BLOG MOVED

Because still get some comments on here:

I MOVED!
This is the new link:
http://blog.beyondbelieving.net

I GRADUATED

This is a very quick blog post for all of you. But today I officially GRADUATED my 4 year Bachelor course Communication & Media Design. With a 7.5 (out of 10), I'm so excited but it still have to realize this actually happened.

And another surprise, yesterday my parents (and one of my best friend's parents) told us they booked us a ticket and hotel to Rome as a gift. And this will be for next week. Woaa, I'm going to Rome!

And after all that, I have some really exciting blog posts coming up. I filmed some videos and hopefully lots more posts. See you soon!

Ask me anything!

I'm so sorry guys! I promised to update more, I know, but now my thesis is finished my final presentation is coming up (next Wednesday) so I'm sitting behind my computer trying to make up an original and good way to finish of my 4 years on this course. Yes, difficult. I am also back in the Netherlands for almost a month to get all that sorted. Oh and also to see all my friends and family of course. But because I'm so busy doing all that (...and finding a job) I thought I'd do a 'ask me anything' blog. And maybe I'll even make a video with the answers so jup... If you'd all like that. Because after my presentation I really hope to have more time. To get some actual photos and videos up.

So go ahead and ask whatever you want to ask of me, in Dutch or English, I don't mind. I'll try to answer all of them.

Go for it, and...

ASK ME WHATEVER YOU LIKE!

Sheffield: Shopping haul

InstaDiary: May

I'm late. I know. I'm sorry!

Cotton candy machine at work. - Divergent. - Hyde Park on a Sunny Day. - Brick Lane lights. - Starting filming. - Timelapsing the Tower Bridge. - Nike Running Shoes. - Going for a run along the canal.

Haircut: let's go shorter and shorter

Apparently my hair is getting shorter and shorter. I got a haircut last week and thought I'd show you some pictures. It took me a while to find a good (and affordable) hair dresser in London. But I think I found one! They gave me a head massage, cut my hair very well and they even do nails, waxing and styling. Yes, I'll definitely go back there, I'm very happy with my even shorter pixie cut.

What do you think?

10 facts about me

I've been very quiet, and I'm sorry! But my thesis is now officially finished and I've entered the last week of my internship. This means, I'll have to find a job soon. Other than that, I got a hair cut and it's shorter than it's ever been before, I'll try to make some photos as soon as possible. But first, 10 facts you probably didn't know about me!

1. I have never smoked, or done any sort of drugs. And don't have any desire to do so. I've been asked multiple times but always said 'no.' I don't need any sort of drugs to have fun, I can easily enjoy myself and make it fun.

2. My biggest desire right now would be a 3 month travel trip to Asia/Australia/New Zealand. But there's always the money problem, I would love to get out there and just visit places, backpacking.

3. I've been planning to change to Wordpress for ages now (especially because my portfolio is Wordpress already) but am simply to lazy and busy, I guess. I'll try real soon.

Review: Cinema visits

Alright it's been a while since I did some movie reviews. And since in the last 2 months, I've seen about 4 movies (with more coming up). So I thought let's review them and tell you what I thought about it.

The Host
Let's start out with the Host. A film made after Stephenie Mayer (yes, from the Twilight books) book, with the same name. I've read this book about 3 years ago, and all though I definitely forgot about some bits of it, the story really interested me. The trailer looked good and well.. After reading the books I had to go and see it, didn't I? But.. (here comes the 'but') I didn't impress as much as I hoped it would. It missed a lot of the story line which I loved in the book. And of course there was the love triangle again, yes it really does start to annoy me, and it just came out of nothing. There wasn't enough character building for me. And hearing Wanda's voice was a lot different then actually reading it. The movie was alright at some point as I really liked the look of the cave they stayed in. And the rumours of another part.. Why? I don't think that was necessary. Well let's just say, I thought the movie was okay for a lazy Sunday night, but not for the cinema.

For the people who don't know what I'm talking about, this is what the story is about:
When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about, proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world.

