Cards can’t get wet, coasters can! Celebrate, indulge, and enjoy!

The beginning stages before anything is done. Just foil and a chocolate bar.

The wrappers are printed and applied to the bars.

The front cover of the card with a QR code on the back.

Hand written signatures.

Envelope Stuffing.

We won the 2010-2011 Communicator Awards.

For our 2010 Christmas Cards, we wanted to create something unique and different.  We wanted to give our family, friends, and clients something more than a typical card;  something they could use and decorate with.  We decided to send Holiday Coasters.  The communication was a play on words; if you use the coaster, you are literally having a drink on us.  Also, we focused on the celebration of the New Year; holiday festivities with good company.

Once again we woke up to the drills of busy workers, so naturally we jumped on a 9:30am train to Antwerp. We were very proud of ourselves for navigating through the Belgium rail systems. We spent the day walking around and exploring. We’re not quite sure what we saw, but we saw. I loved the major fashion street and almost bought a pair of pumas, until I was told my feet were too small because they didn’t have my size.

Gare Centrale: Brussels Central Station.

Admiring our reflections as we wait for the right train. 

Round trip ticket.

Coca Cola is a classic just about any place you visit. 

Beauty in an alley.

Funny statues outside the National Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum).

Michael at his best.

Bridge leading to The River Scheldt.

Blind spot?

Michael leads the way. 

He needed some assistance.

Same spot, different perspectives.  

Museum? 

Puma store where my feet were declared too small.

It is very drizzly today and Michael is completely out of control. He is in full “bb” mode and won’t stop annoying me with unwanted snapshots. Apparently, having a bad hair day in the rain warrants full day coverage from the photographer.

Why does he do this to me?

I dislike these immensely.

We all pose in good fun thanks to Michael.

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal: Gothic cathedral.

We had a pizza lunch at Verona and a cookie crunch ice cream before heading pack to Brussels. We bought some jewelry and finally settled on a magnet (our annual souvenir).  We made the mistake of getting on a local train so it took much longer than it should have. Luckily, the conductor spoke a bit of English and told us to jump off.

Italian wine washes down some pizza.

I hate this picture.

Belgium scenery, courtesy of the local train.

Bye bye local. Onto express.

After napping, we took a stroll before dinner, winding up at Café Orts (where we had thought about eating several times, but walked out for god knows what reason). Well, it truly was the best meal we’ve had. The waiter and owner were so nice. We finally felt welcomed somewhere and they helped us pick a good dish. Michael and I both had an Argentinian steak and we said, “No” to cream sauce. They made us our own special mushroom sauce… it was great. The meal was huge and tasty! We were so full, but left room for dessert. Michael thought he ordered fondant, but it turned out to be vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Lol. We had to pay cash because their credit card machine was down and it won’t be fixed until Thursday. Boo! Michael was so bummed because he really wanted to go back tomorrow. The guy even said he would make us ratatouille. We were so excited to finally have a great dinner with nice people. It’s too bad we spent all our money.

This might classify as an overindulgence.

See below for more pictures from day 4.

Monday morning. We woke up to drills, saws, and jackhammers. Is there really construction occurring right outside our hotel window? Not even just a minor renovation, but the actual erection of a building. Just swell!

Monday morning alarm clock.

We did a very thorough job of exploring the city outside of our comfort zone today. We found Cathédrale des Saints Michel et Gudule (St. Michael’s Cathedral), Palais Royal, and Parc de Bruxelles. You will finally see pictures of Michael since it was the first day I had the strength for the camera. We walked our feet off, capturing every moment. Michael has officially decided he loves the Leffe Blonde & Bruin beer. We had a quaint lunch in the Sablon district and are planning a day trip tomorrow to Antwerp.

Cathédrale des Saints Michel et Gudule. 

St. Michael, Patron Saint of the City.

Graffiti is as popular as Manneken-Pis.

However, it seems to have more style and class.

Classic street art.

Parc de Bruxelles Warande.

Palais Royal Koninklijk Paleis.

Michael made the blog. 

Belgium Streets: pavement vs. cobblestone.

Manneken dressed for graduation.

