Cointreau pop-up cocktail bar : I like!

Yesterday we had a cocktail at the pop-up cocktail bar "Cointreau Fizz Garden" in downtown Brussels and I loved it!   It is set in an out of the ordinary location, an old bank building (1947-1953) with beautiful architecture, which is waiting to be transformed into offices and apartments. Now the bank counters became the bar, the interior is lush and romantic,  flower artist Thierry Boutemy has put his magic touch there, a DJ is spinning cool tunes AND the cocktails were really good. I had the "cointreau fizz garden" which is a mix of lime, soda, elderflower syrup, champagne and cointreau of course. There are about 10 different cocktails (9€-12€), which all seemed tasty! So I'll have to go back ;-)  Check this out before April 21st and don't forget to enroll to get easy access. See you there! 

BXL walk : Rue du Page & La Meute

We are city hikers! We love to walk in cities, as well as in nature actually. It's such a good way to discover an area or to rediscover your own neighborhood. I love "Rue du Page" in Ixelles, it's walking distance from our place and makes me feel abroad.... It could be Berlin, Stockholm or just some place nice elsewhere.   We bumped into the recently opened La Meute shop. A collection of bizarre and quirky things, yet you feel the beauty.  I liked many of the out of the ordinary objects, the lovely mugs, the porcelain rabbit piggy bank, the little black notebooks, the black dresses... Everything is carefully selected in a dark and cool mood. 

 I loved this argentic photograph, which of course was a bit pricy...

Here are some other cool stop-worthy shops on that same "Rue du Page" 

Wineshop Basin Marot who sells lots of natural bottles to good restos

Fixerati for the bike lovers (fixed gears though) 

Luxury Vintage shop

 Yummy lunch place

After this cold walk, we were in need to sit and drink a hot beverage, so we stopped at The Coffee Parlor, a new place around the corner from our apartment. It's pretty cosy and the owner is a young couple so good luck to them with their project!

Happy Sunday x

Our Central Park

Yesterday I took an afternoon walk in our own Central Park and it did me much good!   Le Bois de la Cambre or Ter Kameren bos is right in the middle of the city, so all you need to do is take an hour or so and go walking around.  And when it has snowed, it's even better, because life seems slower and sounds are muted. I just sooo love the quietness of the snow. The peacefulness of nature!

Baby shopping

The cool thing about girlfriends having babies is that I have a very good excuse to go shopping, shopping for baby of course!  I recently discovered an interesting shop on my bike route on the way home, and finally took the time to stop by.

This is Diane von Furstenberg's little pop-up store (only one in the world) and yes it's in Brussels. You also find this exclusive collection in some of the GAP stores in other countries. DvF created baby and kid's clothes is association with GAPKids, which means all these cute girly items are affordable.

Cute dress with inside mini short.

Lovely little body with hearts.

For little baby Olivia I choose this pretty orange dress, based on the iconic wrap dress by DvF.  Dressed in style for summer.

Anyway if you got girls pregnant around you or with kids... go take a look at the rue du Grand Cerf 18 in Brussels, the store is open till the end of June. Then another concept will pop-up....

Playing tourists in Brussels

A thing we like to do on Sunday, is playing the tourist in our hometown Brussels.  We then just walk through the city, often with a goal or two.  This time we wanted to check out Stanley Kubrick's recently opened photo exhibition. Along the way we stopped at the place Poelaert  for some city views, did a little chocolate shopping stop at Laurent Gerbaud (you must try "gare aux noissettes" ) and went to say hello to little baby falcons.... It's a nice feeling to discover new things, to take the time to get lost on those streets we already know...even if our little walks always turn out to be a little longer than we planned.

Spring is in the air!

Blue sky & clouds...

City views at place Poelaert.

I love black & white photographs, so definitely didn't wanted to miss out on Kubrick's exhibition. Before being a memorable film director, the young Kubrick worked as a photographer for the New York magazine LOOK. A selection of 130 photographs is shown at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.

We bought some "Gare au noissettes" which is home-made praliné,  Piémonte nuts, grilled salted cashew nuts, milk chocolate and cane sugar. Delicious!!  Also bought a few chocolate coated coffee beans. Laurent Gerbaud himself is always in his shop, he's very accessible and friendly, so that's a good reason to have a coffee and a chat there while choosing your chocolates. Must do a blog post on him sometime.

Somewhere in the left tower of the St Michael/Goedele cathedral a couple of peregrine falcons is nesting for the 8th year on a row! So we went to say hello to the birdies (3 of them this year). You can see them live on a tv posted next to the cathedral or here.

 To end our journey, a well-deserved apero : cold white wine, sunshine and sardines on toast... I must do a blog post on sardines, later on!   Sometimes there is no place like home and the best restaurant is at home too. We are lucky to be lucky.

Sunday Store at The Hub

Besides brunching and being lazy on a Sunday, I also enjoy to do stuff.  This time my friend Pauline, who is interested in lots of ecological & sustainable things,  invited me to the Sunday Store at The Hub.  It is a monthly market for local, creative, sustainable and funky people. The Hub is a co-working space for social entrepreneurs of which Pauline is a member. Anyway at this little market you'll find all sorts of things, very reasonably priced : second hand clothes and objects, lots of self-made things, mostly jewelry but also for example some book plants.

Here's Pauline (on the right side) and her friend Natacha who designes some really cool jewelry, made out of silver. Her brand is called Nimzu (forgot to ask what it means!) and she also sells on Etsy! For those who don't know, Etsy is a huge online handmade marketplace, check it out!

Oh and I even bought myself a little present :-)

Ta Ta and wish you all a happy Sunday night x