Dyed my hair yesterday and today I posted papercards.
(My life, so exciting;)


Okay, fine, call it gray, whatever :-p I thought it was time for a new colour. The package said pure plum. That's pretty close to what the result looks like;)


To protect the mail from fireworks, in November and December all the mailboxes get this special small slot installed that only fits two letters at once. I suppose I should be happy there still is a mailbox in my neighbourhood, because last year they were all removed because of the fireworks. Yes, I live in a very nice part of town, thanks for asking.
(FYI: fireworks are only allowed to be lit on New Year's Eve and can only legally be bought three days before that, but somehow some people always manage to indulge in their lack of patience and consideration for others)


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand this is me with my new hair colour (without and with flash) and my fancy new Hufflepuff scarf that my neighbour's kids gave me this afternoon; an early birthday present, so very awesome. \o/

Yesterday we celebrated Sinterklaas; the first time for my nephew Ruben \o/ I'd like to share some photos of the festivities, starting with my preparations...


On Friday I wrapped all the presents before writing poems to accompany the gifts.

Per the new rules this year I only had to make one surprise package (previously I would make one for everyone;). The name I drew was Gayleen, and because of the arrival of baby Ruben I finally had an excuse to make one of the eldest traditional Sint pranks...

I bought (biologically produced) diapers and after taking two out I pushed the present in between the rest of the diapers. But that was just the beginning: this bulky package was to be hidden somewhere in my mom's house before celebrations and I would put a clue in the surprise package... Now this is where it gets a little bit dirty (you have been warned). *rubs hands with an evil grin*


I took one diaper, cut it open and hid an envelope with a clue in there.


I then put the sealed up diaper in a waterproof transparent box and got some slices ontbijtkoek (literally translated breakfast cake: a Dutch spiced cake made of rye) filled with raisins and hazelnuts...


...I tore these up in pieces and mixed those with water to create a chunky, yet liquid paste...


... I dribbled this in the diaper et voilà: one steaming surprise package. \o/

Heheheheheheh. On to the party!


Here's some tastier looking food: marzipan pig with acorns and a bit of Sinterklaas' hat in chocolate:) Besides marzipan and speculaas it is tradition for everyone to get a chocolate letter; the capital of their name:)


Below my mom's window was a group of Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) playing music. They had woken my mom and brotherdearest Hans up early this morning:) (He had come to sleepover on Friday and still had to write all his poems before the rest of us arrived...)

Around 14.30 uur we were all settled and could start unwrapping presents. (FINALLY!)


First one was for Ruben:)


Ruben is still a little confused, but Grandma gets the joke: a bodysuit with "Hulppietje" on it: little helper Pete:)


A glimpse of all the presents on the table (there are also some huge packages that are too big to put on there, woohoo)


My other brother Jaap (dad now!) has another present for Ruben, yay!


Ruben plays with his Nijntje drum while Grandma reads a poem.


Gayleen reading her poem about being a new mom and her assignment from Sinterklaas to show her skills. (One poopy diaper coming up;)


Hahahahahaha. :-D Since Gayleen hasn't heard of this surprise before, she doesn't know what the poo is made of and is perfectly grossed out. WIN:) But she managed to find the clue without getting too much on her hands:)


Here she found the real present: the book "Go The Fuck To Sleep". (a bedtime book for parents, I also got the audio CD read by Samuel L. Jackson for my brother:)


Another present for Ruben: he discovered the mirror *grins*


Brotherdearest Hans reading a poem.


All of us anxiously waiting to see what's in the package (Ruben is curious too:)


Dear Ruben
You’re definitely gonna look like a boss
when you wear this pressie on the beach in Oz.
Sint Nicolaas

(They are going Down Under to visit Gayleen's family for the Holidays)


My surprise package (on top of my other gifts:) was a silver treasure trunk and it hid goodies from Lush and "The Kissing Game" by Aidan Chambers \o/


Final HUGE package of the day was for Hans and it came with a very long poem (about his trip to Asia:)


The surprise was a dude on a surfboard that was wearing the presents: a shirt and shorts (the bodyboard was part of the gift too:)


My loot! Woohoo!