The Grand Place: Maison du Roi

Before heading in we did some shopping. Michael got a new pair of kicks. I’m very envious. My new goal is finding a fun pair for myself as well.

Despite the noise, we must give the construction guys kudos. They literally worked at least 12 hours and have already completed a whole floor, ceiling included. Michael is mesmerized when he watches and of course took before and after pictures to remember this aspect of our Belgium trip.

There’s nothing like fresh, smooth cement. 

We had an extremely hard time finding a place for dinner once again. The fun little cafes are limited. After passing through the lion’s den of tourist restaurants, you know the row of eateries that look exactly the same where they offer you a meal for 12 euro including everything from the cow to a free drink, the place we ended on had red velvet seats and a lighted hearth. Unfortunately, this eatery turned quickly into a false positive. Michael ordered some steak and I got a tomato stuffed with shrimp. All I can say is yuck to the smallest, coldest shrimp I’ve ever seen and tasted. I munched on some fries, but even they left much to be desired. They were definitely not fried twice. I’m not sure if they were even fried once considering the inside was raw and cold. I quickly covered my plate with Michael’s so it looked like I ate, but the waiter would not be deceived. I think he may have poked fun at me and told Michael he threw his money away because I didn’t like it. Ha! Luckily, there are waffles in Belgium. We wound up getting our second waffle with strawberries and chocolate, and walked to Lombards for a drink. Obviously, you know by now we are drinking Leffe and Framboise. Lombards has proved to be our favorite brasserie. We will definitely be more selective with dinner tomorrow.

Ps. We had a praline cone too!

Did I really attempt to eat this?

Today, we had a tough start. We woke up for breakfast, and then went right back to sleep. We finally made it out around 1pm. We walked past the Grand Place and found Central Station, some royal buildings, and a park. We had lunch at the Danish Tavern and I tried my first Framboise (frahn-bwaz), raspberry beer, which I loved!  We finally had Belgium Frites (fries), which are supposed to be the best in the world because they are deep fried twice. What a let down! For this type of reputation, we didn’t expect them to taste exactly the same.

Grand Place: Hotel de Ville, Brussels Town Hall.

Gothic Architecture.

Classic statue at the corner of Rue Du Vieux Marche Aux Grains: The street of our hotel.

Danish Tavern: Framboise #1.

Michael’s 3rd kind of beer.

We meandered around killing time, trying to learn our way around the small alleys and cobblestone streets. Then, came the case study of Mr. Piss.  I think it is time to introduce you to Manneken-Pis. This little guy is infamous for pissing with carefree abandon like many little boys do. He can be seen on the corner of the street in his own personal sanctuary, as well as in every place imaginable, from key rings, corkscrews, and T-shirts to actual signs for waffle shops. You cannot miss this character if you tried.

The official renowned fountain.

He comes prepared in any size, color, & material.

After enjoying the sights, we went to the La Maison Des Maitres Chocolatiers for a special demonstration on how chocolate is made. We learned many things about the coco bean, sampled different delights, and bought packages to bring home and share with our families.

Michael was immediately drawn to the design of the shop and made friends with the owner.

Coco beans & ingredients.

We even got to make our own chocolate.

Police Minivans?

Unused & used

We came back and relaxed before heading out to dinner.  Much more satisfying than last night; Bonsouir Clara was exactly what we had in mind. Sea Bass and a Rack of Lamb… yum! We had a crepe for dessert too. Now, Brussels is getting fun! We made our plan for tomorrow and are excited for more.

Click the following link to view more pictures.

Belgium : Day 2

]]> http://asanodesigns.com/2011/04/20/our-journey-belgium-2/feed/ 0 http://asanodesigns.com/2011/04/17/our-journey-belgium/ http://asanodesigns.com/2011/04/17/our-journey-belgium/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:36:55 +0000 masano http://asanosquared.wordpress.com/?p=82 Although we have traveled abroad the last few years, this is the first time we would like to share our experience in a way that our readers can clearly enjoy our trip with us.  Since we love to explore the cities we visit and take endless amounts of images, we’ve included a link at the end of each day that will take you to a gallery for further insight. Our inspiration? I started a journal of our trips, beginning with our honeymoon, four years ago.  Each day I document our adventures so one day we will be able to look back and relive the many journeys we’ve shared together.  On the last day in Brussels, while Michael and I looked back through the pictures, as we always do before going to sleep, and we realized the images captured the words I had been writing all along.  We started flipping through the journal, and read different pages from various trips, clearly seeing images in our minds.  Filled with excitement, we loved the idea of creating a visual journal that could also be paired with the details I had been recording.  Our journey begins in Brussels.

