New Apartment

Well, it's official, I have a new place!

I took off Friday for the move. Waking up early in the morning I took my first load over to the new place. You'll see the picture below. Pack in front, pack in back, and another bag on the back rack. It looks like a lot, but it wasn't too bad; mostly clothes. The second, and final trip was the real challenge—food. Apparently 75 pounds worth. Yes I have a scale, yes I measured it, and yes, I'm impressed that I did not wreck. AND wow! That's a lot of food! Apparently my old bachelor diet of eating out all the time has gone to the wayside and I now make my own food. And apparently everything I buy comes in very heavy glass. Thank goodness for well-constructed bags.

By 2:30 the rest of my stuff arrived that got shipped over from the states. Unfortunately I didn't get to see them use the hook to haul my stuff up...but instead I got a very modern lift. It's a platform that elevated my goods from the street, 4 stories up, into my window. Pretty nifty. I kept thinking my stuff would fall off the lift, but it managed to stay on. Here's a video:

In a half hour everything was unloaded, and the moving men were on their dandy way. And so the unpacking began! I discovered a pair of Mom's homemade beeswax candles in one of the first boxes. These particular ones were made from a very old mold that she recently (-ish) got from Nana. I don't know if any smell has filled me with so much joy as these did. The other pairs in my hands (wrapped up) are ones we dipped this past Christmas. Nothing like homemade beeswax candles to feel at home.

Kitchen during the unpack:

Kitchen after:

Kitchen after:

Living room before:

Living room after:

Living room after:

Bedroom—I still need to get a bed, so the bedroom is still in disarray. I had one delivered yesterday, but it couldn't fit up the stairs (or in my window) so I had to return it. I'll hopefully be getting a replacement soon. Something that comes in pieces that I can assemble. Until I get that, the bedroom won't quite be complete. For now I'm happy sleeping on the foam mattress on the floor though. Here's a little peek of a nook in the room that has the main window that they hauled all the boxes in through on Friday:

Here is a video of the place. Since it was too large of a file, I had to cut it into pieces.

So, I apologize for any weird slices.

The Place — Video 1 of 3:

The Place — Video 2 of 3:

The Place — Video 3 of 3

Bedroom Is Complete (Updated Aug 13th):

Friday night. The first supper. What shall it be? Spaghetti of course! First time I've had a gas stove since living with mom and dad. I'm pretty happy about it.

Bon Appetit:

After having clouds much of Sunday, the sun decided to peek out it's head right around dinner time. So it was the perfect opportunity to test the terrace. And the terrace worked most swimmingly.

Parting shot—Video of terrace sunset:

It's been a long weekend of unpacking, but I'm happy so say it's nearly over and I have a place I can call home :)

It's Official Mom & Dad

Finally bought my ticket home! See you in a few months!

A Weekend of Goodbyes

I named my post a weekend of goodbyes because I had two going-away parties to attend. One Friday for Ben, one Saturday for Kako. Although I'm sad to see my friends go, the parties proved to be quite fun.

First things first. Friday. Meet Ashley and Josh. They're two fellow former-Portlanders that recently moved here (a few months back). I met them when I first visited back in April, through Rachel Mays. Ashley is a planner at the agency, Strawberry Frog. That job being the one that brought them out here. Josh is a creative writer/creative thinker/all-around awesome dude. He's also originally from Lewiston (yay Northwest!).

On Friday I met up with the pair at Cafe de Prins for a glass of wine after work. A glass turned into a couple more glasses...turned into a couple beers...turned into fondue. We were feeling quite cheery when it was time to head to our first going-away party of the weekend.

So, Friday night was Ben's going away party. I completely failed in taking a single picture of him or his party. Ben is Rachel May's (former) flatmate, and the manager of the bar/restaurant, Marquee, that I posted about a few nights ago. He is leaving Amsterdam for a couple months to go to the states. In the U.S. he'll be going to a wedding, attending Burning Man, and will be doing some traveling along the west coast, possibly making it as far north as Portland.

Sure, he's just going away for a couple months. But any excuse to throw a party is a good excuse.

Cheers Ben, happy travels.

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Saturday: Going-Away Party Numero Dos.

Meet Kako! Kako is one of Nacho's best friends, leaving us for Brazil next week. We're very sad to see him go. He has great energy, very happy, and reminds me a lot of my good friend back home, Jerad Harmon. I don't want to see him go, but, there is one good thing coming out of it...an apartment...for me! I'll be moving into Kako's old place next friday, and I'm very excited about it.

Kako is famous for making the best tortilla. So, they decided to have a "Second Best Tortilla Contest" with Kako as the judge. Spanish tortilla is not what you think of when you think of tortillas. It's potatoes, slightly mashed up, mixed with egg. That's the most basic recipe, although I'm sure there are many variations. You cook it stove-top in a pan, and it puffs up to be an inch or two tall. Slice it into wedges, and consume. It's a very common dish in Spain, I think.

Announcing winners:

The bar cat. Many bars and restaurants in town have their resident cat. helps cut down on mice. Plus, who doesn't want an awesome cat hanging out at the bar? It's good for morale.

Don't play darts with me. My aim can't be trusted. I was shooting for 15-20.

Meet Ignasi!

He is a graphic designer at work that moved here from Spain a couple years ago. He played us some great tunes. My personal favorite was when he played Louie Louie. And I told him how that was the tune my dad would have his marching band play during parades back in the day.

