5 Joie De Vivre {Simple Joys In Life}

Joie De Vivre. 

The simple joys in  life that I am thankful for.

{Rose drops imported from France. They taste like the smell of a dozen fragrant roses. So lovely -- an instant feminine pick-me-up}

{Last Thursday evening the clouds looked warm and cozy. They cast an amber glow all over town. It was a brilliant feeling -- best described as a cloud hug}

{It's almost lemon season.}

 {I bought a dozen red roses for the house. It's such a treat to have these on the table.}

{Homemade nutmeg coffee with my man.}

Blueberry Honeydew Smoothie

Ingredients:
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup honeydew
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons condensed milk
1 cup ice cubes

blend on high until smooth.

Bon Epi French Macarons

We went to this awesome French Cafe the other night called Bon Epi. They had the most amazing macarons you could ever imagine {besides Laduree}. Taro, armoretti orange blossom, coconut, pistachio, chocolate hazelnut, vanilla bean, white chocolate passion fruit, earl grey tea, dark chocolate and sea salt caramel are just a few of their many flavors. I also heard that their Strawberry cream croissants are super yummy.

 

 

 

Pho Night

It was a cold night so we warmed up with some pho. Mmmmm.

 

My Current Obsession

Roasted coconut chips from Trader Joe's.

They have a wild texture and taste that blows my mind. 

 

TJ's describes them as:

Mature coconuts soaked in fresh young coconut milk,

roasted with a touch of salt and sugar.

Mmmm. So good.

 

A Grown-up Girls Only Party

So Shannon and I were talking the other day... it's funny how you reach that point in life when sleepovers at your friends house become a thing of the past. We grow-up, get married and have babies -- quick lunch dates over foo foo salads take the place of that quality girl time we had when we were younger. So we decided to have a girls night with all the works: face masks, nail polish, chocolate and an endless array of junk food all centered around a big air mattress, pillows and blankets. Everyone brought a treat or drink to share. We lounged around in our jammies, laughed at our high school pictures and caught each other up on life. It was a blast -- A well needed reminder of the good old days.

 

 

Here is the picture we used for our invite. Haha. Love it.

 

 

Pictures: Last picture from Tumblr

Cold Cherry Cream Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups of sweet cherry juice
1 cup dark Morello cherries
1 cup of light cherry syrup from the Morello cherry jar
1 cup half and half
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Serve in bowls.