The Attic versus The Empire State Building

When I was little, my favorite place on earth was the attic of our house. It was full of mystery, unknown toys, dust and the constant danger of spiders falling down my neck. But most of all, it was close to heaven and thus close to mom.

My mother, Maria Verbanck, died of breast cancer in 1979 when she was 44 and I was 5. In her memory, I have decided to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer 2009. I personally want to contribute to the fact that no child will ever be separated from his/her mother again because of this disease.

On 10 and 11 October, I will walk up to 1,5 marathon, but I do need your help. I am required to raise a minimum of $1,800 in donations to help provide access to care for those who most need it, fund educational programs, and accelerate research into new treatments and potential cures. And because nothing is wrong with a little challenge, I am determined to surpass the $4,000 I collected last year.

To those of you who donated to my 2008 Avon Walk, I want to say thank you once again. From the bottom of my heart. Your generosity kept me going, especially during the last couple of miles which were the toughest. To everyone else, I would simply like to ask for your consideration this year. Unfortunately, breast cancer can happen to anyone, at any time and for no particular reason.

Sometimes, I still wonder what happened to that childhood attic.

But at least now you know why I moved to New York...

Please check out my personal Avon page by clicking on the link below:

http://www.avonwalk.org/goto/truikedemoor

For P

Because I admire your strength.
Because I like your determination.
Because you make me laugh so hard my belly aches.
Because we share a passion for New York.
Because you used to get me Greek yoghurt with honey.
Because you understand my obsession with zuurekes.
But most of all, because you taught me to love shoes...
My Avon Walk 2009 will be for you XXX

Fly

2009

Some highlights of the holidays: A's incredibly cool new haircut, a satisfying harley ride up and down the hills of San Francisco, R's way of being naturally hilarious, a Russian cabdriver understanding my... Russian, a splendid loft, Dolce and Obama on seesmic.com, Miss Louise from the Upper West Side penthouse.

I made my list of 2009 resolutions. It mainly states traveling which I guess is not very different from all my previous resolution lists. But it also states cooking, painting and Spanish classes. No longer waste my time with unavailable men. Socialize even more. Laugh. Try to assemble my new Ikea table.

I was walking around New York today when a psychic came up to me. "I see a profound longing for happiness and love. A need for things to change. But don't worry, it will come. I see a black person in your future. Someone who will make a difference."
"Oh really?", I said, "That's Obama, lady. Anyone could have told me that."

And so time goes on. And life just becomes more interesting. I miss my friends in Lake Tahoe and have sworn that I will take skiing lessons next year. I will ski, whatever it takes.

But most of all I want to wish all my blog readers a very happy, healthy, fun and adventurous new year.

Yes He Did

Rip out my dental implant this morning. With the force of a raging bull. And I never saw it coming. I'm glad the thing is gone, my wallet not so. To think that one tooth could cost me up to $5000 - putting the first one in 10 years ago, taking it out now because of excruciating pains and then putting in a new one because you can't chew your food with a hole - is something I try not to think about too much. But I do wonder if I could possibly make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

My teeth have a long history. A proud history. Yes they can. My cousin with whom I grew up in Belgium is a dentist. If I was ever scared of the man with the drill before she graduted, I surely wasn't after. She nominated me her 'exam patient'. Whenever her exams came up, I always seemed to have the perfect hole to fill. The hours I spent in that chair waiting for her professors to pass and give her the green light to the next and next and next stage paid off. I now have an almost perfect set of teeth.

Some people look at shoes when they first meet someone. Others go for the eyes. I'm all about teeth. That's Mrs. Colgate to you.

So now I have 2 new dentists in New York. One is Russian, the other Iranian. And hell yes they can!

Art After Dark @ the Guggenheim

The hotties of the Hamptons

For ages I had been looking at those busses, drooling. Several times a day they take off from the corner of my office building. Torture and pure provocation. Until my friend A. e-mailed me and said 'hey, I am coming to New York, wanna go on a roadtrip?'. I quickly proposed the Hamptons and a couple of weeks later, off we were on the Hampton Jitney.

We ate, drank, laughed and gossiped our way through the 3-hour ride. Montauk was our final destination. A cozy and quiet little beachtown with a main road and a picturesque harbor.
Oh yes, and a fabulous fire station.

A. was the first one to see the posters. 'The Montauk Fire Department Pancake Breakfast'. We looked at each other, giggled and without saying a word, made up our minds. We left on foot the next morning. Not sure whether or not we were on the right track, we bumped into a couple of hikers and asked for directions. We were indeed heading for Montauk's Finest. The pancakes turned out to be delicious and the firemen's sausages a pure delight.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Terence, a ginger-haired and sympathetic Irish-American bartender who seemed to enjoy our company. I have to admit we slighty stood out in the all-American crowd. And that's when it happened. While I was sipping my gin and tonic, Belgium won its first and only Olympic gold medal. Hallelujah.

Walking home, I passed the Washington Heights fire station where one of the guys yelled 'hi there, neighbor, how was your weekend?' I answered 'splendid. I passed it with 10 firemen.' They looked at each other puzzled. I smiled all the way home.