Monthly Archives

February 2020

beauty, deep thoughts

Dream a Little Dream for Me

February 29, 2020

What a paradox. We live in hustle culture, yet no one shares what they’re hustling for until it happens. The dream can’t have a voice until it’s come true, held secretly in the heart away from prying eyes until, suddenly, it springs forth as a perfectly packaged ‘after’.

I don’t think or live like that. My dreams are my constant companion. I want to talk about them, let them out into the light of day so that if they happen someday, you won’t feel like it was effortless. You’ll see the struggle and strain and self-belief that took time to develop and bring to fruition.

Here are the little dreams I hold in my heart:

  • To determine the cadence of my days. To move in the world according to my own clock, not the clock of a boss who cares that my body is in a seat looking busy.
  • To write books upon books upon books upon blogs and blogs. There are so many held in my soul waiting to be shared.
  • To work with my dogs by my side always.
  • To live a life of simplicity and peace. Good food, joyful and abundant movement, adequate sleep, space to think and read and go inward and to connect intimately with the humans I love in a way where they feel heard and supported and loved.
  • To experience and witness the world in all its lustre and beauty.
  • To trust deeply in the abundance of the universe. To release my fear around money and to live in full financial freedom.

What about you? What is your little dream? Please let me be your witness and cheerleader.

books

2 Great Books

February 28, 2020

I recently read a couple of books that I still can’t stop thinking about.

The first was Sally Field’s In Pieces (Amazon). It’s beautifully written and painfully honest. It paints such a vivid picture of the trauma and triumph that was going on behind the scenes of her prolific, impactful career. I’ve always loved Sally Field, but now I admire her courage to tell the truth of her life in a way that both acknowledges the hurt she endured while acknowledging the hurt she caused for people she loves as a result of her own unresolved trauma. What a brave, wonderful woman.

Okay, full disclosure on this one: be prepared to cry big, huge, prolific alligator tears starting about halfway through this book and until you turn the last page. Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams (Amazon) is a book about Yip-Williams’ experience with cancer. It’s not an easy read, but it’s searing and honest and, naturally, causes a lot of self-reflection. I read this on the plane home from Maui, which was a sad way to end our vacation, but I believe it was a blessing from the universe because reading it galvanized me to be honest about the fear I was carrying into my wedding with Keith and to finally reach out for the therapy support I so badly needed. I’ll always be thankful for this book because of that, but even if it doesn’t change your life, it’s just a really wonderful read.

Are you reading anything great? I’m in a bit of a reading lull lately, but I’d love to know what you’re loving lately.

Images via nytimes and amazon.

damn delicious, recipes I've tried and liked

Damn Delicious: French Onion Soup of my Dreams

February 27, 2020

Guys, this recipe is a dead ringer for the onion soup I ate in the amazing sidewalk cafes of Paris.

A dead ringer, I say!

This is a big freaking deal. I had almost resigned myself to a sad existence where I couldn’t find a soup that approximated the near-religious experience I had when I ate my first bowl of soup while in Paris. I had eaten French Onion Soup while in the U.S. and I liked it, but that soup on that rainy day took things to a whole new level and I couldn’t look back. And, I couldn’t face the thought that I would only find that soup on highly expensive, rare trips to Paris.

So, when I came home, I was a woman on a French Onion Soup mission. I tried making it in the crockpot. Good, but not close. I bought it at La Boulangerie. It was okay, but nowhere near as good. I even tried it when we were in Maui with Maui onions. Nope!

When I was deep in my onion soup resignation, I somehow came across a Smitten Kitchen recipe from almost a year ago. I read through it. It seemed so simple. I had to try again.

I decided to try my hand on a Friday at 7pm. It’s not exactly the time I recommend undertaking a French Onion Soup endeavor as my soup was ready around 9pm. But, wow, it was worth the wait.

Click over to Smitten Kitchen for the full recipe because she describes the process better than I ever could. I just want to add a few notes why I think this try took my soup over the top:

  • Cook the onions until you just can’t stand it. Mine were a deep brown when I finally deglazed the pan with the sherry. Don’t burn them, but don’t be afraid to get them to a deep, almost jammy brown.
  • Buy good broth! The best broth you can buy without feeling like you are a wasteful hedonist. I bought a bag of this beef bone broth from Trader Joe’s and also mixed in some of the Costco Kirkland Chicken bone broth. Because it’s such a simple recipe, the ingredients really matter.
  • Don’t skip the little things. I did the fresh Thyme and also the Bay Leaf. Deb says you don’t really need it. I think you might.
  • Buy good bowls that you’re not afraid to put under your broiler. I bought these from Amazon. It’s scary to put already boiling soup in a broiler, but when they come out all bubbly and delicious-looking, you’ll be happy.
  • Get the bread nice and toasty. I cooked my toasts in a pan with some butter and garlic powder and I didn’t regret it for one second.
  • ALLLLL the cheese. Put more than you think you need. Grating it helps with the ultimate meltage.

Do you love French Onion Soup? Obviously, I’m obsessed.

Image via.