favorite things

while i have never aspired to be oprah, i do have my share of favorite things. so tonight, on this most exciting occasion of a friday evening at home, i have decided to share with you some favorite things which are a part of my evening.

given my extreme {and vocal} love of good coffee, it has been a surprise to many that my latest drink passion is a tea... the republic of tea's spring cherry green tea to be exact. i had purchased a tin of it last year while visiting angie in michigan, and when i almost ran out, and failed to find it in my country, i had almost given up hope. then, the good republicans made delivery to canada a reality, and as of this week, i am hooked up again. and what better to drink a hot beverage in, than a new mug {from starbucks, no less}, a gift from a good friend. it is a perfect combination.

the second thing that has made my evening tonight, is gourmet magazine's latest issue which is dedicated solely to...wait for it...paris! for some reason, reading about macarons and the left bank and the unparalleled experience of eating and walking and being in paris makes the fact that i am not there a bit more bearable. and while i like to think that i am unique in my passion for the city, i love that i am not the only one whose heart can be made happy simply by walking down a parisian street! {and let me just say that this delightful find is courtesy of my super-cool friend angie, a fellow magazine junkie!}

the magazine lists some affordable hotels in a city where you can easily spend $500 a night for a room, and i was ecstatic to read that the familia hotel, my parisian home, was listed among the chosen few. if you are going to visit paris, i cannot recommend the familia {or her sister hotel, the minerve, right next door} enough. it is in the latin quarter, right down the street from the sorbonne, and only a most enjoyable ten minute walk separates you from notre dame...what more could you ask for?!

which brings me to my last favorite thing of the evening, my copy of the books of the bible {i have the orange one}. last year it really started to bug me that i was treating the bible more like a handbook or text book, than a book to be read and enjoyed. maybe it was all those numbers, and given my extreme fear of math, the combination was just too much. but then i found this gem... the bible, without chapter and verse numbers, in chronological order. this baby has changed the way i read God's word, and i love it!

that's all i've got for now. hope you're having a good evening.