Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Guilty pleasure

What made me happy today? Guilty pleasure!
One of my guitly pleasures is listening to P!nk. I usually listen to gothic, metal, rock or classical music. But on occasion I want something different. For me, P!nk always does the trick. Some of her songs have helped me through some very rough times.
I have very fond memories about the song 'So what' It's just my sister and me, driving in the car, singing along as loud as we can. Plain and simple good times.
Yesterday I came across this article, and now I like her even more! She stopped half-way through a song to check and see if a crying little girl was okay. Awwww.
Basically, P!nk just rocks. I know some people criticize me for liking her, but see if I care. I don't. De gustibus et coloribus...
So there you have it: I like P!nk :-)

Monday, April 29, 2013

Home-made cleaner

What made me happy today? A home-made cleaning product that does the trick!
I had the day off today, because I had to be home to let the internet tech in. So I decided to use some off my time for cleaning. But I didn't feel like scrubbing out my microwave oven. And then I remembered reading about a natural, home-made cleaning product a while back that will do the work for you.
Basically what you need is this:
- a microwave oven safe container (no lid)
- a lemon
- vinegar
- water
What you do:
- slice the lemon in small chunks
- toss them in the container
- add the water and a big splash of vinegar
- put in the microwave oven for 20 or so minutes, so it can steam really well.
- when done, remove the container carefully (hot) and wipe down the inside of your microwave oven.
All clean, and no scrubbing or chemicals involved :-)

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Tasty, healthy food

What made me happy today? Healthy food that is tasty as well!
I love avocado. It's super yummy, tasty and healthy! So yesterday I made a simple avocado - seafood salad. I loved it so much I made it again today.
Here's what you need:
- 2 ripe avocados
- half a lemon
- seafood of your choice, I used crab strips
- one small red onion
And this is how you make it:
- slice the avocados in two, twist, remove the seed amd scoop it out into a bowl.
- finely chop the onion, add to the avocados.
- add the seafood, mix together.
- drizzle with some lemon juice, mix again.
Enjoy on bread, toast or as dip!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

QT with my GD

What made me happy today? Spending some serious quality time with my goddaugter.
She's so precious :-) she recently started to walk and is starting to talk as well. The words she uses most are car, and dad.
She is almost 15 months old, and a very happy kid most of the time. She makes me laugh, and of I'm feeling sad she'll always cheer me up.
Basically, I love her to bits :-) so it's nice I got to spend some serious quality time with her, my sister and my brother in law.
She makes me so happy :-)

Friday, April 26, 2013

Larian's Divinity: Original Sin

What made me happy today? Larian's kickstarter was succesfully funded!
They're going to make Divinity: Original Sin! And they're still accepting donations through PayPal http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin
I'm really happy to see this Belgian game development studio raise this much :-) Of course I backed them too! It's a shame they didn't make the 1 million stretch goal, but there is still hope with PayPal! Besides, they got $944284 when their original goal was $400000! Awesome!
Is it November yet? That's when the game should hit the shelves!
*does a happy dance*
Update: Larian just announced that with the pledges on Kickstarter, PayPal, RPG codex and RPG watch they did make the 1 million stretch goal! I am actually jumping up and down with pure joy!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Good job!

What made me happy today? Being complemented on a job well done!
I worked hard the past few days, but it was worth it, because my manager was really happy!
And now I'm going to work some more...

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Chocolate

What made me happy today? Chocolate.
No, not the Johhny Depp movie, although that's a nice movie. I'm talking about real chocolate here.
Chocolate is tasty, and in small amounts, good for you! i also love to put some in my coffee, gives it a little extra. So after working 20 hrs in the past two days I decided to treat myself. Sometimes a girl needs a treat ;-) Good thing I still had a ton of chocolate left from Easter. When visiting two pairs of parents, you can end up with a supply of chocolate that will last you for months. Not that I'm complaining, I'm a bit of a chocoholic :-)
Besides, I did a good job, and made on of my managers very happy. So here's to that!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Time waits for no one

What made me happy today? The girl who lept through time.
The girl who lept through time is one of my all-time favorite anime movies. It has a great story, is visually very pleasing and plays on your emotions. A lot.
The most famous quote from the movie is probably 'time waits for no one'. And it's true. Our time here on earth is short. You never know what will happen the next day. It could all be gone in the blink of an eye. So tell the people that matter to you that they matter. Tell the people you love that you love them. Don't ever leave anything unsaid. Life is beautiful, but frail as well. So make sure you said everything you wanted to say to the people you care about. You never know when it's the last time you'll see them. You don't want to go through life thinking about what could have happenend if you had only said this or that.
Okay, enough sappy stuff :-) There's a lot of AMVs based on this movie as well. Almost all of them are very sad or dramatic. But a friend once sent me this one. It's more of a slapstick one, and the song used is one about sheep. Cheers me up every time!
So enjoy the clip, be sure to watch the movie if you have the time (keep a tissue close) and have fun!

