Summer Sandals

Upon a friend's request, I browsed the internet for a pair of summer sandals. Requirements: good-looking, but also comfortable enough to wear them while shopping and going to the playground with your kids. Although I think it's hard to be ladylike in sandals, I tried to find the most elegant, but convenient ones (at least these are prettier than Birkenstocks... :-) )

Top-down, from left to right: Ted Baker €133,00 | ASOS Juniper €30,90 | Zara Home €29,95 | Massimo Dutti NY Limited Edition €125,00 | Massimo Dutti €99,95 | Fred de la Bretonière €79,95 | Zara €69,95 | Massimo Dutti €125,00 | Zara €29,95

Outfits for Spring

Here are my picks for this Spring:

Outfit I: Shades of Pink & Navy

Outfit II: Silver & White

Outfit III: Jeans Blues & Neon Pink

Outfit IV: Black, White & Orange

Outfit V: Bright Yellow & Jeans Blue

Outfit VI: Stripes & Flats

Bilder & De Clercq

Not so creative cooks, like me, go to Bilder & De Clercq for a healthy, easy-to-cook (even I can do it!) dinner. Once you've chosen a recipe -every week they have 14 different recipes-, you can buy all the ingredients there. So no extra trip to the supermarket! Every Wednesday they change the selection and three meals are on 35% sale. They just opened their second store in Amsterdam, on the Ceintuurbaan.

Bilder & De Clercq
De Clercqstraat 44 / Ceintuurbaan 334
www.bilderdeclercq.nl

Fine Phintage

This smart-looking store opened its doors just a few weeks ago in the Pijp. 

It's called Phintage by Helen Yard.

You'll find nice, clean looking, unique pieces, for pretty affordable prices. I especially oohed and aahed over the jewellery and fashion belts with vintage looking buckles (already bought two!)

If you are looking for a special item, ask the owner Helen or her stylish daughter Sharon Yard. They are happy to help you. 

Phintage by Helen Yard

Frans Halsstraat

Amsterdam

www.phintage.com

Open from Tuesday to Saturday,

from 11 AM to 7 PM

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is hot right now. And I totally get why. With its beautiful canal palaces, fine museums, splendid theaters and concert halls and interesting history, this city has so much to offer. Compared to Moscow, the city is less Russian and feels much more western. However, I was flabbergasted by the amount of Russian culture displayed here. Here are a few of my favorite places and restaurants in St. Petersburg. 

Museums

Hermitage Museum

Stylish Holiday Journal

After spending my summer in lovely Portugal a friend gave me this splendid book called 

American Fashion Travel: Designers on the Go.

It's sort of a scrapbook with favorite holiday destinations and pictures of America's best-known designers,
such as Diane von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger and Tory Burch. 

Tory Burch's favorite holiday moments

The handwritten texts make you feel you are looking at their personal travel diary. If you feel inspired, 
you can add your own and your friends holiday memoirs in the back. 

Beautiful & inspirational pictures

American Fashion Travel: Designers on the Go

In the Netherlands, buy online here

International, buy online here

Have a beautiful summer

and see you back in August!

Holiday | Ik ga op reis en neem mee...

Going on vacation and need some help packing? Avoid holiday stress with this handy packing list! 

De vakantie komt er aan! Heb jij al nagedacht wat je mee gaat nemen? Alle vakantie-outfits uitgedacht? Omzeil inpak-stress met deze handige "IK GA OP REIS EN NEEM MEE..."-lijst:

I Want This Pur Se!

Need a reason to buy this fabulous red leather pouch? Here are five! 

American Apparel, Posh Red, Medium €20,-

Pink!

I love a dramatic necklace. And I love to make it even more dramatic by wearing my pink necklace on a pink dress! 

 

The necklace is by H&M, the dress by Daily Kaat, the shoes by Zara.

The Best Burgers in Town

Attention meat lovers, this article is for you!

I did some research on the best hamburgers in town and these places have made the shortlist: 

1. The Butcher

This burger bar recently opened its doors at Amsterdam's most famous street market and is already my favorite. Made from Aberdeen Angus beef, the burgers are nice & juicy. And they carry funny names, such as "The Codfather", "Silence of the Lamb" and "The Cow Boy". To complete your burger, order some French fries on the side; they taste homemade. 

