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	<title type="text">A Daily Lee</title>
	<subtitle type="text">A lifestyle blog from a California girl living in The Netherlands</subtitle>

	<updated>2025-10-23T10:16:50Z</updated>

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		<author>
			<name>Lily</name>
					</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Lush Halloween 2022 Haul]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/10/05/lush-halloween-2022-haul/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8730</id>
		<updated>2025-10-23T10:16:50Z</updated>
		<published>2022-10-05T14:26:34Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Featured" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Skincare &amp; Beauty" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lush" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m always late to the party but that&#8217;s how I&#8217;ve always been. So when Lush announced their Halloween line up, I was excited but apprehensive. These limited edition products sell out way before the actual holiday. Lord of Misrule has always been a staple of my Halloween hauls but I skipped out on it this year in favor of other scents. Lush Halloween 2022 introduced a lot of new and exciting flavors I&#8217;ve never seen before. And of course, Lush can be pretty expensive. So what did I get from the Lush Halloween 2022 drop? Let&#8217;s get to it. A whole lotta soap Between tidying up, playing with the dogs, and cooking, I wash my hands almost all day long. It&#8217;s obvious that I would repurchase Ghost In The Dark, the soap bar that screams refreshing. It&#8217;s loaded with lemongrass and bergamot, 2 of my favorite scents. Blood Orange is a new addition and caters to my love of all things citrus. It smells like true blood orange and the lingering scent is to die for. The last soap item I got was one of the new shower slimes. The Lush Halloween 2022 Halloween slime is Sparkly Pumpkin, another citrus [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/10/05/lush-halloween-2022-haul/">Lush Halloween 2022 Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/10/05/lush-halloween-2022-haul/"><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m always late to the party but that&#8217;s how I&#8217;ve always been. So when Lush announced their Halloween line up, I was excited but apprehensive. These limited edition products sell out way before the actual holiday. <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/lord-of-misrule-shower-gel">Lord of Misrule</a> has always been a staple of my <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/13/early-autumn-lush-haul/">Halloween hauls</a> but I skipped out on it this year in favor of other scents. Lush Halloween 2022 introduced a lot of new and exciting flavors I&#8217;ve never seen before. And of course, Lush can be pretty expensive. So what did I get from the Lush Halloween 2022 drop? Let&#8217;s get to it.</p>
<p><strong>A whole lotta soap</strong></p>
<p>Between tidying up, playing with the dogs, and cooking, I wash my hands almost all day long. It&#8217;s obvious that I would repurchase <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/ghost-in-the-dark-soap">Ghost In The Dark</a>, the soap bar that screams refreshing. It&#8217;s loaded with lemongrass and bergamot, 2 of my favorite scents. <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/blood-orange-shower-gel">Blood Orange</a> is a new addition and caters to my love of all things citrus. It smells like true blood orange and the lingering scent is to die for. The last soap item I got was one of the new shower slimes. The Lush Halloween 2022 Halloween slime is <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/sparkly-pumpkin-shower-slime">Sparkly Pumpkin</a>, another citrus explosion pared with juniper berry. It&#8217;s as you would expect, slimy and oh so fun to play with!</p>
<p class="text__Text-sc-1kdbx67-0 bOMhiT"><strong>Pamper Time</strong></p>
<p>I was trying to try out the newest face mask to the family, <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/mr-pumpkin-face-mask">Mr. Pumpkin Face</a>. While the other products are Halloween themed, this is the first of this haul that actually has pumpkin in it. It&#8217;s a wonderful exfoliating mask that almost feels like a cream cheese spread. I wanted to slater this on a slice of bread instead of my face! It&#8217;s got nice chunks of pumpkin seed which can be perfect for exfoliating. It also has several different types of oils packed so you feel it when you wash the mask off. My skin was soft and fresh afterwards and not feeling oily or greasy. It&#8217;s packed with ton of vitamins so that your face is Autumn ready!</p>
<p><strong>Ready for the Holidays</strong></p>
<p>The Christmas drop is live, as of me writing up this post, so if I&#8217;m lucky, I&#8217;ll be able to grab a few of the things I forgot to pick up. This includes <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/vampire-kisses-lip-scrub">Vampire Kisses</a>, and the <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/bat-mates-knot-wrap">Bat Mates Knot Wrap</a>. Vampire Kisses is a lip scrub flavored like sour grape! Sour grape is my favorite flavor! I forgot to look for it in store and realized my mistake on the car ride home. The Bat Mates Knot Wrap is a simple knot wrap, commonly used for wrapping gifts. But the art on this is so beautiful that I&#8217;d want to frame it. I didn&#8217;t see it in store so it&#8217;s possible it wasn&#8217;t in stock yet.</p>
<p>As for the Christmas collection, I already know I&#8217;ve love to try out <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/cinnamon-stick-lip-oil">Cinnamon Stick</a> and at least smell <a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/en/p/turmeric-latte-perfume">Turmeric Latte</a>. I hope I&#8217;ll get to visit my local Lush again soon!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/10/05/lush-halloween-2022-haul/">Lush Halloween 2022 Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></content>
		
			</entry>
		<entry>
		<author>
			<name>Lily</name>
					</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Asten Castle in North Brabant]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/07/29/asten-castle-in-north-brabant/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8704</id>
		<updated>2022-07-29T11:42:03Z</updated>
		<published>2022-07-29T11:42:03Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="The Netherlands" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Tourism" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Sightseeing" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s been a while hasn&#8217;t it? I told you guys I&#8217;d be going on vacation! It&#8217;s been a a little over a month since then but I needed time to recover because I ended up with Ms. Rona&#8230; I&#8217;m doing better now and I&#8217;m prepared to share about our trip to the Asten Castle in Asten, Netherlands. Visiting the Asten Castle was one of the few things I got to do before I got sick. It was a beautiful and haunting ruin to visit, filled with history and tragedy. So without further ado, let&#8217;s get into it! Abandoned but not forgotten Located in North Brabant, Asten, Asten Castle has stood against time for over 600 years. It&#8217;s been decades since the Asten Castle had occupants. Many of the efforts to restore it have fallen through. We had a wonderful tour guide to explained to us the origins and history. The most recent disaster to hit was World War II, which sealed the deal on the Castle being a ruin. It may have been erected as far back as the Middle Ages and was used as a fortified house. During the Dutch Renaissance it was converted into a castle by Bernard [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/07/29/asten-castle-in-north-brabant/">Asten Castle in North Brabant</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/07/29/asten-castle-in-north-brabant/"><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s been a while hasn&#8217;t it? I told you guys I&#8217;d be going on vacation! It&#8217;s been a a little over a month since then but I needed time to recover because I ended up with Ms. Rona&#8230; I&#8217;m doing better now and I&#8217;m prepared to share about our trip to the Asten Castle in Asten, Netherlands. Visiting the Asten Castle was one of the few things I got to do before I got sick. It was a beautiful and haunting ruin to visit, filled with history and tragedy. So without further ado, let&#8217;s get into it!</p>
