Aw c'mon! Let me on the roller coaster!!

Yes, it is true. I am freakishly short in the Netherlands. That's why I get the comment from guys "Wow, you're beautiful....but you're short." Here's a shout out to my Grandma Rosie for passing down the vertically challenged genes to me! :)

Here's one way to get the guy...

Ladies, listen up! Just in case you wanted to attract the "right" kind of man - there is a perfume just for you. Yes, it is called Cannabis. For only 29.99 you can smell just like pot.
Mmmm, MMM!

The Yummiest Peanut Butter Cookies on Earth

Three ingredients, my friends. The easiest and tastiest cookies ever! Regular or vegan - recipe follows as posted on vegweb.com
Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of peanut butter
1 egg or Ener-g egg substitute to equal 1 egg

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Mix ingredients together.
3. Using a spoon round out dough on a cookie sheet.
4. With fork or two fingers press center of the cookie.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
6. Enjoy!!

My friend rolls her cookies in more vegan sugar before she bakes them.
Serves: 10-12
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Coolio Pictures of Germany

Travels to Germany

Here are some neat-o things worth mentioning from my travels alone to Germany.

1. Cologne is the mecca of all things donuty and pretzely. It is the Kingdom of Heaven of Carbs. The stands are everywhere and these delightful pieces of goodness stare you in the face until you succumb to their power and eat the giant morsels that go straight to your ass.

2. The German trains are much nicer than Dutch trains, until you are shaken awake by the German police barking at you because you are traveling alone from Amsterdam and demand to see your ticket and passport and ask many questions about your visit to Germany since you highly resemble a dealer of drugs in your hot pink sweatshirt and pigtails. Be warned. Pigtails = drug smuggler...

3. There is a store. A giant department store with a beautiful market underneath. In the market there is food. Samples of food. FREE food. Yummy lunch for me :) I tried everything, but the cheese (duh).

4. Becoming a recent vegan/vegetarian (sigh, I've changed my ways back, but at this time I was still doing the vegan thing) - you begin to notice the huge amount of sausage, meat, meat, some more meat, and pig like entrail things hanging all over Germany. I passed all of the beer gardens where they only served meat and creamy things and found a little Chinese restaurant to partake in. No one was there. Well, as they always say..."When in Rome...."

5. On to the shopping. It was much cheaper in Cologne than Amsterdam, so I bought a few things. I needed some toothpaste, and asked some people around me if I was in the right place. People in Germany speak German. No, really. German - not English. So as I was about to make my toothpaste purchase, a very kind girl pulled me aside and said it broken English "You about buy denture." JE ZUS! Thanks! I am forever in this girl's debt because I would have been brushing my little toothies with old people denture cream. Yoikes!

6. The Dom Cathedral. I spent most of my mornings sitting outside the Starbucks (yes, they still exist!! just not in the Netherlands) looking directly at the Dom Cathedral which to me is one of the most beautiful and amazing structures known to man. I attended mass there on Sunday and it was a thrilling experience.

7. The concerts. Hilliard Ensemble plus Singer Pur equals the most perfect sound I have ever heard live. I can't even describe the absolute beauty and purity that rang in the cathedral that evening. As for the War Requiem, conducted by Rilling, you try to compose yourself, but when the baritone soldier sings to the tenor soldier "I am the enemy you killed, my friend. I knew you in this dark; for so you frowned yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed. I parried; but my hands were loath and cold. Let us sleep now..." you can't help but lose control of your emotions. You weep for wars past, you weep for what is happening in America now, you weep for your own struggles, you weep for those you love. You can't stop weeping. When Rilling gives the last movement of his baton and the instruments and voices fall still - nobody moves for two minutes. Two full minutes of frozen silence. You feel as though time is standing absolutely still, then a sniffle, and another one, and everyone has tears falling onto their laps. As soon as Rilling's hands go down, all at once the audience bursts into an applause that lasts for twenty minutes. It is amazing how music can truly touch our souls in such a way that these moments will stay in our minds forever.