Overall: 5.5/10

Graduation: Get on your bike and ride

This is something I've been working really hard on. And as I normally won't share school projects, I am definitely going to share it now. For the last 3,5 months I've been researching video, London cycling, filming and editing and finally it's finished. My promotion video about cycling in London.

While you're thinking: 'Wow, did she already finish school?' No I definitely didn't. My thesis isn't finished yet and will take up a big chunk of time this week as I have to finish it before the 10th of June. But I really wanted to share my final video with all of you. So what do you think? And if you feel like it, please share!

Collectormania / MCM Expo weekend

Business cards

Business cards! As I'm going to look for a job soon I thought this would come in handy. And because I wanted it to be a little bit different I added UV partial spots, like you can see on the second picture. This means that some parts of the card glow. This will make some bits pop up a bit more. I forgot to shoot the photos in RAW so that's why they might be a bit dark, I'm sorry! But I think they turned out quite cool! These are mainly for my portfolio, but my blog name is on it.

What do you guys think?

Tag: the revenge of the nerds!

(Harry Potter group, Elf Fantasy Fair Arcen 2012)

I've got a fun post coming up somewhere this week, something I'm really excited about. BUT the post man still has to deliver it. So keep an eye open! In the mean time, I found this nerdy tag, which I'm dying to do. So here I go!

1. Kirk or Picard? 
I've never been a big Trekkie (Star Trek fan), so let's skip this questions haha. I've only seen the Star Trek films and in those.. I like Kirk the best.

2. Warrior, thief, or wizard?
I have to think about the warrior and wizard for a bit. But in the end it will always be the wizard. 

3. Favorite subject in school? 
For uni I can't really say as the subject changes every period. In secundaire school my favourite subject was art. In primaire school, you won't believe me, but it was actually maths, because I was quite good at it.

4. What would your Patronus be?
I think it would be a dolphin, it's always been my favorite animal but I'm afraid I don't have that much similarities with it. 

5. Favorite Superhero? 
This is like making a choice between Marvel and DC. Oh wait, that is what question number 7 makes me do. But I've made this decision before and all though it's a very close pick between Iron Man and Batman. I'll have to go for Batman!

6. Star Trek or Star Wars? 
Easy.. Star Wars! All though I haven't watched both until quite late. I definitely like Star Wars better than Star Trek.

Personal update

(The photo is made on my internship, everyone has to bake something every week. Last week was my turn. I made Dutch delights: soesjes en tompoezen.)

It's time for a short personal update. As you might have noticed on the amount of blog posts I've been very busy. There were a few things which I had to think about, and school work to be done. But at first..

I want to tell you guys that I'll be staying in London after my internship. I'm not moving back to the Netherlands, I'm staying in the UK. To find a job and stay in our apartment. I've thought about it and it doesn't have to be definite. There's always possibilities to go back, or stay longer. I'll see what happens! But for now.. I'll stay in London!

The second thing I want to tell you guys is that I'm definitely graduating next month. I've had one of the most important reflection moments during my graduation internship yesterday. And I got a green light, which means my supervisor believe that I'll be able to finish my thesis and product in a month. They believe I'm able to graduate! So the next few weeks I have to work hard on finishing my thesis (conclusions etc.) and perfecting my product, of which I'll make an entire separate post when it's done.

I just wanted to give you all a heads up, with an explanation of what exactly is happening. I'll hopefully be back soon with more blogposts.

P.S. Don't mind my all that natural hair colour on top of my head. I got rid of it now..

'English Breakfast' for brunch

Why a long distance relationship can work!

It's time for another one of my rants! As I just wanted to take some time to post a reaction on this article.

At first.. I wanted to say that I absolutely disagree on this article by saying a long distance relationship can be a good idea, if you both want to make it work. Love isn't something you pick, it's something that happens. No matter where you are! And as Shakespeare says: "The course of true love never did run smooth."

