Crush on Hannah Lemholt's photography, NYC, The Simple Things...

We're off to HERE (Hell yeah!) on Friday and as usual I'm trying to fit a 5-day week into a 4-day week without getting stressed out, organising the photo shoots we will be doing for The Simple Things magazine, preparing my meeting with my Publishing Agent (read the great news here) and organising our family holidays...

Well, it's not really working out.... I'm mega super stressed this afternoon but it's OK. I know I'll feel like a little Buddha after Bikram Yoga (last night I managed the toe stand pose for the first time in 2 months) and I will eventually get things done right on time (or kind of).

I had this big plan to schedule wonderful, inspiring posts for you guys next week but let's face it...it's not gonna happen :-))) I may be able to schedule 1 or 2 in advance if I'm lucky but next week, I'll probably more on Instagram than behind the laptop writing blog posts.
In fact, I'm not even sure I can be bothered to take my laptop with me! 
These past few years, we have implemented tech-free (except for i-Phone) family holidays and it has been absolutely fantastic for all of us so I'm very reluctant to go back to the old me who was working non stop.
I think we all need to make some time for ourselves, to take a break, to enjoy what really matters (and I mean family). That's how you can still get inspired by things around you and enjoy them. I don't want to be in NYC thinking about the next blog post. I want to be in NYC and have an amazing time there with my little family, get Mila to love New-York as much as I do, take them to Brooklyn flea markets on Sunday, down to Tribeca and Soho for breakfast, not buying anything from Abercrombie and Fitch, go shopping like crazy, go to Birkram classes and collect so many great memories that will all make us smile when we think about it.

So I thought I would leave in great, beautiful company with Hannah Lemholt who takes beautiful photos for Love Warrior. I think you'll really enjoy browsing through her blog...pure bliss

// (C) Photography: Hannah Lemholt 

Nous partons ICI (yeah!) Vendredi et comme d'hab', j'essaie de boucler 5 jours de travail dans une semaine de 4  sans stresser, organiser les photo shoots que nous allons faire pour The Simple Things magazine, préparer ma réunion avec mon agent (liser la mega nouvelle ici) et organiser nos petites vacances en famille...

Bon je vous rassure, ca ne marche pas vraiment....Je suis méga super stressée cet aprés-midi mais ca va, je suis sure que je vais me sentir comme un petit Buddha après le Bikram Yoga (hier soir, j'ai enfin réussi la position toe stand que j'essayais depuis 2 mois) et je devrais pouvoir boucler tout à temps (ou presque)

J'avais ce super plan sur la comète de vous préparer des articles inspirants pour la semaine prochaine mais bon...let's face it...ca ne va pas être possible.
J'aurais de la chance si j'arrive à vous en préparer 1 ou 2 mais franchement, la semaine prochaine, je serais surement plus dispo sur Instagram que derrière mon ordi à écrire des articles pour le blog.
En fait, je ne suis pas sure d'avoir envie d'emmener mon ordi avec moi!
Ces dernieres années, Steve et moi avons organisés des tech-free vacances (sauf pour le téléphone) et franchement elles ont été tellement géniales que je n'ai pas vraiment envie de retourner à mes vieilles habitudes de celle qui bossait non-stop.
C'est super important de se donner le droit de décrocher et d'apprécier ce qui est important (je veux dire la famille). 
C'est comme cela qu'on peut être inspiré par les choses qui nous entourent et puis franchement, je n'ai pas vraiment envie d'arpenter NY en passant à l'article dément que je vais poster.
J'ai envie de m'éclater à New-York avec ma famille, de montrer à Mila pourquoi j'aime tant cette ville, les emmener au marché aux puces de Brooklyn Dimanche, de manger dans des petits cafés sympas de Tribeca et Soho, de ne rien acheter chez Abercrombie and Fitch, de faire les magasins, d'aller à des cours de Bikram et de collectioner tellement de bons souvenirs qu'on aura tous le sourire quand on y pensera.

Donc je vous laisse en vraiment très belle compagnie avec  Hannah Lemholt qui prend de magnifiques photos for Love Warrior. Je pense que vous allez adorer son travail et son blog...du pure bonheur.

Gwyneth, Quinoa, banana cake & the Kale project | FOOD

After being proud of myself for making all theses healthy changes to my diet without too much of a struggle (I actually felt my new way of eating was better and tastier), I was told yesterday that I had to leave dairy out for a while which really p$$&8*d me off.
Luckily I received some great advices on Twitter (thanks Tina) and Instagram and managed to find some nice alternatives so I'm all set for this week before heading off to New-York (read comments here if you want more info on alternatives).
To cheer myself up, I baked this gluten-free banana cake for the second time:

300 g (10  1/2  oz)  smashed ripe banana
3 free range / organic eggs
60 g ( 2 oz / 2 tablespoons) raw honey or organic maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
60 g (2 oz/  1/4 cup)  macadamia nut oil or cold pressed olive oil
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2  tsp baking soda ( bicarb soda) + 1 tbsp lemon juice
200 g ( 2 cups/ 7  oz) ) almond meal (I still don't have almond meal in my panty so I've replaced it with Doves Farm gluten-free flour)
25 g (1/4 cup / 3/4  oz)  ground flaxseed (linseed) or chia seed. Preheat your oven to 160 C.

