About Me

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Antwerp, Belgium
Welcome to the new, and improved version of Heaven in Belgium. I am Jientje. "Jientje", like the boys name Gene, followed by "chu"? "Gene-chu", that's how you pronounce my name. Yes!!!!That's it!! So now you know huh? I am an addicted blogger. I was born and raised and am still living in Belgium. Yeah, the "this-is- Tuesday-so-this-must-be-Brussels" kind of Belgium .. There, you see? Maybe you couldn't find it on the map, but at least I'm trying to change that a little by sharing lots of pictures. I really love to cook and create new things, like this blog for instance. I am a mother,a grandmothe and a wife too! They say I'm a traveler, and a photographer. Well that's just what they say, I love to make pictures, but I am far from professional ... If my English is not perfect, that would be because it's my second language. I do hope you'll forgive me any possible misspellings or strange vocabulary ... Now, as a result of all of the above, I get way too little sleep and my days are always much too short!

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Heaven is in Belgium

Friday, July 24, 2009

Friday’s Fave Five, Let’s Have a Blast!

friday fave five 12

 

I know I know, I say that every week, but hey, can you believe it’s Friday again?
Another week that has whizzed by so fast I would probably forget I have ever lived it if it was not for this great meme! Friday’s
Fave Five is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and I just love to participate each week.

A very busy week it has been, lots of good moments, let me share some of the highlights from this week today…


1. Sunday we had our little dinner party here at home. My friend Annie and I love to play in the kitchen, so we get together once each season to cook a gourmet meal. It was my turn to host the event, and we spent a couple of hours cooking and mixing and chopping and cutting in my kitchen together. And then in the evening, our husbands joined us at the table so the four of us could enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Go here to see more pictures of our culinary efforts.

2. Tuesday was a day off for most Belgians, as it was our National Independence Day.
There is a military parade in Brussels, and the members of the Royal family make their appearance, and there are fireworks here and there, but that about covers it.
It’s not huge like the fourth of July is in America. There is one tradition though. There has to be a huge shower on our National Day. ( Not that it does not rain on other days, but National Day would not be the same without it! )
People in Belgium call it “drache National”. The picture in the left corner might give you some idea of the impact of this year’s “blessing from above”.

3. A blogger meeting. Yes, another one. While at the other end of the world in Chicago the BlogHer blog convention opened it’s doors and all some of the famous American Bloggers meet and get together in this huge event, I had a little blog meeting of my own.
I had a date with Gattina yesterday. She came to Antwerp and I showed her some of the little streets and some hidden little places there. We had a wonderful time together. I think I might tell you more about it tomorrow.

4. We went to my favorite coffee house in Antwerp and I had a delicious Vienna Cappuccino Coffee. It was topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. A heavenly combination. Yum.

5. Blog Positive. The brainchild of Jennifer’s twelve year old Diva Daughter. 
I quote, straight from Jennifer’s blog Dust Bunny Hostage:

Positive-Day-246x300

On July 31, 2009, I would be humbled and blessed
if you would participate in the day envisioned by Diva Daughter.
It would be an opportunity to show that young people
do indeed have a voice and that they can make a difference.
If you feel so inclined, grab the badge and post it on your sidebar.
Then on July 31, share the things in your life that are positive. Count your blessings. Tell us why you are thankful.
CHOOSE to "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative."

Isn’t that what we should do each day?  Now I KNOW most of my readers already do that, and that’s why I am not afraid to ask you to grab the button, head  over to Jennifer’s blog and tell her you’re in as well!

Let’s make this little lady’s dream a real blog blast, okay?

This does not mean I am going to skip Fave Five’s next week, I think I’ll combine the best of both worlds into one big positive post!
Well, that’s it for me today, go here if you want to read more Fave Five posts.
Or join in, it’s fun.

21 comments:

Gattina said...

How funny to see myself on your blog, lol !
It was a real nice day together ! I will show my pictures of us tomorrow.

Nicole said...

Oh, that looks like a full fun week :)
I love blogger meets :)

Wanda..... said...

