Another Good Reason to Move to Paris

Paris' most famous department store has apparently opened the world's largest dedicated shoe space. We stayed about a mile from Galeries Lafayette but didn't go. However, now that they have turned their basement into a 34,500-square-foot shoe extravaganza, I don't think I'll be skipping it next time I'm in town.

WWD reports that French women buy an average of six pairs of shoes a year. I can rise to that challenge!

Things I Love in July

Cherry tomatoes from my backyard
Cuties
Matt's peppermint-patty brownies (thank heaven they are gone!)
Sea of Shoes blogger Jane Aldridge and her mom in August's Vogue
Noisettes
Tiffany Notes pendant
Kung-fu baby kicks
Old friends
The pink apron Matt got me from William-Sonoma, with "Mommy" embroidered on it
The promo poster for The Time Traveler's Wife
Black-and-white toddler dresses at BabyGap
And two things I saw but didn't purchase at a recent trip to Anthropologie:

Windflower Necklace

The Fallen Ruffle Wrap

Ugly Americans?

Heart disease. Diabetes. And the latest medical condition on the rise due to Americans' unhealthy eating habits? Gout. The Disease of Kings (called so back when only aristocrats could afford to get so bloated with fatty foods and alcohol) is hitting as many as six million members of America's overweight middle class. Obesity is holding steady or growing in each and every state of the union. Seriously people, it's becoming an epidemic. Put down the soft drinks!

Read more in the NY Times.

The Nursery

Stine has been very patiently waiting for pictures... any pictures!... that have to do with the baby. So finally, here are some pictures of the nursery.

This is what you see when you first walk in:

dresser with changing top, and bookshelf on the left;

and the crib on the right.

I got the closet doorknob from Anthropologie,

the alphabet birds poster from Bold & Noble (in the UK!)

and the lightswitch plate from a crafter in Canada.

Since the room is such a bright, peachy pink,we are toning it down with white furniture and blue textiles. And while there are several sheep in the room (the one on the window was sent from Spain from Matt's brother, and the one in the crib makes womb noises), I'd like to bring in more of a bird theme. That's part of the reason why there isn't anything else on the walls...I haven't found the just-right bird things...yet.

Baby Cucumbers!

Since Matt's been home, I've put him in charge of a few daily chores, like watering the garden and making dinner (which is at least planned out in advance). This morning, he sent me a text message reading: Great big cucumber... I love you. Uh, PICTURES!

So he sent me two:

This is the fruit of my one teeny-tiny sunny patch of backyard. I'm not doing much this year; only a puny basil plant, a ton of mint (which came back from last year), some oregano (which has come back several years in a row), some chives (which has been around as long as the oregano), a slightly struggling tomato plant, and a quite happy cherry tomato plant. Just wait: one of these days, I'm going to have a big sunny yard and lots of plants!

Matt's Father-to-Be Day

I have to pat myself on the back for this one... For Father's Day, I went to Dadgear.com and got Matt a flaming skulls diaper bag. It has a refillable wipes case, big pockets for diapers, two pockets for bottles, a changing pad, and straps that can attach to a stroller. Nope, I'm not subjecting my man to a Winnie-the-Pooh diaper bag. This is one he'll be proud to carry, and willing to use long after the baby is out of diapers.

I started with the whole brown paper packages, tied up with strings...
yet Julie Andrews did NOT make an appearance.

Then put it in the crib, for Matt to find it:

(I had to tell him where to look.)

The string comes off the present...

...and becomes a present for Angel.

Yeah, Matt liked it.

Is it just me, or does he even look a little misty?

Inside the bag were two books: Daddy Hugs and Daddy Cuddles,
especially for him to read to his baby girl.

I think I did pretty well!

Menu Board

It's been a while since I've posted my menu boards, and I've had a request for dinner ideas, so here you go:


A little dark; sorry about that!



I'm trying to eat low-mercury seafood twice a week; we usually end up with a fish and a shrimp every week:


Angel apparently enjoys tilapia. My excuse for having him on the table is that otherwise, he sits at my feet and whines the ENTIRE time we are eating, and my nerves can't take it.




That gnocchi was The Shit:


We ended up with a lot sliders. But the rolls were homemade!



This one was from the first full week Matt was home after back surgery. Bless his heart, he did a lot of the cooking (though his pictures of the board aren't as good as mine):



The spanish tortilla (basically, a frittata) was super yummy, and not bad to look at, either:


Finally, this week's menu. Posting these, I notice that I pair shrimp and cous cous a little too often...

Note: most of these recipes come from my Everyday Food subscription. I go through the latest issue on Friday or Saturday, make the menu, make the grocery list, then do our shopping on Sundays. It's nice, because we don't have a lot of repeats in any given month. (Except shrimp and cous cous, I suppose!)