As beatiful as Amsterdam is, it does have its dark side. Within 15 minutes of leaving the train station, we were offered drugs, asked to visit a brown cafe and saw lots of tourists heading to the ‘Red Light District’.

On one of the evenings we were in Amsterdam, we had had dinner, we had visited the ‘kermis’ aka carnival, (and rode in a ferris wheel that the crazy operator put into reverse and sent it around at triple speed) and were meandering back to our hotel when we stumbled upon one of the bridges that lead in to the ‘Red Light District’.

We had talked about this element of Amsterdam and we both decided, we would just avoid it. We would stay away. But, on a whim, I decided that really, we should see it. It is part of the city, it is part of its story. What was the worst thing that could happen? So we went in (possibly the most terrified looking tourists ever!)

The whole ‘Red Light District’ is very clearly defined. There are literally red lights lining the streets. It is quite a small area and very central to the city. In amongst shops and cafes you find the girls in the windows: they dance, they sit around, they talk with other girls, they pose. It is a busy part of the city, it is a tourist attraction and there are lots of groups of people just hanging out.

We didn’t hang around long. We got the general idea of the place fairly quickly!

If I were to advise someone going to Amsterdam about whether to go to the ‘Red Light District’ or not, I would say that it is interesting to see, but… really… I wouldn’t bother going there again.

However, I am glad I went there. For the life lesson if nothing else. You see, in my mind, it was an evil, awful, seedy, scary place. It was sinister with bad teethed men in leather jackets and lank oily hair skulking around. In my mind were scenes of depravity and neglect and abuse.

In reality, I was surprised by how unsinister it was. The whole area is really clean, the Dutch are great at making their shops look pretty so some of the area was quite quaint. There was no full nudity (mind you, a white g string and two triangles with black lighting is not what I would call discreet) or any threatening bar owners trying to get customers to come in. There were also police everywhere – on the beat – talking to groups of people, turning teenagers away from the area, being a commanding prescence.

My imagination runs away with me. I often jump straight to the worst possible scenarios. I am glad that I actually saw this for myself. I am glad I got a reality check. I am glad I got to see what this area was like and that I didn’t leave Amsterdam with a  skewed idea of it.

I think of this little bit of travel knowledge often. Because really:

What is the worst that could happen?

What are my choices?

What elements can I control?

How are the opinions of others affecting my choices?

Stamppot is a very traditional Dutch meal. It is a dish that most people in Holland would eat, but you never order it in a restaurant. I grew up on stamppot. It is delicious, hearty, easy and really warms you up on a cold wintery night.

Essentially, stampot is potatoes and vegetables cooked together, mashed roughly with LOTS of butter and served with some kind of wurst. My mum used to make one with potatoes and brocoli and metwurst, another with potatoes, carrots and onions that she served with meatballs, and a potato and sauerkraut one that she served with kookwurst. These were regular mid-week meals we ate when I was a child, and that my parents still eat now.

In the spirit of the ‘If Project’ I asked my family if they would like to come over for a ‘Stamppot Night’. You know, everyone brings a different version of  stamppot and we put it all in the middle of the table and eat until our Dutch hearts were content. My mum shakes her head at my crazy themed ideas, but, when we finally had the Stamppot night, we all had a hoot!

One of my sister brought a sauerkraut, bacon, pineapple and cheese stamppot, it was DELICIOUS! My mum brought a red cabbage and mustard sauce stamppot. My other sister, who is not a big fan of stamppot, bravely tried them all. I am not sure if she still is a fan to be honest! But, she is a good sport! Growing up, this is how we ate, all the pots on the table and everyone talking and eating and eating and talking. Very gezellig (cosy).

Here is the stamppot I made. It is a variation of many recipes that I read (my mum can’t believe there are actually recipes for it!) Don’t be alarmed by the prep and cooking times, you will save time in washing up at the end, all of this cooking goodness goes into one pot!

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Serves: LOTS! About 8 hungry adults – this stuff makes the best leftovers!