Monday, April 22, 2013

You're hot and you're cold

What made me happy today? Cold pack!
So, last week I tore a muscle in my shoulder / clavicle. It seemed to be better until, on Saturday, I decided to carry all my groceries up the stairs in one go. Bad move. And today it's particularly bad. Good thing I always have a cold pack in my freezer, and a tube of Voltaren gel in my medicine cabinet.
So here's to Albert A. Robbins, who invented the cold pack. Thanks dude!
(sorry for the short post, but it's not easy typing with one arm)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Dessert with beer

What made me happy today? Making a tasty dessert with beer, and getting to eat it as breakfast.
Ok, I know, not very healthy, but it was a timing issue. Last night, the BF and I made dinner together. As it was the weekend and we had plenty of time, we also decided on making some dessert. Our eye fell on a tasty recipe for a tiramisu with cherries and cherry beer.
Only thing is, we forgot the part where the tiramisu actually has to sit in the fridge for 4 - 6 hrs. So by the time it was done, it was way to late to eat it. But it made the perfect decadent Sunday morning breakfast :-)

Here's the recipe (serves 8):

Ingredients:

-24 lady fingers
-300 g mascarpone
-3 eggs
-570 gr destoned sour (tart) cherries (in a jar)
-100 gr dark chocolate
-3 soupspoons of white suger
-2 soupspoons of honey
-2 dl cherry beer (Kriek, of the type you like best)

Preparation:

- Drain the cherries but preserve the juice.
- Mix 1 dl of the beer with 1 dl of the preserved juice.
- Split the eggs, put the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
- Shave curls of the dark chocolate and put in the fridge.

Actual making of the tiramisu (+/- 30 min, refridgerate for 4 - 6 hrs):

1) Put the rest of the beer, the cherries and the honey in a pot. Bring to a boil until all moisture has evaporated. Allow to cool.
2) Whisk the yolks, along with the sugar into a smooth, foaming mass. Stir in the mascarpone.
3) Whisk the eggwhites until stiff, gently mix in the mascarpone. Gradually add the cherries.
4) Put one layer of ladyfingers into a large dish. Add the beer-cherry juice to flavour. Spread half of the mascarpone-mixture over it.
5) Cover with a second layer of ladyfingers, spread the rest of the mascarpone-mixture over it.
6) Refridgerate for 4 - 6 hrs.
7) Add the chocolate curls right before serving.

Enjoy!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Supermarket shopping

What made me happy today? The friendly cashier at the supermarket.
I don't like shopping for groceries on Saturday. The supermarket I usually shop at tends to be very crowded. Half the aisles will be blocked by people and their shopping carts, everybody needs the same things at the same time, there's a huge line at the registers and the scan your groceries faster than you can bag them...
But today I got lucky :-) It was rather calm, so I could get everything I needed in record time. The line at the cash registers wasn't too long either. However, the biggest surprise was when the cashier offered to put my groceries in the crates I brought.
I use foldable crates when I go shopping with the battlecruiser (that's what I've named my car). It prevents my groceries from sliding around in the trunk of the battlecruiser, and so the fruits and vegetables don't get squashed. I take those crates into the store with me, so I can put the groceries in them.
I do have to say, my shoulder was very happy about the cashier putting the groceries in the crates. Plus, they're good at it! She made everything fit in there nicely. So thanks, friendly mrs. cashier, for helping me out, and making me happy!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Win!

