Somewhere in the Middle

Fete de l'Iris

Another long weekend for us here in Europe so on Mother's Day we took the train to Brussels for the Fete de l'Iris. There were a ton of things going on...concerts, activities for kids & adults, and the Red Bull Soap Box Races. I thought the races would be a great photo opportunity but we arrived right as the races were starting along with the other million people.

Needless to say I didn't get any close up shots of the soap box cars. I don't know why but we can never seem to get out of the house on the weekends before 11am unless we have a plane to catch or we're meeting friends. And sometimes even getting out of the house by 11am is a miracle. lol! Are we the only people who experience this. Anway... We had fun watching the cars race on the large screen monitor. It was pretty funny when the cars went out of control.

These funky wheels were pretty cool. Lil' C had a lot of fun playing with them.

Sections of Brussels were also closed to cars. Although I did see a few taxi cars here and there. Not sure how they snuck in. Lots of people riding their bikes and walking around. It was great.

When we got home, Steve fired up the grill and made his famous burgers. And I made some home-made lemonade to whip up these yummy Pom-Ade drinks. They make great summer drinks! Here's the recipe...

1 cup lemonade
1/2 cup club soda
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
Ice cubes
2 Tbls Vodka (optional)

Mix lemonade, soda, and pomegranate juice in a small pitcher. Fill 2 tall glasses with ice. Pour lemonade mixture over. Makes 2 servings. Courtesy of Epicurious. com

The rest of the weekend we just played outside and tried to get a little sun. And take a look what's blooming in my garden right now. I bought these in Keukenhof last year.

Budding Photographer at the Royal Gardens

A few weeks ago a fellow expat sent me an e-mail reminding me about the gardens at the Royal Palace.  The gardens are only open for a few short weeks in the Spring. Since we missed them last year we took advantage of the weather and drove out to Brussels.

It was the perfect outing for Lil' C considering how much he adores flowers. Before we left the house, I gave him my old camera so he was free to take his own photos. Lil' C found several flowers to photograph. I loved watching him click away. What made it so cute was how very serious he was about capturing the image and how much care & thought he put into the photo composition. Lil' C received lots of warm, friendly glances as he made his way through the crowds. Here's my little budding photographer.

These are a few of the images he captured that day. Enjoy!

And here is his self portrait. ;) I love it!

Summer is here!!

I'm almost afraid to mention the gorgeous summer days we're experiencing. The past 5-6 days have been absolutely beautiful. It's like summer arrived early. Last May the exact same thing happened. We had a good 3 weeks of sunshine & warm weather to completely spoil us and when summer actually arrived it felt more like fall. I love the summer so wearing a sweater in August is a bit depressing. If that happens again this year, I'm seriously considering escaping to a warm climate until autumn arrives. But in the mean time I'm going to take all this sunshine in & enjoy!

This photo is for you E (who just moved to Hawaii). See... I actually do own something other than turtlenecks. lol!!

Into the Sun

Mother Nature was in full force today. It was so crazy. We experienced sun, rain, hail, and winds all throughout the day. When I picked Lil' C up from school the sun was shining and literally 5 minutes later it was pouring.  The mixture of blue skies, dark & hazy and white puffy clouds, and sunshine made the sky look breathtaking.

Little hidden gem

Once a month I go out to dinner with a group of girls for a Mom's Night Out. They're really fun and it's a great way to try out the local restaurants and meet new people. And if the restaurant is fabulous I always make a point to return with S.

Tonight my friend M, the birthday girl, chose an artsy restaurant in the city. M tried calling the restaurant several times for reservations but no one ever answered. We later found out no one answered because the restaurant didn't exist! lol! Luckily, we had a small group tonight. So we decided to walk around and see what we could find. As we were walking I spotted a tres chic bar/restaurant. The menu looked great so we decided to stay. The place was just beautiful with exposed brick and wooden beams. There was a huge window almost the size of the actual wall with a view of a crumbling neglected building next door. If you saw the same building in the US you'd think you were in the wrong part of town but here in Europe it adds to the ambiance. ;) Even the bathroom was cool. And the food... oh, it was incredible! Mouthwatering arancini risotto balls stuffed with fish and tender pork medallions with a delish mustard base sauce. Even the Mojito I drank was spectacular.

I just love when you stumble onto a gem like this one. When we left I talked to the owner & shared with him just how fabulous I thought his restaurant was and how much I loved it. I seriously felt like I was back in NYC in one of those trendy bars. It was a tres chic night!

Visiting Ghent

Today I went on a day trip to the lovely city of Ghent. The day started out with a two hour walking tour of the city which was wonderful. Now when we have family & friends visit we can really explore the city.

Every time I take a guided tour I always seem to play catch up with the group because I'm concentrating on taking photos and wind up missing a lot of information. This time I decided to pay attention to our guide & explore the city on my own after lunch. Unfortunately, that's when the weather took a dramatic turn. Here are a few photos before the skies turned gray and it rained so hard it made taking photos impossible.

Now everyone knows...

