This morning I woke up super early to fly out for a business affair. For the past few weeks, I’ve mentally prepared Zoey for this trip and forewarned her that mommy was going to be away for a meeting. Everything’s set, even flew grandma in to fill in my many mommy duties while I’m away for a few days. And as promised, Zoey and Axel will get a big surprise when I return.

This is a big deal for me. I haven’t flown by myself in years- it’s literally been almost over 5 years. I have a huge fear of flying and get major anxiety when I’m up in the air. It’s one of my biggest fears in life. I think it’s because I have no control over what would happen to me up there. Ironically, I’m writing this post while flying right now! For me to be by myself without my family in an environment that’s scary is a big big deal. I know, grow up and wear your big girl pants!

Last night, Zoey followed me along while I was packing. She knew that I won’t be there when she wakes up the next morning. She repeated two things over and over again. “Mommy, I love you so much” and “Mommy, I will miss you.” Zoey is four and half years old and has declared to be my true love since she was two. She also reminded me that since I won’t be there in the morning that she wanted me to lay next to her at bedtime. Unfortunately, she fell asleep before I finished packing. Go, mommy!

Ok. Enough of mommy musings and let’s get to the reason behind this post.

I don’t follow many blogs. In fact, there are probably only about three blogs that I skim through when I’m looking for a reason to pass time. But there is this one blog in France that’s absolutely amazing. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon it but am very glad I did. It’s by the gorgeous Mimi Thorisson, called Manger- Life in Medoc.

Mimi grew up in Hong Kong but frequently visited Paris and South of France where her French grandmother lived. She later relocated to Paris for good and had a career in fashion and television. After marriage, she and her photographer/creative director husband decided to leave the city to find a place to settle down. They found Medoc, which was a six hour drive from Paris and a 50-mile-long, largely agricultural peninsula.

In her blog, Mimi chronicles life in medoc as a mother (of seven and 15 dogs) and a home cook living in this new rural frontier with an abundance of seasonal foods at her fingertips. Reading Mimi’s blog is magical. It totally transforms you to another time and place. Her style of writing gives you that reading a novel experience. To think that someone actually lives this type of life is surreal. You can expect to see a lot of food recipes, family gatherings around the dinner table and farmer’s market shopping on Life in Medoc.

Here are a few of my favorite visual snippets from her recent blog posts…

A short excerpt from her most recent post:

“One morning in late February, Oddur and I woke up to the strangest weather, sun, rain, wind, shutters banging, corridors howling. Slowly the wind quieted down but the heavens kept opening and closing with a mixture of grey and golden, and as a grand finale to this curious symphony, mother nature put on her Sunday hat, the rainbow. It was the beginning of a few weeks that have been, well, somewhat upside down. In Japan they call this sort of weather, the sunshowers, a Fox’s wedding and I was always fascinated by that name. One of my favorite movies, “Dreams” by Kurosawa has a beautiful story about a little boy based on that mythology. Here in France it’s slightly different or “le mariage du loup“, wolf’s wedding…”

And because Mimi’s posts mainly revolve around food and her recipes, here’s a quail recipe from her blog that I think you’ll enjoy:

Quails with white wine & herbs
(serves 4-6)

8 quails
8 slices pancetta
4 cloves of garlic, halved
8 sage leaves
A few sprigs of rosemary
240 ml/ 1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Season the quails inside and out. Stuff the quails with pancetta/sage/half garlic clove/sage leaves. Season with salt & pepper.
In a large dutch-iron pot, melt the butter & olive oil on a medium heat. Brown the quails on all sides until golden. Add the sprigs of rosemary, pour the wine and reduce to 3/4. Cover the pan, lower the heat and continue to cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the quails are cooked through and tender.

Next time you want to decompress, get yourself lost in Manger- Life in Medoc. It’s definitely a place that I often frequent when I crave inspiration.

In Instagram news- 1. my home smells yummy with this candle in paperwhite and musk 2. shoe packing for my trip #theymaketheoutfit 3. hubs made pho, Vietnamese beef noodle soup 4. gorgeous roses to start off the day.

For my full Instagram feed and daily happenings, please see HERE.

Have a lovely day!