Looking Back on September

This was quite a blurry month for me. I honestly don't remember that much. Medical issues -and the lack of sleep caused by it- made me into a total zombie for most of the month. But there were still some things that made me happy.

• I went to the cinema with my mom and had a great time.
• Caved and bought a smartphone when I found the perfect deal.
• Started an amazing book that I can't wait to finish.
• Did a fun owly giveaway.
• Tried out some amazing nail polish I received.
• Finally listed my bookmark subscriptions.
• Soaked up the last of the sunny weather.
• Finished a beautiful sweater I'd been knitting.
• And even reconnected with my oldest penpal again!

How was your month? Did any nice things happen?

Sponsor Call: October

September is almost over, so new ads will go up soon. Also, the holidays are getting closer, which means it's a good time to advertise a shop! If you'd like to get a spot for October, you can choose one of these three options:

-Large ad: $20 - includes interview, tutorial or guest post ONLY 1 AVAILABLE!
-Regular ads: $8 or $20 for 3 months
-Small ads: $5 or $12 for 3 months

I'm also open to giveaways or doing reviews. There are a couple coming up already, but the more the merrier, right?

Read more about it here. And Email Me if you'd like to reserve a spot or want to do a giveaway or a review instead.

In the Mail...

Liz Kantner has a really interesting blog about jewelry called "Stay Gold". She writes about current designers, historical designs, and she recently even had a giveaway for a moon and star charm, which I happened to win!

It came in the main this week. I love it! It's very delicate and has a very magical feel to it. I'll really enjoy wearing it!

Lovely Movies: The Hundred Foot Journey

When my mom and I saw the trailer for this film we knew we would go see it together. And this week, we did. It was wonderful! A bit predictable, (and it had a terrible cringeworthy introduction to Helen Mirren's character) but amazing nevertheless.

It was about amazing food and a bunch of generally lovely people. I also liked that it wasn't all -for the lack of a better word- "chirpy", but that there were some adversities as well. However, it was still very much a feel-good film!

Watch the trailer till 1:30 ok?!

Also, it was produced by Stephen Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, and directed by Lasse Hallström. Need I say more?

Wishlist

I am seriously smitten with this pencil case! Everything about it is perfect: the color, the pattern, the little sheep and of course the girl and the fact that she's playing a ukelele. Ooh, new idea! …this could make a great songwriting case.

Maybe put in some guitar picks, a capo and a couple pens for writing down chords and lyrics? What do you think?

They have a couple other colors/prints available as well, but this by far my favorite. You can get them on Ebay.

Flamingoing

I definitely stuck with my plan of wearing all my best summer clothes while I still could. In fact, I rocked super fancy dresses on quite ordinary days. This flamingo one being one of my absolute favorites. It's so colorful and elegant!

Dress: Hell Bunny Vixen - Shoes: Merrel - Hair bow: random boutique - Sunglasses: SunglassesShop

This whole get up made me feel like I was away on a holiday. I was in such a good mood that entire day and definitely took full advantage of the last bit of summer. Also, I was very glad I had comfortable shoes to match the outfit!

Drumroll, Please...

Almost two hundred entries to win the cute owl set with a brooch and a creditcard holder, but only one lucky lady...

Marilyn from Pulp Sushi, congrats!

And as I mentioned, there will be more giveaways soon, so keep your eyes open.

Ingaga

This summer I've been to quite a lot of lovely markets. Mostly ones that combine food with lovely gifts. So apart from eating some delicious stuff, you might have guessed that I picked up some very cool items as well.

One of those is this owl plate by Ingaga. I actually picked it up from her sale section, lucky me! Anyway, she makes some stunning porcelain items. Their shapes are very pretty and they have the most beautiful teal illustrations.

Anyway, there is an online Ingaga store as well as a facebook page, so visit those if you'd like to see more!

Last Chance for the Giveaway!

Do not forget to enter the giveaway while you still can, because time is running out!

Click this link to go to the giveaway page and to fill out the Rafflecopter. Good luck!

Bookmark Subscriptions!

This is something I've been wanting to do for ages, because I know how awesome it is to get happy mail! And today I just went for it… so you can now get a random Blue Eyed Night Owl bookmark in your mail box each month. Yay!