Recycling is a normal part of life here in Europe. Here in Belgium we recycle glass (according to color), plastic/metal, and paper. In order for our trash to be picked up we have to buy color coordinated bags. In our area, blue bags are used for plastic & metal.  These bags are fairly inexpensive and are quite big. The white bags on the other hand can be used for anything but they're more expensive and smaller. So it's definitely an incentive to recycle. Twice a year you're able to put out just about anything and the trash collectors will collect it. We're still really not sure when to put out our Christmas tree but luckily our landlord takes it to the recycling center for us.

When we moved into our house they gave us a form with pictures no less to help us figure out the whole recycling process. But as you can see from this photo we still don't understand all the in's and out's. Looks like S & I got a little crazy recycling this month. We included all sorts of plastic things that aren't allowed. Every plastic and metal item that had a little recycling triangle went into the blue bag. Ok... I think I may have included a few plastic bags too. But they're plastic. Why can't they be recycled?

Our punishment... they left our bag out on the street with this sticker. This sticker basically tells everyone.."Look! This family doesn't follow the recycling rules. So watch out... if you're not careful too you'll be next!" lol!! Now our entire neighborhood knows we don't recycle properly. And here we were thinking we were doing a good thing for the environment. We've learned our lesson though and we promise to recycle correctly. ;)

Don't be caught without your pants this Thanksgiving

Celebrating Thanksgiving overseas is an odd experience. Because it's an American holiday daily life here in Europe goes on as normal. There's no waking up and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. No.. here kids go to school, people go to work, and people act like it's just a normal Thursday.

With so much going on I decided not to stress out. This Thanksgiving we'd trade our turkey for a nice rotisserie chicken from my local grocery store. I chose instead to do some fancy side dishes to make the meal special. Plus with my Betty Crocker Easy Bake oven there was just no way I'd be able to fit a turkey into my stove.

So off I went to Carrefour (it's like a mega Target) to buy my juicy chickens. Everything was going great until I checked out. At the checkout they have these security devices that you must go through. When I went through the security device to pay the alarm went off. For a second I thought I was at the airport and thought a guy was going to come and wave a wand at my body. But that didn't happen. The cashier said something to me in French and stared at my purse. Even though I feel like I've been taking French lessons forever I wasn't quite sure what she said. So I opened my purse and gave it to her. The cashier gave it a quick glance and motioned me to go through the security device again. The alarm goes off again. At this point I'm laughing because I think it's sort of funny how this is all happening at the grocery checkout. This time I decide to take my jacket off and set it down near the register. Once again the alarm goes off. Now I'm really laughing.

The cashier begins to tell me something else but this time I pick up on one word... "Chaussure".

Great, I know what Chaussure means! Shoes!

As I take my shoes off I'm thinking how crazy this is and start laughing some more. The cashier takes my shoes and waves them through the security device but this time no alarms goes off. Nothing. At this point there is a huge long line forming whereas a few seconds ago I was the only person in line. I'm convinced they're watching every move this crazy American makes. Like I'm going to run out of the store with Lil' C in one hand and my rotisserie chickens in the other. lol!

I look at the cashier and shrug my shoulders and give her this look that says, "I don't know what to do now." So she calls the security guard!

The security guard walks over & begins speaking to me in French. I have no idea what he's saying but he's saying lots of things because he just continues to go on and on despite the blank look on my face.

So I tell him in French "I don't speak French, do you speak English?" And he says, "yes"! Thank goodness.

I give him a big smile and he says, "One moment, please" and leaves.

The line at the register is now getting longer. You think the cashier would let me pay or maybe void the transaction so she can continue to help people. Nope, she just sat on her little chair (here in Belgium and many parts of Europe cashiers sit down while they check you out) and watched.

Once the security guard came back he asked me, "Where did you buy your pants? Did you buy them here?"

I'm thinking, "Oh, my god is he going to ask me to take my pants off right here!! I mean this is Europe and nudity isn't an issue at all. These people don't care if they see me in my underwears at the checkout stand."

Very seriously I reply, "No, I bought my pants in the United States."

Lil' C is clueless to the situation and doesn't realize his Mommy may be strip searched at any moment. Nope, he just continues to spin in circles at end of the register.

As the security guard is waiting to respond I'm already thinking about my escape plan... grab Lil' C's hand, forget the damn Thanksgiving chicken and run for my life. Luckily, I didn't have to test out my plan because the security guard says, "Ok, you can go." Whew!

I grabbed my purse to pay and a Belgian man behind me says in perfect English, "That was ridiculous. They thought you were stealing. You shouldn't have had to take anything off."

I smile and for a second think about asking him where he was when I needed help translating but instead I tell him, "That's ok, I'm used to all the security. It's like being at the airport." In my opinion it was better for me to cooperate. I think if I would have refused to take anything off I would have looked guilty. I didn't have anything to hide.

When I got home I told Gio how she really missed out on an adventure. I'm sure if she had been with me we would have resembled Lucy and Ethel in one of their crazy "I love Lucy" moments.

