Happy new year, should be happy new days

Almost 2019. Why we see a new year as such a new beginning… It makes it easier to stop unhealthy habits, since we are more socially supported if you stop because of a new year than if you stop on ‘just another day’… But why don’t we just choose a new beginning ourselves: new day, new week, happening of something special, making a decision to start with something new, get out of your comfort zone… Okay, maybe I am a pessimist about new year intentions and the 'new me'-thing. I believe in a new you in a continuous way. You change in one year, but we change every day. I think we focus on reflecting and starting something new often during this time of the year, simply because we have/take our time to… Just a quick holiday in which we all can slow down and connect with family members you normally don’t see because of our busy lives. I think we should take these moments a bit more, just to ground with who you are now. Live day by day and have an awesome new day again and again.

We are forced to set goals and work on our future. But you live NOW. Living in the moment is already a lot, so many things you face each day. And of course it can be good to have a point on the horizon to aim for, but there are many different ways. Be flexible. Be in the right place at the right time and experience real luck. Doing the right thing in the right way is something you feel (NOW) and don’t even really plan to.

Both only really happen to you when you empty your heart of ambition, purpose, and plan; when you give yourself completely, to the golden, fate-filled moment (@twobeersontheroad).

Happy new days guys, enjoy tonight and take more time regularly to reflect on who you are, what you want and why you want this. Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

Picture of exactly one year ago. Working in a French casino was also fun at new years eve! Drinking tonight with a great friend and her friends, can not wait to pop the champaignnn!

Travelblog 1: The Greek cyclades

Dear blog readers,

If you read my first post since ages, then you will definitely know that I have been travelling a lot. Instead of starting with the first (model)trip, to Istanbul, I will start with my last trip at the end of May, to the Cyclades, Greece. Just because maybe some reader will go there on summer holiday and do not really know what to do on which island or maybe they do not even know yet to which island they want to go. That is what my boyfriend and I were wondering in the first place before we booked nothing else then a plane ticket to Santorini, one of the most famous Greek islands. In total we have been to five islands in ten days. We wanted to see many different islands in actually a very short time frame. That was the main reason why we did research on the internet for things to do on different islands. Over here I will give you a (hopefully) fun overview of where we went, why we went there and what we did. 

Instead of flying to Athens and go by boat to the Cylcades, we flew to Santorini from Amsterdam. This was the cheapest and fastest option. Next to that we saved time by not going on a boat immediately. We booked a retourticket and all our boattickets we looked up on go-ferry.com where you can see which transfer is cheapest and then we went to the right boat company's website to buy the ticket there. We collected tall tickets in Santorini, Fira at an boat ticket office for all companies. Once we arrived on Santorini we found out that we should have asked the first hotel we stayed in to shuttle us from the airport to the hotel, because taxi's from the airport are quite expensive. Nevertheless it all went well and we got to Kamari really quick. Kamari is a wonderfull place, we immediately fell in love with. The boulevard has many great restaurants and if you pass by all of them a bit too early for dinner, they sometimes make you an offer like free wine. Since we planned to stay here one full day we arranged on the day of arrival to do a boat & hot springs & volcano/Kameni tour in one with a guide the next day. That has been a good choice! We loved Kamari because this place is not as busy/touristic as Fira and Oia, but the atmosphere is amazing and relaxed to start off your holiday and cheap local busses to Fira continuing to Oia will go from here too. That is what we did after the boat tour day, we went to Oia. This is probably the most famous village on Santorini with the picturesque white little houses on an hill. We had a wonderful sea view during dinner. After all we also wanted to see ancient Fira, but we snoozed for too long... In any case we would have had enough time to explore Santorini since we booked a stay in Fira before we went home on day ten. We stayed 54 hours on Santorini, Kamari & Oia which was more than enough for that moment. 

