Photo Shoot in The Hague...

With all of the excitement of catching the eye of an international model scout, Veronica was even more determined to take photos of her sister. One Sunday in June, the girls ventured into The Hague to go to a movie. The Plein was covered in orange in honor of the Dutch playing in the World Cup, which made a great backdrop for some shots. I especially love the reflection in the puddle.

Apparently the girls caught this drunk woman’s attention as she thought they were doing a real model shoot.

A Future Model?

On September 26, 2014, Ashlynn signed a contract with IMG Models. We’re all very excited, but have to keep reminding ourselves that this doesn’t actually mean she’ll ever work as a paid model. It means that she’s currently in development to possibly become a fashion model.

Backing up a bit, after being told by multiple people (namely her grandmother and one of my friends) that she should consider modeling, Ashlynn contacted a few Dutch agencies. In October 2013, she and I had a meeting with Fresh Model Management, a small boutique agency. Although they opted not to represent Ashlynn, I thought it was fascinating talking about the industry with the founder, who was a successful Dutch model.

Fast forward to May 2014 and Ashlynn was scouted by several model scouts and photographers through her Instagram account. After doing some due diligence, I was shocked that she’d been scouted by Jeni Rose, Vice President of Development at IMG Models Paris, one of the world’s premier agencies. I contacted Jeni and we discussed the possibility of Ashlynn becoming an IMG Girl. Of course, I was curious how Jeni came across Ashlynn’s Instagram account; turns out that model scouts now use this social media site to search for potential models. Jeni actually maintains the IMG Instagram feed primarily so she can search through the teens that follow her, including Ashlynn.

Jeni asked for some current photos, so Veronica took these in the field near our house. Jeni must have liked what she saw because she asked us to meet her in Rotterdam in June to discuss things further. It’ll be interesting to see where this leads. In the meantime, Ashlynn has chosen not to tell her friends since it’s all make-believe right now.

Murder Mystery Dinner...

The son of Veronica’s singing teacher is trying to raise money for a Boy Scout trip to Tokyo. One of his fundraisers was to host a A First Class Murder Mystery Party at his house. It was a bit crazy cycling in my long gown!

Veronica was Bertie Rooster, a carefree bachelor about town and Ashlynn was Mustapha M’stach, a man of mystery from the Middle East. Jimmy was Arthur “Fiddler” Farquhar, a country cousin from Scotland, and I was May West, an American writer with a biting wit (what a stretch).

I was intimidated by the fact that I was the only non-actor in the bunch.

Between courses, we played the rounds of the game using clues provided. Ashlynn did a great job with her accent and trying to solve the mystery. It was a lot more fun than I’d expected despite the fact that I was the murderer. Definitely a fun night and a great way to raise funds.

Stepping Down from the AWC Board...

After five years of serving on the American Women’s Club of The Hague’s Executive Board as the editor of Going Dutch, I finally decided it was time to step down. Of course, I had no intention of stopping being the editor. In fact, Terri and I joked that we’d go rogue if we had to as there’s no way either of us want to give up our magazine. I’ll just have to get used to the idea of having a boss as I now report to the new Communications Officer. Laurie was also given a lovely bouquet at the Installation of Officers at the Chargé d´affair’s residence.

Amsterdam Botanical Gardens...

After lunch, we visited the Botanical Gardens, which Debbie especially loved.

While I’m not a huge fan of botanical gardens, I enjoyed seeing the butterflies and turtles.

I got a good laugh out of this sign in the restroom. Not surprised that paper towels are listed, but since when are diapers and tampons recycled? That evening we hung out at home chatting with Jimmy. A short, but sweet visit.

Testing Amsterdam Yeasts and Fungi...

Debbie is finishing up her post-doc at Duke University in molecular genetics and microbiology studying the evolution of virulence in fungi. She travels with collection swabs and permits from the Center of Disease Control and USDA to import samples collected on her travels. It was fun watching her swab beers and trees.

Visitors from North Carolina...

Our second set of visitors for the month were also just staying for one night. We met Heiko at the Sir Walter Raleigh Hash around 1997 and were thrilled that he was finally making it to Holland after visiting his family in Germany. It was also great to meet his girlfriend, Debbie. I met them at the Van Gogh Museum to spend a day in Amsterdam.

Both Heiko and Debbie are very into beer, so we made several stops including at our favorite crooked bar, Café de Sluyswacht, and at a microbrewery.

Saw several cool things around town today, including this solar mobile phone charging station at Museumplein...

...and this adorable Dutch Lady from the 2009 citywide art exhibit and fundraiser called the Elephant Parade.