Short Story

One time there was an old man who owned an apartment in Amsterdam. A lovely young woman by the name of J rented a room in the apartment and her sister was staying with her for a while. To prepare for the old man coming back to his apartment to get some medical tests done in Amsterdam, C and her best friend KC cleaned and organized to the best of their ability.
However...things were not as bright and shiny as they seemed. C attempted to fix the bedside table drawer in the old man's room with "super glue" that she found in the fridge and in turn, glued the entire drawer shut. The shower drain was so clogged with the long luscious hair of the three ladies that as soon as the water was turned on, the shower nearly overflowed onto the bedroom carpet (of the old man's room). To fix said issue, C and KC attemped to decipher the Dutch cleaners under the kitchen sink, found one with a picture of a drain on it, and poured it down the drain. Not only did it not work, it clogged the drain even more. Things only got better from there. J thought it would be a good idea to defrost the iced over tiny freezer, and did so forgetting about the bottom tray. Right after the old man arrived and sat down to watch TV, KC noticed leaks coming out of the fridge. As soon as she opened the fridge, KC and C saw that all of the food was soaked with cold water. "Wait" said C, "I know - we have to empty out the bottom tray because J defrosted the freezer." Keep in mind that the bottom tray existed high above both girls' heads. Ever so carefully the girls pulled the tray out and then SWOOOOOSH - the water went EVERYWHERE. All over the kitchen, their clothes, the trash can, everything...
Thankfully, the old man was distracted by National Geographic, so the girls ran into his bedroom, grabbed all of the towels they could, mopped up everything as fast as possible, and shoved the towels into the washer. It was excellent timing because at that moment the old man's daughter walked in with groceries for him.
C and KC go into the bedroom and began laughing at their ridiculous luck with timing. At that moment, they here a grunt from the old man (oh, god - what now?). Turns out the washing machine decided to break at that moment, but the old man is scratching his head and puzzled because all of the towels in the machine are soaking wet, so it MUST be working. KC and C exchange glances and decide to play dumb and not tell him that the reason his towels are all wet was because of the freezer catastrophe.
The next day, the old man discovers the shower issue. He walks up to C, grabs her ponytail and grunts "You...long hair. Me...no hair" and points in the direction of the drain. C puts her winning smile on and says "Yes, but J...MUCH longer hair." It's always good to blame it on the older sister - J I love you!!! :)
As for the drawer that C glued shut, nothing was said.

And might I add, I may be blonde, but I have yet to drive off with the gas nozzle still in the tank like my mother used to do. Oh and to add to that...she locked her keys in her car the other day while the car was on with the air conditioning running. Gotta love it!

Shout out to all my blonde friends!! HOLLA!!

Herengracht, Hotties, and Hookers - oh my!

Well, my bestest gal pal visited for a week and needless to say, there was much partying, sleeping in, more partying, more sleeping in....argh, I miss her already! Since I tend to lean towards the notion of "What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam" I think I shall just post some picks for your enjoyment.


And yes, for those of you who know dear KC, knows that this girl has never been caught dead in heels, let alone sexy red heels. Bwah ha ha (insert evil laugh) I have changed her ways...Come visit me, and I will help you look like you belong in the Red Light District ;)

Dutch inDuctions and Dirty Dancin' Dutchies

My sister was inducted into the Dutch Hall 'o' Fame where the mayor talked in the City Hall of Enschede for about 5 hours in Dutch....and then she got a flag. No, really - she is now officially Dutch and denying her Texas heritage. She's going down! My bro-in-law's family came for the big event, and since his parents speak little English and his Oma...none, I was actually silent for most of the weekend. I know, I know. Who knew I could keep my mouth shut? To celebrate my sister's confirmation/initiation/induction/allIremembeisfreefoodanddrinks...tion, we went to a Texas restaurant to celebrate. Since I was the only true Texan, I got the rest of the fam arrested and placed in jail. As you can see by my BIL's dad's hat, it was quite the party :) (Does that make him my half in-law? or in-law in-law? or perhaps outlaw)

The next night we went to A and M's wedding reception. During Dutch wedding receptions, the caterers walk around with once plate of food every hour or so. Therefore, P (my BIL) and I like to stalk the caterers and fill up as fast as possible. Yes, folks, he is wearing a Stetson. So I decided to stay away from the notion of anything alcoholic that night since I had been sick the whole week before (OJ anyone?) and let me just say...watching my sister "party" the night away made me realize "Yoikes! My friends look pretty silly when they are drunky drunk...is that what I look like?" (Sigh). Of course I HAD to start the dancing, and it took the Dutch quite a few drinks before they would even get out there. Everybody was making out with their significant others, and I thought to myself...Self? I shall go home and enjoy my book on this fine Saturday eve. And I did! My single life can be wild and crazy at times, boy oh boy. Eh, well. The grass is always greener on the other side...

