Kuekenhof

As if I could resist taking a cheese-tastic
tourist photo!

To cap off our holiday we headed out on Friday to the Kuekenhof, which is full of flowers, walks and touristy goodness that you would expect to find in Holland. There is the usual large wooden shoes, tulips, windmills and of course stroopwafels. This particular stroopwafel however was not your normal stroopwafel. It was fresh off the griddle warm and as big as my head. No joke. I would have taken a picture, but I couldn't stop eating it long enough to get out my camera. I have no idea how I will be able to eat store bought stroopwafels again (I am sure I will figure it out though). While that was a highlight the flowers and gardens on the property are truly amazing to view. Everywhere you look is saturated with bright vibrant color. Not a bad way to spend your day.

If you ever happen to be in the Netherlands in March, April or May I highly suggest going to the Kuekenhof. It is so big you can fill your entire day wandering the gardens, having a bite to eat and checking out the 100's of hybrids of tulips, daffodil's and hyacinth's. They even have a place for the kids to play and a petting zoo that I think it's safe to say I enjoyed as much as the children.

Purple and Yellow

All the flowers waiting to be picked

So pretty!

The windmill which is located on the property

Rows of flowers

Me and the pig. I wanted to take him home.

Out to Sea

Returning soon, but enjoy a day at the (cold) beach!

Mini Break

With the kids on holiday this week the BF and I decided to head out towards the North Sea for a mini break. The place we are staying at has both a water park and an amusement park onsite which means that we have plenty of things to see and do. Since the weather calls for rain a few days this week we are making sure to explore outside whenever it's dry and head to the indoor water park when it rains. Works well for everyone. Now if only I could shake this jet lag all would be in order, but I am pushing through hoping it will go away!

This lovely picture below is of a little boy statue peeing. He swings from side to side like a sprinkler and the trajectory changes randomly so if you think you are far enough away to not get 'peed' on, you are mistaken. Only in Europe. Ha!

Extended

Last week I was lazy and posted this picture without too much information.

Well a few of you have guessed what it is, but I thought I would finally share the secret. I got lash extensions and they are FAB-U-LOUS. What you see above is without mascara and is how I wake up in the morning. How lovely is that? I sometimes just throw one some tinted moisturizer and call it good with so little effort that the cost of maintaining these pays off in ease alone. I love them so much that the thought of waking up with my own longish but blond lashes is just not going to happen any time soon. The lashes last about 4-6 weeks, but you can do touch ups every 2-3 weeks to keep them full and lovely all the time. Guess which route I am going?

If you are in the OC (or want to drive there) I suggest going to Lash Spot, which is where I went. The people were fantastic and the lashes are great!

Parched

I don't know if it's the traveling or the new cleansing product I tried from my BirchBox, but my face is DRY. What's worse is for once my trusty argan oil isn't cutting it. So I quit the cleansing product  (which this is the first thing in a year that I have tried in my BirchBox that has even hinted at not working with my skin) and have been putting everything from old lady moisturizer to argan oil every few hours to try and combat this with not much luck. Then I was on the plane headed to Amsterdam on Saturday and Duty Free was available on the plane prompting me to browse through the catalogue to see if there was anything that might be able to assist with the flaky lizard like state my face had become. Enter in Kiehl's. Years ago Kiehl's was my go to beauty regimen products, but if you haven't noticed I love to try new products and Kiehl's fell off my radar. When I saw that I could purchase the Midnight Recovery Concentrate, I knew that my skin was going to be healed. So in combination with the Ultra Facial Cream (also available on the flight) I woke up this morning to my skin visibly less dry and dramatically softer than when I went to bed. I still have a few dry patches, but a few more nights and I think we will be back to normal. Which is good, because right now I am looking a little tired due to jet lag and I can use all the help I can get!

I may have picked this up as well, but only because I needed to distract from my scaly skin. Really.

The Cut

Remember when I was complaining about how long my hair was and how I was too chicken to find a new hair stylist? Well I sucked it up and got my hair cut about two weeks ago. It was not the best cut, but it wasn't the worst either. It lacked structure, but I figured I would just grow it out a bit and hopefully see my lovely stylist from Seattle at some point. Well as luck would have it she and I had a chance to catch up for coffee while I am here in town and she offered to take a look at my hair and see if there was anything she could do. Well she did and there was and I am super grateful she is so awesome. Never under estimate the power of a good hair cut. It can make your day, lift your mood and boost your confidence. I am officially out of pony tail mode. Yay!

If you are in the Seattle area, I can't recommend Jamie enough. She is located in West Seattle, but worth the drive from any direction. You can find her the La Petite Salon website or by calling the salon at 206-937-0886. Just don't make it totally impossible for me to get an appointment.

No smile, but the best photo of the hair that
I could manage last night.

Emerald City

Best door stop ever.

When I was young the Wizard of Oz came on once a year on TV sometime between my birthday and Easter. This was back in the pre-digital, pre-DVD and pre-VCR & Beta days (unless of course you were a millionaire which we weren't) so you didn't have the luxury of watching whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted (and if you were a millionaire in the way early 80's you were probably stuck watching The Sound of Music and M*A*S*H since not much else was released yet). The wait for it to be on TV was huge for me since it was (and still is) one of my favorite films. To this day I still think the scene where she opens the house door into Munchkin land, transitioning from black and white to a brilliant color filled world, is magical.

This is my first trip back to my Emerald City since officially having a new home in SoCal and while I love California, I miss Seattle. Nothing beats flying into SeaTac and seeing the lush green trees, lakes, mountains and the Puget Sound glistening from above. Yesterday was simply an amazing day to arrive because the sun was shining bright and the air had a hint of warmth in it. Days like these are the days that make it hard to live elsewhere, but I must remember that they are few and sometimes way to far between. However today I will take what I can get and enjoy my own little magical moment in the Emerald City.