So as some of you might know I've been in a long distance relationship for about a year. The last 3,5 months I've been living together with my boyfriend which changed everything. But we did live on at least a 5 hours travel before all that. (..train, bus, plane, train, bus, tube...) And I know from stories and people around me that it could be worse then that. (He could've been from Australia or.. the USA!) We were able to see other once every month, as the distance between London and Utrecht is doable and most importantly: affordable. Me being a student luckily saved some money and was working next to school. My boyfriend has a full-time job which made it easier to pay for this all.

But not only that.. Why would a long distance relationship be so much different from a normal one. If you really like, or even love each other enough, the distance shouldn't hold you back. You can't touch other, and can't be face to face all the time. But the feeling should still be there, of course it will be more difficult. But why should you have to fall in love with someone who lives close, in the same country. You can't place love between borders. Reading Elite Daily's article made me quite angry. We live in 2013, we have internet, we have smartphones.. Wouldn't this be the time to be in a long distance relationship possible? Things like Skype, Whatsapp, Viber and other apps will make staying in touch possible.

Run, run, run!

Other than being very busy on my graduation project. (I've got an entire weekend of filming behind my back, and luckily a bank holiday today) I've been starting to work out again, I did my first 5KM this morning, and as you can see I'm still doing a lot of intervals. (which just means I walk after a bit of a run) But I think 5KM in 35 min is not to bad for a second run after 3 months of not working out. (there was one 4.0KM run in April) But I'm starting to get it going more. I've been doing some push, sit-ups and planks last week and I've got a jumping robes. Which is a bit difficult as our living room is a bit to small for that.

InstaDiary: April

Bowling with my sister, her bf and my bf. - Canon 5D from internship. - Robin Vader. - Our Game of Thrones limited edition poster! - Colombia Road. - I started running again! - Eliza and the Bear. - Imagine Dragons!

Crush #8: Rose Leslie

I wouldn't say that I'm a massive fan of Rose (I do really like here tho!), but I do think she's absolutely gorgeous. Not to forget about her character Ygritte (whom I love) in Game of Thrones. Because well.. "You know nothing Jon Snow." As the girl 'kissed by fire' and her gorgeous red hair I've started to develop a girl crush. I haven't seen her in anything else yet but think this could be the start of her career. (I hope) I've finished Storm of Swords so do know a little something about what will happen to her in the next season. But my lips are sealed and I won't say anything.

Oh and a little comment on the second picture. Do you recognise Emilia Clarke? One of my earlier girl crushes.

What do you guys think of Rose Leslie?

NEW: Balenciaga look-a-like boots

Most of you told me to save up my money. But when I saw these baby's at Office I couldn't help myself. I've been looking for them for over a year and mostly saw them with gold buckles. And as I'm more of a silver person, I always wanted silver buckles. And here they were, the perfect Balenciaga look-a-like boots. So I'm sorry money, but this are the first shoes I've bought this year and are perfect for this time of the year. I think I'm in love!

What do you guys think?

...and that's who I am

Dwarves & Hobbits - Elf Fantasy Fair 2013

Dreamhouse #14

This castle has been remade in to a house. Yes an old castle, remade in to a house. And me.. As a massive fantasy fan, would definitely want to live here! Look at the location.. And continue on to the interieur. I think it looks gorgeous!

Astley Castle is the name of it, based in Warwickshire, United Kingdom. It was supposed to be fort in the Second World War, and would afterwards be made into a hotel. Which didn't really work out the way they wanted. People forgot about the please until a few years ago. The government held a contest to get the best idea from architects and so the Witherford Watson Mann Architects got to renovate the castle. And this is what it turned out to be:

Movies: Superhero madness

It's 2013, once again a great year for movies. If you know which ones I've already seen. Check out my movie list. But I've already seen 6 movies in the cinema. (Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Side Effects, the Host, the Place Beyond the Pines) But now we're looking forward, more and more trailers are starting to pop up and there's a lot to look forward to.

