Amsterdam

We love it. B's mom was Dutch and he has several cousins and an aunt living in Holland. He has visited many times and before we had children, the two of us had two wonderful vacations there with his family. Two years ago, we took T & D for 5 weeks and had an incredible time. Friends (and a few cousins!) were amazed that we planned to spend so long in such a little country, but we never ran out of things to do, had lots of fun 'cousin' events, traveled up north to the Island of Tessel on our own for a week, went camping and saw so many sights. We rode fiets (bikes), ate pannekokken, cheese and frites mit mayonnaise, B drank about a million beers (I stuck with koffee vekkert - the Dutch version of a latte); we took trams, trains, busses, ferries and borrowed cars. We visited castles, museums, art galleries and the Anna Frank Huis. Finally T said "if we have to visit one more 'cute old town' I'm gonna diiiieeeeeeee."

It is almost impossible to take a bad photo on Amsterdam! I have hundreds of great shots of the gorgeous canal houses, like these ones.

see the houses in the reflection behind the sleeping kitty?

This little crooked house is likely one of the most photographed in the city.

Yesterday the most beautiful thing arrived in the mail. When I saw this on Heleen's blog, I knew I would buy it the second it hit her Etsy shop. I was lucky enough to grab it up before anyone else did! It arrived (no doubt through ash clouds over Iceland), all beautifully wrapped.

Look at this gorgeous bag! I am so unbelievably excited to carry this around with me!

It is beautifully constructed with the perfect trims, corduroy body, taped seams, and a jaunty orange gingham lining with perfect pockets.

Heleen and her sister find discarded stitcheries in thrift shops and repurpose them into one-of-a-kind messenger bags. They also use felted sweater panels and always chose the perfect embellishments to finish off the bags. Check out their shop - I bet you'll find something you like there.

Now I can take Amsterdam with me wherever I go!