Splash!

We are settling in just fine at our new house! We may not have furniture or anything yet...but the pools is oh.so.open for business!!! Merci Uncle Amen for the amazing video.

Boundless

Remember Rory and what a badass she is? Check out her latest adventure...



I don't even know what to say...she is so damn cool. Can't wait for the series to begin April 12!

Hotline Bling

This is so lol funny, and a little scary how relatable it is...

Birthday Love!

My birthday came and went this week. I chose not to throw a bash like last year, but I am feeling just as loved. 39, lets do this!

My PDX Running bestie (and neighbor) showed up chez moi on birthday eve with flowers, ice cream and a one of a kind North Drinkware vase. She also rallied out in the cold, wet, dark, morning (5am baby), for a running mission. Amazing dedication.  In fact, every single one of my PDX besties called or texted or showed their love. So sweet. So grateful.

My kindergarten bestie sent the cutest card. MLN, je t'aime. Thank you.

My HS bestie said and did all the right things, because that is just how she rolls, always. 5 kids of her own and she makes me feel like the most important person in her life. She has a gift, she is a gift.  Really, my entire HS girlgang is amazing. Although we missed having a proper reunion (seriously, wtf happened?), we are as close as we were circa '95, and its always fun to hear from them on my bday. RHS forever.

My AMS girls were all over the bday. They were the first on the scene with texting and social media - the 9 hour time difference was a great way to get the long distance party started early. HB was first to blow up my phone with bday love. Merci.

Several AMS gals even took me out for dinner. Look closely - there I am...on their iPhone. Love this picture. Miss these dinners.

And my AMS Running Besties gifted me the ultimate. The gift of all running bestie gifts. They rallied out for a cold, dark, early run and spotted him, and captured him on film. On my bday. Ohhh la looove these rolling buns!

My new work besties barely know me and yet already know me well enough to realize that Justin's PB Cups, a sweet card and Christmas Birthday Cactus can steal my heart. I'm easy. And lucky to have these amazing new and lovely colleagues.

I wanted to crawl through the phone and onto the beach of costa rica when I saw this. LF, you are the best.

My original and oldest besties (parents and big sis) showered me with love, cards, calls, laughs and bday wishes. As did the rest of my family on both sides. Merci merci!

My kids were on good behavior most of the day and willingly agreed to my plan to eat cake and ice cream before dinner. They are so easy going.

And my man squeezed in a romantic fancy mid-day lunch before catching his flight that day. Lunch dates are the bomb. Everyone should do more of them. I hope he and I do. Speaking of supportive hubbies - have you seen this internet amazingness?

And now back to me and my bday. Final bday gift came the day after... when I realized Serial is back. Yeah!

Dry Spell and Guest Post

Dry Spell: I know. I suck at blogging lately. New job has rocked my balance a bit, but I am loving it. Maybe I'll get back onto a good cadence here. Maybe I won't. I hope I will. I will.

Guest Post: I may be in a dry spell, but EB sure has creative juices flowing. Thank him for this amazing video from this amazing Peru trip


Mancora 2015 from Ethan Beck on Vimeo.

Keeping It Weird

Nobody could ever possibly replace Amsterdam's roller guy in my heart. However, I was thrilled to discover Portland's unipiper, last night...as he rode by my window after dark. I never even knew he existed...and in a flash (literally) I fell in love.

This guy cruises the city on a unicycle, wearing a Darth Vader mask and a kilt, while playing flaming bagpipes. He should mentor my rolling Amsterdam crush from a marketing perspective...starting with his own calendar...and some videos...

O Rides Again

I mentioned he was pumped to be reunited with his boat. Here is why.

Zwemles

Dutch swim school is a serious, standardized business. In a land of water like this one, it is no wonder they take water safety and swim proficiency as seriously as they do. Like many other items on our Dutch bucket list that we are scrambling to accomplish before we move, acquiring his A&B swim diplomas was important to WKF. Et voila, he did both. This is a right of passage and a huge milestone in the life of a Dutch child. It was a pleasure to experience it. Another memory made.

The diploma test is administered entirely in Dutch, in front of hundreds of spectators. They don't just give these things away, the kids have to master specific skills (diving, swimming in full clothing and shoes, holding breath, treading water, swimming through an underwater obstacle/tunnel, etc. etc.).

Of course we were proud of his natation, but we were even more proud of his language skills and ability to blend in and mingle with the locals for the big tests...bravo WKF

And hopefully this video works...below a quick video I made to capture his B test highlights...

