ilovemyhouse

ilove....cosy

2012-02-02T08:50:00.000+01:00

When its cold outside ilove to snuggle with a blanket (sheepskin in my back) on my couch with a magazine. Our Norwegian woodburner snoring in the background.
See that cushion on my couch? A very talented friend Elsy from England handmade it for me.... ilove the colours (pastels).
My newest item is the oversized lamp, as you might know by now ilove the combination of traditional with a little design.Plus...it makes reading magazines at night easier nowadays..:))

We had close friends over for dinner. I made tortilla wraps and took my things from Christmas 2010 to decorate. (recycle,recycle,recycle....)

Have a cosy,cosy Thursday

ilove....Portugal

2012-01-31T10:32:00.000+01:00

Happy, happy tuesday!
The sun is shining, its cold outside by the end of the week we might get lucky and can go iceskating. THE national sport in Holland when its freezing. This reminds me of....
End of november hubby and i went to Portugal for a long weekend (yes without the children:)). We had 4 days of sunshine and 20 degrees.
We found this beachclub and settled in the beanbags with a great cappucino.( and great white wine after that)

Being there off season we were the only guests...

We had our choice of hammock....

I could live the rest of my life in that little blue house...God how i love the Ocean.

See those sunglasses.....thats Mr. R enjoying some november sunshine....

Just google this name and go there sometimes....we are in love.

XX

ilove....my house

2012-01-24T09:59:00.000+01:00

So proud to have our house featured in house and styling magazine Ariadneathome.
I don't have the original pictures yet so i took some pictures from the magazine to give you an impression.(So please forgive the poor quality)

This Jil and me sitting at our table, sipping coffee (of course just for the picture, she doesnt like coffee)

The table i got from my dear friend Antoinette when she moved to Italy. (she is back now, but no way i'm returning the table ;)). And of course my (not my brothers :)) painting and bench.

Our kitchen.. see that cookbook. My favorite from Sophie Dahl.

Our bathroom and Jils bedroom.

Have a happy,happy tuesday

XX

ilove....colours

2012-01-19T10:14:00.000+01:00

I don't actually. Well of course i do, but there is a reason why i painted our house white...whiter...whitest.
But life is boring without colors.Isn't it?

So to ad some colours (and Lord knows i need colours in january:))
I stole/borrowed these French old waterbottles from mum's house . Mum knows about me borrowing things, my house is full of it .... ~~i don't return it~~
(remember my library books mum?) and the bills that came in....

This old horseshoe is from a thrift store in Sweden, boring....but not with this violet ribbon.
(Did you know that you never,ever hang a horseshoe with its opening pointed towards the floor. The luck will poor out of your house and we dont want that, do we?)

I bought this colourful rope to ~~tie hubby~~ to make presents more colourful.

Have a happy,happy colourful Thursday.

XX

ilove.....my parents house

2012-01-11T08:48:00.003+01:00

So the New Year has started and of course i have New Years resolutions. Behave,blog more,drink less wine, watch less soaps and eat no chocolate for a while.....( a day or so)
I also bought a new camera.(thanks to hubby)
Yesterday i went to my parents appartement and tested it. Here you can see where my love for styling came from.

Living room

Like me my mother loves magazines and cant throw any away.

My mum loves designers stuff...

And she irons all her bedlinnen....not something i inherited :))

My favorite colors...

Ilove this chinese room divider, the Maria statue was found on the streets of Barcelona years ago.
Mum almost had to buy an extra plain ticket to take her home.....

Mum and i both love to mix old and new stuff.

ILOVE her house and ilove her......(and Dad too of course)

XX

ilove......Christmas

2011-12-29T14:11:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes still alive and kicking. Not going to write that i'll be blogging as usual again (as if anyone would still be remotely interested :))) But for you who hung in there..
Just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year.... may all your dreams come true ...

Here are some photos i wanted to share.
We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of wine,good wine,great wine, desert wine, red wine, white wine, french wine, spanish wine ... (and a head ache). Oh yes and we had some lovely food.

See that drawing on my mantle... i copied it from something i saw on Desperate housewives ( see watching this does make you creative :))

Candles, candles, candles.
Just used my good old pastels again.

No white Christmas this year...... dont you hate it when its green and rainy?

Anyways darlings...wishing you all the best for 2012 and hope to "see" everyone again soon.

XX

ilove....livingrooms

2011-09-28T12:22:00.001+02:00

Its out of sheer frustration that i am making this post. Too lazy to make pictures of my own house(which is a mess anyway).Nothing has changed out of lack of inspiration and me preffering watching Desperate housewives with my mouth full of chocolate instead of arranging some fresh flowers....
Now that this has been said i would like to share these pictures of different livingrooms and hope in doing so i get off my lazy b*tt and start making my own livingroom ready for Fall. (or clean it would be nice too)

This aint exactly Fall, iloveit anyway...maybe next summer (oh summer PLEASE come back, i miss you)

I might go and live in a lofty house someday (oh that garden is driving us nuts sometimes, imagine spending a sunday morning on your terrace overlooking Barcelona) and start learning spanish, and go poledancing, kickboxing.....start a restaurant or foodtruck.....surfing.... and begin a webshop or a bed and breakfast ( i think i might have ADHD)

Me likee the combinations here....clean crisp

This is my inspiration for Fall colors, and the mix of styles. Perfect!

Have a happy, happy Wednesday..its sunny outside!

ilove......route du soleil

2011-08-26T21:12:00.000+02:00

For all of you who want to test your relationship. Try driving in the rain on the " route du soleil" (sunshine highway) and have nothing but traffic jams.

See that Lonely planet? Very optimisticly we headed towards Spain. It took us 22 hours to get there....

Because on this saturday everyone in France decided they had to go south also ( how dare they?)

Making a stop for gas and find at least 15 people in line in front of you having the same idea. (And i am not even talking about getting a cup of coffee)

Jil gave up,the DVD player did not work.........

But we ended up in Spain. This is our VW in San Sebastian, a great town with great food.

Lessons learned.....

Our relationship still rocks....

And never ever go to the South of Europe on a saturday in august.

Have a great weekend...it feels great to be back.

ilove....milesofsmiles

2011-08-25T13:40:00.000+02:00

On a Danish beach

After having so much fun with our VW camper we decided to rent it to other people sometimes. (And to make some money :)) let's be honest....
I made a blog called milesofsmiles. It's in Dutch. But if my friends from overseas are ever interested in a fun trip trough Europe.....get in touch.

