A monthly series highlighting finds, recipes, and simple moments that brought us joy this month.
These are strange times, but now more than ever it's important to slow down and appreciate the simple joys of every day. It's in this spirit that we're launching a new monthly series to help remind us to appreciate the little things - an uplifting song, a favorite recipe, a unique home find, or even just a simple moment that brought us joy this month. Our hope is that sharing these moments might spread some joy, or at least, inspire you to notice and appreciate the little moments in your own life that bring you joy.
First up, this cookbook brought joy in a few ways. Not only are the recipes creative yet quintessentially French (soufflé, gratin, and all the cheese), but it let us reminisce about a favorite trip to Provence last year, and it's inside cover doubled as a sweet and sappy birthday card. Thoughtfully inscribing a book instead of a buying an overpriced grocery store birthday card may not be a very original idea (people have been doing it for centuries!), but it felt special to have this memory stamped in time to look back on whenever we pull this cookbook off the shelf for years to come.
The same cookbook also inspired another fun idea we'll be trying out this summer - an at home food tour. We're going to pick a favorite meal from each of our favorite trips and make them together at home. This will give us an excuse to look back at pictures from all of our travels and reminisce on all the amazing experiences and food we've been fortunate enough to enjoy together. It's also a perfect at home date night activity!
Perhaps not surprisingly, this month there was a heavy focus on simple joys in the form of home decor. Even pre-pandemic, we focused on filling our home with mementos from our travels or special pieces that we truly love and know will have a spot in our future homes. We've had our eye on this marble ruffled bowl from Annie Selke for some time, and finally pulled the trigger thanks to a Memorial Day weekend sale (20% off with code MEOMRIAL2020) and a yearning to fill it with lemons picked fresh from the tree in our backyard.
The warmer weather has also had us spending as much time as possible outside on our little patio, daydreaming about someday upgrading our patio furniture (hello gorgeous rattan chair) and park days with friends. These striped towels and this ribbed carafe could double as park day supplies and guest room accessories.
White plaster fixtures (like this and this) have been taking over interior design feeds lately, and this simple but beautiful candle holder felt like an easy and interesting way to test out the trend. While it's not actually white plaster (it's ceramic), it still has that "perfectly imperfect" look at a price point we can get on board with.
We recently discovered the amazingly talented Kelly Ventura, who paints simple but stunning floral watercolors - and immediately ordered this anemone print to hang in our kitchen in this (surprisingly high quality for the price) wooden frame.
This laundry basket is finally back in stock, and we can't wait for the one we ordered to arrive so we can stop accumulating piles of towels on the laundry room floor.
And finally, we've been getting a lot of joy from: listening to Nathaniel Rateliff's new album, summer light leaks dancing on the walls, ordering our favorite local coffee beans to make at home, and lots of gardening (pro tip: seeds from Etsy are cheaper and faster shipping than Amazon and a lot of online garden shops).
We'd love to hear, what simple things have been bringing you joy this month?