A Belle Abroad

Five on Friday

2012-01-27T21:00:00.000+01:00

peanut butter and Nutella toast and hot coco after a long cold walk this morning

Yeah, those are hearts. I'm normally not a heart person. Must be Valentine's Day

... or maybe all the girly pregnancy hormones.

Here's your five on Friday:

Check out Tiffany's brillant What Makes True Love Valentine's Day campaign and their Instagram app.

Gorgeous modern calligraphy makes me swoon.

This salad makes me think of summer. I can't wait to eat feta again!

Finally! Something cute and useful to do with all that packing paper the next time we move.

I ♥ this DIY Valentine heart tote bag. (Somebody stop me!)

Have a great weekend!

Firsts

2012-01-27T10:40:00.000+01:00

I think that we can all agree that there are a lot of awesome firsts in our lives: first smile, first step, first kiss, first job. And there are a lot of crappy firsts: first sickness, the second step, when you fall on your face for the first time, first heartbreak. I remember how awesome/horrible many of these things were, but the memories of them when they happened to me are nothing compared to the joy/pride/anger/sadness I feel when they happen to my kid.

Last week when I picked The Babe up from school, his favorite teacher, Miss P., pulled me aside.

"I just wanted you to know that he had his first fight today, " she said.

My heart was beating a little faster and there was a little lump in my throat as I scooped my smiling boy up into my arms to inspect the damage. There were two angry red welts very close to his eye, but the eye itself was fine. I tussled his hair and gave him a kiss. The Babe is such a friendly little guy. He has a "hej" and a "hej hej" (hello and goodbye in Danish) for everyone. He's cautious and considerate I couldn't imagine a scenerio where he was the aggressor. And he wasn't.

He was playing with a car, Miss P. explained, and another little boy tried to take it away from him. The Babe simply refused to give up his toy and he got clobbered with a car that the other little boy already had in his hand. This, apparently, was not the first time a kid had tried to take his toy. It was just the first time he said "uhhhmmm...no". Miss P. told me he didn't cry. He didn't hit back. But he didn't give up his car, either. He'd taken the path of passive resistance and he'd won. Sure, he'd gotten a black eye , but he was beaming even hours later and wearing his booboo proudly as a badge of honor.

a first black eye deserves a cookie

the black eye already fading to yellow two days later

I have to say that I was pretty proud of him, too.

Funny Video/Serious Subject

2012-01-26T15:33:00.000+01:00

Please watch this first.

Heart conditions are very serious things. I know. For years my grandfather was treated for various heart problems before passing away of a heart attack when I was in college. I myself was treated with beta blockers to help control my very stressed out, over worked heart when I was first diagnosed with Graves Disease. So I know that you have to take your heart seriously and I try to keep my old ticker healthy with diet and exercise and baby aspirin.

But.

I am also one of those people who has to be on death's door before I'll even think about going to the doctor. Which is why this video is so funny to me. Yes, in the midst of trying to do it all she's having a heart attack. But, no, she's fine. She just has to lie down on the floor for a minute.

The part that put it over the top for me, though, was when her son Googled "heart attack" on her iPhone and handed it to her before catching his carpool to school. (Totally gonna be The Babe in 8 years.)

Then she dials 911 and and asks if the ambulance can be there in 10 minutes instead of 2 so she can tiddy up the house. (Totally me today.)

See? Serious. But funny.

2 new iPhone Apps to try

2012-01-25T13:20:00.000+01:00

The other day I was browsing the app store looking for a good Polaroid app (suggestions/recommendations welcome) when I came across two that looked pretty fun. I've been playing around with them for a bit and I'd like to share them with you today.

Are you like me and working on a 365 photography project this year? Or do you just happen to (again like me) take at least one picture everyday with your iPhone? Then I've found an app for you. It's called My365 .

The app is kinda divided into two parts: Part I is the calendar. Take a picture either with your iPhone camera or with the camera provided in the app. Then you can edit using any other photo apps you have or just use one of the My365 filters. Then you just upload it to your calendar. And you've documented a little bit of your day. Easy peasy.

Note to developers:

I think it would be cool if there were an option to purchase a printed calendar at the end of the year

with all of your pictures.

The second part of this app is the community. The more you interact, the more friends you make AND the more filters you get. (One thing, though...I've yet to figure out how to access those extra filters. Hmmmm...)

The second app I have to tell you about is Red Stamp. This app is gonna help me big time with one of my New Year's resolutions, which is to show more gratitude and appreciation.