XX

Back again......

2011-08-22T09:16:00.000+02:00

My dear dear followers. I cannot explain why i have not been posting for such a long time. This is so typically me i guess. I'm pretty good at starting something but finishing it......and the fact that i am a lazy person :)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know ( if anyone is still interested...) that i am doing well and i missed all you guys. Many Thanks to themiddlestsister, Temps Perdu and Crumpets and cakes who asked where i was and in that giving me the final push to pick up blogging again.
Anyway everything is well with me and my family just got back from a very nice vacation in Spain and the south of France with our Old Volkswagen. We had a great time and such beautiful weather, amazing. Made us realise that we might, might just sell our house and live over there. You never know.Will post some pictures of our trip soon.

The exciting news is that our house will be featured (with an interview with me) in one of Hollands leading interior magazines Ariadneathome and they will mention my blog. It will probably come out somewhere in October, will keep you posted. Pinky promiss :)

So now back to my ilove......

This is one picture ilove

contemporary spaces design by san francisco Urrutia Design

It has everything ilove. The outdoors, the combination of old and new. And lets not forget that swimmingpool. Check out Houzz.com for more inspiration.

That's it for now, lets not overdo it :)

XX

ilove.......work in progress

2011-01-25T10:23:00.000+01:00

This weekend we've been busy with Jil's new room.We finally made the decision to give her Nick's room.As Nick went to university and lives there i found it hard to give his room away too soon. But Jil's room was so small it made no sense anymore to keep Nick's room just for the rare occasion he sleeps here ( very busy social life :)).

So we started painting and i was soo happy when Jil and i agreed about this beautiful wallpaper of Nina Campbell. ( ok i pushed here just a little ...)
So this is where we left it, still got lots and lots of work to do.I'll keep you posted.

I still had some wallpaper left ( in fact it was a whole roll but please don't tell hubby...he was in shock when he saw the price).So i made a panell for our own bedroom with it.

I makes me happy, everytime i see it.

Have a happy, happy week.

XX

ilove......this picture

2011-01-14T12:15:00.000+01:00

If there is something that can move me its a picture. This picture was taken when a firefighter in Wisconsin saved an old woman after a fire broke out in an appartementcomplex. It's the look in his eyes,the snowflakes, the dirty gloves and the sweet old lady, of course in a state of shock.
Thank God everybody was saved.

ilove.....this dress

2011-01-06T11:15:00.000+01:00

As you can see in my profile i used to work in the fashion industry and had enough of it. For years and years trends and styles were my "core" business and i went to work dressed like a smart business woman :)
So after i changed my life radically t-shirts and jeans is what ilove to wear.
For Christmas i already decided to wear a simple black dress from two years ago untill i saw this one while shopping for my last Christmas gifts. Tried it on...it fitted perfectly.

But i never feel comfortable when being dressed up too much so i also bought these boots to wear it with.Oh yes hubby loved them :)

I wore the same outfit New years eve.......my feet are still sore but i felt great in it.

What did you wear for Christmas?

ilove.....this New Year

2011-01-03T14:48:00.000+01:00

Happy, Happy New Year everybody. I hope i'm not too late with my best wishes but i needed a while to recover from all festivities :)) May all your dreams come true......

Just wanted to share pictures of our Christmas table. We had a wonderful evening filled with love and laughter ( and lots of wine, food (and crazy dancing much to my childrens embarresment...)

By day.....

By night....

I used everything i already have ( i always buy too much in thriftstores) and put it on the table. I just invested in Bambi and a new tablecloth.

So now it's back to normal and i must say i was ready for "normal". Just threw my Christmas tree out of the window, it looked pathetic after no water all the time.

Anyways, again have a good one.... and ilove and look forward to reading all your posts in 2011.

XX

ilove.....this song

2010-12-24T19:59:00.001+01:00

My favorite song this Christmas.....

Maria Mena....home for Christmas thank God i am :)

Merry Christmas everybody.

XX

ilove....this church

2010-12-21T11:17:00.000+01:00

ilove to visit beautiful churches.
This is a church in the south of Holland with beautiful frescos in pastel colors wouldn't it be lovely to go here on a snowy Christmas eve? ( or get married in Summer.....wish i could do it all over when i see this....with my own husband of course :)))

I'm a little stressed... we have our family Christmas dinner ( 19 people) in our house. Still have to gather everything for the tablesetting ( doing pastels) and think about what i will make for a starter.....oh my God. How are you coping my dears?

Let's not forget to ENJOY

XX

ilove.....my dad

2010-12-17T22:42:00.000+01:00

It's my dad's birthday today....and it's no secret...its the big 70 for him (you don't look the part though:))

Here are some of the things he loves....

Gliding...

My dad has been a glider pilot ( as a hobby) for many years. He decided to quit 2 years ago but had his share of fun. My dad is very "cool " in a sense that he is hardly ever stressed but hubby almost wet his pants when he took a flight with him, thinking that he was TOO cool that time.

Wine......

He loves to drink a glass of wine. (doesn't say no to a good whiskey too). So as soon as it's five
o 'clock somewhere he opens a bottle and enjoys a good glass with my mother.

Smoking.....

Here's something i don't love about him. But there is no way he would even THINK about stop smoking.
He has to smoke outside nowadays.... but Jil loves to keep him company so she can talk for hours about horses ( my father is a great listener). I do pray that she never starts smoking.
Now let's quickly drop this subject because he gets irritated when we discuss it...

Computers and gadgets.....

Computer, mini laptop, multi media phone (yes he Pings) camera's, tv's .... you name it he wants it.Thanks to his son in law he stays updated and i must say he does well for a 70 year old man...

So Dad for your 70 th birthday the family will give you your new passion.... an iPad
But PLEASE promiss you don't forget mum!

Happy Birthday Dad, you are the best.

ilove......giveaways part 2

2010-12-15T17:32:00.000+01:00

I put all the names who entered my giveaway in this bowl....

Let Jil take out one ...... (please don't look at her chipped fingernails, she's always busy with her pony nowadays)

And the winner is........

Nina from " Temps perdu" in Finland.

Well deserved Nina, i will do my best to send it before Christmas.

To be honest, i would have liked to give you all something.....so if i win the lottery this year you might get lucky :))

Have a happy, happy Thursday.

