Apartment hunting!

Now that I am done with all my traveling, time for me to go apartment hunting! Wish me luck! - and I know most of you actually will wish me luck, since all your hopes are on me finding a sweet place where you can all come and crash :D

Lisboa!

So you won't seemany pictures of monuments and lansdcapes from my trip to Lisbo since I spent 90% of my time in meetings and conference rooms....but nonetheless had a hell of a time with my account team from Belgium :D Was also able to enjoy 1 hour of sun at each lunch breaks. Which equals two hours of sun in two days. More than I've enjoyed so far this summer in Europe! - Seattle people, I just hate you and your heat wave :D

Jean-Pierre qui travaille, mais oui!

Who would have though? See, miracles do happen afterall. Although. I have to say that I still have my doubts....I THINK he may just have been pretending for the sake of the picture. Oh well, regardless, nice try Jean-Pierre :D

Quelle tenacite a l'effort tout de meme ;)

Sing along in the Tube :)

Taking public transportation in London was quite an experience all around, my friends, from the not so good of taking bus 25 at 3:00 am so today's concert in the Tube - the tube, for those of you who don't know, is London's metro. I was riding along, on my way to Heathrow airport, with my suitcase, had just managed to find a seat, when a man came in with the guitar and said "Sorry everybody that I am late for the concert. Now we can finally get started! we're gonna have some fun together this evening!" and starting playing all sort of classics, like "Brown-eyed girl" etc. My favorite part when was he decided to sing Jewel's "leaving on a jet plane", dedicated to all of us since we were on our way to the airport. Just brilliant:D Not much, but it brightened my day.

God Save the Audrey

oh yes I really need to be saved!!!! I swear I was almost getting used to people driving on the left side, then went to Belgium for a week and it screwed up all of my efforts. Oh and those London drivers, they're pretty fast too let me tell you :) then going to Portugal, and people on the right side....and then Dublin! Geeeese they really want me killed :D

So afterall, I did end up extending my stay, and oooh am so not regretting it! More time spent with my coworkers - they are OK folks ;) But B you get all of the hate, out of everybody;) :D. And then I was able to spend the weekend with Celinette :) We went shopping in the city center. We also went to the Camden area, and I absolutely LOVED it! Boths and little shops one after another, original cloths, jewels and all sorts of random thingsm , any type of cheap food you may want, colors, people, commotion, fun....just amazing! If any of you ever comes to London, make sure you take some time to take the Northern line and hang around Camden :)

Look up, it's red and beautiful :)

In Camden. The red prisms were completely stunning with the sunshine passing through them!

Agent 0707, au rapport!

Yes, Maud, that's you I am talking about :) Even though I talked to you on your birthday, I still wanted to wish a JOYEEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUX ANNNIIIIIIIIIIIIVERSAIRE on here :) xoxo

Dinner fun!

Did you want to hear Tracey in her Donald Duck version? Have always dreamed to see Andy do his shopping cart dance???? Then you should have come out with all of the EMEA DMO team last week :) My coworkers (London+Dublin) and I went out to dinner last Tuesday and had a blast. Here are some pics.....also have an awesome video of Tracey's performance, but have promised not to share it...well, at least for now :D

LONDON BABY!

Enough time spent in airplanes and airports! Just got to London today, and am already in love with this city! Just a feeling about it, something I felt walking in the small streets of the city center, or by the Thames river. The city is just vibrant, so much energy, but at the same time there is also something soothing about it. Of course, right now you can definitely feel the tension due to the latest bombings, and it is hard to miss the many cops and army men patrolling the streets of the city, or the random searches of vehicles. Regardless, I am just amazed with this city. Maybe I will extend my stay by a a few days....- after all, I do have to go through London on my way to Lisbon this weekend. Just a thought ;) This way it would also give me more time to see my high school friend Celine, who moved to London in January :)Qu'on fasse un peu la fete, ma Celinette :)

Out with the boys in Lokeren

Going out to the Lokeren's Irish pub - yes, it follows me!!!!- with Chris and a few of his friends :)

Things to do in Belgium...

...eat fries, chocolate, drink beer, ride a bike on the paved street, get bitten by a dog...ha ha yeah, Belgium is pretty random, what do you want :) This weekend I went to my coworker's family in Lokeren, and turns out his dad trains dogs - for defense purposes....and he asked me if I wanted to participate :D He probably didn't think I'd go for it, but I did. It was so weird to have the dog just jumping on you, he just wouldn't let go of my arm!!! A few pics to scare my mother - Don't worry, mum, I didn't feel anything ;)

In Belgium: des frites des frites et encore des frites!

Yes, for anybody who may still have doubts in their mind - the stereotype really does hold true in Belgium: THEY DO LOVE FRIES HERE!!!! They've become part of daily "diet" (uhm uhm) since I got here last Sunday. Despite the reason why French fries are called French fries, I still think that these should be renamed to Belgian fries.....it would only be fair! Oh and then there is the chocoalte! oooooh the chocolate :D I just bought close to 5 kilos of it to send back to the office in Redmond and London -any of you reading my blog? Get excited them, you have a care package coming your way ;)

Unfortunately, too much work this week at the office and I didn't get a chance to go to the city center of Brussels. However, we went to Leuven on Tuesday night to have dinner with Gunter and Chris. We walked around for a while - and of course spent some time at the terrace of a cafe enjoy the wonderful Belgian beer :) Enjoy the pics!

