About
“I’m no longer where I started, and far from where I’ll end. But every step carries the dust of my story.”
Yvette Vossen
Who I am?
I’m someone who, despite a life full of to-do lists, deadlines, and toys under the couch, still tries to pause for what truly matters.
A scent that stirs up memories. A sentence that lingers. A crooked stone that teaches me something about imperfection.
Writing helps me uncover those small things and, every so often, find a little of myself between the lines.
Who am I? You’ll discover it in my words. And along the way, you might recognize a little of yourself, too.
I’m Yvette, a Dutch woman who once planned to spend just one year in Italy to learn the language, soak up the culture, and then return home to pursue a degree in European Studies. That year? It became a life.
After moving to Perugia, I fell for more than just the rhythm of Italian language, I fell for Italy itself. I took the university entrance exam, enrolled at the Università degli Studi di Perugia, and completed a degree in International Relations. Later, I added more qualifications to my name, including a license in Italian real estate.
Like many students, I worked during my studies, not only to pay the bills, but to better understand the everyday reality of life in Italy. From bustling cafés to stressful offices, I gained first-hand insight into the country’s work culture, its quirks, and its contrasts. Often, the biggest lessons were the ones not written in any textbook.
Before entering the world of real estate, I worked for a large engineering company, handling multimillion-euro public tenders. An experience that taught me the language of precision, negotiation, and navigating systems from the inside. In 2006, after a detour through a German firm, I found my way into the Italian property sector. First as an employee, then as an independent professional.
By 2015, I officially founded Casa & Care, a company dedicated to helping international homeowners with property management, rentals, renovations, and all the beautiful chaos that comes with owning a home in Italy. From Tuscan villas to Umbrian farmhouses, I’ve walked beside my clients through every crack, permit, and plastered wall, translating not just words, but expectations, habits, and ideas of what “home” can be.
Along the way, I became a mother to a beautiful daughter, whose curiosity reminds me daily to pause, to notice, and to ask better questions, even when I’m running on very little sleep.
And then, there’s writing. My oldest love, quietly waiting in the wings. These days, it’s back in the spotlight, through my newsletter and this site, Lavender Notes. I write about the things that puzzle me, move me, frustrate me or make me smile. About the contrasts between cultures, the rituals that root us, the magic and mess of daily life in Italy and how to find your place between two countries, two languages, two ways of being.
Because I work with people from all over the world, I publish my stories in multiple languages. Not to be universally understood, but to help more people feel seen.
You don’t need to have lived in Italy to find something familiar in these stories. Maybe you’ve moved somewhere new. Maybe you’re navigating a busy life while searching for something slower, deeper, more true. Or maybe you’re just in the mood to pause and breathe in something different.
If so: welcome! You’re in the right place!
Lavender Notes is where life’s small things find their voice. Read. Feel. Breathe in the lavender. You might be surprised how far one story can take you, even if it all began with just one year.