And as you might have noticed, superhero movies are everywhere. Especially this next year. (and don't forget about last year, the Avengers, Spiderman...) These are the ones coming up the next few months I'm very excited for. Unfortunately my favourite superhero (sssh it's DC, don't tell Marvel) is not doing any movies at the moment (yes it's Batman), but there might be some hope for a Justice League movie. But a very close second favourite, Iron Man, luckily will be in the list.

Iron Man 3
Trailer: here
I already told about my secret crush on Robert Downey Jr. before. But this Iron Man movie looks epic! Everything is about to go wrong and of course, there's going to be a new bad guy. And I secretly hope, that it will be better then the second movie, which I liked but didn't love. Oh and don't forget! Always stay until the end of the credits during a Marvel movie, there might be something more waiting for you!

99 Things..

Arlette posted a blog about this and as I already did several of these on my Tumblr, I thought I'd give it a go on here. I love tags and this is one I couldn't let go. The ones I did are bold, I wrote some comments at other ones as well.

1. Set up your own blog - Apparently I did.
2. Having slept under the starry sky - On a beach, in a sleeping bag.  
3. Played in a band - I wish I could play an instrument and play in one.
4. Visited Hawaii - Maybe once!

5. Seen falling meteorites - Does a star count? Haha.
6. Spend more on a good cause than you could actually afford
7. Visited Disneyland - The one in Paris!

8. Climbed a mountain - I went abseiling, canoeing and climbing. So this is definitely a yes.
9. Held a grasshoper - When we went camping they just seemed to jump on your hand.
10. Sang a solo - In a musical and in my room. Yikes.
11. Bungee jumping
12. Visited Paris - Once, when I was 14, with my family.
13. Watched a thunderstorm - Lots of times. I am not a big fan of thunder tho.
14. Having taught yourself an art form - Is HTML an art form? Otherwise it would be drawing or editing (photos and videos), oh and not to forget about photography of course.

About diets, sports and losing weight..

So summer is coming closer and everyone is trying to get in shape again. While summer is not even the main reason for me, and I don't necessarily want to lose weight. (I do want my belly tight to get back in to my Daenerys costume tho) Because aren't muscles heavier than fat? But sport and eating healthy is. My boyfriend has been doing this fasting diet' over the last few weeks, and I've been keeping telling him he should stop.

Because the thing was, he wasn't having breakfast, but only a shake in the morning. He goes to the gym 3 times a week (before work), and has 2 big meals after that. But only on training days he has big portions. I finally got him off that from this week on. And we're back on a normal schedule now.

But what am I doing to stay healthy? I finally started running again last week after not doing any sports for 2 months. And believe me, that is a very long time for me. Since I was 6 years old I've been doing sports for at least 2 days a week. I've been doing gymnastics (age 6 to 12), tennis (age 6 to 11), professional skiing (age 6 to 19), jazzballet (age 12 to 13) and I've been going to the gym from the age of 14 until about 2 months ago. Because of my internship (and money) I decided not to go the gym in London yet but try to do some stuff on my own. I'm a very sporty person and as it's always been important to me I have to get back to it. I still have a goal to walk a marathon before I turn 30 years old.

What to buy: Help me out!

I'm stuck in a dilemma. (first world problem?) I promised myself that I can buy one of these babies. But I really can't decide. What would you guys do?

1. Nike Free Run 3.0
I started running again and love these beauties. (but only for running!) They're supposed to be very comfortable as well.

2. A leather biker jacket
I think I've been looking for the perfect leather jacket for about 3 years now. And I know where to buy it.. But it's quite an expense.

3. Camera equipment
I've got some stuff I want for my DSLR, especially for filming. So a shoulder rig, microphone and viewfinder would do!

Life.. It's passing by so fast!

Source: woods-dweller

Nieke, you're probably graduating in 2 months. You'll be finishing school and get your bachelor. It's time to make decisions.. Help? Even by the thought of it I'm already freaking out. I try not to worry to much but everyone who knows me quite well knows I'm a stresser. A planner. What will I do when I finish school? Will I go back to the Netherlands to find a job? Or stay in London, living with my boyfriend. Am I ready to work full time on the age of 21. Or do I want to get a master?

