Those are a few of my favourite apps #1

We all have cell phones. We all know we can do a lot of stuff with it: text each other on Whatsapp, take and share pics & videos, scroll through our Facebook timelines, answer quickly to an email, you can even call with it... There are so many features, so many apps, such an incredible world that simply opens up if you own a smart phone.

Now, my world had been a bit small in the last year. One year ago my amazing HTC died and I got an iPhone I didn't like (well, I borrowed it from my brother, my personal IT guy), so I asked him which Android smart phone he'd recommend for as few euros as possible, and he recommended me the Huawei Ascend something. The thing was the most troubled cell phone I've ever seen. It made me long for those days in which a simple Nokia 3310 was the hottest gadget to have and Snake was the most amazing game in the world. They always worked and my cell always did not do anything at all (it took me on average 20 minutes to send a text to someone. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point).

So, now that I have a new cell phone (a Lenovo, it's simply amazing), I finally USE it again. Let me present you my 7 favourite apps - part 1:

7. Wordreference
A forum (and basically a dictionary) which is super handy ALWAYS. It has a quite some languages, of course English and Spanish, but also e.g. Korean, Turkish, Arabic, and Czech! I am a big fan of the website, but the app is really a dream come true, as now I can look up words, conjugations, definitions,and consult the forum wherever I am! The only thing you need is a charged smart phone and internet!

6. Pinterest 
In the last couple of weeks I start to use more and more social media, and not in the way I used to anymore. It's a source of inspiration, a way to exchange information, and connect with like minded people (I'm also a big fan of Twitter for this!). However, one of my most recent discoveries is Pinterest. My mom already told me ages ago (so I have a profile for quite some time), but I guess I simply wasn't paying enough attention to my hobbies anymore to be able to enjoy Pinterest. The thing is: now I am. Hobbies are important to stay sane and so when I wake up, when I feel a bit down, when I feel like I'm lacking inspiration, I open up my Pinterest app and a whole world opens up. I collect recipes, scrapbook ideas, I found the idea for a bullet journal (I'll save this for another post :P), and even some ideas for blogging. The app is really comfortable to use, it works exactly the same as the website, which makes it super accessible (and decreases the necessity of using the website, which I very rarely do).

5. Currency

This may sound like the stupidest thing in the world, but actually it is the most useful thing! Whether you're buying something online from a store in some other country, just curious about current exchange rates, or travelling: it is one of the handiest apps on my cell phone. I don't use it on a daily basis, because I don't need it on a daily basis. I live in the Netherlands, which has Euros, and even though I travel a lot, most of those countries have Euros. However, soon I will go to Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, and they all don't have Euros, so... you know it. And the good thing is: it works when you're off line as well! Picture me buying my super pricey lunch in Denmark, then at least I am able to know exactly how pricey it is! (and of course I can make the conscious choice not to use it :P)

4. Google Maps
Okay, you all know this app, but it has some really nice features. Not only can it give you directions, tell you which bus you should take and that kind of stuff, it can still point you on the map when you are off line! It GPSes along with you, and that's just so useful! Google Maps really saved my ass a couple of times already from getting totally lost and walking in the wrong direction ;) (and believe me, if there's anyone who lacks sense of direction...

Curious which ones are in my ultimate top 3? Read about it tomorrow! :D

To dye or not to dye?

That's the question.

Warning: this is gonna be the shallowest post I'll ever write

My natural hair colour is blonde.
I dye it brown. But now, during summer, I haven't dyed it at all. My excuse was 'well, I'll go to Sicily and with the sun and all it will just go bad anyway'.
But I came back to the Netherlands by Mid-September. The next excuse was 'Let's wait until I've been to Sardinia, as it might be sunny there as well, and then it would just go bad again'.

Now I am out of excuses. I am going to travel around the north of Europe, so the excuse of the sun is not valid anymore. At the moment my hair looks pretty much middle-blonde,with the upper part a bit brighter than the rest. No prob.

\
There are people who think brown is my natural hair colour and that I dyed it blonde right now and they're like 'looks good on you!', but it also happened when I was dyeing it all the time that people would say 'you, blonde? Can't imagine that'.

So, I don't want anymore ambiguous messages! :D And I am the worst at making choices, so my question is: to dye or not to dye?
Picture one or picture two?

You were warned ;) 

I ain't no good at this

I ain't no good at this.
How often don't we tell ourselves that? How many times have you tried and failed something?

To be honest, it seems like the story of my life. I give it a shot, don't manage, don't achieve what I'd like to, and I think 'ah, I could be doing this other cool thing instead'. And there it starts all over again. It happened with learning French. Learning Italian. Playing the keyboard. Writing a novel.
It happened with blogging.

The thing is not that I am bad at it. I don't think I suck at any of these things, on the contrary, at some of them I might actually be pretty good. The thing is: I try. Once. Maybe twice. And then it gets hard, I get tired, I am busy with my studies (which means doing quizes on Buzzfeed most of the time), and I forget. I forget, and I stop trying.
And whenever I remind myself of it, I feel demotivated, because I haven't done anything for an entire week.

It took me a while to admit that, but given that I am doing a lot of sports lately (and seriously, I would have laughed at you if you'd told me this one year ago. Like seriously? Me? Sports? In one sentence? You are definitely crazy!), I think I might actually have at least some willpower to do something. Because with lately I don't mean that I went jogging three times now. I mean that I started going to the gym in May and still do this three times a week, and I started running in September and I also do this three times a week. Yay! I am doing something I didn't even know I wanted to do, and I am not giving up on it!

So now it is about time to do the things I already want to do since forever. Blogging. It used to be something I really loved to do from, let's say, my 15th till my 20th. And then it just stopped. At the moment I have three blogs 'running'. The 52 Books Challenge, which is an idea I am still in love with and I will continue, until the end of the year just as a kind of practice. In 2015, I will do the challenge again. I can totally read and review 52 books in a year!
The other one is my Dutch travel blog. I liked it for a bit, but it's tiring. And it is only interesting if you are, let's say, my mom. So I will deliberately give up on that one.

And then there is Mondo d'Amore. A title I picked before I new any Italian, but a title I am still happy with. World of love. Sounds cheesy, right?
Right, but I mean something different. The world is a nasty place, but in my little corner I'll analyse it. I'll share my personal thoughts, happiness, sadness, and anger about this world. And of course, also my cheesy thoughts.

That's what I will do. I vow that I will post at least two blogs per week. And do find a way to punish me if I don't, please!