Ingredients

4 big potatoes

1 medium sized sweet potato

approx 400g butternut pumpkin

1 large leek

4 carrots

2 turnips

2 zucchini

100g butter

Milk

Salt & Pepper

1 kookwurst*

Method

1. Peel, wash, chop all of your vegetables. Cut them all to be about the same size, about 4cm pieces, you don’t want to cut them too fine, your end product needs to have some chunks!

2. Put everything into a large pot, add enough water to go half-way up the sides of the pot.

3. Cook for 30 mins until tender. Remove from heat, drain away most of the water, mash with a potato masher. Remember, do not make them completely smooth – you still want some texture! Add half the butter and a slug of milk, mix through until you have a thick mash.

4. Put the rest of the butter on top of the stampot, along with your wurst. Return the lid to the pan and the pan to the stove, ever so gently add some heat to heat the wurst – it is already cooked, so it just needs to be heated.

5. Serve the stampot with more butter if your arteries can take it, lots of salt and pepper and a few slices of wurst.

6. Eet smakelijk! (Eat yummy!)

Variations

• As long as you are adding potatoes and vegetables, you can make stamppot any way you like. 
• Try adding:
  brocoli
  cauliflower
  parsnip
  onions
  kale
  spinach

Mr Cool was never a big fan of the idea of stamppot, so I have never made it. But, after our stamppot night, he is convinced that it is tasty and hearty and thinks we should add it to the menu. I am doing a Dutch fist pump, I think it will be a great way to get veges into the kids, and I do love a one pot meal!

Do you stamppot?

* You can use a variety of wursts… Kookwurst or Knackwurst are my favourites. You can find them in the deli section with the fine cheeses, they are not usually in the same dairy cabinets as your ‘Tasty’ cheese.

I have a reader (okay, it is me,) who would like to know how to add more colour to her black, grey and white wardrobe?

Insert hints, tips, advice, stories below…

I was a bit overwhelmed this week! So much AMAZING advice! I have had more responses to this question than any other! Thank you interwebs! This week also saw peeps posting photos on Instagram and facebook about how they added colour into their wardrobe. I am so inspired!

Here is the advice I have been given this week:

This is Deb from Home Life Simplified. Deb has been so lovely and helpful when I asked if she would like to answer some questions, she even sent me a photo!

I have been trawling through my old photos, and found a CDrom of photos of Amsterdam. I am so glad we paid the extra pound to them put on to a disk! We visited Amsterdam during a mid-term break in the Spring of 2003. Back then, we were still using film. We were more into ‘taking photos in our minds’ of places and things. So… the pictures may be few, but the story is rich…

The perfect day in Amsterdam, for me anyway, kind of looks like this:

1. Ride A Bike:

Or at least appreciate Amsterdam for its bike friendliness. There are these HUGE bike parking bays outside most train stations. Very cool. You just don’t see this volume of bikes in Australia!

2. Travel by Canal Boat:

We bought a 24 hour pass and loved that we could go pretty much anywhere in the city by boat. The canals in Amsterdam are beautiful, and being on them is a great way to take in the houses, the sites, the sounds of this amazing city.

3. Get On Prinsengracht (Princes Canal):

This canal takes you into Anne Franke territory. Very moving. If you are planning on going to Amsterdam, you should read Anne’s diary. To then walk the streets she used to play on and walk on is goosebump creating stuff.

4. This is Anne Franke’s house:

This whole precinct has been transformed into a museum district in memory of Anne and the attrocities of war. A very moving place to see. Before the end of the month, I will tell you more about Anne Franke’s house.

This is the church that Anne looked out on from her room. It has not changed in all this time, and it gave me chills to lay my eyes on this beautiful building that stood the test of time through such a horrible scuff on history’s pages.

5. Eat Potat:

You must. eat. chips. You MUST! You must order them in a paper cone and eat them with a little wooden fork and you must have mayonnaise. Eating them by a canal with a view of bikes adds to the experience. (Yes, this is me in my blond glory.)