What made me happy today? Little moments of win!
This morning almost all the traffic light on the way to work were green. One would not cooperate, but hey, I've never had this many green lights any way so I'm happy :-)
When I got to work and opened my emails, I saw that I had won a small prize! One of my projects does a small quiz every week. Basically, they send out an email to the team every week with a overall update. At the bottom of that email is a quiz question, project related of course. If you want to play you just have to send an email back witht the answer to the question. I participated for the first time this week, and I was among the winners! What did I win? Well, it was a picture of a cute puppy. Made my day! I rarely win anything, and this just put a smile on my face all day!
Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Happy assistant's day

What made me happy today? It's assistant's day today!
And I've been blessed to have several great ones working with me! They're a great help, but it's still kind of funny that I now have assistants. Until a few weeks ago, I was one myself...
Of course they all got a card and a gift :-) They deserve it. They work hard to make my life and that of my colleagues easier.
So to all assistants out there: thank you for the great job you're doing!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Happy kitchen accident

What made me happy today? Having one of my happy kitchen accidents.
I was making stuffing for gorditas today. Just pretty basic stuff: mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, kidney beans, vegetarian alternative to ground beef, fajita sauce, corn. And I added a can of white beans in tomato sauce by mistake. I thought it was a can of corn... But turns out it was a great idea to toss in those beans, because this stuff is darn tasty!

Want to make this yourself? It's super easy: just get the ingredients mentioned ab ove, cook them, add the sauce and viola! Serve in gorditas, with some sour cream, grated cheese and other things you like.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Fun with function

What made me happy today? Being able to function on 3 hours of sleep.
I don't know if you read it on my Facebook or Twitter today, but yesterday I tore a muscle in my shoulder / clavicle. Kind of painful. Because of this I only got 3 hours of sleep.
But looking on the bright side: I've always been a pretty bad sleeper, as I've mentioned before. And in situations like this, the fact that I'm used to functioning on little sleep really helps. Even though I've recently started sleeping better, I'm still able to function pretty much normal after a bad night. Add a cup (or two, now they fixed the coffee machine at work) of coffee or tea, and I'm good to go.
Here's hoping my shoulder / clavicle heals fast, because a torn muscle is rather painful. But hey, I'm staying positive!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Lay down your burdens

What made me happy today? Being able to finally lay down some of my burdens.
And it applies to both my professional and personal life!
I've been feeling a bit stressed lately at work. I have recently been promoted and I have to learn a lot of new things. Luckily, I have a great boss and great coworkers. They're always willing to listen to my questions, provide me with guidance, help or anything I need. So it felt good to be able to tell my boss a bit about being worried about some things I know I cannot possibly do on my own yet. Good thing she completely understood and reassured me that I'm not on my own. Which really helped.
About two moths ago I wrote a blog about changes. After taking a lot of small steps towards something I really wanted to change, I finally managed to have a break-through this weekend :-) I'm not going to divulge what it was, as it's very personal. But I'm just happy that I finally found the strength within myself to change. And it makes me hopeful about my future! It may take time to change the things I want to change, but a lot of small steps and time and I'll get there. I just need to stay positive, keep believing in myself and then I can do it :-)

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Spring!

What made me happy today? It seems like spring has finally arrived.
And it looks like it's here to stay too :-)
So head on our today and soak up the sunlight and warmth, because it has been a long, cold winter!
Have a nice Sunday :-)

Saturday, April 13, 2013

What's my age again?

What made me happy today? Compliments about how young I look.
As you may remember, a while ago I cut my hair short. But by now it was time to get it cut again. My hair grows a bit faster than average, so the cut was getting kind of unbalanced.
Once at the salon I started discussing the kind of cut I wanted with my hairdresser. So when she said that the idea I had was something a young girl like me could definitely pull off, I had to interject that I'm really not that young any more. Turns out she estimated I was 22 years old, tops!
This made my day! For those of you wondering, I'm actually turning 29 in September. Guess it's true what they say. Short hair really takes years off :-)
(the new haircut is pretty much like the old one, the front is just a bit longer and the back a bit shorter. Pics may follow if I ever manage to take a decent one from the back. Not as easy as it sounds...)

Friday, April 12, 2013

Stupid questions

What made me happy today? Coming across one of the dumbest questions ever.
Due to my new job function I'm doing a lot of training sessions. Some of these trainings have an exam which needs to be completed as well, before you can move on to the next training. Usually the questions are pretty good. But today I came across one which made me blink. Then I re-read it, just to be sure that I hadn't misread it. But nope, it really was one of the dumbest questions I ever laid eyes on.
The question in question? (yes, pun intended) 'The firewall in the (digital data entry and review system) environment protects important data from being destroyed by fire. True or false?'
I really had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughter. Ok, I admit that not everyone may know that that is not what a firewall is or does, but it was just explained in said training. And it's still a dumb question. But it made me laugh. And laughter makes me happy :-)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

What a trooper!

