ily

my i love you cards are here!  stay tuned to see where they'll end up...

xoxo,

lesley

the best medicine

xoxo,

lesley

you are awesome!

here is a note i left in my shopping cart at the grocery store last night.  this was actually one of my favorite submissions from the free encouragement project, and i thought it would be a fun message for a disgruntled cart boy or stressed out shopper to find.

xoxo,

lesley

no one belongs here more than you.

{photo by cobalt123}

i found this passage from miranda july's book no one belongs here more than you on the blog positively present.  i started reading this book (which is actually a series of short stories) a while back, but never got into it.  i guess i didn't get to this part...

"do you have doubts about life?  are you unsure if it is worth the trouble?  look at the sky: that is for you.  look at each person's face as you pass on the street: those faces are for you.  and the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire beneath the ground: all these things are for you.  they are as much for you as they are for other people.  remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing." 

beautiful words, and an important thing to remember.  the world is yours... no one belongs here more than you.

have a lovely weekend, and don't forget to look at the sky.

xoxo,

lesley

spotted in paris!

click here to see jason-nicholas's photo of my "you are falafel for the soul" post-it in paris.  yay!!

thank you google alerts :)

xoxo,

lesley

raindrops from your eyes

{photo by the bonnie blues, found on kind over matter}

i came across this lovely photo today, and it reminded me of a song from "free to be you and me," which my sisters and i used to watch all the time when we were kids.  even though it was written for children, i think it's a nice reminder for adults too...

it's alright to cry

crying takes the sad out of you

it's alright to cry

it might make you feel better

raindrops from your eyes 

washing all the mad out of you

raindrops from your eyes

it's gonna make you feel better

it's alright to know

feelings come and feelings go

it's alright to cry

it might make you feel better...

xoxo,

lesley

found encouragement... mlle. 2nuit

while my husband and i were in paris, we kept seeing these french sayings written in chalk on various sidewalks and streets, signed by the mysterious "mlle. 2nuit."

this one reads, "la vie est belle, et nous sommes comme elle," which translates (roughly) to, "life is beautiful, and so are we."

how lovely :)

xoxo,

lesley

l'as du fallafel

a lot of people might not know this, but paris - specifically the marais district (and even more specifically rue des rosiers) - is known for serving up some amazing falafel.  and since i'm (obviously) mildly obsessed with falafel, my hubby and i were determined to find out who made it best.

we sampled many delicious pitas filled with the crispy, golden-fried chickpea fritters, each one overflowing with accoutrements like freshly made hummus, tahini, roasted eggplant, spicy red sauce, and vinegary cabbage slaw... but we found the king of all falafel at the famous l'as du fallafel.  just to make your mouth water a little bit before i get to the point, here is what their falafel looks like:

can you say, yum?

anyway... after discovering the greatest falafel in the land, i was on a mission.  with my post-its and sharpie in hand and armed with a remedial knowledge of the french language, i ventured back to l'as du fallafel to leave the note i'd been waiting to post...

you are falafel for the soul.

- - -

tu es comme le falafel pour l'âme.

they might be hard to spot at first in this shot... see those two little tiny yellowish squares on the lower left-hand side?  i was actually kind of nervous to post them because i was in a foreign country and i don't know what type of rules they have about posting signs and whatnot... plus l'as du fallafel was super crowded (as always), so i did it hastily and ran off to hide.  

later that night, we came back to eat our final falafel dinner, and i realized that someone had moved my english post-it right onto the middle of the menu board!  i was so excited.

a couple days later, nichole (the amazing writer and frequent paris-traveller behind the blog littlebrownpen) sent me this photo via twitter:

she said, "your post-it note is still at l'as du fallafel!  the owner is very proud of it."

how cool is that?  it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

xoxo,

lesley

found encouragement... love, paris.

paris is known as one of the most romantic cities in the world, so it's no surprise that i was feeling the love during our visit!  everywhere i looked, there was another little reminder... 

oh paris, i love you too!

xoxo,

lesley

i'm back!

hello lovelies!

it's true... i'm back from an absolutely amazing two-week trip to paris.  the photo above shows the view from our 6th-floor studio window... so beautiful!  i've only been back for a few days, and i miss paris already.  everything was fabulous... our apartment, our neighborhood, the food, the wine, the museums, the shopping, the music...!  i could go on and on...

this week i'll definitely be sharing more photos and stories from the trip, so keep checking back!

xoxo,

lesley