This will keep you warm for Christmas

I had so much fun today collecting sweet things for my last Christmas present. Just like most of the (Belgian) girls, one of my best friends Gwen is completely in love with chocolate. She would marry the milky sweetness if she could. Also, she is studying hard for her exams at the moment, so to give her a little boost I thought it would be nice to give a hot chocolate gift basket. I found the lovely idea here: http://www.designsponge.com/2010/12/small-measures-hot-chocolate-gift-basket.html. Hot chocolate, marshmallows, chocolate cookies and a shiny new cup, sometimes that's all a girl needs in cold winter times.

I made my own version of the box of goodness. Bigger, more glittery and with kitschy Christmas decoration. I'm a bit of a chaotic person. And I do love all things kitschy. That's why the outside of the box ended up looking like this:

Don't ask me why, but I always end up buying old photos of random people on fleemarkets. Yes, our apartment has more pictures of unknown people decorating the walls than images of friends and family :) Thank god being a bit crazy doesn't hurt.

Analogue girl in a digital world

Isn't it lovely to write and receive a letter or a postcard? A piece of paper that has flown miles through the air, coming from exotic destinations like Sri Lanka or Lithuania :) Or even from around the corner, just to say hi. To know someone picked a card because they thought it would make you smile. Some sweet words, written in nearly unreadable handwriting, that you can read over and over again in sad times. You can't always keep on eating chocolate and spending money on crap to feel better! So let your mood, words, dreams flow through that pen, put it in an envelope and send your love! There's even a project going on to make people send postcards again, like back in the old days, even to strangers! Go on, have a look at www.postcrossing.com and write about your day! Make someone happy and receive kitschy postcards in return!

For the ones who believe keyboardtyping isn't the new handwriting.

There should be 8 Novembers in a year

Everybody loves November! If you forget about the freezing temperatures, the depressively dark days, the fact you arrive sweaty everywhere, the general low mood and blue hands, but focus one the one good thing that makes November Month Of The Year. No, not the hot chocolate picnics, the cosy cuddling and endless pie baking. I'm talking about the MUSTACHES! The eleventh month of every year turns into the beautiful month of Movember. Men don't shave their mustache for a month. Not only do they look manly funny with their furry upper lip, all men around the world also celebrate the mustache as a symbol of manliness. By doing this in Movember, gentlemen (men with mustaches are allowed to be called gentlemen, whether or not they hold doors open and carry your bags) highlight men's health issues and raise funds for charities like the Prostate Cancer Foundation. And of course this makes us, women, very happy and eager to join the good cause. Ladies, I'm not telling you to grow a bush underneath your nose or to make a competition between you and your male friends about who has the longest leg hair. These girls came up with a pretty good idea, without being a walking hairball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GudcxvmHoyQ&feature=share

Proof: ladies can pull off a mustache ;)

Why I want my bathtub filled with chocolate

Everybody knows about the healing powers of chocolate. The brown gold brings you up when your spirit is low, mends a broken heart, tightens your trousers, funkies up your morning coffee, provides a sweet shoulder to cry on, gives you an instant energyboost and puts a smile on the face of even the grumpiest of people. That's why I present to you: my all time favourite dessert, snack, or why not, Monday morning breakfast... And the only reason I can think of that makes me a true Belgian. Did you know Belgian people have chocolate running through their vains instead of blood? True story.

I would love to swim in that goodness.

Lovely days off

Early morning rise. Woke up by the sun in my eyes. Only to fly to the fleemarket in Brussels, where I intended just to browse and save up my week's salary. Did well until I decided to take a look in the fox hole, where the boots made me fall in love and the salesman made me feel like wanting to make sweet sweet love to him all morning long. I ended up buying two pairs of boots and a funky orange dress with epaulettes. Fake shoulders that is. I went for a low cost breakfast in a dark little bar. Eating a pistolet paté while reading a newspaper I felt so at ease with my only just beginning weekend. Took the long train to Ghent, only to have more time to read my new borrowed book 'Suikerspin'. It's magical. Went for a little shopping to treat my loved ones to foodie presents and myself to ducks on a dress. I love Ghent when the sun is shining on her beautiful buildings and people are colourful and smiley. Entered new retro bar 'Labath' where Raphael Saadiq is sharing his soothing tunes and my already favourite coffee is called Cappuccino Star. And it's only the beginning... Happy new rituals!

Time for Tea.

It's autumn again

Oh, it always happens so fast. One night you're sitting on a balcony drinking white wine in your sweet dress, next day you're freezing your toes off while running from bar to bar, trying not to get too soaked. Autumn's here and he didn't spare me from his blue hands coldness. Turn the heath up and make some tea, tonight we're watching movies and stuffing our faces with pudding. I like the cold, but under one condition: that I'm sitting inside when it happens. And I can watch it. But not feel it. I love the cosiness, snuggling up in your pyjamas and baking delicious things that make you feel warm inside. The only reason to get out of the door is to run to the movies, the shabby small ones, where they sell happiness for 6,60 euros. These places remember me Belgium isn't such a bad place at all. Only afterwards, when we have to run back home through the pouring rain, I dream about more tropical places. Yesterday I laughed and cried my eyes out with a great new Belgian movie called 'Les Géants'. The soundtrack is beautiful, with the soothing voice of The Bony King of Nowhere. His music just makes me want to put cinnamon on everything I get my hands on. Sweet as hell.

Chez maman

Brussels by night. Not the kind of night any of us had expected. It was warm and we were wearing black. Full moon made everyone feel excited and extreme. There were strange people smoking in front of a secret door. Not so secret actually, but we never noticed the door before. A man lead us inside the dark hallway. We walked up the stairs and got hit in the face with the heath of dancing people. We swayed slowly downstairs, with Jack Daniels and psychedelic music. Pitch black, it was darker inside then outside, where the moon and lanterns were throwing shadows on the floor. But inside everything was soft and black. The walls felt as if they were made out of velvet and people looked dark and intruiging. Nothing like any place we've been to before. Everybody was dancing individually, yet all with each other. Like in a dark cocoon, where everything is familiar and nice, we felt like we never wanted to be anywhere else. Dragshows, creepy paintings and lots of leather, welcome to mommy.