Roti!

Did you guys know about this stuff? I didn't until I arrived in this country! We tried to make it several Fridays ago, but more recently I was treated to the real thing by Matthias one lucky afternoon. It's a Surinamese dish, popular here because Suriname is a former Dutch colony and something silly like 1/3 of their population emigrated to the Netherlands prior to independence in 1975. Anyway, they brought some tricks with them because this stuff is real good. It's a bunch of veggies like green beans, peppers, some seitan or tofu type thing (Matthias is a vegetarian), potatoes and...a deep fried egg. It's kind of spicy and you eat it by scooping up veggies with the soft pancakes on the side. I love it. Matthias had gotten the tip for a really good Roti joint from his psychology prof (who is of partial Surinamese descent) and picked up two full portions on his way home from class. Turns out, one is enough to share and stuff us both! So we had Roti for brunch...and dinner. It's that good.

Last days

Ladies wine tasting, hay!

New hair, thanks Jaimee!

Trying to feed Kristofer enough...Vincent style eggplant puttanesca with veggies from our garden!

Minions busy in the dungeon, Rosebud costumes underway...

Brunch with Josh's buddies who came down from Seattle for the Panda Bear show.

Final moments with my fur covered bff.

Brother with his new Swedish bff. We sent Kristofer out to join the bachelor party and sip from the boot so Shola and I could slave away over more sequined dresses in peace.

photos by brother and Kristofer

Today marks the one month anniversary of arrival in Amsterdam! So here's a little glimpse at the final moments in Portland. Kristofer was visiting during my last week, as his motorcycle tour of the states put him in Portland immediately prior to Eurodeparture. He managed to make himself useful though by slaving in the sewing lab and showing solidarity on late nights. Brother also should be acknowledged for generously chauffeuring our wine tasting adventure. Thanks guys!

The Darkness and the Light

Don't let our outfits confuse you.

Ugh. Moving back into a relationship after several years of independence is kind of...hard. Especially when it actually is MOVING BACK INTO a relationship. In a little room. In a different country. In a different world. No, wait. Same world. I just got caught up in the spirit of exaggeration and drama. THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO. Well, except the common room. But everyone knows you're there anyway because there's a window. I guess on the upside, it is a student residence and there are plenty of cheerful undergraduates to socialize with in the meantime. The beauty in black fortunately lives in our hallway.

P.S. There's more where that white dress comes from. I will reveal slowly but surely.

Dear Clyde Drexler,

Do you miss me yet? Have you noticed that I'm gone? I miss you.

Birthdays are for superheroes

Study/dressmaking break. Henri and Emma get a year older. More maniacs from foreign countries.

I'm off to see the world #3: Whatup Dutch people! I'm in your country.

Amsterdam Dance!

Dedicated with utmost sincerity to Eric Michael Lawson.

Musical Monday #6: Little Dragon

My very first roommate from college kindly sent me a link to this band, thinking I would enjoy them. DING! I immediately fell in love with this video by Johannes Nyholm. Yes, yes, I know. They are ALSO Swedish. What else did you expect? I was even having kind of a down day when I watched it, is it weird that this made me feel better? I don't know. Thanks again Diana!

"I tried having a normal girlfriend, it just didn't work out"

After a busy week of Matthias playing catch-up on all his university work and me playing hausfrau/entrepreneur/seamstress/foreigner we finally made a picnic happen on Friday afternoon. We realized shortly afterward that we could have also gone out to a nice inexpensive meal at a restaurant for price of the organic grocery store goods we collected. Ohhhh well. It was nice out in the Oosterpark. After dining, laughing and chatting, poor Matthias (who stayed up nearly the whole night before finishing a philosophy presentation) promptly passed out like a fetus. Meanwhile, I designed a new series of dresses made from his old sweatshirts...

Things have been set in motion that cannot be undone.

Yes, that elegant metal beast lurking in the shadows is my Dutch bicycle. Matthias picked it out after waiting in line for hours at a student organization on his break between classes. It's official. It's perfect.