toppertje

Whiteout

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:34:37 GMT

Quit your bitchin' Britain... it snowed here too today, heavily!

Visit

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:28:29 GMT

With the exception of a daily facebook update I have been off the radar for a week. I have no idea what is going on in the world because my whole world has been here in Amsterdam.

I have just taken Kevin to the station to take a train to the airport, he is returning to Atlanta today and even though right now my heart is breaking it has been a truly wonderful visit.

I picked Kevin up at the airport on the morning of New Years Eve and the first thing we did was buy a little fan heater from an electric store just minutes from my house thanks to a shopping tip I had received, thanks ninoq!

Once cozy and warm back at the house we spent the rest of the day cuddled up and cozy in bed. It was wonderful to be back together in the same time zone, city, apartment and bed.

Kevin relaxing at our Amsterdam residence

The New Years Eve celebrations began drinking champagne with my roommate and his friend then Kevin and I made our way out to begin a pub crawl around the city. We started the evening at the Spijker and brought the new year in drinking more champagne in the street outside watching the fireworks, which we frolicked through on our way to the Entrez Nous for yet more champers. Then the Lellebel and lastly 't Leewutje.

Naturally by this point we were both rather drunk.

At the Lellebel

The next day we dragged our hangovers for a chilly wander around the city and found ourselves in the new burger joint around the corner from my house. Nowhere in Amsterdam can you get a better burger than at the Burger Bar.

The next day we did the full on Amsterdam tourist experience. First stop was a fresh sandwich from the fish stand on the bridge at the end of my street. Delicious!

Then time for a beer at the Brouwerij 't IJ A cute little beer tasting bar in a brewery situated in a windmill in east Amsterdam.

Brouwerij 't IJ

In keeping with a local tradition we washed boiled eggs down with our beers, a surprisingly tasty combination.

On Sunday morning we relocated to the Jordaan, where I am to spend the next two weeks house and cat sitting in a gorgeous home with three of the most adorable and friendly cats.

Cathy

Kevin with "Fanny".

The third cat "Misty" is a little camera shy.

That evening some very good friends of mine made the pilgrimage all the way to the city from the southern provinces to meet Kevin and of course have dinner and cocktails. We went to an Indonesian restuarant and then had beers at Murphy's on the Leidseplein.

Jeroen, myself and Suzanne

Husbands!

Just around the corner is the Pancake Bakery. The next day we headed there for a very traditional Dutch lunch.

On Monday evening we attempted sing-a-long evening at a local cafe but it was way to crowded so we relocated to a rather odd place across the street called Cafe Nol where we drank beer and played cards.

The place was designed for this purpose and filled with poker tables and the whole place was decorated in red like an 80's valentines day party.

Yesterday we spent the whole day at home, Kevin working from the sofa and me keeping him company then today it was time to say farewell for now. We took the bus together to the station where we said goodbye on the platform.

What an awesome week.

The walk back from the Station was beautiful although Amsterdam always seems more beautiful when Kevin has been.

I have to remember something wonderful Kevin said to me as we were saying goodbye this morning as my eyes were welling up with tears.

"The hard part is over, we found each other."

I shall try to bare this in mind for the next seven weeks while we are apart.

Dam

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:24:00 GMT

Out on the canals this afternoon...

2010

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:04:05 GMT

Hope everyone had fun celebrating. Wishing you all a healthy and happy New Year!

Reunited

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:14:31 GMT

In the same time zone again, just as it should be.

Starting the year as we mean to go on... together.

Showtime

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:29:37 GMT

This is one of the performers from Cafe 't Sluisje where I have been working this Christmas. It also happens to be one of half the cafe's owners and one of my bosses.

My other boss and co-owner also performs on the stage and goes by the name "Corrie Camping".

Just a friendly little cat!

Gaga Ooh La La

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:13:50 GMT

Status

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:13:14 GMT

2009 a year of facebook and tweets.

Yay!

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:01:45 GMT

I just had the best news ever..

Kevin is coming to Amsterdam!

On December 31st to bring the new year in with me! Suddenly the world feels like a happy place again!

White

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:39:44 GMT

I walked home from work through a snow blizzard in the early hours of this morning. As I look out of my window now it is still snowing hard although it did stop long enough for me to nip to the store and take some pictures along the way...

Rembrandtplein

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:33:49 GMT

The Rembrandt Square is finished. Yesterday there was a modest opening ceremony or perhaps a celebration that Dutch construction workers have actually managed to complete a building project.

Anyway, it looks nice all opened up and with less foliage and the remains of last night's snow fall.

Snow!

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:20:10 GMT

Last night it snowed quite heavily which it rarely does here in Amsterdam. Of course by this morning most of it had vanished, however I did attempt to take a photo of the winter wonderland outside my bedroom window.

Strange.

I'm still sick, I have a chesty cough, a cold and the shivers, plus I feel truly miserable at the moment. I just want Christmas to be over so I can go on being miserable without the added inconvenience of a complete lack of holiday spirit.

Bloody Hell Harry!

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:34:19 GMT

Conversation I had last night.

Guy: So what did you do in Atlanta?
Me: I was basically a housewife.
Guy: Are you sure you weren't a house-elf?

I know I represent the lollipop guild but come on!

Happy Hannukah!

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:31:19 GMT

We loosely celebrated Hannukah today. I have no idea what it is all about but David had to light a candle 30 minutes before sundown and say some prayers in Hebrew.

He then ate a shrimp cocktail, though I'm pretty sure that isn't part of the tradition.

