Tag Archives: sunshine

A Pit Stop in Trieste, Italy

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While planning our trip to Slovenia, Kai and I realized that flights from Amsterdam into Ljubljana were quite pricy. Like, €260 each pricy, which was a bit more than we were hoping to spend on a long weekend trip in Europe. As our ultimate destination was Lake Bled, we knew we would have to rent a car anyways, as there are no airports in the close vicinity of the lake. So when we found €80 return trip tickets to Venice, which is only a 2.5 hr drive from Ljubljana, we quickly got excited about saving some money and also spending some time in Italy! Kai and I had both been to Venice before, and so we decided to do a pit stop a bit closer to Slovenia in Trieste, Italy. We flew into Venice late on a Wednesday night, slept at a cheap and cheerful airport hotel, took advantage of the free breakfast the next morning (ohh how my heart loves a good Italian breakfast of meats, cheeses, crusty bread, and espresso!) and hit the road early enough to arrive in Trieste by lunch time.  Continue reading →

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Road Trip to Antwerp, Belgium

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Road trip, road trip, ‘bout to go on that road trip!! >> This sentence was totally inspired by our latest Booking.com commercial, which features Rebel Wilson and Keegan-Michael Key – it is way too catchy for my mental health (you can check it out here – I can’t stop singing!!) In timely fashion, the beau and I also decided to embark on our own long weekend road trip down to Belgium . . . cue Booking.com road trip theme song!! IMG_5735 copyAs mentioned in my last post, our first stop was in Lisse where we roamed the stunning tulip fields, but as with all great road trips, there were of course multiple stops along the way :) After frolicking through fields of flowers for a few hours, we decided to hit the beach for lunch. The day was HOT, and the heat wave had us excited to sip Raddlers and dip our toes in the sea. We didn’t route out our beach trip out ahead of time, but instead just drove west, and somehow landed at the beautiful Noordwijk aan Zee. We hit up the first seaside restaurant we came across (which was De Koele Costa), kicked off our shoes, and ordered some frosty beverages and a feast to share. Continue reading →

Easter in Texel, The Netherlands

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Usually I spend the long Easter weekend in London (see here and here) but this year, I decided to switch it up. I’m headed over to the UK for the Royal Ascot in June, so I’ll still be seeing all of my London friends then, on a slightly belated schedule this year :) And to be honest, I’ve been traveling so much for work as of late, the thought of cramming all of my belongings into yet another suitcase, braving Schiphol, and hopping on an airplane in my downtime sounded tiring and unappealing. And so as the long Easter weekend slowly crept up, I decided to stay local. IMG_4586Luckily, my guy friend ;) was also stark on plans, and so we started toying around with the idea of taking a road trip up to Texel, an island in the north of Holland marked by endless dunes and white sandy beaches.  Continue reading →

Sid Lee does St. Tropez, Part 1

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While I love blogging, my day job is also pretty cool. I work at a global advertising agency called Sid Lee (some office photos here), where we make ads for clients like Facebook, Red Bull, and Absolut. Advertising is very much a work hard play hard industry, and the brands you work with often contribute to the overall culture of the agency. There are countless late nights and busy weekends, but on the flip side, at Sid Lee, there are also expensed dinners, cool colleagues, agency parties, and many, many Absolut cocktails. Recently, to say ‘thanks’ for a long year of hard work, the Sid Lee Amsterdam team was treated to a long weekend in paradise. IMG_7551I briefly mentioned our travel regime in my previous post – our airplane left Schiphol at 6am – which meant we had to meet in the airport lobby bright and early at 4.15am. Of course I pulled an all-nighter (I was THAT person at the airport) and stumbled through security and found my seat on the plane in a tipsy, blurry haze. After a few hours of dozing on the plane, and then on a bus, we arrived in St. Tropez.  Continue reading →

Babes on Bikes in Barcelona

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On Friday night I left work and grabbed a cab to the airport. Melissa, my longest and closest Dutch friend (I’ve told you about her here and here) had been kidnapped earlier in the day and whisked away for a surprise trip to Barcelona. Melissa is getting married in two week’s time (eee!!) and our jaunt over to Barca was her last ‘hurrah’ before the big day. Friday night in Barcelona was low-key, as we had a bright and early start planned on Saturday. We kicked the weekend off with a champagne breakfast and some silly games, followed by a walk to the bike shop where we all rented bicycles for the day. The Dutch are known for their love of bikes, and ironically the bike shop owner in Barcelona was also Dutch! After renting 16 bight orange bikes, we hit the road for a self guided tour around the city, stopping in large centers and at beautiful parks to complete inane tasks and drink more champagne.IMG_5401Most of the photos in this post were taken one-handed from the back of my bike (yep, I’m also pretty Dutch at this point!) so excuse the lack of a concentrated subject matter. Hopefully the abundance of palm trees and blue skies will make up for it :) Continue reading →

