Ferney-Voltaire Market and Styling the Bump: 26 Weeks.

 

 

We switched up our routine a little bit this weekend and decided to head to the Ferney-Voltaire market, instead of our Thoiry market. For those of you long time readers, you may remember that when we first moved to France, we spent almost 3 months living in Ferney-Voltaire before finding our dreamboat place in Thoiry.

 

 

You may also remember my obsession with Voltaire's chateau...but I digress. As a result, there always has been, and always will be, a special place in my heart for this little French town, as a lot of my French firsts happened here...

 

 

...such as my first French cafe experience, my first French market, and my first time shopping solo in a French supermarket (more intimidating than it sounds, believe me).

 

 

The Ferney-Voltaire market is also a contrast from our Thoiry village market, in that it is much larger and has a bigger selection of pretty much everything.

 

 

So unlike in Thoiry, if you can't find something at one stand, you can probably find it at multiple others in Ferney...

 

 

...that being said, there are also more crowds, and you lose that teeny tiny village feel a bit.

 

{Voltaire's Chateau}

 

{Checking out some figs.}

 

You really can't lose either way if you're looking for that French market feel, at least in my humble expat opinion.

 



Oh and hey, why not shove a styling the bump post into this Monday post as well, shall we? (Read: This is the only day I dressed cute during week 26...)

 

{26 weeks and 2 days}

 

 

Dress: Hatch Collection, Date Night Dress

Hat: Brixton

Belt: Skinny skull belt from a little shop in Manhattan Beach, CA

Basket: Hand made from a woman at the Thoiry market

Flip flops: Havaianas

 

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Fig banana honey milkshake.



 

At this point of my pregnancy (26 weeks and a day), I have not been able to stop eating. For serious. Still no cravings yet, which I find weird. At least this means I've been able to continue my healthy eating lifestyle, aside from a slight increase in croissants, pain aux chocolat, and swiss chocolate. I've definitely been a lot more active this week than in past weeks though, so maybe that has something to do with the insatiable hunger? Regardless, it's been so hot lately that making anything that requires turning the stove on for more than 5 minutes is just pure hell. (See ya, one cup of coffee a day!) Homekid needs their nutrients however, so I've been preparing foods on the colder end of the spectrum. Behold! The fig banana and honey smoothie!

 

I adapted this recipe from one I found on pinterest, which you can find here. Here's my take on it, for all those interested in sampling it's sweet goodness:

 

Fig Banana and Honey Milkshake:

 

3 large or 5 medium sized fresh figs

1 banana (frozen or not, your call...I didn't have the patience to wait for it to freeze)

1/2 cup of organic whole milk

1 cup of organic vanilla bean ice cream

1-2 spoonfuls of organic local honey (I used one, next time I'll use 2)

 

Put all ingredients in a blender or immersion blender (we use the immersion blender for everything, including the above recipe). Blend. Consume. Smile.

 

 

My only problem now is that I'm out of figs. Merde. The Sunday Thoiry market cannot come soon enough! I've got some more fig recipes up my sleeve, so fingers crossed for a nice assortment this weekend.

 

Happy Friday everyone! Got any sweet plans for the weekend?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Morning walk.

 

 

I've been trying to get out and move whenever I've felt up to it that last few weeks, but lately the heat has been a bit of an issue - except when it comes to practicing Bikram yoga of course. I kid you not, when I practiced the other morning it was a little over 28 C/82 F in our room before I even turned the heaters on. But I digress...

 

{Bonjour Latte!}

 

I'm still feeling a little tired from our hike on Sunday and practicing yoga yesterday, but really wanted to get out for a walk today...

 

{Walnut tree}

 

 

...and damn it was pretty out today...

 

 

...and quiet.

 

 

I could only muster "one loop" today (each "loop" is a little over a mile), but I was just happy to get out and do a little "hill work," say hi to Latte the billy goat (I have no idea what his name actually is, but he looks like a Latte to me), and stretch my legs.

 

{Fig leaf and Oxalis Triangularis flowers}

 

It probably didn't help that I was out walking around noon, rather than say 9 am. I don't know why temperatures in the low 80s seem so un-Godly hot to me, after years upon years of dealing with over 100 degree F temperatures during Philadelphia summers. I don't blame it entirely on pregnancy either. I'm sure that's not helping, but I'm finally realizing that I not only miss air conditioners, but access to quality fans. We'll just chock that up to the list of things that I'm not loving this week...

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey



Before & After: Nursery Dresser/Changing Table

I wrote a few weeks back about the special delivery we were receiving from one of the local second hand shops - one item of which was destined for before and after greatness! (If I do say so myself...)

