Almost no blogging all summer! What can I say, since May not even three new articles have come online. The reason: our heads were very much elsewhere! We moved, then had to postpone our wedding, enjoyed the summer and eventually start to plan our postponed wedding. And this last one seems to go through this September: fingers crossed. Curious what our summer looked like? Read on quick!
Feeling at home in our new house
Well, where was I, three months ago. Oh yes, we had just moved into our new house. After two weeks of workin hard (painting, moving and furnishing) there was a good basis. We are so very happy with our house, the space (each with their own office how nice), the garden but also the atmosphere. From the first moment we really feel at home here.
In the following months, the furnishing continues. Our new bed (we sleep so good now) arrived, we ordered a nice outdoor lounge set, designed a dining room table and much more. Too bad, we don’t have real before and after photos, we forgot to take them when the house was empty in all the hectic. Well, here’s an impression of what it looks like now.
By the way, we’re not done yet 😉 but we’ve both had enough of furniture shops and the many, many choices we need to make! I expect that in the autumn/winter we will feel like exploring further. And besides, we had something much nicer to worry about: our French wedding!
But first holiday
Something we definite were ready for at the beginning of July: vacation! We both had a busy time at work (Ries even got a new job) and our last holiday abroad was to Luxembourg and France in September 2020. I can’t remember the last time we hadn’t been abroad for so long. So we thoroughly enjoyed it!
Together with good friends Philippe and Eva we traveled to the Côte d’Azur in a week and a half. Via Burgundy, the Drôme and the Provence we drove to the south of France. The weather was good, the food was delicious and more importantly, the company was super fun! And I was just as proud, because I also drove the car a few times! Now you wonder why I was proud? I have the annoying tendency to find driving a car scary. Just something in my head. But little by little I try to get rid of that fear.
We visited Saint-Tropez, went shopping in Aix-en-Provence and had picnics on the beach! And of course we visited some wineries, because my favorite wine is really the super light rosé from Provence! On the way back, Ries and I climbed Mount Ventoux and traveled along the Champagne region for a quick visit to our wedding venue. There I had a trial haircut session at the hairdresser. And that was a good thing, the hairdresser was fairly traditional and after an hour and a half of trying, I came to the conclusion that this was not going to be a match. The sweet lady did her very best but judging by my facial expression (below) I wasn’t really happy with the result ;-).
Summer full of bachelor parties
The rest of the summer was dominated by drinks & dinners in our new house, enjoying the sun on the new lounge sofa, wedding preparations and five bachelor parties. Two from good friends who are also getting married, two from ourselves (at the time of writing Ries has just been picked up for his bachelorette party) and one for us together. Huh, that last one you might be wondering? Well, our wedding in France was originally planned for mid-June. When we decided 6 weeks in advance to postpone it due to our big friend corona, our bachelor parties were also postponed.
But the wonderful friends who organized the two parties for us decided to pamper us on the day our bachelor party was initially planned. It was amazing! We were lured to Thomas and Christine’s house under false pretenses, where we were completely surprised by the presence of our dear masters of ceremonies, Ries’s brother and other good friend. It was a very pleasant afternoon and evening. With delicious food and drinks! Well, that was just a taste of our real bachelorette parties. Mine was really great! And Ries’s is still going on as I write this but also sounds very nice. I’m not going to tell you more about it, because well, I understand that that is not part of a bachelor party!
Weekend away at home!
During the initial wedding weekend in mid-June, the two of us still made it a wonderful weekend. We were planning to go away for a weekend, but since we didn’t know the village we live in very well, we decided to stay at home and just visit all the restaurants in the area. And that was a great idea!
It’s a miracle that I still fit my wedding dress, because we ate out for four times, drank champagne, wine, cocktails and more! Ries provided breakfast in bed every day, we went to try on his wedding suit, visited the sauna and were surprised by our wedding guests with a super funny movie!
Our French wedding (will take place!)
Yes, you read that correctly! As it looks now, we’re going to throw a great party in a few weeks! And guys, what are we looking for here! We have been preparing for over a year and a half and well, we are starting to lose ourselves more and more ;-).
You know that when women are pregnant and have pregnancy brains? I’m afraid Ries and I have wedding brains. Part of our brain is continuously occupied by the anticipation and fun things we are planning. And yes, I have become my worst nightmare 😉 the kind of person who manages to bring up the wedding in every conversation. At least in my head, according to friends and family it’s not that bad and I’m certainly not a real bridezilla yet 😉
Off to France
No, but seriously. It’s so much fun doing these preparations, especially because we’re both so excited! I won’t tell you anything but we have organized some nice (small) surprises. A few days before the wedding we will already leave for France, together with Susie and Nicole, the best masters of ceremonies out there! Nice to acclimatize for a few days and get everything ready. But until then, we still have some stuff to do here in The Netherlands. I’m off to the hairdresser now and have the rest of the weekend to pack up some stuff and write my vows!
After the wedding we plan to drive to the south of France and or Italy for our honeymoon. Nothing is fixed, nothing is planned, and we let it depend a bit on the weather and the corona measures. Well, nowadays it’s not really Charlotte PLANS a trip anymore!
Keep you posted (although it may take a while)!
Lots of love
Charlotte
