Family weekend at the seaside

 This year's family weekend was at the seaside. And boy, did we get lucky with the weather! Blue skies the entire time. We went for long walks, made sand castles, went shopping, we got to go on a coffee date, to the restaurant for croquettes de crevettes, did the annual quiz ( called the pee quiz), had brunch, went on a go-kart ride and just enjoyed the late summer sun on our faces and the most beautiful sunset. A weekend to remember...

Photos by me and VisualsbyMilan (my cousin's boyfriend)

A Creative Sunday

My relationship with Brussels is a difficult one. I studied there for 5 years, taking the train from where I live every day to go to school, so I never got to experience the real Brussels life. Then I worked in Brussels for 5 years, commuting every day while trying not to bump my head to the steering wheel after standing still for an hour over 5 km. And now it just annoys me to go there, because I don't think I have ever gone to Brussels without ending up in a traffic jam, or coming across some crazy people.

Maybe I'm just a suburb kinda girl.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that the only reason that I do have some sparkles of love for this city, is because of my friend Laura. When we studied together, she always took me to the cool lunch places, the bars, the hotspots but also the deli shops with the best tea, cookies, fish, whatever. Being a real Brussels chic, she always knew where to go and I really value these years in Brussels with her for this reason.

We still try to get together as often as our busy lives let us, and yes - sometimes in Brussels.

So for this Sunday we left kids and husbands home, and went to 'Creative Sunday' at Le Phare du Kanaal, a nice co-working spot & café. Creative Sunday is an afternoon with 3 workshops - one beauty (manicure), one food (how to get creative with herbs and spices) and one DIY (make your own small terrarium) and a sweet buffet (too many doughnuts). We had a good afternoon getting creative in the early spring sun, making our own mustard & gravlax mix and making a scrub & taking care of our hands and nails with all organic products.

Could be a concept I will try to get to my small city.

Melchior: the new hotspot in town.

We were supposed to go on a romantic getaway to Budapest last weekend, but our little monster got sick on Thursday and we could not get ourselves to leave her - so we stayed home. Budapest and the thermal baths will have to wait. But we did want to take a few hours for ourselves close to home, so we reserved a table for lunch at the new restaurant Melchior in my hometown Tienen. Such a beautiful restaurant it is, lots of brick, metal and wood. Warm, sexy and stylish, just what Tienen needed. We went for the lunch menu - 3 courses with some appetizers beforehand. It was all very tasty - flavours, creativity and quality were great. I cannot wait to go back and taste the full evening menu! Great cocktails too! Welcome Melchior!

Four continents in one day

A few weeks ago we went to Pairi Daiza, a very special animal park in the middle of nowhere in Belgium. We had an unforgettable day in paradise in the midst of wild animals.  Pairi Daiza houses more than 4,000 animals from around the world, including birds, mammals, fish and reptiles and it is located on the former site of the Cistercian Abbey of Cambron, featuring ancient trees and numerous historic buildings. And since this year they also have 2 panda bears, coming from China. So when Petti's niece was in town, we had to go see them. The girls had a great day, and Petti was fascinated with all the animals. We will for sure return to this magical place, where dreaming of far away travels is made so easy.