Adventures in CaitLand

Okay, so we all know the book "No Good, Very Bad Day" right? So I left out the day of the VP dinner.

Cait buys bike bags and feels really cool because they are bright orange with pink flowers.
Cait buys ingredients to bake cake for VP dinner from Asian market.
Cait puts all ingredients on one side of bike bag, stops at light, and proceeds to fall over with bike on top of her.
Cait jumps back up with a new bruise, but a teethy grin - "I'm alright!" she shouts to no one in particular.
Cait goes to grocery store to find rest of cake ingredients.
Cait can't find cocoa powder. It does not exist. It is an important element of said cake. She calls sister in panic. Sister does not answer. She calls friend, JB in panic. JB leads her to cocoNUT things. "No!" she yells at kind and helpful friend - "Don't you know what cocoa powder is?"
Cait leaves store pissed off.
Cait drops lightbulbs she just purchased and breaks them.
Cait attempts to shove grocery bags in new bike bags, but they don't fit and bike falls over on Cait hard. New bruises, no teethy grin.
Cait drops grocery bag and the entire contents fall out on the sidewalk.
Little random girl laughs at Cait.
Cait yells at little random girl and then feels very bad.....but not bad enough to say she's sorry.
Cait has nervous breakdown, kicks the bike, yells a bad word, and gets another bruise.
Cait walks the bike home and has no time to bake cake.

So to follow the (ahem) burp story, it turns out that I got a huge case of food allergy/food poisoning that lasted longer than a lifetime. My tongue swelled up, and leaving out the gory details, it was the kind of sick where you can't sleep, you can't read, you can't do anything but sit in a lot of pain and feel reeeaaallll sorry for yourself. At that point, I wanted my Marme big time, and lo and behold - the phone kept ringing off the hook. Almost to the point where I needed it to STOP ringing. So here's the shout out to my peeps:

To J (my sis): Thanks for everything - the calling, the cleaning, the sunflowers, the medicine, the caring.
To BIL: Thanks for letting me tell you the gory details and being the brother I never had.
To Marme: Thanks for calling and caring and loving from far away.
To Papa: Thanks for calling and caring and loving from far away.
To JB: Thanks for calling every two hours b/c you are my best friend here, and you know you are the one I turn to in the time of need.
To my other friends: (sniff) I love you all - even though you didn't call. You just didn't know.

To add insult to injury, I was screamed at last night by the train conductor ticket puncher guy b/c I got on an international train. Oops! He decided to yell at me not once, but twice - and the second time he got in my face I calmly said "Does it make you feel better to yell at me? Because if so, please continue." His face turned about three shades of red, but then he just stopped and turned around in a huff. He was doing it just to embarrass me, but I was too tired to care. I'm just getting too old for these shenanigans ;)

The Gas We Pass...

Okay, by those of you who know me and love me - know my "hidden" secret. YES, I am lactose intolerant, and it's getting worse which possibly makes me the World's Gassiest Person. (sigh) The vice-president at J's company invited us over for a lovely dinner with her partner and her brother. They live in a fantastic house that looks like the model for every Crate & Barrel catalog with three huge dogs and not a dog hair in sight. We had some wine with dinner, and I am discovering that wine affects my level of stomach tolerance as well. After dinner was game time! My favorite time!! We played Taboo, and during my turn I open my mouth and the loudest, most disgusting burp reverberates off of the wall. What was even more embarrassing was the fact that it was so unexpected that it looked like I meant to just "let one out." It was the type of burp that exists in a room full of men hollering at a football game while drinking huge amounts of beer. It was the type of burp that doesn't actually come out of a woman's mouth, let alone a woman sitting at the dinner table of the vice-president of her sister's company.
Holy crap!
But I did redeem myself in a way.....I made the VP's partner laugh so loud that beer came out of her nose :)

I am including in this blog a picture of a package sent by my dear Papa to my sister. My father has never been one to master the art of wrapping - most of our Christmas and Birthday presents have been covered in newspaper or plastic bags, but this one takes the cake. If you look close enough, you will see the gift covered with masking tape wrapped around.....a hand towel. A hand towel. Papa, I must ask....was there a plethra of hand towels in your house? I mean, I guess it is more environmentally conscious to use what you have and not give into the world of bubble wrap. Ah, we love you - it made for some HI-larious laughter!

