How To Birthday in Southern France

It was a perfect birthday lunch, one fit for a princess (within romantic walls aged by time.) The perpetual foodie, I was thrilled to dine on a cassoulet served table side - crispy duck confit & toulouse sausage with haricots lingots. Afterward, strawberries served beneath a sweet fromage blanc and of course cups of cafe creme (with a delightful treat, a petite spoon, & little cubes of sugar on the side) to finish the meal.

Thank you to all of you for your sweet birthday wishes! They made my day that much brighter! xo, Jolie

7 Spring Favs : Easy Must-Do's

What I love about spring is that it's flirtatious, it's peppy, and it's easy. It's energetic and exciting in a way that's rambunctious in a good way. In fact, I find myself wanting to be all of those things as well.

Flirtatious, peppy, energetic, exciting, and rambunctious!
It's May and before spring melds slowly into Summer, I always like to capture the bouncy moments of the season while I can! It's a time for peppy large arrangements of peonies (my absolute favorite spring flower) or bold arrangements with pops of brightly colored tulips! Before the summer heat creeps in, now is when I love to

1. Eat meals out on the porch
2. Take phone calls in the garden
3. Take walks immediately after spring rain has hit!
4. Change out my linens to bright colors and light textures
- duvet cover
- kitchen towels
- table cloth

Because scent is a major part of spring I also love;
1. Big bouquets of fragrant flowers

2. Using really lovely floral cleaning…

Blossoming from Grief

In 2017 I lost my darling husband, Jason Musick, in a tragic accident, changing my life within seconds. It seems almost needless to say, but after such a tremendous, heart-shattering loss, many parts of my life were put on hold, this blog included.

Truth told I wasn't sure how to proceed with my blog; much of it was based on my life as it existed before his death. The parties we threw, the dinners we cooked, the house we made a home, the vintage lifestyle we lead, the music we enjoyed together. To me those were the products of our love, the promise that we would live a full life together saying "yes" always, especially to the magic life had to offer. Much of the entries, though they were intended to apply to anyone in a relationship or not, were none-the-less from my perspective which was lovingly based on my marriage and partnership that had been in the making for 12 years. How does one write about doing wifely things when one is no longer a wife? My identity as a wife…

4th of July Menus in the 1950s

Each time I travel to Europe I am instantly aware of the cultural nuances that differ between parts of each country. Eastern Southern France is in many many ways very different from Western Northern France. Some old languages even remain and without a doubt food customs are still widely kept alive. A cassoulet in France differs from town to town and each town takes massive pride in their own "essential" cassoulet.

I become then, keenly aware of the fact that the United States is the same way, though not often recognized. While we typically think of the US as serving hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled corn, etc on the 4th of July, there is no doubt in my mind that the East Coast will have some customary Independence day foods that won't likely hit the plate in the Southwest. And as another example, Texas is more likely to find brisket on the 4th of July table than say, Boston (I suppose?)

I think the same could be noted then, not just regionally, but also yearly. The things we…

THE JOLIE ADVENTURE

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