From school gym to work table

At the start of the year, I decided I needed a desk. All my activities—writing for work, blogging, painting, sewing, and the new kid on the block, calligraphy—took on the dining table, and that wasn't working for me anymore. In winter, the dining room was hard to heat because of its size and its proximity to the outside hallway, so I would end up taking my laptop with me into bed... and not getting anything done! A proper desk would give me a place to build a routine around and would be great for my productivity. 

I knew what I wanted: a desk that was at least 1.5 meters, longer than it was deep, with space for me to do more than just one thing at a time. It had to have a tabletop that I wouldn't mind staining with paint or ink, made of a warm material (no metal, no laminate). It had to have character—possibly used, preferably vintage—but clean lines. It had to be something we could repurpose as a console or buffet table if we ever needed the space it would take up in the guest room. Finally, it had to be something I would want to take back with me if we ever moved back home (so no Ikea). 

So I started looking around—thus the trips to Van Dijk en Ko, the IJ-Hallen flea market, and more. I constantly referred to my little collection of home offices on Pinterest to keep me on track. I saw a lot of desks that were tempting, but not quite there—too deep, too low, too short, too expensive. 

Then my friend Karyn, who shares my love for old and repurposed things, drove me to the little town of Baarn, just 20 minutes out of Amsterdam, to visit J. van Ijken Oude Bouwmaterialen. Oude bouwmaterialen means old building materials, and that was exactly what Mr. van Ijken had for sale—an entire hectare filled with old floors, doors, windows, tiles, tubs, gates, knobs, bricks, fireplaces, you name it. All of it reclaimed from homes, ships, churches, schools, bridges, train stations and more, waiting to be found by odd people who love old things with character. Like me.

When we walked into a warehouse filled with old floorboards, I was immediately seized by a wild thought. If I couldn't find my perfect desk... should I just build it?

These are the kinds of thoughts you have after living more than a year in a country and culture where everyone does everything themselves. You hear about people building houses and you start to think, it can't be that hard.

This old herringbone floor from Hungary reminded me of a beautiful herringbone desk I had seen on Pinterest, and inflamed my confidence. "Yes," it whispered. "Just build it." 

Then I saw just the thing. Old hardwood planks from a school gym in Holland, for €60 per square meter. Pops of color. Lots of character. Perfect.

Finding the wood spurred me into action. That afternoon, I picked up a pair of clean, shiny chrome Vika Moliden legs from Ikea for €25 apiece. I got Marlon on board (you didn't think I was going to build this all by myself, did you?), and we agreed to rent a car and come back for the planks.

The following weekend, the owner himself, Jan van Ijken, helped me select the pieces that had this old colorful tape. I'd hoped I could have the tabletop built there and just cart it home in the car, but he was very clear about that not being his business. "I supply the wood," he said firmly and gruffly (but not rudely). He did help me cut the planks into my desired length of 1.5 meters, so thanks, Mr. van Ijken!

After purchasing some wood glue and a small power sander, it was time to build my work table.

Living room reshuffle

Beset by the winter blues and a strange restlessness during the last few weeks of January, I felt a change was in order. While leafing through Decorate by Holly Becker for inspiration, I came across a great tip for organizing spaces: check how a room "flows" by having people over and observing how they use the space during a party.

Thinking back to a a December potluck lunch I hosted at home, I realized that even with a packed dining room, people didn't naturally "spill over" into our living room. Our old layout below was great for holing up in front of the TV (which is how we survived many a long winter night), but because the back of the daybed effectively closed off the room, it didn't feel open and inviting to other people.

So, with my dictatorial brain and my husband's considerable brawn, we spent one January evening moving furniture around late into the night. The goal was to open up the room without moving any of the paintings or the mirror. As renters, we can't drill without the landlord's consent, and taking things off the painting rails is really, really difficult!

We tried a lot of configurations that felt cramped and weird, until we realized there was just one thing that we had to do...

MangoJuiced: A stay-at-home Valentine

This week on MangoJuiced, I make a case for the stay-at-home Valentine date. If I was living in Manila, I could wrap up the argument for a Valentine's night in with just one word: traffic.

