Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas arrived in the Netherlands a week ago, as always, by ship, all the way from Spain. Once on land,
along with all his faithful Zwarte Piet's, he made a procession on his horse, Americo, through the streets of Amsterdam (in the pouring rain)!
Since then, he has been filling all the good children's shoes with chocolate letters, small toys and pepernoten - which are like tiny ginger nut biscuits.
The BIG event, however is Pakjesavond, on the 5th of December, when all good children get the toy they have been dreaming about all year long, and all the bad children get put into the sack of Sinterklaas and are taken back to Madrid with him until they learn how to behave.
Luckily Kai has been a very good boy, as he put his tiny shoe out last night and Sinterklaas left him a tiny wooden racing car!

Glamour in Hollywood!

LOVE this video!

Kelly Wearstler is so inspirational. Her style and colour choices are amazing.
I bought her new book - "HUE" a few months ago and it is really fabulous. She mixes elements from different eras, countries and styles and what I love most, is her use of colour. Her style has always inspired me. I discovered Kelly when I was doing the decor for Glasshouse and I must say that a lot of her attention to detail rubbed off on me, such as the studs on the leather armchairs and the gorgeous Glasshouse green that we used on our velvet ottoman in the reception area and on various details throughout.
http://www.glasshousemen.com/

Kai at 8 and a half months

Our little prince is growing up! Baby Kai is becoming a little boy. He can sit, stand holding on to something, his first tooth is emerging and he is talking away like crazy - in his own language!
I am sad that a lot of friends and family aren't around to experience the daily changes in this special little guy.
Here are some of his latest pictures:

Sweden

Back online now after not having iternet at home for a while. Been so frustrating!

Got back from Sweden last week. We visited our friends in Alingsas near Gothenburg again. What a stunning few days out in the country. I hope to go every year, but earlier in the Summer as it was pretty chilly. Lots of berry and mushroom picking in the woods (Cantarelle, not magic!), drinking of fabulous wines - one dessert wine from 1945, (which opened a heated discussion about the war) and good times with old friends.

 Kai even had Nora, a gorgeous, young Swedish Au Pair looking after him 24/7 and didn't want to come home! Tak Lena & Didrik. We loved our time with you guys.

Renovations completed!

Finally our renovations are finished! Well as good as can be without me going completely insane. A few little things here and there, but we are able to move in, which we will do over the next few days. For now we are camping in our house, until our furniture arrives. Besides the internet not working and a few other things, it's not so bad. It always amazes me little one needs in order to be happy. I have never felt more content. To be in one's own space again is such a great feeling. Kai loves his new room and has been sleeping so well in his new bed! Pictures to follow shortly - when I locate the camera!

Beautiful...

I came across a beautiful quote a few days ago. It's from Audrey Hepburn. It's so girly. Makes me think of all my gorgeous friends all over the world. I miss you all...

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing. Kissing a LOT. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

Invictus

This Sunday we managed to find some time to watch Invictus.
If you haven't yet seen it, and especially if you are South African and were around when we won the World Cup rugby, I recommend you watch it!
Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela is awesome. At times, you actually forget that it isn't the man himself. Accent quite spot-on and brilliant hair and make-up. The fact that Morgan is a phenomenal actor, is accentuated by the character he plays.
Our beloved Madiba - what an icon! If you are not already a fan of Madiba's, you will be by the end of the movie. His huge heart, compassion, strong leadership, attention to detail, foresight and incredible charm are portrayed perfectly in the movie.
Matt Damon playing Francois Pienaar, is also not bad eye-candy and he got his South African accent pretty well taped, although at times a BIT too overdone with the Afrikaans twang. Apparently the South African accent is virtually impossible to master, as an actor.
Was surprised to see my friend Paddy Lyster, playing Francois' dad in the movie too. Well done Paddy - you were fantastic! Great to see that the Hollywood blockbusters use local talent too.
The movie brought back fond memories of that time, although I actually happened to be living in Dubai then, and watched the game at the South African club with my fellow Emirates friends. I remember feeling so proud once again to be a South African.
By the way, Invictus means: "God of Victory".

Gay Parade Amsterdam 2010!

Saturday was Gay Pride here in Amsterdam. As usual, whenever there is an event to attend, the enthusiastic Amsterdammers, along with thousands of visitors, were out and about in anticipation of the fabulous float boats to cruise down the canals.
And then RAIN... lots of it, but it didn't put a dampner on the body-painted boys on the boats. Nothing like a few raindrops to cool you off when you are so HOT, HOT, HOT!!

Here are the pictures I managed to take over the sea of umbrellas. Enjoy!