The Future belongs to those
who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a dreamful 2008!

It's almost Christmas!!

I want to wish all of you, east, north, west, south, summer or winter, a very merry Christmas. You've been tremendously generous with your compliments this year and I can't be grateful enough for that. Oh what the hell I'm going to throw in a little I love you!!

I've decided to blog through Christmas as we are going to spend the Christmas at other people's homes. I thought you might like to know how my family lives and decorates for Christmas. So do check back!!

Card by PaPaYa via Kathleen
Christmas cracker by me and the blue paper is by Amy Butler via Marné

I used random.org to select the winners for the Christmas Giveaway and here they are:

#7 Malin
#74 Daria Lall

And a bonus
#133 SierraMoon

Congratulations!

Thank you soooooo much for all your lovely, heartfelt, sincere comments. I'm humbled and speechless. I've printed all the comments to put in my scrapbook. Thank you, thank you. If I win the lottery's jackpot next week I'm going to send all of you some wrapping paper.

As a big THANK YOU to all the readers of my blog and for all the people who send me lovely e-mail, I'd like to do something special.

So ... ta da ...

I've never held a competition on my website before partly because I don't believe in competition (to the annoyance of my husband when we watch the football) but I can't send all of you two rolls of wrapping paper.

Some simple rules:
leave a comment, any comment, even those who never comment. I'll pick randomly two commenters on Monday December the third at sunset. I'll send two rolls of wrapping paper, I used for this post and seen in the top picture, each to the winners. DO NOT forget to add your e-mail address and name in the comment window. If I pick you and you don't have a name or e-mail address included in your comment I can't send you your price and I'll pick another commenter. Do not e-mail me. The partridge in a pear tree is not included, I must be strict!!

In other news!

Lori from the Inspiration Boards Blog interviewed me and it's up now. I'd love to read your comments over there too :o)

Have a lovely weekend, more Christmas stuff on Monday. Oh people this is MY MONTH!!!!

If I could make a town I could live in and pick all the people who'd live there too, I'd definitely pick Helen from Little Doll Face to be one of my neighbors. If she was one of my neighbors I think she would've invited me to her graduation tea party because I love to eat cakes and have a cup of tea from a GreenGate teapot and she would've known that. I'd buy her a Russian nesting doll to put on her beautiful shelves. Yes Helen's blog is one to hug!

Helen also left us a little message and I think we should check this out because it sure looks good;

I thought I would drop you a comment because I came across a book the other day that I thought that you and all your readers would like. It's called 'Independent London' . It is a collection of the most wonderful and independent shops that London has to offer. It is truly lovely, but I don't seem to have time to blog lately so I thought I'd make my recommendation here.

Helen

I just bought a copy and I can't wait to review it.

Talking about books, I have a new book of the month up. I'm still reading it but so far it's really good, inspiring and makes me want to move back to the country even more. I've also set up an Amazon.co.uk aStore for people living in Europe with lots more books I own and love.

ps: thank you for buying a pattern, it's been lovely so far and I hope I get to see some photos of some covers soon! It's still for sale over here or click on the little button in the menu on your right.

I didn't want to complain about how awful my life is because I get two nasty e-mail so now and then, I'm just such a horrible complainer. Man alive you should see me at the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon, that's nothing compared to the previous post. So as a big thank you to the readers and senders of lovely e-mail and comments, and to those who think it's funny, I have a little gift.

A translation of the Ariadne spread in English. Yay!

And you have Ulla to thank you for. Her comment on the previous post made me laugh so I decided to have a go at it this afternoon.

"You may be pissed now - I know you don't like anyone being "clever" on your behalf - but I'm risking it: couldn't you do a translation of the Ariadne-article into english and make it possible to buy like you did with some embroidery a little while ago?"

The Ariadne At Home I'm featured in dropped on my floor mat yesterday morning and I cried, of course I did!! During my ugly cries I called the Bo to tell him how lovely it is and how super happy I am but he actually thought I was in pain in an ambulance.

The best thing about the feature is the big pink caption "I'm a real Cath Kidston fan" like yes, please rub it in. I love Roselle's interview, the pictures and how they used the green and pink all over the spread - my two favorite colors. It's really, really me don't you think?

You can download the PDF of the spread by clicking here. Don't forget to download Adobe Reader if you haven't already.

Oh and "Hallo" to the people that browsed here via Ariadne, welcome to my little blog!

