Giving Thanks

Something wonderful happens once 1 November rolls around, that is if you’re American. The countdown to Thanksgiving begins! At the end of three loooong weeks where the days get shorter and the light autumn air abruptly turns to winter, you know that on the third Thursday of the month, at 9am sharp, Al Roker will cut the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ribbon in Central Park and the holiday season will officially begin!

And Now We Give Thanks

I made the decision to stay in Amsterdam for Thanksgiving, and for the three weeks leading up to Turkey day, regretted it every single day. Thanksgiving is a family holiday. It’s a time when the emails actually stop, you reflect on the last year, you’re surrounded by family and friends, and you eat all of my favorite foods. However, it wasn’t until Thanksgiving that I realized I had made the right choice this year (not to be cliché or anything).

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I was invited to my friend Wren’s house for her ‘friendsgiving.’ Friendsgiving is becoming more and more popular as friends gather before the holiday for a potluck. She did an amazing job cooking two turkeys (!) and bringing together a big crowd of 22 expats and Dutch friends alike.

 

 

Turkey Time!

And then it was time for the big day. After unsuccessfully trying to find a weekend date to get together with a few colleagues for drinks due to crazy schedules – and hearing how they have never celebrated Thanksgiving – it hit me. Why don’t I make my own Thanksgiving and host some colleagues?

What started as a small conversation about grabbing drinks with 6 people quickly turned out to be an invite for the team, which is an absolutely amazing thing…if you are a confident turkey-cooker. As a complete novice, a slight panic started to sink in. I slowly transformed my table for 6-8 into a table for 13 and committed to cooking a full, proper Thanksgiving dinner.

 

 

 

Over the last year I’ve been getting more and more comfortable with the idea that it is ok to fail (thank you, Tara Rush). However, failure was not an option here. After all, how could I ruin the first Thanksgiving for all these people! So I did what any other terrified poultry cooker would do…I started small with a chicken to test out my tiny Dutch oven’s capacity to roast. Success! On to bigger and better.

I worked from home the afternoon of Thanksgiving. Big mistake. What should’ve been a [wo]man vs. bird moment became a [wo]man vs. bird vs. email/to do list situation. Lesson #1: cooking a turkey is not as simple as plopping it in the oven for 5 hours and turning your attention to something else, especially if you have a tiny Dutch oven that shuts off every 15-20 minutes.

Sometimes birds come with remnants of being…a bird. Lesson #2: when cooking a turkey, plucking off some feathers may be part of the experience. Just get over it. And you must season it. Thank God for Facebook and time differences, SOS texts messages to my mom, and friends who came to my rescue via social media to guide me thru the seasoning/cooking process.

 

 

 

 

Cooking the turkey to perfection is one thing. Carving the turkey is another. As the turkey was almost done, my guests started to arrive. Between apps and drinks, the final meal preparations were made. Including the carving of the bird. Lesson #3: You cannot should not carve a turkey with a bread knife. Thankful for a colleague who stepped in to help initially, and we’re both thankful for our colleague who then stepped in to actually carve the damn thing.

 

 

 

 

 

To accompany the turkey I made all my most favourite Thanksgiving sides: stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows (imported from the U.S.), and mac and cheese. Colleagues brought mashed potatoes, corn bread, cranberry sauce, and salad to add to the mix. And let’s not forget dessert – brownies, and four pies…

 

 

 

 

 

Thirteen people, 7 dishes, 5 desserts and several bottles of beer and wine later, we had one proper Thanksgiving!

Before we sat down for the main course, I casually mentioned that we would take part in an American tradition: everyone would say what they are thankful for at the dinner table. The looks on my Dutch colleagues faces were priceless! So, that was quickly followed up by a “if you feel comfortable.” And, I’m pleased to say, by the end of the night, everyone had shared what they were thankful for. 1 point for the American.

While I may have been very far away from my family and friends, this Thanksgiving I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful for getting to spread the joy of Thanksgiving to those who have become my family in Amsterdam. And I decided to share that sentiment at 2am on social media. Lesson #3: stay off of social media after enjoying some fantastic wine on Thanksgiving.

I considered deleting the post, but after re-reading it several times, sappy or not, it truly sums up how I feel. And so, I am re-posting here (with some slight edits):

Each year I am reminded how much I have to be thankful for. My amazing family, loyal friends, my career, and so much more. Tonight, for only the second time in my life, I celebrated Thanksgiving with a different type of 'family.' Whether Dutch, French, Irish, South Korean or South African, I am thankful for this crew that I surround myself with each and every day in the Netherlands! I'm still trying to figure out how I got so lucky to find myself here and now with you all... Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving from Amsterdam!

As we head into the holiday season, these words still ring true. There’s nowhere else I'd rather be right now than here, and one thing I am thankful for in 2017 is finally learning how to slow down, stop worrying about the destination and to start enjoying the incredible journey that we call life.