Brussels | Day 1

We flew Delta for the first time. Besides the fact that we didn’t have our own individual TVs on the plane, and the food was horrid, everything else was perfect; direct flight, no delays, and we even both slept a little. Thank God we ate those sliders beforehand.

Waking up on the plane Saturday morning, I’m finally feeling better from my week of being sick. After going through customs, we left Zaventem Airport by express train to reach the heart of Brussels. We arrived at Central Station and took the metro to the Sainte-Catherine stop. We found our hotel and thank goodness our room was ready. We showered, napped, and explored.  Despite having to read the map upside down (and ask tourists for directions when we first arrived), we saw many of Brussels’ sights and even shared a waffle with Nutella. Everything is in bloom, and it’s much warmer than at home… we are thrilled.

On our way to the hotel via Belgium’s Railway System: The SNCB .

The Atlas Hotel: A modern hotel situated between the Place Sainte-Catherine, Place Saint-Gréy, & the Grand Place.

Brussels’ Grand Place:  The focal point of the city with its unified architecture and prestige.

The square draws many people and it is easy for Michael to capture tourists taking pictures of themselves.

Waffles Everywhere.

Rows of restaurants all around.

Le Lombard Café: Michael’s first Belgium Beer. I loved it. 

Picking a place for dinner was difficult. We finally settled on Brussels Café because Michael was craving the big pot of mussels he saw people devouring. Our first challenge was reading the French menu. Did I mention everyone speaks French? Once the waitress realized we couldn’t respond to her questions, she brought us menus in English, phew! Michael wanted mussels and I wanted shrimp and french fries. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed because they said they were out of everything.  Michael got stuck with some white fish soup that the waitress recommended, and I truly disliked my bland salmon with béarnaise sauce. I guess that’s what we get for going to dinner at 9pm. We frolicked around getting acquainted with our surroundings, and look forward to a good night’s sleep and better food tomorrow.

Brussels Café: First dinner in Belgium. Michael’s second beer, and the best part of the meal.

Click the following link to view more pictures.

Belgium : Day 1

The next step was creating the packaging for the coasters.  This would be more than just a card. It would be an experience. Recipients would tear open their card as though it was a gift.  We even put a bow on top.

We printed, cut, folded, perforated, hammered, and stuffed.  Michael wanted no part in the bow tying.  We created our list of names and carefully printed each square envelope.  Each night consisted of something different, and our efforts were driven by our love for the season.  It is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

Magazines. Full of too much information that I wind up forgetting in a few days.  However, there is the exception. The page that grabs you and says, “I want to do that.”  Mine this month was gift bows. When I stumbled across the directions on how to make my very own I was intrigued.  All I needed was magazine pages and a little creativity, and I was in business.  I began to search through my magazines on hand, ripping out the pages that seemed to have the most interesting colors, illustrations, and text.  Clearly, I had to attempt several combinations to see which type of page would make the best bow.  After creating a pile of about 25 pages, I began to measure the lengths of each piece based on the direction’s prescribed sizes. Nine little strips were going to actually form into a handmade gift bow… very fun.
Not an extremely difficult process, but my first one was an experiment. Michael became my interpreter on the “folding backwards” step (the trickiest part).  As I explored different lengths and widths for the magazine pieces, I quickly learned which size strip made the tightest bows.  They improved with each one I made and I became determined to have fun gift bows for all of my presents.  Michael watched each night as I cut, folded, or taped, always amazed at the end result.

The gift bows were absolutely gorgeous, however I was not happy with how they clashed with the typical Christmas wrapping paper.  Solid color paper was a must. Putting the bows on white or parcel paper nicely showcased the colors and patterns of each gift bow, as well as making each present unique.  I had finally reached success. Low and behold, the gift bow. My new favorite winter project.