Last year when I first moved to Amsterdam I was quick to get out and walk the cobblestoned streets, on the look out for boutiques with beautiful homewares. There was one particular boutique that stood out for me on the bustling Prinsengracht, and before long I found myself hooked on stopping by for a peek inside, and more frequently stepping out of the store and strolling back along the Prinsengracht with a smile on my face and a basket full of vintage goodies.

I speak of Juffrouw Splinter Curiosa, smack bang in the heart of the Jordaan area of Amsterdam, and nestled neatly on the edge of the nine streets. Owner Jolijn (pronounced Yo-line) Bosma has an eye for gorgeous furnishings. She sources her wares from all over Europe and has a great selection of vintage tins (I have bought a number of my tea and coffee tins from her store), glassware, silverware, and servingware. Just recently Jolijn expanded her store to include a downstairs showroom which is filled with old school desks, wall maps, painted tables and chairs…

I’m always in here looking for things for upcoming shoots and le petit bateau. Just recently I had the pleasure of borrowing one of Jolijn’s buffet’s for this shoot which I filled with homemade jams and compotes.

Also worth a mention is that Jolijn has just launched her online boutique (I knew you’d be pleased to hear that!), so you can click here to take a closer look at some of the things she has in store. Although her site is in Dutch its super easy to navigate and if you have any questions, just send an email, she’ll be more than happy to help.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside one of my favourite stores here in my new home town, as part of of my one-year Amsterdam anniversary. More special Amsterdam-inspired posts coming tomorrow but for now, the clock has struck midnight and that means bedtime for me…bonne nuit mes amis…

I just took this shot a moment ago, on a walk down the prinsengracht. The Rijks Museum in in the background. It is such a beautiful night!

Next Up: an exclusive look inside my favourite shop here in Amsterdam. I almost don’t want to tell you about it – sometimes being a stylist and sharing my shopping secrets is so hard…

a pair of gigantic scissors.

a shop window on the haarlemmerdijk.

I love breakfast. It is one of my favourite meals of the day. My other favourite meals of the day are morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, pre-dinner and dinner (and can dessert count as a seperate meal? In my case it often is). Lovely cafes and restaurants for the other meals of the day are not so difficult to find in Amsterdam. A decent breakfast however, is near impossible.

My English galpal Hayley and I share the same love of breakfast, and having been to Australia Hayley knows that we Aussies are spoilt with fabulous breakfast bars and know how to make a first meal of the day like no other (we concur that the North Americans also do a darn good job at it too). So we are on a mission to find the best (or simply above average) breakfast places around Amsterdam. After a year of heavy research, many breakfast dates and analysis, we’ve found one!

It’s called Letting and is in the Jordaan (on the Prinsenstraat 3 – just off the Keizergracht). It’s lovely – good friendly service (they didn’t hesitate or look at me strange when I asked for milk and honey for my tea!), good food, and a great interior (so very important for the likes of us fussy interior lovers n’est-ce pas?). Although the breakfast menu is not vast, it is very decent. We had the American pancakes with bacon, smothered in delicious maple syrup.

I do have a rule that I have to go an eatery at least 3 times before I announce that it gets the ‘enhance the everyday’ tick of approval but I’ve stretched the rules a bit for this one because after a year of living in Amsterdam, this is all I’ve got for stand-out breakfast suggestions and I’ve only been once.

So when you are in Amsterdam, check out this place for breakfast and then go for a little wander around the area, it is postcard-perfect, every time of year. Enjoy!

xx

PS if you have Amsterdam breakfast place suggestions please leave a comment with the details and Hayley and I will be happy to try it out. But note: to count as breakfast you have to serve it from no later than 8am, and preferably all day, if not at least until mid afternoon, and it has to include more than a piece of bread with cheese on it.