DIY with Carolien

Yeah, after a year of intensive searching, we have found our dream home. Man oh man, we are so excited to embark on this new adventure. But before we can move into our little palace, there is still a lot of work to be done. Jon bought all the gear on day one to work on the construction site and he turns out to be really handy. I have serious doubts about my own skills (read: zero patience, not extremely precise, long strokes, quick home), so I don't know if it's a good idea for me to help out... But I will do my best and because this could produce some hilarious footage, I will document this in an IGTV series ‘Renovating with Carolien’. If I end up irreparably breaking things, at least we will have some funny film material.

In these times, all positivity is welcome. So when I received the invite for the opening of House of Rituals, I was immediately excited to be there. And I am so glad I went: I went from one surprise to another. Besides the familiar Rituals products, there is so much new to find in this beautiful flagship store. From an umbrella collection to housewear (I would kill for the silk kimonos) and a wonderfully scented laundry line. I immediately lost myself in the Signature Premium scented candles and the personalized fragrance sticks from The Mansion Collection are now on my Christmas list. The department store is large enough to shop from a distance, so I would say: treat yourself to an outing and go see it. Location: Spui 10, Amsterdam

Chanel has a fantastic feature on the site that I wish all online shopping sites would have: the ‘try on’ feature for all sunglasses. Very distance-proof (I would prefer to try on all sunglasses to determine which suits me best) and it prevents a lot of online shopping blunders in the future. I immediately went to the Chanel site and literally played with this feature for an hour and... eventually ordered my favorite.

Dear May-Britt, what can't you do? She just released a children's book that I secretly want to read myself right away. Man, I would do anything to step into the shoes of Bast the cat with the luxurious life in Paris. The illustrations are each a picture to hang on the wall. Dear May, I fervently hope for a whole series of this fantastic cat duo Cleo & Bast.