Sunday Funday

So what's better than starting the weekend teaching your Dutch co-workers how to play beer pong, having two random warm sunny days (when it clearly should be Fall by now), moving everything out of your first apartment  which turned out to be much easier than anticipated and munching on homemade chicken tandoori samosas and stroopwafel cheesecake at your favorite food market all on your last weekend in Amsterdam?

Well let me tell you: getting a text message from one of your coolest friends ever which says something along the lines of 'we rented a boat, champagne is cold, see you at 4 o'clock.'

What a perfect last weekend in Amsterdam, topped off with boating around the canals (as their wedding gift to us!) with one of our absolute favorite couples on Earth! I will never get tired of these canals...or friends like these :). 

{Bittersweet to be leaving our first apartment together!}

{En route to stroopwafel cheesecake heaven...I mean the food market and pre-text message boat invite}

{And this other Dutch-American couple of ours is also engaged and moving to America! So why not snap some cute love pics of these two? :)}

Amsterdam Family

My gosh, how time has been flying! We are now down to our last 10 days living in beautiful Amsterdam. Am I getting excited for California? The wedding? The big trip? Everything coming up?! Absolutely! But lately, I can't help but focus on just how sad I am to leave Amsterdam--my most favorite city in the world. But it's not just that, it's also leaving the life we created here--the life we created from scratch. Not knowing anyone, not having work experience or a paycheck, not having a favorite bar or restaurant, not knowing even who I was to become in the years I have been living here. I've conjured up such great friends who have become my overseas family. How lucky I feel to have so many close friends who have contributed to my years in Amsterdam--people from Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Australia, England, and so many other places as well as from the good ol' US of A! Tangent: but on the other hand, I wonder the world of possibility/friends/good times which is waiting for us over on the West Coast? Hmm..food for thought and perhaps worthy of a separate post, I'd say!

Something I never imagined was feeling a pull between two places--from my home in California and now feeling the pull from my home in Amsterdam. It's the limbo between California and Amsterdam and leaving a piece of my heart in each place.

I saw the above quote on Pinterest around the time I started feeling this way--and it cleared things up a bit. But will I ever feel fully at home again? Maybe. Maybe not. But if I don't, then atleast I know I will always have family in both places :). Encouraging me, laughing with me, drinking with me, celebrating me, consoling me and enjoying life with me.

Last week I joined a couple friends who are a part of this 'Amsterdam family' at one of our sneaky spots along the Amstel river. It's incredible how much fun a random Thursday night can be when you combine a couple of friends, a sunset, some bottles of prosecco, a tripod and a city view. I'm looking forward to filling up these last 10 days with each of the friends I've come to know and love in Europe...and savor every. single. minute with them. Miss you already, friends!

Holla at ya, Lily Wanderlust!

August, you're too good to us!

It recently dawned on me how ideal the entire month of August is in The Netherlands. The warm weather and late nights allow a plethora of outdoor events around town. These are some of our favorite events of the year.

So if you are in The Netherlands in August, be sure to plan your trip around these each of these foodie fairs/movie/festivals:

Amsterdam

World Cinema Film Fest Openair - Over three long weekends, this film festival features foreign film viewings each night in the openair at Marie Heinekenplein or the Vondelpark Openair Theater.

Best part: it's free! 

Pluk de Nacht Film Festival - I'm obsessed with this 10-day event. They set up shop right near the water, sell Belgium beer, have a couple of food trucks and have cute beach chairs to rent. Arrive early and you can score a spot right in front of the screen. Each film night starts around sunset with a short film and a feature film followed by a DJ until past midnight. 

Best part: it's also free! 

De Parade traveling circus

Tons of food stalls, mini theaters every few meters, stringy lights and a make-your-own-poffertjes stand means this traveling circus the last 2 weeks of August is one of our all-time favorite Amsterdam events.

Entrance is 7.50 EUR...but well worth it!

Lounging along the Amstel River

Grab a BBQ, some friends and some drinks and head straight to the Amstel. People camp out on the edge of the water for hours and enjoy some of the most beautiful sunsets in Amsterdam.

Maastricht

Preuvenemint - one of the biggest events of the year in South Limburg at the very bottom of The Netherlands. Maastricht's main square, 't Vrijtof, is converted into a big foodie and wine extravaganza! Makes for a great weekend trip ;)

If you're not in The Netherlands in August, you're still in luck! Check out my guest post over at Eyes/Ears/Mouth+Lens for my 48-hour weekend guide to Amsterdam!

{Openair movies + ice cream...what else ya need?}

{Yumminess + theater at De Parade in Amsterdam}

{Preuvenimint in Maastricht}

{Sunset along the Amstel, Amsterdam}

So long, Summer

A couple weeks ago, we spent one of the last weekends of summer drinking biertjes, eating Mexican food and making our own poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes) with Jeanelle and Steven at De Parade. Only a short stroll from our place, we jumped at the chance to check out this small fair and traveling circus again (shamefully, the first time we visited De Parade was only last summer!). And that amateur video producer soon-to-be-husband o' mine put together this small clip of our evening...his videos crack me up ;). I sure got lucky with that guy! 

Also, be sure to check out my guest post for tips on how we saved for our upcoming 6-month backpacking trip around Asia over at A Home Away From Home--Jenna is one of my all-time favorite bloggers...and a fellow travel-obsessed native Californian, if I might add ;)

One LONG commute to work today...

I'm not the type to give up a precious day off work to recover from a holiday (I mean what if I want to use that day for a long weekend?!). So if my flight arrives before noon (which 99% of them arrive before 9AM), then I'm going straight to work. Yes even if it means coming straight from a Costa Rican beach, through the jungle by bus to San Jose, to a layover in New Jersey, then across the Atlantic to Amsterdam, then to border control, a train, a metro and a ferry. Even if it does mean that my flight lands at 7AM and I'll have to put up with a full 8-hour work day after 16 hours of traveling (seriously). 

I can sleep later.

After one long-ass commute, my work day starts right now. 

Home Sweet Holland.

Weekend

Every time it snows, I think 'it's the last time....ok NOW it's the last time...ok no really this is really the last time' which is basically how this weekend went. Each morning we woke up to a snow-covered Amsterdam. Only this time, my Aussie friend, bridesmaid and fellow Italy-enthusiast was in town to enjoy it with me! She's no stranger to this city since she once called it home for a couple of years too, but this weekend we enjoyed being reunited after 18 months apart! We spelunkled around town like the good ol' times, watched Australian movies, got Thai takeout and caught up on gossip. After this week, she won't be too far away since she moves to London in a few days. 

And I swear these are the last snowy Amsterdam pics because I'm going away at the end of the week too: oh sweet California is just around the corner :).