book cover of Amsterdam: Made by Hand, handmade and photographed by me.

Some of you have already noticed the little Amsterdam: Made by Hand pre-order button in the right side bar of the blog, but here is my official announcement that the book is now available for pre-order directly through the publisher, the Little Bookroom! The book will be released worldwide on June 1st, so those who pre-order will be the first ones to get their hands on the book, no matter where you are in the world.

I am sooooooo excited and I can’t wait to be able to share it with you. I have kept so many details about what is in the book top secret for this past year, and I’m bursting to reveal all.  But I will be patient and wait a little longer. I can tell you though that there are ten wanders in this book, and if you’d like a sneak peek of a few of the pages , you can see them by clicking here.  Hmmm ok, here is just one of the spreads from a boutique featured…

I hope you like. To see bigger versions and read the text, click here.

In May I will start to tell you more about the book but for now, just this little bit of info. There will also be some super cool events happening for the book launch in June, I will tell you about them in the time to come.

Oh I’m excited! But I already said that.

xx

For the last week here in Amsterdam, our canal has had a layer of glorious snow over the top of its frozen, icey surface. It has been reflecting a beautiful blue-white light into the boat that I have never seen before. Every morning I have been eagerly pulling up the blinds to let in as much of the light as possible, and I have been so inspired to use this new white light – imagining up all sorts of new still life tabletop scenes and interior settings. This morning I was a little sad to see that all the snow had melted on the canal.

But I didn’t come here to give you a weather report. Instead, I want to let you know that food stylist Yvette van Boven is here in da (blog)house again! After I saw the latest post on her blog called Dutch Fare, I asked if she could translate one of the recipes and being the wonderful friend that she is, she said yes. She shouldn’t be indulging us though, because she too is very busy working on a huge book and she needs no distractions. Meanwhile, she has runaway to Paris to try to get some work done on her book without being distracted by the likes of well… me. I understand.

So, go take a look in the (blog)house kitchen (click here) to see which recipe Yvette kindly translated and wrote about for us. It’s the perfect winter treat. Enjoy!

xx

I am delighted, as you can imagine. How many times did I wish for it to snow when I returned to Amsterdam? Countless, I thought it was all in vain. But no! Because I woke up to a blanket of snow all over the boat. And as soon as it was light enough, I pulled on my long johns and 4 other layers of woolens, grabbed my camera and headed outdoors. The snow was perfectly powdery and every sound was muffled – the passing bikes, our footsteps, even the rijks bells were softer and more gentle than usual. Oh, it was magical…

After our walk we headed into a café to warm ourselves with some hot chocolate. It was so cozy inside…

Then, I noticed something in a not too far away tree. Something completely familiar in the strangest of settings. Had this little guy followed me from warmer climates? Looks like he too, was enjoying the snow as much as I…

xx

PS then I  walked past this sign as I exited the park gates…

ha! not bloody likely.

While I’ve been sunning it up down under, I have been missing out on what has most likely been the prettiest winter in Amsterdam for years. In the last couple of months it has unusually snowed in my new hometown countless times, leaving a nice thick blanket over the cobblestoned streets, parked bicycles, canals and houseboats, creating incredible picture-perfect scenes…

To say I’m envious of all who have witnessed these snowfalls is an understatement. I adore snow – always have and always will (I’ve survived a number of Quebec winters in my younger years and loved each and every freezing moment) – and to know that I have missed something so unique and spectacular is fairly heartbreaking. Of course I know that so much snow and slippery ice brings chaos to such a city but still, it’s one of those natural phenomenons that continually manage to surprise and delight me. Unfortunately the snow has stopped falling and the Amsterdam that I will go back to in a week’s time will most likely be the rainy, dark, and very cold one I’ve come to know so well.

But the good news is that my dear friends have been taking the most beautiful photos of their outings when the snow appears and emailing them to me. Their photos make me smile every time so I thought I’d share some with you…

All these gorgeous images are courtesy of photographers Cath Conroy and Alan Jenson. Thank you so much Cath and Al! You are both super lucky to have had this experience, and your first ever winter in Amsterdam to boot.

Stunning. Hope you’ve all enjoyed these images as much as I have. Cath and Al, I promise to pack a bit of sunshine in my suitcase for you.

xx

Over the weekend I went to a few new places with friends that I thought you might like to know about:

1. Le Pain Quotidien in de pijp. This is a Belgian bakery/café/patisserie that is all over the world, and now Amsterdam. I used to go to the Saint Honoré one all the time when I was living in Paris, especially for Sunday brunch. It’s awesome. The ingredients are always fresh and organic wherever possible, and the bread is delicious. Although I’d already been to this new one in de Pijp the other week, I took French boy there on Saturday. He had a tartine, I had an omlette. We bought a baguette and were pleasantly surprised that it was just like a real French baguette. This one in Amsterdam is at Cornelis Troostplein 4, click the link to be taken to a map of the location.

2. Chet’s. This is an Italian-style wine bar on the Hazenstraat, in the Jordaan. We met some friends there on Saturday night not expecting there would be live music (since we heard it was only on Friday nights) but we were delighted to find out there was a bossa jazz band booked for the night. It’s a wonderful little oasis as these type of places are hard to find in Amsterdam.

3. the lovefood pop up sunday brunch. Brilliant idea founded by englishman-amsterdammer Jason Hartley. A lovely friend introduced me to it yesterday (thank you Leslie!). Basically it’s a pop up brunch, hosted in various restaurants or cafes in the city. Their new location is in the Cafe Bax on the Ten Katestraat. Yesterday was the last one for the year unfortunately, but the next one starts on January 10. The brunch is great – a full breakfast menu that all us expats miss so so much  – e.g.  The Full Mikey which is the American classic breakfast with bacon,  homemade  sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs;  eggs florentine, benedict etc – every which way you like’em;  a full veggie breakfast;  pancakes, even a mexican style choice – tortillas filled with scrambled organic eggs, spinach, fried potatoes and chorizo sausage topped with grated chedder cheese and baked. Click here to read more about it.

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It’s Monday morning! can you believe I’ve blogged before midday? Well that’s just the start of it. Hold on to your hats, because this week is going to be full steam ahead! I have lots to share this week. Lots. Next up will be the enhance the everyday holiday decorating & gift guide. wehoooooooooo!