<p><strong>Abandoned but not forgotten<br />
</strong>Located in North Brabant, Asten, Asten Castle has stood against time for over 600 years. It&#8217;s been decades since the Asten Castle had occupants. Many of the efforts to restore it have fallen through. We had a wonderful tour guide to explained to us the origins and history.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8711 alignleft" src="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins2.jpg" alt="" width="409" height="614" srcset="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins2.jpg 409w, https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins2-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px" /></p>
<p>The most recent disaster to hit was World War II, which sealed the deal on the Castle being a ruin. It may have been erected as far back as the Middle Ages and was used as a fortified house. During the Dutch Renaissance it was converted into a castle by Bernard van Merode. There are double moats around the castle and a 2 bridge system as well. There is even a basement where food was stored during the summer. It&#8217;s cooler underground so the natural lower temperature helped to prevent food spoilage.</p>
<p>Outside sits a small wall, a memory of the past. It had been a dungeon where witches and even a werewolf had been held for trail. I wish our tour guide had more information!</p>
<p><strong>Peaceful Grounds<br />
</strong>The area around the Castle was lush forest and not 1but 2 moats! There were a lot of activities both for adults and kids. And the ruins itself was amazing to explore. The architecture was beautiful, even if most of it was far past the glory days. What was interesting to see, was what was missing. Locals had dismantled a few rooms for the bricks and the stone so areas, like the main seating hall, were missing. Instead the curator had displays to show where people might have spent their evenings.<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8712 alignright" src="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins3.jpg" alt="" width="409" height="614" srcset="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins3.jpg 409w, https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins3-200x300.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px" /></p>
<p><strong>More than Historical<br />
</strong>These days Asten Castle is a national monument. There have been some talks about bringing it into the modern age but nothing set in stone. It&#8217;s currently a private piece of land but tours are available. The wonderful think about Asten Castle, is that it&#8217;s more than a piece of history, it&#8217;s a piece of heritage. As with many European countries, that heritage isn&#8217;t always the most wholesome. But the Dutch are doing their part in educating the next generation of Dutch citizens.</p>
<p><strong>Castle Day<br />
</strong>We happened to be in the area in time for Castle Day. That meant that the courtyard was alive with activity. There were food vendors, live music, and craft beer for sale. While we didn&#8217;t stay for any of the food, we had a wonderful time. There were demonstrations on many interesting topics, including Dutch bee keeping! For the children, there was a ton of stuff to do. Plenty of games, activities and even a story telling event in the forest. To get to the story teller, kids had to travel the path and answer questions about the nature around them.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-8710 aligncenter" src="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" srcset="https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins.jpg 614w, https://www.adailylee.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/castle-asten-ruins-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px" /></p>
<p><strong>Final Thoughts<br />
</strong>I&#8217;m thankful we were able to experience Asten Castle. It&#8217;s not open everyday to the public and we came at the right time. I love visiting historical landmarks and ruins. They tell a story from the past and that&#8217;s exactly what Asten Castle is. It&#8217;s fascinating to see how old buildings were constructed, and how they stand up to the test of time. It&#8217;s disappointing that much of the castle was destroyed. But there are still memories to experience at the location. Asten Castle is a delicious slice of Dutch history that I, as an immigrant, love eating up.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Much of the information here is from the <a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasteel_Asten">Dutch Wikipedia page</a> and from our tour guide, but you can also find good details on <a href="https://www.castles.nl/asten-castle">Castles.nl</a>.</em></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/07/29/asten-castle-in-north-brabant/">Asten Castle in North Brabant</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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			<name>Lily</name>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[The Keukenhof&#8217;s 2022 Reopening]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/24/the-keukenhofs-2022-reopening/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8687</id>
		<updated>2022-03-24T12:36:57Z</updated>
		<published>2022-03-24T12:36:57Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="The Keukenhof" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Sightseeing" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="The Netherlands" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Tourism" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>So you&#8217;ve heard the news that everyone&#8217;s been talking about. The Keukenhof is finally reopening for 2022. One of the world&#8217;s most beautiful gardens has was closed the past 2 years due to the world crisis, but it&#8217;s returned! Be warned that this year may not be all sunshine and roses. I mean sunshine and tulips. One of The Netherland&#8217;s most popular tourist spots has been closed for 2 years! Can you imagine what chaos awaits? Not to worry! I&#8217;m here to provide you with some tips on how to make your trip to the Keukenhof&#8217;s 2022 reopening, a smooth one. Book in advance You can bet your bottom dollar that the Keukenhof will be busy. Like super busy. In 2019, the park had to close ticket booths early almost everyday because the park had reached its attendance limit. Can you imagine!? A garden with too many people! I&#8217;m not kidding when I heard stories about people turned away. So many tourists from far away countries who came only to see the flowers&#8230; And couldn&#8217;t see them! Do yourself a favor. Book in advance so you save yourself from the headache of standing in line, and some drama if you&#8217;re [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/24/the-keukenhofs-2022-reopening/">The Keukenhof&#8217;s 2022 Reopening</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/24/the-keukenhofs-2022-reopening/"><![CDATA[<p>So you&#8217;ve heard the news that everyone&#8217;s been talking about. The Keukenhof is finally reopening for 2022. One of the world&#8217;s most beautiful gardens has was closed the past 2 years due to the world crisis, but it&#8217;s returned! Be warned that this year may not be all sunshine and roses. I mean sunshine and tulips. One of The Netherland&#8217;s most popular tourist spots has been closed for 2 years! Can you imagine what chaos awaits? Not to worry! I&#8217;m here to provide you with some tips on how to make your trip to the Keukenhof&#8217;s 2022 reopening, a smooth one.</p>
