock
• 2 spoons of crème fraîche
  
• 200 ml cream
• 50 g parmesan cheese
• A few leaves of fresh basil

What to do:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan and chop the onion
• Fry the onion and add the rice
• Stir until the ricebecomes transparent
• Add the wine and a ladle of stock
• Fry the mushrooms in another pan with a few spoons of olive oil
• Keep adding stock to the rice until you've added about half of it
• Add half the mushrooms to the risotto
• Add more stock until the risotto is done, but not mushy
• Stir the crème fraîche and the cream through the risotto and let it cook a few more minutes
• Divide the risotto and the rest of the mushrooms between three plates
• And serve with some grated parmesan and fresh basil

I promise you it'll taste good!

Back to school...

I can't believe how fast time went by! The last three days went by in a blur of stress, new classes and new people. School has definitely started!
I had my first classes of Japanese stories, English literature, Classical literature and Mythology. I hardly remember Japanese stories because I was too bewildered by all the new people and actually finding the right classroom to pay attention to anything, English literature went better because I happened to sit next to a girl who didn't know anyone either (she's taking me tea shopping next week so that should be fun) but we also had to discuss a poem, and I got sorted into a group with two guys who really didn't want to agree with me... With classical literature and mythology I felt more at ease. I recognized most of the names in the stories and I just really like myths :) I think I might start something like 'Mythical Monday' to share the best ones with you :)

I really want to read the Iliad and the Odyssey now... And this is definitely the prettiest version that contains them both :)

I'd really really like to have this one though, I love the clothbound classics!

But they don't have a clothbound versions of the Iliad, so I might go with these two, because they'll look nice together and they're a bit more practical to take with me on the train :)

Well, I'm off to eat the chickensoup my neighbour brought over. I guess she thinks I'm only eating unhealthy food now my parents are on their holiday, because the said "If it doesn't taste good, a least it's healthy!" :P
I actually eat pretty healthy though, except from the occasional speculaas ;)

Galaxy nails

I've been wanting to do a nailpolish post for a while now, but (being a pretty huge procrastinator) my nailpolish was already chipped by the time I got round to making some pictures. But it's finally here! This is my take on the galaxy nails by Caitlin I came across a few days ago :)

I think they turned out pretty well! And it's really easy to do. I just used a very dark purple as the base coat and dabbed some green, lightblue and silver on it with a piece of cloth. Add some glitter and you have the whole galaxy on your fingertips!

As you might have noticed, my fingers are pretty long. Some people think they're creepy, especially when I do things like this:

But it's always nice to have a coversation starter :)

Icelandic seabears

Yesterday, I went to the concert of Sóley and Sin Fang.

Sin Fang is the stage name of Sindri Már Sigfússon and he started the band Seabear. Sóley is also part of Seabear, but she's going solo too. So first we saw Sóley with someone, then they went off the stage and came back with four more people :P I think they should be called Seabear when they're all together, but for some reason the venue called them just Sin Fang. Also, some of the members from Seabear play in another band called Kimono. If you think this is complicated (I do) and want to now more about it, there's more info here.


But on to the music! First up was Sóley. She was very cute and obviously a bit nervous (lots of "ehm... well... right"s and awkard faces) but she has no reason to be! She sang her beautiful, quiet songs wonderfully with a soft, gentle, fairytale voice. And she looked very adorable :) 

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You could clearly hear she was from Iceland. Her voice and way of singing made me think of Emiliana Torrini and that is certainly a good thing :)


Here is the song I liked the most:

It was too bad Sin Fang didn't live up to my expectations though... He just seemed thoroughly bored all the time! And you couldn't hear Sóley singing at all...
I do like his doilybeard though :) Though I'm deducting a few more points because he didn't wear it at the concert...

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He wasn't as great as I thought he would be, but he wasn't horrible to listen to either. So all in all it was a pretty nice evening :)
I forgot my camera by the way, that's why there are no pictures by me...

A little bit of red

Here's a little list of of lovely little things with a little bit of red :)

A bird cage wall decal to brighten up a plain wall :) 

A set of pretty little pillow cases with birds. These would look so good.. well.. anywhere!

An unusual bookmark for the stranger kind of books...

I don't wear rings because I always think they look weird on me, but I think this one might suit me!

A lovely print about living in the forest.

These are listed as espresso cups, but since I don't drink coffee I'm pretty sure they'll hold my tea as well :)

 I really really love these earrings! I love fairytales, I really like red riding hood and wolves and the paintings are originals!

I hope you enjoyed my little list :) It makes me wish I could buy something though... :P