Loving...

1) My French Press

I've recently had a coffee conundrum.  The husband and I take turns sleeping in and getting up with the toddler each morning (and by sleeping in I mean until 7am instead of 5:45am, most days).  On my early days, I musthavecoffeerightthisveryminute when I wake up.  Truly, that is the case every day, but on my early mornings, it feels especially urgent.  The problem?  Our bedroom adjoins our kitchen, and my coffee making options are mostly LOUD; both the SISHHHHHH of the espresso steamer and the RARRRRRR of the coffee grinder on our drip machine are enough to awaken someone out of their hard-earned slumber.  Not cool.  I sometimes resort to just trudging around the corner for a professional latte, but that is a much more desirable task in the summer, when you just throw on flip-flops and roll.  Getting both myself and little J winter-bundled pre-caffeine is pretty much more than I can bear.  So, I've recently rediscovered my kickass Bodum French Press and I am loving it.
Here is why:
1) Coffee is made in utter silence in four minutes flat.
2) Coffee flavor is unsurpassed.
3) It makes just two cups, which stops me from drinking cup after cup after cup when I make a whole pot of drip coffee (I am, for some reason, physically incapable of brewing less than a whole pot of coffee).
4) The clean up is way easier than with my espresso machine or the drip maker!  Just rinse and into the dishwasher it goes!
5) No shoes, jackets, or wrestling kicking and screaming toddlers into snowsuits required.
Just silent, caffeinated bliss.  Highly recommended.

2) These linen pants

Enza Costa Wide Leg Linen Pants, $124, Shopstyle.com

I don't own them (yet), but they look to me like the absolute perfect spring/summer pant for my current lifestyle.  I dig the cut of the leg, and what's not to love about an elastic waist, my friends?  They are a little pricey, but I feel they are one of those items that, amortized over cost per wear, more than pay for themselves in the end.  I can see these being serious go-to pants for most days of the warm weather season.  Just looking at them makes me want a morning stroll and an iced coffee.

3)  This article on French parenting: Why French Parents are Superior, WSJ, Feb 4, 2012

This article is making the rounds this week, and for good reason: it makes some phenomenally interesting points about the current American style of parenting, and where we are going terribly awry.  I know many people are tired of hearing how much thinner, chicer, smarter and more vacationed the French are, but people, it stings because it is true.  They eat better, they live better, and it might follow that they parent better to boot (in cuter boots than we have, no less). At the very least, this article is great food for thought.  Check it out.