Girls night in

This weekend I hosted a small dinner party for some girlies! I decided on a healthy (well, most of it) dinner, we had a good evening doing what we do best, talking and eating!

Vegetable crisps and sparkling wine or a non alcoholic cranberry-pineapple cooler
Carrot, ginger and red lentil soup with mint & yoghurt
Green bean, quinoa and avocado salad with a dill & candied lemon dressing
Pasta alla Norma
Carrot & pecan cake

Have a good week!















Opening up

Sometimes I have trouble opening up to people. I rarely talk about my dreams, my plans, my worries or my frustrations. I even have trouble opening up to myself. I stop my thoughts before they can develop, positive or negative. And in the last 5 months I have tried to stop 'stopping' my thoughts, but it takes a huge effort because I always find excuses not to explore the thoughts/plans in my head. 
I have been working with a life coach and I managed to open up to her and talk more about my fears, the excuses I come up with, the insecurities, the things I would like to accomplish and also to figure out where my talents lie. This has helped me in a great way and triggered me to start with the pop-up brunches and other plans still in the pipeline. But still when an event comes closer the anxiety sets in with every step I take. The old me would just give up when the smallest hint of anxiety becomes noticeable, because that is what I have done my whole life. But lately I do feel that I'm getting stronger by pushing myself harder and that is a new feeling.
But I had to come to terms with the fact that my mind is a slow-moving machine. And change does not happen overnight, especially not the life-changing one. Like they say, trust the process. Every step, even the tiniest, is a step closer.
Luckily I am surrounded by good people, who understand my silence, my inability to talk sometimes, but who do believe in me and are there for me when I feel confident enough to talk. 
The fact that I am opening up here, must mean that there is hope! :)



Last week I went for lunch & coffee with my friend L and I think I had one of my moments where I felt confident enough to talk about dreams and plans. And it was good, we sat in this beautiful coffee house / design store, had a few lattes / teas and just talked, 2 mothers with life plans and it was truly inspirational. Thanks babe.

Pictures taken at Thelma Coffee and Design (also very inspirational) in Leuven

My Sweet Valentine Brunch

Yesterday we hosted our 3L Syndrome Valentine's brunch. We came up with a whole new menu for the occasion and served our guests some Danish Smorrebrod, a variation on eggs benedict, a winter soup, a greek style salad, a chocolat chip granola with with some freshly cut pineapple, a chili chocolat love cake and of course a donut giveaway! I hope we were able to host a good Valentine's day event! After all the cleaning up, we celebrated our own little Valentine with some rose Moscato and a love foodiebox


















Pettefloesj

That's what I call my daughter these days. She has become such a big girl over the last few months.
You can even see the change in her face, she is not a baby anymore.
She says intelligent things, she makes logical conclusions, she is so sweet for us, for her dolls - she really is a caring little person. She always makes sure that her baby is fine, she cooks for her, makes sure she is warm, tells us to to shut up or put the television down so her baby can sleep. It is so sweet.
Last week when we were leaving for school, she said: I'm not going to take the baby to school today, she cannot do anything there, can you look after her? She needs milk, then she needs to sleep and then she can play on the ipad. Okay? oh, and don't forget her blanket, okay? Okay, petteke!
She also makes grocery lists, like I do. Lately when I am cooking dinner, she comes to lie on the kitchen floor with her notebook and she is asks me what we need, and then she 'writes' it down and says 'check' and when I run out of fictional things we could buy (after 30 minutes of playing this game) and repeat something. She remembers and says 'Mamaaaaaaa, I already have it on the list' and then she shows me where she 'wrote' it down (most of the time it will look like some dots and a line)

Like every girl of her age she is obsessed with Frozen. She is Anna (the brown one) and I am Elsa (the blond one). She always has 2 braids in her hair and I can only have one. She is absolutely obsessed with the song 'let it go', but of course youtube has it in all languages. She also listens to it in all languages. Most nights I have to sing 'Laat het los' en she sings 'let it go' simultaneously. I am not sure she understands that it is the same song, but hey we do what we can. With her dad she sings the french version 'Liberée, delivrée in the car, over and over again.
Lately she is into the Spanish version 'Libre soy', which she sings as 'Lieve Soy' - also very funny.
Let's say it is good for her languages...
Having a girl is like having a mirror. I see her doing so many things that I do the same. The way she stands in front of the mirror. How she can make a mess of the living room in 5 seconds. The way she forgets things or just doesn't pay attention where she is walking. 

It is also very confronting how well she knows me and her dad. She knows I always lose things. So when she was helping me making the bed this week, she said: Mama, I will put the remote control on the night stand, because otherwise you will lose it again. She also finds my keys for me, every time again. Damn, girl. 

Anyway, I cannot express how much I love her and how she inspires me, every day again.
And for the moment, I am her best friend. And she is mine. And I hope through time, through friends, through boyfriends, in her heart I hope she will continue to see me as her best friend.
PS: One example of her logical conclusions: The other day in the car she was talking about that she has a lot of teeth. I said, yes, you have all your teeth. 'But little A. (my good friend's baby) she does not have teeth yet, does she?' She has 2 teeth already now, I said. Is A. a rabbit then, she asked me? Euh, not really. But good try :)

More personal notes, if you would like to read: 



Thank you notes

 After our wedding, I was looking for original thank you cards to give to the people that ate, drank, danced and created memories with us. I fell upon Cheerz! I love that you can print polaroid style photos, posters, albums, magnets and photobooth strips so easy! Their app is so userfriendly and allows you to have tangible memories of your best moments. Nowadays so many photos are kept in your phone or your computer, but nothing beats holding a real photo in your hand, am i right?
So for our thank you notes we partnered up with Cheerz to give our guests a photobooth strip with some of our favorite wedding photos! I'm going to send them out soon! 
(they come with envelopes)
And I have good news for you if you too want to try the cool products of Cheerz!
With your first order you get -5€ with my special code LISVRZ
Enjoy!













Thank you Cheerz for the great thank you notes!