Happy Monday, my lovely readers! What an unusual week this has been. I’m currently staying at my parents’ house as they’re on vacation and I’m taking care of the rats. Staying here has pulled me out of my daily routine and I find myself doing everything at a slower pace and being much less productive. I still managed to get plenty of work done though, fit in two events, and took a day trip to the east of the country. Let’s take a look at what I was up to last week!
On Monday, I got invited to the launch of Blond Amsterdam’s new collection. Blond Amsterdam is a brand that makes predominantly china with really cute, girly prints. You may remember I got a bunch of plates from their Efteling collection for my birthday back in February. The new collection has a tropical jungle theme and it’s adorable as ever.
We were invited to the flagship store in Amsterdam, where we got a little tour of the store and all the secret stuff that goes on backstage. There’s a workshop where ladies sit, painting custom plates and cups that people have ordered. It was really fun to take a look at what goes on behind the scenes of such a popular brand (they’re huge in the Netherlands).
Afterwards we went to the Blond café down the street and had some lunch.
In the evening I went to dance class and home to Utrecht after that. On Tuesday I spent all day filming videos, and I was so busy that I completely forgot to take pictures. The only photo I took was of my dinner:
I started out making curry and it ended up being a giant two or three person portion, haha! I had to save about half of it for another day :)
On Wednesday I filmed the new Style Revival video!
I headed over to my parents’ house after I’d filmed the tutorial and intro, and Robbert met me there to help me film the fashion portion. My parents left that morning so I stayed here for the rest of the week.
The next day, Robbert and I went to the Decathlon store to buy some more trekking gear in preparation for our trip down the West Highland Way in August. Amongst a bunch of other things, we both got matching waterproof hiking shoes. I wasn’t planning on buying new shoes, but I spotted these and thought they were exceptionally good looking for this type of shoe. I also do really need waterproof shoes if I’m to go trekking in Scotland, as for all we know we might get rain every day.
Friday brought absolutely horrible weather. It was raining all day and the sky was so overcast, I had to turn on the lights inside. I decided to start the day by typing up my blog posts, and when I was done with that, I finally started (and finished) my bookkeeping. I had serious trouble figuring out what’s required of me through the enormous flood of information and options, but I think I’ve got a nice simple method of bookkeeping down now that’s clear and practical, and should keep me out of any related legal trouble. Now I just need to do my VAT report…
More rain.
<3
And editing! My brother let me borrow his computer while I’m here, and it’s a heaven sent. Look at this setup! When I move into a bigger place, I really want a place like this to edit on too. It’s a dream to work on.
Robbert was coming over in the evening but he was running a bit late, so I decided to get started on my Wie Is De Mol edits. Remember the Wie Is De Mol camp I went on with the scouts a few weeks back? I mentioned then that my job was to edit all the footage I shot there down into episodes like they do them on TV. Time to do that now.
Saturday morning, I took the rats out for playtime early in the morning, before one of the scout leaders came to pick Robbert and me up.
We drove all the way to the German border, where we spent all day laying out a hiking trail for the older kids’ camp next week. The kids are going to be hiking for two days, but we only had a few hours to prepare everything so we decided to take our bikes to speed up the process. It was great on some bits of the way, but then we encountered hills, and stairs, and dunes…
And little forest pathways and sand and we had to carry/push our bikes through all of that and it was super intense.
The first hill we encountered was the tallest (not the steepest, but we didn’t know that at this point), so when we found a little restaurant at the top, we treated ourselves to a drink before moving on.
At a certain point I was so tired I was ready to collapse, so we called the other half of the team (who were driving around in a car to prepare another activity) to come pick me up. Turns out I’d almost made it all the way as there was only 2 km left, but we didn’t know yet how long it would go on for.
We all went out for a well deserved dinner afterwards. This, my dear readers, is not a pizza. It’s a pancake. Welcome to the Netherlands. It was delicious by the way, one of the best pancakes I’ve had in my life.
Now for something completely different! On Sunday, I got invited to the closing show of Amsterdam FashionWeek. I’d never been to a fashion show before so I was really excited to get to experience that. I wasn’t sure what to wear and in the end I decided on this outfit, which is pretty daring for me. I was a bit scared I’d be overdressed for a moment (it happens a lot), but boy was I wrong.
When we entered the venue, I thought my eyes would pop out of their sockets. I didn’t know where to look! People were not afraid to go all out and wear the most insane pieces. Or sweatpants, or next to nothing. It was incredible and amazing, very un-Dutch.
The show was by Maison the Faux and we got seated on the second row. The show itself was easily one of the craziest experiences of my life. I actually have no idea what I saw. There were tanning beds all over the place, the music was super loud, there were flashing lights and the male models were walking past at an incredible pace, in heels. I found it all very overwhelming, but fantastical at the same time. It was a lot to take it but I would definitely go again.
