Treasure Hunt

Growing up, my parents took us hunting at flea markets, auctions and antique stores. While, I confess back then, I didn't care much for it, I came to love these hunts. One of my favorites is going to a used books store with my father and hunt for great books. Today, I enjoy going to flea markets and antique stores to hunt for great finds. I enjoy decorating my home piece by piece. Though, I enjoy well made furniture, I am not a huge fan of the prices out there. As a result, I found an alternative, I hunt for gently used furniture on craigslist. I really like some of the Pottery Barn looks, though I am a bargain lover hence, craigslist offers me the possibility of both. I can buy at a discounted price an older Pottery Barn piece of furniture. Looking and searching through the ads reminds me of a treasure hunt. I never know what I will find and if I will acquire "it".

Another hobby of mine is doing things by myself. I take great pleasure in bringing something older back to life. I might buy something that needs some attention such as a new coat of varnish. 

Another perk for me is knowing I acquired the pieces for a good price. Not to sound proud though I find satisfying knowing I didn't spend all of my money on just a nice piece of furniture. 

Reminding myself that life is a journey

I realize these past few days that I tend like most of us, I'd like to think I am not alone, to either feel good or bad simply based on the fact of what I did or didn't do. In other words, I seem to base my identity on my successes or failures. Though, thinking about it, I realize I am setting myself up for disaster. In truth, I am far from perfect and while I'd like to do everything perfectly and avoid making mistakes, I am simply human.

I tend like most of us to be harsh on myself. I am quick to criticize myself. This does not seem to help  our self esteem. Hence, why don't we look at it from a different angle. The mistakes we make don't they help us improve ourselves? I might be quick to criticize myself though I generally make a note of what I don't like. Well, if I don't like my behavior or the outcome of my poor behavior, I tend to seek solutions as to avoid feeling poorly again. So perhaps, we need to take a moment to tell ourselves that we are as we are: perfect in our way of being imperfect. Also, we should embrace the opportunities that our so-called mistakes offer us: a chance to improve.

For instance, I tend to overcommit myself, leaving me feeling used and frustrated with myself for not taking better care of my own time. Well, this is something I can turn around. To avoid feeling frustrated, I need to make changes to my behavior. Why I'd love to say yes to everyone, I can't. I need to say NO. I need to realize I am the one in control of my time. I don't need to feel guilty if I don't have the time to help someone.

So, I will work at improving that aspect in my life. I am choosing to learn from my past "mistakes" and grow along the way. Our experiences do shape us. We can learn from them.

Croissant making: a trial and error process

For the past few weeks, I have attempted 3 times to be exact to make croissants. I am happy to share that it seems to have paid off. I searched recipes all over, I will admit I changed a few things. Though in the end, I believe croissants are easy once you familiarize yourself with the process. There is no doubt in my mind that croissant making requires trials and errors in the process.

Croissant

Growing up in Paris, I enjoyed croissants weekly. I used to look forward to the weekend, if my father was in town, he would get us croissant or pain au chocolat or pavé au chocolat or chouquettes. Generally, I would ask for a pain au chocolat while my sister would ask for chouquettes, which I could care less about. Other time, I would ask for a rich pavé au chocolat. My dad would always get himself a croissant. Anyhow, each time I go home to visit, I make sure to hit my local bakery for those tasty viennoiseries. Today, I am more of a croissant lover. Hence, I thought I would attempt making some. I attempted making some in the past, but with little success. I can roll them into their shape, problem is the dough never came out flaky as I wished and hoped for. Anyway, instead of being discourage, I decided to attempt once more to bake these so scrumptious bake goods.