Let me tell you about Fred Harris, because this is unique. He's a Cath Kidston fan, a hoarder, a cushion freak and does a mean camping trip. He mailed me a couple of weeks ago regarding my site and included the most fantastic camping pictures I've ever seen. He went out camping with his wife and did it the shabby chic way. This makes camping appealing. Although I'm still not one for sharing a shower with 200 people.

Please visit his site because you'll instantly love him. I'm so happy to have found another man in my life who's not afraid to show his compassion for cushions and Cath Kidston. Speaking of CK, summer sale started over there!!

In other news, yvestown is the blog of the week over at Decor8. I'm so delighted and excited Holly picked me.

Have a lovely weekend!!

Just a couple of weeks ago I discovered Charlotte - Hello Charlotte!! Discovering new blogs and new people is always such an excitement. To quote Proust (ah, doesn't that sound intellectual)

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

Charlotte's "Once in a lifetime" post put me up a great idea. I'm always suffering from terrible hay fever this time a year and I throw so many paper towel and tissues away that I sometimes feel guilty for doing so. After a little searching I found a great lot of hankies on eBay. Late today I received them in the mail and spent washing and drying them.

I just felt like Charlotte for a moment.

Today is the Boo's sixth birthday. What to give a family member who doesn't understand the meaning of giving? This year, after spending years of giving her food she doesn't like, toys she doesn't play with and collars she hates, I've donated money to WSPA in her name. I think this is a great gift option for a cat who's super spoiled.

I'm going to be away this weekend but I'll be back with stories next week. Have a super good weekend.

Just recently I discovered that I have a lot of pink and green in my home. I've been trying for a color scheme with red, white, blue, pink and green but it seems pink and green are always the winners.

I used to hate the color green because it's my mother's favorite color. Not that I hate my mother now but I used to when I was 16. I just didn't understood how she could be my mother and not the queen as I found myself such a brilliant girl. My sweet moses I was such a horrible teenager. I don't know if you ever caught yourself doing this but sometimes that Spice Girls song "Mama" pops up in my head. I so didn't get my mother back than and I so do now. I do look like her more and more and I keep reminding the Bo that I'll eventually turn into her.

I've made a new Flickr group for the love of green and pink and you are welcome to join.

I like to take some time to plug some sites.

First I'd like to direct you to Brand a Dutch fashion line for little girls who like stripes, polka dots and the color red ... hmmm sounds a lot like I could be such a girl but I don't think I can wriggle my large bottom in such a tiny dress. Joyce Vloet, the photographer who did the photo shoot for my house, also made the photos for this website. Unfortunately everything is in Dutch but you still can order and custom make your own pretty dresses, pinnies, tops and shorts. Super cute!!

Next is the Fred Flare's Next Big Thing Extravaganza. I copied some text Mariko mailed me:

I'm super excited to let you know that our 3rd annual NEXT BIG THING contest is in full swing! This is a chance for all the craftsters and geniuses of the world to pitch their products to be featured and sold on fredflare.com! To make things even more exciting, this year there is a $1000 prize for the fred fan favorite! There's tonz more info here so check it out.

The housekeeping special link disappeared in the top menu and that's not your fault it's mine. I removed the link because I've decided to do something really special (to me) with all that housekeeping stuff I want to share. I'm going to try to publish it in book form. Doesn't that sound ambitious? I'll be working on it most of the year and I hope to get everything done before Christmas.

What a week!

First of all thanks for all your well wishes. The snow dried up, the sun came out and the photo shoot went as planned. I just received the photos and they are beautiful. I can't tell you much about the magazine because the photographer is also trying to sell them outside The Netherlands. I'll let you know when they get published and where.

I also pulled a muscle in my bum between all the photo craziness and wasn't able to move for a little while. It's good that these things happen so now and then to realize how lucky one is to have another. Like Hugh said in About a Boy "every man is an island. I stand by that. But clearly some men are island chains". It's magical when someone picks you from the floor after spending two hours laying flat on your stomach. Or someone who doesn't mind to clean up after you peed in your pants because you can't make it to the toilet. Honestly I love having island chains!

Now it's time for planning trips, excursions and exciting new future prospects. I have a really exciting year ahead and I'm really enjoying it so far. Today I caught myself wishing it was summer ... eeeeee I never thought I was going to wish for that!! Maybe it has to do with getting older.

