Took Lemonade to the park for playtime with Norman and Hovis. They make easy friends. Their parents kept commenting on Lemonade’s eyes. Made me think of this photo.

Met Tim Bleeker at Somerlust Park on Tuesday, a get-together that started as “chilling in the park”, and which turned into grabbing a drink at l’Osteria. The venue is not one I can recommend. When requesting a bigger table because more people would be coming, the waiter scoffed at us. Then he closed the red velvet roped entrance. Later, his colleague told me people often just barge into the venue, ignoring waiters' requests. (Continue)

After two weeks in Scandinavia, it’s clear: we are both too Dutch for proper recycling. Secretly hoarding our trash to avoid a reprimanding from our AirBnb host as he hovers over his six-compartment recycling bin, we continue our trip from rural Sweden to Copenhagen looking for a public recycling station. “Imagine if we got so nervous about doing it wrong that we ended up just dumping these bags by the roadside” I say to Anja. (Continue)

Life sure is different now that we’ve gotten Lemonade on a proper walking schedule. She still feels most comfortable going potty on the puppy pads we have on our balcony, but she absolutely loves going out and exploring the neighborhood. I’m surprised by how well she walks on a loose leash, and how few issues we’ve had with the stuff she puts in her mouth. I’m hoping to make most use of her imprint period, and that means familiarizing her with as many different things as possible. (Continue)

Much like last year, I’m so excited for Mathilde to visit our house that I get a headache just thinking about it. We’ve known each other 23 years, and, by miracle, our friendship is both acclimatized to our adult lives and as full of energy and curiosity as it was when we met in our first year of secondary school. She comes bearing gifts: seeds for the garden, dyke poetry, David Sedaris. (Continue)

I got to meet one of my Internet heroes this week: Patrick Rhone and his family were on a Europe trip, and I was lucky enough to catch the planning stage on his blog right in time to extend an invitation. We spent a rainy Monday evening in de Jordaan at Cafe de Tuin, talking ye olde Internet productivity culture, the arts, politics, hopes and dreams, and how his teenage daughter apparently woke up one night singing “raise a glass to freedom”. (Continue)

It snowed a few times this week and I was as baffled as I always am to see it happening in March. I don’t have a great understanding of what the weather’s supposed to do in a given period of the year. After two weeks of cocooning, we’ve finally been taking Lemonade out to various places. I aim to take her out at least once a day, usually to the park or a walk around the block. (Continue)