On day three we went to Naxos, the biggest island of the Cyclades. Most of our boattransfers took approximately 2 hours. Most of the hotels we booked were close to the haven to save time and also practically with our hand luggage and sunny weather we were happy we did. Naxos has an amazing coastline, not only because the wild water and wind (see pictures), but also because the long busy boulevard where everyone relaxes after a day of work. This island did not seem touristic at all to us. Only at the Portára, the not finished temple of Apollo, you saw some tourists, but that was mostly it. We also went to the archeological museum, which was pretty hard to find because there were many small streets that form a labyrint. A nice and cheap museum though with lots of pottery, from before Christ. Naxos has wonderful beaches too, so we chose one of the prettiest according to our host, Plaka beach, which you should definitely go to. We stayed 29,5 hours on Naxos, which could be more if you want to go inland or see more beaches.  

Next stop for day number five was Koufounisia, one of the Small Cyclades. This was the most expensive boattransfer for only a short time on the island. But mennn, this was absolutely beautiful and worth it. Such a tiny island, whith lovely and chilled people. We could have rent bikes to go around the island in one day. But we decided to go by foot, staying close to the seashore all time and finding hidden paradises/private beaches. I think we walked one thirth of the coast, where we saw Piscine which is a natural pool and also many beautiful private beaches. The most beautiful ones we have seen during this holiday (see pictures). The water was super clear. We stayed 13 hours on Koufonisia, which could have been a bit more to see the whole island by bike for example. There is not much more to do than relax.  

Actually the same day as we arrived on Koufonisia, we also went by boat to Paros, Naoussa. This island I remember because of it's cute white haven and old fort (see pictures). On this island are many clothing shops, even a very nice outlet called VENTO. There is also a white church in the middle that might be worth visiting (see picture)… It was closed when we passed by. Firstly, we wanted to plan a canoe tour, but after all we rent kayaks on Chrisi Akti beach, where you could also rent windsurf sets, SUP's and more. We stayed 44,5 hours on Paros, which was perfect. 

Day 7 we arrived on Ios. We chose for Ios instead of Myokonos. Both are party islands, but Ios is less known by tourists and this made our night out so so good. Partying starts late though. We walked up into the village around 11.30 PM but we sat on a typical Greek terrasse under leave trees with live music until 2 AM I guess. Luckily all clubs are close together and the party season just started. In the end we stayed all night long in the silenct disco where we met new friends from Brazil and other places. The day after we walked, with 30 degrees Celsius and a severe hangover, to an amphitheatre mentioned on the internet. We thought it would be a historical one, but in fact it had the same age as me, hahaha anticlimax. The view was amazing though (see picture) and it was worth suffering for. On our last morning here we got on a snorkeling excursion to three locations: a ship wreck, private beach and caves. This was awesome, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone. We stayed 48,5 hours on Ios, which was perfect for us as well. 

One day before the last we arrived back on Santorini again. This time we slept in Fira, the central village of Santorini. We wanted to do some wine tasting with dinner, but we did not really find an option for this. Although there should have been a good one inland. Nevertheless we chose a restaurant with sea view again and had our last great Greek plate for dinner. We stayed 30 hours again on Santorini, Fira, which was enough time for Santorini in total. 

Mmm I planned on making a shorter blog, but I guess I am still too excited about this holiday destination. It was a vacation with lots to see, to do and to eat. But also a great one to relax from the busy city lives and get tanned on lonely places. See you on the next!

ps. Without a doubt, Greek food is amaaaazing!

@kvanantwerpen for more pics

That has been a long long time

Hi there again, oh well, after so so long I just felt the impulse to go back at it again. From the starting of my studentship I just had no priority for writing kind of stuff (because we already did this a lot for courses), but since my gapyear, which is almost over now, I felt the urge to write again. About last year, my travellings, my jobs, thoughs, still sporty and healthy lifestyle and of course the future. Maybe no one is gonna read it, but it is like a positive diary for myself to look back at. I am grateful for the freedom I had the chance to take and I am more than happy and satisfied with what I did this last year. I made it happen, and I think everyone should made the dreams and hopes they have happen. You all deserve that.  

