Thankful

We celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend.  So fun to host and spend the day with our Amsterdam posse.  

HB brought the Turkey!  Now that is my kind of Pot Luck guest!  I was more than Thankful to accept this offer, and her Turkey was fantastic!

LL came with Pie and more

 There were lots of cooks in my kitchen all afternoon.

HB even brought a cook book...like she knew I wouldn't have any...

 The kids table knows how to party...

 Look at THIS butterball...perfection...sweetest baby....

The other hubbies were traveling...so O had to take care of all the ladies...

 3 generations represented...

 The Thankful lineup...

More School Art

Spotted in the halls of lycee Van Gogh.  I adore school art.  

Funny Confession #308

Whenever I vacuum, which is about 3 times a year, I leave the whole contraption out for a day or two. I do this so that as they trip around it, my 3 housemates realize I have vacuumed and so that my kids will have memories of their mom keeping house...

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Birdie and Bry have many years to celebrate today.  We are toasting to them from Amsterdam.  Happy Anniversary!

Happy Thanksgiving

It felt good to wake up to this post today, on Thanksgiving.  Our good bud DS is do-gooding in Africa, we were thrilled to be contribute some nike balls to his efforts.  Look at those faces, so much to love.  And so much to admire about DS's trip.

Here in holland today is just a regular day.  O is at work and so we will celebrate this important American holiday on Saturday with good friends and good food.   We are thankful, so thankful.  Happy Holiday to all!

Photo du jour

What a happy looking bike and house.  Sweet bikes parked out front are like jewelry for Amsrerdam houses.

The Bedroom

Living in this city is like living in a painting. 

Photoshoot inspired by HB.  

Photos du Jour

From bike to ice in about 2 seconds...this boy was ready to skate today.  

Little boy, big rink (bottom right).  

One more.  Cuz I want to remember this day...and every day that we get to skate here at our neighborhood rink.  

Le Weekend

This guy.  So glad he is home.  Right from the plane to the rink.  Jet lag is not a word we say...

Whatever happened on Thursday, it's in the past...they both did pretty well...luckily there is not a third column on this chart to track my behavior.  I am not sure I'd post that version.

Tis the season to put the skates in the bike and hit the rink as much as possible.  The rink opened on Saturday, we were there for the big opening.  We went both days this weekend and W plans to go again after school today.   Both kids are another year stronger and more coordinated this year...so cool to see.

The rink at dusk is absolutley one of my favorite things in Amsterdam

P invented the stroopwafelpop, and I really think we should patent this idea.

These two have the sweetest friendship you have ever seen.  Their connection is lovely and simple and so fun to be near.

Minimarkt

This is the sweetest new store over on Beethovenstraat.  It is one of those kid's stores that grownups like me (am I a grown up?) wish we could move into and live happily ever after...in a designer teepee, sipping tea and eating cakes.  

Binge and Purge

Sometimes O travels.  When he does I tend to binge and purge.

What about the binging?  Let's start with the binging.  Oh, the binging.

Mayyyyybe I'm still on a Gossip Girl kick.  Blame KK for that.  I'm in season 5, and I think I need to see the series through until the end...right...for KK...?  Right.

I also binge read Amy's new book.  Damn is it good.  Yes Please!  Loved this article about the book from the New Yorker that HB shared.  

Don't think I could ignore all the buzz about Serial and not get sucked in.  I am all caught up and ready for the next episode.  OMG thank goodness tomorrow is Serial Day, I mean Thursday.  Even the WSJ is talking about it...so its legit yo.  Tuning into a podcast makes me feel like it is the Y2K again.  And if you read Yes Please, Amy P will convince you that time travel exists.  She is so right.  And see how I tied all this together?

Wow that's a lot of content to take in so fast (hello, binge definition, i think).  I can hear you judging (how does she have that much time?).  I don't have that much time...I multitask well.  Anyhoo.  It isn't all media binging over here...I'm also enjoying some binge running (duh) and after just one class I plan to binge on hot yoga over the next few weeks.

Oh, and I have also been binging on work...my brain is thankful for that...it feels so good.  To keep up with my good work (if I do say so) over there, here is another blog for you to enjoy...

As for purging...recent purging was already discussed, in the form of extreme organization.  Those efforts continue, my closet is up next.  I need to make room, lots and lots of room, for Mara Hoffman's new Guatemala-inspired Resort Line.  I am going to order every.single.piece. of this line (in my dreams, in my dreams).  

One more purge note, since it is on topic.  I love this National Unfriend Day (#NUD) thing, I missed the big day but it is on my to do list.  Thank you Jimmy Kimmel!  Did you NUD?  

Text Me

This song is dedicated to my Portland girlfriends.  Each one of you.  Thank you for keeping the texting banter alive and well for the past few years.  You better text me Merry Christmas and send a selfie too....same for turkey day...and new years...and tuesdays...


Birdie, thank you for sharing this with me.  I love acapela, esp SNC!

Photo du Jour

Spotted: sweetest cargo on this BAMB bike, spotted yesterday in de Pijp

Funny Confession #307

P made a minor update to her portrait, can you spot it?  Ooh she is my girl, my princess.  

Before:

After:

Sint Maarten

As promised, a Sint Maarten post.  Better yet, a video.

Watch til the end, the last girls are so freaking cute…"oh yea".


And here are some photos of our lanterns.  Also so cute, oh yea.

Speaking of lanterns…here is last year's tutorial from WKF.  He has changed so much in a year…and yet this video is still full of helpful details in case you are inspired to make a lantern of your own...

In case it isn't clear, this holiday is my favorite favorite of all the Dutch special days (Queens Day, Kings Day, Sinterklaas arrival, World Cup parties, Pride Parade…).

For all the details about this day (history, meaning, etc.) - go here.  To see how sweet and simple and fun it is, scroll up and watch those videos again.