love list friday: 2.24.12

The first love list of the year, after an unintentional hiatus. Posting it a day early to make up for the long neglect. So here goes -- this week I'm feeling grateful for:

• French lessons with Paris as our classroom. I had my first session with my new tutor this week, and since it was sunny and only mildly freezing, we opted for sitting on a bench in Luxembourg Gardens and then strolling around the Latin Quarter while he pointed out interesting old buildings. If only high school French classes had been like this, I'm sure I'd have been fluent by now.
• The Carcassone app for my iphone -- a Valentine's gift from Benjamin. Perhaps it doesn't sound like a very romantic present, but you don't know my love/obsession for this game. 

• Sunshine! For an all-too-brief span of three days there were blue skies and milder temperatures in Paris this week. Having spent the past several years in Florida and California, I'd forgotten how gray winter can seep into your skin and slowly drain your energy and happiness (am tasting firsthand the effects of S.A.D. this year), so the sunlight was amazingly therapeutic.

• Green smoothies. Have you jumped on this bandwagon yet? With the aforementioned winter blues and a general feeling of non-optimum-health-ness pervading my days, I've been making the effort to get back into juicing fruits and veggies. I have noticed a subtle increase in energy, and possibly more clarity of mind since I started drinking them again. My current favorite concoction is a recipe given to me by friend and longtime juicer maura: orange, celery, inch of ginger, and kale (I substitute red leaf lettuce), to which I sometimes add a bit of avocado and almond milk.
• Having my photos professionally printed, framed, and hung on our walls. I love posting my photos here and elsewhere online, but there is something about making the images tangible and seeing them outside of the screen of my computer that makes me feel like I truly created something.

Bon weekend a tous!

xoxo,

Lilie