Rain.

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:57:15 GMT

The weather here is doing a perfect job of reflecting my mood. I took this today mid-afternoon. This is what daylight mostly looks like up here during the winter.

I don't know if I could handle glorious sunshine mocking my misery, although it would certainly make wandering around job hunting more pleasurable.

Amsterdam.

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:37:43 GMT

I can't say I am happy to be back, but the little offering I found on the living room table awaiting my return took the edge off my homesickness.

I have a great room mate.

Also, thought I would share a pic of the rather spectacular architecture at the Paris airport.

Paris.

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:36:48 GMT

So I arrived safely in Paris, France which is obviously in Europe. This means of course that I am 4500 miles from where I want to be on the wrong side of the Atlantic in the wrong continent and still heading further in the wrong direction.

It also means every word I type needs to be retyped at least once as I am on a French AZERTY keyboard once again. I had to ask the gentleman to my right where the @ key was, which requires "Alt Gr" to make it work.

My flight was pleasant enough, as most journeys in first class are. The food was fancy, the champagne flowing and the cabin crew as snooty as one would expect on AIR France. I watched the latest Harry Potter installment, or at least it may have been because the plot was so far removed from any of the books I have read it was rather hard to tell. Then I actually managed to get a few hours sleep before being woken for breakfast.

Now it's time to go and take advantage of the free bar here in the business lounge. It may be only 9.30 am here in France but it is always 5'o clock somewhere and hell, I don't want to be here anyway.

Next stop Amsterdam.

New York

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:19:08 GMT

Concrete jungle where dreams are CRUSHED and I don't want to "be a part of it" thank you very much.

Lawmakers in New York state have rejected a bill that would have granted marriage rights to gay couples.
The state's senate voted against the legislation by 38 votes to 24.

This is why I like the south. It's honest and the people down here wear their prejudice on their sleeves.

Of course not everyone is NY should be tarred with the same brush. NYS Senator Diane Savino made one of the most compelling speeches in favor of gay marriage I have ever heard.

Seriously though, they should just legalize gay marriage without telling anyone. The people who are opposed to it obviously don't know any gay people so they would never know, or be affected by it.

Adios and vaya con dios, yeah I'm leaving GA!

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:15:53 GMT

I have a hangover.

Last night we went to The Wooden Nickel to eat wings, drink beer and say goodbye to the girls. My flight back home is at 6 this evening, I am flying Air France to Paris where I will have a short layover and then catch a flight to Amsterdam.

I'm travelling first class so I shall be well fed with all the fanciest French cuisine washed down with delicious champagne. Plus I will be able to make use of the free bar in the airport lounges.

Still, I would rather stay here and eat Mac n Cheese washed down with Steel Reserve with Kevin by my side.

ATLANTA!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:22:12 GMT

Today is my last day in Atlanta. I am very very sad.

I fucking love this city, this is my home.

I'm already counting the days until I can return.

Treasure Hunt!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:52:38 GMT

We are now more nerdy than ever before. Today we went Geocashing! Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

It was so much fun! We managed to find 3 out of the 4 "geocaches" we went searching for and all of them were within a 5 mile radius of the house, although the "geocaches" can in fact be found all over the world. You log onto the site, gather the clues and begin your search.

Each one is usually a small box hidden in the undergrowth containing a log book and a little bag of treasure. The idea is if you remove some treasure, document it in the log book and replace it with something interesting, quirky or downright ridiculous. We came home with a bouncy ball, a mini figurine of a gangsta with a ghetto blaster and a little pot of Play-Doh. Obviously it isn't so much about the rewards as it is about the adventure and all the lovely fresh air!

This particular find was hidden in a flashlight bottle!

This one was tucked away inside a rotting tree trunk.

Once you find the Cache you then log onto the website and log your findings. Sure it is completely nerdy but I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a good GPS device or a fancy cell phone with cool apps!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:16:30 GMT

Walgreens and Target are both selling the Charlie Brown Christmas tree...

This is the cutest tree I have ever seen. Even cooler than the inflatable one I usually put up at home.

Want!

The Perfect Thanksgiving.

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:36:02 GMT

I pulled it off, I cooked a pretty amazing Thanksgiving dinner if I may say so myself...

We had Turkey, green bean casserole, candied yams, stuffing, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, corn muffins and pumpkin pie. It was all ready at the same time, all cooked to perfection and all very tasty indeed. Fortunately Kevin agreed.

Our turkey turned out to be just a giant breast piece which suited me, the idea of preparing a bird was daunting to say the least. It was pre-basted but I basted it with some extra garlic butter and 45 minutes before it was ready I layered bacon over the top to add extra flavor. It looked a little pale but it was perfectly tender, moist and the meat almost fell off the bone. For my first roast I was rather impressed.

The green bean casserole was delicious. Obviously this was simple to make with a can of mushroom soup, onions and cheese.

Mmmmm.... pumpkin pie! We were too stuffed to eat any of this right after dinner. We shared a small slice with some Turkey sandwiches while watching Mary Poppins last night.

I didn't take any more pictures because frankly by the time it was ready we were so hungry we just dove right in. I have already boiled the turkey carcass for several hours and have a wonderfully aromatic stock for some soup later.

Apparently I make a damn good wife!

Happy Turkey Day!

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:37:37 GMT

Survey Says...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:54:24 GMT

Oh America!

On tonights Family Feud; "Name a country other than America that begins with the letter A".

First two answers...

Asia.
Amsterdam.

*sigh*