Fun & Famous

Carolien's fast lane life

Yes, another fresh weekday diary from our Carolien. Because you know: she never sits still…

In the first days of vacation, Jon and I try to plan as little as possible. Our routine consisted of: sleeping in, having a lavish breakfast, exercising for half an hour (also for the first time, mind you, this time!), sunbathing, having a long lunch, sunbathing, having drinks, and having a lavish dinner. So on day 3, I thought it was time for a little excursion. A friend of mine recommended the most divine massage at the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo, with the famous Nikki Beach on the rooftop: that sounded like a perfect day out. When we drove up, the super deluxe experience began with valet parking, and upon arriving at the spa, I immediately found myself in ‘ultimate relax’ mode. The dressing rooms were as big as our apartment, and like a small child, I stood under the rain shower and slipped into my thick bathrobe and snow-white slippers with golden embroidery. The massage beds, unlike many salons, had wonderfully thick mattresses, and I was tucked under a real down blanket. You understand: it took mere minutes before I was in dreamland. The aromatherapy massage was divine, and they finished it off with a very nice facial massage. When I looked next to me, I saw Jon waking up with a big smile on his face: we wanted to stay lying here forever. We then decided to go all the way with five stars and soon found ourselves sipping champagne and enjoying fruits de mer at Nikki Beach, then looking at each other on a sunbed by the pool and thinking: what a wonderfully extravagant day of luxury this is, every once in a while!

No matter how much we enjoyed our day in millionaire style, the next day we experienced just as euphoric a feeling during our hike to the small Italian village of Airole. Jon had dressed for the occasion as if he were a professional hiker, and I had put together a whole survival kit with homemade iced tea, nuts, peaches, and of course a roll of toilet paper and a bottle of water. After an hour of hiking through the steep mountains, we arrived at our destination: it was exactly the kind of village from an advertisement with narrow streets, colorful laundry hanging between the houses, and the cutest little village square with two small restaurants, where we then had the best pizzas ever (just a week of paying tribute to gluten) before setting off on our return journey with renewed energy. And I don't know if it was the magic of Italy, but suddenly I had an immense craving for a cappuccino. Me, who has never ordered a cup of coffee in her entire life and consumes liters of tea daily... But well, it's never too late for something new, right? I'm curious if my new hype continues when we get back. Anyone have tips for good coffee spots in Amsterdam?

In the past, I wanted to lie in the sun for a few hours a day at all costs: I used factor 30 sunscreen, but by the end of the week, I could definitely bake with a 20. The result: peeling set in just when you were on the plane home: all that effort for nothing... Although I now apply factor 50 sunscreen and spend three-quarters of the day with a hat on my head in the sun, my skin feels quite tight after all those hours in the sun. Fortunately, PR agencies always manage to find me when it comes to testing new facial products, so I brought the hydramemory facial line from Comfort Zone on this trip for thorough research. The line promises to protect the skin and optimally hydrate it with a double dose of hyaluronic acid. After three days of applying it, my skin starts to feel less tight, and due to the gel-like substance, it feels refreshing and nourishing right away. The serum also feels very moisturizing, but I immediately fell head over heels for the mask: I leave it on overnight, and the next day the tight feeling is completely gone. My husband has also become curious and starts applying it with me. And after a week, my jars are already half empty... A big downside of raising men too well: your products go twice as fast. Note to self: next time, request two test sets.

If you're heading to the Côte d’Azur soon and love markets as much as I do, then the Friday market in Ventimiglia is an absolute must! From cashmere scarves to the most beautiful leather gloves and belts: you can find it all here. Even though I know the market almost by heart, I had to take a look to check if new stalls had appeared where I could shop to my heart's content. The result: two pairs of leather gloves lined with cashmere (I know, it's by no means winter, but they were on sale! I can't just let those go?!), a beautiful burgundy leather belt, and two pairs of espadrilles that I absolutely devour every summer. I only made one huge mistake: trying on Birkenstocks that felt absolutely divine, especially since I can hardly wear heels anymore and often have foot pain. Jon is going to kill me, but upon returning, I immediately went online to score a pair in gold, and hopefully, they are already waiting for me in the Netherlands... Sorry guys, but sometimes function really does come before fashion. Well, in this case, the two go quite well together because these do look quite appetizing, right?

A few weeks ago, everything went completely wrong: my agenda had no less than three sample sales in one week, each from brands that truly make my heart race. So there was nothing else to do but to clearly agree with myself on a total budget in advance (yeah right, with a considerable margin in hindsight) and hope that all the nice items would be gone before I entered the building. It actually went quite well: one was a hit, the other was nothing at all, and at the last one, I found one pair of shoes and a handful of cool Karl Lagerfeld buttons free of charge. Until I once again started ‘imaginary shopping’ while waiting for the set (you all know it: stuffing your virtual shopping cart full and then quickly closing the site with one click before it all goes wrong) and spotted the new brand Voyar la Rue. Now I already have a cool patchwork denim jeans from Zoe Karssen, but I can't fall behind trendwise and need to own a patchwork jacket for this summer as well. So the quick-close-the-website-before-it-goes-wrong tactic didn't work this time, and I received the package with my latest finds last week. And since patchwork is all about customizing, I was able to give the free buttons a nice destination on my new blazer right away. But for now, I'm quickly wiping all new sample sales out of my mailbox, purely for self-protection. I still have a wedding to organize...