I believe in coming home for Christmas
December is definitely my favourite month of the year and that’s easy to explain: it brings me Christmas! For me this celebration is not only about those few days (in the Netherlands we celebrate 2 days of Christmas) but also about the weeks in advance. I think my Christmas tree is always the first in the country. Decorating the tree is a ritual which I’m longing for from the first fall day. I have an entire basement filled with Christmas decoration. My daughter and I get everything in the living room, I make us a cup of home-made hot chocolate, put on Christmas songs and let’s get the decorating party started! It takes us days to turn the entire house into a fairytale Christmas home. My regular florist comes over to bring some fresh cut greenery. Every year I fall in love with my home again and if I could I wouldn’t leave the house this month.
Not only do I like to decorating ritual, at least as important is the happy feeling when coming home every day. I have a pretty hectic life, where searching for the right work/relaxing balance needs to be on my mind daily. Taking care for myself is priority, but isn’t taking care of your home part of taking care of yourself? How can you be totally relaxed in your own environment if it doesn’t give you the right feeling? Do you rather be somewhere else? Ask yourself if your home needs more attention. Making my home summer-ready in the next season with bright colours and fresh flowers is just as important as the Christmas ritual. But, I could have been born as Mrs.Claus, this is my season and I’m enjoying every minute of it!
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MD Friends
Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
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MD Friends
More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
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Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
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Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
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