However, staying in makes sense even here in the land of bicycles; February nights are freezing and it's expensive to eat out. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you should do it because it's practical and it makes sense. This is Valentine's Day we're talking about!

What I love about staying home on Valentine's Day is the romance. Nobody can have what you have at home. And that is truly special and romantic.

To inspire you to break away from the herd, I've rounded up a few sweet ideas for stay-at-home Valentine dates in this week's post on MangoJuiced. You've got the weekend to plan... stay in and make some homemade memories!

MangoJuiced is a webzine for anything and everything that interests women—from fashion and family, to pop culture and beauty, to travel and lifestyle. Follow MangoJuiced on Twitter and Facebook... and don't forget to check back in for a new post from me every week!

MangoJuiced: A review of "Decorate"

Holly Becker’s blog Decor8 is one of the most successful interior design blogs in the blogosphere today, and one of my regular sources of inspiration. After five years of creative, pretty and inspiring posts, Holly (with co-author Joanna Copestick) launched her book, simply titled Decorate, last year.

Reading my copy of Decorate—signed by the author!—inspired me to shake up our own living room with a midwinter reshuffle, which will be the subject of my next post. In the meantime, check out my review of Decorate in this week's post on MangoJuiced. Take a peek into this book's colorful pages, inspiring images and sound advice, by clicking on through right here.

MangoJuiced is a webzine for anything and everything that interests women—from fashion and family, to pop culture and beauty, to travel and lifestyle. Follow MangoJuiced on Twitter and Facebook... and don't forget to check back in for a new post from me every week!

MangoJuiced: Style steals from an Istanbul apartment

I stayed in this Istanbul apartment last October—and I loved it so much, I "stole" something to take home with me. Can you guess what it is?

Go style stealing with me in this week's post on MangoJuiced. And leave a comment to congratulate me on my newfound sewing skills. Consider that your hint!

MangoJuiced is a webzine for anything and everything that interests women—from fashion and family, to pop culture and beauty, to travel and lifestyle. Follow MangoJuiced on Twitter and Facebook... and don't forget to check back in for a new post from me every week!

MangoJuiced: Read it and weave

I've been searching for something graphic, bright and fun to perk up our mostly neutral living room. Turns out all I had to do was look homeward for that much-needed pop of color and burst of pattern. Incidentally, it seems the Department of Tourism shared the same train of thought.

Yup, I'm talking about banig. 

This homegrown classic—matting woven together from strips of dried palm leaves—was a wistful note on my wish list of home accents this year. A quick trip to SM Kultura satisfied my craving for weaving. Side note: you know you've been living abroad for a long time when you realize that you've become the target market of stores like SM Kultura.

Find out how I rediscovered banig, and check out some of my banig buys in this week's post on MangoJuiced!

MangoJuiced is a webzine for anything and everything that interests women—from fashion and family, to pop culture and beauty, to travel and lifestyle. Follow MangoJuiced on Twitter and Facebook... and don't forget to check back in for a new post from me every week!

Yearender

What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

LIVED IN EUROPE. (This is the big one!)
Traveled in Europe without having to apply for a visa.
Painted my own walls (in the bedroom and living room).

Picked up furniture off the sidewalk.
Celebrated Queen's Day in Amsterdam.
Used a bicycle to get around.

Learned Dutch. 

Found myself in Paris twice in one year.

Joined a running group and worked up to running for 20 minutes straight.
Grew my own herbs.
Had fresh flowers at home every week.



Wore a bathing suit at a park.

Drove a boat.

Started writing my very own blog column!
Volunteered for TEDxAmsterdam.
Went on a hot-air balloon ride!
Witnessed the changing of all four seasons. 



Sang at a wedding in the south of France.
Went swimming in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.
Did my grocery shopping at a market (not a supermarket).

Learned how to sew (so far, a dress and cushion covers).

Learned how to knit (made a scarf).
Learned how to dance the salsa.
Learned how to bake (my favorite dessert: lemon tart!). 

Hosted a dinner party for 10.
Hosted five house guests, the most I've ever had at one time.
Bought serious rain gear (and wore rain boots).

Stepped inside a windmill.

