Hello, hello. And Happy New Year!

Yes, I know that’s a bit late, but only in internet time–which pretty much came to a halt for two weeks. We had a very quiet and unplugged Christmas in Antwerp, Belgium. My husband and I lived there briefly before we settled in Austin, but continue to visit at least once a year. This year we used the holidays as an excuse to gather with a few friends who traveled from Prague and Berlin. I love European cities at Christmastime… the families gathered together in the squares, huddled against the cold with cups of mulled wine, the relaxed holiday pace.

We peaked into the Christmas Day mass at St. Mary’s, where a glorious tenor was belting out American black gospels.

{This one is by my husband. I have a sorry lack of pictures of the entire two weeks but I’m not the iPhoneographer around here. He somehow climbed on the rooftop of our apartment for this one.}

Antwerp is, in my humble opinion, one of the friendliest and most relaxed cities in all of Europe. My favorite activity here is just to sit on the crowded Meir and people-watch for hours on end–the Flemish walk to the sound of their own drum with offbeat style at every age. (I’ve also never heard so much whistling in any place. People whistle songs to themselves–constantly. Surely a sign of happiness?)

It also has a reputation as a fashion and shopping mecca, and I’d be remiss if I never wrote about it on this blog. There’s every kind of fashion from high street to luxury packed into the small streets. You may have heard about the Antwerp Six, a collective of designers (Dries van Noten, Ann Demuelemeester, etc.) from the Art Academy here who basically put Antwerp design in the international spotlight in the 80s. These designers have their stores here and you feel their influence in much of the design. I’d name that influence something like post-street-pop-Japonisme. (There’s a huge representation of Japanese design here–including the pioneering designers of the 80s. I should write a post about that connection sometime.) The MOMU fashion museum is a rare treat with a curated exhibition that changes a couple of times a year and a permanent historical collection.

Since lace was on my brain when we left Austin, I thought I might find some here–after all, this is Belgium, right? Surprisingly it’s hard to find fabric stores in Antwerp and I didn’t have much patience to explore in the gale-force winds and rains that haunted our last week.

But it was exactly the holiday we needed. Friends, lounging indoors and talking, lots of Irish coffee, more talking. And Chocolate. Every. Day.

New Year’s on the Scheldt. (One of two pictures I took! Yep, it was that relaxed.)

I’m looking forward to getting back to sewing…. and catching up on the crazy zillions of blog posts in my reader!