A Day in the Life, Day 2

So, my last day in the life post was ridiculously popular! So, since y'all seemed to enjoy it, I thought I would serve up another for What I Ate Wednesday!

This was just yesterday! I had a really fun day and wanted to share it with you.

It started out as usual with water, a banana and coffee at about 7:30

We went for drinks with some friends that were in town on a layover last night and were up way too late...this coffee was much needed...

It is tough being this gorgeous ;) haha Seriously, I was bone tired and had the worst time waking up, tonight will be a very early night.

I made the kiddo some cheese croissants for breakfast, I made a few plain ones for myself...I <3 croissants.="" p="">

Before hubby woke up I took a quick shower and got dressed. 

My MK Rain Boots since it was a drizzly kind of day, jeans, and the fab new shirt hubby brought me home from my favorite store: BEBE! I paired it with the necklace my mom and dad gave me for Christmas.

A close up of my necklace...isn't it adorable. The background is my birthstone and on the back it says some very nice things about me.

My hair was crazy unruly so I sprayed it with volumizing hair spray and teased it a bit, then pulled it to the side and braided it, look great for the whole day.

The hubby and I got going around 9:30, as he doesn't have to be to work until 10. I was getting hungry at this point so I walked around a bit and grabbed some second breakfast.

So, during my walk I saw these shenanigans:

I seriously love this country. Only here could you see a guy set up a latter on the tram tracks and fix a light with trams coming and going, cars coming and going, bike bells ringing...this really reminded me of my Dad...any one else's Dad do insane stuff like this growing up?!

Anyway, I walked on and saw the floating flower market which I posted on Instagram...if anyone wants to know it is €60 to ship 100 tulip bulbs to the US...your welcome :)

A photo posted by Kate (@diaryofanurbanhousewife) on Feb 10, 2015 at 1:39am PST

After that I finally made it to La Place...which this location, on the Kalverstraat is amazing. Employees are sweet and they have the best selection of food I think. All of this was €3,25! You could pick 7 items (including coffee) for that price.

Omelette, bacon, brie, two croissants, jelly, and coffee...seriously life is good!

My view as I ate:

I love these buildings...look at the super skinny entrance toward the left of the picture...these canal houses/buildings crack me up! I also love the building on the left because some of the windows play advertisements. They sure do make great use of what is already there!

So, after that I went and browsed two American Book Stores and regrettably did not buy the Thug Kitchen Cookbook...I'm not sure why...I think I really need to go back and get it I keep thinking about it! ha! But, after that I headed to my favorite lingerie store because I had signed up to go in and give them my opinion on the store and their customer service. As a thank you for my time they gave me a lovely gift and a gift card!

If you are in Amsterdam, seriously go to Hunkmoller, especially the Kalverstraat location the girls there are so incredibly sweet. They are even great with teenagers and have bras very appropriate for that crowd. The girls there know what they are talking about and they have the best. bras. ever. Seriously, they are fantastic!

Anyway, after that I went over to meet a friend at the Opera, before we went in for the lunch concert I snapped these of the bridge nearby.

The detailing is amazing.

I mean look at that! I haven't seen details like that in ages, such time and effort.

Sadly, when we went in for the concert the singer was sick so they canceled it. It was "Songs of Emily Dickinson" too, I was curious as to what they could have possibly created. Maybe they will do it again another week. But, we moved on to a brown bar that is across the street for some Gluhwine and toasties.

Mmmmm Gluhwine...have you ever had it? It is a divine winter treat! 

I forgot to take a picture of my toastie, but it is basically a grilled cheese...picture it ;)

After lunch we walked around a bit more then I came home and did the last of my grocery shopping, took a bath to warm up, then did some Yoga.

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After yoga we made panini's and soup.

Chock full of veggies...nom!

Dessert while watching Gilmore Girls....I even had a tall glass of milk. So tasty!

Now in bed enjoying my sleepy time tea and finishing this post! I drink the Sleepytime Wellness Tea...it is way more potent than the regular Sleepytime Tea, I highly recommend!

So that is all for me today....how was your day?

A day in the life...

As a person who has worked a majority of her adult life, since I started staying home I don't really take into account that Monday to Friday are work days, I don't consider staying at home "work" because I've had to do all I do on a daily basis plus work full time and at one time I also was in school full time. So, I consider my days fairly easy and take joy in the fact I can stay home and just have my home as my "work" for now.

So, here is a new take on What I Ate Wednesday
...

So, I figured I would show y'all what a day in the life is like over here.

This is a Monday which is typically my busiest day of the week as it is the day I try and run all my errands as well as get a good majority of my cleaning done.

So...without further ado...

Wake up, put in a load of laundry, unload dishwasher, grab banana, water, and make coffee.

*My precious*

I am almost always starving as soon as I get up so the banana is some quick fuel. I make coffee for me and the teen as I put her lunch together and on her desk.