Everything is coming closer and closer.. Creeping up on me. Because of my graduation the blog posting is not going as well as it did before. I'm sorry about that! But school is the most important thing right now. Working 5 days a week, from 9 to 6 is quite tough. 

So today I'm leaving you guys with a song about 'the good life'. To settle down for the day. I have some blogposts coming up, they need some more time for writing. So here you go, a band I'll see live in 2 weeks somewhere around Shephard's Bush in London: OneRepublic.

InstaDiary: March

I almost forgot about my InstaDiary! So here we go.

Our living room is finally starting to get there. - Our limited edition poster came in. - Taxi Driver poster. - Outfit of the day. - Inside HBO's: Game of Thrones. - The table arrived as well! - Velvet skirt. - First dinner at the dining table.

Finally: Apartment tour

2022: A day in my life

I throw my pillow across the room. 'Turn the music off!' A loud guitar sneer comes from downstairs. When I turn around and touch my iPhone 9, a screen pops up, 11:30.
'It's half 11 get out of bed.' Joe jumps up the stairs and peaks in to my room. 'What're you still doing in bed?' I wave the screen away and turn around.
'I have a week of, I needed sleep.' I slowly sit up, the sun peaking through the curtains. I just came back from a month trip to Scotland for some filming, my first big job as a assistant director. A new tv show for HBO which I can't say the name of. The only thing I can say is that it's medieval-fantasy show, but very different from Game of Thrones, which ended 3 years ago.
'I can see that. Do you want to go out for lunch?' I nod and slowly get up. I walk into the next door walk-in closet and put on my dressing gown. I managed to get one of the two spare rooms into a walk-in closet. As long as the other room could be used for gaming and Joe's guitar. We moved in about two years ago, the two floored apartment outside the center of London seemed perfect. The music turned on again, I walk down the stairs while taking a quick look in the mirror. My hair is insanely curly, like it always is in  the morning.

Tag: Books

1. What is your favourite book?
This is always a really hard question for me. I've read quite a few books and I can't really choice one. But at the moment I think I'd have to say 'the Fault in Our Stars' by John Green and all the Harry Potter books by (ofcourse) J.K. Rowling.

2. What is your least favourite book?
'De Aanslag' by Harry Mulisch, I had to read this book for school and it's just not for me. Everyone is Always going on about this book but I think these kind of books are not my piece of toast. It couldn't get me and I didn't even get to finish it.

3. Name one book which will make you laugh out loud.
This is a difficult one.. I think this will have to be 'the Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky, and all though it definitely didn't make me laugh all the time. But Charlie is such an amazing character, just as the book is. And if you didn't see the movie yet.. You should see that as well, but please read the book first, it's absolutely beautiful.

4. Name a book which will make you cry.
Harry Potter made me cry, just like almost every John Green book, especially 'Looking for Alaska' and 'the Fault in Our Stars'. But just like me and movies, I cry very easily.

5. In which book would you want to life?
'Harry Potter', the 'Chronicles of Narnia' (C.S. Lewis) and secretly.. I would like to take a peak in to 'the Song of Ice and Fire' world as well, as long as George R.R. Martin doesn't kill me off and I get to be a Targaryen.

6. What is your favourite Young Adult book?
That would have to be 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins.

7. From which books can you litterally name quotes?
Harry Potter, no doubt.

Outfit: Back to Holland

Meeting a celebrity

I didn't meet that much people just on the street, but I did meet quite a few on events. The ones for which you pay money yes. But I would like to share my experience with you. I didn't really speak to every of these people but to the ones I did, it was an amazing experience. This is not to brag, because you don't just go to these events, you invest quite a bit of money and time to actually realize this kind of events. I just want to share my experience with you.

What is 'meeting' exactly? I've been to a few premieres where I've seen people but didn't speak to them because of the amount of people being there. So I want to make that split right here, I'm starting of the blogpost with people I've seen and people I've met. Not including in the people I've seen are artists at concert, because the list would become to big. I'll include an (a) after the people I managed to get an autograph of.

