Hoags in Europe - Brussels

After a day (night in Brussels time) of travel, Matt and I landed in Brussels, Belgium. After shuffling through customs like half asleep zombies, we were greeted by our good friend Brian (read his blog here and check out his fun t-shirt company here).

In an attempt to fight off jet lag, we opted to take the walking tour of Brussels led by our gracious hosts, Brian and Jen. The tour was chalk full of fun facts and trivia about Brussels, much of which I sadly forgot already. But we walked and walked and walked, which was perfect in fighting off thoughts of sleeping, but did earn the tour the nickname, The Death March of Brussels.

This conversation probably went like this:
Brian: (rattling off some fact)
Jen: That's a new one! Where did you learn that?
Brian: Rick Steve
Jen: Really? When did you read Rick Steve?
The back story: Literally right before we walked out the door for the tour, Brian was reading Rick Steve's walking tour of Brussels. And proof that he is quite smart, just like that, he worked new facts from good old Rick into our tour of the city.

No big deal, just a typical street in Europe with an impressive historic building in the background.

Yep, that's my husband, the dancing queen. <3

Can you say GOOFball?

Work it Matt, work it.

Pretty impressive city backdrop.

With Brian and Jen.
Proof that we (Matt) can smile nice for the camera.

Clearly we are having fun on our first day in Europe!

Stay tuned for more about our time in Brussels. But before I sign off, I have to prove that I did absorb a little bit of the knowledge Brian shared with us during our tour. Did you know that some people believe that the hoof placement in a statue with a man on a horse indicates how that person died and/or survived battle? I fact checked this, where else but trusty Wikipedia and learned that there isn't much evidence to support this theory and its mostly held true of American history. But interesting nonetheless, right?

Here's what Wikipedia says about the hoof placement symbolism:

A popular belief in the United States is that if the horse is rampant (both front legs in the air), the rider died in battle; one front leg up means the rider was wounded in battle or died of battle wounds; and if all four hooves are on the ground, the rider died outside battle. However, there is little evidence to support this belief.

Do the Mashed Potato!

Mashed potatoes are my favorite food. I love them so much that I could make up a giant batch and sit with a spoon and eat the entire pan full--if only they weren't packed full of butter, cream, cheese, etc. So when I saw a recipe that used mashed potatoes as frosting, I couldn't resist.

Conveniently Gina's Skinny Recipes shows up in my Google Reader feed so I don't have to go hunting for a recipe, it just appears in front of me. When I saw the Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes a few weeks back, I immediately put it on the menu for the following week.

The results are in and they were GOOD. Now, don't even try to compare my food presentation to the pictures on the original recipe. While I love the look of piped mashed potato frosting, I went with the glob method because I'm just not that fancy.

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone, but those are instant mashed potatoes because I'm lazy.

 I also love that these could be made in advance and then reheated in the oven. They'd be easy to prepare and share if you're providing food for a family with a new baby, death in the family, etc.

Give 'em a try and let me know what you think. I just love the cupcake meatloaf concept and I'm sure you could adapt it to any meatloaf recipe.

Hoags in Europe

We're back! This was our first trip to Europe together and now that we've done it, we can't wait to do it again. Before we even boarded our flight home, Matt and I were plotting our return trip--hopefully next Spring for at least three weeks.

Thanks to my year abroad, I've done pretty extensive travel throughout Europe. But it's such a different experience to do it now that we're real adults. No more camping or hostels for this girl! But of course, I didn't do away with my backpack or steer clear of the street food we ate all the time as students. I was all over the two euro gyros in Athens!

And this wasn't Matt's first trip to Europe either, but he did leave with a little bit of apprehension about traveling in foreign countries. And I definitely don't blame him. When you take away the comfort of a common language and cultural norms and combine that with a reduced field of vision, everything becomes more stressful. But good news: he was much more comfortable traveling than he expected and has no apprehension about a return trip! We got pretty good navigating streets, crowds and airports as a team, after we worked out a few kinks here and there of course.

So what I'm saying is: the trip was amazing! We couldn't have asked for better company to travel with, we saw most everything we hoped to see, we fell in love with Santorini and made it home in one piece (slightly depressed that vacation is now behind us, but still in one piece).

Stay tuned for pictures and more specific details about our vacay.

Oh, and I should say that having a pup to come to makes the end of a vacation so much better. We were so excited to see our little Bounce man on Monday morning. And while we were away he filled in for me at work and made his very first TV appearance. It's worth watching, I swear! Bounce actually gets a fair amount of air time and proved that he can be a well-behaved dog (amazing, I know!).

