Monday, June 21, 2010

Happy Anniversary



We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary this past weekend by splurging on a nice dinner out. If you can't ditch the kids at the Grandparents house and spend a weekend relaxing alone in a hotel, why not just blow the same amount of money on one big meal! Don't laugh, it was close.

But we both thoroughly enjoyed the late, quiet, just-fancy-enough-to-make-it-special-while-not-being-too-fancy-to-make-you-uncomfortable atmosphere of the restaurant. The place was recommended to Phil by a French friend at work. We were excited to try a place the locals enjoy. And I can say without a doubt it, was the best food I've EVER tasted in my life. It was beautifully presented, it was fresh, and it was gourmet.

I chose the three course meal (which included an entrée, plat, and dessert) while Phil went all out and selected the five course meal (which included an soup, entrée, plat, cheese plate, and dessert).

Here are some pictures of the fancy food and tiny portions.
This cold mintish soup was brought out first. I think they said it was to cleanse the palate. Which is good, because the night before I ate at McDonalds with the kids!

This was my entrée. It was a some sort of tomato and eggplant tarte thing with Parmesan cheese. Salad greens dressed with just delicious olive oil are a staple around the Mediterranean. And the cold gazpacho soup was perfectly refreshing.

This is Phil's veal filet. He wanted me to include the picture of the fork on the plate so everyone could have a reference for the scale. Yes, he could have eaten the morsel in one bite, but he slowly savored the tenderness of the meat.

This is the dessert platter for one person. I love that the dessert portions are never small. The glass dish had some sort of creamy, mousse with lemon and berry flavoring. Usually, I don't see the point of eating desserts without chocolate, but this creamy stuff was out-of-this-world.

The exceptional quality of the food, the smooth red wine and my boyishly-handsome husband* sitting across the table from me made for a memorable night out celebrating our marriage.

Happy seven years, honey...you are exposed to, and the recipient of, so much of the selfishness, pride, and moodiness that I work so hard to keep others from seeing. Thank you for being a picture of Christ's love for the church as you daily forgive me for all that ugliness and chose to love me so unconditionally. You are my best friend and I am looking forward to the next seven, and seventy years. ahead.

*When Phil picked up Lily from school on Friday afternoon, one of the classroom aids asked if he was her "grand frère" (older brother).

Monday, June 14, 2010

"Were You Born in a Barn???"


I can't even tell you how many times I was asked that question by my Dad growing up. He was always referring to my tendency to leave doors or windows open during summer time when the air conditioning was running in the house.

In our house in France, we don't have air conditioning. We have over six sets of French doors and strategically placed windows, like cute little ones up the staircase, which allow for excellent air circulation throughout the house. Screens for windows and doors don't really seems to exist either, so, everyday as all the window and doors are open, the fresh air blows unencumbered through our house and keeps us cool. This way of living--inside, but without barrier to the outside, is one of my favorite things about the house.
The kids run in and out and don't have to worry about closing doors. The terrace out our back doors really does feel like another room in the house. The dog doesn't have to bark to go outside. And the breezes are strong enough to really maintain a comfortable temperature inside the house (I've heard in August this will not necessarily be the case--but we won't be here for August!).

As we begin to near summer and the temperatures get warmer everyday, I am falling in love with the climate. The sun is hot but the air is dry. **Read: My hair is perfectly curly here because there is very little humidity!** And with weather like this, there is no excuse not to hang laundry out after washing it because it takes only minutes to dry.

Yes, Rachel, the problem with everything being so open is bugs, but really, there aren't very many. We shut most of the doors in the evenings and keep the lights low when the mosquitoes start coming around, but sleeping with the windows open at night is my favorite way to sleep--maybe I wasn't "born in a barn", maybe, I was born to live in a French château!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Beach Babies

While the cat is away, the mice will play...

Phil is out on the Charles de Gaulle doing a "mini mission" for five days, so it's been a bit of a long weekend for me. I used to spend his deployments wandering through Target stores for hours at a time, eating dinner out with friends, and road tripping to visit family. But here, all those things are impossible. And I understand that Phil being gone for five days is not anywhere close to a deployment, but I can't help myself from thinking what I will do when a real deployment does come while living here. And it WILL.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a happy post...so, on Saturday evening the kids and I packed a picnic dinner and headed to the beach. Have I mentioned how much I love that we can walk there...wow, I LOVE it! And if this place is lonely, at least it's breathtakingly beautiful.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner??? At 6:30??? Yeah, that's right, we're American!

It's technically not a speedo. But it's close enough. He's tough, though, don't you think he can pull it off? Maybe I'll get Phil a matching one?

And if she's not the prettiest beach girl ever, I don't know who is. This girl loves ocean. At only four years old, this girl has spent her summers playing in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and now the Mediterranean.

They had so, so much fun dancing and splashing around.

This is the Charles de Gaulle in the background. The ship came into the port at Toulon and we were able to watch it for awhile. The kids were so happy to see it and wave to their Daddy somewhere on board.


And after the walk home, which includes a pretty sizable hike up a hill, I gave the kids an ice cream bar. Zachary did not walk--he had a free ride in the stroller, where he sucked his thumb and happily kicked his legs--but does he look the kind of kid from which ice cream bars can be withheld? I think not!

And that's how we have fun while living in France when Daddy's is away.