Edited videos for money. 
*WHEW!*

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

I don't make New Year's resolutions. But this year I set goals (something that always works for me when I remember to do it) and achieved many of them. That's something I will do again this year.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Susie and Tinus, our dearest friends from Singapore, became the parents of a gorgeous baby boy named Max, the day before we moved to Amsterdam. We were his first visitors at the hospital!



Later in the year, another Max was born—this time to my friend Leslie in Amsterdam.



Did anyone close to you die?

Tito Rolly Cailles, one of our wedding godfathers, succumbed to leukemia.

What countries did you visit?

Switzerland, Portugal, Norway, Italy, Germany, Belgium, France, Turkey and the Philippines.

Vintage treasures from Mom

My appetite for travel is something that I most definitely inherited from my mom. While I was growing up, if she wasn't jetting off to a foreign country then she was packing us—her two girls—into the car for weekend jaunts to the beach. 

In addition to being a consummate traveler, she was also an insatiable collector—or as we like to say, a hoarder! She would always bring things home from her trips: anything from heirloom-worthy pieces from Europe to whatever was the latest trend in Japan or the US or wherever she happened to be. I remember being the first family we knew to have a Discman and to wear t-shirts emblazoned with the faces of The Simpsons (whom I thought were really ugly and weird) as early as 1990.

Mom has since declared her jetsetting days pretty much behind her, except for the rare occasions when my sister and I succeed at convincing her to get on a plane and visit us. But some of the things she picked up on her travels still remain. And since we've been ragging on her to de-clutter, she decided to pass them on to us, her two daughters. 

So out came the tablecloths she amassed in Europe over 20 years ago. Not only are they beautifully handcrafted, but now, they're also vintage! #doublewin

I was torn between this lovely ecru lace cloth from Portugal, above, and an embroidered cutwork tablecloth with handmade lace, from Belgium. Each fits a table for 10-12 persons and comes with matching cloth napkins.

After much agonizing, I chose the latter. The details simply won me over.

Mom decided to wrap them up for Christmas—you know, just because it's more fun that way! 

She also threw in a set of handmade Belgian lace coasters...

... and matching cocktail napkins. I've never used cocktail napkins (I didn't even know such things existed!), but now I'm racking my brain for an excuse to debut them. 

Finally, Mom brought out the most delicate little demitasse cups in refreshing pastel hues. That was when I squealed like a tickled piglet.

Aren't they cuuuuuuuute?

Even Marlon, who's been known to veto any additions to our home that are too overtly girly, couldn't help but be charmed.

Feel free to come over to our house anytime for the most precious espresso ever.

Really. It's my pleasure.

Now this is how you recycle gifts for Christmas. Thanks, Mom!

Going green

I'm such a Christmas junkie that I put our home through not one, but two phases of Christmas decorating. I started out with dried and plastic decorations, some of which were brought over with us from Singapore. With a little creativity and red polka-dot ribbon, dried and plastic was fine. 

But the moment December hit, every flower shop on the corner sprouted greens. Christmas greens. Reds and greens, actually, and more. From pine to mistletoe to holly to blackberries, all those things I've only read about in books plus more that I couldn't even name. 

Suddenly, all this abundance of freshness changed my feelings towards plastic. So I redecorated. 

Before and after #1: the wreath on my front door. I started with a rustic-looking bare twig wreath, dressed up with plastic holly and some ribbon. In December, I tied boughs of fresh pine around the form. It looks a little like a shaggy green monster, but I like it. (I have to... I made it!)

Before and after #2: my dining table centerpiece. My Pinay friend Jec gave me a great idea: to fill a rustic-looking tray with candles and pinecones. Two weeks later, I replaced some of the pinecones and with fresh pine and berries. When I cut the pine into smaller pieces, the sap from the branches left an absolutely divine scent on my hands that is nothing—nothing!—like those pine air fresheners we see dangling from the rearview mirror of taxis in Manila.

We hung a real pine wreath in our living room, where it probably sends smug, mocking vibes over to our fake pine Christmas tree. Over the kitchen door went a bunch of various greens and berries that were pre... um, pre-bunched? So all I had to do was tie a nice bow over it and hang it on an S-hook. One last stray bough of pine also got the bow treatment before going up over the door to the balcony. 

