One of the best things about blogging....

... is having real life meetings with other bloggers that you have known on the internet for years but never met in person before. I know that it sounds a bit funny but, after communicating online for years, you get to know the person, their families, their home countries, their traditions and their day to day life. You end up developing a relationship that is similar to a pen pal... but online.

I have been extremely lucky. Over the years, there are 3 lovely women from all over the world that I communicate regularly with via blogs: Catarina, Karin and Ageeth. Last year, while I was in Denmark, I was lucky enough to meet Catarina in person. It was so much fun meeting with her that it felt like seeing an old friend. Recently, while I was in the Netherlands, I was able to finally meet Ageeth and spent the weekend exploring Amsterdam with her. Despite never having met her in person before, we have very similar interests and ended up doing things our respective 3 boys and husbands would not have had the patience to do: she treated me to a fantastic ceramics workshop... we people-watched while having awesome coffee (and wine) just outside cute cafés... we explored the small shops along the canals... we took a lot of pictures.... and we went to Europe's largest flea market (all 7 hours of stalls)! Could I ever do this with Andreas and the boys? A BIG nope... after about 10 minutes of flea market or trendy shops, all of my boys (big and small) would have been close to throwing me into a canal 😉 Again, like with Catarina, it was like meeting an old friend... and one that I look forward to seeing again! Ageeth was so sweet that she even tolerated watching the Denmark/Croatia football match with me... 😉 Thanks, Ageeth! It was a lovely... and much appreciated... weekend! Next time: Montreal!

xox to you all!

Ageeth and I

A moment of "boy-free" quiet ;)

Yes, Amsterdam, I love you too! ;)