PERSONAL | I Want To Ride My Bicycle

How about a blogpost that is all about shopping! Because let’s be honest here, one of the biggest perks of being a blogger is shopping for supplies!

In other words:

Today I am sharing my shopping trip for LRS newest DIY project with you, including shopping tips and tricks!

You can find me in all sorts of stores and markets very frequently because I am always in the need for new inspiration, craft supplies and well, cute dresses;)

This week I had the pleasure of collaborating with NS and their OV fiets. The OV fiets (bike) makes a day trip by train even more complete: you simply choose a city, jump on the train, pick a pretty OV fiets at your destination station and get the chance to discover a city in the real Dutch way: by Bike!

This made my shopping days a whole lot more practical. Instead of walking for hours with my shopping bags, I could just hop on the bike and visit many more places than I actually had in mind.
And also a very big plus: I could wear heels! I looove wearing pumps, but when I go to markets it just doesn’t work because it involves a lot of walking. Going by bike apparently also adds style:)

I found a very special person (aka boyfriend) that was willing to follow me all day to document what a shopping day in my home town of Utrecht would look like. And as a special treat for this post, we also shot a short video to really get in the city-bike-adventure mood:

L E T S   S T A R T – How I start my day? Deciding where I want to shop. In my own city (Utrecht) or somewhere else. I don’t own a car (or a drivers license for that matter) so I always take a train when I visit different cities. This time a stayed in Utrecht and went to the station to pick up the pretty OV fiets, as a starting point for my journey.

P R A C T A L   S U P P L I E S – I always need tape, paper, ribbon, etc. These items always come in handy for styling a photo or to decorate gifts. I usually go to Flying Tiger for these things, because they have so many cute products and an awesome vintage playlist in the store.

S H O P P I N G   L I S T – I am usually very organised but for some reason I always forget half the things that I need, so I keep a list on my phone that I check during the day, to make sure I don’t forget anything.

D I Y – My shopping list mainly consisted of supplies for my new Do It Yourself project. This time the supplies where a little bit more adventurous than usual: flowers! yes! For my new project, flowers will be the main ingredient.

L U N C H – Shopping? Eating! I actually put this one on my list! Because biking on an empty stomach is not a good idea. And it helps to take a break and go through your list again.  Today’s lunch was at Gys, one of my new favourite places.

F A B R I C   M A R K E T – I actually didn’t need any fabric for this project, but I couldn’t resist visiting the market and buying a few fabrics for future projects.
( I am actually working on a re-upholstering project and found the perfect fabric! Yay!)

A R T   SU P P L I E S – I love art supply stores, they just smell like projects and ideas. I bought some pretty linen paper here at Swaak and I had a pretty hard time not to buy everything they own.

T R E A T   Y O U R S E L F – Ok, ice cream wasn’t on my shopping list.. but I bought it anyway. The lesson I learned: you don’t have to follow your list by heart, sometimes something delicious will come in your way and you will just bike a bit faster to compensate;)

S H O P P I N G   W I S D O M – Sometimes I can’t find the exact supplies that I need and have to alter a project. I have learned that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it can force you to think different about the end result.

Today I didn’t find the flowers that I was looking for, but discovered that the once that I had bought worked even better than planned!

Can I finally tell you what the project is? Yes! I have been shopping for a Flower Print project!
It involves a very unusual technique, but it is so easy and the best part: it looks very pretty!

Here’s a sneak peek, you can find the complete tutorial on the blog!

My day was so much fun! I found all of the supplies that I needed, had ice cream, visited a million places thanks to the very affordable OV bike: did you know that a bike online costs €3,15- a day! All you need is subscription ( €10,- per year, Dutchies only), and last but definitely not least: I got to do it all in my new favourite dress by Pepaloves!

Now that I have shown you my shopping routine, I am very curious to hear about yours! What are your tips? And do you also go by bike?

Let me know in the comment section below! xx Lana