Bienvenue Simeon!

Un nouveau bebe dans la famille Poullain, ca s'arrose :) Hate hate hate de pouvoir rentrer pour pouvoir voir sa petite bouille! Toutes mes felicitations Melie, Seb, et puis puis Titi ca va etre bien un petit frere pour jouer :) Bisous tout doux!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMMY, NICO & VINCENT :D

A big muah to my fav' neighbor, and to my cousins Nico and Vincent for their birthday:)

I still have to think about that one....yeaaaah

Took this one at the burger chain here in Dublin, Eddie's - guys, Eddie said it all:D

JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE DAVID :D

Oui oui, je sais frerot, c'etait le 20 juin et pas le 22....mais comme je dis toujours, mieux vaut tard qu'en retard! :D

BISOUS!!!!

Euro-trip...well kinda :D

i will be traveling quite a bit over the next few weeks - don't get jealous, I am not going on vacation again :) This is going to be business traveling, but notheless really cool. If you are in one of the following location at the time, give me a shout and we'll try to meet up :)

• 06/24/07 to 07/01/07: Brussels, Belgium to meet my account teams - Vous avez mis du rose au frais, les gars? :)
• 07/01/07 to 07/04/07: London, UK - Celinette?

07/08/07 to 07/10/07: Lisbon, Portugal - Cesar, wanna come? I need a translator :D

A etre partie autant....heureusement que j'ai pas de poisson rouge! :D C'est la concierge qui serait pas contente!

Cliffs of Moher and the Burren region

So Saturday was the Getting Lost Da.....mmm I mean the Connemara day :D, and then Sunday, we went South of Galway, to the Burren region, and followed the coast until we reached the Cliff of Moher. AND WE DIDN'T EVEN GET LOST!!!!! The water was incredibly beautiful, and at some poitn on the road, we could see a straight line cuting the water in half, with the deepest blue water on the left, and a bright silver grey on the right. Amazing! The cliffs are just breathtaking. It was my third time going, but I am amazed every time. You don't know how tempted I was to to straight to the edge of the cliffs and look down at the waves crashing on the rocks - and freak my mum out:)- like I did the past couple of times I came.....sadly, they've put a walll so that people can't get to close, so I couldn't do it :)

PS: We got a pic of Nils with a blue house :) That's his dream, and he got all excited :D A bit hard though to see his smile on the pic ;)

On to Western Ireland!

Last week my sister and my nephew came to visit me for a few days, and we decided to rent a car to get out of Dublin a bit and travel to the Connemara region. My sister got really excited to drive on the left side of the road - maybe too much on the left too at times too :D

Anyway. I had such a great memory of it from when I came ten years ago with my family. And the memories held true - it was absolutely splendid! Fields of green, a rocky coast and an ocean reflecting the thousand colors of the Irish sky - well that is, the one blue and 999 varities of grey :D

We had a great time. I hadn't seen the water since foerever - or at least it seemed like it. Having lived in Seattle for a year, seing the water on a daily basis has become like a drug! Driving around the coast, going over all of the little stone bridges, all of it felt so nice and peaceful.......that is, until we drove around for a while, and noticed grass on the road.....ha ha then not so peaceful :) mmmm did we get lost????? Nah, directions in the Irish countryside are so well signaled :D Lost? Nooooooo. My nephew "Maman, on est perdus?" mmmmmm, how to say, nooooo my dear, we are just enjoying the scenery of roads where nobody ever goes. Good times :) After stopping at the few houses in the area, and talking to the kindest man with the strongest Irish accent I have ever heard, we finally figured out where we were (that is, completely at the opposite from where we were trying to go :D ). Go figure :) The Belliard usually never get lost!!!! Maybe the leprechauns put something in our water....or maybe it was the Guinness :)

We're raising him well :D

...that is, the European way :)

Taking a picture of your nephew in front of the Guinness storehouse = Priceless! :D Look at that smile too :)

papa, une petite chasse au pigeon en Irlande? :D

Et en plus ici t'as meme pas besoin de fusil :D eh eh eh

The Dublin DMO gang!

Here's a pic at work. From left to right: Chris, Nives, MIke (our manager)Eleonore and Niek.

I have a webcam :)

I am excited and wanted to spread the news...see you on Messenger or Skype soon ;)

Also, if you need my new cell phone - I have an Irish number now- or my mailing address for any reason, leave a comment or send me a note and I will email you the information.

Hope everybody is doing well :)

Had one too many pint last night???

St. Stephen's Green

What a gorgeous day in Dublin! I was even able to wear my tank top without getting cold, what about that, eh? Yes, call it a miracle if you want to :) I went to the city centy, to the big mall right downtown - its inside is really nice, see the picture below- , and also spent quite some time just vegging and drawing in St. Stephen Green's park. There were people EVERYWHERE. A few concert bands played, so I stayed for a while to listen to them. And it was funny to hear them play all the classis - the India Jones and James Bond Soundtracks, etc-....tunes that I played once upon a time, when I used to be in those bands! Seems like a million years aways!