Photobooks & Traditions

It was just over 6 years ago that Christian and I and 40 other foreign students landed in Finland for our semester abroad. On day one of international student orientation, Christian and I first laid eyes on eachother and spent the next 6 months completely inseparable. Then the time came for each of us to return back to our home countries. We were bummed out...really bummed out but we knew we wanted to be together. So we did! We visited each other every 2-3 months for a year until the day I graduated from college in California, then moved with him to Amsterdam. 

But during that year dating long distance, Christian gave me the best gift ever...

A PHOTOBOOK.

I opened the package from him several months after we had left Finland and there it was: a beautifully crafted masterpiece of photos from our 6 months in Finland as well as pics from me visiting his hometown (Maastricht) for the first time and him visiting me in California for the first time. It is definitely one of my absolute favorite gifts I've ever received.

The book captured all of our favorite moments including his comments here and there (in his not-yet-perfect English, which was and still is so cute and funny to hear...and I hope his English is never perfect!). I still look at this photobook often. It embodies such a special year that brought our two worlds together and I knew he put alot of work into creating it. 

Little did I know that these photobooks would turn in to our very own tradition--we have created one every year since. 

I take tons of pictures, but how often did we go back and look at them? Now we have all of our favorite pictures compiled into annual photobooks. This year was no different! We give ourselves January of every year to create these small works of art and our 2012 book should be delivered any day.

Once we receive our new photobook, we take each book off the shelf and look each of them together (and also do so several times throughout the year!). It's an amazing way to laugh and smile about how great life has been to us and to see precious memories we've been lucky to create together.

I love making these photobooks so much, that we made one for Christian's dad after our road trip in the Great American West (Christian's dad's first trip overseas AND he's a sucker for Cowboy and Indian stories). I also made a book for my parents after our roadtrip to Normandy and Tuscany last year. I even asked my bridesmaids to be in our wedding by making mini photobooks for each of them with funny pictures of us throughout the years (then the last page had my favorite pic and the words "Will you be my bridesmaid?").

I've become a big fan of Blurb for making photobooks (I used My Publisher for our 2008 and 2009 books but prefer Blurb ever since I gave it a try with our 2010 book). Blurb is so easy to use, has tons of customizable photo layouts and themes and the quality is top-notch. I won't lie though...it is so time-consuming just with choosing what pictures to include...but the finished product is SO worth it.

Sometimes I just cannot wait to end each year so we can add yet another photobook to our shelf ;). 

{Books from 2008-2010 and the book Christian made me...I love that he put a pic of himself on the front..haha.}

{Our 2010 book flipped open to pics from our Morocco trip}

{Our 2011 book and NYC}

{Our 2012 book--the newest addition! Well the digital version until the book is delivered...}

{The Blurb software is ridiculously easy to use--drag and drop, baby! The pics are a bit grainy because of my computer screen}


{And once the book is uploaded and being printed, you can log-in to your Blurb account and view the digital version, email to friends and family or share on Facebook or Twitter. You can even sync your blog so you can make a photobook of your blogposts...pretty neat!}

Lazy Weekend

Christian and I just had the best lazy weekend. Although we got to do a few things like walk through the Albert Cuyp market on a snowy Saturday and eat Dutch poffertjes (mini pancakes!) for lunch, we basically got home on Saturday afternoon and spent all night and all day Sunday in our pajamas (the only effort made was by Christian to get fresh bread to go with homemade chicken noodle soup). Here are a few Instagram pics from our lazy weekend.

We now have a newfound love for lazy weekends...hope yours was a good one too! 

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See? Lazy weekend and our bed looking quite cozy...

Snow Day!

Last weekend, Amsterdam was covered with a blanket of snow. Thinking it could be the last snow for the Winter (and I'm pretty sure the canals won't be freezing over like they did last year...awww), Christian and I jumped at the opportunity to walk around the city and escape into a cozy cafe for some lattes. It actually doesn't snow that much in Amsterdam...it usually sticks for a few days then the rain comes and washes it away. Amsterdam is beautiful in the Summer (when it doesn't rain) and in the Fall when it's decorated in colorful leaves, but when snow flurries arrive it's absolutely gorgeous!

I wrapped myself in my new cozy scarf from Jeanelle and we hit the streets. Sights of a snow-covered city with bitter cold wind sweeping snowflakes through the air reminded us of the first few months of Winter we spent together in Finland. Which was perfect timing because It just so happened to be 6 years since we met in Finland.

Thanks for the snowy Finland-esque anniversary, Amsterdam :).

6 Years

This week 6 years ago I met a funny Dutch guy in a snow-covered town in Finland. Each day since has been a dream. While we first started off as exchange students with a crush on each other, it instantly evolved into love that endured across the globe and eventually led to my move to Amsterdam, countless memories, crazy holidays together and realizing that we couldn't live without each other (well that realization happened almost 6 years ago too! We knew early on). 

