Moomin!

Last week, my colleague D. and I got to work super-early so we'd be able to leave early to go see the Moomin exhibit at the Belgian Comic Strip Center not far from our office. The center is housed in an impressive Art Nouveau temple by architect Victor Horta (one of my favorite architects here in Brussels) in downtown Brussels and is worth visiting just by itself.



When I was little, I used to love the Japanese TV adaptation of the Moomin comics, Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka, so it was wonderful to see the original drawings and paintings the talented Finnish artist Tove Jansson made during her lifetime. Although the exhibition space felt a bit cramped (so many drawings! so little room!), I have gained a new respect for Jansson's work after having the opportunity to see her original pencil sketches and inked drawings up close in the exhibition. Some people seem to get every line just right, every time.



Sadly enough, the second part of our trip to the center was a bit of a let-down. My colleague and I had hoped to pick up some Moomin books and gear on our way out in the gift shop, but either they had just sold out of everything, or the museum lacks business-sense, because the shop carried exactly two of Jansson's books and both of the editions were in French. No Moomin-gear in sight either. So, I ended up taking one the French edition of The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My home because someone had reccomended the book to me for its outstanding cutout work.



And indeed, the book is just lovely. Someone told me that Jansson was only allowed to use two colors per spread, but that she got creative with the cutouts to enhance the book's coloring and sense of depth. Very inspirational and awe-inspiring!




Link: Belgian Comic Strip Center, Brussels

Meneertje's 1st Birthday!

Ok. Some people would probably consider one of the three options below when their colleagues start buying birthday gifts for their cat:

1) Call a therapist (always a good idea for people who own cats, I think, those manipulating little SOB's got more mind tricks up their sleeves than you can even start to imagine - you'll need the backup, believe you me);
2) Stop talking about said cat and remove all 23 pictures off office wall (and hide the little picture sitting in your wallet);
3) Thank above-mentioned colleagues and never tell anyone else it ever happened, lest they start to suspect you might actually be wanting a human baby boy soon, and you're somehow projecting all of your motherly affection onto your cat (which isn't true and come to think of it, those colleagues must probably die for even making you suspect in the first place. HIDE ALL -supposed- EVIDENCE.).

Of course, I never even considered any of these options and instead I thanked my sweet sweet colleagues, made Meneertje write them a Thank You note (but hey, he just turned 1 yrs old. It's not like he can write yet), and went on to throw him a smashing birthday party*.

Look! A real birthday meal! Nom nom nom...

Of course we got him a bunch of new toys, played with him all evening and he got to (well, did) pee on our bed. Congratulations sweet Meneertje!!!



*In my defense, the boyfriend totally joined in on the birthday-fun!

Annnnd some more pictures of Meneertje when we first got him. Because it's cute. That's why.

Kendi Everyday

As my older (Dutch) readers will probably remember, Jessica Schroeder of What I Wore has been my personal style guru for a while now. However, every girl needs a change every now and then, and currently I'm in luurrrve with Kendi Lea from Kendi Everyday.


Kendi is a 'small town girl' who after she got married, resisted that terrible terrible urge to get started on a bunch of kids and a dog and started a blog instead! And although I'm sure she'd be a lovely mom, I'm very glad she got a baby blog instead because her sense of style (and humor) is amazing.


I love how Kendi combines casual clothes like tank tops, cardigans and jeans with more businessy and chic items. I usually look for outfits that work for a range of different occasions and Kendi is a true inspiration. All of her outfits would work equally well for work, a dinner with friends, or a relaxed Saturday-afternoon coffee in town!




If, like me, you want to make your fall comeback to the office a fashionable one, check out her blog over at kendieveryday.blogspot.com.

Project Provence Journal Pages

Hi there! Phew! Almost didn't make my own deadline! And what's worse than being a total and utter disappointment to oneself right? Juuuust kidding.

As promised, here are the scans of my 'Project Provence' journal pages. It's been a very eventful holiday. Packed with fun activities and good conversation (and fortunately NO allergy issues, whatsoever), but also with a lot of drama. I suppose that is to be expected when you go camping for ten days with six girls, and we've certainly had our share of bad luck last week, but I've been feeling very sad about the tensions that arose between me and others.

Have you ever been on holidays with friends that turned out different from what you expected? How did you deal with it? I'd love to find out!

In any case, journalling was a nice way of creating my own space amidst the other group members and I think the pages turned out nice. Ah, the healing powers of art! *enter dramatic music*

Have a great night + Friday!


08062010: Project Provence - 6 girls 1 van
Let the games begin! This evening, myself and 5 (!) other girls will go on a 10-day camping trip to the Provence in France. I am SO excited!


0807/082010: After a long, long journey, we arrived at the very beautiful campsite along the river Verdon. The first night was difficult for me, my spoilt back not being used to the hard ground and sleeping in a tent. My back hurt a lot. Fortunately, we did enjoy the cool river water.


08092010: On Monday, we went to Castellane - the town closest to our campsite and explored the options in our 'neighborhood' of the province.

09092010: 'A cheesy detour'
On Tuesday we went to a cheese-makery, that turned out not to be as close to our campsite as we had guessed and when the factory-tourguide went missing, the whole thing turned out to be kind of a let-down. Fortunately, the cheese was still really good. Unfortunately, on our way back, we stopped to see if we could help two motor cyclist who had gotten into an accident. I got out to see, but when I got back in (they were fine), I bumped my head really bad. For a minute there, I thought I really had a concussion, but fortunately after a day, the pain went away.


08112010: Market Day @ Castellane
Today, we spent most of our day in Castellane, doing groceries at the local market! Awesome!

08122010: Randon Aqua > And then, you die.
On Thursday, we went to do a 'randon aqua' (aqua trekking) with our hilarious guide 'Tof' (short for Christoph we guessed), who kept trying to scare us while we had to float down rapids, jump off rocks and swim underneath rocks and trees through the canyon of the Verdon. I had SO much fun. This was definitely the highlight of my holiday. Unfortunately, Bic hurt her foot really bad when going down a rapid. Very sucky.


08132010: Today we went to Grasse, to visit the Fragonard perfume factory, which was really great! We learned all about perfumes, eau de toilettes, their makeup and the production process. Fascinating!

08142010: An eventful day @ Aix-en-Provence.
Oh my, what a day. 1) We had to say goodbye to one of our group-members, Mar. 2) We had lots of rain and fighting at Aix-en-Provence (a BEAUTIFUL city despite both of these things), and 3) We ended with a nice dinner at Le Zinq d'Hugo, thanks Rick Steves for the great tips!


08152010: Bad luck (+ muddy) central!
This has not been an easy holiday, and when we came home last night, our campsite was flooded by the rain. Seems the drama isn't over yet. Today, while we tried to clean up the campsite and rest a bit, there was also more fighting and disagreement. I wish this wasn't happening.

08162010: An emotional hangover
For me, today was all about processing the emotional things that happened in our little group yesterday. So, I kind of detached from the group and drew a lot. The other girls went horseback riding (I'm allergic to horses and couldn't go) and it was nice to have the time to myself before we go home tomorrow.

Decompressing...

Project Provence

Six girls in one van en route to the Provence in France - now that's what we would call a 'project'. So we did! Tonight me and five lovely girlfriends are leaving in said van to the Provence! Look! We even made a logo, and shirts (yes, we're the annoying kind)!



Of course I'll be bringing my journal annnd a Polaroid camera (we will also be shooting video and taking lots of pictures), so be prepared. But since our camping site doesn't even have a street address (Lord, what is a city girl like me even thinking? GPS cordinates, really?), I highly doubt I'll be able to blog from there! See you the 18th of August and be good okay?



PS: All you robbers out there (and I know you're out there) - my big, strong, muscled badass boyfriend is still at home, so don't think you can steal... ehm... like, the espresso machine and stuff (only valuable thing in the house).

The Versatile Blogger Award

I LOVE receiving emails, and yesterday I got a particularly fun email from reader and blogger Anna-Maria of The Shopping Sherpa. She awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award! Yay! Thank you!

Now the next step is for me to pass this award on to 5 more awesome bloggers, along with posting 7 things about myself. I'm passing the award onto:

Kendi Everyday - because I'm in love with her sense of style and humor.
Harika - because Samantha Zaza is one of the most talented people out there, she's an inspiration on so many levels.
Benconservato - because I love how Emma shows her readers her fantastic free-spirited creative process.
San Smith - because she has pink hair. Duh. I think people with pink hair should get awards, like, every day.
iHanna - because iHanna does it all and more, and with such positive energy. She's having fun!

And here's the 7 random things about me:
1. I have had a website since I was like, fifteen. My brother and I set up a Fortunecity homepage where we put up all kinds of random information about ourselves I would never (ever) put online today. Ah, the sweet, innocent beginning of the internet.