So.. Where to start, pff.. I could start at where I ended, right before I started my Bachelor Psychology at the University of Leiden, but those three years were actually quite the same. Working at the Albert Heijn, doing committees at the study association, still modelling but not as often as I did, making some extra money with hospitality jobs, still spending time with the same boyfriend and new university friends, went windsurfing with the sports fraternity I joined in my second year and also did a committee and surftrip there, did volunteer jobs for healthcare with a schizophrenic buddy, depressive elderly and also people with eating disorders... I did a lot... Like always haha, it was a great time with parties, freedom and development. As soon as I got my degree, in three years, with more ECTS than necessary I decided I wanted to make that one dream come true. Going abroad for modelling. And it happened. I found a motheragent and she sent me to Istanbul for two months. After that I was more or less done with modelling, not because of the trip, but because my highest point, in between what I think I could achieve in the model business, was reached. I did it for eight years and it has been wonderful , I learned a lot, but my feelings said it was finished. Sooo, since I was not placed into another fashion city, I decided last minute to go backpacking on my own (after also one amazing trip to Morocco with a model friend from Istanbul). I got my vaccinations and two weeks later I was in Nepal, Kathmandu. Preparing for a two week trek in the Himalayas, a city trip to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and six days of rest and peace on a beach at Langkawi Island. It was the most wonderful trip I could ever imagine. When I got home I really felt the ATD, after travel depression. But the travelling was not over yet. A studytrip to Slovenia, Ljubljana was ahead of me and also an island hopping holiday to Greece with my boyfriend was planned. Right now all the travelling is over for some time, I am working because I spent to much money but also because I needed to get back to reality and daily stuff. However I will write mostly about last year up until the present. I will reflect on my trips mostly and share my thoughs. Next year will not be that interesting I guess, but we will see, you will never know. 

I forgot to mention, I turned into a redhead since I sort of stopped modelling and I did not need to look like my portfolio pictures anymore! 

Nevertheless, people book me more often now… Maybe also because I got an instagram account, quite late in the trend of having it, because it is only about see and be seen I guess, but okaaay another photo diary for myself: @kvanantwerpen 

Clouds, sun, beauty, I’m back

Dear Blog readers,

It’s been two months of Spring already!!! That means beautiful weather and lovely colors, in The Netherlands it’s not like that at the moment. Rainy days, but Friday my lovely friend Sun is coming back, luckily because Saturday it’s 909 festival time. We had sunny days too though and I was so inspired by such beautiful air portrets. Colors bright light city. At the same time these words remember me of my oral English exam, I have read Bright Lights Big City, The Color Purple and more.. I am sorry for not posting for such a long time. Not making an excuse, actually I do, but I was so busy with school. It is my last year at High School and I was/am pretty excited, frustrated, stressed, happy… Well mixed feelings as you might mention. I did my final exams till the 22th of may and I think I made it, hopefully I can start my study in Septembre. Bachelor of psychology in Leiden. Can’t wait to start a new chapter, new book actually. So done with this school doings.

Now I’m done, it’s weird, because we have 3 months vacation! THREE MONTHS! That’s a long time. But I made a list of things I wanted to do these months and of course I will go on holiday with my boyfriend and my mom, Portugal and Milaan it is. To do list/goals:

- Playing the violin, which for I followed lessons 6 years but stopped for 3 years now

- Sewing, making my own clothes

- Making a website for me as a model

- Posting more blogposts (do I hear a yell?)

- Working (promoting and also working in the supermarket)

- Cleaning my computer documents and trash

- Sports <3 (riding my bike, runs, Insanity, skating, yoga…)

- Arranging many meetings with lovely people I couldn’t see during my exams

- Many shoots and two fashionshows (KABK The Hague and WDKA Rotterdam)

I need to solve a problem first, the pictures I normally post I make them with my Sony Xperia S, but my phone doesn’t want to connect with my laptop anymore. I can’t let you read my bullshit without giving a beautiful shot of the air or whatever. Well as you see, this post is without a pic, but I will solve the problem and overload you with pictures I made from 8-11-2013 till now.

Much love, Kirsten

Sugarfree FOOD

Goooodevening readers,

Already winter here in Holland, freezing you know. And that means (for many people) more eatinggggg. But don’t worry, it’s a fact that you burn more calories in the winter than the summer, because you’re body needs to work harder to stay warm. Well of course you can also curl up against your boyfriend…

This blog will be about food.. Yes..

