Christmas is an important period of the year for us. At the beginning of December our office displays a Christmas tree, Nativity scenes, stars and colorful lights. In the last week of the month we usually leave Amsterdam to spend some time with our families and friends in Spain. Over the years we have shared our Christmas spirit with our clients and collaborators and have written about this on our blog.

In 2016 Marrit van Natten created a watercolor painting of our office building, while 2015 was the year of our instrumental cover of Silent Night. In 2014 we sent the highest quality Jamón Serrano all over the globe, including Japan, and in 2013 we made handcrafted notepads out of recycled materials. 2011 was the first time we used Belgian chocolate in our Bluebird-merchandised Belgian Pralines.

This year Belgian chocolate has again been the main ingredient in our gift. We filled these cute lab test tubes with authentic Callebaut dark chocolate powder. Our sweetest wishes for the New Year!

LinkedIn gave us a pleasant surprise a few days ago: I was suddenly getting personal messages and comments on our profile because LinkedIn had posted that it had been exactly 10 years since Bluebird was born. And it has indeed been 10 years since I first registered the business at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, after two years working as an in-house translator in the Netherlands.

Since then our team has grown along with our experience, and so has our portfolio. All this growth has also allowed us to fulfill our dream of sharing our beautiful office space in Amsterdam city center and transforming it into a hub for local translators working in various languages.

Thanks for all the anniversary wishes and for your trust in our daily work.

This is the Christmas card that we've sent this year to our clients, collaborators, family, and friends. The original design, based on our (UNESCO-protected) office building, was done in aquarelle by Rotterdam-based artist Marrit van Natten. You can check out her beautiful artwork at her website.

Our best and most sincere wishes from the heart of the Jordaan, Amsterdam, where Bluebird keeps growing along with the community of professional translators with whom we share our work space.

Actually, in 2017 we'll have to celebrate our 5th anniversary since Bluebird Translations moved to this office. Stay tuned to this blog for more info on the best summer BBQ in town :)