Berlin Neighbourhood Guide // Friedrichshain

So, maybe you knew that we went to Berlin. I'm so happy to give you a little pictorial guide of the area we stayed in Berlin: Friedrichshain! We've been there before, so instead of doing the hotspots, we did a bit of an off-the-path kind of stay, including a visit to the Hamburger Banhof museum where we saw a big pile of fat (excuse me, sculpture of tallow; no pictures of that, thank God). 

We were lucky enough to stay in Friedrichshain on Simon-Dach Strasse, a very hip street in the neighbourhood with this crazy amount of restos, bars and cafes around each corner. Right at the bottom of our staircase was Café 100 Wasser. They served amazing cocktails, but what really got me was the incredible breakfast we had there the morning after we arrived. They were based on cities and places around the world, and the Barcelona plate truly rocked mine. 

We ate some burgers at a vegan place called YoYo; I can't say that it was really my favourite place in Berlin but I guess for people who want meat like food without the meat, it's a cool place in a nice area. 

PJ and I took a little lunch date by ourselves (sorry, Louis :D) at Datscha Resto Bar, an incredible and truly authentic Russian resto. My blinis (Russian pankcakes) were incredible, and I imagine would rival those made in Moscow!

Our final meal was at an Mediterranean café called Proviant, where the boys had some meat and cheese plates with fresh bread, and I had a goat cheese and salami ciabatta with green pesto. Though it was a bit of a wait (there was a line and they slice everything themselves), it was TOTALLY worth it. Wow. I love Mediterranean food..

The breakfast plates at Café 100 Wasser

Hamburger Banhof Museum

Outside of YoYo

Breakfast at Datscha

On the Spree

Treptower Park

Molecule Man

Club Der Visionaere

Birgit und Bier

Birgit und Bier

Our meal at Proviant

Since we had seen some things in Berlin before, we went off the radar. My favourite part was grabbing a few beers and a pedal boat and riding down the Spree River from Treptower Park. It was amazing to just chill with our feet in the water, a few hundred metres from the Molecule Man statue and chatting with the boys. 

We walked through an incredible alley next to Badeschiff and found ourselves in Club Der Visionaere, a favourite party spot for the boys. A friend of Louis offered up another spot that we absolutely loved: Birgit und Bier. It had this amazing carnival/fair type theme that we loved, with ping pong, some arcade games and two HUGE vats of fresh beer. Some locals were selling sausage (oh Germany.) and we grabbed a few and chatted near the carousel before taking a walk back to the kebab stands for a late night snack and venture through all the new spots and biergartens opening up in the neighbourhood. 

I wish we had done even more shopping. My only fantastic purchase was the peacock t-shirt that I wore to YoYo from UVR Connected. The thing I love about Friedrichshain is all the small boutiques, I can't even name all of them! There's vintage, clothing, gifts, decor; I bought so many postcards for my friends and some hanging decor for our little terrace! 

I really can't wait to get back to Berlin again, not only to see my friends but to explore more of the neighbourhoods; we got a tip about some galleries off of Auguststrasse that we didn't get to see. I'd like to take my mom back to the exhibits at Hamburger Banhof (which is where we saw the Joseph Beuys tallow sculpture; again, ew) and to do some amazing shopping. I also FINALLY found some black jeans that really suit me thanks to a tip from some friends (thanks, ladies)! But, more on that later. 

To say this week hasn't been mentally tough would be a lie. It's been a huge wave up ups and downs since Sunday, but coming out of it has given me a lot more inspiration to take better care of myself, my mind and how I'm going to move forward in my life. 

I hope you enjoy all of my photos, there are so many! Sorry again about the overload, I just really loved playing with my new camera and taking pictures of everything. If you have any tips for my next trip to Berlin, PLEASE let me know, I want to do everything there is to do there!

xox,

Suz 

Berlin Day 1

This past week after Melt! Festival, PJ, Louis and I traveled to Berlin to check out their favourite hotspots and have a bit of a hangout before heading back to Belgium. The sun was shining basically the entire time we were there. If anything, I would say it was even a bit hot most of the time. No complaints here, it stormed last night and is rainy until *Tuesday*. 

