Dec 1

Dec 1 November 2015: Tiny Victories of the Month

A few posts ago (this one here), I wrote that living in Paris has made me appreciate life's tiny victories rather than simply waiting around for the big ones.

In honor of celebrating the small victories, I've decided to do a roundup at the end of each month to highlight them. They can be lighthearted or profound, simple or complicated. The only criteria is that they have to feel like an accomplishment - basically anything that I want to give myself a high-five for.

I plan to post these on the last day of each month moving forward. Please excuse this one arriving on December 1st. Whoops.

Without further ado, here are the tiny victories for November:

Riding the city bus with ease:

When I first started taking care of two small French children, I was instructed to use the city bus to transport them from place to place. All of the destinations are in one quartier, but I still had a minor freak out. I wasn't yet able to recognize the streets, meaning I had no idea which stops were where. And buses always feel so volatile, lurching forward at any moment and if I could barely stand up straight, what about the little ones? Now, after a few weeks of practice, I am tres comfortable on the bus.

Branching out from baguettes:

Hello, I love a good baguette. But all the other loaves that line the shelves of boulangeries tempt me with their glutinous ways. So I started to give the others a chance - pain de campagne, petit terron, petit levin, to name a few. And yep, they all are just as delightful.

A good place to buy coffee:

The other weekend, we made a quick decision for a weekend cup of coffee. We entered Terres de Café and I don't think we expected it to be so good. We've since discovered there are two locations just footsteps away from us. Naturally, we'll be back. This time for two cups sur place and a bag of coffee beans to take home.

An espresso and verre de l'eau at Terres de Café.

And finally, I'm legal!

I got word via email on the last day of November (a.k.a. my last day of residing legally in France) that my paperwork has been processed by the prefecture. I need to go pick up my récépisse for my residence card and then continue to wait for my actual residence card (early next year). I feel so relieved after months of uncertainty. It's so funny how one email can make your insides do a 180. And yes, this is a medium-sized victory, but totally worth mentioning.

Life wins can come in all shapes and sizes and I'm ready for more! Let's see what happens in December with the holiday season...

What about you, any victories that you've had recently?

xo,
Whitney