6. Visit Your Dad’s House:

It was quite emotional to walk the streets my dad walked… I found the house he lived in and stood in the shade of the church at the end of the street.

Who would travel half way across the world, find the door to their father’s house, be in a photo to bring back to aforementioned father, only to be in the wrong doorway? That would be me. Sigh. BUT – I figure, dad got to see the WHOLE of the door to his house, rather than me blocking the view… that is reasonable right?

7. Visit the Museumstraat:

The Van Gogh Museum is delightful. Worth the wait in the queues. Worth the wait for coffee in the cafe. Worth the book about Van Gogh in the gift shop. Loved that place.

The Rijksmuseum is fabulous. ‘The Night Watch’ by Rembrandt, the Vermeers, the fabulous doll houses, the ability to sprint through the list of ‘top 10 things to see’ in an hour (we startled a lot of old people and made a lot of school trips laugh).

And *there* you have a PERFECT day in Amsterdam. Note, this was before it was totally cool to photograph your food, if Instagram were around back then it would have been overloaded with pictures of boterkoek, croquettes, koffe verkeerd and lots of other delicious things.

What are some things on your Amsterdam ‘Must Do’ list?

This what I wore to my dad’s birthday lunch: cute, chic and comfortable.

The ever so lovely Leonie from Verily asked if I would like to style this cropped jacket. How could I say no?

I am loving this jacket. I took it on a pilot run last week and wore it to school. I simply wore it with a grey long sleeved T, black cigarette style pants, black patent loafers and a bright necklace. I got comments all day long! Lovely peeps even noticed that I had lost weight!

The key to wearing a cropped jacket is to make sure you have ‘good lines’ underneath. This jacket is quite short, but, paired with a longer lined dress or top adds shape and definition to the waist. I think this jacket will be very at home in my wardrobe. I have some more dresses and shirts that will benefit from its perky, chic lifting magicness (my word, you may use it too.)

To find this jacket and many other awesome Verily things… Simply click here…

Here is the obligatory ‘Looking Away Coyly’ shot…

I was pretty excited when I picked up this Jag dress in the ‘Desginer’ section of my favourite Op Shop. It is cotton and it is lined, I love the pattern and the fit is just right for me. It tapers in at the waist but has shape around the bust and is just the right length.

My scarf was bought at Country Road at DFO, it was $10 and NOT black, so it came home with me. I love that it has texture and the knots are just too cute! My earrings are my current ‘Go To’ earrings, they came from a market stall for $3. I just love that they look like lace and they match with everything…

What pieces are you layering with this Winter?

The Cropped Jacket from Verily was gifted to me for review. All opinions are my own. 

I asked my ‘Panel’ about who their style icons were… Here are some of the responses I gathered… Thanks to all who responded!

Audrey Hepburn. Elizabeth Taylor. Diane Kruger. Kate Moss (hello skinnies and ballet flats!). Coco Chanel. I like to dress in a retro cute vintage glamour style with a modern twist. What my style icons taught me was to ignore fashion and remember style. March to the beat of your own punk garage grunge rock 50s soundtrack.

Oh, thought of one more, B. Vivienne Westwood and she has taught me that it is a good idea to wear knickers with a full skirt on a gusty day!

Kim-Marie from Kimba Likes

I love Kate Moss’s street style. So easy and cool. Olivia Palermo always looks immaculate. I could never pull it off but I love the combinations she puts together. Closer to home, my aunt has fantastic style. She is always loaded up with colour, patterns & accessories. I think it must have rubbed off onto me a little.

I love Nicole Richie too! She never gets it’s wrong. I love her hair colour at the moment too. I love her husband even more.

Rachel from Redcliffe Style

This is a tough one. It’s a cross between Nicole Richie, Olivia Palermo, Jessica Alba and Duchess Kate at the moment. It’s constantly changing. I also love Kerry Washington and Iman’s style. Anything classy does it for me. Covered up is the new sexy!