While this week is our week (we never really set an anniversary date)...this year is also our year. In 9 short months, we will be getting married!

I'm very lucky to be able to spend my life with this guy :).

Here's a small trip down memory lane...

{Sledding in Lappeenranta, Finland, where we were exchange students in 2007}

{Our first weekend trip together to Helsinki}

{Croatian island-hopping in 2012}

{Weekend stroll around Amsterdam a few months ago}

A Canal-side Christmas Toast

As a California girl living stateside, I spent most of my days wearing rainbows and soaking up the sun. Meaning that when it got below 75 degrees (about 20 degrees C), I was cold. These days though, I wear flats in the winter when it hovers a few degrees over 0—my cold radar has definitely changed. Lately it has actually been kind of “warm” in Amsterdam. Warm being about 50 degrees F (5-6 degrees C). My dad thinks I’m crazy. 

Being that it was so “warm” outside on Christmas Eve, I pitched the idea to Christian to find a pretty canal and watch the lights flicker off the water. In the summer, this is hands-down my favorite thing to do—sit on the side of the  canal, grab a bottle of wine and enjoy the view. A couple of years ago, it snowed on Christmas Eve (but I do love a white Christmas!) so this year we just had to take advantage of this “warm” evening, albeit a bit windy. Christian was up for the idea and it was Christmas Eve afterall. We poured a couple of glasses and toasted to the next year to come. 

This hour of dangling our feetsies over the side of the canal marked the most romantic Christmas Eve we’ve had to date. To add to the romanticism of the evening, we made a bunch of appetizers and watched The Big Bang Theory--Christian's obsessed. Girl gets canals, boy gets science geek comedy...clearly a win-win :). 

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas Eve!

A Small Surprise in my Christmas "Sock''

One of my favorite Christmas traditions back home is digging through my stocking on Christmas morning. My mom is a master stocking-stuffer and everything she puts in it is perfect and usually leaves me saying 'how'd you know I needed this?!' Hence the master stocking-stuffer title. 

A Dutch Christmas involves no such thing. So Christian quickly caught on to this thing he calls a 'Christmas sock.' This year my mom even mailed us 2 mini stockings stuffed with some goodies (Christian was overjoyed that his contents included mini packs of Milkduds...his favorite American candy). Over the past few years, Christian and I have sworn off Christmas gifts and instead we fill eachother's stockings, which usually involves a few small things here and there.

This year I was in for a treat. Christian put a brand-spanking new (12-24mm f/4) lens in my stocking! I gasped because I knew lenses weren't cheap but he said he knew 2012 was a tough year for me, so he had to splurge. With all of the crazy travel plans coming up over the next couple of years, this lens will be perfect for landscape shots (can't wait to use this little baby in Iceland). 

With a new lens in hand, we headed towards the canals to try it out. It was a very special Christmas Eve, walking around beautiful Amsterdam (even if it is a little grey) with my love in one hand and with my brand new lens in the other, I was one smitten  gal.

Here's to 2013!

{Our gorgeous pics from Liz}

Yay 2013! I am so excited for this year. So what's in store for us?

-We kicked off 2013 with Christian's twin brother and his wife in a small Amsterdam bar flowing with beer inside and fireworks outside.

-It's my birthday in just a few weeks and I'll celebrate with Christian and friends all weekend long--pubs, cocktail bars, brunch, lunch, wining and dining!

-One of my best friends who I met in Amsterdam is moving back to Europe from Australia to live in London...not until she spends a week in Amsterdam with me first. And I think I'll be a regular on Easyjet's Amsterdam-London route :).

-My twin sis is throwing me a bridal shower Cali-style in February. She has a gift for throwing great parties...I can't wait to see what she conjures up! 

-I've missed my best friend's birthday for 4 years (shameful) so this year I'm making up for it...I'm treating her to a week in paradise and we're jetsetting to somewhere tropical and sunny.

-In May, Christian and I will join my mom and older sister for a long weekend frolicking around London, my mom's favorite city. Then we have a week in MY favorite city--Amsterdam :).

-In June, we're roadtripping around Iceland for 10 days with our favorite travel buddies Denis & Emma (past trips with them include Greece, Croatia, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam!).

-In July, we'll be international wedding hoppers--we're heading to some friends' wedding in Poland then will fly to Cali to catch another friend's wedding in San Diego the next weekend.

And the best for last is--we're getting married this year!

But all the fun doesn't stop there, we've got HUGE plans for the end of the year...and we are so stoked about it. 

What fun things do you have planned this year?

{Photos by Liz Denfeld Photography}