RIJKS and for once I spelled it right.

I had a little epiphany in the Rijksmuseum a few days ago. And while that epiphany is probably better suited for a journal or a diary or maybe a piece of paper to be crumpled and shoved under my bed (you should see the stash! Actually, you shouldn't.) But, it was an epiphany that made me happy and bubbly and left me that way for a few days...and it was nice to have that little epiphany to think about when the Flu came to say hi (bonjour actually!)

Also have you ever written about an epiphany because that word is addicting. Epiphany this, Epiphany that!

A MONDRIAN!!!! We almost didn't go to that wing, but, wow. Mondrian has been my favorite for forevvver. Now it's time to make this, because who doesn't want to eat their favorite piece of art?

As you can see, the Rijks was quite dreamy. Both from the perspective of taking in art and creating your own, if you could call it that. To each his own! Van Gogh painted a selfie for pete's sake! There's probably a hashtag on the back or something....time to go back to Amsterdam. You know, just to check.

(also for a million other reasons.)

DEAR J.CREW, I LOVE YOU.

I first heard (or rather read) of  J.Crew in a book seven summers ago. Borrowing it from the library countless times, I would pour over the pages that were lined with images of Michelle Obama. Of all people! "She's relatable, she's not different from you or me. After all, she wears J.Crew!"or so the book tried to convince me.

Though it wasn't successful in convincing me of Michelle's relatability, it did introduce me to J.Crew.

And oh, do I love J.Crew.

SIX SUMMER PIECES WE ALL PROBABLY NEED:

(read: definitely) 

1. THE DRESS FOR BRUNCH ON THE BEACH

You don't even have to ask for extra whipped cream on your french toast - this dress demands it.
(buy it here)

2. FARMERS MARKET WORTHY SHORTS

The only outfit you should be wearing when stocking up on freshly baked bread, essential oils and dreamcatchers.
(shorts)

3. THE ROAD TRIP PANT OF YOUR DREAMS

You may have been belting Madonna and eating cool ranch doritos for the past 8 hours, but your outfit says otherwise.
(pants)

4. THE "YOURE BASICALLY A MOVIE STAR" TOP

Accessorize with a box of twizzlers and a bag of buttery popcorn
(buy it here)

5. SNEAKS FOR SUNDAY STROLLS

The 21st century equivalent of double velcro easy steppers.
(shop similar)

6. A FRESH APPROACH TO PATRIOTISM.

Because who doesn't want to match the fireworks AND the salsa.
(similar top)

THE FRENCH SUMMER OF MY SOUL

There's a reason bliss and baguette begin with the same letter....

Cheers to summer days in France!

HALLO HAARLEM

If you equate Amsterdam to New York the Haarlem is the Brooklyn of this situation. Haarlem (though different from New York's Harlem, I'm assuming!) was amazing. All kinds of amazing cafes and shops and REAL people. Like families and babies and puppies and people who look like they're doing more with their life than tasting pastries.

Which is basically all I do so um...

LEVI'S WINKEL

So what a coincidence that I'm talking about pastries next! (Is Pie a pastry? Or its own category? Carry on.) This cafe is unique because It's owned by a 14 year old boy, who we saw in the flesh and I was tempted to ask for his autograph. Just because, you know! There's a video on it here (all in dutch, granted) but I will tell you that Levi has had a haircut, thankfully, and now looks as good as that pie. Well....almost, because pie.

TEN BOOM MUSEUM

Everyone and their second cousin has read the Anne Frank Diary, which is fine and all, but that means its way more popular. Instead of waiting in the 3 hour long line at the Anne Frank House we went to the Corrie Ten Boom house in Haarlem. It was incredible and in my opinion, better than the Anne Frank House simply because the tour was lead from a Christian perspective (and the wait was probably 15 minutes so basically Ten Boom>Frank House. But suit yourself.)

Grote Markt and Ons graan jouw brood
After the house tour we walked around Haarlem and explored the Grote Markt and the smell from Ons Graan guided us in. It was a nearly divine experience. Forget boys, fresh bread is the way to my heart.

