Garden Party

We had our annual Garden party this past weekend! Living in Belgium a lot of our friends – mostly expats – leave for the summer and Brussels empties out. So for the last 4 years we have been hosting a summer BBQ for one last chance of hanging out with friends. And it is lovely, this year we were around 50 people and it was so lovely to see all our friends. Thanks to all for joining us, for helping out and for having fun

The Prep

Of course preparing for this takes a bit of time – but to be honest not too much. I believe this year was our best prep yet (but you would think we get better every year). We did the shopping on Wednesday and Thursday (of course on the day itself we have to run down and get the stuff we have forgotten – burger buns and we always wonder if we have enough beer, wine, meat- so need to get more). On the day itself we prep the food (this year it was bulgur salad, green salad, BBQ sauce, Hummus, Salsa, baked potatoes, chocolate mousse and then meat for the BBQ – burgers, sausages, chicken and Bacon). Others brought desserts as well – loads of lovely cakes, strawberries and chocolate – I have learned to say Yes if people offer to bring anything (I really do not want anybody to feel obliged – but the last couple of years the dessert buffet has been donations from some of the guests) Drinks are Alpha Males domain – he now know exactly how much to buy – we always buy extra – but it is certainly nice to have for the coming weeks. This year we drank something like 100 Beers, 30 bottles of wine, vodka, whiskey and of course loads of soft drinks. The set up is a couple of small awnings and all the tables and chairs we can fit underneath – after doing this many times we know where the different tables goes so it does not take too long.

The practicalities

This year we opted for paper plates and forks and knives, as well as plastic beerglasses (wine glasses of Glass) which was a great help – the previous years I have been too busy in the kitchen cleaning forks, knives and plates – so going forward we will continue the paper/plastic variety . One of our good friends do the BBQ (really not something for Alpha- Male) so we spend most of our time making sure everybody has drinks and hope to be able to sit down a chat with everybody.

The Fun

And it is fun – to see all our friends (and funny what a small world we live in – many know each other but we never realized) get a bit (or a lot) tipsy with everybody and the party is just so enjoyable that we always think we should do it more often …………. But then on Sunday comes the cleaning up.

Hanging out with the cool people

Last week saw the launch of The Word’s “The White Album” – The word is a cool lifestyle magazine which is created here in Brussels by Nicolas and his great team. Alpha male is working with Nicolas (on the business side of the magazine) and of course we go to the launch/release parties. It is always fun – a lot of the people we meet – frankly we only see at those parties, so it is a great way of catching up. The locations are always different (think shops which have been empty for a while, empty galleries… even an underground park-car and a school). And the people attending are cool (granted there are a few “normal un-cool” like me) but it makes great venues for people watching: at the party in the underground parking ground we are two floors underground it is 2 in the morning in comes a man in top-to-toe leather, huge “the fly” like sunglasses and what can only be described as woman’s maxibag! A lot of the people are professional creative so journalist, artists, photographers, film makers – and very cool! For last week’s party we had been a bit unprepared as in not having arranged for somebody to mind our son, so we decided to go a bit earlier than usual and bring him along. On the way there we were lucky enough to stumble over a new burger restaurant in Brussels (Ellis Gourmet Burgers) which provided us the perfect fuel stop – and comes highly recommended.

Arriving at the party son gets totally in to the vibe – and I think we get some extra cool points as parents, for introducing him to all the cool people. And as usual the magazine is great.

Graduation

Last month I graduated from the International Management Program I have been doing the last year at Vlerick. I really enjoyed the program and met a bunch of great people – and I am happy to say many Belgians – most of our friends are ex-pats. We had a great evening – maybe a bit too much wine ….

Sweetest thing - no added sugar

We had a brilliant holiday to Ireland in August, starting with a wedding and then a week later ending with a great night out with friends. The time between was spend exploring places in Ireland we had not been before – we found some really lovely spots; and of course eating and drinking in abundance. So much so we all felt that a good cut down on excess would be good.

So we decided on “no added sugar” two weeks in September, as a starter. As I am writing this we are half way there and frankly a bit easier than I had expected. I think I am the one of us who has the sweetest tooth – so I was convinced that I would suffer the most. Alas because I have taken to opportunity to shed the 2.5 kg I seem to have picked up over the summer it has not been too difficult.

But what have we done:

For Breakfast – out with the cereal containing too much sugar or chocolate. Alpha-male and son are on Weetabix with bananas and a smidgen of honey – whilst I am drinking breakfast in shape of a smoothie. Really not that difficult.

For lunch – not much have changed it is still a sandwich, wrap or salad.

And dinner we are eating pretty much as we use to.

However it is everything in between (a biscuit, piece of chocolate, ice-cream ) that has been difficult. Now for dessert (actually makes me realize that son has almost managed introduce dessert as a daily occurrence) the boys (Alpha-male and son) eats natural yogurt with fresh fruit or raisins.

So we did a status update and son are missing “Ice tea”, Alpha-male could “murder a Magnum Ice cream” and for me I really miss the sugar in my tea (I would be lying if say I enjoy it as it is). But if you think about it none of these are really something to worry too much about, so although I am sure we will not extend this “no added sugar” we might overall keep cutting it down……

Gadget Family

A couple of nights ago I took a closer look at our Family. As I arrived home as the last of us, the son was doing homework using the Internet for references, Alpha-male were tweeting on his phone whilst conducting a business call via Skype. I was cooking (following a recipe on the IPad) whilst listening to Internet radio. By the time dinner was ready the son has moved from homework to games and Alpha-male to internet TV (granted only after making sure I had gotten wine) but the phone is never out of reach. After dinner (which we still share the old-fashioned way: at a table with conversation) and the obligatory low-tech soccer game in the garden, we are all back to our gadgets. The son is listening to Podcast (mental note to find out what kind of podcasts he is listening to), Alpha-male busy measuring Klout and blogging, whilst I am simultaneously checking eBay for new shoes and planning a family-holiday to Florida in November. Although I sometimes demand we go low-tech and play a board game or do something all of us together  - normally ending up playing poker with Alpha-Male being particular insisting on following some very specific rules. Most nights are “gadgets night” and we are happy like that. I love that I do not have to adhere to shops opening hours, I am happy to do most of my shopping online… it is generally easy and hassle-free and frankly I think I would do even more if it was possible