Christmas!

Enjoyed the holidays?

I had a fab time with good company, yammie food and some fine wine <3!!

The good times started off at the first christmasday, cuz I had to work on christmas eve.

I woke up around 14.30 and recieved a call from my dad......

He wanted to know what my plans were! I don't have that much contact with my parents......long story! But it was nice to recieve that call!

We talked about my work, my travels and I noticed that he was very interested in me (believe me....that's not normal behavior) I told him that I liked this conversation and that we should talk more often! He agreed and finally found the nerve to tell me how proud he was of me.....he was crying!

He couldn't give me a better christmas present than this.......

I don't want expensive stuff, I just wanna feel love and comfort!

Bless him for giving me that, I know how hard it is for him to speak from the heart <3

After that lovely call I drove to Misha to spend our day with good food and fine wine!

She really spoiled me with her cooking......

We started with champagne and an amuse (paté with cranberries and fresh baked bread)

After that we had Madeira soup with red wine (obviously hahaha)
We listen to christmas songs, talked, laughed and made new travelplans for next year.....
(London and 2 Pink gigs in Switzerland for sure)

It's not christmas for me without Spoom (champagne with vanille icecream)

We drank some more wine and prepared our main dish......roasted paprika filled with a cheese mousse, grilled potato and steak with red wine sauce! It was delicious.

Damn, I was so full after all that food, but we didn't had dessert yet.
How can I refuse that cremé brulee and that warm chocolate cake with white chocolate???

Holy jesus, that was HEAVEN!!!!

We settled ourselves on the sofa after that lovely meal and watched the Pink DVD and she really liked it!

We went to bed around 2.30 am and Misha woke me up with the smell of fresh baked bread and coffee! As I walked down stairs I saw she already fixed our breakfast.......Can it be like this every morning???

She's such a sweetheart <3

Thanks to Misha.....I really don't like Christmas, but you really made me feel special during these days.

Love you for that <3

Video Tuschinski premiere party!

Every year we have a tradition.....a christmas present for all the Dutch Live fans!
This year we made a 1 Gb Live usb stick with some special footage on it.
We made more than 1000 packages and sended it before christmas to all our members!
It has been a hell of a Live year, as you all know......so we made a compilation from all the highlights.

This is one of the video's I like to share with you......

Merry christmas!

Zalig kerstfeest lieve vrienden.......

Finally I'm home! I worked 32 hours in 2 days and I'm exhausted......

The shifts were busy and chaotic and I nearly slept for 48 hours, but before I go to bed I wanna wish my dear friends and readers a merry christmas!

Enjoy the time with your loved ones, eat yammie food and drink fine wine.

I'm there with you in spirit.....

Working is dangerous!

It is.....sometimes!
My office is right next to the emergency terminal and I see a lot of trauma's and people in bad conditions brought in by the paramedicals.
Nothing dangerous you think huh?

Well today I got strict orders from the police to stay inside, keep my distance from the windows, cuz they would bring a pretty heavy criminal in! He was seriously injured and needed medical help!
The police told me about an escape plan and that they would use guns and violence if his mates showed up.....because they are some nasty motherfuckers.

Everything worked out fine, he got his medical help and will be thrown in jail afterwards!

Right on! Another day at the office pfff!

Erase the past!

One of my favorite metalbands Sevendust made a song with Chris Daughtry and I'm in love with it!
Lyrics, voices, music, the emotion......it all fits perfectly.

Music is such a powerfull tool!

More time to relax.....

I woke up this morning at 11 am! My whole system is in the relax mode and I actually like this state of mind. I took a step back in my working schedule, cuz it's time to relax a bit after this crazy year of running and working too damn hard!

I didn't plan anything this day, but surprisely enough it took another turn......

My phone went off around 11.30 am. It was Bas (my guitar teacher)

He asked about my plans, cuz he didn't had plans either.

I knew he had to perform this evening with his band, but we could hang out for a few hours.

So, we decided to go to the christmas market......

As macho is he is he picked me up with one of his toys, took off the roof and I was freezing like hell hahaha! Nevermind......he wanted to show off!

I can't blame him.....men are like little boys sometimes!

The christmas market in Dordrecht is huge and last three days! The whole centre is full with stands where they selling glühwein, hot chocolate, an open-air ice skating track, music, bonfires and christmas decorations!

Soon as we arrived we settled ourselves at the terras for some hot chocolate and poffertjes! I wanted to rent ice skates, but it was too crowded on the track......so this old cookie decided to stay on the safe side of the track and watch the kids having fun....

The weather was great! Blue air, sunny but freezing cold! I like that kind of weather.
I don't mind if it's cold, as long if it's dry and not too windy......

Singing santa's, happy faces and the christmas spirit!
The only thing we needed was snow......that would've made it perfect!

We had a great time and before we headed back to my place Bas bought me a huge bag of candy.....because he thinks I'm sweet hahaha! Too cute.

Bas left around 17 pm and I wanted to go to the grocery shop, cuz my fridge was pretty empty!
I went to the garage to pick up my car and when I turned the key, that damn thing didn't start!

