Our friend has the best kitchen in the world and a house to match. Today we went over to her house to snap some pictures for her AirBnB profile. I’ll share the link with you as soon as it’s up. When you’re ever in Haarlem or Amsterdam, rent this house. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Every time I miss a blogging deadline, which is often, I think about quitting this blog. I want to quit because I let myself and you down. But at the end of the day, I love blogging (and you) too much to quit. I believe in the power of blogging, sharing all that I love and building a tiny internet community filled with awesome people. And you know what, it’s all about showing up. So here I am. Posting a weekend link pack once again on a Monday night. Enjoy!
Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don’t know about. Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers’ // Life advice from famous, painfully awesome women
Some Anthony Bourdain travel tips, because the man travels a lot // How to Travel
We were in Switzerland a couple of years ago but we didn’t capture it as perfectly as this girl has // Postcards from Switzerland
Us, about a year ago at Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia.
We didn’t buy many souvenirs when we were traveling. As you can imagine, the little things we did buy have a lot of meaning and value to us. So when I dropped our Chinese tea cups yesterday and they broke into a million pieces, I was devastated. With the cups I saw our memories shatter across the floor. “How are we going to remember China without our teacups” I asked Nick in between tears. “I was going to drink tea from them forever”. Nick, who is glueing them together right now, said to me “Babe, we’ll always remember China, no matter what.” This story has nothing to do with this picture.
These links are for the weekend and the weekend is long over. But here they are anyway. Enjoy!
A really good blog post about how travel changes you, but not always like you expect it to happen // The End of the Road
(these pictures are taken with my iPhone because I forgot my camera, hence the quality)
Are you an Easter fan? I never really was. I didn’t like chocolate, eggs or bunnies when I was younger, so there wasn’t a whole lot for me to like about it.
Nick and I normally don’t ‘do’ Easter. But this year we figured we might as well enjoy it. And we did. We had such an incredible day. I wish for many many more days like this Easter. We spent the day strolling around a design/art and a food market in Amsterdam, where we had delicious homemade hotdogs and drank locally brewed beers. I even got a sunburn. Can you believe it? It’s only freakin’ April and I got a sunburn!
Looking back, I can’t tell you exactly why we had such an amazing time. Was it all the beer we drank? Was it the sun? Or was it all the delicious food? (look at me eating those nacho’s). All I know is I wish it was Easter every month!
Cumin-spiked carrot and chickpea salad – This is a personal favorite. Nick kind of likes it but not as much as I do. Instead of just cooking the chickpeas I roast them in the oven with some salt, cumin powder and olive oil.
Hoisin caramelized salmon and sesame soba noodle bowl – This salmon is so good! I was never a broccoli or brussels sprouts fan but ever since this recipe I am converted. I also add some raw shredded carrot, because I love carrot. Side note: I discovered our dog Zena is very passionate about raw broccoli and will do anything to get some. It’s like doggy crack.
Mini polenta pizza’s – Polenta, I’m not sure if I like you but made into a tiny pizza you are quite delicious. Instead of rainbow chard I used spinach.
We try to make a new recipe every day. With the help of Pinterest and a lot of awesome food bloggers, we collect recipes and try them. Most recipes get used only once, but these are some of the recipes that we have made again (and again). Try them and let me know what you think. I hope you love them as much as I did!
These two. They melt my heart. Ever since we got back from our trip, Nick and our dog have been inseparable. They take long walks in the forest together and for the first time in six years, we have a dog that actually listens.
I hope you have an amazing weekend, filled with forest walks, sunshine and tranquility.
I love finding Ted Talks like this that really teach me something new and make me think things through. (I know that is the whole point of Ted Talks but today I watched one about sex in the animal world and all I learned was that ducks have a corkscrew penis) // We Need to Change the Way We Think About Changing the World
I lived in a shipping container turned student home for a few months. But that looked nothing like this // Shipping Containers
I’m a very picky croissant eater. I haven’t tried these yet but I’m hope they are yummy, making them soon. // How to Make Croissants
I had already picked out all the links for this For The Weekend, but then I saw this and I knew I had to add this. Incredibly inspiring. If there is only one link you should click, this is it. // The Story of Maggie Doyne
This oversized wintercoat has been keeping me warm
We took some pictures for our friend who owns a vintage furniture shop
This store is great. Good food, awesome branding.
Somehow this bread took four hours in the oven before it was done.
Nick taught our dog to walk without a leash. Best thing ever. Hands free dog walking!
The ceiling of the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam and the National Maritime Museum.
Last year when we skipped winter because we were traveling in Asia, we missed it. The cold weather, the snow, staying indoors, short days. When winter came around we were incredibly excited, we bought winter coats, hats and gloves and we were ready to take this winter and love the hell out of it.