***

Update: that address file is from Lovely Design but unfortunately it's sold out. I've been having this one for about 3 years. She recently was featured in Domino and after that those address files sold like hot cakes. Maybe she'll sell them again later this year.

"How do you keep you house clean and tidy?"

I do get that question a lot. This is the simple answer: I'm clean and tidy by nature. LOL, well there's more to it of course ;o)

"Pimping" your Ikea bookcase really made me laugh. Looks great too. And I am also envying your clean and tidy space! Could you do an "Yvestown housekeeping special" for the more slovenly members of your fan club?

From Claire

Because I love this comment so much (thanks Claire) I'm going to work on a special housekeeping page for the future. I was looking for something I could add to the site and this will make a fun project.

I hope you like this idea. If you have tips or suggestions or something you want to ask me, please do I'll add it all to the special housekeeping page. Stay tuned!!

With special thanks to Marné for contributing the pompom garland :o) More about that after Christmas.

I'm a Flickr lover all the way so when I found out about these Moo cards I ordered some and now I want to marry Flickr, if that's possible. I read somewhere that you can marry your pets these days so why not marry the best online photo management and sharing application in the world? I also love how I have to sign in as an old school member, it just makes me feel special.

I can highly recommend the Moo cards, they are super lovely and the best $19.99 I spent this month ... didn't I say that when I bought some new trainers?

You might like to check the MOO MiniCards Group.

I also love cats. So here a little homage to Flickr cats:

some are turned inside out or upside down
some love to take it easy or find a comfortable spot
some like small objects and some like to hide
some I want to steal and some prefer glass surfaces
some like to duplicate or like a good giggle
some like to fly and ... some are just damn cute
... but there's only one I heart the most.

The End

I just NEED to share this!!

Getting magazines ready for Lisa and Nina.

Thanks to those for wanting to magazine swap with me. It's so good to know that I'm set for a couple of months especially with the GOOD season approaching.

It's almost Christmas people!!

I'm already bidding on bits and pieces over at eBay. I'm planning on making a mantle like Alicia did. I've been making pompom garlands this summer when it was 35 °C outside. Oh it's such a good thing summer is gone. I'm really an autumn kind of girl.

I've also indulged in buying DVD's. Lately I've been taking a great interest in Ralph Fiennes and I've been watching most of his movies. I've also been completing my Emma Thompson stack and I can't wait to watch the new Hugh Grant movie - at last!!! It's for sale at Amazon.co.uk look at that price!

A week ago I found out about The Stylehive and I love it.

"The Stylehive is new kind of website - a collaborative shopping community. It is a place where contributors can work together to share and discover the hottest stores, designers, trends, and must have products"

It's the BooBoo's first lustrum in two days. She's celebrating five years on planet earth.

She was born in my old house in a big Gateway box on top of the bed. Her mum is Pea and she still lives there. She was having three brothers and one sister. All were white only Rover, who now lives with a friend, was ginger. I sat all the time next to Pea's Gateway box and I saw all the kittens popping out. It was just so amazing to experience something like that. Each time a kitten popped out I gave a little jolt of admiration. I can't remember which came first but I remember clearly that Rover (the ginger one) was last because ... well, he's ginger!!


Boo, Pea and her brothers and sisters on the bed

We decided that same evening that the Boo was going to be ours. We would give the others away and keep the little Boo because she looked so much like her mum. Rover and Herman went together to my friend Marieke and Dude went to my friend Danielle's sister and brother in law and Jet went to our old neighbor.


Boo a couple weeks old

Ten months after the Boo's birth we sold our house and decided to move to Suriname in South America. Pea was adopted by the new owners because we didn't want her to leave her beloved house. Suriname was horrible, both for me and Boo. It's was too hot, too uncivilized and there were all these scary animals, reptiles and creepy crawlers we both hated so much. The Boo spent the length of her Suriname adventure under a bed. Only coming underneath it to eat and pee. I think she never pooped. So we moved back to The Netherlands. I don't think I ever seen a happier cat the day we opened her bench on Dutch solid ground.


Boo in our garden in Suriname

We shortly moved from my mother's house to a rented farm in the country side and Boo loved it there. There were mice galore and bunnies too. She would have her daily yell with the pheasant that strolled around the garden and she at last would rub the Shetland ponies in the farmers field. It was BooBoo's heaven up there.