With this app I can send Thank You notes, birthday cards, and invitations. I can just say "I love you" or "Hello" or "I'm thinking of you." And I can make that big announcement in June all using my own pictures and words, if I want. Then I can send it all out virtually to Twitter or Facebook or email. The app even downloads events like birthdays from your Facebook account! How cool is that?

Just to try it out, I snapped this pic of The Babe "reading" in the bath,

made a card and sent it to The Boy.

It only took about two minutes!

And the best part: Both apps are absolutely FREE!

A {Chinese} New Year

2012-01-24T23:50:00.000+01:00

My mom taught me how to cross stitch when I was 6. I took a home economics class when I was in the 8th grade that included making the ever-popular-at-the time vest. It was not a complete success, but it wasn't a total failure either. In high school and college I helped build and paint many a theatre set. I was on many a costume crew. I know how to use a Mekita and hastily sew a ripped hem or seam. I was happy with the calligraphy I did for my own wedding invitations. I quite like flower arranging and The Boy thinks I'm a pretty good cook. And yet somehow despite all these things at some point, for some unknown reason, I decided that I was just not good at crafty things. This is just silly and this year I decided to do something about it by embracing my craftier side in 2012. So yesterday after school The Babe and I sat down to celebrate the beginning of The Year of the Dragon by doing a little crafting. (Yeah, The Babe thought it was funny, too.)

Inspired by this cute little Halloween jar o lantern, I decided my first little project would be to Mod Podge the heck out of one of the many jars waiting to be recycled. I whipped up some homemade Mod Podge , spread some newspaper out, rolled up my sleeves, and settled into creating my first masterpiece. I chose red and yellow crepe paper because the colors reminded me of the costumes used in the lion and dragon dances performed in Asia for Chinese New Year.

I cut up the paper hoping I would end up with a kind of mosaic look.

Turns out crepe paper was not the way to go because when crepe paper gets wet, it bleeds.

My little bits of yellow turned as red as the red bits.

Not exactly what I envisioned, but not bad.

Next time I will use the recommended tissue paper.

To celebrate our craftiness (and Chinese New Year) we feasted on Peking Chicken and Brothy Chinese Noodles. OK, I feasted. It was a bridge too far for The Babe. He decided to have pizza and yogurt.

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Five on Friday

2012-01-20T15:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there! I hope you've had a great week! Ours has been pretty exciting, what with finding out about our little probably a girl and all. (It's a long story. I'll share next week.) It's supposed to be cold and wet here, so no big plans. Maybe a movie night with pizza. Maybe I'll try my hand at crafting something. That should be hilarious. Otherwise, just another lazy weekend in our sleepy little 'ville.

Here's your Five on Friday:

This could be the most perfect "mommie with a camera" bag EVER.

These DIY paper wallflowers will be adorable above our baby girl's bed.

Wow. Japanese moms sure can make a girl feel lazy and inadequate. Craziness. Seriously. You have to watch this.

This guide will come in very handy when I finally get around to cleaning out my closet.

This cheese plate + pairings looks AH-MAZING. I. WANT.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Pink or Blue

2012-01-19T21:45:00.000+01:00

After 8 boys (4 on my side, 4 on The Boy's) we're as pleased as punch to announce...

Probably.

366: Week 2

2012-01-18T16:05:00.001+01:00

oooh, an apple

The Babe has recently discovered that apples in their natural state are pretty tasty-

especially with a tiny dab of Nutella. Hey, whatever it takes to get the kid to eat his fruit and veg, right?

quick noodles and a blog break for lunch

Yes, my obsession with noodles continues.

recipe via Pinterest, of course

more bath toys in the bed

This kind of cute never gets old.

banana bread

I love making a big mess in the kitchen.

my new favorite cookies

my grandma's sugar cookie recipe + chocolate + peppermint sprinkles = YUM!

pull catch release

Balloons are so cool.

graffiti in the soot

On New Year's Eve a wayward firework caught our train station on fire.

At least, we think it was a firework.

People like to leave their mark.

Introducing... THE BELLY!

2012-01-16T13:26:00.000+01:00

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? Fantastic, I hope!

So, this week the little bun in my oven turns 20 weeks old. 20 WEEKS! I can't believe s/he is half way done baking. For the longest time I didn't feel like I looked pregnant. Like I'd eaten a dozen too many Danishes? Sure. But pregnant...not so much. The last few weeks I've started to feel pretty pregnant. I'm getting a belly now and the ol' regular jeans are becoming a little tight.

This is what The Belly looks like to the rest of the world...

...but this is what it looks like to me.

Yup. That is definitely a baby bump.

