it’s been a minute

… since I actually wrote something here. Sorry about that.

I am sitting in the corner of one of my favorite coffee shops, wondering how to write a post that will bring my blog back to life. Or really what to write in such a post. There is so much to say I don’t know where to start, even if being in the coffee shop inspires me to write. The couple at the table to the right of me is speaking Serbian, and hearing them distracts me from my eavesdropping on the Italian ladies discussing their dinner plans. True story. We’re surrounded by people from all over and although I’m glad I have a smattering of French, I sometimes think the bits and pieces I know of other languages end up being just as helpful.

We are now well into our second year living in Brussels: I really can’t believe it has been fourteen months (and counting) since our Belgian adventure began. I’m not sure if the honeymoon phase ever really left because I am constantly discovering new things and enjoying it all — almost. There are definitely some things of which I am decidedly not a fan, but as frustrating as they can be, I’m able to remind myself that I’ll only be here a couple more years, and then they don’t bother me quite so much. Usually.

I had grand plans of keeping this more up to date when we moved to Brussels, thinking that a dark, damp winter, combined with a husband working long hours would leave me with plenty of time to write posts I could put out later, when life was busier. But I didn’t anticipate how busy I would be during that dark, damp winter and those long, husband-less days. For one thing, we’ve had a steady stream of visitors, and even if a visitor or two wasn’t at our apartment, there has almost always been at least one on the horizon, which of course meant preparing and planning.

For another, we’ve really tried to embrace life in Western Europe and have been doing a lot of traveling — while that gives me lots of fodder for the blog, the planning and the executing of these trips takes up a lot of time and energy… And I’m not always up for recounting everything right away, as much as I should. Some trips I hope to highlight on here include lots of wine tourism to Alsace, Champagne, Burgundy, and Germany’s Mosel Valley.

We also took two very big trips recently: back to the States for some family time and (as you may have seen on the last snapshot sunday) all the way to Hawaii for the wedding of some friends. The travel for that trip in particular was brutal — and made much worse by United Airlines’ incompetence — but our time with friends in Hawaii was truly magical.

My professional life has also taken a turn for the more exciting: in addition to freelance projects (including a chapter in another book! More on that soon because really, it’s a great book!), I started a full time, work-in-an-office position last spring that has kept me very busy and also makes me want to have a break from my computer when I get home. And so the blog suffers. But here’s to hoping my blogging drive continues as the days are indeed getting darker and I’m more likely to want to be curled up and writing somewhere cozy…