And in front of the window, spare pinecones and a large spray of red berries. I wish I knew what these are called, because I just love them. On gloomy days (and there are many), that pop of bright red against the gray outdoors makes me feel a little bit better.

Don't you just love the freshness? I just might never go back to plastic again!

Ornament obsession

As I've blogged about in this week's post on MangoJuiced, I've gotten over the whole matchy-matchy Christmas tree. I've started migrating the red-and-gold ornaments that we bought in Landmark for our first Christmas to other places, like our dining room chandelier and this tabletop lamp.

What's made me reconsider our Christmas tree? I've made a few Canadian and American friends for whom the addition of one new, special ornament to the tree every year is part of the family holiday tradition. No themed trees, no matching sets—just a collection where every piece was chosen because it was pretty and special in itself. 

The idea of carefully selecting and slowly building up a collection of cherished ornaments has started to really appeal to me. Somehow, it fits in perfectly with the wearing-off of our newlywed excitement. That's not a bad thing, by the way—after four years, I've simply realized that Marlon and I are going to be together for a long, long time. That means many, many Christmases together... and lots of time to collect ornaments. 

These are some of the ones we chose to jumpstart our new, non-matchy collection. The only thing our ornaments should match are the memories we've made around them. I know I'll always remember these as being from our first Christmas in Amsterdam. 

I got the "antique" mirrored star and porcelain bird at the Osdorp Tuincentrum, a mind-bogglingly huge garden warehouse turned Christmas emporium where we shopped for our decorations. The clear glass ball with the feather (which reminds me of the final scene from Labyrinth) is from De Bijenkorf, Amsterdam's oldest department store.

The floral ball reminds me of India, and the red ornament is actually a capiz chesa from... the Philippines! I was elated to find both in a fair trade boutique in Haarlem. The black bauble was Marlon's choice, and I have to admit it looks pretty cool. 

A blown glass owl, a tiny delicate winged horse, an odd little Santa gnome, and Santa baking in his kitchen: these are the ornaments we bought on our visit to the Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany. The German Christmas markets are like the Disneylands of Christmas and deserve a separate post all together! So many beautiful hand-blown and hand-carved ornaments there made it excruciatingly hard to choose, but we managed to keep it down to these. 

Which of the new ornaments do you like best? And do you have any special ornaments in your family? I'd love to know!

Christmas chandelier

Remember the wineglass chandelier that we got in April?

It recently became the target of my Christmas decorating frenzy. I had something in mind, but before I could put my idea to work, all the wineglasses had to come off. Yes, all 36 of them. 

While the glasses received their first wash in months, I strung up a few new ornaments: a set of four very shiny silver ones from Ikea, as well as some fresh picks from De Bijenkorf. All of the ornaments I chose were either silver, gold, transparent or some kind of combination of the three. All the better to let through, or reflect, the light from the central bulb.



Marlon and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures while working. Shiny things are just too much fun to play with.

After throwing in a few of our pre-loved ornaments to fill in the gaps, and draping some faux greens over the top, our chandelier revamp was complete.

All is bright

Here in the Netherlands, Christmas plays second fiddle to Sinterklaas, which is on the 6th of December. This means that any form of Christmas decorations are nowhere to be seen until after December 6.

By Filipino standards, that's just way too late in the game. After all, ours is a nation where Christmas jingles begin ring-ting-ting-a-linging in September. I'm not quite that hardcore, but by the third week of November, my inner Christmas junkie was rattling its cage and howling to be unleashed.

And so it was with a star shining bright that we cried to our entire neighborhood: Christmas is here! Oh and yes, we're early. But we're Filipino!

I would have loved to hang up a traditional parol. And I have a husband who actually knows how to make one (thank you, Ateneo Grade School). But do you know how hard it is to find long bamboo sticks in Holland... in winter, nonetheless?

So we had to settle for these punched paper stars, one for each window facing the street. It's not really settling, though, because I love them. They make such pretty reflections against the glass.

