Bon appetit!

Sundays in France are definitely a new experience for someone who spent her first 21 years in go-go-go California. If you plan on coming anytime soon, prep yourself for nothing to be open, nobody out to help you, and nobody even feigning concern that you need something on a Sunday. In France it's just not gunna happen. 

Infuriating as this was the first few months, I've grown to appreciate the certain stillness and laziness that the French Sundays require. (As long as I remember to buy toilet paper during the week... yikes) It's a perfect day to take a stroll, drink tea, and catch up on being lazy with absolutely nothing pressing to do- because there actually is nothing to do. 

This Sunday was spent waking up late, drinking two separate coffees at different cafes, taking a much needed nap (apparently the waking up late thing just didn't do it for me) and making a beautiful dinner with a friend. Since I was missing one of my favorite family holidays, it was nice to have some company and some tasty and of course vegan food. 

The only problem with cooking on Sundays- you gotta get creative. While farmers markets are open in the morning, any self respecting 20something knows that sometimes that is just not going to happen. So with some innovation, pantry digging, and crossed fingers, my friend and I managed to make a baked ratatouille pasta with 3 types of scavenged pasta, a jar of ratatouille sauce, 1/4 a zucchini  half an onion, about 7 mushrooms, a tomato, a pot of hummus (for added creaminess) and a few cloves of garlic. Whoever said millennials were lazy was seriously disturbed. 

The result? A french inspired, seriously savory, veggie heavy Sunday dish made from the straggler ingredients of the week and about 20 minutes and two veggie girls later a completely empty dish and full bellies. 

Hope you all enjoy your Sundays as much as I do! 

xoxo - Mandee

Pals, picnics, and puppies

So beginning this past January I continued my French adventure by packing my bags and moving to Bordeaux. It was a very big change from Paris, and I'll admit that the beginning was a bit rough. It rained all the time, it was freezing, I had no friends, hated my living situation, basically all the ingredients to dislike a place. 

As time went on and I fixed all these problems (made friends, moved into my own apartment, bought an umbrella) I began to appreciate Bordeaux more and more. It may not be my favorite place that I've ever lived, but I've grown to see a more authentic French side of life. Paris is beautiful, but it can be a bit to magical at times and a bit out of touch with reality. By living in Bordeaux in an apartment and attending an actual French university I've been able to expand my cultural capital in ways I never imagined. (Even if there was a bit of a learning curve...) 

This weekend, I got to show my favorite french pastimes and favorite Bordeaux spots to a friend currently living in Madrid as an au pair. Both being 20somethings on a budget, we did the best with what we had in one of France's bougiest cities. 

My friend Jade arrived Friday mid-day, and as we were both hungry the first necessary stop was definitely lunch. Dropping her bags off at my house, we headed over to one of my favorite tiny kebab shops, right next to the historic Marché des Capucins. Ringing up at 4.50 for a huge falafel wrap with fries inside, its my favorite budget friendly way to fill up (and also extremely tasty.) We continued the day by strolling through the city, stopping buy my favorite wine bar, going to the public garden, checking out historic buildings, and ending the night with a vegan Jamaican meal(It was a good day for food) a lot of wine, and a few quick dance sessions out on the town. 

Saturday was finally sunny *yay* so I took the opportunity to take Jade to the public gardens for my favorite french activity- picnicking! We spent the morning at Marché des Capucins, starting with strong coffees inside the market and then moseying our way around to buy delicious fixings for the picnic. As I can't indulge in the normal french picnic fare, I settled for a hefty baguette, a ripe avocado, and a carton of homemade hummus. Jade picked up a fancy tiny goat cheese and a basket of beautiful strawberries and we headed off to the park. 

  It was a beautiful way to spend a sunny     french day, especially with the added aspect of mimosas. (Which aren't a normal  thing in France btw.. tragic) 

Ending the day with more wine, more sightseeing, shopping, and more laughs, I finished off the weekend so grateful to live in a beautiful place that friends wanted to visit, and especially thankful for beautiful friends. 

If you'd like to follow my adventures visually and not listen to me babble, check out my instagram @mandeemc! 

Much love, Mandee 

Hello, it's me (again)

Hello Hello! It's been a very long time since I posted anything, fashion, travel, or me related. I've been struggling with using this blog because I felt too confined by just focusing on fashion in the beginning and then just travel. But I need some sort of creative outlet, and as I'm about to graduate and become one of the unemployed millennial class, blogging really appeals to me. 

So I wanted to give a big thank you to you for coming here to check out my blog. Its a work in progress (just like myself) but I'm hoping that I can find a beautiful way to show and document my very blessed life and continue to record my progress as a little human in a big world. 

big big thank you :-) 

Mandee