<p><strong>Book in advance<br />
</strong>You can bet your bottom dollar that the Keukenhof will be busy. Like super busy. In 2019, the park had to close ticket booths early almost everyday because the park had reached its attendance limit. Can you imagine!? A garden with too many people! I&#8217;m not kidding when I heard stories about people turned away. So many tourists from far away countries who came only to see the flowers&#8230; And couldn&#8217;t see them! Do yourself a favor. Book in advance so you save yourself from the headache of standing in line, and some drama if you&#8217;re unable to get in. You can find all this information and more on the <a href="https://keukenhof.nl/en/plan-your-visit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keukenhof&#8217;s</a> website. This also includes information on travel to and from the park so you don&#8217;t get lost.</p>
<p><strong>Come prepared<br />
</strong>Like every tourist trap in every country&#8230; The prices to eat and drink inside the Keukenhof will be sky high and lacking in quality. The lines will be long and there will be tons of people in attendance. It might be hard to get the perfect shot. The weather is warming up too so bring plenty of sunblock, sun protection and even some snacks. And if you have children bring something for them to play with! While the Keukenhof is a garden, it&#8217;s hardly a place for kids to run around and play. There are plenty of open grass fields but they can&#8217;t run through the flowers! Which leads me to my next tip.</p>
<p><strong>Be patient<br />
</strong>A trip to the Keukenhof can be a wonderful once in a lifetime experience. The endless rows of flowers, the rich Dutch history, the clean air and freshly cut grass&#8230; But you&#8217;re going to be there with a thousand other people who may or may not be as mindful as you. It&#8217;s going to be loud and a bit chaotic. Remember to be patient with others and wait your turn. I&#8217;m serious when I say that some exhibits have lines for them. It&#8217;s been a few years since I last went to the Keukenhof, but I have a few posts if you&#8217;re curious about what <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/tag/the-keukenhof/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">past exhibits</a> were.</p>
<p><strong>Mind your neighbors (and the flowers!)</strong><br />
The largest rows of tulips are both inside and outside of the Keukenhof. Do remember that everything outside of the garden is private property. People live and own those fields! I&#8217;ve always seen photos of tourists stopping their rentable cars on the side of the road to take photos. This can pose a huge problem if those are 1 way streets. Don&#8217;t cause a lot of traffic by forgetting to be respectful.</p>
<p><strong>Don&#8217;t forget to have fun<br />
</strong>Something that people often forget, is to have fun. Sure you&#8217;re here to see the blooms and snap those pictures for your social media feed&#8230; But take time to breathe. Don&#8217;t forget you&#8217;re here to enjoy nature. If you don&#8217;t want to brave the crowds, there&#8217;s always the <a href="https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/provinces/south-holland/keukenhof-castle.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keukenhof Castle</a>. A hidden gem of Lisse, this beautiful <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2018/05/23/how-to-experience-wandelen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wandelen</a> park is the perfect place to be if you want a quiet time and a slice of Dutch nature. There are plenty of flowers, an extensive path to walk, an animal petting zoo, and even an historical castle from the Dutch Golden Age.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/24/the-keukenhofs-2022-reopening/">The Keukenhof&#8217;s 2022 Reopening</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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			<name>Lily</name>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome spring &#8211; some updates]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/20/welcome-spring-some-updates/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8675</id>
		<updated>2022-03-20T15:42:05Z</updated>
		<published>2022-03-20T15:42:05Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Featured" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Personal" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>Whew, it&#8217;s been ages hasn&#8217;t it? I hope you&#8217;ve all been doing well. Lots of things have happened since I last wrote and if all goes well, I&#8217;ll have more to write about this year. Lock downs have finally ended (for now) and Sander and I have a full list of things to do already! So it&#8217;s time for some updates&#8230; Can you blame us though? The last few years have been rough on everyone. And the world hasn&#8217;t gotten much better since I last wrote. But lets get back to some positive feelings for now. Spring is finally here in The Netherlands. It&#8217;s impossible to avoid it. I figured now would be the best time to return to this space. The beginning of a new season always fills me with joy. Here is what I&#8217;ve been up to, along with a few updates on how we&#8217;ve been. In full bloom It&#8217;s been a strange year, what with many flowers having already bloomed in January. But there&#8217;s a lot more to be see in our area. And I&#8217;m so thankful for it. The sight of bright flowers lifts my mood and gets me excited for the future. There&#8217;s so much [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/20/welcome-spring-some-updates/">Welcome spring &#8211; some updates</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/20/welcome-spring-some-updates/"><![CDATA[<p>Whew, it&#8217;s been ages hasn&#8217;t it? I hope you&#8217;ve all been doing well. Lots of things have happened since I last wrote and if all goes well, I&#8217;ll have more to write about this year. Lock downs have finally ended (for now) and Sander and I have a full list of things to do already! So it&#8217;s time for some updates&#8230;</p>
<p>Can you blame us though? The last few years have been rough on everyone. And the world hasn&#8217;t gotten much better since I last wrote. But lets get back to some positive feelings for now. Spring is finally here in The Netherlands. It&#8217;s impossible to avoid it. I figured now would be the best time to return to this space. The beginning of a new season always fills me with joy. Here is what I&#8217;ve been up to, along with a few updates on how we&#8217;ve been.</p>
