Pilates en francais

I joined a gym this week. An old hospital, where my dad actually worked while he was studying over here, was converted into this enormous really cool modern gym. It makes my gym in Boulder look like a run-down playground. It has everything that I need - classes, pool, sauna, hot boys. I took a pilates class there yesterday and even though I didn't understand everything the instructor was saying I did my best to follow along and not be too much of a delinquent student. Kind of funny though when the instructor says 'arm' and I lift my leg - I should probably pay more attention in class. Luckily the gym is only a couple miles each way from the house so I have been running or biking to get there. In the rain/cold/laziness I can even take the tram :)  You can find me here. I'm slowly starting to build my life and feel a little more settled. Next week I'll test out working from coffee shops now that I have received a few recommendations - new adventures to come - yeah! Happy Friday & Happy Halloween!

Block party

My grandparents have lived in the same house for 63 years. My grandmother moved into this house before she was married and lived here with her mother for a few years. It's a gorgeous row-house that has four stories and a little garden in the back. I love this house. On Saturday the street celebrated its 100th birthday. There was a big block party and my grandparents were a large part of the planning committee. For weeks they planned, got permits, held meetings, wrote speeches and my grandfather even did a couple interviews and photo-shoots with local newspapers. We're hoping the fame won't go to his head. Here's one of the interviews about him. The party was a huge success and everyone had a great time. I met a lot of the neighbors (many of whom work for the EU/NATO/etc) and had fun sipping wine and eating cheese on the street. Grandpapa gave a speech about the history of the street and his 60+ years living here. G et G were so excited and did an amazing job at planning the block party of the century! This is one of the pics from Grandpapa's big photo shoot at the end of our street (our house is one of the white ones on the left).

The Makeover!

Happy Monday! Last week I had my little Euro wardrobe makeover. Chloe (my Belgian older sister - not blood related, but pretty darn close) gave me a crash course in Euro fashion and life in Brussels. She is just the greatest and was really patient with me when I said things like, "Do you really think this looks ok?" I learned how to properly shop; how to make the most of the huge yearly sales; how to dress and of course the best places to meet people. Here are some of my favorite Chloe-isms from the day: "We're not even going to go into that store because I can tell by the window display that we aren't going to like it." "I just can't decide on the color you should get. If it were me I'd get both!" "You never wear jeans out at night - you dress up!" "You HAVE to buy that!" I now have a couple statement pieces in my wardrobe and a list of a few must-haves to be bought for winter.  I also got my hair cut: same length but a lot of layers and new bangs. I wasn't ready to chop it all off just yet, but I have to say I'm loving my new haircut. Photos to follow!

City Cycling

Today I went for my first bike ride in Brussels. I rode from G et G's to my aunt's house a couple kilometers away (yeah that's right I'm using the metric system now!). I used Grandpapa's bike so I was a little awkward on it to begin with. What an adventure! At one point I was cornered between a parked car and a moving car; then I got stuck between two buses and couldn't see the traffic behind or in front of me and then I kept getting lost because all street names (if they are actually marked, which is a whole other issue) are written in both French and Flemish. Of course I was only looking for the French names so I got lost numerous times, but luckily a couple friendly strangers came to my rescue. It's a blast though! I can't wait to ride around town more so that I get used to the cars and city cycling. Here's a pic of the flowers I have in my room now overlooking my little balcony. 

In Brussels

Yeah blog! So here I am in Brussels. I made it safely as did my very large bags (still waiting on my Cervelo and a couple boxes), but I'm finally here. It took a while to get here as I drove cross country first, hung out in MD for a couple days, rolled up to NYC and then finally flew to Brussels. It's been amazing here so far and I'm loving every second - or at least every second that I actually understand what's being said to me in French. I've been told that my French will come along once I've spent more time here. Fingers crossed. Life with Granny et Grandpapa (G et G) is great and they are so amazingly loving and patient it's unbelievable. I've spent a lot of time with family these last fews days so I'm extremely lucky that I'm not totally on my own over here. It's quite the change from Boulder, but it's just what I needed. More posts to follow and maybe even some photos, but just wanted to say hi!