The Wells Girls at the Concertgebouw

Gay Pride

Man, oh man! Yesterday was crazy fun! I went to the Gay Pride Parade with a new friend who actually looks like George Michael which was fitting. At first I had to sit on his shoulders to be able to see, but then he found a guy he knew on one of the boats in the actual canal. We got to watch the parade from front row seats - so close to the boats that we could touch the people going by. It turned out the boat we were on was THE party boat - much drinking and dancing involved. Needless to say, I was dancing like crazy every time a boat would pass with loud music playing and somehow bruised up my legs so badly that I look like I have purple stumps for legs. The news boat kept filming our boat, so I think I was on the news yesterday! Oh yeah, and when I meet people, they just call me "Texas."
I guess I now represent the entire state :) Be afraid....be very afraid.

An Afternoon with An Important Person

So today I went to visit the only Dutch music contact I have over here. He is a retired singer and knows many people and is a very important person. He invited me over for coffee, so I dressed up in my nice (but not too nice) black wrap dress for our first meeting together. Yeeeeaaahhh....wrap dress + bike does not mix! It was too late for me to go back and change, so I steered with one hand while ever so ladylike and delicately bunching up the dress in the middle of the seat while holding it with all of my might. Of course braking proved to be a bit of an issue as well - I simply discovered that braking with one hand does NOT mean that the bike will actually stop. Awkward times. Not as bad as when I was with my friend Amanda and for no reason at all just
ever....
so....
slowly....
tipped to the left and completely fell with the bike on top of me.
Back to the dress - I found the man's apartment and stopped to park my bike, not knowing that he was standing directly in front of me parking his bike, and right at the moment that he looks up and recognizes me, a huge gust of wind comes by and there goes the dress. Way to make a first impression.
The next episode appeared in the actual house. Everything is going swimmingly, and he is offering much advice and help. I asked to use the restroom and it was up not only the typical steep, teeny, tiny, twisting Dutch stairs...there was no railing. Right....and I'm in heels. To climb the stairs, I had to actually put my hands on the steps to balance and pull myself up. Okay, fine because he is in the other room. However, to come back DOWN the stairs, I had to sit on each step and scoot my bottom down like the five-year-old kid on "The Sound of Music" who sings "the sun, has gone, to bed and so must I" and of course, he walks into the kitchen with the coffee pot right at that moment. My "scooting the butt" moment. I didn't know what to do. He kind of stopped and looked at me with a confused look upon his face.
(Sigh)
Good God...
I was "butt scooting" in the house of a very famous classical singer who has an entire bookshelf of performances that he has recorded over the last forty years.

Sunset on the Amsterdam Beach

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones...

Rule #1
Never, and I mean never stand in the middle of a Dutch bike path.

Rule #2
If accidentally stepping in said bike path, never gaze off into the distance and forget where you are standing.

Rule #3
If accidentally gazing off, forgetting the fact that you are in said Dutch bike path, never wave at the people and say loudly "Sorry!" It's better to pretend you are deaf and blind.

They are out to kill and will stop for no one...

And if your new Dutch friend offers you some candy and it looks like stick off of a tree. Do not, under any circumstances accept. It really is a stick. I was not given instructions on how to eat the candy, so I spent an hour trying to suck the "wooden juices?" from the center. Then I came to find out that you are supposed to CHEW the wood, so that when it's pulled from your mouth it looks like something belonging to Fido. Yeah....

To My Music Lovers

Just a few things that I am about to see:

The Netherlands Chamber Choir performs different concerts twice a month
The Netherlands Radio Choir performs every month
The Nederlandse Bachvereniging (Bach Choir)
Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Ensemble (Koopman)

Heading to the music festival in Utrecht in late August to see:
The Huelgas Ensemble
L'armonia Sonora and Peter Kooij
Cappella Amsterdam (Reuss) performing Jephta
Heading to Bonn, Germany the beginning of September to see:
The Choir of King's College
The Hilliard Ensemble
RIAS Kammerchor
Academy of St. Martins
and Rilling conduct Britten's War Requiem

Oh yeah, also:
The Sixteen in December
Academy of Ancient Music in December
The Monteverdi Choir in October
Rene Jacobs conducting Julius Cesare with Sandrine Piau as Cleopatra in February

I can't wait!

