Amsterdam is buzzing, my inbox is buzzing louder, and somewhere between the ‘what’s for dinner tonight’, toddler snuggles, and planning the event of the year — I’m just trying to remember where I put my coffee.

Yes, friends, CASA25 is coming. And with it: the elegant dance of coordinating venues, menus, mystery guests, and my own sanity.

🏡 CASA25: More Than an Event, It’s a Vibe

If you haven’t heard of CASA25, let me catch you up: imagine a space where creativity meets community, in the heart of Amsterdam. A gathering of minds, hearts, ideas, and maybe—just maybe—a pirate or a masseuse (we’ll get to that).

It started as a great idea. Then it became a spreadsheet. Now it’s a full-blown operation involving:

• 3 venues (each with pros, cons, and one mysterious smell),
• Menus ranging from elegant bites to “will this fill a teenager?”
• A bar debate that may start a war: wine & beer only, or do we unleash the hard liquor?
• And guest logistics that make quantum physics look chill.

🍼 Family Life, but Make It a Sitcom

Planning CASA25 while raising adolescents is like hosting a philosophy panel during a TikTok dance-off. Add a grandchild to the mix, and suddenly I’m toggling between `Maisy Mouse and Google Docs. My to-do list reads: “Confirm lighting rig. Order diapers. Check on AV tech. Explain TikTok slang.”

There is no line between work and life anymore. Only snack breaks and wifi dead zones.

🧾 Invoices, Invitations & the Great Unknown

Let’s talk finances. About 30% of our invoices are still in limbo — unpaid, floating, or misdirected (I might’ve sent one to my kid’s piano teacher). And we don’t even know exactly who’s coming yet.

Do I plan food for 80? 180? Will they be hungry, or too mesmerized by the surroundings to chew? Can I estimate average canapé consumption (read ‘Bitterballs’) while mentally calculating if the teens at home are secretly ordering Uber Eats?

No one tells you this is what event planning really is.

🧘‍♀️ Pirates vs. Pampering

My current existential question: Jack Sparrow or a masseuse?

I could hire a pirate to liven up the vibes. Or offer shoulder massages to soothe the overstimulated creatives. Either way, someone’s leaving CASA25 saying “well that was unexpected.”

Budget says I can’t have both. My heart says otherwise.

🎤 Meanwhile, The Speakers Haven’t Been Invited

Yep. The line-up? Spectacular in my head and program. Just… not in their inboxes yet. I keep rewriting the perfect invite, toggling between “polished professional” and “come to our party, there might be a pirate.”

It’s all part of the process.

🎈 Amsterdam Is Turning 750 (So Good Luck Booking a Hotel)

Fun fact: the city is also throwing itself a massive birthday bash. 750 years of Amsterdam this year! So my guests may need to bunk together, pitch tents, or claim canal boats. If you’re attending CASA25: book your stay yesterday. Seriously.

💃 Life Is Full — And That’s the Point

CASA25 is about connection, energy, and realness. So it only makes sense that planning it feels like real life: vibrant, messy, layered, loud, joyful.

Between adolescence, grandmothering, creativity, invoices, birthday parties, and menu tastings — this event isn’t something I’m producing. It’s something I’m living.

And if all else fails… I’ll blame Jack Sparrow.