And tomorrow is a big day: our second scan. Hopefully, if a certain little someone who is kicking me right now is cooperative, we will be announcing what flavor of baby we will be having. The Boy and I both think it's another little guy. What do you guys think? Baby Beau or Baby Belle?

Have a great weekend!

2012-01-13T22:39:00.000+01:00

This little DIY candlelight village is adorable.

iPhone wallpaper resolution reminder + how to install. 'Cause we all need a little reminding...

Speaking of resolutions, here's a really good one.

One of my favorite houses in Natchez is for sale. Anyone interested in owning one of the 10 most romantic B&B's in the US?

Now that The Holidays are over, I'm dreaming of summer and the beach and this place.

25 ways to tie a scarf . 'Cause, baby, it's still cold outside.

via Lee Takeuchi

Mine were elegant, sweet, passionate, peaceful.

What were yours?

Thanks for reading!

2:18 am

2012-01-13T11:00:00.002+01:00

That's what time I heard The Babe stirring. It began as a little whimper. Then I heard him moving around and more small, frustrated whimpers followed. When I finally heard the scuffle of sleepy little feet I climbed out of bed to head him off at the pass, sorta speak. I met him as he was coming out the hallway door. It was clear he was bringing all of his babies into Momma and Daddy's room for one massive sleepover. Duck was in one hand, Seal the other. He held Monkey tightly to his chest with his little arms. It was beyond cute. I couldn't help but giggle and wish they made cameras that could capture such an adorable moment in almost complete darkness as I steered him into his room and back to bed.

Noodles

2012-01-12T12:03:00.000+01:00

Maybe it started in Italy. Maybe I've seen KUNG FU PANDA one too many times. Or maybe it's this little one growing in my tummy that's giving me such massive carb cravings. I don't know. Whatever it is, I am having a serious love affair with noodles. I'm smitten with the garlicky, salty, tangy yumminess of Pasta Puttenesca. (Olives and capers in a spaghetti sauce? Where have you been all my life?) I love the gooey, cheesy goodness of a baked pasta dish. But, truth be told, it's Asian noodles of all sorts that have really stolen my heart.

all found on Pinterest

Pasta Puttanesca via The Curvy Carrot

Caprese Pasta from How Sweet Eats

Singapore noodles...so yummy

via [No Recipes]

Chinese noodles in broth

via Delish.com

Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles

via Crumb Blog

30+ Ramen Hacks from Serious Eats

Taking a favorite staple of all college students and making it 100 x's better...

What about you guys? Do you have any favorite pasta or noodle dishes? Or have you "pinned"any that you'd like to try? Let me know in the comments and add a link. OR, if you're on Pinterest, you can follow my Noodles board and then @ABelleAbroad when you pin something particularly yummy!

Hope you guys are having a fantastic Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

New Year/ New Look

2012-01-11T13:17:00.000+01:00

Annnnd... I'm Back! There are still a few things I would like to tweak (changing the favicon is giving me a headache, for example) but overall I'm pretty happy with the sunnier, softer, more optimistic look of A Belle Abroad.

This was my inspiration. You might remember it from the fall...

via angeloangelo on flickr

Yup. Happy yellow ginkgo leaves and clear blue skies. With a little red thrown in for good measure. 'Cause I like red. I also added a kind of "tag" line to let readers know what sort of things they can expect to find on my blog.

So what do you think of my new look?

Offline for a bit.

2012-01-10T22:29:00.002+01:00

Hi, guys! Just a little head's up to let you know that my little space is getting a little makeover! I'll be switching to private from midnight tonight (Danish time) until noon tomorrow (also Danish time) when I'll be back with a new look. I'm very excited! I hope you like it!

Week 1

2012-01-09T11:54:00.001+01:00

One of my intentions for 2012 is to get serious about this photography thing. Part of that is starting a 366 project ('cause it's leap year) that not only helps me develop my skills with my cameras but also documents the big, the small, the everyday of our lives. It's gonna be a big year for us, after all, and I want to remember every minute.

Vejle Windmill at midnight just seconds before they turned out all the lights and the

world exploded with color and sound as the Danes celebrated the New Year with

a multitude of fireworks.

01.01.1012

bath time

02.01.2012

Some kids have a favorite stuffed animal.

My kid takes these two bath toys to bed every night

and putters into our room with them every morning.

03.01.2012

The days are dark and grey and wet. Sometimes it's very windy and stormy and the rain

gets splattered against our windows. It can be kind of dramatic. Mostly it's somewhat depressing.

04.01.2012

The sun is blinding when it does make an all too brief appearance.

05.01.2012

Lately The Babe has taken quite a liking to Monkey.

