Park Jimin you'd better stay beautiful!

Jimin (also known as Jamie) released one final single via JYP before her contract ended with them. If you ask me.. which you are not but I am giving my opinion anyway... she deserves so much more than what she's gotten.
Jimin appearently auditioned for a talent show and officially debuted in 2012 as part of a duo: 15&.
Since contracts in Kpop appearently last for 7 years, hers expired recently.

My girl has been vocal about the lack of music JYP let her release. She's an ASC host and has publicly called out JYP for not giving her the chance to release music. It is such a shame because this girl has such a beautiful voice.

On August 6 she posted a lengthy post via Instagram regarding her contract with JYP ending. 12 days later she teased her final single with JYP: Stay Beautiful which she then released on 26 August 2019.

The song has a warm tune and a nice melody. The lyrics itself are all about loving a person for who they are. Her sweet voice makes this a song worth listening to. It is perfect for when you just want to relax. The video shows her goofing off with some guys, having a great time while playing around, all fun and games. 

Give her song a listen, you'll thank me for it!

Chinese dramas addiction

Happy 2018! I have lacked posting anything on this blog in the past months (I believe it is more than a year, shame on me) so I thought it was way past due to post something about me.

Last week, during the Christmas holiday, I caught a bug. This resulted in me lying sick in bed and sleeping all day. When I was slowly recovering I stumbled upon a website which hosted several drama series on several servers for us to watch. I don't really remember how I got there exactly, but I stumbled upon a Chinese drama series called Love 020 and I loved it right away.

So, as a result, I have developed a slight addiction to Chinese dramas. So far I have watched Love 020, Boss and Me, Love 020 (again LOL) and now I'm watching 'Ten Miles of Peach Blossom". How is this so addictive?

The appeal of Love 020 is clear. It is sweet, romantic and I love how these two beautiful people come together and start a relationship. Especially in this day and age where plenty of people meet online through apps or games it is so familiar. I love that these characters meet through an RPG game and when they finally meet up in real life, they develop a strong bond.

Where most American romance movies lack the real romance and don't manage to give me butterflies anymore, these few Chinese dramas all did. I smiled when they smiled, I laughed when they joked with each other and I felt happy when something good happened to the characters.

Because of this I'm thinking of posting reviews for every drama and movie I watch. I do rely on English subs because, surprise surprise, I don't speak Chinese. I'll keep you all posted. For now I'm gonna go and see where 'Ten Miles of Peach blossom" takes me.

Lots of love,
Chantal

My thoughts after youtubing today....

I don't really know how to really start this. But I'm just gonna type and we'll see if I can get my thoughts across.

In 2001 my country (the Netherlands) was the first country in the world to allow gay marriage. I was 11. I grew up in a country where Dutch gay celebs would talk about their husbands or wives or boyfriends or girlfriends and it was normal. It is normal. To me it is part of life.

You usually get to that part where you get curious. You think about what you feel and who you feel for. Is it boys, girls or both? Honestly, I never doubted myself. Of course I have thought about the idea. Could I be into girls? Could I like them as much as I like boys? But in all honesty, I never doubted myself. I knew that I'm straight. I can still appreciate a beautiful woman, same as with handsome men. But no, I could never love a woman the way I love a men.

Growing up in a country like mine made me grow up with the idea that being gay or straight is nothing to be ashamed about. It is who you are and you should be accepted for who you are. But then again, why is it important for other people to know your sexual orientation?

When Joey Graceffa wasn't out yet, there were so many comments on his video's of people asking if he was gay. I thought he was (and honestly it was just a presumption) but is it really important? Is it not more important to know that this man is happy? That he is loved by someone being and that he knows joy in life? Because that is what we want right? To be loved. As soon as he said it he had a huge smile on his face.

So stumbling upon a top 9 list of coming out video's put me to think. Why do the gay people have to make a coming out video to explain their orientation to us, and the straight people don't? It made me realise that, even though the world has made progress by slowly accepting gay marriage, there is still a long, long way to go.

When Ingrid Nilson came out last year she made me cry. Mostly because she explained her struggles and I felt so bad for her. Here is a beautiful woman, who has shared her life with us and she hasn't been happy for many years. When she really does deserve to be happy.

I don't know if writing this will change anything in the world. Will it help people accept others? I don't know. I don't feel like I have given any reason. People can spout religion as a reason agains gays or they could be just so closed-minded that they cannot exept another person for who they are.