Dee from MamaStylista

I love Coco Chanel, Michelle Obama and Kate Winslet. Nicole Ritchie has a great every day style – I love following her on Instagram. I’m really pleased that Kate Middleton has brought lady like dressing back to the high street. She always looks amazing, and put together. I agree with Dee from Mama Stylista – covered up and modesty are definitely the new sexy!

Sarah from Style Unearthed

My style icons are probably Janis Joplin, yes, my mum, my high school art teacher miss fillipow, Janice the muppet from mr teeths band and Mia farrow circa Rosemary’s baby… I like anyone who has a sense if humour and mischief about thier style. I do feel I have list my style a little of late, with weight gain and depression struggles.. But I am seeking to get it back!!

Gillian from Tessie Girl

Honestly those who inspire me these days are fellow vintage loving bloggers whether they wear a little or a lot of vintage, it’s more about their guts to give anything a go. They clash patterns, eras, stub their noses at trends and what is in now and just dress for themselves, what makes them feel true and authentic.

Trudie from My Vintage Childhood

I love Whitney Port. I think her style is so natural and girly.

Chrissie from Organised Chaos

I’ve been thinking about this each time you ask and I just don’t know. I think it’s because I don’t have any one icon. I do have plenty of people who have influenced my style. Yes, it all started with my Mum, earliest lessons in fashion teaching me what goes with that, what looks pretty, choosing classic cuts and not being a slave to what is trending. I adore the actresses of old, such as Audrey Hepburn, and although may not always dress in vintage or retro fashions, those women inspire me to stay stylish with the classics.

Caitlin from Caitlin’s Happy Heart

Oh that’s a tough one. I would say a mix of everyday people. Friends, Mum’s at school, women out & about at the shops. My younger sister always looks pretty stylish too. I guess I seek a bit of style inspiration from everywhere, including blogs such as yours. I like the women & the fashion that inspires me to be relateable & achieveable though.

Katrina – a Coolster from facebook

This response is very cool…

Unoriginal I know but you are my style icon. I have Crohn’s disease and I need to wear comfy but stylish clothes to teach in. And everything you recommend is just gorgeous!

Thanks SW. You are too lovely!

Who is MY style icon I hear you ask?

Well… I guess my first style icon was my mum. She is the daughter of a tailor. Growing up our clothes were either hand-made, thrifted or from great stores. Mum looked for quality and cut and colour. She was very interested in what colours suited us and what sort of clothes brought out our personality. I never had arguments about clothes with my mum, she taught me early on that clothes are an extension of who you are and that you show others who you are by what you wear. Mum has always been really great at accessorising too. She has beads and chains and earrings that match everything.

In recent years, mum has moved more into a kind of avante garde sense of fashion. She goes for comfort, but then goes over the top with beads and things. She loves to experiment with colours and textures. I think she looks great, there are some items I have to question, but, I love that she is nearly 70 and is still exploring new styles.

I also love Audrey Hepburn’s simplicity and Kate Moss’s complexity.

I have a clutch of bloggers who inspire me to be more stylish everyday, like:

Nikki from Styling You

Kimba from Kimbalikes

Emily from The Beetle Shack

Rachel from Redcliffe Style

Dee from Mama Stylista

and all of those out there posting photos of REAL people wearing REAL people clothes…

Do you think of yourself as ‘Stylish?’

The main reason Mr Cool and I decided to leave Australia and teach in London was the opportunity to travel. Right at the top of my list was Holland.

My parents are Dutch, my dad came to Australia with his family when he was a young teenager, he came from the rough and tumble streets of Amsterdam. My mum also travelled here with her family a few years later, she was in her mid-teens. She hearlded from a small town north of Groningen, a place called Meppel (she tells people she is Fresian, which is funny on a few levels).

My dad’s family was my mum’s family’s ‘Sponsor Family’. They made sure that schools, churches, jobs were found. As nature has it, my dad and my eldest uncle became firm friends. And again, as nature would have it, my dad noticed his best mate’s cute little sister. And the rest is history.