Getting Lost #6

I shall call this more of a blogett, rather than a blog. Let's keep it short and sweet. Okay - so I am in Enschede on the weekends (my country home) and today my sister and I walked to the beautiful park. It's full of tall trees, ponds, animals, and many different trails. It was so beautiful, that I decided to go back there on my bike an hour later. I was mesmerized by how peaceful it was, so I stopped to watch the little ducklings and pet the pony, etc. I could hear that morning song they always play in cartoons when the sun is rising and everything is jolly. Yeah, you know the one. I kept riding and riding for about an hour, taking different trails until I reached a highway - wait, what? Yeah, I was lost with no map. I asked a girl where we were, and it turned out that somehow I ended up in the next city, so I rode on the bike path next to the highway for a LONG time trying to get back to Enschede (Paul B., you would have been proud...) Needless to say, I will be investing in some padded shorts. Yeeowzah!

Vondelpark

Seeing, Touching, Tasting, Smelling, and....Herring?

Ah yes....the Dutch tradition of grabbing a raw herring by the tail and sliding it straight down your throat followed by some yummy raw onions and pickles. Mmmm, mmm good. The market place in Amsterdam is open every day. A fantastic row of tents filled with clothes, shoes, nuts, candies, sunglasses, purses, fruits, vegetables, and fresh fish. The party I was with that day included JG, P, and a friend of JG's named R. We were feeling like trying many Dutch things that day including Dutch apple pie and herring. We ate the herring with a fork instead of the traditional "slide down the throat", and it was probably the nastiest thing I have ever tasted. You know that smell when you drive by a sewage plant that caught on fire next to a field filled with manure and dead birds rotting in the sun? That's what raw herring tastes like.

The City That Sort Of/Not Really Sleeps

The City

You would be proud! I only got lost five times in a week! Twice on my bike, once on the wrong train, wrong tram, and then in a taxi where the man did not speak English and I had no idea what my address was (yeah, I know - you live and you learn). People, people everywhere. I love it! It's bustling and crazy and there are so many places to just sit, drink a coffee, and people watch. My sister and I went out last week and found Leidseplein Square full of people salsa dancing with a live band in the background. The next day that area had a hip-hop group performing. There is always something fun and free to do.

Brood

Okay, I have to add this because P thought it was HI-larious. It turns out that there are many types of broodjes that must be cooked in the oven first. I, however, not being a native speaker did not know this, and I thought I was just eating some really nasty tasting bread at dinner. Raw bread. Ewwww!

Biking

So I have figured out the Dutch way to ride a bike! First, you put a look on your face that you are bored because OF COURSE you know where you are going. Second, you lightly place the right hand on the handlebars whilst riding, and your left hand is used to feed you, hold up your cell phone, put on make-up, anything goes. When signaling to turn right or left, you must put your hand down low to indicate which way you are going. That is to say, you don't do what I did for a long time which was throw my arm up almost to my head and look like a big dorky bird about to take flight. In one of these pictures, you will see a giant bike of about ten guys who are enjoying their bachelor party while pedaling the movable bar down the street.

Wet Bottoms & Caffeine Highs

Hallo!

Okay - finally the first official blog! I know many of you have been asking what is going on over here on the other side of ocean, so here you go. I will break this first blog up into categories so that you may skip over anything that doesn't interest you. This is the perfect sized car for me - too bad I can't drive here.

Weather

I like clothes....cute summery dresses, bright sunshine colors, fun beachy jewelry. Yeah - um, my wardrobe here consists of sweatshirts, long jeans, my rainproof trenchcoat and a plethra of other cold weather clothes. It rains every day and gets really cool at night. Oh, and since I walk/bike everywhere, my high heels and wedge shoes plan on gathering dust in the closet. I have finally succumbed to the wonderful world of flats - height deficiency be damned! We open the windows and doors in our apartment to let the cool air in, but close them at night because I learned the hard way that if you don't, you become a nice supper for mosquitos! I have three bites on my face alone!

