Bits & Pieces: March

A TON of great things happened in March... this year is starting to look up.  Here are my Bits + Pieces from this month. 

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1.  Our "White Rock Lake" here in Egletons.  It is so peaceful and beautiful. 

2.  Mini Minnie. 

3.  New menu item: Picadillo. 

4.  Travel journal.  (Long live Flat Stanley!)

5.  Birthday trip to Italy purchased. 

6.  SEVERAL wine expos. 

7.  Spring Break with my Mom + a hike through the waterfalls of Gimel. 

8.  An old Fossil friend visits! So great catching up with Hollie. 

9.  Colored denim. 

10.  Haircut. 

11.  Much needed reminder. 

12.  Our new car- Megane. 

13.  Lovely nighttime stroll. 

14.  Coffee date... with myself.  Independence. 

15.  Some little Frenchie Sunday School lessons. 

16.  Cowboy night at The Colorado. 

17.  Logan's basketball team in Tulle. 

Italy: Our Plans

We narrowed down our Italy "bucket list" to 3 places: Rome, Siena, and Cinque Terra.

The run down of our week is as follows: 

• April 6th - We arrive in Rome, hop in our rental car, dodge the Vatican/ Pope/ Easter weekend traffic and drive to Siena in Tuscany.  (We are staying in an amazing farm house where they make their own olive oil, jam, and wine!) 
• April 7th - My birthday! We have scheduled a 5 hour wine tour through the Chianti region in Tuscany. So thrilled about this!
• April 8th - Easter Sunday/ Exploring the town of Siena and driving around the countryside. My goal is to find a field FULL of sunflowers!
• April 9th - We wake up and drive to Cinque Terra.  We are staying in the "sleepy town" of Corniglia due to it being the busiest weekend of the YEAR. Oops? Oh well, we don't mind crowds. 
• April 10th - We will do the hike through the 5 towns and end on Monterrosso beach for some much needed relaxation and sun. 
• April 11th - Wake up and drive back to Rome.  We are staying within walking distance to Saint Peters Basilica - can't wait! 
• April 12th - We have tickets to the Vatican/ Sistine Chapel already so we can skip the lines (Thank you for the advice Kristin!) Then we will check out the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, & Spanish Steps. 
• April 13th - We fly back to Bordeaux and drive back home. 

Seriously, thanks to everyone who emailed & commented on our Italy post.  We literally printed them all out and are taking them with us for reference. Shout out to Katy for the amazing Italy book she gave us - very thoughtful gift seester! It is pretty surreal to think we are going next week... I would have never imagined I would ring in my birthday by sipping wine in Tuscany. This may just be the best birthday yet! :) 


Below is our European mantra:

Source: mojitosandblow.tumblr.com via Abby on Pinterest

The Hunger Games

Yesterday, we bit the bullet and drove to Brive to go see The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, the closest theater playing it in English is in Paris which is 4.5 hours away... SO, I decided that since I had read the books, it was worth it to go see the movie, even if it was in French.  I LOVED it and thought the movie did a decent job following the storyline.  I also loved how certain aspects were brought to life, especially the Capitol. 


(I think I also liked it so much because it has been over 8 months since we have been to a movie in a theater and if you know Logan and myself- we used to frequent the Northpark AMC/ Food Court almost every weekend!)

I am anxious to see the movie again - in English next time :) Maybe this summer when I am home in Dallas for my visit?   


"peut être jamais la chance en votre faveur" 

Feeling European: The Car Edition

After 7 months of borrowing cars and hitching rides, we finally have our own car! It's a silver 2002 Renault Megane and we love her! (She goes by Meg for short) We feel VERY fancy because she has A/C (which is not a "given" in France), a CD player, AND keyless entry.  Its the little things, right? I would describe her as a wanna be SUV.  Most French SUV's have a squatty look from the outside (borderline minivan-ish), but they are very spacious on the inside! We have plenty of room for visitor's suitcases in our massive trunk and I like that we sit up higher like we did in my Jeep.  All in all we are so thankful and happy for our newfound independence! I see many road trips in our future. We are SO European :) 

PS I still haven't driven her aside from the parking lot (and I managed to stall). Almost all cars in France are standards and I am an automatic girl. I think it should be required that you learn to drive a standard AND automatic in Drivers Ed. It's second nature to Logan and its still pretty intimidating for me, especially in towns with roundabouts, tiny roads, all parallel parking, and lots of hills! I will get there though, stay tuned... 

5 :)

Today I am going to post my 5 :) on Spring Style! Just last week, my mom purchased red cropped jeans and an adorable military blazer for me- 2 essentials for Spring! (thanks Mom)   Here is what I am focusing on this season. (images via Pinterest) 

1.  Colored denim.

Source: news.instyle.com via Abby on Pinterest

2.  MAXI SKIRTS!

3. Brights on brights. (Color blocking) 

Source: stacey-lane.tumblr.com via Courtney on Pinterest

4. STRIPES! 

Source: Uploaded by user via Courtney on Pinterest

5. Creative NEW ways to wear denim shirts.  

Source: lucylaucht.com via Caroline on Pinterest

Carcassonne in the Spring

My mom flew out of Toulouse on Sunday, so we headed down a night early since she had to be at the airport at 5am! We checked into our hotel and jetted off to Carcassonne for the day.  (Carcassonne is where we visited for our 2 year anniversary and its only 45 minutes from Toulouse) To refresh your memory, it is a medieval town that is still operating today complete with remparts (city walls), cobblestone streets, a gothic church, and of course, a chateau. We had a GREAT day! It was a bit windy and chilly, but we made frequent stops in the local artisan shops and candy stores.  I came away with some new shades and my mom got 2 cute new shirts and a trendy purple leather handbag- its AMAZINGLY beautiful! (And how adorable is my Mom's jacket? I bought it for her birthday and wish I had one for myself!) 

The below are Baby Canon's pictures- she is such a show off ;) Now if I could only understand her older sibling, Photoshop Elements, I would be set!