Our Carolien is still in LA and she is still very happy. By the way, don't think she skipped King's Day, because at the Santa Monica Pier it was a big (orange) party. Are you reading along?

For people who are not such fans of gluten, LA is truly heaven! Every restaurant has gluten-free bread and I've eaten more gluten-free cupcakes than I care to admit... But when I saw this divine pizza and the waiter casually mentioned that it was ‘gluten-free’, I knew for sure: this is my Ultimate Food Valhalla!

‘Zwarte Tulp’ is doing well! I'm getting a lot of positive reactions from enthusiastic viewers who have binge-watched all the episodes in just a few days. I'm so curious: one of the first things I'm going to do in the Netherlands is stock up on good snacks and plan a little Videoland marathon...

Yesterday I got to take a look at Universal Studios on the set of The Voice! In the Netherlands, I had already attended a few live shows, but this was just a bit more exciting with Christina Aguilera and Pharrell within throwing distance (nothing against Marco and Trijntje of course). The contestants were all amazing: it's going to be tough to choose a winner in a few weeks!

For a few days, I had been craving a wonderful massage, but I had no idea where to go: there are literally more spas here than supermarkets. But after seeing the photos of Tomoko Spa in Beverly Hills, I quickly made my choice. This Japanese-oriented spa is so zen; when I walked in and sat down with my cup of Genmai Cha tea, I immediately dozed off, causing half the cup to spill on the couch... The treatment started with a foot massage followed by a full body massage: I could have literally laid on that table for a week. Still feeling dreamy and extremely relaxed, I stepped out the door only to be confronted again with the busy Beverly Hills, sigh. Should I go again tomorrow?

To still get a tiny bit of that orange feeling, we drove to the Santa Monica Pier on King's Day where all the Dutch and curious Americans had gathered for André Hazes songs and traditional Dutch snacks. Seeing so much orange made me feel a bit like I was in the Netherlands. The snack bar was of course popular, so we had to wait three quarters of an hour for cold fries and a fake croquette (not a real Van Dobben of course), but that didn't dampen the fun. It was lovely that after an hour I could leave the party noise behind and just mingle again among the non-orange Dutch-speaking LA residents.