Finding France at Trader Joe's

My husband and I always stop at Trader Joe's when we're in the DFW area and this time I had my eye out for everything French. They had a wide selection of cheeses and wines, and a few other odds and ends that took me back to Paris.

How to Eat Breakfast Like a Parisian


Have you ever wondered, "what is a typical breakfast in France"?

Bonjour Katrina Weekend Reading #2


This week, my sister-in-law took pictures of my family for our holiday cards. This is the first time we've ever sent out a card, and I'm not sure I'll do it again. But since we've literally had an ocean between us and our friends for the last few years and are now living through a global pandemic, I really wanted to send out something to show everyone we're still here and we're thinking of them. Besides that, I'm just trying to keep anxiety levels low and enjoy the season. We've started some new traditions to establish a few set times of joy: hot chocolate on Saturday mornings and/or days it snows, cinnamon rolls (from a can) every Sunday, and driving through neighborhoods to look at the lights on the weekend (easy dinner or drive-thru dinner in the car). What are some traditions you have for this time of the year? and How are you maintaining joy in this season of life? Asking for a friend ;)

Here are a few links that I'm enjoying at the moment.

Bisous xoxo,

Katrina

A Francophile Holiday Gift Guide

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Oh the frenzy of the season! I try my best not to stress out because this is a time that is supposed to be filled with joy! and shouldn't result in our having a nervous break down, not to mention our bank accounts completely drained. But at the same time, there is something special about giving a gift to someone and seeing their face when it's something they really like...I've definitely seen the face of a gift received that was not liked. ha! So here's my little contribution to those who are looking to gift something to a French-loving friend or family member. None of these are affiliate links, but are things that I may have owned already or just simply love. And remember, your friends and family love you. Sometimes a home cooked meal or heart-felt letter will do just fine. Happy holidays, everyone. Bisous.

Bonjour Katrina Weekend Reading #1

 

I relaunched my etsy shop a couple weeks ago and it was such a whirlwind getting my first orders out. Even though things are slow at the moment, I'm really happy to finally be able to sell my work. While I'm waiting for orders to come in, I decided it was time to dust off the blog. I'm going to try to start sharing a weekly links post for you all. I hope you find something here that piques your interest.

French Fashion Styles at Target

A few weeks ago, I was walking through Target and noticed a lot of items that made me think, "This looks so French." I was inspired and decided to peruse the website Monoprix (more or less the French Target), to see what's on trend in France at the moment. I put together this post based on what I saw at Monoprix and also based on whatever inspired me at the moment from Target. Hopefully you can take advantage of some Black Friday deals and fill your wardrobe with a little bit of French style.

*I'm not a Target affiliate, I just like their Frenchy items ;) Click on the pictures to go to their link.

Thanksgiving in America: My 2020 Recipes

This is the first time in three years that I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving state-side, and best of all with family! My husband and I just hosted Thanksgiving with my side of the family this past weekend, and next week we'll be traveling to visit his family for the holiday. So we'll have two Thanksgivings this year to make up for some of that time abroad. 

Beauty Products I Brought Home from Paris



There's only so much you can fit into 8 or so suitcases when you're moving across an ocean. A lot of space in my family's luggage was taken up by clothes for all four seasons, toys that my kids couldn't live without (which turned out to be a lot), and lots of kitchen paraphernalia, because I couldn't live without them. In the end, there was very little space, or rather weight, left for beauty supplies to come back with me. Luckily, I ended up squeezing in some things that I couldn't bear to part with, and lucky for you, I was able to find most of them available in the States! 

5 French-Inspired Movies to Cozy Up to This Weekend


Have you been feeling an itch to travel lately? While it may be some time before you can fly to Paris and then hop on a train to the south of France, thankfully, there are plenty of great French-themed movies that will take you there for a few hours. Add a charcuterie board, cozy up your home for fall, and voila!

8 Easy Recipes for Cold Weather Weeknight Meals


Has 4 or 5 o'clock ever rolled around you find you've found yourself wondering, "What should I make for dinner tonight"? Me too, me too. Meal planning can be a pain, so I thought I would share a few of my go-to dinners with you. I made all of these recipes while living in Paris and would cycle through many of them throughout the long fall and winter season. Each of them is a nice, warming meal, but more importantly, an easy meal.

10 Ways to Get Your Home Ready for Fall (and Make it French!)



Photo by Alex Sawyer on Unsplash

As the weather starts to cool, I find myself longing to walk through Luxembourg gardens to watch the leaves and the beautiful flower beds change with the season. While scrolling through instagram brings me joy at seeing my friends go on with their lives in Paris, I also experience a little pang of missing. Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons and I want it to be filled with joy, so this year, I'm bringing in some French inspiration. Here I've collected 10 things to help your home feel more French, too.

Sanguine Cake

I know this is not really a post you would expect to see from me after months and months of posting about nothing, but this has been buried for over a year and I felt like I needed to finally push the "post" button on it. So so much has happened-- we moved from Paris to...well, nowhere really, and during the covid crisis, no less. It's been a wild ride.

Camp Night

Our friends have a fireplace and occasionally have what they call "camp night", or "let's have s'mores" night. Luckily, we're here for a month, so we got to participate with them.  The most brilliant thing that they did was use petit ecolier cookies.  They're a plain cookie with a slab of dark or milk chocolate on them, so it eliminates the need to cut a piece of chocolate and try to keep it on a graham cracker.

Cake au Yaourt

It's been a while since I've made one of these, but now that we're going to be in quarantine for a whole month, it may be time to dust off this French yogurt cake.  I found this recipe soon after moving to Paris and slightly adjusted it. You can see the first tutorial video I did on it here.  It's great to make with your little ones, and what's great about it is that you really don't have to be super exact.  You can use a 4oz yogurt tub as the measuring cup for all of the ingredients, so even a toddler can easily participate.

My French Quarantine: Things to do with Kids

A few weeks ago my husband and I made plans to spend the weekend with another family in Normandy.  It just so happened that our plans fell on the weekend that France went on lockdown.  Right now we're on day 11 and we're so thankful that we're here in Normandy instead of Paris. I love Paris, but two little kids + a baby + no wifi + tiny apartment = disaster.  Here, the kids have a huge yard to run around in and friends to play with.  We also have a home school schedule, and I think it helps having all of them doing work because it gives it more of a "this is school time" vibe.

Boulangerie: Le Boulanger de la Tour




Today I walked to my dentist's office (happy to report no cavities or other problems), and since I was in the neighborhood I popped over to the river.