About time, too, since Monkey was only the very first toy we ever bought for him

when he was still in my tummy.

06.1.2012

Yes, our Christmas tree is still up.

I like to leave as much Christmas cheer around the house for as long as I possibly can.

It is, after all, a very long time until spring.

Our tree stays up until Epiphany, or the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

Did you know that it was once completely acceptable to leave Christmas decorations up until

Candlemas (2 February)?

I totally would, too, if I thought our tree would last that long.

07.01.2012

How about you?

How was your first week of 2012?

Berlin with my iphone

2012-01-02T18:06:00.000+01:00

1., 2., & 3. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts at the Brandenburg Gate

4. Udon noodles at The Smart Deli

at the Deutsches Technikmuseum

1. in the wind (it was more like a gentle breeze) tunnel

2. old boats and helicopters

3. & 4. playing with a ball bearing for a windmill

1. the Max Lingner mural at the Ministry of Finance

2. the Berlin Victory Column 3. nap time hair on the train home

4. sunset over Germany

Just a (too) few snaps from our post Christmas/pre NewYear's trip to Berlin last week.

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000+01:00

What are you doing new year's eve?

2011-12-31T23:01:00.002+01:00

Too cute.

Breakfast this morning

2011-12-27T21:58:00.001+01:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas Morning

2011-12-26T07:22:00.000+01:00

This one's for the grandparents...

checkin' out the presents

eating what was left of Santa's cookies

He couldn't resist taking a spin on his new balance bike. With Daddy's help, of course.

presents...

...presents...

...and more presents.

He didn't quite get the concept of presents.

We'd try to get him to open one, but he would be so engrossed in the one we'd just opened that he

really could've cared less about whatever it was in the wrapping. Until it was unwrapped. Then the

first present was forgotten (for the moment) and it was on to something new.

The Babe's uncle in a Wolf Pack hat.

Indian drum.

The Babe was very excited about his Indian drum and was all applause after each performance.

I hope your Christmas morning was as full of joy as ours was!

Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:27:00.002+01:00

Christmas in Greenwich, London 2009

Wishing you all the happiest of holiday seasons!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-22T23:04:00.000+01:00

The Babe made pebernødder for us the other day at school.

There were more, but they were really good.

So we ate them.

The Christmas train to Grejsdalen

2011-12-13T13:00:00.001+01:00

Saturday morning, in the lull between The Babe's bout with tummy flu and ours, we were all well enough to do one of The Babe's favorite things: take a train. It wasn't just any old train, either. It was a really old train from the 19th century - 1898 to 1916, if you wanna get technical. It only took us a few miles outside of town to a little spot where people were selling Christmas trees, crafts, and such. I thought we might get our tree this weekend, but The Babe was so enthralled by the train we simply couldn't tear him away. Any attempt to even look a tree was met with loud protest. What can I say? The kid loves transportation. And since it was a kind of 'his day', we let him look at the train to his heart's content. The tree can wait until next weekend.

My favorite part was the real wood burning stove in our car!

Two things they don't have here...

2011-12-12T11:52:00.003+01:00

...and...

Makes a pregnant lady with the stomach flu want to cry.

Christmas Craft FAIL!

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

And it wasn't even my fault!

My big advent activity for yesterday was to make these coffee filter snow flakes.

photo via Made by Britta

I found the tutorial by the lovely Britta on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun/easy project for us on a dark afternoon. I pictured us sitting on the floor while I cut out dozens of snowflakes and The Babe played with the bits of confetti I cut out. We'd laugh at the tiny paper snow I would blow at him and he would scream with glee. It would be a grand old time. Only I didn't take into account two things.

One - Denmark does not seem to sell flat bottomed coffee filters like the ones you need to make these snowflakes. They only sell conical ones.

Two - The Babe is not into crafts.

Not to be deterred from making my snowflakes, I looked up "paper snow flakes" on Pinterest when I got home (honestly, it's becoming my new Google) and found an amazing tutorial on some beautiful (and surprisingly easy) 3d snowflakes.

gorgeous snow flakes from Annabelle at Three Red Apples

Love the red polka dot paper!

Scissors and paper in hand, I sat down to work while The Babe did his own thing, which involved cars. Occasionally he'd wander over to see what I was up to only to determine that what I was up to was boring and then wander off again. I tried to coax him into playing with the scraps of paper, maybe coloring, but no. He was not interested. ***sigh*** Oh, well.

Here are my first two ...

Not too bad, huh? There are little clothes pins on the smaller one while some glue dries. I was originally only going to make three, but they're so easy, I might make more! I can't wait to show you what I have planned for them...