Sit down to finish coffee and eat breakfast with the teen. We chit-chat, check social media, and just enjoy this first meal of the day together. Please don't get on my case about us checking our social media accounts. Morning is basically the only time we get to really check what everyone is up to (since they are all our family and friends are anywhere from 6-12 hours behind us) we talk about what is going on, so it works for us.

Get her out the door to school, grab a tablespoon of peanut butter and do a little blogging and sharing stuff for blog on social media.

Shortly after hubby wakes up we get some cuddle time in...I poke my head over the shower and chit chat about what he has going on for the day (I will spare you the visual, although I am sure we are utterly adorable haha)

Get him out the door then pop in a workout DVD and get my workout on.

Fix a post workout snack and check blog stuff one more time while half listening to some NPR podcast.

Get presentable for public.

Almost ready to run out the door then I realize I am hungry and hungry + grocery store=disaster. So I make a salad for lunch.

Devour because after an insanity dvd and post workout breakfast I am of course going to starve to death...#firstworldproblems

Put laundry in dryer, but can't start because I finally have to make that trip to the grocery store.

Now, I bet you think I forgot about grocery shopping, but nope, I am now finally ready to bundle up and head to the store.

Battle the elderly for my groceries (actually today isn't half bad because it is Monday which is why I come on Monday's)...

After the stress that is packing my groceries-we have to pack our own and these people have it down to a science, but not me, I freak out and can't get it done fast enough- I enjoy the walk home since it is sunny...

Put groceries away, start cleaning. I do a few basic chores every Monday that I feel keep the house in tip top shape:

• Clean bathrooms
• Dust (kiddo actually does this)
• Vacuum
• Mop floors
• Wash sheets and make beds (kiddo does hers)
• Clean windows and mirrors (again, another kiddo chore)
• Wipe down furniture (this is one we split, whoever gets to it first)

All of these together only take about an hour to 90 minutes depending on the size of my apartment at the time. Right now, because we have a lot of floor space we are closer to the 90 minutes, but 90 minutes once a week ain't so bad.

Fold laundry and transfer sheets.

Work on cards or other projects.

Lately getting back into embroidery has been my bigger project. I am currently working on a collection of embroidered cards I hope to show off soon!

Make beds.

Have tea and a snack with the teenager once she is home from school.

This Winter Mint Tea is a great pick-me-up.

As she starts homework I prep dinner.

Cook dinner/eat dinner...

Clean up from dinner.

• Do dishes (kiddo)
• Wipe down counters
• Wipe down glass cabinets
• Pack lunch for tomorrow
• Make sure breakfast is set for tomorrow
• Start dishwasher

Relax, check social media, do some reading or watch an Eppy of Mad Men.

The teen and I watch an eppy of Gilmore Girls while sipping our Sleepytime Tea.

I didn't watch this when it was a new show...too much going on with life at the time but have totally fallen in love with it and am so glad our cable channel here is showing the series all the way through.

After this I brush my teeth, wash my face, take a bath, and then retire to my bedroom where I check my calendar for tomorrow, make any to do lists to get stuff off my mind, write in our couples gratitude journal, check pinterest, read, and spend some QT with the hubby if he isn't working late.

Finally we go to bed about 11pm that way I get my mandated 8 hours-otherwise I am a zombie.

So, tell me, what does a day in your life look like?

Weekly Dose: Culture Shock-Week 2

Here we are our second full week in Amsterdam. So hard to believe 14 days has already flown by! We've had so many unique experiences I feel like I could bust trying to share them. I am enjoying my runs and exploring my new neighbourhood. I seriously cannot take enough pictures! I have to slow down & dole stuff out other wise I think my instagram friends might start to get a little mad lol

This week I wanted to tell y'all about something that will probably...well, hopefully...crack you up, make you laugh at me, and probably say, "wow that woman is an idiot!" But, this was a major, major point of contention to me when trying to settle into our new home. I was prevented from doing laundry, cooking, and being warm! haha What the heck could this be?! Appliances!!! We had the doggone worst time figuring out our appliances.

The first appliance was the cook top.

I walked in and was super excited because we have a gas cook top. Over the years I've become very accustomed to gas and don't like cooking with electricity nearly as much. Well, the first time I decide to cook something I quickly realized there is no spot to "ignite" the flame!

So, when you turn the dial the only thing that comes out is gas. Apparently, this has to be done the "old fashioned" way and you have to light it using a match or lighter. Thanks to the wonderfully supportive cooking group I belong to on Facebook and there amazing advice we went and got a nice long bbq lighter and haven't had any incidents. But the first two times were absolutely terrifying!

Side note, there are no YouTube videos for being successful at this...maybe I should make one???

Next we are still in the kitchen, we have a convection microwave oven.