Combine smashed banana, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, bicarb and lemon. ( the lemon activates the bicarb). You can do this by hand in a large bowl or with a good blender such as a Vitamix.
Add the almond meal and flaxseed and mix well.
Lightly oil one loaf tin and then coat liberally with extra almond meal or desiccated coconut – this will prevent the cake from sticking. The size I used was: 10 1/2 cm wide and 26 cm long.
Spoon batter into the tin and bake for  45  minutes to 1 hour ( a skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry).
Cover the top with foil if over-browning.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.
Makes 1 loaf serves 12 (if you follow Weight Watchers Propoint, it's 4 points/serving)
Keeps in the fridge covered for up to 1 week.

I didn't have chia seeds the first time I made it and Mila preferred it without and I kind of agree with her.... Without chia seeds, version 1 was nicer and tastier but I have  a healthy snack option for the rest of the week and if you have kids, banana cakes are a great recipe to do something with all the bananas going black that the kids won't eat!

After reading It's all Good by Gwyneth Paltrow, I felt inspired to try her quinoa dish which is pretty basic (kale, salt, quinoa, garlic, fried egg) and was surprisingly very tasty! #perfectcomfortfoodforwintertimeorinMaywhenyoustillhavetowearajumper #crazyweather

Great thing is that I have some quinoa left over which will be perfect to accompagny Steve's roast today. Another thing I wanted to share with you is The Kale Project (thanks Chantal for the tip) which is a page set up by an American lady who lives in Paris and is on a mission to introduce kale to the French. I couldn't find it at the street market nearby our Summer house last time we went. The guy and my mum thought I was talking of coleslaw...

Kale is sold in 3 markets in Paris: the bio market in the Batignolles, the Bio Sunday market Blvd Raspail and at the market on Blvd Wilson. Kale looks like salad, a bit coarse, full of antioxidants and delicious. I mostly eat raw Kale now in my mixed salads and I can guarantee that is very tasty. Have a great, healthy Sunday xoxo

The bedroom of my dreams

Earlier this week, Francois and I shot our new stonewashed linen collection (see more pics on Instagram).
I wanted to create a happy, uplifting, relaxed bedroom because I was getting fed up with the gloomy weather (I'm still wearing jumpers for crying our loud!) and this beautiful, soft mint stonewashed duvet cover was just perfect. 
I added textures and brought nature indoor by adding this beautiful natural basket (good for storage throughout the house), the MILK table lamp on the floor and this gorgeous Bamboo pendant light (they are so nice it's insane!).
The industrial clothes rail is from here and I'm not sure I'm going to give it back...
The white t-shirts come from Zara, Des Petits Hauts (a French fashion brand) and the market near our holidays home in France.
The wooden rosary on the American Vintage linen dress (far left) is from here and it looks really beautiful on a white wall or displayed like this on a white garnement.
Tomorrow, I'll have the pleasure to work from this bedroom to sort out Mila's clothes and will put everything for sale here. I'll probably sell her pink desk & chair if anyone is interested which you can see here and even better here.

Cette semaine Francois et moi avons photographié notre nouvelle collection de lin lavé (vous trouverez plus de photos sur Instagram)

J'avais envie de créer une chambre qui respirait le bonheur, la joie de vivre parce que franchement, j'en ai ras la casquette de ce temps de chien (je porte encore des pulls au mois de Mai et ca me gonfle!!!) et cette housse de couette en lin de couleur menthe était juste parfaite.

J'ai ajouté de la texture et un peu de douceur dans la pièce avec des petits accessoires de décoration: ce joli panier qui est super pratique pour ranger plein de choses dans toutes les pièces de la maison, la lampe MILK posée au sol (elle a de jolis pieds en bois) et cette magnifique suspension en Bambou que j'adore.

Le portant industriel vient d'ici et je ne suis pas sure que je vais le ramener au bureau...

Les t-shirts blancs viennent de Zara, Des Petits Hauts et du marché de la Teste pas loin de notre maison de vacances en France.

Le chapelet en bois sur la robe en lin American Vintage (a gauche) vient d'ici et il est très joli accroché au mur ou mis en scène sur un vêtement blanc.

Demain je vais avoir le plaisir de travailler de cette pièce pour trier toutes les affaires de Mila et les mettre en vente ICI. Je vais surement vendre son petit bureau rose avec la chaise que vous pouvez apercevoir ici et la.

// Photography: Francois Kong | Styling: Karine Kong