Romantic Iceland – Highlands Photoshoot

Romantic Iceland – Highlands Photoshoot

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

It’s not that easy to find the perfect photographer for your romantic Iceland photoshoot if you don’t live in Iceland. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Because we already have! If you are in need of a photographer in Iceland, I highly, highly recommend Gunnar Jónatansson. Not only is he a talented photographer, but he and his wife Rósa took us on a fantastic tour of some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. And if you’re wondering why the quality of photos on my blog has suddenly improved so drastically, it’s because all the photos in this post are courtesy of Gunnar.… Read more

Romantic Iceland – Northern Lights and the Cottage in the Woods

Romantic Iceland – Northern Lights and the Cottage in the Woods

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We took a 21:30 flight, so by the time we arrived in Iceland and were shuttled to the place where we were picking up our rental car, it was well past midnight and I was tired and somewhat questioning the wisdom of leaving after work on a Friday. Then our shuttle driver announced that the Northern Lights were outside, and did anyone want to see them. Of COURSE the entire building full of new arrivals in Iceland wanted to see them. We all trooped outside and improbably, miraculously, there they were.

I hadn’t expected to see them at all, since we were only barely hitting the edge of the season where they’re visible.… Read more

A Day Out in Giethoorn

A Day Out in Giethoorn

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

My in-laws are here visiting, and we wanted to take them somewhere picturesque and typically Dutch. When I heard about Giethoorn, the pretty little village with canals instead of streets, I knew it would be perfect. Especially since we were also planning to go up north to visit Groningen, so it was right on the way. We're trying to do some more exploring and get to know this tiny country we call home.

Giethoorn is another corner of the Netherlands that somehow recalls the Shire to mind.

We rented a boat, as one does. They happened to be out of the basic metal boats, so we were forced to get an amply sized one with cushioning.… Read more

Graduating from Dutch Primary School

Graduating from Dutch Primary School

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Dutch education is neatly divided into primary school (ages 4-12) and secondary school (ages 12-18). So there’s no in-between. The kids basically go to high school at age 12.

Now, I’m not usually one of those moms lamenting that they can’t just stay little.


But I admit that this whole school thing sort of threw me for a loop, hitting as it did (not uncoincidentally) squarely simultaneously with puberty. Yesterday she was a little girl. And today she’s a grown up young woman going off to high school in a couple of months.


It’s been just over two years since we moved to the Netherlands.… Read more

A Day Out in Gouda

A Day Out in Gouda

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Several months ago my kids’ school started offering free Dutch lessons to parents. I jumped at the chance, not only to help reinforce to my kids that learning the language is important, but because I actually do want to learn Dutch. Juf Ricky, who teaches the lessons, also teaches the kids Dutch as a second language. She’s not only a great teacher, but also a really nice person. Today she took us on a tour of her hometown, Gouda.


Yes. Gouda, as in the cheese. What a delightful little town! We all met up at the Amstel train station and took the train there together.… Read more

Book Reviews: Girl on the Train, Exit West, Slade House, The Miniaturist, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland

Book Reviews: Girl on the Train, Exit West, Slade House, The Miniaturist, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Apparently it has been three years since I published a book review on this blog. Have I read any books in the meantime? Yes, yes, I have. Although I don’t think I did crack a book for my entire first year in Amsterdam. That’s how immersive and all-encompassing of an experience this city is. Besides the fact that I was working full-time in a different time zone. I hope I never have to do that again.

At any rate, then I started reading again but didn’t post reviews, I think because I joined a fabulous book club, which filled some of the need to tell the world what I thought of the books.… Read more

Nudist Librarian 

Nudist Librarian 

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So there’s this book that you’ve probably read, or someone you know has certainly read. Pretty much everyone I know seems to have read it and touted its genius and capacity for transforming one’s existence.

Which is nothing less than the premise and the promise of the book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. This was a book that I vowed I would not read. Probably at least 85% of the fights I had with my mother when I was a teenager revolved around the state of my messy bedroom, and the stuff she wanted me to throw away to remedy it.… Read more

A Little Update on Italian Citizenship

A Little Update on Italian Citizenship

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Well, the road to true love never did run smooth. Which is the ongoing refrain of this decade-long quest for Italian citizenship. As I mentioned several weeks ago, I did submit all my documents using the Italian Ministry of the Interior’s online application process. Not having heard from them in a while, and being concerned about the six month document expiration rule I mentioned before, I emailed the extremely helpful Adrianus at the consulate, and politely asked how things were going. 

He presented me with the unfortunate news that as well as a criminal report from the FBI, I needed to submit one from my US state of residence.… Read more

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

A couple of weeks ago when all my Facebook friends were posting about seeing Wonder Woman, I went to book tickets on the spur of the moment for myself and Axa and discovered that, unaccountably, it opened weeks later here in the Netherlands than practically anywhere else in the world. Undaunted, I used the intervening time to get as many friends as possible to join me with their kids after the film finally opened. We ended up with 29 of us and a pre-movie dinner at Wagamama. Some of the kids were even persuaded to pose for a photo doing Wonder Woman arms. … Read more

Amsterdam Birthday

Amsterdam Birthday

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Having a party in the city carries with it some challenges. Most of them have to do with transportation. Neither we nor many of our friends have cars, which can make transporting eight rambunctious boys a bit of an adventure. That’s why as far as I’m concerned, the perfect summer party is what Raj chose last year: pizza in the park a few blocks from our house, with the Minecraft ghast piñata his mother cleverly made out of toilet paper. 


But the kid is growing up, and wanted something a bit more exciting this year. To wit: laser tag! The closest place that offers laser tag is under a bridge in the centre of the city.… Read more