Ladies night: Kelty lives on a farm now.

Ladies night

Puddles won't stop us. They'll just...delay us, slightly.

This past weekend to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, my mother invited my brother, his girlfriend and me to the beach. There was significant flooding on highway 101 just south of Seaside but we figured we'd just go for it anyway. Turns out, the highway was closed to low profile vehicles there (i.e. my mom's WRX). Alone, I probably would have convinced myself that there were things I really wanted to do back at home and turned around. My mom, however, had reserved the penthouse for a sweet deal on her vacation points plan and was not about to let some swollen rivers stop us. My brother was also of this persuasion. So we drove an extra hour and half all the way around the big puddle on highway 202 to Astoria and then down 101 to Seaside. On the upside, we saw two herds of elk before it got dark and my brother was ultra motivated. On the downside, the puddle was seriously, 2 miles south of our destination and was clear the next day so we discovered JUST how close we'd been before nearly tripling the travel time. Anyway, we made it to the penthouse. The fireplace didn't work because it was too windy and the window dripped, but it had a bedroom AND bathroom for each of us plus a really nice view. I also got a Yahtzee. My mom and brother+girlfriend spend their whole morning earning $100 visa gift cards by withstanding a time share sales pitch geared at citizens who earn over $60,000 a year. I decided I would spend my morning taking photos for free.

Oregon coast: Pastel perfect.

Family beach trip 2010. I saw a whale, played the most dismal Yahtzee round of my life and survived high tide.

IJburg

Last week Matthias needed to head out for some fresh air between studying for midterms and writing papers, so we rode across the bridge to IJburg. IJburg is a neighborhood of artificial islands in the IJ lake to offer more housing/a new neighborhood so Amsterdam can continue expanding somehow. So why not reclaim some more land from the water! They even have a word for this "Polder" although it's possible that only refers to land reclaimed from the sea...anyway, IJburg is appears to be a bit of an architectural free-for-all. There are all kinds of crazy facades and fun angles and bright colors on the residential buildings. We peeped in on all sorts of different living situations from the street level windows and admired the reckless abandon/meticulous attention to detail with which the buildings were designed. I bet architects everywhere were falling all over themselves to get in on this project.

photos by Matthias

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

"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...

Secret passageway, mach schnell.

Night creepin' in the Netherlands! Exploring the new surroundings, searching for secrets...
Photos by Matthias

Heure d'arrivée

Oh, hey guys! You still there? Does Portland continue to exist? WHERE AM I? And more importantly, HOW did I get here? Oh, that's right. Matthias proposed and I for some reason agreed to this madness.

Amsterdam. I'm here. It's been quite an adjustment, I'll admit. First and foremost, I was a complete zombie after a week of all-nighters packing, sewing, stressing, and running errands. I barely slept on the plane because it was more uncomfortable than I remember (does that mean I'm getting older?) So I spent the first few days fast asleep, feeling pretty much exactly how that middle photo looks. Before my first crash though, I was fortunate enough to witness Ines, one of Matthias' most lovely university friends, scribbling that message in chalk outside our window. "Would you look at that gem" Matthias gestured toward the view as Ines, unaware of our attention, scrawled away. After meganapping I also was fortunate enough to wake up to a plate of coffee chocolate cupcakes and a welcome card from two of Matthias' other darling hallmates! So it was a nice welcome from the neighbors to say the least.

The man himself showed up at the airport looking dapper. Button down shirt, vest, skinny jeans all in shades of grey with a pair of adult man shoes and a bowler hat. Plus he'd cleaned the flat to an above average level of neat and managed to stash some various flowers around the place. He revealed that he'd had an all-nighter as well :)

In other news, I got a new camera after the little Nikon my dad gave me finally crapped out. Lumix LX3, wheeee! Therefore, new blog format, easier reading, bigger photos. Right? Right.

I miss you guys!

May 15th: So...I guess I'll...go back to Portland now?

After two solid weeks of alternating action and lounging amongst the Dutch, it was time for me to return to my other life across the sea. It was sort of a pity that I didn't actually try the Hagelschlag (toast sprinkles) until the last few days. Actually, that was probably a good idea since the rest of the time my diet staples were french fries with mayonnaise, breadrolls with butter cheese and tomato, and stroopwaffel. Bottom line is that they're good. It's a great idea. And they taste best on cheap white bread rolls.

They were so delicious on warm buttered rolls, in fact, that Matthias and I decided this must be the main reason Dutch children have such happy childhoods. Toast with sprinkles comprise an acceptable breakfast food. I packed a couple rolls full for the plane, bought a bunch as gifts, and geared up for the flight. I told Matthias I didn't think I could do this again, and he said next time you'll have to marry me, and we both knew neither one was joking. As I rode westward over fertile green fields, a smoking volcano, icy expanses becoming ever less icier and approached the fertile green forests on the other side, I truly had no idea what the future held. At least I had a purse full of toast sprinkles.

May 14th: So...where do we go from here?

Yes, it was nearly three months ago today, but I have yet two days to finish up my enthralling day by day account of the trip to Holland in May.

Although our teeny tiny private ferry did not offer return services on the day we required, we managed to book a giant ferry to a different city on the mainland, no problem. It didn't leave until 4:45 or so, therefore we had a full day of enjoyment on Vlieland before us.

Sure, things were a little weird. They always are when you get to the end of a romantic vacation and it turns out to be the most romantic part camping amid Dutch family bliss and you both live in different countries and will now return to your old lives and so forth. Also, neither of us big whiteys anticipated the following: sun. So neither of us thought to bring something like, I don't know, sunscreen. Don't let Matthias' emo face in front of the lighthouse fool you. We managed to have an excellent day despite this oversight. I must say though, after a day of hiking, beach and deep conversation, we were both a bit worn out when we finally boarded the ferry. Fortunately, Matthias knew exactly how to solve this problem. Ice cream cones and cola. One in each hand. For both of us. Dutch children nudged their parents. Stalwart Dutch parents ignored their children. (Or politely denied them) Matthias and I gloriously sipped our tiny colas and demolished the Cornettos with style. Being an adult is awesome. Plus, we had like a five hour bus/train ride back to Amsterdam ahead of us.