The read-a-thon is over! I had such a blast. Let's wrap it up, shall we?



Day 1: Monday
Thanks to an unexpected day at home - thank you dentist - I was able to read a lot. I read the last 22 pages of De dag dat we Andy zijn arm afzaagden by Marnix Peeters and started reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (for like the fiftieth time). I managed to read 194 pages in HP.

Day 2: Tuesday
I had school and afterwards work (Lady Gaga was awesome!) but couldn't keep Harry hanging so I managed to reach page 338 today.
Day 3: Wednesday
Another school & work kinda day (sorry Pharrell, you have disappointed me a lil' bit) but I read exactly until page 448.
Day 4: Thursday
I had an awfully busy day at school today (the first radio show of the year, woot woot) and afterwards I grabbed sushi with my classmates, but I did manage to squeeze in some reading before I went to bed. I finished HP and the Half-Blood Prince and got started in HP and the Deathly Hallows.
Day 5: Friday
I started rereading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Oh boy, I've been dragging to get back into this book. I started reading it in May but couldn't finish it. Nabokov's writing style isn't really my cup of tea. Anyway, on Friday I read 26 pages in Lolita and 131 pages in HP and the Deathly Hallows. (Also, I saw the musical 1418 today and it was so impressive! I was blown away! Really, if you haven't seen it yet, you totally should if you can spend the money.)
Day 6: Saturday
Six pages in Lolita, hah! Total failure, I have to admit. This was the only day I didn't reach my daily goal of reading 100 pages, but I didn't really mind because I had loads of other things that needed to be done and I had done a lot of reading the previous days as well. I managed to read 48 pages in HP and the Deathly Hallows.
Day 7: Sunday
Finished reading Lolita (finally! This was the slowest read ever, but the story was very interesting.) I also read a bit in HP and the Deathly Hallows.



That brings my total pages this week to a stunning 873! Yay!

This read-a-thon was so much fun! But I have to admit that I neglected my bf, cats and friends sometimes. I'm excited to let you know that I also succeeded my own challenge of reading 30 books in 2014. But of course I won't stop reading now that I made it. Let's see how many books I can read before 2015 starts, okay? If you have any book tips, be sure to leave them in the comments.

Take care, keep reading & talk to you soon!

Face masks are the best. Whenever I put on a face mask I'm just in instant chillax mode. When I found this 5-in-1 package at Kruidvat I couldn't resist the urge to pop it in my cart. And there I went, onto discovering a whole new world of awesome masks! All masks made by Montagne Jeunesse are BUAV approved and veg(etarian) soc(iety) approved. Which means their products are vegetarian & not tested on animals. I tested out these masks over the last couple of weeks and thought it would be fun to do another beauty-related post (like I did here). Hope you enjoy!



The first mask I decided to try out was Strawberry Soufflé. It's supposed to be a moisturizing & purifying masque and I have to admit, it does its job pretty well! The package promises: 'Loaded with strawberry goodness which leaves skin hydrated & refreshed. Allow your skin to breathe with soothing aloe vera & calming vanilla for purified, toned, smoother skin.'



Score:
Altough I did not enjoy the smell of this masque at all, the consistency is really nice. The masque has little scrub particles in it as well, and after I've rinsed the masque off my face feels super soft, moisturized and pure. Yay!

A week later I was in need of a face treatment again. This time I went for the Pawpaw Peel Off mask, which promises to give a phenomenal pore blast. This is a purifying boost for tired skin! 'Picked from the tropics of South America the Pawpaw aka Papaya (known as fruit of Angels) and Noni Fruit naturally help protect. This duo works harmoniously, revealing clean sensational skin, sent from the Heavens...'



Score:
I like peel off masks in general because they always tend to have a calming effect on my skin. This one's no different! After applying I chilled for a good 20 minutes and then peeled off (the most fun part, right!) Also, this mask smells delicious, I almost wanted to eat it. It did start to tingle a little bit once I applied the mask, but that quickly went away, and wasn't an uncomfortable feeling whatsoever. After taking it off, my skin feels really soft and calm (and smells super fruity)!

Next one to go on my face about a week later was Very Berry, which looked like a great mask to relax and hydrate your skin. Since I've been sick almost all August, I thought this would be a nice one to pamper myself with. The package says: 'Bursting with the juice of pressed Blueberries and crushed Cranberries our fruity beauty is packed wit antioxidants. Nourishing Peach Kernel oil and soothing Aloe will leave your skin refreshed & cleansed.'



Score:
This one tingled a lot, mostly on my T-zone. It smells amazingly fresh. I read a little while chilling on the couch for some 15 minutes, then rinsed it off and oh boy ...

Number four on my face is Dragon Fruit Sauna. I just got back from holiday, my face was feeling awfully dry, so I could really use a good hydration and cleansing. It says: 'For a flaming good clean, ablaze with freshly crushed Dragon Fruit from the depths of Central America and pulped Kiwi Fruit, this warming wonder reaches into pores removing trapped oil and dirt. A fiery feast for smooth, clean skin.'



