Photo du Jour

Monday run day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Heart on my sleeve

Imported conversational hearts.  Fun to share these usa treats with global friends.

Potato printing

Sweetheart dreams

We had to try the lip stamp, let us know if they arrive

And at least one arrived!

Photos du Jour

Funny Confession #318

This joint cannot open fast enough for my curiousity!  What is it?!  In this city, anything is possible...any guesses?

#BriWi

This post is dedicated to Brian Williams.

Funny Confession #317

I have looked and looked but cannot find a mannequin who tries harder than this one.  She changes her outfit at least once a week, her expression shows passion for her job, and I don't think she has had a day off in years.

This plastic creature works harder than the other working girls in the windows around here.  Those gals are always playing on their phones, they should take notice of mannequin girl. Well done mannequin girl.

Bienvenue

Last May, the kids and I spent a beautiful afternoon hanging at our cousin's gorgeous abode in the south of France.  The three of us could not get over just how fun, funky, cool and beautiful this family is.  Their house had the 4 kids (all so sweet), a trampoline, puppies, a fusball table, a swimming pool, a roofdeck, cake, soda, a daybed outside...it literally could not get any cooler in our book.  It had such good fun-loving energy...we just LOVED being there and we still talk about it often.

Remember the part about how it couldn't get any cooler.  Well...guess what?  They went and made a baby!  Aghhh!!!  How exciting and fun and crazy is that?!  She arrived this week and we cannot wait to love on her!!!!

Sibling love!

Welcome sweet cousin T, you lovely girl!

Photo du Jour

Street art love

Final Delft Post Until My Next Delft Post

Sorry for my recent blues...deal with me.  Blue is not normally a color I am drawn to.  But, perhaps Holland has changed me...because I am feeling Delft Blue these days.

I spotted two things in the last few days that were excellent examples of how to get delft-y stuff right in a fun way.  Naturally the two things were by my two most inspiring blog girl crushes (peaches and suwannee).  These gals inspire me every day by demonstrating again and again that more is more.  Such total role models.

I spotted this collection of vases in Aunt Peaches' Home Tour on Design Sponge.  Of course I loved everything about the tour, esp this little collection.  Merci AuntP

Next up, this headboard...that I am feeeeeeling.  Jamie, of furbish studio and the isuwannee blog (all things you should stalk follow like i do)  shared this on her insta feed (follow that too).

SWAK

This might be the coolest VDay news I have ever heard.  I am kind of obsessing over it. I have already posted this news to Instagram and Facebook.  But it has to go here too, because it is this exciting.  Holland is so cool.  This is an excellent use of time and technology.

People in the Netherlands who want to send a Valentine card to a loved one for February 14 can do so free of charge if they use a lipstick kiss instead of a stamp. 

The company has been ‘teaching’ its stamp scanning apparatus to recognise lipstick kisses for the past few days to make sure nothing goes wrong. 

‘We kissed 500 cards with lipstick to run the tests,’ a spokesman said. Some 500,000 Valentine cards are posted in the Netherlands every year. ‘But that is an estimate because they are not all easy to spot,’ the spokesman said.


PostNL has promised that all cards within the Netherlands will be delivered on Valentine’s Day if they have a kiss in the corner of the envelope and are posted before 5pm on February 13. 

Feeling Blue

I know I was just in Delft.  But I couldn't return fast enough...this time with my girls...to participate in a private vase painting workshop with a master painter.  While our littles were at school learning...we went to school to learn.  The school of the Royal Delft.  What a fun day.  Cannot wait to get our vases...which will be fired and shipped in the next few weeks.

The Club

In order to play football on a team in Amsterdam, a club affiliation is required.  So, this fall W joined a football club.  Each club has its own clubhouse, which normally includes a fusball table, historical club memorabilia and trophies, a canteen serving snacks and bar food, and a bar, which always seems to be full of older men drinking beer and talking football (even mid day mid week).  We are at the club 2x per week, for practice (wednesday) and games (saturday).   Our club is called S.C. Buitenveldert.  

Each club in town has several turf and grass fields, prime real estate being put to excellent use.  Too cool.

W loves football, but being part of the club has not been easy.  Despite the common language of football, a culture/language barrier is still ever-present.  The Dutch language is tough and for us as it is our third priority language.  We have taken classes, but it definitely does not get the attention required to make significant progress. It can be a challenge for an american/french kid to fit in without a solid grasp of the language.  It is hard to see your little man struggle to mingle and I am so so proud of him every time he steps into the clubhouse and onto the pitch.