XX

ilove....Christmas and a giveaway at last.

2010-12-12T11:38:00.001+01:00

Long time, no see...... (stay with me there is a giveaway in this post)
Been a bit busy with Christmas preparations. iloveit and ihateit. Schlepping things from the atic, hanging lamps in the Christmas tree, not my favorite passtime. But happy when sitting in my house and looking at the end result.

Normally i do the same tree every year. Mainly because of the children, they love to see every old Christmas ornament back. But this year i did something different. A pastel Christmas tree.ilovepastels

Bought a lot of the Christmas things at the thriftstore.

We also decorated the house. (thanks hubby for the technical support, and the patience :))

Picture is not the best, but i had to go outside with minus 7 in a small snowstorm

( we Dutch are not so used to extreme winters). We made the Christmas wreath ourselves.

And because i wanted the children to see the traditional Christmas ornaments i made this in the kitchen.

I decided to do a give away at last... I wanted to give away these two handpainted Dutch Christmas ornaments.Here are the rules.....

Place a comment and be(come) a follower, be happy!

Wednesday the give away ends so i can ship them in time for Christmas.

And in the mean time have a happy-jolly Sunday

XX

This post can als be found on Anna's Much love Monday.

ilove.....creative space

2010-11-21T10:34:00.000+01:00

When Ren of the great blog Lady of the arts ( go visit her, she has a project of bloggers arond the world and her latest post is about me :)) asked me if i could send her a picture of my creative space i started to look at my creative space and what a mess it is :((
So this weekend i decided to work on a new creative space.
I has to be a space just for me, kids can only LOOK, filled with things that either make me laugh or make me happy. So this is the beginning and it already gives me such a good feeling everytime i pass it.

Here are some of the items that passed the test.

I cannot imagine my life without inspiration coming from books. These are some of my favorite inspirators on interiors.

On top of the books is a snowglobe made by a local artist of a Dutch nudist beach. The details are perfect :0

Of course my creative space cannot go without a funny postcard of my dear friend Martien. For years we send each other hilarious cards and we are now into the German ones ( if you can understand German, you can see why it's hilarious, otherwise put auto translate on)

                                       Have a happy, happy Sunday make sure you laugh a lot!

                                                                                    XX

ilove...tossed and found.

2010-11-13T14:05:00.003+01:00

Doing the laundry today, i've been running behind so i've got loads and loads to do.....in between i try to clean up the mess around the house. I keep telling myself how great it is when i finally settle down tonight ( big glass of red wine included) in a clean house.
Anyway, while cleaning i try to remove all the clutter that's been gathering around the house. Problem is, ilove tossed and found so what should i see as clutter?
Here are two items somebody tossed and i found them.

For this chair i made a new seat pillow, i cut the print out of a blouse (my grandmothers?) and sew it on. The dog pillow i bought because it reminds me of my dear Harry, the sheep pillow is from Ikea.

This yellow trunk i found in the garage of my parents apartement in Amsterdam, i put in my the trunk of my car before somebody would change his mind. Wanted to make it another color but it's one of my many projects i never seem to find the time for. You see that pillow on top? Handmade, and sooo proud of it. Normally i'm not into needle work and i already wanted to quit the project after number 4 but i hung in there and finished it :))

Sorry, have to go now, finish my today poject :(


                                                              Have a happy, clean weekend !

                                                                               XX

ilove....horses

2010-10-29T12:20:00.000+02:00

Do ilove horses? My youngest daughter Jil loves horses sooo much, and ilove her sooo much that we finally gave in. We bought her her own horse. Her love for horses started the day she learned how to talk and hasn't stopped since. We always said we would not buy her a horse so she rode the little wild Shetland ponies my neighbour farmer keeps.

This is her on one of them. (same hairdo:))

She even took one of them with her, all fancy dressed, to show him off on the school playground. But they did not belong to her.

So when the farmer decided (after being single for a long time and finally meeting a girlfriend) that all the little ponies had to leave, Jil became the saddest girl in the world. That's when Mummy started a lobby with hubbie to convince him it was time to buy her her own pony (and believe me it wasn't easy :)) So here's the result of my lobby, Jil with her own pony called Promiss.

The happiest girl in the Universe

ilove.....(h)optimists

2010-10-18T10:15:00.001+02:00

Another lovely monday today, at least it's one for me. I've been working my *** off this last week, weekend included. So today my weekend started. After helping my two girls and hubbie out of the house ( am i a bad mother/wife when i'm glad they actually left for school/work :) With the house to myself again i sat down with my usual cappucino and a new interior magazine. Then the sunlight hit my baby birdie hoptimist. I bought her last summer in Denmark and she makes me smile everytime i see her.

She is created by Gustav Ehrenreich a Danish designer. She was wrapped in a great box and it was love at first sight. Her being pink might have something to do with it :) and of course she immediately connected with my inner child :))
I hung her at our chandelier and now and then i pull her string and she looks very happy, just like me at this beautiful monday morning.

Have a happy,happy Monday too!

ilove....good packaging

2010-10-11T09:58:00.006+02:00

So good to see that my blogfriends have not forgotten me, thanks sweeties for all your lovely comments.
Now back to work.
Don't you all agree that good packaging is at least 50% of the attraction (doesn't this go for men too;)
This is what i mean with good packaging

I would take my vitamins faithfully every day if presented like this. (besides the fact that i would prefer liquid in stead of those awfull big pills)

Ok, i admit. I would eat this without good packaging................why do you think i make the healthy smoothies in the morning? (so i can eat junkfood at night)

Let's celebrate this beautiful monday!

XX

pictures were found here, and here

ilove....Sophie Dahl's voluptuous delights

2010-10-07T14:57:00.000+02:00

Hi darlings, i got back from my cocoon. I needed it I guess.... sometimes i feel like i'm a bit like the main character in my all time favorite movie "into the wild".
I just get fed up with all material things and see no sense in buying stuff and decorating my house. ( ok a small exception for the new winterboots i bought :0
So i started of by making a new header, this might not be the final one ( i think it's a little big) what do you think about it? Gosh i missed you all!I will try to catch up on some of your posts.

While i was in my cocoon i did do a lot with my other obsession, cooking.
My new heroe is Sophie Dahl and her latest cookbook, "Miss Dahl's voluptuous delights" . I know it's been on the market for a while, but i just started to appreciate it.
My favorite breakfast in the morning now is the Blueberry strawberry smoothie.
The secret ingredient i looooove is peanut butter.Believe me this smoothie contains everything you need to kick start your day!