I just hope that - in a few years - people don't have to make these coming out video's anymore. I hope that it will be as normal to be gay as to be straight. I want people to feel safe enough to be themselves. I want them to be able to be happy and that they can just casually talk about their boyfriends or girlsfriends without it being news.

For now, I want to applaud those who have found the courage to film their coming out video's. In the society we live in, it must have been very difficult. I hope you all found someone to love and that your life has changed for the better. Let's hope it is not neccesary in the future.

Lots of love, Chantal

My diabetes story....

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I haven't posted in a while, and I sincerely hope you can forgive me for that. In my defence, I have been busy with something.

In november I went to the doctor, because I had a symptom that kept coming back. After first getting pills to take care of it, and it then still coming back, she decided she wanted to check my blood sugar level. So she took out this massive pin and yanked it into my finger... blood gushing out... nah I'm kidding. She took one of those tiny devices to prick my finger for a drop of blood and checked. And ofcourse... my blood sugar was waaaaay too high.
So there it was. My brand. My box. Waiting for me. Hello higher health care costs. Hello regular doctor visits. Hello.... sigh.

So you can imagine that having to deal with that (and all that comes with it) and juggling my schoolwork at the same time... was pretty much all-consuming. I was lucky that I could schedule most of my doctors visits outside of school/internship hours, but I was not able to plan all of them on my own free time.

Fast forward to february 2nd. I have been taking 3 types of pills: one for my sugar (Metformin) one for cholestroll (cos that was too high as well) and one more. At this point I don't even remember what they're all for (exept ofcourse the Metformin).
I have to eat on regulated times. So i eat at 8:30 am, then again at 1 pm. and again usually around 7/7:30 pm. So that is completely different from what I did before.

Next to that I have had to change my food. And I mean make sort of a 180 degree turn. Where in the past I could eat loads of Pasta with veggies and some lovely fish or beef. Now I have to keep a diet consisting large part (50%) out of vegetables, then 25% potatoes/pasta (wholewheat) and 25% or less for meat or fish. They advise me to choose chicken or fish, and try to pass on pork, beef and similar. Any poultry is fine.

So it has been quiet a search for the right menus. Mitch is a big help but every day is still a bit of a struggle. I need to loose weight, about 15 Kg, so we'll see if my diet is helping me get there.

I'll keep you posted, lovelies.

XOXO Chantal

Yankee Candle!!!!

OMG... my house smells so good!!!! Like insanely good! The reason is that I have bought some Yankee Candles in Amsterdam and they smell so good!

Not too long ago Mitchel and I went to Amsterdam to go shopping and to visit some fun sites. at Magna Plaza (the former location of 'Fame' the record store) they  have several other stores, including Yankee Candle. So when we took home a glass jar of Cinnamon sticks and it lasted for ages and smelled so good, we decided that THIS was going to be our brand of candles.

Moving on.... to two weeks ago. I really wanted to order some Yankee Candles, and was focussed on christmas so I bought some christmas/winter themed scents. Right now the entire house smells like Christmas Garland. It is amazing and really puts me in the christmas mood.

It seems like I'm not the only Yankee Candle fan. Tom from McFly seems to be one as well!

He posted this picture on his Instagram. I AM JEALOUS! Bu then again, I also ordered my stash of candles and can enjoy the smell of cinnamon, christmas cookies and garland. I'm good!!!

xoxo Chantal

My future plans....

You can tell, right? I haven't spend much time on this blog, not enough. I have come up with something. I have made a weekly planning and have made blogging a standard task every week. So hopefully (since I have some of the topics set in stone) this will help me actually write. If you have any topics in mind, let me know. I love to hear your thoughts.

From now on I will try and post a blogpost every Sunday. So keep your eyes on the blog and leave a comment.

lots of love, Chantal

50 things I love...

Being in a relationship, Movies, Hot chocolate, kruidnoten, Flying, Mitchel, Kittens, My home, my erasable pen, drawing, writing, Indesign, Apple, Fruit, Cooking, Cheesecake, 24 Kitchen, Cardigans, Disneyland Paris, puppies, Japan, paper, smell of a book, my bank account when I receive money, puzzles, blogging, singing, cuddling, colouring, England, My friends, running into people at random, traveling, United States, Accents, typing, sweets, green tea lemon, honey tea, cinnamon rolls, Breakfast with the bf, my rings, my Mickey Mouse necklace, grey and pink together, holiday, listening, music, getting autographs, finding new material, working on a collection of recipes to make my own cookbook.

This is what I could come up with now but I know for sure that there are plenty more.... :D