Chanson Pour L'hiver de Jacques Prevert

P's class made this video...LOVE

UnComfort Food

I'm all for trying new things and adapting to local cultures.  But there are some things at my neighborhood Albert Heijn that I just need to document and share.  Most of these things I will never try.

Note the artistic mayonnaise presentation on the next few 

Filet Americain is raw beef with some spices, to spread onto bread for a lunch sandwich.  Kind of like a raw sloppy joe.  

Hot dog aisle always gets me, so many dogs in cans, how does one decide?

Jarred dogs (in water?) are an interesting alternative to canned dogs

"Luncheon" seems like a fancy word to associate with a meat product packaged like this.  "Basic" feels accurate though.

I had heard it was tricky to make corned beef.  Not anymore.

An aisle of sprinkles (hagelslag), for toast, a common everyday breakfast in holland

If sprinkles seem messy, there's an aisle of spreadable chocolate options too, for your daily breakfast needs.  Finally something I can support...

Licorice aisle 

Vla, lots and lots of vla.  I haven't tried vla, but assume it's like pudding

Holy mackeral

Please take a moment to enjoy this video, it really captures the albert Heijn experience beautifully.  Kids and I cannot go into AH without singing this song and feeling all of the associated emotions.  

AH is bad, luckily there are some better options around town.  But even the nicer stores have their issues.  

Down the road, at the fancier grocery store, they open at 9.  What that seems to mean is that staff shows up around 9 to start to set up products for sale.  These photos were snapped around 10...the seafood aisle had just been filled with ice.  The store has been open almost a full hour and yet there is still nothing available to buy in the the seafood dept.   I think if I head back around noon I could actually get some fish.   

Same story in the bread section.  Maybe if I return for fish midday, I could also grab some bread.  The 9 am opening time must be when they start baking the bread cuz shelves are empty and its 10am.

Fivetastic

I am so in love with age 5 and everything sweet that comes with it.  The simplicity and happiness of a 5 year old birthday party is hard to capture...unless you are uncle Ry and you make this amazing video (set to P's favorite jam).




Merci Uncle Ry, this video is the best gift ever.

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!

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.

Oktoberfest

 Sunny Saturday in Stuttgart - we hit the Volksfest so right!

We had a blast gearing up and diving in to the festivities.  

 The O family, including their 4 kids, were excellent hosts!

O and E went to ski academy together many years ago, and have remained buddies ever since.  It was so fun to reunite in Europe with families in tow.

As for Team F,  3 out of 4 of us jumped at the chance to gear up in German attire, W preferred to wear his usual duds, a football uniform.

I love a good Brat, these hit the spot.

Once in the beer tent, which was one of about 5 huge beer tents, the 10 of us found the most family friendly seats we could, and settled in for some chicken, pretzels, beers, singing, spilling, and dancing on the tables.

To get a better sense of the scene inside the beer tent, check this...

It wasn't all beers, pretzels and brats...there was plenty of fair food to be had.  This was O's first cotton candy experience.  Not impressed, after that initial bite the whole thing went into the garbage.

P wanted one more dirndl photo before she had to take it off that night.  Happy to oblige, i snapped this sweet shot.  

Portland Snow

Meanwhile...in Portland...look what our neighbors are up to!  Urban snow days are so special (boston! paris!) !

So fun to see our crew and our street and even our house in this video.  HammyT forever!  See you in 2015!

Photo below is MC, from his FB page.  Love.

Of course all of this coverage from the PDX storm, and the neighbors making the most of it, reminds me of the last big one...so much fun! 

Getting S**t Unf***ed

I worked at Accenture for 6 years, and I have been working in the consulting industry for 13+ years.  Its always hard to explain what we do...until now.  Thanks Jimmy Kimmel.

Old Spice Awesomeness

This ad is so good.  I am sure you have seen it by now...but in case you missed it...voila

Well Done Coca Cola - you nailed it

Magic Carpet Ride

Close your eyes girl...

Roar in a Winter Wonderland

We are big Julia Mancuso fans  (more here) at this house.  We are getting excited for another Olympic year.  We are also getting excited to go see her race Vals D'Isere  in a few weeks.   I hope we can find our shirts :).

If you are not a Julia fan yet - watch this video and you will be :)



This one is really good too - I love that it is Nike and stars Julia and the Buckeyes (O-H-I-O) - I love when things I love come together!