Your winter weekend to-do list

Bunch of things to do when it’s cold out, but you still want to feel fun and productive, and get your screen-time to the bare minimum.

It was -3°C in Amsterdam yesterday.

I bike to work, and I swear it feels like skiing. The kind of crispness in the air that pierces through your bones—but, in a good way. I text Mariana that we got to book a sauna. I go see Anora. The kettle boils for the hundredth time. I go see Gracie Abrams. I google: Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal because I am a millennial woman, and I simply got to see the pics of them kissing and smoking in London. I cover myself in layers—vintage woollen jumpers and my boyfriend’s turtle necks. I bike to my Dutch class in the snowy drizzle. I walk around Vondelpark with Julia on a Sunday morning, post spin class. I make plans, and I don’t cancel them just because it’s cold out. I ask Lonne if she wants to go to the ballet again. I take summer tops to my seamstress for alterations. She is lovely, and warns me of her cold hands while she adds pins on a sleeve next to my bare shoulders. I put buttery, crispy sage on top of meals. I bake granola. I bake bread. I take orders for cardamom buns. My sister sends me a text. She landed in Croatia, and mum made bolognese. I check the weather there. It’s cold too. 1°C.

See, not even Croatia is spared. And I’d like to say that we’re in the thick of it. But if this is what the thick of it looks like, we’ll manage.

I love that quote: Boring people get bored easily. And I know this sounds direct (but we are in the Netherlands, so we ought to be direct), but that is how I feel about people who hate winter. I’m sorrry! Yes, it’s cold, but it’s fineeee.

Obviously, I, just like you, and may I say—just like any other person out there, love summer. I love wearing pareos and cotton tank-tops. I love radlers after swim. Fried fish for lunch. I love putting the laundry out to dry. It being dry in 30 mins. I love afternoons in my room, after beach, after lunch, after shower, under an AC reading, while my grandparents nap (snore) next doors. I love it.

The Nutcracker and my friend Lonne speaking to an 80-year-old woman next to us. Lonne will literally make friends with anyone.

But winter is cosy, lovely, intimate, and weirdly warm (the lights, fireplaces, soups, candles, baths, wool, bed, tea). Just don’t be boring, and embrace it.

• Book a sauna. I love Sauna Deco on Herengracht. €28 and you can be there for 4 hours. Without your phone. In a fluffy bathrobe. In an art deco building, going from a steam to a cold-plunge. Eating a tuna-melt, and drinking ginger tea during breaks.

• Go to the ballet, or book The Nutcracker tickets. At Amsterdam’s opera, you can book the champagne service for the interval, and you’ll get a little glass waiting for you with your name. So chic, no need to queue. I bet other operas do it too.

• Find a fireplace. A bar, a café, or a very lucky friend might have one. Café de Wetering has it, and it’s heaven.

• Go to the farmers’ market, and ideally go there with a basket. Really immerse yourself in the whimsical theme of it all.

• Call your parents and your grandparents, or better, visit them. Ask your mum if she has any old clothes, jewellery that you haven’t seen yet. Ask your grandparents to write down a recipe for a dish you love.

• Make chocolate-covered salted mandarins. It’s citrus season, and this is the easiest, loveliest thing you can make.

• Put all those things you don’t wear on Vinted. Seeeee, you’re being cosy and productive.

• Take clothes to the seamstress. Just went to pick up a top that has been taken in. And left €20 Baum und Pferdgarten pants I got on Vinted that need some adjustments.

• Go to the cinema. I loved Anora. Yuriy Borisov is a stunning man.

• Identify and complete one thing you’ve been procrastinating for ages. Update your CV, confirm that appointment, and book those flights.

• Take a very long walk. Ideally, with a friend when it’s cold out, and very sunny.

• Put Olivia Dean, Royel Otis, and Sinatra playlist on.

• Fix one thing in your home. There is always something that’s a bit broken, and you’ve been postponing it for 6 months now, and it will take you 10 minutes to fix it.

• Make a bone broth. It’s literally water, salt, veggies, and bones cooking for 2 hours, and then you get to drink it from a mug, and feel very healthy.

• Make galette dough. I always make the Alison Roman one, I just skip the sugar, so the dough can be made into a sweet or savoury dish. Also, it’s enough for two galette discs. Then mid-week you can make a galette and feel all fancy. The base is either ricotta, mascarpone or crème fraîche, and the top can be leek, spinach, artichoke, cavolo nero, mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus… And then people will ask you; did you make that pastry yourself? And you’ll say: yes, yes I did.

• Make homemade granola. And put fresh basil on it. Game-changing.

• Sew on that button that has been loose for months now.

• Change your sheets!

• Go to your local charity shop (ideally one in a wealthy neighbourhood). Now is a good time to go, cause people are doing their start-of-year clear-out. Also great for vintage Christmas decorations.

• Pals, I think we all just need to hang out more. I can not, can not, go see a friend and accidentally spend €100 on dinner. I can not. Here are some things you can do instead…

  • Meet up and do a bunch of errands together.

  • Have a sleepover.

  • Just hang out at somebody’s couch and chat.

  • Go to your friend’s house and watch a movie.

  • Go to your friend’s house and keep them company while they’re clearing out their closet. Maybe you’ll get something, who knows…

  • And if you go to the restaurant, you might as well stay until closing.

• Buy gifts for friends. If you know what you want to get them, buy it now, even if their birthday is in a few months. Cause then, when their birthday comes, it will be on some random Wednesday, and you’ll buy a last-minute gift you won’t be happy with, so do it now.

• Do not touch your phone other than what’s absolutely necessary.

• Take your AirPods out as well.

Thank you for reading! ♡ I’m so happy I have this creative outlet. It’s 23:43, on a Wednesday, and I’m editing, scheduling this article. So ignore the typos. I’m sure there are some. But whatever.

Have a nice weekend! I hope you got some ideas. And stay warm!!