So here is the recipe

Serves 2

115g/1 cup of frozen blueberries

200g/1 cup of frozen strawberries

1 scoop of protein powder ( i like the vanilla tasted ones)

250ml/1 cup of soya milk

Honey to taste ( i never need it)

Peanut butter (optional)

Just throw everything in a blender and sip it through a straw. Enjoy!

ilove....doing nothing

2010-09-14T11:48:00.001+02:00

I don't know what it is. Is it an early autumn dip, or just being lazy. I just can't seem to get myself to do anything creative. I'm even tired of blogging, the thing that gave me so much energy, usually. So all my friends, please excuse me for not commenting and neglecting all your new posts. Just give me some time, and please don't leave me because you all mean a lot to me.I will be back asap.

ilove.....Denmark

2010-08-25T16:25:00.000+02:00

Hi everybody. First of all a big thank you for all your lovely comments (sorry i have not been commenting the last weeks) and a warm welcome to all new followers. I got back a week ago from a lovely vacation. Our plan was to go to more Scandinavian countries be we stayed in Denmark. What a great country! Here are some pictures from our trip.

We stayed a few days at the beautiful island Rømø at the North Sea coast. We were aloud to ride our van on the beach and there was a great relaxed atmosphere among all the people.

A lot of kites were let up. This kite reminded me of the "pigs in space" of the muppet show.

On the island there was an old house that belonged to a Dutch ( yes the Dutch have been everywere) whale fisher. So beautiful, i have to show you all the pictures i took.

An old boat in front of the house.

All the doors and ceilings were painted. Lovely,lovely colors.

The Dutch tiles and a red VOC box.

Closet bed.

I loved the striped bedding.

This grey and white calm atmosphere in this old toolshed is so typical Scandinavian for me.Love it.

Then we travelled to one of the most beautiful cities i know, Copenhagen.
We parked the car in the neighbourhood of the shop of Brinja, she has such a lovely shop and her blog made me start blogging. Please check it out and visit her when you are in Copenhagen.

After visiting Brinja's shop (where i bought a handmade wallet) we took our bycicles off the van and explored the city by bike.

This is my daughter Jil who rode her bike through the city as if she did it everyday. ( and yes she is a Adidas fan)

This is the old harbour, ilove the colors.

Copenhagen is a city where i could live. Clean, friendly and very hip!

The last picture i wanted to share is this beautiful red caravan, a neighbour at the campground. Now i want a caravan too!

In my next post i will show off everything i bought in Denmark. It's great to be back in blogland and i have a lot of cathing up to do :)

ilove....our VW camper

2010-08-01T21:05:00.003+02:00

Hi darlings, just a short post to let you know i will be on vacation. We are leaving with our 21 year old VW camper to wherever the road will take us.(praying it keeps driving).We will probably go up north towards Denmark and Sweden, iloveScaninavia and... the south is too busy right now. This is our VW camper still parked in our garden.

I made some small changes to the interior.

Couldn't resist buying this some polka dotted cutlery...

Will be back in 3 weeks and i will miss you all :(

XX

This post is also featured on Anna's Much love monday.

ilove....this place

2010-07-27T08:51:00.000+02:00

Is there a limit to what you should share with all your blogfriends? Yes i think there is. With this post i have almost reached that limit.I wanted to share some pictures of a "place" in my house i visit multiple times a day ( and yes i wash my hands afterwards:) It's a place that i can lock and be alone with my thoughts, without being disturbed. So i personally think that this "place" should not be neglected and styled properly.This is what i did to make every visit worthwile :0

I framed some pictures of the Kennedy family and a roadmap of the island Martha's Vineyard. I spent a whole summer there when i was much younger, and have very fond memories of it. It makes me smile everyday i see it. The thriftwood was given to me by my mother, she bought it in South Africa. Then of course to make my "place" smell good there is the Marseille soap....

I brought it back from our last trip to the Provence and besides the smell of the soap, ilove the pastel colors. There is also an old horseshoe ( huge size) wich i found at a thrift store in the South of Sweden and some advice to other visitors of my "place" to keep it clean and tidy. You see, my "place" is an everyday trip down memory lane. What brings you down "memory lane" ?

Have a happy day.

ilove....H&M home

2010-07-21T10:33:00.000+02:00

I'm sure i will not be the only one who makes a post about the latest campaign of H&M home. But for those of you who cannot buy it in their country take a good look...

This simple white linnen bag.

Girly,girly pillow.

Who would't want to dry the dishes with this teatowel.

Or sleep under these covers. ( they have the finest cotton quality)

How about these romantic curtains.

Got to have this towell.

Their campaign is called "Fall in love with" I just did.

ilove.....myhouse

2010-07-18T11:18:00.002+02:00

Hi there, on this happy sunday i wanted to share some pictures of things in my house again.

These beautiful peonies my son Nick gave me before he left for Greece on a holiday. He's at university in Amsterdam and very busy ( not always with studying, mind you) so i don't get to see him as much as i would love to. I am not a nagging mother , i just cherish the moments when he does find time to come and see us :) ilovehim.

On this cabinet there is a sculpture i got from my parents when Nick was little. It's represents him as a happy little boy on his tricycle. Next to the cabinet a lamp made out of broken glass handmade by an artist in Amsterdam.

On this small cabinet a Swedish figurine i got from a Swedish customer once. I forgot what she stands for, but when i light the candles in front of her at night, she looks so lovely, like an angel.

Inside the cabinet is a tea set i got for Mother's day when we were in Singapore, i only use it on special occasions to afraid to break it. Behind it is an old Dutch tile we found in the ground when we were renovating our house. It dates back from 1780 and was still completely intact.

ilove, love seashells. Here is a small collection. Although i am not a very religious person the small antique English bible means a lot to me. Next to it a picture of me in my weddingdress after drinking too much Champagne.

And last but not least, my latest project this sofa. I bought it at a fleamarket and chose these two fabrics for a new upholster. I am not totally satisfied yet but it's getting there. And for those of you have been following me longer. Yeah! It's still here, the painting!

Have a happy, happy Sunday!

ilove....Bloom

2010-07-13T13:37:00.001+02:00

Check out this hotel in Brussels, Belgium called BLOOM. This picture got me interested.