And this is Joe:

Head of graphic design at W+K. Also spinning some great tunes, and kept us dancing late into the night. Or shall I say early in the morning. Both Friday and Saturday I went to bed at the healthy hour sometime after 4. I must say, I'm rather impressed with myself. And I'll probably never be able to do it again.

Busting a move in his new shirt we all signed. Adios Kako!

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As for the remainder of the weekend:

I was planning on going bed shopping, so I could have something lined up to deliver on Friday. But it's raining cats and dogs outside (as it has been all weekend, but with extra fury today). So, I think I'm going to stay in. I finished my book, Room, yesterday (I strongly recommend it), so rather than spend the day reading, I'll turn on some tunes, eat some food, and make some more paper mache string balls :)

Random Happenings

I haven't posted anything for a few days, so I thought I'd give you an update of some things I've been up to.

Making a "chandelier."

The place I'll be moving into is void of light fixtures. Currently there are just light bulbs hanging out of the ceiling. So, this is the beginning of a project to remedy that problem. I'll post more pics when I'm done with it:

Wednesday I went to check out a bar (Marquee) that my friend manages. I was happy to see they had Aviation Gin—a delicious gin made in our beloved Portland Oregon. Yay Portland!

Thursday: Vinyl jukebox at Cafe Krom. Amazing. And good music too!

Thursday: Meet Tim. I had to get a picture of him because he has the most amazing mane of hair I've ever seen. It's quite impressive. This picture doesn't do him justice. But luckily you can see some images of it here.

Friday: Starting the day off right with the best email I've ever received. We were having a conversation about business cards. There are still some people that haven't met me at my company, and I was quite happy with this reaction to my name.

Then it was off to look at my future apartment again. We were supposed to do a official inspection, but that got pushed back until next thursday. Here are some teaser pictures of the outside, and the street, to wet your palette. I move in a week from today!

Rima at Huize Frankendael

There is a group here at work called, The Kennedys, that helped put together a fashion event at Huize Frankendael on Sunday. The house is a beautiful old mansion set in a park. At one end of the building there is a cafe, and the many different rooms are used for many different things, but we were able to secure a couple for this event.

The event—to showcase some of the work of Rima Freeman, an apparel designer that moved here from the states about 8 or 9 years ago. The work she does involves taking overstock clothing and material, and re-inventing them into something new and interesting. Rima needed a few people to mingle in the crowd during the event wearing her clothes, and I was asked by The Kennedys if I would participate. Sure, why not?

I took some pictures on my phone, but there were many cameras there, so hopefully I'll be able to post some better photography at a later date.

Click here to watch a short overview video.

Huize Frankendael:

Setting—Park Frankendael:

Gardens behind the house:

Rima preparing the display of a mannequin in the upstairs room:

Decoration for the downstairs room:

There were 6 "models" in all. We took over a side room for hair and makeup:

Crazy eyelashes. Antlers and butterflies:

Butterflies on my eyes:

Denim dress, and necklace made of denim scraps with pearls safety pinned on:

The whole crew:

Rima:

It was a fun afternoon. Met a lot of cool people and ate a lot of cupcakes.

Jessie's Visit

Jessie is an old Portland chum that swept through Amsterdam last weekend.

We did so much stuff, that rather than try and eloquently write it all out...I'm going to utilize bullet points.

Friday Night:

• Grabbed Pizza and wine at my favorite spot around the corner from my place. Pazzi!
• Went to my favorite brown bar, t'Smalle, for a drink.
• Showed off the Red Light district, and a few other places, that I can't seem to recall at the moment.

Saturday:

• Delicious breakfast at Cafe Nielsen
• Trip to Noordermarket for some groceries and tried our first Poffertjes. Delicious!
• Lunch on canal from Foodware, just below my apartment.
• Quick (or slow) stop for a drink with Cari along the Amstel.
• Went to an art show at Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Saw some very amazing student work.
• Snoozed by the canal. Ate some food. Had some refreshments.
• Met up with fellow former Portlander, Rachel Mays, for a delightful dinner at Koevoet.
• Randomly witnessed the coolest horse and buggy event. Happens once a year. A club of 30-50 horse drawn carriages paraded the streets of Amsterdam. All participants were perfectly dressed in early 1900's attire. It was amazing. And I have no good shots to do it justice.
• Ate delicious apple pie at Winkel 43.

Sunday:

• Brunch at La Place.
• Did some city touring.
• Stopped by a book market happening in Dam Square.
• Little bit of shopping.
• Lunch and a snooze in Vondelpark. Got in some solid dog-watching.
• Went to Ivan's going away party in Westerpark.
• Learned how to make tacos at Cari's for dinner.

Some photos of the weekend:

Breakfast at Cafe Nielsen:

Photo shoot on the way to Noordermarket:

Poffertjes in the making. Like tiny fried pancakes served with powdered sugar:

A sort of "flower coat check" for the Academie graduates.

Paper sculpture:

Amazing ceramics piece:

Snoozing by the canal:

Delicious drinks, with lovely labels:

Dinner at Koevoet:

Random horse event:

Jessie at the book market:

Cutting onions for tacos. The blingin' sunglasses were unsuccessful in blocking the tears:

Learning how to make fresh tortillas:

Delicious!

It was good seeing you Jessie, and thanks Cari and Rachel for a couple lovely days/evenings.