Monday, November 04, 2013

October 2013: Illustrations, boots, concerts, driverless automobiles, Halloween and Michelin star dining.

I've had a pretty eventful October and I'm going to share it with you because this is my blog, and this is what it's for. I hope you like the phone-quality photos.

First up, you may not know, but I've been selling my illustrations for a while now on my own webshop, as well as on Etsy. Earlier this month, I woke up to an email saying one of my birthday calendars had been purchased. Hoorah!


My friend Riri likes to order cards from me, and she orders A LOT. Because she always seems to be celebrating something or other for someone or other. That girl has too much energy. So anyway, this is a birthday card for her friend who moved to Stockholm, and who misses Dutch things. Riri and her friend decided to send a care package of Dutch items to her. Sweet.


I have been searching for these boots ever since I moved here. I finally found them after researching online (yes, online), and then heading to the store to grab them. Yup, I can't believe how I'm being efficient now while shopping.


We bought the tickets months ago, and the concert was finally at our doorstep. This is Goldfrapp performing at Paradiso in Amsterdam. It was fantastic. This woman does not need any post-production on album recordings. She was perfect, everyone was perfect, it was so energising and the all-enveloping electronic orchestral sounds just lifted me up into the clouds.


I went for a meeting with a client for the first time at their office in the Brainpark in Rotterdam. It's a super cool place, but the coolest thing there were the driverless busses. See how I took a photo including the windshield wipers so that you'd see that's the front of the bus... and THERE IS NO DRIVER. Very cool indeed.


In case you haven't noticed yet, I've been playing around with photo effects on my photos. How fun.

Halloween this year was at our place. For part of the decor, I made ghosts. I first tried a method I found online and even bought bloody clothes starch to get the fabric hard enough to stay in a ghost shape. But I think the fault was in the fabric. It just freaking doesn't get hard! So I used a needle and thread and hung the ghosts up from the ceiling instead. Simpler, cleaner and quicker.



This did not work.


This worked. With some fairy magic.


That's me, as an attacked librarian.

And finally, last night - although technically November, I will still add it here because who knows when's the next time I'll blog?? - I dined at a Michelin star restaurant for the second time in my life. This one, Amarone in Rotterdam, is a bit less posh than Parkheuvel (also in Rotterdam), but the service was still good and the food still interesting. Taste-wise, but not concept-wise. But well, we had ordered a special group menu, so I'll cut them some slack.


The amuse. And I can't remember what it was. Calf is there somewhere, I think.


The fellows I dined with.


The appetiser of liver terrine and quail.

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And that's where a photo of the halibut should have been, but I forgot to take the photo.


The main dish of fantastically cooked beef with beets and other veg. This beef was awesome.


I always find it strange when you have such a big build-up to the main dish - first you have amuses, then several appetisers, and then you get the main dish... and all of a sudden, like reaching the top of Mount Everest on your feet and then parachuting down, they present you with dessert. I mean, where are all the other amuses to prepare you for dessert?

ANYWAY, this dessert was my favourite of the night and I can't be more enthused about it. Finally, here was something that was a bit different, a bit more interesting and exciting. Here's a coconut on sand, made of chocolate and other coconut-based delights. This. was. brilliant.



This annual dinner was also an opportunity to thank the man who had been the council secretary for nearly 10 years. Congratulations, Ed, a job well done!


Shameless advertising of their restaurant on the chocolates. Well, the chocolates were yummy.