settling in
What a week it has been! I snuck off to Barcelona for a very quick trip to meet Neilson as he returned from Australia, and was awaiting a visa appointment. I got to see some precious friends, both new and old, and enjoy time wandering the streets in Gracia. We saw the Sagrada Familia for the first time and wow, what an ode to the power of manmade work and the divinity of God. We had tapas and orange wine at a cozy spot with the cutest dishes and eclectic decor, ate truffle pizza and red wine and soaked in some togetherness with the work to do in the apartment well out of sight and mind.
Neilson was able to come back to Nice for the weekend, and fresh after arriving on an evening flight turned redeye due to French worker strikes, we went for a little date day at Ikea. No trip to Ikea ever begins as a big one, but once you sit down for your meatballs, have a coffee and get started, the unassuming concept of a small haul from Ikea simply does not exist. We spent the weekend building furniture in pjs, ordering pizza, catching up with friends over margaritas and Mexican food, building some more, and eating more (leftover) pizza. With a few breaks for bike rides and church, no moment was free. Did we get a little overambitious? Yes. Did our neighbor ask us to stop drilling at 10pm? Yes. But, with the arrival of our first set of visitors since the apartment has actually had furniture in it later this week, there’s something so exciting about creating a nice space for other people to stay! Nonetheless when they’re your best friend with impeccable taste..
Monday mornings are never fun when Neilson has just left, but I tried to stay busy. After getting back from the states a bit over a week ago with 200% energy to get this apartment ready, I woke up Monday overwhelmed by a fog of fatigue. I headed to the antique market to wander the stalls, and went for a walk along the Promenade des Anglais. I wandered into little parks I never have the time to go into because I’m always walking to get somewhere, not just walking to walk. Made me wonder how much I’m missing every time I’m bolting past stores and patches of grass in order to get to my final destination.
The city is bustling with tourists, running around Nice on various bike tours. I’ve found myself taking my book in the late afternoons to the beach near us, nestling on a pillow in the rocks to feel the sun on my back as I savor whatever book it is I’m reading.
This week I read a book called Crying in H Mart, and I implore you to read it! A beautiful memoir by a Korean American girl, Michelle Zauner, who loses her mom around my age now. Her writing is touching and evocative and you’ll definitely be hungry afterwards. It’s funny how many quirks of Korean parents/grandparents I thought were unique to my family. Seeing them put into Michelle’s words, I realized how much food connects our culture, through the specificity and sacredness of each dish and how it should be served. Made me want my grandma’s cooking.
Things I’m loving this week:
my little reading nook, where the sunlight is perfect to bask in every morning
painting afternoons with friends
sunny colored ranunculas bursting with life
rituals-coffee and journalling in the morning, smoothie and yoga before lunch, afternoon tea with a baked good-pain au chocolat, banana bread, Digestives, you name it. I am a person who thrives off of routine and I love the rituals of food centering me throughout the day
late afternoon reading at the beach
kimchi bokkeum from Our Korean Cooking…this has been my favorite dish ever since I was a child, and this recipe is the closest I’ve ever gotten it to tasting exactly the way I remember it
