The birthday girl, me, and Barbara
My parents happened to be in town for Sofie’s birthday. Also in the Netherlands was Koen’s cousin Andrea and her boyfriend Ethan from Canada – so my parents didn’t have to worry about people speaking English. I always love getting together for family birthdays because it gives me the chance to catch up and see everyone! We celebrated at Sofie’s apartment in Breda and enjoyed delicious cakes and frietjes!
Longines Global Champions Tour 2014
A special thank you to Diana and David for the invitation to come see the Longines Global Champions Tour 2014, formally known as Jumping Antwerpen! Last year I went with Koen and really enjoyed it. This year I invited Hannah to join me, because she does some jumping herself. Such a good choice for a guest! I was able to learn a lot while we watched. Enthusiasm is also contagious, so being with someone who loves horses made the event that much more fun! The venue is beautiful and located on the dockside of Antwerp’s Scheldt River with a view of the cranes.
Beyoncé concert!
This Christmas my husband surprised me with a ticket to see Beyoncé in Antwerp! If you don’t know, Queen Bey is my absolute favorite and this was my first time seeing her live! Koen doesn’t have the same enthusiasm, so I had a girls’ night with Barbara dancing and singing!
Brunch at our place!
This year Koen and I volunteered to host Easter brunch at our apartment in Antwerp. It was a lot of fun coming up with a menu and plan for the afternoon. We knew we wanted to buy lots of different breads and spreads as well as pastries, both savory and sweet. Of course we placed our order at Lints, our favorite bakery. Because the weather was nice and sunny, we also were in the mood for fruit! So we served watermelon, mango, pineapple, raspberries, and passion fruit alongside homemade kiwi juice (we used the leftovers to make a delicious smoothie the next day). After our huge brunch we went for a walk around the city, walking along the Scheldt River and through the historic district, stopping for a drink in front of City Hall and the famous Brabo fountain.
Opening my Christmas gifts from my parents!
Koen and I celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Roosendaal, first at his Aunt Maartje and Uncle Sjaak’s house and then at the Brörmann house for Christmas. Unfortunately Nikki, Brigiet, and Sofie could not make it to Roosendaal to celebrate with us – Nikki and Brigiet were in Friesland and Sofie was surfing in Spain! Christmas Eve, we all made special dishes – Koen and I made two types of meatballs – and enjoyed an evening with lots of laughter and delicious food. The next day began with Christmas brunch. The entire afternoon we took turns in the kitchen preparing for dinner. I made macarons for the first time! Oma joined us for our delicious dinner which included a game where we guess what Dook is thinking. Koen and I were the winners guessing Roy Donder’s huispak and Oma’s pearl necklace! After dinner we facetimed my family in the States where they were also enjoying Christmas dinner! Also, special thank you to Barbara for the beautiful photos from Christmas!
Antwerp Christmas Market in the Grote Markt
I always look forward to Christmas-time in Antwerp. Not only are the streets and trees filled with lights, but the Christmas market begins! Spread out around the city, little wooden stalls are set up where you can buy trinkets and sweets, and of course warm and strong drinks!
My surprise for Dook!
In case you don’t remember from last year, the “surprises” are homemade gifts tailored to the likes and hobbies of the person whose name you’ve drawn. This year I drew Dook, Koen’s dad. Because Dook is the biggest wine lover I know, my surprise had to do with wine. I fingerpainted a map of the world, then created a pathway through the major wine countries. Starting in California, Dook had to answer questions about wine to move forward. After successfully completing the game Dook was able to open his gift!
Turkey napkins
This year Koen and I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner. It had been 3 years since my last Thanksgiving dinner, so I was excited to recreate all of the dishes – especially since I’ve been cooking so much this year. Koen and I divided the dishes and the results were delicious! I was so busy taking photos of all the food I forgot to take photos of us and our guests haha. But here are all of the dishes and links to the accompanying recipes.
Lumpy Space Princess (LSP) Pumpkin!
Koen and I decided this October to carve a pumpkin – only my 2nd while living in Antwerp (my 4th Halloween). I saw everyone’s pumpkin carving parties and felt the need to have my own private party with Koen. We weren’t sure what to carve, but then Koen found a lot of stencils from Adventure Time and we decided to carve one of our favorite characters – Lumpy Space Princess! We kept the jack-o-latern for 3 days and then realized why they’re kept outside in America; they really start to decay and smell awful!
One last Banh Mì from Saigon in Chinatown
Day 13 was our last full day in NYC because we needed to head to the airport after lunch the next day. So we spent our last real day eating my favorite lunch again from the trip – Banh Mì from Saigon in Chinatown, and then heading back to Midtown to buy presents. I also wanted to visit the Ralph Lauren stores on Madison Avenue as well as his daughter’s candy store, Dylan’s Candy Bar. As a thank you to Christina for letting us stay with her so long, we spent our last evening seeing Mamma Mia on Broadway! The next morning we needed to pack and get our things together. For our last lunch we decided to go back to San Gennaro’s for steak and mozzarella sandwiches. Luckily we planned a lot of time between leaving Christina’s apartment and our flight. It turns out the exact time we wanted to head to the metro station was during the huge parade for San Gennaro! The crowds were gigantic and we were both with two suitcases trying to fight our way through. Then we had to talk to the police officers to try and convince them to let us cross through the parade because if we had would wait another hour it would be too late. So rather than taking 5 minutes to get to the metro station it took us 30 minutes – but we made it! At the airport we decided to have one last burger from the Shake Shack! Now we are both looking forward to going back to NYC in September!
An American in Antwerp 