 

A hop, skip and jump across the pond

It’s mid-June. And that means Matt and I are headed to Brussels and Greece in a few days!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here that we booked this trip. In February Matt and I were talking vacation plans and we had decided months earlier that this year would be a small vacation year since I haven’t accrued much vacation time in my new job and we took two big trips last year. But then I got the travel bug. Probably not hard to believe, but Matt was easily convinced that we should throw caution to the wind and book a bigger trip. Our good friends Brian and Jen moved to Brussels, Belgium last summer so it was an easy decision to go visit them in their new home.

And since we are going all that way we wanted to tag on another European destination. We toyed around with Switzerland, Italy and Greece, ultimately deciding on Greece. So we’ll spend ten days in Europe, fly into Brussels then to Athens where we will spend a few days and then end our trip in beautiful Santorini.

Ahh. This is the patio of the place we are staying at with Brian, Jen and their friend, DJ. To say I’m excited would be a vast understatement. Can’t wait for the break from reality and to experience new cities and cultures with the hubs. I promise to post pictures and anecdotes when we return. 

Come on over!

Well it's about time, but we finally got patio furniture so we can truly enjoy the wonderful weather we have in Sacramento. When we moved here last summer we were super excited about our backyard and the lack of humidity (remember we came from hot, humid Knoxville, TN). So the first thing we bought was a BBQ. In fact, I was so excited about the grill that I ordered it online during our cross country drive so it would arrive as soon as we got into town. We bought a Weber soley because I was obsessed with their commercials. Proof that marketing does work!




Did you watch it? We got the one that the cute old lady and the red head were dancing in front of. And yes, we have as much fun grilling as they do in the video. And now we can have even more because we now have outdoor dining furniture!

Last summer we searched and searched and couldn't find any outdoor furniture we liked for less than $1,000. We thought it was because it was late in the summer so there were slim pickings in the stores. Then this spring we started shopping around again and still didn't love anything in our price range. Turns out we are just picky. But we finally settled on a set and are thrilled with it. The table is exactly what we pictured. And while we didn't think we wanted wicker chairs, the ones we got look pretty sharp and are actually very comfortable.

Bounce is keeping an eye on the new dining set.

Ugh. Can't get this picture to turn upright. Please just tilt your head to the left to view properly.

So now we're ready for guests. This was a much needed addition to our home here because our kitchen table is crammed in a corner and can only seat three people. We foresee using this practically all year with the cool breeze we get on hot summer evenings, the long Summer nights and almost year-round sunshine we have in good old Sacto.

La Vita Bella

In the past few months I’ve been reflecting on the beautiful life (la vita bella) I lived in Florence, Italy as a study abroad college student. It’s actually something I learned from the Italians that I’m desperately missing. The culture exudes a beautiful, some what chaotic approach to life. When I first moved to Italy, this attitude drove me nuts. Stores would just be closed because the store owner had a party to attend. Or needed a nap. Trains would be cancelled because the workers went on strike just to have the day off. Sure, there were frustrating times like when we missed our flight to London because trains weren’t running and we couldn’t get to the airport. BUT I just love that they don’t take the little things too seriously.

How often do we take four hours to eat dinner just so we can enjoy the company we are with? Or let a work meeting run 30 minutes over just so you can swap personal anecdotes?

For me, I feel like I’m lacking some of this positive, happy energy (specifically during those 40+ hours I spend at work). Thankfully every day after work I get to come home to adoring husband and the happiest dog I’ve ever known. I can turn on music (lately it’s been this song) and dance around the kitchen with my husband while Bounce does circles and leaps around, sensing our blissful moods. 

Now this guy loves life!

I love Bounce and his exuberant, full of life, happy as a clam, tail wagging 90 mph, jump on me, greetings.

I’ve had the urge lately to shake the people around me who are taking life too seriously. I want to shout, “Can’t we just stop and have some FUN!? Why must we be consumed with stress all the time!?!” I wish I could show people (and remind myself) that so many of the things we stress over really don’t matter in the end. The family, friends and people we love matter, that's the stuff worth stressing over.

I keep picturing the quid essential loud, jubilant Italian family, laughing and talking over each other at dinner, sipping glass after glass of red wine, oblivious to how many minutes have ticked by because they’re having too much fun to be bothered with that kind of detail. Ciao, miei amici! 

(Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now. But seriously, I learned countless lessons during my year abroad, but this one really is priceless.)

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

Well it seems with all the rain we had earlier this month, we earned the sun-filled days we've had lately. The change that takes place from Winter to Spring puts a smile on my face every year. This week especially as I enjoyed the perfect weather to bike the short 2 mile commute into work and came home to my favorite flowers blooming in our front yard: tulips!

I love the surprise of tulips popping up. We had no idea they were there and I was literally jumping for joy when I saw them. And still remain giddy when I walk towards the front door and see them there. I guess I'm starting to see why people enjoy gardening. But I've got to say, this was even better since it required no work on my part. (As renters, I am far to lazy to actually plant anything myself.)