They may be bookmarks I now have in the shop, old designs, bookmarks I haven't released yet or even a one-of-a-kind color or design. (But I'll avoid your least favorite color and/or animal if you tell me what it is.)  Delivered giftwrapped, of course!

You can choose between 3, 6 and 12 months and each one saves you a little more money than the one before as they all come with the same shipping fee. Also, the 12th month is on me if you subscribe for an entire year.

And since I love my blog readers dearly I thought I'd make an even sweeter deal for you guys… If you order in September you can even get free shipping -on subscriptions only- by using the coupon code: "DOUBLESUBSCRIBER".

Mixed Shelf #14

Every once in a while I have a huge Japanese reading kick. Now is definitely one of those times! I'm currently engrossed in an amazing book and it is making me very excited about reading a lot more Japanese fiction again.

Wanting: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

It has been a while since I read any Murakami. I mentioned I got stuck in one of his books and it has put me off trying any others. Which makes hardly any sense, since he was always one of my favorite authors. Of course there is his brand new release, but I have to admit I'm way more curious about 1Q84. Despite its gigantic page count...

goodreads // available here

Reading: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

One of my birthday gifts this year! I planned to start this a lot sooner, but I am very glad I kept it until now. It's the perfect book for this time of the year, or maybe even this time of my life. Anyway, I'm enjoying it tremendously! It's a novel, but half of it often confuses me (in a good, and very enchanting, way!) because of it's many autobiographical elements.

goodreads // available here

Waiting: Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto is one of my absolute favorite authors, if not my nr. 1… so it's quite surprising that I have never read the first book of hers I ever bought. In fact I only read half of the books on my Banana-shelf. I just like to spread them out so I can pick one up whenever I feel like it. And thankfully she's still writing and releasing books too.

goodreads // available here

Are you into Japanese fiction? And if so, can you recommend any nice novels? I'd love to hear about some new ones.

Wishlist

You guys know how much I love woodland items, so you can probably imagine my excitement when I spotted these Loli Millie antler headbands. They might get a few strange looks on the street, but they do look very cute!

And at the very least they'd be absolutely perfect for a fantasy fair. I've been wanting to go to one of those for ages, but can never seem to make it work. Maybe the one next spring. Who knows?! If so, I might just bring these antlers.

Anyway, I bet the could really spruce up a regular Fall outfit too. And the come in many different colors!

 So check out their Etsy shop if you'd like to see more of them.

Last Call for Sunshine

I was afraid summer was over, but was crossing my fingers for just a bit more. And I got it! This whole week is supposed to be wonderful! The perfect chance to spend time outside and wear all the summer clothes I hadn't yet.

Ring: Six - Purse: H&M - Bracelet: bought on vacation - Skirt+Top: Vera & Lucy @ By Fabrio

Like this colorful set I picked up at this new affordable shop I discovered this summer. It can be worn together or separately. I saw it in the window and had to have it. Love that print! Also, I happened to have the perfect purse for it!

Owl Things Considered

You may remember that I'm on the quest for the perfect backpack. Well, I saw one on My Owl Barn yesterday that might just be it… I love how it's a pretty owl, yet doesn't look childish. I would totally wear this outside. With pride!

And it's actually pretty cheap too! Especially on the US Amazon right now. And it's waterproof, which is a must for me. Also, the small pocket on the front actually has inner pockets. So it's definitely practical too!

Giveaway Time!

It's been ages since I've done a giveaway! After my blogging dry spell I forget about them for a while. However, I plan on doing them regularly again and have a few planned already. Starting with some things I picked up myself...

This week I'm giving away an owl brooch and a nice credit card holder with owl print. Aren't they cute?! 

It's open internationally, of course. Just fill out the Rafflecopter to join, and keep your fingers crossed!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Current Nails

As I mentioned recently, I got some amazing nailpolish as a gift. It goes without saying that it's the first nail polish I put on since I received it. And I love it! I feel like I'm in some sort of mermaid-spaceship-fairytale… It is so sparkly! 

Glitter polish can be really coarse or very "thinly glittered" but this worked very well. But it's Butter, need I say more? Anyway, I did use one opaque coat in the same shade before I put on the glitter, just to be sure the color would "stick".

And then I ended up doing two coats of glitter and thought that was enough. I didn't get round to a clear topcoat yet, but even now it doesn't feel too rough and it seems pretty solid as well. So yeah, definitely an instant favorite!