We waited and waited but no winter came. And now spring is already upon us. I can’t believe this was it! I didn’t even get to wear my gloves and the temperature went below zero on no more than two days. Not a single flake of snow!
And yet, spring feels like an awakening. The days are getting longer and when I ride my bike I hear birds singing their songs all around me. Nick said to me the other day “Babe, you’re like an excited puppy whenever there’s a sunny day” and I guess I am. I can’t wait for spring and summer and I’m already looking forward to next winter. Because who knows, we might get some snow next year.
Slowly but surely this house of ours is coming together. We’re focusing on the top floors at the moment. One of which will be our home office. I’m so excited to move our mattress to the attic and start decorating our office. It will be the first time we will have our own office. At the moment we’re working from the couch, which is cosy but not comfortable.
I don’t know about you but I’m having a hard time finding furniture I really love. Desks are so ugly. I’ve looked everywhere but I just can’t seem to find a desk we really love. We’ve designed furniture before so for our home office we’ll be designing and making our own desks. It will be a learning process but I can’t wait to get started.
On another note, I’ve been thinking about getting some chickens. Here’s the pro’s and con’s list I made today while I should have been working on a client’s website.
Pro’s:
they eat leftovers, reducing our waste
they start out as chicks
they fertilize the garden and eat snails
eggs. Who doesn’t love eggs!
I’d like to find out if you can train chickens
Con’s
they fertilize the garden with poop
our dog likes to hunt anything bird-like so I’m afraid she’ll constantly harass the chickens
the chicken coop will take up a lot of the space in our small garden
no more cons, chickens are awesome
Do you have some good home office inspiration resources? And how do you feel about chickens? Let me know!
You know what? I’m going to be honest with you. The only reason I started this new style series is because I was looking for a way to show of my boots. I’ve been looking for the perfect boots for years. One late evening I stumbled upon these Frye boots and I fell in love. Shoes never fit me quite right, they’re always too wide or just uncomfortable. But these baby’s, it was like they were made for me. They fit so perfectly. So here I am, showing you my new boots. Aren’t they GREAT? Instead of buying a lot of clothes I’ve been looking to buy quality pieces that will last a long time and that are timeless. These boots, I hope, will last forever.
Oh and let’s not forget Nick. Nick is the most awesome guy I have ever met. This Christmas he got me a necklace and it is the greatest necklace ever. Why? Because he really got out of his way to get me something Angie-like. He succeeded.
What is the best piece of clothing you ever bought?
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who loves to see how other people live. So , here are some pictures of our new house and of how we are living at the moment. We’ll keep you updated as we settle down and make this house our home.
When we left home to travel, a year and a half ago, we sold everything we owned. Thinking we would never come back, it seemed like the best thing to do. And it was. It still is. Letting go of all of your belongings is incredibly freeing and knowing you’re carrying around everything you own is scary and amazing at the same time.
A while back I wrote about starting over and how excited I was to invest in some great stuff for our home.The furniture you see in the living room pic is not ours, we only have a mattress at the moment. Turns out, you don’t need much. We don’t have plates and eat every meal shared on a big cutting board. It’s one of my favorite moments every day and we would never have had this moment if we would have had plates. Maybe I’m scared of buying a lot of stuff, because it makes the rooting-process so real. I believe that once you’ve traveled you will never live without travel anymore. It’s always there, that small voice in a tiny part of your brain. And when I feel stuck in life or work, it tells me to start looking for cheap tickets to one of our dream destinations (Mexico! I say. Skiing! says Nick).
When I started writing this blog post I was planning to write about our new house. So I’ll end with that. Here’s some quick info:
Six years ago, we walked by this street one day and I remember telling Nick ‘I wish we could live here’ and now we do.
Because of the skylight, the kitchen is flooded with light and I love being there.
We have enough space to transform one of the bedrooms to a home office! No more working on the floor! My back will be so grateful.
Our bedroom will be up in the attic. It’s going to be romantic as fuck.
Bathtub. ‘Nough said.
This house is a rental, so we won’t be doing any mayor renovations
Any thoughts? Anyone else who is sort of freaked out by how serious it feels to go shopping for a couch?
After a month and a half-long hiatus, we’re back! And we’re so glad to be back! What have you been up to this last few weeks?
In the time we were gone, we: moved twice, lived in a tiny attic above a store with no door or bathroom, celebrated Christmas twice, drank champagne on New Year’s Eve, both worked two full-time jobs, painted most of our new house, are trying to decorate our new home and we’ve even been trying to squeeze in some hours of sleep here and there.
We’re not done, not even close and this storm we’re in, it’s not calming down any time soon. But we’ve found balance together within this storm and I quite like it. It’s been windless for far too long.
There is so much we want to share with all of you, but for now we’ll keep it short. Happy New Year, we’ve missed you and we’re hoping to connect with you soon!