Bubble Gum Gio & Tiny Lee Reunite

When my girlfriend called me to tell me she was coming to Belgium we both started screaming with excitement. In the weeks leading up to her visit she would call me out of the blue and say, "Guess what? I'm coming to BELGIUM!!" and we'd start screaming all over again. My husband thinks we're crazy and we are. lol! Gio and & I have been friends since I was 13 yrs. old. Because we've known each other for so long we feel completely comfortable being silly and immature. lol!

Gio was supposed to come to the Thanksgiving luncheon but she missed her connecting flight in NYC and couldn't catch another flight until the next day. If you ask her, she'll tell you it was the flight from hell. Gio called me around 3am to tell me she missed her flight. Before I could wake up and ask her some questions she said she'd call me back and hung up. Only problem was she didn't call me back. I later found out her phone died and she had no way of recharging it to access her phone book. After her call I thought of different options to get her to my house since I couldn't miss the Thanksgiving Luncheon. Yet when I called her I only got her voice mail. After several hours passed and leaving so many messages I felt like a stalker I began to worry. S recommended I page her at JFK. I didn't think I could really do that. Winds up it's totally easy and we were able work out the details of her arrival.

Even though the Thanksgiving luncheon was fun I was excited to get home and see my girlfriend. After spending two whole days at the airport, a long flight and severe jet lag she was exhausted. So I went easy on her the first day. ;) I usually don't let my guests sleep when they arrive so they can quickly adjust to the time difference.

The following day was my birthday and we spent the day in Brussels. It was fun showing her around the city. We had a fabulous lunch in the Sablon district. Of course I had to have some of Godiva's Spicy hot chocolate for the ride home. And no trip to the Sablon would be complete without a trip to Pierre Marcolini's shop for some delicious dark chocolate.

One thing Gio told me she really wanted to do was just hang out with S, me and the baby. So we spent the next couple of days catching up, watching "Sex & the City", laughing and doing some side trips before celebrating Thanksgiving and heading off to Krakow, Poland.

So that's what a Sweet Potato is..

Thanksgiving Recipe Booklets & Menu cards ready to be delivered.

One of the best parts about living in an international community is learning about the traditions of other countries. Every month I attend luncheons hosted by various countries. These luncheons are a great way to meet people from other countries and learn about their unique traditions plus you get to taste delicious food. That's the real reason I go. ;)

Last November it was our turn to share our traditions with the community. And what holiday could be filled with more American traditions than Thanksgiving. My friend Jen started planning the event back in August and she recruited my friend Eva & I to help. It was like planning a wedding. One day the three of us went to a store near Brussels to chose table decorations and we tossed around different options for about 4 hours.We discussed fliers, menu cards, recipe booklets, tombola prizes, table lines, centerpieces, hostesses and on and on.  Like planning a wedding it was a lot of fun!

The days leading up to the event were crazy. I had all sorts of problems with the printing office but in the end everything was resolved. We all arrived the day before the event to set up. The tables were covered in a rich fall brown and the centerpieces consisted of different sized cylinder vases, each filled with large curly cinnamon sticks, miniature pine cones, or bright red little apples and of course lots of tea lights. When you walked into the ballroom it looked so beautiful.

Before the lunch began, the guests were treated to a delightful performance by the local 3rd grade class. The children sang an adorable song called "I'm Going to Eat on Thanksgiving Day". During the performance one of the little girls dropped to the fall like she had eaten so much she needed to go to sleep. It was very funny.

The staff at the Club did a wonderful job preparing the food. The lunch started with an amazing Pumpkin & Yellow Pepper Soup. The Greek ladies at my table loved it so much they immediately started to look for the recipe in their booklets and asked me all kinds of questions about ingredients. These ladies love to cook. It was really cute to see how enthusiasic they were. The main buffet included succotash, sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing and of course the traditional roasted turkey. Before going to the buffet I explained to the ladies which were from Greece, Turkey, Belgium, and Sweden what stuffing and sweet potatoes were and the various ways these dishes are cooked. For most of them this was the first time they had ever seen or tasted a sweet potato. One woman from Norway told me she thought sweet potatoes were a delicacy. lol! Lunch was followed by a slice of apple pie & pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Throughout the luncheon several lucky guests won various Tombola prizes originating from all corners of the United States. The prizes included a unique piece of art by Alaskan artist, Clarissa Hudson and a beautiful watercolour print from American artist, P. Buckley Moss who is well known for her folk paintings and drawings. Along with the artwork, there was a fabulous range of hand crafted items ranging from a traditional Hawaiian quilt to an authentic Sioux pottery vase and many other items like a Coach wristlet, turquoise earrings, and a pewter tray. Several women also won cookbook door prizes. Each cookbook represented various cuisines throughout the United States.

Here is a photo of all the American hostesses. Each table had one American who was available to answer any questions relating to Thanksgiving. And yes, I had to do a little research on the history of Thanksgiving before the luncheon. I wanted to be sure I was prepared just in case.

Overall, the luncheon turned out fabulous! I was so happy to hear the overall response from our guests was positive as well. At least they can all say they've eaten sweet potatoes and have shared in an American tradition that is so close to our hearts.