Busy, busy, busy during these intense months

It was quiet for a moment, but I’m back! The past few months have been quite tough for everyone, by the way. Adding a huge renovation to that meant I had to put in a lot of effort and didn’t have time for my nice weekly piece. But now we have moved out of our old house, we are temporarily living in a holiday home until our new house is (hopefully) finished at the end of March, and I have a little bit more time again. And as soon as the childcare and schools reopen next week, I think we will be at a loss for what to do with our extra time.

Project ‘renovation’… From changing a few walls, we have ended up only keeping the outer walls standing. But man oh man, what a beautiful house it’s going to be! Jon is still building six days a week and can seriously start working as a professional construction worker after this. I am so incredibly proud of him and how cool is it that we can say at every corner of the house that he built this with his bare hands?

With Valentine’s Day approaching and everything still locked down, we have to be a bit more creative to surprise our loved ones. Fortunately, many restaurants have put together a special Valentine’s menu. If you need some inspiration: here are my top 3 (and they all deliver nationwide).

1. Breakfast LOVE Box from Brasserie Van Dam: Breakfast deluxe that will definitely score you points. Besides the delicious Van Dam classics like truffle/egg salad and tuna salad, you will find heart-shaped croissants and heart-shaped sweets from WALDO Patisserie in this box. It costs 59.50 euros and is for two people. @Jon: if you’re reading this, this box will make me very happy next week.

2. If you really want to go all out, then order the Valentine Box from two-star restaurant Le Ciel Bleu. You start in the afternoon with delicious bites, at the beginning of the evening there are delicious main courses on the menu, and you finish with no less than three (!) desserts. The box can be ordered until February 11 and costs 125 euros per person.

3. Restaurant Breda: one of my favorite restaurants in Amsterdam has put together a delicious five-course menu especially for Valentine’s Day. Whether you eat meat, fish, or vegetarian: a specially composed menu is available for everyone and it costs 45 euros per person for all variants.

This year I started a revitalization program from Plantina: detoxing your body for fourteen days and giving it a reset to break that sweet and somewhat unhealthy December pattern. Especially with all the renovation stress, I treated myself to a cheese croissant, a piece of cake, or a glass of wine almost daily. The program consists of an extensive nutrition plan plus dietary supplements to cleanse and revitalize your body. In the first few days, I experienced headaches and fatigue, but soon I started to feel much more energetic. The plan allows you to choose between the strictest or a slightly milder variant. I am now trying to maintain a healthy diet during the week, and on the weekends, all bets are off. Well, in this time that means a glass of wine and a piece of cake indoors...