My parents tried really hard to fit into the Australian culture, but, as much as they tried to be Aussie – they were Dutch. Through and through. I had hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) on my toast in the morning, liverwurst on my sandwiches for lunch and ate stamppot for dinner. My dad wore socks and sandals. We had lace curtains in our loungeroom (some even had BEADS on them!) and a carpet on our dining table. No amount of weetbix or vegemite can turn a Dutch person into an Aussie.

The photo above is taken from the plane that took us from London to Amsterdam. Fields of tulips, canals winding through the land, trains zipping along gleaming tracks.

My heart was fit to burst flying into the country of my parents. It was a feeling I will hold with me forever. I was going to be walking on the land my parents walked on as children. Land my grandparents walked on, and their parents. This was my homeland.

While walking through the airport, I kind of morphed into the landscape. Mr Cool turned to me with wide eyes, “You look just like everyone else here.” he said.  He was right. I can’t describe it, I was amongst my kind. I was in a place where other people had blonde hair (my natural colour, don’t tell anyone) and big brown eyes, rotund bottoms and short waists.

To be revisiting Amsterdam as part of this project is so good. Good for my soul. I love remembering where I came from. I love remembering where I have been.

In case you don’t believe me about the being blonde bit… Here is Mr Cool and I, ten years ago, in a friend’s house in Holland, I am sitting beside my friend’s pet wolf. As you do, in Holland.

Where is your family from?

Have you been somewhere where you just ‘fit’ and you don’t know why?

Have you ever been to Amsterdam?

Stay tuned, this month I will be sharing:

Photos of our time in Amsterdam – 10 years ago

My thoughts on the Red Light District

Knick-nacks from my mum’s house

Why I didn’t go into the Anne Franke House

Check out my ‘If Project – Amsterdam’ board for lots of Dutch goodness

Today, you turn 8.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl….

Here are 8 parts of you…

1. YOU – You are so amazing. You are smart and smiley, beautiful and boisterous, hilarious and helpful. You love school. You love swimming. You love soccer. You love your grandparents. You love all your cousins. You are one loving soul!

2. ME – You are so helpful and fun, we laugh a lot. You like to tell me ALL about your day and you love it when I get involved in what you are doing. You love helping me cook and you are really great with helping me remember things. There is so much light and love and sparkle around you, it is contagious.

3. DAD – Your dad loves hanging out with you. He loves that you like sport but you are still girlie. He sees so much of himself in you  - which is why he knows you most likely did not sleep last night because you would have been too excited about your birthday!

4. MISS Z - You are a great big sister: you share, you play, you take turns. But, you can be bossy. You may want to tone that down a little. Miss Z loves playing with you and loves cooking up adventures and games and songs with you. Just a quick question though: why the American accents when you play? (It is very cute.)

5. BABYCOOL - Oh my goodness, does your little brother love YOU! He gets so excited when he can play with you. He loves being on the trampoline with you and LOVES it when you play trains with him. You are showing him all kinds of great things. I love seeing how much you love ‘Mr Adorable’.

6. STUFF - You love your soft toy brocoli from Ikea and you have a Broncos teddy bear called ‘Sam Bear-day,’ they have prime bed position at the moment. You love maps and flags and you like to remember random facts. You know some pretty cool knock-knock jokes too. You draw and draw and draw, it is very cool to see all the amazing things you come up with.

7. NONSENSE - You pick your nose… it is gross. Please stop. You don’t like zucchini or pumpkin but you will eat broccoli and cauliflower. You don’t like it when people don’t listen to you, but you can yell over the top of anyone who argues with you. You aspire to be as funny as your mum one day

8. OTHER - Your favourite colour is yellow. Your favourite food is rice-paper rolls. You love watching footy with dad. You don’t like getting your hair washed. You LOVE reading. You don’t like throwing anything out. You love being with your family.

