Sara's Blog

Sitting on the plane from Orlando (while in a 2-hour delay on the tarmac) made me think about the things I’d missed about Amsterdam while I was away:

1) My local bakery. I go here every other day to get the best bread on the planet…baked fresh, thick dark bread with salted sesame seeds on the crust. A slice of Christophe Pave and some Dutch cheese and I’m a happy girl. New at the bakery this week is the irresistible chocolate brioche… you can see I enjoyed a little before thinking to photograph it.

2) Mail call. I love my singing mailman, especially when he brings me lovely packages from the States, like this one from my sister. I’m excited to read the book she sent me but want to enjoy how beautifully she wrapped it for just a little longer. (How gorgeous is that tag she made?!?)

3) Mango juice. I get my weekly dose of mango juice from a little grocery shop around the corner from my apartment. The man who owns it expects me by now and always has my juice on the counter when I come in. (The shop is also home to the world’s most beloved cat, Zero, who’s usually perched on the counter next to—really—a poster-sized oil painting of himself.)

4) My mess. Okay, I create a one-woman disaster area when I’m in the midst of a project but I just love having a work in progress. These are mixed media collages that will be in an exhibition here in Amsterdam in October…got to love deadlines, especially when they’re a few months out.

5) Dutch summer. Yes, it’s windy and rainy and not very warm but after Florida in July (seriously, people, how do you live in that humidity?) I’m totally fine with it. Plus we get fantastic thunder and lighting storms at night, something I never experienced in Oregon…where I understand it’s been over 100 degrees, ugh.