<p><strong>In full bloom</strong><br />
It&#8217;s been a strange year, what with many flowers having already bloomed in January. But there&#8217;s a lot more to be see in our area. And I&#8217;m so thankful for it. The sight of bright flowers lifts my mood and gets me excited for the future. There&#8217;s so much to talk about and I&#8217;ve taken a long enough break!</p>
<p><strong>Catching up on reading</strong><br />
I&#8217;ve not forgotten my reading challenges but I&#8217;m kinder on myself this year. My goal is to read at least 10 books. I&#8217;m getting older and my time becomes more valuable with each passing year. This year I want a mix of genres I love, but also books that are relatable to me. I&#8217;ve finished reading <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57169049-please-don-t-sit-on-my-bed-in-your-outside-clothes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Please Don&#8217;t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes: Essays by Phoebe Robinson</a>, and I found her book to be a great mix of relatable and eye opening. If you&#8217;re in the mood for a bit of comedy and a bit of grounding&#8230; Then you should take a look at this title, I had a great time with it. I want to read more books about the Asian-American immigrant experience so I&#8217;m on the look out. More updates to come when I get a hold of some good titles!</p>
<p><strong>Gamer Hype</strong><br />
I&#8217;ve been playing games with friends on and off but I always value my alone time. I&#8217;m trying to balance out playing 2 different Pokémon titles, Animal Crossing and a few mobile games. I&#8217;d also love to write a post on Guild Wars 2 again. The expansion End of Dragons came out a few weeks back and the story still tugs at my heart. Guild Wars has been a huge part of my life as well and I&#8217;m willing to preach about it to anyone who will listen, haha.</p>
<p><strong>Future Plans</strong><br />
Sander and I have a few music shows planned out, 1 or 2 conventions, and a 2 week holiday with his parents. You can be sure I want to write about everything. I haven&#8217;t been slacking in self improvement department. On top of continuing my <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2020/09/17/the-joy-in-recording-for-youtube/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Youtube channel</a>, I&#8217;ve put in a lot of time <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2020/12/31/what-a-year-of-art-taught-me/">learning to draw</a>. Yes, I&#8217;ve been at it a while now&#8230; but with drawing, you can never stop learning. I signed up for 2 Domestika courses as well!</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve completed the <a href="https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/2879-fantastical-illustrations-with-procreate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fantastical Illustrations with Procreate by Michael Relth</a> course and I&#8217;m still working on my final piece for <a href="https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/2432-atmospheric-scenes-in-procreate-paint-with-color-and-light">Atmospheric Scenes in Procreate: Paint with Color and Light by Ramona Wultschner</a>. These courses have challenged the way I look at art as a whole, and pushed me to explore what I want to draw. It feels amazing to spend a week (or in my case, 2 or even 3) working on a piece to have it come together in the end. I&#8217;d love to take <a href="https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3194-drawing-appealing-characters-with-personality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drawing Appealing Characters with Personality by Magdalina Dianova</a>, but I need to figure out if I need to practice anatomy more before I dive in.</p>
<p>So for now, those are all the updates I have. I&#8217;d love to write more but some weeks are uninteresting. As things start opening up, and we start getting out, there will be more to talk about. If you&#8217;ve been with me this long, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. We all had a difficult adjusting to the changes in our lives and I couldn&#8217;t find the motivation to write. I do love writing and I hope I can do more of it this year.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2022/03/20/welcome-spring-some-updates/">Welcome spring &#8211; some updates</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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			<name>Lily</name>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[The best ready made Boba]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/30/the-best-ready-made-boba/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8655</id>
		<updated>2022-07-04T12:51:10Z</updated>
		<published>2021-10-30T10:59:57Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Featured" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Food" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Unique food" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been a huge fan of Boba for years but I can&#8217;t consume as much sugar as I used to. Add to the fact that the closest Boba restaurants are at least 30 mins away&#8230; How can I ever enjoy this flavorful drink at home? On our last trip to Amsterdam I found the answer, and let me share with you how much of a game changer it was. What exactly is Boba? Boba are large tapioca balls similar to the ones you can find in tapioca pudding. They&#8217;ve gained popularity over the years and have inspired millions of DIY recipes. The pearls have a chewy texture to them and are usually put into sugary drinks or teas. I love enjoying them with sugarless tea because it&#8217;s easy to consume more than one serving. It&#8217;s all in the name I&#8217;ve had several types of Boba before but none of them have been so easy or quick to make as the packages made by WuFuYuan. This brand is inexpensive as well! We found our pearls in the heart of Amsterdam&#8216;s Asian shopping district but it&#8217;s not too hard to find online. Do be careful where you buy it from though. I&#8217;ve [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/30/the-best-ready-made-boba/">The best ready made Boba</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/30/the-best-ready-made-boba/"><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been a huge fan of Boba for years but I can&#8217;t consume as much sugar as I used to. Add to the fact that the closest Boba restaurants are at least 30 mins away&#8230; How can I ever enjoy this flavorful drink at home? On our last trip to Amsterdam I found the answer, and let me share with you how much of a game changer it was.</p>
<p><strong>What exactly is Boba?</strong><br />
Boba are large tapioca balls similar to the ones you can find in tapioca pudding. They&#8217;ve gained popularity over the years and have inspired millions of DIY recipes. The pearls have a chewy texture to them and are usually put into sugary drinks or teas. I love enjoying them with sugarless tea because it&#8217;s easy to consume more than one serving.</p>
<p><strong>It&#8217;s all in the name</strong><br />
I&#8217;ve had several types of Boba before but none of them have been so easy or quick to make as the packages made by <a href="https://www.tokogembira.nl/en/tapioca-pearl-black-sugar-flavor-wufuyuan-250gr.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WuFuYuan</a>. This brand is inexpensive as well! We found our pearls in the heart of <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amsterdam</a>&#8216;s Asian shopping district but it&#8217;s not too hard to find online. Do be careful where you buy it from though. I&#8217;ve seen it go for 3 times the regular price on some websites!</p>