And now we’re here! A nice and quiet, normal Monday where I’m just buying groceries, filming videos and dancing. And still a bit flabbergasted from yesterday, haha! Have a great week everybody :)
Hi Lucy,
I was wondering if you could do a video or write a blog on what it’s like to be an immigrant in the Netherlands. I know there are many people from the colonies living there, but what has been your experience?
I’ve been a few Northern European countries, and aside from people of color, the rest or like 99% of the people have blue eyes and blonde hair, so I’m guessing you stand out, since you have dark features. Have you ever felt a bit as an outsider, or perhaps “less” than the rest because of this? (since what the media shows us as beautiful is precisely blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin) I’m guessing this is a difficult topic not a lot of people are willing to talk about, and I would love to hear your perspective on this and perhaps give some advice to people going through the same.
Thank you, and have a good day.
Hi there!
Your expectation of my experience seems way off, compared to what my experience has actually been :) I’m not from the colonies, I’m from just two countries to the east, so the cultural differences between my country of birth and the Netherlands aren’t big. I moved here when I was two years old and my parents made an effort to raise me like the Dutch do their children, so all I’ve ever known is being Dutch. I’m fully integrated, speak like a well educated native, and until people see my last name they have no idea I’m not from here. I do look a bit different but that’s not because of my eye and hair color, it’s more my face shape, but I hav not had a negative experience with that once in my life. The Netherlands are one of the most tolerant countries in the world and I’ve never felt discriminated, unwelcome or unaccepted. I literally feel the exact same as a native Dutch middle class person would, and I’m treated that way too. I personally haven’t experienced a single drop of immigration-based hardship, and neither have my family members. Nothing but love for the Dutch here! :)
First of all, thank you replying. I’m sorry if my question made you uncomfortable. I know you’re not from the colonies, obviously, and I can tell you are well educated, my question actually didn’t have to do at all with your education or integration in culture. Thing is, sometimes, despite being the most well accustomed person, people treat you differently just because they have some sort of prejudice. In many countries, foreigners or people who look different are tolerated up to a point, but at a certain point, someone might make you feel that just because you aren’t an exact copy of what everyone else looks like, you don’t have the right to “belong”. In short terms, it’s racism, but more mild and disguised. I haven’t been in all the country, just a few cities, and everyone looked blonde and blue eyes, hence the question about having brown eyes and hair, because maybe there’s something people can tell is exotic or not exactly Dutch, specially in countries where you’re either black, asian or nordic… I don’t know, having brown eyes myself, in some places I’ve felt a bit “different”, as if I couldn’t claim a certain nationality or culture because of my looks… and I realize it’s stupid and shouldn’t be that way. People think I’m Spanish, or comment on me being exotic, for example, some find it pretty, but I don’t get that sense of being like the rest.
Anyhow, it has been a long post, but I hope you get what I mean… it definitely has nothing to do with your culture or education, I’ve seen your videos and I can tell you are smart and an interesting woman, nothing not to be proud of, and I apologize if I’ve made you feel like I was questioning any of that.
I understand what you were asking, but that’s exactly what I’m trying to say: I’ve never been made to feel “different” or worth less, not a single moment in my life :) I think it’s partly due to my not actually being different in anything but looks (and even those only slightly), that’s why I emphasised on the whole culture and education thing. People don’t comment on my looks and when they do, it’s about my clothing or how I wear my hair. I never get asked where I’m from, and actually brown hair is very common here too (and a lot of the blonde is fake, haha!). I really haven’t had any negative experiences related to not being from here
Alright, thank you for replying. Have a great rest of the week, and my kind regards to you :3
Loepsie wrote:
“Actually brown hair is very common here too (and a lot of the blonde is fake, haha!). ”
You are so right Loepsie, most of the people, that I know who were blond as children, have now very dark brown hair.
My siblings and I were blond as children but as we grew up, our hair darkened, My brother and husband were almost platinum blond, as children, but their hair turned dark around 12 years old. My next door neighbour, who is German, was very blond when I met her, and I thought it was natural, but later she became ill, and couldn’t go to the hair salon , and her dark roots started to show.
Same goes for the blue eyes, many Europeans including Scandinavian people have brown eyes.
“The colonies”! What an archaic and offensive term to use. That I know, nobody uses that term now, they are called, British Overseas Territories (BOT) .
I was blonde as a child myself :)
And I’m pretty sure the former Dutch colonies aren’t called “British territory”, haha! We just call them by their names :)
what’s the name of that pancake? or how can I order it?
It looks delicious!
Btw, have you consider being a fashion designer? UuU
I like the daring outfit! You have a great body and you work for it, with consistent healthy eating, so why not show it off every now and then? :) Awesome shoes also, you have the best taste! I hope you enjoy them :)