Lilac Colored Glasses » Weekly Winners

Weekly Winners, sort of….

Lilacspecs — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:54:35 +0000

These aren’t exactly the winners of the week, so much as the winners of the day. They’re pictures we took today when we went to try the food at Hof ten bosse, the Belgian wedding reception venue. CB and I both really love the place and the way it combines modern with rustic to create a really unique, cottage-chic atmosphere. So cool.

Reception hall/ Dance floor

Not quite sure what it is but it’s kind of steam punk meets Little Women, no?

This is the coffee buffet. The actual coffee is off to the left in a big urn but see that bowl? Homemade whipped cream. Swoon!

Nekked baby violinist – every wedding has to have one

This is the sort of thing that I really love about this place. It has so much character. Some of the corners of this place are like visiting an old homestead in the countryside.

Mustering a Smile

Lilacspecs — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:07:46 +0000

Prior to my tumble down the stairs, I was planning to come back to my blog with a little song I heard recently. It’s an easy going, simple little tune and while CB and I do get a chuckle over it’s schlageriness (made that one up myself), it’s been stuck in my head ever since I decided it’d be a good “end of hiatus” tune.

However, I thought it best to tell you about what happened Monday and I couldn’t see a good place to segue into a Dutch schlageresque song. It’s kind of hard to stay upbeat when you feel so beat up. Much of my physical pain is subsiding (though my wrist is hurting more) and the longer I’m able to sit in one place, the more I’ve made the mistake of reading the news.

I usually avoid the news because it depresses me and considering the month I’ve had, I don’t need to be more depressed, but this week I found myself clicking around the headlines and reading about things like the Maori protest in Auckland, the court’s decision to uphold Prop.8, the GOP trying to find ways to deny the first ever Hispanic woman from a place in the Supreme Court, and Israel’s Knesset trying to pass a law to imprison anyone who denies Israel is a Jewish state.

What most of it boils down to is discrimination, for one reason or another and it really makes me feel sick to read the comments of the “Joe the Plumbers” out there who find any reason they can to put down those who are different than them. I can’t say I know much about council seats in New Zealand, but the disgusting amount of racism in the comments blew me away. And I won’t even get started on Prop. 8 cause that’s just asking for trolls. But again, the comments I saw? I can’t understand how people justify some of their own heinous opinions. These people are minorities who protested peacefully for their rights to be represented as human beings and they were mocked for “pissing people off by wasting their time in traffic”.

Are you kidding me?

I doubt that the African Americans who no longer have to drink from separate water fountains feel as though the Million Man March was a waste of time.
I doubt that the women who vote on every election day think that the suffragettes were lazy or whiny for demanding to be treated as equals in society.

Point is, the world is really bumming me out today. So before I limp off to rest my rear (and back and arm and toes), I’m going to do my best to stay positive and upbeat, and in doing so, I’d like to offer you all a happy little song to be lodged in your heads (disclaimer: I never said the song is actually any good, but it is upbeat and chipper).

Heb je even voor mij (loose translation: do you have a minute for me) – Frans Bauer

Weekly Winners – My Kitten is Grown Up

Lilacspecs — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:52:48 +0000

If we go by the age that we estimated from the information given to us at the Poezenboot, Luna is just about a year old. She’s still sort of small and lean and she still has huge eyes so she looks more kitteny than cat but she’s all grown up now. She loves to play fetch (even in the middle of the night, which is not so fun) and cuddle and curl up on the bed with us every night. She thinks she’s people now more than ever, eating her soft food piece by piece with her paw on occasions and trying to eat all the human food that I’ll allow. And while Rex does the typical leg rubbing that cats do, Luna much prefers to be on a face to face level. She even pushes her head towards you for a kiss when you greet her.
She’s a sweet, loving kitty with a great personality and she adds smiles to our home every day.

Luna, looking strangely stern.

She loves playing in the sun. She rolls around on her back and chases the sunlight reflecting from her name tag. You can see her tummy is still growing it’s fur back from when she was fixed a few months ago.

She just has such a beautiful, semetrical face and her eyes are the same green as her mother. Luna is probably one of the best birthday presents I’ve ever received.

