i made chocolate

Because I am a responsible person who knows her own limits I decided to make only the chocolate bars and to skip the idea of the scented satchels. I made three variations:

-White chocolate with exotic dried fruits. (I added some grated coconut to the melted chocolate. Yummy!!)

-Milk chocolate (with a hint of white) sparkled with cake decoration.


-Dark chocolate with nuts and raisins decorated with white chocolate. (My favorite!!)


It was pretty easy to make, but make sure to buy a LOT of chocolate! You can add various spices to make it even more delicious. I really enjoyed the experimenting!

Now they are in the fridge and in a couple of hours they will be ready to be packed.

Coming back soon!

Être et avoir - To be and to have

'Deux chaises, une table, un lit, un toit, c'était tout ce qu'on avait
Vingt ans, pourtant, des rêves en grand
C'était tout ce qu'il nous fallait
Voiture, maison, c'est sûr, c'est bon
Maintenant qu'est-ce que ça cache ?
Ça nous remplit, ça nous rend pas meilleurs pour autant que je sache

Car tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a

Plus beau, plus cher, plus riche, plus fort, voilà tout ce qu'on adore
Autant d'efforts, tous ces trésors, on en fait quoi, quand on sera mort
Que tout cet or en banque, ces armes
Ces tanks, alors que c'est d'amour que l'on manque
Et l'être humain l'est un peu moins depuis qu'il s'est fait avoir ?

Car tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Tout ce qu'on n'est pas tout ce qu'on a

Deux chaises, une table, un lit, un toit, c'était tout ce qu'on avait.
Il en faut peu pour être heureux, moi, c'est tout ce que je sais

Tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Oui, tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Oui, tout ce qu'on est, pas tout ce qu'on a
Tout ce qu'on est, moi, c'est tout ce que je vois.'

Even if you do not understand French, you will understand the message. Plus it is a great song!
Basically it is about how many unnecessary thing we buy and how our stuff define who we are. On Zazie's latest album the songs are divided into 7 parts, i.e. 7 days of the week. This song 'Être et avoir' is among the Saturday songs because in France (and in Belgium) this is the day of consuming with the shops being closed on Sunday.
If you want a lame google translation click here.

Have a nice shopping-free weekend!

winter magic

The park looked almost magical today.





But it did not prevent us from having some winter fun!!

look of the day

I am loving everything about this look from the Zara lookbook...

The only thing with Zara is that I love a lot of things in their webshop, but in the store I am usually disappointed with the quality.

weekend recap

So many thoughts, but so little time to blog. We had a quite lazy yet exhausting weekend which is perfectly possible around our home.

Lazyness involved:
-an amazing book on lofts (a surprise from my husband, thanks :-), reading blogs and drinking some wine

-kids playing with PlayStation Move which is an amazing alternative to 'just sit in front of the screen and pushing buttons' kind of games. So much fun! Here is Daniel brushing the teeth of a crocodile :-)

-this happened to my hair. Still unsure if I liked the result... maybe I will show it to you later...

-sale finds: Sessún boots from Yoox and some stripes and greys from COS and Toast

-a temporarty lighing solution for the entry...

The busy part involved going through our stuff, organizing, decluttering, recyling, giving away, selling on e-bay during which process I realized how much I hated most of our stuff. We had some BAD-BAD shopping habits before and that has to come to an END!!!

I am really busy right now, more inspiring and less bitter content coming soon!!

capsule wardrobe for spring

As almost every year my keywords are: timeless, classic, simple. Based on these criteria I put together a capsule wardrobe for spring. Some of these pieces I have already, some I would like to buy now and some will probably remain out of budget forever :-(

1. White linen jacket - the most perfect cover up for spring.

2. A feminine blouse - I love solid colored clothes with nice details like embroideries.

3. A camp-style chambray shirt - to introduce some utilitarian chic. This one is very affordable.

4. A classic breton top - I love the moden styling of this one.

5. A vintage snakeskin bag - is destined to become a wardrobe staple. It adds the right amount of edge to any outfit.

6. A pair of chinos - the less fuss about the details the best if you ask me.

7. Cigarette pants = classic chic!

8. A nice vintage watch with leather strap - I dream about finding a vintage Hermes watch one day!

9. White brogues - are more unique than the brown or the black versions.

10. Ray-Ban wayfarers - shall I say more?

11. A classic leather belt - I seriously need to buy a good-quality leather belt.

12. A nice classic silk scarf - this is really versatile and makes you look really Parisian!

And here are some of my outfit ideas. You can wear the belt over the jacket or shirt as well as in a proper way with the top tucked in the pants. Also you can wear the scarf in your head or you can adorn your bag with it.

a big thank you to BODIE and FOU

The lovely Karine from the gorgeous store BODIE and FOU has just informed me that I won the Living etc giveaway organized on their über-inspiring blog. Could you believe it? I have never won anything in my life! And now I will receive one of my favorite decorating magazines for a whole year!!

Thanks a milion to BODIE and FOU!!!

decorating never should be intentional

Decorating never should be intentional. Your home should change as you change. Let it evolve and transform slowly and carefully. Add things you like one-by-one and your home will start reflecting your SELF. Never force anything. Allow only things into your home that come to you naturally. That you feel comfortable with. YOU are the king of your home. You can do whatever you want. Let your home be the place that nurtures YOU emotionally, physically and intellectually.  
 all photos - via the absolutely amazing OLD CHUM - are linked to their sources

easter in france no. 1

first destination: colmar, alsace, france

it was like a fairy-tale...
I am in love with france more than ever...

easter in france no.2

next destination: strasbourg

an utterly beautiful, vivid city with a charming historic downtown and a good laid-back french atmosphere

just lovely!