Belgium is a great country, with lovely people and fine food so enough reasons to go there.

(And i am not being paid for promoting this)

Some more pictures of BLOOM

Buffet.

Breakfast room.

Lobby. I've been wanting to buy this bubble chair by Aarnio forever. It's just too expensive but oh how comfortable and beautiful. A perfect place to dream away.

They have different fresco's in all their rooms. Made by different artists.

This is the childfriendly room. So cute.

To finish it of they have this great restaurant called SMOODS with a deejay on Friday and Saturday!

And the rates of the hotel aren't too bad either. I am going to book a room SOON.

XX

ilove....good losers

2010-07-12T10:09:00.000+02:00

In fact everybody loves good losers, provided it's the other team. Oh God, what a night :(

No comment....

Thanks for all the support girls.

XX

ilove....turqoise

2010-07-08T08:31:00.000+02:00

First of all THANK YOU for cheering for our Dutch soccer team. We made it to the final :-)
Let's just wait what hubby will do with all the bunting he still has.( i want no part of it, seriously)
Here the weather is fantasic and with that i always think about one of my favorite colors turqoise. I think this color represents Summer .

I saw this house for sale in London. I would be too chicken to paint my house like this. But oh, iloveit.The combination with gold is so beautiful.

I'm a real coward when it comes to colors. This is the most i would dare for our house.Turqoise, white, sand and a touch of pale pink.

LOve this pale turqoise union jack pillow i found on Etsy by Helkatdesign.

But hé, let's stick to turqoise and Summer, how about this outdoor kitchen i saw on Lille Lykke's blog.

And these turqoise vases make the difference in this lovely tablesetting.

I think i just start with painting my toenails :D (told you i am chicken)

Have a happy,happy Summer.

ilove...orange

2010-07-05T10:43:00.004+02:00

Actually i don't like Orange to be honest. But with the Dutch soccer team reaching the semi final :D at the South African World Soccer games you cannot escape this color in Holland. Orange is the color of our soccer team dating back from the Royal House of Orange. I'm living with a man who is a real soccer fan (and i became one during this tournament) so this is what he did to our house.

And this...

Orange flags everywhere. He bought 250 meters of these flags in total but i stopped him here. When they reach the final we can re-negotiate. Here are some examples of Orange i could like in our calm :) white house.

Some flowers and an Orange bowl..

This collection of Creuset in Orange..lovethese pans

This funny handmade pillow, found it here on Etsy

The hints of Orange in these drinks, with a dash of alcohol please to calm my nerves during the game...

Below is my favorite Orange drink during the game. Made with Aperol, an Italian digestive liquor and Prosecco.Here is the recipe, try it you will like it.

So our team is playing against Uruguay tommorow night. Al you guys who are out of the tournament can you please cheer for Holland? I would love to see hubby hang the rest of his 250 meters of Orange flags.

XX

p.s. i put this post on the Much love Monday page of Much love. A blogilove.

ilove....giveaways

2010-06-30T14:08:00.000+02:00

I'm lucky in love. Not lucky in winning things. So when i won a giveaway from one of my favorite bloggers
Ted and Bunny i was thrilled. So yesterday i opened my mail box and found this.

A pink package from the British Royal mail.Sent by Elaine.

Beautifully wrapped with attention for detail. I guess she rememered my new found love for Yellow.

Inside were two vintage monogrammed damast napkins.I know i am an emotional fool sometimes but this brought tears to my eyes. To receive something so beautiful, packed with so much love and attention from someone you've never met, how great is that :) I know Elaine sells the most beautiful vintage and antique things from her website and on E bay.

Wouldn't you love to watch Wimbledon now in this vintage Tennis dress !

But seriously, please check out her two blogs Ted and Bunny and Sunniestsideup ( about two chickens) and read about her life with " a horse, a cat, two chickens and us" in the most beautiful part of the Dorset Countryside. It's British humor at it's best.

Thanks again Elaine, you made my day!

ilove....my bathroom

2010-06-22T08:56:00.002+02:00

Although it's still work in progress we are getting there.... This is our downstairs bathroom which is not finished yet but at least i can take a hot bath now. The bath we chose is from Duravit and has plenty of room for two :) I like to make a combination between "old " and new so that's why the bath has a modern look.
The windows are recycled old windows from our house and behind them is our bedroom.The floor tiles are oversized and a natural sand color, the tiles on the bath have a "mother of pearl" finish so they have a different color everytime the light changes.I chose blue silk curtains for the windows to make it a little warmer and the chair is a leftover of a fashion photoshoot i did in the past.
So i still got some decorating to do but i think interiors have to grow, so for now i am Happy.

ilove....miss Piggy

2010-06-19T20:06:00.005+02:00

ilovemissPiggy. Not only this miss Piggy

Although i am a huge fan of her girl power... Excusez moi

I mean this miss Piggy. It's a Dutch Rose which was selected to play a main role at the Royal wedding today of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

So great that she picked this Rose, she chose it because she loves pink and they are beautiful. But i was thinking of the time when this Princess defeated Anorexia and how brave she was to share this with the rest of the world and how great it is to pick a rose with this name.Girl power!

Congratulations!
(this is her with her father who gave her away)

ilove... outdoor dining

2010-06-17T17:24:00.003+02:00

In my previous post you saw that Holland is not the perfect country for outdoor dining. So whenever it's possible we like to dine outdoors. Here's some inspiration.

These vintage birdcages create just the right atmosphere.

LOve this "orangy" pink with aqua blue.

Outdoor Pancake breakfast.

Do you like dining outdoors? XX

Can it stop raining please...

2010-06-10T10:44:00.005+02:00

You know i like to show you beautiful things and pictures. So be prepared. This is going to be the ugliest post ever! This is my House and garden in the rain. It's been raining here for a few days now and although i bless rain for my garden and the best reason to stay at home and snuggle up with a book, can it stop raining now please?

Rain everywhere, even the birdhouse from Moooi looks deserted and wet.Wet

My daughter Britt's old rusty bicycle, she took the bus this morning.Wet.

These Flowers have enough water now, thank you. Wet.

Silent (wet) witnesses of a romantic evening with hubby and a bottle of Rosé.Wet

I bought this watering :) can last weekend to put these neglected plants back to life. (I know the weeds looks terrible in this picture ,they grow like crazy in this weather and i warned you about this being the ugliest post ever: D Wet.