Boo in the pony field, always really dirty

That lasted two years until we finally found our little old new house in town. We kept living at the farm during all the restorations and renovations and moved when the upstairs was done - or merely livable. A whole new adventure started for the Boo. There were stairs everywhere (we only ever lived in bungalows) and attics and other cats and lots of new and exciting people.


Boo exploring the boot room attic

Now at five and living in a town center she doesn't have much exercise and is growing rather fat. But she's getting sweeter by every pound she putting on. She wakes me up each morning (preferable at six) for her morning doses of cuddles (loolle as we call it) and she will sleep close to my tummy. She loves it when the Bo comes home and I don't know how she does it but she knows the sound of his car and she will run the front door, just like a dog, and waits until he opens it to overload him with rubs. She likes it when I play the guitar and when I sing to her. She loves, absolutely loves, Whiskas Dentabites and Kidney Gourmet mouse for tea. She currently hates the little truck that rides through our street because of all the new houses they're going to build. And the whales she makes hurt my every bone.

I can not explain how much I love this cat, so much that I have to dedicade a whole post to her and that writing this makes my eyes water.



Happy fifth birthday my little Boobeloo!

PS BooBoo and I would like to say thank you for all the sweet shelving comments. We love our kitchen!! There's always something nice to eat. Also the Boo's cat box is right under those shopping bags. And in the pantry we store her favorite food and treats.

Thanks so much for all the lovely birthday wishes!! It was a good day. We celebrated my birthday by going to London last weekend. My mother gave me tickets to see The Lion King in the Lyceum Theatre. It was AMAZING!! We also did some shopping and we visited the Cath Kidston shops on Marylebone and Covent Garden - oh I always love the Christmas decorations in Covent Garden!!



Two of my favorite blog friends, Kathleen and Leslie, sent me lovely birthday goodness. Kathleen sent me the housewives tarot card set and the beautiful bird tags and Leslie sent all the other fun goodies. I love those gloves, they are just perfect!! Thanks so much girls :o)

I've been a bad blogger but it's been so busy. I'm almost on track. Christmas cards are sent ... tree decorated ... bathroom painted. I'll be back to blogging and blog reading again soon!!

Things are really quiet here and I love that. Summer always means a lot of people on the go go. It even looks like if they shop less when it's cold outside.

I'm still enjoying the cold but clear blue sky. It's time to wear socks again and I don't find it silly to wear my Uggs now.

I have a lot of fun projects to do and people to guide and teach. And I'm excited that one of my dearest friends might win an award on Sunday!

I can't wait to see two new homes of three great people. And I can't wait to get all my pots out of the shed and onto my new garden path.

And I'm so enjoying season 4 of The Gilmore Girls on DVD because nobody will mock me for watching 8 hours of TV when it's freezing cold outside as they do in summer when it's stinking hot!!

Hurrah! All good things come in autumn!!

There's this saying we use in The Netherlands I like;

"the R is back in the month" which points to the autumn and winter months - September, October, November, December, January, February, March and April to me the most cozy times of year.

I'm already throwing blankets everywhere, getting the past seasonal magazines out on display and I've been planting pink and white hyacinths in wicker baskets.

• Martha opened her Halloween shop again.
• Try to get your hands on the October issue of the British Country Living it's so chunky!!

We're back from New York city and I did have a great time. I'm still tired of all the walking, looking at things, chatting and of all the shopping we did. It was so much fun to finally meet my blog friends in person but the trip was too short to really get the chance to chat with all of them. I shared a room and a really tiny bathroom with the fabulous Giao and Leslie and we all met each morning in the hotel corridor to head off to the big city. We also met the wonderful Dawn who lives in the city and who's been a great guide. So was Hope who showed us Soho and some great places to eat!

Highlights:

• Me and Giao bumping into Ethan Hawke in Central park and Kathleen running after him armed with camera - there's a true paparazzi hiding in her.
• Having a candlelight dinner on the streets in Little Italy - so lovely!
• Riding along the Hudson river with Hope and Jes on a bright and sunny day.


• Drinking strawberry beer in a beautiful park.


• The Country Home be Creative fair in Central Park - thanks Jes for getting the tickets, it was so much fun!

The server yvestown is on crashed a week ago and so all my files got lost in space. I have to start from scratch because I'm one of those people that don't backup. Although I can upload things again, the server is still extremely slow.

But first I'm off to New York to meet with my fabulous friends!!