Too nice outside to be sitting here blogging

I have been out all afternoon with Ella. It started off as a quick trip to Baby Gap to get her some summer clothes since the gorgeous weather will not quit. I can't quite get away with stuffing her into long sleeves or wool dresses any longer. I dragged myself down to the basement the other day and got out a small box of last summer's stuff that was still pretty big on her when it got packed away and Stretch-ella (that sounds more like an Italian ice cream than a nickname. Don't think it will last..) doesn't fit into anything.

So out the door and halfway to the shop I remember that B took my credit card to do some account maintanence and I never got it back. Instead of little stroll around the neighborhood, I ended up hiking over to the Opera to meet him. I can't complain too much because it is good to have an excuse to be out strolling through the city on a beautiful day. Only, when you are accompanied by a toddler, it turns more into a dash/lunge/wrestle obstacle course type thing, with a short break in a cafe for a coke (toddler wrestling demands high levels of caffeine and sugar, remember) and a chance to practice up on speedy reactions (catching glasses before they hit the pavement) and your ability to hiss credible threats- all without attracting the attention of everyone in the place. I wouldn't exactly call it a relaxing day out, but it makes me feel less bad about not going to yoga today.

Also, why do I always forget how nice the Palais Royal gardens are? They are absolutely lovely, plus there are cafe's everywhere, a sandpit and fountain and silly art installations to amuse a toddler, plus lots of benches. Ok, its 40 minutes walk from my house, but once the baby crashes? I can slip into the giant Marc Jacobs store for a peeksee.

Yesterday I was reading this post at Petite Brigitte and decided to go swing by the shop Come on Eileen. She's right- it is nice. I found a really great Yves St Laurent peasant shirt in black silk with a gold thread running through it and pretty pretty tassles at the neck . Only it was part of an ensemble and I was less smitten with the matching peasant skirt and the 300 euro price tag. Damn. Also found a cool Missoni suit and a Lanvin skirt and shirt type thing. I think that they were all 300, which isn't crazy its just that I don't think I would wear any of them enough to justify the price. Have to think about it a bit more. Anyways, if you are in the area, stop in the shop because there is some cool stuff, although the sizes tend to be big. I only found a few things that were small enough for me, and I'm not teeny tiny.

Have also been wasting hours pouring over this site. I love the idea of cupcakes but its pretty rare that I actually get around to baking any. I find them a bit fussy and over-rated compared to other dessert stuff. I may be changing my position on that.

And last night I was feeling miserable and sick because I ate too much bread at lunch, so much so that I actually cancelled our babysitter. Obviously, the situation was pretty catastrophic for me to go that far. I almost never eat bread and so I don't know what came over me yesterday. The baker handed me a fresh warm baguette just out of the oven and it smelled so gorgeous and was so nice and soft that I inhaled nearly half the stick before I came to my senses. Three hours later I was rolling on the sofa in pain, thinking perhaps that was a bad bad idea. So it was only around 8:30 that I started thinking about dinner and realized that I had some ground veal that had to be used up that day. Sweet Julia came to the rescue with a recipe for Fricadelles de Veau, basically just veal hamburgers but, oh sweet Jesus, what hamburgers! I don't know why I get surprised that things taste good when every single recipe in her book calls for about a cup of butter. I love butter. Ella pulled a chair over to the counter the other day near where I had the butter sitting. She grabbed a spoon, and shovelled a mound of butter in her mouth before I could stop her. I didn't even have the heart to shout at her, because "There, but for the grace of God, go I". Know what I'm sayin'?