What the fuck?

I went back to my house and called for help! I'm a member of a traffic help company, so they are going to fix it in no time!
It took an hour and in the mean time Cheryl came to visit me.....
The car mechanic fixed the problem (the battery was broken)
A bit later.....but I could finally get myself some supplies.

We returned back to my place and settled ourselves in front of the tv to watch a movie, drink wine and eat yammie food!

The actual plan was to go out, but we were both too lazy and tired that we decided to stay in.....
I'm hooked to my house at the moment! Lit the candles, make it nice and cosy inside. So I really didn't mind!

Cheryl left around 11.00 pm


I'm finishing my tea at the moment!
Next stop will be the shower and straight to my lovely bed!

Good night ya'll.....

Interview!

Look what I found in my mailbox today......

They finished the magazine with the special about the DVD recording for Live in Paradiso!

It looks awesome.....

The magazine is full of pictures, inside information, behind the scenes, interviews with the crew, director, editor, promoter and me, myself and I.

My star is rising haha!!!

What a perfect day......

Sometimes the small and simple things in life can make you really happy!
You wanna smile all day.....the warm and fuzzy feeling inside is priceless.

I had my moment today!

Me and Cheryl did some Christmas shopping......Cheryl needed some decoration stuff for her house. So we were on a mission.....
Holy Maria, that shop was HUGE. It's normally a gardener shop, but during the holiday season it's all in the Christmas theme. Moving santa's, singing christmas trees....FUN!

I'm not much of a Christmas lover normally..... I have my reasons for that! But I think I felt the Christmas spirit today!

After our shopping we went to the centre of Rotterdam to get ourselves some good Japanese food! We came across an open-air ice skating track surrounded by all these cute little wooden cabins where they were selling hot chocolate, waffles and crepes.
The smell was delicious.......

As we walked further I spotted The Subway in the corner of my right eye......damn, those Macadamia cookies are too hard to resist. I have to go inside!

The taste of that cookie reminded me of my trip through California, a few months ago and those memories are so fricking precious.
I ate half of the cookie, cuz we were on our way to eat SUSHI.

It's actually funny, cuz everytime me and Cheryl get together we end up eating sushi......
We're both Japanese food lovers and the atmoshere in that restaurant is lovely.

The ordering concept is brilliant!
You pay 20 euro a person for 4 rounds. Per round you can order 5 different dishes from the card. Sushi or other Japanese food....

Believe me, that's A LOT of food! Normally I'm pretty full after 3 rounds, but today I finish all 4 rounds and we even ate desert (vanilla icecream)

HOLY COW!!!

I really can't believe I ate that much.....unbelievable hahaha!

With our loaded tummies we drove back to Cheryl's place!
We lit up the candles, put on the fire and Dennis (Cheryl's boyfriend) made us coffee.

It was so cosy to sit around the fire place with our coffee and talk about all kinds of things.
I really felt the love of friendship......

What a perfect day!!

Stereo!

Normally I don't like shows where musicians have to compete against each other to play in a band. But I was pretty hooked to this show called "Rocknation"
A few talent scouts searched for the perfect combination to form a rockband!
Raw voices, rock star attitudes and passion........

I'm actually a bit sad that it's over, but the end result is fabulous!
The band is called "Stereo" and I really dig their first single.

I see a lot of potential, they're talented and I predict a huge music career (and not only here in Holland)

Mind my words!

Sinterklaas!

Sinterklaas is a real Dutch tradition and a very excited time for childeren!

Every year Sinterklaas arrive by boat from Spain to give all the kids candy and presents.....

He celebrate his birthday (on the 5th of December) here in Holland and share his goodness with all the little ones.

He puts candy and presents in their shoes at night.

Ofcourse it's a myth! Cuz the grown ups buy all the stuff and dress up as Sinterklaas......but it's so much fun to see all the excitement in the eyes of the kids.

On 5 december it's "pakjesavond" which means an evening full of presents.

It's a tradition to celebrate it with family and friends.......make little poems, open presents, eat candy, drink hot chocolate and enjoy each others company!

Tonight we had our "pakjes avond" at my sisters house!

My niece and nephew are not believers anymore, since they are 10 and 13 years old.

But we like the tradition and buy each other presents and share some quality time together!

Those two childeren are so damn important in my life and I didn't saw them for almost 2 months. I had too much going on in my life and I didn't expect they would miss their aunt.

Wrong thinking......

I recieved so much love, hugs and kisses from them this evening!

Words can't describe how much I needed that.

We def. have to spend more time together.....

After we opened our presents, we watched the Live dvd....
My sister bought it and wanted to watch it together with me for the first time.
They were all so proud and impressed...
We talked about how it all started, years ago and how life takes it's turn!

I really enjoyed this evening and I went home with a huge smile on my face!
Precious moments....

Tomorrow I'm going to use my present......
I recieved special coffee and chocolate!!

It seems like Sinterklaas knows exactly what I like......