This truly puts the "oven" in microwave oven. However, be warned if you have one that does a simultaneous use of the convection part and microwave part you can't use any metal otherwise-BOOM-fire! I don't know from experience but I heard about it in a YouTube video. ;)

Third would be the dryer.

I am sure by the time I got to this the property manager was ready to throttle me. I'd already asked him a million and one questions and this just piled it on no doubt. But, we have what is called a "condenser dryer". This is a unique piece. They are commonly used in Europe so they don't have to run all the hoses and piping and whatnot. It is a really cool concept...until you think the dryer doesn't work anymore.

So, basically what the condenser dryer does is tumbles the clothes around evaporating the water off of them, the water then collects in a tub.

Great idea, however, when said tub gets full you must empty it or the dryer won't dry. This is where the issue arises. I once had to empty the container the water collects in 3 times in one drying cycle. That made me not a happy camper. But, then I remembered how lucky I was to actually have a dryer and I quickly changed my tune ;)

Finally, the heat....or lack there of. I am used to the US where we have central heat & air pretty much everywhere. There are some places in California & even Vancouver that supposedly don't have central heat & air but by the time we got to those places everywhere we looked at central heat & air. Here however, no. Which is fine the weather seems mild in the spring so far. However, some days have been very chilly and we had to turn on the heat. I semi-figured it out the first day, however we learned it does have a central control as well. So basically, once you get the main control where you want it you can leave it there then  each heater unit has a knob on it. You turn it to the plus to let out heat, or the minus to take away heat. Great concept but two things: 1) it takes a while to kick in and heat up, 2) once it is heated up you quickly swelter as if you were standing on the sun dressed in ski gear.

We've quickly learned to pretty much just keep it off. I turn it on in the morning to lift the chill but then it goes off otherwise by the time we crawl in bed no one will be comfortable...no even naked....with a fan...

I will say some of my troubles came from two things: 1) the owner didn't leave us with many of the books on how to use them and 2) the ones we were left with were in Swedish. Not even Dutch so we couldn't ask someone to translate lol But, in my defense: I am doing better than a friend of ours that has been here 2 years...he hasn't used his dryer in all that time because he thought it was "broken" after the first two uses...he is now going to empty the part that collects water ;)

It was fun times these first couple weeks figuring out all the little tricks and getting used to doing things in a new and unique way!

Have you ever had trouble with new appliances? I'd love to hear your stories. Don't let me be alone!

September Blogging Challenge: Chores

Todays, prompt is your favorite and least favorite chores.....*sigh* I hate chores period really. I mean, let's be honest they stink. They are the few items in your life that never go away. They are always there, haunting you, taunting you needing to be done. There are daily ones, weekly ones, monthly ones, and yearly ones. They are always there, but, I suppose if you wanted to look at this positively you could see them as constants. They are always there for you, you can count on them needing to be done, I suppose if you have no other order, chores are the one thing you can bank on. So, we'll look at it more positively. Chores are our buddies, always needing tending to, they love us! ;)

So, my favorite chore I'd have to say is.....

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Yup, making the bed is my favorite. I just love how after you make it your room looks all beautiful and serene. There are lots of pillows on the bed, and it just looks fit for royalty. I also love how tight the sheets are when you go to crawl into it in the evening, it's like you cared enough to tuck yourself in, makes me feel very princess like with all my pillows and a nicely made bed. Makes me feel like I cared enough about my husband and myself to go the extra mile. Here's a graphic about making the perfect bed: 

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Here are 5 great reasons to make your bed every day:

1. Maintain order-I know if this gets done the rest of my room will remain clean and orderly.
2. Teaches responsibility-I had to make my bed everyday from a young age, I know there are certain things you just have to do.
3. Pride-it shows I care about my home and my room. Makes me happy to keep my door open and let anyone see how I care for my personal belongings. 
4. Thankfulness-There are many people who don't have a bed to care for, I am thankful I do and want to care for it in that manner.
5. Energy-if my bed is unmade that lets me know it's okay to crawl back in, I tend toward laziness and if I don't make the bed, I will probably not accomplish anything.

So, that was a long drawn out explanation on my favorite chore, but I was inspired! I didn't realize I loved making the bed so much and all the benefits it had for me! 

My least favorite chore is definitely...

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A few funnies about the dishes. I get a bit of help from my wonderful husband and daughter when it comes to the dishes because they know just how much I dislike them. They make my hands dry, they are dirty, plus they are never ending! We try to be as "no waste" as possible so I don't buy plastics and we try and keep track of our glasses so we aren't using a hundred of them and I try to reuse my breakfast plate for lunch when possible, but somehow they still multiply. Maybe I need to get my dishes condoms. LOL! 

But, I will say when they are done, I feel like a million bucks! I do love a glistening kitchen!

What are your fave and least fave chores?!