99 Red Balloons

I hadn't heard of Andrew Huang before, but I just got forwarded a cover that I can not help but share with you guys. 99 Red Balloons made only with balloons! Isn't that amazing? I love how people take the time to do stuff like that!

As I only just found out about him, I'm not sure if the rest of his stuff is any good, but he does do other fun music challenges as well, and judging from this little video the guy definitely has talent. And patience, lots of patience.

Owl Things Considered

It was already pretty obivious that ModCloth is really good at making cute stuff to fit each season, and also that they carry some amazing owls in their online store, but they're really outdoing themselves with this Halloweenish dress.

Isn't it cool? I love the vibrant color and the sneaky orange eyes! And the black waist and peter pan collar make it a hundred times better still. Too cute to scare anyone during the holiday, but it will definitely make you look amazing!

Mixed Shelf #13

I'm ahead of my Goodreads challenge again! Last month was a great reading month, I finished lots of books. So I thought I'd do a books-about-books blog post today. Also inspired by the (audio)book I'm currently reading.

 Wanting: The Moment of Everything by Shelly King

This is a book I found through a bookstore newsletter. It came with a giveaway and I'm keeping my fingers crossed because it sounds like a truly lovely story. It involves a bookstore, a woman finding a book with special side notes that lead her on a search that teaches her about herself in the process. And there are cats, too. What's not to love?!

goodreads // available here

Reading: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

It was hard to miss the hype around this book. Especially after the magnificent movie. Anyway, I tried reading this book years ago, but somehow stopped. I can't remember if I didn't like it or if I just didn't like it enough not let myself forget about it. Anyway, I'm now reading the audiobook and it is very good indeed, so I'm glad I gave it another shot.

goodreads // available here or as an audiobook

Waiting: Book Lust by Nancy Pearl

This is supposedly a great help for when you're not sure as to what book to read next. I usually don't have that problem, but I've heard some great things about this book. And as a book lover it seemed like a bit of a must have. Also, the cover just stood out and I had to pick it up. If not for myself someday, then it will make someone a great gift.

goodreads // available here

Have you read a good book about books? Or are you reading anything fun at the moment?

In the Mail...

It's been a pretty rough week for me, but there was also something that cheered me up a great deal... Some amazing happy mail from a very dear friend! Everything was so beautiful! And of course I took some pictures for the blog.

The stunning turquoise owl is a cookie jar. It looks a lot smaller in this picture, it's actually pretty huge and could hold a lot of cookies indeed! And there were also some other equally awesome and beautifully wrapped-up gifts.

Like the fairy tale coin purse and the tiny gift that held some very pretty nail polish (post coming!), but there was also an amazing week planner for my desk (will show up later too). And socks. But not just any socks, no no no... cat socks!!!

Wasn't that awesome?! It certainly makes it harder to feel sad when you have these things to look at, doesn't it? And my friend and I also made a very special owl thing happen, but I'll save that for another post as well, so stay tuned...

Have you gotten any happy mail recently? I hope so!

Lovely Movies: Fading Gigolo

When I saw the Fading Gigolo trailer I knew I had to go see it, especially since I have a membership card. It seemed like such a fun movie! And it was, but it was also more than that. It wasn't just funny, it had lots of layers to it as well.

It also touched on loneliness and cultural traditions (people breaking from them or sticking to them). And it wasn't predictable either. Also, it had some very human and realistic things woven in, like some of the family situations.

As always, the trailer shows pretty much the whole movie, so beware. 

Let me just say that John Turturro was the perfect guy for this part, which perhaps makes sense, because he was also the writer of the story. And he even directed the whole thing too! So he was definitely responsible for this gem.

Plans & Goals: September

I am not done with summer yet. In fact, if I could refuse to give it up I probably would. So I'm really hoping for some wonderful sunny days this month. We definitely got quite lucky today! Anyway, this month I'd like to:

• Get back to making some fancier sandwiches.
• Wear a skirt or summer dress while I still have the chance.
• Visit my favorite ice cream place for the first time this year.
• Write a couple more elaborate book posts.
• Finally make a listing for a bookmark subscription on Etsy.
• Do an outfit post again.
• Finish two knitting projects.
• Go out with an analogue camera and have pictures developed.
• And finally do a giveaway again!

So, what do you have planned? Any last-minute summer plans?