My Giant Fluffy Coat
March 11, 2022
My sister sent me this enormous white fluffy coat for my 50th birthday. It’s amazing and I love it so much. This coat would be a tragedy in the rain so I wouldn’t ordinarily be able to wear it as much as I have been but we’ve been setting records in the Netherlands for the number of sunny days in March (which is fabulous and makes such a difference) so I’ve had lots of opportunity, luckily for everyone.
Last weekend I took my giant fluffy coat to Switzerland to meet James who went earlier in the week to snowboard. As part of my 50th birthday, which I am celebrating all year, James booked me into a super fancy spa in Switzerland for a long weekend, which I’ve always wanted to do. It’s so wild that you can just pop over to Switzerland for the weekend. I love this about living in Europe. James booked me on the NightJet train, and I got all settled into my sleeping berth when they canceled the train. I had just been texting to James how excited I was to be on the train and how much I loved train travel and how happy and relaxed I was not to be on a plane when the power went out in Germany and all trains were canceled. I got rebooked for first thing the next morning, and the spa rearranged my appointments so it was fine. Also, the day train is way fancier and better than the NightJet. Highly recommend. Plus, you can see outside during the day, and it’s gorgeous. I did not sleep for even one minute the night my train got canceled so I was really tired and used my enormous fluffy coat like a blanket on the train and slept most of the way to Switzerland. A guy walked through the cabin selling coffees a couple of hours before we arrived like the goddamn trolly cart in Harry Potter and I bought a cappuccino and watched out the window as we passed the magnificent lakes in Interlaken with the snow-capped Alps in the background.
Today I took my giant fluffy coat to high tea with my friends Meredith and Amy. It’s the first time I’ve been out to a restaurant with friends since the pandemic. We went to Mama Kelly, which we all loved. It’s located in Olympisch Stadium, which was built when Amsterdam hosted the Olympics in 1928. It’s in my neighborhood so I rode my bike over, and let me tell you riding my bicycle in my giant fluffly coat is quite a spectacle. The coat weighs like 20 pounds and it was pretty windy today, and riding in the wind is always dramatic, but just picture it in my coat. Mama Kelly’s is super styley inside, mostly pinks and golds with a private leopard room that you can rent for parties. I think it would make an amazing venue for a winter dinner party. Also, this is my favorite high tea so far in Amsterdam. I love the Duchess and the Waldorf high teas for special occasions, but where those teas score highest marks for fanciness and presentation, the Mama Kelly high tea was straight up delicious. The little finger foods were a solid mix of savory mini quiches, teeny chicken skewers and hummus pitas (etc), and the sweet items were all so cute and different and fun. And the tea pairings were perfect and served in a wine glass, which I thought was cool. You have to keep your spoon in the glass while the tea is poured so the heat doesn’t break the glass because THAT IS SCIENCE.
