what i love right now

 

a few things I'm loving right now...

1. breathe deep yogi tea. I am suffering from a nasty cold, or maybe nasty allergies and this tea is one of the things that is saving me. Unlike other medicinal teas (throat coat anyone? yuck!), breathe deep actually tastes good. Yogi teas are some of my absolute favorites and whenever they're on sale, I have to snag a box or two. 

2. my kindle. I don't know what took me so long but I am absolutely obsessed with my kindle. It's so convenient and just plain wonderful and fuels my love of reading even more than before. It was so great to have on Europe, and it's awesome for my daily commute!

3. bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. I'm currently reading this and I just love it. I have read cold tangerines previously by Shauna, and I just love her take on faith, on life and just so many things. She's honest, not preachy, and sometimes downright hilarious. 

4. spring flowers! I love cheery daffodils, tulips and cherry blossoms that are filling my neighborhood! (of course, they could be the reason for all my sinus sufferings...)

I am also loving that it's almost the weekend! I think it's going to be a busy one, but I'm still looking forward to it. The first week back at the day job after vacation is always a tough transition. :)

What are you loving right now?

xo, erika

sponsor love: shillcat

I'm interrupting the Europe recap posts to talk about accessories. I don't know what it is but this spring I am loving bracelets to pile on my arms, bright purses, and bold necklaces. I'm excited to share with you a new accessory shop, Shillcat, that showcases all of that.



Shillcat has gorgeous, bright accessories and is run by Lana, who explained how she started this new shop.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a strong interest and passion for fashion design, but only about one year ago I decided to start Shillcat when I was dignosed with a kind of brain tumor which has
prevented me working out of my house. One thing led to another and then I am here working hard to offer to my clients the latest in terms of fashion and quality!

Our slogan is “Your style in own beautiful way," which reveals much about our culture.We believes that fashion trends should be explored, not forced upon you. Our style guarantees to help every woman out. Style should never be complicated, and it should be an expression of you, something
that excites you, and helps you demonstrate to the world your creativity, and who you are."

These are a few of things I'm eying at Shillcat:

 1. faux leather orange clutch // 2.  bright necklace // 3. orange satchel purse // 4. vintage-style emerald earrings // 5. teal studded bracelet

Lana is offering 15 percent off to rouge and whimsy readers so you can stock up on some spring accessories. Most of her prices are pretty reasonable, and with a discount, they're an absolute steal. :)

Connect with Shillcat on facebook // blog // twitter // pinterest

what are your favorite accessories for spring?

xo, erika

je t'adore, paris

This was my second time to France. The first time, it was my mom and I and we spent two weeks in the country, which further cemented my love for it.
I was afraid, that after all I did to talk France up, the husband wouldn't like it. Kind of like when you talk up a movie, only to have a friend dislike it when they finally see it. But luckily, life isn't like a movie, and the husband enjoyed France just as much as I did.

 we rented the most charming flat through airbnb. Our first place we had reserved fell through but with some finagling and good customer service from airbnb, all was not lost and we ended up renting an incredible apartment from a graduate student in the Marais neighborhood. We loved it.

 

baguette in front of the Tour Eiffel. (We ate a lot of baguettes...)

 Notre Dame.

 The Louvre

 Montmartre and Sacre Coeur

Marches aux Puces (flea market)

 

Fountainebleau Chateau

 

And to answer a question I get a lot: No, we didn't have any problem with people being overly rude with us. We were polite and people were polite in return! However, I do speak a tiny bit of French, and so would usually try to speak to them first. Usually the Parisians just responded in English. Apparently my accent is that obvious. :)

xo, erika

I saw London

 layering in London: blouse: JC Penney // sweater: Madewell (two years ago) // jacket, jeans: Nordstrom // boots: ebay

As you may know, I went on a little trip. And now that I've returned, I was considering how many photos, how many blog posts would I dedicate to my trip?

I asked someone and they wisely told me, "Erika, it's your blog. You went to Europe and you don't have kids, so you need something to blab on about."

So it's decided: I'm going to blab on for a bit about Europe for a few posts. I hope you stick around, but if not, I get it. :)

The husband and I spent a total of five days in London, and they were split between two short trips. Overall, my thought on London was 1) it was very cold 2) it was very expensive.

When we were there, they were having the coldest March on record. It snowed a few times and the temperatures rarely hit above 40. The gloves I bought our first day there ended up being my best purchase the entire trip.

Despite the weather, we had a great time and nerded out over all the touristy-history things. Our favorites? The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the two soccer...er football games we attended.

Here's a few photos from our trip: 

 

 

Tomorrow- France!

xo, erika

lessons from europe & vacations

The post could alternatively be called lessons from vacation because I think whenever we return from a good break, we come back refreshed, inspired and hopefully with new perspectives.

Specifically, I feel like I've been thinking about a few lessons that I learned from Europe and being on vacation.

We are all human: Even though we were in western Europe, which honestly is not that entirely different from the U.S., it was refreshing to be around people who spoke differently, thought differently and acted differently. London, in particular, is a melting pot of people and when you throw in tourists from all over, you suddenly get it: we are all just human. We all have the same wants and needs: to be loved, to be taken care of, and to live will-- despite our zipcode, language or accent.

Slow it down: I do things fast, I like being busy, and I rarely savor anything. Yet in Europe, especially France, the expectation is to savor everything. Coffee is not to go, coffee is for sitting and lingering over as you people watch and as you engage with those with you. After eating, the check is not presented immediately, you have to ask for it and even so, after you finish a meal, you're expected to order dessert, a coffee or just sit awhile longer. There's no rush.

I am trying to carry that sentiment with me. I am guilty too often of shoving people into time slots-- fitting in coffee dates or phone calls into a small number of hours on a weekend day. Rather, I should allow myself to linger, to order a second cup of coffee and slow it down. This is the one life God gave me and there's no rush to get it over with.

 cooking dinner in our little flat in Paris

Small is better: Everything in America is so big. Our houses, our cars, our grocery stores! Being in Europe and shopping at small shops and staying in small hotels and flats and guest houses-- it made me feel like back home I was taking up more room than I needed to. Do I need to go and get things in bulk from Costco? Do I need more t-shirts because Target has them on sale? Does my house need to be bigger? I'm pretty sure the answer to these questions is a resounding no.


Of course all of these things are all just a stream of consciousness-- things that have been bouncing around in my head as I traveled, and now as I've returned, things that bounce in my head as I sit here typing with my cup of green tea. I think I tend to stumble on little truths-- little lessons-- and I forget them quite quickly. I am hoping that in writing them down and sharing them, I am somehow keeping myself accountable. But you are welcome to keep me accountable, too.

xo, erika