Sometimes there are weddings that are filled with so much love and beauty that simply looking at the pictures evokes a certain nostalgia. My friend Haley and her dearest husband Brent’s wedding is the perfect example. Haley is one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever come across and her attention to detail is quite impressive. I must also confess that I have a girl-crush on her incredibly talented photographer Stephanie Williams who can capture images that inspires one to get lost in a dream…

Haley and Brent were married on April 24, 2009 surrounded by their closest family and friends.

Vendors:

Dress-Melissa Sweet
Bridesmaids dresses- J Crew and Betsey Johnson
Shoes-Chinese Laundry
Ceremony Site-Alcazar Garden, Balboa Park
Reception Site- The Prado, San Diego
Photographer-Stephanie Williams with Next Exit Photography

Arguably one of the best aspects about “living” in the Netherlands is the opportunity to travel. Contrary to their American counterparts, the Dutch get to enjoy ,on average, about 4-6 weeks of vacation each year (not including national holidays and sick leave benefits).  This year, Bram and I decided to take a 14 day road trip to Switzerland, Italy and the South of France. Our particular destinations were the Bernese Oberland, Cinque Terre, and the Provence.

(E= Utrecht B=Wengen, Switzerland C= Monterroso al Mare, Cinque Terre  D=Arles, Provence )

As part of my inburgering, otherwise known as integration into mainstream Dutch society, we decided to visit Cinque Terre again. After all, the Dutch are notorious for traveling to the  same place, year after year. However, we were not fully embracing the Dutch tradition of vacationing. One of the most endearing (or maybe most irritating) hallmark Dutch idiosyncrasy is their tenacity to vacation everywhere in the world imaginable and ingeniously avoid immersing themselves in the local culture.

A popular Dutch DJ once lamented “For the life of me, I don’t understand why the Dutch take great pains to completely stuff their caravans with everything imaginable such as the obligatory kilo of Dutch cheese and spend weeks on end at an exclusively Dutch camping site in a foreign country several thousand miles away. Why even bother leaving the Netherlands? ”

To give these slightly xenophobic Dutch people the benefit of the doubt, traveling in general can be very unforgiving to one’s pocketbook.  Not to forget to mention the language barriers and different foods that can leave any common Dutch person anxious and terrified about not having their daily plain cheese broodjes.

While I still need the comfort of a nice bed and refreshing clean private shower after a long day of traveling, I can still find it endearing when we stumble upon a Dutch camping site and laugh about the Dutch ingenuity with thriftiness :

(See the Dutch flag proudly waving in front of the camper site?)

Suffice to say,  I am incredibly grateful to have  the luxury to vacation especially after such a health scare.