 

A Pre-Thanksgiving November

The Worst Best Worst Host in Amsterdam

Upon returning from Tel Aviv, Steph and Lexie came back to Amsterdam for the weekend and we were joined by my best friend from college, Casey. Casey was in between work trips to Brussels and Berlin and I am SO glad she was able to stop through Amsterdam for the weekend!

So, with some of my besties in tow, I was the absolute worst host ever…dragging my friends around to all the things I wanted to do that weekend in Amsterdam… 

·         My friend Ana’s Halloween-themed birthday party – I met Ana through my friend Andre who I used to work with in the US. I now get to work with Ana in Amsterdam and I absolutely adore her! From music festivals in Spain to dinner dates in Amsterdam I am so lucky to have made such a great friend. And super happy we made it back from our trip in time to celebrate her birthday. Thanks for letting me bring three American hippies along!

 

 

 

·         Brunch at Morgan and Mees – one of my favs – and a trip to Albert Cuyp market for fresh stroopwafels

 

·         Shopping in the Negen Straatjes

·         Museumnacht – a really fun night when about 30 museums in Amsterdam keep their doors open until 2am. Each museum has a different type of entertainment (i.e., DJ/live music, specialty drinks, hands-on activities, etc.) and one ticket gets you access to as many as you can fit in. We started our night at Van Gogh, paused for dinner at Los Feliz (a great Cali/Mex restaurant in De Pijp), and then ended at the Nemo, which is a hands-on science museum that has something for everyone, including an interesting ‘Teen Facts’ exhibit…which teaches teens about sex. Welcome to Amsterdam.

 

·         Drinks at the Andaz – who doesn't love a great hotel bar? Having recently tried the Pulitzer, I also really wanted to try the Andaz. The vibe felt more like an NYC cocktail lounge than hotel lobby bar, which was exactly what we wanted. The floor-to-ceiling windows flooded in what was left of the daylight as we watched boats cruise up and down the Prinsengracht and I blissfully enjoyed the company of my good friends in a truly ‘gezellig’ setting.  

I quickly went from worst host to best host as they enjoyed all of the above (I think!). And then, at the very end of the weekend, whilst my friends stopped to take that iconic canal/bike-on-bridge shot (ok, I took one too. There was a pink bike!), Steph got completely nailed in the back by a frustrated Amsterbiker who undoubtedly was fed up with ‘tourists’ blocking the streets to take their pictures. Sorry Steph, I should’ve warned you better! #hostfail #comebacksoon

 

Riga or Bust

The week after the girls left it was back to the grind. Dutch lessons began that week (read back a blog post or two to find out how that one is going…), work was busy (everyone wakes up on 1 November and realizes there’s about 5-6 weeks left in the working year and SO much still to get done!), the rain in Amsterdam started to fall again…and didn’t stop.

But two great things happened this week: a dinner with my friend Anouk who made a delicious stew (I still need the recipe!!), and a phone catchup with the lovely Steph Dexter, another HUSA colleague-turned-friend who is killing it in London at HEINEKEN UK.

And it wasn’t long before wanderlust struck again. This time to a destination not on many people’s radar: Riga. Why Riga? My friend Ben decided to leave London after 3 years and head back to the States, and while we could’ve met up in London or Amsterdam, that would’ve been boring.

We showed up in Riga on Independence Day weekend. Riga is a beautiful city - slightly creepy with men in uniforms and tanks in the streets for Independence Day - but still beautiful.

 

 

We stayed right in the Old Town which is quaint as quaint can be. It reminded me a lot of my trip to Tallinn, Estonia this summer - makes a lot of sense as both are major capitals of Baltic states. In a weird way, it feels like I am inching ever-closer to my roots as my papa claimed we are Lithuanian 11 years ago. It’s a hard-to-trace story – and at some point also puts these ancestors in the Netherlands - but you can imagine my surprise to hear this the night of my high school graduation after years of doing heritage projects in school and thinking this side of the family was Russian.

Anyway, unfortunately for us, it was the first real frigid weekend of the season and most of the charm of the city is outside. We tried really hard to take a Saturday afternoon walking tour, but after 45 minutes, an imminent rain shower and some frozen toes, we had to give up. We did manage to take our own walking tour of the art nouveau district on Sunday though!

All in all it was a really nice weekend and I’m glad we got to spend time together before his big trip back across the pond.

As fun as the beginning of November was, I couldn't wait to get back to Amsterdam to start planning for my very first Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. More to come on that soon...

Until next time!

October Sky

As we turned another page on the calendar, Amsterdam looked radiant in beautiful shades of amber. I can’t take credit for these photos as they were taken by IAmsterdam on Instagram, but they are too beautiful not to share. They perfectly capture the autumnal spirit of the season that I so desperately tried to emulate on my iPhone. #Fail.