<p><strong>Quick and easy</strong><br />
The last batch of pearls I had took about 4 hours to make. Can you believe that!? It was a mix of boiling and letting the hot water sit to cook the pearls. But these babies take 5 minutes. What a difference it makes! The only down side is that the package recommends consuming the Boba fast. So it&#8217;s best to use during a week where you&#8217;re craving Boba every day. Or, if you have friends over, it&#8217;s perfect for a Boba party.</p>
<p><b>My favorite drink</b><br />
I enjoy my Boba with ice matcha and soy milk. I&#8217;ve been experimenting for a while now and come up with a good recipe. It&#8217;s hard to share because my cup is an old peanut butter jar. But basically I mix up some matcha powder to make a concentrate and let it rest while I fix the rest of the drink. When my Boba has cooled, I add in a huge spoon of honey and mix well. Then I add the mix to my cup and add ice on top. From there I pour on soy milk and add the matcha over that. It&#8217;s so satisfying to mix the drink together and it makes for some beautiful photos! I do have a stainless steel Boba straw so make sure you have something that can fit these huge Boba pearls.</p>
<p><strong>Final thoughts</strong><br />
The ones I bought are brown sugar flavor but its not sweet. They&#8217;re actually flavorless, how interesting is that? It tastes like how brown sugar smells. You&#8217;re going to want to make either a simple syrup or add honey to your Boba pearls. Add your sweetener after cooking the pearls and before they&#8217;re in the drink. You can also add the sugar to your drink too, but make sure you stir it up well enough. I tend to take my tea without sugar and milk so if you enjoy the same then this beverage will be a snap to make.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/30/the-best-ready-made-boba/">The best ready made Boba</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[Early Autumn Lush Haul]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/13/early-autumn-lush-haul/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8658</id>
		<updated>2022-03-20T15:43:01Z</updated>
		<published>2021-10-13T13:07:03Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Skincare &amp; Beauty" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lush" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lush Haul" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>Don&#8217;t you love the smell of autumn? It&#8217;s no secret that I love Lush and their products. So when Sander and I found ourselves in Amsterdam for a few hours, I had to drop into the local Lush. It had been well over a year since I had last frolicked between the soaps and hand washes. What did I pick out in this Lush haul? A few lovely items perfect for the chiller weather. Sex Bomb We live in The Netherlands and that means we have a washroom, a single often tiny room for the toilet. And you know how toilet rooms can get at times, especially if they&#8217;re super tiny. It&#8217;s been months since I decided to invest in a Lush body spray as a bathroom spray&#8230; Let me tell you, I will never go back. Especially with Sex Bomb. It&#8217;s an exotic blend of jasmine, sage and ylang ylang oils. Imagine yourself on a spicy, floral journey into the unknown, that&#8217;s what this scent is all about. Honestly, if I didn&#8217;t use it for the bathroom, I&#8217;d use it on myself. Orange Blossom Before I left California I had one wish. I wanted to find a perfume that [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/13/early-autumn-lush-haul/">Early Autumn Lush Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/13/early-autumn-lush-haul/"><![CDATA[<p>Don&#8217;t you love the smell of autumn? It&#8217;s no secret that I love <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2019/02/25/current-lush-favorites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lush</a> and their products. So when Sander and I found ourselves in <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amsterdam for a few hours</a>, I had to drop into the local Lush. It had been well over a year since I had last frolicked between the soaps and hand washes. What did I pick out in this Lush haul? A few lovely items perfect for the chiller weather.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/nl/p/sex-bomb-body-spray" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sex Bomb</a></strong><br />
We live in The Netherlands and that means we have a washroom, a single often tiny room for the toilet. And you know how toilet rooms can get at times, especially if they&#8217;re super tiny. It&#8217;s been months since I decided to invest in a Lush body spray as a bathroom spray&#8230; Let me tell you, I will never go back. Especially with Sex Bomb. It&#8217;s an exotic blend of jasmine, sage and ylang ylang oils. Imagine yourself on a spicy, floral journey into the unknown, that&#8217;s what this scent is all about. Honestly, if I didn&#8217;t use it for the bathroom, I&#8217;d use it on myself.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/nl/p/orange-blossom-perfume" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orange Blossom</a><br />
</strong>Before I left California I had one wish. I wanted to find a perfume that would remind me of home. Of springs spent in orange groves where the blossoms would fall like rain. It was a tall order though and I left without finding something. And here it is now. Orange blossom is that perfect delicate scent of those same orange groves I grew up with. It&#8217;s also got a woody flavor to it with rosewood and bergamot. It&#8217;s not strong but it lasts for ages. When I get a whiff of it, I&#8217;m right back in California. I&#8217;ve never been so happy about perfume! Well I do still love my <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2018/10/08/lush-halloween-2018-haul/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ectoplasm</a>, but that&#8217;s also a citrus scent. I guess I just have a think for citrus?</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/nl/p/lord-of-misrule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lord of Misrule</a><br />
</strong>This was another scent that isn&#8217;t new to our house hold but it&#8217;s a limited edition one. Available only once a year, Lord of Misrule is another spicy trek into the unknown. It&#8217;s got black pepper and patchouli for that double attack of a scent so specific, you&#8217;d know it on first sniff. It&#8217;s something hard to describe with words, but trust me&#8230; Once you try it, you either love it or hate it. We love it so much we went for the biggest bottle this year.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lush.com/nl/nl/p/pumpkin-spice-soap" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Pumpkin Spice</strong></a><br />
And of course, no Lush haul would be complete without a bar of soap. Not included in this photo is also the bar of Pumpkin Spice I picked up. I wanted to keep it wrapped up and protected until I use it. And smells exactly as it is named. The cool think about it is it has pumpkin seeds baked in so you can use them to scrub your body and get rid of the tough grime from Trick or Treating! I can&#8217;t wait to open up this one but I&#8217;m still working on a Christmas Jelly from last year!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/13/early-autumn-lush-haul/">Early Autumn Lush Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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			<name>Lily</name>
