Amsterdam was a blur for me, too. I was living in london and booked a bus trip across the Ferry. It was a long drive, but it was cheap and all included, with a boat tour and bus to a little village with a dairy and clog maker (you could buy cheese and wooden shoes), with windmills and antique shops. I bought an awesome magnifying glass. There seem to be a bunch of those little village attractions (don't remember the name of mine), do some googling for "Amsterdam Excursions."
There are awesome bars all around, many specializing in Belgian beer, buy it and enjoy sweet creaminess. Just don't smoke weed in the bar.
The Rijksmuseum is awesome. It's really close to the Heineken brewery, so you can make both in an afternoon. The Heineken tour was closed when we were there, though, so I just did the museum. That area's really nice, too, with a park with this sign:
It's on a light rail line that goes down to the red light district, if you're staying at a hostel there.