TGIF | Which Smurf do you most identify with?

Happy Friday!!  Perhaps you are smarter than me and you already knew this, but the Smurfs are Belgian!  You could not imagine my (perhaps infantile) delight when I stumbled upon this statue.

Since I'm already writing a post about Smurfs, I doubt I'll hurt what credibility I have left by mentioning what this made me think of...do I have any fellow Bones fans out there?  Ok, well, probably not, but anyway - there's this episode from Season 3, where they end up kind of by accident at Brennan's high school reunion.  (Well, not really by accident.  There was a murder nearby, which is why they were there in the first place...I could give more of a full recap, but I think that this might be better.)  Anyway!  Brennan tells Booth her most embarrassing high school story, about how a boy she had liked stuck a Brainy Smurf on her locker, humiliating her.  Booth doesn't get it at first, but then does later, and it's really sweet...okay, okay, so maybe I should stop while I'm ahead, but if you like Bones, you'll get it.

via http://bonestheory.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/in-search-of-a-hero/

Going to Starbucks in Istanbul

The selection at this Starbucks in Istanbul made me a little sad that the Starbucks at home don't even have my favorite morning buns anymore - at least, the Starbucks I frequented.  Those were one of the few things I would break my gluten free diet for - that is, while I was actually being good about not eating gluten.  Or dairy.  Or corn.

As you might have suspected with all the posts concerning waffles, I am no longer adhering to any of my former dietary restrictions.  (I realize that this would have been much easier on all of my friends in Columbus had I stopped sooner, but know that I enjoyed every bite of that giant Gluten free chocolate cupcake Ellen found for me.)  I figured that continuing my cleanse might make this trip a bit - well, impossible?

Here's to...enjoying food again?  Afiyet olsun!

At home, in Brussels

This is the view from our (shared) apartment at the YWAM base here in Brussels.  I know it's not a double rainbow, but could be worse, eh?

En Route to Sint Niklaas, Belgium

We volunteered at a festival last weekend.  No pictures of the actual festival (typical), but the design nerd in me was loving the typography used in the signs at the train stations along the way.

We stopped at Antwerp to change trains; hopefully I'll have a chance to go there soon.  (Mostly because of Dries van Noten, but that's another love letter disguised as a blog post.)

I Love Cilantro, Unapologetically

lion heart vintage/Flickr.com

I read this article on my NPR app a couple of days ago, and was so amused that I thought I would share it with you.  I have always loved cilantro - thought everyone loved cilantro - until I went to college in Rhode Island.  I discovered there* that such haters actually exist!   

Maybe it was all of the Tex Mex I ate growing up?  Or is it really in the genes, as the NPR article claims?  What do you think?

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*Thanks to someone who ended up becoming a dear friend, despite her dislike for something so essential to my favorite dishes, haha...  (Maybe this is a little pathetic, but I can easily tell you that the easiest way to become fast friends with me - apart from loving Jane Austen, Downton Abbey, and old movies - is by being compatible with me, food-wise.)