					</author>

		<title type="html"><![CDATA[TJ Maxx Halloween Haul]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/01/tj-maxx-halloween-haul/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8649</id>
		<updated>2022-03-20T15:43:28Z</updated>
		<published>2021-10-01T15:18:44Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Dutch Living" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s finally here! Spooky season has begun! October has always been a time of celebration for me. The days grow shorter. The nights get colder&#8230; The trees change colors and clothing gets cozy. It&#8217;s no secret that I love October for a million reasons. The main reason, being Halloween is almost here! It hasn&#8217;t been easy to move to a country that doesn&#8217;t celebrate Halloween. But that&#8217;s changed over the years. And I finally have something to write about this year. So let&#8217;s get into my TJ Maxx Halloween haul! A healthy selection Before I get into what we walked away with, I&#8217;d like to talk about what they had to offer. When I first came to The Netherlands, it was hard for me to find anything Halloween. We went to TJ Maxx in 2019 but didn&#8217;t find anything we liked. This year we found too much stuff! There was an entire corner for Halloween goodies. Sander could see the excitement on my face too! He immediately asked if I needed a cart. Different styles, different tastes Whether you like the creep side or the elegant side of Halloween, there was a ton to look at in the store. TJ [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/01/tj-maxx-halloween-haul/">TJ Maxx Halloween Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/01/tj-maxx-halloween-haul/"><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s finally here! Spooky season has begun! <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2019/10/20/why-halloween-is-important/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October</a> has always been a time of celebration for me. The days grow shorter. The nights get colder&#8230; The trees change colors and clothing gets cozy. It&#8217;s no secret that I love October for a million reasons. The main reason, being Halloween is almost here! It hasn&#8217;t been easy to move to a country that doesn&#8217;t celebrate Halloween. But that&#8217;s changed over the years. And I finally have something to write about this year. So let&#8217;s get into my <a href="https://www.tkmaxx.nl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TJ Maxx</a> Halloween haul!</p>
<p><strong>A healthy selection</strong><br />
Before I get into what we walked away with, I&#8217;d like to talk about what they had to offer. When I first came to The Netherlands, it was hard for me to find anything Halloween. We went to TJ Maxx in 2019 but didn&#8217;t find anything we liked. This year we found too much stuff! There was an entire corner for Halloween goodies. Sander could see the excitement on my face too! He immediately asked if I needed a cart.</p>
<p><strong>Different styles, different tastes</strong><br />
Whether you like the creep side or the elegant side of Halloween, there was a ton to look at in the store. TJ Maxx doesn&#8217;t have an online store so you&#8217;ll have to make the trek down and see what&#8217;s in stock. I found a lot of items that look good for any party or even regular décor use. It depends on you and your taste but there&#8217;s something for everyone.</p>
<p><strong>Our Haul</strong><br />
It&#8217;s easy to get carried away when it comes to buying things, so it&#8217;s important to show restraint. I made sure to get things we would actually use. So we got a new door mat with a pumpkin and Happy Halloween on it&#8230; We also got an pumpkin spice candle, a new throw blanket that&#8217;s the softest in the world&#8230; And new doggy bed with cute pups and pumpkins. I couldn&#8217;t help myself with that one. We have a ton of dog beds but this particular one had little Shiba Inu on it and I caved. There was also a beautiful Ouija board game inspired throw pillow! It&#8217;s the most comfortable pillow in the world. I&#8217;ve always snuggled up with it a dozen times to watch Doom Patrol.. Speaking of which I should write about what I&#8217;ve been watching recently huh?</p>
<p><strong>Should I check it out?</strong><br />
If you&#8217;re a lover of all things autumn and Halloween, and have been looking for a way to spruce up with some new things, I say yes! It&#8217;s known that all TJ Maxx Halloween inventories are different so each store may or may not have the items I wrote about. But it&#8217;s still worth a shot. I found everything I had wanted (the pillow!) and a few more items that I fell in love with. Necessary? No, but lovely all the same.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/10/01/tj-maxx-halloween-haul/">TJ Maxx Halloween Haul</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[A Return to Amsterdam]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8641</id>
		<updated>2022-03-20T15:43:35Z</updated>
		<published>2021-09-23T13:04:38Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="A few hours in Amsterdam" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Dutch Living" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Tourism" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>You know that feeling when you don&#8217;t see someone for a long time? At times you begin to forget the way they look, right? You can remember their general appearance, their hair color and the way they dress. But after a while, those memories fade and it&#8217;s difficult to remember what you knew so well. It&#8217;s strange for me to say that I feel that way about Amsterdam&#8230; Well felt that way. See after about a year of staying at home and hiding out in our own little bubble, we finally went back to see Amsterdam. And I know that I do actually have friends and family that I haven&#8217;t seen for 5 years because I&#8217;ve moved away&#8230; But Amsterdam sort of feels like an old friend. A friend that says very little, but you always remember what they say. Amsterdam was not the first European city that I&#8217;ve seen in my life, but it&#8217;s one of the most influential. I have so many important memories and I&#8217;m glad we finally went back, felt safe going back. The anxiety of living in a foreign country I can&#8217;t say that I still feel anxious about living in The Netherlands but the [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/">A Return to Amsterdam</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/"><![CDATA[<p>You know that feeling when you don&#8217;t see someone for a long time? At times you begin to forget the way they look, right? You can remember their general appearance, their hair color and the way they dress. But after a while, those memories fade and it&#8217;s difficult to remember what you knew so well. It&#8217;s strange for me to say that I feel that way about Amsterdam&#8230; Well felt that way. See after about a year of staying at home and hiding out in our own little bubble, we finally went back to see Amsterdam.</p>
<p>And I know that I do actually have friends and family that I haven&#8217;t seen for 5 years because I&#8217;ve moved away&#8230; But Amsterdam sort of feels like an old friend. A friend that says very little, but you always remember what they say. Amsterdam was not the first European city that I&#8217;ve seen in my life, but it&#8217;s one of the most influential. I have so many important memories and I&#8217;m glad we finally went back, felt safe going back.</p>
