French Friday: Apéro au Meurice

le 4 octobre 2018 (278/365)

« Silence traversé au-delà quelques reflets, il y a quelqu’un derrière l’horizon 

mais il se fait tard allons soupers sous la spirale étroite des murmures 

que domine un petit jardin, ceci et cela. Le troisième acte est le plus court.  »

~ Citation sur le plafond du restaurant Dali au Meurice 

Half Full

September 8, 2018 (251/365)

"See the glass half full...see the beauty and the hope for tomorrow." ~ Craig Sager 

As I wandered around the yard this afternoon, struggling to find something to photograph and lamenting 

the state of my garden after a week of heavy rain, I suddenly realized that my glass was actually half-full...almost!

Next Best Thing

 August 7, 2018 (219/365)

“I had [almost] forgotten how gently time passes in Paris. 

As lively as the city is, there’s a stillness to it, a peace that lures you in. 

In Paris, with a glass of wine in your hand, you can just be.” ~ Kristin Hannah

When you and your friend are missing Paris, lingering for hours over lunch in a café might be the next best thing.

Measurement

July 30, 2018 (211/365)

"The true measure of a summer well-spent is how many books you've read (and how many empty bottles are in your recycle bin)!" ~ N.C.

"How's your summer going?" --  It's a question that is often posed to educators who are "off" in the summertime. I have spent a lot of time at school, so one could argue that this hasn't been the greatest summer for me. However, a very wise friend has developed her own measure of a successful summer "break" that involves books and wine. By her accounting, 2018 has been quite a good summer for me. There has been a respectable quantity of rosé, unoaked Chardonnay, and lavender cider bottles in our bin throughout the summer and I have read several books -- so many that the "To Read" shelf of my Goodreads account is dwindling fast.

Here's the rundown of what I've read so far:

• Historical Fiction: Call Me Zelda (Zelda Fitzgerald), The Aviator's Wife (Anne Morrow Lindbergh), Love and Ruin (Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gelhorn), My Salinger Year
• Literary Fiction: The Lost Vintage, Paris by the Book, Currently Reading: Rules of Civility
• Biography: The Bettencourt Affair: The World's Richest Woman and the Scandal that Rocked Paris, The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (Sorry, Walter Isaacson, but I had to add the Oxford Comma missing in your title!), Leonardo da Vinci, Jackie, Janet, and Lee: The Other Side of Camelot
• Short Stories: Uncommon Type (Tom Hanks)
• Self-Improvement/Awareness: The French Art of Not Giving a Sh*t, Home Sweet Maison
• Pewaukee High School Summer Reading Books: A List of Cages and The Power of Moments

Any suggestions -- wine or books -- to make my summer even better?

Happy Hour

June 12, 2018 (163/365)

"Why limit happy to an hour? ~ W.C. Fields • Bubble bees sipping Chardonnay [Pearls]

Week 22 - Creative: Door

May 30, 2018 (150/365) • Week 22 - Creative: Door

[A symbol of transition, a door or a gate provide a passage way.]

#dogwoodweek22, #dogwood52, #dogwood2018 • ƒ/2.2, 1/1172, ISO32

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls." ~ Joseph Campbell

Pretending...

March 24, 2018 (083/365) • It really doesn't feel like spring, but I'm pretending it does.

"The winds of March were wild and drear that Spring, we thought, never would be here." ~ Arthur Hugh Clough 

Ladurée

February 22, 2018 (053/365)

"Paris is a world meant for the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail." ~ Edmund White

[...and after 25,323 steps, 10 miles, and 13 flights of stairs, these walkers earned a lovely glass of rosé and a macaron or two in this charming café.

Pink Champagne

February 18, 2018 (049/365) • National Drink Wine Day

“Champagne makes you feel like it’s Sunday and there are better days around the corner.” ~ Marlene Dietrich

Who can resist pink Champagne? Especially when it comes with its own purse?

Final Rendez-vous

January 7, 2018 (007/365)

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, 

and they're always glad you came. " ~ Cheers

It's adieu to our favorite watering hole, but à bientôt to our Okauchee friends.

French Friday: Santé

le 29 décembre 2017 (363/365)

« Le champagne aide à l'émerveillement. » ~ George Sand

Je vous souhaite une nouvelle année pleine de merveille. Santé!

Cheers!

November 20, 2017 (324/365) Happy Birthday, Eric!

"Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words." ~ Plautus

Sunday Funday

 October 1, 2017 (274/365)

"A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content." ~ Proverb

It's not Paris, but a great lunch with a great friend, French wine, and dessert 

on a sunny terrace in October is a great way to spend a Sunday.

Wisconsin Weekend

September 17, 2017 (260/365)

“Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather 

and a little music played out of doors...” ~ John Keats. 

I enjoyed all of the above this weekend: a great book (The Boys in the Boat), beautiful weather for the Marquette alumni regatta, and wine, fruit, and music at the Delafield Art Walk and Cedarburg Wine and Harvest Fest. If Keats had been a Wisconsinite, he surely would have added colorful foliage and a Packer game, making this a nearly perfect autumn weekend.

Evening on Okauchee Lake

August 13, 2017 (225/365)

"Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, 

cast your eyes to the summer sky 

when when the stars are strung across the velvety night. 

And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, 

turning night into day... make a wish and think of me." ~ Robin Williams 

Thank you, Tom and Gabriele, for a lovely evening on Okauchee Lake,

watching the meteor showers with good friends and good wine.

Grape Expectations

July 25, 2017 (206/365)

"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes...

There must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen." ~ Epictetus