You seem to have lots of good moments every week Jientje.

Melissa said...

Love your list and your photo collage. The Vienna Capuccino Coffee sounds pretty good, too!

MrsLittleJeans said...

Love the list. I will come back to study it more carefully!

xo

ellen b said...

Love your photos Jientje. I thought I recognized Gattina. The food photos are divine! I want a bite. It's great that you have fun living your life...

The French Bear said...

Nothing beats great food and good friends! What a lovely dinner you had! I hope that I can join in on the 31, I am always positive or at least try to be!!! Good for this sweet girl to do this!
I can only imagine a blogger meeting with that many bloggers together, WOW!!!!
Cheers,
Margaret B

Anonymous said...

I still cannot get over the cooking series! I thought about it whole week - when mixing mish-mash and making sandwiches. I put a cooking class on my to do list. Those entrees were fabulous!

Barbara H. said...

I thought that was Gattina in the photo collage. I bet she was a lot of fun!

I can't say I enjoy cooking very much, but it sounds like it would be fun with a friend. Your creations look good!

How funny that you get rain every year on your Independence Day!

Jerralea said...

Over here in the states, I always feel that we get rain every Memorial Day! Memorial Day is like the first holiday of the year that is nice enough to go on a picnic, so of course it rains!

As always, I love your photo collage. Is that a real pansy on your food creation pictured on the bottom left hand corner?

Carletta said...

Lovely collage of your week!
How wonderful to meet Gattina - she does travel around. :)

Libby's Library said...

Oh Jientje,I want to come to Belgium so much - I can taste it. I want you to guide me through all the little streets, and take me to your favorite stores. I want to see the beautiful flowers and lovely rivers. Gotta find myself a money tree!

I would be happy to participate, I'll go over there right now.

Anonymous said...

What a wondeful FFF and busy week you had my Belgian Bombshell. Loved the photos. You and Gattina look like you were having a great time. Have a great Friday my friend. I'm glad you posted the Positive Day. Well done :)

Brenda said...

Wow! You and Annie make food into an art form! Everything looks so delicious. How nice to meet with blog friends again, that is always a lot of fun.

Jientje said...

@ Gattina: It was. I'm glad I met you. I'll write a post tomorrow too.
@ Nicole: Yes, it was a very busy week!
@ Wanda: That's true, I enjoy my life to the fullest.
@ Melissa: You should try it sometime, it's delicious!
@ MrsLittleJeans: You're welcome anytime!
@ ellenb: I'm a happy girl, I am.
@ MargaretB: So can I, I would love to be there too someday.
@ ellievellie: That entree came out as one of the best things I ever made.
@ BarbaraH: Thank you! yes, we had fun!
@ Jerralea: That's a real pansy, they're edible!
@ Carletta: Yes, we had so much fun together!
@ Libby: Yes, it would be nice!
@ Thom: We connected really well, Gattina and me. And thanks for the link about the positive blogging
@ Brenda: Thank you! And we had fun, that's true!

Unknown said...

I will join in on the festivities. I will post hte badge tomorrow.

Christine said...

Your dinner looks fabulous! You amaze me. Too bad you could not send some of that rain our way. It is hot and dry here. Sweltering hot. I am stuck to my chair. It will probably peel a layer of skin off my legs when I finally decide to stand up. LOL! Just thought I would share that with you.

Tammie Lee said...

It sounds as though you have had a week over flowing with the goodness of human connection and life in general. Wonderful!

Spirithelpers

Melli said...

LOL! I was just starting to think how it would be senseless for me to join that "day" because I post positive EVERY day - or try to - But then you so eloquently pointed out why I should! So I will!

I can't wait to read more about you and Gattina meeting tomorrow! I think she is posting about it tomorrow as well! YAY!

Becky said...

Another wonderful week in Jientje's world in Belgium! I love the draft horses in the photo!

Susanne said...

Love the gourmet cooking get together you do with your friend.

Isn't that something that it would pour like that every year on that date. No wonder there is not fireworks. LOL.

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