We had such fun roaming around Berlin. On day one, we really just strolled in our area of Friedrichshain and walked the East Side Gallery looking for all of the different art. I loved it! It was only my second time in Berlin but I can't get over the Wall and what it represented. My mind can't wrap around the fact that it exists. 

I really loved this look. I haven't really been into jean cutoffs before, but I love that people are really into belts again; this leather braided beaut is a vintage gift from my mom who bought it before I was born in Cape Town. I also LOVE bell sleeves at the moment. I pretty much think that any outfit with them is killin' it (like my grad dress, woop). I got this little lave cutout baby from Mango during the sales here in Ghent and I've been so happy every time I wear it!

 I also picked up this leather bucket bag (similar here) for a mere €50 last week and it lasted me throughout the festival AND trekking through Berlin with my essentials and camera. 

 Lace Appliqué Blouse (down from $60!!!) // Shorts // Necklace (similar here) // Boots // Sunnies

This is PJ's ~blog pose~ and he really thought it was hilarious to do it every time we took a picture. Obviously I agreed. 

I can't wait to post about the places we visited and food we ate (so. much. food.) in the next week. 

Until then!

Tschüss,

Suz

Mood Music Monday // Jungle Drum

You know when a song plays on the radio, and you immediately whip out your phone to Shazaam it or plead with Siri to tell you what melodious music is coming from your speakers?

This past week, on our way to squash, this little diddy came on the radio. This is some of my favourite kind of music, and I can't even explain why. I got so riled up, it just made me want to jump on the court and dance like a maniac, which is probably the point of the song but I digress. 

Well help me if did, because I dominated at squash when just a half hour earlier I had been begging Peej not to go.
So thank you Emiliana Torrini. My squash skills salute you!

I promise to have loads of new music for you guys, but having just gotten to Berlin after a long weekend at Melt! Festival, I need to decompress and pick out my favourites!

I hope this starts your work week with an excited air. Enjoy!

xox,

Suz 

Snail Mail

A few weeks ago, I found the CUTEST snail mail set in Hema , and went back this past weekend to see if I could find more to send to my friends all over the world. I may have also picked up some sticker and decoration packets along with some more stationary...I have a problem. 

And, you know, there's something about opening your mailbox and pulling out a letter that doesn't tell you how much money you now owe that is so exhilarating. I started writing postcards and letters to my friends last year in Sweden when I was a bit down in the dumps, and have tried to keep up the tradition since I moved to Belgium. 

So I sent one of these adorable cards to my papa for his birthday/fathers day, along with the included stickers and tags that you can tie onto the car, and he just adored it (daughter of the year award, heyo!). Considering the almost infinitesimal price, my bank account isn't angry with me, and I hope my loved ones will be quite happily surprised!

We're heading off to Germany tomorrow to go to Melt! Festival and then spend four days in Berlin, so PJ's mama packed us with a few surprises to make sure we don't reek of sweaty festival campers and don't look like lobsters crawling through Germany. 

To Ferropolis we go! My excitement over seeing Kylie Minogue is beating my anxiety about sleeping among the spiders...

Till next time, auf Wiedersehen!

xox,

Suz

Mood Music Monday // Virginia is for Lovers

Today I had a lovely chat with another Richmonder, and not only did this little chat go pretty well, it really made me happy to talk to someone else from the city I called home for so long!

Thus, one of my favourites from Jason Mraz, another Virginia kid. 

I hope your Monday is sunnier than mine!

xox,

Suz 

Weekend Report // Gent & Brussels

I had a BLAST this weekend. I was constantly happy and reminded of how lucky I am to live where i live and know who I know. On Friday night we went to the Zebra Beach with a few friends to spend some time near some water, where we decided that we'd all take part in Gent's Big Raft Day, where we'll slide down the river in our raft of choice. PJ wants a crocodile, I want a shark (due to the only funny joke I know). 

The great thing about Zebra Beach is that it's a bit outside of the city, so it's not as crowded as the Graslei area by the river on nice days, and you can enjoy refreshments of your choice from the bar. Hoegaarden's lemon-lime Radler truly hit the spot sitting next to the water. 

