Monday 21 November 2005

balham living

after living out of a suitcase for two and a half months, while my things were lovingly tucked away in m's garage, i moved into my new flat over the weekend. it was a happy reunion - especially when i was reacquainted with all my warm sweaters and gloves!

here's a look around.
bed2

room1
notice how my single size duvets don't really cover the king size bed! guess i'll just have to make another IKEA trip... sigh :) the scarf hanging off the end of the bed was a gift from s's vietnam vacation. the backlit circle above the bed is a round stained glass window.

here is a better picture of the stained glass window. the van gogh irises were left by the former occupant (my landlady) who shares similar taste in impressionist art.
bed1

as if living in a purple room wasn't girlie enough, i put some sentimental objects on the desk/table (there are shelves hiding under the drapes.) the blue flowers were a housewarming gift from s. the lucky bamboo is the only kind of plant i seem not to kill, and i need all the luck i can get right now. the pierre marcolini bag holds a box of belgian chocolates that i am saving for a special occasion. the "play with your food" card came from my sister the day i moved in - hurrah! the london book was a xmas gift from mamasita last year, and the tea was my birthday present. it's just too pretty to drink! oh, and you can see the bear peeking out in the back - i knitted him/her/it (?) earlier this year.
table

i have two big windows that look onto the street.
windows

one of the best things about this flat is the amount of storage space. check out my closets:
closetdoors

take a deep breath; we're going in. i know, i know: ugh! how can i keep everything so neat? one word: IKEA.
closet1

closet2

ok, i'll give you a break from my obsessive compulsive nature. let's take a walk down the hall...
hallway

most of what you see from here belongs either to my landlady or to my flatmate. the living room:
livroom1

livroom2

this is the garden. it must be lovely in the spring and summer, but i don't plan to spend much time in it right now.
garden1

garden2

the upstairs bathroom. can't wait to take a long hot bubble bath with the lavender bath soap that my sister gave me from l'occitane.
upbath

moving downstairs, we get to the kitchen and other bathroom, complete with power shower.
downstairs

downbath1

downbath2

we have an underground kitchen, but the yellow walls and plants in the windows make it bright and homey.
kitchentable

kitchenwall

kitchennook

finally, the pantry: washer/dryer and big fridge. very luxurious!
pantry

not pictured here is the spare bedroom. book now to come visit me!!!

Monday 14 November 2005

belgium

enjoyed the weekend in belgium with s. the weather was nice, the beer was good, and the chocolate was divine!!!

hoteldeville

grandplacedetail

beer

xmasbeer

chocolate

we spent saturday wandering around brugges. we suspect that this barge isn't going anywhere in a hurry.

bruggesbarge

this sign in the ground must mean something highly technical, but i prefer to think of it as a way to keep track of where the bees are:

bee

flemish is so cool. or incomprehensible. whatever!

fietsers

s's new friends:

sd_friends

b & s in the grand place, brugges:

bruggesgrandplace

the moon over the stadhuis in brugges around 4:30 PM.

stadhuismoon

on sunday, we strolled around the grand place in brussels.

grandplace

and here is the serious photographer at work.

sd_photog

you can check out his photos at stephendarlington.com