What I will miss about Amsterdam when I am in LA

Now it's really happening: in a few nights we'll be on the plane to LA with the three of us! I can think of a whole list of things I'm looking forward to: the weather, our beautiful Airbnb, cruising through the city, cuddling with Otis every day, discovering amazing little spots, and I could go on like this for a while. But no matter how fantastic I find being abroad, as soon as I set foot in ‘my hometown’ I realize that we really live in the most beautiful city in the world. I will secretly miss these things about Amsterdam a little bit in LA.

• Everything by bike: in LA you spend at least half an hour in the car to get to a place. The first few days that's actually great, but eventually you do get a bit panicky from spending hours a day in the car. In Amsterdam, I hop on my bike and can reach anywhere within 20 minutes.
• Friends and family: as wonderful as it is to be away just the three of us and avoid all the obligatory Christmas parties and dinners, we will definitely miss all the coziness with friends and family this year.
• Cold Christmas: my body has been screaming for vitamin D for weeks. I can't wait to wear a T-shirt in LA and sit on the terrace in the lovely sunshine. But Christmas naturally comes with a hefty dose of cold, something that's hard to find there. It will be strange to evoke that ultimate Christmas feeling on Christmas Day with 19 degrees. 
• New Year's Eve show and oliebollen: don't worry, I've had my share of oliebollen for this year. Still, I'm going to miss having one of those balls in the fat during the New Year. And all of us flipping through the channels between all the New Year's Eve shows and seeing which channel has the ‘countdown clock’ that is the most pleasant. On the other hand: we'll be standing on top of a mountain, overlooking the whole city waiting for all the beautiful fireworks at midnight. Who needs a TV then?