On another note, I can't figure out why my clothes are a little tighter.
The two can't be related. ;)

A PLUS FOR AMSTERDAM.

*cheesy Fault in Our Stars Quote*

I swear the only reason teenage girls know that Amsterdam exists is because of Hazel Grace Lancaster. Despite all the history and the VAN GOUGH museum and you know, other things of significance. I am happy to report that I DID in fact know Amsterdam existed before the craze, but even after I still wasn't interested in coming. I was convinced that Amsterdam was nothing more than sex and the fault in our stars....which may or may not be one in the same.

AMSTERDAM IS SO COOL. It's amazing. The people are friendly and most everyone speaks English very well, I've never seen cooler coffee shops in my life (Paris needs to get with the times) and the cute canal streets are an instagrammers dream, if I may be so shallow as to say so.

Amsterdam is broken into many parts because, Amsterdam.

#gramthedam

BOCA'S
Now I'm NOT  a foodie but I did really enjoy the food/cafe portions of our trip. So much so that I actually wrote down everywhere we went (That was good!) Our first night we ate at Boca's and ended up ordering the same thing as the people next to us, unintentionally. They probably thought we copied them but whatever.

BLOEMENMARKT
A floating flower market! This made my flower loving heart very happy. It was different than I expected (super touristy and not a ton of fresh flowers) but there are bulbs upon bulbs of every type of tulip you can ever imagine. I ended up with a bag of peonies bulbs because I like to prove that I am not swayed by cultural norms or the status quo but instead choose to be different and original and forge my own path.

Also, I really like peonies.

HI EVERYONE HERES A PHOTO OF ME ON THE SAME BENCH THAT ANSEL ELGOT SAT ON....AKA HOLY GROUND. CUE ALL THE FEELS AND PUNS AND METAPHORS.

Also, I actually don't really love The Fault in Our Stars. I just really like participating in average teenage girl things.

More Amsterdam coming soon and PS:

Really proud of my snapchat story that day. ;)

CLASSY GIRLS WEAR....

Top: J.Crew Skirt: J.Crew Necklace: H&M Sandals: Saltwaters

....A shirt that came in the mail 3 hours earlier. The shoes you've worn all over the world. The skirt you have in 5 different colors and a necklace that you left outside one night.

On second thought, maybe I'm not too classy after all ;)

Brought to you by phone photos and nostalgia.

OKAY! I just felt like clarifying. TPNC does not stand for "toilet paper north carolina", despite that being the first obvious choice. It stands for Teen Pact National Convention..which week long camp where Teen Pact kids from all over the nation come together for a week of eating and sitting.

Basically. But it's really fun!

Getting up at 3:30 am to get on a bus with 50 people you don't know is a scary thing. Yet again, through gods grace I had an amazing time and met such wonderful people. Even if the bus was HOT (like being in 80 degree weather but without the benefit of a tan) and the drive was long (12 hours much) it was wonderful.

Also all the photos people took of me while I was sleeping, pure joy!

1. squad represent
2. #thefaultinjersphotobomb (see his nose ring? Brought to you by sun and random chance.)
3. Found: a Kryn on the clearance aisle.

There are lots of attractive guys my age at teen pact....yet somehow I always end up hanging out with the 14 year olds. No matter how hard I try it always happens, so this year I ran with it. The little fitz twins made me so happy. And with 5 boys in the family, I decided they needed an honorary big sister and that I was also fully qualified for the job! I just haven't told them yet.

1. GINA who does pageants and is a big sister to everyone and  all the guys love her.

2. My roommate Mandi who by a crazy set of events turns out to be friends IRL with my online buddies. 

3. "I look like a fuzzy watermelon"- Amanda Wiggins on her #OTTD

4. Apparently Anna Lees beauty is too blinding, thus the closed eyes on my part. Regardless of how it is, that's what I'm rolling with.

What a good, good week. What a good, good God we serve! And how wonderful it is to not have to look decent 24/7 anymore.

PS: Last years NC post HERE.