 

Doc really took charge of this project as my fatigue levels have been high over the past few weeks, and I have never actually painted furniture before. (I make a GREAT supervisor though...)

 

We were going back and forth on the color choices for a bit, but after a recent trip to Toulon, and noticing the particular green color of a large majority of the shutters around town, we opted for the color Provence Vert. I've been in love with this color since we moved to SwitzerFrance 3.5 years ago, as it is also a popular color for shutters in our region, but seeing it in Toulon cemented it as the color paint we were destined to use.

 

 

Deciding on the color wasn't so much of an issue as trying to pick the perfect drawer knobs for the project. My initial inklings were towards flowery knobs or ones with gold on them, where Doc was leaning towards heavy metal knobs.

 

When our local Leroy Merlin started their soldes however, we literally went in and bought 40-some drawer knobs (they were THAT discounted), of unexpected high quality, so we could see for ourselves on the actual newly painted dresser.

 

And we figured, hey, there will be more refinishing projects in our future, why not have a bunch of extra sweet French drawer knobs?

 

We ended up choosing the design that was my favorite of our choices, and are loving the result. Every time I walk past the nursery I can't help but stare at it. Doc seriously did a great job.

 

Working on the nursery together has been such great fun, and I can't wait to continue getting it ready for Homekid. We've got some great ideas and DIY projects to work on for it, and I can't wait to share them, and the final result, once we're done.

 

How about you? Did you go with all new furniture for your child's nursery? All vintage? A mixture of the two?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey 

Styling the Bump and Things Making me Happy: 25 weeks

 

 

When I was back at my parent's house in April/May, my parents spoiled me a bit. My mom surprised me with a few new pieces from some local shops that were non-maternity, but flowy enough that they could work as I get bigger, and bigger and bigger. I'm very lucky for this because up until this point, I didn't have much that would have worked at that point (or my current point for that matter) in my pregnancy, aside from some of the aforementioned items.  

 

 

Dress: Free People (non-maternity)

Belt: Same one I've been rocking the last few weeks, skinny skull belt from a little shop in Manhattan Beach, CA

Flip flops: Havaianas

 

And while on the point of pregnancy...

 

Things I'm loving right now:

 

1. I've been wanting to get a hot water bottle for what feels like forever (I have yet to see an electric blanket here), and we finally found my dreamboat one this weekend at a local shop:

 

 

I've never used one before but I'm excited to, at least once the temperatures cool off again for those 8 and 9 month pregnancy aches and pains.

 

2. Cherry Pitter:

 

 

Again, something I've been coveting for some time now. Man did it make a difference, compared to pitting them by hand. And it's perfect for someone like me who has a penchant for saving seeds. We used it to prep cherries for pickling, which hey, bt-dubbs, I'll be sharing that recipe this week, so make sure to check back!  

 

3, Les soldes! We were able to score the drawer knobs for Homekid's dresser/changing table for a fifth of the price! We've finished the project completely now, so look for a Before and After post  tomorrow!

 

Things I'm not loving right now:

 

 

1. I've been breaking a lot of things lately, not on purpose of course. It's like I'm a bull in a china shop or something. An hour before people showed up for our 4th of July BBQ I knocked over the entire drying rack of wine glasses and shattered 3 or 4 all over the counter and kitchen/living room floor. (Which of course came shortly after the conversation "Wow, I really wrapped ALL of our glassware in bubblewrap for the move that didn't happen, didn't I?") Then yesterday, of no fault of my own, I opened the fridge and somehow a large bottle of what I can only imagine would have been a delicious german beer fell out of the fridge door and onto my foot. Luckily there was no blood, but the bottle shattered everywhere. I did have to pick two small pieces of glass out of my foot though, and our floor smelled like I had mopped it with beer. Ugh.   

 

 

2. I'm not sleeping well, at all. You'd think after our hike on Sunday I'd have slept like a baby, but it turns out that when the baby is actually in your belly it's hard to get comfortable, even when trying to get a very well deserved night of beauty rest. Between not being able to get comfortable and the temperatures being in the upper 70s/lower 80s again, I'm not exactly jumping out of bed in the morning. Two tower fans for the whole house can only do so much... 

 

3. Flies! I love that our windows don't have screens, but for about a 6 week period in the summer it becomes the bane of our existence. We are straight up surrounded by cow pastures and wheat fields, so our open windows at this point of the summer are like big "bienvenue" signs for horse flies and soon-to-be mosquitoes to wander and stroll about our place.     

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey