Why keeping your doorstep clean is also important

I read this article in the 'flow' about Happiness and that made me think.
Nowadays ' a good life' means having a 'successful' life and most of all showing that you have a successful life. Because if others can't see it, it doesn't exist. If it's not on facebook, or twitter, or blogged, it doesn't exist.
We live in a performance culture and that doesn't make us a lot happier.
Luckily there is a world within this world, that even all the social media cannot touch.
A world that exists when I lie in my bed with my little family next to me, what I feel at that moment, no facebook, no twitter, and no blog, can comprehend.

Now I am at home for a few months, taking care of our daughter, I have started to appreciate the simple things in life again, like cleaning my doorstep, doing the dishes, reading a magazine, going for a walk without a specific destination.
And I feel more useful than ever...
I am happy.


Date night with nice food, very nice food

For our first night out without our little one, we went to dinner @ Aux Petits Oignons.
It was very cosy and romantic, just what we wanted!
Charlotte de foie gras de canard, pomme verte et anguille fumée, gel de Banyuls, pain toasté et mascarpone de noisettes grillées
 Dorade confite à l'huile de citron, couscous de coques et céleri vert, pommade de beurre noisettes, écume de lait et amandes douces
 Entremet glacé
 Magret de canard de la Ferme de la Tour rôti, céleri rave et orange, cube d’oignons doux, croustillant de polenta et moutarde Pommery, jus aux agrumes 
 Fromage: explorateur; pain au levain, abricots du Roussillon et pignons de pain, crème épaisse au balsamique
 Composition de framboise, rhubarbe, vanille et citron de Menton

New at the house

As summer doesn't want to join us here in Belgium this year, we decided to work a bit on our interior in the dining room. We have a very big white wall in our dining room, that we already decorated with the 'Balloon Girl" tag from Banksy. But we thought it needed something more.We had these wooden crates and so we hung them on the wall.


We also wanted a dedicated space for our cooking and travel books.
To keep the balance between the wood in our interior, and the metal feet of the white Eames (replica) chairs and the diamond chair replica of Bertoia, a metal book rack seemed the best option.(Inspired by my friend Laura who has the huge version of the book rack and she arranged all the books by color, very pretty.)
And it worked out fine.

In our living room we have a cardboard crib for our little one, that I have found on the internet.
I didn't want a traditional crib, since it would not go with our interior. This one she can use later to put her dolls and she can color it in every color she wants. Cute, no?
And she sleeps like a rose in it.








The Magic of Palm Springs


Last year during our West USA road trip, our first stop was Palm Springs. We were immediately overwhelmed by the atmosphere, the sun, the palm trees, the architecture and the nice hotels.
The last few weeks I have been dreaming about this place constantly, I would really like to go again for a little romantic getaway. So we are going back to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, that will be in 3 years. Enough time to save up money! We will go back to the same hotel, the same room, ...in the Horizon Hotel and we will have dinner in the typical diner of the Ace Hotel, next door.
Palm Springs really makes me dream about the fifties, the glory days of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable.At the moment, I am also very much into the faded colours of that decade. You can see that in my choice of nail polish and the new cover of my I-phone.
What triggered my missing Palm Springs was an article in one of my favourite magazines, The Good Life (full of stuff I cannot afford), which also featured a review of the album of Lana Del Rey, who was named after a typical 50'ties Chevrolet, the Delray. I still don't know whether I like her or not, but her song 'Blue Jeans' really reminds me of Palm Springs and the sexiness and mystery of the place. Of course, the video helps to create that feeling.
 Well, It is no secret. I love Palm Springs!
Please don't change!
XX

Food Lately at our house

By Lisa

 

 
  
 








In order of appearance: courgettes from the garden - raw courgette/radish salad with lime/chilly/mint vinaigrette - pain perdu with raspberries  - Greek yoghurt with raspberries and raw sugar - Pink grapefruit (njam) - Ingredients for beef noodles - Fried noodles with beef - Produce from the garden: wild strawberries, salad, parsley  and celery - Sole with sauce au beurre with fresh shrimps - Dim sum sauces - Dim sums steaming - Ingredients for Cèpes omelet - Cèpes- Cèpes omelet

10 things about being a mommy

1. It's the cutest thing when I take her out of her bed, and she is clinging to me like she is still in my belly.
2. After 3 hours away, I start to miss her, like for real.
3. Every day is a happy day when we spend some quality time in the big bed in the morning and she is snoozing like a kitten.
4. Mother instinct exists
5. I'm a tiger mommy, nobody gets to say anything that sounds anything close to negative about my kid, or my paws come out.
6. Having a kid and seeing my man with the baby, make me even more in love with him.We are complete.
7. Babies (well, mine anyway) make lots of noise, even when they don't cry - it is really funny.
8. Being a mother myself makes me understand my parents better
9. I'm a shopaholic mommy
10. I feel special being a mom. (weird, no?)

I am a mother

By Lisa
"No one else will ever know the Strength of my Love for you. After all, you are the only one who knows what my Heart sounds like from the inside "
 
 
 
 
 

Happy -I love Daddy-Day

Today was Father's Day in Belgium, and my man & my daughter celebrated this day with some extra quality time.
 
 
 
Olivia loves quality time with her daddy. They often sleep together in the sofa.
My baby girl is very lucky with a daddy like him!
Happy Daddy day, my handsome man!
We love u!