Granger & Co, London

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As I did a semester abroad at Lancaster University and later a master’s program in Leeds, I have a great handful of friends who still live in the UK. I mentioned a few of these brilliant women in a previous post, as I was lucky enough to spend the past bank holiday weekend with them in the Big Smoke. Today I’ll introduce you to my huge-hearted friend Nat, along with a tasty little brunch spot in Clerkenwell, London.

Granger & Co is a laid back and delicious foodie establishment that’s popped up in Hawaii, Australia, Japan, and now London. Bill Granger is the mastermind chef behind the chain, and is especially well known for his talented touch with eggs. IMG_2843But before I tell you about the eggs, let me tell you about London . . . .  Continue reading →

Ferry Beach, Maine

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Summer is coming to an end. I had hopped that we would get a surprise August heat wave. But no, it’s been raining almost every day here in Amsterdam, and I can confirm that it is definitely now jacket weather. My feet feel chilly on the wood floor in the morning. I’ve busted out my fall clothes. And I’ve been drinking warm tea again – a sure indication that winter is coming soon. Despite the shift in season, I still have still have a few more Maine holiday posts to share. In fact, I’ve had such an active and fun summer, I have a LOT of photos I want to get up on the blog over the next few weeks. A back-log of happy memories and fading summer glory. Today, I wanted to show you the beach.

IMG_1936I am really lamenting this scene. Deep blue Maine sea hues, adorable fishing boats, and sunny blue skies . . .  Continue reading →

Reggae on Peaks Island, Maine

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If you’re ever in Portland, Maine for the summer, going to Peaks Island for Reggae Sunday is absolutely mandatory. It’s a quintessential Maine summertime outing, and it is not to be missed! The adventure starts on a ferry that departs from Commercial Street in Portland, and cruises through Casco Bay, passing lighthouses, fishermen, and sailboats along the way.IMG_1799 Continue reading →

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

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While in Maine, my mom suggested a family outing to the Costal Maine Botanical Gardens.

I’m sure I’ve made this apparently obvious over the past few years, but I LOVE flowers. I usually have a bunch of fresh peonies or ranunculus brightening up my indoor space, my balcony is adorned with white lavender and potted daisies, and I’ve been known to take road trips for the sole purpose of gazing at fields of tulips.

At the time of my mom’s suggestion, the Keukenhof was the only flower garden I’d ever visited. It’s one of the biggest and most beautiful spring gardens in the world, with a kaleidoscope of color, featuring more than seven million tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. As the Dutch are known for their beautiful blooms, I was eager to see what Maine’s botanics had to offer in comparison.IMG_2025And so my mom packed us a delicious picnic lunch, and with my sister and gramma in tow, we hopped into the car for an early morning drive up to Boothbay, Maine. 
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Cape Elizabeth, Maine

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I met Katie when I first moved to Maine. At the time, we were only 12 years old. As we lived on the same street, we rode on the same bus to and from school, and coincidentally we were also in the same 7th grade class. So we became fast friends, and were soon having sleepovers, doing each others make-up, and crushing on boys together. We spent summers at Katie’s camp playing Risk and pretending to be mermaids in the lake. We hung out at the mall, ate teriyaki chicken, and kissed random boys in the food court. We graduated from middle school together, and started high school. We had fights over guys but we always made up. We applied to different colleges and grew up, but never grew apart. And somehow through babies and husbands and more than 15 years, Katie is still my best friend. She speaks her mind, and is a brave, independent woman. She’s the kind of girl who knows what she wants in life, and easily takes it. I admire many things about her, from her beauty to her strength. If you can’t tell from these kind words, I absolutely love this girl, and am trying to cram as much Katie-time in as possible while I’m in the States this summer!IMG_0942On Saturday morning, Katie, Casey, Charlotte, and I headed over to Katie’s Aunt and Uncle’s house, which is freakin’ massive, and situated right on the ocean in Cape Elizabeth.

Continue reading →