I love you baby girl. I hope that today is amazing. Can’t wait to see what this year brings your way.

All my love,

Mummy

Mother’s Day for me this year was about COMFORT. I wanted to feel cute and I didn’t want anything pulling, or tugging, or waiste squeezy clothes. PLUS, I wanted to ignore the obviousness of Winter.

Here is what I came up with…

Jelly Shoes: I love sandals and fight to wear them as much as I can. These clear jellies are super cute and comfy. I couldn’t decide between all the MANY colours on the jbeans.com.au website, so I went for clear. I am going to attempt to wear these with socks. There may be photographic evidence.

Maxi Skirt: This fabulous Dashi Maxi Skirt was sent to me by the lovely Leonie from Verily** to ‘play’ with. Kind of a mean thing to do, sending a girl who loves clothes, clothes to PLAY with. Naturally, I HAD to buy it. This maxi skirt is all kinds of comfortable. Soft fabric with a nice wide elastic in the waistband makes it comfortable and flattering. It will be a great addition to my mid-season wardrobe: I am sure to wear leggings underneath, and boots and jackets and scarves with it for a great winter look too. I think it could be dressed up with crisp white and black or dressed down with colours like orange and yellow and even red.

T-Shirt: I love long sleeved t-shirts, great for layering and great on their own. This black round necked one is heading into its second season, I am glad I spent a bit extra and bought from Sussan, thier clothes tend to keep their shape longer than one season.

Necklace: This fabulous yellow and black and grey necklace was given to me by BabyCool for my birthday last week. He found it on made-it, isn’t he so clever to know just what I liked and also my PayPal details!? Check out more super cool necklaces and things at Red Raspberry. I am loving the POP of colour it is giving to my winter wardrobe, which no matter how hard I try seems to be all about greys and blacks…

Trying to get a photo of the kids and I was not a straightforward thing thanks to BabyCool… Did we get there in the end?

I hope you all had a great day yesterday celebrating motherhood…

Did you dress for comfort too?

(Please tell me you did!)

You know how you get those people who get all uppity about Valentine’s Day? They say that you should show love everyday of the year and all that rot. I happen to LOVE Valentine’s Day – I love that it is a chance to shower the one you love with small gifts, have a candle lit dinner and remember why the heck you chose that particular person over all others.

I prefer to get all uppity about Mother’s Day.

I love the gifts bit, the hand made cards and the cute bubble baths in lurid colours that there is NO way I will ever use… I love the early morning cups of tea in bed with flannelette clothed cherubs with red rosy cheeks and messed up hair.

What I DON’T love is this whole notion of ‘being good because it is Mother’s Day’. Really don’t like that.

I think that if a child can behave on Mother’s Day – then, surely, the child should be able to behave all year round. Surely. I know, this is the teacher in me coming out…

I have particularly well behaved children. Yes, they fight, pick their noses, argue back and are currently on a mission to perfect their fake burping, but all in all… they are REALLY great kids. However, I have heard them (and myself to be truly honest) telling each other to ‘be good, it is Mother’s Day’. THAT is not what it is all about.

My perfect Mother’s Day (well, the one I choose today, this notion will no doubt change by next year – please feel very sorry for Mr Cool) would be a quiet day with the children where I bask in the amazingness that I have them. Where we celebrate that we are a family. Where they acknowledged the work I do for them, didn’t roll their eyes and did not pick their noses in public. A day where I didn’t have to plan and organise all the meals.

Whenever I see a dog running along lonely and forlorn along the street, I always think back to that advertising campaign the RSPCA did a few years ago…. ‘Dogs are for life – not just for Christmas’, remember that?  This morning, a scruffy, wet dog was wondering around the street and I thought back to this ad… and thought… that is the same for mums! We are here, slogging it out, for LIFE… Let’s celebrate that everyday, not just on Mother’s Day.

So… I made a printable… Which is the image at the top of the screen. In case you need to print it out put it on the fridge.

Mums are for LIFE…

How is your Mother’s Day going?