WET.WET.WET. Can it stop raining now PLEASE ?

ilove...flowers part II

2010-06-09T12:33:00.005+02:00

Is it Spring, my Dutch genes? My house without flowers just doesn't feel right. Try to imagine what these pictures would look like if you take out the flowers and you'll see what i mean.

A flower arangement at a wedding table. What's a wedding without flowers? ( I'm looking at every thrift store for white glass vases and bottles.)

Wild flowers in a vintage vase.

This combination peonies, "Delfts blue" and stripes.Beautiful.

Roses and flower fabrics, romantic and fresh.

Exciting color combination.

Sometimes it's hard to throw flowers away, because they remain beautiful.

Roses, and silver.

What are your favorite flowers?

ilove simple

2010-06-06T10:54:00.008+02:00

I like to keep things simple. I'm a very chaotic person, so simple keeps me alive and sane. As a family we always gather so many things so after a few weeks i take a garbage bag and throw ( or give) away all the clutter just to keep things simple and organized. (not that i succeed in keeping it simple, but hey it's the thought that counts ;)) Here are some examples of what i mean with simple.

A simple country kitchen, ok there's a lot of stuff there but i still think it's simple.

Simple tableware

Simple flowers in simple vases.

Simple and clean bed linnen.

A simple day bed.

Simple but not boring.

The most simple recipe but the dish i like best. Insalata Caprese. Simply heaven.

ilove Rosé

2010-06-02T20:37:00.002+02:00

Ilovewine but Rosé gives me this ultra summer feeling. On our trip to the Provence we visited some Chateaus that produce Rosé and of course we brought home some ;) bottles. After we got home we had to taste the Rosé and finished a few of them (we had a bit of help of my parents) The empty bottles were so beautiful that i thought it was a shame to bring them to the bottle bank. That's why i used them this way, so i can smile, think back of our wonderful trip and have a good excuse to open another :D

ilove diy cakestands

2010-05-31T11:08:00.001+02:00

Just a quick post about a tutorial i found of making cakestands with vintage plates. It made me very happy to see that i can do something else with all the vintage plates i bought. You can find it on Kira's blog it's an older post but there's a lot of other great stuff too. Have a happy :) workweek! xx

ilove colors...

2010-05-30T17:03:00.000+02:00

Sometimes ilovecolors. Most of the time i'm all for basics,white and maybe some pastels. When travelling through Germany i came across this shop called Butlers. You should really take a look at their web site, they have tons of great stuff. (this is not sponsored or anything)

In the shop i saw a lot of colorful garden tablesettings which i wanted to share with you. Today in Holland it's a gloomy, rainy sunday so these pictures made me dream about garden parties on a hot summernight :)

Love the pink cake in the back.

Look at these mini jam jars, so cute.

Exotic pink and blue, with a bamboo curtain.

Have you ever seen these guys wearing scuba gear?

Love the fish shaped plates.

Oh, heart shaped tin boxes.

My favorite, pink and white.Look at all these cute coloured buckets in the back. Because we just started our trip i did not buy anything but i'll be back!

i'm back

2010-05-25T10:03:00.017+02:00

Home sweet home. I just got back from a fantastic trip. First of all, thanks for all the nice comments i received and everyone wishing us a good vacation. Now it's time to share some pictures i took along the way.
After travelling through Germany and Switserland (we slept in Germany) we ended up in Italy.

This great house stood on a hill overlooking the Mediteranian sea.Villa Azzura (the blue villa).

We spend the night in a small village near a monastery.And with the monastery there are these booths were you can buy all kinds of "kitschy"religious items which ilove.

Seeing Pinocchio makes you miss you kids ( although i don't think my eleven year old would still want to take a ride)

Because of the weather we decided not to take the ferry to Corsica and travelled on through Monaco towards the Cote d'Azur. We made a quick stop in Monaco and saw a bit of the Formule 1 training day.

So we ended up in a small village in "la douce France" in the hills behind Cannes.

The colours of the South of France are so fantastic.

Blue and terracotta.

Can you imagine my excitement when i found out that ther was a big flea market in the village that morning? I'll show you the stuff i bought there later.

These are the cutest sweets i ever saw for when you get married or a child is born.

Then we travelled on towards St.Tropez and Port Grimaud. Stayed there and...

Laid on the beach to soak up some sun in the morning....

Did some sightseeing.....

And some more..

Visited quite a few Chateaus to buy a lot of bottles of Rosé, (tasted them first of course) :)

Enjoyed some fine dining with the magnificent French Cuisine.
After that we drove back home and found our children (and my parents) in great shape and did not get the impression that they missed us as much as we missed them ;). Sowe might go again next year!
So it's back to work today and i'll try and read a lot of posts i missed from you my dears. XX

(Sorry this post is so long, i have many more pictures and it was hard to make a selection.)

i love.....vacation

2010-05-12T08:53:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow i will leave on a short vacation with the man ilove. Easily ;) leaving behind our children in the capable hands of their grandparents (thanks so much mum and dad!). This year we decided to .......

Pack our suitcase...

(ok this would be mine)

Travel through Germany (no speedlimits there, iloveit)

And the beautiful Switserland

Make a stop in my beloved Italy and spend one night there ( and eat a lovely pasta)

Take this ferry from Livorno to ...

One of the most beautiful islands i know Corsica

Gonna miss you all my, dear blogfriends but i will be back in 10 days....XX

ilove tablesetting

2010-05-09T11:54:00.006+02:00

Every Christmas we have a big family dinner at our house. I love to do the tablesetting. This year the theme was Climate Neutral. So i bought plates and glasses from the thriftstore ( apart from the silver) and served pumpkin soup in tiny Souvenir glasses. We had a lot of fun! These are some tablesettings ilove.

Breakfast for two

Simple and white

Scandinavian my favorite style

LOVE all the Glass. What kind of tablesetting do you love?

Fresh Flower Friday

2010-05-07T18:16:00.006+02:00

Remember my bottles and me talking about Yellow ? So i filled my bottles again with fresh flowers and picked some wild yellow flowers from the field because our florist does not like yellow (she just doesn't know yet :) and didn't have any. Just wanted to show you how the yellow makes the difference.It's gloomy weather out here so no sparkling picture, but wanted to share it anyway. Have a happy,happy weekend and all you mothers out there you deserve some flowers on Sunday.xx

ilove...yellow?

