I'm Susan — devout Francophile, mother of twins, writer, creative director, and aspiring author. I've been sharing my life here since 2010...thanks for reading!
I started looking forward to the holidays in this house as soon as we knew we’d be staying for a bit. We’ve always had a tradition of cutting a fresh tree, but this year it felt even more authentic, doing it in the mountains. While sometimes I wish we could just wander into the woods with an axe like back in the day, we found a charming local farm and quite possible the prettiest tree we’ve ever had. I even broke out the “nice” ornaments from storage, and it was comforting to see some old friends. Many of them are vintage (my grandparents) and I’ve slowly added to the collection each year. The kids got to have their own colorful tree in another room (which you can see in my holiday highlights), but in true 2020 form, a few strands wouldn’t light this year and we ended up with a striped tree…I’ll spare you those images, lol. We have so much to be thankful for, and the gratitude hits hardest during the holidays. We will never forget this year…for so many reasons.
It’s become a yearly tradition to create a gift guide for fellow Francophiles, and I must say I truly enjoy pulling it together! This year I am focused on supporting small business owners and makers, as well as keeping costs reasonable (with a few exceptions). This holiday season is certainly more challenging, but I hope this list will inspire, or perhaps even introduce you to a new creative! I purposely left books off this year, only because I have a dedicated bookshop.org page setup for all of my French-inspired favorites. I highly encourage you to buy your books from them, as it is the best way to support indie bookshops and authors. Should you desire more gifting inspiration, you can see my past gift guides here, and be sure to follow @thefrancophiles community for all things French, all the time. Joyeuses fêtes et happy shopping mes amis!
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1. this luxe new holiday candle features firewood + spicy notes…their matches also make a lovely (less expensive) gesture.
Autumn at the lake is giving me life right now. As soon as October arrived in the mountains, the gorgeous crisp fall temperatures came with it. It didn’t take long for the breathtaking color to develop, and we’re spending our days savoring it. We’ve been living here since early March and there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not overwhelmed with gratitude. We’ve settled into the mountain life and feel quite at ease with it, to be honest. Being surrounded by nature is so therapeutic amidst the chaos of the world, and it’s amazing what a walk in the woods can do for your mental health (we take a LOT of walks, ha). I’m at peace with where we are, and the uncertainty of where we’re going next – which is not something I’ve been able to say before. Just being alive and healthy is enough right now, truly. There are days when I feel guilt for not being as productive as usual, but you know what? It is OK! Give yourself the space and time you need to process everything going on…because it’s a lot. I saw a post on social media the other day that said, “there’s never been a time when you haven’t made it through”, and that really resonated. I’m going to be ok…we’re going to be ok. Breathe.
As we enter our third year of homeschooling, I feel like it’s finally time to share more about how we homeschool, along with some of our favorite resources. I won’t be getting into why we homeschool – I shared that here if you’re curious, and started the discussion on my blog back in 2016 with this post. Choosing a path for your children is a very personal decision, and not an easy one, no matter which way you go. My heart goes out to everyone being forced into a learning at home situation due to the pandemic. Homeschooling was a decision we made in our own time, and we remain prepared to switch gears if ever it’s not working for us and/or them. Choice is a privilege and I feel very lucky to be able to do it and still have time for my creative pursuits. It should be said that I gave up my interior design business when I started down this path full-time (and lost a dream project), but I can say with 100% confidence that I will never regret my decision to homeschool. The time with my kids during their formative years, the co-learning, the ability to creatively support their individuality, giftedness and learning styles, the list goes on and on. There are so many reasons to embrace homeschooling (despite the challenges) and I hope that this post is helpful should you choose that path.
Well, I was so spent after their woodland birthday, rainbow-themed zoom party with close friends + family and Bastille Day birthday (we essentially had three mini celebrations – don’t @ me I was just trying to keep things feeling special for the kids) that I forgot to post more of our summer scenes. Please pardon the randomness of these but I’d like to have them on the blog for posterity’s sake (I’ve taken pictures of them in the same spot for 8 years now). Our summer was amazing…they’re amazing…we’re alive and so damn lucky. This post is very 2020 and you know what? I’m ok with that.