 

 

 

With this as the backdrop, so many great things happened in October. It would turn into a novel if I tried to recount everything, so here’s the shortlist, followed by details of my trip to Tel Aviv:

·         Codell reunion in AMS! Sometimes you spend a lot of time at work with people you don’t really like, and sometimes you spend a lot of time at work with people who become family. I believe I’ve said this before, but I am very lucky to have experienced the latter. Such is the case with Kristen, Rachel and Tara. It’s rare these days that we all can be in the same place at the same time, so I couldn’t have been more excited when we managed to work out a girls weekend in Amsterdam in early October. It was a wonderful weekend full of lots of laughs, failed attempts to take a canal pic that everyone was happy with, and fun cocktails. Next step: getting them to all move to Amsterdam J

 

·         HUSA reunion in AMS: Rach and Kristen left Sunday am and by that afternoon, the next group of visitors were in town. So great to have some of my HEINEKEN USA fam in town, for what ended up becoming quite a memorable afternoon of drinks and dinner in the Jordaan. Always a good time with this crazy crew.    

 

 

 

·         Walking the catwalk at the 2017 Corporate Affairs Forum: I did a brief presentation on our work with some of our international brands for colleagues from around the globe at our annual forum. And had some fun playing dress up with current colleagues J

 

·         Day trip to Belgium to meet the monks of Affligem: Affligem is quickly becoming one of my favourite beers in our portfolio. Affligem is an abbey beer which was brewed by the monks of the Affligem Abbey in Belgium from 1074 to the 1950s. And although the monks do not brew anymore, they are still involved in some aspects of the brand. It was quite interesting to spend the morning with the monks to learn more about the history of the abbey, and the beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Flying across the Atlantic for 48 hours for my niece’s birthday, sneaking in a visit with Casey and enjoying amazing weather and fun times with the family in DC: Alani’s birthday party at the National Zoo was too cute. My sister did an amazing job scouting out the best location to host 15 of her toddling pals, and of course decked the party room out in celebration of Alani’s 24 months on earth. We went on a walking safari with a guide throughout the zoo on what was a beautifully warm October day. Was it insane to go home for this? Yes. But completely worth it. The best part: no jet lag. I think it’s because I actually was not there long enough to adjust to the time difference. The worst part? Going straight from the airport to work Monday morning. Rough.

 

·         The month ended on a high with a visit from my friends Steph and Lexie. Steph and I have been besties essentially since we were born! Steph and Lexie explored Amsterdam for a few days and then the three of us were off for some fun in the sun in Tel Aviv…

Tel Aviv far surpassed my expectations! Of course I knew I’d have good company, but I was really unsure what to expect. I was in Tel Aviv briefly a few years ago for about ½ a day, which is not nearly enough to get a taste for the city. It’s become a real hotspot over the last few years and is a big destination for those seeking the beach, delicious food, and nightlife that rivals NYC. When I mentioned to colleagues and friends that’s where I was headed, I was met with “It’s amazing!” or “I heard it’s amazing!” And it certainly did not disappoint.

We landed on Saturday afternoon, just in time to stroll along the beach and enjoy a late Israeli brunch. The Israeli breakfast is no joke. A three-tiered dish with dips and salads galore arrived. We were in complete heaven! Eggplant, tabbouleh, sweet red peppers, avocado and more. All the things I love (minus the copious amounts of cheese), on one huge plate. We dug in and enjoyed every bite.

 

 

Day 1 was really dedicated to eating, because, what else would you want to do on vacation? I should note we also joined a gym near our AirBNB for the week and we made an appearance our first day in town too.

But then it was back to eating. For dinner we enjoyed a feast on the beach at a popular Gordon Beach restaurant, La La Land. We indulged in homemade hummus, freshly baked bread, and fresh seafood while sipping on rose and watching the waves tumble against the sand. What could possibly be better?  

 

Day 2 was dedicated to the beach. If you haven’t caught on by now, I am a complete sun worshipper. I will regret this one day, but for now, being in the sunshine is my jam (don’t worry, I am very good about putting on sunscreen…and sometimes good about reapplying). The beaches in Tel Aviv are magnificent. Pristine sand and clear blue water with the old city of Jaffa to one side and the new port to the other.

 

On day 3 we were met with a little bit of rain, so we hit up the shops. From the boutiques of Dizengoff to the cute village of Neve Tzedek, the city was a shoppers paradise.

 

 

The rest of the trip pretty much followed the same pattern: Gym, tan, eat, repeat. And no, we did not take our inspiration from the Jersey Shore!

It’s just amazing how a few days of fun in the sun can revitalize you. And the best part? The fun didn’t stop there. We still had a few days together in Amsterdam after the trip. But you’ll have to stay tuned to hear more…