More weekly winners can be found at Lotus’ place.

Weekly Winners (and a weigh in)

Lilacspecs — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:32:03 +0000

First the weigh in. I didn’t forget to weigh myself last week, I just forgot to put it here. Last week I was at 219.8 but this morning I weighed in at 221.5. I’m not sure why, as I’ve been eating within my caloric guidelines and keeping track of everything (except this past Friday because we were in France and I had no idea how many calories anything was that I ate but still, I didn’t overeat or eat a ton of unhealthy food). I’m hoping it’s just some bloating from the tail end of my period but still, it wasn’t a nice thing to wake up to.

Okay, now on to some Weekly Winners, more of which can be found on Lotus‘ blog.

Some Spring in Gent

Fun With Macro

A Daytrip to Lille, France

This one needs a quick explanation. There was some sort of language exhibition going on in Lille this weekend (which is rare in France) and we just found some irony in the typo above.

Weekly Winners, a Trip to Antwerp

Lilacspecs — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:56:46 +0000

For more Weekly Winners just click on the banner.

What to do on the first really nice weekend of the year? Well, today we’re going to a baptism, but yesterday we had a little daytrip to Antwerp. Someone at work had mentioned a market that was held in antwerp centrum every Saturday so that’s where we went. Here’s some of what they had to offer. If you mouse over you’ll even get the Dutch words for some of these items. I figured I might as well make this blog educational on occasion.

Now, here’s the market:

Cheese, cheese and more cheese. So much cheese! But I’ll be damned if you can find any cheddar. We did see provolone though. Mmmm, provolone.

Cured hams, sausages, salamis, smoked meats

Mountains of fresh fruit, especially apples, although there were all sorts of pineapples, kiwis, plums, strawberries, etc.

Bowls and bowls of all sorts of stuffed and marinated olives, green, black, kalamata, spanish…

Dried and candied fruits…remember the beginning scene from Disney’s Aladdin where the street vendor is yelling “Dates! Sugared dates and figs! Sugared dates and pistachiooooos!” Well that’s what this reminded me of…and yes, there really are guys standing up on stools yelling at the crowd.

So many flowers, mostly fresh but some silk too. I’m pretty sure these are silk but they were too vibrant for me to pass up.

After the market we went to the shopping street and the performers were out and doing their thing.

For lunch we went to the Chinese street and had some fantastic dim sum as well as other yummy dishes.

Weekly Winners – A More Poetic Look at Gent

Lilacspecs — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:19:03 +0000

The face of a bearded man is carved into a bridge on the Graslei. Beneath it, a ship, sail unfurled in stone relief.

The castle Gravensteen can be seen from the bridge, flags whipping in the winter wind, standing watch over the city, as it’s done for centuries.

Narrow alleyways wind through the city, hiding eclectic houses and small restaurants…as well as the occasional grandstanding resident.

Towers are much more common here, like forgotten fairytales echoing through crumbling brick facades.

Sint Baaf’s cathedral, somewhat less gothically austere when dappled in the fading orange glow of a February sunset.

Weekly Winners October 10-18

Lilacspecs — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:47:02 +0000

More Weekly Winners

This week, I give you more photos from the Patershol, a trendy restaurant district in Gent…

Dulle Griet: A cannon acquired by Gentenaars after a war between Oudenaarde and Gent circa 1430. It was only ever fired once.

Wavery Reflection: some old building facades reflected in the canal besides Dulle Griet

Down the canal: looking down the canal towards the city center, the white building in the middle of the shot is Pablo’s, a tex mex style restaurant and one of my favorites in Gent.

Finally Fall: The leaves are finally changing so I took several pictures, but this has all the colors in one

The Willow Weeps: These are found throughout Flanders and they are one of my favorite trees. As a child I had this image of the “perfect” backyard with an old stone well and a weeping willow tree.

De Acht Zaligheden: The Eight Delights, a more upscale restaurant in the Patershol. I love the decor on the outside of the building, so I finally took a picture.

Cluttered and cramped: I have no idea what this bar is called, but it shows the diversity of atmosphere you can find in the Patershol. This is in the alley across the street from De Acht Zaligheden.