What made me happy today? Pulling something off I never thought possible.
As you may have read in the other blogs this week I've been out of the country for a bit. Of course, this meant that I had a lot of work to do when I got back at the office today. Add a lot of trainings that urgently need to be completed to that mix and you might have an idea about my stresslevel this morning.
I could have gone and hid in the corner, or put my head in my hands and cried (sure felt like doing that). Instead I pulled out my mp3 player, put on some of my favorite tunes and got to it. And I'll be darned, I pulled it off!
I actually managed to catch up with all my emails and do almost all the required trainings dor one of my new projects! Sometimes it amazes me what you can do when you actually put your mind to it :-)

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Home!

What made me happy today? Coming home safely!
I'm home? It's been an exhausting few days, but it' been a lot of fun as well. The meetings were very productive, which is always nice.
But right now I'm just glad to be home, without any delays! So I'm going to grab a shower and have some dinner, after which I'll probably go to bed early.
Going away and feeling like a little princess is nice, but there really is no place like home!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The royal treatment

What made me happy today? Being totally spoiled here :-)
Yesterday me and my colleagues wanted to make dinner reservations for this evening. So I went up to the hotel desk, to ask if they could please give me the number of the restaurant so I could call in the reservation. Instead of giving me the number, he called over his colleague who made the reservation for us. Talk about service!
I have a nice room with (for some reason) two two-person beds in it. I slept pretty good, especially considering it was the first night in a strange bed. Breakfast was great, so many things to choose from! Lunch was very tasty as well :-) And during the breaks we're being provided with tasty pastries, fruits, yoghurt and a huge assortment of teas, juices and coffees. They're keeping us well fed and hydrated here!
And we got some calls from important people from work, to thank us for the great job we're doing. Even the vice-president of the company called in for this! And we all got a gift, a travel bag with the study logo on it.
So I'm feeling a bit like a princess right now. It's a nice feeling!
But I have to add that I'm glad I don't have to do this every week, this whole meeting is pretty intense and tiring...

Monday, April 8, 2013

Safe journey

What made me happy today? I arrived at my hotel in one piece!
I had to fly out to Amsterdam today. I have no problem with flying, although I'm not particularly fond of the take off and landing parts. that's because my ears tend to pop. A lot. And it can get quite painful...
But I made it there safely! And I got to enjoy a cup of Starbucks at the airport (not saying coffee, it was more of a coffee-flavored drink).
The flight itself went very smooth and was pretty short. They served a small snack on board, which is always nice :-)
So hurray for a safe journey! Now I'm going to wash the airport and airplane off me.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Double fun!

What made me happy today? Having such a splendid evening yesterday!
It was a long, hard week at work. So I decided that it was time to have some fun this weekend. I called up my BF and two other friends (a couple as well) and went out for a double date.
First we had sushi at Sushi Leuven. I definitely recommend the place! Great sushi, not that expensive, and nice and quiet. Plus, you get an appetizer on the house. So we had sushi, followed by ice-cream (hmmm, green tea ice-cream) after which we got a pot of green tea on the house! At that point I felt like I should be sitting on the floor, as they do in Japan, but hey. You can't have everything ;-)
After we finished dinner we decided to go over to my friend's house. Their house has the most central location so it was easiest for everyone to get there and get home again. So we had a couple of beers (or a Canada Dry and a few glasses of water in my case) and had a chat about a lot of stuff. And then we came to the topic of supermarkets, because I mentioned I went grocery shopping with the new car for the first time that morning.
Which led to this video. It's Alex Agnew talking about being in the line at the cash register in the supermarket. Hilarious! (video is in Dutch) Of course, we could not leave it at one video, we had to watch some Alex Agnew classics too, like the one where he talks about his job at the VTB-VAB. Or the one about his visit to the dentist.
But my all time favourite Alex Agnew video is the one in which he talks about industrial music. The first time I saw this part was at home with my parents. Now, I listen to industrial music on occasion and have actually heard people having that kind of conversation. Which makes it even funnier. I almost rolled of the couch from laughing so hard, and my parents were looking at me like 'What's so funny? We don't get it...'
So I had a really great, relaxing evening yesterday and I'm still happy about it today :-)

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Fixed it!