<p><strong>The anxiety of living in a foreign country</strong><br />
I can&#8217;t say that I still feel anxious about living in The Netherlands but the main reason we went to Amsterdam was to complete my <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/06/26/dutch-residency-permit-renewal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reapplication to live</a> here. I needed to update my photo and signature. But all those &#8220;what if&#8221; situations kept popping up in my head. What if they found something wrong with my papers? They did actually, it was pretty funny. But it was no huge issue! Someone wrote down the wrong date for my passport and the guy who helped me fixed it. He was an amazing dude too! We laughed the entire time.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a nervous person by nature but even after 5 years I&#8217;m still learning to feel comfortable. I should be more confident in myself, I&#8217;ve accomplished a lot! But I couldn&#8217;t have done it if I had stayed in my home town in America. I&#8217;m always reminded of those first few weeks when we visit Amsterdam. How I never thought I could find the courage to leave. It&#8217;s all in the past now but I look back and smile.</p>
<p><strong>Precious time with Sander</strong><br />
Sander and I have a small flat and that means we&#8217;re always in earshot of each other. But that doesn&#8217;t mean we don&#8217;t deserve a break once in a while. And by break I mean a date! Now listen here. During quarantine, the dogs have developed a lot of anxiety and they can&#8217;t remain alone.. Which of course can be a pain in the ass. But, we&#8217;ve thankful that Sander&#8217;s parents love our dogs. So they get to baby sit and Sander and I can have a few hours to ourselves.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s also a great way for us to actually spend time together. Otherwise we&#8217;re on our phones, watching tv, or something something else. We can&#8217;t give each other 100% of our attention. Dates are few and far between now but that&#8217;s the way things are for now. Amsterdam has always been the place we enjoy ourselves the most and I&#8217;m so glad we don&#8217;t live to far from it.</p>
<p><strong>A true test of knowledge</strong><br />
So when we go to Amsterdam, I&#8217;m adamant about only using Dutch. We hardly speak Dutch at home so I&#8217;m always rusty&#8230; And Amsterdam is the best place to &#8220;be Dutch&#8221;. And let me tell you I will always adore that feeling&#8230; When people believe that you&#8217;re Dutch and that you belong. I love entering a store and having only Dutch spoken to me. It&#8217;s like I do belong, that this is my true home. It&#8217;s never been easy for me to feel at home or comfortable where I live.</p>
<p>And I know I said above that I need to be more confident&#8230; But this is a different form of confidence. The knowledge that I speak the language, that I&#8217;m at home with these people. It&#8217;s the best feeling in the world. I know I have my Dutch tutor to thank for that&#8230; And I know she reads these posts, so hello Wess!</p>
<p><strong>Cultures from all over<br />
</strong>There are times when I feel too Dutch though. The same meals, scents, flavors, sights and sounds&#8230; Most of that stuff is strictly Dutch, especially since I come from such a small commuter town. But in Amsterdam, you&#8217;ve got everything to smack you in the face. As the capital city of The Netherlands, Amsterdam is home to thousands of different cultures under once roof. I can tell you Sander and I spend a lot of time in the Asian streets.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve found dozens of flavors from my mom&#8217;s home cooking on the shelves in such grocery stores. So I&#8217;m also thankful that Amsterdam can let me bring a small piece of home. If you ever get the chance to eat fresh <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barfi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">burfi</a>, please do! It&#8217;s one of my favorite Indian desserts!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/23/a-return-to-amsterdam/">A Return to Amsterdam</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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			<name>Lily</name>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[A quiet Dutch Birthday]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/04/a-quiet-dutch-birthday/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8634</id>
		<updated>2021-09-04T21:12:23Z</updated>
		<published>2021-09-04T21:12:23Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Food" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Food in North Holland" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Dutch Living" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>Sander is jarig! Today is Sander&#8217;s birthday, he&#8217;s turning 34 this year. And of course since the world is still a bit chaotic, this Dutch birthday won&#8217;t be like the normal ones. I&#8217;m not sure if there ever will be normal Dutch birthdays anymore. But here&#8217;s how we experienced it. Smaller gatherings A normal Dutch birthday party has everyone involved. Since The Netherlands is so small, people can from anywhere to anywhere and return home the same day. I&#8217;ve seen people from the north and the far south make it for previous parties. Birthdays are the best time to visit family. The Dutch don&#8217;t have holidays like Thanksgiving where entire families gather around a table. So if you take away birthdays, you take away the biggest family event. It&#8217;s been rough for some, I can tell you that. But for others, it invites intimate conversations and tighter bonds. No Kisses I was shocked about the kisses on the cheek etiquette when I first arrived in The Netherlands. It was interesting and a bit of a novelty for me. But as time went on, it felt so awkward having to give air kisses to people I didn&#8217;t know. So I sucked it [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/04/a-quiet-dutch-birthday/">A quiet Dutch Birthday</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/04/a-quiet-dutch-birthday/"><![CDATA[<p>Sander is jarig! Today is Sander&#8217;s birthday, he&#8217;s turning 34 this year. And of course since the world is still a bit chaotic, this Dutch birthday won&#8217;t be like <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2018/06/13/how-the-dutch-celebrate-birthdays/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the normal ones</a>. I&#8217;m not sure if there ever will be normal Dutch birthdays anymore. But here&#8217;s how we experienced it.</p>
<p><strong>Smaller gatherings</strong><br />
A normal Dutch birthday party has everyone involved. Since The Netherlands is so small, people can from anywhere to anywhere and return home the same day. I&#8217;ve seen people from the north and the far south make it for previous parties. Birthdays are the best time to visit family. The Dutch don&#8217;t have holidays like Thanksgiving where entire families gather around a table. So if you take away birthdays, you take away the biggest family event. It&#8217;s been rough for some, I can tell you that. But for others, it invites intimate conversations and tighter bonds.</p>
<p><strong>No Kisses</strong><br />
