cafe au lait

Dazzling cafe au last Dahlias from the garden of my friend Marieke.

Yesterday my friend Marieke came over with her almost three months old daughter Loïs. We more or less spent the entire afternoon together on the daybed. Catching up with Marieke and cuddling with Loïs. We don't see each other not very often and as soon as we are together we always need hours to catch up. We never stop talking, which didn't bother 'mini', she had a two-hour nap on the daybed between us.

for loïs

Loïs. Born on the 6th of July.

Sweet and beautiful baby girl of my friend Marieke.

Today we visited Loïs for the first time. She is so cute!

I know for sure that Lois will grow up with the love for gardens and flowers, because my friend Marieke shares my passion for flowers, plants and gardening. So I bought the smallest straw hat for her future little helper in the garden and embroidered her name on it.

... and needless to say I made a baby waistcoat*.

(You can download the baby waistcoat pattern in my Etsy shop)

haarlem

Haarlem - 8th & 9th of March - 22616 steps

Last week I went with my dear friend Marieke to Haarlem. Marieke & I got to know each other in 2011, she was one of the participants of my second crochet workshop in Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

We became friends from the start and a few years later she also joined me on the Cool Crochet workshop in Marrakech.

We share our passion for green (flowers, plants, gardens) but also for vintage, interior, art, culture and crafts.

We planned a mini break to London actually, but because of Marieke's pregnancy we decided to have our girlfriends getaway in Haarlem and booked a room in boutique hotel Staats.

Friday:
Coffee & cakes at By Babette
Lunch with homemade empanadas at Native
We bought some plants at the neighbor across the street, Klavertje Vijf
Dinner at De Dakkas

Saturday:
Breakfast at De Dakkas (we loved it and wanted to see the view in daylight)
Teylers Museum, 200 kinds of green, botanical art
Lunch at Martinus

In between we did some shopping (favorites; Ottomania & Vintage Curator), but we mainly talked and laughed a lot, while we went from breakfast, to coffee, to lunch, to drinks, to dinner...

and in case you want to visit the city, travel by train; Haarlem has the most beautiful station in the Netherlands.

Thank you Marieke for an unforgettable mini break. Love you.

amsterdam east

Sunday 26th of August, Amsterdam East.

Garden park Klein Dantzig. Allotments and inspiring garden sheds.

Park Frankendael, Pure Markt. We visited my friend Dietske and her daughter Floor, creators of the handmade upcycled vintage fabric tote bags, named Trashtote Amsterdam.

A short walk to ATLITW East, where founder and friend Jane invited us for coffee.

At the end of the afternoon we had a drink at Bar Botanique.

Spontaneous afternoon trip to Amsterdam on this late summer Sunday in August.

all about love

A mini photo report of the wedding of our friends Marieke & Stefan, or as we call them Marie & Steef...

Marieke is a wonderful friend and we share a lot of passions, like crochet, gardening (ginkgo's), Cuba, flowers, vintage, oldtimers and golden shoes.

Marieke and I met for the first time in October 2010, when she joined the crochet workshop for beginners I organized with Yvestown's Yvonne in Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

It was great fun and Marieke also joined the second crochet workshop in March 2011, this time for experienced crocheteers, haha.

From then on our friendship blossomed into something special.

Marieke joined me during the Cool Crochet workshop April 2015 with her niece Marleen. We had so much fun together and the three of us became soulmates! We share the same sense of humor and all three of us are equally emotional...

On Saturday we celebrated the wedding of Marie & Steef. Everything was right; the couple, love, fairytale setting, weather, atmosphere, live Cuban music, flowers (by Marleen), home baked cakes, champagne and all dear family and friends! And her husband Steef surprised her with a vintage Porsche on the wedding day, no doubt that almost everyone wanted to be photographed with that beauty!

Like Marie's father mentioned in his loving speech during dinner; 'Marie is a pearl!'