Since a month I’m trying to eat less sugars! If possible I only eat sugarfree products. They say, sugar is very bad for your body, all sugar we eat is not necessary for the body, because we make it our self. Americans say it’s poisson. Well I did some research before I started eating sugarfree.

It’s not thát bad for you but simply there are no important nutrients in it. So it’s not bad eating some sugar, and I know it’s difficult to resist some sugarbombs as crème, chocolate, muffins, icecreams. But if you eat much, you can gain a lot of weight and you risk diabetes, heart and vascular diseases. So warning : you can eat sugar, for energy it’s perfect for a while, but it’s also addictive. So be careful with that. You can also gain energy from other foods that are less fattening.

I know and noticed that if I eat sugar, my blood sugar levels rise for a while, and than it drops, so you’re body is asking for sugar again and that’s why eating sugar can be an addiction.

When you eat little or no sugar, your blood sugar is balanced, which means your need for sugar is less and secondly your blood sugar will remain constant.

Of course this is different for any person. But after some weeks I made sure that my need for sugar has diminished. With the result that you (can) lose some pounds.

Moreover I do not shun for natural sugars, which are in many fruits.

Here what I eat most :

-         Oatmeal (low in calories) with soya milk

-         Dried fruits like apricots

-         Unsalted peanuts, almonds and raisins

-         Breadsticks

-         88% cocoa chocolate

-         Rye bread

-         Vitalu crackers with toppings like: young cheese, apple sauce (no added sugar), smoked beef and peanut butter

-         Olives and greek feta cheese

-         Greek yogurt, low fat yogurt or quark

-         Lots of veggies and fruit

-         You can find many recipes for sugarfree snacks or cakes on the internet

-         For a drink : orange juice with no added sugar, green tea and lots of (lemon) water

If you want a challenge, or maybe you want to lose some weight. Well I would say : TRY IT ! It’s certainly not bad eating no sugar.

Be aware : you might have an headache for a week… Withdrawal symptons.

Many KiSsEs

Kirsten 

Start now!

Hi Guys,

Did you enjoy the rainy weeks in the Netherlands!? I don’t think you did, but at least I enjoyed the beautiful air and the birds twittering around. 

This blog is about Chris Powell, sports, perseverance and goals. 

Running in the rain isn’t really a fun thing to do, but I would if I could get a hot shower afterwards. And a friend told me that standing in the shower with a cup filled with hot chocolate is really delicious/amazing. I didn’t try yet, because I still have a knee injury, now for four weeks, but I’m definitely gonna try some time. I really want to get back on my workout scheme soon. I was doing Insanity Workout for two weeks, but I’m gonna start all over again with amazing Shaun T, loving his workouts!

Anyways I want to talk about Chris Powell, such an inspiring person I think. If you have seen Obese USA you will definitely know him. The first thing I mentioned was his smile, he is so happy by seeing people change their lifes. He smiles constantly, which is a sign of optimism and really a boost for the participants I think. Such a beautiful quality. He is not only helping them loose weight, but also changing their manner of living and helping them to know who they really are and wanna be. He gets/lets you face the facts.

Some of his quotes/tips @ABCnews:

“I know you’ve heard this before but take one thing that you are willing to change in your life, whether it’s moving for five minutes or drinking water, take one promise that you can fulfill, and keep that promise to yourself over and over and over. And then take on another small change,”

“A squat jack is a great total body movement, and easy to combine with other exercises.”  

“Jumping rope is back. It was a thing a few decades ago and now it’s back, which is great. It’s endurance, stamina, and it’s a total body exercise. It’s not just the legs, but it’s balance and the shoulders,”

“Choose More, Lose More for Life” is published by Hyperion.

"I believe that everyone has the right to live a happy and healthy life."

Not only Chris is working out, but his whole family is fanatic. He calls his wife (Heidi Powell also a fitness trainer) the bulldog, because she is even more driven. 

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEC7CC4324B6D52E4 For some fun videos.

If you want and believe, you will. Starting tomorrow is reaching your goal a day later than planned. So start now ;D

Well I'm gonna enjoy the sun these days! 

LOVE