Language

When I said, "Oh everyone speaks English in Amsterdam" I think I spoke a little too soon. Almost everything is in Dutch which led me to take the wrong train at one point. Thank god for JG (my sister) and cell phones! I am working really hard trying to get words down - so far I know the basic words (please, thank you, etc.) and the most important word to me - "brood" meaning bread. Which leads me to the next subject - this place is a breadaholics's dream! They eat bread for breakfast, for snack, for lunch, for snack, for dinner, for snack, with tea, with coffee, and so on. Thank goodness I bike everywhere and joined the gym! By the way....it's a 40 minute bike ride just to get to the gym. While trying to speak the language, JG thinks I sound really German.

Coffee

When I was told - the Dutch drink a lot of strong coffee, I thought to myself, "Self? No caffeine after noon" but it is so hard. The coffee is excellent and it is offered throughout the entire day, including after dinner. Now those of you who know me well, know that I can only have so much caffeine in one day (ahem, McDonald and your damn espresso machine!), so I have to be the nerdy one who asks for decaf and receives that"LOOK" from the Dutch folk.

Food

This is just the beginning of my food discussion. In Amsterdam, there are so many different cultures living together, that every type of food is available. Tapas are very popular as well as Indonesian rice tables. JG and I made a delicious dish of frozen spinach, lentils, thick bacon, and curry sauce. In the words of the much loved/hated Rachel Ray "Yumm-o!" Oh yeah, cheese is a big deal. A BIG deal! The Dutch are known for their amazing cheeses. And sometimes it's hidden within a dish (oops!).....JG are you reading this? Did I mention how lucky I am to have you as a sister :) Of course I have already learned "niet melk" (no milk). Before eating a meal, one says "eet smakelijk" wishing the rest of your companions to eat well. I am very excited to try erwtensoep "thick pea soup" and appelgebak "traditional Dutch apple pie."

Kingsley

That's my bike! I named him Kingsley because it just fits. Since everyone rides bikes, you want your bike to look a little beat-up so it doesn't get stolen. There are bike paths EVERYWHERE - and you can see all types of people from four-year-olds to little old ladies truckin' it down the ole' path. The only scary part is that someone can open their car door on the side of the road and BAM - talk about pain! My sister and I saw a terrible movie the other night, and the people in the movie theater talked through the entire movie, rustled their candy wrappers, and answered their cell phones in the theater! Later that night, I read in one of my Dutch guides that this behavior was not unusual. After the movie, it was about 12:30 AM and pouring rain, and what was our form of transportation???!!?? That's right! Wet bottoms all around. Riding in the pouring rain with a jean jacket taught me the importance of preparation for any kind of weather here!

The Dam

This is the big city square in Amsterdam with tons of cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, clothing boutiques, you name it! JG and I spent an entire afternoon just in two of the tiny side streets. Oh, OH!! And the pastry shops! We found a cute little French pastry shop and shared a delicious almond cookie that I had attempted to make from the Martha Stewart Handbook, but this one was so much better. It takes me much longer to shop in the grocery store or drug store because the items are in Dutch, and I want to be quite sure that I am not purchasing pig asses or something like that.

Enschede

This is where we go on the weekends - it's where JG actually lives. P (JG's hubby) picked us up from the train station late Friday night. Did I mention how long it takes to get there? 2 1/2 hours plus hauling our luggage and changing trains 3 to 4 times. Yeeeeaahh.......P met us at the station and brought me a bouquet of beautiful pink flowers to welcome me here. I tried to memorize an entire phrase to say to him since I would be living with him and my sister for a while. The phrase was "Ik wil graag ontbijt op mijn kamer" (I'd like breakfast in my room). Enschede is a great little town and this is where my sister's friends live. I went to my first book club meeting yesterday - the book was "Blindness" by Jose Saramago. If you like reading about the fall of mankind, utter chaos, and lots of fecal matter - this book comes highly recommended ;) JG's friends are awesome - one is from Brazil, one from Venzuela, one other American, and a lovely Dutch flight attendant who hosted the party. I thought that the book club was a very serious matter, so I stayed up late the night before finishing the book. Turns out Book Club = great food, Sangria, lots of gossip, and about ten minutes talking about the book in the span of five hours.

Many more pictures and stories to come.
Tot naast klokken,

Cait