The Butcher

Albert Cuypstraat 129

website

2. Burgermeester

Life is a Beach

Clockwise: 

Baku Bikini Top £65 & Bottom £61 | Missoni Beach Towel €119,95 via De Bijenkorf | River Island Straw Hat £13 | Persol Shades (PO649) €165 | J Crew Tank $86 | Massimo Dutti Men’s Swimwear €39,95 | ASOS Navy Espadrilles £8 | H&M Beach Towel €7,95 | Kiehl’s Sun Protection SFP 40 $19,50 | Zara Golden Sandals €39,95 | Club Monaco Goldie Moroccan Bag $59,50 | Ray-Ban Erika Shades Violet (RB4171 870/68)$109 

5 things to make life easier

It has been a while since I posted my last Daily Kaat article. These last few weeks I've been busy juggling a hectic working schedule with a family & social life. The good side of it is that it gave me inspiration for my next article: how to make life easier. I've come up with five products and services that will help you organizing your daily life:

1.  The Cozi Family Calender

Cozi is a website that arranges all kinds of family life stuff. I especially like the Cozi Family Calender, which registers all my and my husband's appointments. It's online, so we can update the calender from our own computers. You can even synchronize it with your Microsoft Outlook and you receive a handy weekly update by email every Sunday.

Besides the Family Calender, you can also find recipes, shopping lists and to do lists on Cozi.

www.cozi.com

2. Hello Fresh

If you don't have time to do groceries and cook after work, Hello Fresh can help you out. At the beginning of the week, Hello Fresh chooses the recipes for you, does your groceries and even brings them to your house. The only thing you have to do is prepare the food. I tried it out a couple of times at my friend's house and was surprised how good the food was. The recipes are varied and healthy and really fresh.

For Mom

Looking for a present to give to your Mom this Sunday? Here are some ideas: 

1. Surprise her with a bunch of Red and Pink Peonies from the Flower Market

2. Warm her feet with these cashmere ballerina slippers by Zara Home €22,95: 

3. Write your Mom a sweet message on this limited edition bottle of Kiehl’s Creme de Corps € 49,- (500ml pump)

4. For Amsterdam Mommies: Breakfast in Bed brought to you by Bagels & Beans 

For €35,- (1 person) of €65,- (2 persons) you’ll get a basket filled with all kinds of brownies and bagels and a thermos with coffee or tea. Dutchies visit the Bagels & Beans website

5.  This leather case by Smaak (€19,90) is a great gift for make-up, stationary and other Mom-stuff

"Famous Frocks": making your own Jackie O. dress

As a keen DIY dressmaker, I was very happy to receive this present for my birthday: 

My 5 favorite areas in Amsterdam

1. The "Oudemanhuispoort"

Ballet Flats

Looking for elegant, quirky or just classic ballet flats? American brand J.Crew now has a huge collection of ballets, ranging from classic leather flats to the very comfortable cece ballet flats. They are available in eye-popping colors, but also with prints and of course, in traditional ballet pink.

All ballets are made with Italian leather and produced in Italy.  Prices range from €120 to €170.

Happy Easter!

Tips for maids of honour & masters of ceremony

With the wedding season approaching, my friend, who is going to be maid of honour at her friend's wedding, asked me if I got some suggestions on how to help the wedding couple getting their dream wedding. It's a great honour to be selected to be part of the "wedding inner circle", but for many maids of honour -and masters of ceremony- it's not always clear what their role is. Below, I selected five tips that will hopefully inspire you and help you in being a great maid of honour or master of ceremony.

1. Be a good host

Yummie Crumbs

When I was studying at the University of Amsterdam I was always looking for different places to eat than the student restaurant. Luckily, my faculty was located in the centre of Amsterdam, so alternatives were plenty. But although I had my favorites (Gartine, Harkema, De Jaren and Singel 404), I always thought a good sandwich store was missing. Then last week I went for a spin in my alma mater neighborhood and was surprised to see a new lunch venue had opened: De Laatste Kruimel (The Last Crumb).