2. I used to want to become a heart surgeon (because it seemed like the most ambitious thing you could pick), right up until I found out that includes a lot of math. Ewwww. Math.

3. I often hold up my pee way too long for the sole reason of being to lazy to get off my chair and walk to the bathroom (too much information? sorry!).

4. Every day I save my leftovers from dinner, thinking I will eat them tomorrow, but I've never, ever actually ate them. (Yes. I do feel guilty towards all the little hungry children in Africa.)

5. When we were 8 yrs old, a friend of mine drew christmas cards to sell for money for baby monkeys in god-knows-where. We were doing really great, right up until a nosy neighbor called the police on us because we didn't have a permit. I don't think I knew what a permit was.

6. I'm mildly addicted to coffee. If I don't drink enough coffee, my head will explode. It's true. It's happened before. It was a mess.

7. I didn't draw in my journal this week and I feel superguilty about it, but I've decided to let it go. Perhaps I'll make it up next week, when I'll be chilling in the Provence in France with five girlfriends.


And that's that! Have a wonderful Friday / International Mustache Day!

A very good night

Yesterday evening was a special evening here at the Meneertje Mansion (where our cat Meneertje fortunately allows us to pay the rent and occasionally have people over). Not only is Danielle staying at our place in preparation for our French holiday appropriately titled 'Project Provence' (think: six girls, one car, two tents), but she and I had the honor of being the recipients of Nuria's 100th 'What I Ate' meal! Nuria prepared a lovely pasta dish with fresh almond pesto and an amazing desert. Here, see for yourself:


I'm pretty sure my body is in total carb-shock right now, but fortunately I didn't care too much, since I made some white wine with peaches to accompany Nuria's awesome cooking. It's something I drank in Italy and have just completely fallen in love with. I used a fresh Chardonnay from Carmel, California and (organic) ripe peaches from the grocery store across the street (which has a pretty nice selection of fruits and vegetables).

Hooray for good friends with very fortunate hobbies, for good friends who remain very good friends even if they do live so so far away, and for good conversations and for Chardonnay. And peaches. And pesto. Of course.

(Check out Nuria's blog and her mad cooking skilzzz over on: nuriamariarosa.blogspot.com.)

Positano Journal Pages

As promised, I sat my little (?) tan ass down behind the scanner today and scanned in my Positano pages! Enjoy!


07242010: Positano here we come!
07252010: Start of our Italian holiday! The cast:
- Asha + Simone (Ashwin's sister and her Italian boyfriend)
- The street kitties Asha is taking care of: 1) Francesco, 2) Sfinx, and 3) Stinky (who had an accident recently :-(
- Ashwin + me!


07262010: Ash and I had the day alone, because Asha and Simone were attending a funeral. We explored the city by foot and by bus and had a very romantic dinner at Da Vincenzo.

07272010: On Tuesday we went to Sorrento, a nearby town, to order Ashwin a suit. He goes to the same tailor every year, so the guy gave him a good deal! Afterwards, we went to the beach called 'Chiquetto' (I think) where we sat in fancy chairs and drank white wine with peaches (YUM!). We had dinner at 'Il Grottino', a cute restaurant nearby!


07282010: Today, we got up early and took the boat to Laurito - a secluded beach near Positano only reachable by boat. There's an awesome restaurant there called Da Adolfo where Simone worked for a long time and where we had a great meal & rest!

07292010: We got up late today and first walked downtown to buy some souvenirs and a thank you gift for my dad and his wife who house/cat-sat all week for us. Then, we rented a boat and Simone gave us a little tour of the surroundings. On several occasions we jumped off the boat to swim in the beautiful, clear blue water. Paradise!


07302010: On our final day in Italy TODOS:
1) Get a surprise gift from the boyfriend.
2) Drink coffee (of course).
3) Pick up boyfriend's new suit in Sorrento.
4) Catch a plane home from Milano :-(

07312010: Calm down.
Every time I get home from a trip or vacation, I immediately completely stress out. Ugh. No good.

Posa posa!

Hello there! I'm back! Unfortunately, I might add, because Positano was absolutely gorgeous and so very relaxing, I wish our short week hadn't yet come to an end. I'll put up the journal scans tomorrow, because I'm just a tiny bit too tired to scan all of it right now (major asthma attack yesterday night up until about 3am + being woken up by hungry kitty at 7am = uggghh), but lemme break yall off with little preview (bounce, bounce, bounce*).

This is where we had our espresso each morning on the balcony of my boyfriend's sisters house. Can you believe that view!?

*Sorry!