What made me happy today? The heat in my building got fixed!
A few days ago, new fuel for the central heating system was delivered. But in order to fill the tank, the have to turn of the central heat. At the time I didn't notice it, but when the delivery was finished, the technician forgot to turn the central heating system back on. Not much fun, as it's still cold outside!
So it made me really happy today to see that the landlord had stopped by to fix it. Warmth is nice :-)
(apologies for the short post, really busy today)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Suspended coffee

What made me happy today? Finding out that the 'suspended coffee' is spreading!
A while ago this article crossed my Facebook newsfeed. (Dutch version here)I found it to be a touching story. But being the skeptic that I am, I decided to check Snopes first. Turns out this story is true. It seems to have started in Italy, and is spreading to other countries fast. Facebook seems to be playing a big role in this.
So it totally made my day when I noticed that even Belgium is starting to catch on! And it's not only coffee, today I also stumbled across an article that mentions 'suspended fries' in the Brussels region. This last article is in Dutch but it boils down to the owner of 'Fritkot Bompa' saying that coffee isn't doing a lot, people need food as well. So he started using a coupon system. People can buy a coupon for a portion of fries, to give to a person who needs it. It's an alternative for people who don't want to give money to the needy or homeless, but want to help in other ways. He's hoping his initiative will catch on as well.
You can find a list of participants here. Please note that this is a list for the Netherlands and Belgium. Check Google for local initiatives. I'm excited to see that the number of Belgian participants is at three now, at the start of the week it was only one.
I'm happy to see this happening, as this restores a bit of my faith in humanity. There may be hope for us yet :-)

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Nervous much?

What made me happy today? Noticing that there are people out there who have the same nervous habits!
Little back-story here: I'm a nervous person. I used to be very nervous for everything, but luckily that has diminished by aging ;-) A lot of things got me nervous, and as an outlet for my nerves I bit my nails. Bit, yes, because I managed to quit. With the help of a lot of chewing gum, liquorice and willpower.
And then came the time I had to start taking driving lessons. I hadn't been that nervous in a while. But instead of biting my nails again, I got a better solution: chewing gum. Helped with the nerves, and kept my nails intact :-)
When driving home today, a car from a driving school passed me in the other direction as I was waiting at a red light. And what did I see? The student driver furiously chewing gum. Made me smile, because it's kind of nice to know you're not alone!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Venting

What made me happy today? Being able to vent!
Today was not a great day at work. Some things went wrong, were misunderstood or miscommunicated by colleagues. My stress level went through the roof, especially when I was informed I had to attend a meeting, one hour before the actual meeting. Add to that the fact that I'm transitioning from one team to another and also changing jobs (promotion), you can imagine that I was not a happy girl today.
Luckily I am blessed with friends who will listen to my rants, who will let me vent and cheer me up by sending me virtual hugs and / or funny pictures. And I'm happy to have those friends :-)
So thanks for listening to me, being there for me and cheering me up!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Raise your glass

What made me happy today? A drink in my name!
A while ago I was very happy to be able to announce that I was going to be promoted. As of today, it's official! And so, at work we had a drink for me and one other coworker who was promoted as well. Kind of nice to see all those people show up and raise their glass to congratulate you :-) No worries, it was soda. Alcohol is not allowed during the working hours, and even if it would be, I only drink alcohol once or twice a year...
On top of that I also got my company car today. It's a nice diesel car, so it drives a bit smoother than the other one. Yay :-)
It was a good day today! I hope yours was equally good!

Monday, April 1, 2013

True Blood

What made me happy today? There's a teaser out for True Blood season 6!
You can watch it here.
Yes, I'm a True Blood fan! I read all the books and seen the show. I've been known to wear my 'Fangbanger' hoodie with pride :-)

So when I came across this teaser, it made my day :-) I just hope that season 6 is a bit better than the last two seasons. And I really hope they'll be going back to what happens in the books, but somehow I doubt it. But I'm staying positive, and I'll watch it in any case. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure.
Besides, True Blood serves up a decent amount of male and female nudity, which is a bonus ;-)