A souvenir from Paris

And the winner is… I was incredibly proud when Jon won the Golden Calf of the Public for Bon Bini Holland 2 last week. It makes such an award night just a bit more fun. And it just kept going: my dear girlfriend Melody got to receive the Golden Calf for her role in Rafaël, which she really played with flair. For those who haven't seen that film yet: an absolute must-see. Based on a true story about a Dutch girl who is pregnant and tries with all her might to get her husband from Tunisia to the Netherlands, but who gets locked up during his flight as an illegal refugee. Believe me: you won't stay dry.

Yesterday, I went to Paris with two girlfriends for a lovely day of eating macarons, baby shopping, and admiring the beautiful displays on Rue de Cambon (the real connoisseurs know exactly which life-threatening store is there). Now, I knew that ‘good service’ is not exactly something the French are born with, but yesterday I was still shocked by the ‘friendliness’ of the staff: curt, snapping that things were absolutely no longer available while it turned out five minutes later that they actually were, and that we should be very happy to be served at all... Anyway, we didn't eat one less macaron and all three even returned home with a designer bag. Hmm, apparently they do something right.

The weather has officially changed, and as if Otis has timed his growth spurt, he is ready for the next clothing size. Mom doesn't mind that at all, because then she can finally shop for children's clothing with justification. Secretly even more fun than for myself, especially since Otis can pretty much pull off any style. And try to leave this new store without a shopping bag on your arm: Donsje has a flagship store on Willemsparkweg, and my credit card knows it... It even went so far that I actually wanted to shop for all the items in my own size as well. Now I have a pretty small head, so I could actually twin this lovely hat with the little one. I would also wear that white outfit and those shoes, so if Donsje reads this: how about adding an adult line to the collection next year?

Even though it's the second little one on the way, I still find the ultrasounds an exciting moment each time: is everything okay, has the little one grown well, is there anything strange to see? I still find it incredible that nowadays you can see the baby moving so clearly on screen and sometimes even see the little face in 3D. Fortunately, little number two is growing beautifully according to the curve and is kicking quite a bit. Although according to Otis, the baby in my belly mostly sleeps and we have to be very quiet...