Score:
Oh my god, I wanted to eat this off my face so bad. It smells SO good. When I applied the mask, it immediately starting heating up which made me relax pretty much instantaneously. The only downside to this mask is the fact that you have to lay completely horizontally, otherwise it will slide off your face. (But is that really a downside? I don't think so!). Afterwards my skin feels clean and soft like a baby butt. But it smells a thousand times better. Definite re-buy!

The last one left in the package is called Peel Off Passion. That feeling of accomplishment when you can take off the whole peel in one try is so amazing. The package says: 'Pulped Pomegranate, Passion Flower, Raspberry, Grape, Cranberry and Vitamin E are anti-oxidants that help protect skin, while pores get a deep clean peel-off!'




Score:
The smell of this one is strong. And it's not really a nice smell, to be honest. It smells very fake fragranced. However, thes sensation on my skin felt nice. After about half an hour, it was completely dry and I could almost peel it off in one try. Afterwards, my skin felt clean and definitely purified.

Overall, I would definitely rebuy Dragon Fruit Sauna, Very Berry and Pawpaw Peel Off. Yay for these masks by Montagne Jeunesse!

 *I wish this was sent to me (cause I really like these products) but I bought them myself at my local Kruidvat store. You can also buy these products online via the website of Montagne Jeunesse.

I'm participating in my first ever Read-A-Thon! Starting Monday, September 22, I'll be reading like a maniac for an entire week. School has just started, so I hoped I wouldn't be all that busy yet, but oh well, we'll see.

For those of you who don't know what a read-a-thon is, it's basically an event with a time limit where you set a goal (which you can choose yourself, of course) you would like to reach by the end of the Read-A-Thon. I think this idea is super neat since I - and a lot of other people - enjoy reading so much, but sometimes make too little time for it.

That's why I asked my fellow Verbeelding Bookclubmembers if they were interested in such a thing. As you can see: they were! If you want to participate as well: great!
You can become a member of the Verbeelding Bookclub (Dutch) on Goodreads, or you can just participate on your own blog by posting a list with your goals and keeping your readers up to date (once every day or just at the end of the week). If you're participating, let me know. I would love to read all about your updates! :)

You can also use this button on your blog. (Made by Kathleen)

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/142307-verbeelding-bookclub"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUf4BOZ4FHpxXTa_wAECaf7CS9eNA9zRcl93By9OPExibnbR8Fjpz0571X-Kw02ab3OwmybbGe_ucXYVGBZDqV77jlYJ2A55OpHDonHsPO4hyhTuiGO-kTEI2nldkzk2LVJgwhNbwd3g/s200/10941832.png"></a>

So now on to my goals for next week's read-a-thon!
» Read (at least) 100 pages/day
» Read three books

And these are the books I'm hoping to have read by the end of the week:
» (already started) Lolita - Nabokov
» (already started) De dag dat we Andy zijn arm afzaagden - Marnix Peeters
» The 100-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
» Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince - J.K. Rowling

I'm super excited for next week! Are you going to participate in the read-a-thon? I sure hope so.

p.s. Nominations for the Knack Weekend Blogger Awards are open! If you want, you can nominate Bij gebrek aan beter (and you would make me a very happy gal) by clicking here.

Have a great day & I'll talk to you soon!

Long overdue: a peek inside my Wreck This Journal!

Cover this page using only office supplies.



Collect fruit stickers here.


Scratch using a sharp object.


Press leaves and other found things.


Do you own a Wreck This Journal? I'm curious to see your pages - and it's a good way to get some inspiration for the next couple of pages. So don't hesitate in sharing them :)
Take care! Talk to you soon!

One of my goals on the 23 before 24 list is to make more GIFs. I'm not that good at movie making but I do love a little bit of action, so here are some of the latest GIFs that I made. Of course Pixel & Cera are the main characters in this post ;-)









Bonus GIF!


Have a great day! Talk to you soon!

Hi there! After a little (unintentional) break from the 'photo an hour'-posts here's what I did August 26.

9am
waking up, opening the door and cuddling a little with the cats.


10am
Playing around with the Sims 4 demo. Can't wait for it to come out!


11am
Cleaning out our Poopy Cats.


12am
Editing.


1pm
Thrift shopping...


2pm
and buying a little bit of make-up.


3pm
But we actually went thriftshopping to pick up this new/old couch - that was originally from Ikea. So pretty!


4pm
Tea, sister, Harry and Abe. Perfect combo.


5pm
Leaving for work at the post office.


The day ends there, because I'm not allowed to take my phone/a camera with me at work. (But believe me, those pictures would've been boring, so you're not missing out on anything!)

Hope you're all well. Talk to you soon!

Happy mail, I just can't get enough! I received some lovely mail from Saar, Mary & Fab. Let's take a look, shall we? :)



from Saar
Saar came up with this friendship booklet, where we fill in two pages and send them back and forth. I think in a couple of months it's going to look so cool!







from Mary
I just love little booklets like these! They are so thoughtful and detailed. Thank you Mary!





from Fab
Will you look at that envelope? Damn, I wish I was that good at decorating/calligraphy.




Have a lovely (hopefully lazy ;-) ) Sunday & I'll talk to you soon!