ZoëNina

Hi there!

My name is Zoë. I'm currently 21 years old and live in the Netherlands.

A few years ago I started penpalling and i really enjoy taking the time to make something for another person and share more about myself in a letter. And I think we all agree that receiving a letter feels so special and thoughtfull. My life can be very hectic at times and very calm at other times, so another penpall is too much. However joining a swap form time to time is ideal.

I LOVE reading, books, going to the library and finding vintage books at the thrift store! Since last year I really fell in love again.

The genres I typically prefer are historical fiction and thrillers. I've also gotten into fantasy, literary fiction, classics, sci-fi and non-fiction.

Some of my favourite authors are: Frederick Beckman, Simone van der Vlugt, Riley Sager, Paolo Cognetti, Brandon Sanderson and Katherine Arden.

Some of my fav's: The Witcher series, The Handmaid's tale, Bear town, Red rising and De Buitenjongen.

If you also love books and like talking about them, feel free to tell me what you're currently reading or recommend your favourites:).

First of all of course snail mailing and reading!

I also love to bake and cook. I like trying out new recipes to find the most amazing dishes. Especially cakes and pasta, however I make a lot more. The best thing in my opnion is serving your creation to other people and making them happy.

Another thing I love is trift shopping. I try to buy most of my clothes second hand, because I don't like the fast fashion industry (but am to poor to buy fair trade clothes;p). I can be so happy when I find something beautiful for a few euros. Sometimes I try and find some vintage books or postcards.

I also love journaling, even though I don't do it as often anymore. I sometimes feel like I don't have the time or don't feel like cleaning up the mess I'll create. However if I find some time, i really enjoy it! It's super relaxing to be creative just for myself from time to time.

Last thing I can think of right now is being in nature. It can be so amazing and calming. I cannot get over the beauty of flowers or mountains, even looking at pics can make me feel at peace.

• flowers and floral prints
• tea
• washi tape (who doesn't?) and washi stickers
• music (currently really into Sabaton and Of Monsters and Men)
• wax seals
• vintage
• Maggie Holmes and Tim Holtz
• choclate
• fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland, fantasy related stuff (especially from books like the Witcher, the Hobbit or Narnia)
• beautiful pattern papers
• old book pages (especially with flowers or plants and music sheets)
• anything botanical themed
• beautiful letter fonts
• stickers
• tags
• postcards with drawings/waterpaintings
• bible verses or book related quotes (especially in nice fonts)
• coffee and hot chocolate
• mountains, rivers, fields of wildflowers and woods.
• swallows
• (adress) labels
• wearing dresses and skirts
• vellum pages, paper, envelopes etc.
• flipbooks and tag flips
• libraries
• galaxy themed goodies
• cute gift bags
• little envelopes
• sunny weather
• 'vintage' tickets
• project life cards
• doily's
• die cuts (especially flowers, cute tags, birds, envelopes or anything tea related)

I love receiving new teas in the mail! Most of the time I'll use the packaging in my journal, so I would prefer if you don't glue the sachet down:).

My current favourite tea flavours are: ginger (with orange), earl grey, mango, green tea and mint, flowery teas (with for example lavender) and nutcracker sweet.

Feel free to send me another flavour tho, I'm really curious to try your favourite!

The only flavours that I would prefer to not receive are anything with star anise, chocolate or red fruit (strawberry, blackberry, etc.) in it.

Sending teas worldwide is a lot more difficult now, so if a dutchie is interested in a private swap, please contact me!

As I wrote before, I like to send mail to people and make them happy. So please contact me if anything went wrong or if you did not receive my mail. That way we can find a solution:).

Hopefully my profile gives you some option for the swap! I don't mind if you send something that's not on the list if you think I'll like it. I love surprises! However please send me something you would like to receive yourself (no broken, dirty stuff, etc). Thank you:)