early, in the apartment alone

Somewhere around the third cup of tea poured from my petit hibou teapot, I realized I was in a great mood. Sheets were hanging up to dry. My hair was wrapped up to dry. Two more graduate school applications were completed. (Creative writing: check.) I found a nice, warm recipe to make for our weekly dinner with a friend, from a blog I really enjoy.

Joe will be largely in charge of dinner tonight, since I'll be out giving my first exam. That's right: the first exam that I ever created, and the first exam that I have to proctor. I love coming home while he's getting food ready. The "kitchen" is right by the door, so I literally open up the apartment door and walk into my husband's arms, where I stay for the rest of the evening.

Right now, I imagine that he's left work & begun his walk to the bakery, where he will contemplate buying a pithivier but then remember we're daring ourselves not to spend any extra money this week. He'll walk into the apartment with his headphones still on, the music still going, and ask me a question a little too loudly while I grab the baguette and start eating it before it ever reaches the table.

I wanted to take some time to think up a list of things that are making me really, really happy lately that I think can easily be found in the states. There are so many pieces of this experience abroad that I want to share in a more tangible way than blog posts about my day. Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. Cheap "blond" beer with peach syrup–not tons of syrup, but a little splash before you pour the beer in to give it a slight sweetness
2. Camembert, which we have decided is the king of our favorite realm of cheeses (rich and soft with an edible rind)
3. LU Petit Beurre or Petit Écolier cookies–and we don't need to talk about how many of them I've eaten
4. Rooibos, or red, tea (which some people say isn't tea)–which isn't new, but I still drink a ton of it
5. Dry white wine, which is the specialty of the Alsace wine region we live in
6. Quiche Lorraine, a specialty of the land region we live in–but only with real butter and really thick, fatty, horrible-for-you bacon
7. Rice pudding, which isn't French but was found at our fruit & vegetable store with caramelized sugar on top

I wish I could think of things other than food to share at the moment... but I wasn't able to find any quality links to the French jazz music that's happening in town right now. Every time you get close to the giant park in town, there's jazz and reggae going in honor of Nancy Jazz Pulsations.

So put on some jazz, dip petit beurres into a mug of red tea you can wrap your hands around & know that I'm thinking of you.