2010-05-06T17:15:00.002+02:00

First of all i have to say sorry to all you out there that have always been a fan of yellow. Because for years and years and could not stand the color yellow.I might have said something about it that wasn't very nice. But when i saw the cover of H&M and of the Dutch magazine Eigen Huis & Interieur i became obsessed. It's not only the yellow, it's the new role it plays in a combination with pink and white. I could not get it out of my mind anymore. Let's see if you share my excitement.

This is what got me started.This yellow lamp, take it away and the image is boring.Love the wall and the dash of pink. These guys know what they are doing at H&M. Maybe it's a little bit too industrial for me but oh! the yellow!

Than i saw this which made me almost go to our local paintshop.( i don't think hubby would have liked it though). I think those boots are Hunters which i've worn all winter.You can also buy them in yellow, but í should keep my head cool.

This bracelett from Prettyboutique took my breath away, so cute.Keep calm and carry on:)

Ok, i will probably never wear this dress, but the colors!

I would not mind having breakfast at this table.

Soo simple, but sooo nice. I went to the florist but she did not have yellow flowers. Will start my hunt again tomorrow.If i can sleep : D

And did i not tell you before? Old people are cool and yellow is back big time!

ilove Pink

2010-05-03T18:01:00.001+02:00

Since i was a little girl i love pink ( and girly). Fell out of love when i was an adolescent but that was just part of kicking against everything in that period.Ilovepink and it's getting worse and worse thrue the years.

Pink and Bambi, a cover for your iphone found at Clovercoeur got to have it.

Pink heart and japanese Kit Kat, found at pretty pretty yum yum what more can you wish for when your in a bad mood.

Saw this image at the blog of Short southern momma although ilovemykitchen i'd happily cook in this one.

Pastel pink flowers, sigh.... ilove PINK

ilove my Queens day finds

2010-05-02T10:06:00.005+02:00

I found a lot of great things at the Queens day mega fleamarket which i can use for all kinds of things. Let me show you.

Vintage handkerchiefs, i tied them together and want to use them for my youngest daughter birthday party.

Remember my letterbak post? I found these little wooden shoes and the letterbak to display them in.

The print on this plate is so beautiful , i just had to buy it.

The post i did about reviving and recycling got me insired to buy this. I want to refurnish an old footstool and found this cute embroidery.

This hotel silver tray was a bargain.I will use it to put my flower bottles on, so they look even nicer.

I had a happy Queens day!

ilove Queens day

2010-04-29T16:19:00.001+02:00

If you ever have the chance to be in Holland on the 30th of april, please come and visit. It's the day our Queen celebrates her birthday and everyone has the day off.

This is her with a slightly trendier hairdo than usual.

Orange is the color of the dutch royals so everybody ( and i mean everybody) dresses in orange.

Even the tulips join in...orange

People sell their old junk on the street, but if you like vintage (as i do) this is the day for you.

The canals in Amsterdam get a little bit crowded with little boats.

Happy Queens day :D

ilovemymum

2010-04-26T10:47:00.002+02:00

Happy birthday to my mother :)

This is my mum, with my brother and me, back in the seventies. My mother is a woman with great taste and a perfect eye for beautiful things. Here's a small selection of things i know she loves.

Bedding. Oh my god! You should see her closet, it's full of the most wonderful sheets and bedding.All perfectly ironed. We call her the queen of beds. Stay at her house and your bed is always perfectly soft and colour coordinated.

Barcelona, Spain. Her favorite city. Back in the days she went on a lot of business trips to Barcelona, and enjoyed being there on her own .Happily leaving her family in Holland behind, well done mum! You deserved it!

Magazines, leafing thrue magazines is her favorite passtime ( and mine)

Fashion is another passion of her. My mum built her own fashion labell, from scratch, and was very succesfull.This is an outfit she would love to wear.

And last, but not least. South Africa. A country she loves. Every year she and my father go there for at least 6 weeks.Saying they will miss us, but i'm not quite sure :)) She can go on and on about how she feels at home there and how beautiful it is.Again something you deserve mum, and hope you will enjoy for a lot of years to come.

Happy birthday mum, you are the best! XX

ilove...flowers

2010-04-24T11:43:00.002+02:00

I used to think creative people sat behind a desk and just thought up new wonderful things. I can't do that so i considered myself not a creative person. After working in the fashion industry for many years and working with many so called " über creative" people i saw that everyone got their inspiration from somewhere and that's how it works :). It's not stealing, it's getting inspired. So when i saw this.....

And this...

And this....

I did this...

I bought the bottles at the thriftstore, about 50 cents each, and just made sure that the type of glass was the same. Than i bought some different flowers for about 5 euro.It made me happy and creative.

Later i saw this....

It's a workshop from Design Sponge about wild flowers, even more inspiration.

reviving and recycling

2010-04-21T09:59:00.001+02:00

Plastics, paper and a lot of empty winebottles. Of course i recycle and "schlepp" everything weekly to our local recycle centre.When Frédérique Morrel found a hand embroidered painting from her deceased Grand Mére she decided to recycle it. Actually she calls it decycling because for her it's not about the recycling but about saving the tapisserie and giving it a second life. Here's what she created.

Footstool and cushions

Sofa, these are pictures of her beautiful appartement in Paris.

Now i know what to do when you see these embroidered paintings in thriftstores :)

The Beirut based design duo Bokja have a love for ancient textiles and tapestries. This is their latest creation for the Milano fair.

The dutch king of recycling is Piet Hein Eek who for years made beautiful things out of demolished wood.His latest recycling project is a collection of vintage glass with which he created stunning chandeliers.

just some things that make me smile

2010-04-17T20:23:00.004+02:00

I have some things in my house which make me smile each time i see them.

This is a cookie factory which i used a lot to bake cookies with my children. When you open it you see this..

Everything you need to bake cookies (apart from the ingredients), the cookie cutters are so cute.My favourite is the pig. I think back at the little hands of my children preparing cookie dough and pressing the cookie cutters ( they always stuck to the cutter, by the way).Smile.

This lady i bought in Florida a long time ago, she was together with..

This man. They are a couple. When you press their chests they say things like:

He: Let's go to bed and talk all night..

She: I don't mind taking the trash out, i could use the excersise..