Aqua Azul: The doors leading into an amazingly tranquil spa that is decorated in 1920′s Tiffany and art nouveau style on the inside. Also a teaser for my mom who I am taking for an evening of relaxation while my family is visiting.

The Doors: Jientje really got me paying attention to doors when I have my camera on me and I took this picture to contrast the Aqua Azul entryway.

Breath of fresh air: an open window in a random apartment in an alley…I just liked the symmetry I guess.

Sunshine and shadows:speaks for itself, I think

Attack of the Ivy:it’s not uncommon to see whole building fronts covered in climbing ivy, I’m not sure yet if I find it romantic and pretty or a bit derelict.

30 is my favorite number:My birthday is on May 30th and my number in highschool soccer was 30

Weekly Winners – Better Late Than Never?

Lilacspecs — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:30:20 +0000

Click here to see other participants in Lotus’ brainchild

I wandered lonely as a cloud: Just a cloud over the buildings in the evening. It was solitary and reminded me of Longfellow, so I snapped a photo.

Wilkomen, bienvenue, welcome: Some stores and retailers over here try to latch on to the commercialism of Halloween even though it isn’t celebrated by anyone…they don’t quite get the pumpkin carving part.

Graven Images: On so many of the older building here you can find carved statues over the mantels, doors and windows. If you are in Belgium, try looking up when you pass an old building. Chances are you’ll find some sort of carved art. This was above an apotheek (pharmacy).

Knock, knock: With the cold autumn season creeping in, the upstairs can get very chilly. We keep all the doors closed so that the room we are in stays warm but the cats are a bit more restless. CB installed a cat door in the door that leads downstairs. We already have one between the bedroom and office but Rex and Luna were still pretty intrigued by the new one.

Felinus Rex: Here’s my buddy. One of the few pictures where he isn’t squinting into the camera and looking stoned.

Lunacrobatics: Luna loves catching bugs and will stop at nothing to get her little paws around anything that catches her eye.

Weekly Winners August 31-September 6

Lilacspecs — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:49:25 +0000

Ok, I’ll confess that some of these were taken this morning while CB and I walked through town in the rain. I didn’t take many pictures this week but I wanted to have more than the two that I thought were good for posting, so here they are.
Right of Passage: Luna has her first tag and collar. Honestly, it’s huge on her and she’s too young for it but she keeps running out the front door when I come home from class so I want her to be identifiable if I can’t catch her one day…we think she likes her bling.

Off Track:I’m neurotic about being on time and I found myself waiting on train platforms a lot this past week.

Pimp my Mini:Yes, that’s a Mini Cooper with a spoiler on the back…you can’t see the bright red sideviews from this angle, but believe me, they were there.

A-Mazing: This is a garden taken at Het Pand, the faculty club where CB will defend his doctoral thesis early in 2009…hopefully it won’t be raining by then. Heh, oh yeah, this is Belgium…of course it’ll be raining.

Je t’adoor: Jientje has been holding a photo hunt for doors all week and I told her I’d be looking for doors. this is the one that caught my eye. Better late than never, right? I know, I’m such a doork…hehehe.

For more winners of the weekly kind, head on over here to the mom of the sarcastic kind.

See, told, you….heavy dorkitude right here.

Weekly Winners August 24-30

Lilacspecs — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:32:47 +0000

I was a bit more diligent with photo taking this week, plus CB and I went into town one day, and I always remember to bring the camera when we do that. So here are my top picks for this week.
Dont you just love cute little kitten paws?

Precarious

Can you guess what this is?

Plastic blooms in a mall café

I had to camera set to something other than automatic for this…I have no clue what it was set on, but I loved the composition of the picture. I love the sense of speeding movement from the bus while the rest of the shot is still. I love the woman waiting and the men talking. I even like the surrealism of the lighting. It just came out very cool by accident.

Comeraderie

Vrijdagsmarkt (another major square in the city center)

Flowers blooming in the dark

The notorious eye goo…not because it was a good picture, but to celebrate the last day I have to use it! Yay!

For other Weekly Winners head on over and visit Lotus at Saracastic Mom