One of our big debates while preparing for the move to Amsterdam was whether or not to take our plastic Christmas tree with us. "Who needs plastic? We'll finally be able to get a real live tree!" was the argument against plastic. "But... you never know!" was the (rather weak) counter-argument.

Guess which side won?

Maximum occupancy

Palazzo Plazo reached maximum occupancy this summer with the arrival of not one, not two, nope not even three, but five guests!

My friends' post-wedding visit to Amsterdam was a huge deal to me and something I'd been looking forward to for months. It just so happened that during the week they were slated to visit, my sister ended her year-long assignment in Oslo and needed a place to rest and regroup before embarking on a new adventure in Portugal. 

Marlon and I had never hosted such a big number, and I'll admit I freaked out a bit at the beginning. Did we have enough bedsheets, towels, blankets, pillows, cutlery, plates and glasses for everyone? (Yes to everything except the glasses, a shortage solved by a quick trip to the nearest Blokker.) What would we cook and how could we make all the meals affordable? I was squeamish about asking everyone to contribute towards the grocery expenses; eventually I got over the discomfort of "charging" my friends by just having to accept that Marlon and I couldn't afford to feed everyone gratis.

We arrived from Mimi's wedding and went straight into a frenzy of cleaning and organizing—moving boxes upstairs, bringing down the spare mattresses from the attic, even fixing up the mess that is our hallway coat closet so it could accommodate the shoes we used to keep in the guest room. When we were done, I was pretty pleased with the way our house looked. We took a few minutes to just sit in the living room and enjoy it. 

This deluge of guests made me really appreciate all the hosts we had on our various Glee Club tours. It is not easy, and to think I was already hosting people who are quite close to me. To take on hosting duties for total strangers, while juggling kids and work, is nothing short of heroic.

It also made me realize how much extra space our home has. Space over location was a conscious decision we made when me chose the apartment and now I feel that our choice has been justified. We're lucky to have it! #blessed

The calm before the storm.

By the way, that's our new Nest beanbag from Sukha. I was terrified that Rogue was going to scratch it into oblivion, but she actually seemed scared of it. I suspect it's because the wool of the yarn may smell strongly of animal to her. It's taken her almost a month to even just sit on it, so I'm happy with its chances of survival.

My sister got first dibs on the daybed! We were able to borrow an extra air mattress from a colleague of Marlon's to complete the girls' "dormitory." All the suitcases were stored outside in the hallway.

On the day of their arrival, I was lucky to have an able assistant (a.k.a. sister) to pop lunch into the oven (and turn it over!) while I went to collect Pia, Jonel, Trina and Cathy at Schiphol. At the airport, we met up with Charlie, a Glee Club alum who's lived in The Hague for 13 (!!!) years and is now working as a chef. He lent them his spare OV-chipkaartjes, the reloadable passes that are used on buses, trains and trams.

Palazzo Plazo's welcome lunch consisted of chicken marinated in milk, lemon zest and herbs, with a Parmesan herb breading.

After lunch, we gathered in the living room to plan the next few days. At this point in their travels, my friends were tired from a rather punishing determined sightseeing schedule. While we tossed around quite a few ideas for outings and even out-of-the-country day trips, a lot more time was spent at home just chilling and taking it slow. This seems to happen to all my guests. It's the Amsterdam effect!



A stay at Palazzo Plazo is not complete without a meal by its resident chef.

For our one big sit-down dinner together at home, Marlon made a crackin' chili con carne, which we served with sangria, salsa (both homemade) and tortilla chips. It was the first time we had seven people seated at the dining table! Thankfully, there was enough food (and chairs) for everyone.

After getting used to living, shopping and cooking for two, it was a definite eye-opener to have lots of people at home. I told Marlon that my epiphany for the week was that I would be perfectly happy with a very small family, thank you very much! Haha.

But with lots of people comes lots of fun and laughter, and that's what made everything worth it. Not a single day passed without peals of loud, you-know-it's-Filipino laughter ringing out into our quiet street. Thankfully all my guests are considerate, responsible grown-ups trained over many Glee Club tours in the art of being gracious guests. And that gets a thumbs up from Palazzo Plazo!

It was wonderful having you guys over. Sa uulitin!