Beautiful Bloemen

Last year, during this time of year, Gabriel and I visited the world famous Keukenhof gardens in the Netherlands. Fields upon fields of tulips covered the flat Dutch landscape as far as the eye could see. On my drive home from my Global Strategy exam this afternoon, I saw so many beautiful yellow tulips sprouting up around my hometown. I always smile when I see little pieces of Holland within Canada. I'm so thankful that Gabriel and I took advantage of all the wonderful opportunities to explore the Netherlands when we had the chance. At times, when dealing with culture shock, or simply the fatigue from trying to figure out life there, it would have been so easy to just stay put in Amsterdam on the weekends. I'm actually amazed at how much we saw of the Netherlands, and the rest of Europe, during the 1.5 years we lived there. Keukenhof is actually the most photographed place in the world. Not the Eiffel tower, or the Taj Mahal, but Keukenhof. Who would've thought?

Tomorrow at 5:00pm I will have officially completed my first year of the MBA degree!!! Although my exam period only lasted for little over a week this year, it seemed to drag on for.ev.er. I'm completely ready for 4 months of summer, redecorating a new home, discovering a new city, and being able to live with Gabriel once again. Yay for summer!

Some Amsterdam Nostalgia

Sometimes, I really miss Amsterdam. The little piece of Amsterdam that Gabriel and I carved out for ourselves. Yes, we explored the whole city, from top to bottom, inside and out. But there was still a small piece of the city that was ours: our favourite restaurants, our favourite ice cream shops, our favourite stores. Do you ever notice that, when living in a city, there eventually becomes a small square of it that you frequent every day, which makes it seem like a small town? The rest of the city is merely a 10 minute walk away, but yet that little niche is yours.

For Gabriel and I, that little niche consisted of steak dinners at Helden, nightly walks to Ijscuypje for ice cream cones, burgers at Burgermeester, daily trips to the Albert Cuyp market, grocery shopping at Dirk, movies at the Munt theatre, walks along the Amstel river, and weekend strolls up and down the Prinsengracht. The rest of Amsterdam is beautiful, but these places were our home. After nearly 7 months of being away from Amsterdam (I can't believe how the time has flown!), I'm happy to report that my waves of "home-sickness" are quite infrequent. However, catching a glimpse of a photo from last year, or seeing my dog-eared Amsterdam guidebook on my bookshelf, gives me a pang of Amsterdam nostalgia.



I'm really looking forward to carving out a piece of downtown Toronto that Gabriel and I can call our own. What will be our new favourite restaurant? Our new favourite streets to take after-dinner strolls? Every city has its own personality, and I'm excited to see what Toronto will offer. It will be both of our first times living downtown.

Only four more days until I'm done my final exams of the first year of my MBA program. Before entering school this year, I knew little about business besides what I had learned through osmosis from Gabriel. I can't believe the amount of knowledge I now have about business, and the amount of work that has been accomplished. Squeezing a degree into two years makes for some heavy reading!

Ok, now back to studying...

Toronto Reunion Weekend

This past weekend I was in Toronto reuniting with my two roommates from university, Karen and Meghan. Although they had both visited me in Amsterdam, it had been two years since the three of us had all been together. It was absolutely wonderful to be able to reminisce about the three years we lived in a little home in the student ghetto at university, and catch up on what had happened in the past two years.

We spent the weekend mostly catching up, but also made time for some fabulous Toronto shopping and lots of yummy meals. Our hotel, thanks to Priceline.com, was the Intercontinental Toronto Yorkville, a beautiful hotel in the middle of my favourite Toronto area: Yorkville. Filled with cute little boutiques, world-class shopping, and trendy cafes, we spent the majority of our time walking around the neighbourhood. On Friday night it was SNOWING, but by Saturday morning the warmth had returned to Toronto.

Our weekend can be summed up with this little list:

• Bacon, eggs, and toast breakfast at OverEasy on Bloor
• Italian food at Cafe Nervosa
• Buying bicycle dresses at Anthropologie
• Trying on antler necklaces at jewelry boutiques
• Drinking cosmos at Hemingways
• Laughing til our stomachs hurt
• Wanting to eat "street dogs" from a downtown hotdog vendor
• Afternoon coffee and cake breaks
• Reading InStyle
• Boyfriend talk
• Planning our next reunion - hopefully less than 2 years away!
  

A New Homeowner

Gabriel purchased a condo! Yay! Finally, finally, Gabriel found a Toronto condo that he absolutely loves. Airy and bright, lots of space, and big balcony with panoramic views of the city...

I love how this apartment shown in House and Home highlights the spectacular city views

He's already said that he'll let me help decorate (umm...every girl's dream, yes?) and I've been scrolling through the design sites since. Do you have any favourite blogs or interior design sites that you particularly enjoy? I'm having a hard time finding some that fit with our style, which is generally neutral, with a mix of modern and antique.

We'll definitely have to bring touches of our Amsterdam life with us. The apartment is bright and full of windows, just like our Daniel Stalpertstraat apartment. I'm also hoping that we'll get a big wooden harvest table and frame some of our A'dam photos of bikes and canal homes.

Things I'm looking forward to this summer:

• Housewarming parties
• Warm summer nights on the patio
• Buying a new palm to fill up the space
• Exploring downtown Toronto and all the great bars - I've heard good things about Bier Markt and I'm dying to go there
• Finding cute breakfast spots
• Photographing a new city
• Trips to Muskoka with friends

Only 2 more weeks until school is out and summer can begin :)

Houseandhome.com

Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires

Puerto Madero is another barrio of Buenos Aires. After our morning in the colourful La Boca neighbourhood, we took a cab to Puerto Madero.




We were so surprised at how beautiful the recent restoration project was. Cobblestone streets lined the port, with sparkling skyscrapers and chic restaurants nearby. We stopped for an alfajor (cookie treat with dulce de leche) and smoothies at a sidewalk cafe before walking over the bridge to a nearby park. While we didn't have dinner here, we had heard from many locals that Puerto Madero offers some of the best steakhouses in the city.