He: Darling take just enough time to get ready, i don't mind waiting

She: You don't need a glass, just go ahead and drink right out of the carton...

I know it's stupid and stereotype but when i press these chests and they talk... Smile

This is a diary i bought recently from Nothing Elegant. It has all kinds of cute drawings of this girl.

I bought it together with this stamp.

Each time i open the diary or use the stamp.Smile....:)

i heart hearts

2010-04-14T09:37:00.001+02:00

For those of you who've been following my blog ( and many thanks for that by the way) you might have noticed that ilovehearts. Hearts make me happy, hearts make me smile. When in a boring meeting i doodle hearts. My company logo had to be with a heart.I can go on and on about hearts. A new trend here in Holland, is to say "i heart it", instead of saying "i love it". So here's what i heart!

This is the ring my husband gave me when our youngest daughter was born, heart it sooo much ( as i heart my husband)

Hand knitted hearts, heart it.

Heart shaped macarons, heart it.

Heart shaped photowall, heart it.

Should have worn this dress at my wedding,heart it.

I drank a coffee like that in Italy, heart it ( as i heart Italy)

If i were single i would park my car here, heart it

Receive a heart letter? In here please, heart it.

Heart, heart, heart this.xx ( what do you heart?)

letters

2010-04-11T12:10:00.000+02:00

Something written or printed can move me, or brighten my mood. When my sweet dog Harry died i wrote this on the wall. I recently thought it was time to remove it, it's been almost a year now since we lost him. But everytime i saw it in the past year i thought about how much i loved him

Just some other things i like

These vintage handprinted handkerchiefs from BirdandBanner remind me of how grateful i should be that this is true in my life.

This makes me want to travel!

All you need is Love

Everyday is a new day!

iloveholland

2010-04-09T20:57:00.001+02:00

Because i do my posts in English i have a lot of followers from outside of Holland. So i wanted to share some things my country Holland is known for.Let's focus on the positive ones ;) shall we ?

I got this from my mum, she just visted a famous fishing village called Volendam and bought this for me.Cute!

Then of course the windmills, i like this white one (can't figure out why?)

Wooden shoes, but let's stay elegant and buy these of Viktor&Rolf

And last but not least Tulips, if you're ever in Holland in Spring make sure to visit the most beautiful flower exhibit the Keukenhof and me.

clean sheets

2010-04-07T16:58:00.003+02:00

I i were a millionaire there would be two things i would want everyday.Clean sheets and a massage. Today i did a small spring cleaning and changed the sheets. One of my favourite bedding is from H&M home. Their cotton is affordable and the threadcount is perfect. After all the hard work i could not resist to take my favourite book of this moment, its called "Naked" by David Sedaris and relax for a while. When hubby comes home i'll tell him it's time for my massage ;)

old people are cool

2010-04-06T10:36:00.005+02:00

Although i'm (only) in my forties i hope when i grow up (if ever) i become a well-dressed, sweet (sometimes not so) old lady some day. I think old people can be really cool! (and a little annoying sometimes)

So well dressed

The movie "UP" made me cry because the main character is sooo cool

LOVE the glasses

ÜBER cool Karl Lagerfeld

(Necklace of "old is cool"can be found at Kabiri, should you be interested)

Happy Easter part two

2010-04-04T17:00:00.001+02:00

Of course iloveflowers but i'm not a big star in arranging them. So when i saw minature flower bouquets in egg-shells at Design Sponge i thought i'd give it a try. I baked cupcakes (i do sound like Martha Stewart) yesterday and used the empty egg-shells as little vases and some leftover wallpaper to give them some support.

Happy Easter

2010-04-03T08:48:00.000+02:00

Happy Easter everybody, got your outfits ready? XX

bedrooms

2010-04-02T08:33:00.001+02:00

One of the rooms i still have to work on in our house is our bedroom. Not that it's that bad now (not good enough to show you pictures,though), but it needs something more. While looking for inspiration i came across these.....

Super romantic ( i'm afraid hubby can't handle this)

Urban, meets Japanese and country fresh (i don't have these windows)

Athough i like this style in the end i think it's too dark for me

This one i love, but our bedroom isn't big enough

This one is perfect, clean and simple!

ilovebento's

2010-03-31T11:25:00.001+02:00

Besides lovingmyhouse ilovetocook. Not that i'm the second Martha Stewart mind you, i'm more the Bridget Jones type. I came across the Japanese style of lunchboxes called Bento and got totally emotional when reading the meaning of it. A Bento is the condensed physical representation of a mother's love.Wow! So wrapping up two cheese sandwiches and an apple in tin foil as i do isn't enough.So i bought these cute boxes and decided i should try harder!

For a full explanation and inspiration for Bento's, take a look at Working Culture and go for it mum's ;-)

nobody notices

2010-03-30T10:08:00.000+02:00

Cleaning,cooking,washing,shaving legs,listening,talking,blogging,working.........etc

Have a nice day x

sweet seventeen

2010-03-29T09:38:00.001+02:00

Pfff! I had a busy but fun weekend. My oldest daughter Britt turned 17.

Isn't she gorgeous?

So we had Chocolate cake...

And Balloons....

With cards, on which we all wrote down our wishes for her and let them fly away!

Happy birthday Britt, ilovemydaughter!

inspiration

2010-03-26T14:46:00.001+01:00

Whenever i'm in need of inspiration i go and visit the site of Lexington. The style of this company is a style i love and it inspires me everytime. I never actually bought something but i think they are going to launch their webshop soon so i might not be able to resist the temptation anymore.Have a lovely weekend!

flags

2010-03-25T08:57:00.000+01:00

I like flags. My favourite flags are the American stars and stripes,the British union jack and the Canadian maple leaf. (sorry Holland). One of my latest followers Tedandbunny sells vintage union jack flags on Ebay, i lovethem!
Found some inspiration in the Australian vogue living what to do with these beautifull flags. If only i had more time....

photowall

2010-03-24T11:59:00.001+01:00

Today i was inspired again by the blog of Lille Lykke a great blog for mainly Scandinavian inspiration.

I have a little photowall in my kitchen as well. There are some pictures of New York where i organised a photoshoot for a fashion brand and the photographer gave me the originals of the stills he made. Most important though are the collages i made from pictures of my three children. I photocopied some pictures so they were all in black and white, put them in a frame and wrote down their nicknames with charcoal.Everyday i'm reminded of how much i love them and how time flies.