Even though PJ and I spent most of Saturday apart from each other, it was still an amazing day. I got to meet up with my friend Joel in Brussels and spent the day with a few of his students, showing them my favourite walks and spots. Not that I know the city extremely well, but I've at least mastered where the main things are and can point them out from anywhere. Thank the stars and my dad for my sense of direction. We walked all over taking pictures with my new Samsung NX3000, aka my new baby. I think my favourite thing to photograph was Joel's beard after eating a waffle, and the formation of his chocolate goatee. 

I also love the selfie function on this camera; you can flip up the screen so you can see what you're taking pictures of without losing any quality or DoF from your lens. We tested it out in the Grand Place while waiting for the last straggling students to make their way to the waiting mentor. 

I was lucky enough to sit next to three of the most beautiful people I've ever seen on the train and listened to them rave about how great Gent was, all while thinking "Ya damn right, it's amazing." Especailly since as soon as I got off the train I went straight to a bar called Gomez to meet up with PJ, who then made me the most amazing baked chicken dinner with some rosé on our terrace. 

It's those moments that I really, truly cherish. I love sitting with our string lights and new plants, puppy on his lap and kitten watching us from her hiding spots while we chat about anything we can think of. Terrace time is definitely our quality time together.

Good luck to the start of a new week!

xox,

Suz

Suz & the Three

Yesterday was the three year anniversary of meeting PJ in Cape Town, so I wanted to do something really special for him. There were so many special places for us in that city, even though we didn't even begin dating until we had both left the city. 

But we had fun with it anyway. Each room in the apartment was a different area where we spent time together, like the cafe around the corner from the office, the coffee shop across the street, and the terraced bar where we made some very funny local friends.

I made sure that we had the exact same sandwich from the cafe, and a little bit of South African bubbles to make the night really special. 

I also remember exactly what I was wearing: black skinny jeans and a sweater over my button up, since my idea of business casual was not the same as the rest of the office; my boss looked really casual in her overalls while I looked like the world's most conservative intern, in which case I decided on a partly off-the-shoulder dress from LOVE at Topshop and some really delicate necklaces. I added on the earrings that PJ gave me for Christmas, and I LOVED the way the look came together (as did PJ ;)).

I also finished off the look with some of my favourite Clinique lipstick in Rasberry Glacé and the most amazing Nude Magique Blur Cream in Light/Medium

Dress (out of stock, similar here with long sleeves) // Tri-Arrow Necklace // Aquamarine necklace (old) // Rose Gold Earrings // Ring (vintage) // Watch (vintage) 

Mood Music Monday // The New Retro

This Fourth of July weekend PJ and I did a bit of grilling on our terrace with our two furry babies. We were both way too tired to do anything outside of the house during the day this weekend because of the weather. So, we gathered up our one time grill, some ribs and chicken shish kebabs, and turned up the heat and the music at the same time. 

To get in the spirit of the holiday weekend we definitely wanted a super chilled vibe but I also wanted something to remind me of the place I called home for 15 years. I was so happy to find this playlist. I felt like I was down by the river next to my house, sunning on the rocks and having a drink with my friends. Since the weather felt about the same as Richmond in the summer, it wasn't too hard to imagine. 

But now, lest we linger on too many memories of summers past, I'll leave you with my new favourite list of summer songs. Enjoy!

xox,

Suz 

Suz & the Under €50 Fourth

I'm not, and have never been, the biggest fan of the Fourth of July. I think my favourite memory of the holiday is spending it at Kings Dominion with some friends at the beginning of high school and riding Tomb Raider five times while everyone else watched the fireworks from one of the lawns.

But, recently, having a day that I can celebrate with people from the country that I spent a good amount of my life in, and where many of my friends still live, sounds like a day in paradise.

This year, some expats want to get together and have a little barbeque out by the water and what is expected to be the hottest day of summer here in Gent. Obviously, I've already started planning my outfit, and thanks to the sales it's been even easier to put something fun together. I'm planning on adding a little belt to take this dress to the next level, and make the day even more special for me and PJ.

The best thing about this outfit? All together this outfit is only about €30, thus, a total steal. And even though the price is low, I feel great, especially since fashion editors are now being honest about shopping the high street.
Mango Dress (on sale!) // Stone Pendant Necklace // Wrap Stone Wrist Cuff // Paisley Plimsolls 

I hope you have awesome plans for the fourth, no matter if you're celebrating the holiday or not. Just make sure to keep cool, wherever you are!

xox,
Suz