I was shocked about the kisses on the cheek etiquette when I first arrived in The Netherlands. It was interesting and a bit of a novelty for me. But as time went on, it felt so awkward having to give air kisses to people I didn&#8217;t know. So I sucked it up and just went with it because it&#8217;s part of an old custom. You can say I did breathe a sigh of relief when we had to distance ourselves&#8230; No more getting cheek to cheek with strangers!</p>
<p><strong>More expensive cake</strong><br />
The Dutch are super thrifty and from my experience, quantity was more important than quality. Not to say that cakes (tarts) from the local grocer aren&#8217;t tasty. They&#8217;re super delicious and I would eat them every day if I could. But since we&#8217;re just having Sander&#8217;s parents over, we decided to splurge and get a more <a href="https://www.multivlaai.nl/taarten" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exciting cake</a>. Sander got a few slices of whipped cream cake and apple pie. I was even able to get a slice of Red Velvet cake for myself! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love, love, love red velvet cake. There&#8217;s something about the sour flavor of the cake and the cream cheese filling that drives me crazy!</p>
<p><strong>Home deliveries</strong><br />
I used to get so excited around Sander&#8217;s birthday. I could venture out into the city and look for a gift for him. Something fun, unique, or something that he&#8217;s wanted for a long time. This year.. I drew a blank. Thankfully Sander found something online that he fell in love with. But it&#8217;s coming from Japan so he&#8217;s going to have to do some waiting!</p>
<p><strong>Fancy Eats</strong><br />
Sander and I love Indian food and we&#8217;re lucky enough that we have tasty stuff pretty close by. Normal Dutch birthdays have simple treats, finger foods and cake of course. But with a private party, we could order out and thoroughly enjoy our meal. It&#8217;s been a long time since we had Indian food, so it was nice to dig into something familiar. The meal we got had flavors that scream comfort food. It was so accessible to me when I lived in California that I never thought twice about it. But my heritage foods mean more to me than they did in the past. It&#8217;s another wonderful reason to celebrate. Because many Dutchies can&#8217;t touch spicy food and none of this was spicy!</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/09/04/a-quiet-dutch-birthday/">A quiet Dutch Birthday</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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		<title type="html"><![CDATA[I bought the Raycon E25 Headphones]]></title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/08/27/i-bought-the-raycon-e25-headphones/" />

		<id>https://www.adailylee.com/?p=8612</id>
		<updated>2022-03-20T15:43:23Z</updated>
		<published>2021-08-27T20:34:10Z</published>
		<category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Lifestyle" /><category scheme="https://www.adailylee.com/" term="Dutch Living" />
		<summary type="html"><![CDATA[<p>Like most people these days, I spend a lot of time listening to my phone. I have a set of wired earbuds but I wanted to invest in a more mobile pair. It&#8217;s difficult to do chores with a pair of wired headphones! Enter, my interest in a brand called Raycon and their E25 Bluetooth earbuds. I decided to take the plunge into getting a pair after seeing a few good reviews about them. They&#8217;re comparable to iPods and sounded like a good investment. Installation Once I figured out that I needed to turn on my PC&#8217;s Bluetooth, installation was a breeze. And don&#8217;t even ask about my phone, it was even easier than that! Quality I was most worried about the quality of my sound. But I&#8217;ve never heard my music more clear. Podcasts sound amazing as well, as if I&#8217;m in the recording booth with the people I listen to. The fit of the E25 are perfect too. I don&#8217;t have to worry about them falling out because they fit in so snug. I use the smallest rubber inserts for them as well. Unintended use So I bought these babies to use while editing for my Youtube channel [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/08/27/i-bought-the-raycon-e25-headphones/">I bought the Raycon E25 Headphones</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
]]></summary>

					<content type="html" xml:base="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/08/27/i-bought-the-raycon-e25-headphones/"><![CDATA[<p>Like most people these days, I spend a lot of time listening to my phone. I have a set of wired earbuds but I wanted to invest in a more mobile pair. It&#8217;s difficult to do chores with a pair of wired headphones! Enter, my interest in a brand called Raycon and their E25 Bluetooth earbuds.</p>
<p>I decided to take the plunge into getting a pair after seeing a few good reviews about them. They&#8217;re comparable to iPods and sounded like a good investment.</p>
<p><strong>Installation</strong><br />
Once I figured out that I needed to turn on my PC&#8217;s Bluetooth, installation was a breeze. And don&#8217;t even ask about my phone, it was even easier than that!</p>
<p><strong>Quality</strong><br />
I was most worried about the quality of my sound. But I&#8217;ve never heard my music more clear. <a href="https://www.adailylee.com/2019/10/19/my-favorite-spooky-podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Podcasts</a> sound amazing as well, as if I&#8217;m in the recording booth with the people I listen to. The fit of the E25 are perfect too. I don&#8217;t have to worry about them falling out because they fit in so snug. I use the smallest rubber inserts for them as well.</p>
<p><strong>Unintended use</strong><br />
So I bought these babies to use while editing for my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbbJL7O0nxE11RtjZwmBU3A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Youtube channel</a> but what I didn&#8217;t take into account&#8230; Was the battery life. The life of the Raycon E25 ear buds is about 6 hours. Which is great! If you don&#8217;t spend more than 6 hours on your computer. And I spend a lot more time on mine. So now I mostly use the E25 while I&#8217;m doing chores or chilling away from my PC. It&#8217;s also been amazing to use in bed as well. I can listen to music late into the night while Sander is snores away next to me.</p>
<p><strong>Final thoughts</strong><br />
Once I got over the limitations of what the E25 can do, I&#8217;m happy to say I don&#8217;t regret the purchase. There are tons more expensive and probably better buys. But for me, The Raycon E25 works. I&#8217;m excited to take them on vacation next year. They&#8217;ve been wonderful so far and charging them takes no time at all. If you&#8217;ve been on the fence about ordering a pair, I say you should. I used the discount code from one of my favorite YouTube channels, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/DeadMeat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dead Meat</a>, so I got the shipping subtracted from my total. These are American based headphones so keep that in mind while ordering.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>This post was not sponsored, I just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences.</em></p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com/2021/08/27/i-bought-the-raycon-e25-headphones/">I bought the Raycon E25 Headphones</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.adailylee.com">A Daily Lee</a>.</p>
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