Besides being very happy with all my presents, it was first and foremost so much fun to spend time together with our tiny family. Especially since Jaap, Gayleen and Ruben will leave for Australia for over a month. We all got our dose of cuddles from Ruben to get us through the holidays;)

I could hear them from afar: the parade from Sinterklaas (Saint Nicolas) and his Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) was doing the rounds through my neighbourhood this morning. Of course I had to take pictures! We're celebrating Sint's birthday next weekend (officially the Eve of December 5th, but weekends are more convenient to get the family together;)


There they are!


Right underneath my window!


I'm not sure what kind of music they were playing; it didn't sound like traditional Sinterklaas songs.


What the hell? Is Sint sitting in a wheelchair?


Ah, no, it's some sort of Riksha. That makes no sense at all. What happened to the horse Sint usually rides on? Hmmm.

<+:-)>

Got my hair cut today. Last time I went into a hairdresser's was over two and a half years ago. Before that was even longer in between cuts, so I guess it's progress;)
I had been thinking about getting a trim for a while and when I passed the hairdresser's on my break this afternoon I stepped inside just to see how scary it was. I got a good feeling about the woman that talked to me and when she said I could make an appointment for tonight, I decided to do it before I lost my nerve again;)

I think I bit my lip the whole session, but the young woman who cut my hair was very patient and understanding and made me feel at ease. I had to give up about 15 cm (about 6 inches) but my hair looks so much better for it - and I'm still able to twist it into a bun, so yay! May even consider doing upkeep every few months now. Not such a bad experience this time.

Check out the result. (No before pictures, but it kind of looked like the 2009 edition, so click link above to compare;)


Look, how shiny!


And here you can see how gray my hair is on top the length. My head feels weird. But in a good way;)

OOooh, yum: new Halloween scents from bpal!
BOO 2011
Eerie billows of spun sugar, fluttering white cotton, and sheets of cream.

PUMPKIN PRINCESS
Bright, sweet pumpkin with vanilla fluff, guava, chocolate-dusted white amber, tiare, red currant, raw honey, and meringue.

And if that wasn't sweet enough, look what I found in the supermarket tonight:

So gross it's mm-mm good: lemon/lime marshmellow kisses:)

Went to The Hague with mom to meet up with the rest of the family. I finally managed to take a picture of nephew Ruben's tiny teeth \o/ Took loads of other pictures too, here's a selection:)


Yay, new toy! That play-board used to belong to uncle Hans and it's still as much fun as 30+ years ago:)


Ruben particularly liked the mirror :-p


With a little help from Mom Gayleen, Ruben can walk (sort of;)


Hey uncle Hans, thanks for the cool toy! (You can come over any time to play with it;)


Look! I have teeth!


Ahw, bye aunty Judith, sad to see you go :(

Went in this shop for clothes last Thursday, and did end up buying a new pair of jeans and a longsleeve shirt, but I also asked to hold on to some shopmaterial they were selling until I could arrange a car to pick them up this morning. (Thanks, mom!) Look what I found for my collection of body-parts:


Okay, fine, this photo is upside down for effect, but they still look pretty cool right side up:


Because of the guy's unfortunate bulge, I decided to dress them both up a bit:


Tadaah! Haven't decided where to put them in my apartment yet, so currently they are moving all over the place:)

Went to The Hague on Sunday to cuddle with nephew Ruben.
Oh, and to celebrate my brother J's birthday:-p


Train to The Hague: weather seemed a bit ominous...

But even though it was windy, it was nice enough to walk to the beach:


Love the name of this bicycle parking place:)


Yay, we're going to the beach :)


A seagull (No skating, dude!)


In the distance Jaap and Jan walking ahead of Grandma, Gayleen and Ruben


:-p


Wine for Grandma, a Craquote for Ruben.


Omnomnom


Best game in the world: banging on the table!

After walking back home from the beach, it was already dinnertime:


Rice with chicken, woohoo.


Open wide!


And then it was bathtime \o/


Cheeky Ruben:)


:-p


Look at my duckie, it has a hat!


A goodnight kiss for Grandma:)