People I've seen:
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson (a), J.K. Rowling, Rupert Grint (a), James & Oliver Phelps (a), Tom Felton (a), Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Evanna Lynch (a) and because this would take ages I'm just going to say, the rest of the Harry Potter cast.
William Moseley, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley (a) (who I had a very short talk with, but only because I said she looked beautiful), Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter (a), Anna Popplewell and same story here, the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia cast. (+ One Direction, Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle who attended)
Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes premiere), Orlando Bloom (a), Luke Evans (a), Logan Lerman and a few more at the Three Musketeers premiere. David Tennant (walked by us on an event), Tom Hardy (who we casually saw somewhere on the streets in London).
Billy Boyd and Sean Astin who attended RingCon and start in The Lord of the Rings.

I also met Simple Plan, Lifehouse, Justin Nozuka, Scouting for Girls and Jack Savoretti. (I do have autographs of all these artists, on my Pinkpop hat haha)

Review: Inside HBO's - Game of Thrones

Video: travel to work with me

It was about time for another video wasn't it? I really want to shoot a video in the new apartment, but didn't have the time yet to do so. That's why I decided to take my 'Sony compact camera' with me to work, and film my journey for you guys. I live about 25 minutes away from the company I'm working at and travel by tube and foot. I don't know if you've guys ever been in London during rush hour.. But especially on the Central Line, there's hardly any space. Somedays I have to let 3 trains go because they're just to full.

I tried to give you a small taste of what London is like, while travelling. Or mainly while travelling when I'm going to work haha. Hope you guys enjoy the video.

And of course I can't forget about the song. 'One Direction's Little Things' performed by one of my friends: Tim. Go check out his Youtube channel.

Another post of cosplay

Nieke you promised to show us more photos. I know! And am so sorry, but the video is waiting to be edited and while I was actually planning on doing that today.. I lost the cable for my hard drive so now I can't get to the footage. Sorry! Will try to get it done for somewhere this week. And the photos.. I'm still planning on making those. But these one more essential thing which has to arrive in the apartment before I really want to show everything.

I also wanted to let you all know that I'll be back in the Netherlands from this Saturday on. I'm leaving my laptop in London so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post some blogs. I'll definitely do my best as I'll probably use my parents iPad for those few days. I'll be back in London on Thursday.

But what I actually came here for today is another post of cosplay. 

Inspiration: Teresa Q

I still have to learn a lot about photography but sometimes I stumble upon photographers and I wish I could shoot pictures like that. Teresa Q is one of those photographers. Take a look at these photos:

Living together

First I'd wanted to thank you all for your great comments on my opinion post. I'm glad most of you like the blog the way it is. You all seem to like the London posts so I'd thought it was time for another one today. I also (yes for real now) have a video coming up!

Another bloggy announcement. Google Friend Connect will disappear from July on, so don't forget to follow my blog on bloglovin' to keep up to date for blogposts.

I think I'll finally have some time to take my camera and go in to the city from this week on. Everything arrived this week and our apartment is finally filled with all the furniture we wanted in there. Our diner table came in, my jewellery/make-up/girly cupboard, a side table and some more stuff. And of course not to forgot about the sofa.. Which finally comes in today, as it's terribly delayed. It might sound silly, but we're both so excited about it finally coming in. Can you imagine hanging out on your bed everyday. Especially with the side table, coffee and tv table already being in there.

I also got invited to go out for dinner and bowling with the company I did my internship at before. (my boyfriend still works there) So that's how I spend my Friday evening. And I didn't even do that bad. I wouldn't say bowling is something I'm very good at, but I managed to get 2 strikes. And dinner at 'The Diner' is always a good thing I'd say. Over the weekend I finally visited 'Forbidden Planet' again as well, which is one of my favourite stores in London. (you can get everything your nerdy heart desires, well a lot) And had lunch with a friend.

Don't mind that little piece of thread coming out of the wall. We need an electrician to come in to put up some lights. ;)